what about breakfast at tiffany's?

2011-03-09T16:47:00.004+08:00

My love,

Time passes so fast. The 3 years that we shared together are now nothing more than a faded memory. Thank you for blessing me during those wonderful 3 years. I will always look back upon those times with a smile in my heart and treasure what we once shared.

Congratulations on finding someone new. I hope that he would be able to give you that which I could not.

Please take good care of yourself.

Goodbye.

USA!

2010-05-09T01:58:00.002+08:00

I'll be heading over to the US for Work and Travel tmr morning! Flight is at 10.25am. Gonna be back only on 8th Aug. Weeeee!!

2010-03-09T23:33:00.002+08:00

Anyone noticed the recent articles of Jack Neo having affairs actually lacked the word "affair"? I found it puzzling why the local newspapers would use the word "tryst" instead of "affair" so I googled the meaning of that word.

Tryst (noun) - 1. an appointment to meet at a certain time and place; 2. an appointed meeting; 3. an appointed place of meeting.

So am I to assume to all Jack Neo did was arrange for meetings with Wendy Chong and Foyce Le Xuan? Hm.. Strange on the part of a so-called credible and reliable newspaper.

Next, did a little check on Jack Neo himself and guess what I found:

1) He is good friends with Foreign Minister George Yeo, who apparently is free enough to comment on Jack Neo's extramarital affairs and call for Singaporeans to rally behind him. Does this sound wrong? A government official is asking its citizens to support a man who has affairs.

2) In 2004, Jack Neo was honoured with a National Day Award, the Public Service Medal

3) In 2005, Jack Neo was presented with Singapore's Cultural Medallion.

Looks like the Straits Times is trying to play down the news of the affair because of Jack Neo's standing in society. This is really... disgusting. Straits Times really need to buck up on their professional standards.

An affair is an affair. Call it that and not by another other name.

2010-02-06T01:34:00.001+08:00

I got the call from Knight Frank today to inform me that I have been selected for the 2nd interview!

I totally do not know what to expect at all of a 2nd interview. What kind of questions do they ask? How many people will be interviewing me? Will I be interviewing solo or in a group? Do I have to take any tests?

So many questions; I don't know where to start. Anybody can point me in the right direction?

2010-02-03T01:41:00.002+08:00

Saturday night was pretty awesome. So much things to say but unfortunately they can't be made public. Suffice to say, Phuture actually was pretty fun that night. Haven't been to Zouk on a Sat night for the longest time. I'm almost always there only on Wed. Haha..

I just had an interview with Knight Frank this afternoon. Didn't really know what to expect though. I mean, I won't be finishing my studies till the end of the year and they are really only looking for people who grad in May this year. I did ask them this question during the interview and their response was something along the lines of wanting to take a look at me since I have indicated my interest to work with them. Pretty nice of them to allow me an interview even though they know I won't be available till end 2010.

The interview itself went pretty well, I reckon. At times, it felt like we were having a conversation as compared to a proper interview. We drifted off-topic a couple of times with them asking me whether I'll be getting married anytime soon and why girls are getting married at a later age these days, etc. They asked the usual interview questions like "Tell me what is your weakness" and "Which department would you like to work in and why" and "What do you think is the most important quality of a leader/manager". There was a couple of pretty interesting questions that they asked like "Name three classmates you admire and tell us why" and another question that involved telling a story about driving in the rain at night.

Overall, it is an experience. I have gone for interviews before but never for an actual job. The interviews that I have gone for previously were for internships and part-time work. This time, I was interviewing for a management trainee position.

I hope they do get back to me and tell me I got through the first round. *fingers crossed*

2010-01-29T02:27:00.002+08:00

I'm in the middle of a really crazy week right now. Had RT sessions on Sun, Mon and Tues evenings which totally tire me out.

Tuesday morning, I had to head down to Speedwing's office to collect my documents for the US visa interview at the US embassy. Woke up at 7.30am to take the train down to Novena and then found out that it takes 1 hr 20 mins for me to travel from Bukit Panjang to Novena. End up, was running short on time and had to cab down to the US embassy. Once I was there, it was all wait and wait and wait. Spent a whole 2 and a half hours waiting for the whole process to end.

Wednesday evening was Weng's birthday celebration. Had lectures from 2pm to 6pm, a quick project discussion after that and had to rush down to Buona Vista MRT to meet a customer at 7pm. After that, had to rush to dinner with Weng, TRR and gang at Holland Village. Spent the night mambo-ing away. It was a terrific mambo session. Slept at 6am.

Today, woke up at 12pm to send an email to Knight Frank. I got an interview with them next week and they needed some documents submitted. Went to school for tutorial at 3pm then had to rush off to Butter Factory for SDE Bash. I now understand what the seniors were talking about when they said they felt "disconnected" with the freshies last year. I can feel it as well. We are year 3's and the gap is getting wider. I just reached home and it is now 2.30am. Gonna crash.

Lecture starts at 9am tomorrow. Have to head down to the US embassy again to collect the approved US visa and my passport in the afternoon.

Saturday, there is NUSSU Bash at the F1 Pit Building.

Somebody give me more time!!!

2010-01-07T04:12:00.002+08:00

Love is not an emotion.

Love is a committment. A committment is a decision.

Love is therefore a decision; made with the head, not with the heart.

2010-01-01T04:17:00.002+08:00

Happy New Year everyone!

Yup, it is already 2010. Time really flies indeed.

As it is customary, some reflections are in order for 2009. This time last year, I was busy preparing for the Council trip to Australia. Spent 2 plus weeks down under and I had so much fun there. Not to mention, I made so many new friends and got to know NUSSU a lot better. I am in the NUSSU exco now so that pretty much sums up how much fun I had. *cue I'm Yours by Jason Mraz*

During the 3-month holidays in the middle of the year, I was interning at JTC. Good times over there. I miss the people I worked with. All the staff were really friendly and treated me like family. And how can I forget the other interns! Hour-long breakfast, KTV sessions after work and birthday celebrations during/after office hours.

The 2 academic semesters of 2009 were disappointing. My CAP score has been dropping and I am keeping my fingers tightly crossed that I can maintain it for the remaining two semesters.

I watched from the sidelines as the economy went from being in recession at the beginning of 2009 to outperforming expectations. I hope that the economy will continue to do well in 2010. That would really assist in my job searching haha..

Was listening to the countdown on radio while driving earlier and I realised that 2009 produced quite a number of good songs to remember the year by. I would not list them down but here's looking forward to more memorable songs in 2010. Music is always important to me.

Mid-2010 will see me in the US. I'm really looking forward to spending the 3 months in the States. Wonder what sort of adventures await us there. Can't wait!

2010, here I come!!

2009-12-17T04:50:00.002+08:00

I haven't touched my blog for so long I almost forgot the email I used for this! Had to spend a few minutes thinking before I could log in Haha..

It's the Dec holidays now and I'm trying to enjoy it to the max! Why so? Because technically this is going to be my last real holiday. I'll be working in the US during the 3 months break next year for WAT2010 and I would have finished my studies by this time next year so I'll be busy WORKING! (like finally)

I say I'm trying to enjoy the holidays cause I seem to be busier than during the exam period. This is really.. odd. Ah well, at least I'm busy catching up with all my friends so I ain't exactly complaining.

Only thing is I gotta start researching on my dissertation cause I won't be able to do so while I'm in the US. That would probably occupy me during the second half of my holidays.

On top of that, NUSSU is piling me with stuff to do cause many of the exco members are off on holiday.

Oh well what's a student to do?

2009-10-10T04:00:00.002+08:00

I realised I haven't updated my blog in over a month! Ah well, I can get lazy sometimes =P

Was e-Learning week this week so all of our lectures were webcasted instead. Ironic thing is I had to go to school more times than a normal week. Went to school on Tuesday for Garvin's birthday celebrations and REMA tutorial. Had dinner with Shu Fang. It has been almost a year since I last met her. Was joking to her that the last time I saw her, she was still Miss Liu, now she's Mrs Lim. She's happily married for nearly a year now and I'm really happy for her.

RE Students' Liaison meeting on Wednesday so I had to travel down to school again. Meeting was supposed to last for half hour but dragged on for nearly an hour. Went with Kelly to Funan after that to help her with her lappy searching. Met up with Feilong, Yan Ping, Ting Yu and Xiao Wen for dinner for Long-ge's belated birthday dinner. We're on a no-present year. All of us not buying presents for each other this year. I think it's healthier financially. Went to Zouk after that to mambo the night away. I miss mambo nights. Should do it more often.

Was supposed to head to school again on Thursday evening for an Exco meeting but I skipped it.

Had a meeting with OSA on Friday afternoon and a NUSSU Appreciation Dinner in the evening. Sat next to the Director of OED during the dinner and he mentioned I could intern at OED during the holidays. I thought it was a fantastic idea cause OED needs people trained in Real Estate and I would really like some property management experience. Win-win situation for both parties. Now all I need to consider is the damned clash between my dissertation and Work and Travel 2010. We went for supper at Zion Road after that (couldn't really eat much with all the chatting going on).

Reached home at about 3am and here I am blogging while waiting for GTO to finish loading on Megavideo.com! It looks done right about now so I'm off! Hee.. =D

Blogger Error

2009-08-20T02:12:00.002+08:00

I've recently read on so many friend's blogs that they are experiencing problems with Blogger. Most people have problems cause posting new entries cause the page is not loading properly (no Add Image button, etc).

I had the same problem as well and here's the solution. Copy the error and google it. Chances are, someone else is having the same problem as you. I got told the same thing by a friend. So I googled the error and got my solution. I forgot the exact solution already but it involves changing some system settings. Do that and the problem will be gone forever. Hope this helps you peeps who are experiencing the same problem!

On another note, school has started already and I got a 3-day week this semester! Can't believe I'm already year 3. Only 1 and 1/2 years left of school before I gotta go out and actually start working. Mixed feelings here cause school's always better than working but working brings in the dough.

Also, it is time for me to step down from my current position as president of DE Club. I hope more people will step up and run for the mc. It's a good experience and will teach you a lot both about yourself and the people around you.

Well, that's all for now I guess. Will blog again soon!

Boring Singaporeans

2009-07-12T16:34:00.003+08:00

Back to my rants and flames again.

I read the Sunday Times article "Burger joint grilled over ad" by Cheryl Tan (Lifestyle section, page 2) with disgust. Not because I thought the advertisement was vomit-inducing but because I find Singaporeans in general are so uptight that it makes me wana puke.

I personally found the advertisement slogan "It'll blow your mind away" (and coupled with the fact that the burger was called the Super Seven Incher) hilarious. I was laughing out loud when I first saw the ad. I thought it was a refreshing change from the usual boring ads and kinda witty cause it made you think to get the joke.

But, of course, Singaporean have to go and complain that the advertisement is "vulgar". Oh like come on! How boring and close-minded can you guys get? Honestly, some of the people in this country are so uninteresting, I can fall asleep talking to them. Singaporeans have absolutely no sense of humour.

When I was in Australia, the university had advertisements for a discount card with the slogan "Your friend with benefits" and it featured a hunky guy or a very pretty girl on the advert. If that advertisement was put up in Singapore, I think the public would go up in arms against the university.

Like I said, it's so hard to find somebody with an open mind and interesting to talk to here in Singapore. Just when a company comes up with an interesting and funny advertisement, you guys gotta go and shoot it down. Shame in you conservative freaks. It's because of people like you that this country is so damn boring.

JTC

2009-07-12T16:23:00.003+08:00

I just finished with my internship at JTC Corporation!

Wow, can't believe 9 weeks flew by just like that. I had two supervisors during my time there - Annie and Yan Fen. I was lucky because my supervisors were really caring and treated me well when I was there. I know of some interns whose supervisors don't care about them at all.

And I also met some fabulous people there. Ramon, Ben, Eng Hwa, Cynthia, Annabelle, Ryan, and many others. All of them made my short stay at JTC really enjoyable. I'm gonna miss them all so much.

The best part is, so many of them graduated from SDE Real Estate! And they are all around my age. Annie is just 2 years older and Yan Fen is 1 year older than me and both of them graduated from SDE. Kinda makes me wonder why am I still in school. I should be out there working by now! I keep asking them about SDE and they kept asking me how was the lecturers, etc. It was very interesting to hear all the stories from my seniors.

And of course, how can I not mention the other interns there with me! Ivorie, Angeline, Jessie, Amenda, Brandon and Yu Rong! Man, you guys made my stay there so very very very interesting with all your jokes and outing. I'm gonna miss our hour-long breakfasts haha.. It's been a blast guys! See you in school!

Atrocious..

2009-06-15T10:54:00.004+08:00

Check out this article that appeared in straitstimes.com.

President of the Singapore Newspaper Distributors Association says that working from 4.30am to 6.30am is beneficial to people with nine-to-five jobs. Are you kidding me?? So working 13 hour jobs are considered beneficial these days?

That's not all. MP Seng Han Thong can add that "if both husband and wife work, they can earn $1,000". So what the government is backing this rubbish now? And they want both husband and wife to get into the action? What about the kids at home? Lao Lee going to come to my house and take care of them ah?

Let me post a question to these ****heads - What the hell happened to work-life balance?

It seems the Singapore government thinks it is okay to slave its people. Milk the citizens like a cow, suck them dry. Raise the CPF payout age, makes us work 13 (why not just make it 20) hour days. By the time we get our CPF money, we might as well bury ourselves and let the government collect the damned estate fee. Use our CPF money for your "investments" and then raise your own fat pay.

Here's a tip. Why don't the Singapore government stop wasting our money on useless "investments" (which always seem to lose us money) and start paying elderly people instead. We're about the only country in the world which employs our grandparents to work as cleaners at foodcourts! It's a damn shame to see this happening and, worst still, the government freakin' encouraging this sh!t.

Again, think about work-life balance, for goodness' sake.

Open Letter to Temasek Holdings

2009-05-16T23:38:00.001+08:00

Dear Temasek Holdings,

WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?!?!?

Sincerely,
Eugene

Exams are OVER!!

2009-05-09T02:33:00.004+08:00

Wow it's been more than a month since I last updated my blog. In fact I haven't even been checking back here. Apologies all round.

Anyways yes it is the end of my exams already! My exams ended on Tuesday afternoon and, as customary, most of us were at Zouk for Mambo night on Wednesday. We were missing a couple of peeps (read: Caderam) who were still stuck at home because of exams. Don't worry there will always be a next time ya!

I'll be starting internship at JTC on Monday. Can't believe I'll be working for the government. But, ah well, I'm sure it will be a good experience. Was told I'll be posted to the strategic planning department for commercial and industrial developments. Not very sure what my exact job scope is but I guess I'll be finding out on Monday.

Also, here is a little plug for an evangelistic carnival which my mum wanted me to post.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Singapore Youth For Christ (SYFC) is holding an evangelistic Carnival PLAYMAX next month from June 12-13 (Friday and Saturday). Their target is to have 10,000 youths come to this Carnival where the Gospel will be shared through various activities.

Here is some key information on this Carnival: -

PLAYMAX

12-13 June 2009
Venue: St. Andrew’s Cathedral

They need 2,000 volunteers, young and old, to serve in the various areas in this two-day Carnival.

One area that we are helping to pass the word around is Registration.

About 50 people are needed to help with Registration for the following time-slots: -

(1) Friday morning
(2) Friday afternoon
(3) Saturday morning
(4) Saturday afternoon

The timing for the above time-slots are - morning: 8.30am to 12.30pm and afternoon: 12.30pm to 4.30pm.

You can serve in one or all of the above time-slots.

There will be a briefing/dry run for all volunteers on 16 May from 9am to 12pm at St. Andrew’s Cathedral.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also, I've been really addicted to Perfect World International lately! It's an MMORPG and it's (you guessed it, i'm a cheap arse) F2P! You can check out the game here. Perfect World is probably one of the best F2P MMO's you can find out there. It started out as a P2P but then converted to F2P so you know the graphics and details are top-notch. If you're interested in joining, let me refer you please! I'll get a free mount! Haha okay I know I'm starting to sound like a kid here so I'll stop =)

Well till next time then!

Building Castles In The Air

2009-03-30T02:46:00.007+08:00

I recently read a quote by Henry David Thoreau which was quite interesting. It goes something like "If you build castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."

People have always been saying "don't build castles in the air" or the equivalent "stop daydreaming". But not much people have actually told anyone to work on those dreams. Which makes me wonder why. Aren't dreams the precursors of reality? We would not have airplanes today if the Wright brothers did not dream of flying. We would not be travelling in space today if someone did not dream of walking among the stars.

Difference was that these people dared to work on those dreams. They dared to lay the foundations to their castles in the sky. No doubt, many people would have scorned and scoffed at these individuals but they did not let that stop them

I personally have built that castle in the air. I have spent many years building it. This quote by Henry David Thoreau has given me the inspiration and courage to lay the foundations under that dream. I hope that it would do the same for you

On another note, something more finance-based, is another quote: "Obvious prospects for physical growth in a business do not translate into obvious profits for investors." Eg, Airline industry expanded rapidly in the 1970's but this did not translate to additional profits. This is just something I wanted to put down here to remind myself

PS. Referencing the two quotes, you should be able to find out which book I am currently reading. =)

Heading Up?

2009-03-18T23:51:00.003+08:00

So the stock market has been generally going up for the last few days, in Singapore at least.

The STI just went up the 1,500 mark again. Seems like it won't stay below 1,500 for long. In particular, I was watching CapitaLand's stock last week. It went from $1.79 last week to close at $2.13 just today. Let's just say if anyone had bought 1000 lots at $1.79 and sold them all today, they would have made $340,000 in less than 7 days.

According to its CEO, Citigroup has been turning in a profit for the first two months of 2009. This news sent Citi's stock soaring last week.

Are we seeing the end of the crisis? I really wouldn't know but I highly doubt so. I believe we need to wait for the first quarter 2009 reports to come in before making any guesses. Jobless rates are still very high all over the world and Australia seems like it is just headed for a recession.

Ah well, we will have to wait and see. Anyways, I've been super busy with projects this past few weeks. Got a deadline this Friday, then two the following Monday and another one 3 days after that. Not forgetting the lecturers are not easing on the quiz. Really.. Drowning in the workload.

Interview has been postponed to next Tuesday because the interviewer got tied up with something else. Also applied for REIP today. Have to secure an internship this holiday so really keeping my fingers crossed. Otherwise I will probably look for some part-time jobs and go for summer school overseas. Either Canada or Germany. Still, internships come first.

Wish me luck! =)

Living in Scottsdale, Arizona

2009-03-16T01:36:00.005+08:00

The following is a sponsored post.

Ever wondered what it would be like living in Scottsdale, Arizona? Granted, that city is not really a well-known city in this region of the world but it is something of an upscale tourist and shopping destination.

Having a population of about 240,000, I’m thinking the city should be pretty small and have a tight community where everyone knows everyone. Singapore has a population of about 4.8 million so we can pretty much throw the everyone-knows-everyone hope out the window.

The weather in Arizona is about 27 degree Celsius, which is roughly about the same as Singapore during the night. It is usually around 32 degree Celsius in Singapore during the day so the weather would be pretty enjoyable. Click here to find out more about Scottsdale.

A lot of people have the impression that the Scottsdale Arizona weather is pretty dry and warm but I reckon 27 degrees is pretty fine. Good enough for a lovely afternoon stroll in the park without getting all sweaty because of the humidity. Good enough for a picnic lunch without having to worry about any mosquitoes.

Well, given the current economic situation, property prices might be cheap in the States now. No better time to start looking for places I guess. =)

Walk Down Memory Lane

2009-02-11T02:45:00.005+08:00

Watching so much of Gossip Girl lately reminded me of all the past tv series I used to watch growing up. I don't mean GG is like all of them. It kind of struck me that I have watched so many American dramas and sitcoms.

So I thought it would be fun to do a post featuring all the opening sequences of the American dramas and sitcoms I watched growing up. It was a real blast watching them all over again on YouTube. Not in any order of preference ya. Let's walk down memory lane!

Starting with the most recent one that inspired this post. Gossip Girl. Not much of an opening here though. It is really short.. Like 12 secs..

Up next, we have got Felicity. I watched this drama back when I was in sec sch. The show was so good in the first season. Then it started falling apart in season 2 and got worst in season 3. Still, it brings back so much memories and I still feel for the characters..

Third on the list is Party of Five. This show is pretty old. Think I watched it back in primary sch or something. I got to know about Neve Campbell and Jennifer Love Hewitt from this show.

That 70's Show! I watched this sitcom pretty recently. I know it was screened a long time ago. I downloaded and watched this about 3 years back or so.

Next, the inspiration for lawyers.. Ally McBeal! This show screened on Channel 5 in my sec sch days. I remember a teacher talking about it in class and nobody knew what the show was. I watched it but dared not speak up cause I was like the only one!

Of course, we simply cannot miss our the greatest sitcom of the 90's, and possibly of all time.. F.R.I.E.N.D.S!!! This show practically saw me grow up. I was watching it all the way from primary school, through sec sch and to poly. It influenced the way I talked, the way I thought, the way I lived my life. Greatest show EVER!

Of course there are others as well but I'm a little lazy to find them. Couldn't find the openings for Off Centre, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Heroes otherwise I will put it up as also. I didn't include all the cartoons of course. Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Captain Planet, Extreme Ghost Busters, etc..

Oh ya one more thing. Watch the Top 10 Chick Flick Cliches promo available on the He's Just Not That Into You website. It's freakin hilarious!

Well, that's all folks! Hope you enjoyed this little trip back in time as much as I did! =)

Some Things Do Change

2009-02-05T02:12:00.004+08:00

There was a rare protest in Singapore this afternoon.

I just read the news online on MSN and was pleasantly surprised. The protesters were smart enough to organise a 4-man march, knowing that the police could (and probably would) arrest them if they marched in groups of 5 or more. It is a very small-scale protest and march which would be considered laughable by most international standards but I must applaud Mr. V. Thamizhmaraiyan's courage for leading the march. You have done something that most Singaporeans are too afraid to do. They were protesting against the war in Sri Lanka and marched from Little India to the British High Commission to appeal for British intervention in the war.

I really do hope to see more peaceful protests in the future. It not only shows that Singaporeans are global citizens, it also shows that we have our opinions and are not afraid to voice them.

I also read Newsweek's May 2008 article "The Rise of the Rest" by Fareed Zakaria. You can check out the article here. Prof Harold Tan mentioned something about it when I was speaking to him this afternoon and, in light of recent events, it seem like a pretty good analysis of the world. It is really interesting to hear reports of how the rest of the world is catching up with the US and the fact that we are living in a post-American world. I wrote a blog entry about this 3 years ago. You can read it here. It is not that the US have been doing things wrong, it's just that the rest of the world have been doing things right. The focus is not about just the US anymore, it's about a global perspective and context.

I remember a couple of weeks ago when Obama took over the US presidency. My uncle was commenting that he couldn't believe how Americans could vote for someone so inexperienced and young to lead them. He did not think that Obama was capable enough to lead the US (and the world, for that matter) out of the current financial crisis. At that point in time, I did not understand where he was coming from. Like most people, I was fasinated with Obama's popularity and charisma. But now I see what he meant. First, the market tanked on the day Obama took over, which showed that businessmen did not have confidence in him. Then, Obama angered China the first few days he was in office. Next, he placed a cap on Wall Street's executive's salaries, which pissed some executives off. And just today, he admitted that he screwed up over some tax issues and caused two of his nominees to withdraw their nominations. Not only that, he had to debate about whether to include a "Buy American" provision in the the stimulus package bill. I mean, is that even a cause for debate in today's globalised economy?? Imagine the repercussions if that went through, thank God he backed off it.

All these have lead me to think that my uncle could have been right in his pre-judgement of Obama. I still hope that Obama would be able to lead the US on the right path to recovery. However, he would really need to buck up and stop making these mistakes. The world's economies are in a dire situation right now and it seems the worse is yet to come.

I am waiting to see how this pans out.

xoxo

2009-01-28T03:09:00.003+08:00

Happy Lunar New Year!!

The year of the Ox is here. Wonder what this year holds for us. The year of the Rat was fun. Well maybe not for the finance sector but let's not go there.

Anyways I spent the new year the usual way. Dinner, movie with cousins, visiting, the works. The cousins went ktv this year, which was a first. I have never really went ktv with family before. It was fun, to say the least.

I'm recently addicted to Gossip Girl. I blame Kelly for getting me hooked. The show's great though. I can see starlets rising to the A-list. Blake Lively is very easy on the eyes. So easy, in fact, that my eyes are having difficulties looking at anything else.

Oh yeah, I recently found a song that I have been searching for years. King of Wishful Thinking by Go West. Never expected the song to be by them and definitely didn't expect the song to be from the Pretty Woman OST. You can listen to the song here. And, yes, it is another retro-like song but it is great trust me. It's on repeat on my songlist now.

That's it for this post I guess. I know it's a little rushed but I'm rushing... to catch some eye shut. Till next time then.

hairspray

2009-01-15T23:56:00.003+08:00

I'm having a hair problem right now.

Those who know me know that I've been keeping my hair long over the past few months (despite strong protests from many people). Right now, I'm at a crossroads. The style I was actually trying to emulate was Taylor Hanson's hair.

Granted, I ain't as good looking as he is but I've always found his long hair very nice, especially the whole image from the This Time Around album era (great album by the way).

But seeing as I don't have a personal hair stylist walking around with me, it seems pretty hard to keep my hair as curvy and voluminous as it needs to look good. Not to mention keeping it in place everytime the wind blows.

The last thing I want to do is to have the 1960's Beetles hairstyle that so many young boys are sporting these days. That is soooo passe.. Like 40 years ago.

So, I'm going to the hairdresser to see what I can do with my hair tmr. I've been toying with the idea of perming the hair but the Google search results for "men's perm hair" ain't encouraging.

Alternatively, I can always opt for the usual standard short hair, which is pretty boring since I've had it for like 5 years. Mark McGrath is the standard to aim for with short hair.

Again, the whole image with the goatee and everything counts as well I guess.

What to do.. What to do.. I'll just see how tmr la.

naked run!

2008-12-18T13:48:00.005+08:00

Just saw an article on MSN news that I had to blog about!

Students from the University of the Philippines recently organised a naked run! Haha.. Apparently their naked run has some political messages - they are protesting against extending President Arroyo's term in office.

Since I saw the naked mile run on American Pie, I have always wanted to organise one in NUS. Somehow or another, I think NUS would not be pleased about the publicity it will receive. Anyhow, I think the students themselves are too conservative to want to participate. Living in Singapore is wayyyyy boring........ Imagine holding a naked run and protesting against government policies. Now that would be sending a message.

The University of the Philippines holds their naked run annually(!!!). Can you believe it's an annual thing?!?! When will this happen to NUS!?!? I might go join them one of these years lol

master of puppets!

2008-12-12T03:49:00.002+08:00

Been a break week for me. Finally had the time to lock myself at home and just do my own stuff. I managed to land my hands on two games recently thanks to Zijian. They are both updated versions of my all-time fav classics! Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Sid Meier's Colonization!

I first played Colonization way back in 1994 when my Godpa got me the game from the States. I think not much people in Singapore play this game. The common one people play is the more popular Civilization (yes, they are different games). Unlike Civilization, Colonization takes place from the year 1492, when Christopher Columbus discovered the New World (modern day North and South America) and sparked off the Age of Discovery, to the American War of Independence. You're basically in charge of the expedition and the aim is the win the war. But somehow or another, I always skew towards accumulating wealth instead. The updated version uses the Civ4 game engine which is freakin slow on my lappy because of the graphics. Nevertheless, it is GREAT to be playing the game again after such a long time!

For RTK, the last one I played was RTK4: Wall of Fire, the Sega Saturn version. The one I'm playing now is RTK11. 7 versions difference, around 10 years apart and thousands of changes to adapt to. It took me more than 72 hours of clocked gaming time to complete a single scenario at beginner level. I'm imagining how long it will take me to complete the advanced level. RTK is based on the classic Chinese novel. It is through this game that I started to read more on Chinese history. Previously, I read a lot on American history because of playing Colonization. I think I should visit the important sites of the Three Kingdoms at least once in my life. Places to visit: Cheng Du (capital of Shu), the Stone Sentinel Maze near Baidicheng (created by Zhuge Liang around 200+AD but rumour has it that the maze still trapped the soldiers of Kuomintang when they were fleeing the People's Liberation Army in 1949), the site of the Battle of Chi Bi, and many more but I need to do research on before coming up with the itinery.

Hm.. I don't know why but I've always been more interested in playing empire building games. I'm not so much the CS or Dota playing type. Heck, I've played C&C, WarCraft and StarCraft but nothing, and I mean nothing, comes close to the enjoyment of RTK or Colonization (or even Civilization for that matter). Even business simulation games like Capitalism are more interesting to me.

Ah well, time to get out of my hermit life again soon. Lots of friends to catch up with over the holidays. Not to mention I got the Union Trip coming up in Jan. We'll be visiting 4 cities in Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane) from 2 Jan to 11 Jan.

But first, it's that time of the year again. Yup! Christmas and New Year is here (again.. and so fast too). Happy holidays everyone!

10% Storewide Sale!

2008-12-07T14:43:00.002+08:00

Duchess Bags is having a 10% storewide sale!!

Although the 10% is not applicable to items listed on the Year End Sale, anything and everything else that is available on the Duchess and Coach websites are entitled to the 10% off so what are you waiting for?!?

The sale in on from now till 11 Dec 2359 hrs so hurry and place your order NOW!

Visit duchessbags.blogspot.com!

Exams are OVER!!!!

2008-12-01T11:56:00.003+08:00

EXAMS ARE FINALLY OVER!!!!

Another semester down. Hopefully the results will be good but I'm hoping against hope because my last paper was damn chui. Super hard la the QM paper. I thought we had to do financial investment calculations. Kept checking the cover to see whether I was sitting for the right paper. But anyways it's over so there ain't nothing I can do and I ain't gonna keep thinking about it.

Was a really crazy week for me last week. Moving house, 3 exam papers and BOD results all in 5 days! It was really weird on Wednesday because I left Normanton for the exams but went back to Bukit Panjang after. Kinda disoriented. Somemore did some unpacking inbetween papers. Couldn't really concentrate on the exams proper.

Results for the BOD case is out. Was wondering why did they choose to release the results during the exams and set the deadline for the appeal also during the exams. Tactic by the school to discourage appeals? Hmm... Moreover, I really wonder just how considerate can these people get. I mean, they are the university admin staff. Can they possibly not know that this is our exam period. Releasing the results during the exams and distracting us like this. Trying to force us to retain one semester so they can earn more school fees? Hmm...

Anyway I gotta run. Exams are over but the new house is still in a mess. Going to buy some curtains now and continue unpacking the house later.

Finanical Crisis..

2008-11-19T23:57:00.004+08:00

It looks like the financial crisis has finally overflowed into the economy. Althought there was wide spread talk of the crisis, it was contained to mostly financial firms for the past few months. Right now, in what is a sure sign of the spillover, the "Big Three" carmakers in the US are appealing for government bailout.

It seems this financial crisis is going to overshadow the Asian economic crisis in 1998. And it's exactly 10 years on. Talk about financial cycles. Job cuts have been creeping into the news lately too. DBS have started slashing 900 jobs, Citigroup is cutting a near-record 50,000 jobs worldwide. It is predicted that this will get worse going into 2009. I'm still a student but I can feel the fear in the air. This crisis is bringing back memories of 1998. Things were really bad then and I can't imagine it is going to be worse next year.

Already, the STI has free-falled to 1,665 points, that's more than half it's value slashed from early last year. I remember reading in the papers then that analysts were saying it would breach the 4,000 mark by this year. In just one year, things have changed so drastically.

But admist all the gloom and doom, there is always good news. Especially for the uninvested. Now is a good time to start picking up stocks. Of course, do the due calculations first and pick up the discounts. There is always some people who would say that the stocks will continue to fall. But if you are already buying at a (huge) discount, what's there to fuss about? The stock market is awash with prizes now. Certainly wished I had the capital to pick some up. Well, anybody out there wants to invest in my mutual fund?

Meetings!

2008-11-15T01:49:00.005+08:00

Here's my list of meetings and project submission for the past one week:

Sat 8/11
- NUSSU Council Meeting @ BTC

Mon 10/11
- Meeting with SDE Dean and Heads of Department
- Meeting with faculty admin and year reps
- NUSSU Council meeting with NUS President and senior admin

Wed 12/11
- Prof Com project submission

Thur 13/11
- Board of Undergraduate Studies meeting

Fri 14/11
- RE Econs project submission
- QM project submission

There you have it! 5 meetings and 3 project submission in one week and my exams is starting just.. next week!! Can't believe I went through this week already. There was actually another meeting on Thurs with President Nathan but he went down with flu so his visit to SDE has been re-scheduled. Lucky, cause it would have clashed with the Board of Undergraduate Studies meeting.

What's with so many meetings you say? Well lots of issues are discussed during the meetings regarding the direction of the Union and the University or the students and the faculty, depending really on which level the meetings are at. Most of the NUSSU meetings are at university level where we will discuss changes, policies and direction for the entire NUS student body while most of the faculty meetings affect only students and happenings within SDE.

It's been a real eye-opener for me thus far. Being a student leader has given me so much more perspective on student activities. But it has also taken up much of my personal time. I need to start concentrating on studying and mugging for the exams right now.

Can you believe they wanted to schedule a meeting on the day just before my second paper?!? Like smack in the middle of the exams!? Luckily I managed to push that meeting back to a day after my last paper. Otherwise I would be so distracted. Not to menton I'm moving house mid-way during the exams.....

Well now that there's no more meetings and the projects are all done... TIME TO MUG MUG MUG!!!

YES to Singapore Textbooks!

2008-11-03T20:34:00.002+08:00

Seems like I'm reverting back to a words-only blog. Too lazy to save and upload pictures these days cause it's just too damned time consuming.

I was reading my textbooks yesterday and I realised that almost every single textbook we use in NUS are textbooks written by American authors. It's pretty frustrating cause all their examples, writing style and train of thought are American. Like why do I care about the demographics of Ohio or Minneapolis?!? True they are only trying to illustrate examples but I'm pretty sure I would be able to understand better if it was in the Singapore context.

Perhaps this is one way in which America is spreading their culture. Students learn so much about America during their studies that America becomes like a 'promised land' and we take this mentality out into society.

I say Singaporean should study textbooks that are written by Singaporean professors, with a Singaporean style and in a Singaporean context!! I've have enough of trying to understand what it's like in America, having to put all the examples in the context of American society. Do American students have to do that? No, they don't have a clue about what's happening with the rest of the world!

Say YES to Singaporean textbooks!!!!!

Personality Test

2008-11-02T13:40:00.002+08:00

Saw a personality test on Kelly's blog so I decided to take it. Here's what it says about me:

Reliable Realist (RR)
Reliable Realists are down-to-earth and responsible-minded. They are precise, reserved and demanding. Their most prominent quality is reliability and they will always make every effort to keep any promise given. Reliable Realists are more quiet and serious persons, they do not talk a lot but they are good listeners. They sometimes seem reserved and distant to outsiders although they often have a great deal of wit and esprit. Their strong points are thoroughness, a marked sense of justice, doggedness bordering on pigheadedness and a pragmatic, vigorous and purposeful manner. Reliable Realists do not dither about if something has to be done. They do what is necessary without wasting words.

This personality type not only expects a lot of himself but also of others. Once Reliable Realists have set their mind on something, it is difficult to persuade them otherwise. They do not like to leave anything to chance. Planning means safety to Reliable Realists, as well as order and discipline. They have no problem respecting authorities and hierarchies but do not like to delegate tasks. They are certain that others would not deal with them as conscientiously as they do. In management positions, they are very task-oriented - they make sure that things are well done; however, they do not have a great deal of interest in personal contacts at work.

In relationships too, Reliable Realists are reliability itself. As partners, they are faithful and consistent, well-balanced and sensible. Security and stability are very important to them. They have little time for extravagances and flightiness. Whoever has them as friend or partner can rely on them for a lifetime. However, it takes quite a while for Reliable Realists to enter into a relationship or friendship. They have little need for social contacts; they therefore take great care when choosing partners and friends and limit themselves to a small but exclusive circle which meets their high demands. They tend to show their closeness to people who are important to them by deeds - their partner should rather not expect romantic declarations of love.

Well, I felt that it was not really accurate. Maybe around 50% true or so...... What do you guys think? Oh yeah, the test is available on http://ipersonic.com/ if you wana take it.

2008-10-24T01:28:00.002+08:00

Duchess Bags is having its 2008 Year End Sale!

Crazy prices slashes of up to 40% off the Singapore retail prices for Coach bags!

Check it out at duchessbags-promos.blogspot.com!

PS. Please place your orders before 1 Dec to get it on time for Christmas!

Long Vacation!

2008-10-06T23:28:00.004+08:00

I've recently been re-watching Long Vacation.
It's a J-Dorama from way back in 1996. I first caught the show around 1998 (can't believe it's been 10 years!!) when it was shown on the local channels. That was during the start of the J-Pop wave during the early 2000's. Re-watching the drama reminded me why I was so into Jap stuff during that time. The show emphasized the culture and economic backdrop of Asia and Japan during that period. The characters were so real and you could actually feel for them as you go through the series. I would definitely recommend anyone to go watch the drama if you haven't caught if before or rewatch it if you already did. It's really good!! This series was the first in many hits for Kimura Takuya btw.

Anyway, Tomoko Yamaguchi caught my eye... again. Totally mesmerised all over again by that beautiful smile of hers! Can't believe that she was in her early 30's when she acted in Long Vacation. Here's a recent picture of her (I think she actually got slimmer since 1996):

She's already 44 and still looks so good!! *melts*

Shoutout!

2008-10-01T23:13:00.003+08:00

Just a quick update!

Things have not eased up at all since my last post. It's been hell busy over the last couple of weeks. No room for breathing space at all. But it's been enjoyable! Yup kinda weird that I always complain about being busy but then turning around and saying that I'm enjoying it. Well it's hard to explain this feeling.

Sorry that I have not been able to spend much time with you lately. I know we've both been pretty busy but rest assured that I'll commit time for us to spend together.

Well I've been the President of DE Club for about a month or so now and things have been, you guessed it, busy! Lots of meetings and meetings and meetings. I guess that's the life of a President (thanks for the induction Ernest!). There are many sensitive things going on right now that I can't discuss (or vent, depends on how you look at it) on a public space. I hope that DE Club will be able to achieve the objectives that we set out to achieve this year. Of course, not forgetting all of our usual events as well. Jiayou everyone!

Last week was the mid-sem break but I hardly got any break at all. Was in school for 4 days although it was break. Meetings on 3 of those days and make-up class for the other one. Damn the break week zipped by fast enough. I don't even have the time to catch up with my studies and my mid-terms are coming up already! Not to mention I got like 5 outstanding projects that still need to be completed within the next month!

Well looks like it's gonna be even more fun!

Jam and Hop: Pandemonium 2008!

2008-09-06T21:30:00.005+08:00

We attended Jam and Hop: Pandemonium 2008 a couple of Fridays back! Sorry, it's been quite a while since my last update. Again (and I know this has been a really convenient excuse for awhile now..), I have been sooooo busy that I just cannot find the time to update my blog!

As usual, SDE students would gather and zi-high. Daniel bought a couple of bottles of alcohol to school that day and kept it in his locker! Haha.. Of course, then there was the question of the mixers! Garvin managed to solve that problem via a nearby vending machine...

While the party was going on inside, we were outside drinking and generally being a social nuisance. This was one of the rare chances that the school allowed alcohol to be consumed within its premises so of course we'd seize the opportunity! Here's a group pic of us!
For this year's Jam and Hop, NUSSU did something right by inviting Electrico to come down and jam! It's been such a long time since I've seen Electrico in performance. Sadly, they didn't play any of their old songs, they jammed only the new tunes. We simply couldn't pass up the chance to take a shot with the one and only.... Amanda Ling!!
Well, Jam and Hop 2008 was actually about 2 weeks back or so. Since then, lots of things have happened. I'll update again during the next post! See ya!

Start of Year 2!

2008-08-19T01:02:00.004+08:00

School started again last week! And what better way to start a brand new semester by partying!!! I actually didn't want to go down Zouk last Wed cause I'm like running dry for this month already... But then! Garvin went to msg me and tell me "dun pang seh ah!" He already went out of the way on Sun to go KTV when I asked him to so how?? Bo pianz have to go clubbing. But no regrets cause I had a really fun time there! A mix of seniors and freshies went down party! It's great to see the bonding during FOC and Rag in action! Here're some pictures...And of course, not forgetting Louis, who celebrated his birthday there that night! Happy Birthday dude!
Start of Year 2! It's gonna get busy again!

SDE Rag 2008!

2008-08-12T00:30:00.003+08:00

I can't believe a year has passed. Seems like just yesterday the title of this post read "SDE Rag 2007"! It's been a whole year and the new batch of freshies have joined us. The spirit of SDE still lives on in them! So here it is! This is the reason why I was so busy in school for the past month! All the staying over, helping out with the dance, helping the float team, outings, interactions and fun that we've had. This is SDE Rag 2008!

Although we didn't win anything this year, not to worry. The freshies are already planning for next year's rag. It's gonna be sooo huge!

Of course, the very next day after Rag & Flag '08, we had the SDE Rag Appreciation Chalet! It was super fun! Dunno when I can get my hands on the pictures. Will upload them when I do!

My 24th Birthday!...?!?!?

2008-08-03T13:05:00.007+08:00

Man I'm getting old.. Just hit the mid-20's last week! I think most guys my age should already be working.. But I'm still stuck in uni studying and at least for the next 2.5 years also. Not that I'm complaining though.. I grateful actually for the chance to still be studying and enjoying tertiary education at my age.

Well my 24th birthday was made special by Kelly! It was the first time she planned an entire date with me and I totally enjoyed myself. She had RAG training in the early afternoon so we started the day around 5 by catching The Dark Knight. Pretty good show but kinda long.

After the show, she brought me to walk walk cause she had to delay time haha.. We went to the National Library and I gave her her birthday present cause I didn't manage to do so in BKK. It's a Coach pouch! Authentic one k!

So we delayed enough time and headed to Hanabi at Odeon Towers for dinner. She had planned for Lycans and friends to be there so I got a sweet little surprise seeing all my friends there! Dinner was fantastic of course.. It was Hanabi afterall. And they gave me my presents there. I got a Calvin Klein underwear, a Pedro bag and a pair of Converse sneakers! Lots of stuff huh..After dinner, Kelly, Steph, Eug Ang and myself were supposed to go for a movie cause apparently everybody couldn't make it for the movie.. BUT in the end we went to Zouk instead! It was another surprise cause most of them ended up there also! The conversation in Eug Ang's car was hilarious.. I kept asking him to turn right but he kept turning left haha.. Izaac, Garvin, Daniel and Raj met us at Zouk to mambo the night away.. And, no, I didn't get drunk on Martini this time round!

It was a great being able to spend my birthday with all you my friends! Thanks guys for making it special and thanks to Kelly for making it happen! Love ya all!

New Driver In The House!

2008-07-30T00:15:00.003+08:00

We have a new driver in the house!

Congratulations are in order for Miss Ang Xin Yi Kelly for passing her driving test!! Yay! After all the hardships and struggles, you are now finally able to pilot a Class 3A automobile without an instructor breathing down your neck!

We went to have Pastamania at HabourFront for dinner to celebrate. She bought me dinner. Two of us. Simple meal. Just the way I like it. I couldn't really talk during dinner cause my voice is out cold due to all the shouting for 'O' Week on Monday. But I enjoyed the company all the same. Felt good to just have dinner with you.

Congratulations again darling! =)

FOC Photos!

2008-07-22T21:38:00.006+08:00

Waayyy overdue post here. Was a little busy in the run-up to BKK so didn't have the time to update. But no sweat! Here it is finally... The pictures from FOC 2008!!

The last 2 pictures are like the only ones the main com took together. Think we were too busy running all over the place to take pictures during the camp! And what better way to bring back memories of the camp than to screen a video of it! Thanks to the DE Club Publicity Cell for doing up the video in such a short time!

And last but definately not least, the entire FOC committee had an appreciation dinner last Tuesday to thank everyone for all their hard work and just to unwind.

It was my first time eating at Tao's and I thought the food was pretty good. The service there's excellent and I would definately recommend anyone to got there for a good meal.

Well that pretty much wraps up SDE FOC 2008! It has been a blast!!

FOC 2008!!

2008-07-06T14:11:00.004+08:00

IT's FINALLY OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After nearly a whole year of planning, SDE FOC 2008 was a blast!! Of course, incidents cannot be prevented and we experienced a pretty serious incident during the camp but luckily with the hardwork of the entire committee and OGLs, we managed to pull through and end the camp on a super high note! SDE FOC 2008 was spread out over 4 days (5 for MC and OGLs) and we stayed at Eusoff Hall during this period. Here's the action!

Day 0 (Sunday 29/06/2008):
OGLs were supposed to report at 3pm but many turned up only during the evening. Day 0 was basically for everyone to prep-up for the camp. OGLs came up with all the group identities, cheers, games, etc. While the MC was busy prep-ing up for the games, getting logistics done, ensuring all last-min checks and preparations were complete.

Day 1 (Monday 30/06/2008):
The freshies were supposed to report at 8.30am. I thought that timing was pretty early and we expected them to be late. But they started streaming in at 8.15am! Can you believe it!?!? Registration took us all the way to 10am. Tony and myself wanted to do a combined camp opening speech but we realised that our timings just wouldn't allow that so BRE went on with our own programs first. We put our bags at LR426 and continued playing games and bonding sessions till lunch, when the AKID side joined us. After lunch, BRE went on the Amazing Race, which was basically asking the freshies to run all over the school to play various games. This was to let them know the school better. After dinner, we went on for Fate Night. During Fate Night. something happened in the AKID camp and Caderam, Ernest and myself had to go for an emergency meeting. I can't elaborate on what happened because the case is still on-going. Suffice to say, the incident cause us to work all the way till 5am in the morning.

Day 2 (Tuesday 01/07/2008):
I had to brief the OGLs on what happened the night before but I couldn't let them know the details because things were still pending. I reckon the OGLs already knew what happened though. Word must have spread around pretty fast. I had calls and SMS-es from my seniors asking if everything is okay and letting me know that they would take leave from their internship to come down if the need arises. From the bottom of my heart, I thank the seniors who showed me the support I needed. Thanks goes out to Ernest and Ryan who was there helping us the entire night. And not forgetting the MC and OGLs, who had to work through all the uncertainty. Thanks so much for everyone's support! Day 2 started out with a talk by Emit-Asia and then a mass dance session followed by lunch. After lunch, we played Funival (like a pun on carnival). Funival was a real surprise in that it got the freshies super super high. I couldn't believe the number of cheers and bombings between OGs. It was great! After that, we had another mass dance session, followed by dinner. Then the OGs went to do up their banners. Day 2 ended pretty early for the OGs but late for the MC cause we had to plan and plan and plan again...

Day 3 (Wednesday 02/07/2008):
Field Games day! Again, we had a mass dance session in the morning to teach everyone the AKID mass dance (BRE had their own mass dance), which was the combined camp's mass dance. After lunch, we proceeded to the field to do out Field Games. The weather looked like it wasn't going to hold out, but luckily it did. We had to deal with lighting warnings, campus security, etc. It's a real headache to conduct anything on the field when we can't spray water, use a canvas, use food items, etc. There's like so many freakin rules to follow. Ah well, guess I'm still in Singapore, that's why. We had to try and 'siam' campus security and hope that they don't do spot checks while we were conducting the games. Thank the Heavens that everything went smoothly. No rain, no campus security. After dinner, we had the AKID OGs join the BRE OGs for the start of the combined camp activities. The combined OGs were supposed to plan for the MTV presentation the next day.

Day 4 (Thursday 03/07/2008):
Day 4 is a freakin long day. We started pushing people out to Sentosa at 8am in the morning! At Sentosa, we carried on with our Beach Games. As usual, I had to deal with Beach Patrol walking all over the place and asking me the same questions over and over again. But it's okay cause we had adequate safety measures in check. We had marked out the evacuation point, water point and first aid points during our recce. Beach Games went smoothly and took us all the way to lunch. Because of time constraints, we decided to let the OGs have lunch and then wash up after that to prep for going back. It took them around 2+ hours to do that so luckily we had planned for the buffer times. We reached school at around 5 plus and got on with the MTV presentation. After that, we did a combined mass dance, combined prize presentation before Tony and myself closed the combined portion of the camp. BRE side carried on with our Fate dinner. We had a video presentation of the camp (thanks to the DE Club Publicity Cell for all your efforts!), a BRE mass dance and finally the BRE prize presentation. After that, I closed the camp officially with another speech (3rd one that day!). Many freshies stayed back to mingle around after that. We even had one OG go to Fong Seng for supper! The camp was a success!! I'm glad we managed to pull through the crisis and end on a super high note!

Special thanks goes out to the Main Committee: Caderam, Kailin, Weiting, Henry, Ben, Christina and Kelly. Not forgetting the fantastic Programs Committee: Zijian, Stephanie, Jasmine, Ezann, Kok Liang and Eugene Ang. All the OGLs who volunteered their time and efforts to help out with the camp. Izzac, Collen and Kelly for coming up with the BRE mass dance on such short notice. Ernest and Ryan who came down and stayed with us throughout the entire camp. And also, all our seniors who came down and showed their support. Head's up to Tony, Zi Tong, Zi Xu, Owen and the entire AKID MC, it was great working together with you guys! Without everyone's help, the camp wouldn't have lasted past the first day, much less be such a great success! Thanks to each and every single one of you!

I'll post up the pictures of the camp in the next post. This post is already too long. Well up next: RAG!!! Albert and Mervin, jiayou! We sure win again this year!

Looking Back!

2008-06-10T23:41:00.006+08:00

Alright I'm officially done at Global1 Events! .. At least for the next 3 weeks. Audrey says Global will need me again after I'm done with the Freshmen Camp so I might head back there towards the end of July.

It has been great working there. Learnt so much about running an event and got to know Dr John Demartini. I got to admit I haven't even heard of John Demartini before working there. The people there was great. My boss was Guosh's eldest sister, Jo. My supervisor is Audrey, she's Taiwanese but moved to Singapore about 10+ years ago. Here's some pictures of my time there!

Guosh popped by the office to help out but we ended up having more fun than doing more work. Haha..

This is Audrey, she's a pretty cute and nice young lady. She got me contacts for hotels in Bangkok where I'm (hopefully) going in July.

This was taken during The Secret Revealed. 4 of us SCSC warriors back in action doing what we do best - sai kang!

Group picture here with Dr John Demartini. He's smack on the centre.

There were lots of clearing up to do after the event. We ended up going home only at about 12am. These were very tiring but a hell lot of fun days..

And look at the paper work I had to do for the post-event admin.

Jo treated us to lunch at NUSS Suntec a day before we left. It was to celebrate Audrey's birthday and to view the conference rooms for the Secrets to Financial Mastery seminar in August. Food there's fantastic and the portions are huge!

Well, now that I'm done working. I've got to start concentrating on running SDE Freshmen Camp 2008! Trial camp for the OGLs coming up this weekend, Admission Day is next Sat and then the actual camp happens on the 30th June to the 3rd July. Lotsa work to do!

Special thanks to Tham for all the pictures!

Cover Shots!

2008-05-31T02:25:00.005+08:00

It's been a hectic week for me.. again. Even though the Dr Demartini seminars are over and a certain serenity has returned to the Global1 Events office, there's still much post-administrative paper work to be done. Jo was nice enough to allow me to attend the Breakthrough Experience for free! Although I was not on the payroll during the two days, I thought it was worth it. I ain't complaining when people are dishing out SG$1,799 for it and I'm getting it for free! Learnt a couple of things during the seminar. Dr Demartini's way of looking at life and the universe is really different. It was interesting to learn a whole new perspective on life. I actually took a picture with Dr Demartini after the seminar but the photo has not reach me yet.

Well, beside being busy with the seminars, I was also busy getting my face on these mags. Check it out. I made 2 covers in just a month!

Being on the covers of both PLAYER and RICHES can't be good for my reputation..... And why can't these people use different pictures of me?!? Geez...

Exam results came out today.. Kelly was pretty upset and disappointed with her results. Darling, don't worry too much about the grades ya. Like I told you, grades are only one part of the equation and are not everything. What matters is what you take away from the semester. The experience and knowledge that you've gained are forever yours and nobody can take it away from you or slap a grade on it.

Well, I'm starting golf lessons tmr afternoon, got a birthday party at night and got a camp meeting to attend on Sunday. My schedule's even busier now than before the exams!

Dress Fancy!

2008-05-23T01:05:00.006+08:00

There's a new blog shop in town...

That's right! My dear Kelly has launched her very own blog shop! Dress Fancy is now having their launch party and is featuring their Launch Party Collection. The designs there are unbelieveably good. Plus you get to oogle at two pretty babes.

What's there to not like.. dressfancy.livejournal.com.

Dress Fancy and stand out from the crowd!

Dr John DeMartini and Global1 Events

2008-05-22T01:04:00.003+08:00

Whew, taking a break from all the updating of Duchess Bags. Business is slowly picking up. It started out slow but it's gaining momentum now.. Hopefully, it'll kick off like how I imagined it to.

Anyway, some updates on my life. Look at the title of this post. I've been hearing those words a whole lot since last week. Guosh managed to net me a temp full-time job at an events company called Global1 Events. No , that's not spelled wrong. The "1" is there officially. Don't ask me what it stands for though. Global1 Events is essentially a sister company of an Australian company called Global1 Training. Global1 Events is his sister's company actually.

We're bringing in Dr. John F. DeMartini for seminars on Thurs, Sat and Sun. This is Dr DeMartini.
If you've ever read the book "The Secret", then you'd probably know him. He is one of the featured teachers in The Secret. He will be coming down to Singapore for two events - The Secret Revealed and The Breakthrough Experience.The Breakthrough Experience costs a whopping $1799 and that's the early bird special! So anyways, I'm super busy in the office cause the phones won't stop ringing and generally because Singaporeans are a pretty kiasu and kanchiong bunch. They call for every single reason! Some freakin don't even know how to copy and paste a link in a browser! Geez.. talk about technologically backwards... And Singapore's supposed to be on the fore-front of technology. Go figure.

Well, tmr's The Secret Revealed and I had to stay in the office today till 12am to finish up some paper work. There's going to be about 1000+ people at the event tmr, most of them pissed off with the admin support they've been receiving. Fingers are crossed that they don't smash the registration tables.. Oh yeah, the event's at Suntec City Gallery East Level 3. If you're in the area, drop by and say hi!

Reee-wind!

2008-05-17T01:59:00.003+08:00

Wow time has passed so fast this week, I still can't catch my breath although it's the end of the working week! Let's rewind back to last week. Can't believe it's only been a week since the holidays, I've been doing so many things, it felt like a whole month's past.

So we go back to last Wed. It was the last day of the exams! Our last paper was Real Estate Management. Think I did okay for this paper.. Actually I think I did okay for the entire exams this semester. Not too good but not too bad either. It's finally the end of the exams and the start of our 3-month long holiday!!!!
Yes, that's Cad showing how happy he is. Well there was work to be done for the camp so immediately after the exam, we went to distribute flyers for the newspaper collection on Sat. Hardworking huh.. Who would go distribute flyers directly after the last paper. Only us insane students!!

In the evening, it was Shimin's ROM dinner. The Justice of Peace was invited down and Shimin and Soo Meng exchanged vows in front of us all. I'm still so happy for those two! Can't believe they finally got married!! Congrats you two and stay blissful!

Hey I still don't have the pictures I took during Shimin's ROM dinner! Someone send them to me!!

And of course, how else to end the night but by doing a bit of partying!! So we went down to Zouk, where I once again met up with my uni friends.

I went to dance with my uni friends and when I got back, Shimin and her stewardess friends insisted I drink with them because I disappeared for so long. Well, I'm no match for a hardened stewardess so I ended up drunk and Cad had to send me home. Poor Kelly had to spend the night taking care of me. Thanks darling! Without you, I think I would have been puking all over the place already.

The next day, I got up in the afternoon and started writing up my resume. Haha.. Was supposed to send the resume out but didn't get round to doing it. We went for a movie after that. Boy am I glad I didn't suffer from any hangovers! =)

Duchess Bags!!

2008-05-13T18:47:00.004+08:00

I'm finally back again!!!! I apologize for the long long break from blogging. Like I mentioned in the previous post, exams were hogging my time and after that I was doing something on livejournal that the ladies will love.

Well the time has finally come to unveil what I was doing for so long (actually it was about half a week la, but never mind)!

Introducing...

That's right! I started a blog shop! Can't believe I actually did it! What's this Duchess Bags all about, you ask? It's mainly a shop that sells COACH items at great value. So all you COACH fanatics out there, mai tu liao!

For starts, I've lined up some great special offers to launch the site! Be sure to check it out! The prices will drive you insane!

Well, if you noticed, the blog shop was done on blogger instead of livejournal. Why? Because the interface in livejournal is so damn hard to deal with! Plus blogger has the widgets which made things super easy for me! haha..

Eh don't read here already la. Faster go check Duchess Bags out! Must support support ya! =D

http://duchessbags.blogspot.com/

Something's Coming!

2008-05-05T18:09:00.005+08:00

Hey sorry for the lack of updates lately.

Besides being super busy mugging, I've been doing working on something on Livejournal (I'm now like running accounts on Blogger, Wordpress and Livejournal all at the same time geez..). It's gonna be unveiled soon and it's gonna be big so watch out for it ya! All I can say now is that the ladies are gonna LOVE it as hell!

Well got a paper tmr and on Wed. Wish me luck! =)

NAC 2008 Reviewed!

2008-05-01T22:47:00.004+08:00

So I attended the National Achievers Congress (NAC) 2008 yesterday and sat through two speakers. I went a little late but managed to catch T. Harv Eker's seminar just in time! For those who don't know, T. Harv Eker is the author of the best-selling book Secrets of the Millionaire Mind as well as the owner of Peak Potential Training.

Well that was my first time listening to Harv speak. I've seen his books before but never got round to reading them. I must say, Harv's a real dynamic speaker. He gets the crowd all pumped up and excited about what he says. While he does make sense in the things he says, it's not something which I've never heard before. Having read books by Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump and been to Adam Khoo's training camps, I guess I've figured out that they all pretty much say the same thing.

Robert Kiyosaki has his EBSI Quardrant and Harv has his MESP Quardrant. Harv basically motivates the crowd by empowering them. Telling us things like the 3 Types of Conditioning (1. Verbal Programming, 2. Modelling, 3. Specific Experience), Obstacles to Success (Fear), the Process of Manifestation (Thoughts + Feelings + Action = Results), the Victim Mindset (Blame, Justify and Complain) and did comparisons between the rich and the middle and lower classes. Some of the things that he says are the same as what Adam Khoo says. Things like the Victim Mindset, admiring the rich instead of rejecting them ("Bless that which you want"), reasons to create wealth, etc.

Things were actually very good until he started hard-selling his training course. He used some gimmick about lowering the prices and got everybody all excited about a 5-day course that costs S$1995.00. The course was originally going for s$18,000.00. Either way, I'm a student and can only afford the course if it was going for S$50.00 which I think was not going to happen.

So up next after T. Harv Eker was the No. 1 Best-Selling Salesman of the world Joe Girard. Joe's an actualy record holder. He's in the Guinness Book of Records as the "World's Greatest Salesman". Joe has also written several books, such as best-selling How to Sell Anything to Anybody.

Joe's pretty old. I could tell that age was getting to him when he spoke. While not as dynamic a speaker as Harv, at least Joe didn't hard sell anything to anyone. If anything, I think he was trying to sell himself to the audience. I picked up many useful techniques in selling myself to people. According to Joe, everyone's a salesperson whether they like it or not. A preacher's a salesman cause he's trying to sell religion, your teacher's a salesman cause he's trying to sell education, etc. One thing I learnt from Joe is that after-sales service is everything. That's how he got to the top and stayed there for so long.

Joe is the type of person that would go all out to service his customers so they keep coming back and keep bringing their friends. In a world where money means everything, Joe's techniques brought a human touch back to business. Although the techniques were unique back then, I think it's now been rendered pretty common after-sales service. Afterall, his book came out in the 1970's and I think the major corporations would have picked up a lesson or two from him since then.

Well, NAC will be back next year and Robert Kiyosaki's coming to town! That's right! Rich Dad himself is gonna grace Singapore with his presence, along with his drop-dead gorgeous wife Kim Kiyosaki. I might or might not be going. It all depends on whether I can get free tickets again. Haha..

My Hand Is... Broken...

2008-04-29T23:28:00.002+08:00

Just like that.

In just 6 tiny hours, I've completed half of my exams for this semester! It was hell though. Had 2 papers today and both of them were essay-type papers. Wrote till my hand went numb. Imagine 4 hours of non-stop writing trying to get as many details out as possible. Think I wrote a grand total of 23 pages.

Well consolation is I got a one week break before my next paper. I'm gonna rest up these two days before continuing with the mugging. Heading for the National Achievers Congress tmr. Missed it today because of the exams. Damn.. Still end up going alone.

And oh yeah, I'm prep-ing up for Shimin's wedding dinner next week. Just bought a pair of pants from G2000 outlet. Lookin forward to it!

Just Hold On For One More Day!

2008-04-28T17:59:00.008+08:00

I think all the mugging is starting to get to me. I suddenly have this urge to post a music video on my blog. Ugh.. Talk about randomness..

Anyway the inspiration for this music video came from the other day. I was watching Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle and there was this one scene in the SUV where the duo started singing this song. It's freakin hilarious when they did it and somehow the song got stuck and started playing non-stop in my head while I was studying today. Haha.. It's Hold On by Wilson Philips. I had to do some searching on the net before I managed to find the title and artiste. Fantastic song. Enjoy! =)

Inzie the Shih Tzu!

2008-04-25T17:16:00.003+08:00

Taking a little time off from all the endless mugging, let me just blog about the little puppy I see everyday. She's none other than Inzie!

Yup that's her. Waiting patiently for food actually. Inzie's a really young puppy, about 6 months old and she's fat. Compared to when she first came to your house about 2 plus months ago, she's grown a whole lot. She's a joy to be with, always wanting people to scratch her tummy. She has the nasty habit of biting people, which hurts sometimes since she's still teething.

Funny thing about her is her protruding lower teeth. You can see it in the picture below. I don't know why but she can't seem to keep her lower teeth in her mouth. Haha.. Cute, ain't it.

Being a puppy and all, she sleeps a lot. Afternoon naps and everything. In fact, I think she spends about half the time sleeping away.

Okay, better get back to studying for the exams!

The Forbidden Kingdom

2008-04-23T19:13:00.003+08:00

Right, so I caught the 3rd major Chinese epic last Friday. It was actually a meetup for Junior's birthday but me and Pock decided to let him have some lovey-dovey time with Pei and meetup for a show with the two of them later at night instead.

Five of us (Ju, Pei, Pock, Kelly and me) celebrated and cut a (really) small cake for Ju at Carl's Jr. We forgot Ju didn't eat fruits and bought him a strawberry cake! Ah well 11+ years of friendship says he has to forgive our momentary lapse of judgement. After that, 5 of us (Pock got ps-ed by Emily/Ein/whoever so we had one seat to put our bags!) went to catch the show..

The Forbidden Kingdom

Don't you just absolutely hate it when movies have to be catered to the American audience? This movie is supposed to be a historical tie-up with two kung-fu legends with the setting based in Ancient China and guess what, some lame ang mo has to show up and everybody has to end up speaking English. Talk about ridiculous atrocities. Hey, if we can cater to your American shows featuring endless hordes of ang mos speaking English, you guys should at least have the decency to cater to us as well and speak freakin' Chinese when in China!

Anyway, on to the movie itself, it starts Jet Li and Jackie Chan and the movie is basically about an ang mo kid finding himself as the chosen one to bring Sun Wukong's little stick back to him in order for him to beat up a (bad) heavenly warlord. Ang mo kid starts off not knowing kungfu and gets his ass whipped by other ang mo bullies, zips off to Ancient China, returns stick, beats the crap out of warlord and finally goes back to his own time and proceeds to beat crap out of other ang mo bullies.

Well despite my grievances about the ang mo being in the movie, it's actually a pretty decent show with lots of humour thrown in for good measure. Plot's pretty cliched and the beginning and ending does not do justice to the strong middle part of the story.

Overall, I give this movie 7/10 stars only for being able to watch the two kungfu masters in the same show.

Join the 3GB Community!

2008-04-16T23:53:00.004+08:00

Are you sick and tired of all the existing social networks or you just want to try out a new social networking site? Then look no further! Get connected to the 3GB Community!

3GB Communities is a social networking site that allows you to connect together with friends and collegues both old and new, join interest groups, create and write blogs, send messages to each other and even upload mp3 files for sharing with your network.

So don't wait join 3gb community www.3gb.biz now! It's a new social networking site that is still not very large so you can be one of the pioneers to join it, explore it and spread the news of it throughout the world!

vPOST Sponsorship Challenge!

2008-04-15T23:48:00.006+08:00

My school's club, NUS Design and Environment Club, is participating in the vPOST Tertiary Sponsorship Challenge and we need YOUR help!

Basically all you have to do is sign up for vPOST. You'll stand to WIN Air Tickets to exciting destinations, St James Powerhouse memberships, Singapore Flyer Tickets and many more!

Furthermore, signing up nets you a 2-weeks FREE trial access to MobTV and discounts for KFC Meals!

There is totally NO COST involved for signing up. It's FREE!

vPOST will be contributing a cash sponsorship to DE Club Orientation Funds for every new member who signs up so please show your support by clicking on the image below and signing up!!

PS. This Challenge is only open for a limited time! We need all the help we can get. Please do shoew your support for DE Club by signing up!

Finally Get to Spend Some Time With...

2008-04-14T21:40:00.005+08:00

Kelly!

Today was supposed to spend the whole day with her. It's been quite awhile since I got to spend some quality time with her and I'm glad today panned out fine.

As usual, our plans for the entire day was disrupted last Friday due to the SingPost Sponsorship Briefing (more on that in the next post!) when I learnt that I had to give a briefing today to drum up support for DE Club. But luckily, things managed to turn out fine. Went to school, gave the briefing, attended Econs tutorial then spent the entire day with her.

Well, tmr marks the 8th month we've been together! Time really flies when you're having fun huh. Seems like just yesterday we got together and 8 months have gone by so fast. Will be spending the day with her again. It'll turn out good! =)

Cos Living Final Presentation!

2008-04-09T22:28:00.007+08:00

Cos Living did its final presentation yesterday! After weeks of hard work and days of endless nights, Cos Living finally received the highest praise possible from our prof! Prof Andrew asked whether we were serious about starting a business and that he would help us out if we were! Can't believe we managed to pull it off!

Looking back it seemed like only yesterday this group was formed to do this project. We were brainstorming for ideas on what to do for the project but finally settled on the home revamp service company that would eventually be Cos Living. Sebastian joined our group later cause of some disagreements with his previous group. We didn't look back since then. We powered on through the renovation works (you can see them from my previous posts) and rushed to create and print the sales material (special special thanks to Kelly and Ezann for their hard work!) and finally pumped out the powerpoint slides and website (kudos to Yin Mun!). The rest of the gang focused on the report to get everything to gel together.

And we even dressed up according to theme for the presentation! Here's some pictures of us after the presentation. I really liked the outfits! Haha.. Oh yeah, the guy in the first picture is Prof Andrew.

The Cos Living team (clockwise from left): myself, Zun Zin, Zijian, Sebastian, Kelly, Ezann, Yin Mun, Joanne.

As I mentioned earlier, we made many materials for the presentation which costed us a bomb by the way. Materials such as the catalogue, newsletter, namecards, member cards and brochures. The calender made by Kelly was even showcased to other lecture groups!

Here's the video that we prepared for the presentation. A million thanks to ZZ for his hard work one this one!

And of course as usual, ZJ and myself has to take another gay picture. So presenting Gays of Our Lives 2!

It has been really fun working with these guys over the last semester. But it isn't over yet! Report submission is still to come and not forgetting the exams! But of course we'll take a well-deserved break for now. =)

Movie Marathon!

2008-04-06T16:25:00.006+08:00

Despite all the rush for the looming project submission deadlines and the dreaded examinations at the end of the month, I still managed to squeeze in time this week to catch 3 movies! Yes, I'm a movie buff and I'm proud of it so sue me.

So let's review them in chronological order shall we?

1. An Empress and The Warriors

Kelly Chen, Donnie Yen and Leon Lai stars in this ancient Chinese epic about a kingdom's battle for supremacy against 9 other kingdoms.

Kelly Chen stars as the Princess who is forced into taking the throne when her father is murdered by his own general in his own camp. Under the supervision of her loyal warrior and childhood friend (Donnie Yen), she undergoes military training in order to lead her kingdom into battle. While training in the forest, she encounters assassins who tries to kill her as part of a coup being staged by the general who killed her father. Fortunately, she is saved by a hermit (Leon Lai) who lives in the forest. Love ensues between the hermit and the princess while trouble within the kingdom erupts to an uncontrollable level.

Personally I think this movie is only so-so. Both Kelly Chen and Donnie Yen's acting chops fail to bring out the best of the movie. The movie's saving grace is Leon Lai but unfortunately, he's being reduced to playing the role of the hermit, who does not really appear till near the middle of the movie. The plot is interesting but pretty predictable.

Overall, I give this movie 6/10 stars.

2. Be Kind Rewind

Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover and Mia Farrow stars in this film which has its' title as a reference to a phrase commonly displayed on VHS tapes during the medium's heyday.

Mike (Mos Def) works in a video rental store called Be Kind Rewind in Passiac, New Jersey. His best friend is Jerry (Jack Black) who lives in a trailer near the video store. Due to the authorities wanting to demolish the store in order to make way for a new building complex, Mr Fletcher, the owner of the rental store, leaves Mike in charge of the store while he goes on a trip to learn how to raise the funds needed to prevent that from happening. While Mr Fletcher is gone, Jerry gets himself magnetised while trying to sabotage a power plant and ends up erasing all the tapes in the store. Realising this, Mike comes up with the idea of making his own versions of movies starring Jerry and himself in order to maintain the trust of Mr Fletcher. During the course of making these movies, many funny events take place which is the crux of the movie itself.

The thing that drew me to watch this movie was the plot. While watching a trailer, I thought the plot was pretty interesting and something that's completely original and not so commerical. I would say the movie starts out slow but draws you in as it progresses along.

I give this movie 7/10 stars.

3. Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon

Starring Andy Lau, Sammo Hung and Maggie Q, this movie is based on the Three Kingdoms era of China's history. It is one of the two Three Kingdom epics coming out this year. The second one being John Woo's Red Cliff, due out middle of the year. On a personal note, I'm a MAJOR fan of the Three Kingdoms. It's such a rush watching my favourite heroes being personified on the big screen!

This movie tells the story of legendary Shu general Zhao Zilong (Andy Lau). For those who reads the Romance of the Three Kingdoms novels, Zhao Zilong is also known as Zhao Yun. The movie starts off with Zhao Zilong signing up with the Shu army at Phoenix Heights. There, he meets Luo Ping An (Sammo Hung) and the duo quickly strikes up a close and personal friendship. Following several undefeated battles and various acts of selfless courage, Zhao Zilong is being promoted to one of the Five Tiger Generals of Shu. Zhao Zilong would eventually meet his end at Phoenix Heights after being surrounded by Wei commander Cao Ying (Maggie Q). Zhao Zilong coming back to Phoenix Heights with Luo Ping An was symolic as the duo had made a promise to travel round the "big circle" together. However, after 35 years in the army, they were still left wondering how far away peace was.

Although this movie is based on the Three Kingdoms, there are certain elements that are fictional, that is it neither happened in history nor did it happen in the novel. For example;

(1) Zhao Zilong never signed up with the Shu army as a foot soldier. He started out as a general under warlord Gongsun Zan but changed sides to Liu Bei after he realised his judgement of Gongsun Zan was misplaced.

(2) Zhao Zilong didn't die on the battlefield. He died of old age.

(3) Zhao Zilong had a family. He had two sons and an adopted son.

(4) Cao Ying's character is completely fictional. Cao Cao's kingdom was succeeded by his son, Cao Pi.

Overall, I give this movie 7/10 stars.

I made a promise to myself at the start of the year that I'm going to catch all 4 major ancient Chinese epics coming out this year. They are An Empress and the Warriors, Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon, The Forbidden Kingdom and Red Cliff. I've already caught 2 of them. Now then, 2 more to go!

National Achievers Congress 2008!

2008-04-04T03:31:00.003+08:00

Mark 29th April 2008 - 1st May 2008 on your calenders! That's right! The National Achievers Congress (NAC) is back again!

NAC is a two-day event organised by Success Resources and it has been running since 1992 and have seen more than 100,000 people from 6 different countries attend its' seminars. NAC started with a need to assemble world-class experts and professionals in one location to learn, discuss and advance breakthroughs in business competencies to vast audiences at a very affordable price.

This year world-renowned speakers such as Joe Girard, Blair Singer, T. Harv Eker, Roger Hamilton, Adam Ginsberg, Steve Linder and many more have been invited to share their strategies and skill that will make money, grow your incomes and profits in your business and personal life.

Such an oppotunity is worth hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. Don't believe me? Click here and you'll see that the regular tickets are currently going for $230. The price will be increased to $450 as this massive event draws nearer. I'm not even talking about the VIP tickets, which are worth $995! Click here for proof!

So how much is this opportunity worth to you?

Take action now! Contact me and get tickets for you at only $180! No gimmicks at all. I'm not even going to profit from this. I'm selling the tickets to you at the price I'm getting it at. What's the catch? There is none, save for the fact that I believe this event is going to be massive and we will definately be able to learn from it.

But hurry, I can't hold the offer for long. I have to know if you're going by the 8th of April so I can place the orders for the tickets! There are very limited seats left so don't delay any furthur!

PS. If you want to know how I'm getting the tickets at this price, just drop me message or give me a call. The reason why I'm not putting it up here is because some of these information may be deemed, shall we say, sensitive. =)

PPS. If you want to find out more information on NAC 2008, click here.

RSS Feeds and Email Subscriptions!

2008-03-31T19:02:00.005+08:00

I just got the RSS feeds and email subscription services from Feedburner up! Take a look on your right. I placed it all the way on top so it's visible for all to see!

You can either subscribe to the RSS feed which will tell you everytime I have a new post or to the email subscription service which will send you an email whenever I update the blog. That way, you don't have to keep checking back all the time!

Also, be sure to bookmark me on all your favourite sites like Digg, StumbleUpon, Del.icio.us, Google, Facebook, Yahoo! and many more by using the quick and convenient Add This button at the bottom of every post!

Go ahead and get trigger-happy! =)

Understanding Plastic Recycling and HDPE!

2008-03-30T16:29:00.005+08:00

Plastic recycling is essentially the collection of waste or scrap plastic and turning them into useful products again. Take note that the products might be totally different from its’ original state, an example would be a plastic bottle being recycled into toys, etc.

All plastic that can be recycled has a resin identification code and one of the most common forms of recycled plastic is High Density Polyethylene (or HDPE) which as a resin code of 2.

HDPE can be used for a wide variety of applications such as containers (think Tupperware, milk jugs, laundry detergent bottles, etc), folding tables and chairs, plastic bags, natural gas distribution pipes, snowboard rails/boxes and refillable bottles.

In the process of recycling HDPE, scrap HDPE is produced. Scrap HDPE comes in many different forms and can also be used for many different purposes. Unfortunately, post-consumer HDPE (which is HDPE that has already been used as consumer goods and have been discarded) are being wasted every year by the thousands of tons. This is very detrimental to the environment, not to mention a perfect waste of a useful manufacturing material. Fortunately, there are companies out there which purchases scrap HDPE for further recycling.

If you’re interested to learn more about plastic recycling and HDPE, please visit HDPE Material.

DRE Public Talk: The Potential and Challenges of the Real Estate Funds Business!

2008-03-29T10:00:00.007+08:00

Wednesday (26/03/2008) 12pm at LR423.

Mr Jonathan Yap gave a presentation on his views regarding the real estate business and gave specific insights on how Ascendas India Trust (a-iTrust) is run. I was priviliaged enough to be able to attend his talk. Below is a brief outline of what he covered.

Changing Market Dynamics
Investments into Asia have grown over the years. Surprisingly, this is actually due to the greying of the world's population. Currently, 11% of the world's population is >60 years old and that number is expected to hit 22% by 2050. This leads to retirement/pension money increasing and thus more money have been pumped into investments in developing economies, including Asia. With the globalisation of sources of funding, the accessibility of funds have gone from local to global with the interest in cross-border transactions increasing (think SWFs and foreign investors, etc). In Asia, REIT IPOs have generally been oversubscribed and currently, Asia REITs distribution yields have substantial spreads above 10-year government bonds. Just in Japan and Singapore alone, the REITs market cap have grown by almost 3 times to S$60 billion over 2005 to 2007.

Tapping on Real Estate Funds
There are several key advantages in tapping into REITs. First of all is the streamline operations of these funds. Real estate funds bring their niche expertise to the table, including development expertise, management expertise and local deal sourcing expertise. In addition, there is an add-on for capital market capabilities including fund structuring, capital raising and fund management.

The Ascendas Business Model
Ascendas employes a three-pringed strategy to provide maximum shareholder value. They are creating assets, enhancing asset value and finally unlocking the asset value. Ascendas manages about 7 funds (2 public and 5 private) including a-reit and a-iTrust as their public funds. The key investment highlights of a-iTrust include a high quality portfolio managed to international standards, strong growth potential, unique three-pronged acquisitions growth strategy, exposure to the booming Indian economy and Ascendas sponsorship and strong corporate governance.

a-iTrust closed up 2 cents to S$1.04 per share yesterday (Friday, 28/03/2008).

About the Speaker

Mr Jonathan Yap is Executive Vice President, Real Estate Funds Business, where he focuses on the formation of new private funds for Ascendas across the Asia region and developing business synergy across these funds.

Mr Yap is concurrently CEO of India Funds, overseeing Ascendas' India-focused funds business, including the Ascendas India Development Trust (private fund) and and the award-winning Ascendas India Trust (listed on SGX-ST).

About DRE Public Talks
These talks are organised by the Department of Real Estate and are opened to members of the public, students and staff of SDE. If you're interested in finding out how to attend these talks, drop me a message and I'll forward the registration links to you the next time there is a talk.

Get Paid to Blog!

2008-03-27T13:21:00.004+08:00

On an earlier post, I mentioned about being able to make money online. Well here's one more for you, did you know that you get be paid to blog?? Yes, you're reading it right! YOU get PAID to blog! Makes you wonder why you've been doing it for free all this time huh.

I recently signed with payperpost.com. Starting out was not easy. There were several requirements that my blog didn't fulfil like having enough posts within a certain time frame and not selecting the right categories, etc. But Customer Love (the in-house customer service guys) managed to help me resolve my issues and they even managed a very quick turnaround time. It took them only a day to get back to me. Now that's good customer service for you! And now my blog has been approved and I'm writing this post as my first sponsored post!

My dashboard in payperpost is easy to use. The controls are simple enough and it's very well-organised. I managed to surf around the members area and check out all the other cool stuff like ppp direct the very first time i logged in. The loading of the pages is a little slow though but then again, I think that's really my fault, not theirs!

And you don't have to worry about all the gimmicks that are running on the web. Payperpost has shown that they are a trustworthy and reliable online company to work with. The terms and conditions are properly laid out (for example, you can check out the word of mouth ethics), there's a clear way for you to be paid and the customer service is top-notch. I should know, hey, I'm already signed up with them!

So what are you waiting for? Click on the payperpost link below and starting signing up! It's FREE!

Don't just blog for free, get PAID to blog!

Making Money Online!

2008-03-26T23:43:00.003+08:00

There are many ways to make money online these days. Even blogging can earn you cash. Blogging you say? That's right, you can make money out of your own blog!

Many people don't even notice it, but for those people using a Blogger account, there's an option to set up a Google Adsense account. An Adsense account will allow Google to place ads on your blog and you earn money everytime someone clicks on the ad on your blog. It's a terrific way to earn money cause you basically don't have to lift a finger to earn the money. If you want examples of adsense, just take a look around on my blog. You can sign up for an Adsense account here. Go ahead and grab an Adsense account, you know you want it!

Besides Adsense, there are many other ways to start generating profits online. Examples include affiliate marketing, viral marketing, network marketing. These are all online examples which you can do right in the comfort of your own home. It's not easy however. Just like starting any other business, starting an online business would take time, patience, capital and lots of learning. But, hey, the sooner you start, the sooner you'll learn the ropes of the trade and be able to start earning money online.

Gone are the days when you have to get a job and slog it out 9-5 everyday just to scrape by. With the advent of the Information Age, the way people are earning money has changed.

Are you changing along with it?

SMART Investment Expo 2008!

2008-03-24T00:06:00.002+08:00

The SMART Investment and International Property Expo is going on at Suntec City next weekend (29th & 30th Mar)!

--> http://www.smartexpos.com

It's one of the biggest and longest established expos in Asia and it brings together the world's most attractive investment opportunities from the real estate and financial sectors. This expo is one of the most well-known and trusted platforms in Singapore because of its' many educational programmes and international property showcases. The SMART expo is one of the most important for all serious investors because of the many free expert advice on offer.

To top it all of, admission is FREE!! All you have to do is register your seat! Do not hesitate any further!

--> http://www.smartexpos.com

This is NOT an affiliate link. The only reason I'm promoting this is because I want some company to go with me!!! It's lonely to go alone and hey, it's always better to go with friends and learn in a group. You know what they say "hao dong si yao fen xiang". It means "good things must share"! So that's why I'm promoting this on my blog. I think this is going to be pretty helpful. And what's the opportunity cost? One weekend spent learning and expanding your knowledge on investment and property. Now I wouldn't call that an opportunity cost at all. Nope, it's called an investment in time! And again it's FREE!! What more do you need to convince you.

--> http://www.smartexpos.com

And to all my friends in SDE if you're reading this, this expo is something we can't miss. It's an expo on investment and property for heaven's sake. We're studying Real Estate. This expo is practically made for us! There'll be industry heavyweights there dispensing free advice and guidance plus their views on the property market for the near future (click here for the seminar timetable). If this doesn't concern us, then I don't know what does!

Register your seats now! And don't forget to drop me a msg so we can go together! =)

--> http://www.smartexpos.com

Open Houses and Birthday Chalets!

2008-03-22T17:04:00.011+08:00

Last Saturday (15/03/08) was NUS Open House 2008! I had two major things running on that day. First, I was working as a Student Ambassador for SDE and second, there was a fund-raising event going on for SDE FOC 2008. There fund-raising event was about selling ice-cream to raise money for the camp! Unfortunately I could only help out inbetween ambassador shifts. But they peeps at the ice-cream stall sure looked like they were having fun!

Wished I could be there all the way to enjoy the festivities! I didn't even get a picture taken of me at the stall!

Anyway after the Open House closed for Saturday, we rushed down to Downtown East for Ezann's 21st birthday chalet!

Her actual birthday is on the 19th of March. It's on a Wednesday so of course we had another round of celebrations in school!

For some reason, someone brought sparklers to school for the birthday celebration and we thought it would be a good idea to light them up.

We ended up creating so much smoke and fogging up the entire SDE 4th floor until the fire alarm rang and...

Campus Security has to come down and take our details down! Haha.. but all's well that end's well. We were let off with a warning and continued our celebrations! We even got friendly with the security officer; he came to buy ice-cream from us when we were selling it at SDE level 4 later that day!

And look what became of the nice little cake that we got..

Yup, it was devoured by us! All-in-all it was a great celebration.

Hope you had a great 21st birthday Ezann! Oh yeah.. and welcome to Adulthood!!! =)

Cos Living Day 3 - The Finale!!

2008-03-19T17:07:00.006+08:00

We're back with Cos Living Day 3! This is the finale ladies and gentlemen!

So the rest of the bulkier furniture came and we went back as a group to fix everything up and do the final touches for the renovations. Since the furnitures were the bulky ones, we naturally needed to set everything up. There was the sofa, the Cosy Corner chairs, the huge mirror, the carpets, the tables, etc. Lotsa work to do before we were done.

Finally after all the hard work, we were doing up the finishing touches of the revamped place!

This is what the Cosy Corner looks like after we were all done with the renovations.

And this is the new living room! We changed the entire layout of the flat. This is according to our objective of doing a maximum makeover with minimum cost and hassle.

So this is the result of our hard work, blood and sweat. Look at the change!

Amazing isn't it! I myself didn't expect to achieve such results. Our group really put in so much effort to do this. Great job guys!

And of course, we'll have to take some pictures of us using our own creation!

I absolutely love this picture. Think it's just so cute. Haha.. Too bad Yin Mun had to leave before we can take it. Otherwise, we would have the entire group present!

Of course, no project can be done without the help of a few selected handful who contributes their time and money to the project. Here are they! First up, the brave family who willingly put up their home to be renovated by us.

Then there are friends of the family who takes time off and put in lots of effort to help out with the work!

Last but definately not least, the financers of the entire project. The cost came up to about S$1,600. A big THANK YOU to them all!

Well, this is the entire group's photo! This is like one of the only two we got with the entire group in it! Haha.. And of course, something has to screw up like Joanne closing her eyes! Argh!!

All in all, this was a fantastic experience. I'd never thought we could have pulled this off. But we exceeded our own expectations and did a fantastic job! Of course, all's not over yet. We still have the report and presentation to tackle but they're just minor work compared to this!

GREAT JOB GUYS!!!!!

Cos Living Day 2!

2008-03-18T23:16:00.005+08:00

This is part two of the three-part series on Cos Living! Welcome back!

Alright, so picking up from where we left off. We went to Ikea to grab the furniture needed to revamp the house. Total cost came up to about S$1,300+ but luckily we got Kelly's parents who were kind enough to be our very first customers! They paid for all the furniture plus paint and hardware that we needed to complete our renovations.

We went to lunch at Hong Kong Cafe opposite Ikea Alexandria after the shopping trip. All famished already. We were supposed to finish shopping by 12 noon but ended up finish around 1 plus. Sebastian couldn't join us because he was in China for his company training and ZZ was waiting for us at Boon Keng already. That's why both of them are not in the picture. Actually, come to think of it, there's always at least one member who is missing. Haha.. we hardly have any pictures will all 8 of us inside.

After lunch, we were off to Boon Keng to start our jobs! Bought some paint and starting painting the place up. Our objective today was to paint the Cosy Corner red and paint the door so that it looks more presentable.

As you can see, work was not easy. Luckily for us, Yin Mun was there to save the red wall. The guys were actually in charge of the red wall but due to, ah, lack of experience, we couldn't really do our jobs properly. Yin Mun's a saviour I tell ya. She's skilled in painting, doing up websites, image editting. I'm so glad she's in the same group as me and not someone else's.

We hand-carried some of the furniture from Ikea back to the place. The bulkier items were sent for delivery. Of course, having some furniture there meant that we had to set it up.

There was also drilling that needed to be done. That task was given to ZZ, our handyman!

And of course, we just simply have to take random pictures (cam-whoring!) of as we work. Or else, where's the fun eh!

At the end of Day 2, we managed to achieve our objective of painting the red wall, door, window grills and assembling some of the furniture. Although we finished pretty late (10+pm I think), we were very satisfied with what we've done so far. Work's not over yet though. The bulkier furniture would be arriving in a couple of days and that's when we'll be back again.

That is the story for my next post, Cos Living Day 3 - The Finale! The final completed product (plus lots more random cam-whoring pics!)! Watch this space!!

Cos Living Day 1!

2008-03-17T18:21:00.007+08:00

Okay as promised, this is the first part of a three-part series for Cos Living!

For those not in the know, I'm doing a marketing project this semester. We're supposed to come up with a business plan for the project and my group came up with an idea similar to Bai Jia Le - you know, Home Decor Survivor? The one hosted by Bryan Wong? Anyway, the company is called Cos Living and we specialise in renovations of maximum effect and minimum cost and hassle. I don't want to bore you with the details so I'll skip the introduction to the company. If you really want to know, drop me a message and I'll tell ya.

So anyway, the pictures here are taken during our very first day down. We went there to basically look at the place, do up measurements and brainstorm for ideas on the renovations.

The living room

Window grills beside the door

The door Doing up the measurements Discussion on the renovations and new layout for the place

Coming up next! Cos Living Day 2! Watch out for it!!

The Secret Revealed!

2008-03-13T12:55:00.002+08:00

I came across this video about The Secret recently. You know the small little book in bookstores? Yeah that's the one. If you've been wondering what exactly is this Secret thing about, wonder no further. This video will reveal exactly what the Secret is. It is in a nutshell the Law of Attraction. It is about 25 mins long but trust me, it is absolutely worth your time to watch it. Go check it out.

--> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b1GKGWJbE8

I've always believed in the power of the subconscious mind. I believe I mentioned in a previous post that our physical realities are shaped by our thoughts. Good or bad, we become what we think. It is so very important for us to be able to control our thoughts. This is no easy task, but the good thing is, it'll get easier as you continue to practice and apply it.

The reason why I wanted to share this video with you is because I believe that this is a fundamental secret of life that all of us should know. Whether you believe it or not, your thoughts are shaping the universe around you. Everything that you think about will manifest itself in physical forms.

--> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b1GKGWJbE8

Have you ever wonder why things happen exactly the way you don't want it to happen? Well that's because you keep thinking about it! Your thoughts attract the things that you think about, whether good or bad, and manifest them in their physical forms. Now think about the good side, everytime you want something or want something to happen so badly, it will always work out. Why? Because you keep thinking about it! That is no mere coincidence, it happened because of YOU!

That is the power of the subconscious mind, or the Law of Attraction. If you want to find out more, go watch the video.

--> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b1GKGWJbE8

Viwawa-ing!

2008-03-12T23:04:00.004+08:00

There's a recent craze which I've caught on. Check this site out.

http://www.viwawa.com/

That's right, it's MAHJONG!! Never thought I'd end up playing it. It's quite addictive I tell ya. I always had the image of my parents sitting down with relatives playing mahjong and whole night through and thought to myself, "Geez, that'll never happen to me". Well, I'm starting to appreciate why they do that now.

Anyway I've also bought a slew of books the past week. I'm starting to think books are my thing. Just like how girls like to buy bags or shoes, I like to buy books. Sounds like a real nerd I know. Books I bought: Vagabond 1 & 2 (by Takehiko Inoue), Trump: The Art of the Deal (by Donald Trump) and The Speed Reading Book (by Tony Buzan). I managed to get the Donald Trump book cheap at a second-hand bookstore in Bras Basah. Now, the challenge is to actually finish reading them!

I'll be able to lay my grubby hands on pictures of the Cos Living project soon. I'll upload them as soon as I do. Be prepared to be astonished! Meanwhile, look for me at viwawa.com. You'll know my name when you see it. =)

Download This FREE Website Builder!

2008-03-06T00:50:00.006+08:00

While surfing the net, I happened to stumble across a free website builder offered by Ewen Chia and thought this was a great way for people to learn to built websites without having to buy expensive software like Dreamweaver or FrontPage, etc.

I've downloaded the software myself and fumbled a bit with it. The interface is pretty okay but of course not as professional as Dreamweaver. Hey, what do you expect from a free product. The software even includes video guides and tutorials for beginners to learn how to build websites. Plus there are links to teach you some Internet Marketing skills if you're into it. The products is basically a very scaled-down version of Dreamweaver. It's Graphical User Interface (GUI) is pretty decent, which means you can create a simple enough website with it even if you have no background with HTML codes.

I'll have you know before you click on the link that this product is offered by Ewen Chia. He is considered one of Singapore's top Internet Marketers so please be prepared to scroll through down some pages of his salescopies to get to the download link (it's right at the bottom if you wana know). The link itself is an affiliate link.

If all those above sounds foreign to you, don't sweat it. Just scroll right down to the bottom and download your free software. There's completely no payment involved for the website builder. You'll only have to pay if you want his other products. You can always read his salescopy and decide for yourself if you want his other products. Meanwhile just grab the website builder since it is FREE! (Hey, I've already downloaded the software myself!)

Go ahead.. You know you wana click on it.. =)

Kelly Is Sick.. & Other Random Stuff

2008-03-05T12:57:00.007+08:00

Kelly caught the sick bug that has been raging around campus. Apparently lots of students are falling sick now. I don't know if it's a seasonal thing but from what I've noticed so far, students from NUS usually fall sick in a bunch. It's never alone, they fall sick together. Must be the strong bond in NUS that's causing this eh.

So I went over to my little babe's place yesterday, bought her lunch (and bubble tea!) and basically watched her sleep the whole day through. I managed to grab some time inbetween to do some studying for the econs mid-terms on Thursday. Here's a picture of her looking really sick:

Okay maybe not too sick. Anyway here are some other random pictures I took a couple of weeks back. Didn't get it off my phone till now so ya.

I love the little Cheer Bear. That's Henry inside by the way. He was selling flowers for Valentine's Day in campus walking around in the bear suit. Love the way he flashes those cute middle fingers.

Well I gotta run now. Update again soon. =)

Uncle Roberto's Birthday!

2008-03-04T20:44:00.004+08:00

You knew this was coming didn't you. All the other entries on my NUS' friends' blogs had this entry. Well what can I say - we do run in the same circles. Anyway yes last Thursday we went out to celebrate Zijian's birthday. I don't know why but Ezann decided to call him Roberto when we were doing up the house for our marketing project (more on this when I get the pictures!) and the name has kind of stuck since.

Here are the pictures in chronological order so you'd know what the hell we did to him. Enjoy!

We went to KTV after that. Been so long since the Lycans actually went singing. And oh yeah, we still owe Zijian a birthday present.

Sabo him first, give present later. Now that's the way. =)

Shocking Look Inside Chinese Fur Farms

2008-03-01T15:58:00.003+08:00

A friend recently sent me a link to a video detailing what goes on behind the curtains in a Chinese fur farms.

The video simply disgusts me.

It is shocking to see how these people treat animals. Animals are living things capable of feelings and emotions. To see them being treated like this sends a chill of shame down my spine. Below is the embedded video but a word of caution, the video is extremely cruel so please be prepared.

Pledge to go fur-free at PETA.org

You can visit the website where I got the video from here. It has a lot more information regarding the fur trade. If you feel strongly towards this unethical treatment of animals, please visit the site and spread the word to your friends. Also, do not support the fur trade and boycott the purchase of any kind of furs. Animals have paid with their lives to teach us these lessons.

PETA has also done an investigation into KFC suppliers detailing how they treat the chickens used in KFC. The chickens are subjected to extreme torture and very poor living conditions. Even the way they are slaughtered is extremely cruel. You can visit the website and view the video here.

It is shameful to see that this is the way humans treat their fellow living things. How can we even consider ourselves civilised if we can't even feel for another living thing and have the decency to treat them with proper respect?

Please do your part for the ethical treatment of animals. Again, please visit PETA for more information on how you can contribute to the cause.

SDE Street Games 2008!

2008-02-28T00:59:00.008+08:00

I was the MC for the inaugural SDE Street Games 2008! It was really a last-min thing. I received a call from Ezann last Saturday asking whether I was free on Monday and that's it! I got "called up" for work. Spent the whole day standing under the sun and getting burnt all over. Trust me you don't wanna see me now. It ain't a pretty sight.

Street Games 2008 went well. Had so much fun chatting with friends and playing music through my handphone into the microphone cause the wiring screwed up. Plus I finally did some sports after years of bumming around! Played basketball with Ernest and gang a couple of times in between breaks and MC-ing. Too bad I didn't managed to take any pictures otherwise I could share them with you.

Anyway I did manage to grab hold of some pictures taken during the newspaper collection that we did on Saturday. Have at thee!

Thanks to everyone who came down to help! We managed to earn a total of about S$460! This will help FOC a great deal! Hope we can do this again sometime soon. =)

Collecting Newspapers and Poly Gatherings

2008-02-25T00:45:00.007+08:00

I became a karang guni man on Saturday!

We had a fund-raising effort for FOC and went around the Ang Mo Kio estate collecting newspapers door-to-door. That was the first time I did it so it was a real eye opener for me. We didn't managed to hit the expected manpower turn-out of 50 people (only about 14 people turned up...) but hey we managed to pull the event off! Thanks to everyone for putting so much effort into the event! I know it was really tiring having to climb up and down stairs with the newspapers and clothes and electronic equipment and all but it will be well-worth the effort when the camp comes. The event ended at about 6pm and I went off to Kelly's place to grab a shower and change of clothes (no, I brought my own clothes) before heading over to Shimin's place for....

The annual poly gathering! Well it's not exactly annual but anyway... Saw everyone there again after soooo long. Kelly came along and I'm glad she managed to mingle around with my friends. We had dinner there as usual. I always end up too full whenever I head to Shimin's place. We did the usual catching up and gambling then went off to Cafe del Mar to chill. That place really sucks to the max. The music is totally off and the drink prices are ridiculous. It's no wonder that place is empty on a Saturday night. I don't know if that is the usual case but in my book, an empty place on a Saturday night is usually not good for business. I think it is only a matter of time before that place closes down. We ended up heading back only at 4 plus am. I was super tired by then. Physically and mentally exhausted by all the work in the afternoon and having to stay up till so late. Not to mention I only managed to grab 5 hours of sleep each night for the past 2 nights. Here are some pictures:

The guys...

...and the girls.

Speaking Up!

2008-02-20T02:25:00.003+08:00

Recently I was pretty busy with many presentations. I've had 3 presentations since last Saturday (that's like 3 in 3 days!) and no, they're not all formal presentations for projects, thank God! 2 of them were actually informal presentations during tutorials. Anyway one thing I always notice during presentations is people's unwillingness to speak up. It's like they're afraid what they say might be wrong or might insult other people, etc. I also noticed that the presentation standards of local students is not as good as the foreign ones. Is it because of our culture? I certainly think not. It's just that many of us lack the essential practice needed. Now please let me clarify here that I do NOT profess to be a professional speaker or anything, it's just that I do have some experience in giving presentations and doing public speaking so I thought I'd share some tips here.

In order to overcome the fear of public speaking (we'll just call it public speaking ya), one thing I always do to start off would be to look at the audience before the presentation. When you're still behind the curtains, or waiting for your turn to speak, take a good look at the audience and get used to hundreds of people staring back at you. It's a whole lot easier to be in the crowd looking at a presenter than to be the presenter looking at the crowd. So you have to get used to seeing so many people looking at you.

Next, never never read from notes! You'll just ruin the entire presentation. You'll have already lost the audience because you do not establish rapport with them (you're looking at your notes) and half the time, you'll be trying to figure out where you last stopped on the script. What I do is to always have either one-word or short-sentence notes (best if can have a hard copy of the ppt to flip as I go along) put on the table and I'll just refer to them to elaborate the next point. Everything I have to say is basically already in my head. You don't have to memorise scripts for this. Just know your points, keep calm and present them with clarity. I also make sure I look at everyone in the crowd. I do not just stare at the lecturer during the presentation. Again, if you do that, you'll lose your audience.

Third, be confident! I've seen students presenting with their hands shivering. It's not a very pretty sight and everyone in the audience knows s/he is nervous. Now that is something that you do not want people to know/think about you during a presentation. Even if you do not have the correct answer, or you do not know your facts very well or simply have no clue what you're doing, by being confident, you can mask them all and give the impression that you know what you're talking about. In a crude way, this is called knowing how to talk cock. Don't laugh, it's an important skill. Anyway think what's the worse thing that can happen? It's not like you're gonna lose that major contract or anything. We're just students! And it's exactly why we're students that we're learning how to present!

Lastly (and this is the most important factor), PRACTICE!!! Yes, it does "makes perfect". I'm not saying it's going to be easy. There'll be definately be mistakes and you'll have to get out of your comfort zone and go the extra mile to deliver a good presentation. Hey, I had lots of troubles with the shivering hands and lips and voice and all when I first started. Now I look back at those days 9 years ago and I'm thankful that I was given the chance to practice. I went through many presentations after that during my days in NP, learning through each one and that's where I managed to learn the skills of public speaking..

And I'm still learning! Like they say, learning is a life-long experience. The tips that I've given out here is from personal experience. What I've learnt through the many presentations and public speaking sessions that I've had throughout the years. I sincerely hope that they can help you with your public speaking.

Let me know if you've any tips on public speaking as well and I'll be glad to post them to share with everyone! =)

PS. Check out Gary's blog! There's lots of public speaking tips there from the real experts! He's the President of NUS Toastmasters' Club so you can be sure it'll be good stuff!

... Flowers from the Heart... Thanks You!

2008-02-16T15:02:00.006+08:00

What a hectic Valentine's Day it was for me! For those of you who don't already know, I was running a small Valentine's Day business this year selling bouquets. Let's start off with the 13th Feb. Reeee-wind!

13th Feb

Started the day going to HabourFront to have lunch and collect the Supplementary Licenses for the Off-Peak Car that we're using. Once home, Kelly and myself quickly counted the number of orders we had and exactly how many more we needed to get. Then we were off to grab our supplies! By this time, the orders were more or less confirmed already with a few still pending/coming in. We went down to the florist and realised that we grossly under-estimated the orders the last time so we bought another bunch of flowers, side flowers, ribbons, wrappers, the works. We rushed home after that and started preparing to wrap the bouquets up. I was de-thorning the roses MANUALLY! You know how hard it is to dethorn 200+ roses manually!? Anyway Kailin came around 4 plus and she joined in the fray. Kelly and Kailin were busy making and wrapping the bouquets. I have two fridges in my house and I had previously cleared one for the bouquets but we realised that one fridge was not enough... So we cleared the other one! Two fridges full of roses.. plus a lot of spoilt food after that. We worked all the way till 5+am in the morning and I dropped Kailin off at PGP. Kelly and myself came back and we went to sleep at 7am...

14th Feb

My parents were off delivering in the morning so we thought we could get some sleep but.... We kept getting calls and messages the whole morning so the sleep was pretty much very disrupted. One customer called to complain in the morning that the blue roses were rotten. Funny thing is, another customer that also ordered blue roses were very satisfied with his bouquet. The blue roses came from the same bunch so either the roses got spoiled along the way or his expectations were unrealistic. Anyway we woke up at 11am and continued to pack the bouquets to prep-up for the afternoon deliveries. My parents came back at 12pm and we changed shift. Dad stayed home to pack his bags while Mum, Kelly and me continued the deliveries. We spent the whole day in the car driving all over Singapore, getting lost, finding our way around, listening to the radio, laughing and generally having loads of fun even though we were super tired. I'm actually glad I did this. Hey, I got to spend Valentine's with the two (yeah, that's right TWO, not one!) most important ladies in my life! Anyway we reached home only at 630pm, picked up Dad and his bags and the bouquets for the evening rounds and we were off again! Deliveries only ended at 9+pm and by then we had to rush off to the airport to send Dad off to Beijing. Had dinner there and sent him off, then sent Kelly back and finally reached home! My day ended at 12+am. Tired but very satisfied.

To our dear customers,

Thank you once again for your support!! We sincerely hope you've had a great Valentine's Day and you liked the bouquets that we sent you. Please do support us again next year! And remember.. "Romance is not a luxury." =)

Lotsa Love,

Valentine's Day 2008

2008-02-11T00:31:00.000+08:00

...Flowers from the Heart... is exactly what its' name says. It's flowers, given from the bottom of the sender's heart. Simple and pure.

We are a florist that specializes in Valentine's Day bouquets. We live by the motto - Romance is not a Luxury. We believe that romance is essential to a relationship and that it should not be too costly to be able shower your loved ones with romance and affection. Therefore, we're making hand bouquets for Valentine's Day affordable to you. Let us bring a smile to your loved ones this Valentine's as well as a smile to your pockets.

12 Stalk Rose Bouquet...

All bouquets come with a free hand-made card that you can personalise with your very own message to your loved ones!

The wrapping and packaging of the bouquets is done by Kelly and Kailin. Both of them used to work at a florist. I'm handling the management of the whole business including all the paper work. So if you need flowers, please contact me! We can work out the price and you can be sure I'll quote you a good one!

Your Greatest Asset: Your Mind

2008-02-10T00:05:00.000+08:00

Happy CNY! It's now officially the Year of the Rat! How's everyone's CNY celebrations coming along? Hope all's great with the visiting and catching up with relatives.

In my previous post, I mentioned about the mindset of self-made millionaires. I strongly believe that a person's mind is one of his greatest asset. It is something that everyone is given at birth so there is no discrimination. Everyone is given the same mind at birth. It is through the different experiences, training and exposure that a person will shape his thought-process and it is exactly this thought-process that is so very important in the search for wealth. Think about it, no two persons will see the world in exactly the same way. Although they can be looking at the same thing, what they see in their minds are different.

In order to achieve financial success, you will need to adopt the mindset and habits of individuals who have achieved financial success. It makes sense, doesn't it? Like for you to be able to drive a car, you need to learn from someone who knows how to drive a car. There is so much to know about the millionaire mindset. The way they see the world is totally different from the ordinary person. The way they think and their entire thought-process is totally different from the guy next door.

Napolean Hill wrote at length about the power of the subconscious mind in his book, Think and Grow Rich. He mentioned that the subconscious mind is so powerful that, if properly conditioned, can be the source of immense wealth. It will begin to attract money to the person who has that mind. That is not to be literally of course. It simply means that the person will begin to see money-making opportunities that other people who not even notice. He wrote "All impulses of thought have a tendency to clothe themselves in their physical equivalent". So if you can condition your mind to see the money-making opportunities around you, money will naturally flow towards you. You can read more about the book here.

Adam Khoo also mentioned the millionaire mindset in his book The Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires. In fact it is one of his 7 essential steps of financial success. You can learn more about his book and the 7 essential steps here.

Il Segreto 2008

2008-02-06T02:17:00.000+08:00

The new school semester has been really busy for me. So much so I haven't had time to catch up on my books and it's already like the 4th week now. But then again, the year really only starts after CNY eh? It's like that every year, after the celebration and partying dies down from Christmas and New Year, the anticipation would start to build up for CNY. The holiday mood would still be hanging in the air and no one really feels like working.

Well what have I been busy with? Lemme see.. There's planning for the FOC Camp 2008, my own research work into Internet Marketing (gimme a holla if you're doing the same and maybe we can work something out together!), projects and assignments starting to pile up, some actual studying, spending time with Kelly, family, friends, etc. It's a pretty long list.

SDE Bash was a couple of weeks ago! Had so much fun during the bash. The pageant was good, Kelly was fantastic with the catwalk and dancing. But it was the partying after that rocked the house down. MOS gave us like a half-hour lead time before they opened the club to the public. That half hour block was really fun. Because everyone pretty much knew everyone else, we could really let our hair(s) down and party! Here's some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

Introducing your prom king and queen!

Kelly in all her glory

She even has her own fan club!

Her biggest fan!

That's all for now! I'll update again soon. Happy Chinese New Year!

The Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires Program!

2008-02-03T01:15:00.001+08:00

During the last post, I mentioned about gaining more financial knowledge in order to better plan your personal finances and improve your financial intelligence. This time round, I'm going to introduce to you one of the ways in which you can do just that.

Recently, I've been reading Adam Khoo's Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires. Why Adam Khoo, you ask me? Well I attended an incubation camp with him a couple of years back (2003, I think...) and I remember being very impressed with the things he taught us during the camp.

At first glance, Adam Khoo didn't look like he was a millionaire. He looked the opposite really. He was really young and didn't carry with him the aura that I expected from a self-made millionaire. But throughout the course, the things he spoke about struck a chord in me. He showed me how anybody (and I mean anybody) can be a millionaire just be acquiring basic financial skills and knowledge.

Things like leveraging on the power of compounding, creating multiple streams of income, the habits of self-made millionaires, the mindset of self-made millionaires (very important - I'll elaborate more on this in another post) were all revealed to me through the life-changing camp! The experience changed my whole perception of personal finance and gave a a much better understanding of the way money flows. My views were never the same after the camp!

Adam Khoo complied the materials into a CD course - the Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires program. I was very surprised that he did it. After all, the cost to attend the actual course is about $3,800. The price of the program CD program online is only S$147. You just download the materials all onto your hardisk. Simple and convenient all at the same time.

You can go take a look at the program by clicking on the image below. If you think it'll help you, go get it! I've personally been through the program and I highly recommend it. Otherwise you can check out the Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires book at all popular bookstores islandwide (it's going for S$30.00+). Take a look at the book and read through it first to get a better understanding of what it is all about.

How To Make Money?

2008-01-28T00:53:00.000+08:00

Cad asked me this question two days ago while we were waiting for our salsa class to start. Now, this might seem like a pretty normal question but it did strike me in a certain way. I got to thinking, yeah exactly how it is to make money. And I'm not talking about the usual $2000 - $3000 salaries. No, I'm talking about how to make MONEY.

I guess that is the million-dollar question these days isn't it. Everybody wants a piece of the millionaire pie. There are tons of books out there teaching ordinary folks like you and me how to systematically, step-by-step make a million bucks or two. Yet, how often do we actually read (let alone complete reading) the books and do all the steps recommended? And if we do, can we be sure of the results?

Well, I can only speak for myself here. I've read a couple of these financial books and while I haven't made my first million (actually I'm pretty far away from the first million), I dare say that these books have elevated my financial knowledge. So in a way, there are definately benefits to reading those books. Besides a boost in knowledge, they have also helped open my eyes to many different ways money can be generated and what are the new ways to make money on this modern age. Trust me when I say it is very from the traditional way of getting a job and working hard.

So how does this post relate to the question right at the top? Well, why don't you pick up that finance book you've been browsing through for the longest time and actually spend the time to read it. Knowledge never comes without the investment of time (and maybe money). Just think about your education. No one has ever managed to score well on the exams just through sheer luck. The same goes for this. Spend the time reading and accumulating knowledge. I have never met anyone who felt like they've wasted their time learning something new.

Valentine's Day!

2008-01-15T15:07:00.000+08:00

Hi everyone!

It's been such a looong time since my last post. I don't wana make any excuses or reasons so I'm just gonna go straight out - I've been lazy. Haha.. Lots of things have happened since my last post. For one, I did not managed to attend the Union Camp. Instead I join SDE Rag! The Union Camp was just too much of a rush for me and I couldn't find the time to squeeze in assignments, exams, tests, Union Camp and Rag (all within 2 weeks!) so one of them had to go. Well, no regrets joining Rag definately. Now the second semester of school has just started, modules and timetable are different but the people are still the same. And that's a good thing. It looks like it's gonna be a pretty busy semester for me. Lots of fund-raising activities coming up, bashes to attend, meetings to hold, fun to be had, and not forgetting the studying.

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Anyway, Valentine's Day is just around the corner! Guys, this day have loomed dreadfully over the horizon ever since the ball dropped at Times Square signalling the start of 2008. Images of desperate guys sprinting to money-grubbing florists to shell out their hard-earned dough with tears in their eyes and holes in their pockets comes to mind. But dread not! With a little bit of advanced planning and with my help, you'll be able to save your breath, your tears and your dough (well, some of it at least) all at the same time!

This year, I've partnered with a couple of friends to sell hand bouquets for Valentine's Day. My partners have prior working experience at wrapping hand bouquets at a popular florist so the quality of the bouquets are guaranteed to be good. This is an example of what the bouquets will look like:

Our pricing is also a lot more affordable than other florists. This is because we hold firm in our belief that people should not have to pay so much to enjoy a romantic Valentine's Day with their loved ones. Here's our price list:

3 Stalk Bouquet - S$40.00
6 Stalk Bouquet - S$50.00
9 Stalk Bouquet - S$60.00
12 Stalk Bouquet - S$70.00

Self-collection is free. We also do delivery at a flat rate of S$10.00 per location. The prices are really affordable compared to the market rate for Valentine's Day. So do drop me a msg or an email if you want the bouquets!

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pray for me

2007-06-25T01:51:00.000+08:00

i'm going to be so busy in july... somebody help me. maybe i should have dropped the module during the second term. my schedule:

2 - 5 july: SDE Camp '07
9 july: mid-term exam
10 - 14 july: Union Camp '07
17 july: Reaction Paper submission
19 july: Qualifying English Test
24 july: project presentation
25 july: journal submission
27 july: final exam

i really wonder how am i going to be able to cope. tests and exams need to be studied. projects need to be worked on. camps need to be there.

but hey there's always fun in all the adrenaline rush. what a way to start off uni life! woohoo!

off centre

2007-06-11T03:23:00.001+08:00

3.30am and i still can't fall asleep. must be that 1.5l of coke light i downed 3 hrs ago. hate it when this happens.. ruins the next fews days all the time. i don't get enough sleep tonight means i'll get up in the afternoon tmr which means i won't be able to sleep again till late, etc, etc. it's a vicious cycle i tell ya.

i've been watching this sitcom called off centre. great show, funny as hell. it stars john cho, the milf dude from american pie. he's the best part of the show. love how he delivers his lines. it's a pretty old show actually. think it aired sometime back in 2002. too bad it got cancelled halfway through the second season. why do these tv networks always cancel the best shows.

anyway show's about this two friends, mike and euan, who lives in a posh apartment in new york. their regular hangout is in chau's vietnamese restaurant. chau is this quirky asian dude who has a weird (and often humourous) perspective on life and women. living across the hall from mike and euan is status quo, a grammy award-winning rapper who loves to cook and is only in his rapper persona when he has to be. think of off centre as a kind of teen-flick (minus the actual teens) sitcom and you'll get the idea. this is one of my favourite parts in the show:

mike (after successfully chatting up some ladies in the bar): chau, can you believe this? if i were a super hero, i would be woman-man! (pauses) no no wait a second...

chau: no no no that's good, that's good. then i would be your side-kick... girlie-boy!

i should be getting the first two seasons of two guys, a girl and a pizza place (starring ryan reynolds!) pretty soon. can't wait!

inside jokes

2007-06-10T02:53:00.001+08:00

"You're romanticulous? That's simplastic! Hey don't give me that bluook."

"That is a unicorn la... Cannot tell meh??? Got the horn what!"

"Hrmm... Shhh..... It's an oven LAH!!!"

"She's a foreigner? Look closer la, don't let looks deceive you, she's a Singaporean."

"Ni shi wo de ju ren, wo shi ni de xiao gui, wo shi yao yi dian qian!"

"Tian xia de nu hai tou shi yi yang lok oh~~ tian xia de lok gui dou zai xin jia puo!"

mumble mumble

2007-06-04T23:35:00.000+08:00

i wish you were someone else. no wait i wish someone else was you. no wait i wish i wish...

if only you could see things through my eyes. no wait if only i could see things through your eyes. no wait...... wait...............

don't go.

i gotta change my ice mountain bottle soon... before it corrodes...

2007-05-08T00:13:00.000+08:00

hi! i'm back! =)

sorry for the absence again. i really find it hard to keep up with the updating often.. motivate me.

I've finally started school! yeap yeap yeap back to the good ol' broke college student life AGAIN! i'm starting during the special terms in nus so that means the campus is pretty much empty for the first three months i'm there. My actual semester starts in august with the rest of the kids. i'm only doing two modules over the next 3 months. 1 module per 6 weeks so that effectively means my exams is just a short 5 weeks away although i just started sch today! yay!

ah what the fuck am i cheering about.. my brain's damn rusty after not studying since sec 4 (poly counted as studying? well yes if you consider skipping lectures to go ktv, abandoning tutorials to watch movies and then telling the lecturer off in short four lettered words when he complains about our attendance). but i'm glad to be back to studying nevertheless. i only hope it keeps up. =)

last week was an interesting week for me. had so much fun but it got cut short on thurs when i found out i was starting sch the following mon. i bloody thought i would be having a cool 2 weeks break. what the.. now i'm stuck with only 4 days?!?! no can do so it was double party mode, double time. the week went by pretty quickly. i got my entire biological clock screwed up in the process and now i gotta start adjusting everything back again. so overall: it was a blast! double thumbs up! wayyy up!

boy meets world

2007-04-10T00:25:00.000+08:00

i was browsing through the video store on sun looking for some good shows to rent when i stumbled upon this 2002 show called cheats. anybody seen that one before?

the reason it caught my eye was because of the actor (yes, for once not the actress). matthew lawrence was one of the mains in the show. well i used to like matt lawrence as an actor when i was younger. this was way back in my primary school days. but funny thing is i can't seem to figure out exactly which show did i catch him in. i'm thinking it either has to be boy meets world or brotherly love. higher chance it's brotherly love. the rest of the shows he acted in doesn't seem to ring bells of any kind.

i have no idea what happened to him though. these days i hardly see him in any big budget hollywood flicks. his most commerical offering thus far was a small part in hot chicks. i always thought he could have made it pretty big in hollywood but i have a feeling he's not very well known in singapore. well here's a picture of him. looks familiar to you?

newfound jealousy

2007-04-08T02:24:00.000+08:00

shirlyn tan's new album is finally out!

went down to the esplanade outdoor theatre for the album launch today.

first single off the album is window. sounds damn good. you can check it out from her link on the right.

=)

CATS Recruit

2007-04-04T23:13:00.000+08:00

Booker T. Washington said: “I have learnt that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which one has to overcome while trying to succeed.”

It may be just a simple quote to you but it spoke volumes when I read it.

It is just here as a reminder to me that this phase has already been said and acknowledged as true.

The Wall of Fire

2007-04-02T20:35:00.000+08:00

Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire. Play Scenario 2 as Sun Ce. Try to see if you can get him to be Emperor before he passes away. Sun Ce dies at a really young age. So when Sun Quan joins your army (he’ll join in about 4 – 6 years after you start the scenario), you’d better already be on the way to ascending the throne. And don’t cheat, play Historical mode on Pro difficulty please. Here a hint: getting the Secret Books of Healing to prolong your life really helps here. I know it’s a really old game (it was available in 1995) but I still enjoy the classics. =)

My understudy finally came today. He’s a Malaysian from Sarawak. But he’s already stayed in KL and JB for 3 years each, and he’s joined our company after graduating on the Dean’s List. Quite an accomplished fellow. I’m still waiting to see if getting good grades in school would equate to performing well at work. So far, he’s shown he is intelligent enough. He asks me questions which shows that he thinks. He’s observant enough to notice the small details (which I’m pretty particular about). And he’s shown a little enthusiasm by asking to look through my files even though I didn’t ask him to. Not a bad start. But he’s experienced only the tip of the iceberg so far. Still credit must be given where credit is due. I think if he continues on like this, he can make it pretty far.

I went to lunch with him this afternoon and we got around to discussing politics. I asked him whether, as a Malaysian, he preferred the ruling style of Mahathir or Abdullah. He said Mahathir, which both surprised me and made sense at the same time. It was only fair that I, as a Singaporean, would be thinking Abdullah is the better leader, primarily because Abdullah is more receptive and open towards Singapore. He argued that Mahathir was the one who actually stood up for Malaysia while Abdullah was more of a soft-approach leader. Come to think of it, it’s really true in a way. Mahathir did speak up against the US when he thought the US was being unfair to Malaysia. Plus he took a firmer stand with Singapore as compared to Abdullah. The most recent example being Lee Kuan Yew’s comments on Singapore marginalizing the Malays here. I had a feeling that Abdullah had demanded an explanation from Lee Kuan Yew only because of intense pressure from the media. And Abdullah didn’t press the matter. He just let it rest after Lee Kuan Yew offered his explanation. I felt the situation would have been very different if Mahathir still was in charge. He would have definitely blown up the matter beyond proportion.

Ugh.. I’m disgusted. I just heard my sister say to me “Kor, another guy going after me leh! He very rich!” I don’t mean to put my own sister down but come on, can she be more shallow here? Utterly disgusted with her. I’d expect her to show more class than that. With girls like this in Singapore, I can pretty much throw intelligence, character, etc out the window. Why bother when I can just use money to buy their filthy, materialistic pussies..

after hours and resignation letters

2007-03-26T23:18:00.001+08:00

The first episode of After Hours just aired. I love the feel of the show. Don’t ask me why but I’ve always liked shows that depict the next stage of life that I’m about to embark on. For example I loved Spin when I was in secondary school. Why? Cause Spin was about a bunch of poly students. It portrayed the kind of lifestyle that I wanted to have in poly and guess what? My poly life turned out exactly the way I wanted it to! Better than how I imagined it would be actually. Then during poly days, there were quite a couple of shows that caught my eye. Two of them were Chase and Chemistry. Now these shows were about people in the working force, juggling their jobs and social/love life. Now I know the next stage after poly was NS and then uni then working life but still.. Hey it never hurts to look ahead right? Well After Hours is essentially Chase part 2. And did I mention the theme song? Written and composed by Linda Liao no less. I have an idea of what kind of life I want to lead when I start working and I hope that I would be able to achieve (and maintain) it.

I spent the entire Saturday that just went by at home. I notice my life goes in cycles. There’ll be busy periods jammed packed with social outings, busy at work, busy at home, etc.. And then it’ll all cool down after awhile and life takes a breather before picking up the pace again. Is it just me or is anyone else experiencing the same thing as well? Anyway, I thought staying at home to chill once in a while is always good. It gives me some time to find myself again. Or to go back into my cave, as some experts would put it. I think this kind of days are going to be hard to come by once I start school so I’d better treasure it right now.

Speaking of which, I’ve finished typing (and printing) my resignation letter. Was easier than I thought it would be. Just google a template out and there it is.. Freshly minted resignation letter. I’ll be starting school again come May so I gotta be quitting my job end April. Lots of things to hand over. My understudy hasn’t even arrived yet. Plus I need to guide and train him up before I go. And not forgetting I got to make sure the new contract is administered properly and past records are settled. The contract with Keppel Seghers is ending this week but I think we’re more or less going to sign the one year extension with them. Their Zone Engineers have been in contact with Air-Temp regarding this issue so yeah no worries on that front. I’m sure Ah Goh will be able to whip something saucy up!

pm lee and the turtles

2007-03-26T00:13:00.000+08:00

hm.. the title sounds like a band's name... ah never mind.

There was an article in the straits times sometime this week about PM Lee commenting on the pay of civil servants. Apparently they don’t get paid as well as people in the private sector. And he wants to review their pay structure. He added that it would be hard to maintain and motivate a clean and proper government if their ministers and workers are not paid enough to do their jobs. Well, last I heard, the GST was going up to 7% come july. Hm.. I wonder where the ministers’ pay raise is gonna come from.. Probably not from the increase in GST, cause it’s supposed is to help the poor.. Not to make minister richer than they already are.. no no… And what did you say? What? Singapore’s PM earns more than the US President? Ah.. but he still cannot compare to the top shots in the private sector la. So it’s ok to review his pay.. no wait.. it’s right to review his pay.

So anyway enough about the government. I caught TMNT in the movies today. It was good seeing those turtles in action again.. it brought back many many memories. My fav turtle has always been Raphael. I think it must be the whole tough guy anti-hero thing plus that cool attitude of his. Haha.. Cowabunga dude!

sispec warriors!!

2007-03-20T18:03:00.000+08:00

kids don't try this at home.. we're trained professionals who are getting paid by taxpayers.

life is tough being a soldier.... look at what we have to do for the country...

dream a little dream... (of me?)

2007-03-20T17:30:00.000+08:00

my laptop's on the verge of breaking down.. it keeps shutting down on me. i've typed this entry like twice already but haven't got the chance to post it before it auto shut down. argh too lazy to go into the details for a third time.. so i'll just keep it short.

- saturday

went east coast park to celebrate pei pei's birthday and do some roller blading. almost none of us knew how to blade so we ended we tripping over each other, falling into mini-drains and crashing into bushes. it was an utter humiliation... imagine a 5 year old kid whizzing past you. ugh... i fell twice. the second time was on a friend and he had to knee me in the chest while doing so. it still hurts now as t'm typing this.. so anyway after blading, we went to cafe vienna at novena to grab some dinner. international buffet at 40 bucks per head. my bank's gonna be wiped clean after this weekend. the food itself was ok.. not fantastic but not bad either. but not worth the 40 bucks.. definately. we went over to pei pei's place after dinner and played some dumb naming games because pock mun wanted to do it. started with naming soccer stars, then moved on to celebrities and finally childhood cartoons!

- sunday

the guys came over to my place for some fun in the sun. started with playing basketball.. pock mun was complaining non-stop throughout about how tired he was. singapore's just not producing proper soldiers these days. order some mcdelivery and we chilled in the pool while waiting for lunch. it's nice to finally do this with some friends.. more often than not, i'm always doing this alone.. chilling by the pool, listening to some good music, catching the sun, etc. they came up to my place after that and we spent the entire day playing the very retro romance of the three kingdoms 4: wall of fire! built our armies up for 5 hours only to kill ourselves by duelling with our kings. let's see.. cao cao got beaten by ma teng. yuan shao got executed by liu bei because of internal politics (hahaha...), liu bei, guan yu and zhang fei lost to ma chao and all three got executed. ma teng eventually lost to an injured sun ce in single mortal combat.. and got executed! yeap.. lots of heads were rolling that night.

- monday

so starts another working week. market's looking pretty good.. sti's gaining some points again. i'm hoping for a full-on recovery after the correction last month. so far my investments are all still in the green.. looking pretty good with some dividends heading my way soon (i hope). ascott is too expensive for me but it's one of the counters i'm hoping to be able to buy and hold soon. during the correction, it went down to about 1.45+. it was seriously undervalued then. then it recovered in the past few weeks to about 1.60+. and not forgetting their declaring dividends too. it's way out of my budget now.. what after all the money spent over the weekend. i went over to my grandad's place for dinner after work. guosh and cheam came over to my place later that night to chillax (chill + relax). cheam has this business idea which he thinks is gonna make him a bundle and he broke up with his girlfriend the previous night. so being the buddies the army taught us to be, we had to lend a listening ear and of course provide some manly cans of beers to ease that hurting heart. we stayed and chatted till about 2am and they left and i went up to catch some eye shut.

- tuesday

that's today.. my chest still hurts from the fall on sat so g-ku brought me to the polyclinic. we went to the office first and left at about 10+. had a consultation session at marine parade, then had to be referred to tampines for an x-ray scan, then head back to marine parade again for the review. after going all over sunny singapore on a sunny day, the doc told me i'm looking ok.. the pain is probably caused by the muscles which on injured during the fall. i'm feeling a little guilty right now about causing g-ku to spend so much time away from the office today.

all right i gotta run.. going to head for my haircut appointment with kandy right now. catch ya around!

hello linda liao

2007-03-15T00:18:00.000+08:00

hey anybody got after hours' theme song on mp3? send it my way please... it's a really good song plus linda liao looks sooooooooooooo cutesy trying to be rock in the mtv.

and in other (more serious) news.....

the stock market continues to plunge again... what the hell. the sti's combined drop is about 130 points for today and the day before. that means an easy 3% off the index. i guess i'm lucky to still be holding onto paper profits even after the previous mini-crash of sorts. g-ku tells me of one of g-kim's friend who is a trader at kim eng. that guy lost a couple of million dollars when the market crash the week before. imagine how much money that guy has.. i mean to be able to dump millions into stocks and equities means he has got to have even more in reserves right? after all, nobody puts all their money just into equities. i guess the two crashes have their benefits as well.. for one, the counters are cheaper now. plus most companies are going to give out their dividends soon. so picking up and holding to stocks right now might just be a good idea.

scholarships and npra

2007-03-14T00:13:00.000+08:00

2 things are causing me much grief right now.

first one's the scholarships. okay maybe this one is worth all the headaches and frustrations if i actually manage to nail it. chances are, it's not gonna happen. my results in poly ain't exactly fantastic and i think i didn't leave a very good impression with my lecturers.. hm wonder what chee hock wah wrote in my (confidential) character reference report. anyway no use thinking about all this. i'm just gonna submit the applications and hope for the best. hey no harm trying right? i'm applying for 4 different scholarships btw.. nus, mas, ocbc and keppel. wish me luck!

alrighty the second one.. now this one's the real killer. npra - normanton park residents' association. that's the association where i live. there's an issue going on right now regarding the purchase of the common properties in normanton park (let's just say np from now yeah?). you see, the flats that the residents live in are owned by them. no surprises there. but the common property (walkways, field, playground, swimming pool, etc, etc) are owned by mindef. shocking isn't it. i had no idea about this as well. ah to cut a very long story short, npra wants each unit to pay $25k for the purchase of the common properties. problem is, i ain't got so much cash. take up a loan then they say.. yeah but i'll incur a 6% interest.. that's an additional $1500.00 of money going down the drain. it's kinda hard to afford that luxury when my family is already neck deep in debts. on top of that, my sister don't give two hoots and my mum can't really be bothered, my dad's in china so i guess that leaves me having to deal with this. i'm thinking to myself why do they have to purchase the common properties because of an en-bloc potential. the key word is potential. there's no real offer coming up yet because technically npra can't sell the place if they don't own it. so then why in the first place do we have to prepare for a potential en-bloc that might not even happen? why can't we just continue to rent the place from mindef? i don't really trust npra.. they're made up of ex-army officers and who knows.. npra's dealing with mindef here of all the government bodies. yeah they can pull strings but they might be pulling the wrong strings.. pulling the strings for themselves, not the residents. there's an extraordinary meeting coming up this sat. my mum's working so she can't attend. my sis can't be bothered. so... that leaves me again doesn't it? so... anybody willing to accompany me there?