Stardom Dreamer

New Address

2008-09-13T22:55:00.001+08:00

http://mrscorpio.wordpress.com

My last post

2007-11-27T00:59:00.000+08:00

All things must come to an end and the same goes for my blog. This is my 2nd one. My first one was actually deleted in a fit of anger(don't ask).

To all who still bother to read my mundane postings, thank you very much. I enjoy writing and will continue to do so but very likely in an anonymous manner. For people who really knows me, I am actually a very critical person. If I were to just spill all my uncensored thoughts onto my current blog, I'm quite sure I won't be on many people invitation lists.

And that is the primary reason why I'm closing this down. To write exactly how I feel.

It's not created yet. I might use blogger but the slow loading speed isn't really a pull factor..

Til then and if fate permits, you might chance upon my new blog.

Adious!

Stephen Chow's CJ7

2007-11-22T23:54:00.000+08:00

After (another) 3 long years of waiting, Stephen Chow's next movie is finally crawling to the big screen in Jan 2008. His previous movie (Kungfu Hustle) had taken the same amount of time to appear after Shaolin Soccer in 2001.

And for once, I'm not really excited.

When I was a kid, I always looked forward to the Chinese New Year. Knowing that I would be able to catch Jackie Chan AND Stephen Chow movie around that period, which I totally love. That trend is long gone already lost but one might still be able to catch a Jackie Chan's given the frequency of his movies.

From 2001 - 2008, Jackie Chan has given us:

Accidental Spy (2001)
Rush Hour 2 (2001)
The Tuxedo (2002)
Shanghai Knights (2003)
The Medallion (2003)
Around the World in 8 Days (2004)
New Police Story (2004)
The Myth (2005)
Rob-B-Hood (2006)
Rush Hour 3 (2007)
The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) - In production

Jackie has been very consistent in his output since the 1990s. In 1990 itself, Stephen Chow actually produced the same number of movies. A far cry from his recent productivity.

It seemed that Stephen is very insistent that a movie must be written by him otherwise he won't direct or act in it.

Many of his old partners and colleagues when he was a rising star had been very critical of his growing ego and arrogance. Many had not worked with him since mid 1995 (very apparent from the quality for his movies since then) with his most successful partner Ng Man Tat leaving him after Shaolin Soccer.

And from the recent press conference in Beijing on CJ7, he obviously do not want to entertain questions about his older (and in my opinion, better) movies like Flirting Scholar and A Chinese Odyssey.

I have always been a huge Stephen Chow's fan. I'd watched, rewatched in Cantonese and bought the VCD of almost all his movies since All for the Winner. On Hail the Judge itself, I had watched more than 10 times (yes I was so crazy about him).

Which made me very disappointed about the lengthy wait between his recent movies. And even more disappointed after I'm done as it usually isn't as good as his classics. They never stoke me to re-watch it in Cantonese.

Nevertheless I will still be catching the comedic maestro latest movie when it's out. But I should be taking my time rather than rushing to catch the midnight preview like I used to. Doing so would minimize the next long wait before his next movie arrives.

Oh, his next movie should be Kung Fu Hustle 2. It is supposed to be released in 2008. I am thinking more of probable 2018.

Rapping is the way to go?

2007-11-22T19:24:00.001+08:00

The senior management at MDA had released a music video of them rapping(yes, rapping!) about how cool MDA is and how equally cool their vision and their work is.

I feel so hyped up by the video that I'm dusting my resume and is gonna send it to Dr Chia (CEO). Is his Dr a real one or like Dr Dre?

Oh yeah. Y'all gonna love what I can do, not just cause I can sing a song or two. MDA is where I wanna be, even if you are just gonna pay me peas. I can act, dance and even rap for you, surely much better than the video and these fools.. Oops..

No flat = No wedding = No kids = More PRs?

2007-11-17T17:00:00.000+08:00

Nov 17, 2007

No flat = No wedding

Newly-weds who find it hard to get a flat amid buoyant property market are putting off their weddings

By Tan Hui Yee

AS PROPERTY prices rise, some newly-wed couples are postponing their traditional ceremonies while they wait for a new Housing Board flat.

Many have been priced out of the resale market while others want to buy a new home, which means joining the hordes trying their luck at ballots in HDB sales exercises.

It is leaving couples in a dilemma. While they have registered their marriages officially, they are reluctant to hold the customary ceremony that legitimises the union in the eyes of the community, until they have a home to call their own.

Members of Parliament say they are getting more appeals from distressed couples.

Aljunied GRC MP Cynthia Phua, who raised a question on the availability of flats in Parliament this week, told The Straits Times that one or two such couples bring up the problem at her Meet-the-People session every week.

Although technically married, many of them live apart, in their family homes, while waiting to get a flat together.

Madam Phua said: 'For us Asians, once you hold back your customary wedding, you can't live together, and you can't even have babies.'

Before I state my opinion, below is HDB's vision and mission.

Vision

Affordable Homes
Vibrant Towns
Cohesive Communities

Mission

We provide affordable quality homes
We create and rejuvenate our towns
We promote The building of communities

At the rate the market is moving, HDB already couldn't fulfill 66% of it's vision and mission. How would this affect us as we move along? For one I'm sure the price of a flat will not depreciate anytime soon. It would be too much of an impact for all existing owners to have your asset devalue just to make it easier for others to buy them.

Our national birthrates should continue to set new records. Even though we have manipulated our PR policy to issue anyone who can barely pronounce "Singapore" the blue IC, the government should not see it as a permanent solution.

When these group of people acclimatize here and get their citizenship, they or their future generations would be faced with the same amount of stress and issues that had limited most existing couples to consider 2 kids at most.

And what do we do then? Remove all barrier to PRship?

I believe the root of the problem could be related why many thinking Singaporeans move to places like Australia and never come back. It's the work/life balance. I added "thinking" as my consideration did not factor in couples who would still go ahead to have 10 kids even though they know very well they can't afford it.

Many people still believe that you live to work, not work to live. And unfortunately most of these people reside in top management. With that kind of expectation, how is a subordinate not give in to that for the sake of money and future?

And when all the time you have are devoted to work, you still have the time for babies and to take care of them and with all the minimal efforts, expect them to walk on the right path?

Our grandparents could willingly have 10 over kids. I'm quite sure the right conditions would prevail over any amount of baby bonus.

My first seminar

2007-11-16T22:29:00.001+08:00

I just finished spending my last three working days at SIM attending a course about managing people.

It is quite an interesting experience. For someone who isn't really sociable, I hate the thought of going through 3 days with a group of strangers with nothing to talk about. And it didn't turn out that way.

I got to know quite a fair bit of people from different industries and walks of life. It is very insightful to see things from another person's perspective. Given that these people possess a fair bit of intellect to reach the managerial level that they are, I really enjoy speaking with them. Nothing makes me feel "higher" than talking to smart people. You can learn so much from a single conversation!

That aside, the trainer was excellent and the issues covered in the course really provide one with another perspective in handling certain matters at work.

I had my doubts before the course that what I'm going to learn would be too theoretical and couldn't be applicable in real life. But this made me realize that theory comes from real-life experience.

Hence I'm really pleased that I've learned something useful and has a new shiny certificate to show for it. It's not cheap though so my next one should be quite some time away. In the meanwhile, I would try to apply what I've learned to good effects at my workplace. I think I would open this up to my staff too.

A training peer told me that their company set aside a budget each year per staff for their training purpose. They did it as part of their ISO fulfillment but I think it is an excellent idea. I'm trying to see how this might be possible at my office too.

I learned so much in these 3 days than over the past year taking my accounting diploma. Makes me feel so dumb to waste a year of evenings when all I need are more specialized financial training that SIM also have short seminars on. Damn!

First Birthday Party in 28 years

2007-11-08T13:44:00.001+08:00

I just woke up from a birthday party yesterday that was meant for me and Roseleen. It was organized by my co-workers and friends from the company. In retrospect, I don't remember having any major birthday party or celebration. I'm not really a birthday person. I always tell people that birthday just meant you didn't die for another year. What a pessimist I am.

Outside the personal ones that my wife did for me, the most memorable thing I did on my birthday was a gym session which was followed by a North Indian cuisine treat from an ex-colleague from Starhub & a full body medical check-up that involved urine & blood test.

I never looked forward or thought I would enjoy a birthday party but I was proven wrong yesterday. I'm quite sure the waterfall drink that I had played a huge convincing part. The entertainment by the performers at Icon Bar was a catalyst.

But the main ingredient would be the people who were there and made it happen. The opportunity to communicate with my co-workers on a personal level was nice. I should have done so more often before.

A big thank you to everyone who were there and changed my perception towards birthday party after 28 years. ;)

Reservist review

2007-11-08T13:25:00.001+08:00

Finally had some time to do a little bit of update on my deteriorating blog. I think it needs a face-lift, an upgrade. But that will be something for another time. Those kind of stuffs are super time consuming.

My reservist is over but many of us are already told of the next one that is from 21 July - 3 Aug. A whopping 2.5 weeks! 3D2N camping in some forsaken place somemore!

We were supposed to go Thailand for the training but I guess the ousting of the PM some time ago might have made things a bit inappropriate. I was pretty looking forward to that. It would be an interesting experience.

And the reservist I just had, oh man what a huge waste of time. Out of the 5 days, I only spent 20 mins training that I wouldn't even call it training if not for all the bigger time-wasting things we've done. The rest of the time were spent going to canteen breaks, sleeping, playing xbox and just waiting for time to pass. I left SAF for 7 years and efficiency level is still the same. What consistency!

I flunked!

2007-10-25T11:49:00.001+08:00

I went through something that before it happened again recently, I had only experienced when I was in Secondary School.

I flunked my Audit module that I took for last semester.

Which means I need to pay $50 to retake the sub paper.

It was quite appalling for me. I have not failed any paper since post-secondary, from my diploma to advanced diploma to my final 2 years during my degree.

Although I don't feel that sad, it still doesn't feel good knowing that I have one more module to memorize.

And the fact that there is only one set of exam question paper and our trainer was the one who set it rub salts into wound.

I don't really need this diploma but who would mind extra qualifications.

And so I shall go through this for one final time. Pass or fail(again), I just let it be. One can't be master of all trades. Accounts has never been my forte, Audit is even worst. I will just suck it in and continue to be what I'm better at instead.

Reservist from 29th Oct - 2nd Nov

2007-10-25T11:40:00.001+08:00

I will be heading into my 2nd reservist since I completed my national service in early 2000. That average out to like one call-up every 3.5 years. At this rate I should complete my NS liability when I'm 49 years old. Wow.. I wonder if I could still fit into my present uniform size by then.

Anyway I'm really looking forward to it. I didn't felt this way during my first reservist. Back then work is my life and I can't stand a day without knowing on-site what has gone about in the operations. Imagine the torture I had when I was on overseas holiday.

But lately my batteries seemed to be running flat. Motivation is near to zero too. I am thinking of taking a short hiatus during the entire Jan next year. Hopefully the lengthly break could revitalize me. Ideally my reservist next week could do the trick.

In any case, my plan to auto pilot the company will continue. If all goes well, finance would be well taken care of by Dec. Payroll and admin is picking the ropes and should settle well. Sales is more or less ready.

I'm not sure what I would do if I totally go behind the scenes permanently but at least I know the company I painstakingly built up would be in safe hands.

Let's sell Johor to Singapore!

2007-10-24T11:43:00.001+08:00

Read this on LittleSpeck.com. Funny but make sense too really.

Johor

'Sell it to Singapore!'
A tongue-in-cheek solution from a Malaysian. Fun to read.
The Anti-jihadist.
Oct 24, 2007

Ladies and gentleman, Malaysia is facing a cash crunch.

The oil, lifeblood of the Government's treasury, is running out. Hugely expensive programmes such as NEP and subsidies are politically untouchable, so hence must run in perpetuity.

And of course Malaysia will in the future need more massive Merdeka parades, more shiny new Russian jets to overfly said parades, and more spaceflight participants to consume teh tarik and commit khalwat in orbit. So many expenses and dwindling income. What to do?

Simply put, Malaysia seriously needs a lot of cash...and the little cash-loaded red dot to our south (which need not yet be named) needs real estate and resources.

So my friends, with my tongue placed firmly in cheek, I would like to offer this simple answer for Malaysia's impending financial woes.

Let's sell Johor to Singapore!

That's right, not just the troublesome metropolis of Johor Bahru...the whole state of Johor - lock, stock and barrel.

Quite obviously, it's a mutually beneficial deal. UMNO/BN gets billions in hard currency that they could not obtain otherwise, and hence get the grease that lubricates the wheels of their, ahem, 'unique' brand of government.

Singapore gets desperately needed living space, and also acquires vital resources that it no longer has to buy from its surly neighbours (like sand and drinking water).

Not to mention that those annoying issues like the causeway and the crooked bridge are rendered moot, because Singapore will own both sides of the strait. Both sides win!

Oh sure, the Sultan in JB may have a small objection to the aforementioned deal. Enough cash in his pocket and the usual UMNO-style kickback should settle the matter in the usual way. OK, let's not call it a kickback.

We can call it a small gratuity, with another estate or two in Switzerland thrown in to sweeten the transaction.

Besides,I am quite sure that the Sultan can work out a deal with the pragmatic folks south of the (current) border to look as if he's still in charge whilst the practical bureaucrats of the PAP take care of the less glamourous aspects of running an efficient government.

Moreover, once the relatively non-corrupt Singaporean police show up in Johor Bahru and clean up the place in short order, the folks in JB should quickly grow positively fond of their new landlords.

After all the BN-sanctioned corruption and violence that's plagued the place for decades, who wouldn't be grateful?

Of course, after a half century of watching UMNO governments run Johor into the ground, I wouldn't blame the Singaporeans a whit if they didn't want any part of this proposed transaction.

Compared to their immaculately-kept island, Johor can best be described as a handyman's special, or a 'fixer-upper'.

It would take a ton of work to spruce up the place. But the Singaporeans don't seem too averse to a dint of hard work. After all, the miracle that is today's Singapore certainly didn't build itself, did it?

Alright, it doesn't have to be an outright sale. Perhaps the parties could opt for a long-term lease with an option to buy. Let the potential new owners test-drive their new property, kick the tires, and see how they like it.

After all, the Singaporeans wouldn't want any buyer's remorse, would they?

The Anti-Jihadist
http://pedestrianinfidel.blogspot.com/

Our neighbour's big ego.

2007-10-13T15:56:00.001+08:00

Lately our MM Lee gave some remarks about how Singapore (government) might feel if we were to rejoin Malaysia.

"They have got all the resources. If they would just educate the Chinese and Indians, use them and treat them as their citizens, they can equal us and even do better than us and we would be happy to rejoin them," Lee said.

First of all, the thought of that even being mentioned shutters me. The comfort zone that most Singaporeans has taken granted for would be totally distorted. But of course if one thinks deeper, the execution of the merger is way too complex to even be considered more than a passing remark.

More over each country is still doing quite well by itself. The only thing that may pave way for such scenario is if somehow Singapore financial status become like, say Burma. Given the stringent manner governance is conducted, I doubt that would be a reality anytime soon.

And as usual, Malaysian Malays on hearing his remark wasn't particularly pleased. I wouldn't be surprised. If someone were to even criticize my hometown Tampines, I might be annoyed.

This sentence provoked a comment in Utusan Malaysia that the remark is borne out of unease at seeing Malaysia's growing competitiveness, which in some aspects have surpassed Singapore.

With the Singapore dollar still rising, I agree with that to a certain extent. That is if I look at things through a telescope.

They may have resources, land, people. The 3 key things for an economy to work. But if things are that simple, North Korea should be one of the better economy.

Poor security, ever-growing red tapes and blatant discrimination of non-Malays are just tip of the iceberg. Their inefficiencies, unprofessionalism and you always have youth leader of political parties who just shoot off their mouth without thinking. The worst thing is people actually buy that.

Yes, Singapore might be proud. If any other countries has done what we did since the birth of the country, they would too.

I hope their big Malay ego would continue to sustain or even grow bigger. Because with that impeding them to make the right decision for the country, the possibility of a Singapore-Malaysia merger would never happen.

And that's good news.

$3/$4/$5

2007-10-10T21:19:00.001+08:00

I had prawn mee for lunch today. And given that I was pretty hungry, I requested for a mid size portion ($4) to satisfy myself.

When i finally reach my seat with my food, I sense something is amiss. I was thinking to myself did I said I want $4 earlier on. This sure doesn't look $4 to me because one don't get only TWO!! prawns at that price.

My colleagues ordered the same as me. Being ladies they definitely had ordered the $3 and they have same number of prawns as me! What's going on? Where did my additional $1 mysteriously go to? Did the auntie meant a mid-sized bowl for a dollar more?

And the prawns doesn't even taste that nice anymore. Or maybe $4 meant prawns with tangier meat.

Whatever the case is, I felt cheated.

When shopper get conned with an over-priced camera or ridiculously-priced timeshare scheme, they always have CASE to turn to. What about for cases(no pun intended) like mine?

I think this calls for a boycott (and even an online petition!! if I ever learned how to start one). I demand hawker start to itemize what they meant when I upsize. I know what I get at McDonald. Larger fries and a large coke. But hawker food, how the hell would one know if the hawker doesn't state clearly that:

$3 = two prawns
$4 = two prawns
$5 = two prawns + extra soup.

It's obvious consumer misrepresentation(that module in law finally came in useful).

And given that I can't cook to save my life, hawker food is my basic necessity! And when I can afford more, I don't expect to be short-changed!

It's akin to going to Shell station to pump V Power and they still put in 92. WTF!!??

School Project

2007-10-09T22:04:00.001+08:00

Today I did something that I have only done once before. That is to kick someone out of a project group. Despite my lack of patience, I consider myself to be a pretty tolerant man. The myriad of free riders who had done their school project with me would be the best testament.

But you catch me on the wrong foot, my tolerance would quickly evaporate.

Which is what happen today after I notice that the sales for my company is at its worst, compared with the same period over the past few months. And we only added less than $2k after one week of operation! This is despite the fact that we have 3 more sales person and all of them are already operational.

With that, I temperamentally decided not to include a free rider into the business IT project that is due submission today. This guy since lesson 1 did not even bother to understand about the project. He doesn't even have the desire to attend class. My tolerance of him should have expired long ago.

There is another one on my team that I really would want to kick out too. But I reckon I would be over-ruled since she is closer to the balance 2 contributing team members. But then again, I didn't ask. Hmmm...

She is another one that I don't understanding what gave the impulse to pay more than $3k for a diploma course so that you would attend lesson sporadically and even if she comes, it make just the perfect place for her to sms. Yes, her handphone reception work best in a classroom environment.

These are people that need this piece of paper much more than me. They don't get it, they just have a O or N level which we all knows are as valuable as color paper now. But they doesn't give a damn about it. It's just right I return the favour towards them.

On a happier note, I am on my 7th session in my final semester. My last lesson would be on Nov the 4th.

Oh yeah. No more being in the same room with some many stupid & ungrateful dumb-ass. You know how being around a moody person could make one down too? I think the same would apply to stupidity. Kudos to my high immune system

Life is going to be normal again.

I'm so happy I could cry.

Place of Birth

2007-10-06T14:02:00.001+08:00

If you are able to choose your place of birth, where would you want it to be?

For myself, I would rank places like USA, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, Switzerland on top of my list. Most people I reckon would have one or more of them on their listing. And it wouldn't come as a surprise. Competent governance, high quality of living, good security, freedom of expression and many other positive qualities are very important.

Conversely on where you wish you do not want to be born, countries like Iraq, Burma, North Korea may come to mind. The list may even extend to countries that just happen to be next to them.

Given a choice, I'm quite sure any pragmatic local Iraqi, Burmese or North Korean would not want to be where they are right now. Who in their right mind would want to live in fear, repression and threats every single day. They don't have a choice. No one has control over their birth place. And if they happen to be ran by power-hungry dictators who has no qualms in killing thousand so that he could remain rich and in power, luck is not on your side.

Yet these people still need to survive and live while yearning for the kind of life we have taken granted for.

Sadly, not many stood up to help. In the case of Burma, many even choose to profit under such situation. With extensive reasons that plainly means "if we don't do it, someone else would"

Neighboring countries would merely send letters and make speeches, in hope that the high volume of letters and saliva combined could irritate the junta enough to finally give in.

It's time everyone with a conscience take a step back and take off their money spectacles.

Let the people of Burma have what we have too, the pride of their birthplace.

Crazy Indian Video

2007-10-03T20:36:00.000+08:00

Oh man. This just cracks me up. Turn up your speakers.

Ubersports Arena - Futsal @ East Coast

2007-09-30T19:11:00.000+08:00

For all the football enthusiast, there is a new place to satisfy your goal scoring urges.

It's a newly open football arena at East Coast. The concept is pretty similiar to The Cage @ Kallang but anyone who'd played there would know how stuffy it can get.

You won't get that at Ubersports with the higher ceilings and cool breeze from the beach. The only bad thing is the place doesn't have a huge projector to screen football matches. No adrenalin pumping music in the background either.

Nevertheless, my first experience there has been great. The place is new and clean. They can even extend their closing hours if you want them to.

Rain or Shine, your game won't be affected.

Star Search

2007-09-30T11:21:00.001+08:00

I was looking through Mediacorp website earlier and came across this. It's the pictures of all the contestant who made it so far into the Star Search contest.

Is it not obvious already who the winner might be this time round? How did I arrive at that? Simple. Looks. Pure looks.

Acting skills, presentation skills, confidence are all something you can learn. There are schools that just teach that and nothing else. But how are you going to change an otherwise ugly front.

You can't. You can only groom it. It's like zhnging your car. You can add the best modifications to it but if it is a proton saga, it will still be a proton saga.

Coming back to the contestant, I would put my money on Tracy Yap to win the women's category and a close fight between Reeve and Desmond.

NATO - No Action Talk Only

2007-09-29T23:03:00.001+08:00

But Brossel is more circumspect, believing just because the world is watching, it does not mean the world is acting; "We are witnesses but we are witnesses of something that we cannot stop. We have been witnesses of Bosnia, Burma and Darfur but the international community is useless."

This is the ending paragraph of an article about Myanmar I read on CNN.

Should the world wait and see. Has this been the best tried-and-tested policy since time immemorial? Or could the regional neighbours start to walk the talk. Could countries with vested interest in the country stop thinking about dollars for a few minutes and just think for a sec about how many more human lives are needed to further their returns.

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Game Addict

2007-09-26T23:17:00.000+08:00
On 25th Sep at 12pm, I made my way to Suntec City during lunch time.

I was there with my Halo 3 Pre-Order card. For the uninformed, Halo 3 is the third instalment of the Halo game series in which part 2 itself single handedly help Microsoft Xbox game console achieve phenomenal sales record.

The launch event started at 12pm sharp and occupied the entire Suntec tropics atrium. A lot of Xbox 360 stuffs hawkered around but everyone's focus is to get their hand on the game! Many, like me, bought the pre-order card so that they could be the first few to collect the game(plus a goodie bag with a bunch of useless stuffs) and play it.

The queue was so long that it snaked to an exit, all the way outside the air-conditioned building. I was queuing under the blinding sunlight for a good 10 mins before I move back in again.

Standing there was pretty awkward. In my shirt and pants, I feel really out of place between people one generation younger than me. I had even thought of my excuse if somehow there happens to be people from the press interviewing. My answer: it's for my kid.

And if my classmates are reading my blog, yes I skipped class that night so that I could come home and play the game.

Now is day 2 and I think I'm already quite close to the ending. The game didn't turn out as great as I thought. It's always like that. When you yearn and expect something for too long, you are bound to get disappointed.

Still, it is good fun. Kept the utilities company happy that's for sure.

I just hope the game is longer than I thought.

Thought-provoking

2007-09-26T23:12:00.000+08:00

Makes you think about that bag you bought not so long ago doesn't it.

How I miss "them" now...

2007-09-20T23:42:00.001+08:00

A first look at the picture and I was already quite sure that this is referring to the Bak Chor Mee I had every other day when I was working in Loyang a few years ago.

You just couldn't find any other stalls that also throw in a prawn and a fried wanton.

It was my staple during my year there and I just couldn't get enough of it.

And in between it, I had... their Lor Mee.. Yes, this is like the only stall that I patronize during my employment. The only other stall would be the drink stall.

I had always tell myself to go back and savour the food I so grew to love. The uncle know me so well that without me saying anything, he will make sure I have 3 spoonfuls of vinegar for my Lor Mee. That's the way I like it.

As I was on a 5-day week back then, I didn't knew that they are open on Sat from 6am - 11.30am.

If you wanna look for me around this time this Sat, you know where to find me.

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Things to blog about.

2007-09-08T18:18:00.000+08:00
I always admired bloggers like Mr Wang, Kenny Sia and the likes. They seemed to have things to write about everyday. They must be very talkative in real life. Heehee.

For someone like me that is very unachievable. Not much of a speaker(I'm seriously trying hard to reverse that but not to the bimbo kind of standard), it's pretty hard for me to talk about my thoughts in detail.

It wasn't like that in the past when I was still studying for my degree. Writing is second nature. And I feel espcially proud that my writing skills was commended, by an Ang Moh Dr Lecturer no less.

Since my graduation, I haven't had much opportunities to brush up my writing skills. And without topics to focus on, writing with no objective in sight seemed very meaningless to me.

Which is exactly why I just signed up for this programme under Advertlets. They would have specific topics that you could pull off from their website and write about.

Oh yah, and you get paid for doing that but seriously the latter is really more of a bonus. Having a topic to focus on is really what I have always been looking for.

For a start I could only write about Adverlets. Hopefully this will be a good start and from now on, I'll have more interesting things to write about and about my opinions on them.

Facts of Singapore Life

2007-09-07T16:36:00.001+08:00

1. Nite - Sleep with
air-con; Day - Bathe with heater on

2. Day - Cannot Wake up; Nite -
Cannot Sleep

3. Translation is needed between Singaporean Chinese and
Mainland Chinese

4. Smell Of rubbish besides letterboxes; Rubbish inside
Letterbox

5. Spore Chinese use different languages other then Chinese to
communicate.

6. Sporean never like to vote, but like to
complain

7. There are quite a number of rich/poor in spore - They have
Car, Credit Card, CPF but no Cash and is liable to lots of loans

9. There
are quite a few high-tech barbaric Singaporeans -they know how to use
state-of-the art equipment, 3g mobile phone and powerful computers but they
dunno how to use a simple dustbin or a toilet

10. Half Sporeans rushed
to buy Hello kitty, but the other half busy killing stray cats

11.
Chewing Gum - Can Chew, Cannot buy?? (Restricted to buying)

12.
Cigarettes - Convenient to buy; not convenient to smoke

13. Private Cars
- Cheaper and Cheaper to buy, harder and harder to Maintain

14. Public
Bus - Half the Crowd squeeze in front section of the Bus, Second section is for
Carrying Ghost

15. Education - Teachers teaching Less but expects
students to learn More

The fourth university... again?

2007-09-04T23:29:00.000+08:00
I'm sure most of us are aware that Singapore would like to open the 4th university to accomodate more Singaporeans to pursue their education in Singapore.

SINGAPORE : The Government is looking into setting up a fourth university in Singapore.

During his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also said the objective is to allow 30 percent of each cohort to get into publicly-funded universities by 2015, compared to 23 percent today.

This is one way to level up society, and provide citizens with a top rate education.

More students are progressing to universities as they do better academically in schools.

15 percent of polytechnic students, for example, now go on to the local universities and many more go overseas.

In fact, estimates are that half of polytechnic students eventually gets a degree.

And Prime Minister Lee said Singapore should expand university places but must ensure that students get a good education and valuable skills.

But did any forgot....

SINGAPORE: Its arrival here was hailed as a tremendous boost for Singapore’s education hub aspirations.

The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is, after all, one of Australia’s top universities.

At full capacity, the local UNSW campus would have spun off $500 million annually for the economy, Singapore authorities had said.

But, barely two months after classes began for its pioneer batch of students, the Australian university — citing bottomline concerns — is heading for a sudden exit. It will close its Singapore campus when the semester ends on June 28.

The shock announcement was made yesterday in separate meetings to staff, students and the media, and a notice was posted on the UNSW Asia website. It cited a lack of demand, leading to insufficient funds for its operations here, as reason for the closure.

The university had anticipated an initial intake of 300 students, but its current enrolment is only 148. And, based on applications for its second intake in August, the university projected that it would achieve just over half of its enrolment target of 480.

Either UNSW is not been completely honest or the government know something that they don't.

To me this is really a case of reinventing the wheel for the sake of it. The money that will go into the fourth university would surely surpass whatever more that UNSW might need back then.

On the other hand, it may just be a very expensive and elaborate plan for this purpose.

Reporting a Johor crime? Call this number +607-2212-999

2007-08-30T12:00:00.001+08:00

For those that have read my blog in Jan, you would know that I was a victim on New Year day. Since then heading back to JB would typically take me hours to consider and end up just dropping the idea altogether.

But on top of displaying a friendly face after an event you would rather forget, maybe they could also try solving or preventing the crime in the first place.

Johor police will respond to calls from victims of crime in Johor within 15 minutes - if they call a 24-hour hotline.

The number to call is +607-2212-999.According to The Straits Times, police officers based at at Johor's Contingent Police headquarters in Jalan Tebrau, Johor Baru, are on orders to mobilise a team into action within 15 minutes of taking a genuine hotline call.

Johor State Assemblyman Tan Kok Hong was quoted as saying this after a Malaysian trade and investment roadshow led by International Trade and Industry Minister Rafidah Aziz here yesterday.According to Mr Tan, this number is more immediate because officers may not always be able to respond to police station calls immediately due to work matters.

He added: "If the officer does not arrive within 15 minutes, report it to us. The Chief of Police will look into why the police officer arrived late."

A Straits Times reporter put this to the test and true enough, she was greeted by a friendly cop who spoke fluent English.

Johor police have also in the past two months increased the number of policemen, patrol cars, police posts, closed-circuit TV cameras as well as the frequency of patrols, thanks to a RM330 million (S$145 million) special allocation from the federal government.

There has been growing concern over the worrying spate of Johor carjackings, rapes and robberies.

The new measures will reinforce efforts by the Malaysian government to woo investors, including those from Singapore, to Johor's new 2,217-sq-km economic zone, the Iskandar Development Region.

Lecturing

2007-08-28T23:49:00.000+08:00
I went back to school today and lesson of the day is Business Information System. Something that I had taken before.

The lecturer is kind of technical but you can tell he knows his stuff and he enjoys educating us about the knowledge and experience that he posssess.

Again it ignited my desire to eventually become a part-time trainer or lecturer.

I'm quite sure that I still need a few years more of working experience to be seriously considered for the role at all. But it occur to me that I should start practising.

And work might be the right place for me to begin.

It also made me realised that I had not really been very efficient AND not spending too much time and efforts in coaching and imparting my years of experience in this line to my staffs.

So taking a cue on the structure and framework that my lecturers has been providing, I will attempt to equal that level of professionalism so things like handbook, guidelines, faq will be readily available.

Coupled with comprehensive coaching to cover all operational aspects, I hope it would eventually amount to something not just to the bottom line but also something that could translate into a sense of pride and difference that the company can provide.

Ambitious I know but if one aim high, you might at least hit the half-way line.

The most expensive coffee in the world

2007-08-22T23:18:00.000+08:00
cost $50 a cup or USD$600 per pound. It's called Kopi Luwak and is produced predominantly in Sumatra Indonesia.

It is made from coffee berries which have been eaten by and passed through the digestive tract of the Asian Palm Civet.
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You read it right. Coffee berries were eaten by an animal called Civet(If you understand cantonese, you might pick up another funny here), they shit it out partially digested and we make coffee from it.

So the next time you are asked what shit you drinking when you are holding your coffee, you know these people know their facts well.

CPF Changes

2007-08-22T20:27:00.000+08:00
So the government decided to tinkle with our CPF interest rate. So from now on we have a
whopping 1 percentage point more!

Although most of your principle CPF money already went to paying for the sky price HDB flat that you don't get to own at all, the 1% will still apply to whever residue you have in your account!.

The extra money will definitely help us to get a better cane or wheelchair. Can only choose one, can't afford both.

And not only will the government help to safeguard your CPF even longer, they will let you buy annuities. So you give all your CPF to the insurance company and they give you a lower monthly sum.
And this is for the REST of your life unlike CPF 20 years!

With this, I'm quite sure we would also alleviate the problems of poor and old people jumping onto MRT tracks too.

But what if you die earlier than 20 years. Then how?

I propose the insurance companies have special package for those with lower longevity risk.
If you die within 10-20 years, you will get a queen size coffin with 20 tables. F&B, performance all included plus free shuttle to mandai in special only for coffin mercedes benz. A 5 room HDB will be burnt for you.

5 - 10 years you get upgraded to the gold package. All of the above + a getai with a singer of your choice will be included! Performance included oldies singer, pop songs singer or hip hop dancers. House is upgraded to a Condo with gym and pool facilities.

Less than 5 years you will become a VIP. Platimum class. Not only will you get to live in your dream bungalow but you will also have your private jet!

All the luxuries that you can't afford even if you could take out all your CPF!

Talkative colleagues – biggest time wasters

2007-08-21T17:45:00.001+08:00

The next time your colleagues starts rabbling on without knowing when to stop, just show this to them.

Talkative colleagues – biggest time wasters
By Shirley Lee (humanresourcesonline.net)

Singapore – Talkative colleagues is the number one distraction in the Singapore and global workplace, according to a recent Robert Walters survey.

In the survey, 40% of Singapore respondents say pesky colleagues are the biggest distraction, followed by internet surfing and personal email. On the other hand, only 7% of respondents say they are distracted by smoke breaks and a further 7% by personal calls. The statistics do not differ much when compared to global employees.

Mark Ellwood, managing director of Robert Walters Singapore suggests, “Many of us spend our day glued to a computer screen and our professional interaction with colleagues tends to rely heavily on email communication. Not only has the need for office-chatter been reduced by technology, we may now see it as a distraction from our work.”

The Joseph Cycle

2007-08-15T20:28:00.001+08:00

I was at Times the bookstore a few weeks ago with plenty of time to spare when I came across this book.

Never an economic person but the rather inattractive display of the cover content caught my attention. It's has a time graph with a huge title "The Joseph Cycle" written on it.

The title was inspired by Joseph, the Biblical figure, who was summoned to interpret a troubling dream of the Pharaoh. Joseph said the dream meant that Egypt would face seven good years followed by seven lean years.

Never one to bother with details, I skimmed straight to the graph to foresee when would we be facing the next peak. If this guy is right(he had been right before), we won't be waiting too long for the roller coaster to start going downhill, i.e. 2008.

It would be interesting to see how this prediction might work out in the face of the upcoming F1 Grand Prix night race and the two Casinos. These are major projects that are almost guaranteed(I'm sure about the latter) to make money.

But then again, if their intended customers (people who are rich and should own lots of stocks) are badly hit by the financial turmoil, where could they find money to watch car racing or, worst, gamble their last penny away?

Better to start planning for your investments.

IT Sourcing is so tough!

2007-08-14T20:48:00.000+08:00
Recently I have been googling a lot at work. I think I must have spent 3/4 of the day searching the internet.

I'm looking for a computer system that could act as the focal point for us to gather and share all our information. In our industry, it's called Applicant Tracking System(ATS). Some might call it Human Resource Management System (HRMS). The rest might call it Recruitment Management System or RMS.

And after doing this for days, I realised just how technologically backward Singapore IT company is. There isn't a single company in Singapore that actually provide a system that is decent and complete enough for a Recruitment Agency. Which also mean I can't get grant from the government as it only permits local vendor.

And to rub salt in, this industry is flourishing over at UK, Australia & North America.

So for the past few work days, I have been largely training my ears to ~~apprehend~~ comprehend English with huge dose of British. Years of listening to English Premier League football sure helps.

Being the first time sourcing for such a system that would eventually be so critical to the entire operations, it ain't easy. Or maybe I'm too picky. Too idealistic. Or just too plain naive.

To date I have spoken with 4 and had a good run of their demonstration. Another 4 is lined up and I just send out at least another 5 requests after learning that there are so many other providers out there. Which of them could be the ONE?

One wrong move and tons of $$ would be going down the drain.

Oh man. The weight on my shoulder is getting heavier and heavier...

I won't be free during September.

2007-08-14T20:44:00.000+08:00

Dempsey Road

2007-08-12T19:15:00.000+08:00
Having heard so much about this place, I feel that it is my duty as a Singaporean to experience it at the very least.

This former British army barracks and Central Manpower Base premises is now a series of warehouses selling South-East Asian furniture, carpets and exotic artifacts.

Not to mention many funky restaurants and cafes.

This place reminds me of Seletar Camp and Turf City. But you can see from the rows of expensive cars and ang mohs that their target market are very up class.

Again, you almost can't see any high-rise from the place. Giving a very countryside kind of illusion. A sense of peace and serenity

The place is starting to become commercialize as you can see from the pristine water fountain that greets visitors. But still, it has a long way to go before the entire place gets "en bloc".

A late lunch was at Dome. The rest looks a bit too expensive but a mid-month expenditure.

Not only does it has the highest ceiling of all Dome Cafe, it even has a compass in case you lost your way in their place.

Since Dome could easily be found in Singapore, I shall skip the review. I was too hungry to give an objective assessment anyway.

One interesting place you might chance upon at the back of Dempsey is House.

The place is perched at the edge of a cliff. It reminds me of Sentosa Resort. I spent quite a while trying to figure out if the place is a chalet, a restaurant, a spa or an artsy fartsy place that is waiting to close down.

It's actually not a chalet but all of the rest and more. It even house a jacuzzi area within the few weeks old complex.

Their concept is really a bit new to me. Mixing Spa + Dining + Bar.

There's even a huge football pitch. Anyone knows how could I book that?

My NDP eve

2007-08-09T18:37:00.000+08:00
I spent a relaxing evening with my wife at Great World City yesterday. And I clocked less than 5 mins I think from my office to my destination. The cheap thrill in life.

Anyway we caught Rush Hour 3. Must be real exciting and scary that I caught her with her eyes closed.. twice.

Rush Hour 1 is still the best in this franchise. Shanghai Knights were even better. But I feel that Jackie Chan should just come back for good. The fight scenes in RH 3 is a fraction of a typical HK Jackie Chan movie. The rest goes to seeing Chris Tucker talking like a very annoying women.

For those who love the Char Kway Teow at Zion Road market, do give the lesser queue( or zero queue) stall a try. It's actually quite good.

Before the movie, we drop by this new place called Iwannagohome. Don't bother googling for it. Their website is in flash, you can't locate any link. Now I know why my web designer insist the website has certain html elements. Click here for their website.

This place is owned by the guy who founded Royal Sporting House and who once owned the distribution rights of Zara and Mango. All those were sold and his stakes are all in this furniture place. He is one good (shrewd?) businessman to achieve all these.

To find out more about the place without dropping by Great World City, just imagine a very expensive(and small) IKEA. The premium you paid of course go to the nicer design in many ways.

Like the printed toilet paper with pictures of football and other stuffs that cost $7 a roll. I rather wash my ass than use a single sheet of that.

They sell many expensiv candles shaped in fruits and things you can't possibly imagine. I wonder how much it cost to make a candle?

No bedroom stuffs. They do have one full rack of rubbish bins in black, white and orange. I guess those must be one of their better selling items given the stock levels.

One of the vase did catch my eye. And also a few mini Qin warrior kind of sculpture. But the latter would be like a thorn in my home.

The vase is just like a gigantic glass. I only need to get pass the price tag.. ($299)

Thoughts of the day...

2007-08-09T00:04:00.000+08:00

Save the world! Start with your search engine!

2007-08-07T20:20:00.000+08:00
A simple step we can take to save the world and go green.

Use www.blackle.com to replace all your Internet searches.

How does this help you might ask?

Well, a screen that is predominantly white actually uses more energy than a screen that is predominantly black. So with so many googlers out there, we could harnass on the large number of people and start saving energy.

Read here for more information.

Why I (still) can't get used to my iMac..

2007-08-03T23:03:00.000+08:00
I think I finally get why I still can't get used to my iMac when I have gotten used to some many new things in my life (new address, new bed, etc)
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iMac is too ... perfect! That's right. I can't FINE-TUNE it!

In retrospect, the following is how I spend my computing time (during the PC days):

20% - gaming (would escalate by a lot when I get my hand on a really addictive game.)
10% - studies (would lessen when I get distracted by a really addictive game)
25% - surfing and chatting
5% - evaluating new softwares
40% - finding ways and means to improve the PC!

That would mean things like trying out the latest registry cleaner, tweaking with regedit, trying all possible means to defrag the harddisk, always on the lookout for the latest graphic drivers.

As boring as it sounds, I LOVE doing it. It used to be so extreme that I could almost get a high when I reformat and reinstall my windows.

Now that I'm using a mac, even my studies time is significantly reduced. (I used word processor to compile my notes and I HATE to use open office.)

There are so little good games on the market, let alone games that are meant for OS X.

So few sharewares and freewares that are Mac friendly and I don't even have a Bios to play with when I want to!

That literally make my new iMac a very nice looking internet surfing machine.

Well, I did come across this a while ago. I'm making this my homepage for the time being. Hopefully this will act as a catalyst to ease me into the world of apple.

10 years ago...

2007-07-29T17:25:00.001+08:00

I was driving halfway when it suddenly strikes me to think of what I was 10 years ago.

That would be 1997. And around July I should be working as a temp at this company call KHL Printing. It was located at Loyang and my friend Joe roped me in as sort of his replacement as he would be heading to Polytechnic soon.

It was data entry at first before I ran out of things to type. Then I was placed in the warehouse in charge of dispatching drivers to make their morning deliveries. As they only do morning, afternoon is really a bore.

I was also awaiting my enlistment at the end of the year (26 Dec 1997).

Fast forward to present time. I own and manage my recruitment firm, I have a place I could call my own, a wonderful wife, a car to go wherever I want and almost everything I have now are things I could never have dreamed of back then.

It's appalling how chains of events lead me to where I am.

However the point is that at times I'd felt unsatisfied with what I have. Always thinking of how I could be more contended if I had more of these or more of that.

But if I were to look at it through the eyes when I was an 18 year old, I should be the ultimate role model to emulate.

And as we all know too, buying more things to fulfill our dissatisfaction is never-ending.

Maybe for once before you fork out that wallet to pay for another thing that you don't really need, think back to 10 years ago. Would the same person 10 years ago also feel the same kind of dis contention as you do now?

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My virgin cooking

2007-07-24T22:36:00.000+08:00
Over the weekend, I found out that I could actually cooked!

Surprisingly it wasn't very hard. Maybe it's the systematic and consistent manner I approached all the different dishes.

Put oil, pour in minced garlic, pour in main ingredient, stir, serve.

I even donned an apron to show how professional I was.

And Wa La!

1) Tou Miao with minced garlic and oyster sauce
2) Scrambled eggs with onions
3) Stir fried cognac prawns with baby chilli
4) Shitake Mushroom with minced chicken

Rice and soup courtesy of Annie..

He is so gonna get it...

2007-07-23T21:18:00.001+08:00

Sleeping SG Police Caught on Camera
gotten from http://www.wackysingapore.com/

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Turf City

2007-07-22T09:59:00.000+08:00
We were on our way to IMM on a Saturday afternoon when we heard on the radio about some free tyre check event at Turf City. I personally never been there before. Annie did. She went there with Joycelyn to catch Energy. She insist she was dragged there by her. Yah right.. :p

The first feel one has is you seemed to be entering Malaysia. The place is pretty run-down and you can't see any reminiscence of Singapore (not a single building in line of sight)

The place is divided into two portion mainly. One side is full of auto shops. There is even one that showcase only heritage cars.

The other side is our usual shopping centre. A Giant supermarket, some retail clothing stalls, a seafood market and a pretty cheap 2nd hand book store. Oh, and there is an institute that trains people who wants to work in casino.

Doesn't this look soooo JB..

What I really like about this place is how close to nature it is. It's a place you seldom could find in land-scare Singapore. It reminds me of Seletar Camp where I did my 2 years of NS.

As we were roaming around, hordes of rugby players walked towards the centre. Apparently there is a large field around the area that is used by them for training. There's even a football field and a tennis court.

For those who haven't been to this place, give it a try. The natural surroundings and the laid back atmosphere is truly unique.

And the wanton mee is terrific.

TRANSFORMERS!!!

2007-07-15T21:37:00.001+08:00

I totally love the movie. Having a solid understanding of the characters beforehand surely helps. The  designers didn't deviate much from the 1980s cartoon, except for Bumble Bee but he looks way cooler as that Chervolet Camaro.

And has anyone seen a more Beng truck than Optimus Prime? The designers I'm sure are from the Fast & Furious production.

stare what stare~~!

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Changes to layout

2007-07-15T21:27:00.001+08:00

After getting feedbacks about the non-existence of my blog, I had decided to do something and removed almost every single java script I could locate on my blog template.

The only one left would be the flickr thing but I guess that should be one of the reason.

So if any of those who can't previously and could see my blog now, please let me know.

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Die Hard 4.0

2007-07-14T00:14:00.000+08:00
Joe, you are right. The movie ain't that good. It wasn't my first choice. GV Grand has almost every available theater under the spell of Hairy Potter, giving only a 2.45pm slot to Trasformers (wtf?!)

Anyway I'll catch that one this Sunday. ;)

I'm back!

2007-07-12T22:04:00.000+08:00
I deeply apologize for the lack of postings recently. Moving to a new house has been a major time occupier. The luxury of having our clothes washed, plates cleaned aren't there anymore. So on top of my usual routine, there isn't much time or energy left to blog about anything.

Secondly I'm officially a Mac user now. It still feel kinda strange to me, the OS and keyboard shortcuts are totally different from what I was accustomed to for the past 28 years. Having gotten it, I spent much lesser time in front of my computer. (The time has gone to my Nintendo Wii recently)

Anyway I'm starting to get the hang of it but I still prefer Firefox over Safari.

Now that I had settled into my new home, it's back to normal routine of just work and play(and school but that's only til Dec). I'm catching Transformers tomorrow (FINALLY!) and feel like doing something outdoor this weekend. I haven't had a good sweat-out since my RT and that was like Jan. So it's half a year of no exercise. If this carries on, I will soon not have the privilege of laughing at fat people no more. (ARGH!)

That's some scary thought..

And I promise my readers(what's left of you) that I'll update more regularly. I would be focusing more on entrepreneurship and recruitment since these are what I had been doing for the past 4 years. Hopefully aspiring entrepreneurs and recruiters would find my opinion useful.

For potential job seekers, drop by my company's website. We may be able to help. For companies, we need your business! :D

My to-do list

2007-07-09T00:28:00.000+08:00
1) 1 HK series to watch, wit 2 more pending
2) 2 movies to watch (Transformers, Die Hard 4)
3) 3 US Series to complete (Prison Break 1, Prison Break 2, Heroes)
4) 10+ Wii games

With all these pending, where got time to study for my exam in Aug!!??

Will be back soon

2007-07-04T11:07:00.001+08:00

Lately very busy with issues on my new house and my school projects.

Will be back soon after (another hectic event) my house-warming on saturday.

I have moved in~~!

2007-06-17T20:28:00.000+08:00

I am at a new address officially since saturday. A lot of getting used to in terms of where to look for stuff. But overall I'm enjoying the peace and quiet. And not to mention I have much more space to move around in.

Still a bit of tidying up to do...

This is the what greets my visitor

Dining area

Guest/Mum's room

My study/work area

Master bedroom.

My TV system in the masterbedroom

Walk in Wardrobe

The toilet beside it

Kitchen

Living room (Messy cables)

And my fave...
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My Personal Masseur! Yeah..

New house update

2007-06-13T14:16:00.001+08:00

I just realised my wife had took pictures of the new house current status and posted them on her blog.

I don't wanna duplicate so check the link out for more info!

My first published letter in TNP

2007-06-13T14:15:00.001+08:00

Not really something to write of but it's STILL the first letter I had published in news paper. Woo Hoo!

Savings...

2007-06-12T22:20:00.001+08:00

Lately everything also more and more.

More and more people on the streets, more and more cars on the road, everything more and more expensive and to make the best out of it, people are looking for means to make more and more $$..

Which is very beneficial. For the country this means more tax income, more sales for cars-maker, and more business for everyone.

But for the individual, I start to sense the frustration. Trains and buses during peak hours are cramped to the max, every other car owners are on the waiting list just to find a space to park their car. One even has to queue for ages just to find seats during lunch before you start joining the queues to buy food.

And what happen when demand for things is high? Prices will naturally go up.

So now you earn more to pay for more.

Which makes it the best opportunity to start saving while one can still earn as much before the next downturn comes crawling in. As history has shown, what goes up will eventually comes down.

And surely one would still remember the horror stories of the downtime. Bankrupts, houses confiscated by bank, lives changed overnight.

For myself, I'm sad to say I don't really have much(if any) savings despite working for the past 7 years. Which is really pathetic.

And so my new objective for this month would be to start a regular savings account and place in 20% of my salary. Late start but better than never start...

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Ouch! My back!

2007-06-02T18:21:00.000+08:00
It finally happen. My on-and-off affair with my back ache flared into a full-blown excruciating back-breaking, teeth-biting, tears-flowing accident after effects.

We were just leaving a redemption center with a Samsung Home Theater System which seems to weigh a tonne. It somehow caused something in my back area to snap and the pain starts to spread the my entire back.

I had to do something about it or I surely will be bed-ridden tomorrow. Hence we went to the Chinese Physician in Tampines for treatment.

I had always been quite skeptical about TCM but this show made me feel otherwise:

The Chinese Physician gave me a #$%^ painful massage and put hot suction cups on my back to improve blood circulation. On top of the medicine and plaster, I am recommended to undergo acupuncture to rid myself of the pain.

Use pain to cure pain. Hopefully it's worth my appointment tomorrow...

More Lightings..

2007-05-25T22:23:00.001+08:00
Kitchen:

Study Room:

Mum's Room:

Dining Area:

I think I still like my IKEA light the most... haha..

Le Fenix Hotel

2007-05-24T23:32:00.001+08:00

After a much deliberated search, this was the hotel that we decided on...

Actually the decision was easily made when we saw it on the web. Basically it's the newest hotel in Bangkok so it can't be that bad...

Beside the long walk from the nearest Na Na Skytrain station, there isn't much to complain about.

This hotel is under Accor group, the same group that brought you Novotel and many others.

Le Fenix is very much a designer hotel. A lot of stuff they have there are really very cool.

See the double L design in the background? That is used very extensively.

From the bar counter...

To the walkway...

To the coffee tables and chairs..

And not forgetting the room..

And they have the coolest LCD TV in the market now. I really dunno why Samsung wanna discontinue this white color model. It's just so damn cool!

There's an equally cool place across the street.

This, my friend, is a disco.

Next post: Shoppppinnnngg.....

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My holiday

2007-05-22T23:32:00.001+08:00

Nope, not to Hong Kong (unfortunately). But via the same flight that transit at Bangkok(which is our stop).

Thanks to Carol who gave me a pair of tickets that was originally given to her by UOB Travel Planners for booking of her wedding dinner with UOB Card.

Even though the arrangement was pretty hasty, I knew I wanted a holiday.

So here I am, back from Bangkok and away from my daily diet of tom yum koong and phad thai.

Daily events

It started with a nice, sumptuous, complimentary  meal provided by the friendly staff of Cathay Pacific.

Afterwhich and a couple hours of boring inflight TV, we arrived that the new Bangkok Airport. Is it me or are all other surrounding cities airports look much more nicer than ours?

The passage way to immigration are lined with gigantic sculptures that looks like a huge pear and a very uncomfortable high heel shoe.

And they totally ensure you don't get to play football around there...

I've always heard that one should take the lightest local food/drink to slowly acclimatize.

So we chose this...

A potent 7-in-1 that is sure to make your mind crap in your pants...

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Well it didn't. And it tastes pretty good. :)

Next post: To the hotel

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Let there be light!

2007-05-22T22:31:00.001+08:00
Some of the lights that was mounted just before I rushed to the airport..

Walk-in Wardrobe light.

Master bedroom

Corner of the living room. Got this from IKEA. Really like this light. Very stylo to me.

Can your resume beat this?

2007-05-22T17:01:00.001+08:00

L-box & False Ceiling

2007-05-13T13:01:00.000+08:00
Electrical works are finally completed and L-box + false ceiling went up yesterday.

By monday, the L-box at the foyer area should be completed.

Paint works should be completed by this coming Friday. I hope the color we'd chosen would not deviate much from the color chart when painted on our walls.

And coming back from the house earlier, I just realised we need to get one more hanging(or ceiling) light for the balcony(now at extension to the living area). Another.trip.to.Balestier. "_"

Update

2007-05-09T23:13:00.001+08:00

For once I finally have the time to sit down in front of my PC and continue to update my blog, even though I'm suffering from a terrible headache right now.

Life has been really hectic for me recently. Work also seemed to be taking a toil on me that I'm still nursing a bad throat that wouldn't go away even after finishing my entire course of medicine.

For those who don't know, I'm in the recruitment industry. With market picking up, I'm finding ourselves under-strength and missing out on so many opportunities. And witnessing competitors pacing past me is like rubbing salt into wounds. So I'm spending tonnes of time now exploring big volume opportunities like government tenders.

It's the first time I did a tender and I finally appreciate all the time and efforts spent on my past uni projects. It's pretty similar and it sure helps.

Even if it wasn't awarded to us, it's a good learning process.

On the other hand, I still have a spare workstation to fill. With the market being so good now, it sure isn't easy to get good people.

If you know of any interested people who wants to be Recruitment Consultant, feel free to get them to get in touch with me.

Good thing is I am getting great help from our very first temp. He works very quick and we managed to sort out the mess in our payroll system within a week

On a positive note, our sign broads are finally up... after waiting for loooonng 6 weeks.

School

My class resumed two days ago and motivation is at an all-time low. Although I believe these two modules would be more interesting, I just don't feel the same vibe in the new PSB campus.

Maybe it's the old-folks residential area that surrounds it, maybe it's the old school feel to the campus, I don't know. Maybe it's everything that is old all around that makes one so depressing going to school.

Still I have to slough through this. But I'm quite sure my studying days are over. There goes my MBA plan.

Housing

My new home is very much a work-in-progress. Work had stopped for a week as I sourced for a new electrician. The one that my ID had recommended was obviously trying to con us. For mainly extension works, a few new points and a new DB box, he wanted to charge us for 2.7k.

Separately we managed get another to quote us for 2.4k and this is total new rewiring, with 3 years warranty no less.

Electrical work started yesterday and should conclude by Friday. After that my contractor would take over and put in all the console, wardrobe and stuff before painting.

I think we should be able to move in by mid June hopefully.

Holiday

My wife and I will be heading to Bangkok (again) next Sat for 4 days. This is 2 days after she come back from her Hong Kong trip from this Sat. She is damn happy lor. Machiam like a stewardess.

Half of my mind should still be in the office worrying over necessary and unnecessary things but this time at least I have a laptop to bring along.

Still it would be a good break for me to recharge myself and outline my (company) plan for the new financial year.

.

.

.

.

.

That's all folks!

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ST Forum - He left Singapore with a clear conscience

2007-05-04T12:05:00.001+08:00
WOULD like to voice my opinion on the comment by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew that he could never leave Singapore with a clear conscience.
I have mostly been studying or working out of Singapore since 2000, in Australia, the US and India. I am currently residing in Melbourne, Australia.

Growing up in Singapore was always good. However, as an informed adult wanting the best for my family, my wife and I left Singapore. We still believe Singapore is a great place to live for a lot of people, and for a variety of reasons. However, it would not work for us.

We have had friendsenvy our life in Melbourne - land ownership, a three-bedroom house with a
backyard, a fantastic salary package, living in a vibran t city that is always alive with the great outdoors, world-class sport, theatre, musicals, concerts, etc.

However, these are not the critical pull factors that drew us to Melbourne. The real reason starts and ends with personal time, family time and work-life balance. We wanted to live in a community where personal time is sacred, and where companies do not 'own' you. Work is strictly 9 to 5, except for the odd occasion when you work longer. Even then, bosses do not make demand s - they request your time.

In Melbourne, taxes are high, interest rates are soaring, the health-care system may not be at its best, medical insurance is expensive and the public transportation is hardly world class but we have learnt to cope with these 'deficiencies'.

On the flipside, we have time to enjoy a rich family life. Our kids, when we have them, will have
ample opportunities to choose the path they would like in life, be it sport, music, theatre or pure academics. They will not be branded under the academic microscope.

The bottom line is that we left with a clear conscience, and we remain here with a clear conscience.

Arvin
Gopal Jayabalan
Melbourne, Australia

Doooonuts.......

2007-04-27T17:20:00.000+08:00
I did the most Singaporean thing this afternoon after lunch. I went queuing.

Queuing for the latest fab in Singapore. Not donuts but doughnuts.

Venue @ Vivocity and we waited like 40 mins i think.

I tried the Mon Cherie. Not bad. Then again, anything with so much sugar can't taste too bad.

Still give it a try before it goes the path of RotiBoy.

It's coming together!

2007-04-21T19:30:00.000+08:00
Just went to our Work-Very-Much-In-Progress house today.

Seeing it transforming into our dream home really gives me a huge sense of satisfaction.

Piece by piece, the wall tiles seemed to be giving the raw cemented flat a new lease of life.

Our schedule should be right on track, with tilings to be done by next week.

We are giving our cosy platform a miss though as it would constrict the walkway to the living area. Also we need a space for our OSIM chair.

See how excited Annie is

Our master bedroom toilet. Check out the pipes! We had wanted to conceal via boxing but decided to paint over instead. Cut cost

Kitchen

Common toilet

More to come!

I think my new house is almost ready

2007-04-11T21:06:00.000+08:00
The resemblance between this and the 3D perspective is so uncanny.

May I present you:

Kitchen

Study Room

Master bedroom

Living Room

View from my new office

2007-04-07T18:52:00.000+08:00

New Office, New Environment

2007-04-06T11:38:00.001+08:00
Been so busy to really have some time to sit down and update my blog.

So what's been going on in my life?

I'm having my exam(one more paper next week)

I just shifted office to Bukit Pasoh Road and is trying very hard to get used to the new place. But this place should be a better one. As I read in some feng shui article that a good place must consist of water (for money) and hill (for backing). Since we are on a Bukit, that should qualify. Now I just need to go and get a new water fountain to complement. ;)

Also we've been shopping for some other balance items for the new house, mainly lighting. And I actually blew $900 for a swarovski chandelier. I still can't believe I did that.

With all these piling up, it really doesn't give me any mood for my studies. I'm seriously thinking of deferring until all these settle. For those who don't know, I'm taking a Diploma in Management Accounting and Finance @ PSB Academy.

For what I need to know, I should and could have chosen those 3 months course for management. So I'm really dragging my feet to school now. And my boring classmates ain't really making things any interesting.

And here are some of our shifting pictures taken on 30th March 2007:

Messy (old) office...

Our last group pic at the old office
So tired from the shifting!! (New Office)
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How to write a resignation letter

2007-03-22T10:25:00.000+08:00
Short but not formal....

A bit formal.....

Formal One......

Or this one ?

3D mock-up of my future house

2007-03-20T00:14:00.001+08:00

Here are some of the pictures that my interior designer had came up with. Mainly quite satisfied but still there will be some changes here and there.

Living Room: We already bought a sofa in Grey fabric so the opposing wall might have a freshier color instead to contrast.

Dining Room: I loved the red theme but this gotta go too as we were too rush and bought two black dining chairs. So the color gotta accommodate the chairs instead.

Kitchen: Plain and simple. Might add in an extended island if actual space permits. Color should be something brighter. Maybe red for the bottom and white + tempered glass on top.

Bedroom: Neither of us took the blue color well. The space above the bed also seemed rather plain. This will undergo a complete overhaul. Gotta wait and see what the designer could come back with.

Shower area: Our bedroom is a merger of two rooms. This is the extended area which holds the shower area and also a walk-in wardrobe. Quite ok with this portion.

Basin: Right next to the toilet is the basin. We migrated it out of the toilet. This ain't gonna get HDB approval so if anyone also has this idea, be prepared to knock it away when you are selling the house.

Walk-in Wardrobe: And finally on the other side would be the wardrobe. I think I will eventually only get the small little corner at the side. The rest will be dominated by my wife's burgeoning clothes collection.

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Chief Happiness Officer

2007-03-18T22:15:00.000+08:00

Came across this website as it appeared on my blog's AutoRoll.

This guy basically devotes his time on how to attain work-happiness.

He even has a book on this and it's Free if you read it from the website.

I'm still running through the chapters but it has been interesting so far.

More items added

2007-03-18T11:39:00.000+08:00
Renovation still haven't start and already we have added the following items, sitting in some warehouse now.

Dining table (chairs not included)

Dining chair x 2 (The other side be a platform seat)

L-shaped sofa (We had wanted red leather but decided to cut the cost)

And a coffee table to match (This is my personal favorite buy. Almost changed to a full glass one)

That's about all. Plus a bed frame that I don't have the picture for. I guess the rest of the stuff (mainly appliances) could wait till a later time.

Sponsors would very much be appreciated. ;)

Happiness @ Work

2007-03-13T11:52:00.000+08:00
Excerpts:
Choose to Be Happy at Work
Happiness is largely a choice. I can hear many of you arguing with me, but it's true. You can choose to be happy at work. Sound simple? Yes. But, simplicity is often profoundly difficult to put into action. I wish all of you had the best employer in the world, but, face it, you may not. So, think positively about your work. Dwell on the aspects of your work you like. Avoid negative people and gossip. Find coworkers you like and enjoy and spend your time with them. Your choices at work largely define your experience. You can choose to be happy at work.

From Susan M. Heathfield, (About.com)

For the full article, head to this link.

Bedroom set

2007-03-12T00:40:00.001+08:00
If there's one thing I've learned from all the sourcing of home furnishing, it is that being patient would really pay off.

We'd been too rushy and bought a bedroom set for my mum's room from the new Novena showroom a week ago. There wasn't much range to choose from and somehow the idea of trying somewhere else didn't strike me.

So we bought something like this, part of their White Collection.

Well, the one we bought were a little nicer. And it includes a vanity table set and a sliding door wardrobe. It cost $1,888. The stool (for the vanity table) and one more side table(it came with one only) were only given to us after much persuasion(especially the latter one)

And yesterday we dropped by Star Furniture at Toh Guan Road.

I saw this:

With a price tag of $1,499. And the stool plus the extra side table is listed in the package. Trust me, it looks much better than it does in this picture.

I'm beginning to wonder what other stuffs I might have overpaid for.

So I'm quite glad that I wasn't mesmerize again when I saw this nice sofa set that carried an after discount price of $2600.

The one I wanted to get is in brown. So as to match the same color coffee table that I had bought impulsively a week ago. Now I gotta based my new house design and color AROUND the furniture.

Doesn't seemed very intelligent.

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Think before you lend

2007-03-07T11:33:00.001+08:00

My wife and i had some dispute quite some time ago. She loaned someone money. This someone is a person whom I personally felt had total disregard for money given her lavish lifestyle.

And I believe it was also achieved because all her husband salary goes into her account. She in turn would give him a paltry allowance a day to get by. (Poor man if you ask me, pun no intended)

Despite that, she gets into debt and all(albeit she is not the cause of it).

Still, it didn't gel well for me when my wife told me she loaned money to her. She defended her decision and I'm so pleased a week ago when I could tell her in her face, " I TOLD YOU SO!"

For those who know me well, I'm not a lender. Conversely I try not to borrow from people too. Unless you need it for an urgent medical fee, you can go to GE Money.

And based on my understanding, the lender in this instance had exhausted nearly all possible avenues. GE Money, loan shark and apparently all my colleagues.

Actually I'm still okay up till this point, until I came to know that she would be going on a trip to Bangkok with her husband. On borrowed money no less.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I assume a typical person in debt would be scrimping here and there to repay off his/her debt. Not go to Bangkok on a shopping trip.

Then again, I have a friend who used to be in a lot of debt. He told me he is already owing banks $20k. An amount he can't clear. So it doesn't matter even if the debt balloon to $40k. He still couldn't clear it.

From that perspective, I can understand. Which also make me more pissed that my wife is a victim here.

Oh well. I guessed $200 is a small price to pay to see the person behind the veil.

There are not stupid questions, only stupid people

2007-03-04T00:32:00.001+08:00

One of my ex-classmate remarked this in class when another of them was asking the lecturer a question that has answer written all over it.

I like the way he puts it and it still stick with me till today.

My personal patience with stupid people is very low. But luck has it that I have the chance to meet so many of them at work and in school.

But it could never beat the stupid people in your personal life. The kind that replacement of them might involve huge amount of money.

You could change work, you could swap project mates but not so easy for this.

And if you have the luck to meet those with double standards, NATO(No action, Talk Only) and a brain that could barely fit into the size of a peanut shell, it makes me very glad

That I'm not alone in such predicament.

It also make me become a firmer believer of palmistry. As I always had pretty short Life line. Now II can more or less understand why.

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Zhng your car this festive season

2007-02-25T16:11:00.000+08:00
You got to give the guy credit.

Not only did he managed to blend in this car into the CNY festive tastefully, he also got an extra pair of eyes to monitor road conditions.

No more blind spots.

恭喜发财!!!

Sentosa Flowers 2007

2007-02-24T16:03:00.001+08:00

How I spent my Satuday...with sheeps..

Sentosa Flower 2007

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Best way to start a (Chinese) New Year

2007-02-19T22:49:00.000+08:00
I think there is something about me and new year. It wasn't pleasant the first round, it sure ain't any better this morning.

It began when I start to hear a repetitive flipping sound. Oh dear. Problem with the car on the day I needed to use it the most(Btw, my original itinerary consists of Tampines -> Hougang -> Choa Chu Kang -> Woodlands -> West Coast -> Tampines)

It turn out to be a puncture of my tire.

2nd day of CNY. Where the hell could I get help.

Went to Ubi and made rounds and rounds before very luckily chanced upon a half-open workshop that actually do tires.

I had read Mr Brown's blog about this punctured tire and was thinking that it be at most another $20 for me.

Unfortunately things were never so simple for me.

So how, mysteriously, the entire metal portion of a brand new screwdriver got pierced into my tire. The damage was so huge that a patch can't do the trick. I gotta change the entire tire.

$100...

Not only the tire got screwed, I got screwed too...

Still I'm grateful that the uncle at Ban Seng Tyre Services was opened when I needed them the most. Or maybe I should thank his friend who made him open his shop in the first place due to two punctured tires.

1 week break!

2007-02-16T18:34:00.000+08:00
My office will be closed for the entire week from 17th all the way till 24th.

As much as I worry about the things that are needed to be done, I am really looking forward to it.

I haven't had a real break since my Hong Kong trip last July. It had been work work work since then. And with my new house coming up, the task list accumulated in my head seems to get longer and longer. I can feel it at the rate I keep forgetting things recently.

I still don't have much idea how I would spend the days as my wife would be working(Poor Annie).

I'll just take it slow. Wake up late, go for a brunch while sipping a hot cup of kopi-c. Reading the newspaper from page to page. Watching the pile of vcds and dvds I'd bought ages ago. Playing my xbox till the wee hours

This is life!

Renovation update 2

2007-02-10T23:13:00.000+08:00
My meet up with all the interior designers is finally coming to an end.

From a list of 8, we shortlisted to 2. Aranus & Barang Barang Interior. Right now is more on the price really as I believe both of them could do an equally good job. Tomorrow I should know who I want.

And before I even signed on the dotted line, we had kiasuly bought some items in advance.

We got ourself a King Coil mattress (It was going at $500+, original price is close to $1k I think)

And for those who really like those cool designer furniture but allergic to the price tag, check this place out. They profess to imitate from the more expensive design and reproduce them on the cheap.

We chanced OM Home when we left. This place got some pretty cool stuff too. They have a showroom at Liang Court. We got one metallic lamp there for $120. I find it real cool as it is touch activated and each touch would escalate through 4 levels of brightness.

But the last one gotta be the best.

Oh yeah. My very first Osim massage chair. This chair is really self-convincing. Just sit on it and you won't wanna leave without one. Got it at a $300 discount at $3588. Instalment payment over 3 years at about $98 per month.

I can't wait!

Best name award

2007-01-31T14:15:00.000+08:00
After much deliberation, the panel has decided to award the following company for having the best name for an organization.

The criteria for our selection is very simple. It takes a lot of guts and balls to name yourself like they did. The torment suffered at the registration office is more than enough for them to win this award.

Loosely translated, the best name is: "Hundred steps chase soul gym, Yin Yang five types qigong"

Pay to suffer

2007-01-31T14:07:00.001+08:00

I just read in Today newspaper that in due course, Singaporeans who drive in needs to pay RM 20 per entrance.

So now beside exposing yourself to snatch theft, horrible floods, pit holes roads, having your car stolen, you gotta pay the Malaysia government to bestow you with that opportunity.

I can't wait.

The RM20 barrier

KL wants S'porean vehicles to pay more to enter M'sia, but JB fears loss of business

Wednesday • January 31, 2007

Lee U-Wen

u-wen@mediacorp.com.sg

THE gantries are up, the equipment is in place and the testing is in full swing. At the Causeway and at the Second Link, they are just waiting for a date to be announced.

Once that happens, prepare to add RM20 ($8.70) to your shopping budget each
time you drive into Johor Baru (JB) to pick up some groceries or top up your petrol.

Kuala Lumpur has decided that all Singapore vehicles entering Malaysia will soon have to pay this new entrance levy over and above existing toll charges.

Malaysia's Tourism Minister Adnan Mansor, currently in Singapore for the Association of South-east Asian Nations' Tourism Ministers Meeting, said that the
details were being ironed out. "It has yet to be approved but when it is implemented, I am sure Singaporeans will get used to paying it," he said.

Singapore has been charging Malaysian motorists $20 to enter Singapore and "we don't grumble", said Tengku Adnan. "What is RM20? Singaporeans come to JB to buy food and petrol at subsidised prices.

"Besides, we have lots more roads for Singaporeans to travel on. Singapore has less road."

To Kuala Lumpur, the levy makes financial sense. It was first mooted last
April, Malaysia's High Commissioner to Singapore N Parameswaran told
Today. The logic is that Malaysia should not be giving away its subsidised fuel to Singaporeans without getting anything in return.

But already there are murmurs of protest — not from Singapore but from JB.

The Malaysian city, whose retail sector thrives on Singaporean spending,
doesn't want its government to scare its big buyers away.

Former Kampar MP James Wong said the justification for the levy was "simply not strong enough".

He told Today: "There has to be some extraordinary circumstance before you
do something like this. They cannot assume that just because Singapore
is rich, they can impose this fee."

The economic benefits of the Singaporean market — especially in Johor — are compelling.

Last year, Singaporeans spent a whopping RM1.83 billion on food, shopping
and entertainment in Johor, with most hoteliers, shops and restaurants
heavily dependant on the powerful Singapore dollar to remain profitable.

In all, Singaporeans went to Malaysia an estimated total of 9 million
times last year, and this number is expected to rise to 10 million with
the Visit Malaysia Year 2007 tourism drive.

What's more, statistics from the Tourism Ministry show that six in 10 Asian tourists to Malaysia hail from Singapore.

When contacted, Johor MP Shahrir Samad admitted that there was "a lot of unhappiness among Johoreans".

"Many have asked me for the need to have such a measure. Collect the money for what? Who will benefit?" he wondered.

Ms Jenny Chan, general manager for Johor Bahru City Square shopping
centre, said that the levy could keep some Singaporeans from crossing
the Causeway.

With more than 300 stores, Johor Bahru City Square is one of the most popular shopping centres in the state, with 20 per cent of its customers coming from Singapore.

"Johor and other states like Malacca rely on Singaporeans, so we really should welcome them with open arms. We've not heard of a fixed date for the levy yet,
but we hope that the government will delay it, at least until Chinese New Year is over. That is one of the busiest times of the year for us," she said.

On the flip side, Malaysian cars currently pay $20 to enter Singapore, with motorcyclists having to fork out $4. This amount is valid from 2am to 5pm on weekdays; entry is free on weekends and public holidays.

Tengku Adnan said he had not heard complaints from Malaysian drivers even though the amount was huge when converted into ringgit.

Observers, however, note that Malaysian car-owners do not pay Certificate of Entitlement (COE) costs as Singaporeans do. Without the fee, someone living in JB could simply sidestep the COE cost by driving his Malaysian car in Singapore.

In contrast, most Singaporeans drive to JB to shop and spend. Would the new levy deter them?

Said business consultant Angelina Lim, 32: "Of course it will discourage me. First there was a toll increase, and now this."

Sales manager Roland Ang, 34, on the other hand, said he would continue to
visit Johor at least once a month to eat at his his favourite seafood joint.

"Yes, it will soon be a bit more expensive, but if a family of four sits in one car, it works out to just RM5 per person. It's quite affordable," he said.

Kuala Lumpur believes — and JB deeply hopes — that more will think like him.

Renovation update

2007-01-29T21:42:00.001+08:00

Ok the pool table is out. With my skills, I stand high chances of breaking a few things when some of the balls fly off the table.

We were toying with the idea of using red extensively for our house.... until I came upon this:

I don't think I want my house to bear any resemblance to Geylang or a temple.

More or less the idea should be firmed. By next week I should have like 8 quotations on hand. It is so tiring going to one after another explaining the same thing over and over again.

I sure hope it's all worth it. By this week I would be submitting my finalized requirements back to all 8 IDs and see who can gives me the offer that I can't refused.

I PASSED MY IPPT~~!

2007-01-24T21:48:00.001+08:00

YEAH!!!

And I rewarded myself with KFC. Muhahahah..

Best is I don't have to worry about my next test until close to November 2008!

Who's keen on All-You-Can-Eat Buffet??!!

Renovation update

2007-01-21T00:15:00.001+08:00

On top of my very busy schedule lately, I still had to make time to meet up with a number of interior designers. So far I had met up with 7 IDs with a couple more than once.

It really is a very tiring process, explaining to them exactly how we want it to be and at the same time, trying to keep an open mind to their suggestions. And going through the exact same thing 7 times!

Really beginning to take a toll on me. And I still have to meet up with another one this coming Saturday.

Hopefully all these efforts would pay off handsomely in the form of MAJOR!! savings.

Sufficient enough for me to get a......

YEAH~~!!

My recent (no-life) schedule

2007-01-16T11:09:00.001+08:00

Mon: Remedial Training @ Bedok Camp (6pm - 10pm)

Tue: Class @ PSB (7pm - 10pm)

Wed: Remedial Training @ Bedok Camp (6pm - 10pm)

Thur: Class @ PSB (7pm - 10pm)

Fri: Nothing but too tired to go anywhere

Sat: Remedial Training @ Bedok Camp (4pm - 8pm)

Sun: Dead...

Renovation Costs

2007-01-13T20:48:00.001+08:00

My wife and I went to Rezt n Relax yesterday for a discussion on our flat's renovation.

I was pretty much impressed with what the designer had proposed. Her creativity in space planning is greatly admired.

Price tag? $63k. And this doesn't even include the electrical, windows and furnitures.

Our budget for renovation had been $30k. But more research = more wants. So slowly the budget starts to inflate to $40k then $50k.

And now, $63k.

I don't know man. $63k costs more than my car. Do I really wanna(or need to) spend so much?

Something meaning from Singapore Dreaming

2007-01-13T15:07:00.001+08:00

I just finished the DVD of this show. For those who has yet to catch the show, please do. Especially if you are Singaporean. The stories, the characters, the settings are really something everyone can relate to.

The highlight of the movie for me must be the conversation at a coffeeshop between the character that Lim Yu Beng plays and a China women.

(Loosely translated)

China women(CW): What did you want to become when you were young?

Lim Yu Beng(LYB): I wanted to be a musician.

CW: So why didn't you become one?

(pause)

LYB: What about you?

CW: I wanted to be a Fashion Designer.

LYB: Then you and I are the same!(relating to both inability to become what they want)

CW: It's different! You gave up your dream because of money. I can't achieve my dream because I don't have money. That is why what I'm doing what I am doing now. To earn enough money to realize my dream.

Staying near the Casino (or IR)

2007-01-11T23:21:00.000+08:00
Could someone please tell me why the hell are people rushing to buy apartments near to the developing Casinos?

I seriously could not understand. I mean you don't see people rushing to buy condos near to Singapore Pools HQ do you?

So what could be the reason for properties around the IR to hit a ridiculous $2000 psf? Sure, there will be crowd there. But how is that going to affect the people who stays around there?

I would wanna stay near to Tampines Interchange because of the shopping and close proximity to the MRT. The IR may be near a MRT station but one don't need to pay bombs to live near Bedok MRT.

Shopping? I think we have enough shopping centres islandwide.

Maybe these group of people really loves to gamble? Which also doesn't make much sense. Just like one who loves to go Geylang doesn't need to stay there, why does a gambler need to live near the doorstep of the IR? Be the first customer of the day?

So why the hell is everyone rushing to live near the IR?? I really do not understand.

No check-and-balance

2007-01-10T21:51:00.001+08:00

No more dirty laundry for T.T. Durai.

I guess I speak on behalf of many when I say that I'm pretty disappointed that the whole thing lasted like only 3 days. No more juicy news to read about.

From another perspective, I really wonder what is he gonna do with his life from now on. He is like public enemy No. 1 now. Emigration seemed to be the only way out.

And I'm sure he could well afford it.

This entire matter also got me thinking how it all got started. Surely it gotta begin from something small, say claiming from company a personal expensive dinner. Someone may knew but just kept quiet. And it grew from there.

But you still gotta admit that Durai is one intelligent and capable man. If he couldn't raise so much donation, there is no way he could have the option of paying himself so much.

So the ball in the court of the Directors who completely failed to carry out their fiduciary duty of putting the company interest's in the very first place.

Just like how a fire can be your master or your slave. It all depends on how you control it.

To have succeeded in life

2007-01-09T23:29:00.001+08:00

I got this from a post of a friend, I read, re-read and re-read it again. Such happens to me when I chanced upon very meaningful stuff. Just like how I would remain in my seat and ponder when the credits of a meaningful movie starts rolling.

Anyway it's by someone by the name of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882), an American essayist, poet.

To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the approbation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;
To give of one's self;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
To have played and laugh with enthusiasm and sung with exultation;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived;
this is to have succeeded.
Being in the recruitment industry, the sentence in brown(or maroon) hold special significance for me. That the decision(to go into recruitment) and contribution have invariably helped someone to lead a better life, to breath easier.

And it serves as a good reminder too since I'm in this for 3 years already. Things got stale sometimes but when I start counting how many people may be living a better life because of ua, everything seems to make sense again...

Best way to start a New Year

2007-01-03T12:46:00.000+08:00
By attempting to drive out of Singapore for the very first time!

It sure was exciting, felt very much like the first time I drove on the road without an instructor beside me.

Our first stop(or almost every Singaporean's first stop), City Square.

Malaysia is also crazy over the HK cafe concept and this is a new one if I'm not wrong. Watch out for it at Vivocity soon too. It's called Kim Gary.

The food is pretty standard HK cafe style. Not bad lah.

But they sure uses very cool utensils, like this mug-jug to hold the honey-lemon drink.

Having been at City Square for the umpteen times, we breezed through it in less than 30 mins. Next stop supposed to be Holiday Inn but we opted for some Adventure and drove to Jusco Shopping Centre, a place neither of us had been before.

The drive took about 20 mins I think but it seemed to take forever to me. Malaysian drivers are actually quite ok but in an unfamiliar surroundings, it sure scare the shit out of me.

The place is huge from the outside. Within, each boutiques are huge but still it wouldn't take you more than 30 mins to stroll past of 3 levels of them. Some of them do have some pretty cool stuffs and brands that one couldn't find in Singapore.

Soon it was 9+pm. We began to make our way to our car and back to Singapore. And this about concludes the happier part of our trip.

Because while I was trying to figure out how to use the petrol pump at a Shell station, my wife who is walking to the cashier got her handbag snatch-theft!!

The start of an overwhelming feeling that I myself can't comprehend. Panic+shock+angry+tired+regret all mixed in a blender and downed in a single attempt.

The best part is our passports are in her handbag *smack forehead*

So we continue the drive to custom(11.30pm), directed to the police station to make a report(12.30am), submit the report to immigration for clearance over to Singapore(1.00am), make another report over at Singapore custom(1.30am) and we reached home at around 3 bloody am!!

And all the while my mind was if the fresh milk we bought and left in the trunk might turn sour.

A little lame but at least I'm not crying over spilled milk....

So to all Singapore ladies out there, these Snatch-Thieves target handbags holder only. And location would typically be petrol kiosk or open car parks, places that are next to the highway that they could sped off to. Bottom line: leave your handbags at home.

You really do not wanna go through what we did

One of my 2007 resolution

2006-12-25T20:31:00.000+08:00
I just got this pair of running shoes, spurred by the fact that I had,ONCE AGAIN, failed by IPPT test.

With this I hope it will help me to mark the end of this horrible ritual soon and prevent all future ones.

Also this pair of shoes will accompany me to undertake my most hatred, running... a 42km marathon in 2007.

I hope I'll survive to write a posting on it. ;)

First Chilli Crab.. then Steam Boat

2006-12-25T20:09:00.000+08:00
And that is our non main stream christmas eve dinner. The place?

Song Ji Chilli Crab & Steamboat at Geylang Lorong 13. I'd passed by this place many times but this is my virgin attempt on the food.

The place is not as small as it seems as they have tables on the 2nd storey too.

But it sure makes you feel like you are some where in China as almost everyone around us seemed to be.

We ordered the famous Chilli Crab, a mixed steamboat with many other side dishe

Their chilli crab is very different from those Zher Cha stall. It is relatively dry and it's actually cooked with Nian Gao, a sticky paste that is used to make chinese cakes.

But still, it tastes awesome despite the irritating shell debris that kept getting stuck between your teeth. Despite how full I was eventually, I still forced all the remaining crab down my tummy.

The steamboat is slightly different from the typical one I had. The chilli soup base is really not for the faint-hearted. We ordered too many side items but the main ones that fancy are the mutton and the straw mushrooms.

The meat ball is pretty interesting as it comes in paste. They would offer to roll them into balls on the spot or you could be like wife, struggling to roll them up while I watch in amusement.

A nice difference from the standard chilli crab and steam boat. And a nice arrangement to have both of them at the same time. Must TRY!!

New house planning

2006-12-22T16:01:00.000+08:00
Now that I have the floorplan to my new home, so much thoughts enter my head. What kind of theme should I have? Should I have a bar counter? Walk-in wardrobe?

And of course the burning question. Where can I put the altar that is hidden yet not objectionable?

But the process of research is sure enlightening. And I can't wait to show how it would look like in computer generated 3D images.

Here is something I have in mind. Not sure where I could squeeze this into though.

Add a little fishes into the small pond. Steady right!

Regifting

2006-12-22T15:49:00.001+08:00
Ok. Christmas is approaching and everyone is eagerly anticipating their presents.

The kind of situation one would always looked forward to every year. You gather amongst friends, opening the presents, admiring the gift....

Oh wait a minute. Haven't I seen him using this before

Yeap, I'm talking about regifting. According to market research company, Harris Interactive, 1,505 American adults were surveyed and they found over half the participants admitted to regifting and 78 percent felt regifting was okay most of the time.

I'm not a regular gifter but there are times regifting is really a convenient way to get do with it.

It was my friend birthday and I just received this pendent from a luckydraw. Birthday? Pendent? Present!

But I really have no use for that pendent. I don't have a girl friend then or otherwise.....

Anyway, the study shows that 77% of those surveyed felt that the item was better suited for the receipent. 9% due to laziness and 4% because they didn't like the person who was getting the gift.

For those who intend to take the road less travelled, here are some tips I gotten from the Internet:

For me now, I'll just pass it to my niece. My home's karang guni

What To Avoid When Regifting:

Don't Regift the Gift Card

A gift card hidden in tissue in a gift box can easily get passed along in error. Take the item out of the old wrappings and start new.

Don't Regift the Gift Wrappings

Everyone can tell when something has hung around in a gift box for a year. Cardboard gets soft and seems to absorb the odors of wherever it was stored and old gift wrap can be spotted just by the feel of it. When regifting, do not use recycled gift bags, paper or tissue. Throw it all out and buy new and take a little extra time to make the wrapping look fresh and attractive.

Don't Tell

People like to believe gifts they receive were chosen with thought and consideration. If you tell someone you are giving then the silk scarf your Aunt Jane gave you last year, what you are really saying is that you are giving them something you think it ugly or unuseful. The only time you would want to mention giving your gift to someone else is if it isn't presented as a 'gift' but rather as a give-away.

Don't Regift the Used or Slightly Used

There is a big difference between regifting an unused night light or one that you plugged in for two months and decided you no longer want. Remember - a regift is a new item you give to someone else. A hand-me-down is an item you've used and offer to someone else when you decide you no longer have use for it.

Don't Forget Where the Gift Came From

Avoid giving a re-gift to family or friends of the person who originally gave the gift to you. If the regift is displayed, you risk getting caught for giving it away by the person who gave it to you. Keeping a list going of regifts with the name of who gave you the gift can help avoid people pointing fingers at your later.

Do Regift Nice Things

Often the items getting regifted are undesirable, such as the bird statue you saw at the drugstore for 75 percent off. Why pass it along? However, if you received a nice gift, such as a wonderful cookbook you already own, do regift it to someone who you know will enjoy it. The nicer the item, the more it makes sense to regift it rather than to let it crumble up in a cabinet along side the Men in Briefs calendar someone thought you'd get a chuckle over.

Do Regift Heirlooms

Perhaps 10 years ago Aunt Jane sent you 12 of her prized crystal water glasses but you already have plenty and the design conflicts with what you are already using. In fact, you have never used the glasses. Regifting the crystal to someone in the family who is just starting off makes sense. Yes, they are used and yes they could be considered hand-me-downs, but none the less the gift has both monetary and sentimental value.

The Number One Rule to Regifting

Regifting is a wonderful way to save money and when done tactfully and with thought, we can accomplish the goal of why we are giving a gift to someone in the first place - because we want them to have something they will enjoy.

I HATE RUNNING!!!

2006-12-20T21:34:00.000+08:00
ARGH!!!!

I just bloody hate it! Because of it, I failed my IPPT test.. AGAIN!

Now I need to continue my weekly remedial training for till end of Jan. And it's 3 times a week now.

ARGH!!!

And I completed all 6 rounds to find out that I failed. SHIT! Not only do I have to go through more training, the sores from today's running is going to last for days.

I HATE RUNNING!!! ARGH!!!!

WHERE'S THE NEAREST KFC!! I NEED COMFORT FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dinner.Pepper.Lunch

2006-12-19T13:48:00.000+08:00

I had a very interesting dinner yesterday at IMM. The place called Pepper Lunch. It's a Japanese concept fastfood. If you eaten those teppanyaki at food court, it is rather similiar.

Except er.. you pay more and... you gotta do the cooking yourself.

At first I thought it was a new thing but a check on CNA revealed an article about this dated 12 Sep 2005!

OMG! I really really gotta go out more often. I am more than 1 year behind times!

Anyway you really gotta hand it to the Japs. The concept behind this is a no-brainer. But by bending the rules a little, it became hip and interesting. This is despite the smoke from cooking making me all smelly.

Still, it tastes great. And I get to make sure that my lamb is overdone.

Virgo kids? Jackpot!

2006-12-17T20:13:00.000+08:00
Billionaire Horoscopes
By Lacey Rose and Chaniga Vorasarun 03.28.06, 12:00 PM ETNew York -
What’s your sign? If you are a Virgo, we’ve got some good news for you. Turns out, more members of the Forbes billionaires list share your zodiac sign than any other.
That was our finding after trolling through all the birth dates we’ve collected on the world’s wealthiest. So far, we have confirmed the birth dates for 613 of our 793 billionaires. Of those, more than 70, or roughly 12%, were born between Aug. 23 and Sept. 22, making this earth sign the most common among billionaires.

It’s a bit ironic that top astrology honors for this male-dominated billionaires list goes to the sign symbolized by a virgin, but it actually isn’t too surprising. Virgos are known to be hardworking, determined, detail-oriented and analytical. They are driven more by their desire to achieve excellence at whatever they do than by the pursuit of riches, according to astrologer Michael Lutin.

These utilitarian types are happiest when they can produce things or services that are useful to others. Two of the richest and best-known American billionaires are both Virgos: Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, the second-richest person in the world, and Oracle's Larry Ellison.

Read about which billionaires share your sign, what common traits you share and what you can expect for the year ahead in business.

But don’t fret if you or your children are not Virgos. Forbes found examples of billionaires born under all 12 zodiac signs. Aggressive Aries, who account for 8% of our list, include Microsoft's Steve Ballmer and Ikea’s Ingvar Kamprad; idealistic Aquarians like Oprah Winfrey also make up 8%. Scorpio has bragging rights as the sign of the world’s richest man, Microsoft’s Bill Gates.

"Scorpios always do well because they use all of their seductive powers to sell. The goal of Scorpio is to make you do what they want you to do, whether you want to do it or not," Lutin says about this sign, known for its passion. "People hate Windows, but they buy it."

The least common sign among billionaires? Sagittarius, which represents just 6% of the world’s wealthiest. Folks born under this sign are sometimes described as unorganized or even sloppy, and more focused on the big picture than on little details. “Counting on their luck and the grace of God, adventurous Sagittarians can act like tourists in the marketplace," explains astrologer David R. Railey. But what they may lack in business acumen, they make up for in creativity. Thus it's no surprise that Sagittarian billionaires include Hollywood director Steven Spielberg and producer Arnon Milchan.

Read about which billionaires share your sign, what common traits you share and what you can expect for the year ahead in business.

Our report was compiled with the help of four astrologers:

Jeff Jawer has written daily and weekly horoscopes for AOL.com and Cosmogirl.com and is co-author of Your Astrology Guide 2006.

Michael Lutin has been the astrologer for Vanity Fair since 1984. His forthcoming book is called Sunshines.

Tad Mann has been a professional astrologer since 1972. His expertise in architecture, design and feng shui has led him to lecture at universities worldwide.

David Railey has been a professional astrologer since 1976 and is author of The Soul Purpose.

Annie's 24th bday pics

2006-12-12T12:04:00.001+08:00

Annie 24 bday

I'll let the pictures tell the story. Everything was a surprise for her, flowers, gift(I told her out-of-circulation) and the hotel stay.

My 2006

2006-12-12T11:30:00.001+08:00

I was looking back to see what resolution I'd made for 2006 (I can't remember, see the significance?) and realized that the list is pretty brief, if one could even call it a list in the first place.

Basically it goes like:

Clearing credit card
debts
Get first car(a black Kia Rio)
Attend my friend
Jimmy's wedding
Organize another all guys trip(Ho Chi Minh?)
Bring my wife to a holiday that I'm pretty sure she will be so happy
she'll be crying happily all the way on the plane.
Not a handful but short goals = achievable ones. I still owe the bank $2880 but these are actually new debt derived due to borrowings to make up for my car (a Hyundai Verna) down-payment.

I attended and helped out in Jimmy's wedding.

No chance for another all guys trip but I had some good time in Hong Kong with my pals, their girlfriends and my wife.

Regretfully my plan to surprise my wife with a Korea winter trip gotta take a back seat. Lack of funds and upcoming house are major obstacles.

I don't really know what resolution I should make for 2007 or should I even bother since nobody ever keeps to them anyway. But then again, if one is nonchalant about everything in life, life can be pretty mundane and boring.

If I were to, my goals for 2007 really gotta be physically challenging ones. I'm going 28 soon. Not now, would be never.

Check here again to find out my 07 resolution