my words. my emotions

2009-06-19T21:30:00.000-07:00

How does a car engine work?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2gZkNKwGIw

A very simple yet concise example on how a car engine produces torque to drive the wheels.

How does Honda Ivtec saves on fuel consumption?

http://world.honda.com/automobile-technology/i-VTEC/

2009-06-14T21:24:00.001-07:00

Gen X Gen Y

Recently, the Straits times featured an article by an Aussie poll on Gen-Y members whom are the babies born in the late 80s to 90s. The poll was whether the Gen-Y expect their parents to pay for their housing and etc..generally it means whether Gen Y takes the parents for granted. The result was seemingly overwhelming.

http://www.asiaone.com/print/News/AsiaOne+News/Asian+Opinions/Story/A1Story20090613-148263.html

Put in perspective,most of my fellow peers are the Gen Y-ers and the sentiments are the reliance on the parents are seemingly not as exaggerated as the findings in the poll. Perhaps we had omitted the fact that the poll might not be representative in the Singapore's context.

From one angle, we cannot deny the fact that as a Gen Y-er, I believe the life that I experienced, even as a member of a middle-income family, was much cosier than what my parents had went through. Growing up in a baby-boomer era, my parents were part of their families where 6 or 7,sometimes even up to 10, siblings were common. The downsizing in terms of family size for the Gen-Y was much proportional to the living expenses during the late 80s and 90s. Singapore turned to be more capital and knowledge-intensive and thus, parents are aware that they need to fund the children's education more intensively than what their own parents did. With this thinking, perhaps they felt that setting aside more for fewer children outweighs the vice-versa. Thats why as a Gen Y-er, we realise that the monetary(of course, the love) investment showered upon us were much more. Inevitably, this has caused the latter to be less independent. We step into the real world, or the working society, later by 5-10 years on average than a Gen X-er.

The later we enter the working industry correspondingly means that we have more years that we are financially dependent on the parents. Come to think of it, after the age of 21, for some 18, its the era where the hormones are raging in the non-crooked manner. It means that people start to climb the Maslow hierachy of needs. We start to buy more expensive and heftier products and spend like an adult; going on travel; visiting pubs and clubs. All these are most probably funded from the pocket money in a very general notation. This also points to a bigger pocket money budget, aint it. All these points to why Gen Y are seemingly more dependent on the parents, in my own honest opinion.

Come to think of it, sometimes i wonder if it was much better if i ve opted to work part time and study part-time. The extra 4 years of working experience might have essentially put me in a better position than taking up a 4 years undergraduate course. The opportunity cost of studying means 4 years of salaries + CPF contribution. Well..life is a gamble anyway. The general comfort zone is alwyas the route most travelled.. Haha. In retrospect, part time studying might have been better but i dun have the balls to try it anyway.

2009-05-16T21:01:00.000-07:00

STill my fav goes to advanti F6010!

2009-05-16T02:06:00.000-07:00

JAZZ with bronze wedsport SA70 +silver+hyper dark edition

2009-05-16T00:43:00.000-07:00

GRaduAtion is about...

experiencing...

its when you finally cast away all the theories in the virtual study life and start learning the hard facts of the society. Everything that its so "By Right" in the books begans to manifest themselves into the "By Left" in life. Those who can filter fast to the left lane wins it all....

In laymen's terms, I think being streetsmart is just as important as being studysmart..streetsmart is about being resourceful. sometimes i worry whether i will be retrenched when i am 40.. so what i think i can do is to always keep up with the society by either learning, re-learning..that s the only way to keep one competitive.

RISKING

am i not right by saying graduation is the starting point of risk management. Some of us will choose the orthodox routes of accepting jobs whenever it comes since we were taught somewhere in life that low risks yield low returns..probably the risk-averse graduates fall into this venn diagram. Some do it the buffet way..take a lot then choose what to eat and throw away those that you dun like.. Some do it the sniper way..1 shot 1 kill.. By any means, i must say that we mustnt envy those who earn more..probably they ve gone through more or risked more in their journeys. Earn a comfortable sum to finance a comfortable living then reserve comfortable amount of time for rest and family....tts the ultimate outcome of life, ain't it...

eNjoying....

Come to think of it...which juncture of our life do we enjoy the most? I guess its either before 3 years old and after 62 in SIngapore context. 3-25 is all about studying;25-61 is all about working and saving for the rainy days. After 62, probably you can take a few grand every year to go for a trip..by then...might be too feeble to sky dive or do a bungee... Yes...so i think enjoying life should be right after we get a stable paycheck...

buy a car - hatchback for me definitely!

buy a hse- a comfortable 5-room in suburban regions. I am the peculiar minority who dreads urban living...claustrophobia..

travel around -Europe, Maldives n etc..

finance hobby - golf? photography?

there are so much money can does...and conversely, so much that it cant.. kinship, genuine frenship...much to say, its a balance between these 2 but nv allow money to come in between the latter. Its something i always remind myself about...

2009-05-14T20:19:00.000-07:00

WARNING:

1. Sentosa siloso car park 's per entry is $3!!!

Greeted by the 200% increase in carpark fees, sian half. Nonetheless it was a fun and relaxing afternoon. The highlight was ironically the TI-DI matches where we would send the person with the highest accumulated points into the sea..

2. Dian Xiao Er is only as good as her DANG GUI DUCK.

2. Ma Maison@ central got a weird waitress. She just cant seem to get my messages..or maybe i am weird.

2009-05-06T18:21:00.001-07:00

Done-but-not-done

Inspired from the uber lame left-but-not-left in the ping pong show.This feeling has been lingering for very long ever since the end of exams. I suppose its because the FYP is a 10 AU subject, 2 AU in doing and 8 AU in printing and binding, and final bound here and there. I just cant help but think of the amount of fuss a lil report can bring about. Totally counter-productive to me.

And just when i thought luck had been great from the start of the year, a string of unfortunate incidents hit me and hit me hard. Not that I am really devastated though its really a huge stab to my confidence. Of course, when shit happens, first thing to do is to solve it, get over and move on with it. Yep...i ve physcially done that and most importantly, to reflect on what s wrong and where did the problem went wrong. Maybe that s learning through the hard way and indeed, I learned it the hard way. Alright..whats over is over and I shall just look forward in life and start enjoying the rest of the 1.5 month before the career begins.

2009-05-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

Kope a nice storm silver photo from honda
http://www.honda.co.jp/

2009-04-13T02:19:00.000-07:00

Witness

Every now and then, i think of life. Not really a walk down memory lane but a walk into why and how things turn out this way.

Just for the past few weeks alone, i saw the reality of life pushing closer and drawing nearer to me.

I witnessed yet another death of a friend's loved one, watched bei's uncle lying on the bed. Cant help but felt the fragility of life reflecting upon us as clear as a mirror.

On the other side of life, the ugliness of people once again surfaced beneath me. Why did you choose to hold on to 2 cameras at one time when I had asked you for just one of them. It merely showed me how ugly people are. Selfishness on the expense of people who needed it more. Thats why i always hold on tightly to my stand- dun rely on others. I hated to beg people and subject myself to the mercy of people.

Of course, I ve seen the lighter side of life as well. For one, i think Vic is a very nice guy. A person who is selfless.

Thats why i think life is fair in her own fashion. She gives u some bad things, so the good things shine in comparison. I guess..once again..life is FAIR!

2009-03-22T22:12:00.000-07:00

Alma Mater

Back to the place where ideas, aspirations and dreams start to germinate. My memories from chinese high wasnt about academics cos it wasnt that impressive afterall. Yet,it was from all the stupid, silly and bold things we ve done in the past that remains so etched in the already blurry and fading memories of the secondary school lives.

I remember once I was so passionate(tgt with jinghan and some others) about soccer. Once, the pride and ego and the MAN's intrinsic nature and thirst for conquest roamed the hearts of the barely sixteen years old boys. We played soccer like we never played before, organised the class for soccer matches against the likes of the strong class like 4A (Sports class). The deepest regret was once when we were up against them. In order to win, we actually conspired with them. It was discovered then the class were denounced from the matches. Sad but it depicts the kind of fervour and passion for the sport. When we were younger, a boy's childhood was either basketball or soccer. Dunno why..it seems that they are THE sports. Got a lot of accolade for playing the sport well in the past... Hmm..perhaps that innate urge to win started from there.

I told Yikai that memories of secondary school is the deepest because at that time, it was the age that was too young for any major responsbilities and old enough to make a slight difference in life. It was the age when small sparks start to fly. The small ego grew bigger and the mind started to mature. Being in the track team was my greatest pleasure then. Being an athlete seems the most glorified sport in the school. I was, and still am, very proud that i am a Chinese High athlete. I used to hate the stereotype that my classmates coat "athletes" with. The typical "buay tuck ceh " - never study brand was stuck with the athletes then. In order to prove them wrong, me and jinghan got top and second for the Sec 2 exam just to prove them wrong.haha. how naive back then.

Going forward, I hope to attend the next anniversary- 100th year old. Perhaps by that time, i would need to book 3 or 4 more tickets for beibei and my kids...haha..

2009-03-20T19:02:00.000-07:00

Interesting!
www.mensa-test.com

E.g 24 h in a D = 24 Hours in a Day (For answers,go to the webby)

26 L of the A =
7 D of the W =
7 W of the W =
12 S of the Z =
66 B of the B =
52 C in a P (W J) =
13 S in the U S F =
18 H on a G C=
39 B of the O T =
5 T on a F =
90 D in a R A =
3 B M (S H T R) =
32 is the T in D F at which W F =
15 P in a R T=
3 W on a T=
100 C in a D =
11 P in a F (S) T =
12 M in a Y =
13 is U F S =
8 T on an O =
29 D in F in a L Y
27 B in the N T=
365 D in a Y =
13 L in a B D =
52 W in a Y =
9 L of a C =
60 M in an H =
23 P of C in the H B =
64 S on a C B =
9 P in S A =
6 B to an O in C =
1000 Y in a M =
15 M on a D M C =

2009-03-18T05:41:00.000-07:00

First glimpse of the storm silver jazz

2009-03-15T19:03:00.001-07:00

Night at Marina Barrage

2009-03-14T07:23:00.000-07:00

Some Feelings

Pretty lost these days.... has been using the computer these days churning out reports and more reports until the point that any more reports generated had lose its very meaning. Why?

I wonder if its a preparation for the next phase in life that has caused me to slow down considerably or simply because any harder work will not put me in any better position in my academics. I really hope my mentality is geared towards the former. The whole of my life has been very incentive and motive-driven and the very fact that there is something to strive for gives me the extra fuel. I dunno how long I can sustain this feeling cos totally un-motivated right now. Perhaps its the pre-Work syndrome. I hope it is...

Bei is right. I am a pessimistic person by default. When happiness and things come too soon, i will get pretty overwhelmed and scared at the same time. My motto to myself is, " I will only live in a dream, if the dream is forever." I once told bei that i got that feeling when I came out of Zhengmao's house. Its simply too good to be true... But I told myself that whatever I cannot grab hold of is not mine and thus, I will not be envious. In our lifepath, we will definitely come across people of all traits and backgrounds. If envy is the ultimate outcome in my life, I rather dun. I rather fight for happiness with my 2 bare hands and of cos, 4 with urs. Whatever I generate is mine.

There are 2 type of persons I know of. One type knows what she wants and strives for success. The other dunno what she wants and prays for success. I believe that it is important to identify your own niche. Its a process that everyone must go through and cannot be assisted by anyone. Its a own journey. Do not listen to the words of your friends cos your DNA differs from hers. Learn to identify your niche and slowly march towards it. I believe everyone will eventually find a place in the society, contributing in a way or another. Gambatte!

2009-03-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

Drum Brakes vs Disc Brakes

After a concise lecture from carMASTER Vic, i ve decided to check it out on the web also. The diagram shown above is a disc brake. What distinguishes the drum from her counterpart is that the latter uses a rotor and a calipers to stop the wheel rotation. For a disc brake, once the brake pedal is depressed, the brake fluid becomes the transmission medium and causes the brake pads housed within the calipers to compress and clamp the rotor. As such, the rotor wun move and the wheels dun move. The disc is also exposed to the environment, thus allowing heat to be dissipated as fast as it builds up.

Essentially the working principles for a drum is also the same but for it, everything is housed within the a drum. The only bane for the drum lies in the fact that since everything is housed within, the heat buildup is slower to be releases into the environment and when the drum is overheated or saturated with heat, the braking power is lost and thus, loses its effectiveness.

So whenever we look into cars, disc brakes are definitely better as they are more expensive! the basic principle in life...

2009-03-12T18:15:00.000-07:00

CARwash is an elaborate affair

In case i forget in due course, the steps ( as mentioned by washmaster cum zhng consultant Vic) are:

1. Small pail + 3 caps of Armouarall
2. Sponge and wipe the whole car.start from roof, windows den panel. Take dirty sponge to soap the rims and the tyres.
3. Rinse with clean water n use hand to wipe away all the foam (Sa Boon)
4. Use a clean fiber cloth to wipe dry the whole body. Dirty cloth for the rims.
5. Use Waxco tyre 'kiwi' to give the tyres a black n wet look.

Thats all.... but it freaking took us 2 hrs to clean it.. i think i could ve bathes 24 times for every 1 time the car takes to wash..good life huh..

2009-03-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

Weiqi's birthday

toured practically the half of Singapore. a humid afternoon in sentosa, followed by a road trip to the west side of Singapore. Dinner at kopitiam beside Ginza plaza was nice...very nice in fact. hee. Too bad its kinda far from the northeners. Then Mac at West Coast. Also a place that i haven been for quite long. After that, was home sweet home on my 80km/h run-in ride. very glad that bei can share the driving with me..if not i will die from excessive driving..... love it when you r around.

Happy bday to my good buddy...!

2009-02-20T19:19:00.000-08:00

WALTON INTERNATIONAL
another investment gimmick? or opportunity?

Attended the Seminar by Walton CEO and COO in a dual presentation format. I must say i am impressed by the presentation or sales pitch whichever we call it. End of the day, the business model presented seems too good to be true.

In the land banking business, it works the same way we buy land, wait for developer to buy den make a tidy profit from the sales...In short, "buy low sell high". Many questions and many doubts about this investment scheme. Not a fraud definitely but not a guaranteed profit either.

1. How do you know that the land is really good?Walton explained that they have a group of architects, urban planners working on it. How good are the architects? What are their profile?

2. Does Walton mark up the price before subdividing it to individual investors? That is to say if walton buys raw land, 1 acre at $500 den mark up to $1000 den divide into 10 portions, sell 10 portions and gain $500 from sale....(on top of recoup capital). As such if they manage to sell at high price, how high can the price go?Is it like what is being marketed?

3. This investment scheme is not liquid. Not able to cash out anytime during the waiting period. So, as such, if it takes 10 yrs to cash out, one must consider inflation, currency rates and opportunity cost as well. As such, is it really that lucrative for 20% simple interest ROI? It depends really...Its a choice for this point. Some people might wanna invest for long term.den it might be feasible.

4. For every investment, there is a need to diversify and hedge. Hence, i recommend buying both canada and US land, subjected to a max of 20% of your portfolio. Meaning if one had $100,000, put $20k in land banking cos this is not liquid. Put the rest in FD, equities(which are liquid) and of cos, your insurance and local bank savings..

2009-02-20T00:49:00.000-08:00

HONDA JAZZ GE8

after much deliberation, took the storm silver metallic colour, 15" sports rim(cos of my hip daddy), black leather seats with grey tone, alpine local fitted audio with ipod port(shit...nv bought any ipod...anyone wans to sell 2nd hand with chinese songs inside?).

My SE was kinda good.Got free Vkool Eurospec J83 solar film( actually i dunno the difference between rikecool, hutgo optik...heck..), replica visor, 3M floor mat, reverse sensors shud be standard...

If you ask me 3 bid guaranteed or 6 bid non-guranteed with a $2k difference, go for the latter.I m sure honda wun mind stretching their sums a bit to make sure they retain a customer in times of the economic downturn.

Alright..the glamour and the adrenaline rush over the car is transient. The downside of it lies the huge amount of payment needed. I hope that in times to come, i can support it with my brother. Hope everything goes well. Afterall, my dad n mum also have household and house loan to fret over. From now on, I must remember to tighten both my seat belt and my finance belt too..On the other hand, i can fetch bei back everyday..hahaa..woohoox

I think this forum is kinda cool..downloaded the technical manual as well as some photos which i cant find. Was kinda surprised that Storm silver metallic is the most popular, followed by milano red. haaha..That explains the dilemma for my previous post. But seems that daddy is more keen on the cerulean blue one...too flashy to me.. Not my style..Want something more mature..hahaha..(dun er3 dao4 )

(photos ripped off singapore honda forum)

2009-02-17T17:19:00.000-08:00

Milano Red

storm silver metallic

2009-02-14T21:31:00.000-08:00

WORK PRIORITY

this entry is especially dedicated to myself cos i put my blog as my homepage. Not tt i am a narcissist but i got links that i often use...so i decided to put this in entry to remind myself to be focused *woosh*

Event      Urgency + Importance
1. FYP first draft (14th Feb to 9th March)       *****

2. Airbus FYI competition (end: 31st March) ****

3. Aviation Management essay ( end: 15 March)    ***

4. UAV technical review ( end : 27 March)    ***

5. Tech Comm presentation (end: dunno also)    **

2009-02-13T22:01:00.000-08:00

random ( white jazz?)

2009-02-12T18:22:00.000-08:00

Some news that are bad...

As announced by the Minister for Transport, Mr Raymond Lim, the annual quota of Certificates of Entitlement (COEs) for Quota Year 2009 (for the period May 2009 to April 2010) will be 83,789. Details of the quota for each vehicle category are at Annex A. Bidding under this quota will start with the April 2009 First Open Bidding Exercise.

The vehicle quota for QY09 consists of the following components:
Provision for 1.5% vehicle growth based on the vehicle population as at 31 December 2008;
Replacement COEs for vehicles expected to be de-registered between January and December 2009; and Adjustment for any over/under-estimation of vehicle de-registration in previous years.

The reduction of the vehicle population growth rate to 1.5% p.a. is in line with the announcement made in the Land Transport Masterplan (LTMP), which takes effect from QY09 and will be reviewed after 3 years. In making the adjustments for any over/under-estimation of vehicle de-registration in the year 2009, LTA has factored in the revisions that were made during the mid-quota year review conducted in September 2008.

LTA will announce the COE quota available for the April 2009 first open bidding exercise following the last bidding exercise of the Quota Year 2008 in March 2009.

Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney press E-brakes!

THE downturn in the aviation industry has put the brakes on the development of Seletar Aerospace Park.

Engine-makers Rolls-Royce and Pratt & Whitney have postponed plans to open new facilities at the site this year.

The projects are now expected to be completed next year, at the earliest.

When The Straits Times visited Seletar last week, the two plots of land were lying idle, except for a few birds hopping around.

Confirming the delay, Mr Sia Kheng Yok, the director of transport engineering at the Economic Development Board (EDB), stressed that both companies are 'long-term investors in Singapore' and remain committed to their plans.

2009-02-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

Currently Reading

Would say it is enriching but given the current aviation landscape with the intrisince dynamics, the book is already slightly outdated. Talks about LCC, future airports and various strategies for airport managers. Worth a read.

On a lighter note, just for Yiguang

http://withluv2009.livejournal.com/ for Vday Flowers!

2009-02-01T09:02:00.000-08:00

New Year, to me, means

a chance to stay up late and play mahjong without being chided by my parents.

a chance to grab some angbaos which progressively loses its monetary meaning as the year passes by. Hmm..perhaps as everyone becomes increasingly financial independent, the amount of money gained instead becomes statistically insignificant. However,as i grow older each year, getting the angbaos takes on a newer dimension for me. It constantly reminds me that year passes by very fast and in a flick of an eye, it will soon be my turn to give angbao. Through the years, i ve noticed how my cousins got promoted from being the recipients to the opposite side of the pasture.

If you ask me why a red packet, i see it as a blessing from the "seniors" of the family to the juniors. And when the turn comes to me, I think i will give regardless of the marital status. It should be actually propagated as a form of senior to junior thing i suppose. Fancy taking angbao at 30 or 35 certainly will make me feel shy(in time to come).

I believe CNY becomes increasingly happening and meaningful as we get attached. Its a time and opportunity, in a year, for me as a foreigner to the families of my other part to really know the culture and story embroiled within. Hmm..i must say i enjoy the CNY every year. Getting to know bei's cousins and uncles and aunties and vice versa for her. Hmm...it just makes us closer.I am beginning to treasure the short 15 days of the year where i see it as a step closer for both of us..heee....

2009-01-18T05:54:00.000-08:00

SQUEEZE AH! TO A HAPPY 'NIU' YEAR

crazy squeezing...got through eventually! afterall, we are all combat officers!haha

in the company of my good buddies

favourite photo of the day. pretty hor.

2009-01-09T08:06:00.000-08:00

I was reading a blog when i came across him writing this. He was a fresh graduate from NUS who is working in T3 now. I followed his blog when i was applying CAAS honours year scholarship.

2008 to him was a transition.

"Student to working adult.
Good economy to worsening economy.
Innocence (relative haha) to harsh reality.
High fitness to crap fitness.
Singlehood to relationship."

I think what he had went through will definitely be a carbon copy for many of us, who are gonna embark on our first job soon. Going forward,I believe that being a student is good cos from 8 to5 we are slack, but after 5 is otherwise. Whereas a normal working adult ploughes hard for 8 hrs everyday and lets his hair down for the rest of the night. I believe its a vast change in lifestyle and I definitely hope to curb the bad habit of staying up late.

Good economy to worsening economy. I believe it really depends on the industries we are in. The aviation industry is definitely seeing some decline for the next few years.Cos when the national carrier sees red, the repercussions are huge. Its quite like a supply chain where SIA supplies repair works to the MRO industry. To be honest, we hinge so much on SIA for the MRO side..so we ve better hope SIA comes up with some good cost cutting measures to save itself from the economic tidal wave. For one, if A380 cant get enough customers, open it up for gallery and visiting purposes and charge a nominal fee per entry.hahaha. definitely sells.

Innonence to harsh reality. Time will tell. I m not sure but i think one thing for sure is office politics is definitely in existence, and comes in all shapes and sizes literally. So i shall once again bring out that dusty working principle of mine way back during army times. For one, i think act blur live longer will work. And the other, act busy look interested but dun get involved is another.haha

Fitness wise, it has been crappy since yr 1. How worse can it get. I managed to pull only 4 times on the pull-up bar recently. i think i did 4 times as many during in service. Cool..fitness is defined as a transitional period of phsyical wellness, in which the major contributing factors are discipline and more discipline.

Relationship wise, i am sure every new phase is another new challenge. Either we face it and overcome it or we shun and fail it. So, to my lovely dear, we are gonna overcome the hardship and difficult times together. Rest assured I will channel and expend all my energy on my work while you are away. Life for us have turned for a better and i m sure it will be a exponential increase. Woohoox.

2009-01-05T00:10:00.000-08:00

DREAM FM(For ME and My loved ones)

DREAM IS A DESTINATION, NOT A JOURNEY.
HAPPINESS IS A JOURNEY AND NOT A DESTINATION.

Every year is about building new dreams and demolishing the old ones. Some dreams might have already been constructed yet some might have remained status quo.Regardless of what the outcomes, everyone deserves to set new dreams for the new year.

Materially, i hope to own a Dslr by end of this yr before we go for grad trip.

Career-wise, i definitely aim for promotion within 1 and a half yr. Will work hard while dear train hard in her respect too.

Of cos, dreams are founded on the very platform that my family and dear s family and all my friends are safe and sound. Of cos, those who are not my frens also remain safe and sound la..Just that since u r not my fren, u dun get my faithful blessings.haha. Alright, no matter what, life goes on and hopefully,as we mature day by day, we begin to realise the intrinsic value of all the things that surround us. Money is definitely the least of my priorities,for now.

2009-01-01T21:46:00.001-08:00

Process engineering?I prefer results engineering

I remembered being told at some junctures of my life that processes matter more than the results. I ve always hold that piece of advice in high regards, only to realise this statement is as true as asking me to believe that there is such a thing called ideal gas in chemistry. In fact, there is none. Perhaps that statement is nothing more true than asking you to follow your dreams and dreams do take place for certain celebrated and fortunate individuals. For most, dreams are merely lovely bubbles iff( if and only if) reality din exist at all.

Have your interviewer ever asked you how long did you study for your exams? Or was he more concerned which honours class you are in?

Havent your teacher always give you a model set of answers and ask you to follow or work backwards for your corrections?

Plagued by the worst man-made disaster named the Social Pressure, one laments why dreams are often neutralised or shattered by the enormous juggernaut called reality. In fact, who in this life wouldnt want to live a life with ultimate control on any and everything? Just when you thought you have freedom in your work as a manager or as an director, you are no more than a more highly-paid pawn in the game of life.

In fact, its a tradeoff. The more money you get, perhaps the more you thought you are free in your life.. Yes, i would agree partially. However, the richer you get, the more dependent on that source of income you become and hence, in any case you lose that stream of income, the more entrapped and stuck one becomes. For e.g normally the boss jumps to death on bankruptcy cos he has a backlog of credit card debts from owning a Mercedes, semi-D and of course, 3 dogs and 4 maids. You seldom see an admin exec jumping to death.

Thus, i believe that my strategy will be to use 15 years to build a considerable fortune and thereafter, exit from the rat race. Ha..15 yrs...ironically long. I will be a lecturer, a photographer, a designer, a cook and a good father n husband. No more a good employee.

Lets dream as des says "dream as if you live forever, plan that way too... but live as if this day is your last, love that way too.. "

2009-01-01T21:36:00.000-08:00

Onwards to 2009!

A serene 2009

2008-12-26T07:45:00.000-08:00

I swear that I got the
"Ask me for directions Face"!

Pauline can testify that.

haha

2008-12-24T08:46:00.000-08:00

Don't work. avoid telling the truth.

Be hated. Love someone

I read in a random blog or is it the same article posted by GS that the four rules that we as fellow humans or more specifically, Singaporeans, should abide by are mentioned as above.

Dun work. Cos work is largely defined as a repetitive exercise that one performs in exchange for certain monetary gains for survival. In short, it is a transaction. Hence, the moment you find yourself entrenched in that form of transacation, you are working, The reverse is true.The author then wrote,

"Work kills. The Japanese have a term Karoshi, which means death from overwork. That's the most dramatic form of how work can kill. But it can also kill you in more subtle ways. If you work, then day by day, bit by bit, your soul is chipped away, disintegrating until there'snothing left. A rock has been ground into sand and dust.There's a common misconception that work is necessary. You will meet people working at miserable jobs. They tell you they are making a living?. No, they're not. They're dying, frittering away their fast-extinguishing lives doing things which are, at best, meaninglessand, at worst, harmful.

People will tell you that work ennobles you, that work lends you a certain dignity. Work makes you free. The slogan "Arbeit macht frei" was placed at the entrances to a number of Nazi concentration camps. Utter nonsense.Do not waste the vast majority of your life doing something you hate so that you can spend the small remainder sliver of your life in modest comfort. You may never reach there anyway."

The author suggests us to play. Immerse in total playing. Play with your passion until the very action of playing produces value by itself. I interpret this by search for your passion. probe deep into the passion and finally, we will realise that the very passion that we held onto was valuable.

While the author suggests us to play and dun work,in essence, life should have been that way.People who likes to cut things up and unravel things layer by layer ends up as doctors anyway. People who likes to play with language ends up as journalist and lawyer. People who are rich in their visual expression ends up as actors.

Time to think abt what I like. How apt.

For the full article, refer to

http://incrediblehock.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html

2008-12-20T07:37:00.000-08:00

20 Dec 2008 (1)
Flute at the Fort

The path to the Flute of the Fort was a treacherous and heart-wrecking one. Dear was so scared that I wun like the place. I could see her upset face when i mentioned "y not we change place"..Ha..i wasnt thinking about the ambience..It was just the cost i was worrying about..hee.. The name alone suggested that it cost a lot..so din wanted it to be such an extravagant night. In fact, i love this kind of ulu and scenic place.

1830: After a inital gasp, the rest of the time was spent on giggling cos we couldnt really understand the menu. Luckily there were bits and pieces of english to hint us. Shucks man... I tot its an aussie res't. Turns out they r in French? Puzzled me a lot.

1900: Proud to order the appetiser and the Mains.. after some struggle..ordered black angus tender sirloin ...i shouted medium rare and the waiter actually asked "Medium ? or medium rare?". I wasnt into steaks so din know the difference. Shouted "Medium " and trying to act class and composed yet I know it was barely a false front. Whats the bloody difference man..!haha

1900: Proud Dear had already decided on Cod Fish way before we came. The smile came as she waited promptly for her dish to arrive. And it seems both of us made some good choices. very glad about the choices... Forgot to take photo of the $28 prawn appetiser. Gosh...the prawns must ve been studded with LV or Gucci on their backside. So ex.. the taste was yeah..up to standard.

Cod Fish fillet

Black Angus Tender Sirloin

2008-12-20T07:35:00.000-08:00

20 Dec 2008 (2)
Surprise Dessert on the House

Ordered a chocolate fondant but was told in addition to it,we got a sorbet cum some caramel dessert with it. Very nice and I must say they do pay attention to customer to great length. Pretty impressed and first time that i felt the GST and service charge was well justified.

P.s pauline insist this picture is cute...argh...

a spread of sweetness and bitterness..how apt

2100: Had the prettiest dessert platter of my lifetime. very well placed. Too sour though.. haha..the choc fondant with the vanilla ice cream cant go wrong.

2008-12-16T07:01:00.000-08:00

Fast and Furious: The George Bush edition

That was how fast he got during a visit to Baghdad on 15TH Dec. The reporter hurled a pair of shoes at him but he ducked faster than Usain Bolt complete the 100m race. Damn funny..catch it..

2008-12-15T07:55:00.001-08:00

the filmography that i really like
lomo?

2008-12-15T06:16:00.000-08:00

Practical

In my life so far, i ve met people who are very practical. By saying practical, i dun mean 现实 but rather 实际. Some might prefer to use the word "pragmatic"to practical. Ha. The pragmatic people lives everyday in a very real manner. Those people do not have, or more suitably, or preach lofty dreams and groundbreaking findings in their pursuance in life. They live day-to-day in a very steady and convinced fashion such that sometimes when you talk to them, you begin to feel that life, in the most basic and fundamental way, should ve been this way. For example, I always feel that Pili is the exact and absolute epitome of such a character in my group of friends.

Everytime we conversed, i learn things from him. He is one such character in my life that has such great influence on me. If shooting star is used to describe people who shines brightly for a short span, then Pili must be a satellite amongst the stars. Never very very sparkling, but surely shining. He respects and gives 101% in everything he does and he never boasts anything in front of us.That is truly a remarkable thing that everyone should learn .and behold.

2008-12-14T07:29:00.000-08:00

timex ~~Ironman Triathlon~~ IPPT
Yep. The name of the watch is Ironman Triathlon. I am neither. I gonna use this watch to ace my IPPT. Thanks buddies. I love this watch. My first bday present.

2008-12-14T07:01:00.001-08:00

Dragongate and Liang Court partyworld
thank you everyone

me with my buddies

a lovely cake with lovely company

with dear

haha..a rose among the thorns..oops...should be the thorn among the roses

the new partyworld at Liang Court. lightings rocks...got laser.pattern more than badminton

"don't take us...don't!"

"Okie..we are ready..come!"

" Close-up...Pai Wo Pai Wo"

2008-12-09T21:43:00.000-08:00

Two zero zero Nine

In a blink of an eye, Year 2008 has whistled past and year 2009 seems impatient to make her presence felt. And yes...every year is a milestone.. and i bet all my friends around me is both looking forward and not looking forward to 2009.

For one, grad trip will be something to look forward to. I dunno who invented but maybe its just an excuse to go for a trip officially....haha. But giving it an official title makes the whole event seem so complete and meaningful. Its like the full-stop and exclaimation for the entire education "career" unless for some who are contemplating a post-grad. I foresee a lot of my peers going for post-grad since they are all smart ass-es who in my 4 years of studies, made me look so minute and so insignificant. I hate them for depriving me of my A....haha..and make me become a cushion all the times. Anyway, decided to shelve any plan for a work-n-travel in NZ cos its not a good time to splurge given the economic tension. CASH is king, so if i wanna be a king, i must save for stormy days. But, still hope to go somewhere for a good rejuvenation before the next phase of life.

2009 promises many things. It is the start,for the batch of final year students, of our career regardless of which field we ventured into. Thinking back, engineering studies made me realise that i am more suited for a non-technical position cos my patience is really limited and engineering really tests my patience. So, at many points in our life, there is a need to make a decision. And i feel, the most crucial part about making decisions is "never regret your decision". So, for my friends and peers, let's 共勉之！For myself, i ve made a lot of decisions on my own and i dun think back cos i fear and i dun dare to as well. For one, choosing combat engineer after my OCS tri-svc was the best decision i ve made in my life. Not cos i got the SOM, but cos of the friends i ve made....Really thank god for the good company..

2009 also signifies a lot for Singapore. Of cos, the preparation for YOG will go on, the casino will try her best to open and gobble money from fellow Singaporeans, F1 will continue to block the roads of the city centre and Changi Airport will soon be the latest entity to be corporatised. Plans will be made to liberalise the infocomm market in Singapore as we work towards In2015...Cars will be cheaper than LCD TV( haha on Lianhe Zaobao yesterday) and the circle line will continue to construct as if it has never intended to stop(cos it keeps going in circle....*lame joke*sorry).

Recession?Yes, it is imminent or maybe, it has already arrived without us noticing. But, i feel that life goes on and let us embrace the new year with fresh hopes and new expectations bah. For a good start to a new year, can pple pls reply to my thread in facebook so i can go and book the hotel suite for countdown...hahaha!Cheers!

2008-12-08T22:23:00.000-08:00

HAMILTON-OUT
CK IS BACK IN THE RACE

Went for some Xmas shopping with dear. Finally saw the hamilton watch but qt disappointed by the lack of lustre and the ugly strap.Okie...the face is chio..but not worth the $1k.the CK watch that i intended 2 years ago is back in the race.. saw Pierre Png and Andrea De Cruz. How come man..why can a guy be so shuai?*jealous*

2008-12-05T10:00:00.000-08:00

真的，我没事 - 符致逸 (篮球火)
http://www.haoting.com/htmusic/259744ht.htm

On and on, the pain goes on
And it wouldn't just wouldn't die
我竟远比想像中软弱且无能为力
对你的眼神选择了逃避恨自己恨自己

On and on, the pain lives on
It's hurting so much more
就像我被悔不当初的罪恶吞去
惩罚过后能否带来解脱
I'll be fine I'll be fine
So many cried, listening to God
让坚强不只是种伪装

So many lies, listening to you
天亮后I will be fine On and on,
the pain goes on and I just don't know how to cope
伸手抱住自己是否就能够不再空虚
最后信念别放弃
I will be fine I will be fine

So many cried, listening to you
希望你能再给我力量
So many lies, listening to you
什么时候I will be fine
当我再也不对任何事期待只剩下你只剩下你
有天当我舍弃一切见你请你要微笑不语

So many cried, listening to you
希望你能再给我力量
So many lies, listening to you什么时候
I will be fine

2008-12-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

无题

谈到歌词，我想很多人都跟我有相同的共鸣，就是比较偏爱歌词较有画面的。

可能是应为它赋予我们一种想象的空间。

想象是无限的，想象是不需要符合逻辑的，它和设计，绘画都有着异曲同工之妙。

我还记得，在初院的时候，我超爱周杰伦的“星晴“。总觉得“手牵手一步两步三步四步望着天 "带有一股很强烈，有力的画面，仿佛人在动，时间在动，可是背景原封不动。。好唯美。

最近看了几集的篮球火，我也第一次喜欢上言承旭，因为它在剧种的人物刻画是一个很内敛，战斗力却很强的角色。他很厉害打球但是他不爱现，所以我还蛮喜欢的。我以他东方翔的角色和自己作一个对比，我希望自己也可以跟他一样, 学会谦卑。说真的，用华文写blog is very difficult, i pei fu monaq..haha.i cannot take it le.

2008-12-04T18:27:00.000-08:00

SUSTAINABLE SINGAPORE

I ve been thinking about this idea since eons ago. Everytime I look out of my windows, i begin to ponder how the rooftop of the multi-storey carpark is wasted as i really seldom see any cars parked there except for a few individuals who wish to evict the carpark charges. In future, i foresee that the mentioned situation will be lesser since the carparks are gonna be fully automated and operated by gantries.

As such, i really think that the rooftop can be converted to an eco-park or something.A place for people to drop by and plant some plants or sthing. Isnt that more useful and meaningful than putting some slots there and left unused...Just an idea.Maybe i should design a floor plan and submit to HDB..

2008-12-03T20:05:00.000-08:00

篮球火

"你无法超越自己，是因为你心中的欲望不够!"
how true... often when we do things,we do for the sake of doing and never really ask why.. at least i study university for the sake of doing it...

2008-12-02T23:47:00.000-08:00

Hamilton Jazzmaster Square

2008-12-02T19:53:00.000-08:00

a dream come true

come to think of it, luck and bliss really embed themselves in many forms and in many dimensions. Since young, I always hated myself or rather dun like the fact that i am not good-looking and that i am not as rich as my friends way back in secondary school. Peer pressure, i would say and the pragtism of life dictates that the better-looking ones and the richer ones always get the most attention. Perhaps, it is an absolute truth everywhere. In order to overcome my own inferiority, I pledged and vowed to work hard in other sectors such as Track & Field and my academics.

I always feel i have that bit of luck which saw me easing my way through in my life so far. Yet, I know that this bit of luck is not eternal and that, luck is fading as i ploughed my way through my university. In University, somehow i lost myself. I lost that string of luck which guided me but i realised, in fact, i did not lose it. For the 3 out of 4 years, that bit of luck actually manifested itself into another form: Bliss. Perhaps it was something i already have, but did not treasure for the 20 odd years thus far.

Of course, getting the accolade of a scholar is jubilant. Yet, this feeling is not as overwhelming as the kind of bliss and kinship i felt from my family and her. I treasure this feeling more than any victory in my life. I will do all i can to protect this feeling! For now, this is a mixture of luck and bliss. I hope it continues to guide my life.Thanks for everything..thanks..

2008-11-02T07:53:00.000-08:00

Bogged down by the forthcoming papers, i try to siphon some time to blog. Hehe. The art of survival definitely lies in synchronising break time with mealtime, tv-time and try not to go for long toilet breaks during these official "breaks" as it will make the short breaktime seems shorter and less meaningful. Haha..I am amused by how i console myself and cheat myself that "breaks" in short and frequent shots are beneficial.. Just an excuse to slack..

Nonetheless, i was doing some reading when it comes to my realisation that things or events that could be better organised, either by lengthening the preparation time or planning earlier than expected, would definitely yield better results.

Plan ahead to make sure that the members's interests gathered are completely aligned with the mission objectives such that everyone is well-endowed with the necessary information for the mission. This, to me, forms the most important platform and basis to project from. Ensure that the people's technical knowledge are well-sharpened to minimise the number of liabilities and maximum the assets. This is definitely achievable through proper briefings and good planning.Of cos, good resource management is also needed. All these takes time. And I believe it takes more than the physical preparation to conceive a good plan.

Wish everyone luck ahead..Lets chiong ah....for one of the last checkpoints in the race.

2008-10-28T21:03:00.000-07:00

SR-1
Singapore First Regional jet..haha

2008-10-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

Corporatisation of Changi Airport -Forming the Changi Airport Inc.

While it wasn't an overnight decision to corporatise the nation's gem, physical development ss and actions were only materialised in the recent timeline. Corporatisation, of course, is certainly vastly different from privatisation but it is seemed as an intermediate or the mid-point between the latter and being a state-owned entity.

I personally have my reservations about this exercise as a passenger and a customer of the Changi Airport. Of cos, this issue really depends on which direction one is coming from. At the National level, it seems to be an obvious and populous decision as we've seen Singtel, PSA and of course, SMRT doing fairly well after dislocating from the Authority. At the National level, the airport is seeing that talents are draining amidst the likes of Dubai, the rapidly growing aviation giant. However, is corporatisation the only method to resist the talent drain? To me, i believe that it is beyond the monetary gains for certain employees who chose to leave for a greener pasture.

In my opinion, I believe that the personal touch, personal development and personal connection with the association ranks the top in my "loyalty" though i am not officially a member of the working force. Yet, even when in the past, as a part-timer or intern, what i would love is the connection with the management, which seems to dwindle as the corporation grows bigger. It seems inevitable as one progresses through the ranks and echelons, he begins to drift away from the every point he started from. Hence, perhaps it attribute to the high turnover rate in certain companies and i really think it is very necessary to connect to the people under, as much as to the people higher.

Back to corportisation, i believe that as a whole, it definitely will steer and drives up the overall competitiveness of Changi Airport, whom has been facing incremental competition as regional airports began to take-off. No doubt it is necessary to uphold the reputation as the Best Airport, what i do treasure still is the connection with the passengers. Passenger traffic, at the least, is the most important performance indicator and i believe that increasing the service charges/taxes for both the passengers and airlines alike will see a surge in profit for the airport company yet in the long run, it may prove detrimental for the overall health.

As such, I believe that, from the last correspondence with DDG(Ops), i fully agree with him that the new regulatory authority should first let the airport company spread her wings, settle down then tighten the regulatory strings thereafter. There's virtually no point in enforcing strict regulations while compromising on the operations of the new airport company.Yes , i do believe the challenge lies in how much is much, how little is little... For the NewCAA, NewCo..cheers!

2008-10-28T09:40:00.000-07:00

Is the supply of talents outweighing the demand in sg?

Of cos , i do not have the actual sentiments of other institutes but obviously, i feel and fear that in 5 to 10 yrs time, our young building blocks of the nations will be "seriously" devalued in the face of the surging challenge. Foreigners or locals alike, what I thought as a calibre A student with prospective scholarly upbringings here might not be able to stretch as fully as a equally-capable one in other countries cos of the limited opportunities that we have. Obviously, tis is a national problem and we couldnt lament much. But i guess, seriously, i feel that 35-40% of my own cohort would ve easily made it into any sector as a top performer. Yes..i wouldnt deny or abolish the fact that competition drives the quality of the people and perhaps, we ourselves are responsible or are the very own fuel behind the extremely challenging pace in the faculty.

To me, the aerospace faculty is well-positioned,perhaps by chance and sheer luck, in a centroid location between the engineering and the business world. We are very much trained to carry ourselves well in the face of gruelling interviews and design presentations, which perhaps has been much the effort of "committed" professors. Of course, with every peak comes a trough. At least for me, the technical aspects of the course in relation to machining are not well-conceived. Oh well....i dun wanna be the typical Singaporean who wans everything...AI pi Ai qi. Guess i am pretty contented now. Digressed for an entire paragraph.

Yar...what i do hope to see is that either the govt creates a larger pie by honing the various niche sectors or face that fact that talents are definitely gonna be drained to the likes of Dubai in the aviation sector or perhaps to fast developing nations like Brazil and South Africa. They nonetheless, lacks the talents which in this country, is seemingly worth like Aussie dollars..seriously devalued...haha

2008-10-02T08:23:00.000-07:00

gonna
CHECK these places out real soon
HELIPAD
helipad.com.sg

oldSchool

oldschool.sg

2008-10-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

power of wireless@sg

The broad coverage of wireless@sg signifies the beginning of the next era for wireless communication in singapore, as part of the global community.

I am looking forward to the day when the whole sg turns wireless and thereafter, gives the people something to do while on the travel. Of cos, I am not saying we cant do that now,just that the price is still a major consideration.

Yep while wireless on the go sounds good,but as a user, we still needa be careful of being crowned a workaholic cos it can get extremely addictive.haha.

Wi-fi rocks. With iphone and various blackberry phones and nokia ones in the market, its a matter of time before wi-fi phones starts getting cheaper as we close in on sg becoming a wireless hub.

My complaints are still, can i get a bigger screen?bigger keypad?hahaa..woes of a guy using keypad, that are nano in size relative to the surface area of my fingers. Haha

2008-09-30T03:09:00.000-07:00

MY FIRST SET OF CUFFLINKS
thank you for always being so attentive to details
i love it a lot
i am sure they are my lucky charms on 17th Oct

2008-09-20T06:21:00.000-07:00

MINIBOND

wat a big scam

The minibonds saga came about with the collapse of lehman brothers. The whole thing is very complicated but its a clever marketing scam used to entice retail investors like you and me into believing that the investment is lucrative.

Minibonds Ltd is a company issuing the minibonds in different series targeting at different markets. In essence, Lehman Bros wanted to hedge itself from risks from any credit event i.e. default of the six Reference Entities which include barclay, deutshce, UOB etc possibly becos it possess their securities.Hence, set up this special vehicle and lehman will pay minibonds a premium to insure itself against any default of the six REs. In this case, when lehman collapses,no one will pay the premium anymore and thus, the issues will collapse as well. At this point in time, the residual value of the issues will be liquidated and returned to the investors. As most are thrown into CDOs, hence, the values of those are nearly zero or close o zero now.

The real scam lies in the fact that FI and distributors misrrepresented and misinterpretted and sold the "minibonds" as bonds and investors tot they are buying the securities of the six REs and hence, the positive outlook. In effect, the investment were linked to the six REs but the six Res had nth to do with the so called "bonds". The quarterly coupon issued to investors were collection from the CDOs and thus, investors tot they will paid due to the good and continual outlook for the big banks..well..well..it turned out that things were heading south.

So yes, pls google and find out more before buying any bonds.!Cheers

2008-09-16T06:52:00.000-07:00

NISSAN LATIO SPORT

Suave.Huge legspace.<$60k. hatchback.not too bad fuel efficiency.

TOP on my list.woohoo~

2008-09-13T18:31:00.000-07:00

GAMEWEEK 4

2008-09-12T10:25:00.000-07:00

ARMS RACE

Haha.Arms race was the term used to describe the scenario where nations build up prolific arms for superiority displays. As much as it had seemed to drown in the time tunnel, it is still happening in our daily lives.

Be it internship interview where I saw people use all sorts of props and all kinds of sugarcoating to embellish their seemingly peaceful history or to cover any gaps as if the interviewers are surgeons pinpointing their wounds. Yes, I admit that I am also one of those dragged in this inevitable machine where everyone tries to outshine and outrace, eventually forgetting and overlooking the real essence of the work or job nature. The motto for students or youngsters would read something like," As long as I win, it doesnt matter what I ve won". How true the statement is of course, still dependent on individual.

Coming to the final stage of the interview, I am constantly asking myself whether I am really keen on working there or just for the prestige or the vain thought of being branded as a scholar. I believe a scholarship in the civil sector is definitely more than money. It is like an invisible visa that really allows easier access to the more remoted and untouchable areas in the corporate hierachy. how true? I dunno. Its part hearsay, part truth I suppose.

Sometimes I envy the "Baby boomers" whom are generally the generation of our father and mother. They lived in an era when studies were generally not as highly emphasised as compared to the present era. Life was tougher for those without high education yet in a way, they are those who really worked their way with bare hands. I admire my dad who is really a handy man in many things. At 24, all i know is definitely less than wad my dad did.

Given the present stiff competition in the society, it is really hard to catch a breath.Before you know it,endless work has piled up, coupled with projects and other commitments. Think about it,it will be nice if time can stop at the age of 16. Haha. Studying then was really simpler. It sucks to know that my studying career will come to a permanent halt soon.....

A winner learns to love his job while a loser waits for a job he loves.

2008-09-03T07:26:00.000-07:00

NOKIA E71

2008-09-02T04:33:00.000-07:00

YOULI 'S FAREWELL

In case you are wondering why i am not inside the photos, observe well.

The answer is i am the photographer.

Haha.realised i din take any photo at all. hmphhhhh...haha.

Anyway, sending people off is always quite an emotional affair for the closest ones yeah. I rem youli's mum with that teary and bit swollen pair of eyes filled with sadness and unwillingness to part with something that has always being in sight and within reach for 20 odd years.

Well..i said there's no eternal event in the world (Tian xia wu bu shan zi yan xi) so adieus and take care yeah....all the best!=)

2008-09-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

Health matters matter

cant bring myself but to admit that age is catching up faster than the walking pace at outram mrt every morning en route to school.

First, I found myself struggling to complete 21km which was really much achievable in my heyday. Of course, memories are always worth more than reality. Reality calls out the darkest side of life and seriously, i could empathise now with those ancient emperors why they wanted the elixir for longevity. Life is short..life, in my definitions, the heyday. Of course, i myself contributed to my downfall and so, well, i guess i can only blame myself end of the day

Found a tooth cavity in the back row of my teeth. OH man..it sucks big time. And of course, it will definitely cause me a bomb. Sg is definitely a place to die than to get sick. Unless all my doctor frens can give me special lo...haha.

Give me health over money anytime. In sg, please give me both and in case it doesnt come true, bless me wealth if i ever get sick. hahaha.

2008-08-25T21:58:00.000-07:00

ROOM SERVICE FANFARE

Just when we thought hotel food is expensive and not as nice, we were proven wrong by the exquisitive fanfare by the hotel. hee. If I din rem wrongly, the spaghetti was MARINARA or sthing and the sandwich, which was equally good, was called the BLT sandwich. Both of us found the name a bit deja vu..was it at carl juniors?haha.

Lotsa deja vu these days. Went to the new NTU cafe called palate and saw a familiar lady. Somehow, it just slipped my mind who she is..I vaguely remember she sold sthing at Can A previously.

Anyway back to the main topic..i liked the pasta a lot..but it pales in comparison to that which dear brought me. I think it is called Pasta Cafe at Taka. The seafood pasta( the most expensive one) is absolutely tantalising.Woohoo....But as usual, 1 serving of pasta is always too much for a traditional chinese like me. I can eat 2 bowls of rice anytime..but I ll throw in the white flag for 1 serving of pasta. haha. I think many other beg to differ.hahha...I like cai fan..(dear will faint right).haha.

view of the balcony of the roof garden

me act shuai..haha

2008-08-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

LOVE is

when you suddenly feel that money is no longer important cos money cant buy love nor buy your presence.

when i will get upset and disturbed when i know that you are upset.

when i feel the urge to design our own house and plan for our future.

everything about you.

2008-08-15T09:30:00.000-07:00

desktop calendar

thought this is quite useful.(courtesy of sharon) can directly input notes into the calendar on the desktop..duh right..haha..but its good.can try.

download at http://tinnes.org.uk/desktopcalendar/ for trial version which is more than sufficient.

(the yellow box is the desktop calendar..haha)

2008-08-14T07:47:00.000-07:00

happy birthday to dear
pray all your wishes come true

2008-07-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

T I M B R E

birthday celebration at 24072008

As usual, doing some random designs to soothe the bored mind after work.haha.I definitely need to unleash some creative juice contrasted against the regimental kind of work in office..woohoo... However, stimes i find that if i were to do creative work in office, i might also find it a chore after a while. Hmm..perhaps regimental work has its own pros too.. at least everything is "rule-by-rule, law-by-law". Amidst chaos, there must be some order. haha.spouting nonsense.

2008-07-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

some two-liner updates

finished my long-awaited presentation to the senior management. Felt shortchanged cos the presentation was supposed to be the highlight at the end of the internship. anyway...its over!!woohoo

went for a chalet with dear and friends.was short yet a comfortable one. hosted our friends and well man..our chat was so so long...haha.but too much inputs by the 4 talkative guys..haha. well....talkative is in our blood.

In a blink, internship at CAAS is coming to an end.still not sure if i really wanna stay with the organisation or just that the Honours yr sship is tempting. hmm..undecided about my career. shall not count any egg before it is hatched

Hahah..dunno whether its the influence of the internship.suddenly so used to report to people and to do other peopls's bidding..dunno if it will persist going forward into my first perm job 1 yr later. Excited is, in my words, 2 parts looking forward 1 part fearful.

2008-07-20T03:37:00.000-07:00

FIRST DAY AFTER PHOTOSHOP
is reinstalled..haha

2008-07-16T08:24:00.000-07:00

some very random yet sleek photos
120708- costa sands pasir ris(courtesy of de(s)lr)

2008-07-15T05:50:00.000-07:00

hcjc: a look back into history

As i was reading the mail by yaoxing, i realise i dun feel very much le. Maybe its really overtaken by events and memories have faded too much.

What was left in my memory house is just memories of the team and the committee. I rem those days were the most interesting of my jc days. I still rem the days when we ploughed to get camp done, get the track n field clinic going and to make the sports day a special one. Looking back, it was really much effort and time spent to try to get the team together.

Way back then, i alw held zhizai's words in my heart, that is " even though we are leaders, dun forget to let the rest of the team learn and enjoy too". Holding this piece of advice close to my heart, i alw make sure the team enjoys being within the team. Within my tour of duty being the captain, i alw make sure my teammates dun just train, but benefit from other aspects as well.. family active day + sports clinic+ training camps. well..i guessed end of the day, winning the C'ships is only a milestone and an outcome.

What remains is the process.

The process is alw sweeter than the outcome

2008-07-04T23:15:00.000-07:00

primary school frenza
FISH AND CO, THEN HARRY CHIJMES

Well..has been nearly 1 + year since we met up. The days had passed, the memories faded yet the friendship is still easily rekindled. Haha. Some old memories could be easily revived and there it goes, the conversation was continous with no awkward break. well..a soothing and comfortable chat. Sometimes i feel, as we traced further and further into our past, we realised, in fact, that the topics then were so naive and motive-less. Hence, the memories are sweeter. As compared to out current topics...hmm...very much in association with marriage, work and studies. Is that a common trend? Is that the pitfall that adulthood has presented, in the manifest of boring topics. Theywere serious, practical questions and answers by each and everyone but the primary school topics always have the mysterious power of making everyone beam with laughter. Thanks!

p6-1 part of my life. part of my memories

2008-06-05T07:31:00.000-07:00

goodbye to goodrich aerostructures
the end of one chapter marks the beginning of yet another

the journey might not have been the best and the most memorable
but it is still a milestone.

I might not have had the best supervisor yet i am fortunate enough to know the best engineer in my opinion. someone who listens and not just hear, someone who observe and not just see. In my humble opinion, he has the kind of personality that marks a good leader.

a triathlete. inspirational in his own way. I remember him telling me, " in our lives, we must at least try 1 marathon". a simple yet remarkable sentence, that has triggered and strengthened my determination.

a teacher. though not the clearest and comprehendable, he is able to impart essential knowledge to his recipient.

a special 'thank you' to you!

with this, i look forward to my next stint at CAAS from 9th june onwards. I hope that my life will always be surrounded with angels! Just like how i met desmond, weiqi, jesper, pili, weiyi,yongtong,lianghan,wei,fai and my dear eocc pals. From then, my life began to become brighter and finally, i met you. gift from heaven..

Met weimin from material science during the attachment. very comfortable friend to talk to. hope we will keep in contact. Perhaps stimes beauty lies in the fact that it is transient.

From here, i say adieus to goodrich!

2008-05-31T08:35:00.000-07:00

APPRECIATE

Sometimes I really feel like shouting out loud to the whole world to exclaim my appreciation for all the things.

In my life thus far, i gained some and i lost some. The essence of life, I believe, is not to keep winning countless victories but to win those meaningful ones.

I would fight to preserve my family.
for they created a place called home which i go back everyday yet failed to treasure everyday.

I would fight to be with you.
cos you added life to my monotonous life.
for everyday is filled with laughter and hopes cos of you.

I would fight for my passion
for which they added colour to my world filled with motives and agendas

I would protect the angels around me
just like how they protected me with their teachings, care and advices.
for appearing to ensure that my road is not just filled with bumps and humps.
for inspiring me to carry on when the bend ahead just seems so dark and wary.

2008-05-26T08:12:00.000-07:00

the confusing city

amusing and contradicting to find myself pondering over a few observations and sightings i chanced upon.

I sat in front of the tv to find myself guessing if the tears of the artistes in the charity show is genuine. If it is, why do i find it so fake? If its not, why does it still touch my heart?

I walk on the shopping alley along Orchard Road to find myself pondering if the LV bag or Gucci bag wrapped in the hands of some,genuine or fake. Somehow i feel that it doesnt matter cos those who looked more elegant by nature will somehow force the impression upon on-lookers that everything on her is real. In this way, is there a need to buy a real one?

I read my score on the assessment sheet, followed by a cynical laughter at the irony in my life. How can you judge me when you werent around during the whole six months. The one who deserves to judge me cant judge while the one whom is not supposed to judge judged. Should I be happy or sad to see good remarks which are not meant for me?

There are so many ironies in life that i began to doubt it. What's real and what's unreal..sometimes its just so mystical.

2008-05-25T03:17:00.000-07:00

ADIDAS SALE

first time queueing for a sale. quite shiok albeit super duper long queue. waited 1 hr for the buying queue. Anyway... quite qiao to run into wai wai cos she temp-ed in as a cashier. din know she s working at adidas sg now.haha.

besides buying a pair of adizero tempo at $99, bought 2 face towels and 1 gym bag for pauline. hee.. guilty after spending. but heck la...haha

2008-05-14T05:22:00.000-07:00

INTERESTING ARTICLE
from mrwangsaysso.blogspot.com

2 years on, employers still skirt day-off clause
Should there be a law to get employers to comply?
Friday • April 25, 2008

NEWLY arrived, a maid asked her employer if she could get a rest day. Her employer was incredulous.

"If I wanted to give my maid a day off, I would have hired one from another country," said the employer, who had signed her up on the assumption that maids of some nationalities were more pliant than others.

Faced with an employment contract that requires them to either give their maids a rest day, or compensate them accordingly for working, some Singaporean employers have sought ways to get around the terms or extract the most from their workers.

And this begs the question of how much has truly changed for the 170,000 foreign domestic workers in our midst — two years after the industry association put together a standard contract requiring employers to give maids at least one day off a month.

A Today straw poll of 50 employers found that only 62 per cent gave their maids a rest day.

With some industry watchers criticising the rest-day clause as being too flexible, should legislation be put in place to mandate the issue? ....
There are several simple reasons why many Singaporean employers are reluctant to give their maids a day off.

You see, if the maid runs away, the government will fine the employer $5,000. If the maid commits a crime such as shoplifting, the government will fine the employer $5,000.

If the maid is caught having sex with someone, the government will fine the employer $5,000. If the maid gets pregnant, the government will also fine the employer $5,000.

(Oh, and you have to send your maid for a pregnancy test every six months).

If you didn't know any of the above, then either you do not employ a maid, or you didn't read the small print of the Manpower Ministry's work permit conditions.

Many employers are afraid that if their maid has a day off and gets into trouble, the employer will not only have to solve the trouble, but also have to fork out $5,000 as a free gift to the government.

(Not that the government will then help you solve the trouble. It's just a fine, plain & simple).

Intuitively, this smacks of gross unfairness. The employer gets punished not for something he did, but for something that somebody else (the maid) did. Furthermore, once the maid leaves the employer's residence, the employer has no way of monitoring where the maid goes and what she does there.

To encourage employers to give their maids a day off, the government needs to change these ridiculous rules.

I agree that employers should be fined and punished, if they fail to perform their responsibilities as employers - for example, paying the maid's salary on time; providing adequate food and accommodation; and ensuring a safe, secure working environment.

But employers should not be held responsible, for things that a maid may do, of her own free will. When the maid goes out on her rest day, the employer simply has no viable way to ensure that she will not do anything that breaches her work permit conditions.

(Which, by the way, are quite extensive and onerous).

We may draw a curious parallel with Mas Selamat's escape, and PM Lee's determined, if muddled, defence of Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng in Parliament.

Mas Selamat ran away. But PM Lee said that Wong Kan Seng was not at fault and should not be punished in any way. The reason being that Wong Kan Seng personally did not do anything which allowed Mas Selamat to escape.

Strangely, if your maid runs away, it IS your fault and you SHOULD be punished. Even if you did not personally do anything to let her run away (apart from giving her a day off).

Similarly, if your maid becomes pregnant, it IS your fault and you SHOULD be punished. Even if you did not personally do anything to make her pregnant.

Oh well. What can I say? Maids are not terrorists. But then you are not Wong Kan Seng. So the rules remain stacked against you. Wong Kan Seng gets off lightly, but you won't. Even if his lapse has far greater, and graver, implications than yours.

Your runaway maid wouldn't blow up Changi Airport, would she?

2008-05-11T08:57:00.000-07:00

DESIGNS

saw an ad on ntu mail about a logo design competition.Designed these four. give me your opinions yeah. Its a coy called Winfinity, the sole distributor for fujitsu aircons.

2008-05-10T19:15:00.000-07:00

Friendship

Its always about giving.

Its only when people give that others can have the luxury to receive.
Giving is why i always feel so happy and fulfilled with des and co.

2008-05-09T07:52:00.000-07:00

we are all guilty. just when and where

I seldom talk about matters of the heart when it comes to blogging. I was chatting with dear and suddenly felt the urge to write.

At some point in my life or our lives, we definitely had made some mistakes and hurt some people. I wouldnt deny the fact that i did not hurt people before, be it boy-to-girl or even between me and my guy friends. Not that i am suggesting i am not straight lah.hee

The weirdest and strangest thing on earth that could ever happen is that whenever we are in midst of a particular scenario or situation, there's no way that we will realise or understand other people's comments, remarks or any signs of unwelcoming suggestions. I must admit it is always on hindsight that i realise how grave a mistake and how deep a sin i ve committed.

I used to like that kind of company and that kind of false sense of security. Being surrounded by them was, to me, a testament of attractiveness maybe? However,as i grew older and seen more things, I realised its a kind of inflated ego that i tried to force on myself. The fact that i put my interest and happiness on others's pain and heartache is definitely selfish to the other party.Albeit how mature i thought i was, i was quite wrong.Maybe that is what we called LIFE. When we were younger, we used to dash relentlessly.We fell, got hurt, learnt and became more aware of ourselves and that of the surroundings. Maybe that's once again a learning process that cannot be avoided.

I am glad that i ve seen the light of so many things. I might have lost some passion and some fighting spirit but i had also shed some immaturity in myself when it comes to r'ship. I hope I am. I will always treat the people around me nicely and sincerely. What else matters more than seeing dear smiling when i buy her LJS. What else makes me happier than when i saw daddy smile when i gave him the jersey. Not at all. All the aloof and all the coldness during the day break eventually got heated up by the warmth when i see dear and see my family every evening.Maybe it took me longer to realise all these. But i did. I am glad. I love dear. I love my family.

2008-05-01T08:04:00.000-07:00

Accountability

We do realize that accountability is important. Inevitably, it is pivotal for a leader, who had failed the mass in an occasion, to clear the heaps and pick up from where he fell. However, it is more crucial to review whether he or she is really capable enough to dismiss the gloomy sky.

In the corporate world, we had seen how former Citibank CEO threw in the white flag when the bank wrote down billions of losses in the subprime fiasco. In any case, was he given a chance to pick up from he fell? The answer is no. Simply because he had lost not just billions in asset but more crucially, he had lost the faith of the public, of the board and directors. While it is a painful and seemingly irresponsible decision to quit, there is a need for the organization to shrug off the debris with a call for change in management. The change will definitely re-energize the team and the public as it symbolizes a new start amidst the glooms and fears. Be it that the leader might had tones of credentials and a good and clean track record to back him up, he of such calibre is expected to be infallible. Not to discount the fact that the one at large now is a high profile terrorist.

In the Singapore context, we have no resources but tonnes and tonnes of human talents. No one is indispensable to any organization and thus, by retaining him in his current position, we will be sending out the message to the public that “hey, sorry to Singaporeans, we do not have a suitable candidate at the moment. However, we are always looking out for a suitable one!”. To me, a true good leader is someone like our current health minister Mr Khor Boon Haw. He always displays such compassion and fervor to his job, and is a true epitome of true leadership. He also led Singapore in the victorious battle against SARS and that had also demonstrated how a good leader leads in adversity.

Accountability versus Restoration of faith and confidence? It is up to the people? Or just up to the people in control?

2008-04-24T04:01:00.000-07:00

APPRECIATION OF SITUATION (AOS)

this may sound a bit abstract but basically, its a military term for situation awareness.

Sometimes, when you have something, it doesn't mean that you can leverage on that and use that to boost your own ego and deflate others using the same reason. For example, if you are healthy, appreciate and treasure the fact that you live healthily and dun ever use mean words to hurt others. Some words that mean nothing to you might be grave to others. Especially if its a cosmetic or physical matter.

Be it a small or harmless joke, please appreciate the situation before causing collateral damage on people and others.

The same goes for me.

2008-04-22T08:34:00.000-07:00

the MAS SELAMAT Debacle

i can only say that the g*** is trying her very best to divert our attention from pursuing the person at large to analysing the case.

Well... i could fully agree and appreciate what Mr Low **** ***** had said in his parliamentary speech. He mentioned that," we pegged the g*** officials 's pay,especially those in the higher echeleon to the private sector" . However, we are aware that," those in the private sector who made mistaked often are being relinquished or forced to resign".

It couldnt had been more true and more apt than this.

2008-04-14T07:30:00.000-07:00

CHOICES

At every juncture of our lives, it is inevitable that we have to make choices and eventually, live with the choices regardless of the outcome. An irony in life dictates that we have to make the most important choices in our lives at a very young age and live with the decisions later on.

When we hit a crossroad, faced with many choices, human instinct often leads us to choose the path of the least resistance, just like how charges always flow for the same reason. While the path of least resistance is often the obvious choice, it doesnt necessarily mean it is the best choice.

Some part in my life or another, I ve witnessed and observed people using all means to find shortcuts. I couldnt justify. Whenever there is any slight suggestion that a certain route is shorter or less bumpy, it is so common to find people pouncing on them even before thinking. My take is that when there are 2 routes, take the longer one. If not, take the bump-ier one. That's always what I believe in my life. The road less travelled is often the one that grants the most surprises. Of course, there are bound to be unknown obstacles yet the tougher route almost always force one to be tougher as well.

My friends, before you pounce on any easy way out in life, take a few seconds to ponder. The easier and shorter road also means more people will take the same route. So, end of the day, you will still suffer.

2008-04-06T06:23:00.000-07:00

bai bai

has been falling sick and getting weird weird "diseases" this year. should really do a check on my lifestyle and habits. Hahamaybe shud go bai bai soon.

saturday was fulfilling. Went with dear to Park Mall to use our Dome vouchers. Well.. the seafood tomato penne was satisfying as usual. Yum Yum.Was tempted to try the squid ink linguine but end up ordering penne cos the picture were all but tantalising. Haha. Ordered the gourmet pie as well.. its the soup with a layer of pie on it. We agreed that its a healthy course.. cos the chickens were boiled and was filled with barley as well.. of cos with some healthy salad and dressing. Of cos, a brownie with gelato to conclude the lunch.

If you were hesitating for a meal at dome, JUST go!hahaha.. its nice esp when its a lunch at park mall. very relaxing.

told dear about my "vision". I wanna sit on an opulent antique chair with her with a nice spread of salad, bread wth butter, a cup of coffee on a high high porch. To my right is a vast and limitless grassy plain! How i wish this day will come soon. To embrace nature at its rawest and freshest...=)

2008-04-03T07:06:00.000-07:00

DOES THE END JUSTIFY THE MEANS?

I used to believe that earning money is one of the most important missions when i was younger because i wanted to savour the taste of a wealthy person. As I grew older, my strong urge began to falter as i began to understand a greater truth in my life. Nope, I am not preaching any form of religion here. Perhaps a bit of wenliang-ism blended with a few drops of experience. The truth being, there is a price to pay for everything. I totally believe in that.

While I thought earning money might make me rich, i am merely trading time for money. I might win tonnes of plastic lifeless notes or perhaps a greater congregation of numbers in my bank account. Yet, i lost time-Priceless and non-retrievable. During eocc, i had witnessed, many a time, the weaknesses of humans. As we were stripped down to the last crumps of biscuits in times of hunger, those who gave up their final bit of rations lost some energy, yet gained the rightful respect and learned the real value of compassion and camaraderie. So, life works like a trade. You trade away some of the your intangible commodities like time and dignity and morals in exchange for the tangible ownership of materials. Whether you win or lose is of course, at your own discretion.

I couldnt find a valid explanation, in my heart, on certain actions. Perhaps, just like in psychology, this is a conditioned response. Events generate a response, just like how heat activates your receptors to generate a feeling of pain. Maybe through time and space, people react to an event, and when they managed to escape without being punished, they begin to "condition" themselves and finally, accept the course of action. It is just like how babies actually cry to gain your attention.

In retrospect, I wouldn't say that I had not generated any responses which are morally wrong as well. I am as guilty as anyone. Lets reflect and repent!Cheers

2008-03-31T07:24:00.000-07:00

NIGHT CYCLING with dear
& aerospace mates

2008-03-24T03:52:00.000-07:00

PUBLIC IMAGE
Following the conclusion of the Taiwan Presidential election, coupled with the recent Edison Chen scandal, it had once again said so much about the importance of public image. Conscious or unconscious, celebrities worldwide, especially in the Oriental, have to juggle with upholding their public image and at the same time, maintaining their own private space.

The Edison Chen scandal had once again proved to the world that media and Internet have the ability to thwart anyone through their mere pervasiveness in the society. One might argue even a prominent public figure deserves their own privacy and a certain threshold whereby they can retaliate if invaded. Personally, I feel that, like what Mr Robert Kiyosaki wrote in Rich Dad Poor Dad, there is a price to pay for everything. You earn through your celebrated fame and thus, you are expected to uphold a certain image that you set out to portray.

Ever since the corroboration of the pictures in the infamous sex scandal, the female leads have since suffered severe backlashes. Ah Jiao have seen her sponsors withdraw their contracts for fear of the negative image associated. Cecilia Chung had caused family dispute and uproars with her scandalous images spread like wildfire in the internet reign. If we were to blame Edison Chen, I will rather say it’s the fault of the pervasive media. The media has always been a double-edged sword as it can effectively manipulates her audiences by scaling the magnitude of a report. In the recent Taiwanese elections, we have seen how Ma Ying Jeou and Frank Hsieh harness the power of the media in great extent to reach out to the greater public. Be it written or spoken media, they never fail to acknowledge that it is the fastest mean to garner the most audiences.

Speaking about the Taiwanese elections, I would say that the entertainment value had surpassed the political value in the eyes of a Singaporean. I say so as even for a 24 year-old adult who had voted in the General Elections, I had never witnessed such an intensive battle before. Though it has evolved to be a pointless battle where personal attacks prevailed, the freedom in speech had intrigued me a lot. It is much like an impossible sight in the local context.

To me, it was really more than a presidential election. People are looking up to MYJ as they had 8 years under DPP which is more or less indifferent to them. I was listening intently to Ms Lu Xiulian, outgoing Vice-Pres, on a tv interview session. She claimed that it was hard to venture into Mainland for any political or economical handshake with China. To me, it might be true yet still seem to be an excuse to cover up for her inability. I believe the Chen Shui Bian administration advocated independence and therefore, provoked China to be hostile. Soverignity and pride aside, is it so important to proclaim independence casting important issues like economy and people one side? I beg to differ in face of the rising inflation globally, credit crunch taking a toll on the global economy and weakening of the US dollar.

I guess the people are reacting to the lack of improvement ever since Chen ShuiBian took over from his predecessor. I am glad to say that in the local context, we are doing well, with increase in GDP every year and positive growth in various profitable sectors. Thus, will anyone really condemn or defame the local government as we enjoyed prosperity? I am afraid I will not. To quote desmond, we try not to fix anything if it aint broken. I think to add on, I will say even if it is broken, as long as we can get 2.5 month bonus every year, dun fix also. haha

2008-03-22T08:33:00.000-07:00

expecting my fossil when Mr Lee comes back in April. Come to think of it, i haben met my fellow PC3 for about 3 years le. And I ran into joel last saturday before heading to the zoo. I guess its fate. A meetup with Lip, Joel, Chubby and Ix will be brewing soon.hahaha.. I will be the 'brewer'. To digress a bit, i feel that the fossil outlets in spore are marking up too much. A us$115 watch commands a S$235 retail price tag in sg. I will just say its absurd. I shall not visit them in sg again.Haha.

Meanwhile, am setting my sights on black stuffs again

2008-03-22T08:19:00.000-07:00

GOOD FRIDAY

haha.made a damn lame comment that successfully won the 'roll-eyes' from dear once again. I thot it was qt witty for me to say that all fridays are good so yesterday should be called the BEST Friday!haha

anyway quite a week. I am so down in luck recently. I got an long-term ulcer that had tormented me for the last 2 weeks. Finally, my saviour came. Some SORAGEL from the pharmacy was my elixir. I was cured within 2 days. But in turn, i think i spread my ulcer and sore throat to dear. She's now on the bed sleeping. I am so suay...hai. This year is a gloomy year for me. Nursing a pain from my tooth right now. HAI..SUAY SUAY SUAY.

On Hindsight, today and yesterday went pretty well. It was much an event-less weekend but stimes, event-less is a kind of xin fu too. The only highlight for the day would be a MAC Breakfast at LOT ONE. Despite the sore throat, naughty Miss Ang went ahead to eat her share of BIG BREAKFAST. I must lay down ground rules for Miss Ang cos her mouth-oseophagus-stomach TRIO always have a way to manipulate her mind. She always dunno how to watch her diet when she's sick. No good..No more LONG JOHN SILVER too. HaHa.. i guess she's so sad tobe with me cos my fav dishes are YONG DAO FOO and DUMPLING NOODLES. Being the gluttonous-westernised-glutton, dear have to forsake her fast food most of the times. Okie.i promise 1 MAC breakfast every 2 years, 1 long john treat every 2 months and erm...100 Yong Dao Foo every 1 year!hahaa... Alrightie...take care and sleep well dear..

2008-03-16T06:01:00.000-07:00

CAAS

I think its very nice of CAAS to grant me and weimin a chance for an internship despite the fact that we din tell them we could only start on June. Once again, i gonna applaud the orgn for the flexibility in terms of scheduling.

Had already indicated that i prefer to venture into the field of airport mgmt. Hope to be able to go there. ELse, i think air cargo operations will also do fine. haha

2008-03-16T05:48:00.000-07:00

wonderfulweekend
-ZOO

2008-03-16T05:39:00.000-07:00

zoo

2008-03-06T07:13:00.000-08:00

MORE COMPLEX THAN LAPLACE

2008-03-06T07:05:00.000-08:00

BUSY?
I seldom believe in this word called busy. I believe one might get occupied or get held up or tied up by some tasks but never too busy. I think busy only belongs to people who either do things too tardily or have no proper time management. To me, I always believe things can be well-categorised in order of priority.The rule of thumb states you should do the most important things first. or rather do the most important and most urgent things first if you can put them into a quadrant. Do the former first, followed by Urgent,not important, followed by not urgent, important and the last not urgent, not important. Do the things using the shortest time and least amount of resources, which always reduce with experience. Yep.. some rule of thumbs are indeed important. I think I am seldom busy.. just a little occupied.haha=)

2008-02-20T07:17:00.000-08:00

CNG : In-thing

With oil prices hitting more than us$100 a barrel,its no surprise that people are seeking other alternatives to feed their ever high-maintenance baby-- Car.Actually CNG or Compressed Natural Gas is no newbie to the local automotive market. Some taxis and buses had since turned to CNG for a "cleaner and greener" driving experience. Of cos, its cheaper la! At 80c per litre, the price is like buying royce choc to the likes of GOdiva-- Just as good, but far cheaper.

Of cos,you might question if CNG is so good, why are we using petrol then. First,Petrol was at $1.50per litre months back.Albeit more expensive, there is no strong reason to turn to CNG for the cyclinders are nearly 60kg. There s like an additional passenger and it takes up considerable bootspace.Now priced at $2 per litre,it is 25% more expensive whereas CNG stays constant at 80c...haha. The inital setup of the CNG cyclinders costs $3,800 but like in econs, the "startup cost" will be offset-ed by the cheaper fuel cost. CNG also boosts of high octane numberof 103.

Sounds damn good. Besides Jurong Island, there will be 3 more gas pumps to come by the end of this year. One at Serangoon North,One at mandai currently and one at Jurong i think..hahaa..sounds good huh... Buy a Honda Fit(17km/litre) topped with a CNG cylinder at 80cper litre.... every refill at most costs $40 for a 45l fuel tank or $50for 60km.$40for approximately 600km is worth the money man.ahhaha

2008-02-20T06:31:00.000-08:00

Expectations

There's this saying in the real estate department.Property is all about 3 things:"Location, location and location". Agreed. Same rule goes for the service sector. "Service"

And in the retail and F&B industry, first impression matters a lot as there are probably as many cafes as the number of days in a single year. Most probably, some restaurants or cafes will not earn that amount of charm to entice me back.The bark cafe certainly made it to one of the list.

Besides 7-eleven, I suppose we normally contact the waiter or waitress before we touch the food. So, its imperative that the crew maintain high service standard such that it will be a pleasing experience for both the stomach and the mind. bark cafe somehow got a way to fail all my criterias.

Firstly, the ice water were not promptly served and when it did came, there were shortages. Secondly, fish and chips served w/o tartar sauce. Okie..maybe i sound demanding here..but when i told him more, he came with one small one..until i finally said "one for every single FnC here". Thirdly, pizza served with no cheese. I wouldnt really fault the taste of the food. But the service provided,considering that the crowd were minimal, were considerably off- standard. I should ve given them a piece of my mind but maybe its due to the scorching sun.

On the other hand, had a good experience with other restaurants. Liquid Kitchen and the famous CORO ke ai ji were good and comfortable.

Before we boost that we are a nation with high service quality, lets push on with GEMS.

2008-02-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

NEW YEAR GOODIES!
pun intended

2008-02-01T08:28:00.000-08:00

People

kinda caught up with events sometimes that i realise what pieces everything is nothing but people. People drives events, which in turn drives more people to create more events. Not making any sense am i?But i just feel like writing about people instead of events. No work no pictures of gatherings No nothing but people.

In my life thus far, i am very glad that i am inspired by people along the way. I kinda feel that in one' life, there must be this inspirer-inspiree rship(analogous to mentor-mentee..haha). Well... i din really have any in mind when i was in my early school days. Except my dad, my mom, my brother and the Big Lee.

It was until secondary school before i was really caught up with "admiring" and " following" seniors in the schools. They proved to be positive. Some of them include Pingjie, Zhizai, Yinghao who really were mature for their age then. Pingjie was all along my role model for being so focused at his work. Be it painting or jumping, i could only use the word " awe-inspiring" on him. He is the kind of person who is action-charming. In my own vocabulary, he is the quiet worker type who inspires and leads through actions. Of cos, Yinghao and Zhizai were just like how Jay Chou does to kids- Influencing through their mere presence.

Looking back, i grew up fast in secondary, mentally, cos i was always trying to mimic them. In a way, its safe cos maybe i cant go very far, but at least i wun fall too behind. JC life was too fast for anyone to leave his footprints in my life. Perhaps it is cos Pingjie was still around( Hope i dun sound too gay here)

Soon, army came, paused(during the hard times in OCS n SOCE) and dashed off in a seemingly short time. The journey was as short as my JC years, yet a long and steep learning process. Desmond, Jesper, Pili and rest of my good friends came along. I could still remember how the sufferings/pain during the war....oopss..i mean during some wargames and trainings, bonded us together.
Pili- always so confident that stimes hope to borrow some from him.
Jesper- always laughing and so cheerful about life. Talking to him eventually drive the pessimistic soul away.
Desmond- just like an elder brother, literally, always guiding us through actions and words. never fail to impress in any situation. His status is as prestigious as Big Lee..haha
Weiqi- sometimes wonder if he feel any stress in his life. He can always transform any form of worries, anxiety, helplessness into a source of energy. Never see him really upset or down before. Maybe at times, dun care is the best policy,
Kelvin- How can i not pei fu this guy for always enjoying life to his fullest. Some might be alive but never really lived before.If anyone really live at all, i guess kelvin "lived" for most of his life.

Dear- for teaching me so many things i nv learned before. I nv realise there r so many things i dunno until u taught me the real meaning of life. Perhaps, like what you said, its true that money and fame and glory come and go. kinship, love, frenship stay forever. I used to think the biggest joy from a guy to a girl is to make her proud of her bf. Well.. perhaps my best enemy is myself. You r right.hee

2008-01-20T04:19:00.000-08:00

Technical?Operation?Service?Analyst?

done a bit of read up on aerospace related stuff during work.haha.

reading up always bring about this advantage of enlightening the mind and broadening one's horizons. Used to think that aerospace engineering is more geared towards a technical pathway. But, i guess there is really more to explore than it really seems.

In Singapore, there are more MRO jobs as compared to design ones. Thus, a technical engineer in aerospace will essentially centers around repair and overhaul. While the job itself is not boring by nature, it is more routine and "standard" in a sense. The brief 2 weeks in goodrich has exposed me to the dedication and commitment of the engineers in their work.inspired to a certain extent by the people there. While a repair work seems mundane, there are actually many many considerations and methods to do so. Its not as easy as it seems. beginning to appreciate the job than in the past.

While technical service, accounting for most of the output in the aerospace field, realms in Singapore,there are also other opportunites i.e. operations and analyst.
Some of the more interesting ones are CAAS and SIA Cargo. CAAS maintains and operates Changi Airport and thus, some of the "prime" jobs include policy making and acquistion of external bodies. Of cos, all these are reserved for the scholars...haha. SIA cargo is one of the biggest cargo airline globally. Of course, our "Mr Zhang"- Fedex is the largest in the field of logistics and transport. SIA cargo's core competencies lies in logistics and thus, it is a more "operation"-inclined industry.

Some analytical jobs include consultancy work at lufthansa, a German company. Of all, lufthansa-Technik is one of the biggest maintenance companies, based in Germany. Lufthansa also has an airline under its flagship and thus, it is a big company man..yeah.hahaha

2008-01-17T07:33:00.000-08:00

goodrich-GASCA.

have been quite a pleasant journey so far. nice people, nice lunch, nice offices and a brand new environment.

nice people- the engineers over there are very friendly. Cos i always think full time employees do not care about interns or part timers. Well.. good to say.. it is not really the case.

nice lunch- haa...boring canteen often causes people to search for alternatives. And yep.. it is good... lunch made of love. mama s lunchbox make my day everyday...haha..filled with mama s love.

nice offices- well..i wouldnt say its the best...but it beats other offices that i ve been to in terms of space. I would say i got myself a 3L Lexus e300 space as compared to the squeezy 1.6 honda space...but seriously, it really doesnt matter at all.

new environment- some eye openers to the world of engineering. Its more of a reality check. It really did exposed me to the amount of things i know but dun understand, i see but i dun absorb, i hear but i dun listen and things i tot i know which i never did.

A simple Right hand or left hand module seems like an child's play.yet ont he ground, i cant even tell.. i guess i ve lost my basic instincts as i grow older. I yearn for a more hands-on life. just like in the past, where we don on our long 4 and black boots and slog on the field. Those were the days when an officer leads by example. I wouldnt say for as an engineering intern. Indeed, there is room for improvement.

I still stick to my old saying. Know your goal in mind even as an intern and do whatever it takes to reach that goal.Instead of lamenting or even sulking about it, i guess its better to take the initiative and ask. Its always harder to think first and act first. Well.. thats life.

and of cos, nothing s really possible without you. good night dear.