Blawg.

2012-01-27T14:22:00.000+08:00

There's always a partial truth in any jokes told.

Quotes to ponder

2012-01-27T00:13:00.000+08:00

Don't wait. The time will never be just right -Napoleon Hill

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit -Aristotle

You cannot open a book without learning something -Confucius (how true).

If you aren't delighted with your lifestyle, it would be foolish to remain loyal to the decisions that created it.

If you went to school today, it was by choice. Only reason to do the same tomorrow is that you're pleased with your choice.

My take on being successful in college.

2012-01-26T23:43:00.001+08:00

Most would equate success with starting a Fortune 500 company. I would define success as any goal which you have set for yourself, something that would have enriched the way you live your life or changes the way your view the world. Most importantly success should be something along the lines of "progressive reduction of potential deathbed regrets"

Here's my take on what it means to be successful in college

1. You would have found at least 3 good friends whom are trustworthy.

2. You would have taken up at least 1 CCA in your college life and achieve something from your participation. (medals, organized a large scale event etc).

3. Have at least a mentor whom you could email for advice. For instance: Profs, CCA leaders, Seniors.

4. Take risks. Do something crazy while in college, or try out something new. For me it was going against the Sports club ruling and set up another martial arts club and pushing crazily for it. Not to mention that people weren't really happy. But it all works out fine eventually. Did I mention going to the open area at the top of S1 building and went around shooting cross bow arrows? Night runs, climbing out of NUS building windows, crashing over at a friend's hostel, dinner with exchange students etc.

5. I would end it off with a "grades doesn't really matter", as long as you have the drive to keep on learning and improving yourself. That being said, I'm not saying that one should flunk your examinations. But a balance should be achieved between your grades and other pursuits in life.

[An exception to this is perhaps if your goal is to be an investment banker or McKinsey consultant]

One would demand more when in a r.s

2012-01-26T23:06:00.000+08:00

Taken from a C's blog on relationship

Sometimes, you quarrel over the most pointless of reasons. Other times, you just have to accept that things are just not working out. It's too tiring. It's too emotionally draining. And it sucks.

I have to agree with that. At times I felt that being single is ok and somewhat necessary. That is if you want to progress far and do well in your career. One simply cannot afford to have that kind of emotional turmoil while working. It kills productivity.

Certs Ahoy!

2012-01-26T00:37:00.001+08:00

I've gotten a few certs over the holidays. I'm not sure if these certs are even useful or not though lol.

What I really want would be the cert from Insead though. *drools*

Case Challenge !

2012-01-24T03:17:00.001+08:00

I'm so excited about this!

Really hope to win and walk away with $5000! That would allow me to travel to more places upon graduation.

Free DropBox

2012-01-23T12:23:00.000+08:00

Managed to secure 36gb of free dropbox space :D

AWESOME haha.

Good day

2012-01-22T02:32:00.002+08:00

Today was a good day, I managed to jailbreak my iPhone 4S into something way more usable. Though I really don't think that I would need the free apps that comes along with it. More like the tweaks that comes along with it matters more.

Unknown pleasures

2012-01-22T02:29:00.003+08:00

My life has been reduced to the pathetic state of deriving utmost pleasures from doing tutorials, programming, churning out reports while gnawing on an unripe green apple.

Welcome to my slice of hell - one which involves finding solace in destitute, of which no one would be able to understand.

2 Hours later: finally done with my work ;-)

2012-01-20T23:11:00.003+08:00

My "not so close" friend commented something along the lines of: "Are all the good men dead? Why would anyone want to date you(me)?"

It didn't really bother me at all, since I'm pretty much satisfied with my life in general. Life is good, But there are many things which I have yet to achieved.

Living life to my fullest potential each day brings me happiness instead ;-)

On a lighter note. At least both of us have something in common. That is we both don't understand 'her' either.

2012-01-20T22:55:00.000+08:00

Never tell a women a joke. She won't let you off so easily.

Too inexperienced to understand

2012-01-17T23:14:00.001+08:00

I kindof felt that advice given at the wrong time isn't helpful at all. Younger or inexperienced folks probably won't know how hard it is to have that kind of success.

I wonder how many people knows hard it is to get into Bain, McKinsey, Hedge Funds or Bulge Bracket investment banks? I guess about 5% of the entire NUS cohort? Basically people who knows the answer to that question won't need any form of advice at all. They would have their life planned out already.

It's those 95% of the rest of the cohort that need those advice. But the irony is that advice falls on death ear, because they won't know how valuable these advice are until they really experienced it themselves.

To each his own nonetheless :)

Dumb and dumber

2012-01-15T01:46:00.001+08:00

I rarely rant. But today's event really made me want to puke blood.

Here we have people trying to help you, but you take them for granted. WTF man seriously? If you don't need help, just say so. Don't agree to something and fail to turn up. You think your time is much more important than others?

I'm sorry to say this, but people's per hour opportunity cost, in terms of financial and other form of returns is at least several hundred times better than yours. That is to say, if those people today helping you were to go back to do their normal work, they would have at least earned an approximately of $800-$1500 income just for today alone.

Perhaps you have been living under the stone for the past 15 years, and could not see how much benefit you would reap from this - that's still forgivable due to total ignorance and stupidity on your part. But playing people out is just damn unprofessional, and reflects badly on your character.

Whatever.... I'm glad I wont be seeing or dealing with you guys. I feel sad for those whom have to come in contact with you though.

Graduating Soon !

2012-01-13T13:56:00.002+08:00

You have filed for graduation on : 13-JAN-2012, 01:47pm

S/No	Select	Module Code	Title	Academic Year	Semester
1.		CS1101S	Programming Methodology	2008/2009	1
2.		CS1231	Discrete Structures	2008/2009	1
3.		LSM1301	General Biology	2008/2009	1
4.		MA1505	Mathematics I	2008/2009	1
5.		MNO1001	Management And Organisation	2008/2009	1
6.		CS1102S	Data Structures and Algorithms	2008/2009	2
7.		CS2100	Computer Organisation	2008/2009	2
8.		GEK1523	Innovativeness In Engineering Design	2008/2009	2
9.		NM1101E	Communications, New Media and Society	2008/2009	2
10.		NM2101	THEORIES OF COMMUNICATIONS AND NEW MEDIA	2008/2009	2
11.		CS2102	Database Systems	2009/2010	1
12.		CS2103	Software Engineering	2009/2010	1
13.		CS2105	Introduction to Computer Networks	2009/2010	1
14.		MA1101R	Linear Algebra I	2009/2010	1
15.		SSA2202	Changing Landscapes of Singapore	2009/2010	1
16.		CS3240	Human-Computer Interaction	2009/2010	2
17.		CS3241	Computer Graphics	2009/2010	2
18.		NM3204	E-Learning	2009/2010	2
19.		NM3216	Game Design	2009/2010	2
20.		ST2334	Probability and Statistics	2009/2010	2
21.		ACC1002X	Financial Accounting	2010/2011	1
22.		CS4213	Game Development	2010/2011	1
23.		CS4243	Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition	2010/2011	1
24.		CS4342	3D Modeling and Animation	2010/2011	1
25.		LAB1201	Bahasa Indonesia 1	2010/2011	1
26.		CS2106	Introduction to Operating Systems	2010/2011	2
27.		CS4343	Game Development Project	2010/2011	2
28.		GEK2013	Real Estate Finance	2010/2011	2
29.		NM3215	Advertising Strategies	2010/2011	2
30.		CS3246	Hypermedia and World Wide Web	2011/2012	1
31.		CS4201	Interactive Systems Project I	2011/2012	1
32.		IS2101	Business and Technical Communication	2011/2012	1
33.		MKT1003X	Marketing	2011/2012	1
34.		TS1101E	INTRODUCTION TO THEATRE AND DRAMA	2011/2012	1
35.		CP3201	Industry Seminar	2011/2012	2
36.		CS3243	Introduction to Artificial Intelligence	2011/2012	2
37.		CS4202	Interactive Systems Project II	2011/2012	2
38.		CS4247	Graphics Rendering Techniques	2011/2012	2
39.		GEM2900	Understand'g Uncertainty & Stats Think'g	2011/2012	2

How to be an effective project leader

2012-01-13T01:03:00.001+08:00

Self awareness - understanding your moods and emotions
Self regulations - thinking about your actions and controlling destructive ones
Motivation - Working hard to accomplish your goals
Empathy - Understanding the emotions of others
Social Skills - developing good connections and relationships with others

Last semester of NUS would be a BLAST !

2012-01-11T00:45:00.003+08:00

This semester's going to be really exciting!

School Related Projects:

Would be meeting up with educators and working with profs to create an education system that would help autistic children to learn better through the use of MS kinect. We would be creating an educational game so to speak. Think mission impossible user interaction kind of game.
Programming various artificial intelligence agent to allow computers to make intelligent decisions without or minimal human input. I hope this would help me in my future career goals in creating an intelligent trading system *dreams*
Meeting industry leaders in mobile computing. Getting to know what's hot and what's not
Handling Modules requirements in general
Earning money by teaching freshmen programming. And hopefully making an impact in their future endeavors in school as well!

Outside Projects:

Project leader at Conjunct Consulting. Honestly, this is really like a 5mc module by itself already. I have 5 hours worth of readings starting from week 1, with key stakeholders to report to. I would definitely put this as equal if not of a higher priority compared to my school modules.
2 startups that I'm working on, which requires at least 3 hours of my time on a daily basis. So that's 4-6 hours per day gone to them. (probably explains why i sleep late)
Personal goals and interest such as participating in a biathlon. This would take up to 2 hours of my daily time training. Unfortunately, today's such a hectic and tiring day that i did not had the time to train :-(
Maintaining my blog and Google+ account. I won't call this project or work at all, because its my form of entertainment!

Basically I'm trying to continuously leverage on what I'm good at doing, build upon it and as a result creating a niche area for myself within the society.

2012-01-08T19:50:00.000+08:00

Sometimes I really don't know what to say to you, except to tell you to go ahead with your decision. In most cases you would have already decided on what to do already. Discussing any further leads to nowhere right? Yeah no point.

Just know that whatever happens, tomorrow always comes. Experiences grows us, and make us stronger. Hence it really doesn't matter which path we take and the decisions which we make.

Distractions

2012-01-08T19:29:00.000+08:00

This picture is really funny ! I notice that his right hand is missing from the table in all 3 of the picture :P

Patience

2012-01-08T19:27:00.000+08:00

Patience is probably one of the most important thing I've learn in the past few weeks. There are 2 amazing occasions in which patience really pays off.

The first one being my appeal to S/U away an module. Due to my reservist, I wasn't able to file my S/U option on time. The thing is that NUS is extremely strict about S/U filing timings. Once you miss the allocated timing you are screwed. With that, I wrote in several times with my appeal letter explaining what had happened. The person took about 5 days to reply! I was close to calling in that person to find out if he has even seen or read my email or not. To my surprise my S/U option was successful. Phew. Luckily did not call in.

(Actually its quite a miracle that my appeal works haha. I was half expecting that it would fail. Really miraculous. To anyone wanting to SU your module but miss out on the date line: Good luck. The chances of a successful appeal is really 1%)

Another instance was a late reply from a friend. Sometimes you are wondering if that person has even received your message. Most of the time one would assume that the friend has received but did not want to reply to your message. Luckily I was patient enough to wait for a reply.

That's about it. Random.

pain is only temporary, glory is forever

2012-01-08T18:59:00.000+08:00

pain is only temporary, glory is forever - the sportsman mantra.

The reverse is true. while its painful to endure, giving up means losing forever. Compare and contrast: we only need to endure for a short while to gain something, instead of giving up and losing out for a lifetime.

Discipline.

TA

2012-01-06T00:17:00.002+08:00

I'm so tempted to sign up for to tutor 2 classes next semester for $$. But I don't tk I would have the time to do so =/

anyway, here's what it means to gain experience in any field: http://www.quora.com/What-is-it-like-to-have-an-understanding-of-very-advanced-mathematics

Investment banking Interview

2012-01-03T23:22:00.003+08:00

My friend's interview story:

Interviewer: Can you give us a good idea for investment in the consumer sector?

XXX: Hmmm, can I choose another sector?

Interviewer : No

XXX: Does it have to be in Europe?

Interviewer: Yes, of course

XXX: Hmmm. Well, there is a bra manufacturer in Netherlands that I think would be a good investment [had read the ad in the magazine in the lobby]

Interviewer: [long serious stare] So, what's so special about those bras?

XXX: Well, they have high end ones..all colours and sizes...

Interviewer [still with a very serious look]: Why do you think its a good business?

XXX: Well, the company is targeting China and there is a big potential in this market. Woman in China on average only own 1 or 2 bras, compared to over in Europe, and the premium market is untapped. And its something woman have to buy.

Interviewer: Interesting. Its a really low margin business though. But let's move on.

virginity matters?

2012-01-03T19:12:00.005+08:00

I met this guy whom insist strongly that his future wife needs to be a virgin. He was so adamant about it (perhaps because he is a staunch christian) and declares it proudly to everyone besides him.

So I asked him why must you insist on your wife being a virgin? He replied saying that as Christians we should be observing our sexual purity, chastity and keeping ourselves pure and wholesome for our future partner.

I asked then: Christianity is about forgiving others and their past right? So why can't you forgive the girl for her past mistake? Besides, you can't tell if a girl is a virgin based on "blood spilled on the bed sheet theory". She would have to tell you. And if she's honest about it, that's just because she loves you enough to tell you.

I also wondered if the guy would think the same way if he wasn't a virgin :-P

Actually if i were to have a one on one session with this guy i would love to ask him whether he thinks petting is ok, has he watched porn before, or masturbated before. You know just wondering how pious is he. If he is, then ok. I accept his above claims above.

2012-01-03T18:54:00.001+08:00

There comes a point in life where there isn't much to do except to accumulate wealth and to posses all the materialistic desires of the world.

Or you could pursue a spiritually enriched life.

Need I say which one is easier to pursue?

2011-12-30T02:41:00.004+08:00

A friend commented that I sounded quite emo after looking at my blog. That set me thinking. Because I'm really not an emotional person. So I took a step back and looked at the posts which I've written and indeed all the posts does seems to be rather bleak in nature haha!

The only explanation that I could come out with could be due to the way I think. Somehow my 'deeper thoughts on issues' hovers over what could possibly go wrong or bad so as to plan and to prevent it.

Perhaps its also due to me being cautious and skeptical about various events and people.

I've no idea.

Good insight nonetheless.

Maybe this shows that I haven't been really Happy in a "life changing experience kind" of happiness. I'm just content. But isn't being content a form of happiness too? :D It's the subtle consistent kind of happiness I guess.

Alrights. Off to bed. I'm craving for Hawaiian Cheese pizza now, which would be utterly bad for my health. Hence I shall sleep it OFF! (discipline + endurance)

Make use of your time wisely

2011-12-28T19:32:00.002+08:00

Time or age doesn’t necessarily make us any better. Consider that time does nothing but pass away. We sometimes say, “time will tell,” “time will heal,” or “time will bring out the potential in me.” But time will do nothing of the sort! Time will only come and go. It is only how we use time that matters.

Cross ref: isaiah 39 - Hezekiah didn’t make good use of the extra time the LORD gave him.

Post Xmas Food poisoning

2011-12-28T00:10:00.002+08:00

I'm Bed ridden thanks to some unknown nasty food which I've eaten. I highly suspect its the result of eating too much raw fish, or the way in which I prepare my food.

Vomited, Diarrhea and Fever. Haven't eaten for 1 day and counting. Surviving on tea mainly.

Painful lesson indeed.

Haven't suffered so much for quite sometime already since the previous summer. Can't wait for a full recovery...

(on a lighter note, im pretty lucky that I could blog, chat and do everything on my iPhone / iPad on the bed without the need for my PC)

Happiness

2011-12-26T16:27:00.001+08:00

When we were still little kids, happiness is obtained through getting items. Ice cream, toys and nice things.

Once older, we realise that it's the experience of various events and things which made us happy. Meeting new people, joy of wearing nice cloths, getting admired.

But the highest level of happiness lies in attaining enlightenment and understanding of how happiness works. It's your perception, acceptance and satisfaction.

Night Wish, I wish I had an angel

2011-12-26T12:58:00.000+08:00

I wish I had an angel - For one moment of love
I wish I had your angel - Tonight
I wish I had an angel - For one moment of love
I wish I had your angel tonight

two facers

2011-12-24T10:26:00.001+08:00

It's not that I want to curse or anything but there are really tons of mother fuckers out there whom wants to get close and connect with you when they realize how they could possibly benefit from keeping in touch with you.

Networking is one thing. But networking in a half fuck manner stinks.

2011-12-24T04:46:00.002+08:00

I'm sad because time is running out.

Xmas party

2011-12-24T04:27:00.002+08:00

I usually dislike going to parties, for the simple reason that it makes you high during the party itself and kindof jaded/sad thereafter.

Nonetheless i choose to go for this year's party to meet up with my secondary school mate. It was abit strange because he had 2 gf concurrently, with one being overseas. The overseas gf sent her friends to attend the xmas party, so there was this funny atmosphere to people whom know what's going on exactly. But I don't understand why the current gf in Singapore dint mind being two timed (actually im not sure if the sg one knows the truth) But the group of us whom knows about the 'concurrent thing' kindof looked down on the 2nd gf. Although there's no basis or reason for us to do so.

We had quality alcohol amounting to about $2000+ !!! But i stupidly drove to his place and managed only to drink a few sips of aged martell and wine. Not only that, I ended wasting money as well on a stupid parking fine and drove home with a partially tipsy state of mind.

Sigh. Sometimes I think I'm really quite stupid. Should have taken a cab there, drink like mad and do a sleep over =/

Overall I had great fun. ate ALOT. The food was totally awesome as they catered from some hotel. Shall return to my biathlon training tomorrow and shed those fats off!

2011-12-23T16:00:00.000+08:00

I would usually say no, I do not how to help you. But secretly I do know how to help or at least point you into the correct direction.

Just too bad that you fired off before I could give you a better and a proper reply.

Sad.

2011-12-23T15:57:00.001+08:00

I returned home to find Royce and Godiva chocolates, Scorched almonds chocolates from Deustchland, and even more chocolates from France and Italy.

They are all going into the bin.

December Highlights

2011-12-22T22:19:00.000+08:00

Achieved:

Improved cap score!
NICF consulting cert
C2 Project leader interview was a success! Somehow the interview was harder than all my banking interviews -.-|| Nonetheless, what doesn't kills you makes you stronger. I think I can pass any form of case interviews in the future already. But I have my own doubts about whether I'm really ready to lead a group of consultants and taking up the responsibilities of meeting clients. But I'm sure it would be both challenging and fun :D
IPPT Silver! Which made me the fittest in the platoon, despite not training for it
Survived ICT!

Failures:

Did not improve my cap drastically
Failed to achieve IPPT Gold
Failed 'fishing' attempt. Maybe not entirely failed. But more or less failed imo.
Messy room. Thanks to reservist and hence no time -.-
Not enough time for my Start-up projects and Judo/BJJ. (thanks to ICT once again)
Ankle injury. (Sigh. I really hate injuries)

2011-12-20T21:21:00.000+08:00

It's hard to hold on, but it's harder to let go, take a step back and see how things goes. Going outfield now. Super sian.

2011-12-19T23:21:00.001+08:00

Today's a good day. Peppermint tea, Caramel Tim tams cookies, a nice book to read, a comfy bed to lie on and a fantastic rainy weather to add to the overall atmosphere.

You know what's missing?

Everything except the above.

Process oriented mind

2011-12-19T23:13:00.003+08:00

I always have this crippling thought: will anything come out of it? Buying presents, wrapping it, getting cards, troubling people to help you deliver it. Would anything come out of it? I always felt that when it comes to playing the game, effort doesn't matter at all. The concept of ROI simply doesn't apply. In some cases, you might have a 100% ROI without doing anything at all.

Anyway, If I were to fixate my thoughts on the goal itself, I probably would have given up a long time ago already. It's probably the process of it that matters. Its quite fun. Well, not all the time. But most would probably argue/agree that the chase is probably the fun part in the game. The guessing game, the unknown etc.

Is it better to be single or attached? I always felt that life is a matter of trade offs to be made. It's about making the right sort of trade offs that aligns with your personality and goals in life. Being single offers tons of freedom for self improvement and socializing, but the sudden realization of being alone stings from time to time. The reverse applies. You would have less time for yourself, but it's probably more fulfilling that way (at least that's what I feel). I've met a few traders whom are perfectly happy with their single luxurious material life. I really wonder if they would regret their decision 25 years later.

In any case, here's a toast to anyone who is wishing or hoping for certain things to come true. Be it exams, money, problems etc. Keep faith that all things will turn up fine. If it doesn't go your way, learn from it and try to be positive. Remain hopeful. Life still goes on anyway.

Just look back on your past experiences, things that you thought you could never pull through. Aren't you doing fine and infact better now?

It might be too early for wedding bells to ring

2011-12-19T22:51:00.001+08:00

As I'm serving the nation, albeit somewhat reluctantly, i realized that its indeed true that the less educated folks tend to marry early. The guys under my charge are more or less getting married in 2 years time.

I think Earning your own income makes one feels like settling down. Perhaps it's the routine nature of work life that made people ponder on what exactly should be their next stage in life be.

So while they were discussing about marriage and stuff, with me listening to what they have to say, one of my guy asked me: sergeant! Got gf or not? When are you getting married? I replied with a snigger: "ha! Working on it. Working On it."

But their following few reply kind of shocked me a little. "aiyar sergeant , no point getting married so early. Must have fun first! Go night club etc". Subsequent conversations involved discussing sexual techniques and places with the best and prettiest prostitutes.

How sad. I've no idea what they are doing with their life actually.

One of the biggest mistakes that many people make is rushing into marriage without properly and thoroughly getting to know someone. I don't think the duration of a courtship matters alot. Some marry after dating for a year, some 10 years. Some even dated for 10 years, got married and divorce.

The thing is that duration doesn't matter at all. But rather how the time is spent together. Getting to know someone, creating sparks and novelty instead of falling into a monotonous routine that both party can't seem to get out of.

With that in mind, I think that choosing Character over Chemistry in a person is the way to go. Where Chemistry is defined as that spark, that illogical attraction to someone. Of course chemistry is an important component as well. But downplaying chemistry and looking objectively at the character of the person you are dating is more important.

Two famous quote follows, “Chemistry ignites the fire, but character keeps it burning.” and "yi Jian zhong Qing". I believe in the former. Its more fun to build rapport slowly, start as friends first and getting to know each other.

The most important character traits to look for includes:

humility - humble and slow to anger. Respect people's view
kindness - giver and care for others.
responsibility - how much can you trust this person ? Is that person stable?
happiness - everyone should have their own life. They are happy about themselves and their outlook on life is a positive and happy one

Hence this brings me to my very last point - communication. The foundation of it all. Being able to share things freely, your fears, concerns and thoughts etc are important. Easier said than done IMO.

2011-12-11T23:37:00.003+08:00

DAMNNNNN WHY DID I DELETE THE PICTURE ??
ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

FML !!!!

Awwww

2011-12-10T19:59:00.000+08:00

Irony

2011-12-10T11:07:00.003+08:00

haha. isn't it ironic that people who aren't close to you listens to advice given, but not the ones who are close to you?

And omg. iTunes is playing Xmas music. Xmas now reminds me of reservist. zzz

It's party timeee

2011-12-09T23:51:00.001+08:00

What better way to bring joy to ~~sad~~ bankers at work, then to ka-jiao them at work with a pedobear mascot?

Yeah... I had fun hehe.

Buying things.

2011-12-08T21:36:00.000+08:00

I sat down on my chair and took a sip of ice wine. Doesn't taste good. One tiny bottle cost more than a $100. It's top grade wine, as you could only harvest it in winter and the amount harvested is very limited due to the process.

Stoned abit, and thought about what I should be buying for Christmas...

Travel? Nope. Don't really like traveling.

New gadgets? Nope. I have the entire apple collection and crazy amount of desktops, laptops and netbook already.

New Clothing? Nope. 4 Bags full of new apparel not in used.

How about buying new things to replace old things? Yeah. I bought new strings for my guitar. The tone sounds a wee bit nicer. But that's that. Didn't really made me any happier.

Oh what about food lei? Hmmm. I've tried enough expensive food out there to make me realize that expensive food is as good as cheap food. Probably my tongue isn't that sensitive. But honestly speaking, I don't think there's much difference in eating expensive food as compared to cheapo canned food. Infact i think the best kind of food are home cook food. What's the difference? Home cooked food comes with love ^_^. Same goes to home baked cakes and pastries.

And it suddenly dawned upon me that there isn't anything that i want for Christmas. Well maybe there is, but I don't know what is that thing yet. Buying things and materialism doesn't make me happy at all.

It's funny how one could realize money doesn't make you happy, only when you have the money. I also think that making money is pretty much easy. Maybe because I love what I do.

Discussed it with my friend. He felt the same way too. It goes along the line of:

A: There's so many things that I want to buy!
B: What you want to buy (perhaps i can find something that i want to buy too)
A: bla bla...
B: Ok what next?
A: like that lor...

Exactly. Like that lor haha.

And we both felt that spiritual development is way more important after all.

Don't they all say that money doesn't buy happiness? Agreed. But you need money to proclaim that sentence to be true.

2011-12-05T21:42:00.000+08:00

We were children then and we took risk.

You are 15? Wow Ok. I remembered being that age.

Biting off more cheese than I could possibly handle

2011-12-05T00:29:00.002+08:00

I always sign up for things to keep myself busy. But I guess this time round I'm killing myself, thanks to the 2 weeks ICT smacked right in the middle of December. ICT always makes me feel like I'm going to prison - that indescribable pent up feeling. On top that, I've got 3 side projects + the following paid course to attend this month:

NICF - Consulting Skills and Techniques

Kindly note some details of the stated course as follows:

Dates:
5, 6, 7 December 2011

Time:
0900 to 1700hr (8 HOURS OF LESSON ? WTFFF SERIOUSLY?)

Room Venue:

Executive Training Room, ICube, Level 3 (Please see map attached.)

In all honesty, if I don't have reservist and all that 'protect the nation' thing, I would be more carefree and happier this December =(

Endurance. Perseverence. Discipline.

2011-12-05T00:19:00.000+08:00

See the title? How to achieve all 3 is the question.

I've no doubt became much more materialistic with an excess income flowing in every month. The problem is that, my original intention to save up more money by working more hasn't exactly been fulfilled. There's still some savings. But not as much as I wanted it to be. The recent friends which I've made taught me that I have to be more frugal in order to accomplish greater things in the future.

Why save so much money? To buy a condo asap! Looking at the property situation in Singapore, if i don't invest in a property as soon as I graduate, things would look pretty bleak. I would of course rather get a HDB flat first. But thanks to the Singapore law, that would not be possible.

So the idea is to buy a condo first, and when there's a need for a HDB, transfer ownership back to parents, buy HDB, cool down period one year and re-transfer back the title deed.

I really think properties are a good form of investment. It is tangible. It isn't highly manipulable by those big banks. And once TOP kicks in, the mortgage is pretty much self-sustainable. It basically all boils down to having the discipline to save up money and not spend so much. 50% savings is what I aim to achieve in the future. I think it's possible, just have to force myself to obtain a mortgage!

At the end of the day, so what if you have to live in a small tiny 2 room flat in order to pay off your mortgages till it becomes self-sustainable? Once you switch off the lights and go to bed, the amount of space you occupy is just that 1.5m x 2.0m space. There really isn't a need for a gigantic house.

Just wait till the day when property prices and rental rate has risen. One can happily shake leg and start collecting rental fees already.

Purpose driven life.

2011-12-04T02:45:00.001+08:00

I finished reading the book titled: "A purpose driven life"

In summary, I guess my so called "intended purpose" in life would be to bring joy to others while at the same time deriving joy out of doing it. The important thing to note here is that you must be helping or making other people happy in a way that you would make yourself happy too.

Like if you were to help someone to print their notes or something like that, but it doesn't makes you happy at all, then DON'T do it.

I recently accepted a task of putting on a bear costume, just to help out and make little kids happy. It looks like that:

It looked kind of scary. But as a TS student, I believe I could portray the bear to be as cute as I want it to be :P

I think it would be fun. I'm happy to help out. The kids are happy. The parents would be happy too. All's good :D

Jogging reflections.

2011-12-04T02:37:00.001+08:00

I'm trying to get fit by jogging and going back to Judo/BJJ whenever the time permits. Sometimes as I'm jogging, I would pass by beautiful mansion and luxury cars along the way along the woodgrove estate area.

I thought how nice it would be to live in such a big place! (actually i think the total square area of those mansion is around the same as my place now, but they look prettier in general). With the standard of living rising rapidly i doubt i can ever afford such a place. But then again, I thought to myself, "Do I really NEED such a place and that luxury car to be happy?" As it turns out, No. But the funny thing is that one could only appreciate the fact that big cars and houses doesn't makes you happy when you already have those.

Perhaps some people might derive happiness from possession. I wish I was like that :P It Simplifies things. Anything and everything you do would be for the sake of money. Snappy decisions could be made as such! Come to think of it, I know one person like that. But his character isn't to my liking. Not that it bothers him though. He is probably in his money world.

So what is important? I think kinship and relationship is important to being happy. I mean those lasting ones. Fleeting ones... not so. Starting a family is important me believes.

Oh yes. one last random thought: what is it exactly about people, that makes it such that it would be easier to clique with some? My hypothesis is that people like hanging out with people quite like themselves as opposed to 2 people being in a very different world in terms of personality and character. *ponders...

Choosing a career

2011-12-01T02:21:00.002+08:00

Company U: Offering $x ++ basic / month salary
Company C: Offering $x + $420 ++ basic / month salary
*the reason why it's basic is because it doesn't factor in other intangibles. E.g: Trainings. Progression, culture, colleagues, manager attitude.

I wonder if the $420 a month difference matters or not. Since I picked Company C and turned down Company U. Actually the decision was made based on my integrity and moral values. I think it's really doesn't reflect professionalism or integrity to do a switch at such a short notice. Also I think I might be too 'prominent' in company C already, in terms of the number of people i know on a more personal level.

I was still thinking if I did the right thing actually. Upon deeper reflection, I started to ask what is "right" exactly, since its perfectly legal and common to break contract and jumping around companies. I guess to quote steve jobs: "like all matters of the heart, you know when it comes". I guess in general i feel much more at peace with myself to stay on. Hence it is the right thing to do overall :P

Spiritual development

2011-11-28T02:04:00.000+08:00

A friend commented on my previous post that everyone wears a mask and that i'm not the only one. Ok that is true. But I'm mainly pondering over whether its better to be genuine or to wear a mask in society. If you are a racist, would it be better to show it? Or hide it? If I hide myself isn't that very pretentious(but at the same time beneficial).

Main point for this post is that I think its important to develop other non-worldy stuff. I kind of have everything mapped out and planned for. But somehow something still seems amiss. I'm still trying to figure out what exactly is lacking in life now (Besides money. Money is never enough :P) According to maslow heirachy of needs, I think I should start looking for self-actualization. But the third level (belonging level) hasn't been achieved yet. Maybe that's why.

It just suddenly hit me one day when i was eating button mushroom with a slice of cheese. Sounds nice right? but its actually canned food + cheese. I dint even bother to cook it haha. I'm was laughing and thinking out loud, wah seh. Got so sad ah? Granted could have called friends out etc But it's the fleeting feeling that makes it feels sian to do so.

I wonder if that is why people frequent pubs and clubs. It's an excellent way to burn time and not think about such things, though ok, some people really do go for the dace and fun too. But overall what i meant was that confronting thoughts like the above isn't easy. Constantly asking yourself where are you in life now.

Mask

2011-11-22T01:29:00.000+08:00

Actually, if you were to read this blog for a period of time.

You would have probably realize that I wear a mask to school and work everyday.

My true feelings are hidden.

I'm quite a fake person.

Liar they say.

I don't even know myself.

the wreckage

2011-11-22T00:36:00.002+08:00

Kim Soon found a picture of her.
In the remains of what was known as home to both of them.

The glass wrinkled with cracks, the frame still intact.
The quarrel had torn up more than just the frame itself.
The scars, despite the ministrations of several close friends were in vain.
Gently, he placed her picture in a new frame
and packed it in a box between two pillows.

He took one last look at the living room:
where memories lingers of the struggles that had torn through the living room,
scattering all forms of ties into the thin air.

The yellowing keys of the piano where she used to sit by the balcony,
playing delightful songs of love, hope and joy.
These reminders of what he now thought of as someone else's life.

He said a silent prayer.
“Dear father in heaven.
Forgive me for not having the courage to live on.
I know I have sinned.
May you show mercy on me when I return to dust.

Amen."

And we were so bored of studying.

2011-11-22T00:04:00.004+08:00

The following is what studying does to your brain at times. My friend and I was kind of bored so we started this "continue the story thingy". So we both took turns in writing some parts of the story and continuing it.

A long time ago, in a nearby swamp, there was a broken chopstick and a toad living together. They were quite the couple, with the toad happily eating insects that unwittingly land on Broken Chopstick to rest, and the BC thus getting her daily dose of kisses.

One not-so-fine humid spring day, however, a boy cycling past accidentally bumped over a pebble, causing it to ricochet upwards in a parabolic arc, over the florid grass patch and smack Mr. Toad in between his eyes. He died, naturally, leaving BC to grieve – albeit rather woodenly.

After having grieved for three days and three nights continuously, BC finally decided to hold a proper funeral for her ex-amore. Casting one last beady glance at Mr. Toad, who was now bloated to twice his normal size and covered in maggots, BC rolled away (for she was broken) to gather dry leaves and a stone. Carefully, she stuck herself up Mr. Toad’s ass (for she has no hands) and placed him underneath the stone to be buried. Looking at the leaves, she decided to let them be.

Time to move on! She thought to herself. Slowly but surely, she rolled down the road - right into this hellish place known as “NUS”, a place renowned for students dying (hence the word studying).

The massive cosmopolitan structure left her nothing short of dumbstruck, and the view that greeted her was not of any help. Students were walking around campus chatting chirpily, all the while nonchalantly and expertly skirting around the fallen bodies – now mere cadavers – that have studied.
Oh what a horrible place, BC thought to herself. Seems like I’ll settle right in!

Moving with renewed vigor, BC started rolling down the concrete and tar pavement, only to suddenly get run over by a three-tonne 8-wheeler truck. “Damn you! Grow some eyes would you?” she scowled.

The driver, clearly in his early twenties quickly got out of the truck to check on BC. His heart was filled with love when he laid his eyes on BC. That split second of delight upon casting his gaze on her, every second now – her face is etched into his mind.

There was clearly something about BC that made him trembled literally. The exact unspeakable forlorn that made you groping for words to express your feelings, but always seems so futile. The constant ache that lingers in the heart, tugging ever so subtly upon your heart strings, yelling to you that she is your one and only soul mate.

But that’s just the driver.
What BC saw could not be more different. Standing in front (and over her) was a male, clearly in his early twenties, but rather porcine. Wearing a wife beater that, once white, is stained by old grease, tattered shorts that had frays falling slightly below his bulbous knees. It didn’t help that he was grossly overweight, and yet was trembling for some reason. It made him resemble a snoring sow all the more.

With a haughty scoff, BC turned to roll away when she felt two pudgy, oily fingers crunching down on her spine.

“SCROOGE!” She hollered, a mock angered blush rising to the surface of BC lovely cheeks. The driver made a great show of being mightily taken aback; raising his brows as though aghast that BC wasn’t attracted to him at all.

BC laughed at his strange expression, with that wonderful sound the world never deserved to hear, but this laughter was short lived. Catching in her throat it severed itself in the middle of one of those tilted notes. She went pale as the driver gently caressed her body and kissed her on the lips. BC went weak and promptly fell in love with him.

She fell into his embrace limply; face first into his chest. Words could not describe her joy as she broke into a silent prayer: “Thank you dear heavenly father, for I've waited, and waited to the point that I'm tired. I'm tired of believing of false hopes and hurts. But your promise stays true. Alas. I’ve found the man that you long intended for me. In Christ I pray. Amen.”

And of course my friend wasnt very pleased with my edits HEHEHE:

Friend says:
why must she find love yeah

Cookie Clay says:
erm
because
like all other normal chopsticks out there in the world
settling down
is the right thing to do

Friend says:
um
NO
because of the idiocy in this world, chopsticks are forced to have twins
BUT THAT'S NOT NATURAL
they're meant to be used as SPEARS
anw i've added in lines too!
WHAT. THE. FRIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK.
seriously?!
SOUL MATE? what is this, twilight?

Cookie Clay says:
LOL
yarrr
ahhahaha
awwww

*i made them fall in love, but my friend made them fell out !!! zz*
Cookie Clay said (12:18 AM):
u broke them up in your next edit part
=/

Friend says:
lol
whatcha gonna duuuuuuuuu

Cookie Clay says:
watch me :) *i turned the entire story around once more hehe*

Friend says:
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I HATE YOU I HATE YOU HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATEEEEEEEEEEEEE WHYDOYOUDO THIS TO ME

Cookie Clay says:
lollll

Friend says:
btw i think scrooge is the wrong term you're using
and WTF MATE
is up with the prayer

Cookie Clay says:
hahaha. i just wanted something that sounds nice
i dont know i just want to seal it

Friend says:
O.O

Cookie Clay says:
so u cant add on

Friend says:
OMG YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
YOU YOU YOU

Cookie Clay says:
HAHAA

TOC Church

2011-11-20T18:11:00.000+08:00

I went to church again after a few months of not going. I think the songs are really what I like in the church. Not so much about the socialization part. I also have problems understanding why some people are so into bible verses, and how it would relate to their life.

I think my view on Christianity is rather simple; have fun singing songs, do good to your neighbors and contributing back to the society.

Adding all the complexity like studying the deeper meaning behind the bible doesn't seem to be my cup of tea. I value experience more than 'mugging' lol.

In any case, I like today's verse: "In all things, if God doesn't allow it, it won't happen". Which means to say you could be a millionaire or a successful individual only because God allows it to happen. It makes sense be it seeing from a taoist, hindu, muslim or any form of religion point of view.

Untitled

2011-11-18T22:56:00.000+08:00

Friend:
i dont care finishing last or first
i just wanna stay true to myself
(whoa so cliche)

Me:
i nearly puke out a spanish prayer upon seeing that!

Yes, TS has made me more refined in the art of cussing :-P

Anyway, I really think that my strong point is that I'm really positive in all the things in things which I do. I forget failures easily. I guess that's my true Talent ;-)

Heroku + Git Setup for PHP applications

2011-11-11T15:44:00.001+08:00

I've written this mini tutorial for my friend, thought it might be good to blog about this, so that I could simply paste the url incase anyone else needs it!

----

For our application we don't really have a server hosting account yet. However I did some research and found out that Heroku is rather suitable for our needs. I played around with it and i think it is really an awesome place to host your whatever app you need in.

The only drawbacks is that there is a high learning curve to it, which is why I have distilled all the important things you need to take note in this document

Heroku requires git to upload our files. It is the only way to upload to heroku. But trust me, once you learn git, you would appreciate why Heroku uses git. It is way superior compared to the traditional FTP uploads.

In any case what you need to install are:

1.) Heroku Tool Kit
2.) Git

I'm gg to take the simplest way out and point you to here: http://railsinstaller.org/ it helps you to set up all your environmental variables etc. But Otherwise, installing Git and Heroku separately works well too. Up to you!

After installing, go to cmd prompt:

Configure git.

1.) git config --global user.name "Your Name"
2.) $ git config --global user.email youremail@example.com

Change directory to your web application root eg: C:\UberSnap. Where C:\UberSnap would contain all other folders like "images" "assets" "views" "models" etc.

and type: 3.) 'git init' you should see 'Initialized empty Git repository at xx location msg'
The next step is to add the project files to the repository.

4.) git add .
Here the dot ‘.’ represents the current directory, and Git is smart enough to add the files recursively, so it automatically includes all the subdirectories. This command adds the project files to a staging area, which contains pending changes to your project; you can see which files are in the staging area using the status command: $ git status

5.) To tell Git you want to keep the changes, use the commit command:

$ git commit -m "Initial commit"

Make sure to add in proper comments. most people get lazy about this and when there is a need for a rollback then everything screws up! >_<

It is important to note that Git commits are local, recorded only on the machine on which the commits occur. This is in contrast to the popular open-source version control system called Subversion, in which a commit necessarily makes changes on a remote repository. Git divides a Subversion-style commit into its two logical pieces: a local recording of the changes (git commit) and a push of the changes up to a remote repository (git push).

By the way, you can see a list of your commit messages using the log command: 'git log'

Once git has been properly set up, you would see an invisble .git folder in your web root folder, you must enable view hidden files/folders to view it. it contains all the .git tracking stuff. dont delete this folder!

Configure Heroku
After signing up an account at : http://api.heroku.com/signup do this at command prompt:

1.) gem install heroku
2.) heroku login
3.) heroku create --stack cedar [Creating a new application at Heroku, we use stack cedar for its php support]
4.) git push heroku master [this is where the magic occurs. Git would detect which files has been changed and just upload those particular files. WAY Better than manually determining which files you touched and then upload them in SVN isnt it ? :P]
5.) heroku open [to launch the page]

heroku uses postgreSQL by default. If you prefer mySQL, do read this: http://tjstein.com/2011/09/running-wordpress-on-heroku-and-amazon-rds/

Yeap that's about it. For a better understanding of how all the above works out underneath, read up on git branching and merging. This is for projects that has more than 1 developer working on it. Heroku kind of serves as a remote version control repository and hosting site all at one go!

For starters, try hosting our landing page there. do some test files, run simple sql commands like Select * from User tt sort lol.

Ranting about life again

2011-11-09T03:17:00.001+08:00

I thought I would have figured life out once upon a time. Everything was great, goals were set, aims were met. But as you traveled down the path once more things starts to change once more. It always does!

I guess I hate myself for not being ready when the timing was right. I'm still rather indesicive now when it comes to matters of the heart.

Memories Memories

2011-10-23T18:42:00.000+08:00

Nothing quite sums it up like Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats the musical. Memories.

Cats is an award-winning musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats and other poems by T. S. Eliot. The show has been performed around the world in numerous productions and has been translated into more than 20 languages.

It speaks of despair and hope.

Memory
All alone in the moonlight
I can smile at the old days
I was beautiful then
I remember the time I knew what happiness was
Let the memory live again

Daylight
I must wait for the sunrise
I must think of a new life
And I musn't give in
When the dawn comes
Tonight will be a memory too
And a new day will begin

Breathless

2011-10-22T17:31:00.001+08:00

I'm breathless, and I'm not referring to the song by Corrs. In retrospect thank goodness for not being involved in anymore commitments. I would just die.

In any case I think it's important to spend time on what truly matters to you. With that in mind, its time to do some self reflection and channel more time and resources to those. Something tells me that I need to achieve more than just cold hard cash. But hey, I've been contributing more than 12 hours per week into social enterprises and organization. I don't feel anything at all still.

Lastly, will God give me more gay buddies please? Thank you and amen.

Where busy is an understatement

2011-10-08T14:04:00.003+08:00

Why am I so busy ? Due to many recurring todos.
School
1. Interactive system FYP to help autistic kids to learn better.
2. Case training and case camp preparations.
3. Marketing presentation and assignment
4. Theatre studies rehearsal and memorisation of script.
5. Impromptou speech assignment
6. Image processing algorithm + Facebook etc social platforms bridging.

Outside school
1. CS recruitment speech prep.
2. CS ITWC speech and preparations.

Pet project
1. Re-write IVLE to work on ALL mobile, tablet platforms, browsers and OS.
2. Read at least 10 random articles per week, summarising it and posting it.
3. IT consulting for a startup.
4. Meeting friends. (as hard as it may be, catching up during meals kindof works for me)

I've been clocking MAX 6 hours of sleep each day. School-work-life balance? Non existent. but to quote matthew kelly:

What people really want (and need) is not work-life balance, but to “live deeply satisfying lives both personally and professionally.” The trick is to get in touch with your dissatisfaction and then strategically create the life you want. But it will take some work. It’s not going to happen accidentally. Kelly writes, “The life you desire is there for the taking, but it comes at a cost. Life, like business, hinges on the successful allocation of scarce resources."

Kelly says that knowing how to balance various activities in our life to produce the maximum flow of energy is perhaps the most important skill any of us can learn and develop. “Each day has a focus, and holding to this focus plays a significant role in creating and sustaining high levels of satisfaction.” He concludes, “To lay your head on your pillow at night, knowing that who you are and what you do makes sense … now, that is satisfaction.”

I'm still learning to balance it all. Specifically, saying no to things that doesn't align well with my goals.

2011-09-27T11:49:00.002+08:00

The world continues to spin, whether you like it or not. I am always a strong believer of that.

What this means is that one would have to actively pursue your goals and dreams on a daily basis.

The just do it mentality is really important. Excuses are just self created obstacles.

I mean, aren't there enough obstacles already in the pusuit of your goals?

Why create more obstacles yourself ?

I can't sum it up better than the following quote:

It isn’t sufficient just to want – you’ve got to ask yourself what you are going to do to get the things you want.

— Richard D. Rosen

FreeLance

2011-09-09T08:44:00.002+08:00

So many freelancing offers. Too bad they don't know what drives me, and I'm not willing to tell them either. But maybe I should open myself up more this time.

Evernote !

2011-09-08T13:34:00.001+08:00

So far I have been surviving with very minimal notes printing for the past 5 weeks in School. Yeaps. I am doing my bit for the environment :)

Of which, evernote plays a very important role in helping me to achieve this:

All my tutorials, save for those math tutorials are done on evernote mac / evernote ipad.

Considerable embarrassment

2011-09-08T13:19:00.002+08:00

I was in the lab and i thought I found her familiar. And omg, we chatted for close to about 20 minutes before we each realize that we mistook each other for someone else. Probably won't have discovered that if not for the fact that I apologize for not knowing her name while exchanging our names.

I was like HUH? You are PHD student? Since when. That's so strange. And Ok, you found a job at Tsing Hua university as an assistant professor? WoW, that's super cool stuff. Didn't know that you were into teaching and research. nice nice.

I guess being a final year student equates to having many random people who have seen you before, not that I could remember their faces though. Which explains the random hi-bye encounters. Oh yeah, tutoring year 1 students contributes to that as well.

Irksomes

2011-09-08T00:13:00.002+08:00

Seriously, stop acting like you care and keep asking me things that I do not want to answer to satisfy your own curiosity.

It's annoying and people can tell.

C# WPF Set Image source

2011-09-02T19:19:00.003+08:00

Omg this thing so undocumented that I should just blog it down here for the sake of humanity.

Assembly myAssembly = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly();
Stream myStream = myAssembly.GetManifestResourceStream("Assignment_1.Resources.cs4201-buttons_03.png");
System.Drawing.Bitmap bmp = new System.Drawing.Bitmap(myStream);
img_SG1.Source = System.Windows.Interop.Imaging.CreateBitmapSourceFromHBitmap(bmp.GetHbitmap(), IntPtr.Zero, System.Windows.Int32Rect.Empty, BitmapSizeOptions.FromWidthAndHeight(bmp.Width, bmp.Height));

Keywords:
Convert Bitmap to BitmapSource
Using png as WPF Image

Random Observation

2011-08-28T23:40:00.000+08:00

One thing that I have learned from my Indian colleague is that coffee taste better if you put milk, Luke warm water and coffee powder together, microwave it to 90 degrees; instead of putting milk, boiling water and coffee.

I don't know how true is that, since i don't take coffee.

Getting a hold of yourself

2011-08-26T23:29:00.003+08:00

The hard thing about adopting a positive outlook in life in adversity is that it only becomes clear when you are able to look back on the situation. We rarely have the capacity to foresee that opportunity.

It's hard to be cast away by the love of your life and have your friends tell you that there will be someone better around the corner. It may well be true, but having the emotional intelligence, perspective and strength to see things optimistically despite all that has happened isn't so easy.

I can't imagine that Lance Armstrong was thrilled when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and given a fifty-fifty chance of survival. Yet he went on to win the Tour De France seven times and become an inspiration to millions - and he maintains that cancer was the best thing that ever happened to him. Turning adversity into a source of power to achieve something that you would never have thought of before is possible!

Just like how you would search for remnants, heirlooms or trinkets if your house were to be burned down, one should treat adversity similarly, looking for hope amidst the shambles.

Things will always go wrong, life will always rise up from time to time and slap us in the face. So why not compose yourselves at those times, and go ferreting around for something good or an opportunity for something even better ?

Look back on your life and choose one situation or event that, at the time, rocked you to your core. With the passage of time are you able to see any advantages that came from that situation? Who did you meet, where did you go and what did you do as a direct result of it? Did any of those things work out well? With hindsight, some of our most challenging times prove to be a springboard to something better.

Update: I guess it did! But I guess it is also what kind of doors opens up when the other door closes too =/

Starbucks-ing

2011-08-21T13:28:00.000+08:00

Studying at Starbucks is rather effective, warm green tea latte is awesome beyond words.

The only problem is that most Starbucks has been actively sealing off their power points. Sigh.

Lifes little pleasures.

2011-08-16T01:22:00.001+08:00

Whats the point of earning so much money? Would one be really happy with that much money?

Well, I was out with a friend today. We ordered several plates of sashimi and desserts to share. It's the experience of sharing food and catching up on life that makes me happy. This explains why I would always prefer to share something, cause if I were to eat alone, plain rice and canned tuna would easily suffice.

But to be able to sustain a social life and to pursue the things that you love to do, a certain level of financial independence is necessary. Of course one would still have to spend within one's mean. I would never spend more than what I earn. That's just the start of misery.

One can be happy by spending quality time with family and friends. But with some degree of financial independence, we can enhance that experience with little luxuries like Haagen Dazs ice cream or spending $300 / month on BJJ lessons.

Happiness comes from spending money on family and friends as well, those whom we have connected relationships.

In short, I see money as a means to enhance the many core pleasures that we have in life. Core pleasures are basically things that doesn't cost much at all, like meeting people, chatting and engaging in personal activities etc.

Hence the more money the better, but it's still not everything in the world for me.

Though I would often reply earning money as my main priorities in life if people were to ask. It's a much simpler message to bring across ;)

French

2011-08-16T00:51:00.002+08:00

I was really laughing hard when I got the reply hahaha.

Me: Mademoiselle, email votre time table to moi k
J: Monsieur, Je Suis desole, email votre time table demain. Bonne Nuit !

I'm going to be able to pick up french if this keeps up man.

Creed - One Last Breath

2011-08-15T02:17:00.001+08:00

Not sleeping equates to blogging.

My iTunes happened to pick the following song: Creed - One Last Breath

And the memories of me learning and playing the guitar at the basement and VD just came back suddenly. I still remember I picked this song as I was rather adamant about learning a flamenco style kind of guitar playing. Besides I can't seem to remember my chords well too.

I love the long walk back then, walking through the parks and stomping on random empty cans. Seated infront of 7-11 munching mash potatoes. I still do actually. Driving license really changes things though...

Yeah. no more driving next time for sure.

Wunderlist - Nice app !

2011-08-15T01:28:00.000+08:00

Been using wunderlist for quite sometime already. I can't live without it now. Works on my PC, Mac, iPad natively as an app. Alternatively it works really well in a browser too!

Cleared a big chunk of todo task today, though i still did not hit my target of clearing it all this week =/

2011-08-15T00:16:00.000+08:00

Argh. I failed to finish my work before the end of the week !!!

So useless...

Money gone !$&%^&$#

2011-08-12T18:09:00.001+08:00

Lost so much money thanks to the crazy economy. Also due to unclaimed services rendered to various random clients. But as always I've only myself to blame if things goes wrong. Had I been more hardworking, I would be more proactive in submitting my claims to get the money, as well as to re-balance my portfolio and stuff.

Then again, I did not really do stuff for the sake of money, which is probably why i wasn't too concern about the pay at all.

But it's OK, lesson learn. Paid alot for this tutorial though T_T.

Yeah feeling abit sad now. Can use the money to buy ANOTHER macbook pro or to get a new bed =/

Farked brain

2011-08-11T02:49:00.003+08:00

As per title. I've got a farked-ed double past tense brain.

To the limit.

2011-08-10T23:56:00.003+08:00

Overloaded 6 modules, and applied to teach 2 modules. I love the feeling of being overstretched >=)

And my first assignment for CS3246 (to anyone googling CS3246) is to program something that would turn a normal photo into something funky like this:

In detail: Programming Assignment 1: (due 26 Sep, by 1200 Hrs) – 18%
Title: Implement a System to Transform Input Photos to Different Themes
Details: Design a system that takes in a photo, and transform it to a photo of different
themes, like 60’s, manga, impressionist, Chinese painting etc

Programming Assignment 2: (due 7 Nov, by 1200 Hrs) – 25%
Title: A Mobile Photo Sharing Service
Details: Essentially, to implement Assignment 1 in HTML-5, and demonstrate it on
mobile devices as well as on the Web

I've no idea that CS3246 descriptive title: Hypermedia and World Wide web would imply writing filters at all. More like graphics manipulation? And omg, assignment requires programming for mobile devices ? I think I should drop CS3246 and change modules already. Sighhh++

To think that my mum asked if i want to meet her during the September school term at HongKong. Where got time man seriously.

Being too nice

2011-08-10T15:01:00.002+08:00

Why are you even suspecting something when I'm being nice to you?

It ain't no big deal man. I am just trying to do some good deeds before attempting some major bad ones.

Live by karma is my motto.

Govt Sector

2011-08-09T01:05:00.001+08:00

My friends who has been working for close to 4 years + now has been telling me to apply for government sector jobs.

This is like a direct contrast to the advice which they gave when they have just graduated, ie: to apply for MNCs.

Grass always greener on the other side once more and we can never be satisfied~

Omega 3 Fish Oil

2011-08-08T23:40:00.002+08:00

Omggggg I took so much sashimi these days that I could actually eat raw omega-3 fish oil without feeling disgusted about the "fishy taste" at all. (I bit the caplets containing the oil to taste it. Pretty hardcore i know)

I distinctly remember not being able to stand the taste a few years back man. Taste buds does change after all with conditioning haha.

Month long

2011-08-08T03:09:00.002+08:00

It has been close to a month. I did some test, but I still feel some unease and discomfort.

Counting Counting.

And there's really no need to keep worrying about random stuff, because reality always outweighs hypothetical simulated scenarios(worries) in your head.

Haha. such is life :-0

A painted face too

2011-08-08T02:32:00.007+08:00

Written for and dedicated to E.

Time was getting away from her. She had to decide between two dresses to wear tonight, as she laid both pieces onto her bed, along with a matching Tiffany's double row platinum pendant. By the side of it all lies a a purple Dior clutch bag.

Carefully lifting both dresses and looking at herself in the mirror, she wondered which dress would better accentuate her curves. Was all the time spent in dressing up worth it? She asked herself the same question every single day.

If only she could be like Claire she thought. No makeup, fanciful dresses or anything showy. "Here's my face, and this is the way I dress. take it or leave it" Claire would often retort when she offered to help her with a makeover.

Claire was her closest friend ever since high school, and she epitomize someone who is in a direct contrast in terms of character and outlook on life with her. At times she would admire Claire's courage for that alone. She is just too use to seeing herself in makeup that it becomes almost unbearable to not put on any.

She finally decides on a strapless silk chiffon dress with beautifully wrapped panels shaping the bodice and a gently flared A-line skirt. Something's still missing she thought. Ah yes, perhaps a belt to go with it, as she open up her trunk and producing a matching silvery slender belt to complete her attire for the night.

Pulling out her mascara, she stroked her eyelashes gently in an downwards motion while fixating her glance onto the mirror on-top of her dressing table. She was careful not to let her hand slip and getting any mascara onto her cheeks this time round despite the lack of time.

Next was the facial cleanser and moisturizer before the foundation. There exist a love hate relationship between the desire in looking beautiful and at the expense of her skin. The stains on the sink after each night of her makeup removal procedure often reminds her of the amount of damage that she is doing to herself. Carefully, she even out the foundation beneath her eyes to cover up the dark eye circles which was a result of her sleeping past three am daily.

"And I'm all set!", She heaved with relief, as she finished applying the final shade of the mid-tone lime colored eye shadow onto the crease of her left eye lid.

She was running late as she rush down to the already waiting cab. Yet another night of laser light worshiping and intoxication she thought. It doesn't make sense at all, but the allure of it is just too great.

It's ok. I'm barely 20; she rationalize it to herself as usual.

Start of Year 4 Sem 1

2011-08-08T00:37:00.002+08:00

School's starting. And my room is in a freaking mess !

And once again i failed to play games on my Wii, Xbox and Playstation. I think i prefer hanging out doing random stuff then to stay at home these days .

This is pretty funny:
D: "oooo. what martial arts are you taking again? is it the brazilian thingy-thing?"
Me: "I think you meant Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ;)"

Alrights, back to packing my room and donating old cloths / books

To go out or not to go out?

2011-08-07T22:47:00.001+08:00

What should one do if one doesn't feel like going out nor staying in?

I haven't gotten an answer to that yet. Which is why I'm lazing around at home now.

Japanese food / Dash Berlin @ Zouk

2011-08-07T22:44:00.008+08:00

Way overdue pictures @ 2 different places by 2 diff peeps. I think the pictures are all really nicely taken. Good angle, nice colors... I don't know. It's just tasty so to speak. Tasty in food and in good taste ;)

And I still recall the days where you shaved your head bald. Shocking? Yes. But
you are now way too spicy man. Who says people doesn't change?

FT: Wall Street continues downward spiral

2011-08-06T02:28:00.002+08:00

US stocks managed to pare early losses after reports that the European Central Bank was willing to buy Spanish and Italian government bonds eased fears over the eurozone debt crisis.

Basically what all these means still is that the US stock market is ultimate sighness and they would get a shitty rating anytime soon. I hope the US recover soon, and like what movie characters love to say: God bless America.

Though infact... I'm just more concerned about this lol:

Financials on the benchmark index dropped by 2 per cent as RBS in the UK reported a first-half loss and Credit Suisse reduced its year-end target for the S&P 500 to 1,350 from 1,450.

Oh well. Whatever goes. I'm open to Fin or Comms industry in general. And comms has been doing really well these days, or at least it appears to be.

But if there's something that I learnt so far, it would be yet another quote from Brady Dougan: "Things changes so rapidly in this industry that its always too early to foresee anything".

Yep, 1 year makes alot of differences indeed.

Facial and Shop

2011-08-06T02:12:00.001+08:00

Just came back from yet another "back to school" shopping spree. Bought a few pieces of "School uniform" from Topmen, Levis and edc mainly. Topmen having up to 70% sales, Levis having special promotions on their premium labels, and 2nd piece going at 50% off regular price items. G2000 has got 70% discount with a futher 10% discount if you are using UOB. NET having some buy 1 get 1 free promotion as well, while metro is having a storewide 20% discount. Summer is indeed a great time for shopping.

And I think dockers produces really good chinos/khaki pants ! But its kindof pricey as compared to uniqlo or giordano. The material feels somewhat similar though. Perhaps its the branding =S But docker's belts are really nice. If its not for the pants, one might consider getting the belts there.

I also finally found the time to use up some of the facial packages that I have yet to complete. Wanted to go for spa as well before the holidays, but it's kindof hard to find branches for men. Perhaps next week or something, shall go search for one for guys and just chillax.

Ate some kushin-bo as well. The only great thing is the unlimited alaskan snow crabs, but at $49/pax I think it's not that worth it. Royal plaza carousel or Ritz carlton Greenhouse, might be a better choice. I don't know, perhaps its just my personal preference.

After all the hoo haa, drove back to NUS at around midnight for some sight seeing. Yes. I went back to NUS to check out the newly completed uTown thingy. I must say its size is on par or perhaps larger then NTU now, considering the fact that we have Bt Timah campus as well. One thing that irks me alil bit about uTown is that they named their hostel "tembusu". I think its an overused name, though it does has some historical significance in it.

Driving around NUS makes me miss my school alot, and I made a little vow to treasure my last year in school and to make the last year a blast. Yeah. I'm very confident that it would be awesome. So much things to look forward to that I think december would come in a blink of an eye again =/

On a lighter note, it has been 2 months since i last cut my hair, can't wait for it to grow longer asap. I haven't seen myself with really long hair yet, so what better way to try it out before graduating? But its no where here nor there in terms of hair length at this point in time so it looks really ugly now. Darn.

Chocolate Almond and Apple Inc

2011-08-04T23:03:00.000+08:00

I made a tub of chocolate almonds today for movies. Addictive max ~

And It's taking ages for apple to deliver my new macbook pro grrr. I really did complete the Apple family line. I have all of their product family series, just lacking in the iPhone. But I intend to not get the iPhone on purpose this time round.

List of programming language which I DO NOT know

2011-08-03T11:57:00.006+08:00

Red crosses are the languages which I haven't programmed in before.

And if i were to pick, I really do not like programming in OBJ-C.

I'm most comfortable in the C language family, followed by 3.1415ton and Scheme

Love ? Yes. Indeed

2011-08-02T17:45:00.000+08:00

Listen to this:

And here's the reason why he could sing so well:

What more could I say.

novel

2011-08-02T03:09:00.005+08:00

And i started penning down the novel which I have always wanted to write since year 2.

My main concern is that I won't have time to finish it once school reopens =/

50,000 words / 30 days = 2000 words / day

Hummm...

The idea of having fun

2011-08-01T09:29:00.000+08:00

I'm about to go crazy. But I ain't alone. It appears that everyone's warped mentally. How is walking around the mats in the early morning for no apparent reason fun? I really don't understand anymore. Not that it matters, since I don't understand myself that well either - for turning down fully sponsored free trips to other countries... Yeah perhaps I'm weirder.

Pandora's Box

2011-07-31T14:21:00.000+08:00

I knew I should not have re-open the Pandora's box.

The company is growing, both old and new ones.

The same senseless cycle of random flings once more.

Though this too shall pass, as I know this isn't what i want.

Just having fun they call it, while you are still young.

But for me, its the fear of sleeping at night and dreaming of the impossible.

I've yet to control my dreams it seems.

inertia in all

2011-07-31T13:54:00.003+08:00

I tend to go along with the momentum when I start something.

While it's good if you are talking about engaging in meaningful activities such as coding something for fun, participating in some charity events or picking up a new hobby, but this is mainly why I try not to start on random vices such as drinking, clubbing and gaming.

This is random, but I miss my gym buddies =/

USS Performer

2011-07-30T17:23:00.001+08:00

By a stroke of luck, I've managed to meet up with a USS performer at the RWS bus stop. Her name was lauricelle. She works as one of the few hosts for the Donkey show + some other random gigs which I can't really recall. We were both waiting for the same 963R bus. It was pretty boring while waiting for the bus and I started introducing myself to her and decided to have a chat.

She's just so full of energy and passion in her performing arts that I begun to wonder if Asia would ever produce performers as good as that in America. She finished high school, started cold calling people and did her first gig at USS and the rest they say were history. Networking and knowing people is really important no matter where you go she says. More so in the entertainment industry.

As we boarded the bus and begun chatting about life, goals and dreams in general, i started to realize how boring my life seems to be. Here is a girl who has been to various parts of the world performing, visiting random places and having fun, while all i could tell her is that i'm about to graduate, find a job and climb the corporate ladder.

Nothing much to share about myself basically. I let her did most of the talking, it seems more interesting that way =P

Got her number in the end and bid her farewell. Perhaps lunch or dinner when I am visiting USS once more ;- )

And yes, like most professional performers, she is a freaking hot Florida babe, which probably explains her tanned skin. Nice !

CORs Clash

2011-07-26T00:40:00.000+08:00

OMG.... I so wish to take CS1280, Java to C++ programming this sem!

However there is a lecture clash with my IS module.

I would really love to write in and tell the professor and appeal to not attending lecture and simply attending the lab. My justification is simple... I am already teaching C programming. Oh the irony.

iOS development

2011-07-25T23:12:00.000+08:00

I so wish to develop something for the iOS for pleasure (yes i've got a sick sense of what entertainment is about sometimes) but I haven't gotten any cool ideas yet.

Need to speak to random people.

One idea is to automatically embed song lyrics into your iPad music library. This app would automatically loop through your song database and happily slot in lyrics while you are asleep.

Anyone who is reading this idea, please steal it and implement it.

CS internship

2011-07-25T22:59:00.000+08:00

You know you have managed make the full use of your internship experience when:

1. Your colleagues starts asking you for lunch.
2. Colleagues from other department starts asking you out for lunch
3. Your colleagues asked you go join them for drinking sessions.
4. They feel the pain when you are leaving.
5. They ask you to faster come back upon graduation.
6. The TA who is taking over your job is impressed and want you to help him in his personal projects.
7. You managed to schedule lunch with other people who isn't working in CS, but working in the same building.
8. The entire team has and saved your number in their mobile phone.
9. You do crazy things like becoming a "honorary member" in the women's council when you are a guy.
10. Colleagues wants to refer you to other people for networking sessions.

But Actually...

The best thing that has happened so far is in the learning experience, and making new friends. The amount of things which I have learnt in this 10 weeks is just mind boggling. I guess i was lucky to have met really nice people. My project team has been awesome, we finished everything several weeks before the internship has ended, and could even come out with a 40+ page guide book for future interns.

More could be done i guess, if not for the fact that I usually get really tired after work, and simply want to chill abit. Which reminds me that i really should bring along a camera whenever i go. Driving to random places and doing funky stuff that goes undocumented is kindof a waste.

Immune

2011-07-24T23:54:00.001+08:00

Actually I have no idea why am I so childish... I have gotten over it time after time, but I guess I just don't want another relapse from happening.

Can't wait for full immunity