That's Me

2009-12-08T23:32:00.002+08:00

stop all these bombings in baghdad and pakistan. what is wrong with these jihad militants? have they not kill enough innocent people? you are killing your own brothers and sisters. bombings will not help the situation at all and rather they only create more problems in the aftermath.

after my trip to the middle east, i have come to understand that no matter what skin colour, religion or language we speak, we are essentially one big family. the middle eastern people got to be one of the most friendliest folks i have ever met in my life. they are also the most helpful of the lot. it didn't matter to them that i am not a muslim, they treated me like one of them and welcome me to their country. let not the few black sheeps tarnish the image of the middle east. it is a lovely place with beautiful people and a history that goes back to the beginning of human civilisation (since the time of mesopotamia, the age of pharaohs, roman empire, ottoman empire, etc..).

i pray that peace will one day return to the middle east and pakistan.

2009-10-11T21:19:00.002+08:00

my niece can sit up by her own effort now. its great to see how fast she is learning new things.

suppose to meet mw and xw on the 22nd this month for dinner. just as i was hoping the curse of not being able to meet one another was finally going to be removed. xw told me she had to go for an urgent operation last week and as a result will not be able to join us for dinner. well...

another seven more RT sessions to go.

i wish singapore can be cooler. the nights have been especially warm and humid.

i have hit one year in my current workplace.

discover a new game in fb. growing crops. cool.

2009-09-13T13:25:00.000+08:00

have not been blogging for 3 months! that is quite a long break.

goodness. guess my work is really draining my energy away, otherwise, all is fine and good. i went with hj to my first singapore chinese orchestra performance on friday. i enjoyed the performance. especially the last piece where the pianist accompanied the rest of the chinese musical instruments. the combination was indeed interesting. the partnership was soothingly harmonious. i must check out more of such performances in future. perhaps sso next!

what else did i do last week? i met up with allan on wed for lunch. he is working at a lab in singapore general hospital. he seemed to like my hair so much that he wanted to cut one like mine. i told him that we have different face shape and hair texture. what might be suitable for me might not be suitable for him. i even stop him for taking a pic of me. haha. frankly, i don't find anything special about my hairstyle. just try to keep it short and neat that's all. i never visit any branded hair salon.

on that same day, i met mw for dinner at ion. though i did proposed to go great world city initially as i dislike going to orchard road in general. too crowded, too busy, too expensive, too showy, too noisy and the list goes on. anyway, it was nice to catch up with him again after so many months. good to know the updates.

currently, i am planning for a 2 weeks break in november. not sure how many days of leave i can take this time. hopefully at least 10 days. i want to go to the land of the pyramids!

2009-06-07T13:54:00.000+08:00

after another long hiatus...

i have completed my 6th in-camp reservist. if you think that it is a holiday camp where you sleep and eat the whole day. boy you are totally wrong. on the contrary, it was physically very tiring. the weather did not help much either. the heat was scorching hot. and if that was not enough, throw in high humidity and thunderstorms in the middle of jungle bashing. well. at least it is over now.

i can start to plan for my trip to kuching (sarawak) that is coming up in the next two weeks. currently in my itinerary are kuching city, bako national park and some orang utan rehabilitation centre. not going to make it packed. just want a relax trip.

2009-04-26T11:58:00.003+08:00

went timbre @ art house last night. deryang, meishan, meishan's friend (forgot the name), shuyi and zhigang were all there. nice place though music was abit loud and there was no breeze last evening.

just love this song at the moment.

it is a song for a mobile handset commercial that has been played during tv commercial breaks.

2009-04-25T18:10:00.003+08:00

i am back.

this month is definitely better than last month. no more long nights at work (i hope).

i have cleared nearly all of my projects, only left with a big one.

planning to go xinjiang in the later half of the year. most likely during the months of september or october when the summer is over and the temperatures are cooler. i am checking with billy when his friend's wedding is scheduled so that we know when to book our flights.

most of my colleagues are clearing their leaves at the moment. i am very tempted to take 1 or 2 days. most likely i will be using them for the peninsular malaysia road trip if that is taking place. i am thinking of visiting pahang, trengganu and perhaps kelatan.

i have not been meetings my friends for a long time. except for a couple of them. i think i better go to timbre tonight and join my former university classmates for the gathering.

2009-03-14T23:08:00.003+08:00

i am feeling burnt out from work. 4 big projects plus 1 BIGGER project. un-cooperative client, demanding client.. i am being driven to the edge this week. i am so stressed out at work! i know i should be thankful that i am busy. but it seems that i am working to my death from all the stress. i don't want to suffer from hypertension or high blood pressure next time.

i am now squeezed between the supplier and the client. supplier expected a maximum of x number of people , but x + y people are coming. how am i going to explain to the supplier? i am watching the ugliness of singaporeans being expressed explicitly in my current work. for example, getting the best for the lowest cost, squeezing every fat out of every tiny cent they spend. well.. i understand that the economic situation is not the rosiest of all times. but hello.. where is the professionalism. 50% discounts and still asking for more. might just as well go and find freelancers to execute your work. i have overhead costs to cover. i have no bandwidth to give equal attention to all my projects. i feel like breaking down already.. super stress.. i feel like having a good cry.. i know this month is going to be bad. next month will be better. but is this going to be the career path that i want to continue eventually? i find it tiring and emotionally draining to manage client's expectations and wimps and tempers.

i can't even meet my friends out my dinners nowadays. either i am too tired from work, have to overtime or because i want to spend time alone (have enough of people interactions through the week). are my sacrifices worthwhile?

2009-02-16T21:12:00.002+08:00

had a family outing yesterday. brought our niece out. we headed off to the bottletree village at sembawang. the place is only accessible if you have a car. there is a restaurant at the end of the one lane track through a semi-forested area. you can see the johor straits while dining at the restaurant. the weather was humid and hot with negligible breeze. there were quite a few people fishing. the food at the restaurant was not that fantastic and expensive. the fish head curry was super ex but not nice. after the dinner, we went to the nearby causeway point to cool down in the aircon and to shop for some baby daily neccessities and ended off the day with ice cream and waffles at gelare.

my niece looks very cute when she is sleeping.

2009-02-14T23:11:00.002+08:00

hey, am i becoming a loner or what. i do not need the company of friends these days as compared to previously. my typical schedule has been work, home, sleep, work, home, sleep... nonetheless, i am happy with the current lifestyle and routine. exposure from work is really huge. i am very thankful for being given the opportunities to learn new things. God has been faithful. His grace and mercies have been abundant. i will rest in His love. blessed be Your name.

2009-01-27T12:39:00.004+08:00

happy lunar new year! i think i am having a huge inertia to blog for the past few weeks.

celebrated jan's birthday at marina @ keppel bay with robin last thursday. it was a really nice place to chill. though the restaurants there are abit on the luxurious end. the view was nice. you can see yatches docking at the marina while having a meal.

i got my confirmation already. hooray! thank god for that!

just went to my grandma's place for house visitation yesterday. and like previous years, this is the only place we go during lunar new year. had a good time of catching up with my cousins and uncles and aunties. my uncle actually asked me whether i wanted to try helping out at his company. they are doing the stage and lighting arrangements for a local television broadcaster. thought that was so cool. you can see actors and actresses while on the job. haha. well.. shall see first.

2009-01-18T23:24:00.002+08:00

i had a great evening with meishan, shuyi and zhigang today. we went to this nice little restaurant that is beside the seletar air field. you can literally see planes taking off and landing while dining. the appetitisers were yummy. however, the main pork dish that i ordered wasn't that good. the meat was abit on the tough side. otherwise it is a lovely place to chill out with a few good friends. after that we went to buy a tub of ice cream to share while enjoying the breeze by the johor strait. never had such a good time for awhile. today feels just like friday. if only the weekend was longer. we are planning to have a road trip to malaysia in june. hope i can take some off days by then.

2008-07-26T23:39:00.005+08:00

work at my current job has been pretty quiet.

i have already cleared my 3rd appointment. 6 more appointments (they fall on consecutive days by the way) to go! ironically, this is also a period where i think i can get by without meeting any friends.

i went to watch x files movie today. and the rating i am giving the movie : a letter "x". not a spectacular movie at all. it was ordinary.

i watched the dark knight yesterday. it was all right for me. i feel that the movie plot was going in too many directions. batman was insignificant. joker stole the show.

2009-01-03T23:47:00.002+08:00

i received another call from a financial planner today. told him that i already had one. he insisted that he is a different kind of finanical planner. all right. whether you are an old or new age sort of planner, i have no extra cash to spare for more investments dude. with the uncertain economic situation, i don't understand why would people want to lock up more of their assets in high risk investments. i would stick to the good old method at the moment - my saving accounts. period. i was quite appalled that a friend gave my mobile number to this financial planner. shouldn't this friend ask for my permission first before giving strangers my number.

2009-01-01T00:35:00.002+08:00

my very first entry for year 2009!

the g team had a small gathering yesterday at vivocity. just me, sze and celine. if only huey ling could have join us too.

i am really quite sad that the team is going to be split up further soon. but i am sure that opportunities will come knocking on the doors of those who need them. just keep that hope.

2008-12-28T14:46:00.000+08:00

picasa is so cool. i have added a slideshow on my blog page.

2008-12-26T23:16:00.003+08:00

haven't been posting for quite awhile. its the holiday season again. workload has been lighter. lots of rest days. beginning from christmas eve, christmas day, weekend, new year's eve, new year day, etc.

it might seem like it is probably time that i hang out more. on the contrary, i felt like spending time alone. guarding whatever precious time i have to be by myself. i am hesitant to accept invitations to appointments. oddly, i am relieve when i know i have nothing on tomorrow.

i am happy that rob is back. met him trice already so far. first time for a dinner, second time to service and the third time for shopping and movie. the feeling is so surreal now he is back. just when i am totally familiar with his absence from singapore. nevertheless, being near is always better than far.

i like the weather for the past few days. the rains and cloudy days vaguely resemble the wintery clime in progress. another excuse to stay at home and read my books and magazines.

2008-12-07T22:00:00.005+08:00

went to the ben & jerry's chunk festival with wei last evening. i knew of the event from facebook quite awhile back, but i was not really interested in the event. felt that it was more of a youngster kind of thing. anyhow, wei wanted to check out the event and asked me to accompanied him. and so we went. the event was held in fort canning. it was apparent that the wet weather did not dampen the mood of the young crowds. people were still trickering into the compound every single minute though the ground was wet and muddy. there was only a single store selling ice-cream. it was a bad idea. i was turn off by the length of the queue. yup. both of us decided not to buy any ice-cream. the only consolation i had at the event was the band performance, liked the song selections.

we had our dinner at raffles city shopping centre and did some window shopping at robinson's. after that we went to a hotel lobby and sat there for at least one and a half hours. it was a nice cosy place to relax. we end off the day by going to thomson prata house to have our supper. the thomson pratas are more crispier than those selling elsewhere. i am addicted to pratas. i am having it for breakfast very often nowadays.

this is a long weekend! how wonderful! another day of rest tomorrow. can't take any leave this month. can't go any place for a holiday too. stucked in singapore. which could be a good thing. saving up for a trip to a faraway destination. i must try to meet up with some friends soon. or at least check how out they are doing at the minimal.

it is so tough to manage people expectations at work, when being too honest with outsiders is not the best option. still i don't understand, what is this world coming to? when being smart means to subtlely deceive? do i have to second guess all the time.

my sister mmsed me a picture of my baby niece last evening. she can open her eyes now. so cute.

2008-11-30T22:28:00.004+08:00

i actually managed to keep aside a thousand dollars last month to put into my savings account. the first time in my short 2 years of working life. primarily all thanks to the continuous OTs i had to do for the pass month. i had to turn down a few appointments because of that. my expenditure in october was at an all time low for 2008. and to have a peak period coming up from dec to early 2009, things are going to become more challenging.

i had been hanging out with my new colleagues lately. just went for a dinner at great world city with my studio manager and senior account manager on friday. i am thankful for the nice colleagues who have been supportive and encouraging for the past couple of months. they really made the difference. honestly, work has been trying, especially so when it comes to managing people's expectations.

i'm so sorry for all the appointments that i have missed. hope you guys will understand.

the feeling of missing the presence isn't as intense as it would be previously. am i getting less sentimental? or the lack of communication is slowly drawing us apart? not that i did not tried to reach out, but the responses have either been trickling and even nonchalant. i don't wait for promised replies as eagerly as i would because they will be forgotten somehow. i am not exactly sad or disappointed. what to do when there is a thing call "busy" between people.

2008-11-23T23:35:00.001+08:00

i love the new gmail outlook. the theme details can actually change throughout the day.

2008-11-22T19:46:00.002+08:00

oh blimey.. this got to be one of the toughest week i had. it was really stressful and emotionally draining to be accused when things doesn't go right. i am physically tired.

we had to rush out a 100 pagination book in 6 days. and given the super tight timeline, i made some blunders due to my inexperience in the SOP. nevertheless, what done has been done, i am glad the most difficult part of the process is over. and i learnt that i have to be firmer when i am talking to clients and vendors in my job. i had to strike a balance between being nice and not to the extend of being trampled on.

i cannot be a perfectionist in this job or else i will be expecting huge disappointments. somehow, there are too many variables that are beyond my control. i really have to let go and flow along. it is good that my boss and colleagues have been supportive of me all the while.

i got to stay close to God so that i will not be swayed by the events that are happening around me.

i am suppose to go for 2 appointments tomorrow. but i feel like taking a good rest at home.

2008-11-16T22:53:00.004+08:00

i worried too much lately. if God is with me, who can be against me.

i am thankful that j lend a listening ear to me last night.

2008-11-08T18:25:00.002+08:00

the first advertisement that i managed was published on yesterday's straits times newspaper! it is also the first project that i completed in my new job. i am really excited. many hundreds and thousands of readers are going to see my work.

have another 2 projects with me that has to be completed by next friday. it's going to be a mad rush next week.

i feel like i am in a place where appearance seems to matter a lot. i am trying to get used to it. it can be quite unnerving when clients judge you base on their first impression of you. which has made me to become very self-conscious. as a result, i feel more stress by this man judgment than by my actual work. i actually went to buy a jacket the other day so that i can look more formal during meetings. and for a guy who likes causal style and scores low on vanity quotient, it does take some adjustment to make myself look more corporate. previously, i do not even used gel to style my hair. and now, i have to use gel to keep my hair looking neat. well. it is a good lesson for me to learn i believe.

2008-11-02T16:58:00.003+08:00

its november already. another 2 more months to 2009. things around me are generally peaceful. i am thankful.

i have not been following the radio or music charts for many months. can't exactly remember when the interest level decline, and yea...i have the slightest idea who is dominating the charts nowadays.

my focus has drawn more to the reading of the word of God. it is truly the only thing where i can draw my strength upon. the truth that gives meaning to my life. He is the author of my life. a peace that transcends all understanding. my refuge and shelter.

it is indeed blessed to be deeply loved by our God.

i have long adjusted to working life after graduation from nus in 2006. it is really amazing where God has brought me thus far. God always surprises me. you may never know what is going to happen next but one thing for sure - God has the best plan for us. there are hidden lessons along the way which i sometimes overlooked (hopefully, i did not overlooked most). i still find myself distracted and worriesome. why should i be feeling that way, oh ye of little faith? i don't want to be the seeds that fell among the thorn bushes. i want to produce good fruits for the LORD. i want to be courageous and not fear men but only fear God.

2008-10-25T17:14:00.004+08:00

long weekend! been looking forward to the break. can't say that i really need the break. work has not been that tiring. i am just lazy. i want to wake up a bit later in the morning. avoiding the jams on the road for awhile can be considered a break too. and ya.. to spend some time alone by myself. just me and my magazines and books. i am thinking of setting up an aquarium to keep african cichlids. i am very drawn to their colours and behaviour.

it was my first time doing a photoshoot for a client for an advertisement meant to be printed on the ST newspapers. i was quite excited. there was my designer to direct the photographer who gave instructions to the model. everything was wrapped up nicely within 2 hours. hope the pictures will turn out well. the timeline for this project is so tight.

i went to settler's cafe last evening with my colleagues. wine bos was just a few shops away. grace's bf joined us too. it was a good sized group. six of us. the food ordering part was confusing. it was like we played a game even before the actual thing started. corn taught us a couple of new games. totally enjoyed myself. ced was so hilarious. felt like i was going to get stomach cramps at one point from all the laughing. ced and grace attended the same church. i will be visiting their church tomorrow. mart will be joining us too. so it will be like another team group gathering tomorrow man.

2008-10-21T00:25:00.002+08:00

kt called me from london awhile ago. we chatted for about an hour on the phone. we talked about his working life in london. the expensive rent for the accomodation. the nice countryside. the crowded tube. the relax office working hours. the places in europe that he has toured so far. he was also sharing with me that banks over there are retrenching workers and news headline are screaming hell everyday. the pound has weakened considerably to the singapore dollar over the past weeks.