ICT

I'm going for In-Camp Training tomorrow, 30th June till 5th July (Sat)

Anything just sms me. =)

Hope it will be fun! Yays!

I really hope so.

手心手背都是肉

I'm really quite glad with the talk as well. =)

A real case of 手心手背都是肉.

I miss you

power

I've been looking back.

Back when I had the power to influence things.
Would things had been better?

Could whatever that has happened spilled over to other things?

Can a neurologist please open up my brain and see what is going on inside?
Because I think a psychiatrist would not suffice.

Today I failed. I failed to be normal. I grumped my colleagues.
I'm sorry. But they are nice. =)

edit:
I know having flash backs won't change anything. But nonetheless, I still wonder if things would have turned out differently. What done cannot be undone. What said cannot be unsaid. Life goes on. Live it, live strong.

側田 - 路人甲

側田 - 路人甲 (國語)
作曲：陳台證
填詞：文靜 - Cruz Teng
編曲：陳台證
監製：雷頌德

愛情面前　我異常無助
沒人傾訴　我只好裝酷
是自己的失誤　還是他人介入
晴朗天空　頓時烏雲密佈

心裡有數　要自我保護
越陷越深　我執迷不悟
是自己不讓步　或是自願盲目
這把賭注　讓快樂從此落幕

若他還是當年的路人甲
我或許還能保持昔日瀟灑
面對　出局的紅卡
此時　只能裝聾作啞

若他還是當年的路人甲
我或許還能保持昔日瀟灑
淡然一句　做朋友吧
把我的心 敲碎了 那一霎

不是沒有耐力和毅力
只是提起勇氣已大傷元氣
重新尋找　生命裡　最大意義
說服我自己　憧憬已成了回憶

若他還是當年的路人甲
我或許還能保持昔日瀟灑
面對　出局的紅卡
此時　只能裝聾作啞

若他還是當年的路人甲
我或許還能保持昔日瀟灑

Not socialised enough?

Is it the case of not deeply attached?
Or the case of insufficient socialisation?
Or just the overlooking of many minor issues?

Been pretty vexed over many things.

I need to release.

_________________________________

獨家記憶獨家記憶(國語)
陳小春

忘記分開後的第幾天起
喜歡一個人　看下大雨
沒聯絡　孤單就像連鎖反應
想要快樂都沒力氣

雷雨世界像場災難電影
讓現在的我　可憐到底
對不起　誰也沒有時光機器
已經結束的　沒有商量的餘地

我希望你　是我獨家的記憶
擺在心底　不管別人說的多麼難聽
現在我擁有的事情
是你　是給我一半的愛情

我喜歡你　是我獨家的記憶
誰也不行　從我這個身體中拿走你
在我感情的封鎖區
有關於你　絕口不提　沒問題

雷雨世界像場災難電影
讓現在的我　可憐到底
對不起　誰也沒有時光機器
已經結束的　沒有商量的餘地

我希望你　是我獨家的記憶
擺在心底　不管別人說的多麼難聽
現在我擁有的事情
是你　是給我一半的愛情

我喜歡你　是我獨家的記憶
誰也不行　從我這個身體中拿走你
在我感情的封鎖區
有關於你　絕口不提　沒關系

我希望你　是我獨家的記憶
擺在心底　不管別人說的多麼難聽
現在我擁有的事情
是你　是給我一半的愛情

我喜歡你　是我獨家的記憶
誰也不行　從我這個身體中拿走你
在我感情的封鎖區
有關於你　絕口不提　沒限期

Cust Service?

Been at the front desk for this week. All I can say is, I really get to see/hear many different types of people. I finally understand how shitty being at the front line of service is. Even though, there are times, where I wanted to tell the caller to STFU and to fuck off, there are also times that I feel satisfied and happy that I've served a customer well. Of course, not everyone pisses me off, there are a lot of well mannered and polite customers.

Work has been better, considering that I've more things to do now, especially at the counter. Getting along well with colleagues, and of course made a couple of good friends. =) Still quite annoyed with a certain pricky issue, that I will have to talk to big boss about if it still isn't solved soon.

Had a chat with one of the members of ESW Co. I really have to agree with her on certain issues. She really hit the bullseye of the issue, which makes me wonder if this is a serious issue? The other member of ESW seems to be rowing the same boat as me. Haha. How interesting.

I think I will miss my office a lot during ICT and the week at the other branch.

ICT next week. Almost done with all the packing and the redoing of the uniform. Not really looking forward to it. Lets just hope for the best.

Anyone read the cover story of today's Sunday Times, "Under 30 and $50k in debt."?

The lure of credit and the ability to spend money that isn't there is really great. According to what I see, hear and feel, (without any empirical evidence) I find that many young people are spending more than they can afford to. In many cases, spending money of the future. I have to agree that there are definitely things you would want to enjoy now by taking up a loan rather than save up to pay for the lump sum. A couple of good examples would be buying a house or a car. But is there a real need to spend thousands and thousands on bags every other month? Keeping up with image? I don't know.

I recalled my aunt was telling me that one of her friends said she was lousy, because she was earning a lot, but yet is a spend thrift who doesn't know how to enjoy life. She claimed that it is a type of lifestyle to enjoy life. However, my aunt wasn't convinced. Neither am I. Lifestyle is something very subjective. It is up to an individual to pick any lifestyle he or she wants to lead. I can earn 10k/month, but spend only about 1.5k/month and yet lead a simple but fulfilled life. Or I can indulge in luxuries and get myself in a truckload of debts and be stressed out when I'm unable to pay up.

I recalled seeing this somewhere, but I'm not sure where. "There is a new religion rising, it is consumerism." I may be a buddhist, not a devout one, but a buddhist nonetheless. But I too am falling prey to this new religion. It is indeed very powerful and persuasive. There are times I buy on impulse, on things that are, well......, not necessary. And many times, I dig into my savings to finance my expenditure.

I don't mean that the buying of luxury goods is wrong, but shouldn't such indulgence fall within your budget? Like maybe, we save up a bit a month until we have enough to buy?

At this point in time, I really understand why MoneySENSE is trying hard to reach out to youths to educate them on financial literacy. At the same time, planning their personal finance.

Here is a link to MoneySENSE's publications:
Money Management -> http://www.moneysense.gov.sg/publications/guidestier1.html
Financial Planning -> http://www.moneysense.gov.sg/publications/guidestier2.html
Investment Know How ->http://www.moneysense.gov.sg/publications/guidestier3.html
General ->http://www.moneysense.gov.sg/publications/guidesgeneral.html

It's never too late to start planning your finance. Better late then never.

ps. This post is totally random, maybe inspired by the article from today's Sunday Times, but it is not targetted at anyone in particular.

grump

Today started off bad.

Slept late, woke up early.
Woke up earlier than usual because I'm supposed to reach office earlier.
Left home 15mins earlier.
But got on a bus later than my usual one. (when i don't come out 15mins earlier.)
Got on a later train. (its a 9 min interval anyway.)
Reached office later than ever before.

I wonder why.

Pretty hot weather. Nice day to be swimming or at the beach.

Went to army market after work to get velcros and to make my ID tag. The place is still the same. I just remembered I didnt buy ziploc bags.

Took a bus back from Lavender, it has been awhile since I took a long distance bus alone. So much more to see than compared to taking the MRT.

Met up with the EA ppl yesterday, for dinner at Nyny. As what Jeremy said, it's the company that matters. Because foodwise, I still had a bad experience at NyNy. Had a couple of lil' jokes going on yesterday, but they aren't appropriate to be posted haha.

Went to the Harry's at Chimes. It's the first time we went chilling out together. Not a bad experience I guess. Haha.

Fel's Singapore Sling

Felicia couldn't stop laughing

After she cooled down.

How much would Pepsi pay to get Coke’s secret formula?

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2006/07/07/how-much-would-pepsi-pay-to-get-cokes-secret-formula/

Interestingly put.

Fit....ness

My fitness level is dropping down the pit.

Just did a mini circuit training in my room consisting of about 8 static stations. And I'm damn out of breath. Shit. I've further discovered the disparity in strength of my upper and lower abs. I think I need to do 5 leg raises for every 1 crunch to make up for the disparity.

Watched 20mins of the Cantonese version of Healing Hands 3 on tudou.com just now. I really think it is a rather effective way to learn canto! I shall keep up on my canto learning. And I need to brush up on my teochew as well.

Work is getting less and less fulfilling. All else is bad, albeit the fun, jokes and companionship.

More gantries and increase in rates?

"...Five new ERP gantries along the Singapore River will also be activated on July 7. Traffic in the CBD is slowing down, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

So in January, as part of its Master Plan, the LTA came up with a new way to measure speed. It is called the 85th percentile method - this is when motorists experience smooth traffic at least 85 percent of the time on roads that have ERP gantries.

Another new LTA initiative is for bigger ERP rate increases because, LTA said, motorists are less sensitive to the existing rate structure.

In addition, ERP operating hours in the CBD will be extended by one hour on weekdays - from 7pm to 8pm - while gantries in the Orchard Road cordon will start an hour earlier on Saturdays, at 11am..... "

Retrieved on 18 June 2008, 1853hrs from, http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/354705/1/.html

I've been whining quite a bit with regard to the above mentioned issue. Yes, I reckon that the measures taken will no doubt reduce the amount of traffic in CBD in the short run. But is this Master Plan just about increasing the amount of gantries and raising the ERP rates? I seriously hope not.

Surely this isn't the best way to tackle the problem in the long run. Although I would foresee the total number of ERP gantries surpassing the 100 mark soon. I'm not even trying to address this issue using economics. If people are not very sensitive about the current rates, sooner or later, they will be accustomed to the "already raised a million times rate". Don't tell me it will soon cost $25 to enter a gantry? And maybe by then, only CEOs can afford to drive into the CBD.

Granted that the LTA is trying its best to improve on the public transport system, but the public transport system can never replace the ownership of a car. I for one, would definitely buy a car once I'm financially stable. It's not the prestige, but the convenience and the ability to take control of the situation, instead of waiting for 30mins and there is still no bus, or wait 10mins for a train to not be able to board it and have to wait for another 5 trains.

I have no solutions to the above problem, so I shall not grumble too much. But I certainly hope the Master Plan would really be masterly enough to not become a slave of its own executions. Although I think it will really be a big challenge.

Modesto & SG Flyer

After a positive recommendation by QY, I brought Na to Modesto for dinner. Went to the one at Orchard Parade Hotel. The deco was quite nice and it had a rather nice ambience.

Food was not too bad as well. Apart from the large serving. Haha. Nearly got stuffed to death.

Went onboard the Singapore Flyer after that.

Its quite inaccessible to go on foot and public transport. Should drive there.

I guess the view in the day would be more spectacular because you can definitely see further. Night time, you can only see places that are litted. =/

Cantonese

I've always wanted to learn Cantonese because I think it is a pretty cool dialect.
But want is one thing, executing is another. After a long time of nonchalant, I've finally made the first step.

Behold-->

Waha. I shall start watching hk serials too.

Been watching movies quite frequently it seems. Watched Kung Fu Panda last sat and Indiana Jones yesterday. Both were with Aaron and Weequan, except that Ben was with us for Panda.

Was quite pissed off with the public transport system yet again yesterday. Waited for 35mins for my stupid bus. And during the wait, at least 20 buses came and left. Oh well.

I love spending money. =/

Its actually quite exciting. Waha. Sadly, I cannot keep doing this without anything coming in!!

500th post.

I just wanted to blog la.

Seriously, I'm starting to be a bit confused over what is going on with life. In particularly, academic and career. Yes, I love Economics. (To a certain extent.) But, it may not be what I really want after all. But I will still pursue it to the end, with the best of my abilities.

Okay, I recalled hearing this from the radio when one listener called up to talk to the DJ. In her opinion, colleagues will always be colleagues and may never cross the line to become friends.

Is it really this way? I don't really agree with this listener, but I know she has her points. And I can understand why she put it that way. But I just feel that if 2 individuals are truly genuine to each other, they can not just cross the line, but eventually become really close friends.

This is the tricky part, it is difficult to find truly genuine people in the work place nowadays. People are often rather defensive and protective of themselves. They hardly reveal their true selves to others. And some are often on the look out for opportunities to stab others in their back and step on their corpses to propel themselves higher.

No matter how subtle it is, it can be noticed. I see it alot, maybe because I'm looking on, with a 3rd person perspective.

Last week has been rather hectic, the meet ups and events. Finally a little bit of breathing space.
I'm glad Jo is liking her job so far. Really happy for her. =)

My work so far has been rather relaxing, which is a good thing. I'm looking forward to it for all the wrong reasons. Haha.

huh?

S'pore will wait to see what new evidence M'sia can produce over Pedra Branca

SINGAPORE : Singapore Law Minister K Shanmugam said Singapore will wait and see if the Malaysian government can come up with any new evidence to renew Malaysia's claim on Pedra Branca.

The International Court of Justice awarded Singapore sovereignty over the island on May 23, ending a nearly three-decade long territorial dispute between the two countries. Decisions by the Court are final and cannot be appealed.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Rais Yatim has been quoted in newspaper reports saying that Malaysia has renewed its search for evidence to stake its claim on Pedra Branca, or what Malaysians call Pulau Batu Puteh.

"I'm not quite sure what the legal basis of such suggestions are. My own view is that the international court has ruled, and both countries have said that they accept the ruling... As to what this new evidence is, we'll wait and see," said the Singapore law minister. - CNA /ls

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/351895/1/.html

Courtesy of CNA.

I though both sides mentioned they will accept the international court's ruling? What's with this thing?

First Aid.

Hey people, anyone interested in attending First aid courses?

I'm quite interested in learning basic first aid or basic CPR.

http://www.redcross.org.sg/courses.htm

Chopper pool?

In the next 10 years, I foresee a mammoth rise in the number of ERP gantries, hike in ERP charges and an increase in the number of full day bus lanes.

I think I've made up my mind about not buying a car.

I'll need a helicopter, if not a private jet. I reckon a chopper is easier, because I can land easily. Without the need for a runway(or even a large piece of flat land), which coincidentally happens to be in short supply, especially since we are expecting another 2million residents into Singapore, making our total population 6.5M.

Anyone wants to chopper/jet pool? =)

What a high scoring match.

3 - 7

Secondhand Serenade - Fall for You

The best thing about tonight's that we're not fighting
Could it be that we have been this way before
I know you don't think that I am trying
I know you're wearing thin down to the core

But hold your breathe
Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you
Over again
Don't make me change my mind
Or I wont live to see another day
I swear it's true
Because a girl like you is impossible to find
Your impossible to find

This is not what I intended
I always swore to you I'd never fall apart
You always thought that I was stronger
I may have failed
But I have loved you from the start
Ohhhh

But hold your breathe
Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you
Over again
Don't make me change my mind
Or I wont live to see another day
I swear it's true
Because a girl like you is impossible to find
It's impossible

So breathe in so deep
Breathe me in
I'm yours to keep
And hold onto your words
Cause talk is cheap
And remember me tonight
When you're asleep

Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you
Over again
Don't make me change my mind
Or I wont live to see another day
I swear it's true
Because a girl like you is impossible to find
Tonight will be the night that I will fall for you
Over again
Don't make me change my mind
Or I wont live to see another day
I swear it's true
Because a girl like you is impossible to find
Your impossible to find