2012! A year for hope and peace.

2011 has come and gone, what a rollercoaster ride we had. From epic economic swings, tsunamis, earthquakes, floods in Orchard Road, General election and the start of my university life. Life’s never been easy and I am so glad 2011 is over, I bet everyone else is feeling the same way. Hopefully, 2012 does not mark the end of our civilization, we can only pray and hope that the Mayans prophecy does not happen.

Okay, to begin 2012, some new year resolutions need to be created to pave the way forward. I think I have 5.

1. The most important resolution this year, after my poor disgraceful results last semester, I would place this at the top of my priority. To study hard, to pull up my CAP and get at least 4.5. Seriously. This is more important than anything else.

2. To emphasize on investments as my primary source of income. To manipulate the stock market to attain short term profits. But must be risk adverse.

3. To be able to have a proper work-life balance.

4. Strive to be the best in everything.

5. To not succumb to procrastination.

 

 

That’s all.

Happy new year everyone. God bless us all.

“That’s one small step for Man, one giant leap for Mankind.”  

Neil Armstrong

It would take a strong strong man

My heart starts breaking
When I think of making
A plan to let you go
I keep thinking maybe tomorrow
I’m gonna let you know
But I when I think about leaving
I think about losing
The only love I ever knew
Every time I think of you

** My heart starts aching
My hands keep shaking
And you know, you know, you know

* It would take a strong, strong man
To ever let you go (to ever let you go)
To ever let you go

My heart’s been hurting
When I see you flirting
Every night out on the floor
I keep thinking maybe tomorrow
You’ll grow to love me more
But whenever we’re together
I could leave you never
Even though you treat me cruel
Every time I look at you

(** repeat)
(* repeat)

I tried to resist you
When you’re gone, all I ever do is miss you
Anyone in love would know
Anyone with half a heart
Could never let you go

But when I think about leaving
I think about losing
The only girl I ever loved
Can’t you tell me why do you hurt me
I guess some people never see
Especially a fool like me

(** repeat)
(* repeat)

To ever let you go
I’ll never let you go
(To ever let you go)

Slipstream

There is so much to say but there isn’t time. School has started and so many things happened. Lots of happiness and lots of unhappiness. There are even more uncertainties along the way. So many randomness and so many grudges. Life has never been so complicated yet simple. My mind’s a whirl right now. So much and so much more…

Materialism at work.

I’ve have always been a brand conscious person and I know that myself very well. But it’s not a bad thing because branded/recognized/quality products gives us assurance that the product will be good, the finest quality, the longer durability, the perfect customer service if things do go wrong. Every of these things matter to me and I don’t want a product that is flimsy, packed with power but yet again the hardware couldn’t support the overheating elements, and lastly the poor product servicing. And I got what I wanted, like finally after so long, a necessary and beautiful piece of work. VAIO S SERIES!

I am so loving my laptop right now. It’s such a beautiful machine and I am going to take care of it just like I take care of my ‘wife’. My 550D baby. Now I am going to name it classy S. It’s damm light, 1.7kg only and it feels so comfortable to carry around. I seriously doubt it will give me backaches if I bring it to school in the future. It’s also a Second Generation i5, with an acceptable graphics card and a seriously powerful 8GB Ram. This is so going to be good because I can multi task and open many apps at any time without halting. Love it!!

Life’s been good these days except for work. Work is just piling up and I don’t wanna think about it. Another downside is that I don’t get to participate in the Biz FOC camp. This seriously sucks because I thought it’s meant for everyone. Now it just makes me damm angry. I thought CL will help me get in as well and she didn’t! Oh well:((

Anyways I have been meeting up Cassful See lately. She pulled me along for a night of being Fan-girls and Fan-boys of this group T-ara and it was our first experience. Really an eye opener and we waited at the airport for the group to arrive and leave Singapore. Fans were screaming while we were quite dumbfounded, I just grabbed my camera and began shooting away. Some of the singers were actually quite pretty, well Koreans are generally the prettiest Asian girls you can ever find and they have good figures too.

Hoping to get a autograph~.~

Long line of fan-girls/boys

No idea who this is.

I think that short girl is hyomin?

She might as well break into a dance.

Very pretty legs

That was last Sunday in fact. Yesterday we went to Al-Azhar for supper. We had a good chat and many grouses and unhappiness to pour out. In fact it’s only the two of us out of the original 5 beer bellies that are left in Singapore. All the rest of them are overseas enjoying themselves. That’s really sad right. But nvm, we had a good time and went through a police roadblock on our way back and the Policeman asked where did we come from, I stammered and replied, “Eh Bukit Timah?” I realised I am still in Bukit Timah and it wasn’t convincing and I continued, “Beauty World?” I should have just said Al-Azhar but my mind was blank at that point in time, and Cass was just totally mind blank. Haha!!

 

what are you doing now??

My Fair Lady (Lady Castle)

Until recently, I haven’t had the motivation or interest at all to catch any dramas until out of boredom I started flipping my channels on Starhub and I saw this Korean drama My Fair lady. I wasn’t particularly hooked, but the actress, Yoon Eun-hye was from the old drama, Gong (Hopefully I din get this wrong as well), I do know that she is a great actress. So I started watching this drama after a long search on youtube. This is a fantastic romance show and I was hooked immediately. Despite being quite childish for an almost 21 year old to be watching dramas now but I think I have too much time. Well this show is about the story of a very rich girl who is initially a spoilt girl and someone who is immature. Her grandfather owns a conglomerate and she have her team of butlers and maids to serve her. There was one butler who was the main actor, Yoon Sang Hyun, and was really nice to her and they fell in love in the end. A seemingly simple love story but the show is so sweet that it basically just makes you go awwww. Guess a lot of girls will love this show. Am I truly a guy? Hmm.. Actually I didn’t really watch the first 6 to 7 episodes because when I first caught the show it was already at Ep7. Hmm.. I think I should start all over!

What he said here was really sweet, ” That’s right, I am a coward. For people who have a lot (wealth) like you, it must be nice to love with style. Since you have a lot that you can lose or throw away. But, for people who have nothing like me, the only thing that I can give up for you is myself.”  He said this was because he is an orphan and have nothing to lose. So in order to sacrifice something for her, he have to give her away to a richer guy because she won’t lose that much instead.

The next scene would be when they are at the beach.

Because he is a Stagittarius, she said, “they love to  live unrestrained in a world of freedom, that is why I specially bought this necklace for you. (After putting on the necklace for him, I know it’s should be the other way round but it’s her gift). But this is my order, without my permission you are not going anywhere. I am officially restraining you.

Okay yes. I got to start snapping out of this. Back to other dramas. Haha!

Pushing on further but uncertainties lies ahead…

Yes and it’s finally over for 42km. I can still remember that time when this race was just clicks away on my computer. Taking out my debit card to pay for this 65bucks race and just telling myself it is a way for me to get fit for orientation camps. Oh boy what a wrong mindset it was. The furthest run that I went for my training was at most 15km? I think my training runs were, 6km, 10km, 10km and 15km. So the question right now is how I manage to do it? Well, for the first 16km I was doing well, maintaining a quick pace and wasn’t tired. But afterwards, my running buddy yongsheng started cramping and needed to shit. I stopped for quite long periods and I think that broke my momentum somehow. Another few more slow runs to 26km was the maximum amount of continuous running that I can manage. So I started walking for a few hundred metres before running to the next drink station at 1.5km and it continued all this way till the final 4km where surprising I saw my dear Cousin and we ran the last stretch together. It’s not just a test of endurance, but it’s a test on how far your mind can go in bringing you forward. When your legs fails you, the lactic acid build up is insane and jogging is unbearable, the mind will either do wonders or it will disappoint you. Initially I thought I would never do a  marathon again, but what an experience it was on your mind and body. Of course I will be definitely more prepared next time and further improve on my timing.

To those who joined me in the race, and those who are going for all other endurance races like the 100km Ultramarathon that is coming up; I salute you. You epitomize the human spirit of breaking all barriers known to our individual human physical capacity, your spirit of pushing forward despite difficulties and tests will bring you through every hurdles in your life and inspire others through theirs.

Oh yeah, that’s exactly where I went after the race. Guess where? Obviously nowhere else in Singapore has such a high swimming pool right. It’s Marina Bay Sands!!

I went straight to MBS after the race, have a good bath in their super awesome big bathtub and had a short nap for 3 hours which I knocked off totally and woke up feeling all cold. Then me, Wenjin and Mark went straight to the infinity pool and the feeling of being on top of the world is awesome. Just chilling and relaxing, admiring the lovely scenery and being able to spot Bukit Timah hill and Choa Chu Kang perhaps? It’s just awesome. It totally capped my weekend and it could even be better if I am able to join the rest of the girls and guys for USS.

Best of korea!!

I know I am quite limited with my 18-55lens. But I tried my best with what I have, trying to find my own style and to improve on my shots. Overall I took every picture with manual. I am more comfortable with it now because I found the AV an TV mode too restrictive and the camera exposure sensors are unreliable. Really glad that I can judge my technical skills better during this trip. Ahh.. Save up before getting my 15-85mm:DD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s another chapter.

Ahh, it’s been a long long long time since I last blogged. Well using the computer doesn’t really entice me anymore and it feels weird. This brings me to the end of my Full Time Army life and sadly to say that I didn’t enjoy it very much. It is very true that the things we went through really changes someone; it makes some of us mentally stronger, some went on to become fitter. It allow us to better understand who we really are. Whether are we someone who cower and hide in the face of danger or work, or someone who is able to stand by his principles and do what’s right. What do I feel I’ve succeeded and failed. I think I’ve gotten what I truly want; not being able to commit too much cause I feel that Army is still a waste of time, but also being able to be one of the best in my particular field, that is obtaining a Silver bayonet and being an instructor. And luckily my certificate of service was well written. Despite this, I failed in pushing myself physically, I wasn’t able to run faster despite putting so much effort during BMT. I wanted it so much but I just couldn’t. Ah. Anyways it is over. A chapter gone for the better:D My fellow instructor mates are the best friends who are with me the entire term, they are Wei Kuang, Marcus, Vincent, Dajin, Yuehan and finally Yu jun. We went through so much together, understanding each other working styles together and all those conflicts over work were justified and we grow closer as a clique. Through Marcus persuasion, we even went Bali together and did lots of crazy things like climbing a volcano in the middle of the night in just sandels. FBTs and Singlets; snorkeling, white water rafting… I really enjoyed my time with them.

CNY is still the same old house visiting and getting red packets. Went to take photos of this year’s CNY fireworks at Marina Bay and I was quite happy with the photos. With more practice and better lens I can take better photos. Yupp. And lots of new shirts and shoes to wear for this new year. Damm happy.

Korea trip up next. Lots of Kimchi and lots of good photos! Going wild with Jack, Zhesong and Wenjin. Haha!!

Ahh, can’t celebrate our anniversary and valentines. Maybe it’s not even meant to be. Ahh, I don’t wanna care.

Woohoo!

I had just signed up for this course provided by NTU and the Army. It’s really worth it because 350bucks is being subsidized by the govt. Nice!! To keep me busy for the next few months.

BUSINESS FINANCE

Organised by		Nanyang Technological University
Objectives		Participants who have successfully completed this course will be able to: 1. Use the diversification principle to invest in portfolios; use the Capital Asset Pricing Model; and calculate different types of financial ratios. 2. Identify different bond types and describe their characteristics; identify different types of stocks. 3. Calculate the time value of money; and use compounding and discounting methods to calculate the future and present value of money. 4. Identify the types of annuities and calculate their present and future values; identify the types of interest rates; analyze uneven cash flows; and prepare a scheduling table for amortized loans. 5. Identify different bond types and describe their characteristics; identify different types of stocks; describe the characteristics of the stock market; evaluate bonds and stocks; and identify the terms involved in their valuation.
Contents		1. Stand-alone risk : Risk basics, Probability analysis and rate of return, and Risk calculation 2. Portfolio risk : Diversification principle, The Capital Asset Pricing Model and Ratio analysis 3. Future and present value of money, Time value of money and Compounding and discounting 4. Even and uneven cash flows: Annuities and Calculating financial values. 5. Bonds and stocks: Bond fundamentals, Stock fundamentals and Valuation of bonds and stocks.  For Whom JC or polytechnic graduates and anybody interested in learning more about Business Finance Location Web-based e-learning via Internet Duration 3 months access Cost $385 Prerequisities NIL Skill Level Preparatory course for undergraduate study/ application in life Withdrawal Policy There will be no refund for withdrawal Delivery Method Online presentations and tests Supplementary Materials “Essentials of Financial Management”, 1st Edition, Eugene F. Brigham, University of Florida, Joel F. Houston, University of Florida (supplementary material) Equipment Requirement MS Window based PC with MS Internet Explorer browser Course Activities Students can access the online presentations and have direct access to instructor through email or phone. Assessment Certificate of Participation will be issued basing on following criteria: Please take all the required (MCQ) online tests and score at least 80% each. Accredition NIL Award Certificate of Participation upon successful completion of course.

Operation ‘Wisdom’

It’s time for my extraction and I can tell you the experience, nervousness and unpleasantness are on top of the world. Not that it’s good to go to the hospital, going to the hospital is never something pleasant. They made me change into hospital robes and it’s free size, could be XXXL cause I feel very naked. The surgeon then came and talk to my dad and started examine the x-ray of my jaw and found out that more could be extracted since I will be asleep. There was also one decayed tooth that has been giving me problems so I thought why not take it out since it’s free. So that means all 4 wisdoms and I molar tooth. I must have been crazy. When it’s my turn to go in, everything happened very fast and soon I was on the operating bed and had drips on my hand and a mask over me. I really hate the drip needle because it is damm pain, and it has to be there for the next few hours. Not long after I felt a warm sensation in my hand as the drip started flowing into my blood stream. My eyes started feeling tired and it was the easiest sleep. I tried fighting it to see how much endurance I have but I failed in just a mere 5 seconds. I woke up 1.5 hours later to find nurses all around me and I am still feeling very drowsy. There were cotton gazes in my mouth and very bloody. I spent the next 4 to 5 hours on the hospital bed waiting for the bleeding to stop. During that time, I started smsing and watching HIMYM. I am really glad some friends showed support for me. BFF(Being one of the first to reply to me), YongSheng(Who just took out some wisdom a few hours later), Dajin(Who had lots of experience having his teeth plucked), Weikuang, Marcus and Jack. Really wanna thank you guys for asking how I’ve been and telling me it won’t hurt that much. I can’t ask for more.

Arghh, porridge and ice-cream all day for me. Really quite sick with the cold food.

 

When are you coming to show concern for me...