road relay and thoughts

the inaugural safra road relay was held at safra jurong today. something i tried to train for but somehow dwindled off for some reasons.

i kind of switched my target this morning. from trying to stay on par with a fellow club runner to not coming in last. that fellow runner actually came in way ahead of me, so i was glad i changed my target to avoid much disappointment. i was pretty glad i came in about 7th out of 12-13 woman's open runners and clocked my best 2km timing of 9.09. =)

dearie's team came in first! yipee! dearie was the last runner of his team and i'm sure he made a grand entry back! i didn't get to stay through the entire race as i had to head off to work at 9am.

i commenced work 15mins after interview, yesterday. the work is pretty simple, hours are manageable and the pay is decent. i'm happy to be generating more income with my time. but of course, that will mean i have somewhat lesser time to spare. the plan is to keep up with the part time till my 2 years at my current company is up. when i move job then, i might give up this part time too.

i am still trying to balance off the things i'll like to do..the things i have and must do.

i'm dwelling in the aftermath of a race - feeling i must train more. i should run more. i should bike more. i should do brick once a week.

hope to start next week right. might want to postpone the meet up with ivy so i can get enough rest before the weekend work. put in all the work. part time work. safra runs. biking on sat. clean the house. cook dinners for dearie. play the piano. read.

so much to do. so little time.

cpi up

how nice, cpi is up 3.3%. is my wage going to move in tandem with it?

it's a game of survival here in singapore.

so it explains for low fertility rates too. with rising consumer prices, everyone is slogging to make a decent living. how to have more kids when some are barely able to make ends meet?

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporebusinessnews/view/1082937/1/.html

worn shoes

My shoes wear off pretty quickly these days. Some can barely last me barely over 3 months. I walk about 50mins a day. 20 mins to and fro home and the mrt. 30 mins to and fro jurong east mrt and office.

I need more durable shoes.

I was hoping to play rebound but I missed the ship. So I have fallen into the sea and waiting for the next ship to come by. =( analysts say the next ships should get bigger and better. Is it true? Shrugs. I am not expecting to find titanic come by.

I am seeing a small glimmer of hope for the part time job I’ve been looking out for. there will be interviews for weekend positions held this and next Saturday. Wish me luck! I really want that job. =)

The urge to buy a new digital piano has died off. But I have started a new quest instead! Haha, this is dumb. I am now looking for a secondhand digital piano, which is not too old (something within 3 years old) and discounted. So I’ve been prowling around marketplaces and forums, waiting for someone to decide to sell his/her digital piano off quickly and cheaply. No rush on this possible acquisition though. i am really looking for a good deal, even though my budget is within 2k.

Budget exercise is coming. Quarter reporting. And soon, audit. I am not entirely excited with them to be honest. More to plan and work to complete the required. Lumbering along.

The tenacity to train for the relay has fizzled off. I think it’s because my target has been moved to another team, and somehow I am sensing some disappointment in her too. but I guess it is only legitimate for the club to try to gather a team to win. For those in that team, they probably shoulder more hopes from the rest of the club than for those running in other teams.

This reminded me of my primary school days. I have never been a talented runner, but somehow I was often roped into sports day events. Reason? Because they needed the numbers to represent the house. I have never made it to the finals, as I was booted out in the heats. So I guess some things never change.

plum enzyme

my plum enzyme tastes really good! abit like ribena and grape wine. yum yum. want to try apple enzyme next!

i'm going to feed dearie with enzyme so we can stay healthy.

i've made some kiwi cleaning enzyme, but as it's made with kiwi skin, the colour is less attractive to the plum enzyme.

red dragon fruit will make pretty enzyme with its red pigment. but red dragon fruit is not common in singapore.

i've been keeping up with my daily exercises in the office since last monday. it's a little too early to see any visible results, but i'm trying to keep up with the routine.

every bit counts

I like the ‘pink sight’ in my bag. My wallet, nano and kindle are in pink. Rapberry pink to be exact. I will be looking out for a pink 2011 diary next year. Maybe I should get a phone with pink skin next year too!

I read the life of pi, by Yann Martel, on my kindle while travelling to work today. I think good authors are people who can make words come alive with words. Just like great musicians breathing life into notes. I like the words I read, and for those 15mins while I read, it felt like the protagonist was illustrating his life by my ears.

I have some trading notes and books in my kindle too. But I think I am happy with fiction for now.

Made arrangement to meet Ivy next Friday. There’ll be another reunion with ex-colleagues this Friday too. It’s nice meeting up with old friends whom we seldom get to be in touch with.

I feel lucky today. The weekend part time job I applied for, came back with a respond. The centre manager dropped me an sms to fix an interview this Saturday. Let’s hope I get this part time job. The only drawback is that I will not be able to travel back to Malaysia as freely as I’ll want to. Nevertheless, I’m sure it can be worked out if I gave the centre manager ample notice ahead of time.

We are only young once. I must make the best of the time I have.

While dearie and I were strolling down to plaza singapura yesterday, we reminisced how hard we worked a few years earlier. We held our full time jobs, took up tutoring assignments and I also did my part time studies. Somehow we knew we needed to earn more in preparation of the wedding, and we worked hard for it. We were often tired then, but we held on. Because it was tough, hence we were cautious on where and what we spent on.

Dearie asked me if it was worth the effort and time to take up this upcoming part time job, which pays almost like a retail job. i feel every bit counts. It doesn’t take up a lot of time, unlike a normal retail job which requires me to stand around for at least 6-8 hours. I think the scope is a manageable one. If I diligently work on every weekend of the year, it will earn me $3k per annum.

Since I know a performance bonus is impossible to have, hence I am working for it by other means. I know I will be at this job for another 1 year 4 months hence the only thing I can probably do is to put all the time I have to good use.

So what even if I am very far from where I want to be. I will get there eventually. I may not have a lot now, but I will get there. Wait and see.

my grand dream

going down to yamaha today made me realise some things in which digital will never replace acoustic.

i may not be a good pianist, but as an amateur, the touch of an acoustic piano has a special place which i cannot find with the digital.

as much as i like the record-playback and plug in functions of a digital piano, i am not ready to part 3 or 6k for them.

the dream is still the grand.

meantime, get my upright tuned. practise. save for the grand.

sorry i kind of wasted much of dearie's time, making him go down to yamaha with me twice..and letting me sit around and play with the pianos.

but i'm glad it's all clear now.

there is none other than the grand dream.

我是宅女！

As nerdy it may sound, i actually delight in spending my saturday and sunday, with dearie, in this order:

1. go out early for biking/running
2. come home read/surf the net/play the piano
3. feel myself feeling sleepy and then nap a few hours
4. wake up feeling like i've just had a great meal.
5. read/online/play more piano
6. have a nice dinner
7. sleep!

no need to dress up, wear make up, trot around..sometimes it can be pretty aimless.

i thought this morning breakfast spent with safra running friends was great.

we'll be heading out for dinner with mummy in a while.

doing the things we love, with the people we love. simple yet delightful. =)

管它宅不宅，开心最重要！！

handyman

my dearie is the handyman of our home. it's good having someone who is willing to get his hands dirty and d-i-y. he fixed 2 leaking toilet systems with just $20.

what are the other things he has done/fixed at home?

1. all the curtains were bought from ikea and fixed up by him
2. the mirror in the master bedroom toilet was drilled and hung up by him
3. all the 6 photo frames you see around the house were put up by him
4. the 2 bike racks
5. he changes all the faulty bulbs
6. my faulty bike lights were repaired by him
7. all the switches are changed by him
8. the shoes cabinet, book racks, study tables and bed frames were bought off the rack and pieced together by him

basically, i'm the maid who cooks and cleans. he's the plumber/handyman who maintains the stuff at home. =D

started loading my pdf books into my kindle. i could even drop mp3 in too! it is so easy to use. just drag and drop. totally dummy friendly!

went out for a bike ride with yenling this morning at 4am. this will probably be the last ride with her before she goes to uk. i am going to miss my biking/running kaki.

of the many 'real' books i have to read, i am down to my final 2. the trading strategies and lky books. it is difficult to bring them around, so i have to find time to read them at home.

yiruma, chopin and pieces played by li yundi have been on my playlist for the past 1-2 weeks. dearie asked me why am i listening to these all the time. i answered that i was drawing inspiration from listening to how the maestros play. though i know i will never play like either one of them but i guess it sets the benchmark on how i should at least try to be playing like.

dearie is right, an acoustic will never replace a digital piano. the few things that will compel me to buy a digital are:

1. i can play, plug in and not disturb others
2. there are different sounds to play around with
3. i can record and playback

but of course, my dream is still a grand. a digital will never come anywhere close to a grand (baby grand is not counted). in fact, digital piano sound sampling is recorded off a grand.

after 2 weeks of deliberation, i think i will drop the idea of the digital after all. firstly it is a want, not a need. a delighter, not a must-have. secondly, the money is better off put into investments to grow into a cannon so i can eventually shoot a grand down. i am relearning the lesson of patience again. lastly, i have a decent acoustic that can see me through at least another 10years. just like a good athlete is not so much defined by the gear he/she wears, but for the hard work, sweat and effort put into quality training. i can have the best piano in the world, but if i don't practise, i will still be making a whole lot of noise. i am learning about contentment in the things i have.

there is a time and season for everything. for me, the time to buy a grand will come one day.

new toy!

it has arrived!

tadahhhhhhhhhhhhhh...oooooooooo!

waseh waseh..this is tricia's fave colour.

and these are MINE! HOHOHO!

dearie is not letting me start it though the battery has flashed green (green means battery full). He said I have to charge it full full before i can use it. It is full, why can't use?! It is really thin. Very compact. Can't wait to continue reading my 'story of pi' on it.

I have so many e-books to read. so exciting. for a moment, i think i can do without a digital piano. the kindle will keep me happy for a long while. =D

worth

Family and friends (apart from those who bike) can't understand why I could pay $6k for my bike. Basic aloeca and momoki bikes are easily available at less than $100. I don't bother to explain the different parts and their costs because to them, so what if it's a carbon frame or dura ace groupset?

Just like a piano. $6k for a digital piano? Madness! You can get a casio one at hypermarts at under $100 too. So what if it has 5 layers sound sampling and 6 amps?

I have been too vain, no wonder i am so poor. I have so much butter and so few guns.

Now i am putting myself in front of the mirror and looking at that reflection. Do i deserve that big fat butter? The answer is a simple no.

I'll be fine after sulking a few days.

Maybe i should use that $6k to buy a new bazooka. Then when i multiply that into a cannon, i'll be able to fire down a gigantic butter like the one in the picture!

need vs want

While i googled on how i should distinguish between a need and want, i chanced upon this

The Gun And Butter Theory(http://www.johnchow.com/the-gun-and-butter-theory/)

some excerpts:

"It’s pretty simple and easy to say that we should all be acquiring guns, because guns make more guns, while Butter just melts. However, most people go through life buying butter and no guns, or they buy butter thinking it’s a gun, when in fact it’s just a very expensive piece of butter."

"Guns appreciate while butter depreciates. Examples of guns include stock, real estate, collectible, anything that goes up in value or makes income (other guns). An example of butter is almost anything in your house, except the house itself."

"When I look at the amount of guns I hold I realize that I really need a lot more if I’m to create the kind of lifestyle I envision for myself. The truth of the matter is, you can’t get there by working – you can only work 24 hours in a day. However, guns make more guns, and those guns make more guns, and so on. Get enough guns and you can have all the butter you want"

So much truth and wisdom in it, isn't it?

I am still trying to get that digital piano off my back, that's like a note thumbtacked into my skin. everything and everyone around me think i should not get it. the price tag with it is crazy. Anyone in the right mind will not pay so much for a digital piano. Just go along with the acoustic..get it tuned and play. What is the fuss?

This is like cold turkey and i just have to hang through this weekend. once the promotion ends i'll be safe.

I sound so miserable, don't i? =(

turtle pace

timing for my 2km isn't improving. i am unable to achieve the timing set. feeling much like a tortoise now. maybe dearie is right, i can do longer distances like half and full marathons. however, when it comes to sprints which requires bursts of energy, i somehow just do not have the fast twitch muscles to do well.

yet, i feel sore. because i want to do better and i don't want to give up without a fight. the relay is in another 1.5wks' time; i have no idea where can i find wings to help me shave 10secs off my current timing. will red bull help?

much thoughts went through my mind during the long management meeting that spanned over hours. one director commented that there is no culture within the company to seek out training and development. people do not find a need to upgrade themselves.

i ran that thought upon myself. when i first embarked on my masters some while ago, i was hungry for growth. i wanted to catch up with my peers and studying was the only option i had that could perhaps aid my chase. i thought about how obtaining the masters could help open more doors, give me more options and leverage my growth.

since graduating, have i seen all that come to past?

i hate to answer this, but somehow not really.

of course there are other valuable knowledge which i have gained from my course of study. but all that may not have been translated into something quantifiable.

i did find a job pretty quickly. i am earning a little more than before. but i am ambitious for more. what do i need to move on to the next level? will i be able to 'earn' my school fees back?

this turtle here really has to pick up her pace. i am not giving up without a fight!

强身操 in office

did 2 sets of the 强身操 during lunch, over 30mins. it feels really good to get moving in the office and i actually perspired from doing it.

want to get this into the daily routine. maybe 1 set in the morning for 15mins and another 2 sets during lunch for 30mins. let's see if it helps me tone up after 1-2months! firstly it's not difficult to follow the clip and all i need is a small space. i don't perspire that much to make me totally uncomfortable but good enough to feel warm with blood circulating to all parts of my body.

so, that's a good start for the week and for the next 1-2months to come.

music that speaks

Reflecting upon the long weekend that has just sped by, I think I have spent it pretty well. Ma and Pa dropped by on Friday and the family spent some quality time together before john left for Switzerland. I am envious how closely knitted dearie’s family is, compared to mine which seemed separated with indifference. I am only thankful for my mummy, the only kin who is indispensible in my life.

I appreciate dearie for accompanying to my mummy’s yesterday. I find comfort seeing her well and to me it is never an obligation to see her weekly. I draw strength from her at times; she continues to brave through unhappiness and stands strong these years.

i spent a couple of hours playing the piano on Sunday. I practiced on a new yiruma piece and got it to sound pretty decently by early evening. I tried playing the piece along with the mp3 playing into my left ear. So left ear was listening to the studio-perfect piece as my right ear tried to listen to what my hands were playing. It helped me to work out the expressions of the piece and gain a quick feel of the speed and mood of the piece.

I practiced my chopin nocturne no. 2 too. It’s been a while since I last played it and watching li yundi play it on youtube inspired me. Not that I want to play like him, which I believe I can’t be in this lifetime. But I feel his playing breathes life into music; life into notes you see on a piece of paper. His fingers run on the keys without hesitation, each note he plays produces not just a sound, it tells a story. I dream of playing music that has life and speaks too.

i did some reading too but I’m still miles away from finishing the book.

Finally got my hands on the exercise clip! Will start doing it during lunch later. I think this is good indoor exercise. Seeing the results pa got from doing it daily is really encouraging.

So there goes long weekend and back to toil at work. Next long weekend to look forward to is in Nov, so that's a consolation.

one more lap

It’s heartening to know that the ninja training with dearie and yenling helped. I have very little time to springboard to keep up with her but I saw the gap narrowed yesterday. I am never a fast twitch runner and I dread intervals. But I just couldn’t let it go without a fight. Well, I am not expecting a swop with her but I want to prove to myself I am not very much slower than her.

I am thankful yenling is helping to pace me along. Running back to clubhouse with her yesterday was great. We picked up speed in the last 1km back and it made me want to keep up. Melvin gave us an earful as it was meant to be cool down run back to clubhouse. Maybe we haven’t pushed hard enough on the track. Haha. But I appreciate having a friend to run with; someone beside me to propel me to my goal. I was telling yenling I’m going to hang her photo in front of me during the race so I will be reminded how hard I would run if she was pacing next to me.

We have a few more sessions before the actual time trial. I wonder if I can improve more to stay on par? How can I beat her? That’s a goal I am working towards for the next 2 weeks.

It was interesting to hear of the power struggle within the company and how a fellow colleague evaluated of the management through the recent years. I am not in the position to comment as I’m fairly new in the organization. I am just hoping I don’t get spun into the whole power struggle, should there ever be another one that might arise in the future.

Tomorrow is the last working day for the week. A long weekend is really nice to have, maybe because I rather stay in bed than stay in office.

enlightenment

just what i needed to be told.

from yahoo finance:

Spending is Never Saving

Many people talk of "saving" when they get a "good deal." However, you really are not saving in such cases; you are spending money. If you do not need the item, or do not even really want it that much, then the spending aspect is even more pronounced. Do not confuse getting a good bargain with actually saving money

so buying the discounted yamaha digital piano is NOT saving. it is SPENDING.

earrings from mummy

my mummy gave me a pair of opal earrings tonight. i feel so blessed. they are beautiful. i will wear them everyday to remind myself of my loving mummy. thank you, mummy! =)

9/10 curry

my rendang-style curry on saturday earned me a 9/10 from dearie! =D i'm working towards ma's 10/10 curry!

the ifs

much of saturday was spent playing the piano. there was an advert on yamaha sale, in the life section of the papers today. some digital pianos are on sale over this weekend.

i looked. i thought. and i dismissed the thought.

i feel unfittingly mediocre. as i thought about my journey in music and how much my mum has put into letting me learn, i am quite a disappointment. i never made it pass the performance dip bar, after spending so many years at it. i played in church for a while, but was never impressive a keyboardist.

i have always been a B student large part of my student life.

i'm a mediocre runner too. not making it to the same team as dearie affected me slightly, but i brushed that off that it is after just a run.

my career feels so so too. nothing great to boast of. in fact i am most of the time reluctant to mention bout my company's name as i doubt anyone would have heard of it before.

a part of me ached. because i am wondering if i could have done it better or more. would it change anything if i have studied harder? or put in more hours into practising my piano? would running more miles make me faster? have i opted wrong to go into social work?

perhaps with all that, i would be better off. maybe i would have a little more. will i be more deserving for a new piano? will my playing then bring justice to the instrument that was made to sing?

Yiruma's music

i have been listening and practising yiruma's music. simple yet beautiful. sometimes the simplest things can be the most moving.

everything in its time

For the first time in my life, I listened to the entire national day rally. And I mean the entire rally, from malay to Chinese and finally English. PM Lee addressed the many issues recently raised by Singaporeans. He also brought into perspective the key focus of the Singapore government.

I found wisdom in the things said and I will like to take some time to understand them better; how it is applicable to me and my immediate environment.

Dearie ordered a kindle 3 for me over amazon! I can’t wait for it to arrive. Then I can read all my pdf files and e-books on it.

Talking about books, I have completed the reading of my economic indicators book. Now I am onto the darryl guppy book, which is even thicker than the ei book..and the fonts and formatting are not as pleasant as the ei too. Ahhh. I am expecting to take a longer time to plough through this.

i’m enjoying playing more these days. I am getting the hang of doing sight reading and my fingers are gradually coorperating with me better.

I spent the weekend doing things I planned for – read my book. Practise my pieces. Run MR! rest. Try new dishes, which one out, of the three, did not turn out too satisfactory.

Patience – a virtue I seek to have. i have a long way to travel which I am hoping to leap pass. I should do more and progress faster. yet, I find my legs and arms tied. Bounded by circumstances, by time and opportunities. Be patient. Your time will come.

autumn leaves

first i ogle at digital pianos..now i find myself dreaming to play like that. jazz improvision always feels tough for me. it doesn't come intuitively. maybe i'm not trying hard enough.

i've been playing more, but i still sound no where near pleasant.

let me get my act together. find a part time job to save up for a nice digital piano. hoho. $200 worth of savings per month. $2400 in a year. gulps. so that means i need to save 2 years to get myself a mid-level yamaha clp series. any one has part time jobs for me? =D

Roland V Piano

it doesn't look fantastic but the sound is wowowowowoww.. are you sure this is a digital piano? but we can't get this in singapore and from what i read online, it costs aud9,999 (so that's at least s$12k)

dwanking

dearie did a recording when i was practising my pieces and it sounded dreadful. i think my control of the notes and tempo is horrendous. i do need alot more practise. the F sounds 'dwanky'. it just goes dwank dwank dwank.

i spent some time practising on wed evening. 1 hour passed quickly when i was making all that noise. somehow, i forgot i had a less-than-pleasant day at work during that hour.

in effort to find a part time job to utilise my time, i sent out 4 enquiries out to advertisers of part time positions. not a single one replied. i start to wonder did the positions fill so quickly? maybe the advertisers pick candidates on lucky draw basis? or are the ads bogus? (because i go to job sites every morning and i keep seeing same positions of the same company repeatedly advertised.) maybe they are too busy to entertain to my enquiries, because i have not attached my resume along with it. somehow i could identify the same thing with the applications i sent out for dearie. we have sent numerous through the months but hardly had any response.

what are we doing wrong here? hmm.

looking forward to the weekend. we need to rest. i want to run, bike, read, practise and try some new dishes.

transportation woes

the customer satisfaction index is showing that commuters are rating our public transport more poorly. they are still finding the buses and trains way too crowded, adding onto the recent fare adjustment which garnered more boos than yays.

we are at the mercy of transportation providers. i don't see much significance in have an index like that. so what even if we voted satisfaction down? what can we do if the providers choose not to do anything about it? we are so dependent on it and there is no direct substitute.

i wish i could be less reliant on public transport because i don't want to be at the mercy of it. just like how i thought we were reliant on 1 person to provide us with the training programme. he could give us crap, but we would still have to bear with it.

depend on no one but yourself.

how about biking to work as a viable alternative? for that, we are at the mercy of weather only.

can't take my eyes off you

found this lovely photo of the N3 from this lady's website http://blog.helenyhou.com/2010/02/review-yamaha-avantgrand-n3/ and she also reviewed the N3. Doesn't it look absolutely contemporary in her living room? Aww, i dream of furnishing my future home like that.
Beautiful. Times like these i wish i played the piano better to deserve a baby like that. Or, I wish i am simply filthy rich to splurge $25k on this, without much hesitation.

Argh, i hate myself. I'm neither of the two. =(

making noise

I started making a lot of noise for about 30mins or so last night. 2 keys on my piano are getting ‘sticky’. One D and one F#. Sticky means that after u depress the keys, it doesn’t come right up again. Dearie asked me how old was my piano and I replied, “since 11 years old.” That makes my piano close to 18 years old. Is it going into adulthood pretty soon!

I hope I haven’t irritated dearie and my neighbours with the lousy playing. But honestly, I kind of enjoyed the playing after the hiatus. My wrist injury has almost recovered, so I could play with less pain. Some of the past exam pieces still feel so familiar..

I am picking 2 pieces to work – say yes and beethovan’s opus 13. I give myself the challenge to master them. Will be fantastic if I can play them by heart!

I’m 62% done with my economic indicators book. So far pretty informative but too much to digest. all the stats I am reading come from US..and we are not exposed to most of them in Singapore. But I am noting how some stats reveal certain trends in the economy.

Dearie and I discussed about our portfolio of investments. I had a revelation that I would rather own 5 properties than 5 lv bags. =P

We agreed that we will are contented living simply. Our 4 room flat fits our needs, our off peak Honda serves its purpose. We do not need anything beyond these for now. Whatever we can generate from our jobs, should be spent wisely and invested. Only by this, we can make our money work harder. Of course there will be risk in every investment, but I believe we can take calculated risk.

In my vanity for pretty things, it’s like a slap on my face. It tells me success is more than what is seen on the outside. Sure, it’s nice to don extravagant apparel and accessories. But what matters more is how full and deep are my pockets, how well I fare in career, being adequately educated and on top of all that, have time for loved ones around me.

I think that’s what being a big potato is about. We’ve got a long way to go but we are making our way there. =)

new dream piano

oooh.. droooooooool. this costs $25k. saw this at il lido's bar. totally fell in love with this. and most importantly, it's BLACK. to me, pianos SHOULD be in BLACK.

it's beautiful. i haven't got a chance to touch and feel it. i wonder how it is like?

got this impending rush to start playing again, though my dip dream has fallen so far back. i found myself a whole lot of yiruma sheet music. i've also gotten my yukie nishimura scores.

perhaps i should channel my energy on this, than to think about picking up a new language.

and dearie said..if i play well enough, he'll one day buy me the N3. $25K. big gulps. hahaha.

beautiful music by Hans Zimmer for Pearl Habour Movie, Tennessee

mouthful of korean

i am convinced i have no linguistic flair.

attempted to try karaok-ing one nice song from personal taste ost, along with romanised translation. but i think i was going..bloh bloh and soh soh.

i am finding korean harder to croak (eh, karaoke) than japanese.

ahhhhhhhh.. so dearie advising against learning another language is right. i think we do not have a direct environment to help polish the newly picked up language skill to.

high-class lunch photos

beautiful view out to sentosa golf course

outdoor dining..we stayed indoors though.

tuna salad. they actually call this salad. i see more fish than veg.

pork loin

asparagus soup. the red thing was a cherry tomato.

sea bass

the best dish for me. creme brulee.

after i posted it as atas lunch, dearie corrected me. atas means up. up lunch photos? hehe. so i've edited this post n the last one related to the lunch.

k drama hangover

dearie and i went through the entire personal preference series.

channel u will commence showing it this coming series.

i am now on a k-drama hangover. =(

much like those taiwan serials.. japanese serials.. it just makes one go awwwwwww..

on such high now, i may need some time to get my senses back.

okok, i'm going korea next year!! perhaps i may bump into lee min ho on the streets. hohoho!

high class (not atas) lunch

we had a welcome lunch for the new gm and technical manager at this really high class restaurant located in sentosa.

Il Lido. Italian fine dining. The set lunch costs $38++, which works out to about $45/person. i was so relieved to hear it was not on dutch..else i will bust my tight budget this month.

i can't remember if i've been to somewhere so high class (have i been to one in the first place? haha). but it's a good experience.

i liked the coffee at the end of the meal so much, i drank it kosong. i remembered pa saying coffee must drink without sugar, in order to taste its aroma. he is right. but i think only good coffee can be drank kosong.

let me try sort out the photos i've taken and post it up. IF i do get around doing so! =P

big potato dream

tricia is a small fry, hoping to one day become a BIG potato.

but how?

maybe she should stay underground longer.

just a little despaired

It’s a rainy day today. Market is looking as weak and flat, like the dow and nasdaq.

I made a couple of blunders today. Too much Korean drama makes me blur.

I feel somewhat impatient but I am telling myself to stay level headed.

What a lovely weather to be in bed.

I will be stuck in meetings for the next half of the day. Something I dread at times.

Trying to lift my spirits up though what’s going on around me looks gloomy.

We missed the short window of opportunity to sell our counter off this morning, now we are swept away by the rain.

The company’s situation is not looking too good. So that explains for part of my lethargy in the meetings. Finetuning the purchasing procedures and writing off obsolete stock do not seem as the most important things to be addressed, given the company’s situation.

I certainly hope things work out soon.

Let’s hope the market starts to pick up, so we can throw all our holdings away in exchange for a little profit.

Let’s hope the company finds a way to stay afloat.

I look at others who seems to own it all and I wonder when I can get there. What do I need to do to move up a notch? How can I become better? How to earn more money? Is it because they worked harder than everyone else? Or are they just lucky? What I am not doing enough? Or maybe what I have not done right?

Perhaps I have set a goal too high for ordinary me to reach.

saving money for a higher calling

My thoughts have been wandering again. dearie showed me several foldable bikes, which do look great!

I commented that we can consider getting one when we have the money. Just thinking about the practicality of getting one. Will we get many opportunities to ride it? Will we be able to perhaps bike to work 1-2days a week? I would love to, but the same concerns I have discussed, in my earlier entry, pops up. Traffic. Parking. Shower. How should I work around all that?

We are going to start doing ground work for our higher worth investment. We are not buying into one, but the mid term plan is to get one and start financing to one day own it! meantime it’s a lot of fact finding, calculation, projection..and then start to work on towards it.

Dearie suggested I revive the home cooked lunch. I stopped doing so because I got lazy. It might not be a bad thing to incorporate 1-2days of home cooked meals in a week. Healthier and should save us some money too. The only limitation is the number of dishes I know how to cook.

Hmm. It’s interesting to think about ways and means to save money. Do these ways actually work ah? Perhaps we can try quantifying them one of these days. =)

on my thinking in-tray

I have been contemplating if I should take up a part-time book keeping job. I feel I should be doing more with my time to bring in more income. If I can handle it, why not? It’s good to have more to go around. It will help us realize our dream of expanding our investment portfolio to those of higher worth. We are young and this is the prime time to work hard. If not now, when?

Book keeping feels like a much easier job than tutoring, because it is part of my profession. Teaching doesn’t come as naturally for me, because managing expectation is difficult. I hate taking blame for students not doing well because they do not want to listen to my advice to practice. Accounting is often a neglected subject. It’s not a core subject to get the students into tertiary education, unlike languages, maths and sciences.

I ask myself if I can cope? I will learn to cope.

Can I commit? What am I giving up in exchange? I will have lesser time for rest.

Why am I even thinking about this in the first place? I need time to accumulate the years at my present job. From now till I have the sufficient years to be eligible for the next level, I will most probably have to stay around in this company for the next 1.5years more. I feel I am not doing and earning enough. After obtaining post-graduate, my career is not accelerating as first as I wish I could do. My pay is slightly better than before but I feel I am not doing enough. Since I cannot find myself another job, the only way I can get around this is to take up a part time job.

What can I able to cope with? I have weekends to spare.

Time frame? I am giving myself 1.5 years, in tandem with the span of time I must stay around my current job.

Is it worth the effort? I saw a permanent position that pays $500 for 4 days a month’s worth of work. 9.5 hours each day. 38 hours a month. That is about $13/hour. If i do this for 1.5years, that will mean $9000 worth of extra income. Assume I can earn a 4% interest p.a for the amount, I will get $9285 at the end of 1.5 years. Ok, that’s nominal amount, I don’t think I want to adjust it for inflation because it will make my decent income look indecent.

While I continue to weigh out if I can take up another job, I have emailed out to find out more information. it’s good to understand more; what are companies looking for, what is the required commitment level like? And if there will be any kind companies out there which won’t mind hiring me too!

This still lies in kiv tray. Let’s see if I can work something out of this. =)

i can still smell wantan mee

The weekend break was more than what I could ask for. During the 2 days I forgot about work I left behind, the counters I was betting on.

Batu pahat has great food. I can almost still taste the nice wanton mee in my mouth. Even the simple looking zichar stall, just below where wendy stayed, had its own fare of good food to offer.

We caught the last airbender movie at an affordable rm10/person. The movie was really entertaining, though I won’t rate it brilliant. The animation was nice, the visuals kept us entertained to a large extent.

The morning run in the park was fun. Ran almost 5km with pa and we did another round of morning aerobics. People are friendly there, as we made conversation with several residents who came to have their morning exercise. It is uncommon in Singapore for people to talk and ask how we are getting on. What you will see in the usual weekend park connector scenario is people would just go about their run, oblivious to surroundings. People are not interested in other’s lives; perhaps to them they are merely strangers. We don’t greet those usual faces we see; maybe because we don’t even notice that we see them frequently. Somehow, while economy developed forward, human relationship took a back seat. We are less compassionate, less patient and care lesser for others. Or perhaps, we just don't have the time to bother?

We have a new Korean serial from wendy, that’s a better alternative to the usual local 9pm drama (which doesn’t have a lot of drama). i think korean serials have alot of droolworthy hunks and babes.

I woke up this morning almost forgetting I needed to work today.

Market looks turbulent this morning. While all our counters are officially down, but it would be great if we had more spare cash to share up some cheap counters washed out by the economic storm.

Equities remain an extremely volatile financial instrument to work with. I am still appalled how some counters move. Some perform exceedingly well, while others which are not fundamentally bad, can be so adversely affected. Market might simply be efficient for some and I do not have much information at hand to react as quickly as how many others can move.

I find my mind scattered over a number of things at work. There is a lot going on at work, with the sharp turn the company is negotiating. There seem to be a lot to find out. A lot to understand. Sometimes I find myself looking at all that blankly, wondering what next? Maybe I lack that business acumen to react swiftly to them.

13aug hits and misses

finally in the action of things. we bought in 2 counters today and we managed to get it close to its lowest for the day.

if you can see which chart this counter belongs too. we didn't get to buy in this because i was greedy for the 0.005 drop. i wanted it to drop another 0.005 but before i knew it, it's up 1.74% today. then again, if it touches support again, and if i have the cash, i will buy in this counter.

we have total 4 counters at hand. 2 of which we are holding on to. these may not turn so soon. may need to hold on longer than expected. one of the 2 new counters bought today will need to move fast because of its price volatility.

wanted to get ocbc for mummy but i also missed its turning point. it got very close to the top of my target range, but not tempting enough to buy in. banking sector should slow down in the next half but it should be safe enough to buy in for mid-long term investment if the price is right!

fingers crossed for monday! mini-goal for yesterday, checked!!

mini-goals 13/08/10

i actually find posting my mini-goals on my blog boosts my determination to complete it. hahha. it does help in some ways.

and so, here are today's mini-goals.

1. complete costing report and send it out with financials to management - done & sent before 5pm

2. finish my housework

3. feel like squeezing in another run before i go for my weekend getaway (i can hear dearie's rising impetus to nag me)

we'll be heading to batu pahat for a weekend getaway at wendy's! =D eat, watch movie and have a great time with family. hoho!

boooo

remember i was suppose to start on the hotshot warrant game on tues? the trading platform is disappointing. maybe it hasn't got enough bandwidth to support so many players.

on the first day, the platform didn't load and showed error message whenever i tried to log on.

today logging in was no problem but to trade? the page doesn't move at all. if i don't get to buy my call warrants today, i am giving up on this game.

i don't think it's my server problem as i stream my 2 real-life trading platform well. i don't see why the hotshot platform can fail so miserably.

this is just not helping with my experience of trading warrants. i think it's an omen - don't touch derivatives!