cycle coe

one of the biggest contributors to the ever rising inflation in singapore is the price of cars.

we read cpi is up 4.8%. last round of coe prices jumped too. we don't need to read the tarot cards to see coe prices staying elevated for the near future. there's a whole slew of rants on coe prices hurting the middle class.

i think we seriously need to rethink our lifestyles. is there a better way to commute to work? i wish i have the option of cycling to work, but i have scoured my entire building to only find one toilet that has a shower. i think more can be done to encourage people to find alternative ways to get to work.

it has to be a paradigm shift in mindset. First, stop lamenting and whining, because that doesn't solve the problem. Second, it's about understanding what are the daily things we do adding towards the environment as a whole. look at the drastic climate change we are already experiencing. try taking a deep breathe in cities like beijing and hongkong. what kind of a world have we created at our convenience? Third, corporations must stop thinking it's all about profit. it's not. what are they doing at the expense of our future generations?

so we ask, how much can we do as it's just an effort of one or few. but imagine if everyone start being more conscientious of what goes into the environment and does abit. then the impact will be great.

should i write to the big big boss and start asking him to do more for staff who are keen to find alternative ways to get to work? afterall, we pride ourselves with the many green projects we do, don't we? haha

ongoing efforts

with our ongoing efforts to improve ourselves, dearie and i took up a new challenge - learning and re-learning chinese.

john has kindly loaned dearie a K2 chinese textbook, which he has embarked on saturday. i was pretty appalled how difficult chinese is for the children these days, i didn't remember chinese being so tough back in my kindy years.

for me, being the cheapo i always am, will be attempting to do my own reading instead of enrolling for the chinese business courses earlier planned. i think cost is one factor and not having a friend to go with can make it quite lonely.

hence, i resolved to start reading My Paper on a daily basis, as it has a fairly short chinese section, which i deem manageable for my snail-pace chinese reading. in effort to be more environmentally friendly, i am going to read the e-version (though the toggling of the page is proving to be such a nuisance).

Hopefully we can both keep this up, because knowing how to read, write and comprehend chinese is an asset in the coming decade at least.

I'm doing a little research on the S-Reits as part of work now. Pretty interesting to go through all the results and presentation slides from all the S-Reits. Should I stay on in the Reits industry? If yes, should i do the CMFAS reits management paper? after so long, i'm still circling around this.

Not reading any book at the moment. sent an inquiry to check on my reit book that was suppose to come.

running has been on a slackened mode. something inside of me says i should be more disciplined about it but i guess that's not of much importance for dearie for now. it is hard for me to ask for more than what i am already given.

alright..back to reading. ought to give my cv some botox as well, spruce it up a little. =)

nothing to read

completed a gift to my children during the morning mrt trip to work. a good book! recommended to dearie so i'm not returning it as yet.

i finished all the cpa mags and newspapers i have. nothing to read for now. i'm not really in the mood for a japanese writer's book for now.

anything good worth the read? hmm.

one done!

catch me if you can done!

proceeding to next on the list. i can start on it tonight while waiting for dearie to come home from his desaru feasting trip.

keep it going tricia!

still tossing on what courses to do this year.. shd i do the cmfas paper?

books in queue

a gift to my children is here! that's fast!

alright. game plan for tricia.

60 pages more of catch me if you can. to complete by this evening's trip home.

85 pages of a gift to my children. to complete by end of this week. if i'm diligent, i might be able to finish it by Fri morning.

2 old edition of CPA Singapore mags. thrown off to next week! that's what i call prioritising!

love simply

Yesterday was valentine's day. Ours was a quiet one. dearie ran the 8km with me, as we chatted along at smell-flower pace. We had home cooked porridge, something light enough for his inflammed throat.

While i jokingly grilled him for my flowers and candle light dinner, i thought about what does having those represent love.

i have learnt that love is expressed in simple ways. actions that need not be amplified into distorted proportions. small ways that reaches the heart more than fanciful ones that entertain the crowd. i am just glad to have him. when i have a hectic day at work, i know he will pat me and i can fall asleep soundly in his arms. that to me is loving simply.

all in line..one by one

i've put in 2 loans from the company's library..which i reckon will take a while to reach me. in the mean time i'm almost half way through 'catch me if you can'. this will be the next.

subsequent to that, i've given myself a challenge to read up all the books on reits i can find in the company's library. personal challenge for myself and also to prep myself before i decide if i should do the cmfas exam on reits management. this should keep me busy for a while!

catch me a better next read

done with the wind up bird chronicle. took another 3 wks to complete this as well. the Japanese writers i have been reading have a peculiar way of story telling. i get lost sometimes, like when i was watching the eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. it makes one go, " huh? what?...wow, that's a good one."

i'm onto a simpler book, catch me if you can. i read that the book was not written by Frank Abagnale Jr himself and this book contains a tad bit of exaggeration which serves its entertainment purpose.

i haven't got many other books i want to read. been looking for the e version of 1q84 but found none. at the same time i think i've got enough of the strange prose form for a while..thought i could move on to something more mainstream.

something about the cultural revolution might make an interesting read next. let's see what i can find.

run for something

bel, yenling and i discussed about the possibility of doing the taroko gorge marathon in taiwan, coming nov.

it's good to have something to train towards. hope we can get things to fall into place. i haven't ran a marathon in 2 years! it'll be challenging to start training for one.

running with the gals make me feel sorry how my speed and endurance has degraded over time. i can't seem to catch up with them these days, often left behind. i try to take it in stride, follow my own pace and run my own race. but i'm hoping i won't be the slowest among us in the coming marathon! (which i think i'll most probably be)

i've decided to give up my part time job. i can definitely use more time given a more hectic full time job now. lesser income so that will mean i've got to be more cautious in my spending. may not all be a bad thing.

kafka to bird chronicle

completed kafka on the shore today. took me 3 weeks to read cover to cover. and i'm listening to the beethoven archduke trio mentioned in the book.

plot of kafka on the shore is weird; unique if this is a better word to describe it. the story line is like a clockwork which gradually makes its full turn. you can't predict what will happen next. bits of the story gel together by a peculiar glue. definitely not your typical fiction read. conclusively, i like the read. i like haruki murakami's writing enough to line another of his earlier book in my next read.

huff puff

stepping into office each day is like stepping on a non-stop treadmill. you just run endlessly till into the night.

my mind is at a point blank at this moment. there are so many things to be done. it can be overwhelming.

there goes another exec. she tendered when we came back from the long new year weekend.

i wonder why i am able to survive? is it because i have stopped thinking what all these is leading me to?

there's little to look forward for now. promotion is a near impossible. chances of a meaty pay raise might be vanquished with the slowing economy. so what else can there be but tasks that are left to be completed?

time for myself becomes shorter as hours at work stretch longer.

i hate to lament.

a new project is starting. i have these mixed feelings. on one hand it is an opportunity to do something different. on the other, it means even longer hours. fast forward to end of it, question is asked if it adds value to my career. shrug.

alright, back onto the treadmill now. huff huff puff puff.

学不会

while watching 娱乐百分百, found out JJ will soon be releasing his new album 'Lost & Found'.

Been listening to 学不会over youtube on repeat.

nice.

xmas eve

it is christmas eve. merry christmas to all.

spent the morning cleaning the house. went to work. met mummy to shop. had dinner. walked to cq to help do some despatch for a colleague. and took a long walk from cq to outram park mrt, lugging 2 bottles of shampoo and conditioner in a shopping bag with laptop on my shoulders.

now i sit in front of my laptop drafting a letter for my mum to be sent to mom.

pretty uneventful day. but i did enjoy shopping with mummy. she bagged many dresses that can probably last her for half a year! =) i ranted to her about work and stuff, while both of us chomped down a big bao (which apparently wasn't that big) each. i like times like these because i get my mummy's full attention. life's so busy we don't really get to talk alot most of the time.

i'm glad the day is over. i want to plonk into sleep quick while awaiting for tomorrow to come. i am thankful for yenling, who is willing to spend the christmas weekend with me. if the weather holds up, we'll be running at mr, go for a good bfast before checking into citadines at 2pm. after that we plan to roam town.. let's hope we get to go for the morning run on monday to marina barrage too.

it's back to work on tues. back to the heaps of reports to clear.

kafka on the shore

done with the bloomberg mag and i'm back to my fictions.

next up, kafka on the shore by haruki marakami.

is it time to set resolutions for the new year already. i can't remember if i made any at the start of this year. i probably wished i could do well in this job and rise through the ranks. seems more unattainable now, just want to hang on and survive through the stipulated term.

my brain feels tired. i need to hold through this prolonged ot-ing nights for another 2.5wks.. i can't wait for the long weekend. the stack of work will welcome me back next tues.

back to finance

done with never let me go. it's a good book in its own sense.

now back to some decent finance reading. on with bloomberg markets nov'11 edition, courtesy of dearie from his school's library.

after that, it'll be kafka on the shore. =)

holiday tomorrow. it's been a very long week. tired. dying for a break. and really want to catch up with abit of running too.

yay..shopping too! =)

is it dawn yet?

i'm so done with the twilight series. concluding note: draggy. i got so bored with the whole storyline by eclipse, hoping for something better in breaking dawn. i was sorely disappointed. i have no idea how the story went on and on with the most uninteresting details..and such a bo liao fanfare of the volturi and the cullen gang. i'm just glad the series is done and it definitely stirred no interest in me to pay and watch the movie for now.

alright. so the next book on the list was actually this: never let me go but the pdf version i have in my kindle isn't in that a readable form. the font seems a little too stretched and i am not able to find another copy of it. sigh.

perhaps it'll be kafka on the shore first, till i find another copy of never let me go.

Update: Found a readable version! yay! so it's never let me go FIRST!

finding the lost

i thought about the old things i used to write and posted on diary-x. those were the time i was more literally inclined. i wrote better prose and sometimes in riddles. i remember writing short stories which i thought were pretty nice.

diary-x on wikipedia

"Diary-X (commonly abbreviated dx) was the name of an online journaling service which allowed Internet users to create and maintain a journal or diary. It was launched in 2000, and between half and three-quarters of its users were between 14 and 19 years old.Basic use was free, though for a small fee users could email their entries. The creator and webmaster was Stephen Deken. In early 2006, the server's hard drive failed. Since there was no backup, the entire website and all of the users' diaries were lost irretrievably^"

^{yea..that was about the time i started blogger.com.. i wish i had saved a copy of those things i wrote on my hard disk. argh.}

breaking down next

i thought i can save the last portions of eclipse for my journey home this evening. guess i was eager to read how it ends.

i'll start breaking dawn this evening.

the movie puts faces to the characters in the book; pretty faces i must admit. however, the book contains more details than what those faces can personify. in the book, bella was torn and that internal struggle she puts up between 2 loves, i think the movie didn't quite bring that out well. bella in the movie feels abit too distant and acts indifferent to how she feels towards jacob.

anyway, i thought it's a fresh storyline of a romance triangle between characters of a different world. surreal yet attention grabbing.

i think i've been talking alot about books on my blogs recently. what a nerd i am! i am glued to my kindle the moment i board the mrt till the time it reaches my stop.

weekend is here! rifle range! bt timah walk? or just bum at home!

let's go for a walk some time

whenever i fish out my kindle from my bag and start reading, i feel enclaved into another world. stepping into this warped world of literature.

loaded my kindle with my books by jap writers. revving to finish eclipse followed by breaking dawn very soon.

work is starting to step up as it moves into the year end. i am wondering if i should pack a sleeping bag and supplies to work. it may just come in handy soon.

been wanting to plan out some races to do with yenling but haven't got into the right frame of mind to do so.

want to make time to go for a walk at bt timah. can't remember when was the last time i went there. i kind of miss mountain biking there..but i think i lack the courage to 'risk' my life/limbs in such manner these days. i was lucky that fine day, back 6 years ago.

alright. time to get to bed and snuggle in with dearie. =)

eclipsed

i'm 2/5th done with eclipse book. the movie is not totally true to the book. apart from ommisions, the movie makers made some changes to the storyline too.

i should be in good progress to complete the book by end of this week.

next up is breaking dawn.

then i start on japanese writers: starting with some books by kazuo ishiguro, recommendation by yenling.