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!

the day after

things revert back to normal after a good one day of high.

want to start off the day with some mini-goals. (updated at 4pm)

1. complete, check and send out group conso by end of today. -done! yayy!
2. go for a run tonight - didn't run. (update 13/08, but we biked and ran the following morning)
3. pick up some counters if it touches close to my target buy prices - i don't think i'll get to pick up any. too greedy, waited too long and now prices are recovering fast. feels like i've missed the boat. =( (update 13/08, bought in 2 counters!)

i have been utilising my time to read a novel on my htc, as dearie taught me to. i think it is good to spend the 15mins on the mrt to read instead of just staring blankly in mid air. this novel is good, i am still pretty captivated by it as i read into chapter 3. the power of a good story is how it can literally teleport you into the story itself; put yourself looking at the protagonist and how things were happening.

i am half way through the economic indicators book. unfortunately it is too bulky to carry around for me to keep reading it everyday. will bring it to bp this weekend and see how much more i can finish. it's quite a informative book but not all the information is relevant because it covers statistics of the US. we do not feel the direct impact which the release of these statistics have on singapore. nevertheless, it's good to be in the know.

we finally got to try our hands on the ipad yesterday. i totally agree that it is a blown up version of the iphone. nice, but i find it too heavy and bulky in my definition of an e-reader. but again, it has other functions which e-readers do not have. i'm not in need of another gadget at the moment. if i can keep up with my reading, then maybe an e-reader will be on my christmas list! =D

my birthday treat

dearie brought me to my choice japanese ramen shop at robertson quay. can u see how gigantic the bowl of ramen is?

i love the dipping sauce of the tsukemen.. it is sooo tasty.

the charshu is sooo yummmmy! fatty la..but..but..

the sinjiro has this huggge heap of cabbage and bean sprouts.

the handmade ramen is very chewy. a different taste from the street ramen we had in tokyo.

after dinner we walked down clarke quay to city hall. it's nice to stroll down without the usual weekend crowd. i was just thankful for the wonderful meal and great time we could spend together. =)

it's my party

it's MY day! hoho.

thank you friends for remembering. wishes, cakes and gifts received today in the following sequence from:

1. dearie
2. bee lan
3. amy
4. bernard
5. mummy
6. yenling
7. daddy
8. sew kin
9. kor
10. aunty lydia
11. and many more from facebook! (the power of fb, that's how we will not miss bdays of others)

looking forward to ramen dinner tonight with dearie. i hope there is no last minute reports to rush that will spoil my evening!! i will run off on the dot at 6pm. hahaha!

coping

with only a few hours to complete the 7 slides. that's a short time. have to drop everything else i am doing and just work on this. he has the power, so i have to work with his dateline.

breathe in ...breathe out. c'mon tricia, u can handle this.

world class

Could i just rant about the unpleasant encounter with customer service in singapore? despite the constant effort to try raise the bar of customer service in singapore, i guess we are still nowhere close to that which i have experienced in japan. friends say taiwan and korea are a whole lot better too. we have world class accolades to boast about. yet, customer service in singapore is pasat-class.

i was out shopping with dearie and mummy on sunday at city hall. we walked into a shop selling branded bags. we saw a nice leather bag and my mum and i lifted it off the shelf to take a closer look. a sales lady walks over and said, "this is made of CALF skin. the big one costs $10XX. the small one costs $9XX. the handle is made of GOLD mesh."

then she looked at us, stood there for a while and walked away.

none of us asked for the price. was she trying to tell us that we would probably be unable to afford to buy the bag?

i may sound petty..but if you were there to listen to the tone, you would understand why we were upset.

mummy walked out and asked, "i didn't ask her for the price."

yea. neither did i.

dearie post-mortemed the incident.

dearie: the lady probably looked at what bag you were carrying.

me: my bag also got brand what.

dearie: but yours in comparison to theirs.

me: ...

dearie: then she looked at the bag your mum was carrying.

me: charles and keith? (ok. again relate to that against the bags in the shop.)

dearie: then she looked at what you wore.

me: $20 dress from bugis village

this is not the first time i have encountered unpleasant sales persons in singapore. i earn a decent living. i can hold my head high that i am at least in a esteemed profession, though my company may not be some mnc.

one day i will get there. not that i will spend my money in a singapore store. but i will be financially capable enough to afford more things for my family and i.

i will own a bag of that brand one day. not because i am vain, but i recognise its quality.

oh yes, on the lighter side of things. let's end with another funny dialogue between dearie and i, coincidentally on the same day.

we were on 2nd floor and i wanted to drop by river island.

me: where's river island ah?

dearie: huh? don't know leh.

moments later.

dearie: oh, no more river island le.

me: huh? why?

dearie: river dry up, mango growing liao. (pointing to the spot where river island was previously situated but now renovating to become mango)

me: -_-

my (early) birthday cake

drooooolsworthy mummy's pandan chiffon cake! mummy baked 3 and i got to pick 2!

this was the largest one. i picked this of course! and i ate half of it within half a day. yummmmmmy!!! totally delectable. the cake is so fine, it taste like a cloud in my mouth(not that i have eaten a cloud la..) but it is that soft!

thank you mummy, for taking so much time to bake these cakes. i really love them. One year is worth the wait. i hope i can get to eat this cake for many many many more years. =)

happy national day

i was out with yenling for bike ride again this morning! at 5am, there were quite a number of taxis roaming the streets. taxi drivers aren't the friendliest people on the road. anyway..

i thought my legs are gradually getting accustomed to the pedaling. the 4km run after the bike ride definitely feels faster, especially with the uncle who tried to overtake me from the start. it gave me a reason to pick up a little faster. ok, even i am egoistic!

the sky looks overcast now; rain seems to be coming soon.

got to help mummy finish the jun accounts. i will be popping by her home to pick up my early birthday cake. can't wait to eat the pandan cake she bakes, totally delectable. i remember last year when i got it, dearie and i wolfed down half of it in one go. hahaha. it is THAT good! it beats begawan solo hands down lor!

saw a guy running with the vibram five fingers. from what i gathered, that thing costs $178. wow. i do not refute the benefits barefoot running yields, but to spend $178 for those 2 pieces of things? erm. why don't you just remove your shoes and run barefoot? i have read off runners world of a world class runner who simply takes off his shoes and run barefoot a couple times per week to train. there is a lady from safra jurong who also runs barefoot occasionally for training. she's a speedy gonzales who can easily beat a huge majority of guys in our club.

an ex-coach used to get us remove our shoes and socks and just run barefoot on the grass field. i think that's a sound way of barefoot running less the hard pounding on tarmac.

dearie mentioned about sports gear being pricey, which i totally concur. but we definitely can learn to make wise choices in the gear we buy. i am just a leisure runner, after a couple of years of running, i realise the most expensive shoes aren't always the best. the lightest shoes do not make me any faster either. only proper training and rest will help me get faster, the shoes are secondary. =)

oh yes, it's national day today. singapore is good place. the only thing i am ashamed is the disgusting rubbish strewed all over the surroundings of my block. it is revolting to see all the rubbish, not just tissue paper i mind you. sometimes you can see food packets and other perishables thrown all over the place. despite having made complaints, it is still dirty. sometimes i wonder if the litter bugs are singaporeans. if yes, shame on you. i am ashamed to have such inconsiderate and unhygienic counterparts. talk about corrective work order, those are the people who ought to be put on it now. you can air all the ads but these people will keep throwing. in a developed society, these acts really dent the beautiful city the rest are trying to create. sigh.

long weekend day 1

i'm more than 25% done with my economic indicator book. i have stopped reading the technical analysis book as it didn't make much sense as i progressed to the last 25% of the book. it was getting me nowhere, my time is better spent on something that made sense.

mummy will be baking my birthday pandan chiffon cake on monday. it's a yearly affair. i want to pop by and spend the day with her. maybe i should just take a mrt down as there should many roads closed for the national event at the padang.

i am itching for another ride and i wonder if i could plan it on monday? i am wondering if there are any riding groups for noobs? but i also considered if i can keep up with regular rides.

i couldn't help but yelped out in excitement while going down the long downhill on mandai road. unlike my first ride last week, i wasn't trying to apply brake to slow down, instead, i enjoyed the wind and speed on my bike. it's a wonderful feeling; something i have loved years back. there are many things i used to do, which i no longer do. maybe it's good revisiting them sometimes.

if i can keep up with my biking for another 1-2months, i would like to get a 2nd hand speedometer. at least i can see if how slow am i exactly!

this ought to be a restful long weekend. catch up on alot of reading. think through and plan for the last 5 months of the year. i am not particularly looking forward to go anywhere. staying home is good. but i think we need to stock up more food at home because i am running out of ideas on what meals to cook. no istimewa from me this week.

riding alive

i was out biking with yenling today as dearie is still feeling unwell.

it was an awesome ride! i though my handling improved slightly.

i came back and topped the ride with a slow 4km run, something i wanted to do last week but didn't do so.

cooled down with a stretch. felt absolutely fabulous. i love how exercise invigorates the body. the perspiration cooled the body. the blood pumping through my arteries made my body alive.

dearie didn't seem to happy with what i did this morning. maybe the medication has made him a grouchy old fogey. do hope he is feeling better already. =)

and yes, today is wendy's birthday! happy birthday to you, gal!

as time goes by

what a lethargic noon. despite turning in early last night, i am still feeling somewhat restless.

it'll be a long weekend for us as national day falls on monday. i tried to plan out what i'll like to achieve over the long weekend, but came up with nothing. i still have the same to-read list and some should-dos, can-dos and would-like-to-dos; i just didn't know where and when to place them at.

the budget tickets to seoul didn't turn up too budget in the end. with the airport taxes, luggage and what-nots charges, i could be better off flying with cathay. only thing is cathay has no promotion for 2011 flights currently. so we'll be waiting for cheaper tickets to come by.. and also hoping seoul marathon doesn't clash with dearie's exams. or we might not go for the marathon. or we might not go korea. maybe we should consider gold coast instead?

it's a waiting game. i am waiting to gather enough experience at my job so i can plan for my next step. i am waiting to have my 5 years experience so i can move into a senior position. will i be able to command a better pay after the waiting? will i still be in this company with all the waiting? we are waiting for a worthwhile promotion for air tickets. we are waiting for the exact date and confirmation of seoul marathon, so we can plan training. i see time go by but i am still slow in my reading.

i'm at the mercy of time. i can only wait.

mooocha

ooooo..i discovered mocha in office.

whenever i need my chocolate shot and a wake-me-up, i'll make mocha for myself.

all i need which are available in the pantry/my drawer

1. milo 1 big scoop

2. a small teaspoon of sugar

3. a packet of 3-in-1 coffee

3 of these together give MOCHA!

sip sip. oohh..it's bliss!

n.b: obviously my mocha doesn't look as nice as that in the picture.

read to e-reader

i know what i want for christmas!

an e-reader. a kindle 3 will be perfect!

i got the following list of books lying around to be read. if i can finish reading them all by dec 25, then i want to get an e-reader!

1. technical analysis (50% completed)
2. economic indicators
3. daryl guppy's book
4. lky book
5. harry potter (x4 more, sorry alicia, i keep pushing these down the must-read list)

7.5 books effectively over slightly lesser than 5 months. i have an estimated 20 days per book. this will be quite a challenge.

on the wheels

after a long hiatus and the attempt foiled by rain some weeks ago, i finally got to bike again! i'm very thankful that dearie escorted me along, at my snail pace. we set out from our place, went out upp bt timah, upp thomson and mandai back.

my legs went jelly after a couple of slopes and dearie commented i lost steam along mandai. i replied that i was still trying to bike hard but my legs didn't seem to want to move as fast as my mind wanted them to. haha.

the roads remain unsafe because there are callous drivers who are plain jerks. 2 ah-beng cars driven by rogues tried to pull up behind dearie and one idiot in the car shouted at dearie, thinking he could scare dearie to make him wobble. the next thing i heard was dearie shouting back at him. they shuffled near to us and then drove off. 3 wide lanes at mandai and they had to do such sickening thing. please grow up!

strikingly contrasting, on the same morning, the patient 160 bus driver was gracious enough to let noob tricia filter off the lane and peer out to the next..before filtering out. dearie had intended for me to stop and let the bus go off before filtering..but noobie me was looking to filter out. clumsily i tried to filter and thankfully the bus driver was patient to follow behind us for a while.

i felt almost like a baby learning to walk again. wobbling on my bike whenever i tried to change my gears on the barend shifters. wobbling again whenever i stopped and tried to start off again. my legs felt like anvil while going up the looonng uphills. to think i've been running but i couldn't even keep up on the bike.

dearie has been my guardian angel through the ride. telling me to change my gears, checking if i was ok..and also fending off idiot drivers. he's now sound asleep. i'll run off to whisper another thank you in his ears after i finish this blog entry.

i hope this will not be another one off ride. incorporating biking is a good cross training for my run regime. after all, i haven't got around to swim much these days. too many things to do, too little time.

another week gone by. i sit at my table, looking at the same trees which may have lost or gained a few branches or leaves. the mrt just rambled by. the sky's overcast. henry mancini's love music playing over the speakers. ahhh. there's a wide smile over my face. i love such serenity.

another fri tale

work has been piling up again. it funny how things like to come altogether instead of trickle in one by one.

i've opted to pack lunch so that i can spend a few moment to blog some thoughts.

the whole policy episode helped me understand some qualities a leader/manager should possess. i realised those leaders with certain qualities earn my respect. there are some who seems to be put there in place by chance, kept there for reasons i don't understand. i stopped to reflect upon myself, reminding myself those are pitfalls i must not step into.

i received an interesting call yesterday. i wondered who gave my name in recommendation, but thanks anyway. i fall short of the bar to command such a salary. i'm better off staying put where i am and gather the required experience.

that was one frustration i told christin about. employers still like to count alot on years of experience. i can be in a job for many years, but it may not mean i have progressed as much as i should. i'm grateful my current boss gave me a chance to prove that seniority is not everything. that i may not have accumulated those years of experience but i am driven to catch up. she has also given me plenty of exposure to different facets of finance. i can boldly say, what i have learnt in my 6 months with this current company far surpasses what i did in my ex-company for 3 years. i felt myself being stretched out like a rubber band to almost my max..and then i learnt to adapt myself to that limit. it was painful but fruitful.

if i move on, i will certainly miss my boss. she's a wonderful boss. =) a gem.

meantime, i am still wary of possible torrential rain. i am afraid i might get drenched out, so i must look out for possible shelters to run into.

i find it difficult to become someone i am not. dearie and i talked about famous bloggers and successful blogs. those that can earn through advertorial.

i can't seem to tune myself into the bitchy frequency. i'm certainly not pretty enough to steal enough attention. i'm not funny enough to tickle the bone. and i can't spin tales people will like to read. i certainly won't post a whole lot of photos of myself all over my blog, because i think i'll gather more queer than interested looks. i might become in-famous, for all the wrong reasons.

therefore, i think i shall stick to plain-o-me for now, like a piece of white bread with no spread. i don't mind if no one reads this. i write because i think some thoughts are worth remembering or to look back upon. it's funny to go through archives and read past experience and emotions. we see how we mature through the years. the blog grows up with me!

National External Debt-Top 10

Source: International Business Times (dated 5 May'10)

We know US is the country with the biggest debt but do you know those countries which follows? I thought this is pretty informative for general knowledge. (I noted that there are only 9 countries in the article. not sure why they call it top 10. should be top 9!)

United States of America - $13,399,859,000,000
The richest country in the world is also the most indebted. The United States is an astonishing $13.3 trillion in debt as of June 2009, putting each American citizen approximately $43,000 in debt.

United Kingdom- $9,191,104,000,000
Second on the list is the UK. With a relatively small population, the UK's debt per capita stands at $150,000, more than three times the debt of the average American. Huge loans for mortgages on inflated housing prices are a contributing factor to the UK's massive debt.

Germany- $5,208,000,000,000

Germany's debt is considerably lower than it could be. In 1953 Germany had its external debt significantly slashed by the London Agreement and war reparations were also reduced as a debt relief effort for the German economy to recover. Even so, the country is still the third highest in the world for external debt.

France - $5,021,000,000,000
Not far behind Germany is France in the scale of debt. The French owe over $5 trillion as of June 2009. France is still the fourth most indebted country, despite having the fifth largest economy in the world and a prominent standing in the EU.

Spain - $2,478,000,000,000
As a significant step down from the top four, Spain has half the external debt of France, and one fifth the monstrous debt of the US.

Luxembourg - $1,994,000,000,000
For such a tiny country, Luxembourg has managed to accrue an extraordinary level of debt. By 2010 estimates, each citizen owes nearly $4 million (ouch) - by far the highest debt per capita in all of Europe.

Republic of Ireland - $1,841,000,000,000
In recent years Ireland has transformed its economy from a tradition of agriculture to modern business. Despite its improving status among the European Union states, Ireland is still heavily in debt to the tune of $1.8 trillion.

Japan- $1,492,000,000,000
Another country afflicted with war reparations after the Second World War, Japanagreed to pay $11 billion, although, despite an "extended loan" of Nazi gold in the Swiss banks, the country still managed to rack up $1.3 trillion. Switzerland also has the third highest debt per capita in Europe with $174,000 per person.

Belgium - $1,313,000,000,000
Belgium: famous for chocolate, beer, Tintin, and now external debt. The tenth most indebted country in the world owes $1.3 trillion - approximately 350 per cent of the country's GDP. As one of the smaller countries in the EU, Belgium has also managed to rack up $126,000 of debt per person.

sunnyday

it's sunday. i'm glad to be home. trying to read the saturday paper but distracted with facebook and other online buzz. i like the sunny weather. we've had too much rainfall in the last 2 weeks. my clothes kind of stink.

i feel like some teeny bopper with the discovery of k-pop. i am not THAT old and that is not self-delusion.

reading all the updates and comments on facebook is entertaining. but i find lesser need to post things on my mind and photos as well. as my friends list grow, i find many of them are people i haven't spoken to in ages. ex-classmates, ex-colleagues, etc. some of whom i don't feel comfortable to make my comments open to. perhaps they might find my comments mindless too. this blog space feels abit more personal.

i look at dancers and go wow. can dancing actually be taught? i think some are born with that 'groove' in their blood. i actually enrolled into ymca a decade ago to learn dancing. i did pick up some moves from the weeks of classes but i think i looked more silly than cool.

so, i am once again reminded that God is fair. We have some, we don't have some. Some things i am absolutely sure i cannot do: dance, sing, become a professional photographer, run like paula, become a concert pianist. nevertheless, i appreciate good dances, good singers, good photos, i do run to keep myself in proper shape and tinker the ivories to make some noise.

self contentment.

i can't tell why but i feel happy today. my spirit feels at peace. i like sitting here behind the window looking at the trees, the skies and occasionally the mrt go by. hope you are having a rested weekend too =)

down and out

i think torrential rains should be coming. i can almost see the gathering of dark clouds from afar.

don't think the rain will be gone in a while.

i will most probably get drenched to the skin if i stayed put.

what should i do?

will i be able to move onto a drier place where the sun beams?

it is written between the lines. somehow we know though we choose to pretend oblivious.

one step at a time. i have to chart my path from here.

hotshot

This is so timely. Just when I need something to get excited about, I received a mail blast from uob kh on this.

It is the Macquarie Warrant Hotshot Competition. You can read more details here: http://hotshot.dbpower.com.hk/en/home_e.cgi

I have never traded warrants before though I theoretically know what they are. I think this will be a great opportunity to learn and also push myself to find out more. It will commence 10 Aug, so I have some time to read up more. It's paper trade so effectively i don't lose anything. But that's the thing..you can invest all you want. buy and sell at wish. no transaction cost. no need to worry about how it impacts your portfolio. It gets investors excited and because they have made the game "safe", making money from warrants seemingly become easy. I need to remind myself that after the game ends, whether i made or lost money, it is still virtual. Trading in reality is still different.

down with rain

i decided to give in to the cold/flu. took a day of medical leave. the rest certainly helped alot, although i'm pretty worried if the audit report would be ready by tomorrow morning.

i am feeling better now. ready for work and training once again.

spent most of the day pigging out in bed. managed to catch up with a wee bit of reading too.

have been wanting to blog about the awesome weekend but somehow the words don't flow. i just want to thank my 2 friends and dearie for the time. i haven't spent such a great time with friends for a long while. it was fun (though fun itself is insufficient a word to describe).. running from mr to pierce and back. shopping for running stuff. laughing over how the running top/shorts made us look sexy or fat. i will surely miss yenling as she goes off to uk for her mba.

casually talked to my colleagues yesterday about the company and its operations. i was telling them how i want to work around the problems encountered during audit this year; ensuring things will go more smoothly next year. i was a little disheartened when the more senior colleague commented, "that is if we are still around next year."

i got her to tell me more about how she felt the company was going and what she observed was the problem to the company's deficit position. she has been with the company for more than 15years and she has seen the company go through its different phases and management.

there seems so little which is within our control and means. the market has evolved in its last 15years of existence and somehow the business model has not been able to keep up with the change. changes were made but somehow it is still not meeting the market's needs.

on a pessimistic note, i am unsure how the company will hold on too. however, for the small role i play, the only thing i can do is to continue to perform my scope well. whether the company turns around, there are just too many variable factors which will come into play.

dearie will say,"don't think so much. just do your work."

it's going to be 3rd qtr soon. i actually planned to go for some short courses in 3rd or 4th q. on one hand i can clock some cpe hours, on the other to learn some new things/update myself. i should be able to get some funding from my company. =) let's see how this works out.

meantime, i think i need to start looking at some short-mid term goals because i feel a little aimless these days. academically i think i have managed to attain to a decent level. i have also settled down in the new job. training wise, i have also completed that which dearie drafted for me.

i don't want to stay at this point. got to keep up and move. the environment is changing. if we don't change fast enough, we will not keep up. i do not want to be written off as irrelevant.

rhythm of torrential rain

the rain which we encountered on sat was no plain ordinary rain. it was another flash flood and like the last round, many places were flooded.

maybe it was the rain but my nose are stuffed like the choked drains. i am gasping for air now.

contemplating if i should go see the doctor and get a day's rest..but that will mean i won't be able to chase the auditor tomorrow. argh. fall sick also must find the right time to do so. =(

skII review

my mum bought me a set of skII trial some time in apr. the trial set consisted of the facial cleanser, lotion, essence, anti aging serum and 1 mask. i gave the anti-aging serum to my mum and i haven't 'slurge' my mask.

so my 2 month's review on skII is on the cleanser, lotion and essence.

cleanser: this is the least impressive. first thing that hits u is the smell. i rather it is scentless, but the cleanser actually has a 'unique' smell. it is not totally awful that it puts me off, but it doesn't add points to the product. i find this cleanser pretty mild. i don't use this cleanser after my make up remover because i feel it doesn't leave my skin clean. i am guessing that it is meant to be gentle to the skin. i don't have that 'ahh..clean' feeling from it. it scores 6/10 for me.

lotion/toner: this feels average. it works almost like my lunasol and i don't think it is a product i will buy in actual size. it is so average i don't have much to review on. 6.5/10 for this one.

facial essence treatment(fte): this is one of the signature product of skII with 90% pitera. also known as 'miracle water' that will make your skin dewy and glowing. it retails nearly $200 for a full size bottle. this is the product i have been dying to try but too scroogey to part with my money for it. i was really amazed how this water can be sufficient as a moisturizer. the moisturizers i have used are either milky form or gel like.

i heard some reviews that it caused outbreaks but no such problems for me. it feels light and quickly absorbs into the skin. i think what i like best is that it can be used over eyes. i literally used this instead of the eye gel, will review on the eye gel below.

what i cannot reconcile was the beautician (during one facial session) actually commented my skin was dry, when i actually feel it was not. anyway, i don't think i will go back to her because i noticed her products actually caused my skin to scab after 2 sessions with her. will need to find other affordable alternatives as this beautician in segamat is able to provide facial at a fraction of those in singapore. yet, if the products do not suit me.. sigh. ok, back to skII.

i haven't looked at my skin with a microscope to see if the fte helped with minimising pore size. but what i can review is my skin hasn't had major outbreaks thus far and i like how the fte is absorbed into the skin, like water.

the only drawback is the price. i don't think the fte packs a miracle but it is a very good product for those who can afford it. it is a little over-rated. it doesn't turn you into qiqi or pan ling ling overnight, that i am sure.

there is a long way to go for skin care, apart from just hoping to find salvation from a bottle of pitera. proper cleansing, scrubs, food, sleep, water and diet. all that and more come into play.

will i buy it in full size? maybe.

will i follow it religiously? maybe.

i will score it 8.5/10. i take 1 off for the price and 0.5 to remind myself this will not make me a headturner with it alone.

the skII beauty consultant was kind enough to give me a sample of eye gel so i tried it.

eye gel: nothing happened. i am still panda. that 1-2fine lines are still there, unmoved. maybe i was too impatient to use it long enough to see results. but i actually rather use the fte on eyes than this gel.

so there concludes my skII review. i still have the mask to try. they call the mask a pamper because it contains 5times pitera. wowowow. i wonder if i will look like lim chiling after i remove the mask? (think the gatsby commercial where the normal guy became takuya after washing his face with gatsby facial foam). now that feels WOW!

hiao-O-monday

After yenling's raves about shiseido's softener, i went to look at their range..and i am resoluting to try them after i finish my skII trials and lunasol series.

ok my plan goes: i think i will start off with the softener after my FTE runs out. after my sunblock runs out, i'll try the protective emulsion, which i reckon is pretty similar to my lunasol one. i've still got plenty of lunasol cleanser, toner and moisturizer. so i think the moisturizing gel and cleanser will have to wait. and finally, if my counters make money, i will love to get the eye serum. target time to get them: end of the year after bonus payout. hoho. when my pockets are relatively fuller. i like the idea of a moisturizing gel. but i think this will be one of the last ones on the list.

brightening protective emulsion with spf 15. this will come after my lunasol sunblock runs out.

brightening balancing softener. this is TOP of the list want to get. after FTE runs out..which i think will happen in another 1-2months.

brightening cleansing foam. not super excited about this one. i will only try if the rest works. will try to see if i can get a sample of it.

eye serum!! i'm such a sucker for eye serums. i have NOT tried one that worked. i'm skeptical about this one if it can make me less a panda. try sample then talk.

brightening toning lotion. this should also be last on the line because i still have plenty of lunasol toner.

call me hiao but i concur with yenling that women SHOULD spend on skin care. i think it's our right to! (do i sound like a yenling-fan? =P i thought she is a kindred spirit)

i have actually considered shiseido..but i think i never got around it. i have spoken to a few ladies who also swear by shiseido..and their skin is actually fabulous. they are walking testimonials that the products work. oh yes, i want to talk about my skII trial since i have used it for slightly over 2 months. (this is so that i justify buying shiseido soon!) oh..women!

biking droughts & floods

i thought i could break my biking drought. hmm. drought sounds a bit weird but the thing is that i haven't biked in eons. the last time was the ride with dearie and alex..which was more than a year ago.

i am thankful yenling let me tag along and i was warning her if i fell, she mustn't laugh..or i'll whack her. haha..so we arranged to meet 4.30am along upp bt timah this morning.

at 3.45am i was up and got ready for the ride. dearie was worried, fully aware how clumsy i am and fearing the big-headed michelin mascot might fall, he got up and went out with me on his mtb. my escort =)

at 4.10am we were out. the ground was wet and i reckoned it rained earlier. dearie said it was raining but i said it was not. he probably had some foresight! so we biked out, heading to upp bt timah.

at teck whye it suddenly (and sudden it was!) the sky started to pour. it was madness. we were caught by surprise and scrambled to the nearest bus stop (in front of the cck polyclinic). we waited but the rain did not seem to cease. dearie suggested that he biked back and then drive out to pick me. it was dangerous to bike in the rain..with the poor visibility and slippery road. but he insisted the rain didn't seem like it would stop for a long while and so i relented. dearie came back quickly in less than 25mins and we were headed home.

the rain was bad i read from fb that there was a mini-flood in telok kurau. apparently that friend sighted a fridge in the middle of the road. wow. i wonder how the fridge got there. the carpark next to our block was also a little flooded.

so much for an attempt to bike. i was a little worried about my bike handling actually..but i realised i still love the feeling of being on the bike. i love the geometry of my bike..and i felt regretful why would i want to put it for sale. i have posted the brake lever of my bike on the left..no particular reason why brake lever..i have a strange affinity with brake levers(not this particular one..another one which is still in my study room).. and i thought the angle of this shot looked pretty professional. haha..at least from this amateur's point of view.

so i resolve to attempt to bike again. hmm. maybe next sat?

it was kind of nice sleeping in till 10.30am. ahh. we should go for an easy run before curry istimewawa! nice weather to stay home and do tons of reading. business times. straits times. technical analysis. chomp down more info. grow myself intellectually. that's the only kind of chomping that actually does NOT get me fat.

did u hear i was on k-pop? dearie is getting mildly irritated with my boyband k-pop playlist. hoho. who knows i might get to meet some of them on the streets next year..and i can go up and say Ahn-Nyeong Hah-Seh-Yo!!!

where the p stands

after watching the youtube video made me ponder about the p word.

one would probably condemn the torture that man had to go through for 2 decades. why would someone be punished for standing with his beliefs? those were good beliefs that were intended to benefit than rob.

however, p is like a well which one cannot see the end to.

i don't find blame in those who did what they did, because that was how the world worked. it is happening every second, not just during those formative days of the nation. look around you. look at your company. look at the leisure clubs you join. so long there is hierarchy, so long there is a position of power, there will be a struggle.

how about sharing everything with everyone? does it make the world a better one? seemingly not.

i don't think there is a best way of doing things. there is no one perfect system which is better than another. it all falls upon a balance and the balancing is a continual effort. we constantly have to add or less the burden on each end.

they say those who does the balancing are one of the best paid. i'm wondering would those who rant about it want to take on such a responsibility themselves? to front movements and changes. to be criticized most of the time. do we have the capacity to take up a role like that? i don't think i can. well, at least i feel those who are doing so are doing a fantastic job. you know chinese like to say 一分钱一分货(translation: you get what you pay for).

so, if this system is not good, what will you suggest? how do you think your suggested system will work in the context of today? would it have made it better?

those are big things to grapple.

it's always easy to point and blame. it's always easy to look back in retrospect and find fault.

only those who are visionary can lead and create. those who dared to take that step out and say, "this way, follow me." it took more than looking at a crystal ball and then saying "ah-hah!"

to me, he is a leader who earned the respect and did a great job. we stand in justification of that.

clean & clear of the future

Mission partially accomplished. Cleared the kitchen cabinets with dearie’s help. I threw many of those disposable containers because they were cluttering my cabinets. There was no way to fix the broken corner of the cabinet, hence we only tried to salvage it by moving the load to the other corner. The cabinet containing biscuits is still uncleared. I am thinking I should get to it after we eat up most of the food inside first. Dearie helped me rearrange the condiments in the fridge a little too. I mopped the floor squeaky clean and the whole kitchen felt like a nicer place =)

I went on to wipe the study tables and filed some documents up. The study is not particularly a messy place because I have already done quite some throwing-away not too long ago.

The store room isn’t very messy either, apart from the towering newspaper pile. I am wondering how I can put the newspapers into good use, instead of just dumping them into the recycling bin. We may need some of it for the aircon cleaning. Thinking we may also do a good wipedown of the cabinets, table tops etc, at one go with aircon cleaning. The thought of a nice spanking clean home feels great.

The hr lady came to me to define some job benchmarks; defining ranks within the department by experience, scope and qualification. I thought it is a norm for companies to have a set of such benchmark.

I’ll be interested to see which position I fall into. Somehow the thought of my ex company is spurring me on to move up the ladder here. I have left that place and now one notch up here. I must not and will not allow myself to stagnate at this position. I want to work my way up. In a couple of years’ time I must reach the next checkpoint; be it senior accountant or accounts manager.

Maybe it’s my ego, but I want to be proud of myself that I made the right decision to move out of my ex company. I have been able to leap, although ex supervisor thought so little of me. I want to tell friends that to turn back and staying within their comfort zones is somewhat like marching back/on the spot. After a few decades, are you satisfied just staying on the same spot? The world is changing; evolving every second. Are you doing so too?

tricia's new toy

i've got a new toy.. for the domesticated aunty in me. isn't this a babe? it's a PANASONIC rice cooker. one which can cook porridge, quick cook and even steam a cake! wowwowowow. this is gorgeous. i better start cooking more at home. hehehe.

the weekend passed quickly, with alot of good food. i ate, ate and ate. who could possibly resist all the good food!

i have an impedus to clean the house. i want to clear out the whole cabinet under the stove and give it a good clean. i need a solution to the broken portion in the cabinet. like put something to stop it from breaking apart. i want to arrange all the empty plastic containers into a box or something because it is such an eye sore with so many of them lying around. i want to clean the study room because it feels dusty. clean the air cons too. am i coming down with obsessive compulsive disorder? i care to think dearie deserves a clean home to reside in. i will try my best upkeep our home well, although i am the person creating the mess most of the time, because i tend to move things in and out.

will want to plan out the weekend to clean the house. perhaps go to the flea. donate blood. buy nephew's birthday present. rest.

ok..better get back to work now..because i want to leave on time to cook rice with my new toy! woohoo! (sounds like playing masak masak)

a conforming bao

i thought about lunch. ba bao seemed good. $1.10, meaty and filling. i took my wallet and headed to the elevator. pressed the elevator button to go downstairs. however, i stopped short and turned back to office, took my mug and made myself instant cereal instead. and good thing, i saved $1.10 too.

with the change of the public transport fare system, i am paying $0.05 more per trip from home to work. that's 4.5% increase for me. only 60% of the population will benefit from this change. as i was telling dearie the other day, smrt/sbs transit are corporations with shareholders to be accountable to. how could they possibly implement a fare system that will be detrimental to them and eat into their profits? reading alot of complaints on the internet in response to the fare increase. these complaints amount to nothing because at the end of the day, all we will probably do is to accept and pay.

cycling is actually viable solution to alot of things.

1. we cut down pollution
2. we avoid the mad rush on buses/mrts
3. we won't be subjected to the pain of fare increases
4. we get to exercise. good for health. don't fall sick so easily. save on medical bills.

but..

1. singapore is so warm. by the time we cycle to work, we'll be perspiring. unless we work near to our offices.
2. singapore road is not cyclist-friendly. first threat comes from taxi drivers who aren't the most friendly of the bunch. on top of that, we also have impatient drivers who do not give a damn to cyclists.
3. there is no SAFE place to park bikes. no one released statistics of bike theft in singapore right? or probably too many of it have gone unreported.

so having circle around the bush, i am back to point zero. we are at the mercy of public transport. don't even think about owning a car because the rate of increase is more eye-popping.

it made me think about some countries i've travelled to. in japan, one can park his/her bike by the road side and not have to worry someone will come along and steal them. in australia, cyclists can wheel their bikes (don't have to be foldable bikes which reduces to a certain dimension) into trains.

i haven't heard of many companies advocating staff to exercise and make exercise a part of life. they will advocate overtime and finish your work more.

whine whine whine. at the end of the day, all of us just be obedient and conform to the norms.

dearie's bday

dearie and his very chocolaty birthday cake (fr Lil' Foot).

I treated dearie to this at ABC.

Dearie chomping down his chicken cutlet treat.

random pick from the brain

i took half day leave today and these were my random thoughts through the day.

- i saw uncle douglas on the mrt. the clown who used to humour children during church camps. i could see age on his wrinkled skin.

- first time on the circle line. so suaku. the trip from jurong east to serangoon then to clarke quay costs me $1.55.

- i thought the baker is a lady but it is a guy!! wow!

- my mummy is unhappy. i wish he disappeared from the face of this earth and save us all the agony.

- i think the surprise didn't go too well but hopefully the cake made up for it.

- i hope i made the day good for dearie.

- i was too tired to run today. will run tomorrow morning and evening if possible.

- i would like to have an electronic weighing scale as birthday present.

- another 12 days to 1/2 yr mark at present company. wow. i'm 1/4 across my goal.

- brain dead. want to lie in bed now.

big 3-O

Happy Birthday to you, dearie. You have reached the big 3-O!! (ok ok..i know you'll say it'll be my turn soon. =P)