29 Oct 2010

29 Oct 2010 was one of the most awkward day since I started in Barclays. It was the day NY Ops Control officially got shut down. Some like myself are moving to another department but most of them left the company and they had their exit interview scheduled at 15mins interval, it started at 9:15am and by 11:30am it's done. It's really awkward to see them stand up, leave their work station and bidded farewell. At the end, I was the only one left along my row of desks.

I'll miss them although I've only been in NY for 6 months and 3 were spent in Glasgow.

All the best and good luck to everyone.

A Simplified World

The world has to realise benefits aren't everything. It has to be balanced with job creation and paying taxes.

If I may simplify societies in the world into 3 areas; it will be the government, the people and the businesses. The 3 are closely linked and each survival depends on the another.

The government is voted into existance by the people. Its survival depends on the continuing confidence of the people in the government. The people are most concerned with policies that directly affect them. This shouldn't be a surprise and the 3 major concerns are related to employment, benefits (healthcare, welfare and/or pension) and not surprisingly taxes. However, the businesses are usually only concerned with profits.

The businesses must go back to basics and understand it is economics which should be driving them, not accounting. An economic driven business model is a long term model whereas an accounting driven model is probably short term. Therefore the businesses should operate on a supply and demand model before considering accounting.
Demand, supply and employment are highly corelated. Demand is met by supply which should create employment which in turn create demand. This is probably the self-sustaining model for a localised business in the long run. Moving production outside of the demand market to cut cost will increase profit in the short run but the unemployment will ultimately be reflected in the demand market sooner or later.
Therefore, the government should pro-actively manage taxes. Businesses should be encouraged and rewarded to operate within the country and to create jobs. After all, the revenue for a government is mostly from the taxes collected from businesses and individuals. Without them, there will be no revenue for the government and the government will cease to exist.

People should know their long term needs and stand up for it. They should not take advantage of the government or businesses and abuse them. Nor should they be taken advantage of and abused by the government or businesses. They should understand nothing is free, everything has a price (cost) and ultimately, they will be paying for it one way or another.

The Crazy World We're Living In

Let's talk about the crazy world that we are living in right now. The good old world that all human beings have been living in but mankind has shaped it into a very volatile environment.

From the macro level to the micro level - The climate, govenments, societies, economies, industries, employment, pension, education, welfare, foreign relations...

France - General strikes to protest the raising of retirement age
UK - Cutting military budget to lower a deficit
Germany - Failed integration of the different cultures
USA - A weak currency, high unemployment, record deficits, fighting 2 wars, healthcare...
China - An artificially low currency, inflation, foreign relationship intimidation
Japan - decade long stagflation
Africa - Anarchy
The list goes on and on and on

Religion, ideology, individualism, protectionism, socialism, capitalism are the toughest ingredients to get the mixture right and they are the main forces shaping the world more than even right now. Get the mixture right, mankind will progress and prosper together, get it wrong and the world gets crazier each day.

Welcome to the world we're living in today!

Random Thought

What's the point in cutting cost and increasing profit when in the long run you'll not be able to sustain the business... or the economy because employee are the economy

Life

Some times things happen in life that you would never have expected. Who would have expected that I'll be a trainer in Glasgow after joining Barclays Singapore 2 years ago and not to mention New Jersey.

You cannot credit what had happened over the past 2 years to chance or coincidence, you have to credit it to God. What else can it be? I joined the Barclays Singapore and started in the NY recs team before moving to the London recs team and 1.5 years later, I moved to NJ because of my experience and now, I'm in Glasgow because of it all. 2 years in the making, no one can credit it to chance.

Moving on, unexpected things have happened back in NJ. The director has been laid off and god knows what's going to happen next.

On a lighter side, I visited Edinburgh today and it's the second european city that I've visited twice, Paris being the first city with that honor. It is nice to be able to show my colleagues ard and I hope they loved it as much as I did.

Time to chill and relax... only God knows what life has in stored for you.

Glasgow

I'm in Glasgow! I'll be in this city for the 10 weeks. On first glance, it's a small city with some of the charm of London and less crowded. I like that because I hate crowds. Of course, with an apartment and corporate card provided by the company, who doesn't like it.


The apartment looks nicely furnished but some of the fixtures are not practical! In the toilet, the bathtub doesn't have a shower curtain and showerhead. It only has a tap! WTF right! One of the lights in the en-suite bathroom is out which makes it look very dim and the 2nd bedroom is empty. There's no bed and how am I going to invite my friends over!

I spent the first day in the city recovering from my jet-lagged and managed to make it to Marks & Spencers which is just down the street to get my groceries. My first meal in Glasgow is a Marks & Spencer Beef Roulades meal. It is good! Tasty and delicious. I'm going to have as many M&S meal as possible!

I woke up late the next day and I didn't make it for the Glasgow Show... damn it. So I went for a walk ard the city and 30mins later, I decided to eat in the cafe just right next to my apartment. It doesn't serve the best food, the English Breakfast wasn't fantastic but it's a nice place to hang out for 30mins to 1 hour to read the newspaper over a cup of coffee. It's not Borders with the Starbucks - it's not commercialised at all, just a nice and quieter place to eat down and read the papers. I kinda like it.

Ended the afternoon with 2 pints of beer in the pub across the street watching Arsenal vs Celtic. Nothing much though the waitress is kinda cute... I'll definitely go back there again!

Time to unwind, heat up the M&S Seafood Caserole meal and iron my clothes for tomorrow.

29th July 2010

Thank you to the colleagues who made the effort to have lunch and dinner with me the day before I left for Glasgow. After the Glasgow assignment is over, we all know that things are going to be different. Most of our job functions will move to Glasgow and who knows what's going to happen after that... but let's enjoy the moment while we're in it and living it.

It's during drinks and dinner where I learnt more about Wall Street. If America is the symbol of capitalism, NYC the symbol of US's financial capitalism and Wall Street demostrates the successfulness of it all. The 80s to 90s seem is the golden years of it all. If you were working in the right bank, you can expect a damn good salaries and bonuses. You can get a $10k pay increase by changing jobs from bank to bank. Traders opened bottles of champagne every friday at 2pm to celebrate their success. And if you were working for Goldman when it was listed, employees who were with the company for more than 5 years got a min of 200k bonus. The WTC was heartbeat of Wallstreet. Every successful firm had an office in WTC to show that you're one of the top players on Wall Street. I even asked where was it located... I wished I was working in Wall Street in the 80s and 90s. It seems like one hell of an exciting place to work and live in.

Which brings us to the sad event of Sep 11, 2001. To hear the events that unfold first hand from people who have been through it is just unreal. They saw the building collapsed, the cloud of dust that hung over NYC for days, they lost friends and people they knew on that day, they saw cars parked at the train stations for days knowing that the cars will be unclaimed because the owners have perished on that very day... so unreal.

As the Americans like to say, it is what it is. Life moves on.

Is it too much to ask for?

I wanna visit all these places while I'm in the states! Is it too much to ask for within 2 years? I want a travel partner too!

1. Live in New York City
Visit The Following Places
2. Chicago
3. Orlando, Florida
4. Washington, DC
5. Las Vagas, Neveda
6. Hoover Dam, Nevada
7. Boston, MA
8. San Antonio, Texas
9. SF, California
10.New Orleans, Louisiana
11.Grand Canyon, Arizona
12.Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
13.Caribbean
14. Alaska
15.Miami, Florida
16.LA, California
17.Cancun, Mexico
18.Great Lakes

I'm living the dream again! London - Singapore - New Jersey

Firstly, I don't expect anyone to read this because I didn't expect myself to be blogging again after so many years, then again, I'm assuming that 2-4 years is a long time. It is a long time isn't it?

I stopped blogging was because I never thought I would be on the move again and end up in America. Actually, there was always a secret desire within myself to be able to live in the Big Apple. So dreams do come true and I gotta admit it, I've lived the dream when I was in London and I'm sorta living it in New Jersey.

So, let's try to recall what had happened in the past couple of years. Before this, my last posting was in 2008 and the last regular posting was in 2006. Which means I haven't been blogging for 4 years and there's a lot to remember.

Most of the things that I remember revolves ard work. Dec 2006 as a compliance officer in BNP. Aug 2007-Aug 2008 as a reconciliation analyst in Setclear. Aug 2008-Mar2010 as a Ops Control analyst/executive in Barclays Capital Pte Ltd; and now, a Ops Control analyst in Barclays Capital Inc.

I don't want this entry to be too lengthy but I wanna include as much as I can remember before I grow old and forget.

Firstly, I've definitely made a lot of friends at my work places and I've always enjoyed meeting people, getting to know them even if it's just for a day. The important thing is to be able talk to someone, make an impression, share experiences, ideas or just a drink =)
The things that we've done : drinking, getting drunk, playing mahjong, playing soccer, supper, Genting, JB, Hong Kong... and not to mention my long time best mates from primary/secondary school whom I'm the closest to. And before I forget, I wanna mention that almost the entire dept turned up for my farewell drinks and the friends who turned up at the airport to send me off.

Along the way, the exposure and experience had made me a better person. I might not know what I want to do, but I've always enjoyed learning and I really thank God for the opportunities esp in Barclays. It's more than I can ask for and it has brought me thus far and further in the near future. From Singapore to New Jersey to Glasgow, the experience is pushing the boundaries.

I really hope I can continue living the dream...

At The End Of The Day...

there are better things to look forward to in life...

I do not like working long hours, but I need the salary to survive. It will be fantastic to have a job that lets you feel that you're doing something meaningful. But at the end of the day if there isn't any, it's about being practical.
What's the point in feeling happy when you can't even feed yourself. Do you really want to walk away from it??? Maybe even walk into another shithole!!!
There's only one person whom I know who's doing what she always wanted and I'm happy for her.
By the way, one of my dreams is to be a dive instructor and own a dive resort at some beach island. =)

There's also no point thinking too much about the things that will make you unhappy and you do not have control over, because once again, at the end of the day, there's nothing much you can do about it.
Just live life and do the things that will make you happy in your own personal time and space. Make the best out of the things you have, not having the best things in life.

At the end of the day, I'm just glad that I have:
1. My World, My Time, My Space.
2. A job.
3. Beer to Drink.
4.. A good bed to sleep on.

My World, My Space, My Time

So much things to talk about and I don't know where to start.

First of all, I gotta apologise to all my friends for being so difficult to keep in touch with. Because of my ungodly working hours, it's hard to meet up during weekdays. However, I'll not put the blame completely on the job, coz if you me well enough, you should know that I'm a very lazy person who always like to sleep.

But I promise I'll try my best to make an effort to meet up & catch up with everyone. I haven't tried the Sunday Brunch at Mezza9, haven't been to Wala Wala for ages, haven't play frisbee for a long while too... it's the company that's important and matters but it's always nice to have good food and drinks to go with the company =)

it's time to retire, I'll blog more another time. It has been a long day at work... It's a Sunday! )WTH*

i got molested!!!

here what happened!!!

a few days ago, i met up with a friend and accompanied her to buy a digital camera. after making the purchase, we decided to head to a nearby cafe and grab a drink & bite. it was a pretty cool snack. toast with condense milk, peanut butter and milo powder! SWEET!!!
after the meal, i went over to the cashier to settle the bill while my friend remain at the table to pack her stuff. she wasnt done after i made payment, so i went back to the table and she said, 'where's my phone?' i said i didnt take it and looked ard table to see if it's hidden. nope, it wasnt there so i told my friend that it's not there. she didnt believe me and she reached out and grab the front pockets of my jeans! HELLO! please do not any how touch my front pockets let alone grab them! we are close but NOT that close! besides, what if you grab my crown jewels!!! TMD! she didnt believe me when i told her i didnt take her phone. !@#$%^&*
when she looked into her bag again, she finally found her phone!

and for the rest of the day, i was wary of her and her phoenix claws!
girl, you owe me one. i will always remember what you did to me!!!

tuesday

i cant help but notice that some of the issues raised by IMF are mostly the same issues which the world faces 10-20 years ago.
PROTECTIONISM!!! in layman terms, it's tariffs, quotas and duties!!! (and subsidies for the one being protected)

i'll give 3-4 industries and if you are interested, you can do your own research/reading into it. you'll need to read up on the tariffs/ quotas/ duties/ subsidies of these industries in various nations. preferably, developed, developing and newly developing countries.
IT: US vs India
Aircraft: US vs Europe (Boeing vs Airbus)
Agriculture: US/Europe vs Africa
automobile: Japan vs rest of the world
free trade and globalisation is not what it seems. it's still a political tool.

other thing which i noticed. quite a number of recent articles in the ST are probably inspired from the book, The World is Flat.

and yes, Singapore does not have an identity.
while i was in Turkey, i had the opportunity to talked to 2 germans who were really really helpful in helping me find my bus from Izmir to Selcuk, a NZ couple aged, 37 who was travelling the world for the past 1.5 years and spent 4 hours chatting with them on the roof-top dinning area, a south korean who was also away from home for the past year and a half, an italian, some canadians, 2 brits one who wrapped herself with a towel and her hair was dripping wet in my dorm when i woke up one morning... what they think of Singapore is exactly as what was reported in the ST yesterday.
it's quite sad that we do not have an identity. which gives uniquely Singapore a whole new meaning!

enough rambling, i need to continue my job hunt. it's a freaking full time job looking for a job.

Russia

calling it a day

thank you all for supporting my blog, but i've decided to call it a day for now.

so, seeya in Singapore.

short, sweet and simple! that's the way i like it!

goodbye card

i never had a goodbye card given to me before until today.
it's a nice card. with a picture of a kitten standing on top of a luggage and 2 roses sandwiched between them.

and at the back, it's a print out of every individual's face pieced together from the company's personel database.
Paul, Stephen, Daniel, Anita, Inne, Maranatha, Paula, Jamie, Daniel, Melanie, Petra, Geert, Sarah, Muzy, Patrick, Angela, Lynette, Simi, Vee, Jenna, Chris, Richard, Carol, Tidi, Fabios, Michelle and me! oh, Rachel, Natasha, Simon, Adam, Scott are not included coz they are new staff or requested their photos not to be made available on the website.

my new nick names written on the card:
Cider Drinking Hooligan, Burger Face, Melvin 'two pints' Lee, gambler...

there were some 'dodgy' pictures and video of me last night with 2 girls in my arms and pole dancing. that's what 5 pints, 5 shots and JD coke does to you. you dont remember much.

i'll miss these colleagues. erm, how many times have i said it before? =)

cant talk anymore, got to pack... yes, i havent pack for my trip and i'm flying off in 9 hours' time.

last day tomorrow

went drinking with my colleagues just now... man, they were all out to get me drunk.
we went to our USUAL water hole, to Strawberry moon then to Yates.

no idea how many pints and shots i had... but i am pretty tipsy right now and i am unable to pack for my trip to Russia. trying to cook dinner now and let's hope that i dont create a mess.

i am quite sure my colleague asked the 2 girls to dance with me at Yates. i asked how old they were, and if i remember their answer correctly , they just finish studying, so i assume they had their A level results today which makes them 18 years old. *cradle snatcher?*

erm, i'll post the pics if i can get them from my colleague =)
i'm not a flirt, i just like to have fun.

other things:
i started drinking this afternoon.

the new girl is alright.

free drinks on the 31st of August.

i'm assigned a really shitty brand and i'm trying my best to sort it out.

i'm pissed right now.

i'll blog when i have the time, otherwise, i'll probably see u guys in Singapore.

signing off, Melvin, the pissed head.

2 more days of work! HOOYA!

yet there's still so much to do, so little time...

moonshine

some things are just weird...

a nice evening

i had a nice evening today. went to London Bridge to meet a friend near her workplace and had dinner at an italian restaurant called Strada.

it's a nice place. the evening view of the river and London Bridge in the background. and it's not noisy even when everyone in the restaurant is conversing.

we talked bout our travel experiences, our tuition days and our dreamed and planned destinations over some wine, linguine and chocolate dessert.

she looks exactly the same as 12 years ago the way i remembered her. didnt change much, even the way she talks. haha.

after our conversation, she makes me wanna stay in london for a couple more years to visit more places.

it's really nice to catch up with long lost friend and chit chat over a good meal.

WTF

went to bed at 10pm.
and i just got woken up by an asshole who was singing at 1am!
WTF! WTH! TMD! KNS! KNN!

luckily i got woken up as well, coz there was an entry that wasnt supposed to be posted. *phew* hope no one saw that entry.

one week to go

*sigh*

i really hate to leave next week! not becoz of the job but becoz of the people!
i'm already starting to miss the boyz and girlz.
a week before i leave and everyone is saying that they cant believe that i am leaving andi cant believe that i am leaving them too!
ARGH! i'll really miss this bunch of people!

i heard that my replacement is a cross-eyed girl from south africa who will be starting on monday. that will be interesting.
the boyz are planning to have drinks every night till thursday becoz i will not be available on friday.
my official farewell drinks is thursday with Maranatha coz she's leaving as well. she did something funny today. she went all the way into the pantry, grab me by my arm, drag me to her desk and asked me to fixed her mouse coz i removed her mouse ball and she doesnt know how to fixed it. haha. blonde!
tuesday is my farewell lunch.
J is not ard coz he'll be in Greece but we'll have a session when i return from Russia.

*hate to be so sentimental*
but that's how i am

ARGH!!!

it just dawn upon me that i've alot of things to do before i leave!

i need to plan the initerary for Russia by tomorrow!
i need to change 1000 pounds into russian roubles... which is bout 46,000 roubles! WOOHOO!
i need to pack and move out of the current place by the end of the month! and my room is in a mess!
i need to pack 20kg of stuff and pass it to Billy!
and i need to book my flight to Turkey or else, i cant fly back to Singapore from Istanbul!

just found out that i can fly into Izmir on the 4th or 6th of Sep for 44 pounds and make my way to Selcuk to visit Ephesus. then i can travel all the way back to Izmir and take a overnight ferry into Istanbul which i think is pretty cool. or i could take a bus to Istanbul if dont want to pay 60 pounds for a ferry.

the only problem is that the flights land at freaking unfriendly hours and i've having a headache planning the most convenient route. 10 euros for a night in Selcuk bloody cheap. i dont mind spending more time in Selcuk and chill.

i shall wait for the reply regarding the ferry before i make my next move. they better reply soon!

My Burger Theory

i came up with this burger theory as i was making my way home on the bus.

as most of you know that i am crazy, please do not believe and accept everything that i am going to say.

christian life should be like a burger!

you can have the beef patty, chicken breast meat, tomato, lettuce, pickle, ketchup, fish and anything you want, but everything is sandwiched between the bread.

the everything are the things in life. situations, circumstances, trials... you get what i mean.

the bread is the word of God, the bread of life.

no matter what happens in life, if everything is sandwiched between the bread, i believe that everything will be fine.

another one of my crazy theory.

today

i've done no work at all today!

started the day surfing the net to update myself on computer stuff coz i'll be assembling a PC when i return to Singapore. i think i will get the cool red-coloured MSI mainboard that supports the P865 chipset. it's not the newest motherboard and chipset but at least it's affordable. and i'll get hard-disk that cost in the region of $100, and given the price, that means i should be getting 160GB. i shall use my old monitor, RAM and graphic card for now till they get on my nerves for being too slow.

i also considered putting some money into shares or a financial product as a long-term investment. therefore, i'm not going spend too much money on computer and doing up my room.

while looking for jobs, i happen to chance upon some jobs in the civil service sector.
someone told me that i should try working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since i like to travel. why not right, since i am looking for a job, so i tried. shucks, no opening for the position which i wanted. but i was directed to a website to enter my particulars so that they can keep me posted on available positions. this website is not only the job database for MFA but for all civil service jobs.

i came across this pretty interesting job.
job title: Liaison and Info Management Officer
you'll work in the Prime Minister's Office under the Administrative & Corporate Services.
job description is as follow:
Candidate will hold 2 portfolios in the Joint Counter Terrorism Centre (JCTC): As a Liaison officer, the candidate will be responsible in forging links and working closely with domestic agencies both inside and outside the local intelligence/security community; in addition, he/she will maintain links with foreign security agencies, the academic community and think tanks to support JCTC's research functions. He/She will see to the planning and arrangement of logistical support for liaison engagements and overseas visits and study trips for JCTC officers. As an Information Management Officer, this candidate is tasked in overseeing and shaping the information management/file registry functions in JCTC, including the supervision of a team of corporate support staff. He/she is responsible in driving and shaping the electronic information management system and providing support for the administration and IT functions for the JCTC team.

damn interesting and i like it. too bad i am not able to apply for the post. i think i lack the work experience.

i dont mind working for the govt. as long as it's interesting. i dont think i am cut out to be an analyst because i dont have good writing skills. i am confident of my security clearence because of my NS record. i dare say i can handle any job. just give me the proper training and i'll give you my best. my officers said that i was the best aircrew loadmaster, my current manager says that i was doing 2 person's job in payroll, my music director trust me with the sound system, of course i dare say i am good.

ok, enough of bragging, i shall have my dinner first before deciding if i should blog more later...

things to do with August 9

let's talk bout my friend Augustine, since his birthday is the 9th of August.

i got to know him and Iggy when we were studying in SIM.
because i didnt know anyone in SIM, i had to make friends from scratch when school started. they were from my HRM class and because they were always late, they were quite prominent! (though 2 guys always coming in and going out together also gave others the wrong impression... if you know what i mean) one day, during the break, i went up to them, intro myself and started chit chat. as usual, with my easy going personality, i can chat with anyone =)

we became friends.

in the same class, there were these 4 girls who were always moving in and out together and sitting in front of us. (well, the reason is becoz i always happen to choose the seats behind them. you know how it's like, after 1-2 lessons, if someone always sits on the same seat, it's the unspoken rule that's his seat) each of us has different opinion who's the prettiest with one girl to spare. we were always looking over their shoulders coz we need to see the screen. and one day, we came up with a very lame idea to talk to them. i really forgot what the lame idea was, but it probably came from me. haha. it was fun coz we got to know 4 girls with one lame idea. haha. i'll ask the girls what it was when i go back to Singapore.

school aside, we used to played badminton twice a week, go out for supper and watch MAN U matches together. it was good to see Man U beat Charlton and Leeds beat Arsenal that season.

one of the many crazy thing we did was during christmas. 3 of us and one of their friend played drinking games. the rules were made up by me!
it's basically blackjack and the loser will have to drink a sip.
each player will take turn to be the dealer.
if someone gets a blackjack, the dealer will drink half the cup. if someone gets 2 Aces, the dealer will drink the whole cup. otherwise, it's just a sip.
one of the rule which were added later was if someone gets 16 points and the dealer loses, he has to be the dealer for an additional round.
it was fun and crazy. it's always fun and crazy with me ard!
and when someone needs to use the toilet, you pour more liqour without his knowledge and the night can only gets crazier!

drinking is one thing, but drinking games are the best!
Happy Birthday Auggy.

i set a new record

i did not watch tv for 5 days! it's quite a record for me! ever since i moved into the room, all i did was stay in the room nap, surf the net and sleep. it reminds me of the room i had in Singapore. it was almost self-sufficient. there's a bed, tv and computer in the room. every thing you need for you to be alone and quiet. 2 more weeks of this, i am already enjoying it.

here's what i think a guy should have in his room:
A BALL.
whether it's a tennis ball, baseball, football, rugby ball a guy just needs a ball at home. so that when he's bored, he can throw the ball ard. like that episode of Friends where they threw a ball ard the house for hours!
and just after i typed this, i threw the ball on the floor, it bounced up, hit the edge of the table and it flew into the other set of balls! *cough*

i cant really think of what else guy SHOULD have in his room.
i need a few bottles of hard liqour (JD or Chivas will do), a pack of cards (i had 5 pack in Singapore because i used to play cards every night from 10pm to 5am which is why i am so good in tai-de right?) dumb-bells, a cool entertainment system (tv, dvd player and sound-system)...

hmmm, i dont know what else to ramble bout. ta people. seeya in Singapore.

i drink too much

i got pissed at the pub with the usual suspects + newbie, went bowling, fell down on the bowling lane but i got a strike and hurt my ankle... my ankle is cursed. it's permanently injured.

today today

"Melvin, how many pay-slips will you be getting after this?"
"3 more after this, Bernie"
*less than 100 hours of work before i leave my current job*

3x paper-cuts today, one which was esp deep, not so good.
but it cant be compared to Jamie! crazy bastard! Stephen and Jamie have been licking and sucking 'jawbreakers' for the past 2 days till their tongue bleed! and that didnt stop them! it's disgusting when J licked the Jawbreaker and he showed me the bloody sweet!

12 more days of work (unless i decide to call in sick next friday and do some travelling over the weekend with Billy)
2 more major payrolls
farewell-drinks

final destinations: Windsor Castle, Moscow, St Petersburg & Istanbul.

but now, i need to try to sleep early. i still havent been sleep well.

abit of Edinburgh

privacy

pondering bout my life and my next move

i've been trying to upload the pictures from my Edinburgh trip, but the freaking internet is so damn slow that i gave up. i shall blog instead.

Leon's has left the building. too bad i didnt get to say goodbye, but i guess if he's in KL, it will be pretty easy to meet up. i'll get a superbike, ride really fast and i can get from Singapore to KL in 3 hours.

oh, i have invaded his room. it's a tiny room, but i needed the privacy. sitting in a room, with 4 walls and a closed door, i wonder how come i didnt miss the privacy which i didnt have living in the living room. before i came to london, i was always in my room when i am at home. i got the internet, a 21 inch tv and that's really all i do at home. nvm, i have the next 3 weeks to make up for lost privacy.

for now, i'm just going to enjoy my privacy...

Sanity

days like these, it's God's words that's keeping me sane

Ecclesiastes 2:24-26
Wisdom, Knowledge & Happiness

Ecclesiastes 7
Wisdom

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Love is patience, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. it always protects, always trusts, always hopes always perseveres.

the only difference between packing for a 2-day trip and a 4-day trip is the extra number of socks and underwears.

i am blogging this only for one reason

there's someone out there whom i like very much.

i'm blogging this only for one reason.

that people who knows me know that i like someone and i want it to become a part of my life to be remembered for.

i have a right to be remembered and this is part of it.

her name will not be reveal
questions will not be entertained
just memories will do

Love has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get, it's what you are expected to give -- which is everything

today - blackout

firstly, thank God it's bout to rain! it's so much cooler now! it was bloody hot for the past few days till now! yar! NOW! i can sense a good night's rest tonight because i havent been sleeping well for the past few weeks due to the heat!

i came home early again today! this time, i didnt ask my manager if i can leave early because i wasnt feeling well. i got to come home early because there was a blackout! initially, we thought that only the building we were in was affected, but it was the entire street!
in this age, if the computers do not work, there's nothing much you can do. so we were told some admin and filing, had some beer because the air-condition wasnt working as well. it was pretty uneventful except for some useless thoughts. i asked Jenna if she could come over and fan me, but she told me to f***ed off. i asked my manager if the smoke detectors are still working because it's a health and safety issue and if it's not, i will leave and she told me to shut up. the office was quite dark as well and i told her that it's bad for the eyes as it's another health and safety issue but she told me to f***ed off as well. haha. the ultimate thought was being stucked in the lift with a babe! can you imagine that!!! *i can*
=)

and other things that i shall not mention...

Fear

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less

Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself

There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear

new trick

it's footie day and as i was walking from my workplace to Green Park, i pass a beautiful Lambo parked outside a hotel. my attention was on the car and i was looking at it and walking at the same time.

*BANG*

i walked into someone. it wasnt a head on collision, it was more like an perpendicular collision. it was a pretty girl and rather short too, and i think my hand hit her boobs. Oops!
*pretend nothing happen and carry on walking*
=)
it was an accident ok!

OH OH! another story!
after footie, as we were walking towards the tube station, we walked pass 2 ladies having a picnic. they were having problems opening their champagne bottle and they asked, 'Hi, does anyone of you know how to open a cork?' everyone just giggled and Neil went over to help the ladies. when the rest of us heard the 'pop' behind us, we went, 'HEYYYY'
haha.
guys!

one too many

have you ever pour yourself a drink with ice cubes.
and if there's one ice cube too many, it would touch your nose when you take a sip.
irritating isnt it.
=)

last wed night

i've spent alot of money this weekend. well, at least more than i usually do.

on Saturday, i had dim sum at HK Diner, Banana Split at Ciao and Singapore fried noodle at C&R.

today, due to unforeseen circumstances: just half an hour into the church service, there was a blackout! the service couldnt be continued and we had to be ushered out of the building. so off to Misato we went for an early lunch! man it has been ages since i had lunch at Misato. before today, the last time i was there was when Hillsong had services at Blackfiairs, Joey had his car and always kindly drove us for lunch. also forgot how much prettier the waitresses at Misato are compared to other places =) anyway, after lunch it was back to Ciao for ice-cream and abit of chit chat. erm, what we talked bout cannot be mentioned. anyway, we did consider going for other services, but we heard that they were more blackouts.

i just didnt want to stay home this weekend. desperate to stay out and do something. ice cream, coffee, lunch, dinner. but because of Wed and Thur night, i am still freaking tired. i shall turn in after blogging. hmmm... wat else do i wanna say.

my books and dvd finally arrived. from experience, Parcelforce is more reliable than DHL Express but it's really not up to you to choose.

the weather is still freaking hot!

on this note, i shall go to bed wearing...
=)

what a start to the weekend

it's a bloody hot night!
i'm tired and i wanna sleep!
but it's too hot to sleep!
too hot to read a book!
and i've already watched a vcd!

now what?!
sleep naked... it doesnt work as it's not very comfortable.

no fan, no air-condition, the air is stale, not circulating and almost suffocating.

TMD! WTF!

*complain complain complain*

smile and the whole world smiles with you