Counting My Blessings

There comes a time where we tend to be too involved in our daily routines that we overlooked on the nitty gritties. It would be good if we could, once in a while, paused for a little while and look back, appreciate the moment and count our blessings.

I wouldn't say my life is a perfect one now, but at least I am contented with it, as I should be. I can honestly say that I have been blessed in life and been given a lot of love which I am more than grateful for. I'm glad for this chance to be grateful to those who form a part of my life.

Frankly speaking, while I realized I could feel envious over what others possess or achieve, I could at the same time be the envy of others. Having lived in where I am now, as compared to the rest of the world, just that alone, I'm thankful enough. Although I'm 'hit' with humid summer all year long, at least I do not have to bear with the fear of any natural disasters at all.

When I look around me, I see love from those who care. Friends come and goes, the worthwhile one stays. I'm glad for that. Through bad times, there are some who emerged true to the word 'friendship'. I take this chance to individually say thanks at this little corner of my personal blog, whether or not they know, or in time to come, it doesn't matter. It definitely feels good to know yet again now, I appreciate and I am contented with whatever I have and whoever I'm with. This post, could really be the best representation to what I feel towards the people I love, with bond so strong that I feel the need for the existence of this post. And there you go, the loves of my life.....

Mummy: As I affectionately call her, throughout my 26 years life (minus the first few years where I don't know how to mumble a single word YET), and I bet the first word I ever said would be 'Mama'. The strongest pillar of my life where no one could ever replace. She spent her childhood and teenage 'dreams' in poverty, yet giving away her youth to both her sons, which in turn affect her health at the later stage of her life. I can't help but feel an obligation to lighten her burden now as I'm all grown up. Let her enjoy a little of her life, yet restricting her to whatever she shouldn't. Her selfless effort in bringing her sons up will always be remembered and I ought to repay it through my filial piety now. I count my blessings that I have her by my side now and of course in time to come, and I'm thankful to her for being the best mother I can ever have.

Father: As a father figure, he needs to impose his stern and strict teachings. Although not very highly educated, he was the pillar in the entire family. We (the whole family) had a rather good life in our younger days where he, being the only sole breadwinner, was able to bring back more than just bread. He insisted my mother to be a full time homemaker, while he slogged his guts out. It was until my late teens that he started to dissolve his strict teachings, probably much due to the fact that both his sons has already grown up, allowing him to step down a little. By then, times became harder and life became simpler but nevertheless, we are just as happy a family. I am thankful to him for those painful canings that he gave throughout my younger days made me who I am today.

Brother: As the younger one, he grew up feeling much more loved. He's more lovable as compared to me. In comparison with analogy, he was the Ferrari while I'm just a Toyota. Being bright and clever, our roles switched at times where I would look up to him in the aspect of studies. I hold him proud of what he did and what he is capable of academically. We grew up being very close and I’m glad this tie has matured into a special kinship that we actually cared and loved each other in silence. Like they say, blood is thicker than water and the bond between us proved that strongest. I’m glad for a childhood companion, one who grew up with me relentlessly, through quarrels and plays up until now, one whom I will always look after, silently.

Girlfriend: 2nd woman in my life. My mum once told me, "your girlfriend is going to be your wife, whom in turn is going to replace me when I’m gone". Indeed, I feel the need for this special someone to fulfill this role and I found one whom I’ll never let go. She is the one who made me believe in love, once again. She is the one who made me feel a different type of love, one that I couldn’t find anywhere on anyone else but her. She is what I’m not, and in a way, she completes me. She loves me the way she does, all because she believes in telling me what I need to hear, and not telling me what I want to her. The way she love, reminds me of the relentless effort of my mother, where my shortcomings is purely a part of me and she has long accepted it. To me, I’m blessed. Blessed with someone whom I can trust and give me utmost to, for once, I am sure, my future is her.

Best Friend: My childhood playmate after my brother. I’m always puzzled how someone can claim that they have more than one best friend. Isn’t BEST a singular word? For me, this best friend brings out the best in me in a special way. We grew up together in a funniest way ever possible. I remember a simple quote that goes “a best friend shares good times and help you out by listening to you during bad times”. This person definitely made me feel that he’s there when practically those you need to be there isn’t. He tells me things I don’t want to tell myself. To me, he is like a sister that I never had, because I can practically poured anything to him. It would definitely be impossible for this special bond if not for all the things we loved – games, soccer, movies etc. This bond I have, is rare and precious for I know who will be there standing as my best man when I become the groom.

Xero4: Our friendship hails a long way through, so long, I can barely remember why the name ‘Xero4’. We shared countless woes and done the wackiest thing together. There was even a particular that times seem to fly because every weekend will be Xero4 week. We clubbed, chased movies like never before, played countless games of pool and PES etc. Common hobbies definitely keep bonds tied I must say. A Chinese saying goes ‘在家靠家人, 在外靠朋友’, there’s definitely nothing more than pure truth in that saying. We shared joy and woes we don’t normally share with our parents and definitely, we’ve grown from young boys to young adults and finally now, a grown up where our interests, hobbies and the things we did changes along as we grow as well, but one thing is for sure, the bond remains the same.

Mixed Rice: It’s funny how my closest of friends revolves around those from my Secondary School, probably, all I can say is, that school is where it impact my personal life the most. It’s a pity I missed the times where Mixed Rice was formed, but I’m glad it’s never too late to be a very part of them once again. I always thought just one close group of friends is good enough, but it’s not true until Mixed Rice came along. They were a whole lot of different fun. Comparably, I can say Xero4’s the Ferrari and Mixed Rice’s the Volkswagen Beetle. But within this group, there’s a huge variations of traits, from the fun-loving, to the crappy ones to the always sleeps around etc. I'm glad for this friendship going so strongly and expanding where the trust and bond we had with each other is tremendous.

This post couldn't be more timely as I've marked this post on my 26th Birthday where I shared some of my most inner feelings. Like I've shared, it’s not easy finding love, it’s even harder to maintain it. I’m glad for the kinship and friendships I have right now, and definitely it has been a very part of my 26 years. These important people add love to my life, and paint my life rainbow when it’s black and dull. I doubt I have the courage nor chance to say this personally to each and everyone of them, but whatever it is, these words from the bottom of my heart will and shall remains, something I held on so dearly now and I hope to bring them to my grave when I breathe my final breath.

With utmost love,
Your son, brother, soul-mate, friend.

Love Nest

To be rather honest, I really find the entire system in Singapore screwed up in terms of home building as well as the way it manages young couples. The path from singlehood to forming a family is by no means easy in Singapore context. Singapore is the first and only country I’ve heard, where young couples (well, most of them) get a flat first before getting married. Imagine inking your signature on documents after documents informally. The thought and consideration before that, definitely has got to be serious and thoughtful.

I had never imagined myself in this situation, even though I’ve long surpassed the age I longed to see myself settling down. It was a tough decision back in February because afterall, both of us are relatively new in our relationship. To tell the truth, we’re kind of glad we didn’t manage to get the February BTO back in Segar Vale. Nevertheless, as time passed, both of us know and had some thing in common. We have each other in mind, we see each other as the one whom we want to spend our lives with. Quite frankly speaking, I didn’t expect myself to think and feel the way I do, because I used to be such a childish and playful person. Handling a relationship and failing one definitely make me face the real music. Relationship is more than just love to me. It’s commitment, trust and understanding, which would allow two to continue to grow and go hand in hand, side by side. And definitely I reckon time has come, for me to make this major decision and commitment.

Of course, being where we are, having just worked purely for a few years, being CPF rich is the way to go. Cash poor wouldn’t even get you a kennel over your head. Therefore, purchasing our first BTO, even if we can afford it, is really a huge commitment. Me and the girl has discussed this umpteen times before we derive into a conclusion. That goes to show it is by no means easy task in choosing our love nest. Application process is easy, yet the tough task came only after the queue number was released. The queue number was released in advance. Though we got a rather lousy number the first time round, the second time was slightly better. Slightly only. We fall within the 100% percentile but unfortunately, we’re nearing the 93% percentile. Which means we NEED people to drop out or reject before we even get our chance on our ideal flat.

Few things we take into consideration. As we always thought, the sun in the morning could be a concern, but that thought change when the location of both Meadows and Palmview revealed that LRT could be a disaster affecting our love nest. Definitely, that dampens our mood. We were demoralized by that queue number, fearing that we might have to face a situation of choosing a sun-facing unit or facing the music of the LRT. Of course, something common we had in our mind ensures that Meadows was our first option because of its flooring offerings – Timber Planking for bedrooms and Ceramic Tiles for living room. That’s definitely our favourite plus an ideal location, we rejoice at the fact that there’s this option yet fearing that our chance to even pick an ideal flat at that project might not even come. True enough, within weeks from the start of the selection, we could literally see the choices selected applicants has made were skewed towards Meadows.

As times passed us by, we started making back-up considerations on Palmview. Never mind the flooring because we had decided to do it on our own. By the time selections for Meadows seems dim, drop out rate gradually increase as well. Increasing our chance and making us really believe we might just have the chance to get our ideal flat. One by one, we started on the proximity consideration, following by the height above ground level. We eliminated all 2nd to 4th storey units because we believed those are for the Malays and of course, too noisy for human beings to comfortably live in. Next up, the distance away from LRT and expressway. The sound produced from Expressway wouldn’t be as noisy (irritating too) as those noise from the LRT. Nevertheless, we are trying our best to avoid those areas.

Now here’s the fun part. We constantly monitor the queue number for weeks, including the availability of the units. At the same time, girlfriend has been hardworking enough to strike off units after units based on what is reflected from the HDB website. Suddenly, HDB website became one of the most visited websites from us. Eventually, we started ranking the units based on our liking after taking into consideration the sun direction, distance away from expressway, LRT and carpark. Honestly, up until the day or even on that day itself, we can still changing our preferences. We had a hard time convincing and justifying on the reason why we chose one unit over the other, but definitely is fun. Can’t imagine something so important and serious can be so fun at the same time. I reckon it’s all part and parcel of it.

On the day itself, we finally arrived at the HDB Hub, for a very different and special reason. Constantly, our mobile’s on, with the HDB app constantly reflecting from the screen, while at the same time, we had our eyeballs on the queue call counter. The wait was long, even though it’s only a matter of minutes. Can you now feel the anxiety in us? Finally, our queue was called and off we went into this room (I reckon we will only step foot in this room once in our entire life) where staff sit side by side with partitions in between them. We settled down and was served by this guy who was patient with us throughout and definitely allowed us to understand better the entire process. And so, we opted for the inclusions and exclusions accordingly and signed on papers after papers. It brings a surreal feeling as though we were signing on marriage papers. I cannot believe what I’m doing at some mere moments.

Leaving the room was an assurance to me. An assurance to work for the future I want to build with the very girl who was in the room with me. I’m glad me and the girl already has a plan in mind and we are definitely working towards creating our future together with this milestone set, we’re set to walk hand in hand, side by side.

Westlife Gravity Tour

I never believe in POP concerts, since the younger days where Mandarin Pop ruled Singapore briefly before this little city was invaded by international POP with the likes of Britney Spears who took the world by storm. Gradually, we saw the upcoming and rise to stardom of pop boybands such as N Sync, Backstreet Boys and Westlife. We saw how they captured the hearts of the crazy teenage girls and even the teenage boys went crazy and followed them through physical appearance such as hairdo.

I vaguely remembered being part of that craze by purchasing their albums, and memorizing every single song from their albums. No doubt, they were around our ears for a good one decade. And gradually, they silently left us. N Sync were totally gone by the time I passed my teen old days, Backstreet Boys made several appearance thereafter and only Westlife stood still yet silently. They were the ONLY pop band that is still alive since my teenage days and I reckon there is every reason why they still stood far and famous.

Hailed from Ireland, with their deep Irish culture and vocals, they have captured and retained the hearts of us and the Gen Y, and possibly attract new bloods from the Gen Z (I called it). A decade plus of music from Westlife definitely left a deep impression for me. A tip of my fingers and there I go, able to sing some of their really nice and famous songs such as My Love, I Lay My Love On You, Fool Again..etc…It even became some of the flurry love songs which has deep and meaningful lyrics that really makes love feel, really out of the world. And so, because of the mentioned, I’ve decided to watch this very concert, because they are possibly the only pop boyband I’ll ever like in my life.

Needless to say, they did not disappoint. Never mind the embarrassment we had after the girl cutely makes a mistake on the seat number. The wait was rather significant but definitely worth it. A small bet we made before the curtain was skewed towards the girl’s bet. And there we go, watching 4 ever so familiar guys waving at us and started singing. It felt as though I’m back to my younger days. No doubt, it definitely made me feel young.

Love the way they make me feel. Apart from their classics, they went on to sing some songs from their latest album ‘Gravity’ which I’m damn proud and glad I’ve heard umpteen times of that album, especially when they sang ‘Safe’ and ‘I Will Reach You’. That’s not all, when they did covers such as ‘S&M’ from Rihanna and even ‘The Time’ from Black Eyed Peas, which is simply cool stuff. Love their vocals as it still sounds as dynamic yet soothing at the same time.

Nice encore they have to end their concert on the beautifully set stage which has stars sparkling and different visuals all around. Not only that, I’ll never forget how engaging they tried to made their fans and I can greatly feel how much they appreciate us fans. Blame it on them, that I’m their followers on twitter on top of being a loyal fan. And I’m proud to say that I’m a Westlife fan and always be one for as long as they continue to sing…till then….

Gastronomia in Malacca

I’ve heard so much about Malacca since I was young. I was probably a mere teen age when I first heard about Malacca being a small little state, rich in history and of course, its colonial existence. It wasn’t until the spread of the love for their food there that captures my interest for this little place. Known for its historical architecture, my mere impression of this place are little red buildings, standing just inches away from each other, making the entire town a red picturesque.

My chance to visit this much known yet unknown place came when I chanced upon a deal in Dealguru under yahoo. I must say, these promotion mechanics happening everywhere now is really beneficial to us, but unfortunately, hurting to the business, but frankly speaking, who cares. The girl termed me kiasu when I zoomed down to the travel agency on the day the promotion was reflected. Can’t really blame me because I have restricted dates, just as much as the promotion itself.

And so, there we went on a good getaway amidst/after our busy period. We definitely reckon a 4 hour coach ride wouldn’t do much ‘damage’ to us. Even my luggage was packed only at the very last minute. That goes to show how ‘prepared’ we were for this very light-hearted getaway. The coach ride was smooth, accompanied by my ever-so-important iPhone, with music blasting from Singapore to Malacca, straight!

When we arrive, the weather was killing. Less humid yet the sun was harsher to our skin. Our ill-preparation before the trip cause us to kind of lost our way, while wanting to look for that famous chicken rice ball. Thankfully, for a rare Chinese speaking local, we managed to drag our tired body under the killer sun to find that chicken rice ball store, finally! Queue was insanely mad when we got there, and by the time we joined the queue, the piercing heat got the girl so frustrating that she went metres just to buy an umbrella. It was a relatively long queue before we got to our turn and I went ‘finally’ over that chicken rice ball. We increased the number of balls from 10 balls to 15 balls (too hungry due to the queue). Their servings is pretty much standard. Either you get half a chicken or one full chicken, followed by chicken rice balls in the multiple of 5. In no matter of time, we are done with our food and we went on in search of yummy Gula Melaka or Chendol.

With an umbrella on hand, we take our time before deciding not to torture our legs and just settle for somewhere nearer. The Chendol was awesome yet heavenly. Strong sweet taste from the brown sugar, makes the Chendol even more appealing and delicious than ever. With our bodies feeling lethargic, we headed for some photo taking around this small little town before we took a much needed nap. The bed was comfy all because it was a double bed. (One can never understand how difficult it is to get a double bedding request because most operators/travel agents/hotelier alike will simply ignore your request. Therefore, just a tip for everyone, if you ever request a bedding request to a travel agent, chances is that your request will be ignore. Back in where I am, such requests are considered additional word and we simply lied over it. Therefore, should you even want to complain to the travel agent about your bedding request, forget it, because a sentence like “I’ve already told you it’s only upon request, subjected to availability” would have bring you down.)

With soccer action at night, we wasted no time in getting our dinner. Little did we knew that Jonker Street has stores closing as early as late afternoon, and we were very lucky to be able to patronize a store which sells noodles and really awesome desserts. By the time night falls, we can see hawkers laying their makeshift area, cordoned nicely beside the walking path along Jonker Streets. When the dark totally coincides, Jonker Street turns into a buzzling street with food as the main highlights. You can literlly see hawker displaying their culinary masterpiece ranging from Otah to Carrot Cake to even ice pops. Definitely, I sense a hinge on what is it like being a child back in my parent’s younger days where it’s very kampong.

To perfect our soccer watching action, we accompanied it with lots of food. We even had a taste of their Macdonald porridge and Fried Chicken which easily outwin that of Singapore’s KFC’s. We spread the food across the dinner, blasted the TV out loud and off we went, enjoying life like never before. It wasn’t until the first yawn from a full tummy that we realized we had watched two matches back to back. Thank god for Star Sports and ESPN in the hotel. One would and could never image how worse it can get watching local channel when you don’t even understand a single word they are saying due to the language.

Next day was pretty much spent eating and sleeping as we lazed our way until check out. To be honest, 1 night in Malacca is good enough, just for a short getaway away from the hustle and bustle of rubbish Singapore. I swear I’ve gained weight just from this trip alone. However, it’ll probably be some time later before I re-visit this little town again, but one thing’s for sure, Malaysia still has what Singapore no longer have. And because of that, I’m pretty sure short getaway will continue to be on my travel agenda. Till next time…..

R.I.P Steve Jobs

"Death is very likely the best invention of life. All pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure, these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important." - Steve Jobs

Huge Dilemma

I can't help, but simply feel that I'm really STUCK at the crossroads. It's no simple route by any means. On my left, it’s the tangible items that attracts (2 months of wages with 13th month bonus), on my right, it’s the prospect of career advancement with a better salary payout.

Being where I am now, I chose to blame my company for poor Human Resource management. The lack of review in its remuneration of existing colleagues, especially more so for subsidiary. It doesn't work on the basis where a subsidiary level colleagues should be treated differently in the very first place, not even to mention how biased they can be.

To put it simply, I'm underpaid, and that makes it very difficult to me to request or expect my salary to be on par with the market, alongside with my fellow graduates so to speak. To be honest, this stepping stone that I initially thought proved to be a huge mistake. I felt that the longer I stay, my value depreciates even further.

That has dealt me a great blow. Had I known it earlier, I would have left. But the prospect of learning what I need for future, kept my heart and soul. Unfortunately, my hopes of depending on that one person who can guide me and teach me, failed me thoroughly.

There I went, bent and set on leaving. It's back to the bad old days where job searching is definitely draining me mentally and eating up my precious time. But that's the only way to go, as I come to realize this harsh truth.

Job searching, going for interview etc are such a mental torture. It leaves you with too much an uncertainty to bear, which actually translate to various negative feelings. But having said that, the good thing is, my source of income is still intact.

Time wait for no one, especially for people like me. To take this chance, while I still have that drive, passion and strength in me, I ought to think for myself, to prevent myself for really wasting my own time because whatever I am doing now, is simply not productive and it doesn't gain me experience I require. It's definitely time to move on now...i reckon, for now, I'll still have to perform that mental torturing routine

10 Ways to Identify a Dross (Bad Boss)

As per my previous post, some might be puzzled as to what does the word ‘Dross’ means? I can’t find a better word to use but the word ‘Dross’ which simply translates to ‘something regarded as worthless’. Indeed, I breathed in too much 怨气 that I seriously need to let it out. I’ve been ‘pounced on’, ‘thrown around’, ‘pushed over’ and rebuked at, umpteen times already altogether, without logical reasons.

Therefore, it explains the existence of this post and it pretty much sums up why those 怨气.

Number 1: You get a boss who doesn’t really look decent and plus the fact that there were indeed some abnormalities (it’s factual, not evil) on the facial features. One more sign is this person has no ring on its fourth finger and of course, a middle-aged tanned man.

Number 2: You have a boss who never once remembers whether the employee is on leave, MC or simply just AWOL. This would work perfect if I’m serving my NS but no, it is a disaster in this real working world. A boss doesn’t ask the employee where the absentee go, but a boss SHOULD inform all employees where the absentee goes. Come on, know what you should do and what you should not.

Number 3: You have a boss who keeps mum and so quiet during big meetings with his superior and many more superiors who is much more SUPERIOR than himself BUT once outside of that meeting room, he goes bling-blang-blung on his ideas and ranting to those poor employees.

Number 4: You get a boss who question the own service and product of the company yet doing nothing about it. Come on, you don’t say that imported apple is bad yet you still continue importing them. Worse, you questioned and laughed hysterically at those customers who actually bought those apples from us even though it’s bad. Oh man, where’s the boss seh?

Number 5: You have a boss who really looks like a boss when he first arrived, with all his boosting of his experiences, his visions for the company and his plans to execute the strategies but as time passed, his experiences, visions and plans deteriorates and vanishes like the person himself, where you can’t even see a shadow of the word ‘boss’. Probably, one might even misunderstand him as Veggie Seller in Wet Market.

Number 6: You get a boss who doesn’t engage the employees. He arrives to work without any greeting because his sulk face already says “Bad Morning’ instead of ‘Good Morning’; He goes for lunch ALONE without asking anyone (or probably no one wants to eat with him or worse, no one DARES to eat with him); He goes home as a ‘ghost’ because he does not even produce a single sound.

Number 7: You get a boss who SELECT things to do and it is only things that interest him ONLY. Those outside his ‘interest range’, of course, it will be handled forcefully by employees who were already headless about what is doing on. Best of all, if you are the lucky one selected, it’s not because you are capable but more so because you seem the ‘free-est’ to him. Period.

Number 8: You get a boss who doesn’t know the operations well enough YET still wants to manage them. It’s like you are in charge of displaying the fruits in the supermarket, yet you put those oranges in the apple crate and durian in the strawberry shelf. You do so because you don’t know strawberry is almost 10 times smaller than even the smallest ripe Durian that ever existed.

Number 9: You get a boss who sit like Johnny English in the movie ‘Johnny English Reborned’ which makes you and most others wonder were this person even born with a spinal cord with backbone or not.

Number 10: You have a boss who tell you one thing on Day 1 and ask you to do something else on Day 30, forgetting what he said on Day 1, and rejecting your work (work done based on his instruction from Day 30) on Day 40. But when you insist in telling him what he said on Day 1, he will INSIST in telling you he don’t remember what he said and worse, you took his words then on and one fine day, probably on Day 100, he’ll ask you why didn’t you follow his instruction as per Day 1.

Alright, that’s a DROSS for you people.

Boss or Dross?

Being in the working world for near 9 years accumulatively, I won’t say I’m very experienced but definitely, I know what it is like working. Looking at the intern just sitting behind me at work, as he is, being just a 19 year old boy, it wasn’t hard to feel how far I’ve come. I was taken aback when he told me being an intern in UOB Travel was the first time he actually worked. But the shock was dismissed as soon as I realize the reason behind it – he grew with a golden spoon.

Counting off hand, I have worked in at least 8 different jobs, with differing environments, I can safely say, I’ve seen most, in the aspect of how a boss/superior can behave, should behave and have behaved. I’ve definitely seen the worst (until someone else told me of their shit story back at work) and too, the best to me as well. To me, bosses are there to assist, empower his or her employees and getting involved in literally everything that is being done under his or her care. That way, respect is garnered, trust is built and naturally, the team will work in its utmost effectiveness.

Based on my experience, I would love to share some of the worst bosses I’ve ever seen, where I could really pin point their common ‘rubbish’ and of course, some of the best I’ve worked with. Based on my definition of boss, the worst one is definitely way off course to that, especially the one I am working for and under right now. All I see from this one is nothing but ‘blow cow (吹牛)’. A boss needs to give proper direction and follow it, but instead, this boss did the former but twist the latter. What’s the point of getting someone to do what you want when you are even unsure of it. Secondly, I’ve not seen a boss who behaves so pathetically. This boss of mine does and only DOES things that interest him. It’s like ‘I choose work to do as and when I want, not work choose me as and when it wants’. Oh crap. Imagine there are 10 responsibilities falling under your job scope, but because you prefer 2 out of the 10, you simply push the other 8 conveniently to your employees, who indeed feel empowered but ‘headless’ without direction. From this, I’ve seen the irresponsible side of him which utterly disgusted me. To me, a good boss praise when a job or task is done well, and correct when an error or mistake is made. It’s worse if a boss just pin point your mistakes and not praise you for your work well done, but it’s even WORSE when a boss doesn’t even bother to correct you. He even spit it right out from his mouth that he DOESN'T see or read what we did or sent him because it simply means nothing to him. Oh great! I foresee myself deteriorating under him, definitely.

To me, working is not just working. It's learning, gaining experience and exposure so as to better contribute to the company to get job satisfaction in return as well as self-grooming, bringing up your own value so as to move on with a better career prospects. But that is totally impossible if you find yourself stuck in a rut under one useless boss who, whole day does nothing but trying his luck on his 'experiments' in hope of success and there I am, one of the guinea pigs.

But then again, I always put myself in perspectives. Like many said, 做的好就留，做不好就走. I rather have myself seeking better opportunities than stuck in that rut. But on the contrary, I have been really fortunate enough to have work under good Boss.

Back in my army days, there is this superior, as much as her rank is many tiers higher than mine, she doesn't make you feel like she's your boss. Instead, she makes you feel you have to appreciate her every intention and instruction, making you feel WANT TO work harder not only for her, but myself too.

Until now, I cannot forget her motherly care as a boss, the patience she rendered while guiding me effortlessly and not forgetting her willingness to acknowledge mistakes and let me learn in my own way and my own pace.

Perhaps, it could be because she's a female boss. But in any case, our harsh and fast working society needs good boss. Bosses who really leads, guides and motivates, not for the better of the staff but more so for themselves and the company. Afterall, a sense of belonging and bond is what keeps employees and employers alike going. No one is superior in fact than another, one should act as though we can't do without anyone at all, that way, probably, working can be a wonderful joy

Injury

My knee's injured for more than a month now. I just wish I could recover as soon as possible so that I can really start to burn my fats away/off. I badly need to do so, if not, I can foresee one additional Buddha at home.

How now brown cow?!?!?

Happy 'Meng Kwek' Festival

Happy Mid Autumn Festival to all my friends. The subject might struck a question mark on you. So allow me to let the cat out of the bag. I was shopping for Mooncakes with the girl one day and I have no idea why I said 'Meng Kwek' instead of mooncake and there you go, the girl keep on 'suaning' me, non stop of course (it's not as though she gets alot of chance to do so).

Nice enough, I went to re-structure my knowledge on this particular festival and found out various adaptation. But in any case, this festival isn’t just about Mooncakes and lanterns, but also the jade rabbit (which I came to understand its existence only recently). Till today, it wasn’t a festival that my family celebrated but rather we appreciated it. Since young (only when we are young), my dad would open the entrance door wide, so we would stayed up till slightly later and watch the moon.

Traditionally, MR also has the tradition of playing lanterns (or playing with fire by two arsonists) but as age and time gradually passed, this tradition no longer exist too. Last year was my first Mid Autumn Festival with the girl. I have no idea why, although we did not deliberately celebrate, my fond memories of those photo-taking along the river of Clarke Quay cast a great impression on me.

Perhaps, if Mid-Autumn Festival is a Public Holiday like what they had back in Taiwan, there will be more people appreciating this festival, gathering with loved ones, eating mooncakes, playing lantern and appreciating the beautiful full moon while remembering the story of Chang Er.

The Time Has Come

Now that the busy period is gone, I’ve finally put myself back to the crossroads, one where I was 5 months ago. This busy period made me learnt a lot, at the same time, it make me realize the unfeeling nature of people as well. I don’t deny the steep learning curve was tough, but I’m glad I made it, with much hindrance and difficulties. The nature of the job was demanding, it’s not the work that is tough, but more often than not, it’s the dealing with people that is tough. And just when you are trying to get your work done, you get people who doesn’t put themselves in your shoes and going around barking and interfering, which gets really annoying at times. Nevertheless, being where I am, I’ve pretty much learnt all that is required of me, afterall, NATAS is the only big thing of my current job, other than that, it’s repetitive.

The fact that the Human Resource back in the headquarters overpromising has led to the disappointment of many. To be frank, those accolades and awards given to them, are a vast difference and opposite of what are they capable (or rather incapable) of doing. The way they work, the way the function, doesn’t seems to tally with their objective, which of course, led to high turnovers, as always. Perhaps if this aspect is better, I would have give this position another positive go, but time has come for me to realize that, the clock ticks even though you’re unhappy. I have to move on, for the sake of myself and future.

Being where I am now, doesn’t equip me with sufficient skills and knowledge, especially not when I have very limited exposure. Imagine this – I’m my own manager, I’m my own employee and I’m my own middleman. How to learn this way?!??! The only time you know you’re wrong is when someone spotted the mistakes. The only time you know you’re right is when no one complains about anything (which doesn’t necessary equates to you being correct at all as well). Given this limitation, and the vast potential of the outside world, I’ve come to terms with myself to move on from here. 3 years++ in this company is not short, I’m glad to have been able to partake two roles operationally – being at the counter as a sales consultant with great colleagues and being back at the backroom doing marketing with boring and difficult people. I’m glad to have known and work with two different groups of people. Afterall, in this real world, you get to see all sorts of people. I won’t consider UOB Travel a fantastic company, but the culture here is different being outside at the frontline versus being on the backroom at the support stand.

My stint here is definitely memorable and fun-filled, despite the turmoil I’ve faced in recent weeks as well as during the beginning of it. Nevertheless, I am thankful for all the chances I get to travel and see the world (which I doubt I’ll have the chance to do so ever again), travelling to so many countries which is definitely the envy of others. Of course, not forgetting the great job satisfaction that I’ve gotten and this job here definitely helped carve out my direction as to what I want to do from now. As mentioned to many before, UOB Travel is just a stepping stone to me, and probably, I feel that it’s high time I step out of here, learn more and expose myself to more opportunities elsewhere.

Girl's '18th' Birthday Celebration

It was a plan not meant. The entire idea to celebrate the girl’s 25th birthday was a different one to the end result. Nevertheless, it’s definitely one of the most memorable moments I had in my life, so memorable, it sucked me back to my own 25th celebration with the girl. I felt as though it was my very own birthday. In fact, the entire planning and celebration was a risk – a risk that would not be as surprising as I expected it to be.


I started off merely with a facebook page and nothing more. Each time updating in little by little, yet expecting her to check back to the page every Monday as I’ll revealed more. The whole “Macau Fishball” was even a nastier hoax. She got tricked of course. Never did I expect myself to be SO tight-lipped this time round. Seriously, not even a hardware tool could pry over that tight lips of mine.

Image planning a celebration as early as 3 months prior, it sure is no easy feat. However, as I strongly believe, it really takes efforts to express and show, even deep down inside, we know how the other half is feeling. Afterall, actions speaks louder than words. The sweet bouquet kickstarted everything. The ordering of them is as easy as 1,2,3. The executing it is the difficult part. I had to fake a tummy upset in order to deliver a surprise. Trust me, the best way to surprise someone is to caught that person off guard and suddenly spring an unexpected surprise.

I’m rather impressed with my “Macau Fishball”. Throughout the entire next day, her mind must be hovering around those two words. All I did was to get her to follow me as I uncover more along the way. Brought her to brunch first to satisfy her liking for eggs. Where else but Epicurious to help me do the job. My simple phrase of “you’ve eaten before but you’ve not been here before” puzzled here. For a simple reason of Epicurious having two outlets, one of which we went before and she’s aware while the one I’m leading her to in the very first surprise of the day. There, I present to her the very first present. After several guesses, she failed. The trick is, remembering what she has said, even if it’s something she said 1 year ago, because you never know when it might come in handy. And for me, it came at the perfect moment. Trust me, that expression gave her away. She totally did not expect that present and there I thought, I DID IT.

After that, I continued getting her to followed me, eventually making our way to Sentosa. Blame it on 963 who gave this part a boohoo. But nevertheless, the weapon is still hidden. Pushing her aside at the sales counter, I produce a confirmation letter to obtain the complimentary tickets to Sentosa, just so she has entirely no idea what am I up to. Indeed, she remains easy to be tricked that day. We got off and I brought her to Amara Saunctuary Resort. She was told that we’re going there for Hi-Tea. Pretending to lost my way, I make my way to the reception and kept her waiting at bay. In actual fact, I was panicky sorting the confirmation letter and there I went producing it to the receptionist without her knowledge. Deep in my mind, I am still pondering how to present this surprise to her in the best way possible. Thankfully, it’s in my blood, that’s why she called me her Doraemon. As she closed in on me, she was mentioning having our future wedding here. I replied how would she know it’s a nice place to wed without knowing how nice the rooms. And there I went, presenting the card key to her. OMG! Her expression is priceless. She gave me the most shocking look I’ve ever seen from her before. Of course, smiles follow suit and I knew, she will be a happy girl today.

Throughout the rest of the day, we spent it lazing around Sentosa like tourists and make use of the facilities of the hotel. Unfortunately, my request for the staff to come up with a special décor of the room was discovered by her. Nevertheless, I’m sure it’s a pleasant discovery. My mission there and then is to make sure she thinks I have nothing else up my sleeves. Somehow, I think I achieved that.

We went Seafood Paradise for dinner and trust us, we found one of the best Chinese restaurant in Singapore. Their seafood soup impressed us most. Of course, not forgetting the freshness of the seafood, tastefully use of the ingredients and the sweetness of the desserts. It just aids me in making the day even better as the day goes on. Just like that, we indulge in the comfort of the luxurious room and caught our favourite shows.

DING DONG! Timecheck, it was 11.45pm. The cake I ordered arrives without her knowledge. Unfortunately, she somehow guessed it would happened. But, still a nice and sweet way to wish her a very happy birthday. Of course, just before the clock strikes 12, I sent her a sms. In the sms, I ordered her to use the last application (QR Reader) to decode the last photo in her mobile phone (I sent that photo to her without her knowledge) and in there lies a message to wish her a very happy birthday.

Of course, what a better way to wake up with breakfast for bed and I’m pretty sure it’s definitely one of the happiest day of my life and for her as well. Indeed, it’s not a easy task to plan and execute a celebration like that but I believe I need to because after that, the word birthday always comes with the word happy, and I know, I achieved that.

To you: Happy ‘18’th Birthday to you. May you continue to be as pretty, sweet and wonderful as you are now and be happy always.

The Rainbow After Nightmares

Near two months into my job, I am indeed starting to get the hang of it, though the main bulk remains a short distance away. Being a marketer in UOB Travel, NATAS is seemed as a real test. Everyone in the company said, “You go through NATAS, you can handle everything”. As such, I can actually feel the pressure as NATAS starts drawing closer. Like each and every event I’ve known, the ‘behind the scene’ behind these events were never an easy job. It’s like a ‘台上十分钟, 台下十年工’ thing. You prepare months in advance, just waiting for that 3 days to be smooth sailing and over. Needless to say, the fruit of the seed is what I’m working towards, but the planting of the seed, growing of it through sweat and ‘blood’ is what I have to go through. Given the same ‘me’ few years ago, I would dread it happening. But the ‘me’ now is entirely different, I look forward to the stuff I get to learn, look forward to meeting more people along the course of this rough road.

I like what I’m exposed to and am actually happy to know what I’m in for. Never mind those possible sleepless nights, hectic days and what-nots. Doing what I’m doing now is never what I thought I will be doing when I’m young. Yet, this pursuance of this industry I called it, made me feel that the word ‘impossible’ is really never impossible. In where I am, I encounter lots of first times. My first time doing advertising, in print, online and even on radio. More interestingly, I’m even exposed to below the line advertising such as ATMs screens, SMS, mailers etc. Just take ATMs for example, it used to be just a plain machine where I draw my cash, something I wouldn’t want to visit so often (each time I visit, money is gone). But now, after learning what a ATM can actually do, from drawing cash, offering advertising at its most customized way, through the interactive screens we always see at the top of a ATM, I found myself in a amazed state. I was amazed to what marketing can do to people through even the most unexpected ways.

What’s a better learning tool than someone who is so experienced in the field itself. Meeting different people make me feel more absorbed in my work, allowing ideas to flow endlessly. I am not supposed to have my brain stuck in a jam, instead, given the environment, I am considered the soul of the department. I like how I am not restricted to a chair, a computer and a desk and off you work. I like how I can influence and be influenced by people in the most creative ways and learn through the craziest ideas I’ve ever encounter. I like how meetings can be so bombastic and insane that at the end of it, I turned inspired.

With NATAS just weeks ago, my role this time round is an entirely different side of the coin as compared to the previous ones. I left my shell of being the top sales person with a high job satisfaction to being a totally newbie in what I’m tasked for. This event means the world to me. It’s like my baby. Imagine you single-handedly plan for this event, with absolute no assistance. From booth design, to booth layout, to advertising, to co-ordination etc. I must say I look forward to my nightmares because I know after these nightmares lies a rainbow so colourful that I’ve been waiting for. =)

Club Med Phuket

Blame it on Club Med Bali for not having a very wonderful first impression of Club Med Phuket. Oh well. Nonetheless, it didn’t fall short much from our expectation as we progressively realize this short getaway was a much needed one, much due to the fact that we know we had been and will be piled up with work. Let’s start off with my clever ‘strategy’ of making full use of Club Med NATAS offer of offering Adult 1-1 promotion. Bought the land package (without the air ticket) and book budget air tickets (with only one check in luggage) ourselves, in the end, it was a great deal. For your information (benefit of my readers), NATAS is having a 2nd Adults stay free again promotion this coming August, therefore, find out more from me if you’re interested.

My first time taking Air Asia. I must say I was actually looking forward to it because other than the shitty Tiger Airways, no other budget airline can be worse, as so I thought. Indeed, it exceeded my expectations. The procedures, the web check in, the stewardess, the menu, the seats, the food, the in flight shopping and last but not least, the experience. All in all, Air Asia became my favourite and most preferred budget airline in one instance of travel one way with them. Definitely a feat for them, and a budget airline that I would recommend it to all my friends.

But in any case, we hoped and prayed for good weather. It turned out God opposed us. DAMN!!! We were greeted silently. It was an unexpected type of reception we received as compared to back in Club Med Bali. It informed us that we had to lower our expectation for the days to come for sure. Imagine a bad weather topped with a cold reception, we thought it’s near over until the room arrives. Comfy bed with a rather nice room with lots of space. So much space, we turned the sofa bed into our ‘wardrobe/cupboard/hanger’. Its toilet, as compact as usual with their usual fragrant shampoo and body wash. We wasted no time in getting our stomachs filled and oh well, the food was rather disappointing, except for the nuggets. It turned out to be a further let down when we realize supper wasn’t available in the resort, and there’s only one restaurant serving all three meals unlike the two restaurants we dined back in Club Med Bali (alright, I know I shouldn’t compare). Rained continued mercilessly. We simply rest and relax in our cosy new ‘home’ before dining dinner and enjoyed their show. Of course, who could have missed the bar. With all inclusive as their main highlight, we spared nothing. It’s only a pity we could no longer drink as well as our hey-days.

Rain continued to greet us early in the morning. Even thought we REMEMEBERED to bring our sports shoes this time round (finally something worth mentioning in comparison with Club Med Bali when we forgotten to bring track shoes), the weather did not support us. Rubbish indeed. The entire day, the rain turned into showers and coming on and off. Nevertheless, we decided to make full use of our time and money – swimming and gym. This may sound common to most but trust me when I said it feels as though I lost 30 kg out of them. That will show you how ‘often’ I exercise.

What we looked forward most is the next day where we head out to play. Patong! Shit the rain of course. We managed to get ourselves a transfer (100 baht cheaper) and head to Patong. We departed earlier than agreed previously because the girl can’t wait to shop. Oh, you know, GIRLS! Jungceylon – she makes me feel that’s a shopping paradise. In the end, it’s the supermarket that we shopped the most. We almost squeezed burst my backpack and yet, we still had to carry three big bags of tidbits. What to do what you have a shopping queen as a girlfriend. I have resigned to my lovely fate long ago, which is why I’m loving it.
Let’s Relax Spa was next. Our nightmare arrived while we’re happy dining in Swensens happy. RAIN AGAIN! Trust me, I hate walking in the rain in flip flops. Imagine getting dirty, sandy, yucky water seeped into your flip flop, polluting that ‘supposed to smell nice’ foot. Oh my. That few minutes of walk felt like years to me. My cursing and swearing finally came to a stop upon reaching the spa. Inside, tranquility filled the atmosphere which kind of soothes my previous angst emotions. Trust me, the next time I hit Thailand again, I will visit Let’s Relax. Their treatments are so heavenly that it entirely re-energized me, except for the facial one which to me, is kind of a waste of money.

We had for some seafood. Walking down along Patong Beach invites recollections when we both were in the exact same route separately years back. Coincidentally, we went to the exact same shop we dined the last time we visited Phuket. We ordered like a total of 6 dishes. It was awesome, except for the dishes she ordered (=p), somehow. LOL. We continued to explore the route and it wasn’t long before we got boring and brought some supper back ‘home’ in our ‘mission’ to get fat!


It was snorkeling the next day. We managed to get our lazy bums out of the bed and signed up for the snorkeling lessons. I am very sorry for perhaps, spoiling my girl’s trip but I simply can’t stand having those rude and couth Chinese in the group. Each time they speak, I feel like slapping or punching them. Grrr!! Nonetheless, our first snorkeling trip together and it was fun. They brought us to Chalong Bay where we took a ferry out to a nearby island, probably 40 minutes away. We snorkeling for approximately 40 minutes and it was definitely not enough. However, the total experience of snorkeling with the girl was a very fun and memorable one.

By the time we headed back, it was noon and we finally played some sports, many sports of course and just in case you thought we’re very fit, no, you are wrong. We played Tennis, Basketball, Golf and Soccer. Each not lasting more than 15 minutes. LOL. Yes, our ‘mission’ is to get fat, so what do you expect. The entire experience was brought to an end just like that. Like they always say, time flies when you are enjoying, and I cannot help but agree with it totally. The night shows with the funny music and sounds like ‘Push! Push!’ and ‘In Phuket!! In Phuket!!’, that definitely got the girl laughing. Plus the cute little young ones from Mini Club, oh how we love this place actually, plus the nightly slacking and watching of Nat Geo, awesome. Now that we’re back to reality, we really dread because we really done nothing but enjoyed the entire Club Med Phuket totally. Till our next holiday…..

Guide to a Better Life

Chanced upon this through an email sent to me. Found it rather meaningful with huge depth of truth.

Personality:
1. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
2. Don't have negative thoughts of things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment
3. Don't over do; keep your limits
4. Don't take yourself so seriously; no one else does
5. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip
6. Dream more while you are awake
7. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..
8. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner of his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
9. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
10. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present
11. No one is in charge of your happiness except you
12. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.
Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
13. Smile and laugh more
14. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community:
15. Call your family often
16. Each day give something good to others
17. Forgive everyone for everything
18. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6
19. Try to make at least three people smile each day
20. What other people think of you is none of your business
21. Your job will not take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
23. Do the right things
24. However good or bad a situation is, it will change
25. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up
26. The best is yet to come
27. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful

You Don't Please Anyone

As the title suggest, it applies especially more so in work context. However, generally in life, we got to acknowledge and if possible, embrace that fact. We got to really understand that not only we don’t please just about anyone and everyone, the fact is, we CAN’T. How many times in your life do you feel bad about not being able to do your best to please that someone you want to? How many times in your life do you feel you’re being sandwiched in between people and no one seems to understand? How many times in your life do you get misunderstood over things you did or did not? Countless I supposed.

The fact is we can’t please everyone. A simple analogy is that, no matter how nicely and wonderfully tasteful dish is cooked with high amount of good reviews, there bound to be someone who dislikes it. To each its own – how people have different preferences, perception, interpretation over so many things in life, be it major or minor. Frankly speaking, we live for our own, we fend ourselves and so we really got to open our eyes big enough to know and see what’s best for ourselves. I can confidently tell you when you’re out there slogging out guts off to earn that mere sum, ultimately, it’s your own rice bowl you have to look after. Don’t ever expect people to shield your rice bowl in times of desperation.

I stood to my belief of this particular quote I find it very meaningful – those who matter won’t mind, those who mind don’t matter. Those who really understand you won’t land you into such awkward situation. I’m blessed with which nice people whom do put themselves before me which makes me feel lucky, yet at the same time, I’m cursed with people who conveniently put their self interest before your kindest intentions, which is how I always remind myself not to commit the same mistake.

At work, it’s a war zone. It feels like ‘infernal affairs’ to me. You never know who your friend is and who your foe is. The reality comes about in times of desperation. The thing is, people tend to show their very true colors in tough and hard times. When the good times are there, everyone seems to be your friend, laughing and working happily with you. When the bad times arrives, that is when you see people pushing the blame here and there, shoving responsibility like never before where the ugly sides of people start appearing on themselves. However, having said that, it’s is naturally important we acknowledge that we can’t please just about everyone. If I were to take in all the unhappiness caused just by the fact that someone is not pleased with me, I’ll probably be burst into a whole new world of horrifying negativity. Sometimes, it’s not what we do that people are unhappy about, it’s what we do that cannot be perceived rightly to them. What may be a sweet round orange may be seen as a spiky and ugly durian. If simple words that were meant to be a joke can end a friendship abruptly, it tells and shows a lot about that friendship. If your work got criticized when it was awfully done and yet when the work was wonderfully done, you hear no praises at all, that tells you a lot about your boss.

What’s essentially more and most important to me is that taking things at my own stride which has definitely helped me in dealing with daily affairs. You lose some, you gain some. You learn through mistake and grow through achievements. As a special analogy goes, imagine your life as a theater with exclusive front row seats which offers the best view to the show. Nobody can possibly fit everyone in your life in that front row seats, you bound to make some happy, make some angry, make some jealous and make some sad. It’s all about whom you invite to the front row seats. Do you?

Getting Married: More Than It Seems

Many might think of it as too soon, but come to really sit down and put your minds together and do your math, there’s actually isn’t much time anyway. An average couple spent approx 1-2 years saving for marriage, that’s provided if the both of them has been saving a decent amount monthly and not living a ‘there’s no rainy days’ kind of life. It’s only both me and the girl sat down and we had a chat that last several hours only then we realize getting married is not as easy and simple as its seems.

Living in where we are now, the increase living cost of Singapore with competition for almost everything all around, housing included, it has naturally been a culture for couples to get a flat together first before even getting married. Weird and no sense at all, but oh well, that’s the thing in Singapore. There is NO CHOICE, alright, perhaps the better and more appropriate word would be not much choice. Imagine the numbers of things involved simply in just getting married, not even to mention what’s going to come right after that which is marriage. To be frank, since young, I dream of getting married. From a naïve thinking of ‘I love you, you love me, let’s get married’ to how I start to see a clearer and more realistic picture of getting married isn’t just about love, it consist of a whole lot of components never heard or seen before, not forgetting the culture and tradition we Chinese have to stick to. And after that mere few hours chat, my mindset changed. Somehow, looking at those figures involved and the processes of it, it kind of harshly impacted me. I feel like everything is so troublesome and it’s so costly to get married, so much so that I’m not looking forward to it as much as before, not that I do not want to get married, it’s just that the figures and processes involved were overwhelming. Nevertheless, it remained my sweet little wish and dream of mine, to be married to the love of my life.

Imagine the efforts and numbers involved – getting a flat, proposal, buying proposal ring, choosing wedding bands, photo shoot, honeymoon, wedding dinner, ROM, trying your bridal suits and gowns etc. So much work involved. No wonder there’s a job known as wedding planner. But I reckon these are what make it memorable. I often heard, bickering and arguments are common among couples while they are preparing for their marriage, but that is in fact really part and parcel of life. Like what I’ve mentioned previously, the waiting time for a flat you called your own, there’s so much to do. Applying for a flat is in fact the very first thing the couple do together towards their marriage, even with uncertainty up ahead. But once again, that’s the way things works now in Singapore.

Money is the largest concern of them all. Wedding dinner alone can cost you approx $30 to $40k, of course, not including the red packets that you will be getting back. However, after doing our maths, we realize, the harshest killer turns out to be the HDB flat you applied few years back. Imagine getting a flat with nothing on or in it. Getting renovation done to your flat is like injecting drugs into your blood. It can kill you. No wonder interior design firms and revonators are coming out with special packages to ‘lure’ couples in and even banks are here to make your day ‘better or worse’ (you decide) by coming out with renovation loans. When banks come out with loans, it means it is generally beyond the capability of many to afford. Aircon costing $3k, bed costing $1k, flooring costing a five digit figure etc, the list goes on. It’s nothing but money. Government has been ‘pushing’ people to find love, get married and bear kids, but with such a high expense living, who would have dared.

Having said the above, I believed everything that has been put in place has its reason. To either lighten the burden of the couple, or to make it memorable for the couple. Many think of it as unnecessary. For example, I’ve heard of some people who bought proposal ring that are deliberately bought cheap because they think it’s only worn ONCE, what for do they need to get a proposal ring that can even be a downpayment for a brand new car. There’s even people who wants to do away with wedding dinners because that’s simply a whole lot of chores from food tasting to choose your guest list to rushing here and ensuring your guests are hosted well. But I personally believe it is an once in a lifetime event and either we make it worthwhile and memorable, going through the happiness, troubles, spending painstakingly earned money and the entire process or we don’t do it at all. For that, I definitely look forward to my dream come true…

Universal Studios Singapore, Finally...

It was a rather last minute plan. Previously, there’s tons of reason why we didn’t visit Universal Studios Singapore – the closure of the highlight roller-coaster, the expensively deemed not value for money admission ticket etc. The good thing is, we got the tickets cheap. Real cheap, in fact, it was around half of the usual price. At $30, we happily look forward to this very day.

Unfortunately, the bad thing is the weather. Despite us praying for good weather one week before continuously for several days thereafter, our prayers went unheard. Drizzling rain welcomed the girl’s sleep. Even the girl was so excited that she woke up earlier than agreed to keep check of the weather. It turned out to be a rather disappointment for her.

Nevertheless, we went ahead, praying that this drizzling rain will not evolved into a huge thunderstorm with heavy rain. As if the humid weather caused by the rain under the sunny skies wasn’t turned off enough, we had to brave the hot weather getting wet. The bus, with a ‘R’ (goes straight to Resorts World Sentosa) took quite some time to arrive. Our day definitely did not start well, as much as we wanted it to.

Smooth-sailing as the day passed. Rain stopped, however, dark skies still looms. We ignore the uncertainty and off we go to have our breakfast (everyone needs to replenish before play isn’t it?). It’s only then I realized F&B in RWS is really expensive. I’m trying to compare a mere Toastbox in RWS against the one in neighborhood. Oh well, I should have guess just as much I supposed. By the time we entered into Universal Studios, it was raining again. By then, it’s too late to turn back. We just have to move on. The opening of Madagascar gave us ONE more reason to continue on. And so, we made that our first stop.

Crate Adventure. Our first ride of the day. 70 minutes wait, the first we encountered. Heard that it is the longest we have to queue therefore, it’s quite a relief that eventually it did not took us that long to enjoy our first ride. Nothing much on the first ride. Photo-taking was difficult because of the moving “crates” plus the lack of brightness. However, it did helped kickstart the entire playtime that day. Coincidentally, we chanced upon ZhiQin through Facebook and learnt that both him and Jia Jia is in USS too. We met them for a stunt show later in the day – Underwater World.


It’s quite lame how the ‘stuntman’ gets everything started – by pouring and shooting water through their water-tubes on those who is on the Blue Zone, harshly known as the WET zone. We sitting at the Green Zone, gently known as splash zone didn’t even get ourselves dripped throughout the entire show. Nevertheless, certain scenes of this show were quite an eye-opener to me. By then, the damn headache has already hit my head. Perhaps the ride before which is Revenge of the Mummy, worsened it. The throbbing of the head was heartlessly caused by the stupid weather prior to this anticipated outing. ANGRY! Speaking of Revenge of the Mummy, it’s probably one of our favorite. Imagine a roller-coaster in a dark, not knowing when it’s going to move forward or backward, up or down, with the addition of the visual and audio effect, it definitely add points to the satisfaction. Not forgetting the shortest queue for such exciting ride – a mere 5 minutes. Oh man, I only regret not sitting it twice.

We split way with the other lovebirds and went for our ultimate challenge after visiting the Lost World. We got turned off by the longest queue of 2 hours for the Rapids which WILL get ourselves drenched. We couldn’t figured out where was Cylon and off we went to Human (Battleship Galatica was divided into two, Human and Cylon). The 70 minute wait was not long, considering the amount of anxiety the girl was facing. When it is our turn, we were all ready, or at least, we APPEAR ready. Off her slippers and on our butts onto the seats, we were all ready to kill the ‘Cylons’. The uncertainty was what makes everything thrilling. The highest 14th floor drop at 80++ km/hr was totally breathtaking. It literally took away my soul for a moment. The entire ride, I reckon, lasted less than 5 minutes. I never failed to be thrilled by such rides.

Due to time constraints, we did not go on and try anymore ride. The queues there are definitely time killer. That’s not the main turning off point. What’s worse it I felt as though the whole India is in USS. I can literally see Indians everywhere I go, from rides to queue, from F&B outlets to toilets. Oh gosh, never mind, I shan’t continue before I turned even more racist. Instead, we turned to food. The girl had her large slice of pizza while I had my honey chicken wings. Not bad from a hungry yet ‘having headache’ person point of view, those food feels like medicine. Hollywood street, though simple, looks hell lot of fun. Photo snapping all around of building, with characters such as Joker, Betty Boop etc before we finally got ourselves into Light Camera Action! A show created by Steven Spielberg which spells out how visual and audio visual can turn a something so simple and tangible into an awesome masterpiece that we see on the screens.
Again, we met up with the other two lovebirds and off we went for dinner at Resorts World Sentosa, only to return for the fireworks back in USS again. Dinner @ Mulligans was a normal fare. Nothing much to be expected from the so called Irish cuisine. What’s next was more interesting. The fireworks somewhat differs from the usual ones I see elsewhere in MBS or RWS. A short few minutes of fireworks to conclude the night before we had our slow stroll back to the Carpark where ZhiQin parked the car.

I must say, weather did us proud ultimately, though not at the start and it was a day well spent. It’s been quite some time since we both last had such a wonderful full day date together (Singapore is BORING, so what do you expect). Would go back there again the next time to try the “Cylon” as well as the Rapids Adventure in The Lost World. Till then…

Touch with the Right Language

The journey of love comes with its ups and downs. There are moments when a relationship can feel like it has reached its brink or plateau. It could be that you and your date are simply unaware of each other's primary love language - expressions which we interpret as love and which could fill our individual "love tank".

Physical Touch
One of the most tell-tale signs that two people have decided to take their relationship seriously is when he holds her band. Doting and caring for each other in a physical way sends loving impulses to our brains, it tells us: you are loved.

For example a guy named Winston, discovered his love language is Physical Touch when he got to know Angel. He grew up with a passion for dancing. When he met Angel at a Lindy Hop dance class, the two clicked right away.

Maybe this is because, like Winston, Angel shares the same love language. Angel, in her 20s, works in the legal service and has a hectic schedule, but there's nothing more she looks forward to than meeting Winston at the end of the work week. "At the end of a long hard work week, what I need most is someone's shoulder to lie on and chat the night away. When Winston gives me a good rub on my shoulders, it makes me feel loved."

In another example, Jeremy and Lynn have known each other since university days. They still remember the day their mutual relationship took a step further to the next orbit - Jeremy had complained to Lynn of a neck pain he was suffering from, having worked out too much in the gym. Lynn, instinctively reached out to him and gave his neck a gentle rub while looking into his eyes. Without saying a word, she had effectively communicated to him, "I Love You".

She says:" I guess I've grown fond of Jeremy over the years and wanted to go further than being just friends. It was something that came quite naturally because I care for him, and touching someone brings you closer together."

Show You Care
Daniel, in his 40s, knows that his girlfriend values the physical "touch and hugs". Whenever he returns from his fortnightly overseas trip, he makes it a point to give Julie a big bear hug, a loving touch on the nose and two big kisses on her cheeks.

"It has become almost a routine, we will always walk hand in hand across the carpark and when we get into the car, I will give her another kiss."

If your partner's love language is Physical Touch, don't say "hello" without a peck on the cheek and don't say "goodby" without a sweet goodnight kiss. Hold his or her hand more often, and give each other loving touches when least expected.

Death Tourism

Being in Tourism Studies for years, though not a lot, I have how tourism comes in numerous form. You name it – Wine Tourism, Gourmet Tourism, Eco-Tourism, Space Tourism, Volunteerism, Music Tourism, Sex Tourism so on and so forth. But amazingly, I chanced upon a very unique form of tourism, but definitely not one that a person would want. We have heard of Medical Tourism, on how people travel all over the world to seek medical help, for example, a terminally ill patient travelling to the States to try and find a cure. But allow me to share a special form of tourism, ‘Death Tourism’.

This term may be new to many, but in actual fact, I’m sure some have heard of it before. Death Tourism in this case means a person travelling outside of his or her country to other country to seek suicide, assisted suicide. For example, I was reading the news on this particular guy who was a rugby player. Due to an accident, he was paralysed and it has caused tremendous suffering to himself as a result of it. He then flew from London (his home) to Zurich, Switzerland to get an organization there to perform Euthanasia (the practice of ending a life in a manner which relieves pain and suffering). He was 23 years old when he died.

Such practice is illegal in most countries, Singapore included. It’s of no wonder why it is illegal in most countries. Assisted suicide is a complicated issue in overseas. Euthanasia to me, should only be performed when it is under the will of the logical-minded person. It should only be decided by the person himself or herself. But in such incident, there are cases where one can’t speak due to certain imparity to his or her body. It’s a tricky process I feel. Yet I feel so much for those who had to make that decision.

I put myself in that shoes but I feel I wouldn’t even have the courage to think about it. Knowing you are going to die. How does that feel. Knowing your life is going to end. It doesn’t seem normal at all. Yet, I can terribly feel some victims are left with literally no choice at all. When pain conquers it all, perhaps it’s really time to say goodbye to the world. Perhaps when all hopes are gone, it’s time to end the suffering. No matter what, there is always a 50-50 perception on such. I personally feel it should be legal under very strict conditions because there bound to be people out there who requires it, but it would be going against human nature of 生老病死. As I type, I feel a terrible ache. Such decision is left with no return. What if that person decides to change his or her mind, all because he rather endure the pain and still see his or her loved ones?

Aside to that, I wonder what lethal poison did they use on those who decided to opt for assisted suicide. And for those who assisted the suicide, doesn’t that make them murderer somehow, indirectly? Oh, I feel a whirlpool of contradiction. Really, what is this world coming to?