Weekly update liao

Looks like its going to be a weekly update of my blog nowadays. =P Loads had happened this past week. An ex student of Wheng had been knocked down by a car, and was in a coma for 2 days before passing away on around midnight on Wed. We had visited her for 2 nights at the ICU in CGH, praying for her to pull through. Rather saddened by the news although I didn't know her.

Well, life goes on and yes, reminded me again on the importance of my family and friends, though i must say that i need no reminding. Celebrated mother's birthday on 1st May. Actually wanted to bring her for fishing competition, but no competition was held cos of the higher costs nowadays. Thus only went for dinner at Long Beach restaurant, where the portions seemed to have gotten smaller although the price remained the same. =P

Quite happening in the workplace. With the drive towards reliability, will be tweaking the bad actors list and some reports. Good news is that the people there are having more confidence in me as my recommendations (some with help of my senior colleagues + supervisor) are proven to be effective. Ideas are being accepted, aka less challenged, as I have a bit more experience from other similar pumps and thus can provide better justifications. Not so good news would be that I will probably be leaving Seraya by June, leaving after getting into the job and having to start all over again ... hmmmm... well. At least I am leaving Seraya wtih goodwill and had contributed to Seraya in my short stay of about 6 months now.

Wonder how the GTKY session will be on 8th May. If i get to choose between Dubai and Singapore posting, I will ask for Dubai. Since I am still 'young', think should seize the opportunity to head out and explore other countries. In theory, I would be able to put more efforts into self development over there as I will not have the chance to play mahjong, meet up with friends etc. Instead, starting would be able to concentrate on picking up whatever skills i need to do well in my new role and to make new friends and have some self development within the next 3 years. Furthermore, hopefully by the time i come back, I would have healthy savings and the property market is in the lull. =P

Changed my engine oil to full synthetic 5w-30, Pennzoil platinum, which is owned by Shell actually. Chose this over Shell Helix as Shell Helix only comes in 5w-40, which i will use only when my engine gets older. =P Hopefully my fuel efficiency will increase from the current average of 14.8km/l.

Back home in less than an hour

Got back home today in less than an hour, rather smooth traffic throughout the journey. Left office at 5:45, drove off at about 5:55 after the engine had warmed up and stuff, was pleasantly surprised to have parked my car at 6:45. =D

Read the papers and walked to the coffeeshop near my place for dinner with my parents and younger bro. So nice. Makes the cost of the car very worth it. If money can let me have time with my family, it is definitely worth spending. =D

As for work, it is getting packed as i assume the responsibility of the PODU side, things are piling up with more projects to do. At least i had completed one which i had started, and several small ones are closed too. =) My supervisor is also setting up a rather 'big' time presentation for me next month, hopefully my presentation will go well, and i have to start preparing tomorrow, cos Feb is coming and there are always things cropping up during the day. Hmmm... maybe will need to spend some time working at home or during weekends. Heh.

i guess the good news is, i am happy with the challenge. Hope i can go through this smoothly and succeed. =D Then is looking forward to the course at KL this coming March, then another course in Changi this April, which means i get to sleep in more.

Starting to get busy preparing for the Lunar New Year, had completed delivering the new year goodies (consisting of 1kg ba kua and 1 box of peanut based CNY goodies) to all my aunts and uncle. For their support during my fight with cancer and also for having completed University and started work. =D I think it is just what i can do, a small gesture of appreciation. The most common reaction to seeing me was .... 'wah! Getting married ar?' Or 'Sending out wedding invitations?' =P

All in all, a happy week so far, and time is really flying by when one enjoys it. =P Another thing is... market is crashing, and looks like there are opportunities to profit from the stock market again, except... probably wait for it to settle a bit first. ;P

Visiting friends day...

Popped over to Weiling's place this morning to visit her son.... and the lovely couple of course. =P Didnt get to see her son since his birth, so drove there with wheng and fen. David and cbt couldnt make it. =P

Reached at 11am, and he was such a cute little baby! 8 plus months and quite afraid of strangers. He cried when fen and wheng tried to pick him up, but to everyone's (even weiling and hubby) surprise, he was quite ok to be picked up by me! Thus as u can see from the photo, i get to be the first to take photo with him. =D



The double rainbow, unfortunately not that clear in the photo for the second one, was spotted by wheng and i as we sat in the back of yongxi's pickup on our way to wala wala for dinner with dawn, roy and later on, uncle teng and mandy. Its been a long time since i saw a rainbow.. next time will relate the story of what REALLY lies underneath a rainbow, cos i been there.. heh.

Anyway, back to today.. After 2 hours of chatting, we headed for lunch at Parkway parade area and then to David's place, a long time since i been there. Several changes with lots of new gadgets. Chatted and played nintendo wii with wheng and fen till 7pm as i have to fetch my dad from the fish farm back home before heading out for dinner with the 2 of them. All in all, a fun day where i caught up with long time no see friends.. heh. =)

Learn guitar? or piano....

Thinking of which musical instruments to learn, as i have a $300 'learning' fund which i can tap on per year from Shell. As 2007 is ending soon, i do not have much time to source for courses which i will be interested in learning, thus will be settling for learning musical instruments as i didnt have the opportunity to learn previously.

Just visited the yamaha music school and obtained the brochure for the teen/adult courses. Fortunately, the new guitar and piano courses will be starting soon, so wondering if i should try the guitar or the piano. As for having the instruments to practise, recently acquired a 2nd hand guitar to practice on and also a possibility of getting a piano too! The question is, whether my fingers have enough dexterity to be able to play any of them! Cant imagine how hard i would laugh if my fingers cramp in the midst of learning to play. =P

If i get the piano, highly likely will go for the piano course, or ask my friend if she would want to and have time to teach me as she is qualified to teach piano. =P Hmmm... not bad, 27 years and getting to nurture my musical genes, which is good as i know i cant sing to save my life. Unless my vocals can cause the villain/s to commit suicide. =P

Stardust....

Went to catch Stardust, the movie, a few days back, think on tues actually. Was meeting yongxi and kaixin for dinner and to pass back kaixin's restored hard disk and retrieved data in her portable one. Took me about 3 hours of tinkering before i managed to get her sister's data out of her virus hit hard disk and then re-formatting the latter before re-installing the OS.

The movie was unplanned but well, it was a good movie nonetheless. They felt that it was a bit lame, the puns and jokes. But it did bring good hearty laughter. =D The plot was nothing new, but the fantasy involved was remarkably good, i think. Enjoyed the fantasy part pretty well, how the story line evolved etc. I guess i am a sucker for such fantasy stuff, and nice to be absorbed into a movie and surreal surroundings and embarking onto adventures. heh.

Hiaz...my life has been an adventure so far, and miss my sailing days where i get to sail to different ports and cities. Staring into the darkness of the night when out at sea, only with the hum of the engines; whisper of the wind; display of lights by the stars; the company of the moon and the glow of the sea. Those were the days.. heh. =)

solar car team on the next phrase of their lives..=)

Well, finally..in less than 2 months after our solar car project was called off. The 3 of us had all found jobs in various sectors. Mine was a lengthly process which took 4 months; kaixin was offered last week, slightly below 3k at Cameron and yongxi just signed his contract today, with the highest salary among us at DSTA, yes more than me too - well done!! (kx and i piling pressure on him for makan based on this.. heh heh)

And i can also finally rest easy and happy for them for one had found what she wanted to try out, with possibility of overseas movement. The other.. well, good pay and potential move towards being a Professional Engineer. Which means that the entire solar car team had successfully transited into working life; 2 in marine industry, 2 in oil/petrochemical industry, 1 in finance, 1 in semi-conductor and 1 in defense. Why rest easy? Cos i have finally completed my responsibilities towards my team members, self-imposed responsibilities cos dont think anyone knows that i am shouldering that anyway. =P Nonetheless... very happy feeling with a tinge of disappointment, and that disappointment was out of my control although we did good. =D

Now everyone is on the next stage ... my best wishes to all, to those just started and also to those who had embarked on their careers a few months before too! =)

3 yrs down the road ...

Yesterday was my grandmother's 3rd year death anniversary. It follows the lunar calendar, nonetheless, it would be rather close to the 'western' calendar we are using. 3 years since her death would be 3 years from the day i was admitted to NUH for chemotherapy. Can still recall very vividly events which unfolded that day.

It was in the morning when we dashed down to my grandmother's place where we had a last visit to her as she was on her way to the other side. My first time with someone passing on and i remembered she responded as i called out to her. Soon it was near noon and i had to head over to NUH and wheng accompanied me as my parents (my dad being eldest son) had to take charge over the funeral. Thus my 1st experience with chemo drugs was with wheng, fen and david (who came over in the afternoon i think) and actually cant remember who came over also. =P Cos the main memory was the extreme pain all over me, especially at the arm portion where the drugs were injected. 4 hours it took, and the nurse told me cos it was my 1st time, so they went slow.... and for the rest of the chemo, it took about an hour.

Only managed to attend my grandmother's funeral once, in the afternoon when i was discharged from hospital. Weak and tired, only remember crying quite a bit, for i do miss her even though most of the time when i visit her, i would just sit in the living room, and watch tv with her. She would speak in teochew and i answer mainly in mandarin. =P Can still remember years back, when i made 'snow-skin' mooncakes for her and she ate them all, saying that she prefers my imperfect red bean moon cakes over the others. heh.. 3 yrs down the road, thinking back still makes me tear.

Sometimes i still think back, and felt that my grandma helped me in my recovery from cancer and i appreciate it very much. Life is unpredictable and that is what make me treasure everyone around me so much. From family to friends to sometimes even strangers when i feel like just helping them out when i can. That is why i want to spend more time with my parents, for they had done so much for me. =) Looking out for the next place to bring my mom to... maybe to Japan next year, then US the year after next. Maybe if with bro's sponsorship, can bring both of them overseas next year. heh.

Pondering over idea of buying a car...

The week passed with thoughts of buying a car to make my working life a tad bit less tiring as i could then drive to work. So have been weighing the pros and cons for the past week, especially since i have more time to think about it during the breaks and lulls of the course i am attending.

An hour more sleep per working day sounds good, and so does the freedom to stay back late in office when i want or need to instead of having to catch the company shuttle bus out to Jurong East MRT at 2 scheduled times. And if i am tired, can always get some rest before driving home slightly after peak hours. Having a car also gives me ability to meet friends in a 'faster' way as compared to public transport (the last time at greenwood, i left home 1.5 hrs early and was still slightly late) and also the chance to send friends home too! =D

Although i had considered the possibility of having to buy a car when i signed up for shell as the workplace will be either at P. Bukom or Jurong island, at least i have the financial ability to buy it. But i never thought that i will be considering about it so soon, less than a month at work actually. =/

To own a car will cost about $1k per month, factoring in petrol, parking (at least it is free at seraya), insurance (should i register it under wheng as her insurance will be cheaper due to the fact that she obtained her license 8~9 years ago while mine is less than 2 years old?) and taxes. Not to mention the downpayment that i require to reduce the initial loan amount, thus currently thinking of an idea to benefit friends rather than the bank and the guy in mind would be mr cbt, although yet to ask him about it. hmmmmmm...

Anyway, the cost of getting a car will be $1000 less savings a day and the closest alternative would be to take a cab (will have to call a cab for pickup at office), which should cost about $30~35; or if i hitch a ride with any colleague (which i am still getting to know them), the taxi from their place will be less than $25 (so far, all stay in the west, from redhill to jurong or some in the north). This will allow me to take about 30 taxi trips in a month. And being the miser like me, i will most likely be taking the bus anyway. =P

Saving a thousand dollars more per month is a shit load of money and that comes with the ability to treat friends to a good meal when i feel like it (of which a few treats are coming up as soon as i get my paycheck). heh heh. And also the increase in my capacity to investment in stocks, although nowadays, i think it will way too high liao. So waiting for a market crash or a market major correction, which will give me a better window to invest, and if i can maintain my my current performance of >50% gains in investing, i would get over $30k of profits over the next five years and savings of over $100k (if all goes swee swee for everything, but as they say in stocks: past performance is not an indication of future performances - may go up to 70% gains.. heh heh heh =P). With that load of savings, i would be able to go into property as the chances of property market to ONLY go up for the stretch of the next 7 years is slim.

Everything is cyclical, and since nobody can predict the future, but i want to be prepared for it. So when the down time comes, i would (in theory) be able to get a private apt/house or HDB flat 'cheap' by then. And hopefully on my way to financial freedom (if all goes smoothly according to plan). i expect some deviation on my plans but heck, change is the only constant anyway. =P

Yesterday watched Arsenal vs Man U with yongxi and leslie at wheng's place, out 'bachelor's' corner and played winning 11 during half time break. heh heh. Not bad leh, with duty free Hoegaarden and chips. So roy! if u are reading this, will attempt to jio u again next week cos u are on duty if i calculated correctly - need your timetable dude, its going to be soccer night every sat if possible.
Current beer stock = 18 bottles of Hoegaarden, 3 cans of heineken. Peanuts = zero. Cheese balls = 9 packets.

Shedding off the secret of being offered .....

a career in Shell!

Well, it is the first of October today, and it is time when i can happily announce that i will be re-entering the work force after retiring to increase my education level 4 years ago. Why a secret, cos apparently, there is a vacancy available and i am the only one among the gouramnians team singapore who is a graduate and could start early. So as to not increase the anxiety of others, the Shell HR, Grace, informed me not to tell until Oct. Nonetheless, one smart detective among team singapore had actually sniffed out the secret before i wrote this post.. hmmmm. Smart! =P

Thinking back, it was fun while in the Navy and rather sad that i have decided to leave, and left. Miss the days back in Tuas Naval Base and shipboard life, with fun and laughter and a whole lot of stress too. Well, good news is, will be meeting up 10 fellow officers from RSS Vengeance tomorrow night for dinner. Good to have a chance of catching up. Looking forward to it.

Was supposed to sign the contract last week, but was postponed till tomorrow, but was yet again postponed to this wed cos the HR gal, Jennette had to go out field. But i'm ok. As long as they dont retract the offer. =P

Well, felt very lucky to have been offered the opportunity to work in shell after a 3 month process. Applied for it in the first week of Jun, and it was the first resume i had sent out. Received an online questionaire a fortnight later and subsequently an interview in Jul. As my time was taken up with the solar car project, it was at the back of my mind, which was nerve racking at times as it was a long 3 weeks wait before i received a response. =P And off i went to the magical land of Gourami for an intensive experience, met plenty of fun and able people and of course, enjoyed myself. =D

So, here i am, sitting i front of my computer, smiling away as i feel very thankful for being lucky enough to be offered a job at Shell. Hopefully, the people there will be fun and have a good work environment like in the navy. i guess work stress will be present, and i hope that it would be of a level which i can manage. heh. And yes, this is the reason why i am going for 2 short trips, one to phuket with the solar car team members who are still unemployed xP; the other to bring my mom for a holiday before i get all busy again. Very happy to be bringing my mom overseas again (the 1st being a backpack trip to Europe, and yes, my mom is tough though i carry the backpack while she carries the day pack =D) as she had been delivering newspapers to support the family for more than 20 years already, so want to fulfill her wishes to visit every corner of planet Earth, well, maybe i bring her to a new place every year. heh. =P Wanted to bring my dad over, but unfortunately, someone has to stay back to deliver the papers. hmmm...

Convo thoughts

Felt quite tired out as i was compiling the photos in powerpoint for posting in my blog, maybe will finish it later but for now, lets just jot down my thoughts.. heh.

I guess it is an 'official' close to the 4 years in NTU, of which the most valuable things gained are not knowledge, but of friends. Despite being older and of a different age group, without friends from JC or secondary schools in MAE, i am very happy to have made so many friends who cares about me. Am touched whenever someone asks about my health and much more.

While the usual saying that it is difficult to make good friends in university where competition is stiff .. blah blah blah. I am fortunate to have quite a number of friends whom i would want to take photos with for memory, and hopefully one day, i will find time to ask them out for coffee or lunch outside of school. Didnt really get to go out often as we met only within campus, so i guess it will be different after everyone starts working. =P

Was also lucky to have crossed paths with wonderful professors such as Yeo S.H., David Butler and later on Tek Seang, John Heng etc. Of which they had supported me till today, where i had grown much in terms of experience, knowledge, exposure etc.

As my fate with NTU has yet to end though it has officially 'ended', as my next phase in life is evolved with a bunch of fantastic people who are still pushing on with the project in NTU for the next few months. So. .. till then, i foresee more events to unfold, and am looking forward to more positive news and results. =D Thus the conclusion to the chapter with NTU/MAE has yet to be written.

Woke up early to set a road marker in my life

Had been thinking about graduate studies for some time already. The reasons for it are plentiful, such as challenging myself, trying out research in the areas which i have interest in, provide myself a chance of inventing a patent with market potential, to enable me to teach at a tertiary level.

I think i would be interested in teaching higher levels, more fun as i can impart more information and also stuff apart from modules. Looking back at teaching sec 1 science and econs at 'A' levels, i find more satisfaction teaching higher levels as it is less of a one way thing. With higher maturity in the student, imparting knowledge gets easier.

Thus the road marker is set. Had just registered for the GRE or Graduate Record Exams on 24th Nov 2007. That would be a USD160 bet, and i aim to ace it so that my chances of studying in US for my PhD will be increased. It seems that after some research, the universities in US have a wider area of research i am interested in and more importantly, they view research as research, not as potential money spinners.

So i guess its time to hit the books again, especially after the WSC race in Australia. But will start by next week, time to borrow books from the library liao.

Voting day tomolo !!!

Hahahaha !!! Finally get to cast my vote at least ONCE in my lifetime. Didnt get to do it last year when there was a walkover, but this time .. heh heh heh.

So what's so great about voting? It makes me and hopefully just about anyone who gets to vote feel more for Singapore be it for PAP or for any other opposition party. Even those who dont get to ponder, think and criticise about policies, politics etc etc.

I guess in the grand scheme of things, elections are good in a sense as they give Singaporeans a sense of belonging to Singapore. Where everyone (those who votes may be more involved ba..) gets to have a little say in the way they want the country to be run. Democracy? To a certain extent in my view. It boils down to who will be representing me in parliament and his views, character and abilities.