Friday, August 8, 2008 x 11:17 PM

Olympics Opening

As i'm writing this blog now, the tv program is showing the opening of olympics 2008 at Beijing.

Very spectacular, the level of participation & display really showed how much effort china had put in to make it an event one can remember for a long time.

I wonder when will Singapore be able to have the chance to host such a grand event. Tomo is the National Day & i'm sure it will be that impressive to me as well.

No tickets to the NDP, been balloting for many yrs but somehow couldn't get it. Maybe it's just my luck, have to stay at home & watch it on TV.

5 mins ago the opening was showing our Singapore team walking around the stadium aka " bird's nest". Felt kinda proud of our athletes as they walked round & waving the singapore flags. We are such a small country but able to complete with them on a international level.

Wouldn't it be great if the opening is the same day as NDP. We'll be celebrating together with the whole china tomo. Surely this will be a significant milestone in the course of history.

Had durians for dinner at the branch today. Long long time since i last tasted this king of the fruits. Bring back fond memories of my dad buying back when i was a kid & opening it with a screwdriver.

Well, having it together with my colleagues is not too bad. Very filling & i had lots of fun.

The marching of the athletes is about to come to an end. China is displaying their athletes now, a whopping 696 of them!

Hopefully when i go to beijing during sept i will be able to at least catch a little of the olympic spirit there!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008 x 11:30 PM

Running & running

Signed up for the Army Half Marathon ( AHM ) on the 24th August as well as the nike+ human race run on the 31st August.

http://www.safra.sg/singapore_bay_run.aspx?pageid=1433

http://nikeplus.nike.com/nikeplus/index.jhtml?locale=en_sg

Recently got addicted to long distance running. Running is usually to keep in shape and prevent myself from getting fat. I eat alot and also can get fat easily. Since i do not wan to curb my appetite, i better do something to repair the damage after that.

Training is fixed on wednesday and sunday afternoon. From now till the race, i'll be taking afternoon off on wed. I can't go running after my work which normally ends at 6pm. By the time i reach home it's already 630pm. After the run will be around 9pm. I can't do this routine due to the following reasons: First of all, i'll die of hunger at around 730pm, secondly, i won't be able to slp due to the adreline rush after the run!!

I'll normally go around 330pm on Wed & Sun. Quite bad as i always end up testing myself using the hot sun. If you think you will get very sweaty from the run, think again. Before anything happens, the sweat dried up.

I hope nike or adidas can invent some shoes with good ventilation. My feet feels like it's on fire everytime halfway through the run. How hot is it? Basically i can get high after taking it off immediately after the run!!

Which part of running do you like best? The last portion is the part i like the most. I can only hear myself, ignoring anything beside me. Every step is in tune with my heart, every gasp of air i can feel it rushing down my lungs.

However there is a part which people encountered called "The Wall" It's a term which describe the mental state of the person struggling whether to continue or give up. It's some sort of a transition part of the run. Remember the nike slogan " just do it" which will be very helpful. DO NOT THINK & STOP!! Just keep moving and you will find back your pace.

Lastly i will need to get more plasters to prevent blisters on my feet from all the running. Always used minimum 3 on my feet to prevent blisters from forming.

Hopefully it will not rain on my training days!!

Sunday, July 6, 2008 x 11:52 PM

No more messy lan cable!

Remember one of my previous blogs which had this picture shown below? The lan cable extend from my computer to the phone line there, bo bian lor. Quite dangerous as my grandma might trip over it while walking & during that time my pregnant sister-in-law was still staying with us, quite dangerous for her as well.



But last saturday my dad's friend came over to help us extend the wires around the house! A phone line was extend to the corner la, so now my com can just directly link to the phone line via lan cable. No more messy lan cable on the floor!

Also less kao bae from my mum while she is sweeping & mopping the floor, heng ah.

Another TV wire was extended to my grandma's room so she her shows will be clearer. She was using an antenna before this & it really can't make it. The picture looks like those displayed from a pirated DVD , damn jia lat.

However this is not all of it. He's coming back coming saturday to extend more wires to my new room. This means i can shift my computer into the room after that, yuppee! Finally no more people peeking at what i was doing on my com while walking to the kitchen. Kinda like my privacy alot.

Today was a rainy day & luckily the rain stopped around 3pm plus. Hence i'm able to train for the Army Half Marathon. http://www.safra.sg/singapore_bay_run.aspx?pageid=1433

1) Ran to Toa Payoh Stadium ( i stay in potong pasir )

2) Firstly did a 2.4km to check my timing ( need to take IPPT this wed )

3) 20 rounds at the stadium

4) Finally slow jog back home

Legs feel kinda weird everytime after my training, not tired but kinda like it's not there anymore. Hhaha....i also don't know how to describe it.

Hopefully i can finish the 21km within 2 hrs, that's the target i'm hopping to achieve, jia you!

Saturday, July 5, 2008 x 7:09 PM

My Own Room

No more slping in the living room as well as moonlighting the security guard at home! Reason is they had moved out!! Finally my bro & wife moved out to their new nest located at Yio Chu Kang.

This means that i'll be going to a quiet home without having to listen to all their whinings & loud voices. I like the quiet environment i have now of being alone when i reached home daily.

For those who happened to have a room to yourself all this while will never be able to understand my feeling. Going home after work to your own room is a fantastic feeling!! It's like having a world of my own.

I've shifted most of my stuff inside the room, which half of the cupboard belongs to my 2nd bro. He rented a room outside & will not be moving back to stay, hence he'll just leave the stuff here till the day he moves back. I don't quite forsee that suitation hitting me quite soon, maybe for another 2-3 yrs later.

The cupboard still look damn empty lor, i realised i do not have alot of stuff of my own. Some computer stuff, books, that's all, nothing else. I'm a person will very low physical assets, hahahahha!!




The left belongs to my bro while the right belongs to me. Really very empty, need to stock up on my stuff liao.

There are 2 beds in the room. I've told my mum i wanted to throw away one of them & her reaction definitely told me it's a big fat "NO". I guess that's reserve for my bro when he comes back.

So not much space left in the room, nothing much to get from Ikea even though i would like to fully re-design the room. But it's more than enough for me. For it's something i've waited, something i've desired for many many years... and i'm glad it finally came to me.

Sunday, March 23, 2008 x 12:29 AM

Musical Chair

Recently been applying quite a number of jobs. Some in foreign banks, others in brokerage firms.
Met a few people from the recruitment companies such as robert walters to establish my portfolio as well as get to understand my expectations.

Got my increment last week which is not that impressive but also not too bad. I would say it's kinda average in the banking industry. However consider the sub-prime turmoil going on now, satisfactory is the word to be used here.

Went for a number of interviews and got 2 offers from brokerage firms as an equity dealer. Jobscope will be deals execution from inhouse clients as well as advisory for external clients. FYI it's not a sales job, no commission and just a normal mthly paid worker.
( that's for the 1st offer )

2nd offer is also the same, equity dealer but however the jobscope requires me to do sales such as selling structured products to customers. However what i don't understand is that this is also a mthly paid job. Weird if u ask me, for why do i need to do sales when i'm not being paid commission. I have no idea and the interviewer also could not give me a satisfactory answer.

Needless to say i declined both offers. Honestly i don't really feel the push factor to move to a new job. Currently i have a bunch of very nice colleagues, great boss and i'm able to go home quite early everyday. This means i have much more free time on my own as compared to those who need to work OT daily. So considering all these, i can't really find any realistic push factor.
( money is very subjective as what is more to you may be less to another )

However if the pull factor is very strong from the other side, such as a very very high increment, then it's a different story. Or the job is from a very reputable foreign bank, then i might consider jumping even though the increment isn't that high.

I just went for an interview at Deutsche Bank on a role in fixed income ( settlements ) on last thursday. Interviewed by 3 person ( been a long time since i'm interviewed by a panel of people ) Nowadays interview for me is much different as compared to just graduated from NTU.
As a fresh graduate, you are trying very hard to sell yourself to the employer, trying to impress them with your best attributes and skills & finally trying hard to get the job.

However at this stage, interviews for me can be describe as finding out what's my expectations as well as wat's their expectations. I can say it's more like a discussion rather than an interview.

Stressful at interview? No at all, as it's a situation where the employers are finding people to fit in and i'm trying to find out what can they provide me with and what advancement are there for me. So it will be the best with a win-win situation when all can fit perfectly. If this situation is not possible, so be it. There will always be chances. As i said, there is no strong push factor for me, only waiting for the strong pull factor from the other side.

Let's see whether i will hear from them the coming week. Even if there's no news, i'll still be happily working together with my colleagues as it's the best part of my working life right now!

Monday, February 4, 2008 x 10:20 PM

Sorry people, can't complete the episode as i have a super mum at home!

Thursday, January 31, 2008 x 11:12 PM

CNY CNY, dong dong chang, gong xi fa cai!!