yada yada..

okay, fine. its finally here. exams week, tmr is the first paper--game theory. open book test, but im not arranging the notes, not preparing anything, basically just felt so so sick when i see any materials at all. see the irony, game theory is suppose to teach me how to make decisions rationally. guess emotions are not rational at all eh.

oh yesterday night still watch tv til late, realised that central is actually one of those very interesting channels, got very good programs here and there that are not very well publisized. i watched this dance thing by Akram Khan, apparently some 30 year old cheorographer from London, the genre is alternative Khatak (some indian dance). very interesting, probably the best cheorographed dance i ever seen. he added in sounds, and movements that are in sync with the sounds, so the dancers produce sounds. engages one more of your senses. the instruments used is a percussion, either a indian drum or some pot, with a cello as melody. cool.

now gian-ning nike V10. watch that displays and syncronises with the distance/acceleration measure device that is attach to your shoe. costs $199. US dollars depreciating, last i heard? just realised that all the shops in queensway, having 40% of sales on their watches. originally wanted to see whether they have the latest stuff, i guess not. for those out there who does not know, all the major shops in queensway shopping center has the same owner. oh just told by my friend that b.i.r.d is owned by some indonesian, they are not nike boutiques. the shopkeepers really dunno anything abt nike products by the way.

got a salomon VA comp. didnt manage to get VA PRO-II no size. oh well.

exam weeks are those times that i watch the most tv, and do things that i dont usually do, just to evade touching my materials. gosh.

anyways was watching some sad stories on tv, like tragedies. so i swtich away to another channel. my roomate commented that i am very sheltered from any evil of the world. well, i guess its true, i am very blessed in that sense i guess, good family, good friends. just some insecurities and lack of talents and brains. haha.

talking about family, how do you feel about your family?

exams. idle. dinner?

its exams period. about 10 days away. i always feel idle when i am having exams. such a contradictory feeling, not because im overly smart, that i dont need much revision or im idle cos i refuse to do my revision (in fact its the opposite). just that there's this bored;idle;sien; whatever-you-wanna-call-it feeling.

and as a sidekick to idle feeling, its really excruciating everytime it reaches dinner, when i have to decide what to eat. lunch is ok most of the time cos BY DEFAULT i'll be eating in sch (YUCKS!). and this i-hate-to-randomly-choose-my-dinner feeling weighs heavier on me during times like this. so sometimes i would ask my friends to have dinner with me, so that the company will lessen my pain on my taste buds and the emotional aftermath that comes. but oh well, i have busy friends and housemates.

maybe its some kind of pre-exam trauma. haha.. or im just weird. but hey, try not to eat at your home for almost 6 full years (i discounted the holidays periods when i go back ipoh), after that, you can qualify to call me picky. hehe..

anyways thru this i realise that i have a short attention span (which i know since young), and i hate to be idle. Oh, and i hate to be indoors for a long period of time (esp in my residence), it'll drive me crazy.

sprained my ankle on tuesday. pains me to walk down that 4 flight of stairs to get lunch or dinner everytime. of course it is the emotional claustraphobia to stay in my residence for more than a certain number of hours that will scath me more. i became so bored from revising and doodling on the laptop that i tried to sleep, but just staring at the darkness and not falling into sleep, then i realise something.

so every night when you lie on your bed and stare at the back of your eyelids, when all you see is darkness, when you turn your body and find a good position to slumber, take a moment to realise again that you can see and walk freely, to enjoy the sight and to travel to anywhere physically pain-free. take a second moment to imagine how would it feel like if you can't see and walk.

then.


Rejoice and Thank God. because He is good to you.

sonic-edge service

date: 30 OCT (SAT)
location: Bukit Merah Touch Community Theatre basement (Magic BOX)

cool stuff, these guys did some electro-art stuff. got 3 characters that acted, with ambient sounds in the backgroud, then some guy will say smtg into a mic, that creates some special effect. really good acting, dedicated people.

then of course our favourite local band, the sonic-edge band, performing, leading worship. like their songs lots, have been listening again and again. waiting for surreal's debut and sonic-edge's second album.

check out:
www.sonic-edge.org
www.surrealonline.blogspot.com

good stuff. you guys oughta come down to magic box one of those last saturdays of the month. last sat of NOV 2004, anyone?

cycle

so there is this friend that told me something about relationship, when i say that there are a lot of people that is in this "vicious cycle" of getting into relationship, so he say is due to these reasons:

the familiarity, the comfort, the security or whatever or even expectations from ppl around

1. duno what he/she wants, but recognises the need for companionship and comfort

2. relationship junkie, can't stand being alone

*i censored 3 and 4 and 5

quite true i guess. so what do you think?

have you found someone?

"so have u found someone u like? hehe... dont try to act shy leh... haha.... but its better to choose carefully rather than regretting later on, esp for u cos u really have your own views and perspects to alot of things... u will really need a very understanding person..."

cut and paste directly from a mail one of my close friends sent me.. oh well.. sigh?

cannot agree more again..

finally someone that really speaks my mind (am i made for marketing or what? :) )
my marketing prof was saying in class that significant difference can be made with good product style. it is something so obvious but yet people always overlook it. he said that maybe sometimes high management people are scholar blind or they just dont really care about aesthetics. last time when ericsson have not merged with sony, they make phones that are not as good looking, causing low sales.

think about it, if IBM can sell with their black boxes laptops, and if one day they come out with designs as pretty as apple's then they will sure sell like hotcakes. not just IBM, but just any wintel laptops or desktops. people are willing to endure a significant amount of hardships (like incompatibility) to continue to stick with products like apple because of their product design.

common' apple is not just chio ok, its user friendly and all wintel fans shut up cos you are all to fixed with the way a wintel machine operate so don't say apple is hard to use. take a kid that have not use a computer before and let him use apple first, then wintel. he will dispise wintel outright.

packaging is a very underused strategy also. look at ipod's packaging, open up, it says "enjoy" on one side, then open up again and you see the gorgeous. its the whole experience of unwrapping that makes people want to buy new stuff again.

please, products are the end products of your company. it is THE THING. goodness, can't a company as big as xxxxxxxxx hire some better industrial designers? at least more than half of the world's companies can be the xxxxxxxx.

spoken. thanks prof.

birthdayyyyy wohooo..

yesterday celebrated birthday for one of my church network's guy aat d'original satay club(really a place that sells bad hawker food and charge premium)and later went over to my good friend's at Olio in Suntec. that guy has got 20 people excluding himself. quite a number huh..

well, what does birthday really means to you? is it a yearly thing to look forward, dread for, or just numb? someone should compile a data on how people feel towards their birthday each year.. if there is such a data please send me.. :)

everybody's free to wear sunscreen

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

feet info

interesting, was reading new balance's website:

if your shoe wears out on the outside sole, you are a over-pronate; inside, under-pronate.
different archs for different shoe.

so if you want to buy a shoe that really fits and feel good, see your arch, high or low or neutral, and the pronate things, there are shoes that adjust how your feet impact the ground. (if you are over pronate, you impact from the outside of your heel, under is the opp.)

they advise that you bring your old shoes for the guy at the shop to recommend. but i wonder how many sales person even know what you are talking about.

don't tell me its not true

today my marketing prof was asking for an example of a product that is very disatisfying but yet pple go back and buy it still. An exchange student beside me say,"Microsoft." and my prof was like cannot be more agreeable.

He say that Microsoft was always ranked as one of the best brand of the word, and it is, in his words, ridiculous. Rediculous is an understatement of the tyranny.

He also said that the microsoft website is one of the most frequent visited sites, and its due to the very fact that alot of pple in the world do not know how to change their preset homepage!!!! How funny..

i like this prof man.

India

For those that know, I went to India for Business Study Mission last summers. Its not like great, great, but its kinda nice experience. maybe its because im pro-Asia. no attempt to conceal how shallow and irritating i feel whites are. anyways.

Last summers, its Chennai and Bangalore, for those that have not been, Chennai is a industralised and hot/humid place, while Bangalore is cooling, heard its 20degrees during Oct. However, i missed the Hydrabad part cos i have to come back for a retreat. (flew home myself on Sri Lankan Airs, transit whole day at Sri Lanka, stayed at this hotel by beach, ate exotic buffet for dinner)

oh well interestingly, there is an opening for mission trip for rural area for Hydrabad, so guess im going back to Hydrabad in Dec. I know most of you all don't share the liking for Asia countries and for Indians like i do, but i just feel a heart for them, you know, like when you pass by little India, which one would be your reaction:
a) "please don't take bus 67? we'll be suffocating!"
b) just to observe and feel for these people that congregates, far away from homeland.

i'm not noble or what, but i just feel for them, maybe you feel for people group more, maybe you don't.

what will go wrong

oh my, today is national day and i forgot about it. so many things on my mind.

okay, lets list down the exciting things that happened in the week:
monday--late for class and do not know where, and realise didnt get bid. but got bid for a class that i missed 2 weeks of lesson, how to catch up man

tues--went to sch and realise that forget to bring a book that cost $4 fine per hour. take bus home to get book, take cab to sch, wasted money and late for project meeting.
went to do survey, hated it. people just dont like my face, don't want to do survey for me.
went for a meeting suppose to be lunch meeting, but all gone already left me
fan broke

wed--

thurs--

fri--

璋�

I....

Thank God that things don't go my way because i learn to be patient
Thank God that my ideas are not accepted, because i learn to grow stronger
Thank God for the position that i will fill because i learn servant leadership
Thank God for feeling down and depressed that i know i am living a normal life
Thank God for the opportunity that i do not have that i will fight harder and learn harder
Thank God for the mistakes that i have made that i know i'm still human and i still need Him
Thank God for the foolishness i exposed of myself now when now i'm still nobody
Thank God if any think i'm weird while i can still afford to change
Thank God for my crooked lower leg that i know im so much fortunate than many
Thank God for the run and perspiration that i know i'm healthy
Thank God for friends that i know i'm not lonely

Thank God for God, because there is no one like You.




Do you have something to be thankful of?

complain expert...

was watching "bourne supremacy" on sat night, then half way thru the show, whole filming went out, then resumed after 15 secs or so. after the show, got this guys that went to complain. my friend thinks that they are experts in complaining, saying things like "we want a full refund", "last time we wrote in, all we got was an apology"... hehe..

in the end? we got a free show.

corp reporting

quote this good lecturer:

"if you pay nuts, you get monkeys"

i salute him, he can make such a boring subject become interesting.

*salute. wish i have the capacity to participate more in his class.

friendship?

define friendship?

i think its really sad that the relationship of mankind have developed into a stage of practicality and mechanical way. people see you smile at you, oh fair enough, i won't announce myself as their friends, they are just classmates, school mates, ths guy at work, this girl from my neighbourhood so on and so forth. but its really confusing when people call you friends and all they are interested is to msn or call or sms you when there is a need or help needed.

it is hard to find someone who is genuine, some one that relates to a person in a person way. how many friends of yours are genuinely interested about you as a person? or interested in your life? or simple how-are-yous a matter of fact? in fact i did a small personaly experiement and realise that almost all the people do not expect a answer when they ask how are you. imagine if you ask a person what's the time and the person did not answer you fully, you will surely ask"yeah?" or "uhuh, yes?", but most people that ask how-are-yous, will just turn their head even before the other party replies fully.

i mean some people are just naturally more busy and love to occupy their lives with things, so naturally they don't have the extra time and effort and energy to get to know pple deeper and that's fair. then i feel that it is not apt to just announce yourself as someone elses friend, if you are not interested in that person, as a person. call that person classmate or projectmate or whatever, just don't use the title friends too losely.

i feel.

...

in a period of grief now, something someone said, laptop can't log on school network, mailbox died, things not working well for me, not getting courses, feeling tired.

ya ya..

gathered with wenhan and keanchoy and the rest of the presby guys who came to singapore for a few days, one of us brought a girl. and thus i was shot the question again.

"eh, why you haven't attaach ah?"

how to answer leh? what do you think?

is there free lunch?

is there free lunch?

black cheena

kill-lung smoke. girls with no money to buy cloth. mixing colorful disinfectants. ear drums haters. my first thought is: "get a life?"

HOWEVER most people tell me they can destress there, oh well, why not. but definitely not for me.

schooool..arghhhhhhh!!

ok. This is it. There are people crowding around biz lobby level1, where in the past will only be crowded when there is like free food or what. people are crowding around biz lobby 2, for what?? people are like permanantly stuck in food haven. the bookstore has longer queues than the famous hawker, verts is thrilled with the business im sure.

who are all those people??

well understandably the sch is small.

what the heck, why like to crowd. DON'T FREAKING STAND IN PLACES THAT PEOPLE NEED TO WALK.

geddit?

huh..?

"my toes are laughing!"..biang.. who came out with such a stupid expression sia, sigh. Apparently some people are created with more previleges like having toes that have emotions, have a mouth, and can make sounds (laughing sounds)... freaaaaaaaaaaaaaky.

Cane & Abel

            Was recently introduced to a book that a friend claimed that will change one's life���Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Finished the book within a day or so, interesting, no doubt, very engaging. One of the most interesting I've yet read.
 
ATTENTION: SPOILER OF BOOK BELOW, STOP READING FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK
 
            In brief, the book categorizes human history, culture, attitude and era with into this two category-- Takers and Leavers.
 
Takers: those that want to triumph over the world and the gods and feel that the world is better with their rule and creation ends with a climax with the appearance of men on this earth. They felt that the gods have flopped in taking care of the world and decided to take things into their own hands to rule. The way that they rule is to eliminate any other thing that is of threat to their survival or food chain.
 
Leavers: those that think that the gods have done a great job in maintaining the survival and evolution of species and maintains birth control and lets nature do the job by putting to death the extras. They will only gather or cultivate what they need, unlike the takers, who wants to cultivate the whole earth and to eliminate all threats and related sources, not only those that threat them directly.
 
            Of course, for those who are more inclined to perceive things by methodological or logical means, some premises or assumptions of this theory or argument is that the whole thing of big bang or God or gods are mere mythology of human creation. According to the author, Human kind enacts story to explain their existence and ���history���. He mentioned that human history is a mere study and observation of limited records of just human kind, a mere species in a pool of diversity on this green stump we live on. From what I gather, he claims that history is just a mere derivation of a small sample size record, which has no true argumentative value or supports for acts or behaviors of human.
 
            However, the world evolves around laws, things that will dictate the way things are just like gravity ensures free fall. One will only ���defy��� gravity for the moment that one jumps off the cliff, but soon to realize that the ground rising on him. Even those that invented flying machines are, but a captive of the prerogative of laws of aerodynamics. The takers, however, has defied the law. Okay I���m getting weary in telling his theories; nonetheless, I will go into my own opinions and views on a number of his arguments. My views are completely independent of any attempted attacks or infringing of rights and beliefs, but just a personal expression.
 
            I must say that he has some findings that would have crossed only very limited few if not none. It is interesting that he can see the bible a description of a leaver of how takers fall from grace or ���innocence��� as so the author puts. He claims that the bible is describing the leavers and takers metaphorically, rather than in true direct description. This was of course, based on the premise that God does not exist, and that the rest of the chapters of the bible are irrelevant. He also sarcastically mentioned Christ���s words in Mat chapter 6. I find that it is a rather flimsy base that he has built his premise on, because of those assumptions such as-- there is no divine being in work. He also mentioned about prophets that are sent to remind and to judge the takers who have turned away from the law of nature. How would him, then explain the miracles that are recorded in the bible? There are certain things that there is not a chance that people of the 1st century will be able to fake, such as revelation records the gold in heaven is white or colorless, it puzzles many until the finding that gold, in its purest form, is truly colorless.
 
            However, there are things that I agree to a large extend, such as the act of men to eliminate every available source of threat. I like his way of describing it, using hyenas, lion grass and game. It is then mentioned that diversity, is essential for survival. This is my personal favorite argument of this book. It is not hard to understand such an argument. Even corporate companies understand this point nowadays, with highly diverse portfolios and employment; companies such as Apple Computers have people in the sales team with a fine art degree.
 
            I felt that the findings of this book are extremely engaging, but some lacked considerations, which is totally understandable, and after all, it���s just an expression. The breaking down of the Soviet Union could not be reasoned by such narrow cause. There are many components of the fall of Marxism. I often find that people have a big fuss in Marxism and communism, countries like China and Korea are often criticized for its economic measure that are not as ���free���. But ironically, THE country that put the most pressure on issues like the appreciation of Ren Ming Bi and human rights, have a more restricted and backward practice of free enterprise economic system. The perception of right and wrong of communism is but, like the idea of takers and leavers, a problem in execution. The idea of Marxism is meant to be a wholesome scholastic finding, but the side effect of execution is purely due to insensitivity and concepts brought out of context.
 
            It is arguable that takers still exist in their purest form in this era. Maybe you can say that in soul and spirit, we are still takers, but in definition, I don���t see how we eliminate every possible threat that we see by all means. I feel that as much as the writer likes to believe, takers are NOT capable of eliminating all threats and leavers.
 
            I believe to achieve what the writer aspires is not straying away from what the bible teaches us. The bible terms the ���work��� that we are now toiling daily for is due to the sin that Adam has committed. Work, is originally meant to be enjoyable, just as what Adam is to do, eat of the garden. But may I ask, if the leavers wrote the bible, or rather the book of Genesis, then why is the god in the bible ask men to subdue the earth? God also asked Adam to multiply be fruitful and to occupy the whole earth. Does not subdue means to rule over? The writer mentions that the ruler of the prison rules over the rest of the prison but is not able to break apart the bars of their cages. I don���t believe that God asked Adam to be the ruler in the prison, but rather be the ruler of the earth, as the ���prison��� is yet to be in existence. How then is the issue of population control by the ways of the leavers, in the mentions of the author, to be addressed?
 
             It is my heart felt that issues like the ethics of gene alteration, GM products should not have occurred if men have not depleted the resources of the world in such a ���worldly��� manner. Human being is naturally careless of the natural environment until signs of major deterioration are put in his face. This is therefore, a fallen world, as recorded in the bible. This world is fallen because of sin. I am not saying that we could blame everything that goes wrong in this world to the flaw of men because of the sin Adam committed, a point the writer subtly included in his writings, not without a tint of sarcasm.
 
            It is a very amazing way that the author can see and link things happening in this world and of the records of the bible in such a logical and almost convincing way. If he had lived in earlier times where people would have more ears to give heed to his teachings, he would have been termed to have received enlightenment, I believe. But the ways of God is not of a academic discussion, not can it be humanly derived through logical and intellectual means.
 
            For the Lord says that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, what the God is going to do, but every knee shall bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.
 
 
Reach me at silverfishs@hotmaill.com 
  
            
 

ipoh

its always funnny how i wished so much to come back to ipoh when i was in singapore and longed so much for home food and the food in ipoh, but when i come back, i always eat less than i would like to.. maybe not much to do, thats why wont get hungry..

lets paste my msn nick here before i change it to another one:

steve jobs,"the back of our displays look much better than the fronts of many of our competitors"

#1

ok ok..

well well, i actually conformed into writing blogs, always have big ambitions to have my blog on my own website but i website takes another zillion lightyears to plan and be created, so well, make-shift is good for now i guess. what ugly fonts...how to change?


steve jobs,"the back of our displays look much better than the fronts of many of our competitors" says:
how to change the fonts ah?
ascetic: ���浣����sir, ��╁��浜����锛� says:
edit html
ascetic: ���浣����sir, ��╁��浜����锛� says:
i think under settings
ascetic: ���浣����sir, ��╁��浜����锛� says:
formatting
ascetic: ���浣����sir, ��╁��浜����锛� says:
then i duno liao haha
ascetic: ���浣����sir, ��╁��浜����锛� says:
thats why i dun use


hmmm...wait i try