Simple mind, simple life.
I never see failure as failure, but only as a learning
experience.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Simple Life

A good friend of mine visited me recently and bought me some dragon fruits.
She told me she doesn't know how to tell if the dragon fruits were ripe or not. My maid told me she knows as she planted them at home. Out of curiosity, I asked her what else she planted at home. Durians,

coconuts,
bananas, chilli, coffee beans. She also reared chickens and planted vegetables (considered organic as she didn't use pesticides on the latter).

I presumed she goes to the market to buy fish if she wanted some. She replied:"Don't need. Just go to the river to catch". So basically, apart from rice, she just need to go to her backyard (and river) to get whatever she needed for lunch and dinner. She also brought some bananas and chilli to the market to sell.

Her purpose of coming to Singapore to work is to save up for her son's future education and to buy a piece of land to build a house (she doesn't want to stay with her mother-in-law). I told her I envy this kind of lifestyle. She told me I could go stay with her once she had her house built.

Looking at the food prices here, everything (I really mean everything) has increased. I have to compare prices between NTUC, Cold Storage and the wet market before making any purchases nowadays.

Third world countries, the costs of living are so much lower. The thought of migrating to a third world country has formed in my mind.

Friday, November 7, 2014

Salsa Dance Workout

Great salsa video for beginners (for ladies).


YouTube link: http://youtu.be/lPwD0PNvWmI

Saturday, November 24, 2012

High returns investment, too good to be true?


Perfume for me

Last week I received an invitation via phone to attend an investment talk. OK, I must rephrase the sentence as the phone call did not indicate anything about investment at all. I was told that I was selected to attend a fragrance launch by a company called APS. The caller assured me that no purchases are needed, finger food would be provided and at the end of the event, I would be given a bottle of perfume worth $90 which is supposed to be limited edition. The event would talk about the use of expensive Oud oil in producing this fragrance and it was held at a six-star hotel. Sounded like a genuine event isn’t it? So I agreed and bought along a friend to attend over the weekend.


Upon reaching the hotel ballroom, at the registration counter we were told that a sales person would be assigned to us and it would take about one and a half hour to go through the product presentation. Sounds familiar? I wasn’t happy that I was “lured” to attend an investment talk. I asked my friend if she’s keen otherwise we could just go shopping and forget about the perfume. My friend says:”Let’s see what they have to say”. I was more concerned of being forcefully locked in until I agree to invest like what happened to another friend of mine some years ago. She attended a time share investment talk and decided to leave after half an hour. They refused to let her go and had few big size guys surrounded her. (She refused to give in and they eventually let her to go).

Anyway, we had a quick bite and coffee and were ushered in by a friendly sales person. The sales person (let’s address her as M) started by explaining that many high end perfume manufacturers use Oud oil in their perfume. Oud oil, extracted from Agarwood (from Aquilaria trees) is very expensive and is in high demand by the Arab countries and the fragrance industries. These trees are heavily harvested and are near extinction. APC (the parent company of APS) decided to grow these trees and work with plantation owners in Thailand, India, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

How does this investment work? We were told we are investing in the trees (we literally own the trees) in Thailand. We don’t get the returns until 6-7 years later as this is the time it takes for the trees to grow, mature, harvested and sold in the market. The trading price of Oud oil is very high, ranging from $600-$1200. M stressed that APS is not regulated by MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore); “bell ringing in my mind”. APS was set up here in late 2009. (I was thinking: the first batch of investors has yet to collect their investment returns). We were also told that they would fly us into Thailand plantation to view our trees which have tag numbers that would be shown in the CITES certificates as well. These were shown in the PowerPoint slides, pictures of “smiley and happy investors” standing beside their trees. No brochures were given to us to take home. My friend asked a simple question:”How many tons of trees are harvested yearly?” M and a product person could not give an answer and evaded the question saying something like “they don’t measure by tons” and that the oil produced per tree is measured in Tola. I asked what happen in the event that the trees (in Thailand) were destroyed by natural disasters. M said they would give us the exact number of trees in their Sri Lanka plantation (you believe?). We were also informed that usually the minimum amount to invest is $100,000. But they also realize that many have other financial commitments and could not part with such a large sum of money. So they allow the minimum sum to be $30,000. We asked her to email us more information. (Till now, didn’t receive any).

After we left the premise, my friend asked me:”What do you think?” I told her although I’m not a financial person, there are many questions came to my mind:

1) If this is such a lucrative investment, why didn’t the company first approach venture capitalists?

2) Since they know Oud oil is in high demand in the Arab countries, why didn’t they approach those wealthy Arabians?

3) There are many business tycoons in U.S. like Donald Trump and Warren Buffet (to name a couple) they could also approach.

4) How about tycoons in Asia: Lee Ka Shing, Cecil Chao in Hong Kong?

5) Wouldn’t our GICs, town councils, the millionaires here be interested too?

6) Why approach small time retail investors like us who have way less wealth compared to the tycoons and businessmen?

My friend replied:”My thoughts exactly. No reports are shown to us except for the slides presentation and expect us to part with our money. Remember the Sunshine Empire saga?”

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Finally solved the Rubik's cube

A couple of years ago, I bought a 3x3 Rubik’s cube. Thinking I could solve it easily but after a few tries, I gave up. Lately while I was clearing away some junks in my drawer, I saw the Rubik’s cube. It was lying at a corner and I swear I could literally hear it said:”solve me, solve me!”

So I decided and was determined to learn how to solve this cube. Where is the best place to gain knowledge without having to pay any fee? Of course it’s the internet.

I searched ‘Rubik’s cube tutorial’ in YouTube and voila, a list of people sharing their videos on solving the cube came up. So I randomly picked out one video by the name of RobH0629 who has step-by-step tutorials to guide me. (He has seven videos altogether, speaks clearly and he is brilliant).

I watched all his videos, replayed them, jolted down notes and worked the cube according to his tutorials. The last couple of videos, he showed us the different sets of algorithm to solve the cube. I knew it has to do with maths!

After many hours (eight, to be exact), I had finally solved the Rubik’s cube. I felt so satisfied and my self esteem boosted up to the next level. I thought I should share this ‘accomplishment’ with my family. But in turn I was asked:”Hmm… Are you very bored? Don’t you have hot dates to go to?”

Well, I will not let those words dampen my spirit. My next challenge would be to memorize the steps and solve the cube again.

Cool Notification from FL Commando

Recently, I downloaded an Android game, FL Commando. When it detected that I have not been playing for a few days, it sent me a notification: Commando, report for duty immediately!
Isn’t it cool?




Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Movies Review

(1) Men in Black 3 (3D)
 
Last Friday I went to the cinema to watch Men in Black 3. The ticket was free due to that a bank has offered free tickets to its corporate clients. It also provided free popcorns and a can of coke (so thoughtful).

It’s been a while since I stepped into a cinema and it’s the first time I got to watch a movie in 3D. (Yes, first time…). Hence, I was rather excited.

The movie is about Agent J (Will Smith), in order to save his partner Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) and the earth, must travel back in time to 1969 to prevent an alien criminal from killing the young Agent K (Josh Brolin).

It’s very entertaining - the lines are funny; the aliens are ugly and there’s an unexpected scenerio at the end that may bring tears to your eyes.

As for the 3D effect, I saw the depth perception between the foreground and the background. However, I feel that this makes the background look somewhat unreal. And oh the 3D glasses, not too comfortable.

Check out the official site here: http://www.meninblack.com/

 
(2) Mirror Mirror (2012)

I watched Mirror Mirror on the internet (thank goodness I didn’t pay to watch in the cinema).

Mirror Mirror is an adaption of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. It’s about an evil queen (Julia Roberts) who seized control of her husband’s kingdom right after his disappearance. The dwarfs taught Snow White (Lily Collins) to fight when she’s hiding in the forest. She ultimately saved the dwarfs and the prince (Armie Hammer). The poisoned apple was only offered to Snow White at her wedding to the prince by the queen who has lost her power. Oh, and the dwarfs wore stilts. Perhaps the director is trying to break away from the traditional story here.
 
At the end of the movie, Snow White performed a Bollywood song and dance. Seriously, a Bollywood dance for a Snow White movie? A check with the cast and crew list at the end explained it – an Indian director, Tarsem Singh. I wonder if the movie were directed by China’s Zhang Yimou, would he end it with a Chinese song and dance.
 
Check out the official site here: http://mirrormirrorfilm.com/#/home

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

How bad is your boss?

After reading blogger Gintai’s “How to nurture your boss”, I feel inspired to write about bad bosses. Gintai has also encouraged me to blog again and hence I take a break from my project to do so.

The following are some examples of bad bosses and when should one quit the job. Please feel free to share your personal experiences too.

1) The boss has PMS (pre-menstrual syndrome) everyday. She communicates with her staff by yelling.

2) The boss dares not make decisions nor takes responsibilities and has the clueless idea all the time; always asking “what do you think?”

3) The boss gets mad when a staff resigns; he gets someone to occupy the staff’s work station while the latter was serving his remaining weeks in the company, leaving the staff to find elsewhere to sit in the office.

4) The boss asked the staff to jump out of the window when the latter could not meet his sales targets.

5) The boss micro-manages his staff; warning the staff when they’re late for five minutes (when they had worked late till 2am the previous night). But when his own boss gets out of town, he’ll go for long lunches including golf-playing.

6) The boss is always abusive to his/her staff often calling them stupid.

7) The boss always send his/her staff to run personal errands like collecting laundry, going to the banks, etc., when the boss himself/herself is also the employee of the company.

8) The bosses sent a team of staff to their house over the weekend to decorate because it was their father’s birthday. The staff were not paid nor invited to stay to enjoy the party and food.

9) The sales boss (with no sales experience at all) accusing the staff of pretending to make sales calls (because he saw the staff was not talking when in actual fact, the line on the other side was ringing and no one had come to pick up yet).

10) Having a scheming and vicious boss is no easy life in the work place, especially in sales environment where sales persons’ income is based on commission for closed sales. A good boss would define/assign clear sales territories to the staff. A bad boss would act blur when your coworker starts to contact the companies that were supposed to be your sales accounts. This would create “bad blood” among coworkers.

When does one decide to “divorce” his/her boss (to call it quit)?

1) When you bring your emotional package home; throwing temple toward your loved ones; being impatient to them; easily agitated over the most minor things.

2) When you starting doubting your own intelligence; hearing voices in your head repeating what your abusive boss has been telling you “You are so stupid.”

3) When you start falling sick frequently and develop psoriasis, eczema, gastric, etc., which are stress related. This is your body signaling, telling you that your immunity is going down.

4) When your boss requires you to work onsite on Sundays (which both of you are responsible for the project) but he will not show up because he needs to spend time with his family.

5) When you start to doubt your existence in this world. (Dude, this is seriously dangerous).

The above are tell tale signs that you should seriously consider resigning, for the interests of you and your loved ones.







































Thursday, November 17, 2011

Gundam 2011


















Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Video: Another Home (The 'Other' National Day Video)

It takes a Singaporean to understand this video. Enjoy.


Saturday, May 14, 2011

How Microsoft Bought Skype


http://www.toonpool.com/artists/sinann_5624
I like Cheah Sin Ann's comic strips. I remember I interviewed Cheah for an Art project during school days. I scored A for that! I also remember he's handsome too. J Check out Cheah's other websites:
http://www.houseofcheah.com/
http://www.thefunnycartoon.com/comic-strips/comic-strips/event-horizon.html

Monday, January 17, 2011

Lady Antebellum - Need You Now

Love this song! Great lyrics; it’s exactly how I’m feeling now. The ending of the music video shows all couples reunited at a party. Wish it had happened to me too…



Picture perfect memories,
Scattered all around the floor.
Reaching for the phone cause, I can’t fight it any more.
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind.

For me it happens all the time.
It’s a quarter after one, I’m all alone and I need you now.
Said I wouldn’t come but I lost all control and I need you now.
And I don’t know how I can do without, I just need you now.

Another shot of whiskey, can’t stop looking at the door.
Wishing you’d come sweeping in the way you did before.
And I wonder if I ever cross your mind.
For me it happens all the time.

It’s a quarter after one, I’m a little drunk,
And I need you now.
Said I wouldn’t call but I lost all control and I need you now.
And I don’t know how I can do without, I just need you now.

Yes I’d rather hurt than feel nothing at all.
It’s a quarter after one, I’m all alone and I need you now.
And I said I wouldn’t call but I’m a little drunk and I need you now.
And I don’t know how I can do without, I just need you now.
I just need you now.
Oh baby I need you now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday, January 8, 2011

OH! Open House 2011 @ Marine Parade

I brought along a friend to the OH! Open House 2011 at Marine Parade today. Some very nice HDB flat owners have allowed the artists’ works to be displayed in their flats and not mind groups of strangers going into their houses to view the art pieces.

It was a good day; it did not rain. Otherwise we would definitely be drenched as the flat units are blocks apart, (though still within the neighbourhood) and we did quite a bit of walking.

The first unit we arrived at is on the 17th floor with sea view! I couldn’t help snapping a couple of shots before entering the house.

Comparing to the 2009 OH! @ Niven Road, I feel that there aren’t enough art pieces to view. This could be partly due to that the 3 & 4 rooms HDB units which are rather small. Hence I find that my ‘glass is half full’ after viewing. However, when in the car later, my friend makes a date with me for the Post-Oh! Show! on 29 January (at 48 Niven Road; 29 Jan - 13 Feb 2011), which he spotted on the brochure.

 


"Lift" at the common area.



The view from window
ouside the house.

What are they peeping?

Er... No wonder it's entitled
"Parental Guidance".
  

Thursday, December 30, 2010

My Love For You

It has been years since we last met. Though we dated briefly, I still have vivid recollection of the times we were together. For whatever reasons then, you decided not to see (or call) me anymore. Due to pride (and from my understanding if a guy is not interested in a girl anymore, he’ll stop calling), I, too did not contact you.

All these years, you have never left my mind. I always wonder how you have been. Many times I wanted to pick up the phone to call you, to tell you to give us another chance but I couldn’t do that. Perhaps I was afraid of rejection. Today, I plucked out the courage to contact you. You suggested meeting up and we had tea in town.

You look good, if not better. We chatted. You asked why I am still single. I told you it’s not easy to find a lifetime partner. I didn’t ask if you’re married. I don’t usually ask that kind of question. We talked about other things: jobs, our mutual friends whom we both have kind of lost touch with them. Then very subtly you told me you’re married.

Now I understand the saying: “the person you love most may not be the one you’ll marry”. I’m not sure if the one that you’ve married is the one that you love most. But I certainly understand that the one whom I love most does not love me.

What a way to end the year 2010. I didn’t have the courage to tell you my feelings then, and I don’t see the need to tell you today. So I gathered you’ll never know how I really feel about you. No words can describe the aching feeling inside me now.

The short periods that we spent together were wonderful moments to me. I’ll store those good memories in my heart, forever.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

The Man Who Walked into the Female Toilet


I was washing my hands in a mall’s female toilet. It was deserted and I was the only one in there. Then came in a young man with short hair, wearing spectacles, t-shirt, long pants and carrying a laptop bag. He walked straight up towards the cubicles.

I was stunned. To make sure he did not accidentally walked into the female toilet, I called out to him: “Excuse me.” He answered “yes?” and walked back to face me. It was then that I saw ‘he’ has boobs and the outline of the bra underneath ‘his’ t-shirt.

Immediately I said: “Er… Sorry.” (I didn’t want to embarrass both of us further by explaining why I apologized). She paused for a second and said: “Oh… Ok.” Then she turned to walk towards the cubicles again. Fortunately he she wasn’t mad at me.

I’m not prejudiced against one’s dressing style. I was sensitive because it’s a female toilet; especially there are many perverts roaming around these days.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Books of Humor

I chanced upon these humorous quotes and encouraging quotes recently. Really funny; great for de-stressing. Takes about five minutes to finish one book.


“It takes you twice as long to look half as good.”
“Your spouse nominates you to go on the nation’s
favourite makeover tv show.”
After carrying your nephew up to bed, it’s you that needs to have a nap.”


“You stop on the staircase to catch your breath, and can’t remember whether you were going up or down.”
“You suddenly wonder why there are so many cars driving on the wrong side of the road today.”


Pet names for each other: Then and Now
Then: Babe    Now: Piggy
Then: Sexy    Now: Sexagenarian
Then: Gorgeous   Now: Gorger


Relaxation comes from letting go of tense thoughts. Frances Wilshire
After a storm comes a calm. Proverb
To every problem there is already a solution whether you know it or not. Grenville Kleiser

Friday, December 3, 2010

Problem accessing internet with Samsung Corby Pro

Is anyone out there using this mobile - Samsung Corby Pro B5310? I bought it few months back and am facing these error messages when accessing the internet: “phone memory full” or “page too large”. Sent it to Samsung Service Center for software upgrade but is still facing this problem.

Though I’ve no problem surfing hotmail and gmail accounts but when comes to sites that have a few pictures, the error messages pop up and I simply could not continue.

It really makes my ‘mobile internet surfing’ unpleasant. Feeling crappy now…

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

OH! Open House is Back

For those who’ve missed the art exhibition Open House in 2009, OH! 2011 is back.

OH! 2009 was held in Niven Road where owners of the pre-war shop houses allowed the artists to display their art works in their homes. I enjoyed the house hoping concept to view the artists’ works.


 









OH! 2011, as I was informed will be held in Marine Parade in January. The right and below pictures are works of artists Jes Brinch and Teng Yen Lin that will be displayed then. (There should be more artists but I was only given those pictures).




From my experience in 2009, I would like to share what you should pay a little attention to:

  • Do wear shoes that are easy to take on and off. (Foreigners who are new in this country, in our culture we do not wear our shoes into someone’s house).
  • Carry an umbrella as there might still be wet days in January.
  • We were not allowed to use the houses’ toilets back in 2009 in Niven Road. Hence please do your small/big ‘businesses’ elsewhere before you go there.
So mark your calendar for OH! 2011.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Fiction: The Other One

“It’s over. We signed the papers yesterday.” Sally told Lewis, one of her close friends. “Till now, he still refuses to tell me who she is.”
“Perhaps he didn’t want to upset you further.” said Lewis.
“She has to be someone I know. Why must he protect her identity? Is she one of my friends? Lewis, did he mention to you about her?” asked Sally.
“Sally, you need to let go and move on.” Lewis advised.
“Whatever happens to our marriage vow – till death do us part? I’m still alive and he has left me!” Sally started sobbing.
“I know you’re hurting now. It takes time to heal. Whenever you need a listening ear, I’ll be there for you ok? I’m still your friend even though you’ve separated from Eddy.”
“Thanks Lewis. Thanks for staying around for me. I’ve not told my girlfriends yet. I just feel so ashamed I couldn’t keep my marriage alive.”


Two weeks later, Sally received a call from her girlfriend Lisa.
“Sally, we need to meet. I’ve something to tell you.”
“Lisa, sorry I’m…I’m not in the mood to go out.”
“It’s important. It’s about your husband Eddy.”
“Okay. Meet me at the usual café in an hour’s time.”


At the café, Lisa told Sally: “Sally, you must remain calm over what I’m going to tell you and show you.”
“Is it about Eddy’s mistress? Who is she?”
“You know Richard’s company is the client of Axtra (where Eddy works)? Well, Rich has been hearing some rumor that Eddy is having a close relationship with one of his coworker. He didn’t believe them until last night.”
“What happened last night?” asked Sally.
“Axtra invited its clients for its company’s cocktail event. Rich and his team attended; Eddy was there too. After many rounds of red wine, Rich spotted Eddy and his coworker behaving rather intimately at one dark corner. Rich couldn’t believe his eyes. Anyway he took a picture of them with his cell phone. He asks me to show it to you.” Lisa then showed Sally the picture in the cell phone. Yes, in that picture, Eddy was hugging someone (not a friendship kind of hug); a face that Sally recognized.


Suddenly it all made sense to Sally. Lewis, Eddy’s buddy-cum-colleague. The many ‘overseas business trips’ they had. The many nights that Lewis stayed over at their house ‘to work on projects’. And Eddy always told her: “Don’t wait on me, dear. We’re going to work through the night in the study room”. And what Eddy said on the day he moved out of their house: “I’m moving to Lewis’ place for the time being till I find a place for myself.”

Lewis was the other one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Gundam Fiesta 2010

Realised there's a Gundam Fiesta at a neighbourhood mall. Those toys were amazing; couldn't help take a few shots of the robots. Saw many fans; mostly men and boys buying their favourite robots. A father was carrying his baby and also busying looking at those toys.

Saw some limited edition toys on display. Wonder how much will their prices increase in the near future and is it really money well spent?