- 12 major brands that will disappear. http://tinyurl.com/dd4emb #
- Nothing beats having a nice dinner with your family. #
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Susan Boyle
Sometimes when you are down, sick of the world, tired of all the masks that people wear, the evil things people are capable of doing, something like this comes along.
Absolutely beautiful. Absolutely stunning. Behind that age, that look, lies a beautiful voice. She reminds us that no matter how ugly the world is, there is always someone with something beautiful hidden, just like her voice.
Thanks for the reminder, Susan Boyle. It is people like Paul Potts and you that helps to restore a little faith in me.
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Fear Of The Unknown
In addition to having more responsibilities pushed to me recently, I was informed that I might be managing my own project.
My own project. And I will be managing it.
It is still uncertain though. There are just too many variables. But this is the first time I was informed that I might be managing a project.
The first thought that came to my mind was that if I am ready to manage a project. And the answer from within me came back almost immediately, in giant blinking neon letters and many exclamation marks behind, ‘NO’.
I continue to ponder about it for the next few days. If I am not ready now, when will I ever be ready? If I do not do it now, when will the next opportunity comes again? Like my friend advised me, experience is not something that is gained by sitting down and doing nothing. It is something that you accumulate by doing it. It is something that is the result of mistakes make. The more I think about it, the more I am incline to grab this chance.
Then why the big ‘NO’ initially? I put it down to my fear of the unknown. The fear of change. I have been in a comfort zone without realising it. The big NO was my body’s natural response, natural resistance to the notion of change, the notion of not knowing what lies ahead. And it could be because I have this self doubt if I am good enough, if I can do this. A mixture of fear of unknown, change and self doubt.
After figuring this out, it is up to me to manage the fear and self doubt. It is up to me to put in place measures to ensure that I am ready, I am capable to do it.
I should probably know for sure if I am getting this role in two months’ time.
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Facebook Sleazeball
Recently my friend received this message on her facebook from a sleazeball :
‘Hi babe,
You look hot and wild…love your sultry looks…I do wanna know more of what your likes are…
As for me, I am just living my life to the fullest as if it were my last day tomorrow…no pretense; just experiences to be gotten…life’s too short…
I’d like to be honest with you and not waste our time…I’m addicted to sex not in the perverted sense but nonetheless an addict to the art of making love…preferably not on a one night stand but a lover who has the same inclinations and sense of adventure…
Let’s arrange a meeting and share a bottle of wine or have a cup of coffee in a cosy room at a discreet hotel I know..call/sms me @’
What a sleazeball!
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Morals
No matter what the people around me are doing, or behaving in front of me, I would like to think I still have some morals left, and stand firm in the face of temptations.
I may be a bastard, but I am a bastard with certain morals.
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Only In Singapore
Took advantage of a few days of enforced leave to try the POSB’s Coin Deposit Machine.
Have been saving up all my loose coins and decided to try depositing the coins to my savings account. The interface was easy, everything was touch screen, and it took a few minutes to count the few hundred coins.
Even though it was mentioned in the FAQ that the bank charges $0.0075 (0.75 cents) per piece, the charges ended up to be around 2% of the total value of the deposited coins. And the money is only credited into my account the next business day.
It is only in Singapore that I have to pay the bank in order for the bank to accept my money. Why is it that POSB ‘s cash deposit machine does not charge for notes deposited and the money is credited immediately? Are coins ‘lesser money‘ than notes?
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Lie To Me
So Dollhouse did not turn out as I expected. My mei recommended another TV series, Lie to Me.
I am hooked on it. Basically it is a series about a human lie detector. He can tell if someone is lying through body language. He seems to have a sad background, as the story so far hints of it. And there are already suggestions of the inner demons he has since he knows who is lying to him, including the ones closest to him.
The plot so far is interesting, and the character development is going on fine, though not as good as Bones. Action is virtually non-existent, no car chases, no explosions and so forth. It is a series basically carried by the dialogue, the plot and the actors themselves. Tim Roth, the lead actor, plays the ‘broken hero’ character well, bringing up comparison between him and another British actor, Hugh Laurie, of the show House M.D., another TV series that I love. I really hope this series gets extended for another season.
I wonder how it is like to be able to tell if someone is lying to you or not. Imagine your spouse lies to you, and you know it, or your children lying to you about going to the library to study, or your boss lying to you about you doing a good job. Ignorance is bliss, and I am not too sure if I want to know every single time someone lies to me.
Food for thought.
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Lessons Learnt From Battlestar Galactica
10 business lessons from ‘Battlestar Galactica’. Why TV shows have to be so complicated and complex?
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Sick
After coming back from Bangkok, I promptly fell sick.
I was already having a very bad sore throat the last night in Bangkok, but it got worst when I was back. Sore throat and a nasty bout of flu kept me up whole night for the past two nights.
I wanted to see a doctor, but realised that I do not know of any clinics near my house. I have not seen a doctor for ages. Health is getting worst. Perhaps it is time to really watch what I eat, and start to put in some exercise.
And if things go as plan, I might be back in Bangkok again in a few days time.
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Bangkok Thoughts
Arrived back in Singapore after spending 4 days in Bangkok.
It was the first time I attended a presentation to the top management of a company. It was really an eye opener. The amount of preparation my management put in before the presentation, and the way they go through everything with a fine comb was another new experience. Every single line, every single word in the presentation slides, was discussed, debated. The flow, how questions are going to be handled, etc was discussed at length. We were working for 15 hours the day before the presentation, finally having our dinner at 11pm and continuing to work till 3am.
The presentation went well, and the demonstration that followed, which was conducted by me, went smoothly. We were able to provide a satisfactory, and in some cases, thought provoking, answer to every question they asked. My management thought that the presentation was one of the better ones they have done, and they have done countless of them.
It may seem that I might need to spend even more time this year in Bangkok.
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The best moment for me was when the senior management pat me on my back and said, ‘A job well done’ after spending 4 hours demonstrating and handling every single question they thrown at me. It made all the hard work that I put in, and all those sleepless nights in the hotel because of stress, worthwhile.
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My management broke to me the good news over drinks after the presentation. My reaction was one of relief. It was just way overdue.
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I am getting more and more impressed with the Thais. As the session was a full day event, they provided an executive lunch for us in the executive cafe on the executive floor. As I remarked to my management, in Singapore, the companies expect us to pay for the lunch. Our local partner told us in his broken English that because they are the ones who requested for a full day session, they feel that it is their responsibility to take care of us throughout the session. We really appreciated it.
The traffic jams in Bangkok are notorious, but throughout the times that i was trapped in the traffic, I hardly hear of any cars honking. Hardly any Thais I meet raised their voices, and they always smile. Walking on the crowded roads, I hardly encounter anyone pushing their way through, and they actually queue to get into the trains.
The warmth nature and the kindness of the Thais really make all the traffic conditions, the weather, the polluted environment more tolerable.
As I reflect on all these while on the plane, I realised that for the first time since the numerous journeys to Bangkok, I actually do not mind working in Bangkok for a short period.
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I had to take Cathay Pacific for this trip as Singapore Airlines was fully booked. Both the flight to and from Bangkok were filled with tour groups from China. As usual, they treat any location where they gathered like a village back home. Everyone was sitting everywhere, and raising their voices like it was their home. Luckily, I have my noise cancelling headphones. It helps to filter out the noise, a lot.
And the free upgrade to Business Class on my way back makes it even more tolerable.