Eclectic Jam: tech, biz, music, religion, society, etc

The Lord works from the inside out

2010-07-29T00:10:00.001+08:00

“The Lord works from the inside out.
The world works from the outside in.

The world would take people out of the slums.
Christ takes the slums out of people, and then
they take themselves out of the slums.

The world would mold men by changing their environment.
Christ changes men, who then change their environment.

The world would shape human behavior,
but Christ can change human nature.”

-Ezra Taft Benson

World Entrepreneurship Day Singapore (2010)

2010-04-16T16:50:00.000+08:00

World Entrepreneurship Day (WED) is celebrated annually in 22 countries around the world. We bring you the first WED in SINGAPORE tomorrow! Come down, celebrate entrepreneurship & innovation, listen to outstanding entrepreneurs and engage with like-minded entrepreneurial people!

WED SINGAPORE will be held on

Saturday, 17th April 2010
Seminar Room 2-1,
Mochtar Riady Building,
NUS Business School

I’m glad that I’m finally done with the video for World Entrepreneurship Day!

It’s my first time using Corel VideoStudio Pro X3 and been many years since I last did video-editing, enjoy the short video!

Those interested in WED Singapore, held tomorrow! Check out http://www.facebook.com/wedsingapore

1st World Entrepreneurship Day in SINGAPORE!

2010-04-08T09:57:00.000+08:00

World Entrepreneurship Day (WED) is THE internationally-recognized day for celebration of entrepreneurship and innovation which takes place annually on April 16 worldwide. With a network of 22 countries and 22 states of the US, and an aim to expand it to 100+ countries, all 50 states, all 7 continents this year, WED's mission is to remind the world that it is entrepreneurs who have consistently and courageously led economies in recession back to prosperity and growth through innovation and job creation.

So here comes the first WED in Singapore - a speaking event and workshop to celebrate the World Entrepreneurship Day. If you have watched a TEDtalk and was wowed, this 2-session event is designed to WOW you as least that much with
...the most memorable sharing
...hand-on experience working on real challenges
...a rare chances to listen to feedbacks and insights from such speakers as
- Mr. Paul Dunn, Co-founder of Buy1GIVE1;
- Mr Alvin Lee, Founder of Beautiful Minds,
- Mr. Adrian Tan, Founder & CEO of Antenna Consulting;
- Ms. Shiao-Yin Kuik, Founder of School of Thought,
- Mr Fredrik Haren, Founder of interesting.org
- and MORE

The event will be facilitated by
- Mr. Aseem Thakur, Founder of Give.sg;
- Mr. Gary Guwe, Founder of Speak Ventures

On top of that, this is also an opportunity for you to discover and connect with like-minded people not only in Singapore, but also within our global network.
Our dearest fans, we are also proud to announce that WED activities in Singapore will be showcased at the United Nations Conference on entrepreneurship in NYC this coming 14th April.

So...
Ready to be blown away?
Have an idea you think would change the world?
Want to be a part of Singapore's first show case of Entrepreneurship on its very own day?

Details for WED SINGAPORE 2010

Date:Saturday, 17 April 2010
Time:13:30 - 18:00
Location:Seminar room 2-1
Street:Mochtar Riady Building - NUS Business School View map

Seats are limited. Do Register NOW at http://bit.ly/reg_wedsingapore

For details, join the facebook group http://www.facebook.com/wedsingapore

NB: The above excerpt is reproduced from the Facebook group page.

Random Ramblings #2: Break Free

2010-04-05T21:42:00.000+08:00

Break free...
Break free of the stereotypes, the labels, the perceptions of others.
Break free of the circumstances, dismal and uncongenial habits
that bound me and hinder me
from becoming the the man I can be.

What's the use of having boundless potential dormant within,
that only the closest of your friends and family only know of.
What is "potential" worth, if it continues to be hidden, obscure and deprived from the world.

Sometimes, being blessed with a myriad of strengths and talents,
can be a curse... especially when it continues to be hidden in the darkness,
the blanket of dark habits and weaknesses that obscure them.

I know I'm more than what I've been till this day.
I keep of thinking that life is long, that there're so many more days to my life...
But I was thinking that way 10 years ago.
At a blink of an eye, I'm already nearing 25.
And who knows, if I continue to think this way, 30,50,70 will quickly come knocking to my door.

Which beckons, what do I want to bring to the grave?
I know most people at my age, their 20s, would probably not had close encounters with death.
I don't know what others have been through,
But this I know...that coming close to death, once and twice.
And having lost some bodily and mental gifts, abilities and things I used to have...
It's been a huge torment, a huge pain for me.

Yet knowing this fact, not just in head knowledge,
Knowing that 'life is short', that 'life is unpredictable',
that I can go any moment.
Yet I still find myself slipping back time and time again,
being a victim of my old habits, and becoming complacent, resting on my laurels.

There's more to life than what it already has been.
Help stir up in me, a healthy discontentment with what I've in life.
I've always been moved by the pain of others.
Sometimes, I wished I wasn't that sensitive or emotional,
but I can't help when I see the pain, that longing for a better life..in the eyes of the children,
the eyes of the oppressed and victims I've seen in my journeys through life.

I pray for love.
I pray for humility.
I pray for peace and serenity.
And most importantly, I pray for faith.
As I step out in faith,
venturing out of my comfort zone again.
Not just once, but on a daily basis,
let me break free...break free from the past pains, the past troubles,
break free perceptions, expectations.

Break free, and rise above.
Let us rise daily, and seize the day.
The world needs more passionate and purpose-driven individuals.

©DJPANG 5th April 2010

Symposium Neue Thinken

2010-04-03T23:35:00.000+08:00

Sat, 3rd April 2010 @ NUS Business School

An incredible day of learning, sharing, discussing and understanding better about social innovation/social entrepreneurship.

I met a lot of amazing, creative people..all very open, and driven to learn about S.E.

The panel of speakers were amazing, and the dialogue/conversation in the late afternoon was probably one of the liveliest , passionate, raw candid dialogues most in the audience would ever have experienced.

One of the 4 remarkable speakers: Jack Sim, World Toilet Organisation

The workshops were interactive; the participants were amazing; the emcee was amusing, entertaining & engaging; and the overall experience was awesome with a big A.

It was one of those rare experiences, whereby you go home..not only learning more about a concept, more about yourself, more about others' perspectives...but also with a lot of joy, that you've met like-minded, passionate people, and the new friendships and potential collaborations you could follow up with. Great meeting you all.

More info:
"The Symposium is an interactive platform for individuals to learn more about social innovation and change through the lens of social entrepreneurship.
It is also where youths can explore ways to engage in social entrepreneurship through various platforms like AIESEC, Syinc and SE Forum.”
http://neuethinken.blogspot.com/

虎年快乐 Happy Chinese New Year 2010

2010-02-13T16:26:00.001+08:00

To all my friends, family & loved ones
In this new year, I wish you all abundant prosperity & good health!
Hu！ (虎），Hu!（虎), Hu!（虎), Have a TIGERiffic year!

To all tigers
(including myself)

Literally translates,
“ The tiger’s era, tigers gather;

You’re tiger, I’m tiger,
Everyone’s tiger;

Family’s tigers, Country’s tigers, The World’s tigers!

Wishing all of us tigers
All the best in this
year of the tiger!”

Mishaps are like knives

2010-02-10T22:11:00.001+08:00

“ Mishaps are like knives,
that either serve us or cut us,
as we grasp them by the blade or the handle.”

-James Russell Lowell
(1819 – 1891 American Romantic, poet, critic, editor, and diploma)

There Is A Flip Side to Everything

2010-02-07T16:16:00.001+08:00

Derek Sivers: Weird, or just different?

In a nutshell:

Sometimes we need to travel to opposite sides of the world, to challenge the assumptions we hold and not be surprised at the answers we get. Often what holds true for 1 side of the world, is the direct opposite of the other.

Why I like this video:
In just 2 short minutes, Derek brings his point across in an engaging and informative way, with interesting examples. Especially liked the e.g.of streets vs blocks.

Random Ramblings #1: Alive and True

2010-02-05T16:00:00.000+08:00

What is it like to be alive,
To be true to thy self & thou soul?
For we bury our real selves under guises,
Guises of politically correctness & politeness;

We fear what others might think,
We are slaves to the approval of men,
And often we don't mean what we say,
Or say what we mean.

We're taught to "think before we speak",
but do we think too much and soon forget what we intended to speak?
Do we quench that fire burning in our hearts,
With cold shower of cynic's opinions?

Like how that ol Japanese saying goes,
"A nail that sticks out gets hammered down."
Somewhere in the recesses of our minds,
Do we subconsciously submit to that notion?

While growing up, I always appreciated harmony,
So much so that it seems like I practise self-censorship every so often,
Fearing that indeed if I speak, I'll be hammered down by someone in authority
Someone who's supposed to have a "better" opinion,
Someone more qualified?

Is it really wrong though, to be ignorant and voice out what you feel?
I used to hate people who appeared like empty vessels,
Trying to argue about an issue, while they are misinformed or
With arguments so shallow it's like wading through a swimming pool fit for a foetus.

But at least I salute them for first coming out of their comfort zone,
That comfort zone of sitting on the fence,
And not take the risk of becoming the public enemy or being ridiculed.

And talking about opinions...
When was the last time I really voiced what I felt.
An opinion which ain't just regurgitating what you hear or read in the news,
any 'auntie' can do that.

When's the last time I thought critically about an issue?
To develop my own personal opinion?
And not just opinions, but also principles, convictions.
Where are my convictions, my principles, my morals, my values?

What do I stand for?
What makes me alive?
Am I true to myself?

Thoughts & Action

2009-12-08T12:24:00.001+08:00

“ Think like a man of action,
act like a man of thought.”
— Henri Bergson

2012: A Ludicrous, Riveting movie of Cataclysmic Grandeur

2009-12-03T04:02:00.000+08:00

©DJPANG, 3rd December 2009

Is it yet another doomsday movie?

2012 – When I first heard of the movie, I thought it would yet be another sci-fi doomsday movie, though this time the twist is not some huge comet colliding into the earth (think Armageddon), neither is it some invasion by a huge flotilla of extra-terrestrial space ships with an insane arsenal of firepower (think Independence Day).

This one comes in an even more sophisticated form: A destabilizing of the Earth's core, due to the Sun's flares and coincidental alignment of it with the Earth and other planets, or what they'd call "Earth Displacement Theory".

And the outcome?

Gigantic breaks in the Earth's crust, mega earthquakes, entire cities caving in and plunging into the ocean, a super volcano erupting from beneath Yellowstone park in spectacular style, sending blazing fireballs flying in the air. This also sends an enormous cloud of poisonous ash enveloping the entire North America. Across the world, similar hotspots also experience similar effects, with Hawaii engulfed in rivers of lava. In addition, killer tsunamis also devastate Asia & Indian subcontinent, with tidal waves reaching as high as Everest! WTF!

Main Characters

Caught in the middle of this impending disaster is Jackson Curtis (played by John Cusack), beleaguered divorced husband/writer/limousine driver, who discovers the government’s conspiracy to build ships (arks) to save the world’s elite and the brightest, and his relentless efforts to save his family from cataclysmic extinction.

Cusack does an impeccable job, lending his trademark “everyman” charm, which renders it impossible not to root for him, as he outruns & barely escapes one destruction after another in the movie.

The other main character in the movie is the government scientist, Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) the man who discovered the impending disaster (with the help of Indian astrophysicist) and triggered the frenetic motion of events. Chiwetel plays his role to great effect as the conscientious, good-guy scientist with heart, as he tries to do his best to save as many people as possible. Indeed, he seems to shine as rare beacon of sanity, in the face of the destructive chaos. (Though I found the scenes where he repeatedly harks back to hero Cusack’s obscure sci-fi writer/book pretty funny)

overly pragmatic & loathsome chief-of-staff vs
compassionate, earnest, “good-guy” Adrian

Danny Glover plays the tormented president with dignity; Oliver Platt plays the cold and overly pragmatic chief-of-staff with villainous glee ; Woody Harrelson also plays conspiracy-nut, shock-jock, hippie DJ Charlie Frost with such eccentric hilarity as he goes on the airwaves ranting about how the world is going to end.

A Surprise – I Actually Liked It! Immense Catharsis!

For someone who thinks he’s inured to such movies, I was surprised to find myself actually enjoying the movie. The 2 and half hours just flew by without me taking a peek at my watch. Maybe it’s because I’ve not watched such movies in eons & eons and it proved immensely cathartic seeing such ludicrous and entertaining mayhem. Imagine going on a heart-pounding, exhilarating thrill ride.

Destructive Grandeur & Hilarity Abounding

The scenes of grandiose destruction are just abounding in this movie, certainly more than suffice to satisfy any “state-of-the-art CGI effects” junky.

Think Independence Day, but a hundred times better.

The special effects are simply ridiculously excessive, but here’s a few of my favourites:

1. Cusack’s character, Curtis, driving the limo through the streets of Los Angeles as roads cave in, freeways and skyscrapers crumble all around. He even drives through a fallen building lying parallel through the ground, and crashes out the glass windows on the other side, just in time before the building crumbles.

The frenetic action culminates as they reach the airport and quickly get on the sole airplane, and it takes off just in time as the land beneath it crumbles. It then barely scrapes under some falling skyscrapers, before it goes up in the sky.

And as they look down below, they see an entire city caving into the cracks of the Earth’s crust and plunging into the sea. (and that’s just the beginning of tones of unbelievable, jaw-dropping outlandish action)

2. Shock jock Charlie Frost stands atop the hill at Yellowstone Park, and the super volcano erupts in magnificent style, sending a shock wave across. Subsequently, a wall of fire rushes toward him, with fireballs raining down, ravaging everything in their path – and this bonkers guy’s just screaming “Bring it on”.

helluva super volcanic eruption!

3. Curtis and family standing in the midst of the Himalayas and an entire troop of helicopters flies over them, and lo and behold – helicopters carrying giraffes, elephants, rhinos and other animals in big slings .(think modern day Noah’s Ark)

4. (This might not qualify as special, but most certainly farcical and extremely amusing) Queen Elizabeth look-alike (complete with her trademark outfit, hat and her Corgis! So cute!) rushing into the ark.

Besides the plethora of special effects, hackneyed melodrama clichés are aplenty too, but that’s precisely why it’s so entertaining to watch. There wasn’t much character development, which might be a good thing for such action/special-effects movies else the movie would have dragged beyond 3 hours.

Food for Thought

But most importantly, beyond all these noise, the movie proves surprisingly good, not solely due to the cast of good actors or wondrous effects, but because it also seeks to examine an important issue : How will humanity respond to such a crisis, if it ever happens? And the next profound question:

If there’re only a few people who can be saved, how then do we choose the people worth saving?

Is it necessarily true that only the best, the brightest, the richest, the most talented kind deserve to live – preserving the best of our gene pool? It also shows in the face of such catastrophe, humans often can become selfish, elitist survivalists , who just fend for themselves, and disregard their fellow men.

However, this is also how the hero scientist, Adrian Helmsley, shines as a beacon of sanity & heart in that particular scene, where he delivers an impassioned speech for compassion to the people onboard, to let more people into the ship. He even quotes from Curtis’s book,

“The moment we stop fighting for each other, is the moment that we lose our humanity”.

Not surprising, the movie closes with a feel-good ending.

Conclusion

This movie was definitely a surprise, as I thought it’d be quite trashy and overly predictable. The surprise was that despite the special effects overload and countless clichés, I found it entertaining still. I’d reckon this movie also rekindled my love for special effects after so many years, perhaps because it did such an unbelievably, impeccable job of creating such beautiful destructive grandeur. Or perhaps it is because I found it immensely refreshing, after going on a diet of sophisticated, arthouse films for the past years, and suddenly reverting back to a right-in-your-face blockbuster B-movie with loads of special effects simply blew me away. If you’re looking for a “feel-good”, “everyday man defeats the 1 in a million odds of surviving” movie and you’re a sucker for “special-effects” & “clichéd melodrama”, 2012 is certainly a must-watch!

Rating: 4/5 stars

Interesting Fact

Adam Lambert of American Idol fame, sings the song for the closing credits , “Time For Miracles”.

Interesting Singaporean Fact

For those who grew up watching the horrifically boring “Masters of the Seas” TV series on Channel 5 in the 1990s, you’d probably recognize home-grown Singapore actor, Chin Han. He acts as Tenzin, the Tibetan who saves his family by giving them a backdoor entry onto one of the arks, and in the process, helping John Cusack’s character and family. He’s also acted in small roles in “The Dark Knight” too.

Written by Colin Pang, ©DJPANG, 3rd December 2009

APEC CEO Summit Interview #3: Tony Meloto, Gawad Kalinga

2009-11-11T09:07:00.000+08:00

Mr Tony Meloto
Founder & Managing Directorof Gawad Kalinga

APEC 2009 CEO Summit
13^th November 2009

Brief Info

Gawad Kalinga (GK), officially the Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation, is a Philippine-based poverty reduction andnation-building movement launched by Couples for Christ (CFC), a Catholic lay community, to care for worse-off Filipinos and survivors of natural disasters.

The following interview was conducted by Colin Pang and Sarah Bte Adam, Singapore country delegates of APEC VOF (Voices of the Future) 2009 @ APEC CEO Summit 2009.

QN: How do you see Gawad Kalinga’s role in APEC economies in the next 10 years?

ANS: Gawad Kalinga is simply an Asian model of development, and our mission is Asians ending poverty in Asia. We’ve chosen Singapore as the hub for our mission of bringing GK to the different countries in Asia. Since this is the hub for innovation, this is the hub for business, the hub for education , so we’re going to India next year and we’re connecting with the students and the corporations and the people in social development who are not here in Singapore.

We’d be bringing to Malaysia next year too, probably Sabah. And we’re now in Cambodia. And besides, Singapore is a good model for social development, since they have already shown that it is possible for an Asian country to rise from poverty. If Singapore can do it, why can’t other countries do it.

QN 2: This year’s theme for APEC is “Sustaining Growth, Connecting the Region”. What are your personal opinions about sustainable development and how can we go about doing it?

ANS: The thing about APEC is that it’s mostly CEOS, head of states, top executives coming together. I’m probably the only from the bottom of the pyramid. It’s important that you cannot just have top-to-bottom development, it has to be simultaneous ground-up. Everyone wants build top-to-bottom, but no one wants to build ground-up. So, we are the ones who bridge the ground to people who control wealth and power from the top, because even if you increase GDP and experience economic growth, it still might not still address the poverty issue.

If people can create wealth and do not know how to spread it, the few who amass all the wealth, leave the majority behind, that’s what happened in the Philippines. Even people who attend APEC conferences, they’re there just to promote business, not there for nation-building. They’re there not for societal renewal, but fiscal policies, economic developments that affect their own business. They’re not there to contribute to the global economy so that it can create abundance for all. No one ever comes here to speak a view from the bottom. In our country, 3% of our population control 60% of our total economy. We hope that more of our people will see and go down. The tragedy of the world is that those who control the power and wealth of the world are disconnected from the majority who will suffer from their decisions.

(Still transcribing from my audio recorder, to be continued)

APEC VOF Day 1: Lessons from a Media Meister

2009-11-09T23:59:00.000+08:00

PIC: Mingling with local & international delegates (newly made friends) before the night’s session

Lessons from a Media Meister

"Insight" - that was the word etched in everyone's mind, after a night of sage advice peppered with personal anecdotes, from none other than Mr Viswa Sadisvan. With more than 26 years of television experience, not to mention having interviewed political giants the likes of George Bush Senior, Mikhail Gorbachev, Henry Kissinger and Lee Kuan Yew, Mr Viswa was undoubtedly the right man, to guide us fledgling journalists.

Like a true veteran, he instantly connected with the audience upon taking the stage. He then dived into a statement, “The way you present yourself and how confident you are, how smooth you are, to a large extent, determines the outcome of the interview.” But however important those things are, he stressed that the key is to be honest and "never pretend to understand when you don't”. This is especially pertinent when the interviewee raises specialized terms, where it would be necessary to clarify.

Beyond that, Mr Viswa also shared about the importance of tone, in that there were 2 approaches. The first one entailed a tough, vociferous, pugnacious approach. The second involved beginning with safer, general questions and following up with the tougher specifics at the end. Aptly termed by Mr Viswa as the "crouching tiger approach", it lowers the interviewee's guard before moving in for the kill. He recommended this approach to us, as communication (including that between interviewer and interviewee) is always established upon trust, and it is prudent to start off with the comfortable questions to put the interviewee at ease. As for the tougher questions, the best approach would be to ask in a plain, honest manner.

Another significant point that Mr Viswa strongly emphasized on was “doing our homework”, i.e. doing an intensive research about the interviewee. Besides researching on the subject matter and what the interviewee does, a good interviewer always digs deeper into the person himself. Just as everyone loves talking about something, the interviewee also has his pet topics that he feels passionate about and comfortable with. If we could unearth these little nuggets of information, it would prove useful in getting the interviewee to open up and even turn a tense situation around. I especially liked the example of Mr Viswa’s personal experience with then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, whereby Mr Viswa touched on a very sensitive topic that hit a nerve with Mr Lee. But by skillfully bringing in Mr Lee’s favourite topic, his fight against the communist in the 1960s, Mr Viswa was able to instantly change the mood of the interview and eventually, still get Mr Lee to answer the question he had initially detested.

The night continued with a myriad of invaluable advice and experiences by Mr Viswa. He emphasized the importance of understanding cultural sensitivities, body language, going into the interview with a clear objective in mind, and good questions (not exceeding 10 words). He engaged us constantly, throwing us questions spontaneouslyf and shared one anecdote after another that had everyone laughing. In ending, I would like to share a point that sums up the night. Mr Viswa talked about insight, and the difference between insight and knowledge. Knowledge can be easily gleaned from a book of the Internet. Insight, on the other hand, is a particular perspective from the person, usually one with a high level of domain knowledge. The key to a great interview is never to just gather information that everyone already knows, but rather to elicit fresh insight, something which few have been privy to. That, I believe is the heart of the matter. Let "insight" be the goal that all us young journalists strive towards.

Colin, Group E2

Death by Powerpoint

2009-10-21T00:02:00.001+08:00

A friend shared this. Everyone who's ever done up a powerpoint presentation before (which means ALL of you here on Facebook), so absolutely needs to see this. Especially for those who are guilty of boring to death your poor colleagues or classmates with lousy (*YAWN*) presentations, you should better read this a thousand times.

Death by PowerPoint

“Two Hands” by Jars of Clay

2009-10-15T01:12:00.001+08:00

What’s on My Mind

“I use one hand to pull you closer / The other to push you away,”...."I'm a liar who thirst for truth/and while I ache for faith to hold me/I need to feel the scars and see the proof. " I believe this song will speak to those out there, who want to love God, yet find themselves pushing Him away, ‘cos of things that they’re unwilling to let go. I think that this internal conflict of being divided inside (often finding ourselves doing what we ought not to do, and not doing what we ought to do) is something that resonates in most of us sincere Christians. And the simple, yet profound way to overcoming this conflict? Lifting our two hands and surrendering our lives to God.

Lyrics

I’ve been living out of sanity
I’ve been splitting hairs and blurring lines
I am a house that is divided
In my heart and in my mind

I use one hand to pull closer
The other to push you away
If I had two hands doing the same thing
Lifted high, lifted high

I have a broken disposition
I’m a liar who thirsts for the truth
And while I ache for faith to hold me
I need to feel the scars and see the proof

And if we just keep digging we can reach the foundation
Of our souls
And if we just keep cutting all the chains from our hearts
We’ll lose control

And it feels like giving in
It feels like starting over
It feels like waking up, and you know it’s coming
It feels like a brand new day
Open your eyes

Pétanque

2009-10-13T23:25:00.000+08:00

Tue, 13th October 2009

This afternoon, I had my 2nd training session of Pétanque (pronounced: "pay-TONK")
,following my 1st time playing it last Saturday, near the Toa Payoh Sports Hall. At first glance, you would probably mistake the metal pétanque ball (known as a "boule") as a shot-putt ball, albeit a smaller & lighter one. But you'd probably soon be delighted to discover that pétanque, is actually much more fun than it looks.

A steel pétanque boule

For those who're wondering what is pétanque, it's a beloved French sport that the French often play in their summer vacations (the casual form of the game is played by about 17 million people in France) Pétanque is usually played on hard dirt or gravel, but can be played on grass or other surfaces. The equipment that is required for the game is really simple: Steel Balls (called "boules") and a "jack", a very small ball which is made of wood or synthetic material.

The original Pétanque game is played between 2 teams of 3 players each (Triplette), every player has only two steel balls.

By default, the game starts with a coin toss and the winner will choose the starting location (which will be a circle drawn on the sand). Standing in the circle, he will then toss the small ball, "jack", within a 6 to 10 metres range. And, the game continues with each side taking turns to throw their pétanque boules.

The objective of the game is to throw your boules closer to the "jack" than the other team. After all boules have been thrown, the team with the closest boule receives a point for each boule that is closer to the jack than their opponents. This is repeated until the first team to get 13 points wins the game. (picture on the left: a jack, and a rusty boule on the right of it)

What is unique about this game is the way you hold the ball when throwing. The ball is best held in the palm of the hand facing the ground. This creates a lot of backspin to the ball as close to the jack as possible.

There are also special positions/roles that each team player can play: "pointing" & "shooting". For me, I'm training for the upcoming competition as a "shooter", and basically my role is to thow the boule at my opponent's boules that are very near to the jack, to knock it out of play. For "pointing", as the name suggests, it is basically to throw one's boule with the aim of stopping near the jack (also known as placing)

This game might appear simple, but beyond just accurate throwing, it requires careful consideration of ground conditions, strategy, good throwing posture, teamwork, etc. Let's take for example, ground conditions, sometimes, the ground might not be flat. And you need to determine the landing spot of your ball and the actual path that the ball takes in order that it goes close to the jack.

Well personally, it's only the 2nd (and last training session before my competition this Saturday) time playing this sport, but it's incredibly fun. I think it's really easy to understand how to play the game, but to really be good at it, the old adage "practice makes perfect" still applies.

I look forward to this Saturday's competition, and having a great time with my team-mates, Harris and Charles. We call ourselves "allumer le feu" (literally, "ignite a fire"), and sure hope to burn brightly at the competition, despite the minimal practice we've had.

Win or lose, I'm determined to have a good time playing it and most probably, purchase a "Pétanque" set to play more in the future. It sure is a fun and uniquely French sport worth picking up and sharing with others.

Augmented Reality & The Future of Shopping

2009-10-13T20:58:00.004+08:00

In recent years, augmented reality (AR) has been gaining lots of attention, and has no doubt become one of the hot trends of 2009. This particular example from CISCO is just one of the many exciting possibilities of how AR will be intertwined into our lives in the coming years.

and watching that, can't help but remind me of a video I shared on Facebook back in June, Project Natal by Microsoft, which also utilizes augmented reality (in addition to voice-detection, motion-detection, facial detection, etc)

Brazilian Portuguese: Basic Greetings

2009-10-12T13:18:00.001+08:00

Oi! Hi!

Olá! Hello!

Meu nome é _____. (meyoo nomay ey) [the é is pronounced like the first e in expert]
My name is _____.

Tudo bem?(toodoo beng) Alternatives: Como vai? Como estás?
How are you?

Eu estou bem, obrigado/ obrigada(oh-bdee-gah-doh OR oh-bdee-gah-dah)
I am fine, thank you (male/female)

Prazer em conhecê-lo! (MOOY-to pra-ZEHR eng koh-nye-SEH-lo)
Prazer em conhecê-la!
Nice to meet you! (meeting a male / meeting a female)

Bom dia! (bong jee-ah) - Good morning!

Boa tarde! (bowa tarjay) - Good afternoon!

Boa noite! (bowa noychay) - Good night! / Good evening!

Tchau! (like the Italian Ciao) - Bye!

Até logo! (atey low-goo) - See you soon!
Até depois (atey day-poys) – see you later
Até amanhã (atey aman-yah) – see you tomorrow

Resources/ Audio Resources
http://www.easyportuguese.com/Portuguese-Phrasebook/Greetings/Greetings.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mtOMo63Ozw
http://www.cactuslanguagetraining.com/en/english/view/top-brazilian-portuguese-phrases/

Time, Love

2009-10-12T10:51:00.001+08:00

"Time is

Too slow for those who Wait,
Too swift for those who Fear,
Too long for those who Grieve,
Too short for those who Rejoice,

But for those who Love
Time is not."

-Henry Vandyke (1852-1933)

My Personality Analysis

2009-10-11T16:01:00.001+08:00

View Full MyPersonality.org Profile

0 50 100	%
Openness	89%
Conscientiousness	70%
Extraversion	86%
Agreeableness	79%
Neuroticism	39%

New Balance Real Run 2009 X-Terrain Challenge

2009-10-11T15:44:00.001+08:00

05 October 2009
Due to overwhelming response, we will be re-opening our registration! Walk-in to register at the New Balance REAL Run 2009 Prelude from 16 to 18 October 2009, between 10.00am to 8.00pm at Velocity @ Novena Square. See you there!

For those running enthusiasts , who’ve missed the chance to register in-time for Nike Human Race or Standard Chartered, there’s still the New Balance Real Run 2009 X-Terrain Challenge. which will be on the 8th Nov 2009, Sunday. Click here for Details

Registration is reopened from 16th to 18th October 2009.

I’m still finding people to go run with me :)
Anyone interested do email or FB message me ;)

Grizzly Bear Cubs Holding Hands

2009-10-11T15:36:00.001+08:00

A friend of mine had this on her MSN display picture, and I was teasing her that that was a really cute photo, and it probably was a photo with some spectacular editing…only to find out from her that it really was a real photograph, and in fact, a reality that bear cubs hold hands when they are afraid. I went to check it out and discovered it was the National Geographic’s photo of the month for July 2009,

“ Grizzly cubs are unpredictable. At one moment they look at you with their intrigued eyes, and suddenly run away scared by unknown behavior. These two seven-month-old cubs thought that holding hands would make the danger disappear.” http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/enlarge/grizzly-bear-cubs.html

Choices

2009-09-12T07:00:00.000+08:00

Choices - whether we are consciously or subconsciously aware of it, we exercise our volition everyday, we make choices. We choose: when we discipline ourselves to wake up on a bright weekend morning to enjoy a good sunrise or to snuggle in bed a few extra hours. We choose: when we make the effort to exercise or be a couch potato fed on an endless TV diet. We choose: when we eat healthy or succumb to our cravings for fatty, sodium excessive fast food. We choose: when we make a choice to live pure or to live a promiscuous lifestyle.

choices have outcomes
Whatever choices we make, let there be no doubt, that there will always be an outcome: a positive one or a dire consequence (in layman terms, a good outcome or a bad outcome)

The most basic example would be our diet. If we choose to have a diet rich in vegetables, fruit, and low on salt & oil, we will be in healthy weight and shape. On the contrary, choose a daily diet of KFC, McDonalds or deep-fried hawker food, and you’d eventually get a fat tummy, arteries clogged up, etc.

choices in our thoughts
This causal-effect principle also applies to an overlooked area, our thoughts. In fact, this is where the root of all our choices come from, our thoughts determine our actions.
James Allen in his book “As a Man Thinketh” explains really well on how the thoughts we choose can have a tremendous effect on our lives:

“ Impure thoughts of every kind crystallize into enervating and confusing habits, which solidify into distracting and adverse circumstances. Thoughts of fear, doubt, and indecision crystallize into weak, unmanly, and irresolute habits, which solidify into circumstances of failure, indigence, and slavish dependence.

Lazy thoughts crystallize into habits of uncleanliness and dishonesty, which solidify into circumstances of foulness and beggary. Hateful and condemnatory thoughts crystallize into habits of accusation and violence, which solidify into circumstances of injury and persecution. Selfish thoughts of all kinds crystallize into habits of self-seeking, which solidify into circumstances more of less distressing.

On the other hand, beautiful thoughts of all crystallize into habits of grace and kindliness, which solidify into genial and sunny circumstances. Pure thoughts crystallize into habits of temperance and self-control, which solidify into circumstances of repose and peace. Thoughts of courage, self-reliance, and decision crystallize into manly habits, which solidify into circumstances of success, plenty, and freedom.

Energetic thoughts crystallize into habits of cleanliness and industry, which solidify into circumstances of pleasantness. Gentle and forgiving thoughts crystallize into habits of gentleness, which solidify into protective and preservative circumstances. Loving and unselfish thoughts crystallize into habits of self-forgetfulness for others, which solidify into circumstances of sure and abiding prosperity and true riches.”

no such thing as no choice
Often we hear people giving excuses that they have “no choice”, and they blame it on “imperfect circumstances”. It is true that we cannot directly choose our circumstances, but we can choose our thoughts in so indirectly shape our circumstances. In whatever situation we’re in, we are ultimately the ones who determine how we choose to respond to it.

choose wisely
In an era where “anything goes” and everything is morally relativistic, it is easy for us to indulge in hedonistic living and indulge in things that promise to pleasure, but in reality, enslave us.

"Everything is permissible"—but not everything is beneficial.
"Everything is permissible"—but not everything is constructive.
1 Cor 10:23 (NIV)

All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful;
all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. (NKJV)

I especially like these 2 verses in 1 Corinthians, Paul writes to the believers in Corinth, that all things are permissible but not everything is beneficial. In our lives too, let us examine that the choices we make are truly good choices, choices that will build us up and build others up.

One “No” opens the door to many “Yes”
I remember a brother in Church once shared with me that whenever we say “No” to something, it can open up the door to many “Yes”.

When I say “No” to lust, and choose not to look at a girl in lust, and choose not to give in to the snare of Internet pornography late at night, when I say “No” to adultery or promiscuous and casual sex,

I say “Yes” to delighting in a healthy sexual intimacy with my current/future spouse
“Yes” to building greater resolve, self-control and moral excellence
“Yes” to having pure heart, unstained by lust and carnal thinking.
“Yes” to using my time more productively and fulfilling my God-given potential in impacting the world, rather than exhausting my energies in masturbation/unbridled sex.
“Yes” to respecting and treating women with dignity
“Yes” to finding my comfort in God, and not in temporal physical pleasures
“Yes” to walking in a deeper love relationship with God and glorifying Him in my conduct
“Yes” to a myriad of other good things

When I say “No” to escapism, running away from my problems or compromise

I say “Yes” to maturity and being responsible,
“Yes” to becoming a problem-solver,
“Yes'” in building up my ability/capacity to overcome bigger obstacles in the future,
“Yes” to the positive outcomes after the problems get resolved,
“Yes” to progressing and rising up to greater heights.

When I say “No” to exaggerating, lying, situational ethics, doing what feels right but ain’t right,

I say “Yes” to integrity
I say “Yes” to being trustworthy and credible
I say “Yes” to high standards
I say “Yes” to a solid reputation, not just image

life is a sum of all your choices
Each and every single choice we’ve made from the time we were born into this world, has had a certain effect on how our life has hitherto turned out. As French novelist Albert Camus puts it succinctly : “Life is a sum of all your choices” . So let’s make the right choices today, and shape our lives into the way we want them to be. -©DJPANG

Personal Goals for next 2-3 months

2009-09-11T19:12:00.001+08:00

Toby Mac - Lose My Soul

2009-09-10T20:31:00.001+08:00

Lyrics

Father God, I am clay in your hands
Help me to stay that way through all life's demands
'Cause they chip and they nag and they pull at me
And every little thing I make up my mind to be

Like I'm gonna be a daddy whose in the mix
And I'm gonna be a husband who stays legit
And I pray that I'm an artist who rises above the road that is wide and filled with self love
Everything that I see draws me
Though its only in You that I can truly see that its a feast for the eyes - a low blow to purpose
And I'm a little kid at a three ring circus

I don't want to gain the whole world and lose my soul
Don't wanna walk away let me hear the people say
I don't want to gain the whole world and lose my soul
Don't wanna walk away let me hear the people say

The paparazzi flashes and that they think that it’s you
But they don’t know that who you are is not what you do
True, we get it twisted when we peak at the charts
Yo before we part from the start where’s your heart?
You’re a pimp, hustler?
Tell me what’s your title
America has no more stars now we call them idols
You sit idle
While we teach prosperity
The first thing to prosper should be inside of me
We’re free …
Not because of 22’s the a range
But Christ came in range we said yes now we changed
Not the same even though I made a fall
Since I got that call no more Saul now I’m Paul

How do I sense the tide that's rising?
De-sensitizing me from living in light of eternity
How do I sense the tide that's rising?
It's hypnotizing me from living in light of eternity

Behind the Song:
"It’s easy for any of us to fall into the trap of setting our eyes on success and achievements. I wanted to be honest about my struggle because I believe no one is alone in it and we can learn from each other. I wrote my verse as a prayer, one that I find myself praying often. ‘Father God I am clay in your hands. I wanna stay that way thru all life’s demands cause they chip and they nag and they pull at me and every little thing I make up my mind to be, Like I’m gonna be a daddy who’s in the mix, and I’m gonna be a husband who stays legit and I’m gonna be an artist who rises above, the road that is wide and filled with self love”

Since I was a kid, my dad’s favourite verse has always been on the back of his business card. “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” With an infectious chorus melody and an all-star choir on the vamp it already felt like an anthem. Enter Kirk Franklin as a guest on the second verse and Mandisa (American Idol) on the bridge and we are officially over the top." - TobyMac

What Am I Becoming?

2009-09-10T11:08:00.001+08:00

"One today is worth two tomorrows;
what I am to be, I am now becoming."
– Benjamin Franklin.

”The goals we worship write their names on our faces, be sure of that. And a person will worship something, have no doubt about that either. One may think tribute is paid in secret, in the dark recess of his or her heart, but it is not. That which dominates imagination and thoughts will determine life and character. Therefore it behooves us to be careful what we are worshipping, for what we are worshipping we are becoming.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Question to Ponder:
What dominates my mind, my thoughts, my imagination?
Am I pleased with the fact that I’m in the process of becoming what I have been thinking and dreaming about?

Man of 100 Voices

2009-09-09T10:25:00.001+08:00

John Wesley’s Holy Club 22 Questions

2009-09-09T09:54:00.001+08:00

Over 200 years ago, in 1729, when Charles and John Wesley were students at Oxford University, they started a small group that met up for regular prayer, bible study, discipleship and in their private devotions, they’d use these questions to “methodically” examine their spiritual lives, and in so doing keep spiritually accountable in the faith. This became the beginning of the Methodist movement.

When I first stumbled across this on the Internet around 4 years back, I was convicted in my soul as I read each question, one by one and reflected. I used the questions for a while to reflect daily, but found it difficult to follow up. It’s been a few years, but I still remember how helpful those questions were to me in my spiritual reflections. So I decided to look them up again, and also share them here. Let’s do our best to reflect on these questions in our daily devotions.

John Wesley’s Holy Club Questions

1.    Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I really am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?
2.    Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?
3.    Do I confidentially pass on to another what was told to me in confidence?
4.    Can I be trusted?
5.    Am I a slave to dress, friends, work, or habits?
6.    Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?
7.    Did the Bible live in me today?
8.    Do I give it time to speak to me everyday?
9.    Am I enjoying prayer?
10.    When did I last speak to someone else about my faith?
11.    Do I pray about the money I spend?
12.    Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?
13.    Do I disobey God in anything?
14.    Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?
15.    Am I defeated in any part of my life?
16.    Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy, or distrustful?
17.    How do I spend my spare time?
18.    Am I proud?
19.    Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisees who despised the publican?
20.    Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold a resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I doing about it?
21.    Do I grumble or complain constantly?
22.    Is Christ real to me?

About The Holy Club
” John and Charles Wesley and a handful of other Oxford students devoted themselves to a rigorous search for holiness and service to others. The Holy Club, the name given to John and Charles Wesley’s group by their fellow collegians in mockery of their emphasis on devotions, was the first sign of what later became Methodism…
- http://www.ctlibrary.com/ch/1983/issue2/216.html

Proverbs 4:23

2009-09-08T22:00:00.000+08:00

“Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.”
-Proverbs 4:23

Basic Farsi

2009-09-08T03:38:00.001+08:00

I just met an Iranian online, and decided to learn from him some basic Farsi. New Persian (or Farsi) is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Bahrain and has a status of official language in the first three countries under different names. Also, googled it up and found this incredibly good video which provides a concise crash course on basic Farsi.


Good morning	Sobh bekheir
Good afternoon	Zohr bekheir
Good evening	Shab bekheir
Hello	Salam
Yes	Bale
No	Na
Thank You	Merci
Please	Lotfan
How are you?	Chetori
You’re welcome	Khosh Omadi
My name is…	Esma Man …
Left	Chap
Right	Rast
Goodbye	Khodahafez
Pleased to meet you	Khosh Vaghtam
What’s your name>	Esma Shoma Chieh
Help	Komak

NUMBERS

One	Two	Three	Four	Five	Six	Seven	Eight	Nine	Ten
Yek	Doh	Seh	Chahar	Panj	Shesh	Haft	Hascht	Noh	Dah

DAYS OF THE WEEK

Monday	Doh Shanbeh
Tuesday	Seh Shanbeh
Wednesday	Chah Shenbeh
Thursday	Panj Shanbeh
Friday	Joneh
Saturday	Shanbeh
Sunday	Yek Shanbeh

N.B:Shanbeh (شنبه in Persian) is name of the first day of week in Jalaali calendar, used in Iran (Persia). It is equivalent to Saturday in Gregorian Calendar.

” The workweek in Iran is Saturday through Thursday; however, many government offices and private companies are closed on Thursdays. Friday is the day of rest when all establishments are closed. “ - http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1142.html

Yoghurt Petite

2009-09-07T21:17:00.000+08:00

In recent years, I’ve been so used to buying ice cream from ice cream parlours (i.e. Island Creamery, Ben & Jerry’s, Haagen Dazs, Swensens, etc) that I’ve almost forgotten the joys of buying cheap Magnolia or Walls ice cream which I had when I was growing up in childhood (e.g.Paddle Pop, Cornetto, and not forgetting the lime ice cream with vanilla inside) I decided to get some ice cream from 7-Eleven , this one seemed to be a brand new product from Magnolia.

Yoghurt Petite Low Fat Ice Cream (SGD$1.10), and yeah it indeed was petite (i’d reckon 8 cm in length), as the name suggests. It’s trans-fat free and claims to contain live cultures, that help in healthy digestion (like every yoghurt product claims to do) Also, has a “Healthier Choice” label, endorsed by the Health Promotion Board.

I got the strawberry flavour, and it tasted not bad. (Certainly no where as rich and creamy as Ben & Jerry’s, which is of course multiple more times expensive) Nonetheless it’s a cheap, healthy snack. :) I’d recommend this to health-conscious girls, who want to indulge in a light snack.

Greetings: Bahasa Indonesia vs Bahasa Melayu

2009-09-07T16:15:00.000+08:00

I’ve been learning some basic Bahasa (literally translates to “language”), which is the dialect of Malay used as the national language for Indonesia and Malaysia. The two languages may seem identical to foreigners, but there are differences between the two. I’ve decided to compile a small list of differences, for the very basics of basics: Greetings.


	Bahasa Indonesia	Bahasa Melayu
Good Morning	Selamat Pagi	“ “
Good Day (11am- 2pm)	Selamat Siang	Selamat Tengah Hari
Good Afternoon (3pm to 7pm)	Selamat Sore	Selamat Petang
Good Evening (After Dark)	Selamat Malam	“”

Welcome	-	Selamat Datang
How are you?	Apa Khabar	“ “
Thank You	Terima Kasih	“”
I’m fine	Khabar Baik Baik-baik (informal)	“ “ “ ”
You’re welcome	Kembali OR sama-sama OR Terima Kasih Kembali Kembali literally means to “return”. Sama literally means “same”, in this case, means the same to you.	Sama-sama
Nice to meet you	Senang bertemu anda	Gembira bertemu anda

Goodbye	Selamat Tinggal (if you’re leaving)	“ ”
	Selamat Jalan (to someone who is leaving you)	“ ”
Goodbye (Informal)	Dadah

Useful Links for Bahasa Melayu/ Malay
http://pgoh13.free.fr/lesson11greetings.php
http://wikitravel.org/en/Malay_phrasebook
http://www.101languages.net/malay/basics.html

Useful Links for Bahasa Indonesia
http://www.expat.or.id/info/bahasa.html
http://bahasa.blog.linkua.com/tag/youre/ (AUDIO FILES)
http://wikitravel.org/en/Indonesian_phrasebook

周华健 - 让我欢喜让我忧

2009-09-06T23:34:00.001+08:00

爱到尽头覆水难收
爱悠悠恨幽幽
为何要到无法挽留
才又想起你的温柔
给我关怀为我解忧
为我凭添许多愁
在深夜无尽等候
独自泪流
独自忍受

多想说声我真的爱你
多想说声对不起你
你哭着说情缘已尽
难再续
难再续

就请你给我多一点点时间
再多一点点问候
不要一切都带走
就请你给我多一点点空间
再多一点点温柔
不要让我如此难受

你这样一个女人
让我欢喜让我忧
让我甘心为了你
付出我所有

周华健 - 爱相随

2009-09-06T22:53:00.001+08:00

还记得我小学那段时日，我是听着周华健的歌长大，甚至买了他 2-3 专辑。现在，每当听他的歌，尤其是《爱相随》，《朋友》，《花心》，《让我欢喜让我忧》，都会毫无感到回味无穷。这首歌《爱相随》是我最喜欢的一首歌。我小时候，当时只会欣赏它的歌曲，觉得蛮好听，但是不懂歌里的含义。我长大后，有过几个爱情经历，品尝过爱情的滋味，才真正体味到歌词的含义。
-DJPANG

别想你忍不住我提醒自己
伤了心有些事也要过去
心很痛痛的不想再做我自己
别回头情已去缘已尽
很想你也不是因为失去你
爱了你用尽我全心全力
一生情只为这一次与你相遇
情难了难再续难再醒

人分飞爱相随
那怕用一生去追
我又怎么能追得回
与你相慰我为你痴为你累
风雨我都不後悔
我又怎么有路可退
曾经深情你给了谁

(音乐)

很想你也不是因为失去你
爱了你用尽我全心全力
一生情只为这一次与你相遇
情难了难再续难再醒
人分飞爱相随
那怕用一生去追
我又怎么能追得回
与你相慰我为你痴为你累
风雨我都不後悔
我又怎么有路可退
我如何面对

人分飞爱相随
那怕用一生去追
我又怎么能追得回
与你相慰我为你痴为你累
风雨我都不後悔
我又怎么有路可退
曾经深情你给了谁

Healthy night snack

2009-09-05T23:55:00.000+08:00

My typical late night snack these days: a variety of freshly cut fruits.
For tonight, 4 different fruits: Papaya, Grapes,Kiwi and Orange.

Dinner at Baikohken Ramen

2009-09-05T23:30:00.000+08:00

I spent my Saturday evening with an Indonesian friend and brought her to my top favourite Ramen shops in Singapore, Baikohken Ramen, located along the row of shop houses opposite OCBC and One George (CBD area).

Since I discovered it last year, I’ve gone there twice and this was my 3rd time (and I’d probably return time and time again) There are also other top authentic ramen shops located at Central (Clarke Quay), but this one is the clear champion in terms of VALUE, without a doubt ranked as the number 1 best value-for-money ramen in Singapore.

Charsiew Shio Ramen with Ajitama ($16.50 + $1)

I ordered a normal-sized Charsiew Ramen with Shio soup base. For those who know nuts about Jap Ramen, it usually comes with 3 different soup base choices: Shoyu (Soy), Shio (Salt) and Miso. I’ve tried the Shoyu base the 2 previous times, so I decided to try something different this time. It cost $16.50, and I paid a dollar more to get my favourite add-on: Ajitama egg (soft-boiled stewed egg)

And when my ramen was finally served, I tucked in with much delight. As always, it came with a good generous serving of crunchy spring onions on top. The noodles were chewy though not really outstanding, compared to other restaurants. The Shio soup base was good, salty, mildly flavoured.

And of course, the factor which differentiates this restaurant from all the others: gargantuan, massive amounts of charsiew, the the most generous servings you’d ever get anywhere in Singapore. When it’s served, the soup covers the top (as you see above), but once if you stick in your chopsticks and bring the charsiew above the surface, you can see that the charsiew literally covers the entire surface of the bowl. Oh ok,so now you’d be thinking, ok there is quantity, what about the quality? Well, just one bite, and the taste just melts in your mouth. It’s excellently marinated, soft & tender, savoury (might be a little too salty for some). It’s oishi!

In addition, the Ajitama was simply splendid - firm egg white with a superbly soft, sticky yolk inside. For those who intend to go try out the ramen, you absolutely have to add this to your ramen (and it’s cheap too, just $1)

A big note to everyone. This ramen shop serves the biggest portion of ramen in Singapore. A normal-sized would be more than enough for young men with massive appetites. For most people though, especially the ladies and older people, the half-sized portion would more than enough for you. My female friend couldn’t even finish the half-sized portion (Their half-sized portion is akin to the normal portions for Ajisen)

Unlike other ramen shops which just offer you the oh-so-typical green tea, this shop offers a free flow of Mugi-cha (roasted wheat tea), supposedly aids in good digestion and most certainly goes well with the Ramen.

When I finished eating, my tummy was bloated *rubs tummy*, fantastic meal. I always feel so elated after I enjoy great food, and when it’s at great value-for-money, the delight multiplies even more. Haha. Oh yes, I’ve to also mention that the ambience was good too. Due to the small size of the shop, it gives you a very cosy warmth and feel, combined with the friendly service of the Japanese chefs and Singapore service staff.

In ending, I’d like to tell you that I’ve been to Japan twice before (Tokyo & Hokkaido), and tried the real, authentic Hokkaido ramen. And take my word, Baikohken Ramen definitely serves authentic ramen. Not only that, authentic ramen which comes in ultra-generous servings, super tender charsiew and perfectly soft-boiled ajitama, and Mugi-cha (not forgetting great service), this is undoubtedly the top 3 (I personally give it a number 1) ramen shops in Singapore.

OVERALL RATING: 5/ 5

For all those who’ve yet to discover the joy of a great ramen experience (forget Ajisen), I’d most certainly recommend this restaurant. For my friends who don’t know how to go there, I’ve scanned in the namecard here, it contains the map & address. Or if you’re lazy to navigate around, you can just contact me, I could bring you there and have yet another oishi-good time at Baikohken Ramen! :)

Kentucky Fried Cruelty

2009-09-05T10:31:00.001+08:00

We’ve all probably heard of the cruel treatment of chickens by KFC, but nothing comes close to actually seeing some real video footage. Makes you think twice about consuming KFC :P

Ang Moh Boy who speaks perfect Singlish

2009-09-05T03:08:00.001+08:00

This Caucasian (or what we call Ang Moh, in Singapore) speaks really good Singlish. POWER sia! You’ve especially got to watch the part where he has a Singlish showdown with Shan.

Bruno – beyond the hype

2009-09-05T02:39:00.001+08:00

After months of eager anticipation and much delay, I’ve finally managed to watch “Bruno”. I must confess that I’m quite a big fan of Sascha Baron Cohen, having watched almost every single Youtube clip or movie of “Ali G” and “Borat”. When the trailer for Bruno first emerged quite a few months ago, I found it so f**king hilarious, that I even watched it repeatedly for close to a dozen times. The sneak peaks that I especially loved was the part of him adopting an African baby, and when asked how, he answered that he swapped him for an Ipod and as for the name, he gave him a traditional African name, “OJ”. (Anyway, for those who are too young to remember or know, he’s a famed major league baseball player in the states, who was notorious for being accused for murdering his wife. I remember watching it on the news, as OJ Simpson’s trial was a huge thing back then in the mid 90s)

I was so looking forward to the movie as how Sascha Baron Cohen would satirise this character, like how he did it with his previous 2 famed characters “Ali G” & “Borat” to incredible effect. So yes, after much awaiting I watched it and my experience was as follows:

I was laughing and cringing almost for the entire span of the movie, though for quite a number of parts I had actually guessed and was already familiar as to what would happen. Anyway for those who don’t know in a few words, Bruno plays this flamboyantly, GAY fashionista from Austria, who sets on a journey to America to find fame. (In his words, to become “the biggest Austrian star since Hitler”, and “most famous gay movie star since Schwarzenegger”. LOL)
Bruno embodies, the terrible obsession of American celebrity culture, and portrays how superficial, vacuous and inane the fashion world can be.

My favourite scenes were of course, the part where he’s on the talkshow of how it is to be single parent, and he gets quizzed about how he got it, that he giving the traditional African name “OJ”, yeah mentioned it again. You’ve just got to watch the movie to see the stunned, incredulous, “what the f***” reactions of the audience of the talkshow (note that Bruno was for most part unscripted, and majority of the scenes were with real people!)

Another favourite scene is where he gets the ex-Mossad director from Israel and another important Palestinian academic to have a “peace talk” with him mediating. I honestly felt damn sorry for the 2 old officials to sit through the load of crap from Bruno. I was like also close to puking and cringing yet laughing, when Bruno had one part where he says he made a song, and actually played music in the background and sang and towards the end of the song, he held both of the men’s hands and made them touch him and then, shake each others’ hands.

On the whole, I still found the movie quite a let down. The movie was too short, lasted only 80 minutes. When it ended, I was thinking “THAT’S ALL????”, well some people (I overheard when leaving the cinema) said that they should have spent their time doing something else. But I disagree and found that the movie was good, you actually have to watch it to appreciate the satire, even if it ain’t that good as expected… you’ve still gotta salute Sascha Baron Cohen for doing the most crazy and insane things in the world, to remind us of ourselves and how society is through his brand of satire, and giving the most “gay” movie that the world has hitherto seen.

I’d rate the movie 3 upon 5 stars.

French Apologies

2009-09-04T11:52:00.001+08:00

It’s been a while since I’ve touched my French, almost came close to forgetting almost everything if I don’t revise.

Here’s a a few words to start with, how do you say “sorry” in French?

When you accidentally bump into someone on the street,
1. Pardon (pahr-DOHNG) = Pardon me OR
Less forceful but equally polite than Excuse-moi
2. Excusez-moi (ehks-kuu-zay MWAH) = Excuse Me
More forceful and emphatic, used to communicate as a direct apology
When you’re late
1. Excusez-moi jesuis en retard (ehks-kuu-zay MWAH, zhuh swee awn-ruh-tar )
If you’ve done something a little worse:
Je suis désolée (zhuh swee day-zoh-LAY) = I am sorry
NB: If you’re male, remove the “e” at the back. Same pronounciation.

I’ve found this short audio lesson from French Survival Phrases, for those who want to hear how to pronounce the words properly.

Extra Tip:
When someone uses Excusez-moi on you, your proper response should be the phrase that means “you’re welcome”:
Je vous em prie (zhuh voo zawn pree) = you’re welcome

Social Enterprise Planning Guide

2009-09-03T22:37:00.001+08:00

I came across this on Slideshare, while googling for social enterprises & effectively marketing to target audiences. This slideshow’s not bad - concise, easy-to-understand & contains all the relevant key information you need to starting up a social enterprise.

Social Enterprise Planning Guide

David Belle discusses “Parkour”

2009-09-03T00:32:00.001+08:00

Made famous by movies, Yamakasi and District 13 (2 really cool movies I really recommend), Parkour has been associated with death-defying building-to-building jumps. I remember BBC also had a feature documentary years ago too, and when I watch them doing Parkour, I can’t help but admire the athletic prowess.

Here’s a video of David Belle, credited to be the founder of Parkour.
David Belle- Je Saute De Toit En Toit “I Jump from Rooftop to Rooftop”

David Belle (born 29 April 1973 in Fécamp, France) is a man largely credited as the founder of parkour. He is also a physical educator^{[citation needed]}, stuntman and actor. His military training and early athletic, climbing, gymnastic, and martial arts training acted as the foundations for the discipline he has developed

Parkour (sometimes also abbreviated to PK) or l'art du déplacement^[1] (English: the art of movement) is a discipline that appeared first in France. More similar to a martial art than to a sport, Parkour focuses on moving from one point to another as smoothly, efficiently and quickly as possible using the abilities of the human body. It is built on the philosophical premise that any obstacle, physical or mental, can be surpassed.^[2] ^[3]

孙子兵法: 始计第一 Sun Tzu’s “ The Art Of War” – Chapter 1 Laying Plans

2009-09-02T23:06:00.001+08:00

我记得大约十多年前，我在华中，我的华文老师叫每个人买一本小书“孙子兵法“，吩咐我们在学校假期去慢慢阅读。那时，我对那本书一点儿兴趣都没有。
I remember around 10 years ago, when I was studying in The Chinese High School, my Chinese teacher made us buy a book, which we had to read as holiday homework. The book was “Sun Tzu’s - ‘Art of War’”, but I didn’t have any interest in that book then.

(Ok I’m lazy to type in Chinese, shall just write in English)

In recent years, I’ve developed a keen interest in it, because it contains practical wisdom that be applied beyond military affairs, but also in other areas in life. I’ve made it Bilingual, for English readers who don’t understand Chinese. Carefully peruse through, hope you gain some wisdom.

始计第一
Chapter 1 Laying Plans

孙子曰：
Sun Tzu said:

兵者，国之大事，
死生之地，存亡之道，不可不察也。
The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.

故经之以五事，校之以计，而索其情：
The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.

一曰道，二曰天，三曰地，四曰将，五曰法。

These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) The Commander; (5) Doctrine

道者，令民于上同意，可与之死，可与之生，而不危也；
The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.
天者，阴阳、寒暑、时制也；
Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat,times and seasons
地者，远近、险易、广狭、死生也；
Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.
将者，智、信、仁、勇、严也；
The commander stands for the virtues of
wisdom, credibility, benevolence, courage, and discipline
法者，曲制、官道、主用也。
Doctrine is to be understood as the organization of the army, the gradations of rank among the officers, the regulations of supply routes, and the provision of military materials to the army.

凡此五者，将莫不闻，知之者胜，不知之者不胜。
These five fundamental factors are familiar to every general. Those who master them win; those who do not are defeated

故校之以计，而索其情，曰：
Therefore, in laying plans, compare the following seven elements, appraising them with the utmost care.

主孰有道？Which of the two sovereigns is imbued with the Moral law?
将孰有能？Which of the two generals has most ability?
天地孰得？With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth?
法令孰行？On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced?
兵众孰强？Which army is stronger?
士卒孰练？On which side are officers and men more highly trained?
赏罚孰明？In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?

吾以此知胜负矣。
By means of these seven elements, I shall be able to forecast which side will be victorious and which will be defeated.

将听吾计，用之必胜，留之；
The general who heeds my counsel is sure to win.

将不听吾计，用之必败，去之。

Such a general should be retained in command. One who ignores my counsel is certain to be defeated. Such a one should be dismissed.

计利以听，乃为之势，以佐其外。
While heading the profit of my counsel, avail yourself also of any helpful circumstances over and beyond the ordinary rules.

势者，因利而制权也。
According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one's plans.

兵者，诡道也。
All warfare is based on deception.

故能而示之不能，用而示之不用，近而示之远，远而示之近。
Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

利而诱之，乱而取之，
Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.

实而备之，强而避之，
If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him.

怒而挠之，卑而骄之，
If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.

佚而劳之，亲而离之，
If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them.

攻其无备，出其不意。
Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.

此兵家之胜，不可先传也。
These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.

夫未战而庙算胜者，得算多也；未战而庙算不胜者，得算少也。多算胜少算，
而况于无算乎！吾以此观之，胜负见矣。
Now, if the estimates made before a battle indicate victory, it is because careful calculations show that your conditions are more favourable than those of your enemy; if they indicate defeat, it is because careful calculations show that favourable conditions for a battle are fewer. With more careful calculations, one can win; with less, one cannot. How much less chance of victory has one who makes no calculations at all! By this means, one can foresee the outcome of a battle.

Links:
Complete Chinese Text http://cn.netor.com/know/hist/book13.htm
孙子兵法翻译白话文:http://hssd.blog.hexun.com/17888590_d.html
Full Text (Chinese with English links) http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi.html
Translation 1: http://www.chinapage.com/sunzi-e.html#01
Translation 2: http://fringe.davesource.com/Fringe/Politics/Art_Of_War.html

Pencil Project: free, open-source tool for Sketching & GUI prototyping

2009-09-01T23:28:00.001+08:00

Currently, trying out this open-source tool, Pencil Project for designing wireframes¹, for my websites & projects.I used to just sketch with pencil on paper, for the designs of my websites. Though having it electronically has its fair share of benefits too.

For those who are using Firefox 3.0+, good news, because Pencil is designed as a Firefox add-on, 400-kilobyte installation package.I’ve only tried it out for a short while, and I like its simplicity, relative ease of use.

In A Sentence:
Pencil Project is an open-source tool for GUI prototyping and simple sketching

Website:
http://www.evolus.vn/Pencil/

Top features:

Built-in stencils for diagraming and prototyping
Multi-page document with background page
On-screen text editing with rich-text supports
PNG rasterizing
Undo/redo supports
Installing user-defined stencils
Standard drawing operations: aligning, z-ordering, scaling, rotating...
Cross-platforms
Adding external objects
And much more...

¹What is Wireframing?

For those people who don’t know what is wireframing, its purpose is to organize and simplify the elements and content within a website and is an essential tool in the web site development process. This is a very good article from webdesigner depot: Using Wireframes to Streamline Your Development Process

What Do I Take for Granted?

2009-08-31T19:41:00.001+08:00

Life is fleeting, Life is transient,
Life just flashes by at the blink of an eye.
The things you once held dear in youth,
will inevitably give in to the process we call “ageing”.

Pain & trauma confronts those who lose
their bodily functions way before it is their rightful time.
And often, they question “why me” & sink into self-pity.
They have few peers to turn to or who can relate,
since most do not face such problems at such an early age.

Sometimes the hardest thing is when
the very traits & parts that make you stand out,
are the very things that can degenerate, fade away
and never return to the way they have been before.

Sure there are a myriad of remedies that the world purveys,
But what happens when you’ve tried every single means,
spent every cent in consulting experts in the field,
gone to the extremes of extremes but yet the problem prevails.
At the end of the day, some things are beyond your control.

But for those that are within our control,
let us understand the immutable law of “sowing & reaping”
That there are still things that we have power over.
Our thoughts, our actions, our habits, our character.
And only through sowing wisely, good seeds into them,
the destiny that awaits us will at least…
be clear of the painful consequences of otherwise bad choices.

In ending, let’s take a pause and reflect this simple yet important question:
”What Do I Take For Granted?”
and let us make it a habit to constantly ask ourselves,
for it holds the difference between a life filled with regrets & “If only”s
and a life that’s contented and always looking forward.

- DJPANG

Tenth Avenue North – By Your Side

2009-08-30T20:21:00.001+08:00

My Thoughts About the Song
Ever since I got Tenth Avenue North’s debut “Over and Underneath” album a year back, this song has been one of my favourites,and for good reason. Whenever I find myself caught up in striving to do a great number of things for the wrong reasons, and seeking for love and my worth in worldly pursuits, this song always reminds me of God’s love, that He’s always there by my side & that I should fix my eyes on Him.

Lyrics
Why are you striving these days?
Why are you trying to earn grace?
Why are you crying?
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love?
Why are you still searching?
As if I'm not enough?
To where will you go child,
Tell me where will you run?
To where will you run?

I'll be by your side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
Please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands, at my side
They swallowed the grave, on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life

I'll be by your side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
Please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Here at my side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
Please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

And I, I love you
And I want you to know
That I, I'll love you
I'll never let you go

I'll be by your side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
Please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Here at my side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
Please don't fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Behind the Song:
“There are a couple of lines in ‘By Your Side’ that to me really encapsulate the whole song. One is in the second verse that says, ‘Why are you looking for love? Why are you still searching as if I’m not enough? To where will you go child? To where will you run?’ And the last verse it says, ‘Look at these hands and my side, they swallowed the grave on that night, when I drank the world’s sin so that I could carry you in and give you life.’ ‘By Your Side’ is just a call to anyone who’s struggling or fighting against God thinking they have to work to earn it. It’s calling them to stop looking for what you can do for God and fix your gaze upon what God has done for you. Let that motivate you. We love because He first loved us.” - Mike Donehey (Tenth Avenue North)

Though I Struggle, I Know There is Hope

2009-08-30T18:59:00.001+08:00

I hide behind a mask so often,
I put up a front that all's ok,
when deep inside a constant depression's gnawing me.
I'm surrounded by people every day,
acquaintances and hi-bye friends are too many to count.
But within me, beneath this veneer,
lies a soul that’s battling within.

I struggle with the lusts of the world,
I struggle with the lusts of the flesh,
I struggle with the lusts of the eyes,
They manifest themselves in many things:
sexual addictions, hedonistic pleasures, pride,
need for approval, selfishness, greed, laziness,
envy, anger, gluttony, and many others...

And so often I give in to them.
But only to feel empty, sad & left wanting.
It feels like I'm on a sick cycle carousel,
A vicious cycle struggling with the same old problems.

Often, I feel so helpless and I want to give up,
I find myself slowly being inured to these things,
and my conscience gradually seared, desensitised
to the gravity of my habitual sins.

But I hear a voice that whispers to me,
that peace is still within my reach.
That there’s no need for a gulf between who I am and who I can be.
He gives strength to all who are weary and burdened,
He restores sight to the blind and heals the sick
He breaks the shackles of sin and liberates the captives.

Through Him, I can break out of this prison I’ve encaged myself in,
and savour life the way it should be.
Though I’m stained with dirt, and prone to depravity
My human weaknesses fade away in the light of His divinity.

I will look beyond my problems, my struggles,
I will look beyond my imperfections & limitations,
I will look beyond myself

Like the Psalmist, I will lift my eyes to the hills and know this
that my help comes from the LORD, the maker of Heaven & earth.

-DJPANG

Sick Cycle Carousel

2009-08-30T09:34:00.001+08:00

If shame had a face I think it
would kind of look like mine
If it had a home would it be my eyes
Would you believe me if I said I'm tired of this
Well here we go now one more time
I tried to climb your steps
I tried to chase you down
I tried to see how low I could get it down to the ground
I tried to earn my way
I tried to tame this mind
You better believe that I tried to beat this
[CHORUS]
So when will this end it goes on and on
Over and over and over again
Keep spinning around I know that it won't stop
Till I step down from this for good
I never thought I'd end up here

Never thought I'd be standing where I am
I guess I kinda thought it would be easier than this
I guess I was wrong now one more time
I tried to climb your steps
I tried to chase you down
I tried to see how long I could get it down to the ground
I tried to earn my way
I tried to tame this mind
You better believe that I tried yo beat this
[REPEAT CHORUS]
Sick cycle carousel
This is a sick sycle, yeah
Sick cycle carousel
This is a sick cycle, yeah
[REPEAT CHORUS TWICE]
Sick cycle carousel
Sick cycle carousel
Sick cycle carousel...

Real Transformers Costume that transforms!

2009-08-29T13:14:00.001+08:00

Stumbled across this, and it has gotten my inner geek screaming “This is so COOL!” Bumble Bee, has been one of my favourite characters from Transformers since the late 80s. Even owned the toy (and also an Optimus Prime) when I was a kid.

This video shows a real life man, in a Transformers BumbleBee costume, transforming into a car! Awesome!

Cool Factor: 7/10

The Value of a Smile

2009-08-29T10:50:00.001+08:00

I just found a long-lost card that I bought around 6 years ago, had a thick layer of dust on top. Glad I found it, reminds me of the power of a simple smile. Here is what it says on the card:

The Value of a Smile

It costs nothing, but creates much.
It enriches those who receive, without impoverishing those who give.
It happens in a flash and the memory of it sometimes lasts forever.

None are so rich they can get along without it, and none so poor but are richer for its benefits.
It creates happiness in the home, fosters goodwill in a business, and is the countersign of friends.It is rest to the weary, daylight to the discouraged, sunshine to the sad, and nature’s best antidote for trouble.

Yet it cannot be bought, begged, borrowed, stolen, for it is something that is no earthly good to anyone till it is given away. And if in the hurly-burly bustle of today’s business world, some of the people you meet should be too tired to give you a smile, may we ask you to leave one of yours?
For nobody needs a smile so much, as those who have none left to give.

An amazing 7 months (Part 2)

2009-08-29T01:00:00.000+08:00

It’s been close to 7 months that I’ve last blogged, and this past 7 months have been nothing less than tremendous, exciting albeit stressful, filled with ups and downs in my personal life, relationships, work, play and etc. I was reflecting and felt that it’d be a waste if I don’t pen down these experiences and share what I’ve learnt , so here they are.

Microsoft Imagine Cup
BarCamp3
SIP @ NYP and…..the 4th highlight in the past 7 months:
Startup @ Singapore (late 2008 till around May 2009)

Startup @ SG is a world-class business plan competition organized by National University of Singapore (NUS) Entrepreneurship Society, and supported by the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre and NUS Business School Alumni Association

Great Experience: This business plan competition was no doubt, the best entrepreneurial experience I’ve ever had till now. I gained invaluable knowledge in the whole process. Forming a business team, learning the fundamentals, writing an executive summary, writing a business plan, pitching to V.Cs, getting advice from mentors.

Great Team: It took me many months of scouting around Singapore for strong team members since late last year till early this year, but I was glad I found 2 really talented and outstanding friends. They have been the best team members I’ve ever had in any competitions till now, very competent, driven, productive individuals who’ve got fire burning in their tummies.

About My Company: My company “Navox Diagnostics” comprised of: WX (CEO/CTO), ME (CMO) and YH (CFO). The company’s mission is to revolutionize diagnostics with cutting-edge nano and biotechnologies. And our business model was simple: we screen, in-license and develop untapped nano and biotechnologies (from A*Star) for application in diagnostics with a core emphasis on molecular diagnostics and POC field applications. Anyway, the main business idea was related to epidemic spread prevention. Attached is a sample screenshot of our value-creation pipeline.

Got into semi-finals:
With our biomedical business plan, we emerged as one of 13 youth teams, out of the 40 semi-finalists that emerged from an initial international field of over 200 teams.

Semi-finalist business clinics: Learnt a lot through these business clinics, talks on how to do up 3-5 yea .financial projections, talk on intellectual property. And not forgetting a very good session of fire-pitching our business idea in 1 minute (conducted in a “speed dating” sort of way).

Withdrawal due to reasons, but cherished the whole experience:
Due to my CEO/CTO having to represent Singapore for a UN conference, and I was also busy with SIP @ NYP matters and my CFO also in the midst if uni exams, we decided to withdraw from the competition after the semis. We kinda had a tinge of regret when we later realised we stood quite a good chance of going all the way and winning something, but nonetheless it was a most invaluable of invaluable experiences. Made 2 best pals in the process.

More to come, in the next post,An Amazing 7 Months (Part 3)
I will be sharing about my amazing time and finally achieving some competition success, for Sun Microsystems Open Jive Challenge 2009 and xtremeApps 2009 24-hrs programming competition.

An amazing 7 months (Part 1)

2009-08-28T11:30:00.000+08:00

I guess the most prominent things I’d note are the following (chronological order):

Microsoft Imagine Cup 2009 (early Feb to March 2009)

Took part in “Software Design” category.

We came up with an idea, which I called “AmpEarth”. In essence, it is a centralized web solution that takes information (e.g. of events, knowledge & statistics) and presents it in a visually dynamic, interactive way to better educate & mobilize individuals in solving the Earth’s problems.

Ampearth’s primary aim is to be the centralized solution for volunteers or people interested in learning more about events organized by non-profit organizations, schools, community groups or even individuals, that in one way or another helps to achieve the following UN Millennium Development Goals.

Screenshot of our early prototypes (Click image for full view)

Didn't get through, but great experience:
We didn’t manage to get into the Singapore finals. But was a great experience working with a good team. 2 of my team members, James & Wenbin, also took part in the Mashup Category, and I was really happy when they amazingly went all the way to the Egypt world finals, and clinched the 2nd in the world. :) My other team member, Yansheng, has also become quite a good pal of mine.

Half a year later, bumped into the person who judged my entry :
I kinda bumped into the lady from Microsoft (at the Prize Ceremony of XtremeApps, around July 2009) who was the one judged the entries and she actually remembered my team’s report, and she mentioned that ours was actually quite impressive but they had too many web-related software proposals, so that’s why we didn’t get through.
BarCamp Singapore 3 (Sat, 28th February 2009)

What is Barcamp: Just so you know, BarCamp is an ad-hoc un-conference born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from attendees. The first BarCamp was held in California. Since then, BarCamps have been held in over 350 cities around the world, in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, Australasia and Asia.

Wonderful First Experience: BarCamp Singapore 3 was a WONDERFUL experience. My FIRST TIME at a BarCamp. And I loved it, encountered great ideas by a variety of different and creative, individuals. and also wonderful networking opportunities with locals and foreigners from various industries. It was organised by Preetam Rai, and the venue was Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

Topics: Social Media & Social Networking
The key talks I still remember Bernard Leong’s, “The Undercover Technologist” which covered mainly future social networks and an open-source approach to voice recognition on mobile phones.

There was also another talk by another guy, about “The Right Way to Use Social Media to Market Your Business”. He recommended the REEF (Recommendation, Experience, Engagement, Feedback) concept. And mentioned successful examples, e.g. BlendTec (blends the iPhone on Youtube), Starbucks wants your advice, Sun Microsystems CEO blogging.

There was also a young lady, whom I suspect is my age, who gave a talk on “10 ways social media can change your life” and I vividly remembered one example of how Burger King had this offer that you have to defriend a number of friends on Facebook,

There was also another talk on tools for live blogging. I learnt about Qik (http://www.qik.com) that allows you to live stream from your mobile phone to the web.
Tweetgrid (http://www.tweetgrid.com) that provides a dashboard of Twitter searches that update in real time. .

Picture: This was taken at lunch time. So many topics that you’re spoilt for choice :) As you can see, there are 5 different rooms, 5 different talks going on simultaneously at the same time. You can be a speaker or you can listen. I just love the whole user-generated un-conference concept.

Topics: Location Based Services
I remember BarCamp 3 was also HUGE on Location Based Services. A Singapore local company called myWobile, demonstrated their software.

Google team was also down and showcased how extensively Google Maps could be used. I even copied down the link: http://creativebreakfast08.appspot.com/geo-demos.html
You absolutely got to check them out!

I was especially impressed by this application >>>>>>>>>>>> http://creativebreakfast08.appspot.com/demo-geo-swisstrains.html which shows the real-time movement of the Swiss transit system.

Topics: In the Cloud
The Google team also talked about this: Social applications in the cloud.
OpenSocial (http://opensocial.org) is a set of common application programming interfaces (APIs) for web-based social network applications, developed by Google along with MySpace and a number of other social networks.

Topics: Open Travel

WikiTravel (http://wikitravel.org)
Free world wide travel guides, and as WikiTravel puts it“Traveler’s best source of information from another traveler”

What I found truly novel and interesting was their partnering with Amazon, such that a user can order a most up-to-date travel book, print the book within 24hrs at Amazon, and be delivered within next day. This certainly triumphs most Lonely Planet or other travel books by estabished publishers that usually lag behind in up-to-date information by years. They brought a few copies and I was really impressed by the quality and the organization of info on those books. (Too bad it only is available for US citizens till now)
SIP @ NYP (early 2009 till present)

As the founder and President of the club, I was delighted to finally launch it (officially around March 2009)

Mission: I envision this for my chapter, to to pave the way in educating and engaging polytechnic students about social entrepreneurship. And to achieving this through forums, interactive workshops, social media and ground-up initiatives

Progress: We had a successful Club Crawl, recruited a number of people and also orientation. Things weren’t and still aren’t too smooth flowing the past few months, due to various commitments but by God’s grace, we will work it out. We might be working together with a newly set up social enterprise called Eye Empathy, which conducts poverty simulation workshops to educate people on the struggles and vicious cycles that people in the lower rung of society face.

Due to time constraint, I shall continue this post soon. I’ve yet to scratch the tip of the iceberg ;)

Self-Disicpline

2009-02-19T07:35:00.003+08:00

Determine and follow my priorities
Everyone is pressed for time, but successful people have a plan. Differentiate the urgent and the important. Do and follow through what's most important.
Develop a disicplined lifestyle
It's not just a one-time event, but a daily way of living. I've to cultivate systems and routines, especially those vital to my long-term growth & success, and use them everyday of my life.
Confront and eliminate my excuses
Challenge and get rid any tendency I have to make excuses.
Recognize that excuses are really just barriers to my success - all need to be challenged and overcomed, to be able to go up to the next level .
"Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses"
Reward Myself only after the task is done
Work first, play later. 先苦后甜
Be Results-Focused
Any endeavour that's worthy of pursuit, often entails difficulties.
If I concentrate on the pain & problems, I'd be vulnerable to discouragement and self-pity.
Whenever I face a must-do task, and I am thinking of what's convenient instead of paying the price, I have to change my focus. Count the benefits of doing what's right, and dive in.

In closing, remember, "only in the moment of discipline, do you have the power to achieve your dreams".

Siftables - The Future of Toys

2009-02-18T21:33:00.002+08:00

This is just absolutely amazing, brilliant, creative! One of the best inventions I've seen in the recent year. I'd most certainly get such toys for my children 10 years down the road.

Siftables are cookie-sized, computerized tiles you can stack and shuffle in your hands. I especially like the feature where you can mix colours. And also putting the blocks together to make up words, and every 30 seconds, the words on the blocks reshuffles and you make new words again. And also the ability to craft your own story, real-time, by adding blocks together.

Cool Factor: 10/10

Source: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/david_merrill_demos_siftables_the_smart_blocks.html

Switchfoot - This Is Your Life

2009-02-18T20:29:00.000+08:00

Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead
Yesterday is a promise that you've broken
Don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes,
This is your life.
And today is all you've got now.
And today is all you'll ever have.
Don't close your eyes.

CHORUS
This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, is it everything that you dreamed
That it would be when the world was younger,
And you had everything to lose?

Yesterday is a kid in the corner
Yesterday is dead and over.

CHORUS

This is your life, are you who you want to be?
This is your life, are you who you want to be?

All songs written by Jonathan Foreman. ©2000-2003 Meadowgreen Music Company / Sugar Pete Songs (ASCAP)

Water-powered Jetpacks

2009-02-18T13:26:00.001+08:00

"The Jetlev Flyer can send the rider 50 feet into the air and has a top speed of 30 mph. "

Source:
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2009/02/water-jetpacks-on-sale-soon.html

The Future of Wearable Technology

2009-02-11T09:32:00.004+08:00

MIT Students Develop Wearable Computer

Students at the MIT Media Lab have developed a wearable computing system that turns any surface into an interactive display screen.

Combining a video camera and projector, the system is controlled by detecting your hand movements.

Wearable Computer Display

For more information
1. http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/02/ted-digital-six.html
2. http://www.obsessable.com/news/2009/02/06/mit-students-design-wearable-computer-system/

All You Need is 1 Reason Why You Can

2009-02-11T09:16:00.004+08:00

"Some men have thousands of reasons
why they cannot do what they want to,
when all they need is one reason why they can."
-Willis R. Whitney

Kiai-jutsu

2009-02-10T21:45:00.002+08:00

"The body is approximately 70% water. An expression of kiai causes ripples in this water, which stills the opponent’s energy. It’s an instantaneous release of great power."

..a loud shout... Kiai, an art in itself, the kiai jutsu, can be an effective tool for amplifying strength and power, capable of having physical effects on an adversary.

Video:

Mind, Body & Kick Ass Moves meets Japanese martial arts expert, Sasaki sensei of Hida Shiki Kyouken Jutsu; He tests the power of his killer kiai on sword wielding students and uses it to ring a bell from 25ft.

More Information
1. http://www.shotokanryukaseha.com/other_languages/budo_themes/themes_2004/8_kiaijitsu.htm ***
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiai

Bill Gates Unplugged @ TED Talks 2009

2009-02-10T21:11:00.002+08:00

TED's has been one of my favourite websites for a year now. They have a potpourri of the best talks by the best thinkers and doers in the world, giving bite-size talks that inspire, enlighten, shade deep insights on everything from technology, science, arts, entertainment, etc.

This is one of the more recent videos I've watched, Bill Gates "How I'm Trying to Change the World", where he raises 2 important questions for us to think about, and how we might answer them.

Career Talk by Avanade, Briefing Session for Fri's 93.8 Live

2009-01-14T20:17:00.009+08:00

Attended a career talk by Avanade, a global IT consultancy firm earlier in the afternoon. Managed to sit in for only 1/3 of the session, as I had to rush off for another brieing session for this Friday's 93.8 Live Radio@NYP.

I didn't know what was Avanade or Accenture till this talk, and I believe some of you people reading might not too. So here's a a few pointers I picked up from the session I sat in:

About Avanade
Avanade's a global IT consultancy dedicated to using the Microsoft platform to help enterprises achieve profitable growth.
It was founded in 2000, as a joint venture between Accenture and Microsoft, Avanade offers enterprise resource consulting and planning through IT Application Development.

(Accenture's a global management consulting, technology services, and outsourcing company. It's reckoned to be the largest consultancy firm in the world)

> Delivers value (in other words, it's customer base) to up to 22 countries
> Cross deployment of manpower
> Diverse Global Customer Base
- Forbes Global 2000 & Fortune Global 1000
- ALL industries
- Government agencies

> Believes in equipping employees (i.e.the IT consultants who represent Avanade) with not only soft skills, but also vertical industry knowledge.
For those who don't study Econs, it means it equips them with relevant knowledge about the industries they work in.
E.g. if u're helping devise IT solutions for a financial institution, you'll be equipped with financial knowledge. This facilitates better understanding and effectiveness in getting the job done, catered to the need of the customer.

> Customers in Singapore include DBS, GIC (Government of Singapore Investment Corporation), NHG (National Health Group).One example of what Avanade has done, for one of their local customers, NHG.An online visual system that allows tracing of people who have contracted Dengue, SARs, and other diseases or illnesses that can be spread. It combines both the nonstructural (i.e. the information about the illness) and the structural info (i.e. extracting from the live database, and displaying in a interactive graphic way, the numbers of pple who are infected, exact location of the ward they're contained in, etc)

That's all I took down for the talk.

The briefing session (to prepare for this Friday's 93.8 Live on Campus session at NYP) was fine, but a little redudant for me,I frankly felt I should have just carried on listening to the career talk. . Anyway, this Friday, we'd be talking about "Teenage Relationships in Singapore" on News Radio 93.8 FM, at around 0900 hrs+. Grab your chance to hear my opinions on relationships. I was actually thinking I wouldn't be an accurate representation since I'm already in my adult years. But just seizing this chance to practise "public speaking" (it's not exactly facing a huge crowd, but nonetheless imagine your views being broadcast LIVE on air, to the hundreds or thousands of listeners)

Bono writes about Sinatra for his first guest column in the NYT

2009-01-13T20:52:00.008+08:00

Bono (lead singer of U2) and humanitarian contributes first column article for the New York Times.And he tackles something that I didn't expect he'd write on: Jazz and Frank Sinatra (and jazz happens to be one of my favourite genres of music too) He writes about I went to check the website, and those interested can check it out here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/opinion/11bono.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Here are some excerpts:

Notes From the Chairman
By BONO

Dublin

Once upon a couple of weeks ago ...

I’m in a crush in a Dublin pub around New Year’s. Glasses clinking clicking, clashing crashing in Gaelic revelry: swinging doors, sweethearts falling in and out of the season’s blessings, family feuds subsumed or resumed. Malt joy and ginger despair are all in the queue to be served on this, the quarter-of-a-millennium mark since Arthur Guinness first put velvety blackness in a pint glass.

Interesting mood. The new Irish money has been gambled and lost; the Celtic Tiger’s tail is between its legs as builders and bankers laugh uneasy and hard at the last year, and swallow uneasy and hard at the new. There’s a voice on the speakers that wakes everyone out of the moment: it’s Frank Sinatra singing “My Way.” His ode to defiance is four decades old this year and everyone sings along for a lifetime of reasons. I am struck by the one quality his voice lacks: Sentimentality.

Is this knotted fist of a voice a clue to the next year? In the mist of uncertainty in your business life, your love life, your life life, why is Sinatra’s voice such a foghorn — such confidence in nervous times allowing you romance but knocking your rose-tinted glasses off your nose, if you get too carried away.

A call to believability.

A voice that says, “Don’t lie to me now.”

That says, “Baby, if there’s someone else, tell me now.”

Fabulous, not fabulist. Honesty to hang your hat on.

As the year rolls over (and with it many carousers), the emotion in the room tussles between hope and fear, expectation and trepidation. Wherever you end up, his voice takes you by the hand.
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If you want to hear the least sentimental voice in the history of pop music finally crack, though — shhhh — find the version of Frank’s ode to insomnia, “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road),” hidden on “Duets.” Listen through to the end and you will hear the great man break as he truly sobs on the line, “It’s a long, long, long road.” I kid you not.

Like Bob Dylan’s, Nina Simone’s, Pavarotti’s, Sinatra’s voice is improved by age, by years spent fermenting in cracked and whiskeyed oak barrels. As a communicator, hitting the notes is only part of the story, of course.

Singers, more than other musicians, depend on what they know — as opposed to what they don’t want to know about the world. While there is a danger in this — the loss of naïveté, for instance, which holds its own certain power — interpretive skills generally gain in the course of a life well abused.

Want an example? Here’s an example. Take two of the versions of Sinatra singing “My Way.”

The first was recorded in 1969 when the Chairman of the Board said to Paul Anka, who wrote the song for him: “I’m quitting the business. I’m sick of it. I’m getting the hell out.” In this reading, the song is a boast — more kiss-off than send-off — embodying all the machismo a man can muster about the mistakes he’s made on the way from here to everywhere.

In the later recording, Frank is 78. The Nelson Riddle arrangement is the same, the words and melody are exactly the same, but this time the song has become a heart-stopping, heartbreaking song of defeat. The singer’s hubris is out the door. (This singer, i.e. me, is in a puddle.) The song has become an apology.

To what end? Duality, complexity. I was lucky to duet with a man who understood duality, who had the talent to hear two opposing ideas in a single song, and the wisdom to know which side to reveal at which moment.
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Full Article
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/opinion/11bono.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

What the mind dwells upon, the body acts upon

2009-01-13T19:49:00.004+08:00

While tidying the room, found a note card that I wrote for myself years ago, dated 7th August 2004.

"Our limitations & success will be based,most often,on our own EXPECTATIONS for ourselves.What the MIND dwells upon,the BODY acts upon." - Dennis Waitley

"As a man thinketh, so is he"- Proverbs 23:7

Brooke Fraser- "C S Lewis Song"

2009-01-12T23:59:00.001+08:00

N.B:This song's been on my blog's "My Music Mix" for some time, feel free to listen.

Lyrics

If I find in myself desires nothing in this world can satisfy
I can only conclude that I was not made for here
If the flesh that I fight is at best only light and momentary
Then of course I’ll feel nude when to where I’m destined I’m compared

CHORUS
Speak to me in the light of the dawn
Mercy comes with the morning
I will sigh and with all creation groan
As I wait for hope to come for me

Am I lost or just less found,
On the straight or on the roundabout of the wrong way?
Is this a soul that stirs in me,
Is it breaking free, wanting to come alive?

‘Cause my comfort would prefer for me to be numb
And avoid the impending birth
Of who I was born to become

CHORUS

Bridge
For we, we are not long here
Our time is but a breath
So we better breathe it
And I, I was made to live
I was made to love
I was made to know you

Hope is coming for me

CHORUS

"C.S. Lewis Song" from album, Albertine.

Brooke Fraser:

"For the millions of ardent Hillsong United fans, Brooke Fraser needs no introduction. She's been the best-kept secret of the popular modern worship group since their 2006 album United We Stand, for which she penned the lovely "None But Jesus." Since then, she's remained actively involved with the band, touring the world and writing some of the most stirring choruses to come from the entire Hillsong camp, including "Hosanna," "Lead Me to the Cross," and "Lord of Lords........"

- http://www.christianitytoday.com/music/reviews/2008/albertine.html

Golden Globe 2009 Nominations and Winners

2009-01-12T22:13:00.016+08:00

Best Motion Picture - Drama
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire**WINNER**

Best Foreign Language Film
The Baader Meinhof Complex (Germany)
Everlasting Moments (Sweden, Denmark)
Gomorrah (Italy)
I've Loved You So Long (France)
Waltz With Bashir(Israel) **WINNER**

FULL LIST OF WINNERS
— Picture, Drama: "Slumdog Millionaire."
— Picture, Musical or Comedy: "Vicky Christina Barcelona."
— Actor, Drama: Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler."
— Kate Winslet, "Revolutionary Road."
— Director: Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire."
— Actor, Musical or Comedy: Colin Farrell, "In Bruges."
— Actress, Musical or Comedy: Sally Hawkins, "Happy-Go-Lucky."
— Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight."
— Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet, "The Reader."
— Foreign Language Film: "Waltz With Bashir."
— Animated Film: "Wall-E."
— Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, "Slumdog Millionaire."
—Original Score: A.R. Rahman, "Slumdog Millionaire."
—Original Song: "The Wrestler" (performed by Bruce Springsteen, written by Bruce Springsteen), "The Wrestler."

Sources:
http://www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/index.html
(CHECK FOR COMPLETE LIST OF NOMINATIONS AND WINNERS)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk

To remember to check out, those movies nominated in the "Best Motion Picture - Drama" and "Best Foreign Languge Film" category.

Especially, Waltz with Bashir, which is an animated documentary into the horrors of the 1982 Lebanon war. I've been following closely to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict ever since I was 17. Moreover, I've always liked thought-provoking movies that explore the harsh realities and truths of wars, conflicts and the futility of war.

(And yes that reminds me if anyone has not watched "Flags of our Fathers" or "Letters from Iwo Jima", which are 2 movies that show the US and Japanese side of the war respectively; produced by Clint Eastwood, I recommend them)

Anyway, I went to check out the movie:

Waltz with Bashir

Director Ari Folman's animated, quasi-documentary Waltz With Bashir follows the filmmaker's emotional attempt to decipher the horrors that unfolded one night in September of 1982, when Christian militia members massacred more than 3,000 Palestinian refugees in the heart of Beirut as Israeli soldiers surrounded the area. Folman was one of those soldiers, but nearly 20 years after the fact, his memories of that night remain particularly hazy. After hearing an old friend recall a vivid nightmare in which he is pursued by 26 ferocious dogs, Folman and his friend conclude that the dream must somehow relate to that fateful mission during the first Lebanon War. When Folman realizes that his recollections regarding that period in his life seem to have somehow been wiped clean, he travels the world to interview old friends and fellow soldiers from the war. Later, as Folman's memory begins to emerge in a series of surreal images, he begins to uncover a truth about himself that will haunt him for the rest of his days. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Sypnosis from
http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/movies/synopsis/0,,4673395,00.html

Awards Won:

Also check out:
http://waltzwithbashir.com/

Things Mongolian

2009-01-11T19:44:00.005+08:00

I had the chance to meet and get to know 2 new people today at Church, 2 Mongolian girls currently in a 2 year course related to hospitality, in Singapore. Learnt the following, whilst having lunch with them:

1. "Tanitai taniets-sandaa taatai baina"
= Nice to meet you

2. Horses
Almost everyone in Mongolia rides horses. (And the 2 girls can ride horses)
A horse in Mongolia cost SGD $50. A good one costs SGD $100.

3. Mongolian tent
A Mongolian tent ("yurt") can cost around $2000.

Random Words 1

2009-01-11T09:10:00.004+08:00

1. Strategic Alliances

I awakened this morning with those 2 words in my mind: “strategic alliances”, which was first implanted in my mind a few months ago, by Claire Chiang (CEO of the Banyan Tree) at an annual “CEO Unplugged” session where CEOs have an informal interview session on stage. If I remember correctly, she emphasized the importance of building strategic alliances as part of a response to a question about adapting and surviving in the tough times in 2009 and 2010.
I think it is especially pertinent to me, as I embark on an entrepreneurial path and start up my business/es, more specifically, innovative, creative tech startups.

2. Zenith,
This used to be a favourite word of mine, about 6,7 years ago, when I was inundating my brain with vocabulary. And it brings to mind, pinnacle, peak, apex.

3. Building a house on a rock
The importance of building your life on a firm foundation, on God's word, and when the storms of life come, you'll stand affirm. (contrast with building a house on sand, washed away when the storms come)

Le hasard favorise l’esprit prepar

2009-01-11T08:12:00.003+08:00

"Le hasard favorise l’esprit prepar"
(Chance Favours the Prepared Mind)
- Louis Pasteur

On Creativity: The Creative Process

2009-01-11T07:46:00.008+08:00

THE CREATIVE PROCESS

The word “creative” stems from the Latin root word, “creare”, which means “to bring forth, to produce, to create”. Some philosophers might liken this “creative process” to the process in the book of Genesis where God created the heavens and earth in the beginning, by creating them "ex nihilo", or out of nothing. Similarly, the creative process often entails bringing into tangible existence of something that did not exist before. For example, an idea first exists in the imagination and mind of the creator, as something faint and vague. But as he “incubates” it in his mind and takes action, he works the invisible idea he has, and yields it into a concrete product. Some people might reckon that creativity is limited to one of those eureka moments where an idea pops up from no where, but in reality, it always involves a progressive process. The creative process can be divided into 4 processes in my opinion: Preparation, Incubation, Illumination and Evaluation.

There are some people who think that creativity is an innate gift: something you have or do not have. They oppose the idea that creativity can be nurtured, that you can become creative. They dismiss the whole idea of “preparing” to become creative. Well, they overlook the fact that often the most creative people in history, have perhaps been one of the most “prepared”, reflected in the enormity of time and effort they devoted to studying their respective fields of pursuit. Leonardo Da Vinci (scientist, engineer, artist, instrument inventor, philosopher, anatomist, etc) advocated “Study the science of art and the art of science”. Thomas Edison devoted endless amounts of time, to preparing, researching, exploring, formulating and crystallising his innumerable ideas into creative products, which included electricity and the lightbulb.

Indeed, creativity has to do with originality, but without study, someone can possibly do something original, but it could be laden with triviality, nonsense and hold no real value for society. It is fundamental to first adequately master a degree of knowledge and skills, before one can possibly produce a true creative masterpiece. A favourite quote of mine is that aphorism by Louis Pasteur, “Chance favours the prepared mind”. It would be fallacious to believe that preparation grants you creativity, but it most certainly will maximise the probability of creativity. Apart from confronted with a problem, you also have to prepare, in that you ascertain the cause, study it and then take action.

After preparation comes incubation, which involves the creative problem that you are working on being internalized by your unconscious mind. This can happen when you are driving, sleeping, exercising or doing things that are not related to your creative work. You might be in a relaxed state of mind and body, and then the unique idea flashes in your head – illumination. And lastly, upon having the idea, you go about with the evaluation, whereby you verify and elaborate, further develop the idea and eventually perfect it into a tangible product.

©DJPANG 2009. Not to be reproduced or published without permission

Malleable World

2009-01-09T10:39:00.012+08:00

"The world is more malleable than you think.
We can bend it into a better shape.
Ask big questions, demand big answers."
- Bono (frontman of rock band, U2)

Comment and Rate my Blog

2009-01-08T23:18:00.002+08:00

Just added, 2 new widgets from JS-KIT.com into the right column of my blog.

Now, you're able to
1. Leave Comments ("Like My Blog?" Section)
2. Rate Me ("Rate My Blog" Section)

To my faithful readers, please rate and comment :) Thanks a million.

5′7″ (1.72m) guy who blocks Yao Ming

2009-01-08T22:23:00.008+08:00

I just stumbled across this video yesterday. This guy's Nate Robinson, from the New York Knicks in the NBA. He can slam dunk. He won the Slam Dunk Contest at the 2006 BA All-Star Weekend. And you'll be thinking, doesn't everyone in the NBA capable of dunking?

This guy's 1.72 m (5'775 ") - my height!!!! And he's able to pull off a 45 inch vertical jump!!! That's insane. And if you don't know, he even blocked Yao Ming (6'10" or 2.08m). Imagine, someone of my height,blocking Yao Ming. Well, I think for us, it'd probably happen only in our dreams, that's why it's simply so amazing to watch this short guy (short in comparison to the mighty giants of the NBA) dunking over, blocking the taller players and even, clinching the Slam Dunk contest.

Nate Robinson blocks Yao Ming

Nate Robinson in 2006 NBA All-Star Dunk Contest (which he won)

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announces release of first Windows 7 Beta at CES 2009

2009-01-08T20:01:00.024+08:00

CES 2009
Microsoft announces free looks at new Windows 7, new Windows Mobile and Xbox Live services, productivity apps for Windows Live, and partnerships with Dell, Facebook, and Verizon.

Watch Ballmer keynote video at CES 2009. (Link opens Windows Media Player.)

Windows 7 Beta

New Features (Windows 7 Website)
Release Date of Download:
The Windows 7 download will be posted to
Microsoft Windows 7 site on Friday, Jan. 9 2009
**NOTE: Microsoft will cap the beta after first 2.5 million downloads**
Details:
- The ISO image file is approximately 2.7GB in size.
-Only supports an upgrade from Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1)
- Beta expires on Aug. 1, 2009
Minimum recommended hardware: includes a 1GHz processor, 1GB of system memory, 16GB of available disk space and support for DX9 graphics with 128MB of memory (to enable the Aero theme)

Articles (incl. vid clips)

Limit

2009-01-08T09:36:00.004+08:00

"A limit on what you will do,
puts a limit on what you can do."
- Anonymous

Creative Teamwork

2009-01-08T00:57:00.003+08:00

Meaningful Relationships

2009-01-08T00:15:00.012+08:00

Meaningful Relationships

We yearn for meaningful relationships. We desire to love and be loved, to be cared for, to be accepted as who we are. We want to be part of something that matters, something larger than ourselves. We need to interact with people face-to-face. We want to be seen, known and served and do the same for others. This longing to connect with another human being resonates so strongly in our soul, it is to our human spirit what food, air and water is to our bodies.

Loneliness

Yet often, as much as we hanker for close, genuine friendships or relationships, it remains elusive to a number of us. There are those times, we might find ourselves surrounded by people, yet we still can feel an agonizing loneliness. We put on our masks, the mask that “everything’s alright” and we have got it all-together, when beneath that veneer, we are in fact, desperate for love, for someone’s attention, for someone’s encouragement, for someone’s smile, for someone’s company.

We find ourselves asking ourselves “Why do I feel so lonely? Why is it so hard to make good friends” And we are unwilling to admit that we are lonely, we think that loneliness is associated with losers. We are like lepers, not wanting other people to know that we are lonely, afraid that they might shun us once we reveal it. We find ways to flee from this in hyperactivity, through television, gaming, shopping, and a whole myriad of ways. Yet at the end of the day, there still lies a void in us.

Myself

I am not exempt from loneliness. There are times, when I lock myself in my room, and I cry in secret. I question whether there is anyone who really cares and why things are the way they seem. There are at times, when I pray and ask God, why it is so hard to find close friendships: a friendship that is committed to helping each other fulfill our destinies in life, a friendship so close that we will defend each other’s name when someone wrongly accuses, a friendship that is founded on the vow to always be there for each other.

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another

In Proverbs 27:17, it says “As a iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” I know that in order for us to consistently grow spiritually and mentally, we need others to sharpen us week in and week out. We also need that someone to lend a listening ear, to help us in our struggles, that as we share and confess to one another, there can be healing (James 3:16)
Indeed, that is true, but what about those occasions when you are totally bereft of friends. When you seem to have lost all your friends? When no one seems to understand you and don’t care? When you can’t contain the pain of loneliness and depression anymore?

God’s presence

What drew me to Christianity when I was younger, was that verse in Luke, where Jesus proclaimsed in Luke 4: 18-19 that he has come to “to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed”
And in John 14:16, that the Holy Spirit is my “comforter”(literally "one to run to our side and pick us up”),who comforts me as I go about life’s trials. And what especially stirs my heart time and time again, is that through the midst of it all, the flurry of life, the heartaches, the pain, the ups and downs – that there is a God above who cares for me and whose presence is available to he who believes in Him.

Change – From the Inside Out

He does not change the circumstances and situations. Things might still be as bad as before. But what changes is this: Instead of leaning on my limited human strength, I am now able to tap from the abundant, infinite source of strength – that is God.

Quite often, the reason why relationships fail is because of our poor self-esteem and self-image, but the amazing thing about God is that as you walk with Him, and abide in His word, He changes you from the inside out. You gain a confidence, not derived from the achievements you’ve garnered, not based on self-help techniques - but a confidence based on your identity you have in Christ Jesus.

You are free from the need to impress others, you become an authentic person and in time, you naturally build good friendships.

Start Building Meaningful Relationships

There might be some of us who are blessed with great meaningful relationships and friendships already. But to those who experience occasional loneliness, and pine for better, life-changing friendships, let us start identifying the sort of friendships that we want to have and actively make an effort to build meaningful ones.

Singing Over Me

2009-01-07T00:35:00.005+08:00

"Singing Over Me" by Building 429

In the middle of the night
When I finally close my eyes
With the memory of the day
Running circles in my mind
The voice that calms the seas
Is whispering to me
Putting all my fears to rest
Yeah You put them all to rest

Then I realize that You're always by my side
When I stand, when I fall, when the lights go off

You You're singing over me
You're singing over me tonight
With every star that's in this midnight sky
You, You're singing over me
You're singing over me tonight
And my heart is overcome with Your song
With Your song

From the depths of my soul
You are calling me
To the evidence of You
In all Your Glory
From the iris of an eye
To the mountains majesty
Putting all my doubts to rest

Yeah then I realize that you are always by my side
In my worst and best, in this beating chest,
When I'm living dying always finding

You You're singing over me
You're singing over me tonight
With every star that's in this midnight sky
You, You're singing over me
You're singing over me tonight
And my heart is overcome with Your song
With Your song

I'm singing along
Yeah, I can hear it
And I'm singing along

Stress

2009-01-06T22:24:00.002+08:00

On Creativity: Introduction

2009-01-05T22:41:00.007+08:00

Creativity permeates every corner of society these days. Within the hallowed halls of academia, students are taught critical and creative thinking skills; in the corporate world, a growing number of businesses are recognizing the value of creativity and integrating it as a key business strategy to edge out their competitors; in the sphere of the arts & media, creativity traditionally and still remains the sine qua non (the essential prerequisite) for artists, poets, artistes in expressing and creating their works of art. Creativity pervades the realms of sciences, spirituality, government and many others too. Despite the ubiquity of creativity, most of us take it for granted and can’t really put a finger on it, which raises the pertinent question, “What is creativity?”

When posed with that question, some might define it as “doing something different than what most others would do”, others might define it as “thinking out of the box” or “being original”. For me personally, the first definition that pops up in mind is “the putting together of disparate ideas to create something new”. The litany of interpretations could probably stretch endlessly, dependent on our unique perspectives and experiences. It is almost impossible to define it too, as how musician Matt Callahan astutely puts it, “Something as porous as creativity defies definition, resists quantification and refuses access to those who seek to possess it like a Thing.” However, though it is near impossible to get a complete definition of the word, we can still gain a deeper & well-balanced understanding of “creativity”, by seeing it from 4 angles: the creative process, the traits of a creative person, the creative environment and the value of creativity.

On Creativity - The Pre-Ramble

2009-01-05T21:31:00.012+08:00

Well, yes we all know that "creativity" is the buzzword these days.

I hear it in church, where Pastor Kong preaches about using our God-given talents and creatively using them for the kingdom of God and to add value to society.

And in my pursuit to become a technopreneur, I've been researching on trends, reading up, meeting new people, exposing myself to new ideas. The impetus behind it all? Creativity again - to be able to come up with a creative and innovative business idea, as my company's unique selling point and differentiate me from the competition.

I believe creativity has been very much been an fundamental part of me since I was young. I used to draw when I was young, and my art teacher even suggested me joining the AEP (Art Elective Programme) in secondary school. (Of course, I didn't as I wanted to spend more time playing) I used to design cards and games in primary school too. I remember my parents once joking back then, that I could grow up and sell them. I love singing, though I do not like to sing for no reason in public. At times, I can just sing tunes and weave words out of nothing, perhaps it's due to the immense amount of diverse (the old, the new, the weird) music that I constantly devoured and still do.

Well, I think I have had the privelege to be exposed a lot to creative techniques, since I was young too. (Note: Knowing is one thing, application is a whole different story)

I remember back in my primary school days, my parents sent me for a course, namely the 6 Thinking Hats by Edward De Bono (our modern-day guru and world's leading authority on the subject of "Creativity) It was a few session workshop on using lateral thinking to solve problems. I have to confess that I had a vivid impression of everything else, except the 6 Thinking Hats. Such as the embarrassment of writing in one of the papers that I was from "Tough" Club and then got corrected, it should be "T.A.F - Trim and Fit" club. (And yes, I used to be a chubby boy in my upper primary school days. )And yes, I deeply recall that the 6 Thinking Hats workshop was also held at Raffles Girls School, where I remember indulging in Neapolitan Walls Ice Cream, after one of the sessions. And yet, I have a faint memory of the 6 Thinking Hats (I can't even remember all the colours)

Back in my days in The Chinese High School, which was like a decade ago, I can still remember that there was a "Thinking Programme" where the teachers tried to inculcate and teach "Critical and Creative Thinking", of which I had totaly no interest back then. (Or it probably was because I was dozing off half-the-time)

Anyway, I've been thinking on Creativity so much, that I decided to practise my ENGLISH (not programming) writing skills again, something you rarely get a chance to especially when you're in the line of IT. Enough rambling. In case, you still haven't figured out. This post is just a pre-RAMBLE (=a wordplay on preamble) for an essay, and in case you're slow, yes it's an essay "On Creativity", specially written by... yours truly. I have decided to divide the essay into 4 bite-size chunks (assuming you have a mouth of a giant) Enjoy the read.

Gathering at Gobi's Place

2009-01-04T21:00:00.001+08:00

Imagine yourself being surrounded by about 50 over Indians in a HDB flat, and there's less than a handful of Chinese. Think I just savoured how it felt to be the minority - albeit for a few hours, last night at a gathering. Well, the occasion was to celebrate a double birthday - Gobi's Mum's birthday and Gobi's few-months-belated 21st birthday (which we did not have a chance to celebrate 'cos he was still back in Aussie)

Well, I must say, I did enjoy myself. It was great seeing and catching up with the VJ friends of ol', like Ben (who's apparently caught the board games bug from me bought Citadels and Munchkins..YAY..) And I was amazed to see how much his younger brother (who shares the same name as me) has grown since the last time I saw him, 3 years ago. And he's already enlisting for NS, time sure flies. It was great seeing Marcus too, who's back from Cornell, where he's majoring in Computer Science. It was also nice seeing some other ex-VJ guys like, Oishnesh and Chris Tong (who also brought boardgames) whom I've not seen since I graduated from VJ, that's like years back.

And yes, I saw Nafeesa (the eccentric law girl from SMU), whom to my most pleasant of surprises, is part of SMU's AIESEC and she shares with me that they're also going to hold some upcoming Social Entrepreneurship event in school, related with Poverty. On a lighter note, I discovered she also has an eccentric habit of carrying a metal cup wherever she goes, and eschewing the use of plastic, styrofoam cups. It's been long since I've met someone with such an idiosyncratic habit, albeit one that helps save the environment. I'm actually impressed that there still exists such people who believes in the power of the individual, in saving the environment.

The food was not bad, I had some fried rice with some chicken wings, murtabak, prata, prawns achar,etc. Anyway, the crowd was really huge. I spent most of the night just chatting and catching up with the usual gang.And before you knew it,out comes the birthday cake and singing of birthday songs, and taking of photographs (Gobi's Mum first, then Gobi's turn) I must say that the bunch of little Indian girls (kindergarten and lower primary) were exceptionally playful, filled with bountiful energy and loud. They were almost half the time, shrieking in ectacy, bouncing about the whole night. I've not hung out with small children for eons, so initially, I was like "oh, they're so cute and adorable"and as the night progressed, it soon became irritation. But nonetheless, they did do a good job in making the night a vivid memory.

After dinner and the birthday cake cutting, singing and photograph session, finally the moment which I was anticipating for: playing boardgames. I had actually brought along my St Petersburg boardgame, which I so eagerly wanted to introduce and share how good it was. But eventually, we settled for the game "Taboo" since it was suitable for a huge group of people. I think it was probably one of the noisiest "Taboo"sessions I've had, or rather, the MOST NOISIEST one. All thanks to the adorable little Indian girls who didn't exactly play, but of whom got extremely excited and loud whenever my group was doing the description and guessing.

Anyway, before I left, did some catching up with Gobi. He's currently studying in Sydney. And he shares with me that it's really cosmopolitan over there and various other things. Anyway, it was really my pleasure to be able to hang out with old friends. I'm looking forward to next year's gathering again.

The Elevator Principle

2009-01-03T18:28:00.006+08:00

THE ELEVATOR PRINCIPLE:
We can lift people up or take people down in our relationships.

4 Kinds of People in our Relationships:

1. Some People Add Something to Life - We Enjoy Them

2. Some People Subtract Something from Life - We Tolerate Them.

3. Some People Multiply Something In Life - We Value Them.

4. Some People Divide Something In Life - We Avoid Them.

Lifters:

1. Lifters commit themselves to daily encouragement.

2. Lifters know the little difference that separates hurting and helping.

3. Lifters initiate the positive in a negative environment.

4. Lifters understand life is not a dress rehearsal.

Question To Ponder:
Would others say that I lift them up or take them down?

Points taken from John C. Maxwell, "Winnning with People"

Switchfoot - More Than Fine

2009-01-02T05:57:00.004+08:00

More Than Fine

When I wake in the morning,
I want to blow into pieces.
I want more than just ok, more than just ok.
When I'm up with the sunrise
I want more than just blue skies.
I want more than just ok, more than just ok.

I'm not giving up, giving up, not giving up now.
I'm not giving up, giving up, not backing down.

More than fine, more than bent on getting by.
More than fine, more than just ok.

When I'm wet with the sunshine.
I want more than just a good time.
I want more than just ok, more than just ok.

I'm not giving up, giving up, not giving up now.
I'm not giving up, giving up, not selling out.

More than fine, more than bent on getting by.
More than fine, more than just ok.
More than fine, more than bent on getting by.
More than fine, more than just ok.

More than oceans away from the dawn.
More than oceans away from the dawn.
More than oceans away from who we are
More than oceans, more than oceans, yeah.

More than fine, more than bent on getting by.
More than fine, more than just ok.
More than fine, more than bent on getting by.
More than fine, more than just ok

Switchfoot, from album "The Beautiful Letdown"

Thought For the Day:
Am I content with scraping through life, settling for mediocrity? Or am I going to be "more than just fine", to pursue excellence and become better and better each day?

The Ways

2009-01-01T20:02:00.005+08:00

The Ways

To every man there openeth
A way and ways and a way;
And the high soul climbs the high way,
And the low soul gropes the low;
And in between on the misty flats
The rest drift to and fro;
But to every man there openeth
A high way and a low;
And every man decideth
The way his soul shall go.

- John Oxenham
(1852-1941 Journalist, Novelist & Poet)

Comic Relief for the New Year

2009-01-01T16:22:00.013+08:00

To view, click to enlarge

Bozo by Kaamran Hafeez

Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz

Dog Eat Doug by by Brian Anderson

Non Sequitur by by Wiley Miller

B.C. by Hart

The Object of a New Year

2009-01-01T10:09:00.008+08:00

"The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year.It is that we should have a new soul and a new nose; new feet, a new backbone, new ears, and new eyes. Unless a particular man made New Year resolutions, he would make no resolutions. Unless a man starts afresh about things, he will certainly do nothing effective. Unless a man starts on the strange assumption that he has never existed before, it is quite certain that he will never exist afterwards. Unless a man be born again, he shall by no means enter into the Kingdom of Heaven."

- G. K. Chesterton (Critic, Essayist, Novelist & Poet, 1874-1936)

Downhere - Don't Miss Now

2008-12-31T20:15:00.018+08:00

Ever since I unearthed their gem of an album"Wide-Eyed and Mystified" album, 1 and half years ago, Downhere has amazed, enthralled and stirred me with their songs: impeccable, wonderful, brilliant lyrics containing relevant messages that stir and touch your spirit, yet at the same time, always exploring new depths of music artistry, style and ministry. Each song seems to written be just for you, and tackles honestly about the many questions or challenges that we face in life and in our spiritual walk, yet always portrayed in a fresh perspective and which often can have an immense cathartic effect and simultaneously, provoking a reflection or two.

I just bought their latest album "Endings and Beginnings" 2 weeks ago, after eagerly anticipating it for a year. And there're only a handful copies in Singapore, unless you order it and ship it from overseas. Anyway, there are a number of great songs on it, here's a really good and meaningful one.

Lyrics

The life you chose -
There's never a list for it
Of cons and pros
You find what you love, and you commit

And you're looking so far down
The road so well
That you could forget your crown
Isn't just somewhere else

You get bumped and bruised and worse
For choosing the road less traveled
You know the reward is rich
If you persist through the darkest battles
Open your eyes,
Your prize is right before you, somehow
Whatever you do, just don't miss now

You're on a bus
Don't notice the miles and months fly by
To the rest of us
You're living the highest kind of life

And though the price you pay
Is costlier than it seems
It's worth another day
The end justifies your means

All that you're working for
Could blind you to the treasures all around you
So don't miss these moments, please
The joy before the crown you seek

Song Interpretation and Personal Thoughts

I believe this song speaks about not missing now. "Now" referring to the current moment, in all its myriad of forms, that struggle to grab your attention and distract you from focusing on the long-term goal. The first stanza speaks about you choosing your path in life, something which you love and will commit to. And inherent in any choice you make, there will always be the good and the bad. And at times,when you look down this chosen road you travel, it seems the end goal is still so far from attaining, that you might forget it and might even think it lies somewhere else, i.e. on another road.

In addition, you will get knocked, bruised (may it be emotionally, mentally,etc) - risks and problems inevitable for choosing the path less travelled.But deep down within you, you know there lies a priceless, great reward at the end and if you persevere through the most difficult, darkest challenges..the day will come when you open your eyes and the prize is right before you.

But whatever you do, just don't miss the moment - it could be the discomfort of being in an unfamiliar environment; it could be the gnawing doubt and disillusion of whether you have made the right choice; it could be stigma, cynicism, disapproval of people (even the ones closest to you) against your chosen path in life; it could be the frustration of you hitherto having sown countless times into something yet the fruits of your labour are nowhere in sight. This list could go on, dependent on the unique set of problems & challenges that confronts every individual.

The moment can also come in the form of the many temptations, many distractions, some might even come in the form of pursuits beneficial to us. But we should always bear in mind that, doing something good is different from doing what's best. And we should always do something, bearing in mind what is it, at the end we want to achieve in our life.

As the song continues,it speaks about you being on a bus that drives on and on, without you noticing the miles clocking by akin to how you might be travelling in your life's journey and time just flies by. And now others, perceive you as living "the highest kind of life" - I'll interpret this in 2 ways: 1. a life of purpose and destiny; 2. a life of fame, success, wealth that you might have attained as you progressed down the road of life. The song continues with "though the price you pay is costlier than it seems", meaning often people won't really know how much sweat and blood, how high a price you pay for the choice you have made; but at the end of the day, though you walk a different path, you know you still will reach your goal, and it's all worth it.

The bridge of the song then warns you that everything that you're labouring for, can make you oblivious to the "treasures" (the transient things that might entice you, the temporary promise of pleasure and rest, entertainment, etc) around you, and once again, don't miss these things. Instead fix your eyes on the joy before you, that lies ahead, the joy of your eventual crown.

Avoiding Soft Drinks & French Fries

2008-12-30T22:18:00.015+08:00

H-E-A-L-T-H.

It's something most of us normal, able-bodied individuals take for granted, especially in our days of youth when our bodies function at their optimal level. It's only when something terrible happens out of the blue, e.g. we get diagnosed with chronic illnesses, that we actually pause and reflect about how our lifestyle and eating habits might have been one of the culprits. Even if we might belong to the lucky majority who don't get a major illness till old age, we might also experience milder and more subtle forms of a long term unhealthy lifestyle, e.g. the ballooning of the tummy, hair loss, increased vulnerability to the common flu, etc.
For me personally, I've always believed I have had a relatively healthy diet, at least in recent years. For this blog post, I'm just going to list down 2 things which I do on a regular basis.

For about the past 7 years, I've been avoiding carbonated soft drinks almost completely. I probably consumed less than 2 Litres of Coke in the past 7 years, I can remember once when I was a house guest and this young lad offered me Coke and I kindly declined it, and he was puzzled how could someone not like Coke (For your info, he drinks a can of coke almost everyday) Apart from that, whenever I dine at fast food restaurants, instead of ordering the value meals (which most people do), I'd just order the burger and yes, I try avoiding french fries too....which brings me to the next point: Enlightening to you readers how detrimental French Fries are.

French Fries Contain:
1. Saturated fats	Saturated fats causes atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and coronary heart disease (a heart attack). In simpler terms, it means your arteries are clogged, lesser nutrients travel to your heart & rest of body.
2. Transfat (Worst type of fat)	Fries contain high concentration of trans-fat. Trans-fat is a type of polyunsaturated vegetable oil that has been transformed, through a heating process, into a solid form at room temperature. Trans-fat is used for most deep-frying & widely used in processed food. It can cause cancer.
3. Acrylamide	Fries contain acrylamide, which is proven to cause cancer, e.g. cancer to male reproductive glands. (Note: Acrylamide is a natural byproduct formed when certain carbohydrate-rich foods are fried, baked, or roasted at high temperatures above 120 °C)

I remember watching a video clip about 1-2 years ago, taken from the movie "Supersize Me", an experiment with some McDonald's food, the star being the French Fries. I've specially searched it and embedded it in here, for those people who have yet to watch it.

Anyway, I think most of us in Singapore have received tonnes of health education and at the end of the day, you decide. Just remember to think twice when you feel like satiating your craving for fries ;)

Topman Warehouse Sale (up to 70% off)

2008-12-29T20:53:00.011+08:00

Topman (up to 70% discount)

Venue: Wing Tai Industrial Building, 105 Tampines Road (Map)
Date: Now till 8 Feb 2009
Time: 12pm - 7pm

*If you intend to spend over $80 on a single receipt, you can get another $5 off if you bring along the coupons.
To print coupon, click picture on left and it will automatically pop up a new window with the full sized image.

Get up every morning with determination

2008-12-29T09:12:00.004+08:00

"You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction"- George Lorimer

Half-Hearted Creatures

2008-12-29T00:51:00.012+08:00

Excerpts from C.S Lewis, Readings for Meditation & Reflection

If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you asked almost any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied, Love. You see what happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philosophical importance. The negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think that this is the Christian virtue of love.

The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an ends in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If these lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics, and is no part of the Christian faith.

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at a sea. We are far too easily pleased.

We must not be troubled by unbelievers when they say that this promise of a reward makes the Christian life a mercenary affair. There are different kinds of reward. There is the reward which has no natural connection with the things you do to earn it, and is quite foreign to the desires that ought to accompany those things. Money is not the natural reward of love, that is why we call a man mercenary if he marries a woman for the sake of her money. But marriage is a proper reward for a real lover, and he is not mercenary for desiring it... The schoolboy beginning Greek grammar cannot look forward to his adult enjoyment of Sophocles as a lover looks forward to marriage or a General to victory. He has to begin by working for marks or to escape punishment, or to please his parents, or at best, in the hope of a future good which he cannot at present imagine or desire. His position therefore, bears a certain resemblance to that of the mercenary; the reward he is going to get will, in natural fact, be a natural or proper reward, but he will not know that till he has got it...

The Christian, in relation to heaven, is in much the same position as this schoolboy. Those who have attained everlasting life in the vision of God doubtless know very well that it is no mere bribe, but the very consummation of their earthly discipleship; but we who have not yet attained it cannot know this in the same way, and cannot even begin to know it at all except by continuing to obey and finding the first reward of our obedience in our increasing power to desire the ultimate reward.

"The Weight of Glory"
in Screwtape Proposes a Toast

Random Pattern 1

2008-12-28T17:59:00.002+08:00

Illustrator CS3 Tutorials: Create Abstract Wave Lines using the Blend Tool

2008-12-28T15:53:00.031+08:00

Step 1. Create New Document
Launch Adobe Illustrator CS3 and Create A New 500px X 500px Document.

Step 2. Select Pen Tool
Select the Pen Tool (P). Set Fill to None. Set Stroke to Black and 1 pt weight.

Step 3. Create 2 Curved Lines.
To create curve. Click on the point where you want the curve to begin (Anchor Point), click on another point (e.g. to the upper right) and hold on to the mouse, drag (e.g. right-downwards) and release.Repeat by clicking on other points and dragging and releasing.

Step 4. Blend using the Blend Tool
Select the Blend Tool (W). Double click on the Blend Icon to change the Blend Properties.

Set Spacing to “Specific Steps”, change steps to “25” and set Orientation to “Align to Path”

Click on the top line and then on the bottom line, and you’ll get this:

Step 5. Adjust using Direct Selection Tool
To adjust the abstract wave line, select the Direct Selection Tool (A) and adjust accordingly.

Additional Steps (Using Adobe Photoshop CS3)
1.Copy the Blend and Open Photoshop, Create New Document and Paste .
2. Select “Paste as Pixels”. Right Click and Click “Place”.
3. Right Click on Layer, and choose “Blending Options”.
4. Select Gradient Overlay.

Microsoft Word: Inserting Tables with Keyboard

2008-12-28T00:42:00.008+08:00

Ever wondered how to insert tables without using a mouse? Here's a simple and cool tip.

Type +-------+ & hit enter, and you'll get a 1 column table. "+" represents a column break. "-" represents the width of the column.

Example: Inserting a 3 column table

Step 1: Type +----------+-----------+-------------+

Step2: Hit "Enter" and you'll get your table

To add a row, just press the "Tab" button till you reach the last column and press "Tab"again and a new row will be created. Repeat to create more rows.

Sanctus Real - "Whatever You're Doing"

2008-12-27T20:43:00.014+08:00

Lyrics:

It’s time for healing, time to move on,
it’s time to fix what’s been broken too long
Time to make right what has been wrong;
it’s time to find my way to where I belong

There’s a wave that’s crashing over me, and all I can do is surrender

Whatever You’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but somehow there’s peace
And it’s hard surrender to what I can’t see,
but I’m giving in to something heavenly

Time for a milestone, time to begin again, re-evaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow Your will or just climbing aimlessly over these hills?

So show me what it is You want from me
I give everything – I surrender

Time to face up, clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out that I’ve wanted to say for so many years
Time to release all my held back tears

Whatever You’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but I believe …

You’re up to something bigger than me
Larger than life, something heavenly
Whatever You’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but now I can see
This is something bigger than me
Larger than life
Something heavenly

Written by Matt Hammitt, Chris Rohman, Mark Graalman, Dan Gartley, and Pete Prevost © 2008 Birdwing Music (admin. by EMI CMG Publishing) (ASCAP) / Olde Irish Publishing (admin. by EMI CMG Publishing) (BMI)

Behind the Song:

'Most of us are looking for a sign. Where to go, what to do, how long to stay there. Sometimes it's hard to surrender and trust God when we can't see where he is taking us. Thank God for the gift of peace. It allows us to walk in faith, knowing that if we can just follow, we will end up exactly where we need to be. The truth in this song is profoundly simple.' - Matt Hammitt (Sanctus Real)

Personal Thoughts:
The way the song opens "it's time for healing, time to move on, it's time to fix what's been broken too long"especially speaks to me, as I struggle with the immense disappointments & heartaches of the past, and that it's not worth holding on to the pain of the past..but to open my heart to receive emotional healing and to move on.

As the song continues and puts it "there's a wave that's crashing over me" - a wave of questions on where I'm heading in life, the wave of doubts of whether I can really move on and accomplish what I want to, a wave of depression and loneliness that seeps in subtlely yet so intensely at times... amidst all these things that seem to crash over me, "all I can do is surrender" - surrender to the God above, who says in His word that "He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds." (Psalms 147:3) and "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5 Deut 31:6, 8; Joshua 1:5)

The chorus:
"Whatever You’re doing inside of me
It feels like chaos, but somehow there’s peace
And it’s hard surrender to what I can’t see,
but I’m giving in to something heavenly"

As I surrender to Him, everything (struggles, habitual problems, worries, disappointments, ambitions, dreams, hopes and fears) which sometimes can be difficult especially in times of "drought" when I don't hear from Him, He doesn't seem to be there and prayer is akin to speaking to a wall; I still hold on in faith and trust in Him, His Word that He has a future and a hope for me amidst everything (Jeremiah 29:11) Which explains why often, though I experience chaos within, from life's demands and etc... there's a peace within that surpasses all understanding. (Phil. 4:6-7)

The second stanza goes on "Time for a milestone, time to begin again, re-evaluate who I really am" and raises the question "Am I doing everything to follow Your will or just climbing aimlessly over these hills?"As I re-evaluate myself and as I start to occupy myself with more activities, more ventures, more ambitions,etc, the constant question should be whether my life is aligned to His will and the calling He has for me, or whether it's just doing what many people do: aimlessly occupying themselves with apparently ambitious things, and trapped in a rat race or climbing up the corporate/social/etc ladder.

Soon, the next stanza "Time to face up, clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out that I’ve wanted to say for so many years
Time to release all my held back tears" speaks about the need to honestly come face-to-face with everything in the past, to let go grudges, to let go the pain, to let go of everything that has been keeping me in a vicious cycle, and a time to let the breath of God and his Holy Spirit, breathe me anew, and recognise that indeed I'm a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17)

The song ends with "You’re up to something bigger than me
Larger than life, something heavenly"and indeed that's the beauty of giving our lives and trusting in Him. That as we surrender our carnal concept of what success is, and to surrender to a higher purpose and to trust in Him,we are surrendering to something bigger than ourselves, something heavenly.

A Taste of Burmese Culture

2008-12-26T00:00:00.005+08:00

This year's Christmas was quite an ordinary occasion for me, though still quite a unique one. Apart from the wonderful Christmas drama production that the team at church put up, I had the privelege to join a friend for a Myanmar nationals lunch get-together, where I got to savour some Burmese home-made cuisine.

Being the keen linguist as I am, seized the opportunity to learn a new word or two from the Burmese language:

General
Thank You - Che-zu tin-ba-de
Good Bye - Tar-Tar

Food

Moke-Hin-Khar: A greenish yellowish fish soup with rice noodles, served with fried garlic and chilli powder. I had double servings of this, and it tasted not bad. My friend tells me that in Myanmar, it's quite a popular dish and there are restaurants that specially sell it; and even cooking competitions.

Tea Leave Salad:A blend of Tea leaves, tomatoes, lettuce, dried shrimp, fried garlic, peanuts, and split yellow peas. The taste of the fermented tea leaves was quite a first for me. I especially liked the crunchiness of the peanuts and yellow peas. On the whole, on a scale of 1 to 5, I'd rate the food as 3 and a half. I'd most certainly love to try out more Burmese cuisine in the future.

Downhere - How Many Kings

2008-12-25T01:00:00.001+08:00

Lyrics

"Follow the star to
a place unexpected
Would you believe after all
we've projected
A child in a manger?
Lowly and small
the weakest of all
Unlikeliest hero,
wrapped in his mother's shawl
Just a child
Is this who we've waited for? Cause...

How many kings
step down from their thrones
How many lords
have abandoned their homes?
How many greats
have become the least for ?
And how many gods
have poured out their hearts
To romance a world
that is torn all apart
How many fathers
gave up their sons for me?

Bringing our gifts for the
newborn Savior
All that we have,
whether costly or meek
Because we believe
Gold for His honor and
frankincense for His pleasure
And myrrh for the cross
He will suffer
Do you believe?
Is this who we've waited for?

All for me, all for you
All for me, all for you"

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T00:00:00.001+08:00

Hello World!

2008-12-15T19:54:00.001+08:00

"Hello World" – Such are the classic words that greet fledgling programmers when they embark into the world of programming. And such are the words, that shall mark the birth of my new blog, as I begin my journey into the world of public blogging.

And now presenting to you...

Eclectic
(adj) (of methods, beliefs, ideas, etc) combining whatever seems the best or the most useful things from many different systems or areas, rather than following a single system
Jam 1. (n) a sweet soft substance made by mixing fruit with sugar.2. (v) A jam session is a musical act where musicians gather and play (or "jam") without extensive preparation or predefined arrangements.

Aim of this blog:
For me to pen down my constant thoughts, opinions, advice and things I've learnt on a smorgasbord of wide-ranging issues, from the tech-jargon-abundant world of IT to trivial, hedonistic couch-potato world of pop culture, music, anime, manga, movies, TV. I'll also cover issues about business , start-ups, money matters as I venture out as an entrepreneur. And last of all, like that verse in the Bible which says "that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers", I'll also espouse about matters of the soul and tackle the big questions about spirituality, religion.