TOM YUM Soup for the Soul

Latest happenings

2009-02-13T00:38:00.000-08:00

It's been months since I got into the blogsphere. Guess I gotta blame facebook for taking my attention away. hahahahaha... That is internet applications for you. Anyway, just some updates about myself:

To begin the year, had a couple of major things that took place in my life.

Family

First my whole house doing a complete revamp and renovations and till now still in the process of it. Now with this kind of experience, then i realised why married couples have so much to think about. My grandmother also passed away during this period and was quite caught up with the funeral and after-matters. I am amazed that I managed to stay strong and became a pillar of support for my family.

Work

This year's work focus took on a more specialised focus for myself and I am thrilled to see what comes out of it this year. I'm really enjoying myself at work and the work I do brings great satisfaction. However, there were some sideline moments that open new experiences for myself. here's a little teaser and those who still read my blog can anticipate and keep a lookout for more updates about it.

The ABCs of life

2008-11-05T17:45:00.000-08:00

A lthough things are not perfect

B ecause of trial or pain

C ontinue in thanksgiving

D o not begin to blame

E ven when the times are hard

F ierce winds are bound to blow

G od is forever able

H old on to what you know

I magine life without His love

J oy would cease to be

K eep thanking Him for all the things

L ove imparts to thee

M ove out of "Camp Complaining"

N o weapon that is known

O n earth can yield the power

P raise can do alone

Q uit looking at the future

R edeem the time at hand

S tart every day with worship

T o "thank" is a command

U ntil we see Him coming

V ictorious in the sky

W e'll run the race with gratitude

X alting God most high

Y es, therell be good times &yes some will be bad, but...

Z ion waits in glory...where none are ever sad!

As the saying goes: "When the going gets tough, the tough gets going."

Grandma is hospitalised...

2008-10-25T01:34:00.000-07:00

Haven't been blogging for some time. Recently my grandma got hospitalised and things were not looking so well for her and she is in isolation ward for now. Actually haven't really been able to catch up with her for a long time and it's saddening to have to meet her at the hospital... And sometimes she didn't seem to be able to recognise me or even understand what I was saying.

However, I am thankful for these ups and downs of events because my extended family is getting together more and we're all just trying our best to provide as much as we can for my grandma and make the best arrangements. For one, I even got to meet my "long-lost" aunt who I have not seen for over 15 years already. I feel this closeness which I otherwise have not felt for so many years and I am excited at seeing some of my cousins even in the course of this ordeal for my grandma.

Right now, just praying that my grandma will recover and not have to go through any operations and be discharged quickly. May God hear my prayers and bless my entire family through this period. (",)

舞林大道

2008-10-17T06:45:00.000-07:00

Recently a new reality tv show (舞林大道) has hit the streets of Taiwan and it's becoming one of the latest craze in Singapore with the telecast aired every Mon on Channel U. When I first saw the advertisment on tv, I was already very drawn but time doesn't permit me to watch it. However, that particular day i happened to catch the repeat telecast of the show and to my amazement, I was captivated by the standards of the dancers, both in terms of technicality, athestic value and team spirit.

I can't resist but to share and recommend my top 3 choices of teams and you can see for yourself how good they are. I learned something as I was watching the show. When you have the PASSION.

"Nothing is impossible until you have chosen to take a step of faith to believe and venture into it. "

NO 1. I-CANDY

NO 2. DANCE FLOW

NO 3. 台灣龍捲風

Tagboard DOWN!!!

2008-10-15T08:22:00.000-07:00

Don't know what is wrong with my tagboard provider but apparently they suffered a server crash problem and so my tagboard has been temporarily disabled. I think they are in the midst of fixing it so in the meantime, if you do come by my blog, please continue to "tag" by clicking on comments at the bottom of this post and I will still continue to reply.

THANK YOUS!!!

The saddening message:
Planet MiniBox has unexpectedly suffered from a major hardware failure on our dedicated server. We are currently working on restoring the server to its previous state as quick as possible. Almost all data has been restored except for one last crucial piece of information, for which we're now working in close cooperation with the server company. We would like to apologize sincerely for the inconvenience caused. If you would like to request a pro-rata refund at this stage, let us know and we'll issue it to you right away. If the support system doesn't work, you can email us on admin@chjunction.com in the mean time if you have further questions. Thank youThe Planet MiniBox team

Of Dragons, Fantasy and Inspirations

2008-10-09T07:17:00.000-07:00

Recently got my hands on the latest ERAGON series of book, BRISINGR. The whole book series surrounds the life of this young boy who was chosen with a unique destiny to be a Dragon rider, with a dragon, strong powers and an army of soldiers to defend the forces of darkness and unite the races on the face of the earth. Typical fantasy war, fighting story. I was drawn because of that but I thought to highlight the author because few would know how inspiring his story is.

Christopher Paolini was homeschooled by his parents. As a child, he often wrote short stories and poems, made frequent trips to the library, and read widely. The idea of Eragon began as the daydreams of a teen. Christopher’s love for the magic of stories led him to craft a novel that he would enjoy reading. The project began as a hobby, a personal challenge; he never intended it to be published. All the characters in Eragon are from Christopher's imagination except Angela the herbalist, who is loosely based on his sister.

Christopher was fifteen when he wrote the first draft of Eragon. He took a second year to revise the book and then gave it to his parents to read. The family decided to self-publish the book and spent a third year preparing the manuscript for publication: copyediting, proofreading, designing a cover, typesetting the manuscript, and creating marketing materials. During this time Christopher drew the map for Eragon, as well as the dragon eye for the book cover

Some question you might wanna ask yourself:

(1) What was I doing at fifteen?

(2) Did I ever thought about my dreams being accomplished?

(3) Do I know what I was good at doing?

These were the questions that came to my mind when I read about Christopher Paolini's profile. Sometimes we just need to know what our dreams are and even find means and ways to accomplish them.

You really won't know what your wildest imaginations will lead to.

Just imagine!!! *winks*

I've been "CYBERBULLIED"

2008-10-08T08:24:00.000-07:00

As the title reads....

What is "CYBERBULLIED"???

When my video gets posted up on the net for all to view and comment.

To find out, click here

How to please the MEN?!?!

2008-10-02T19:26:00.001-07:00

A colleague just emailed me an article that men appeared to happiest when they are online as compared to women. Perhaps this has to do with the technology being more male-friendly and generally the guys are the tech-savvy ones. Come to think of it, it is quite true that I do spend a large portion of time on my computer, surfing, playing games, msn-ing, social networking, blogging etc etc. And I won't say that it is less fun then going out to do sports or spending some relaxing time out at the pool or cafe. In essence, there is a time for everything so at the right time and with the right mood, I do what I feel best.

Extracts from the article:
“Just over half of men said happiness meant surfing the Internet, playing online games or accessing social network sites such as Facebook, compared with only 39 percent of women.”

"Fifty-five percent of women said having meals and spending time together as a family made them happiest, compared to 45 percent of men. Women are also more likely than men to have been made happy by their pets."
(Read the whole story here)

However, there is one point of contention as well. Perhaps it has to do with occuptional hazards but I appear to see women getting very much into the computer as well, especially in terms of blogging and msn. For the sake of finding out, I shall put up a poll on my blog and have you net-citizens to vote and comment on whether you are happiest online or otherwise.

*SMILE*

Got a clue to the new game on the blok?

2008-10-02T00:58:00.000-07:00

This post is a bit late because it is in celebration of yesterday's Hari Raya holiday. It was a much anticipated break away from work and time with family and friends to celebrate and have fun. (Though I'm not malay but I always believe in "SHARE THE JOY").

I wanna introduce two new games that I tried yesterday which was very good family and friend fun.

(1) Blokus

This shapes placing strategy game has won lots of awards and is styled as the most award winning game in the world! Basically you take it in turns to place the shapes on the board, following the rules for placement, and the winner is the one who gets rid of more shapes. You all start with 21 different shapes and sizes of pieces - though they are all made up of joined-squares.

Chooses a colour and grab your set of shapes, you then have to start from your own corner, and each extra piece must touch your own colour, but only at the corners! The aim is to cover as much of the board as you can, while blocking your opponents. The game's over when no one can go, and the winner is the player who has the least total area of pieces left.

This is a mind challenging game that breed a high competitive spirit and ideal for developing visual spatial intelligence, to visualize shapes and foresee the grids in your head.

To see more of the real action, please visit http://www.blokus.com/page.php?p=demo.

(2) Cluedo

The classic detective game! In Cluedo, players move from room to room in a mansion to solve the mystery of: who done it, with what, and where? Players are dealt character, weapon, and location cards after the top card from each card type is secretly placed in the confidential file in the middle of the board.

Players must move to a room and then make an accusation against a character saying they did it in that room with a specific weapon. The player to the left must show one of any cards accused to the accuser if in that player's hand.

Through deductive reasoning each player must figure out which character, weapon, and location are in the secret file. To do this, each player must uncover what cards are in other players hands by making more and more accusations. Once a player knows what cards the other players are holding they will know what cards are in the secret file.

This is a great game for those who enjoy reasoning and thinking things out, especially for me who happens to be a great detective fan. I grew up reading "Hardy Boys" and "Nancy Drew" that my mind is always about murder and detectives.

To get your hands on some online action, you can visit http://www.cluedo.com/the-game

In any case, I intend to purchase these two games for my personal collection. Anybody keen to join me and play?!?! (",)

Singapore F1 racing 2008

2008-09-26T07:31:00.000-07:00

The long awaited hype is finally here. The F1 racing 2008 has commenced tonight with the practice runs taking place on the tracks. As of now, Louis Hamiliton appears to be in the lead with the best time of 1:49:352 and the rest are still warming up and in the bid to close the gap. Now of course I am not some fanatic racing fan or here trying to promote people to go for the actual race on the 28 Sep. I thought I just wanted to highlight a few things arising from this event that I encountered in one way or another.

(1) ROAD CLOSURE

Most of the major city roads were closed since the cars need places to race. And it had to be the most busy city areas that were closed so there were some places that I couldn't go to. For example I had wanted to pop by Marina Square for a bit of shopping last week but was sad to find that the major roads were closed and having to made a detour that took a longer time. @_@

(2) TEMPORARY STOPPAGE OF BUS SERVICES

Yesterday was trying to get home from Dobby Ghaut Park Mall and went on my usual practice of taking the express bus home. To my surprise, after waiting for 5 minutes and then I looked at the electronic board, there were many bus services that were temporary taken off service due to the F1 racing. @_@

(3) TRAFFIC JAMS

Today while trying to get my way back from Marine Parade to Bukit Merah area, my taxi passed by the ECP area near the racing grounds. And you can actually HEAR & see the racing going on but there were also a lot of other cars that were jamming up the highway either because they were trying to catch a glimpse of the racing or genuinely due to problem (1) and all cars had no place to go but to jam themselves up on the highway. And the result of that is my taxi fare chalking up additonal $$$. @_@

Looks like though the government supports the whole F1 racing, it's causing quite a bit of inconvenience for citizens like me. Just hope that it will end soon and we can get our roads back. LOL

P.S. Anyway, looks like F Alonso has overtaken L. Hamilton with the better timing of 1:45:356. Stay tuned to channel 5 for more racing news. (",)

What's your SHAPE?

2008-09-24T03:09:00.000-07:00

Previously after hearing someone talk about being fit in all aspects of our lives, I resolved to get into SHAPE physically by running. Hence, yesterday after work, armed with my gf beside me, we went on a half-hour run around my workplace. The distance covered was roughly around 3-4km I think but at the end of it I was really exhausted. Perhaps it's age catching up and for lack of consistent exercise. Today as I came to work, could feel the strain on my body but as the speaker mentioned about training strength and stamina; it isn't until we feel that we are "dying" and come to the last ounce of our energy that strength and stamina is finally developed.

What's your SHAPE?? This is my definition of an ideal SHAPE. Do you have it?
S lim
H ealthy
A ppealing
P roportionate
E xercisable

For those of you out there who like me are lacking in fitness and not in shape, you might want to check out some running pose which I found online to motivate you to run better and keep in better shape. (http://www.posetech.com/library/pp-SH-0001.html)

1. THE RUNNING POSE Stand on the balls of your feet, knees bent. Bounce slightly without straightening the knees. The idea is to feel the springiness of the position without loosing your balance. Next, balance on one leg (again, on the ball of the foot), making sure your shoulders, hips and ankles are vertically aligned with the support leg.

2. FALL TO RUN Change your Running Pose from one leg to the other by falling forward and allowing gravity to do the work. Your support foot should be pulled from the ground to allow your body to fall forward, while the other foot drops down freely, in a change of support. In other words, running happens when you quickly alternate your Running Poses.

3. LANDING GEAR Landing on the heel created a breaking effect, and also sends shock forces up your knees. Your back leg also lingers in the air to counter-balance your stride which is a waste of time and tires the muscles unnecessarily. Instead, focus on placing your foot flat on the ground when you land, and bring your other foot up under your hip. Keep the knees bent to cushion the impact when you land.

DON'T GET OUT OF SHAPE!!!!!!!!!!

Movie review: Babylon A.D.

2008-09-22T07:52:00.000-07:00

Went to catch this film at the movies today unexpectedly. I had no idea what the show was all about, except that the poster appeared to protray it as an action-packed movie. So me and my friend decided to catch it before the action ran out. *laughs*

Sidetrack: Before the show started, we were waiting for the commercials and trailers to start and me being me, fell asleep!!! LOL - perhaps it was the sign to prelude what the movie would be like.

As an action movie, it was indeed worth the money. From the beginning till the end, it was filled with fast-paced menacing action. Your usual big guns, good guys fighting the bad guys, flying rocket bullets that seem to slice through the air, big explosions that blew you off your feet etc. Yes all that action was packed right in but when it's that much of actions, where does the storyline go?

Surprisingly, the story was about that of a religion battle in the bid to conquer the world. However, from the beginning till the end, there was no proper accounting of how the story goes hence, I was quite distracted and a bit lost with. (Maybe it's supposed to be suspense and I didn't catch it) And the worst part was the ending just flashed from one scene to another without again proper accounting of how the character had developed and why the female lead suddenly "passed away". It just left me dangling there wondering what on earth was happening. Somehow, it look more like a movie edited for actions only and no story.

One noteworthy part of the movie though. MELANIE THIERRY!!! I was captivated by her eyes because that's basically where she did her acting. She had this expressive emotions whenever the camera was focused on her. It just looked like a window to her inner soul especially when she was expressing herself in front of the male lead (Vin Diesel). Perhaps it was also because of her character as Auora, a kept away nun since she was young who turned out to be the Messiah that would change the world and hold the key to either the destruction of mankind or the salvation of the world.

Rating for the show: 6/10

Suspension Of Milk Products From China

2008-09-21T08:56:00.000-07:00

It appears that the recent milk saga has escalated to greater heights with more recalls of dairy products from the market besides just milk powder. A warning has been issued with regards to some products being recalled from the market shelf. I was quite surprised that it seem to warrant great attention because I have had people msn-ing me the list of recall items, and shortly after that sms-es followed with the list. So as a cyber citizen, I have to do my part and blog it down so that people on the cyber space can be forewarned.

The products are:

(1) M&M chocolates - no more colorful pills to brighten up my day!

(2) Snickers - my energy booster during breaks GONE!

(3) Mentos yoghurt bottle - don't really drink much of it though...

(4) Dove chocolate - Prefer pocky sticks instead. :P

(5) Oreo wafer sticks - Does oreo flavored cereals count???

(6) DutchLady sterilised milk - Not in my league

(7) Ice cream - My freezer's full of them!!!!!!! AAARRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHhhh Sobs Sobs...

(Wall's all natural, mini poppers, magnum, Moo sandwich, mini cornetto & youcan)

CURRENT MOOD: Self explanatory. Please see picture below!!!

P.S. Don't worry, I won't turn to pumpkins for alternatives. (",)

Who hacked my email???

2008-09-19T21:07:00.000-07:00

The world of binary codes of 1 and 0, 0 and 1 has drawn such fascination from people that it has even became a channel for crime for personal pleasure and gain. It was uncanny when just yesterday I was at a sec school in the East about hacking and cracking; of how it has evolved to a crime that is more then just targeting the device but one that targets the person; that the papers published a true story of the US vice presidential candidates Sarah Palin becoming the victim of an online prankster. Her email was hacked and some of her private information got leaked out to public.

Snippets of the articles:

"The 44-year-old Alaskan governor's personal Yahoo e-mail address was hacked on
Wednesday by the online pranksters, who are well-known in cyberspace by their group
name, Anonymous."

The hackers posted several screenshots of Yahoo e-mail messages, Mrs Palin's contact list
and some family photos to Wikileaks.com, a website which hosts leaked government
documents. The screenshots showed Mrs Palinmay have used her Yahoo e-mail
account for official business as Alaska's governor.

The McCain campaign reacted strongly to the hacking, saying in a statement: 'This is a shocking
invasion of the governor's privacy and a violation of law."

To read the whole story, please click here http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,177294,00.html??

Precaution

Online security expert Aloysius Cheang told The New Paper that there are precautions that
users of web-based e-mail programs like Yahoo and Gmail can take to prevent their accounts
from being hacked.

He said: 'Users should change their passwords regularly, and make sure their passwords
contain a combination of numbers and letters.

'They should also try not to log into the e-mail accounts on shared computers, or computers
they aren't familiar with.'

He added that it is especially risky to log into web-based e-mail accounts on public computer
terminals, such as those provided for passengers in transit at airports.

'These computers may have been installed with malicious software which log passwords,
then send them to the hacker,' he said.

Looks like we better be on guard with our emails. Even though we may not be the vice president but you never know when someone will do something just for fun at your expense. (",)

Creativity on the move

2008-09-18T01:08:00.000-07:00

Not sure if you have seen this video before but I was markedly amused and thought highly of the duo when I watch this video. This is more then just a showcase of dance talents, but also speaks lengths of creativity and audience engagement in a performance. Despite the fact that he is a trainee lawyer by professional, he did not allow stereotypes nor poor attitude hinder him in the pursue of his passion.

I believe this is one of those inspirations that I would say captivates my heart, to know that CREATIVITY is never limited by what we think we should do or what others think we ought to do but what we CAN do. If you have a crazy idea (make sure it's a captivating one and not something LAME), why not go ahead and act on it. You might be amazed by the results it will achieve for you.

Enjoy the video and have a good laugh. It's entertaining!!!

Top model is 'raped after drink is spiked'

2008-09-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

'Date rape': The incident allegedly occurred at Whisky Mist club at the Hilton Hotel in Park Lane.Police are investigating the alleged rape of a model who believes her drink was spiked at a Park Lane nightclub popular with young royals.

The 18-year-old says she felt dizzy and disorientated and was led down to the cellar area of the Whisky Mist club at the Hilton Hotel where the attack took place.

She claims a 23-year-old man she had met previously at the club gave her the Rohypnol-style 'date rape' drug before sexually assaulting her.

She went to the police the next day and the man was arrested later that day by officers. He was bailed to return later this month pending further enquiries.The model, who is a regular at top designers' shows in London, New York, Milan and Paris, said the alleged rape happened when she went to the club last Wednesday evening.

A close friend said: 'She was having a drink at the bar and enjoying herself. She was also given a drink by the guy she says went on to rape her. Then she suddenly felt dizzy and disorientated.'

She has a hazy memory of what happened but is convinced she was spiked with some kind of drug.'After that, she remembers coming upstairs in the club and realising something dreadful had happened.'

The above is just a story that I got from a colleague's blog that report a real story that's been happening in the clubbing scene. However, it appears to have since evolved where perpretrators use something called epidermical celotape drugs. Basically as long as someone touches you with this drug, you'll be knocked out faster then you can say "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz".

What can we say???

(1) The pharmauceutical scene is fast evolving. We have very good drugs.

(2) Danger can lurk everywhere !!!

(3) Want to drink, drink at home better. Can K.O. on bed straightaway.

THINK TWICE before you have to PAY TWICE.

Campfire Songs

2008-09-14T08:53:00.000-07:00

In my previous post on my staff retreat, I recalled how I used to have campfires during my camps in NPCC and OBS too. So I was randomly doing a search online and found some good old songs that we used to sing all the time. I wonder how many of you would be able to associate with them.

Here's a top 3 pick from my list of songs that I am most familiar and often sing:

(1) IN THE MORNING
In the morning, in the morning
In the morning, 5BX
Run like donkey
Jump like monkey
In the morning, 5BX
In the afternoon, in the afternoon
In the afternoon, after lunch
Mess tin oily
Rifle rusty
Corporal scold me upside down
In the evening, in the evening
In the evening, extra drill
Kiri pu-sing, kanan pu-sing
Belakang pu-sing, SEMULA
In the night time, in the night time
In the night time, cooling time
Think of mother, think of father
Think of girlfriend/boyfriend
Buay ta han

(2) FIVE HUNDRED MILES
If you miss the train I’m on
You will know that I am gone
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles
A hundred miles, a hundred miles,
A hundred miles, a hundred miles
You can hear the whistle blow a hundred miles
Lord I’m one, Lord I’m two
Lord I’m three, Lord I’m four
Lord I’m five hundred miles away from home
Away from home (4X)
Lord I’m five hundred miles away from home
Not a shirt on my back
Not a penny to my name
Lord I can’t go back home this-a-way
This-a-way (4X)
Lord I can’t go back home this-a-way

(3) PASS IT ON
It only takes a spark to get a fire going
And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing
That’s how it is with God’s love
Once you’ve experience it
You’ll spread round to everyone
You’ll want to pass it on
What a wonderful time is spring
When all the trees are building
The birds begin to sing
The flowers start their blooming
That’s how it is with God's love
Once you’ve experience it
You’ll spread it round to everyone
You’ll want to pass it on

As I was singing it along just now, I was reminded of how some of my cell members are now going into army and some of these songs might be sung. Though they might not be able to read this post because they've already enlisted, I wanna dedicated this post to Melvin, Keith, Ben and Ivan, that even when they are in the army, they will be able to have a steadfast mind and withstand all the tough training.

Project Crush Lessons

2008-09-10T18:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday went for a PROJECT CRuSH lesson at a boys school in the East to talk about cyberwellness. That school always reminds me of my secondary school days. Though I am not from an all boys school but the noise level, the hyperactivity does remind me when I was still a secondary school boy. I think one distinct thing I always like to do was go around my class to "peddle" sweets as I was the major supplier. Although of course I don't do it openly in front of teachers. I will still show some basic respect for the teacher regardless of whether I found the lesson interesting or if I liked the teacher's style and the ability to comprehend. (Although I confess to sleeping in some of the classes therefore being caught by teacher)

To my dismay, I find that students nowadays have this tendency to just rant on and on among themselves, totally oblivious to teachers or higher authority during official school lessons. For e.g. in the class yesterday, the students were literally chatting their way through the whole lesson if not for my intermittent stops to quiet them down. Despite a few warnings, they will compromise for perhaps less then 5 mins and it'll all begin again. Nonetheless, I am thankful that there are still many students who will do the

"Oei !!!! SSSSsshhhhhSshhhhhh! QUIET LAH!"

But to quote a famous saying:

"Boys will just be boys. Wait till they become MAN."

Anyway, having a fun time teaching in school. Maybe will go back soon.

WwwoooohhhhhhhhOOooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

Company Trip to Rompin, Malaysia

2008-09-08T08:03:00.000-07:00

Just came back from a company staff retreat from Malaysia. By far, I think this is one of my most relaxed trip to Malaysia. My previous retreats to Malaysia are usually more intensive, coupled with more sessions and activities.

This time round, had more resting time i.e. sleeping and "nuah-ing". Also managed to catch up with all my long-lost sports. I swam, played water polo, beach volleyball and handball. It was a total workout for me and the end result: SUNBURNT & MUSCLE ACHE!!!!

There was one reminiscing event that really captivated me... For our finale night, we had a CAMPFIRE!!!!

Reminded me of my days when I was in NPCC and we would have campfires during our camps and at OBS in Ubin as well. Should post some of my good old NPCC days in future post soon.

Stay tuned for more updates!!! (",)

Old Model Remake???

2008-08-31T04:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was giving tuition in office to some of my gaming group students and they started the session by showing me the LATEST GADGET handphone in the market. Initially didn't really thought much about it until I saw it. And i couldn't get over it because it looked exactly like the Motorola old phone.

I took a closer look at it and started exploring it. The sides were decorated with this flashy pattern that spoke of a youthful influence. And the phone actually did worked and had all the camera, media player functions as any other Nokia, Sony Ericsson handphones. For a good 10 minutes, I was just very amused by it because it reminded me so much of the ancient phones we carried when such media platforms were still not popular yet.

Looks familiar anyone??? If Japan is carrying such phone models, why not us??? Since we are always trying to keep up with Japan and trying to level up. Why not??? Let's watch out in the handphone market soon!!!

Could this be you?

2008-08-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

Was browsing some websites that a friend forwarded to me and found this very interesting article that narrated about the true story of a game addict who found cobwebs literally growing on his chairs. Of course that is a case of negligence and self-righteous thinking that over-gaming actually happens to someone who can't control themselves.

It's interesting to note that many people do say things like that:

"Oh I have full control over my gaming."

"I think I know when to stop.'

"Don't worry, I'm not a kid anymore"

"It's just a game, what harm can it do?"

Yet when we really come down to the game itself, we would say 10 more mintues to our parents, or maybe I don't want to go out today, just feel like staying home to play games and slack.

Typical language exchanges among the gamers these days.

Never say "never". You really don't know what may just happen when you play for that extra 15 minutes more.

I will be BACK!!!

2007-09-09T18:35:00.000-07:00

To all my readers (mostly my students),

I apologize for the long delay in updates. But I will be BACK soon!!!

Keep a LOOKOUT for it!!!!

WWWeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT A TAXI RIDE...

2007-06-07T18:51:00.001-07:00

This incident actually took place couple of weeks back when I mentioned in my previous post about taxis. I was actually boarding a cab at city hall area (not a comfort cab as showed in the pic), on my way back to office. When the cab was making a turn out of the parking onto the main street, we encountered heavy traffic and the taxi driver was trying to make some very outright turn by signallig to drivers to give way. However, a particular BMW refused to give way and simply sped past ignoring the signal and tollay enraged the taxi driver and that's where the shock came...

" %@!*^#&# What kind of person is this? %^%** Don't even know how to give way. ^%^%&% Really despise these type of driver. %$*&% Help make people's life easy la. #$%^(&*^%$$%*@*&@*&*^&%&@*&# Make me very angry!!!! ^%^#$&*^*$%^"

Do not be mistaken. You computer is not fautly. The fonts that you see are as displayed (in symbols) for the sake of censorship because those words represent vulgarities. The string of display by taxi uncle was so appalling that me and my friend were dumbfounded and we didn't know how to respond. All I could muster up was "uncle it's not a big matter at all. No need to resort to such anger and vulgarities. Yet the taxi driver just continued on his string of usage till we reached our office. In fact, this really showed me something. Out of a small incident like that, our tongues can blabber and make remarks to shocking that it makes one wonder is it really from their hearts or just a matter of ill-habit and lack of self control. I choose to think that it is because what's the use of using so much vulgarities and cursing the other person when you learn to be more forgiving and just learn to let things go.

To quote a program line: "To curse or not to curse". I think it's all in the mind and it's yours to control. So think twice before you speak for language holds the power to curse and to bless.

The Lift

2007-05-22T20:33:00.000-07:00

This morning as I was on my way to get breakfast at work, I met with a small but significantly impactful incident that inspired me to make a post about. And it all happened inside a lift.
Inside the crowded lift, there were quite a few people and a particular guy who was pushing a trolley right in the center of the lift. At the 2nd floor landing, a guy who was right at the back of the lift attemped to get out but to no avail. Therefore, he stepped over the trolley and made his way out of the lift. Then a shrill and loud voice exclaimed:

Voice A: "Aiyoh why so rude one!!!"
Continues: How can people just step over our things like that?!? (Note: Two rolls of coiled up paper on a trolley)
Voice A: How can anyone do that? It's so rude!!!
Man holding trolley: Maybe he's just rushing for time la.

As that point of time, we reached the ground floor landing, ad I pressed the "door open", stared at the group still rambling on, waited for them to get out and heave a big sigh of disbelief. For a small matter like this, Voice A was making the heck of a wave! It was very obvious that the guy was stuck at the back of the lift, people in front of him didn't make way for him to alight and thus have to find some way to side-step and get out. And just because he step over some things, he was said to be rude. And i thought the person making that remark was more rude and insensitive. Had they try to make way, I think he would have easier gone out with ease.

Today it just showed me a little lesson. Learning to give a little way goes a long way to making life easier and happier. For some people, if you don't learn to emphasize and put yourself in other people's scenarios, you end up being narrow-minded and shallow instead. And talking of which, I was just reminded of another encounter I had yesterday and I shall share it in my next post.

Bridge to Terabithia

2007-05-14T09:30:00.000-07:00

BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA

I'm sure most of us if not all of us had some childhood fantasy of our own. Like how we fantasize that we live in a totally different world, filled with mystical creatures or that we are prince and princesses of some noble land filled with breath-taking titles and trains of servants. Or perhaps we imagine ourselves to be knights and priestess clad in mighty armour, battling monsters and creatures of all shapes and abilities based just on our imaginations...

Well, that's what exactly this show is all about. I had the pleasure of catching it today with my "daughter" on a warm family outing. From the trailer, I would have expected it to be similar to the "Chronicles of Narnia", where the bridge leads to another kindgom world. But contrary to that there was no secret passageway, no hidden land to be discovered but only the imaginations of two fabulous young teens who let their imaginations run wild.

Though it didn't turn out as I expected, it was exceptionally better then I thought, with the brilliant acting from the two young leads and the choreographing of the scenes and storyline weaved into a typical 15 year old teen's life of a coping mechanism dealing with being isolated, bullied, deprived of father's love. It was imaginative but yet real and resounds in my heart. Not to mention the emotional roller coaster rides in the movies. A great mix of laughter, corny scenes, saddening acts and finally a "fairy-airy" happy ending.

Ask me if it's too kiddish or imaginative?!?! I would say YES. But ask me again if I will recomend the movie, I will say YES too. So go watch for yourself.

Spiderman 3

2007-05-08T01:02:00.000-07:00

Much Awaited...

Much anticipated...

Much Acclaimed....

This was the expectations I bought when I went to watch the Spiderman 3 movie last sat. In fact, it didn't begin very well because I made a terrible blunder of booking the wrong tickets. hahaha

But anyway, the movie was still average. Though of course the whole show was kinda draggy (i.e. long). Perhaps it had to do with the fact that there were 3 villians appearing in the same show and for the sake of clarify, it takes times to develop the characters. However, it was really worth the wait when eventually you watch the last scene of 2 villians versus 2 good guys (1 repentance case)

That was what moved me the most about the movie. When the Globin (Harry) put aside the past hurts and went forth to help her two best friends. The saddening part was that he had to sacrifice himself to keep the show going. Yet it brought out such a great reality within the last 20mins of the show. That in each of us, there is a battle. Sometimes we never turn to find victory because we have never won the battle within us. What the Globin did at those last moments helped liberate him from the chains of battle that he had been entangling him and finally bought victory to all. And seriously this is a great truth to embrace and I think it flows along with a line my Pastor was sharing in church one day.

"Unless there are battles, there will never be victories"

In life, you gotta face the battles both within yourself and around you. Only then will you find victory waiting to engulf and bring you new hope and joy.

Are you a blessing?!?

2007-05-07T02:26:00.000-07:00

Someone just quoted this

"Some people are a blessing wherever they go, some people are a blessing whenever they go."

Did you catch the pun in the statement?!? That some people, no matter where they go, they are a blessing to others. And there are also others that whenever they go (i.e. leave the place), they are more of a blessing because they probably have been more of a hindrance instead.

The statement struck a chord in me because I began this year wanting to be a blessing to others as part of the year of victory. So I was just pondering what does it mean to be a blessing? And I thought some questions might help better in understanding whether I have been a blessing wherever I go or will I be a blessing whenever I go. hahaha......

1) People always thank you for your words or the things you do.
2) They like to approach you for help.
3) You receive gifts of affirmation for your work.
4) You smile and feel a sense of joy together when you've managed to bless someone.
5) People say you are a blessing!!!

Check your meters folks. You could be a blessing the next time you go somewhere. God bless you!!!

Test Tube Baby

2007-04-26T19:20:00.000-07:00

TEST TUBE GIVES BABY ????????????

If you have not hear, medical science have advance to such a high level decades ago that one can now have test tube babies. But of course I don't mean literally through the test tube but by a process called in-vitro fertilisation. I was intrigued because for the first time in my life I actually met a fully-formed, well brought up and totally functional test tube baby. His name is Duncan and we had a good dinner and chit chat over dinner. He is just like any other teenage boy, healthy, in the school's track and field team, plays rugby, computer games etc. All the talks about birth defects seems to dissipate in his presence. So it was quite interesting to note that despite the fact that he was left without a father, he grew up sensible and appreciative of his own life.

Which brought me to the whole process of this medical advancement. How does it work? How an ovary egg can be taken out from a female body, merged with a male's sperm and conceived inside a test tube before being put back into the female's womb to be brought to full term. Intriguing as it may seem, it fascinates me to think how easy it seems to have babies without marriage between two consenting adults. Isn't family supposed to be a two party function? Apparently, this boy did breed a new wave of possibilities but at the same time, does it give room for swaying to norms that are otherwise set in place?

Anyway, I can't deny how the limitless boundaries of science can bring about vast improvements in our lives. Yet at the same time, the right values still needs to be inculcated. Ask me if I would want to go for a test tube baby, well if they turn out like Duncan I might not mind. Hahaha... but then again, all things should come naturally I hope......

2007-04-19T22:39:00.000-07:00

"OK I HAVE A PORNO VIDEO. YOU WANT IT?"

Anybody wants it??? hahaha.... No no no... I am not some porno video distributor but it was a big hoo-haa and blunder that my collegue made out of a haste. That's the thing about using technology because on one hand, it speeds up the process of information exchange, communication barriers breaking down but it wipes out the interpersonal and emotional attachments that comes with real personal interactions. And even in this case, the wrong message gets across. hahaha...

To read the full story of what really happened, click here.

Blog counters

2007-04-04T02:59:00.000-07:00

Cell Phone Family Plans

Looks cute???

Wondering what it is???

Check out my right-side bar.

This little gadget is actually called a counter that tracks the number of visitors that come to my blog page. It's interesting how they actually use such a thing to track surfing pattens, giving time durations etc. Something new learned.

Cooooooozzzzz!!! (",)

My first Cyberwellness blog

2007-03-20T05:50:00.000-07:00

Shoutout to people!!!!

I have created a blog!!! hahahaha... Having started work in TOUCH Cyberwellness and Sports, I've learn so much about cyberwellness and with the CRUSH program, I've learned quite a few things.

- You need a COOL identity!!!

- Cannot reveal gender and age

- Original

- Out of this world

- Something you like

So I came up with this new blog name "tomyum-bangbang". Doesn't it just sound coolz???!!!???

Till next time folks!!! Keep reading for more cyberwellness tips.