Nay Min Thu

JobNation.sg

2009-04-20T10:30:00.000+08:00

We have soft-launched JobNation.sg.

If you are looking for a job in Singapore, JobNation.sg is the place to go.

MyLove.sg

2008-10-27T10:30:00.001+08:00

We have launched MyLove.sg.

Find your true love at MyLove.sg.

ShweLove.com

2008-08-23T10:30:00.000+08:00

We have launched ShweLove.com.

Check it out here: ShweLove.com

Graduation

2008-07-31T09:20:00.000+08:00

As of today, I have officially graduated from NTU. I'll surely miss and cherish those fond memories I had at NTU.

Hopefully, I can contribute back to my alma mater one day.

=)
nmt

ShweRooms.com - an initiative from ZillionTech

2008-05-16T10:30:00.000+08:00

As of 16th May 2008, We at ZillionTech have launched a website for Myanmar community in Singapore where you can post/find room rental advertisements.

Pls check it out: www.shwerooms.com

=)
nmt

New Office for ZillionTech

2008-03-01T10:00:00.000+08:00

As of 1st March 2008, we have moved into the new office at the following address:

ZillionTech
22A Upper Weld Road
Singapore 207379
(near Sim Lim Tower)

Here are the office opening hours:

8am to 8pm (Mon - Sat)
Closed on Sundays and Public Holidays

=)
nmt

ZillionTech Turns One Year Old Today

2007-09-03T23:15:00.004+08:00

ZillionTech was officially launched on 3rd September 2006 (during my second year first semester in university). So, today marks a very special day for all of us at ZillionTech.

About one and a half years ago, I wouldn't even have thought that I would end up being in this line of business. Back then, I didn't even know the basic html code, let alone any full-fledged programming language. I guess it's hard to predict where life will take you to. But it has always been my belief that wherever we are and whatever we do, we have to strive for the best.

Looking back, ZillionTech has its own fair share of ups and downs. We have worked with the good, the bad and the ugly clients. Some have been really supportive and loyal. Some have been demanding. One client has been delaying the project for nearly a year, and postponing the payment. We have made many mistakes as well. But we learnt from our mistakes and move on.

Currently, we are in the process of doing a major revamp for our site. We got busy with other projects that we neglected our own site for so long. ZillionTech will be focusing more on web application development and other related business areas that we are exploring. We will make the announcement when the time comes.

This blog will also be finding a new home at AimingForTheStars.com. It's kind of hard to leave behind a PR3 site (Update Jan 3rd 09: PR3 seems to have dropped to PR1 because of my infrequent postings in this blog.) and move to a new site. But it has to be done sooner rather than later. So, this entry might become the last post here.

Lastly, I would like to express my grateful and heart-felt thanks to the following people who have guided me in one way or another:

# Mr Steve Ting (Executive Chairman of Frontline Technologies Corp - one of the largest tech counters on SGX) He is the first person who inspired me to go into this business.

# Mr Lionel Yeo (Co-founder of YeeOuch!) He has been recommending us to some of his clients.

# Mr Paddy Tan (Founder and CEO of BAK2u) He has been very helpful and guiding me along.

# Dr Sheh Seoh Wah (Senior Lecturer, School of Business, SP. An author of numerous academic papers and famous book "Chinese Leadership") Dr Sheh is sort of like a mentor for my spiritual journey.

# Prof Cecil Chua (Professor, NBS, NTU. An author of numerous research papers on Information Systems technology) Prof Chua is my 2nd year database tutor as well as my FYP supervisor. He is really a very "rare kind of professor" who goes the extra mile for his students. (I will write more about him in another post.) He has been giving me technical as well as legal advice.

# Our business partners, resellers and customers

Thank you, everyone! And Happy Birthday to ZillionTech!

=)

busy.. but love it..

2007-07-29T01:53:00.000+08:00

busy with a project.. will not be posting for a while..

=)

24/7 Hotline for ZillionTech

2007-07-20T19:07:00.001+08:00

(65) 6297 9647

Yup, that's the 24/7 hotline to reach ZillionTech. We've just launched it to coincide with 20072007.

=)

P.S. the time for this post is also 7:07. =)

Time to Get out of the Market

2007-07-14T18:21:00.000+08:00

One of my mentors for stock investing/trading, Chua Soon Hock (Hedge Fund Manager, Asia Genesis Asset Management), wrote to the Straits Times Forum last week, warning the public that now is not the right time to jumb into the market. (His letter was published in ST July 6 2007. He is currently managing a fund of over US$450 million. So, we should really pay attention to what he says.)

He warned of the extreme excitement of the public in the market. I can fully understand his point because within a short span of the past few days, I got approached by four friends asking me how to open a trading account. (It's the same situation in China right now. Every grandpa, grandma, aunty, uncle and men on the street are rushing to open stock trading accounts. And It is not a good sign.)

Alan Greenspan (former Federal Reserve Chairman) also recently warned of a repeat of "Irrational Exuberance" (a term he coined just before the burst of the market bubble in 2000).

I liquidated all my portfolio two months ago. My motto for investing: "Buy when everybody is selling. Sell when everybody is buying."

=)

if tomorrow never comes..

2007-07-09T00:49:00.000+08:00

A close friend of mine passed away a few days ago. Having known her for nearly two years, it made me realize that life can be fragile at times. And it really made me see life in a new different way. You know, we all have our dreams of doing something, achieving something, changing the world, living life to the fullest. But sometimes, we get so busy with our everyday routine that we tend to forget what is really important to us. Before we know it, the time for us to leave this world arrives. And we look back in life and say: I wish I would have done that; I wish I could have done that; I wish I should have done that.

As we all know, we do have a choice of eliminating those would-haves, could-haves and should-haves. But like Anthony Robbins said, most of us tend to "major in minor things", instead of focusing on the big picture. You know, like "what should I wear today?", "should I eat chicken rice or hokkien mee?", "I should have had my hair trimmed a little shorter.", and the list goes on and on.

In his famous commencement speech at Stanford, Steve Jobs said, "For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" Steve Jobs lives each day as if it were his last day. No wonder he has achieved so many things in life.

So from this day onwards, I have decided to live my life without any regrets.

JJ, you will always be missed by all of us. I dedicate this post to you. May you rest in peace!

nmt

Dinner with a Visionary and Ping Party

2007-07-04T22:42:00.001+08:00

I just had dinner with Ridz from XSMatter this evening. I got to know him at Nexus 2007 a few months back. He is one passionate guy, who has a lot of fire in his belly. He successfully organized VillageTalk a few weeks ago, which is modelled after very successful TED talks in the states. (The next VillageTalk will be held in coming September. Do look out for it.)

Over the dinner, he told me about his business, his next project, his ideas, his family and of course, his famous scandal with tstar. (Yo, Ridz, every pingsters knows.. you must be responsible ya.. haha..)

Talking to him made me realize that we have a lot of things in common. I will be meeting him again at Ping.sg 1st Year Anniversary party. (rumour has it that Ridz and tstar will be singing a duet.. haha..)

Oh, by the way, if you still don't know, Ping.sg is having its 1st Year Anniversary party at Geek Terminal this coming Saturday. Here are some of the people that I am really looking forward to meeting at the party:

- Uzyn (founder of Ping.sg and the guy who "hacked Today's RSS feed")
- Paddy Tan (founder of BAK2u, a mobile/laptop anti-theft software company)
- DK99 (Decay on the Net) I am voting him for Most Interactive Blog and Most Insightful Post
- Veron (sparklette.net) Voting her for Best Blog Design
- Eastcoastlife (eastcoastlife) Voting her for Most Controversial Post and Most Entertaining Post
If you are going to the Ping party, see you there!

=)

69 Love Notes

2007-06-10T01:01:00.000+08:00

One of my friends, Kloudiia (The Dating Specialist), has just published her debut book in Singapore. It is beautifully titled, "The 69 Love Notes". The book will teach you "how to build and maintain true love using 69 secrets that create a loving and lasting relationship you have always dreamed of". You can buy it at all major bookstores (Popular, Times, MPH and Kinokuniya).

Here is the beautiful cover of the book (photo courtesy of Kloudiia):

May you all be happily in love!

=)

World Internet Mega Summit

2007-06-03T22:59:00.000+08:00

I was at World Internet Mega Summit last weekend. It was a great event, I must say. Some people paid over $2k to attend the event. (me?? i got a free gold-seat ticket..) But just meeting Jay Abraham in person might have been worth the price. (Jay Abraham, dubbed as the world's No. 1 marketing genius, charges $50,000 a day for consultation. His clients are mostly Fortune 500 companies. I'm an avid fan of his works and have a complete collection of his CDs.)

Some of the giants in the industry who were at the summit include:

1) Jay Abraham
2) Stephen Pierce (One of the well-known internet marketing gurus and a successful motivational speaker. He usually shares the stage with Anthony Robbins.): Stephen, as promised at the start of the event, managed to raise $100,000 during the 4-day summit to feed one million hungry children all over the world. He truly inspired all of us.
3) Tom Hua (Co-founder of WIMS): Tom migrated from China to Australia with no money and spoke very little english at that time. He is now a multi millionaire.
4) Brett McFall (Co-founder of WIMS): Brett is one of the best-paid copy writers in the world. And he is one fantastic speaker.
5) Mike Filsaime: He made $1,000,000 in internet sales in just 5 days. That's some record to be proud of.
6) Ewen Chia: He is a local affiliate marketer and was recently featured in Sunday Times for consistently making 5-figure sum every month on the internet. He lives in a 5-storey one-million-dollar house in Yishun, with his beautiful wife and two children.

I'll write more about what I learnt during the summit in another post. And I would say, it will be a very long long post. Or I might not write about it at all, since it will be long, and I will never be in mood to write long posts.

=)

My Professional Attachment

2007-05-21T00:28:00.001+08:00

as part of the requirement to graduate, i have started my professional attachment at citibank (capital square). it's been a week, and I am really enjoying what i'm doing there.

if any of you are working/doing internship around the area, please let me know. we can have lunch/dinner together.

=)

National Achievers' Congress, Eating Spree and Just So You Know

2007-05-08T23:46:00.000+08:00

#I had a meeting with Phoebe from Success Resources this afternoon. They are organizing the National Achievers' Congress 2007 and World Internet Mega Summit 2007. They have been running NAC successfully for a few years. For WIMS, it is the first ever event on such a big scale in Singapore. I got invited and will be going to both events.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

#After my appointment with Phoebe, I went down to Dhoby Ghaut to meet some of my friends. Guess what, we went on an eating spree! (that's the guy's equivalent of shopping spree.. haha..) One of my friends, Yuanbo, is such a food lover that he knows most of the restaurants in Singapore. And today, he persuaded us to go to this little-known Indonesian restaurant. He said that he read about it in a food magazine, and that it was highly rated. Trusting a food guru's advice, we went down to the restaurant. It's called "Rendezvous Restaurant" and it's located at Hotel Rendezvous (9 Bras Basah road, near Dhoby Ghaut MRT). It was my first time trying Indonesian food, and I must say, it was amazingly delicious. Here is a picture of us before the dinner:

(left to right: Yuanbo - a.k.a. the food guru, me, Agam and Putu)

The food was so nice that I had two plates of rice. (you should go there and try too.. it is affordable, yet really delicious..) After our wonderful dinner, Putu suggested that we go eat durians for dessert. (he is really into durians, and there was one time he suggested that we go eat durians for lunch.) So, off we went to china town to eat durians. There is this durian shop in china town where you can sit down at their foldable tables and eat fresh durians. Here are some photos:

(left to right: Putu, Agam and Yuanbo)
(Agam: this is all mine!!)

(Agam: Oh, mummy, I'm in heaven!!)

(Putu: Don't even think about it.. this is the last piece and it's mine!!)

After our little war fighting over durians, we made peace, shook hands and went back home. =)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

# I have been hearing this nice song whenever I go, for quite some time. But I didn't know the singer and song's name. So, I googled the lyrics, and here is the song, "Just So You Know". (that's why, i love google) Enjoy..

Just so you know..
This feeling's taking control of me..
And I can't help it..
I won't sit around, I can't let him win now..
Thought you should know..
I've tried my best to let go of you..
But I don't want to..
I just gotta say it all..
Before I go..
Just so you know..

(",)

p.s. this post has been written to depict three unrelated things.

Sweet News for Infocomm Sector

2007-04-27T22:56:00.001+08:00

S$730 million worth of contracts up for grabs!!

It was announced by IDA yesterday that the Government will call for S$730 million worth of infocomm tenders in financial year 2007. The actual worth of contracts may even be more than the projected figure, as it was the case in FY2006.

Local companies stand to benefit from this, as the majority of contracts (63% of total) went to local companies last year while MNCs were awarded only 37% of total.

We, at ZillionTech, will actively be looking to form partnership with other interested parties to jointly bid for contracts, for which we may have the technical know-how. If you are, or know of, a local firm, which can benefit from such a collaboration, we warmly welcome you to contact us.

=)

Ultimate Square-off between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs

2007-04-26T23:57:00.000+08:00

this is the ultimate showdown between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.. find out who will win..

=)

Funny Truth about Tech Support

2007-04-20T22:04:00.000+08:00

here is one funny video about tech support..

haha.. of course, we don't advocate that kind of support at ZillionTech.. =)

=)

Sooooooooo Sweeeeeeeeeeet

2007-04-05T19:41:00.000+08:00

here is a video of a baby duck feeding the koi fish.. how sweeeeeeeeet..

another rare video of a lion kissing and hugging a woman who rescued him 6 years ago.. really a softer side of the king of jungle..

it seems that even animals have the feeling of compassion.. really heart-warming..

=)

Special Promotion for Domain Name Registration

2007-03-23T18:00:00.001+08:00

We, at ZillionTech, would like to announce that we are having a special promotion for website name registration. If you register a ".com.sg", you will get 3 other domains - ".sg", ".hk" and ".cn" - free of charge. (Yes!!! 3 free domains!!!)

If your company is exploring ways to conquer Hong Kong's & China's markets and wants to have a web presence there, this is a super great deal not to be missed!

Terms of Registration:
1. Domain names are to be registered by the same registrant.
2. Domain names are to be registered at the same time.
3. Promotion is applicable only for 1st year of registration. If you want to register for 2-year term, the 2nd year registration fees are applicable.
4. ZillionTech reserves the right to de-register the domains if they are found to be in non-compliance with the respective country's registration rules.
5. ZillionTech reserves the right to amend, extend or terminate this promotion anytime without notice.

Please contact us for more info.

=)

Google Patents

2007-03-13T21:49:00.000+08:00

if u are in the business of creating intellectual property, it is in your best interest to get hold of a patent before anybody esle does..

and Google has come out with a new search engine to search through patents that are filed under IP law in the U.S.

it comes in handy if you want to know wherther or not your brilliant idea which suddenly popped up in your mind during your loo time (one of my friends actually told me that he seems to generate his best ideas when he is in the bathroom) has already been patented..

here is the link: Google Patents

=)

Spiderman Animation

2007-03-11T01:53:00.000+08:00

this is one Spiderman animation video that u must watch.. the uploader claims that the graphics were done in MS Paint.. and sound effects were added on later..

cool..

=)

Singapore Girl

2007-02-24T01:35:00.000+08:00

here is one good quote worthy of becoming a tagline in future SIA ads.. it says it all for the current debate on a makeover of Singapore Girl..

"I was so impressed with SIA's Singapore Girl that I married one!!"
- Bill Padfield, CEO of Datacraft

haha.. i'm sure it will definitely bring SIA's branding efforts a notch higher..

(photo courtesy of SIA)

=)

E27 Unconference

2007-02-20T03:40:00.000+08:00

last thursday, i went over to SMU to attend E27 unconference organized by Entrepreneur27 and sponsored by SGEntrepreneurs.. (unconference meaning that there is no fixed agenda, and participants throw off ideas and discussions on the spot..) this is my 2nd time attending the event.. and it gets better and better every year, i must say..

the discussions were centered around Web 2.0, Virtual Communities and MMORPGs.

here are some of the photos (courtesy of wkaihong)

(me at the front row, right corner, with arms crossed)

and some of the interesting ppl i got to know at the event:

*Herryanto Siatono from Pluit Solutions and BookJetty (although i had known him online for quite some time, that was my first time meeting him in person. oh btw, BookJetty was recently feature in Lianhe Zaobao.)

* Leon Leong from Wisheus which promises to make your wishes come true

* Leonard Lin from Tyler Project which has rolled out an amazing online casual game

* Nicholas Chan from Azione Capital (need funding?? call him..)

* Jeffrey Tiong from PATSnap which stands for patents in a snap

* Justin Lee from E27 (co-founder)

wow, it was interesting to see how the web landscape is being shaped.. the future is full of exciting opportunities..

oh, here is my Gong Xi Fa Cai to everyone..

=)

One good riddle

2007-02-17T21:41:00.000+08:00

this is one good riddle to solve..

it claims that 97% of ppl don't get it.. and the majority of ppl who do get it (the other 3%) are female..

see if u can solve..

so, where is the other dollar?? haha.. nice one huh..

=)

Starting a New Chapter..

2007-02-15T23:48:00.000+08:00

i just received an email from the President of Singapore Computer Society - Student Chapter.. he informed me of my appointment as Technology Director.. (i had applied for a position a few days ago..)

the reason why i wanted to join SCS-SC is because i will get a chance to rub shoulders with the giants in the industry.. who knows.. things could take off from there..

and of course, with the position comes other perks too.. got to attend events, CEO talks, networking nites free of charge.. and i'll get to join SCS after i graduate..

so, here i am.. starting a new chapter in life.. now, if u excuse me, let me go write a nice one..

=)

A Walk to Remember

2007-02-14T23:52:00.001+08:00

here are two music video clips from the movie "A Walk to Remember"..

there u go..

=)

Happy Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T22:50:00.000+08:00

what?? blogging on Valentine's Day nite?? shouldn't u be out on a date?? these are the questions u may have on ur mind and be dying to ask me now..

well yes.. i'm stuck at home A-L-O-N-E..

just the other day, i was having dinner with a good friend of mine whom i hadn't met for a while.. so, we were catching up on things, and half way thru the conversation, she suddenly popped me this question: have u "upgraded" yet?? (that's our code word for going from singlehood to, u know, the other side of the fence..) and there was this serious and concerned look on her face.. i tried to brush off her question casually by saying: nah, too busy..

and she threw a big nudge to my senses and asked me: "what is wrong with u??"

??

??

??

??

that question got me thinking.. yeah, what is wrong with me??

(don't get me wrong.. i'm not a gay.. nah, no.. definitely not.. 101% positive.. can swear on ath..)

seriously, i need some advice from Dating Specialist.. (Kloudiia, pls.. pls.. i'll buy u a drink.. =)

so, i sat down and did some contemplation.. and the conclusion i could come out with.. is that.. Lady Love is still busy with other people and hasn't got time to pay me a visit.. yet..

anyway, here is wishing everyone Happy Valentine's Day..

and a lovely video for u to enjoy..

love u all..

=)

Downloadable "Think and Grow Rich" ebook

2007-01-20T20:45:00.000+08:00

"Think and Grow Rich" is a must-must-must-read for all those aspiring to succeed in life. (rated 10 out of 10 by me) It was written by Napoleon Hill and inspired by Andrew Carnegie. (Andrew Carnegie was the second richest man on the planet at his peak, and he donated most of his fortune to establish libraries, schools, universities and museums. There are over 3,000 libraries funded by him.)

Over 30 million copies of the book have been sold worldwide. There are countless number of people who have benefited from it and who have achieved enormous success beyond their wildest dreams. (even Bill Gates reportedly has a copy.)

Here is the link to download the ebook: Think and Grow Rich (Ebook)

Please read it, not once, not twice.. but time and time again.. try to apply the concepts presented in the book, to your daily life.. success will come to you in no time.. and when it does, you can contact me and share your success story.

=)

Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Billionaire's Secret To Success

2007-01-14T20:01:00.000+08:00

He wears many hats.. and amazingly successful at all of them.. a businessman.. an entrepreneur.. a billionaire.. a mayor.. a politician.. a social activist.. a philanthropist..

You may have heard of him. His name is Michael Bloomberg. Here is his secret to success:

An excerpt from his book, "Bloomberg by Bloomberg"..

"We made mistakes, of course. Most of them were omissions we didn't think of when we initially wrote the software. We fixed them by doing it over and over, again and again. We do the same today. While our competitors are still sucking their thumbs trying to make the design perfect, we're already on prototype version No. 5. By the time our rivals are ready with wires and screws, we are on version No. 10. It gets back to planning versus acting. We act from day one; others plan how to plan - for months."

So, ACT FIRST!! ACT FIRST!! ACT FIRST!! and plan as you go along the way..

=)

Return of Rocky

2007-01-05T23:40:00.000+08:00

here is how Rocky is training to make a come-back.. a funny one..

=)

Official Charity for ZillionTech

2006-12-25T22:52:00.000+08:00

In the spirit of Christmas, we, at ZillionTech, would like to announce that we are adopting School Pocket Money Fund as our main charity beneficiary. This is in line with our policy of giving a helping hand in whatever way we can.

SPMF was founded by The Straits Times on Oct 1 2000 to help underpriviledged children from low-income familites. These children go to school without breakfast and without pocket money to buy lunch at school. Currently, there are over 10,000 kids benefiting from this charity.

We have made our first donation and would like to call for our friends, family members and business partners to bring rays of sunshine to those children. If you'd like to donate, you can make the cheque out to "The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund" (with your name and contact number written on the back) and send it to:

The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund
Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Finance Division
1000 Toa Payoh North
Singapore 318994

Please visit their official website.

Merry X'mas again!!

=)

We are very very small

2006-12-24T22:21:00.000+08:00

watch this video and u will get the idea of how small we are..

that again raises the question of "will there be others like us out there??"

“Our sun is one of 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy is one of billions of galaxies populating the universe. It would be the height of presumption to think that we are the only living things in that enormous immensity.” - Wernher von Braun

=)

To be a Hero, we don't need to..

2006-12-23T23:49:00.000+08:00

I had been looking for something meaningful to do this X'mas. And for me, nothing else could beat this:

Yesterday around 8pm, I was on an MRT train, going back home. I had gotten onto the train from City Hall station. As usual, the train was packed and all the seats were taken. So, I went on to stand near the doors at the opposite side, as those doors would open only at Raffles Place & Dover stations and I would have an easier time reading my newspaper with lesser in-coming traffic onto the train.

At Raffles Place station, the doors opened, and a small army of people rolled into the train. Among them was a lady in her early to mid 40s, with a walking stick. She seemed to be having trouble trying to find a little free space to stand on a crowded train, with her walking stick tapping on the floor. As it doesn't need an einstein brain to know that she is blind, I was dumbfounded to see a person like her, going around the town without any helper by her side. A string of thoughts ran through my mind at lightening speed: what if she tripped over? what if she got hurt? etc., etc., I was worried.

As the train was about to depart from the station, a kind soul sitting nearby, immediately realised the situation and offered her the seat. I couldn't continue reading my newspaper anymore.

She seemed grateful at the offer and sat at the seat quietly, staring at the floor. More thoughts came into my mind as I continued to observe her: how difficult life can be if everything you see is a blanket of darkness; how lucky we able-bodied people are; and how trivial we can sometimes be over insignificant things such as the color of clothes that we wear, the way our hair looks, etc..

Thought after thought and station after station, my mind came back to present moment when it was announced over the speakers that the train was approaching Clementi station. The lady slowly stood up from her seat and walked towards the doors. She was ready to alight. But the problem was that the doors on that side were not going to open but those on the other side were.

Gosh.. she wouldn't know unless someone told her the mistake. The train was about to come to a halt and the doors were about to open. At that split second, I made a quick decision and approached towards her. I tapped her on her elbow and said, "Aunty, I'll show you the way."

As I led her out of the train and onto the platform, she said a warm thank-you and politely asked me to take her to the lift. As we were taking down the lift, I asked her where she was going. She said she would be going to the bus interchange. And she asked me if I lived around the area. At that point, I told her a white lie by saying yes. (I live near Lakeside station. I was afraid that she would decline my help.) I offered to walk her to the interchange.

And we got outside the control station and walked through the over-head link towards the interchange. At the end of the link, there were a lift and a staircase to the ground floor. I suggested we take the lift. But she insisted that we take the staircase and assured me that she would be ok.

Indeed, to my surprise, she had no difficulty climbing down the staircase. I just needed to guide her, and she didn't even need to use her walking stick. I guess she had memorised every single step of the staircase! (Life can be very cruel to some people. But those people who have the strongest will, simply do not know the meaning of giving up. They make do with what they have, instead of focusing on what they don't have. They are a great inspiration to all of us.. and one of them is Dr William Tan. I will write about him in another post..)

As we got down to the ground floor and were about to turn into the interchange, I realised that they were doing renovation at the interchange, and it had been moved to another place across the street. (I had not been to Clementi for so long and I didn't know the interchange had been moved.)

We chatted along the way to the interchange. She asked me about myself, about what I was doing, etc. From the way she talked, I could see that she was a very nice person. As we were entering the interchange, she said she would be taking bus no. 282. By the time we were at 282 stand, the bus had arrived just in time. I then helped her board the bus. She said thank-you again, tapped her ez link card and sat down at a seat near the entrance. We said good-bye, and I asked the bus driver to help her down when she alighted. The driver nodded at me with a smile. I looked at her the last time and got off the bus. And I watched the bus slowly driving away.

I was sure that she would be ok. Although she can't see a thing, I found a glimpse of hope, courage and strength in her eyes. She may be blind, but she's got all the reasons to live her life to the fullest.. to dream.. to hope.. She is an inspiration to all those around her.. to do their best.. to never give up..

There is another lesson I have learnt from this:

To be a hero, we don't need to jump from building to building; nor defuse a nuke bomb; nor fly with clouds between our knees; nor have super strength; nor be indestructible. To be a hero, we just need to have a little compassion for other people in our daily lives.

Merry X'mas to everyone!!

=)

Web 2.0: from E-Biz to Me-Biz

2006-12-20T23:21:00.000+08:00

Last night, i attended a seminar cum networking session called "Web 2.0: from E-Biz to Me-Biz". It was organized by The Digital Movement. TDM was founded by a group of undergraduate students who have done their internship at Silicon Valley, working for start-up companies.

The main speaker of the event was Andreas Weigend - Amazon's former chief scientist and one of the world's top experts on the web. As the chief scientist of Amazon, he was instrumental for innovations in modeling and predicting customer behavior and for the successful application of these ideas. He also did consultation for the high-flier startups like Alibaba.com and Technorati.com.

Andreas was a fantastic speaker and did a great job in explaining how the web is developing from e-biz to me-biz and how the traditional e-businesses need to adapt to this change - from vendor-centric sites to user-centric meta-data collections. (more of what Andreas discussed later on..)

It was really a great event. Here are some photos:

Free Hosting!!!!!!

2006-12-03T03:20:00.001+08:00

Today marks a major milestone for ZillionTech, and we have taken another step on a long road towards our dream. (i’ll write about what the milestone is, in another entry..) To celebrate this joyous and auspicious occasion, we would like to make a major announcement in the industry that we will be providing free (ahem, yes, totally F.R.E.E with no strings attached..) website hosting for any legitimate non-profit organization. We call it the “Golden Society” plan.

To be eligible for this plan, the organization must be (1) “not-for-profit”, (2) registered or is about to be registered with the Registry of Societies and (3) making a difference in the community*.

(* the first two conditions will be waived if we are convinced that the organization is of substantial value to the society. E.g., providing free meals to the homeless/needy, supporting underprivileged school-going children, etc..)

This “Golden Society” plan comes with a 300 MB storage space, unlimited bandwidth and unlimited email accounts. (of course, we will provide bigger storage space, depending on the specific needs of the organization..) To top it off, we will even do a free website design and provide free online ad space on our website and our affiliated websites.

So, if you represent/know of such an organization which can benefit from our “Golden Society” plan, please contact us right away!

Hallelujahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

=)

What a Wonderful World

2006-11-06T01:17:00.000+08:00

out of all the chaos, the world can sometimes be beautiful.. the trick is to only look at the brighter side.. and even the most feared and hated persons will become compassionate..

aww.. so sweeeeeeeeet.. =)

Dracula, Dark Vader, Freddy and Jason living happily ever after..

it should certainly win the best motion picture award this year..

=)

The Mighty

2006-10-23T23:28:00.000+08:00

there are some movies that can bring so much inspiration to ur life that u have to watch over and over again.. Peter Chelsom 's "The Mighty" is one of them..

warning: spoiler ahead

the movie is based on Rodman Philbrick 's novel "Freak the Mighty".. the uplifting tale is told through the eyes of 14-year-old Maxwell Kane, who is constantly teased and bullied because of his enormous size and learning disabilities..

Max's life changes forever when Kevin (Kieran Culkin), known in the movie as "Freak", moves into the neighborhood.. Kevin suffers from Morquio's Syndrome, a disease that causes the bones to stop growing while the internal organs continue to grow.. he can only walk with the help of crutches and leg braces..

Kevin opens Max's mind to the world of the imagination using the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.. what Kevin lacks in physical strength, he makes up with a brilliant mind.. Kevin and Max complement each other and become a perfect match..

Imagining themselves as a knight called "Freak the Mighty", the pair go about rescuing maidens (abused wives), slaying dragons (the local punks) and walking high above the world..

here is the music video of The Mighty..

My favourite quote from the movie:
"A Knight Proves his Worthiness by his Deeds."

=)

Bill Gates goes back to school

2006-10-20T14:07:00.000+08:00

Here is the spoof video of Bill Gates (chairman of Microsoft and world's wealthiest man) teaming up with Napoleon Dynamite. It shows the funny side of Bill Gates and the clever alliance formation of Napoleon Dynamite. Enjoy..

=)

A More Civilized Wikipedia

2006-10-19T02:11:00.000+08:00

Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia, recently announced that he has initiated a new knowledge sharing wiki project called “Citizendium”. It will be closely mirrored to Wikipedia, except that in Citizendium, only “subject experts” will have the authority to edit the articles. The so-called subject expert community will consist of Professors, PhD holders and experts in their respective fields, etc. (the exact criteria to become a subject expert has not been revealed yet.)

The project definitely sounds ambitious, and hopefully will fill in the gap that Wikipedia is seriously lacking. But the question is: will Citizendium become as big and popular as Wikipedia, considering the fact that the contribution to the knowledge repository will be limited. We just have to wait and see.

(ironically, a new entry about Citizendium has been made in Wikipedia as soon as the news came out. you can read it here.)

Oracle of Omaha

2006-10-19T02:03:00.000+08:00

here is a rare video of Warren Buffet (chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, famously nicknamed Oracle of Omaha and the second richest man on the planet).. you will see how humble he is in the video..

Buffet donating billions to charity..

Buffet's modest house in Omaha..

Mr Buffet.. you are my H-E-R-O..

=)

New Search Engines

2006-10-02T01:16:00.000+08:00

Envying the success of Google Almighty, some new search engines have been sprouting up recently. Here are two of them:

1) www.snap.com
Its main difference is the preview display of websites alongside the search results. Another novelty is that the users get to rate the search results. So if a site gets high user rating, that site will get listed among the top, which is totally unlike Google's BackRub algorithm. (but the question is why a user would like to rate a search result? and if a site would like to be among the top, they would hire somebody or write a programme to rate the site positively.)

2) www.brainboost.com
It prides itself as an "Answer Engine", which uses "AnswerRank" system. It supposedly finds the search results based on how relevant the search result is to your query. I don't know how the AnswerRank algorithm works. It never mentions in its website.

Whether or not these search engines will become next Google or replace Google altogether, only time will tell.

=)

Marketing 101

2006-10-01T23:55:00.000+08:00

this post is dedicated to one of my favourite lecturers in NBS..

(marching into the lecture theatre 19 on a sunny cheerful morning, i tried to get the attention from the seemingly oblivious chattering students..)

hi everyone.. (a deafening silence.. and the curious looks from the students..)

i'm replacing Prof Hooi today.. he is in dubai, attending an international conference on "how to get voted for the best dressed lecturer".. (Prof Hooi is the undisputed best dressed lecturer in NBS.. and without fail, he would wear his signature bow tie every day..)

(imitating Prof Hooi's joyful voice) so, to start off today's lesson.. we are going to learn Marketing 101.. and we are going to learn it in layman's terms..

so, what is marketing?

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and say,
"I am very rich. Marry me!"
That's called Direct Marketing.

You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl. One of
your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says,
"He's very rich. Marry him."
That's called Advertising.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party.
You go up to her and get her telephone number.
The next day you call and say,
"Hi, I'm very rich. Marry me."
That's called Telemarketing.

You're at a party and see a gorgeous girl.
You get up and straighten your tie; you walk up to her and pour her a
drink.
You open the door for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her a
ride, and then say,
"By the way, I'm very rich "Will you marry me?"
That's called Public Relations.

You're at a party and see a gorgeous girl.
She walks up to you and says,
"You are very rich...?"
That's called Brand Recognition.

You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say,
"I'm rich. Marry me"
She gives you a nice hard slap on your face.
That's called Customer Feedback!

and at that exact moment, Prof Hooi just happened to step into the lecture theatre - sweating and panting, obviously being caught up in the traffic jam and being late for the lecture.. and my catch-me-if-you-can stint came to an absurd end.. =)

The End.

(missing the laughs that we got from each lecture.. thank u, Prof Hooi, for making marketing such an enjoyable subject to learn..)

=)

Sometimes, You Need to Skip Lectures in order to Save the World

2006-09-14T23:16:00.000+08:00

i've been looking for some good reasons for my frequent skipping of lectures.. (in fact, i've attended only one lecture in this entire semester.. does the word "frequent" constitute that?? haha..)

my so-called good justification is that i've been following the advice of Sir Richard Branson (Founder of Virgin Record, Virgin Airline and Virgin Group of Companies) who said that during three months of running a business, you will learn as much as you do in three years at a business school.. couldn't agree with him more.. =)

and as a avid fan of Superman, here is one more good reason for me.. haha.. enjoy.. =)

so, in order to save the world, even Superman has to skip classes sometimes.. why shouldn't i?? haha..

as i'm writing this, i'm humming to the song Five for Fighting's Superman.. "I can’t stand to fly.. I’m not that naive.. Men weren’t meant to ride.. With clouds between their knees.."

Greatest Lesson from Tiger

2006-09-11T01:22:00.000+08:00

Tiger?? what tiger are u talking about, u might ask.. asian tiger?? sumatran tiger?? siberian tiger??

he is no ordinary tiger.. there is only one of his kind on the entire planet.. (endangered species, huh??) he is a true symbol of bravery and decisiveness.. when he makes his move, everyone has to watch in awe.. his preys will veil in fear when they hear his name.. (ok.. ok.. enough glorification.. pls just tell us who he is..)

i believe that you can always learn great lessons from sporting legends.. and one of my favourites is Tiger Woods.. (ohhhh, that tiger.. nod.. nod..)

Tiger Woods who has won many championships in his golfing career, had the COURAGE and BRAVERY to change his golf swing at the peak of his career..

(photo courtesy of Tiger's official website)

he wasn't happy with his results and changed how he hit the golf ball..

what is truly amazing is that the best player in the world, during a time when he was winning many tournaments, made the decision to change how he played the game in a big way.. he took a very HUGE risk..

that is almost unheard of in any sports, or for that matter in general..

why did he do it?? here comes the greatest lesson for all of us..

Tiger is not focused on instant gratification.. he is focused on achieving his long term goals..

he is fine with taking 1 step backward today to take 3 steps forward tomorrow.. that's how the greatest personalities in history are made.. never being complacent.. he doesn't want to stay at where he is today.. he wants to achieve greater things..

the question we should ask ourselves is: will i become complacent??

=)

Why Sex Before Marriage

2006-08-21T01:09:00.000+08:00

after posting "No Sex Before Marriage" (pls see the previous entry), i guess it would be great to write "why sex before marriage".. and i came across this funny video clip.. don't forget to turn ur speakers on..

hope it explains why sex before marriage.. (for guys, of course.. haha..)

=)

No Sex Before Marriage

2006-08-20T01:58:00.000+08:00

the other day, one of my friends asked me this question, out of blue: “will u have sex before marriage?” i was caught off guard.. i didn’t exactly have the answer for fornication..

i tried to explain by not giving a definite answer.. it all boils down to the individuals.. some ppl may view it as being against religion.. some ppl may view sexual abstinence as being “uncool” in this modern 21st century society..

according to a survey done by Today last year, nearly half of the respondents say yes to sex before marriage.. the other half say no.. so, conclusion can be drawn that the view on pre-marital sex is equally divided among the population..

some cultures explicitly and strictly forbid pre-marital sex.. for example, it’s a big NO-NO in Indian culture.. even discussing about it is considered to be a taboo..

of course, every view has its own merit and demerit points.. ppl on i-am-a-virgin side will tell all sorts of nasty things: diseases, unwanted pregnancy, unspirituality, etc..

ppl on the other side of the fence will tell: if the two persons really love each other, why not?? it's kind of “bonding” experience and becoming “oneness”.. or in my friend’s words: hey, look all the fun u are missing out..

for me, i’m rather conservative.. it’s not that i believe in abstinence.. but it’s just that it’s sort of fun to build up the excitement.. the other reason is that i’m waiting for someone i really love..

so, how abt u?? which side are u on?? it's up to u to decide..

=)

Entrepreneurship Forum cum High-Tea Networking Session

2006-08-16T23:57:00.000+08:00

me and my MiE friends had been planning (and struggling with..) this Entrepreneurship Forum cum High-Tea Networking Session for over 2 months.. and this afternoon, the event was (i must say, successfully..) held at Nanyang Auditorium in NTU.. (sorry, guys.. it’s just over..) only after that, we were like.. phewww.. we did it!! we did it!!

(ok.. ok.. here is the storyline.. )

about 2 months ago, one of my MiE friends talked to me about organizing a networking session where the successful entrepreneurs could share their experience with the students and they could mingle with one another.. i was instantly hooked onto the idea.. so, we recruited a few other MiE friends.. and there we were.. planning a big event.. with no experience whatsoever in event management.. (in fact, it was the biggest networking event organized by students in s’pore..)

it was kind of hard and demanding to organize this event, considering that all of us were not really free.. one was doing industrial attachment.. one was doing final year project.. one went to UK for summer exchange programme.. three ppl went back to their home countries for vacation.. i was working part-time at citibank..

and there were a lot of tasks to be done.. we had to short-list the entrepreneurs who might want to come down to our event.. we had to write invitation letter and send out to those entrepreneurs.. (we sent out 300 invitation letters..) we had to set up a website for the students to do online registration.. after some entrepreneurs confirmed their participation, we had to do a write-up about their stories.. we had to print out a booklet.. we had to look for corporate sponsorship.. we had to plan how the place was going to be set up.. what kind of food we were going to serve.. so on and so on.. (we even hired a DJ to play soft music at the event..)

nevertheless, we managed to pull thru and got 25 entrepreneurs to come down to our event.. (yes!! a whopping 25!!) there were big names like Dr Dora Hoan (Best World International), Dr Michael Leong (ShareInvestor.com), Ms Annie Yap (GMP Group, one of this year’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award nominees), Mr Richard Eu (Eu Yan Sang), Mr Han Keen Juan (Old Chang Kee), Mr Ronnie Lim (The Event Co.), Mr Steve Ting (Frontline Technologies), Mr Jeffery Goh (Light Speed Technologies), etc.. they were really movers and shakers in their respective industries..

and here came the big event with a big bang.. this afternoon at 1pm, we were in panic mode, as the event was only one hour away and the nanyang audi was not even set up.. (we borrowed some sofas from one event company.. and they were late in delivering..) and to make it even worse, we received a call from one particular entrepreneur.. (he is quite popular at social speaking events..) he was making a big fuss, as he was not comfortable with the topic assigned to him.. even after we changed the topic for him, he was still angry.. (he scolded me on the phone.. haha..) he even threatened not to come down at all.. (after all, he did come.. we managed to calm him down with some pacifier.. haha..)

there were 7 ppl, including me, in the organizing committee.. and each of us were assigned to specific guest speakers to “entertain” them before the event officially started.. (we were short-handed.. initially, we requested some helpers from Emcees’ Club and Toastmasters’ Club.. but unfortunately, none of the clubs couldn’t provide any helpers, as they were busy with their own activities.. but we got some help from our fellow MiE course mates and from NTC..)

i was assigned to these 2 particular entrepreneurs to entertain - Mr Steve Ting from Frontline Technologies and Mr Vijay Iyengar from Agrocorp Int’l.. (comment added on Sep 23 : it was quite coincident, considering that Mr Ting and I are in the same line of business.. and we have a lot in common.. the only difference is that his business is an MNC listed on S’pore Stock Exchange, with revenues of over $170 million.. and my business?? haha.. small fish in the big ocean.. later, he would prove to be an extremely valuable contact for me..)

with all the hard work, the event itself was a successful one.. everything went smoothly as planned during the session.. the food was delicious.. the discussion was passionate.. the music was lively.. the mingling was bubbly.. the chattering was everywhere.. the laughter was in the air.. it was indeed a very fruitful event..

so, i would, hereby, like to thank our organizing committee.. James, Joe, Diana, Mabel, SiSi and Liu Tong.. thank you all very much.. for making this event a successful one.. we all have done a great job!! cheers!! =)

(sorry, i don’t have any photos to post here, as the official photos have not been released yet..)

=)

Thailand Trip

2006-07-05T23:58:00.002+08:00

Sawadee Krab..

last weekend, me and my family went to Chiang Mai, the second largest city in Thailand.. it was a 3-day 2-night trip.. the reason why we wanted to go to Chiang Mai was because we wanted to sight-see the country side.. it was really a refreshing trip for me.. in fact, i was mesmerized by Thailand's rich culture and natural beauty..

here are some of the photos..

at Mesai Elephant Camp

elephants playing soccer

an elephant drawing a picture

these were really drawn by elephants.. i wonder how they were trained..

isn't it artistic?? i can't even draw that nice.. haha..

how peaceful it is to look at the clouds..

me at Golden Triangle

an elephant statue.. looks like a real one..

another picture of clouds.. i don't know why.. i like to take pictures of clouds.. they are sooooo beautiful..

a child wearing traditional costume.. look at how innocent she is..

night bazaar.. bustling with night life..

ohhhh.. how i miss tom yam soup and papaya salad.. here is a big thank-u to our tour guide.. a pretty Thai lady.. MiMi.. Kho Khun Krab..

=)

Satay King

2006-05-26T11:55:00.000+08:00

For one of the projects for my Minor in Entrepreneurship, we had to interview a successful entrepreneur and do a write-up about how he/she started.. the challenges he faced.. the reasons his biz became successful.. the lessons that we could learn from his life story, etc..

so, as we were brainstorming about whom we should approach to do an interview, it came to our attention that one of our project members is actually a close friend of Singapore Satay Club family.. he is a very good friend of the son of the founder.. (they did army together..)

because of our group member (Ross, thank you so much for everything.. we couldn't have finished the project without u..) we easily got a green-light to interview him at his mansion.. (his mansion is a close replica of a Saudi prince's palace..)

here are some of the photos..

Mr Mohammed Raffi (Founder of Singapore Satay Club) he is really a true gentleman, full of wisdom and knowledge..

to summarise his life in one sentence.. he is a man who doesn't know the meaning of giving up..

to quote his exact words: "if you can take doomtown and make it boomtown, then you can go anywhere and make it work." (when he started his satay club at sembawang shopping centre, it was literally a ghost town.. there was no traffic at all.. McDonald closed down its outlet there.. he took over the place.. turned it around and became the "sole crowd-puller" for the shopping mall..)

his advice to us: Go out of the comfort zone.. if u do so, u will find that there is no limitation on what u can achieve in life.. what a great advice!! thank you, Mr Raffi.. =)

yummy!! juicy!! tasty!! the best satay in S'pore!! the meat is really tender.. the sauce is really nice.. rated "5 sticks" by me.. haha.. (since when i became a food review blogger?? chubbyhubby won't be happy for terrorising into his field.. haha..) and i'm not doing a promotion or advertising, either.. i don't get any fees.. =)

with my project mates at Singapore Satay Club (Sembawang Shopping Centre)
(back row) Zhe Ming, Ross*, me and Kok Vui..
(front row) Shu Xian**, Edlyn**, Sofia, Phyllis and Diana***..

*Ross is the Business Manager of Project Mayhem. if u want to buy car body kits at very affordable prices, he is the person to contact.. if u buy, remember to mention my name so that i can get some commissions.. haha..

**Shu Xian and Edlyn are VP and Financial Controller respectively, in Accountancy and Business Club in NBS..

***Diana is VP of Muay Thai Club in NTU.. if u want to kick butts like Tony Jaa, she is the person to call..

=)

TeaHaven Reloaded

2006-05-17T21:33:00.000+08:00

TeaHaven was a project that we did for our maketing subject in ntu, last semester.. basically, the idea is very similar to Starbucks concept.. but instead of selling coffee, we intended to sell tea (different flavours such as green tea, jasmine tea, mango tea, etc.. and different origins such as korean tea, japanese tea, sri-lanka tea, etc..) and tea-related products (tea cake, tea-flavoured egg tarts, etc..)

we even gave our products some eye-catching names like tantalising chick, picasso's masterpiece, aliens from pluto, e=mc2, etc.. it was really fun working on the project with my project mates.. we put in a lot of effort.. we made a feild trip to sniff out the potential competitors.. we even designed a logo.. (Putu, tks a lot..)

we wrote strategic plans to collaborate with Health Promotion Board, California Fitness, Sentosa Spa, etc.. we even proposed to donate 5% of profit to charity - Make a Wish foundation and Children's Cancer foundation.. (for corporate social responsibility and public relations, of course.. haha..) (err, what?? u want us to donate to NKF??) we served real vietnamese tea (piping hot!!) during our presentation.. i guess we did impress our tutor with all the efforts.. and we got really good grade for the project..

that was about 6 months ago.. and last week, i had a chance (or rather, was forced) to revisit TeaHaven concept.. before i explain what happend, pls take a look at the photos below..

Original TeaHaven Gang: (from left to right) Thuy, Putu, Adrian and me.. (u can see the logo in the background)

Original TeaHaven Gang: (from left to right) Putu, Huy, Adrian, Thuy and me..

last week was one of my most hectic weeks in ntu.. as part of course requirement for my Minor in Entrepreneurship, we had to develop a business from scratch.. we were given only 4 days to finish the whole project.. if u minus off the sleeping time, eating time and breaks, it was actually less than 3 days..

we were pushed to the boundaries.. i literally camped inside the school.. (i don't stay in hall..) i slept on a couch in TV lounge at one of the halls.. we had to write a full business plan report, detailed with mission, objectives, company structure (how many shareholders, how much percentage, etc..), management structure, marketing strategies, competitor analysis, pricing and placing strategies, valuation of business after three years, forecasted 3-year balance sheets and income statements, etc.. the deadline to submit the report was 5pm last friday..

so, i proposed to my project mates (my MiE mates) that we could re-use some of the ideas from my marketing project.. and we decided to adopt the TeaHaven and modify the idea accordingly.. although TeaHaven gave us some guidelines, the marketing project was not as comprehensive and in-dept as the MiE project.. so, we had to do a lot of work from the ground-up..

it was already 4.30pm on friday and we were still struggling.. (btw, we slept only about 3 hours the previous night.. literally burning the mid-night oil..) the balance sheets could not be balanced.. the marketing strategy was not in line with the promotion strategy.. the future strategic plans had to be amended.. the executive summary had not been written at all.. what the h#$@..

luckily, our prof was kind enough and gave us some deadline extension.. in the end, we managed to finish the whole report around 6pm.. (thank you, everyone!! we all worked as a team.. a great team, indeed.. in fact, we did the next 2 projects together..)

so, that's how i revisited TeaHaven.. i must appologise to my previous group members that i didn't get permission from them to reuse the project that we did together.. (we are cool, rite?? haha..)

here is a photo of TeaHaven Reloaded..

TeaHaven Reloaded Gang: (back row) Sofia, Bi Ran, Mabel and me.. (front row) Phyllis and Liu Tong..

=)

Outward Bound Singapore: Episode IV

2006-03-13T23:36:00.000+08:00

Day 2 Night

Day 2: some bonding games..

Day 2: Day 2: some bonding games..

Day 2: Joe's legendary sea horse dance..

Outward Bound Singapore: Episode III

2006-03-12T23:55:00.000+08:00

On day 1 night, we literally camped out on a very small island.. the island was only about the size of three 5-room hdb flats.. it was so small that the whole island was literally filled with our group..

we were then forced into our ancestral caveman life.. we made the fire ourselves to cook.. we then threw everything inside the boiling pot - rice, fish balls, sausages, et.. (luckily, there was no one among us who practiced cannibalism.. haha..) athough it was not a grand dinner at a 5-star hotel, it was one of the most delicious dinners i had ever had in my life..

after dinner, we went around and chatted with one another until about 2am in the morning.. some of us then tried to take a nap inside the boats.. but it was windy and very cold.. we tried to wrap ourselves with raincoats, just to use them as blankets.. but to no avail.. i couldn't sleep..

i must admit, though.. it was a very beautiful night.. you could see the stars in the sky.. the sea breeze was passing by.. there were some twinkling lights in the horizon.. you could hear the waves going in and out.. if you were on that island with your bf or gf, imagine how romantic it would be.. dreaming.. dreaming =)

it was about 3am and i was desperately trying to get some sleep when a loud-speaker sound came out of no where.. we were having an emergency drill.. we were told by our instructor that we had to pack everything back, push the boats back into the sea and leave the island within 5 min.. panic.. panic.. everywhere.. and to give tension to the situation, our instructor started counting down.. 4.59, 4.58, 4.57 haha..

Day 2

we then rowed back to another island - in the dark.. it took about 2 hours.. by the time we reached there, we were really exhausted from paddling, paddling and paddling.. we practically had no sleep yet.. it was already 5am in the morning.. but we were not allowed to rest.. we had to play some mind-blowing games.. (is that what they call physical and psychological training??)

when we finished playing the games, we were then told to make a raft ourselves, using some ropes and sealed pvc pipes.. i had never made a raft in my life before.. we were supposed to abandon our boats at the island and row the raft back to our starting point.

i felt like we were in Survivor, Amazing Race and Who Wants to be a Millionaire, all rolled into one, except that there was no one-million-dollar prize.. u can imagine how frustrated we were.. =)

for what happened next, please just see the photos below..

Day 2: half-way through, our raft couldn't stand the weight and started to fall apart.. half of the people were already in the water.. my body from the waist-down was practically a prime target for any sharks or sea snakes or squids or stingrays.. ohhhh, what's that tingling feeling in my pants?

Day 2: our raft was going to sink.. the sinking was not as grand as Titanic's, though.. any lady by the name of Rose on board?? u jump, i jump??

Day 2: there is always a silver lining in the cloud.. press on.. we can see the sun.. we can see the sunshine..

Day 2: in the end, we managed to row back to our destination.. it was a life changing experience for me.. the experience taught me that.. the road ahead will never be a rosy one.. but do what u have to do.. one paddle at a time.. there is nothing u can't achieve in life.. Impossible is Nothing!! =)

to be continued..

Outward Bound Singapore: Episode II

2006-03-12T23:15:00.000+08:00

here are some of the photos.. 3 of the most memorable days in my life.. we made lots and lots of like-minded friends.. we were bonded so much so that some of us were even called "Brokeback Brothers"..

Day 1: OBS

Day 1: Preparing the boats..

Day 1: Setting out to the sea.. ready to take on any obstacles..

Day 1: rain or shine.. come what may.. we will continue rowing..

Day 1: full of energy.. 1.. 2.. row.. 1.. 2.. row..

Day 1: it seemed like a never-ending journey to the end of the universe.. starting to feel tired.. hungry.. thirsty.. can we go home and sleep?? pleaseeee..

Day 1: don't give up.. look.. the sun is shining.. how beautiful!!

Day 1: yeaaaaaaa.. we made it.. the tune of The Temptations was in the air: ain't no mountain high enough.. ain't no valley low enough.. ain't no river wide enough.. we must add another line to the lyrics.. ain't no sea rough enough.. =)

Outward Bound Singapore: Episode I

2006-03-09T23:23:00.000+08:00

About a month ago, I applied for this Minor in Entrepreneurship programme, which is extremely popular in NTU. Due to the overwhelming applications, we had to make a “sales pitch” about ourselves why we should be selected for this programme.

As part of their rigorous selection process, not only an essay had to be handed in, but also a presentation to a panel of interviewers had to be made. As we were informed, only one out of three MiE aspirants will be short-listed to be the “chosen ones”. (Miko, borrow ur words.. haha..) The air was tense, and the anticipation was unbearable.

As I was checking my email last Monday, the moment of truth arrived in my inbox with a message, “You have new mail.” (that’s the reason I hate MS Outlook.. always arouse my anticipation and provoke my impatientness.. is there such a word called impatientness, btw?? haha..) By just looking at the subject line, I knew it was from Nanyang Technopreneurship Centre. My eyes scrolled down the screen to see the first line of email: Dear blah blah blah, we are pleased to inform you that.. that’s all I needed to read.. with immerse overjoy, I nearly fell out of my chair and hit the floor.

To make the long story short, I was selected. But my enjoyment was short-lived. As I continued reading the rest of the email, I came to realize that the selection process was not over yet!! Every short-listed candidate must go for a COMPULSORY three-day Outward Bound Singapore training camp.

My heart nearly stopped beating.. my head was on fire.. my brain was overclocked.. It’s not that I am against the training camp. I’m all for it. But the problem is that the final exams are only 4 weeks away. And I have been postponing all my studies to the last 4 weeks.. seriously, I never really study until the exam is about to knock on my head and kick my butt.. (talking about studying at the last minute..) the last 4 weeks are my solid weeks - nothing should interrupt me, and every single second counts..

And gosh.. 3 whole days will be taken away.. not to mention the x number of days that I might need to recover from training.. (according to my seniors, the training is a mini army camp.. sleep will be deprived.. skin will be burnt.. body will be hurt..)

But I have no choice. From tomorrow to next Mon, I will be sweating under the sun with my fellow MiE mates. Wish me luck..

OBS, here we come!!

What A Day It Was..

2005-09-08T23:58:00.001+08:00

Today, I missed the marketing class at 8:30 am, as I got up late. In fact, I was even intending not to go to school at all, as I slept really late last night. But I dragged myself out of bed anyway, as I needed to return the IT textbook that I had borrowed from Ya Ting the previous day. (IT test is about to kick my ass and I hadn’t even had the textbook, let alone prepare for it. So, yesterday, I went around shopping for the textbook. But to my horror, all the book stores, even the one at Clementi, were out of stock. So, I made a few panic calls and sent out SOS messages. A kind soul by the name of Ya Ting, answered my SOS signal and willingly lent me her textbook so that I could zap it. All in all, I saved about 20 bucks by zapping it instead of buying it. So much for the copy right act! And thanks a million, Ya Ting.)

In the evening, I had a dinner appointment with NNA. We met up at City Hall MRT around 6pm, took the shuttle bus to Suntec City and went up to a restaurant at tower one. Since we didn’t have any reservation, we were told that we had to wait for about half an hour to an hour unless we took the two small separate tables at the very last corner of the restaurant. (I tried to make a reservation in the afternoon but to no avail, as it was already fully booked by the time I called in.)

So, we got no choice but to take those two small and pathetic tables. (it was quite comfy in the small corner though.) By the time we finished our dinner, it was almost 8:30 pm.

NNA wanted to meet her aunt at Clementi, so we rushed back to the shuttle bus queue at Carrefour. While we were queuing, we got impatient and decided to take a walk back to MRT station. So, we strolled back to City Hall MRT through City Link mall. We took MRT, and I dropped NNA at her aunt’s block and went straight back home.When I reached home, a letter from Phillip Securities was waiting for me on my table. It was to confirm that I had sold 3000 shares of Sarin Technology through my account. (Sarin Tech is the first Israel company that got listed on Singapore Stock Exchange. It is in diamond grading, cutting and polishing business.) I bought it at the IPO a few months back and made about $500+ including dividends on that counter when I sold it.

Before going to bed, I picked up a book called Net Entrepreneurs Only, which had long been due to be read. It is about the entrepreneurs who strike it rich - extremely, incredibly and super-duper rich - in the Internet age. The first Internet guru in the book was Jay S. Walker who started the PriceLine.com and made billions in the process. He is such a genius that there are a lot of things that can be learnt from him.

The following is the extract from the book:“I spend most of my time looking, prospecting for ideas. I surround myself with people who are challenging and who themselves are looking for ideas. The vast majority of my time is spent in problem-solving sessions and meetings that are focused on finding the diamonds in the rough.”

He does a lot of reading too - very widely from quantum physics to biology, from marketing to economics, etc. Here is his view on reading: “I read fast. I skim for what I’m interested in. I read anything that I find can stimulate my thinking about what people are doing and working on. All the time, I’m constantly ripping things and writing notes.” Quite a visionary, isn’t he??