Technology Connects?

Im all for technology.

Believe me, I carry an iPod, iPad, Kindle, macbook air whenever i travel.

Plus my idea of connecting with others is checking up on them and spying on their pictures on FB.

But this takes the cake when you're outside having lunch with your wife and either your dad or father in law, you are glued to the iPad watching drama serials.

Pretty absurd if you asked me.

Nanjing Scape

Another shot of where i went in Nanjing.

The view was quite breath-taking although i don't think the picture does it justice.

High-Tech Bak Gua

We passed by this shop who touted themselves as the supplier for Lim Chee Guan. You know the one where people would queue for two hours.

We were feeling greedy and the price seemed rather reasonable. And of course, we ate so many samples that it was a little embarrassing not to buy.

So we bought 500gm of Kim Joo Guan.

I don't usually blog about food nowadays but i thought this merited an entry.

The pack comes in a nice gold-ish paper bag.



The pack is air-sealed in this gold wrapping.



There's a plastic cover on the pack.



Then after your remove the plastic cover, you need to peel off another air-sealed layer.



Finally! Some meaty goodness after clearing so many hurdles.

15 Things

Interesting article I saw on Facebook. If this article were to be believed, I need to make some life adjustments.

15 Things You Should Give Up To Be Happy 

Here is a list of 15 things which, if you give up on them, will make your life a lot easier and much, much happier. We hold on to so many things that cause us a great deal of pain, stress and suffering – and instead of letting them all go, instead of allowing ourselves to be stress free and happy – we cling on to them. Not anymore. Starting today we will give up on all those things that no longer serve us, and we will embrace change. Ready? Here we go:

1. Give up your need to always be right. There are so many of us who can’t stand the idea of being wrong – wanting to always be right – even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain, for us and for others. It’s just not worth it. Whenever you feel the ‘urgent’ need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question: “Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?” Wayne Dyer. What difference will that make? Is your ego really that big?

2. Give up your need for control. Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that happens to you and around you – situations, events, people, etc. Whether they are loved ones, coworkers, or just strangers you meet on the street – just allow them to be. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are and you will see how much better will that make you feel. “By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond winning.” Lao Tzu

3. Give up on blame. Give up on your need to blame others for what you have or don’t have, for what you feel or don’t feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.

4. Give up your self-defeating self-talk. Oh my. How many people are hurting themselves because of their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset? Don’t believe everything that your mind is telling you – especially if it’s negative and self-defeating. You are better than that. “The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.” Eckhart Tolle

5. Give up your limiting beliefs about what you can or cannot do, about what is possible or impossible. From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly! “A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind” Elly Roselle 6. Give up complaining. Give up your constant need to complain about those many, many, maaany things – people, situations, events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. It’s not the situation that triggers those feelings in you, but how you choose to look at it. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.

7. Give up the luxury of criticism. Give up your need to criticize things, events or people that are different than you. We are all different, yet we are all the same. We all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved and we all want to be understood. We all want something, and something is wished by us all.

8. Give up your need to impress others. Stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not just to make others like you. It doesn’t work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not, the moment you take of all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.

9. Give up your resistance to change. Change is good. Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change – don’t resist it. “Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls” Joseph Campbell

10. Give up labels. Stop labeling those things, people or events that you don’t understand as being weird or different and try opening your mind, little by little. Minds only work when open. “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” Wayne Dyer

11. Give up on your fears. Fear is just an illusion, it doesn’t exist – you created it. It’s all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place. “The only fear we have to fear, is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt

12. Give up your excuses. Send them packing and tell them they’re fired. You no longer need them. A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, lying to ourselves, using all kind of excuses – excuses that 99.9% of the time are not even real.

13. Give up the past. I know, I know. It’s hard. Especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, but you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for – the past that you are now dreaming about – was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.

14. Give up attachment. This is a concept that, for most of us is so hard to grasp and I have to tell you that it was for me too, (it still is) but it’s not something impossible. You get better and better at with time and practice. The moment you detach yourself from all things, (and that doesn’t mean you give up your love for them – because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another, attachment comes from a place of fear, while love… well, real love is pure, kind, and self less, where there is love there can’t be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. You will get to a place where you will be able to understand all things without even trying. A state beyond words.

15. Give up living your life to other people’s expectations. Way too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them, they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them, to what their friends, their enemies and their teachers, their government and the media think is best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people’s expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need….and eventually they forget about themselves. You have one life – this one right now – you must live it, own it, and especially don’t let other people’s opinions distract you from your path.

Nanjing - Ming Dynasty Walls

Oddly enough i have three deals in Nanjing going on. That isnt ideal because i'd prefer them to be in three different cities than all being in one. But beggers cant be choosers. So that means I go to Nanjing very often. I like it because i like to see the Ming dynasty city walls. From this picture, you can see the walls. From where i was, i was within the city and beyond those walls was outside of the city. If you look clearly, you can see the city gates not unlike those gates you see in period dramas. I wonder how it was like living in those days. No internet, no electricity. Just running around all day and taking the city exams in the hope to be a 状元.

Merry

Have i told you that i'm getting married soon? I havent told many people cos I'm afraid of the massive fall-out amongst all the single gals i know. Im keeping it small and not inviting anyone i havent met for the last six months.

Korean Gift

I hosted the Mayor of Busan the other day. At the end of the meeting, he gave me this. When i showed Someone the box, she said it was exactly the same box as one that she has gotten before. I opened my box and it turns out that there's another box inside. It's some mother-of-pearl box. And it's exactly the SAME one that Someone got some years back! Seems like the korean economy is in a worse shape that everyone thought.

Gifts

Some of you older readers might remember i have a pretty Shanghai gal friend. She has since gotten married and is expecting. In fact, she was due lat week but now still waiting for baby to come out. Time flies, doesn't it? I have now known her for more than eight years now. Right from young punks to young adults, we shared our ideals and aspirations even though we came from different worlds. I remember a particular conversation where we spoke about how it'd be weird to get married and tough to meet up as often as we did. That conversation didn't happen too long ago. But the fact is, the frequency of us meeting up got lower and lower because we just got so busy with our own lives. At the same time, i didn't wish to impose on her every time i come, she might take time out to meet me and entertain me. We had a three-hour lunch the last time i was in Shanghai. It was nice catching up and nicer because i didn't have anymore meetings left and she was on maternity leave waiting for baby to come out. At the end, she gave me these. Turned out to be his and her key chains. How sweet!

Peacocks!

Saw these peacocks by the road the other day. Had to stop my car to let them cross the road.

便当

I've no idea if that's how you write 便当 but lest you think i eat big fish big meat all the time. We were negotiating contracts until 12pm when the client said it was lunch time and they said they ordered 便当 for me. They brought it in and said see me at 230pm. ??? Some of you might not know but the chinese would have lunch then take naps. But usually for my other clients, they dont do that! So im all alone in their office and read my Kindle till they returned.

Scirocco Flash Mob

For those Star Wars geeks out there:

Beijing/Tianjin/Nanjing/Shanghai

It seems like one of those normal multi-city trips squeezed into a week. Three different hotels in one week. Literally living out of the bag. I was a little apprehensive going to Tianjin because i never had good experiences going to Tianjin. The first time i went, that was probably 6 years ago, I got a complaint from a client to my boss for another project. That was shitty. The second time i went, I left my charger there. It was a pretty good trip this time actually. In fact, the client asked me for an LOI. In my world, that's a good thing. Arrived in Singapore at 6am on Saturday and after unpacking, and washing my car, I went for a meeting at 10am. Am i working too hard? Achieving a work-life balance isnt easy. Some companies exhort it, some people try to practise it. There was an announcement of pay increment this week, with the official amounts, including bonus to be provided in an official letter next week. The pay increment has already been paid into our accounts, including an accrued amount for January. On pay day, I hurriedly went to check my account, with the following formula in mind. Increment = (Current balance - balance before pay was credited)/2 Of course, as always increment is lower than expectation. Now waiting for bonus announcement.

Korner

This is the little korner in my house that i blog on my Lil' Korner. I like it because on days when i wake early on weekends (and no golf), i sit here and open the windows to see the greenery and hear the world wake up.

Fines

Sometimes things happen in pairs. I was trying to get used to travelling in KPE the other day, especially trying to see where the speed cameras are. Quite ironically, I got caught speeding. :( This was with my old car. On the day I collected my car, I was concerned not to go above 100km/h since it was a new car. So i kept my speed at 100kmh. Unfortunately, i did it on a 80kmh road. Got another fine. :( Two fines in two weeks. All for the first time in my 8 years of driving. Kwa kwa.

Golfing Fanatics

I haven't been golfing for some time now. The fact is i have hit a slump recently and therefore quite sian. Plus with the new house and all, my attention has been taken away from golf. I hope i get back into the groove soon. Played last saturday and took pics of the super duper early dawn conditions where me and my kakis would wait in the dark until day breaks before starting so that we can see where the ball lands.

Rims!

I always wanted nice rims. In my previous car, i didn't feel like it justified the money. But for this one, i thought i could spend a little on rims. Managed to get a decent lobang today. Here're the workers working on it. It almost feels like F1 with four people working on your car at the same time. Taking out the tires seems complicated. Tada! New five-spoke rims!

Interior

Here're more interior shots at shitfong's request:

Coins

I have a habit of keeping one dollar coins. They're stored here: And because my wallet doesnt have a coin compartment, i have a lot of loose change at the end of the day. I'd also collect them somewhere. With my recent car purchase, what with the solar film and sealant application, plus the opportune time that my one-dollar coin coinbox is full, I decided to deposit them all. W00t! got $300 more in my bank!

Gourmet Cooking

Someone decided to be a gourmet chef this week. She was inspired by my mum, who recently tagged onto my cousin's bandwagon to order gourmet beef from Huber's. I think 1kg beef costs about $90 for pretty decent beef. Definitely not rib-eye. But here it is, Monday night's dinner being made. Sirloin beef with onions, teriyaki chicken and potato shop. w00t! I could get used to this. How neat! This is the most efficient way of placing the dishes when eating for two. For some reason, the picture came out blurry at the edges like some effect. W00t!

More Car Pics

At shitfong's request, Im posting more pics of my car.

Here it is having the solar film applied.

Here it is after getting a sealant job. Buggers took 7 hours man.

Here it is back in the car park.

No interior pics for now sir. I keep forgetting.

New Car

My new car finally arrived!

It's the Volkswagen Scirocco.

I just realised that I used to own a handphone called the Nokia Sirocco. I actually still have it and use it as my spare phone with my China SIM card when im in China.

Awards

Swimming was a big thing for me when i was growing up. We went swimming almost every weekend at various places because my dad went to play golf.

And then i joined the lifesaving society in my secondary school which really involved training for those certifications and then training the juniors.


During school holidays, it was basically training junior from 8am to 12pm and then our own training from 2pm to 5pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Pretty crazy if you ask me now.


Below are the badges i found when i was clearing my stuff.




Oddly enough, the toughest and last certification that i went for is the one called "Award of Merit". This is the name of the award. There's no Award of Distinction or whatever. Just Award of Merit. Silly name really. Makes people think that i achieved second best.

Toiletries

I have posted a couple of times the toiletries I take back from the hotels I stay at.

At my new place, they'll all be in one drawer, categorised under shampoo, body wash, body lotion, hair conditioner and miscellaneous.

Which tie?

Which ties should i bring to China on this trip?

New Car

I feel like buying a new car.

Slumped

We had a couple of groups of friends over the other day. For the first time in my life, the first thing i did when i woke up was to mop the house. Twice. That wasnt that tiring. Then after they left, we had to mop it twice again and then wash the dishes as well. That was tiring after a long day. It was then that i realised first hand the hassle of having people over and the amount of effort put in. I immediately called my mum up and told her how much i appreciated her. Haha. In an "i-told-you-so" tone, she said, "Now then you know la!". Haha.

Groceries

Ever since we moved in, there has been a huge need to buy groceries. Tons of it. Like how i tell some people, we arent simply moving in but starting up a new place afresh. So there're a lot of mundane stuff to buy like mops, pails, tomatoe ketchup and pots and pans. You know you're turning domesticated (not that it's a bad thing) when you derive such joy and excitement when you find out that the basket can be latched onto the trolley. On top of that, we had some friends over and then it was buying a buttload of nuggets, fishballs, etc. I actually wasnt intending to cook a lot at home, even though we bought quite a number of gadgets to cook, like a steaming oven costing a whopping $900 and an airfryer. But it seemed like someone had other ideas. So the first real meal she made was hainanese chicken rice. I wasnt sure if it was an homage to my roots, or it was because I liked chicken. But there you go - our first home cooked meal:

New Toy

I havent bought a new toy for some time now, with much of the focus being moving in recently. Bought this the other day at the one-day Apple sale. Im also reading Steve Jobs' biography.

Other than being the genius that everyone says he is, he's one weird ass who only bathed once a week and walked around barefooted during the early days of Apple. WEEEEIRDO. For a moment, just for a moment, I felt a little bad stiffing him using a machine that he built.

Serapong

Through an invitation of a friend, I played at the Serapong course at Sentosa Golf Club. I wasnt too keen at first because my game hasnt been that good of late and it was a little steep to pay $300 for a lousy game. I did anyway. At Sentosa, just as at SICC previously, the facilities are of course much more comprehensive than the lousy ass malaysian clubs i play at. Check this out: they even have towels, water and tees for you. All in a nicely smooth electric buggy. The weather was quite good that day.

Moving Out

The previous post was about moving in. This is moving out. Moving in is much much easier than moving out. I think it would have been the other way round with much of the pain being packing and carrying, etc. I had thought that i'd transition to moving out, alternating between my old and new homes. But when i moved some essential stuff out like my pillows and toothbrush, i realised that logistically speaking, i couldnt stay at home already. I thought moving out would be some sort of an event in my mind. It'd be an mental and emotional decision whereby i say to myself that after i leave today, I am not coming back to sleep anymore. It was an oddly tough decision. I actually wasnt sure how my mum would take it but she seemed fine and nonchalent though im not so sure how she felt inside. So there i went. Moving out of my house carrying my bolster and feeling a tinge of sadness. That, indeed, was far tougher than moving in.

Moving In

We put in the final touches of the apartment before moving in. On the last day of touching up, at some point in the house, there was the people fixing the doors, curtain fixers, kitchen cabinet fixers, carpenter, amplifier setting person as well as window fixers. I had no where to sit and i just stood there and took pictures. It was pretty insane. Here's the curtain person laying down her wares: Amplifier man laying the cables for me and doing the settings: I spaced out my moving cos there were just so many things. First batch was like this: