2007 - Reflections

It is the last day of 2007. What a year it has been! It's only like yesterday when I was studying my best for the A levels and now that chapter is all over. Lets just take a little look back...

From the depths of my diary, the goals I set for myself this year:

1. To sleep earlier - sleeping late was a major problem for me. was awake till the wee hours of the morning during school days and that was affecting my ability to concentrate during classes
2. To run and exercise regularly - ever since we got over napfa and with the a levels to contend with, physical exercise hit an all time low. gotta work to get those packs I always wanted
3. To study consistently for my a levels - the A's are important, nuff said.
4. Remember the birthdays of my friends and family - birthdays are important to me so I guess i should show it more to others too.

Somehow I just didn't have the persistence I required to achieve all those goals. I believe that one of the reasons I failed to achieve them is that I failed to have a consistent, unwavering focus on my goals. It was like I could manage to keep to sleeping early to a few days but when something came in and interrupted my schedule, like a heavier load of homework or something, it just came all crashing down.

Tynan also wrote a post on his blog about his goals for 2007 and how he believes he can better achieve it in 2008 and I believe that its really helpful.

Here's an excerpt from his blog:

So I see THREE major problems with these goals and with my whole life. These issues surface over and over again.

First, I need to hold myself to a higher standard than anyone could ever imagine.

This is something that ALL champions do. Shaq has a quote I read many months ago which still sticks out in my mind. I can’t find it, so I paraphrase:

“No one can imagine the high standards that I have for myself in my head.”

Will Smith had a similar quote where he talked about how he set all of his goals astronomically high and then worked non stop to achieve them. That’s the only way he felt that he could overcome ANY adversity that came his way.

Tyler from Real Social Dynamics has a great post where he says that when he decides to dedicate himself to something he assumes he’ll have to work harder than everyone else. BUT… he assumes that he can be better than everyone else eventually if he puts in that effort.

My grandfather, who is also wealthy, has this quote taped to his desk at his office:

”Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan ‘Press On’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” –Calvin Coolidge

This makes a lot of sense to me. It resonates with me. When I think of my goals I think in terms of OTHER PEOPLE’S success. What level are they at and how can I get close? This needs to change. I need to DISREGARD other people and think of the level of success that I WANT. Then I will decide what it will take to get there and accept nothing less of myself.

My natural inclination is to get to the level where people consider me to be “good”. Not the BEST of the best… just amongst the best. That’s where I got with gambling, pick up, rap, even writing this blog (the rap one might be a bit of a stretch, since I’m obviously not amongst the best).

So from now on… I will hold myself to the highest possible standard imaginable for my effort.

I’ve already started doing this, but haven’t fully developed my plan. I’ve stopped accepting excuses from myself, which is step one.

It was Christmas Eve at midnight and I hadn’t worked out yet. I was in Boston, far away from my Crossfit class, and class wasn’t even meeting that day anyway.

“Eh. It’s Christmas Eve. I don’t have to work out,” I thought.

WHAT?

What does ANY of that have to do with ME or my fitness goals? NOTHING AT ALL.

So what do I do? I go to the basement and do a hard core workout.

I used to visit digg and reddit a lot. Then I thought, “These sites are NOT moving me closer to my goals.”

“But they’re interesting…”

EXCUSE!

I have now blocked them from my computer and will not visit them anymore. You have to understand that I tend to go overboard on stupid computer things… I didn’t just visit once a day, I would spend hours reading stupid articles. So for me it’s best to just totally block the site and remove the temptation.

And you know what? It’s not the SITE that I’m addicted to. It’s the HABIT. We’re NOTHING but a collection of habits, so it’s important to systematically remove all bad habits. Luckily I’m very good at sticking to these sorts of things when I make rules.

I’m also not putting enough effort into things

I already went into this earlier, so I won’t go nuts on it.

It is TOTALLY unacceptable in every way for me to not be working as hard as I can. I’m beginning to understand that in this area I cannot except anything less than 100%.

Think about it… I know for a fact that hard work is what it will take to become rich. I MUST become rich. How can I possibly think it’s ok for me not to work hard?

“But it’s hard to work all the time…”

WHO CARES? I have spent most of my life as a total slacker. I would say that I’m easily more prone to slacking than anyone who reads this site. That means that I have TONS to gain in this area.

Bottom line - if I am not willing to accept the importance of hard work and immediately implement it, then I am not worthy of being a millionaire and will not become one. Period.

I’m focusing on SYMPTOMS, not PROBLEMS

Since becoming rich is obviously my most important goal, I’ve written a lot about it here already.

But… I’m not a millionaire because I don’t have the right habits to be one, NOT because I don’t happen to have a million dollars.

In other words, I need to be setting goals for HABITS or for things I want to become. Not for end results.

“How I become a millionaire?”

Well.. there are a million different paths to get there. That’s not a goal against which I can measure my results on a daily basis.

However, if I determine the HABITS and ACTIONS necessary to become a millionaire, and I make those my goals, I will have to succeed.

A couple more things

Tim Ferriss has a fantastic concept in his book. I read the whole book and have read most entries in his blog, and I think this is THE KEY thing he talks about.

“Focus on output.”

Learning is great. Reading is great. But at the end of the day what MATTERS is what we output.

Did I build more of my program? Did I write sales copy? Did I get myself out into the field to meet new people? Did I make phone calls I had to make?

Input is easier to focus on. It’s easy to read about something. It’s easy to do a tutorial to learn a skill.

However, when you focus on output, you automatically seek out the input you need.

For example, when I was programming conversion doubler, I had NO IDEA how to program. I’d never used PHP, never used AJAX, and never used Javascript.

BUT… I knew what I wanted to accomplish, so I’d read little bits here and there as I went. If I needed to do some database queries, I’d look up the information on them and learn it on the fly.

Now I’m a pretty good programmer.

What would have happened if I learned all these things in school and then tried to make a program a year later? Chances are I’d STILL have to look a bunch of stuff up online, just like I had to do without learning it first.

Which is a more efficient use of time?

So from now on I’m going to think of each day in terms of “what was my output?”.

Those few things sound pretty familiar to me and helped me realise some things. Hope it helps you readers too!

On a brighter note, the things I'm proud to have achieved in 2007:

1. I managed to regularly write in my diary and practice daily reflection on my life. I believe that in a way, we are all artists, and our lives are our great works of art which we paint stroke by stroke, day by day. Wouldn't it be a great waste if we didn't take time to just stop and appreciate the work we've done even if its just a little time every day? Reflecting daily and keeping a diary is on of the best ways for you to understand yourself and understand what is going on with your life. Only when you understand your life can you work on them to make it all better. Diaries are also great tools to help one keep track of all your dreams and goals.

My diary!

2.I found someone just like me and am in a wonderful, trusting, mature relationship with her. People usually say that opposites attract, but when we're discussing long term relationships, experts agree that such couples should also possess many traits and qualities in common as differences can add up and cause additional friction in the long term. Its amazing that how love just found me when I wasn't even looking for it. Just know what you want in your partner and don't settle for anything less cause anything less just won't work out and that would only cause further heartache for both parties. Glad I found exactly what I wanted and we're both willing to put in the effort to make this work.

What I've always wanted - found.

3. Started hamletshero.blogspot.com! I just started blogging recently and I must say that I love it! I have a lot to say about the world and I am really happy that I started. Will do my best to continually update hamletshero.blogspot.com as regularly as I can with all my views and insights about the world.

4. Finally stopped procrastinating about procrastinating. Procrastinating is one of my biggest vices and thanks to my muse, I can say that I'm really doing something about it. Now whenever the thought to delay something for later comes into mind I tell myself that whatever I can do now, I must do now. Life is short, gotta do the things that matter now, not later.

5. Read quite a bit and learnt quite a lot of new things. Almost all the solutions to all of mankind's problems are already solved and stored in print! I'm glad that I took the time to learn from others on how to make my life a better one for I have really learnt a lot.

some of the really good books I've read this year

Now, my goals for year 2008:

1. Manage to stick to an excercise schedule - running must be a part of that schedudle.

2. Make time for myself each day to meditate, reflect on life and gain mastery over my thoughts. The quality of one's life is dependent on the quality of one's thoughts. Think of negative things, and negativity will fill your life; think of heavenly and positive things and only the best things will ensue. To do so, I plan to work on cultivating the 7 timeless virtues of enlightened living, as espoused by Robin Sharma in "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" each day.

3. Overcome procrastination completely - I will hold myself to such high standards which will leave no room for procrastination.

4. Do my best to be the best person I can be for all the people around me. I want to be someone who can enrich the lives of everyone around me and hopefully make this world a better place in all things I do, be they big or small.

Mother Teresa once said "Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: Kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile."

I would also never forget the words of Brandon, my debate senior "...how can I, with the many gifts that I enjoy and may have come to take for granted, bless those around me?" If everyone thought that way, the world would be a much better place.

5. Equip myself with more skills that will allow me to reach greatness in every aspect of my life and have the determination to achieve mastery in such skills. I see the need to learn things like yoga, qigong, photoshop, investing and many other skills like these as these are things that will genuinely make life easier and better for me. I always believe that learning is one of the great joys in life you don't have to pay a cent for.

Registered to do my driving theory course today as well too. The course is pretty slack and is mostly on during the weekend, so I most probably have time to visit my muse during weekdays. Hope everything goes well.

Hope to see my muse soon.

Till then, happy new year everyone! Hope that 2008 brings us even closer to achieving all the goals we need to achieve!

One foot into the unknown - the secrets of making money online

Things are just moving on so quickly. Soon, I will be most probably back in Singapore trying to find a job so that I can pay off the rent my expenses there - rent, food, entertainment and the occasional luxury or two.

Truth to be told, the very thought of having a 9 to 5 job where I would have to wake up early to go to work every day scares the living daylights out of me.


It really does. I always wanted to be rich, not to be rich for the sake of being rich, but rich enough so that I would not have to ever worry about the whole issue of making money, so that I can spend my time where it is most needed - with the people who mean the world to me.

With my current financial position, many discussions with the people around me lately revolve around the subject of money, and how to make it quick. It usually goes something like this:

"Go push drugs (or run a brothel or insert any other illegal means of making money) lah! One ship load then don't need to work for a month already lar!"

"Siao ar you! Want me to die is it?"

The tulan face

On a more serious note, I do believe that there are ways in which one can make enough money with relatively easy effort and time. Here, I believe the key is in working smart rather than working hard - there must be some ways to increase my income in a relatively quick and easy way.

So I popped on google and did a little search and I somehow ended up in this woman's blog and she claims to make 5 digit figures on blogging alone each month!

What she has to say on her blog (http://www.5xmom.com/):

I am the world’s 2nd Most Obnoxious Blogger, after Perez Hilton.
I have been named Malaysia’s 50 most Influential Blogger.
My blogs are amongst the 70 Most Popular Blogs in Malaysia.
This blog is one of the world’s Top 100 Blogs on Make Money.
I make five digit Ringgit Malaysia just from blogging.

5 digit Ringgit Malaysia just from blogging? That's just what I'm talking about! From reading the blog, it seems that she mantains a number of blogs with catchy names which she makes sure are properly indexed by google and other major search engines like yahoo. Therefore, when you enter a popular search term in google, her blog pops up on the first page, giving her blog a really good chance to score a hit.

Also, she mentioned that anticipating what people search for during a certain season then matching your blog entries such issues will also cause a blog's hits to rise. For example, as housewives are wont to worry about Christmas recipes and search for it online during the Christmas season, a blog that has posts on such topics is a lot more likely to score hits off people looking for information through a search engine.

Courtesy of www.5xmom.com:

Steps to getting a new blog running (and making money)

1) Think of a nice domain name

2) Buy it and host it

3) Set up domain

4) Install Wordpress with Fantastico one-click

5) Find nice theme

6) Upload theme with ftp and add tracking codes like analytics, site stats

7) Upload via ftp some of the important plugins and activate them

8) Change domain name pointing to www from WP dashboard

9) Change permalink structure to search engine friendly type

10) Start blogging

11) Keep blogging

12) Add adsense

13) Submit URL to main search engines or if you already have other blogs, link the new blog from your old blog

14) Keep blogging

15) Start dreaming of making big bucks

While I do not intend this blog to be one that is ad-infested (as 5xmom's blog definitely is), I guess learning how to get this page properly ranked by google would help me get more hits, translating to a little extra income if I register for say nuffnang ads. Extra income would always be welcome in these uncertain times. So keep coming back readers! Hope that this information helps you get rich through blogging!

2007 - In Review

2007 - In Review

Just a little meme the muse thought that she would like me do. Its pretty good, so just give it a shot, readers!

1. What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before?
Lots of things. Paintball, the A-levels... but the thing that stands out most is that I finally got serious with someone I truly treasure. Love ya my muse!

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Nope. Resolved to sleep early this year but didn't get anywhere with that one. Will try to make some again. Will make it this time!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
A cousin of mine got a son!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.

5. What countries did you visit?
Was only in Malaysia and Singapore this year.

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
I want to be able to spend time with my muse when it really matters.

7. What date from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
28th September. Finally made the move. Still wearing a token of that on my neck as I type this.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Well, I came to realise that some of the people around me really care about me. Twin, Gimik, Roger, all my buddies and of course my muse, thank you for being there when I was down. Knowing you guys has added tremendous value to my life

9. What was your biggest failure?
To not have enough discipline to study harder than I did to achieve better grades. And lets not mention the KI paper shall we?

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Was sick every now and then due to stress and sleeping late, but I must say that this year was the first year that catching gastric flu was truly memorable!

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My iPod? Still plays wonderful music that helps me through the good and the bad.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Anyone that brightened up anyone's day.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Cabbie drivers in Malaysia. They are SO, SO SCREWED UP. They wouldn't pick up people who wanted to travel short distances cause they would only want to con rich tourists telling them that they would have to pay a special fee to get them to KL city. Want to shoot them with a shotgun each time they told us that they wouldn't fetch us.

14. Where did most of your money go?
My Zara blazer. :D ate out a lot too this year.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Linkin Park's newest album - Minutes to Midnight! Got it the first day it came out. Didn't dissapoint me even though some didn't like their new sound. And of course preparing surprise presents for my muse!

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
What I've Done - Linkin Park

17. Compared to this time last year, are you happier or sadder?
Emotions are a whole lot more extreme this year, ranging from extremely happy to extremely down. But the good times make up for all the bad times, hands down.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Exercising and reading more books.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Worrying, pining, procrastinating, wasting time.

20. How did you be spend Christmas?
Went over to my aunt's place for a barbeque. My dear friend Yi Ting drove us all over.

22. Did you fall in love in 2007?
Definitely.

23. How many one-night stands?
Tempted to before, but managed to overcome it.

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Heroes! It just gets so much better in the 2nd season.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Don't think so. Pretty happy with the people I know this year.

26. What was the best book you read?
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami - absolutely breathtaking. Read no other author who writes like Murakami does.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Panic at the Disco. Still think that their lyrical ability and style is just top notch.

28. What did you want and get?
My iPod. Lusted over it for so long and got it in the end. Phenomenal!

29. What did you want and not get?
To spend Christmas and many other special moments with the one that matters most.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Transformers. It was everything a guy needs - transforming robots, cars, a hot chick, explosions and a whole lotta good music!

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Had a fruit party with the hostel folks. They made me eat watermelons and all. Alice carved a happy birthday message on the watermelon skin. That was my 18th birthday.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Being able to make her smile and giggle more. And of course, being able to spend more time with her.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Thinner is better.

34. What kept you sane?
My support group! Gimik, Twin, Roger! Yeah!

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Mystery. If you know who he is, you'll know why.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
The need for clean and fair elections in Malaysia. The Bersih rallies really touched me by showing me how much these people love their country.

37. Who did you miss?
Gimik, Twin and my muse. Miss you guys the most of all. And lets not forget Roger. Can't walk into his room at 2am and disturb him now bout random issues of mine. :D

38. Who was the best new person you met?
I never knew a solar powered-cinnamon smelling-panda-princess before this, and it she made my life so much more beautiful.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007:
I've learnt that things aren't always bad and that you can get something positive, learn something, from any event, be that event seem bad or good at first sight.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:

From Love Hurts - Incubus

Love hurts
But sometimes it's a good hurt
And it feels like I'm alive
Love sings
When it transcends the bad things
Have a heart and try me
'cause without love I won't survive

Of Big Paintball Guns

If you think that regular paintball hurts, just wait till you check this out.



I definitely do not want to be on the recieving end of that one!
Anyone up to the challenge?

The Destress Post

Things known to me that are destressing in nature:

1. Listening to some good and loud music. Always nicer on nice, boomy speakers! Would be cool to be alone to scream out emo lyrics too. All part and parcel of the destressing routine.
   
2. Watching good shit on youtube, like the "this is sparta!" video I talked about earlier. Be warned though, most of the other random un-funny crap may just stress you up more.

On the subject of youtube videos, found another few good ones after the "this is sparta" video.

Presenting, BOOM HEADSHOT!


See, FPS addicts out there! This is what you get after too much CS/TF2!

THIS IS SPARTA!

I know this is really old, but I just have to say that the 300 is one of the most awesome shows ever made for mankind. The blood, the gore and the pure machismo of King Leonidas your classic uber-alpha male made it an instant classic.


The thing that makes Leonidas an uber-alpha is that he's always so angry. He's just pissed off and he's not afraid to show it. He's just so comfortable telling the world that he has a red hot chili pepper stuck up his anus with a large spear in his hand. Thats just the machismo that makes the ladies swoon and him the leader of a whole pack of battle hungry men.


That's just what you need to lead an army, and score a hot queen to boot! The thing that is so admirable bout Leonidas is that his anger is so well directed. He's so pissed off but he releases his anger in such a focused and constructive (destructive to the enemy maybe?) ways, making him such a legend for all time.

THIS IS SPARTAAAAAA!

Messenger: Choose your next words carefully, Leonidas. They may be your last as king.
King Leonidas: [to himself: thinking] "Earth and water"?
[Leonidas unsheathes and points his sword at the Messenger's throat]
Messenger: Madman! You're a madman!
King Leonidas: Earth and water? You'll find plenty of both down there.
Messenger: No man, Persian or Greek, no man threatens a messenger!
King Leonidas: You bring the crowns and heads of conquered kings to my city steps. You insult my queen. You threaten my people with slavery and death! Oh, I've chosen my words carefully, Persian. Perhaps you should have done the same!
Messenger: This is blasphemy! This is madness!
King Leonidas: Madness...? THIS... IS... SPARTA!

[Kicks the messenger down the well]

I must also add that the this is sparta video never fails to pick me up when I'm down. Helps me look at the shit in my life in a more humorous and constructive manner. Watch it whenever you're down. Trust me, it really helps!




Oh yea, added own pics to the paintball post so check that out if you want to.
Till then, THIS IS SPARTAAAAA!!!

O Holy Night

O holy night!
The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear saviour's birth.

The moon is bright, so high above the sky,
The stars are twinkling but your warmth is not close by.

I walk out that gate,
Staring at the moon,
I thought about our fate,
And prayed for your scent to return soon.

Sometimes Christmas just gets you down when some of the people you really care about cannot be around. It makes you think of all the happy couples, happy families out there having a great time with the people they love so much.

But then again, guess we should at the same time just cherish those close to us, for you never know if tomorrow will ever come.

Then again, its Christmas. Maybe miracles happen? Still praying that they do.

Hope things get better soon.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

A dream.

I had a dream, where someone i missed so much called me at 3plus am just to ask if i was awake and why i was online. I mumbled something about leaving my msn on and that i was sleeping. Told that voice that I was really tired and wanted to go back to sleep...

Morning came, and it turned out to be reality.

Somehow my nightmares the past few days don't seem as scary anymore.

Right off the phone

Finally got my pics I took during my last few days in Singapore off my phone! Oh well, I'll let the pictures do the talking today. :D

First up, some prom pics!

Room 201, minus the Nickmeister at prom.

Hamlet's Heroes - Your up and coming Sex Pistols!

The blithe, blithesome, convivial, gleeful, jocund, jolly, jovial, merry, and mirthful McNair guys!
*lets see if you can figure that one out!

Clinging on to Boon Keng for dear life!

"Have some nuts. They're good for ya!"

My table. Trying to get this all packed was a nightmare which my muse helped ease me out of. Love ya so much!

My muse's "Pi" Noodles!

Find me more "Pi" noodles next time we meet ya? I'll be waiting.

Why Love Hurts: Part 2

mishop, a friend of Min Huei left a comment earlier commenting that true love doesn't have to hurt.

Love doesn't hurt if you're truly in love with someone. If true love hurts, why even bother falling in love? If loving someone and being love means being hurt, then that is not love. God thought us to love because He knew that love would be the most wonderful feeling we can cherish for the rest of our life. The question here is, do you really know how true love feels like? I know a lot of peers at our age often consider their short term flings as 'love'.

Do not hold on to a love that is merely an illusion of your heart. If love is meant to be, it will find its way to you. And true love can never be painful.

-mishop

As usual, I beg to differ.

Before going into my case proper, lets look at a song which I feel lyrics really ring true to me each time I listen to it.

Love Hurts - Incubus
Tonight we drink to youth
And holding fast the truth
Don't want to lose what I had as a boy
My heart still has a beat
But love is now a feat
As common as a cold day in L.A.

Sometimes when I'm alone I wonder
Is there a spell that I am under
Keeping me from seeing the real thing

Love hurts
But sometimes it's a good hurt
And it feels like I'm alive
Love sings
When it transcends the bad things
Have a heart and try me
'cause without love I won't survive

I'm fettered and abused
Stand naked and accused
Should I surface, this one-man submarine?
I only want the truth!
So tonight we drink to youth!
I'll never lose what I had as a boy

Sometimes when I'm alone I wonder

Is there a spell that I am under
Keeping me from seeing the real thing?

Love hurts
But sometimes it's a good hurt
And it feels like I'm alive
Love sings
When it transcends the bad things
Have a heart and try me
'cause without love I won't survive

Without love I won't survive

Love hurts
But sometimes it's a good hurt
And it feels like I'm alive
Love sings
When it transcends the bad things
Have a heart and try me
'cause without love I won't survive

Love hurts, ohhh-oh ohh
Love hurts
Without love I won't survive
Love hurts la-la-la-la-la-la oh
Love hurts
Without love I won't survive

I never said that the hurt that love caused was negative, or just painful for pain's sake. But even though you are truly in love with someone, just how do you know that you truly love them until you find yourself pining for them and sacrificing for them? I believe that it is only when you are able to find it in you to overcome the hurt you feel with the love you feel for that special someone you love, can you truly claim to have loved a mature, meaningful love.

Love does find its way to you. Love found its way to me, but it hurts at times when circumstances don't always make things a bed of roses. Things like distance and little misunderstandings do make it hurt real bad at times.

"Love hurts
But sometimes it's a good hurt
And it feels like I'm alive
Love sings
When it transcends the bad things
Have a heart and try me
'cause without love I won't survive"

But when you're willing to go through all this heart wrenching pain for that someone you love - staying 100% faithful to them in their absence, trying every single way you know to make sure that they know that you're always thinking of them, being truthful to them even though the truth may hurt, you know that you're having a love that transcends all those bad things - true, enduring love, not the fleeting kind.

Dear, the little things you do mean the world to me. Don't ever stop.

Paintball and Tea

I always wanted to play paintball. Paintball is a sport in which participants eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with paintballs shot from a compressed-gas-powered "marker". Now the thing is that these paintballs are fired from these markers at speeds well up to speeds approaching 300 feet per second. Now, paintballs flying at such high speeds can easily cause serious bruising at close range and hurt even when you're hit by them at a distance. That, is what I believe puts the fun in paintball. With paintball, scoring a hit is so much more satisfying because you know that your opponent would definitely do his best to avoid a shot that would cause some serious smarting (as I write this, my hip still aches from two shots to my hipbone).

The Paintball Crew

So we finally decided to quit procrastinating and to play paintball on Friday, at the Extreme Park in Sunway Lagoon. We had 6 people in total - Yi Ting, Victor, Andrew, Keefe, my dad and I. We had to go to Extreme Park (which I do not recommend due to the high cost of purchasing additional paintballs - RM0.50 per pellet!) because that was the only place with a field size small enough for our little group. The other paintball arenas were large football fields which would have resulted in us running around quite a bit, since we only have 6 of us.

The arena at Extreme Park was however, smaller than expected. They had only one arena there and it was a sand-floored capture-the-flag arena the size of one and a half standard classrooms.

Dad (near the pillar) sniping!

Andrew grabbing the flag!

We played with the initial 20 pellets provided and realised that 20 wasn't enough. So we bought 40 more! Shooting each other was good fun, even though it really hurt. In the end, the team comprising of Yi Ting, Victor and I won with 3 out of 3 flag captures with Yi Ting, our resident Tai Kor scoring all of the 3 flag captures with some assistance from Victor and I. :D

Even gals play paintball! :P

Had to go over to my uncle's place in the evening for my cousin's pre-wedding gathering. There, Uncle Richard shared his great knowledge about tea with us during an enlightening tea drinking session which was amazingly elaborate. Tried many varieties of Chinese tea from Pu Er to varieties whose names I really cannot recall. We even had the chance to taste a 50 year old "Luk Bou" tea which was a type of Pu Er tea. That tea alone, cost RM12000 per kilogram. I got that figure right, that was tea worth twelve thousand Malaysian Ringgit per kilogram!

"Liu Bao" or "Luk Bou" tea which we drank

Teas, like wines, do age, and the flavour of that aged tea was definitely more mellow and smoother than the other younger teas we tasted.

Some fun facts about tea and it's preparation:

1. The flavour of a tea changes as it matures. Mature tea changes its flavour through four stages:

• The first stage is when the tea reaches an age of about 30 years. The tea takes upon the flavour of lotus leaves in this first stage.

• In the second stage, the flavour of the tea changes to resemble the flavour of lotus flowers. The aroma in this stage becomes more floral in nature

• In the third stage, the flavour of the tea changes again to resemble the flavour of dried red dates commonly used in Chinese cooking.

• In the fourth and final stage, the flavor evolves once again to resemble the flavour of ginseng. Here, the aroma becomes more herbal than floral.

2. The temperature of the water used to brew the tea matters. You only need water of about 80 degrees Celsius for green tea whereas you need to use boiling water for most other varieties of fermented tea.

3. As a general rule of thumb, older teas need to be brewed longer than younger teas. This is because the older teas have extremely low water content and are really shriveled up. This results in the older tea leaves requiring a longer brewing time for their flavour to really emerge.

4. The time in which the tea is left to brew in the teapot matters. A rule of thumb you can use is to pour some hot water over the teapot. The tea should be just right when the water is absorbed by the clay teapot and the teapot looks dry once again. As mentioned later, a slightly longer brewing time is required for older tea.

5. The teapot matters. True tea connoisseurs use a different teapot for each of the different varieties of tea, and never ever wash the teapot with soap. They only rinse the teapot with hot water. Washing the teapot with soap is sacrilege as the soap can impart a harsh, caustic, taste to the tea. So try hot water instead of soap next time you make tea ya?

6. Tea, like wine, is best aged under constant temperature and low humidity. The really prized teas are not only old, but properly kept under optimum conditions. An uncle of mine has bought a penthouse apartment just for proper storage of his prized teas! This is just how serious tea collectors can get!

Drinking tea is a great hobby as tea holds the key to a multitude of health benefits! It helps you relax, is full of antioxidants, and a whole host of vitamins and minerals! Drink some tea today!



Till then, cheers to tea!

(:

it doesn't feel so lonely because i know that somewhere out there,
you're missing me
and thinking of me too.
(:

Everything you're not

There was a boy, and there was this girl. They met each other and they were happy, but fate brought them apart for a little while. For just a little while they had to be apart.

The girl sought the fates. The fates told her that even though she thought her boy was great, someone would come along, and that someone would be everything her boy was not. Lets be realistic here, even though she loved her boy, he was incomplete - he was emotional, sensitive and he wasn't a rich prince to say the least. Supposedly, this complete Ace of Swords was to come by and be better for her in all so many ways.

The boy listened patiently and didn't know what to think. Sure, he's not perfect, but what can he do more than love his girl with all his heart than he does already? He does occasionally overreact and needs constant reassurance that his girl needs him as much as he needs her, but what can he do about it? How can he be more perfect than this perfect man?

He wonders what goes through his girl's mind - would she leave this imperfect soul once the perfect one comes along? When she brings the subject up, he thinks - am I but a stepping stone for her, and that I'm just one guy that she's with before she finds that perfect guy for her?

He reminisces about the day he made her his - he got the gift ready, painstakingly made with all the love in the world; and in his heart he was sure, one hundred percent sure, that he would have her rather than anyone else in this whole wide world. Anyone else.

He just doesn't understand when she tells him that this world is uncertain, and that someone better may come up in the future. Cause he's already decided. He knows that only one person can decide who he truly loves, and it definitely is not the fates. His mind is made up, and it just baffles him when she tells him that she's not.

He needs her to grab his hand and tell him not to go off when he's feeling down. She does.

A little christmas spirit!

Yi Ting was so kind to get us little Santa hats from his college's fun fair! Merry Christmas to everyone in advance!

Merry Christmas in advance from the Chan family!

Why Love Hurts: Part 1

Love has to hurt for you to truly know that it's love. What's the point of a fledgling romance if everything goes to plan, with everything falling neatly into place, not requiring any effort put in from the parties involved? What you get then would be to many a dream, a perfect dream to us all, but let us remember that we don't live a dream in this world. We're quite awake, and the world bites. It bites hard, so hard that we sometimes forget that it bites not just that we feel hurt, but to let us learn that some things are worth going for even though it may hurt at times. When you find something like that, that may hurt you like no other thing in existence, but you still find the will to hold on, you know you've found love.

True love.

Getting Things Straight

Things are pretty much in a mess right now. Quick recap:

Top Interesting things I want to do (Dec 07):
1. Somehow learn how to make big money
2. Learn Qigong 3. Go rock climbing
4. Actually stick to an exercise routine
5. Be the owner of a fantastic, frequently updated blog 6. Be the best son, (ok la and relative too) boyfriend and friend that I can be

Guess I'm still somehow procrastinating. Can't honestly say that I've got any of these things done. Going to bed these days all spent, without spending time to reflect and think about achieving my goals. I believe that daily reflection is important. Used to do so on a daily basis while I was still living in McNair, but it's really hard to find a quiet, cosy spot to do so these days with everybody over.

Procrastinating ain't good

But I shall not procrastinate. Must not delay doing things that I have to do. I shall now make a new to-do list.

Kevin's New To Do List 19-12-07:
1. Buy stuff - Get presents for relatives and friends
- Get new IDD card
2. Do research on paintball venues and invite people
3. Get started on project

Yup, that should be enough for now. Remind me ya if I forget to get these things done.

Also, please contact me if anyone is interested on paintballing on friday or saturday around the PJ area. Gotta get out of the house and score some paintball kills soon!

Call ya later baby.

In the Pearl of the Orient: Episode 2

Just back from my 3 day food trip! In the span of just three days, we've covered a lot of ground and visited a lot of really good makan places, ranging from famous Penang Char Kuay Teow to really good fried oyster from a makan place deep in the heart of Alor Star.

After our short pit stop at Bidor for the famous herbal duck noodles, we continued on our journey towards Penang. After checking in at the Evergreen Laurel Hotel which I commend for providing complimentary internet connection, we crawled towards Penang Road to have Char Kuay Teow. The traffic in Penang was phenomenally terri-bad! If you think KL is bad, Penang is so much more worse. It was just painful just to wait as the car only inched along the horribly congested streets of Penang. Penang is a really densly populated island, and even as its population has continued to escalate over the years, little has been done to improve the island's transportation system. Roads were narrow, with only one lane on most roads. The already narrow roads were made even more precarious with the haphazard parking habits of Penangnites. Little cars were also constantly swerving in and out of lanes and it was not uncommon to see a little Kancil swerve to the side of the road, creating its own extra lane.

When we finally made it through the painful traffic, we reached our destination which was a old coffeeshop on Penang Road. It was at your typical old-school Malaysian coffeeshop which like many other buildings of its age, was slightly run down. One thing about these "famous" hawker places in Penang is that due to such good business, many hawkers have become really rude cause they don't see the need to be nice to their customers anymore. Its really disheartening to see customer service at these places when the food is just so good. Makes you not want to go to these gems anymore. Anyway, the Char Kuay Teow here and the Cendol accompanying it was decent but sadly not really worth the jam and all they're better places in Penang for these anyway.

After finishing two plates of Kuay Teow and half a bowl of laksa, when we all thought we were done for lunch, my auntie brought us to another place for oyster noodles, oyster omelette and something unique to this place - Pig Tendon Ball Soup. The oyster omelette was

After resting for a few hours, my cousin took us to this seafood place near Penang Port for seafood. The seafood there was good and cheap, definitely real value for our ringgit. Sadly the Penang Port area smelt really bad due to the bad maintenance of the port area. Refuse and pollution caused the water to release a really bad smelling smell which was definitely a turn off. The ironic thing is that this area is the new up and coming 'trendy' area where youths come to drink and hang out. The thing is when you compare this port side area to another port side night spot that I'm familiar with - Clarke Quay in Singapore, this place definitely pales in comparison. The sad thing about this place is not that it hasn't been developed enough or that it isn't happening enough - that's true for any developing chill-out area, but that it's just so blatantly clear that the government doesn't care about this area's potential for development when you walk by and smell the terrible smells wafting in from the sea.

The next morning we woke up to beautiful Apom and Chee Cheong Fun delivered by my auntie direct to our hotel. The Apom was wonderful - light, fluffy and just right. The Chee Cheong Fun was great too, it looked simple, but was amazingly addictive. After our light "pre-breakfast", we my cousin took us to the "Jie Mei" Char Kuay Teow place at Macalister Road. This place is a well known place and boasts a really long history as my auntie has been visiting this place for its Char Kuay Teow years already. The thing is that this place's popularity has made the waitresses here really arrogant and the one serving us boastfully told us that we would have to wait at least half an hour before we got our food and we better make sure we properly placed all our orders. There was also some confusion between the morning shift Kuay Teow lady and the one manning the afternoon shift. The thing is that in this place, there are two cooks per day who produce slightly different tasting Kuay Teow. The thing is that we placed an order with the morning shift lady then the afternoon shift lady came over saying that if we don't let her write our order down, the morning lady would forget the order. So we ended up kind of double ordering, but luckily the two sisters figured it out and worked out our orders. So, if anyone reading this goes to this place, please be wary that there are two shifts and be sure to place your order with the right lady.

Pictures will come later when I upload them and take them from Ben Ku. Thats about all I have to report on the Pearl of the Orient. After the "Jie Mei" Kuay Teow, we then made our way up towards Alor Star where we wanted to have the delicious satay there, but thats for another post.

Just getting off the computer to call you back again my dear...

In the Pearl of the Orient: Episode 1

Currently writing this from the hotel room in Penang. Currently staying at the Evergreen Laurel Hotel (Penang). I'm quite amazed that this hotel offers free complimentary brodband. Its still quite rare to find hotels that offer broadband free these days.

This trip to Penang has been a real food trail. First stop was at Bidor where dad brought us to this shop which sold famous chicken biscuits. Weirdly enough, that shop was more famous not for its biscuits, but for its herbal duck noodles which were great and had a wonderful, light herbal flavour which was thankfully not too overpowering. The noodles had an unique flavour which was due to the creative ingredients of its broth such as dried lychees and duck. The prawn "wanton" there was also a winner due to its use of fresh tiger prawns which gave the dish a really crunchy side to it which was awesome. Gotta go off to dinner now for more seafood. Will post more on my food trip soon. Photos will soon ensue too.

Needless to say, I was missing you so badly, with my phone obediently in my pocket throughout the journey.

The Holidays

Will be going off to Penang early tomorrow morning. Holidays have been weird so far. Its like I'm supposedly free, but at the same time I still have commitments and I still wake up feeling tired, I don't have enough space to get my routines in check, enough energy to focus on achieving my goals. That's still no excuse though. Got to get myself in check soon. Should probably read one of my wisdom literature books soon to get me all perked up. That should do the trick.

Tried calling you but it seems that you're not back yet. Mom wants me to sleep. Hope that I can catch you tonight.

The Post McNair Report

Its a weird feeling - to leave a place that you've called home for the most of the year for the past two years. For good.

That was what most of us JC2 scholars from McNair lodge felt when we bade farewell to the hostel for the last time on the 7th of Dec, 2007.

McNair Lodge

For most of us, our relationship with our hostel was mostly a bittersweet one. For one, I really hated the place when I first stepped foot into it. The rooms were so horribly small, and to add insult to injury, they had the gall to cram up to 5 scholars to a single room! Besides the problem with the small rooms, the hostel had a tiny puddle for a swimming pool, as well as the assortment of random wildlife and pests that we have come to accept over the past two years.

Things seemed really bad at first. I had a friend who suffered an asthma attack in the MRT, a friend who got hit by car while jaywalking nearby, a friend who broke his neck while diving into our puddle of a pool and so many other creepy incidents in the first few months we were there. It was really creepy, and people were like always on their toes, wary that yet another accident would befall us.

Abhishek - The dude who got hit by a car and lived

Thankfully we had each other. McNair lodge was composed of scholars of various nationalities, the Malaysians (we are the largest group there), the Indians, the PRCs, the Thais, the Indonesians, the Vietnamese, Cambodians, and even people from the Philippines.

We were a diverse, motley crew, but as we faced challenges and some even traumatic events together, we began to grow closer to each other. We even made so much noise once we began to grow closer the police came over to tell us that we were making too much noise, not once, but twice!

Things started to get better with the hostel once we got used to our small rooms. I had really cool roommates who were all really different and unique individuals.

Room 201 - 2007
From left to right, top to bottom:
Nikhil, Mun Hon, Nayan, Seng Yen, Kevin

Nikhil was our resident Bollywood star who has yellow fever, Mun Hon was our resident 79 pointer, Nayan as our resident professor, Seng Yen as our resident internet minigame gamer, and me the really crazy one. Yup, thats me alright.

Things just got crazier as we got to know each other better. When the inhibitions started falling away, we were more at ease just being ourselves.

Nayan and Mun Hon treading the monastic path



Fun with a little shaving cream

The hostel was more than just one room. Crazy people were all over McNair Lodge. These crazy people really made our stay in McNair truly a more enriching experience.

Chia Wei and Junyi

And of course I would have to mention Roger, McNair Lodge's resident PUA, who came into my room in the wee hours of the morning every other night to discuss issues of great importance to the male sex, if you know what I mean.

Roger with our resident turtle

We sure had good times in McNair, and even though at times things were bad, the good memories made it all worthwhile.

Hostel outing at East Coast Park




Saints, UP and ON!

Guys from McNair Lodge, I'll definitely remember you all for all that we've done together. All the late night chats and gaming, the birthday celebrations, the communal cooking, having dinner together, playing all sorts of games together, sneaking out of the hostel together, breaking curfew together and even staying out all night illegally together. Thank you all for making these 2 years bearable in this tiny hostel. In the end, its the people you meet and the friends you make that made my JC experience in Singapore meaningful.

Speaking of meaningful, I really think it's important to cherish the people that mean so much to us, every moment we can.

Waiting for you to come back to me again baby. I'll patiently wait for that day to come soon.

The Economics of Fitness

I nearly joined a fitness club today.


Walked past Celebrity Fitness with Roger at 1 Utama and realised that they offer Yoga and Qigong classes (which I mentioned earlier I was interested in learning). Ended up approaching the sales rep and was shown around the premises of the fitness club. Must admit that the club looked pretty impressive; it had two studios for the various fitness classes they offer, a room dedicated to this whole new craze where people listen to upbeat music and cycle at the same time, as well as a whole lot of standard exercise equipment that you can find anywhere else.

The price offered was good, but parents did not seem too willing to part with their cash for me to undergo such fitness courses on such a short term. I guess they do have a point - Yoga and Qigong aren't disciplines that begin to show results overnight - you really got to work on those exercises for months before you begin seeing any results and going for such a course for such a short time would be a waste of money, but I still want to learn to do so else where. So if anyone reading this knows of somewhere that I can learn such disciplines on a short term basis somewhere in PJ, let me know ya?

Guess money does play an important role in many, many parts of our lives. Really need to learn how to get good at making money soon as an abundance of money does help improve many things in one's life. Having enough money and being financially secure does provide us more time to spend life the way it should be spent - with the ones that matter most to you - not spending it chasing the odd dollar or two.

That's why another thing on my agenda other than getting fitter and healthier is to learn on how to become financially secure. It's not job security I'm after, but the ability to have enough income coming in through passive sources even when we are in difficult economic times.



Working on this book right now, please suggest other good books on the topic please if you know of them. More income flowing into my pocket can really do me good.

Top 5 things I would do right now with a larger income:
1. fly over to HK to be with my muse
2. get started with my Yoga and Qigong lessons
3. get a computer upgrade (this one can't even run Hellgate smoothly!)
4. buy everyone I love wonderful Christmas presents
5. get a wonderfully sparkly ring



On a different note, wish you were right here with me now, beside me.

Got a real tulan look on my face right now, hope that I can see you soon.

The First Post

I've always wanted a real blog of my own. When I say a real blog, I mean a really high quality, frequently updated one. One that is both well written and personal at the same time, letting me keep track of my own life as well as to let those close to me know me on a deeper level.




I tried, but it ended up looking something like this.

Ended up writing about esoteric bullshit for a reason long forgotten. Due to the stresses of life and school, that blog was discontinued after only two posts.

Now since my A-levels are all over and done with, its high time to start with my master project - making my life more exciting. I believe that it's really up to us to seize the day and make the most out of our life. Who reminisces about the hours and hours you spend leveling in World of Warcraft on their deathbeds, seriously? I once read that a life should not be measured by the number of breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away.

Lets not get any misconceptions here, my life is not boring in any way at all (discounting my recent staying at home playing Hellgate: London all day). It's rather interesting.



Helped Roger with his homemade sheesha.


Having fun with friends and sleeping just outside the Esplanade in Singapore in the wee hours of the morning.



Getting frightened by the odd Ju-On Panda wannabe.

But our lives can be so much more. There's so much to see, learn and do in this big, big world, and I want to do it all. Blogging's just one of those things, but its a pretty good way to remember all the interesting things I run into in life.

Top Interesting things I want to do (Dec 07):
1. Somehow learn how to make big money
2. Learn Qigong
3. Go rock climbing
4. Actually stick to an exercise routine
5. Be the owner of a fantastic, frequently updated blog
6. Be the best son, boyfriend and friend that I can be

So, if you bump into me and I've yet to get these things done, remind me will ya?



Cheers!