food for thought...

"just because your work stressed you, your boss stressed you, your customers stressed you, doesn't mean you can stress the people around you...
and just because your work environment push and give you pressure, doesn't mean you can give pressure on people around you...
i'm sure you've made the right decision to quit, it's not worth staying..."

thanks a lot for the words of wisdom Will.... appreciate it....

my friends, this is where i made the decision...

after meeting with my customer yesterday, i walked along henderson waves, and made the decision to resign. i wanted to find back and regain my true-self, and so i made this decision to exit.

this afternoon when i told my boss that i'd made up my mind and decided to leave the company, i felt the sudden relief and load off my back.

For the past couple of months, the lost of passion and motivation in my job, and the working environment made me feel extremely stressful. so stressful that it got the better of me and had affected my life negatively.

i became over-reacting and possessive about the things and people around me. nearly everyday, i would suddenly wake up in the middle of the night. i've totally lost my energy, positiveness and confidence that i had in the past. i wasn't myself anymore and changed into another person whom i couldn't recognise either.

dear friends, pardon me for my erratic behaviour. and to those who had been showing me concern, support and understanding, i'm very grateful that you took time off to chat with me...

now that i've quit my job, i'm going to find back the old cheerful and positive steven. for a moment, i felt so happy and peaceful. a feeling long lost within me...

xtrail 2009...

woke up 6am just for this event...

and when we arrive at the scene, we realised that

we're one of the oldest participants...geeezzz...

it wasn't really relaxing actually, in fact, it was super shag.

having to run, then walk with our legs tied together and

running up the pagoda.... nevertheless, it was quite a great experience

to do things and have fun together with my frenz...

alright, still fresh and energetic before the race

look at the tiresome and shag look on our face...

our first date....

it was my FIRST date with weiqi, and

our FIRST digital 3-D movie...

and surprisingly, both of us have not watched

Lord of the Rings before!!!

sooo many things in common....

was on my way back today after work and saw this car
beside me along west coast highway...

the banner read: we love you 4ever michael...
at the same time, the driver was blasting michael's Billie Jeans...



i can understand how deep the impact was on many people when
michael jackson left the world. just like if someone you loved and
cared for suddenly disappear from your life,
the feeling of lost and emptiness is immense...

treasure the people and loved ones around you, be your family
members, your friends, your colleagues and other acquaintance...

各位观众, 献丑了...

wasn't in good form that day, got a bad sore throat

and cough that day... thanks to yaevoon, the videographer...

fruitful sunday...

had a very fruitful and fulfilling today...
finally went for a haircut, it was too long!!!
after which, i met up with eugene and karen for eugene's
virgin photoshoot outing with his new babe; Canon 50D.

thereafter, went to attend Kent Ridge Harmonica Ensemble @ The Esplanade...

Great KTV meetup

it's really great to have a ktv gathering with the HB (yes, HB) folks...
it's been a long long time since we last sang together, should make it a
more regular affair in future...

Da Vinci the genius...

after much procrastinations and delays, i finally made it to the exhibition at the science centre. many of my friends said that it wasn't really worth a watch, but i beg to differ. though a little bit pricey @ $15, but it's definitely an eye-opener to realise how ingenious and diversify this man is, especially the section on revealing the 25 secrets behind Mona Lisa.

He's a scientist, a musician, an artist, an inventor, a naturalist, a philosopher.... a true genius; whatever you want to coin it...

go catch before it ends on 16th August...

one of my fav concert pieces....

i could feel my whole body fired up when we were playing this piece...
the passion and soul put into this piece, amazing!
taken in march 2008 as well...

raindrops keep falling on my head...

this video footage was taken in March 2008 and still lovin' it...
though a simple piece but we really enjoyed playing it

who is she?

was browsing through my photos and found this one...
she's one of the korean friends who toured with us on the same boat in halong...
they're really a very crazy and fun-loving bunch. love to pose and
super active. thai ha, lai yoke, jake, hanshe and koh, please vouch for me!!!

Obama swats fly...

back to changi village...

today, we had our team dinner at Ban Heng seafood restaurant at changi golf club.

and enroute to the golf club, i realised i was back in changi village again! just 3 days ago, i was exploring this place with a friend, and that was only the 2nd time i was there.
this is the part of singapore where i wouldn't have dropped by if not for any particular reason, and to think i was there twice over a span of 4 days.

how nolstalgic when i drove pass the familiar places...

matilda house...

i didn't know the existence of this haunted house in punggol until my friend brought me there.
of course there wasn't any sightings as we were there in broad day light, and apparently
there're trying to conserve the building as we could see workers painting the fence
surrounding the house.

for more information on the history of this building:
http://www.spi.com.sg/spi_files/punggol_kampong_house/main.htm

guitar class finally....

after much procrastination, i finally am going to start my guitar lesson, YEAH!!!
have really procrastinated for years, and it's always been on my
wish list; not after a torturous 1 month lesson at yamaha and 1 day at jurong cc...
will be taking it at Music Forest.
i'm really going to be serious this time round...

sarah's first month...

sarah's first month celebration was soooo grand.
it was like any couple's wedding, held at raffles town club.



aren't you lucky, sarah. i never had such a big cake before!

here's the star of the day... (drum roll.......)

Sarah Tan!!!

daddy giving his heart-felt gratitude...



uncle and auntie singing: happy one month to you....

time for sarah's home-made afternoon high tea... :P



and finally, the happy family. WELCOME Sarah!!!

chinese fast food

chinese really eats anything that swims, walks, glides and flies etc....

the forgotten uncle...

anyone still remembers this uncle?



he made tv appearances several years back when he used to busk
at raffles mrt station nearly everyday, playing the harmonica
with one hand, juggling tennis balls on the other, and making
percussive beats with his wooden clogs...

i was pleasantly surprised when i saw him busking at chinatown point today.
no one knows who he is, where he is from and where he stays...

looooong time no see...

it's been a long time, a long long time since i last updated my blog.
yah, many of my friends have been asking me why.
am i really that busy? is life really that boring? i don't know either.
perhaps there's really nothing particularly exciting or interesting
happening in my life recently worth blogging or mentioning.

congrats to:
1) Jackson and Louise
2) Kaifong and Yingxue

for stepping into parenthood. long journey ahead...

fruitful weekend...

had a very wonderful anf fruitful long weekend. i guessed it's one of the best spent weekend i had since the beginning of the year...

friday: caught a movie; "knowing", with lai yoke, chee meng and xiaowen. it wasn't really that great i think. the genre transformed from suspense/thriller in the beginning to science fiction at the end!?!? anyway, we went to koh's place for potluck dinner after that. it was nice catching up with all the fun ppl from the lab.

saturday: after more than half a year's break, the dragon boat practice had commenced finally. if not for the competition coming up on the 26th, i'm sure it'd have to be drag on and on... but it's rather sad that i'll not be allowed to participate. nvm.... after which, i went for a ktv session with ruoxin and mr chu. we were joined by 2 other new friends; kimberly and peiying. gosh, the 2 girls can reeeeally sing. made me wanted to go for professional vocal classes. mr chu found his vocal range and style and ruoxin finally found her path: jeff chang!

sunday: attended yiqiang's wedding. i guessed it's more like a primary school class gathering. although i didn't attend the same secondary or primary school as yiqiang, but we had a handful of common friends. i was like hey there, oh hi, long time no see, throughout the whole wedding. so glad to see so many old friends all at the same time...

hopefully it'll be a smooth and lucky week ahead...

yesterday and today...

spent a very fruitful and fulfilling saturday.

went to the Asian Civilisation Museum and visited the Kangxi special exhibition. it was really an eye-opener and made me got to know Qing Dynasty even better.

after which i hit the gym. it's been ages since i sweat it out and it felt really damn great!

later on, i watched a film: Shinjuku Incident. it was Jackie Chan's first non-Kungfu movie. well, not that bad, story's alright, just a little bit boring at the beginning.

finally, I went over to st james and joined in hendrik's farewell party till late.

on the other hand, today's a boring day totally. spent the whole day at home doing my project and assignment. i wanted to go for a swim, but it bloody rained! arggghh....

finally down....

i finally collasped... well, it's not really that bad actually. my gastric problem's acting up again after soooooo long. that's the result of skipping and having very late meals. lunch at 3pm and dinner as late as 9pm, sigh... well, i was so happy and excited when i finally closed 3 deals on the last day of the financial year, phew...close shave. gonna get charged up for the new and exciting year to come!

extremely high stress level....

fuji xerox's really a pressure cooker, and i'm now at my limit....
imagine you're being stressed by your manager, then the head of
the department wants to speak to you, after which another
email from the general manager that singled you out... my goodness,
i wonder how long i can take it!!!

japanese railway station

this is crazy!!! the passengers were packed like cans
of sardine....literally!!!

OCBC Cycle Singapore 2009

OCBC cycle singapore is singapore's first mass participation
cycling event on on public roads cater for every cyclist. It seeks
to inspire all generations of men and women to experience cycling
as a form or recreation and fitness. This event is also committed to
promote safe cycling in Singapore and hopes to continue to developing
Singapore as a growing sporting nation.

many thanks to brandon for his mountain bike and huiling's brother for the helmet!

my 27th...

yep, i'm officially 27 today. i'm sure those who don't know me will not

believe that i'm already 27, so i might as well say i've juz hit 22 this year... :P

thanks to clement for getting me this lamy fountain pen.

i still remember the last time i used a fountain pen

was when i was in primary 5!

thanks bro!

thanks to my grad dip classmates for the birthday song.

trust me, i was really very embarrassed...

oh yah, i finally got first speedlight, nikon sb600 at $150!

got it from my lecturer, Erik.

i was soooo excited....

last but not least, many thanks to haoxin, yaevoon, sherine and jonathan

for throwing me a mini celebration at their house after my class.

really very touched, coz i don't celebrate my birthday...

thanks a lot to all the well wishers, appreciate it very much!

here's a list....

- sherine

- christina lim

- benjamin ng

- dr ct yeo

- haoxin

- clement

- sherry

- thai ha

- luke siew

- songhui

- waiyee

- mr chu wee yong

- juven

- carol leung

- woof

- ruoxin

- razia

- my family (dad, mum, yong n wee)

- wei loon

- zikai

- kian hong

- vern howe

- brandon

- RJ

- wesley

- huiling

- xiaoyu

- abigail

- huifang

- kaifong

- amutha

- raymond lee

- tim

- jonathan

- yae voon

- yinghao

- fiona

- alice, wanxin

- grace tan

- janie lim

-shiyun

- rachel ang

- rachael ang

- han quan

- wee sian

- caiyi

- peter chew

- jinkun

- daviet

- zuoying

- chouchou

- tania

- ha yin

- hoa

- chaoliang

- chiet yen

- tung ngie

- martin chua

- meibao

- kai chung

- louise

- zhiqing

wishing for better luck and prosperous year ahead!!!

chinese new year in cameron highlands

spent the lunar new year with my family and relative in cameron highlands.
come to think of it, it was ages since i last went there and nothing's changed much.



we had steamboat dinner on the first day of the new year...



played BIG 2 on the eve...

vegetable farm...

pasar pagi...

mmm....this looks like...

be creative guys... :P

hey, that's my corn!!!

look at the tomatoes!!!

the colourful cauliflowers!! they're natural, not dyed...

hotspring in perak...

so HOT , eggs get cooked here too...

not your eggs k... :P

day out in the north...

a very tiring day but a relaxing and enjoyable one. hasn't been to the zoo for years and was super excited about it. thanks to jonathan for the free tickets,
managed to save 18 bucks on the entrance fee.



we watched the animal shows; splash safari...



elephants @ work & play...



and finally rainforest fights back....



we took photos with the casts of the show,
and with the slimy snake in my hands.... ewwww!!!!



the cute animals....

we had lots of fun!!!

mr joey, can you please show us the way?

nooooo!!!!!

our mini picnic lunch along upper seletar reservoir...

after the zoo, we went to sembawang hot spring to explore...

it used to be a natural spring here, but they've decided

to cover it up and tapped the underground water instead...

the water was hoooooot....

jonathan wasn't acting, it's reeeeeally very hot!

we went to bottle tree village for dinner...

and had a relaxing fish spa there...

oh well, didn't seemed that relaxing for sherine and jonathan.

hey, get a hold of yourself k....

zoo zoo zoo...

we're going to the zoo zoo zoo

how about you you you

you can come too too too

we're going to the zoo zoo zoo

happy 2009!!!

let us recap on my 2008 resolution:

1) lower my cholesterol level
- not sure wat's my current level
2) build and tone up my body
- has been hitting the gym, but probably
not serious enough. seeing results, but slow...
3) start my marketing grad. dip. course
- coming to my last semester of the course.
really have learnt a lot on marketing theory applications
4) learn guitar
- i did sign up for a course at the cc, but quit just after one day.
the pace was soooo slow and boring. so till now, my guitar's lying
in my room like a white elephant
5) get our 2nd soiree award
- sigh..sad. no award i guess...
6) continue travelling
- went to northern part of malaysia, vietnam again, trekking at mt kota kinabalu
hope to go to more exotic places this year

So what's my 2009 new year resolution?
1) learn the guitar and be able to strum and sing one simple piece
2) earn my first monthly 5-figure income
3) mmm... can't think of anything more
4) find that someone special... ;-)

past one week...

so what happened for the past one week?
really happening!!!

23rd Dec: fuji xerox business operations xmas celebrations
it was crazy!!! free flow of beer, wine, food and drinks...
the performances were exciting and we got the best dressed
award and 3rd prize for dressing up as tribal people, and myself
the tribal chief!!! hehe...

24th Dec: xmas party gathering at chee chong and guizhu's new home
our annual xmas gathering, without fail.
nothing beats spending quality time with a bunch of great
friends from the band....

25th Dec: xmas day and studying
studied for the bloody exams the next day.
was in a cold and empty nus prince george's park...
who would be in school on a great xmas day

26th Dec: exams and catch up day
had exams in the afternoon, and met up
jeff and chaoliang for dinner. really nice to have caught
with up my good old friends....
then supper and 'sight-seeing' with luhui from KL.
got to know her during a science and technology camp
9 years ago. nice catching up...

27th Dec: catch up and practise for performance
met up with fiona who came to singapore for xmas
with her hubby, son and mother, auntie nelly.
it was so many years since i met fiona at suntec for dinner
with auntie nelly and nivien. her son, ayden's soooo cute!!!
in the evening, went to clement's house to practise
for the performance at abigail's wedding. the practise went
on pretty smooth, and at the end of it, we thought of a mini
suprise to end our piece.... kwel...

28th Dec: study and wedding
studied in the day for next day's paper.
the night finally came and time for our performance.
we thought it was great! though i was very nervous, but i
really enjoyed the performance very much! great teamwork, clement!
hope derrick and abigail enjoyed our little dedication, and wishing
you an everlasting blissful marriage!

29th Dec: exams and RITA GITA catch up
our 2nd and last paper finally!!! phew, it was daunting enough to
study for exams in the holiday season...
in the evening, met up ex AZ RITA & GITA colleagues for dinner
at the Korean BBQ restaurant at ECP.
after which, some of us went to st james to chill out. great fun.
really very nice to have caught up with the team, miss you guys...

30th Dec: back to work and dinner at jeanette's
finally back to work. office's rather quiet, and seems like everyone's
still in holiday mood...
went to jeanette's house for dinner. saw so many ex-az colleagues,
and was so happy to see them all. laksa, kueh paiti, lotus roots soup,
fried dumplings, gingko nuts dessert and the list goes on...
am so glad that i'm still able to take part in the az family activities...

so what's in store for me tml? rest?

moody xmas

my festive mood's all dampened by the bloody exams tomorrow.
Marketing Institute of Singapore's I***T!!!!
fancy placing our exams on boxing day and making everyone
losing all mood to celebrate our precious xmas day.
and the worse thing was.....
at 8.30pm just now, i realised i actually studied for the WRONG MODULE
when clement told me on msn.
i was in totally shock...
i dun want to elaborate further.... what could be worse?!?!?

you would want to consider hiring him

if i'm the boss, i'll hire him right away!!!

I completed the run!!!

really never expect that I'll finish the run- with a breeze...
it wasn't as dreadful as i thought. i didn't grasp for breath,
felt like dying or drop to the floor when i reached the finishing line.
it was much better than i imagined.

am VERY glad to catch up with the az folks as well...

standard chartered marathon 2008

mixed feelings about this coming sunday's marathon- excited and nervous.
excited: it's my looooongest run in my life, though it's only 10km.
but i've really never ran such long distance in my life before, and i hate running!!!
nervous: am i going to complete it? am i going to survive it?

give me strength!!!

E66 or E71?

arggghhh.... really dunno which one to get.

E66: slick, nice, stylish BUT
look just like any other nokia phones...

E71: very trendy, nice built, super functional BUT
have to get used to the QWERTY key pad...

*headache*

PBS outdoor photo shooting

some of the photos taken for the Peanut Butter Sistas.
first attempt at model shooting, great experience!

feeling stressed..

today's my 9th day at FXS. i really don't know if i can adapt well to the culture or not. so much uncertainties, so many things await ahead of me. i really don't know. even though i've not yet been out to the fields and only training now, i'm already feeling the immense stress i'll be feeling in time to come. please help me get through all these...

latest update

today's my 2nd week in Fuji Xerox. everything's still alright, met a bunch of good colleagues and seniors, well, not as bad as i was anticipating or everyone's talking about. thankfully, i also have an encouraging and patient boss, at least for now. but i have a strong feeling that i'll be able to work along well with him, hopefully as good as with andree. everything in FXS's new and I've to learn everything from scratch. the sales process is much more complicated than what i experienced in astrazeneca. will keep you guys updated.
*ps: sook fun, i'm sorry that i've totally forgotten about your wedding, thousand apologies.