My personal blog on my outlook towards life and the technology world

Pinnacle@duxton the latest HDB estate in town standing tall at 50 Storey high, Featuring 2 unique Sky bridges at level 26 and also level 50. Please also note that level 26 is only accessible to the resident and level 50 is open to the public, 200 public visitors per day are allowed onto the Sky Bridge. Offering a panoramic view of the city skyline, It surely is a must visit place if you want to have a good view of Singapore.

I went at around 8 plus in the evening. I believe the view will definitely be much better during the day, or during sunset but the night view is just as good. Looking at our busy port and our business district from this height do bring me new thoughts and new aspiration. 

It’s a waste that my friend was in a rush and we stayed less than 30 minutes at the sky bridge. I did not bring my camera along and only took a couple of pictures with my nokia E71, The pictures was not well taken. But I will still post a couple of it so that you guys will have a better picture of how it feels like. 

A View of the Business District

Another View of the City 

Another View of the City 

A View of our Busy Port  

Getting there is very easy. Alight along Cantonment road, Right at the last block along the main road, just after the bus stop. You will then be at Blk 1G, outside the block, you will see a ticket kiosk showing you how many tickets are still available for the day and for now, there is a security officer stationed at the kiosk to guide you on how to buy the ticket. Just present your EZ-Link card onto the scanner and click on the purchase button to purchase the ticket. A receipt will be generated and hold on to you EZ-Link  card, Also do note that each EZ-Link card is valid for one person only. You cannot use your EZ-Link card for multiple ticket purchase.

After getting your receipt, Proceed to the lift and you will be on your way up to Level 50. Once you reach level 50, Present your EZ-Link card at the gantry for access to the Sky Bridge. That will be it, Enjoy your View. You will also need your Ez-Link Card at the gantry when leaving the Sky Bridge.

Just yesterday, 2nd January 2010. I got a major setback. I lost. I have a lot of confident in that task, as it seems like it was almost mine. But then I lost it. I suffered a terrible defeat. I felt that I should have won, but at then end I lost.

But then life is full of up and down, therefore a defeat will only make you stronger when the face the next battle. I’m a fighter. I must face it alone and also summon all my means to win it. This is only the first defeat, I must be back on my feet fast and be ready to fight the next battle with all my will power.

As the title states, Bad Start to a Great Year. This will be a great year for me. I have a lot of goals to reach this year. It will definitely be hectic, But then I feel that if I accomplish all my goals within this year, I will definitely find it worthwhile for the effort and hardships that I have to go through this year. No pain No Gain.

This is a short post, and I hope that you read it with a clear frame of mind. There is this Chinese Saying that “nothing is impossible in this world with a willing heart”. As long as you are determined and focus on achieving your goals, You will be there someday. Don’t lose focus along the way. I am also reminding myself to focus on my goals and don’t lose heart when the going gets tough. When the going gets tough don’t give up. It will only makes you tougher.

God Bless you all and your family, Be Happy and stay healthy as we look forward to this Great Year 2010. 

We are now into the first day for the new year 2010. This is such a great feeling, For me every start of the year will be to focus on achieving a couple of things for the new year. It is very important to have a focus in mind and to move towards your goals. If you have yet to set down your resolution, then please do it now, grab a piece of paper write down your goals for the new year. But wait, don’t just write down your goals, call your best friend and tell them about it. 

When you are committed and tell your friends about your goals, you will be more committed to fulfill it because you have an obligation since you already told someone your goals and it will then set into your mind that you need to work towards your goals. I have just done that. I already told my best friend my goals and they wish me all the best.

Setting resolutions for the new year is what most people do during the start of the new year. But most people just write it down think about it and then forget it when the months goes, because they put in unrealistic goals for themselves. Setting goals is good, but do set realistic goals because if your goal is too unrealistic then you won’t even be determined to fulfill it. Set minor milestone towards your goals and reward yourself when you reach a milestone be it late or early, because when you make a step forwards towards your goals, you are already halfway to success.

I wish you all the best in the new year 2010. God Bless you and your family. 

Christmas Day for the past few years for us was hosting a gathering for our friends and business partners at our office premises for some food and wine and catch up with those whom we hardly meet for the past year. But this year we have it in a different way. We had a small simple gathering at our office with only some very close friends.

Good food and Good Wine was on the menu. We had Wagyu Beef, Lamb, Prawns and lots of other food on the menu to reward ourselves for the year of hard work. I woke up early in the morning to go to the Wet market to purchase Vegetables, Pork, Prawn and Chicken before heading down to Cold Storage at Great World City for the Lamb, Sausages, Beef Steak and Beef Rib Eye and the last stop which is also a must stop at Liang Court Meidi-Ya Supermarket for the Wagyu Beef, We bought about 4.3 KG of Wagyu Beef which cost us around S$ 460.00. It’s really a must try for beef lover if you really like beef. Our BBQ has never gone without this beef.

We had a great time together catching up with friends and enjoying good food with good wine. I had also not forgotten to snap a couple of pictures and also some pictures of our Barbecook BBQ Pit which we bought in April. This is one of the better investment which we had made on BBQ Pit, In the past we often buy BBQ for less than S$ 100.00 but this BBQ Pit cost us close to S$ 500.00. It is expensive but I can tell you that this is really money well spent from starting the fire to washing. It save us a lot of time and energy which is very important especially after the BBQ session, you are tired and do not wish to spend too much time and effort in washing the pit.

Starting this BBQ Pit only require 3 pcs of newspaper and some charcoal

Straight after you burnt the newspaper, lots of smoke will appear, which is normal.

Another picture showing the amount of smoke from the BBQ Pit

15 Minutes Later, The Fire starts and within another 20mins you are ready to start.

You can see how fierce the fire is. That’s why I said this is money well invested.

A picture of our “Meat” Pit

A close up of the pit with the meat.

This Pork Belly is also one of the highlight of the night. and just below it you can see the Lamb, which was cook to perfection.

You can see the star of the night. The wagyu Beef is on the top of the Pit. if you see closely you should be able to see the marble beef which is so nice and so tempting.

A close up of the Wagyu Beef, before it goes inside our stomach. 

Another picture of the beef.

As you can see the fire on the pit is so strong due to it built that we have to constantly spray water on the charcoal to cool it down.

 Last but not least, the lamb and pork sausages from Cold Storage.

After taking these pictures, My stomach control my mind and I could no longer take any more pictures, All the concentration was on the food. I hope to have another gathering with another group of friends soon. They have been asking me on the dates for the BBQ, which I have yet to confirm with them. Maybe I will do another one come this January or February.

One more day and we are into 2010. Time really passes fast and as often said “time and tide waits for no man” this is very true especially when you are entering into your Mid 30s with no big achievements. This is a New year for us and also a very important year for me, this must be the year that I either break or achieve something.  My studies for my degree should carry ahead without fail. My business must survive through the hard times ahead.

I wish you all and your family Happy New Year and God Bless you and your family with Happiness and Good Health. May we all be strong and strive hard towards our Goals that we had set for ourselves.

It’s a last minute planned event, But it turned out well and fine and most important I think my bread girl enjoyed herself. She initially did not want to come out stating that she is tired which is a fact, she had worked for a full month without any rest day. Poor girl.

I told her that this Christmas’s Eve outing was specially planned for her and she agreed at the last minute to join us.

After picking her up from her work place, we headed down to Orchard Road to join the crowd and also take some pictures. Seeing her jumping up and down and snapping pictures on her camera, laughing and smiling really warms my heart. I felt happy when she is happy. As I promised her to bring her back before 3.30am in the morning. We just took a walk down from Orchard Road and snapped as many pictures as we can during the brief stay at Orchard Road.

We headed back to Hougang for supper before sending them back home. The food and Tim Sum was good, As time was not on our side, we had to finish the food fast and then send them back home to sleep as they have to work the next day.

As I was walking her back, I pass her the Christmas Gift, She was happy and immediately asked me what is it inside, shaking the gift box happily. I asked her to go back and then check out her present and also to sleep early. It was an unplanned night out, but luckily it turned out great and I did not disappoint her. 

This is a busy Month, We can see that business is picking up, businesses are buying more and we can also sense that people are willing to spend a bit more on products and services. But the Debt are also pilling, Businesses are delaying their payments and this is definitely not a good sign, I really hope that it will not be the same come next year.

If most businesses are not paying in time by march next year, then some businesses along the chain will be affected and because of cash flow issues, it might force some business to close down also. I really hope that it won’t happen.

This has been a very busy month for myself also. Work stuff, Personal stuff and family stuff. Oh gosh, I’m really looking forward to my family dinner with my whole family on the 24th. An annual affair for us. There are only 2 such gathering every year and I treasure it. One is on the 24th of December, the other is Chinese New Year Eve.

On the 25th, We are having our company BBQ over at our office, this year, we changed it to a staff only gathering. Previous year was a business gathering event, whereby we gather our business partners and associates to join us for an afternoon of fun, food and games. This year we decided to tone down a bit, so it is just the few of us. which is also better, as Christmas is normally a time to spend with your family and love ones. So we decided not to tire ourselves out this year, as normally we would be busy preparing foods and making sure everyone is comfortable. This year we want to enjoy the atmosphere ourselves, relax beside the BBQ pit and enjoy good premium Wagyu beef and nice Wine to go along with it. 

When 2010 comes by, I’m expecting this to be a ultra busy year for my business and also my own life. There will be lots of changes and I will detail everything over here, so that in years to come, I can look back at my life and see how I change over the years. I bet that it will be very fun and un accomplished dreams years back might be initiated again just by browsing through past diaries.

Well Dear Readers, 7 more days to Christmas, I wish you all A Merry Christmas and God Bless you and your family. Stay Happy and be Cheerful always. 

Just as I was about to write this post, I notice that it has been 14 days since my last post, Time passes really fast and furious. How I wish time can slow down abit, Age is catching up with me, I have a lot of things yet to do and I really hope to sort out everything and proceed as planned.

I’m looking at furthering my studies, I hope to be able to complete my Bachelor Degree, It has all along been my wish to complete my degree course and I have been pushing it back for years due to my company and my brother is starting his degree course come January 2010. My friend is thinking of asking me to join him for March intake at another private University.

I still considering whether to join him or not, but I think that, the time has come for me to pick up my books again, it might not be in march 2010, but it will be in 2010. I really have to put it down to remind me not to think too much. Just register and pick up the books again. This is not from anything or anyone, but for myself.

It is now 32 days to 2010. Really fast, We are reaching into the last month of 2010. I don’t know why, but every time when it reaches this period of the year, I have a lot of thoughts going through my mind and this year, there seem to be more, and I think most of it are greatly due to my age.

Call it mid life crisis As we ages we tend to spend more time reflecting on the past and you start to think of old friends, When you met up with old friends, you could talk non stop on the past and update one another on your life.

I must say that this year till now, has been very fast and hectic for me. Economic down turn, new ventures, new friends coming into my life and so on. In fact, I have really taken to writing my blog on a very consistent basis, I hope to be able to compile all my knowledge and my own life on my few blogs and treat it as a repository on my thoughts, it should be quite fun years on when I start reading back on what I have written.

Although hectic, life was simple shuttling between work and home almost the whole year. Years back, I still remember the outings with friends during the holiday and weekend, where I just hang out with friends on weekends and holiday eve and won’t return home until 3 or 4 in the morning. Life back then was simply care free, pocket money from my dad, extra money from part time job and so on. Spent everything on games and fun.

I don’t really know which year it started but all of a sudden during one of the year, I just have a feeling of trying to spend holiday eve at home. Maybe it was a sign of ageing back then. Especially Christmas Eve, I tried to spend time after attending church with my parents. and I think I make the right choice which I never regretted, I think for the past 4 years, Christmas Eve was spent at home with my parents. Anyway during the past few years even if I wanted to go out, it would only be me alone also. My best friend was in China, Most of my buddy were either celebrating Christmas Eve with their wife or girl friend. I’m all alone, so the best is just to “hide” at home. I felt that this was definitely worth it. Back then I was still working 10 to 12 Hours work day in the office, So I was actually spending a lot less time at home during most of the year. During those years, I treated my home as a Hotel, Came back home between 10.30 to 11.30 at night, have dinner prepared by my Mum, at these hours, my parents would have already slept. After dinner, took a shower, and then watch some news and slept between 2 to 3 am in the morning, wake up at 9am wash up and leave home by 9.30 am or earlier if there is classes in the morning. Before leaving house, maybe a 2 to 5 min chat with my Mum, I seldom see my dad during those days.

So I really treasure the fact that I did spent some time with my parents during the past few years. 

I was actually hoping to install Windows 7 on my business machine approximately next year after February. But I could not wait until then. First of all was my previous XP Pro was failing me, I also got into disk space issue. Therefore I actually installed Windows 7 and run it off my ageing IBM T43.

The verdict was, as what I have mentioned in my reviews on Windows 7 Beta, It really is a OS built with the user in mind, and bear in mind that it is not just for IT Professional, it is actually built so simple that non IT people might even be able to do an installation of Windows  7 on their own with a little help from the web.

One month of heavy usage with applications installed and printer be it local or network printer, network share, file sharing rights, everything that vista got it wrong initially, Windows 7 did it right. There is nothing to complain about Windows 7. Whatever you need it to perform, it will perform for you. except for some minor glitches which is expected of any OS when launched initially.

It runs most applications with ease and even those that are yet certified to work with Windows 7. No problem, I have yet to encounter any commercial applications which could not work with Windows 7. Some freeware software do have issues with Windows 7, but I think that should be solved fast, due to the popularity of Windows 7.

A couple of my clients did enquire with me on the performance of Windows 7. Well I told them that I’m running it with no issues and they should not have any issues also. The main issues lies with the bulk of Windows 2000 and Windows XP users. They will have some learning curve to learn, as the interface is more alike towards Windows Vista. End users are scared of using something unfamiliar as it will hamper with the work and lower down their productivity due to time wastage on looking for stuff that they normally use which might now be somewhere else. I still feel that it will be worth the time loss initially. As they get used to the new interface and the new way of searching for documents, tagging of documents, they will find that as time goes and they got more used to the interface, they will actually be increasing productivity.

To upgrade or not still depends on a lot of factors and for your consideration I have listed down some of them.

Hardware : If you are having an ageing hardware with Windows 2000 or Windows XP loaded. It’s time to move to Windows 7 as your hardware might fail you anytime also.

Software : If you are using Windows 2000 or Windows 98. Don’t think, Change to Windows 7. Most of newer applications will not support Windows 98 and Windows 2000.

Software : If you are running Windows Vista right now. Then depending on your hardware age, You don’t really need to spend the money to change as Windows Vista is quite stable right now except for the resource hungry issue that you face. If your hardware is still new, then you would definitely be able to still stay with Windows Vista

Software : Windows XP, I would strongly encourage you to upgrade to Windows 7. Do a system compatibility check first to determine your hardware capability first and do upgrade if your hardware is able to support Windows 7.