Lessons learnt

There are always lessons learnt from everything, anything. Again, Sunday never fails me. Inspiration for writing flows like blood oozing out from an unnursed wound. (*pardon the gore*)

Lessons Learnt Blog #1 - The One with the Regurgitation

I was watching Discovery Channel this morning, airing the survival of the young of animals in times of 'hardship' like migration or seasonal change. It documented a duck family (in the river) - the chicks were sitted behind ma-ma duck, and pa-pa duck was feeding the chicks with the limited resource from the cold waters during winter. Occasionally, instead of feeding its chicks tiny fish, pa-pa duck pluck its feather and feed it to the chicks. This act of it was hoping that the chicks would learn the art of regurgitation when need arises if they would have swallowed any fish bones. And the fact that the feathers wouldn't hurt their delicate throat that much is the main reason for feeding feathers rather than to wait for the accident to happen.

Lessons learnt - People should be allowed to make mistakes or explore the unknown in order to prepare themselves for the real thing. This should of course be rewarded with accumulated experiences that serve as a natural arsenal in times of real application.

Lesson Learnt Blog #2 - The One with Real-life TV Shows

Over the recent years, good shows with thick plots had lost their viewership largely to the reality shows that infested the whole TV schedule, namely Survival, Fear Factor, Amazing Race, The Apprentice, America's Next Top Model, The Bachelor, etc... and of course a whole bunch of rather lame reality shows that airs on MTV channel. Naturally, being a TV addict, I too was a sucker to these reality shows in the early years. (I'm still a fan of The Apprentice and Fear Factor, willingly sitting behind the goggle box and be entertained by the sometimes fabricated shows. Of course, the best reality shows would still be those from the Discovery Channel.)

Now, one show that fights back the viewership and regain the faith of viewers with good scripts, thick plots, suspense and take-aways is none other than the renowned Jewel In The Palace (大长今). I cannot stress more on the multiple lessons learnt from this excellent masterpiece. Housewifes and tai-tais watch it for the Korean culinary knowledge, cultural fashion admiration, episode knowledge in order to blend into the tea-time gossips and topics for discussions to upkeep the social community. Drama die-hards watch it for the joy, sorrow, surpise, suspense, agony, anticipation, romance, and of course, a happy ending. As for me, my take-aways are definitely bigger than the 'tar-pau' styrofoam box... I could actually do an MBA thesis call the Jewel Case Study sometime in December during my semester break.

I've learnt 'determination' from 大长今, her never-give-up spirit and her problem-solving attitude constantly bring her to a higher level in life.

I've learnt 'standing by your beliefs', it was crucial for her to stand by her beliefs that actually brought her out of trouble and sometimes misery.

I've learnt 'there's no free lunch', she has fought for her life from survival of the basics to survival of the fittest.

I've learnt 'compassion to the community', her compassion and care for the community had exchanged respect and reciprocal effects during her later years.

I've learnt 'steadfast efforts pays', once she tried to hurry success by leveraging on her brilliance in her culinary skills and knowledge, but success was nowhere near her, instead it backfired. She also learnt from her lessons.

I've learnt 'creativity and innovation saves the day', it doesn't hurt when she squeezed her brain juice to overcome her obstacle in a culinary competition with limited ingredients.

I've learnt 'live life for living', live is meaningless when you live life for others, live life for revenge, live life for the sake of living, and live life for nothing.

In a nutshell, these are little take-aways that benefit me like a pocket-size mini guide to a traveller.

Orange

"Orange". Orange is such an unique word!

Nothing rhymes with orange.

Orange is a fruit, and it has the colour orange.

It is a colour. How does one explain the colour orange anyway?

Orange sounds bright, gives me a sense of roundness (maybe because of the 'O' or because of the vision of an orange).

Orange sounds happy and optimistic, that everything will be alright afterall.

Orange sounds easy going too, maybe because it can roll easily.

Orange will leave an everlasting impression - after you eat the fruit, you can still smell the scent of orange from your fingers or taste the orange flavour lingering in your mouth.

Orange is unique.

I'm such an orange! =)

W-O-L-S (slow) ... HK pics

OK, I'm so last century... So, here's some HK pics from my last holiday trip during Aug '05.

Money (trival)

Sunday morning gives me a nice feeling - a relaxed and inspiring mood - suitable for writing blogs. I love Sundays...

Money (trival) blog #1 - The One with the Pedigree Dog Can Food

Recently, our usual dog can food has a price increase from $1.90 to $2.30. (Ok, I know I sound 'auntie', but hear me out...) Mummy has been searching for a cheaper price since then. Here's our (collective) research: NTUC FairPrice - $2.30, Song Shing - $2.30, ESSO Mart - $2.10 (cheapest so far) and Shop'n'Save - $2.40!
So, on the fateful Thursday, I popped into Caltex Mart hopping to see some dog food, but the kind lady says they don't sell it here, suggested us to walk down to the Frankel Pet Shop to take a look. So, mummy and I 'rackee' the Pet Shop - *wala* Pedigree Dog Food (Chicken Flavor) $2.00! That price tag shone brightly at our faces with golden trim on the sides and a 'trriinggg' chime! (watched too much HongKong comedy) Happily, Mummy told me to grab 5 cans to pass it to the cashier. And then, I was thinking, 5x400g=2000g. My eyes rolled down a shelf and saw the 700g ones pricing at only $3.20, that means that if I had gotten 3 cans of the big ones, 3x700g=2100g, I pay only $9.60, which spells a cost savings of $0.40 plus 100g extra compared to buying 5 cans of the small ones. Sooooo, *cho-to-ma-te* I told the cashier lady that we changed our minds. *wow* close call! And smart decision for both me and my mum. What an accomplishment! We went back home proudly that day... (ok ok, I am damn 'auntie'... but I like!) *kekekeke*

Money (trival) blog #2 - The One with the Last Minute Travel

They say, if you didn't plan your travel schedule at the beginning of this year for the Hari Raya-Deepavali block, you are sooooo late! So, here's our story...

Cindy suggested that we could go to KL for a short break during the Mon-Tue-Wed break 2 days ago. *yah rite* So, I agreed! (You know both of us are the 'chop-chop' people, decisions-decisions-snap-snap) But, almost immediately our idea was 'kena' slam down by Kat, saying that we are crazy to go and squeeze with the Malaysians for this is their 9-days long weakend holiday (like once in the blue moon). Hence, after staring at each other for about 2 seconds, we flipped the classified pages under Tours for ideas.

Cindy picked Hong Kong, I picked Bangkok. You see, we have nothing in common except for two things - eat and shop! So, our choice of destination has to fulfill our 2 main criteria. Well, I just came back from Hong Kong not long ago, plus we'll be squeezing with the crazy people who has grown 2 large black ears at the top of their heads if we go there. Naturally, Bangkok became our chosen destination. We checked out tickets off the Internet, did some calculations. ValueAir charges $360 for the air tickets. Any cheapest available 3-star hotel will charge $90 per night for twin-sharing. Multiply all that by 4D3N, we'll be paying about $515. In the end, we decided to go for the Asia-Euro TA with the $398 4D3N Diamond City Hotel deal. With that $117 Departure - 31 Oct 1720h, Arrival - 1 Nov 2245h. *ha-there* So who says we are late?! =)

Money (trival) blog #3 - The One with the 5% Rebate

Shop'n'Save offers a 5% Rebate to all shoppers. 5% sounds very little cost savings, ya I know. But the whole thrill is in the process of getting this 5% Rebate. Here's how it works: For every purchase that's above $10, you'll get a chop on the reward card. Eg. Single receipt of $43.70 will entitle you with 4 chops. For mummy's purchase pattern, she'll easily hit $60 plus on each visit. 2 of such visits per week will mean 12 chops. So, for customers who collectively chopped once for every single visit, they would eventually be loosing out because of the odd dollars that wasn't rounded off to the nearest ten dollars.

So, here's the deal. With each completed reward card (10 chops), you'll be rewarded with a $5 Shop'n'Save voucher. And this voucher, with no minimum purchase, has an expiry of 3 months from date of issue. Now, the thrill of this whole process is that you would want to quickly complete all 10 chops with 2 consecutive months, or else your reward card would have be void. Each time when your purchase comes up with a block of less than $10 dollars, you will be tempted to top up the few dollars in order to gain another chop. And when the voucher can only be utilised on the next visit, you will be eager to utilise your voucher very soon in order not to be short-changed in one way or another.

Now this process will soon influence addiction, greed, decision-making and sense of accomplishment. It is trival, and yet it makes up about 75% of our lives' perks.

You've got to find what you love

Ok, I'm lazy. So, here's an excerpt of my conversation with a friend via Instant Messaging after reading the article by Steve Jobs.

IT says: interesting article... i have some insights now
PL says: yeah... and maybe doing mba can help???
PL says: anyway, i start to like to read articles during mba
IT says: my first reality check that comes to my mind - Am I enjoying what I'm doing? Or am I complaining about what I'm doing?
PL says: well done!!!!
PL says: i love this article.... it sets me thinking
PL says: and Stay Foolish, Stay Hungry
IT says: send me more articles ...
PL says: apt/well said rite?
IT says: yes
PL says: we may have done something foolish too
IT says: hmm..
PL says: so it's good - we have not wasted our life
PL says: stay hungry?
IT says: hungry for challenges?
PL says: is that the question that bugs us?
IT says: hungry for knowledge?
IT says: hungry for more quality life, even better than our now good life?
IT says: maybe that's what its bothering us...
PL says: yeah yeah
PL says: and to think that at those age, he still adhere to it
PL says: that's why he is so successful???!!!??
IT says: yah!
PL says: so??!! what must we do?
IT says: i believe our answers will come. I believe every course of actions or things we do, there's a purpose, maybe preparing for a future call. Just like what Jobs says about 'connecting the dots'... everything will eventually fall into place nicely, but time is just not right, or maybe we are morphing into it...
PL says: wow! u really can 'hear' his message!

Michael Backman: The Asian Insider

I'm reading Michael Backman's The Asian Insider now. Some facts that I read about...

- Mobile phone users in China sent more than six billion text messages during the 2003 Chinese New Year.

- Japan's population will peak in 2005 at 127.7 million and will fall to 102 million by 2035

- 350 million adult Indians cannot read or write. But they can vote.

- Prostitution is illegal in Bangkok but permitted in Singapore.

- Shanghai has more than 3,000 buildings that are 18 storeys or more high.

- After the United States, the country with the biggest number of proficient English speakers is the Philippines. It is not India.

Gotta relax my shoulders

I was watching David Leadbetter's VCD on Improving Your Short Game. He spoke about 4 main focus for short game - putting, pitching, chipping, bunker shot. He couldn't stressed more on the importance of the short game because 50% of a golf game is the short game.

Starting with putting, I realised my mistake is that I have a stiff shoulders. I'm using too much of the arm movement, rather than the shoulder 'pendulum' action.

Next, pitching - there're about 3 different stance to cater for 3 or more different situations. Situation 1: when you're about a meter away from the apron, a) chipping and running into the pin that's near the apron; b) midway of the green or c) far away from the apron. Situation 2: when your ball is a) stuck in the rough or b) sit nicely on top of the rough. Situation 3: when your ball is behind a bunker (or behind the lake), and you gotta get it over the bunker but not roll too far away from the pin. There's many more, anyway, I gotta practise further to be able to appreciate the different techniques to use.

Best pitch ever

I played at OOC Aranda yesterday. On Hole 3, taking my 4th stroke, I had my best pitch ever! Using a pitching wedge outside the apron of the green, landed nicely on the green and roled the remaining 1/2 (about 3m) straight into the hole! *neat* I saved PAR!

Oh oh, before I forget, something cute

I was asking Kevin if he wants to go golfing since he finished his exams. So he said, "NOooo! Driving range first." And he asked, in driving range, can we use iron? Is it only for drivers and not irons? *funny*

I started with a few nonsensical jokes... Why when horrible is horrific, but terrible is terrific? When we transport via sea, we call it cargo. But when we transport via land, we call it shipment. If a person who works in a bank is called a banker, why isn't a person who cooks called a cooker? =) kekekeke...

Record breaking 15 strokes at Hole 7 (Aranda Course) @ OCC

It's been days since I last blogged. Was busy with the new semester - 2 classes, and a new E-Maths O level student, plus all that markings and gradings.

Last Wednesday, I played at OCC again. What is 54 + 46? 100 right! You add another miserable 15 strokes for Hole 7 at Aranda, now that's 115... -_- How did I get 15 strokes? I teed-off, ball dropped into the water. (2 strokes) Teed-off again, ball went into the water again! (another 2 strokes). Not believing it myself, I teed-off the third ball, guess what - the ball went straight into the water AGAIN! How could I have teed off so badly at Hole 7? I used to ace that hole. I didn't know why either... So, there I was with a 7 stroke, dropped a ball from the other side and continued my play. *rats* bad game for that hole, affected all my swings, I didn't do a good course management, and guess what - I had to loose another ball to the water before crossing to the green! So, there! 15 strokes altogether for Hole 7 (at Aranda) alone! -_-

LPGA

I'm watching LPGA on TV right now. There's Paula Creamer - the pink panther. Ya, serious! She wears all pink from head to toe, and has a Pink Panther wood cover! Something's very weird in her swing - on each impact, her head dives into the air... ugly swing. Susan said she's correct in the sense that she wanted to keep her right ear behind the ball! hahahahhaha......

Annika Sorenstam still looks like a man, even though she's wearing a skirt! I don't care, she looks like a man to me anyway, anyhow. She's too mascular.

Creamer just missed a putt. Commentators said she's angry with herself, you can tell by the double teapot handle (hands on hips). *funny* =)

Have prepared for tomorrow's SAD already. *easy* It will be fun. Ee Ling is in my class. The only one from my previous class in last sem. Day 4 has Ginny, Dennis, Mark and Shikin from my previous class in last sem.

Hey, the stick-on magnetised markers are cool! I think I'm gonna get one. Susan has one, I remembered. What you do is you clip the underside onto your cap, and you stick your marker on the underside when not in use. By the way, I told Susan to get an orange Titleist or Callaway visor (with velcro behind) for me during her trip to Phuket. Also, if she can get a shocking green, also good. She asked about bundong pink... Eeeeeee! Get it for herself. =P She already has matching pink pants and matching pink Ts, she'll be morphing into Paula Creamer very soon... =)

New Semester

Semester 2 will begin next Tuesday. I scanned through my 2 classes. There are 6 students coming from my previous sem 1 classes. Haven't prepare the SAND problem 1 yet. Gotta look through it tomorrow.

I'm watching EPL now on channel 5. Fullham versus Man U. Within the 1st minute, Fullham scored an early goal. argh?! But after 20 minutes, Man U not only equalised, but scored another goal, back to back over the 2 minutes. 28 minutes later, Fullham equalised again! *sigh* I think Man U has too many injuries that's why their game is not that smooth. The players are miscommunicating.

I shall continue to watch the game...

Kevin asked me for the chinese name of Fullham. I said: "满午餐肉" . . . -_-

Man U goal.....!!!! Now half-time over. FvM=2:3