the lastsplash

It literally rolled underneath the bed. Lucky it isn't mine, but that of the My Precious Moment music box. Nevertheless, it was kinda sad for me. The music box was a gift for my wife, then girlfriend. Good thing the fragments were mostly large pieces. I was able to stick them together using the super glue. Let's hope that it will last. Btw, I didn't really believe it is am omen of what was to happen at work. But I was quite caution all day long. I guess this small episode did spur me to be more meticulous. :-)

It is rare that I win anything in lucky draws. See what dropping a couple of namecards landed me in our recent openhouse? Watch out on this blog to see if I will ever complete assembling this!

My jaws almost dropped when I saw this month's statement: $480 charged for annual fee (before GST). Who the h***, in the right frame of mind, will pay that amount for a f****** common platinum card which every bank offers? Siao ah ? Especially when I only spend $9.50 on movie tickets with that card this month, it's fascinating to find my bill hit $523.10. Someone needs to enlighten those guys in *******d ********d bank. The service officer promptly offered to waive my annual fee when I first questioned if there was an error in that amount. To be fair, she was really polite and even mentioned that they have now lowered it to $100++. But why is my bill still reflecting $480? I don't think charging an obnoxious amount for the annual fee makes the card any more prestigious than changing it into a black card. Oh yeah... what's with banks issuing black credit cards these days? Mmm...

But I am sure the contents had been to Palo Alto before that... :p After more than one month of waiting, it is finally here - my first VCP certificate. =) It came in a nice folder which is in the new VMWare colour scheme of green. For those who want to try their luck, my VCP ID is 71136 . Buy the first four or last four numbers? Or add the two "1"s and buy "7236"? :p Anyway if the ID is assigned incrementally and represents the number of VCP accredited, that are really many VCP around the world!

Microsoft launched the new productivity tools recently. Basically it refers to Office 2010, Visio and SharePoint... My colleagues and I were privileged to attend the launch at Marina Bay Sands Integrated Resort (IR). Singapore's 2nd IR was still very much work in progress. This is the panoramic view with the rest of Marina South and the floating platform. Click for image for the bigger picture. On the way to the Sands... It was really early. The Flyer was starting to move lethargically... Workers having the morning brief... aka the first parade. An improvised safety helmet that keeps the scorching sun away as well... Looking out from inside the mall... A close up at the hull of the sky garden... From far the IR looks like a flight deck/hangar with its doors opening. Imagine space crafts from Star Wars landing and taking off. The helix bridge was more like a wind tunnel of sort. Can you imagine Gundam propelling out through it? :p This is Steve Ballmer giving the keynote speech. I ...

Unbelievable, the man standing beside me in the train wore exactly the same Tee as me - the "Fred Puppy"!

chat roulette from Casey Neistat on Vimeo .

No countdown, or partying of that sort for me either. Had an early rest at 1030PM. hah ... 老了 ！Apparently, it wasn't something new ... Happy New Year! Cheers!

One of my colleagues screened this video today during our Christmas Celebration. It'll be great if one of the major technology firm develop this prototype into a consumer product.

Not on the moon this time, but in my home! Tonight I assembled my first model aeroplane. Snap snap snap, it was assembled. No painting was necessary. Not challenging at all. :p It is the 1:200 model of the SIA A380. This model plane is extra memorable for us as we flew back from Paris CDG airport in the A380. From tonight onwards, it will fly the friendly skies of my flat. :)

Win more Grand Slams. Play in Singapore. ... and happy fifteen... but no-so happy at the moment.

A tropical garden in the heart of the concrete jungle, an orchestrated display of lights and symmetry in one of the latest mall... These are some shots from my short walk in town last weekend. Natural vs Man-made beauties. Charming white gates adorn the Tanglin Road entrance. Beautiful flowers basking in the sun. Buying ice-cream on the "Street of Tokyo". The street view from above. The light show. More lines and reflections. Plunge to the bottom, or is it? The lift shaft. The line of light divides.

Great start to welcome Labour Day... No, I am not going for Lasik. It is just that the left "leg" decided to stay on my ear when I took off my glasses. No bump, no knock, no violent actions. It just broke off peacefully. Looks like I will need to get myself a present for birthday this year. Meantime, I will wear my slanted old glasses which have scratches on the lens, and it makes me look really kuku ... Don't laugh at me on Monday hor .

I managed to complete Item Two of Resolutions 2009 today, on my first try! I really can't imagine if I had to go thru' it again - the time and money! It is over now. I am feeling relieved and thankful. Thank you for your prayers dear, it helped me alot. While we are in the topic of resolutions... look like I have only completed one outta nine, and a quarter of the year had gone by. Not good not good...

Had my first acupuncture experience today. I thought I was in for consultation only. Before I knew it, I was lying on the bed and had acupuncture needles on me. Then came 15 mins of electrifying buzz. It was definitely unlike what I had in mind. Whether it will be effective? I will only find out next week when I put my ACL to the test again.

A friend urged me to share with you this little story... Just before the Chinese New Year's eve weekend, the diamond embedded on my wife's wedding band dropped out and was never to be found. So today, we went to the Wisma Atria's Lee Hwa Jewelery branch, where we initially purchased our wedding band, to get it fixed. To our delight, they offered to replace the diamond free-of-charge , without us explaining to them why they should do so. However, it will most likely take between two to three months to find another diamond which has the same 4 C's - small carat, but rare for the color, clarity and cut combined. Furthermore, they offered to clean all the bling bling we had on us, for free . That included a pendant which wasn't from Lee Hwa. Although I am a little disappointed with the workmanship, I am certainly satisfied with their service this time round. Hope they will not take too long to get back to us, and prove that it is worth going back to them again. Well......

Not sure if anyone find the sharing interesting or useful. but for completeness, the following are the key learning for today: 1. 4-Player Model - What are the roles we should play and how should we behave? 2. Abilene Paradox - What is the trip to Abilene and how can we avoid it? 3. System Thinking - The R and B loops. Problem solving using the loop models. 4-Player Model This is another model from the Peter Senge , in the book " The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook ". This model is a way in which a team can have Generative Conversation by playing out four different types of roles: 1. Mover - initiator, offer a position or direction to the group. This is the person who want put a new message across to the group. 2. Opposer - the skeptic, challenging the action of the mover. This is the "devil's advocate". However, this person is more than just the inquirer. 3. Follower - agreeing with either the mover or opposer. This is the role to "complete the sentence...

Attended the Foundation of Organisation Learning (FOL) class today. Some of the concepts are quite interesting and useful, so I would like to share some of my take-home with everyone. =) I will summarise the key learning in three points: 1. Learning Disabilities - What are they? Why should they be avoided? 2. Team Learning - What are the areas in which a team can learn? 3. Generative Conversation - How to use the A-I-D tool to have productive conversation. Learning Disabilities These are factors which impede individual learning from taking place. Some examples of these disabilities from Peter M. Senge 's " The Fifth Discipline " includes: 1. "I am my position" - Refusing to learn from others or accept others ideas as we focus only on our ourselves, our stand, and only we are right. 2. "The enemy is out there" - Blaming others instead of learning the root cause of problem. 3. "Illusion of taking charge" - Acting on reflexes rather than a...

Hah... Got this off the Daily Irrelevant . I find it really funny since I had been working quite abit on Google Map these few days to plan for my December holiday. Won't wanna find those places I wanna visit "destroyed" by my placemarkers. :p And in another interesting article about street art... melted signboards !

I thought I saw small waves forming, as my bus swam through Lower Delta Road in the morning. Can you imagine the famous duck ride (only that it was in a bus)? But the smaller cars were just sitting ducks. I must be very lucky for it was the first time I experienced a flood and I got away dry. Some were less fortunate as they rolled up their pants and stood on the chairs at the bus-stop. It was much scarier compared to watching the flood on TV...