hmm 11 days since i updated my blog. Fans have been asking me, flooding my mailbox with emails asking me what have I been doing. (LIKE REAL!!!) Well, back by popular demand, its... *drum roll* RYANKING!!!

GE 2011 was an exciting period for me. Volunteering with WP for walkabouts and I was involved in polling day as well by being a polling and counting agent. I was sick the past 3 weeks. Sore throat followed by a cough. Just when things got better, I had the flu. Wow the jab that I got before I went USA last november is strong. Got the injection end Oct and I got sick only mid Apr. Hmmmmm

As a result, I did not do my runs. Syok lar this weekend. Met up with my buddies and watched The Lost Bladesman. Story about my favourite general Guan Yu. Disappointing the movie. 1 out of 5 stars. Lousy plot. Ridiculous plot.

Sat had another late night movie, Paul, with a friend of mine whom I shall call her S. Just a friend nia. How do I know her? Will be revealed @ a later period. Sun went canoeing. I just paddled and wack. Pity my partners. Expecting DOMS 1st thing in Monday morning.

Movies to target: Thor, Fast and Furious 5

Well like what the pig says @ the end of every looney tunes cartoon episode: Thats all folks!!!

Osama Bin Laden is dead finally!!! President Obama made this announcement a few days ago. Scenes of celebration were seen across USA and the world. This villian is finally caught, I quote ex President George Bush Jr, "Dead or Alive", after 10 long years.

The hunt for him started at 11-9-2001, the now infamous "911", when 3 planes crashed into the twin towers of New York and Pentagon, one after another with passengers inside. The Twin Towers collapsed and thousands of people died, including the passengers inside the planes. Pentagon suffered minimal damage because the passengers, at the brink of death, struggled with the terrorists for control of the plane. In the ensuing investigations, it was discovered that Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden were in -charge of this operation. This thrust them into overnight prominence. Afghanistan was attacked on the pretext of finding him. The Taliban was overthrown because of the attack. From 2001 till now, American, NATO and troops belonging to their allies are still there.

This also ushered in a new era of aviation security. Air marshals were introduced into planes. Doors leading to the cockpit were reinforced. No more cockpit tours. Heavier security checks.

A few years later, another plot was unearthed. Bringing in bottles of liquid and detonate inside planes. As a result only liquids of less than 100ml, in sealed clear plastic bags, were allowed.

Fast forward another few years. A Nigerian man was discovered to have had explosives hidden on him when he tried to detonate it when a plane was in mid air.

All these because of 1 man, Osama Bin Laden. He was their spiritual leader in the fight against USA and to bring about a new world order based on Islam throughout the world. But would his passing bring about a peaceful era?

Al Qaeda has evolved. Initially, it was the 1st place where all terrorists come from. Everybody throughout the world who want to get involved would go and look for Al Qaeda. They are the training ground, the bankers, the shrine, the people provider and the place to look for ideas. Had the allied forces found Osama when they 1st started the whole operation, they might have killed the movement totally. Today? In my honest opinion, maybe not.

True, a big spiritual leader has been killed. The terrorists may have lost a big light beacon, a lighthouse. But the Al Qaeda of today is totally different from the Al Qaeda of 2001. Today, Al-Qaeda I feel, is nothing more than training ground. It may not even be a training ground any longer. Its just a dimished beacon of light guiding the terrorists spiritually. Terrorists nowadays strike from around the world. They do not even need to go Al Qaeda for training. They do not even need to ask Al Qaeda for funds. Simply put, Al Qaeda today stands for an idea. The idea of an Islamic world.

The terrorists today, work on their own. Since 911, various figures of such symbolism have sprung up. No more need for Osama to command them left right centre up and down. Extremist centres have sprung up on their own. The terrorists gather info and act on their own accord. The death of Osama Bin Laden might spring up hatred in them and prompt more suicide attacks. But his death, hopefully may have shaken the movement, and prevent less people from joining that movement.

In conclusion, in the short term, his death calls for a celebration. But in the long term, his death might make little of a difference at all. I am just hoping that the terrorist movement would die out with his death. That would really be world peace.

P.S: This blog entry of mine, is not intended to agitate any persons or any race and religion. If anybody feels offended, I am sorry about that and will remove it the moment I get your complaint.

Thoughts being converted into actions?

People say, If there is something you want, think about it and you will get it. Thats because, the more you think about it, the more likely you will want to do it. There are groups that agree with this. There are its own detractors as well.

For me? I would follow with the 2nd group. I feel that, by just thinking, its not enough to be converted into an action. You would need to have a strong desire for it, a feeling of WANTING the outcome. If you think of the outcome, but would not want to do it, you would not have gone ahead and done whatever it needs to be done. I can cite a few examples from my life.

Example 1

In 2004, when I started working part time and during my internship, I realised that just by having a diploma is not enough nowadays. The minimum is a piece of degree. The 2 pieces of papers are the same. Same size. Very often the same material. And right now, they even have the same kind of ceremony. But the contents in the document make a very big difference. A "Bachelor Of Science In Information Technology" would be much more valuable than "Diploma In Information Technology".

When I just signed on, UniSIM had openings for its application to a degree programme that it just came out with. I weighed the pros and cons. Cons: Less life, dedicate a lot of time to part time study and self study, had to save my leave for exams for 3 years @ least. Pros: After I get the degree, I know I could get much more than my current police force pay. Standard of acceptance would definitely be lower as its a new degree and not many people applied for it. I had very poor results in poly. I did not have much savings since I did not expect this opening to come out. I borrowed $$$ from my mother and got scolded because of it. But I did not bother about it and just applied. This desire to want to get a degree because knowing that getting a degree would make life easier for me and my family. Without that desire, that want, I would have just gave up and sat there.

Example 2

In 2005, I just signed on to be a regular police officer. But in the 1st place, before I even signed on, I did not want to make it my career. Its because my parents were not holding to a job in the 1st place that forced me to sign on. Ah well... the wonders in life. Therefore, I made up my mind to quit the police force once my bond has ended. My bond ended in March 2008 but I received the notification only in late Apr 2008.

The moment the letter reached into my hands, I looked for a job. Mind you, it was in Apr 2008. Bonus was in July 2008. Less than 3 months. If I had wanted to wait for the July bonus, by the time I found a new job, it would be already late Sept. Not worth it to quit as it would be so close to the Dec bonus. And after Dec bonus, only a few more months to the March PB. After March PB, the cycle of waiting for bonus after bonus would begin again. I was already in a comfort zone. Sitting down, doing nothing much but receiving bonus every few months. Cushy job. Until I was 50 somemore.

Therefore, I made the painful decision to ignore the July bonus and look for a new job. I got a new job just 2 weeks later. Or was it shorter? I forgot. I only remembered it was in mid May, after I finished my exams that I tendered my letter. Even though, like many others who had thought about quitting, the desire of leaving the job made me take the 1st step of finding a new job.

On hindsight, perhaps signing on police force could be a turning point in my life. Without it, I would not have enough money to pursue part time studies. The starting pay in the police force is much more than that of a regular IT job for a diploma holder.

Example 3

Fast forward to today. I have the desire to advance up the coporate ladder / switch to the banking industry. But how? BSc are a dime a dozen. Be careful when you throw a stone in the streets. You might just hit somebody who holds a Bachelors degree. The next logical step, get a Masters. Masters in what? Programmes for Masters in Science are too technical. Its a step up from BSc. So, its MBA for me. I identified a few MBA programmes. They need GMAT. Hmm if I did not desire to get an MBA, I would not even have bothered to sign up for GMAT and get books to prepare for it.

The moral of this blog entry serves to tell readers this: You can think all you want. You can daydream all you want. But you need to have a desire to get what you want, what you want to achieve. If not, all the thoughts are just simple rubbish.

Premature end to weekend?

A rather premature end to a weekend that began prematurely as well. Met J on thus for a movie with her friend. Limitless was quite a drag and not much action. Def not my type of movie. After she sent her friend home, I was driven home. We had a chat and I revealed some things to her.

Fri night came. I had a jog before meeting up with Sya, Kar and John for a movie @ Cathay Cineleisure @ night. Hall Pass was great!!! My kind of movie with alotta funny adult (Note: adult = R.A.) jokes. After the movie, joked with Sya about it. :P Sorry buddy you know I cannot resist. Kinda tame night. All of them old liao. Sya and John had to leave early. So, bo bian left home early.

Sat came and gone just like that. Woke up early (with a sore throat) for a walkabout. After that met J for a jog @ Bkt Timah. Wah shag ar. Knew eariler that terrain jogging was worse. But did not know that its THAT worse than flat road. Nice workout. But I guess part of the fats lost was regained by eating potato chips after dinner. It will be a long boring sleepless night for me though. Slept most of the time when I was @ home. Sun's events are planned as well. Have a good weekend everybody!!!

Recently, been attending an opposition party's walk-abouts in a particular GRC. The quality of opposition candidates have increased. They did not wear slippers during their walk-abouts. Don't think they would do it during their rallies.
Now, its not about opposing whatever policies the ruling party proposes. They are now trying to propose sensible and alternative policies to tweak the ruling party policies so as to have a better deal for all citizens. Working with whoever is in power is the new deal.

Fri went for a jog with J. After that met up with her friends. A pity I could not drink as I was driving. Wanted to go for a walk but she slept in the car. In the end I sent her home instead after waking her up to tell her that. Slept @ 5am. Heng I arranged to meet my buddies @ 2pm instead of my usual 11am.

Sat went to JB. Checked my passport. Ever since 2011, during the past 3 months, I went JB once per month. This time, its with TF, Jas and his gf. Its gonna be a new hangout for me? Jas finally got his purple suede shoes. His gf was complaining that Jas was moaning about it for the past 2 months. I remembered that when we 1st saw it, it was love @ 1st sight for Jas. Even when we met during CNY, he told me to bring him to JB. When I last saw him to help him for his FYP, he reminded me again. I told him to set a date as he needed to work on a Saturday.
We went City Sq immediately to get his shoes. After that, we went to Jusco Tebrau so that I could import my milk. My mom always tells me to buy for her 10 packets of Anlene milk so that she could drink it.
After Jusco Tebrau, it was dinner time. The time where we all look forward to. We would always patronise this stall @ the Taman Sentosa and choose our sting rays. This time, it was sting ray, cereal prawns, crayfish and vegs. Yummy!!! We almost cld not finish the sting ray but TF cleaned it all up. The stall aunty was a v kind woman. We could not pay up the bill in Ringgit but she told us we could give her SGD and she would exchange it for us. Luckily I had some SGD with me and changed with her on the spot. Her rates are the latest rate wor. Never shortchange us. So, for all those people that visit JB, its @ Taman Sentosa Hawker Centre, beside the Shell petrol kiosk. Stall no is 59. 59 in green, in a yellow circle with a green border.
After dinner, it was KSL. A new mall and I wanted to bring them there to explore. A pity that we went there quite late. Most of the shops were closing @ 10pm. It closed much more later than Singapore to be honest. Finally, we went to our traditional final stop before closing for the day. Old Town @ Sutera Mall. Ever since the 1st time we went in, without fail, we would go there for a chill out session before the drive home. Reached home @ 1am and slept finally @ 4am. Crazy sat for me.
Weekend's over. And its back to the grind on Monday. The dawn of a new week makes me look forward to Friday.

Batam 28/03/2011...

Time sure pass fast whenever one is enjoying. Started out bright and early @ 5.45am. (well not that bright lar since technically speaking, there is no hint of sunlight yet.) Drove to pick J up and managed to park my car @ the MSCP before 7am. For new followers of my blog, I am driving an OPC. Mr Vampire, I wld call it. Proceeded to do a short 5km jog around the neighbourhood. J calls it a forced jog. Went for breakfast and proceeded home to have a bath before proceeding to Batam. After a short shower and a short nap, we left for Batam. Reached Batam @ 12.30pm Batam time. Pizza Hut is damn cheap lor. A big stuff crust pizza for 2 costs about SG$10++. It was a 8 piece pizza with 4 flavours. We get 2 of each flavour therefore there is a little big of everything. Went for a 2.5 hrs spa + massage session. It was refreshing. My leg muscles seemed loosened after the session. The masseue are very professional and good with their services. (Editor's note: No dirty business inside. Purely massage). After the massage, it was off to Hypermart for some toiletries shopping. Oral B mouth wash and Clear shampoo is v cheap in there lor. Facial products are cheap too. J and I bought quite a fair bit of toiletries. Dinner was @ this Windsor food court. I was forced to eat fish by J. After dinner, we went back to Batam Centre to confirm our return trip booking for the last boat and walked ard Megamall before finally checking in to head back to SG @ 9pm Batam time. KTV was ard SGD$10 for a 2 hr package during happy hours and SGD$6 for a 1 hr duration during normal hours. Movie tickets are crazily cheap. SGD$2 for a normal movie and $4 for 3D movie. In the end, after reaching SG, reach home, send J home and go home, I got home @ 12.30am. Tired. Long day that started @ 5.45am. Don't mind doing it again.

totally random stuff in this entry

Got a new laptop last sat @ the IT Show. Intel i7 rocks!! With 6GB RAM and I finally know how turbo boost work. It was so crowded. I went with J and she had to grab on to me or my bag to avoid us from getting spilt up. I went to get my laptop and she went to look for training providers that had SAP / SAS. I got what I wanted but she did not. There is a keyboard protector that came along with it. I put it on and I am now getting the hang of it. Prefer to type on a naked keyboard instead of a keyboard with a "condom".

Of all colors, I got a pink laptop. For the model that I wanted, they ran out of white color. J was highly amused and smiling away @ the thought of it. Thanks ar good friend. You looked kinda happy that I got the pink one... -_-||| This was the only retailer who offered a trade in for old laptops. Unfortunately, my old laptop decided not to detect the DVD drive on that day and I know that my battery was kind of screwed up already. So I did not get a gd price for it. My main priority: get rid of the old laptop!!! So, thats why, in the end, I choose the more expensive model. Fujitsu was supposed to be a durable and reliable brand until I was proven wrong on Wednesday night.

On Wed night, I was using it happily when the screen flickered and blacked out. The hard drive was still running, the power was still on. Power was still being supplied to the laptop. When I restarted, the screen flickered as well. Therefore, I concluded, hardware fault. Either LCD or graphics card. Heng I was on leave on Thurs. So I could go to the service centre.

I was supposed to be on half day leave on thurs to accompany mommy to SNEC for her checkup. In the end, I dumped her there and made my way to Fujitsu Alexandra for a service request. Luckily it was damaged on Wednesday night as Thurs was the only time I would be on leave on a weekday. Their Alexandra branch is the only one that can entertain a 1 to 1 exchange. They are only open on weekdays and not weekends. Wth right. A new laptop and it got a hardware fault after 5 days of use with a service centre that only open on weekdays. Decided to go to Alexandra instead of Funan because Alexandra can offer a 1 to 1 exchange and it being a new laptop, I decided to demand for a 1 to 1 exchange.

Lucky for me ( I am always lucky in this respect), I managed to get a 1 to 1 exchange in the end. The CSO concluded that it was a hardware fault. Now, I am happily typing on my new laptop to get this blog entry online. Thats how I got 2 new laptops in the span of a week.