Ideal place to live if got $ next time

Well having a nice house is important, but having a cosy and harmony family is even more important.

This week: 22-28 Dec

I have applied a week off to enjoy myself this week. Monday was a very happy day for my. In the morning I went to a Wii gaming party organized by my pal. I have to say that the gaming party goes on very smoothly, and there is no hiccups at all. Well done! I get to know new friends also during the party, and of course I've met my pal's girlfriend also. She is a nice girl! :)

In the evening I attended my sister's ROM. Of course being her only brother, I have to do something for her. I burnt the disc with songs suitable for the occasion but unfortunately the speakers at the function hall were not working...argh. I was also the camera man, well maybe to say one of the camera men for the function..hahaha. Pictures to be uploaded soon.

Hmm..I've learnt a lot about ROM things during these few months. So guys if you need to plan when to pop the question, where to book nice buffet and place for ROM, do feel free and look for me! wahahaha

The Story of Wealth Management

I was reading through the Business Times Weekend (20-21 Dec) and discovered a great article written by Christopher Tan, who is the CEO of Providend. He gave several arguments that banks are not a place to get financial advice. He said'

"Banks are not the place to get financial advice. Their department is a flwaed one. One department is getting you to spend future money, another is getting you to save. This is not the principle of good financial planning"

The recent saga proves this point. So guys, if you are going to plan your financials, get advice from a company who is dealing with financial planning.

M5 lesson today

Julian taught for the first half of the class. The second half of the class was taken by another trainer Steven. He has a lot of work experience and he is a natural presentor. Thoughout his class he never fails to tell us stories that relates to his experience and the lesson. I really learnt a lot from him today. Well, even though his class is interesting, I never fail to be in my own wonderland once in a while. Surprisingly today my artistic cells are active (They are never active after secondary school), before I picked up my pencil and drew this:



Hmm...I wonder if it's a guy or a girl that I drew...hahahaha

Cookie making session + Pass M5 test = happy =)

Quite a few things happened to me on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, I went to my best pal's place to learn how to make delicious cookies. He has really mastered the art of cookie making and he taught me how to make two types of cookies, which is the hard cookie and the subway-type soft cookie. We started off the day with baking the hard cookie. Pictures explain more than a thousand words! :)


Dought for hard cookie after adding and mixing the ingredients


Adopted from the technique of making 汤圆 by making the dough into little balls，this method enables the cookies to have a nice round shape by just pressing them gently on the baking tray


My first hard cookie! Though it does not looks nice but it taste good k...even my parents and my sis said so:)


Hard cookies fall in! :)

Next we proceeded to bake the soft cookies. The steps involved are more complicated.



Dough for soft cookies. The dough is significantly softer and stickier


Soft cookies done! More chocolate chips added compared to the hard ones.

Thats my cookie making experience. I went for my M5 test on Tuesday. Quite an easy test and I was the second person to complete it. I passed..woo hoo!

Bolt

This morning when I was on my way to PS for work, I was greeted by...



A live size Bolt! Hahaha! It has the height that reaches my butt, I think. Well, it does reminds me of 小白 that prosess super power. 加油小白！

Bought an in-ear earphone with the detachable mic extension for my iphone at a super reasonable price. The in-ear earphone is a minor issue, what's important is that now I can use the mic extension with my audiotechnica baby so that I can listen to good quality sound while always ready to receive any phone calls:).

Oh yeah, I'm so excited for my cookie lession tomorrow taught by my best pal, and of course also meeting his girlfriend for the first time:)

简单爱

追求简单的爱其实一点也不简单。在追求这份简单爱的过程中我难过，失望了。但我从来没有后悔。或许我真的没有天份吧。

Route to become a financial planner...

ITC1 considered done, now left M5 test (on Tues) and ITC2 (Wed to Fri) before I will become an official financial planner. To me thats the easy part, the real challenge will come after I become a financial planner, which is the route to enter MDRT. I must keep my enthusiatic and passion high to succeed! :)

卓文宣-超級喜歡

Had a chance to listen to the latest album by Genie Zhuo and her voice is really very sweet! Her voice and songs really perks me up for the day. Her looks-long hair, big eyes and fair complexion is what every guy (including me) likes:). Also, she has a voice that can hit high notes so easily.


I love Genie!

Recommended songs: 一句话, 独家快乐,下个幸福

First day of Financial Planner class

I was attending my first day of class to become a licensed financial planner yesterday. It was an eye opener as I got to see and know people from different occupations wanting to become a financial planner:

1) An engineer with a semicon company
2) A taxi driver turned property agent
3) An IT analyst in a bank
4) A boss who owns shops

3 more days of ITC1 to go! Must endure :)

Broken Libra

Some said Libra's supposed to be a flirtacious horoscope, but hey I feel like a broken libra now. Compatible with Gemini? Haa funny.

What is love?

What is love actually based on? While I agree that it has to be based on mutual feelings, how is it possible that a guy who likes a girl did nothing to make the girl know? Same for the girl, how is it possible that she knows he is really the guy if the guy did not do anything at all for her?

I used to believe that mutual feelings are built on and the girl will appreciate what the guy does, not just by spilt seconds (Maybe because I'm ISTJ). So if a guy has been doing a lot of things for the girl that he likes, is the feeling built on the girl's side? I used to think it is possible but now I totally disagree with it.

If it is purely based on feelings, then maybe I should just hack care, and then suddenly wow a girl has feeling for me..(how immature this based on feeling idea is). Maybe its naive also to think that a girl will be touched me through my actions. So in conclusion? Leave all to fate. :)

范玮琪 - 是非题

This song is my current favourite. I find that the lyrics of this song is very meaningful. There is always a thin line between a friend and the person you love, and it is always very hard to say it out.

每段故事都有一篇剧情
每段爱情都像动人旋律
一颗真心却只向着你前进
也许爱 越单纯越着迷

你是窗外另外一片风景
在你眼里我是什么关系
你的呼吸藏在我的爱情里
何时能诚实面对自己

我们从不开口那个言语　那一句我爱你
永远像少了勇气
别人都说
我和你之间的关系
没有人相信只有关心
我们从不正视那个问题
那一些是非题
总让人伤透脑筋
我会期待
爱情盛开那一个黎明
一定会有美丽的爱情

I have to score full marks for my macro exam!

:(

I feeling like buying...

A Toyota Vios! It is quite cheap for a second hand car. For $30k you can drive it home. Well, even though I might have the capability to buy now if i pay by installment (which will fully stretch my budget), I still want to wait till I graduate, have a stable job, before even thinking of getting my own car. Why?

1. I listen to my humble sister, who told me that work for a year and save up more first before even thinking of getting a car. Of course I listen to her!

2. I know the importance of keeping cash, especially given the current situation, where there are lots of opportunities around.

3. A car is a liability and not an asset! :) I need to find ways to generate passive cashflow before getting a car

So, 3 more years to my metal horse!

Some thoughts on current situation

I still remembered clearly during the wedding dinner which I have attended at the beginning of this year, I had a discussion with my officers and seargents when I was serving NS. They were asking for my opinion about the economic situation at that time. I told them that time that it was better to keep cash rather than doing any form of investments. Some of them were still quite optismistic that time and argued that sectors such as marine and constructions are still doing well and it's still safe to invest in them.

What they don't know is that the real industry performance lags economic performance. Now the real impact of the economy on all sectors are starting to show. Hopefully their investments are not affected in any form.

Singapore Mugging University + Vacation dream

I'm in school now typing this blog, and time now is still 10.45am. It's crazy now that the library is filled with muggers. I bet some of them didn't even bother to go home as now the library is open 24 hours. Well, I still go home though because I want my bed:).

Seems like I have got quite a number of things to do during this coming vacation, I can name a few now first (confirmed ones)

1) Cookie learning session
2) Wii Party
3) M5 test
4) Sell Macs
4) Meeting up with sec. school and poly friends
5) Thailand trip
6) Attending sis's ROM and looking for her present
7) Christmas celebrations

Can't wait for the exams to finish now, even though I'm still not fully prepared:(

Perhaps a bit of stock market updates. Still don't look good, with all the companies (especially the automobile industry now) ranting for help and rescue package. Banks are still coming out with bad news and downgrading of companies. STI might be visiting 1500 soon. I would recommend buy on those nice blue chips like Noble, Olam (I love commodities!), Yanlord, Cosco (China is still growing, so no worry), SGX, Singel (For the steady flow of dividends). Buy these stocks and keep for long term (like what our sg govt does) and you should see substantial returns. (For reference only, do not strictly follow)

Updates!

Hi all! For those who have been wondering where am I for these past few months, well basically I have been busy with a lot of things. Work and school are my focus now. Relationship wise...well I guess I will leave it to fate to decide. I have done all I can, but I will not give up and continue to give whatever I can.

Exams next week, I think I will not do well again this semester as I strive to do so before the beginning of the semester. Well, still the same old theory - try your best and who knows maybe you might reap very good results.

I told Aveline that I have lost the drive that I used to have during my Poly days, which was to study and study only aiming to get into university. I think now I have lost my focus, maybe it's time that I should stop and think what I really want.

STI is stagnanted now with so little fluctuations and volume. Seems like wave 3 should be here anytime soon (Maybe jan 2009 onwards). Get ready for a raliy!