Congratulations!

My idol, Timothy Tiah is going to marry his princess! Though he had been saying marriage is not for him, at least for these few years, but love reigns! 

Congratulations, Tim and Audrey! I wish you to dance on your grandchildren's wedding day!

Here is their sweet proposal video:

Meme Proposal | Tim * Audrey from Crazy Monkey Studio on Vimeo.

Braise Teaser

I got this teaser wrong. How about you?

A binary cell is put in a bottle and it take one minute to split into two; it fills up the whole bottle in an hour.

How long will it take if 2 binary cells are put into the same size bottle to be filled up?

RSS

Can someone share with me how RSS work? 

Let say, I have a website, and I would like to let people subscribe to my updated post, how can RSS help me?

I know common blogging platforms automatically include for us, how about website?

Search Keywords Being Hit

Without my realization, time flies, and I have been blogging for the holly 5 years, with the fewest posts of 63, and average of 70 posts each year.

And to amaze me that with the pure intention of sharing what I eat, what I read, where I go, what I hate, what I treasure; my blog does provide some pretty information people are looking for.

These are some of my blog keywords being hit last month:

Click to enlarge

These are some of my blog keywords being hit last week:

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These are some of my blog keywords being hit this week:

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Pretty cool huh?

What is Stress?

Stress is when you have to do things within a very tight deadline and the things you produce are affecting others' work. Everybody is like asking for your things every few seconds minutes.

Pretty cool huh? I experienced that when I was modeling a government scheme. @@ Everything seemed to be fine as I was too focused of making sure the coding has no bug. Not to forget, and I need to admit that I was too confident with my coding that I did not realize it shared an indicator which crashed with some products. That is the whole holy shit! Fixed the whole thing in two hours.. Rerun 300++ products in more than 12 hours, and god bless, things flow smoothly.

And finally I have a restful day today and enjoyed the department dinner :)

Lesson learnt: always be conscious, full testing on modeling is very very very important!

God and Science

I am reading a very interesting book called Beyond Opinion, Living the Faith We Defend. I am particularly impressed with the section Challenges from Science. 

Perhaps from young, I have been too into Science knowledge, I believe in Science, I even believe what the scientists said. It really leaves me struggling between science and God.

Until I read this part, I think I am convinced now. 

I am not good in putting the text in points, but here is roughly the gist:

Example 1: Science can tell us how a car operate, how a car is manufactured, but it does not mean that Mr Ford does not exist. 

Example 2. I bake a cake, cut them into pieces and give a piece to biologist, chemist, physicist each. They will come back telling me the cake is consisted of amino acid, how much energy is inside, how is the molecule and the bonding of the cake. But all the scientists cannot tell me what is the purpose of me baking the cake, I am the one baking the cake, I know what is the purpose.

Same applying to God and this universe. Scientists tell us how the universe look like, how it operate, but it does not mean God does not exist. Same applying to the second example, we may know everything about the universe, but we may not know the purpose of the Creator creating this universe.

What do you think?

I shall continue reading and post more if I find something impressive. :)

Ironic Feeling

When I am too bogged down by work, all I wish is to sleep. When I do not have much to do, all I wish is to have more things to do.

What to do over this free weekend? READ BOOK to kill time :)

Family Visiting Me

My whole family except my sister visited me the past weekend. But too bad, it rained for the wholly two days, and constrained our effort of painting the town red.

I didn't know there is elephant parade until my youngest sister told me she read that on plane. It is not only at VivoCity but also Merlion Park. 

one of the many elephants at VivoCity

We spent quite a few hours in Sentosa.

From visiting Universal Studio,

Lake of dreams

Christmas aura is covering the town

to Marine Musuem,

Restaurant outside marine museum

Good jump!

to riding tram viewing all the white-sand beaches.

After that, we went home for a small rest, and made our way to Marina Bay Sand to enjoy the Wonder Full Light Performance.

 

We did not manage to spend our Sunday fruitfully but was hiding away from rain in Chinese Garden for hours while chatting from skies to earth..

I never knew that there is such a nice garden in Singapore featuring two styles of garden, namely Japanese and Chinese. We only managed to visit Japanese Garden before it rained cats and dogs.

entrance of Chinese Garden

Some nice scene for couple to take wedding pictures.

I think my family has to visit me again to really have good round of sight-seeing. :)

Skies

I love skies. Some said people who love skies are those who yearn for freedom. I'm not sure how true is this. 

Below are some nice landscape of my way from Penang Island to Singapore.

Leaving Penang Island

Nearing Singapore, Johore I guess

Sea of Cloud

Singapore Aiport

An Embarrassing Finding

It has been quite a while that whenever I wear sport shoes for a few hours, my legs stink. I was upset about it as I thought I had skin disease.

I washed my sport shoes (after 3 years since bought) last week, I wore it again today for more than 6 hours, and to my delight, my legs didn't stink! I even lifted my legs to smell if that is true! *ignore me*

Banana Muffin

Mom wanted to bake chocolate-butter muffin but I suggested banana muffin. This is the ever first time I bake muffin. It turned out to be satisfactory! 

To bake 7-12 muffins (depends on the size), we need 3 big banana (or 7 small banana), two eggs, half cup of sugar, 1.5 cup of self-raising baking flour, a little bit of butter and half-teaspoon of salt.

1. Smash the banana

2. Stir the egg

3. Mix the flour, sugar, butter, salt, stirred egg and smashed banana evenly.

4. Bake for 30 minutes at 160 degree. 

5. Ready to be served. :)

Frenzy Week

It has been a frenzy week for me. I have been working past 9pm in a row last few days; initially 10.00pm, then 12.30am, then last night 4am!!! It is not something I am proud with nor wanna brag about. I finally believe that working long hours consecutively can cause a great toll. Last night, I felt some pain in my chest. Not a good sign, it's time to get back to the normal human living!!!

Appreciate health!!

A reminder

Steve Jobs' death reminds me again that every man is mortal... I am very sad today when I learnt that Steve passed away, I always cannot accept strong men die. But I still have to accept the reality that we cannot escape from death on this earth... 

Steve Jobs said before everyone is afraid of death, even though they are going to heaven.. Nobody wants to die to get to heaven.. I think it is very true..  

But I am not sure if he knows to get an eternal life, we need to believe in Jesus Christ! (he is a Buddhist) 

Well, don't take about eternity, talk about present, please appreciate your health!

My New Assistant

 How does his resume look? Convincing? *grin*

Vostro 3550 direct base
T520352MY-Dell? Vostro? 3550
2nd generation Intel® Core? i7-2640M processor 2.80 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.50 GHz
Energy star info mod
15.6" HD WLED Anti-Glare (1366x768) With Integrated web camera and microphone
FingerPrint reader software
Palmrest with Finger Print Reader
Finger Print Reader CD Kit
LCD Back Cover - Aberdeen Silver(illegal with UMA for India)
Direct Ship Info
ODM APCC info mod
Dell(TM) Support Center 3.0
Safety, Environment, and regulatory information (English)
Technical information sheet (English)
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 Processor Label
Break the seal sticker
Resource DVD for Vostro 3550
System Driver
Silver colour info mod
Brown shipment box
Ship Mod
Driver for Dell Wireless Card 802.11b/g/n, BT3.0+HS
4GB 2 DIMM (2GB x2) DDR3 1333Mhz
500GB Hard Drive,7200 RPM
12.7mm SATA tray load DVD+/-RW
Roxio Creator Starter Media kit
Roxio Creator Starter software(Factory Install)
90W AC Adapter - 3-pin
Power Cord
6-cell Lithium Ion (48WHr, 2.2AHr )
Belkin Radius 15.6" Backpack
Belkin Standard HDMI Cable
AMDTM Radeon HD6630M ,1GB
Premium Voice Royalty software
Dell Wireless Card 802.11b/g/n, BT3.0+HS for Malaysia
No WWAN
Dell Keyboard with Touchpad with Backlit(English)for WW
Genuine Windows(R) 7 Label
Windows(R) 7 Home Basic COA Label (SEA)
Windows 7 Microsoft Patch (Including SP1)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Basic SP1 64bit (English)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Basic SP1 64bit Media DVD(SEA)
Microsoft® Office Starter 2010: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook
Windows Live
Dell Backup and Recovery Manager (DBRM) for Windows 7
Dell Webcam Central 2.0 Software
CD Kit - Dell Webcam Central 2.0 Software
Adobe Reader X
Skype Software
Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security Service Media Kit (Multi-Language)
Trend Micro Worry-Free Business Security Service (Multi-Language) - 15 Months
For Info Only:Dell's Terms and Conditions apply
Regional Support Within Asia Pacific Countries For Notebooks
1 Yr Next Business Day Onsite Service
# Limited Warranty: Initial Year (NBD)
# Limited Warranty: Initial Year (POW)
Please Call 1800-88-1308 For DELL Technical Phone Support
1 Yr Next Business Day Onsite Service
1 Year Plus Phone Support: Mon-Fri 0900-2100, Sat 0900-1600.
Dell Online Backup 2GB (1 year subscription)
To activate your online backup account, go to Start, Programs, Datasafe Online
For infor only: Dell Online Backup 2GB
MOD,SW,DSO,2GB-FREE,2.0
Technical Support
Technical Support
For Info Only: Laptop Batteries Carry 1 Year Warranty Only From Invoice Date
Laptop Batteries Carry One Year Warranty Only From Invoice Date
NB-OS-CTO Handling&Insurance charges(Malaysia)

Mille Crepe

It is so lucky for me that within 1.5 months of joining the new company, I had two times of outing. One was company's team-building at Sentosa and another one is department team-building at Malacca. I get to blend with my colleagues better within such a short time frame. 

Most importantly, during the Malacca trip, I got to try something very special and I wouldn't forget for the rest of my life. It is Mille Crepe aka thousand layer cake at Pahlawan Square. You may laugh at me that it is so common yet I never try. Yes, I never ate this before! I couldn't forget layer by layer of the cake melting literally in my mouth and seeping into my taste-bud. 

Original flavour

Chronology

I afraid my postings might confuse you all.

It is my bad. And it is time for me to make a chronology.

All the farewell posts before Singapore are referring to events happened from July  16 to August 6. 

I reached Singapore on Aug 13 and started working on Aug 15. It is around one month after I worked, I joined my colleagues to donate blood and I fainted (it was on September 9).

Hope this paint a better timeline of the happenings around and on me.

First Weekend before Working

And yeah, finally after weeks of relaxing and enjoying, I got to come Singapore to start working! But I was blessed enough to have two gentlemen tag along with me. Thanks Alvin and Shane. Well, they were actually here for the career fair held on Sunday, but too bad, we were actually conned. Even the advertisement said Sunday was open for non-PR, but when we approached those booths, all asked if we are PR, and said sorry after knowing we are not. *sad* 

Shane and Alvin boarded Tiger Airways,  while I was waiting for my flight.

Entering Singapore. Greener pastures?

After I reached Changi Airport, we then took a cab to my new house! Excited and worried to wonder how would my room be. I saw some pictures from the finding room website, and just asked a friend of mine to help me pay deposit.  We were all very satisfied with the house and room condition. It is really a nice room, and until now I still like it very much.

Toa Payoh HDB. Photo courtesy to Shane

After settling down, three of us went downstairs to see what to eat. And again, I was very blessed as Alvin and Shane helped me to try out a few food and let me know which is nice, and can try in the future. The food in Singapore is dirt cheap! I mean if compared dollar-to-dollar with food in Malaysia, especially KL. We then took MRT (which is less then 3-minute-walk from my house) to Marina Bay.  

Scenic Bay

Concrete jungle!

What are we pointing at? Casino!

After getting our stomach filled at the food court, we enjoyed ourselves with Wonder Full held every Saturday night at Marina Bay Sands.

Vista of Marina Bay

Awesome water-scenes

Dynamic

She was singing "A wonderful world",
indeed she really gave us a strong sense of
feeling ourselves in a wonderful world.

We then sat down on the deck to enjoy the view, chit-chat, and watch people walk-by and take pictures.

This building has no function yet,
but to let tourists take pictures
It is an art-science museum

After that, we dragged our sweaty body all the way to Malayan Tower there to grab the view of the Merlion. We were totally-worn out by the time. 

Merlion, the landmark of Singapore

 But to our surprise and delight, we had another chance of watching the symphony of light!

Actually the water-scene plays and symphony of light are performed together. If you're at Marina Bay Sands, then you can only watch the water-scene plays. If you're at Merlion there, then you can only watch the symphony of light.

Great show!

We were really satisfied with the loads of nice pictures taken on that day (all the pictures were taken without the assistance of  tripod!). But what is more precious, we could again gather, talk about our dream and have some sharing on the random topics!

Black-Out

I think dying is like blacking out. And today I experienced it! 

Well, as you all know, I am a keen blood donator. Whenever there is a blood donation drive, I will surely contribute if I do not encounter menstrual or fall sick. Yesterday my colleague asked me to donate blood together, without any hesitation, I agreed. 

But then I stayed back working until 10pm, by the time, I reached home and bathed, it was already 10:30pm. I surfed net for a while, then went to sleep. But surprisingly, I woke up at 3am, fell asleep again, woke up again at 5am. I guessed I was stressful. After being worn-out at work, I was still worried about my studies progress, which caused me a bad sleep.

When the clock struck 12, we all happily made our way to Fitness First at Raffles Quay to donate blood. To my horror, when I almost finished donating, I felt my hand a bit numb. But I thought it was okay as my colleagues complained that too. Then gradually, I felt I was very giddy and tired, and I told myself to close my eyelids for a rest. And the next moment, I lost my consciousness. I was flabbergasted and scared when I slowly regained my consciousness and sight.  As the people around me were strangers! After a while, when I really "woke up", I only recalled I was at the donation drive. They were the staff there. All I would say was when I blacked out, I was in another world having some tiring dreams. The feeling when I woke up seemed like I was having a long sleep. 

After that, only I knew that I lost grip of the stress ball in my hand, then the staff all rushed to me to stop the blood, and adjust the chair. So it added the feeling more of I was sleeping, as I was lying flat. Then the doctor approached me to examine me, and said some comforting words like it happens sometimes, take some good rest, drink more water and fruit juice, etc. When I asked him if I blacked out, he tried to avoid my question, and kept saying things are okay. 

Our elbow will be wrapped like this in Singapore
after donating blood :)

Soon after, everyone was done with donating blood. And it was my hard time! As I gotta walk under the hot sun back to the office and have lunch! But I survived it and was getting well after I settled down in the office.

The lesson I learn hard today, and I warn everybody, if you have insufficient sleep, please don't donate blood. You're risking your live! 

But if you're fit and healthy, please donate blood!

Power of Editting

Original version

First Edition with dark background

Second Edition with lighter background

Third Edition
(Courtesy from Love to be Loved by You, Marc Terenzi)

Amazed by the power of Lightroom and Photoshop?

Which one you like?

Final One Week Before Singapore

My colleagues had a so-called farewell trip with me one weekend before my move to Singapore.. 

We kicked off our journey early in the wee hours. Practically trip nowadays is nothing more than food sampling trip! 

We filled up our stomach in the morning in dim sum in Ipoh.

Yoke Fock Moon beside the famous Foo San.
Heard that this is better than Foo San

The never-missed order!

I feel that the Lau Sa Pao in Jin Xuan (in Uptown) is nicer

And to my surprise, our food sampling didn't end here. We continued enjoying Ipoh White Coffee,

It serves very aromatic coffee.
But the shop right in front of it serves even nicer and thicker coffee.

The must-try in Ipoh!

and famous Tao Foo Fa at Funny Mountain, 

 

Soft and smooth

 until Rachel complained if our trip is to Cameron Highlands or Ipoh! 

We then only made our way to the top. Along the way, of course, it was not without laughter. And everyone of us reached the tip top in one piece, nobody puked or fainted with pale face.

After we checked in our apartment to settle ourselves and the food we brought from KL for steamboat, we headed to Boh Tea Farm. I never know the way to the farm is so narrow and winding. It is practically just sufficient for one car on the single-path. And we have to be extraordinarily cautious to avoid and give way to the car against our direction. We took a lot of pictures there,

The BOH Tea sign always marks one's foot on Cameron Highlands

and enjoyed our hi-tea with breathtaking tea bushes surrounding us. 

Each of us yearned for that moment to last as it was really relaxing.

We really need to slow down at times in life
to wind ourselves down. It is so rejuvenating!

We then visited a cactus farm to buy some cactus back to office, mainly for two reasons. One is to live up our monotonous office. And another is to let the cactus suck up a bit of the radiation from the computers around! 

Soon it was dusk. We went back to the apartment to rest, to shower, to watch TV, to play cards and to prepare for dinner! Never know that guys nowadays are good in cooking as well! They can wash vege, cut vege, boil soup, wash dishes properly and well! 

At night, guys were having drink while we gals were having our pillow-talk until the guys invaded our territory to invite us for drink.

The seemingly a must thing for chatting for adults in this age.

After that, we pranked on one of the colleague to make him dance and we laughed out loud! Soon it was midnight, some went to sleep, some continued to play cards. The next day, we had Alicia to cook us breakfast! Everyone was so lazy to give her a hand. *felt bad* 

We then drove down the mountain to try food at the famous hawker stalls in Ipoh. 

Red bean

But the food for me is not very impressive. Yet, always the memory outweighs everything. We had some good laughter there.

When we thought that we were so full and all we wanted is to drive all the way back KL, Beng Hui gave us a call asking us to exit at Sungkai to eat pork leg! At that time, everyone was so reluctant to take up the spoon and fork, until he cut the meat to each of us!

 Famous pork leg at Sungkai

We then reached KL at around nine, and after some Facebook browsing, everyone went to bed early to get ready for work the next day. 

Few days after, we had our one last dinner before I really focused tidying up and throwing away my things. It was really a precious meal we ever had.

It is really a fond memory that etches on my heart. This bunch of whacky friends are my one-year-old-met colleagues. But we are blended as one! If I were to say the thing I miss the most in KL, I would say it is this priceless friendship we build.