Remember this nifty little music player called Winamp?

Yes absolutely. I remember those days back in poly where this was perhaps the single most important program in the PC. Skins were interchangeable, and the interface looked really cool when it was just released. The amount of skins that one could customize on it was amazing. I stopped using it for ages since I bought a mac and got an iphone (forced to used iTunes).

But now that I have began to use the Samsung Galaxy S2, I am no longer a slave!!! I happily bought a plethora of credits from Legalsounds, and subsequently downloaded a crapload of tracks that I’ve missed out for the past few years. Not to mention… I am back to using the beloved Winamp media player! And the interface still looks clean the way it was and it was pretty easy to use!

Oh man it sure is nice to get new songs and just listen to stuff and just blog. Today was a pretty ok day… managed to get to work early and stuff in an SME meal, lunch was healthy, got my fav Swissbake quiche for tea around 5 plus just before leaving work. Otherwise I’d have too little energy to make it to the gym. Got to Chevrons to get my new army uniform ordered. Ran 4km plus and did a bit of weights. Had a later dinner 8 plus and helped to clear the dishes. Sat in front of the TV for awhile to watch tennis highlights. Came to my PC, opened up Winamp!! ooooo… feels so good to open winamp once again!! lol…  I hope I can keep up days like this where I remain conscious of what needs to be done throughout the day and fight against fatigue.

Song of the moment, A Thousand Years by Christina Perri! =)

Goals and things that I’m looking to achieve in 2012

Its really running late here and I’m getting so tired. However, I somehow have managed to stay awake and download a crapload of songs from Legalsounds. Its 20% off today and I get like twice the amount of credits I pay for. So coincidentally, this is the best day to get myself up to date with some new songs to kick me off for 2012. I realized that I haven’t really been listening to music all that much nowadays. For a good reason which is… the songs in my archive are decades old man… and I’m getting so tired of listening to all those old songs day after day, even though I do love those songs a lot.

Anyways, I wanted to make a list of stuff that are going to be milestones and some goals I hope to achieve within the year. Which was something I kept wanting to do, but kept being interrupted by those obligations during CNY. Which brings up a point. Why do I feel like its an obligation? Well for one thing… its the only time in a year I will get to see all my relatives at once. And since family is important, we generally want our parents to be happy during the lunar new year. The thing that’s rather contradicting was, my parents always fight about minor stuff and it kind of cascades into me and brother’s mood. It just drives me crazy when they just can’t seem to agree on anything and begin to argue about stuff. Which brings to mind something that my fiancee addressed to me this afternoon. Why do wives start to have this kind of strangely unreasonable behaviour that just pops out right during the big occasions like CNY? They start to get incredibly emotional and they just start to yap a ton of nonsense that does nothing but make the people close to them feel like crap. Like for example accusing us for not helping when we are always ready to help, and saying things like we’re useless even after becoming adults. Why can our fathers keep the peace and the mothers start to go nuts? This is the single most irritating thing about CNY. Everything else including spring cleaning is actually good. Of course not all mothers are like that… for example I can already name a few aunties whom I wish my mother can follow. Even G had this weird episode with her mum that was just so uncalled for… and it makes us sons and daughters super upset.

She then told me to remind her as we grow old together, to not go down this path of insanity. Yes I would call it insanity.

Before going to work tomorrow, a few things that I just want to put down in case I forget:

1) Travel with hun to Taipei/Bangkok/Hong Kong either place within this year

2)  Complete our flat renovations, and move in by the 3rd quarter of the year… earlier if possible (source for contractors once our bonuses have been declared)

3) Register our marriage on 7 May for just both our immediately families. Relatives to come for a separate banquet in 2013.

4) Source for a chinese restaurant by Q4 of 2012 for the wedding banquet.

5) Exercise a minimum of 3 time a week.

6) Improve my level of discipline towards my goals. Fight harder against food temptations like KFC, fried foods, and less meat. More fish and veg diet compared to my usual eating habits. Fight against fatigue, and the urge to just quit when things get tough.

7) Improve my work habits, stop putting off tasks away to the next day, and try to complete as many tasks as possible within a full work day.

8) Be punctual for work, stop being late. Reach the office no later than 9am everyday. Make it part of improving discipline.

9) Sleep earlier and turn in before midnight wherever possible.

10) Wake up earlier during weekends. If possible by 8am.

11) Spend more time on chores, and buck up discipline. When reaching home, take a shower right away, and start ironing clothes/hanging the laundry. You need to get into the habit, otherwise the transition will be very difficult.

12) Buy a Razer Mamba asap to remove the tech itch.

13) If its still not enough, buy the mad catz Rat 9 wireless mouse. But do not buy it till minimum 6 months of using the mamba.

14) Do not buy an Ipad, you cannot afford it. Because even if you can afford it, you won’t use it that much.

15) Always be there for G. She is going to be your wife.

16) Stop taking so long to reply G’s msgs.

17) Focus on cardio workouts for the first 2 months. Try to clock at least 4km every gym session. Subsequently integrate strength training into the fitness regime.

18) Plan weeks ahead if possible. Especially paying attention to gym sessions. Sacrifice things to be at the gym. Try not to use fatigue as an excuse, unless you’re falling ill. If the schedule needs to be changed, change it. Don’t cancel the gym sessions.

19) Be more organized at work, think harder, and don’t go soft on yourself. The recovery year is over… its time to get back in gear and push forward.

20) Watch your spending esp on food. Cut down on suppers. Fight against hunger at night, and conquer it. Wake up earlier to eat full breakfasts. Cut down on heavy dinners despite strong urges.

21) In summary, do not succumb too easily to urges and cravings. Discipline is going to be key this year in order for everything to work out better than last year.

Hopefully I’ve covered whatever is needed.

 

 

 

Enter the Dragon

Yes it is “chu yi” of Chinese New Year. And here I am waking up at just before 12pm in the afternoon, and deciding to hit my blog before I take that shower. Heater is still warming up.

In a short few months, developments of my new home with my new wife, have really changed the way we communicate and spend time together. It’s not a bad feeling in any sort of way, but it is different when you start to spend a bit more time deciding between the practical and the aesthetic when it comes to the new home. And… because we stay so far from each other, its hard to make the time to meet up and spend more time together and just be with each other for the sake of it. I mean, sure its important to make good decisions in renovation, but we both miss that part when we date and just enjoy each other’s company.

Anyway I will probably come to that part later on renovations. But the main topic of the day is of course, how Chinese New Year is going to be like this year. For one thing I can say, its a very different one compared to the past 30 years… in that I will finally be visiting another brand new family. My fiancee’s parents’ relatives. I really wonder if I’m prepared. I guess it should be ok since I have my clothes down… and I just need to bring my politeness and smile along.

Its really such a hot day today, has to be at least 32C outside. Thank god I put back my blinds if not the house is just gonna bake in the sun. Right so time is really starting to fly fast and furious now.

I guess I probably need to end this entry abruptly and write more about things another time. Till then, Happy Dragon Year and Going Xi Fa Cai!

So 2012 kicked off for awhile now.

And I still haven’t exactly reviewed my 2011 in detailed, neither did I really put much effort into thinking about my goals in 2012. There comes a point in time where you’ve done so much that you wanted to do, but then it kind feels rather empty. You start doing things for the sake of doing them, and you kinda forget why the heck you did them in the first place. Which brings to mind of course, where is that sense of direction? Where am I taking this body and soul to? What place do I want to find myself within the next few months? How am I going to achieve this elusive thing called true joy and satisfaction?

Again we ask, what, why, where, when and how. This is something that I haven’t exactly sat down to do all that much. But that’s not entirely true either. Looking at 2011, there’s been plenty done in terms of personal fulfillment since my graduation. I have practically been able to get back a lot of things that I have lost while I was studying so damn hard for my degree. Which is, a hell lot of rest, and a lot more play time. Which although might sound pretty meaningless to others, but absolutely essential to bringing back my sense of sanity after a really long spell of hardship doing the part time degree.

Yeah sure, lots of you people might think, “Hey its just a degree, no big deal, you didn’t aim to go for the first class or second class blah blah blah” I wouldn’t call that an unfair statement, but I just don’t friggin care about what you think about my situation anyway. Sure some would’ve worked a lot harder and got the results… but if anyone where to say I didn’t work hard… I didn’t do it for anyone. I did it for me and my future.

Since graduation, I finally got a custom cue with a design that I had always wanted. 4 flamed ebony points on BEM with fancy rings at all segments with hoppe ring at the bottom, ivory spear inlays, and lizard wrapped handle. And it hits like a gem too. I managed to start playing pool seriously again in early 2011, and went on to progress to the quarterfinals in a medium sized tournament. Despite not making it to the nationals, I have made decent decisions to hold off pool, and just concentrate on resting up more, improve my well being, and stop feeling so stressed up compared to past years. I truly felt that I needed to stop running at full speed, otherwise I would have just burnt myself out badly by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, I also managed to find more time to be with G, and spend more time on planning our new flat renovations, deciding on budgets and furniture, and also finalized on our ROM date. It has been such a different year from all the other years.

Of course on the downside, all that rest contributed to significant weight gain. From 75kg to 80kg to 85kg. 10 kg of weight gain within the past 2 years. Sounds very similar to the time when I entered poly and came out 10 kg heavier.

It was also a good year in terms of material wants. I got a new phone, an entire new gaming rig, bunch of really hot games in which I found that I really have hardly anytime to immerse myself in. A new BK2 break cue, which is my dream break cue. I paid up fully for my macbook pro. Bought new Babolat rackets and tennis gear. And above all, proposed to G with the best proposal ring that I could possibly afford, and also bought some new clothes. Not to mention, cooked a lot of steaks and giant prawns… and finally had the chance to make an awesome spanish seafood paella, and finally went on a few short getaways with my fiancee.

It was a good “recovery” year for me. Which was much needed considering that I had endured excessive years of exams. I could finally celebrate my birthday without any exam stress since 2005. Thank God for that. 2011 wasn’t the best year in terms of achievements, but nonetheless a decent year.

Lets look at what I wanted to do last year… and see if I got to do them

1) A short getaway to Bali or anywhere nearby with my gf. – check! We went to Batam… twice!

2) Organize a seafood bbq for just 4-5 pple. Including the fresh huge tiger prawns, maybe lobster if available, grilled salmon, chicken chops and vegetables. Oh… and of cos cheese sausages and bratwursts. Roasted peppers and cheesy mushrooms.  Wines only. – check! We had 2-3 bbqs at E’s place, with awesome steak, and the most recent occasion, a nice serving of large prawns, scallops and drumlets along with great steaks too!

3) Have another bigger bbq for 6-8 pple. Steaks, pork, chicken, bratwursts, potatoes with sour cream and bacon bits, vegetables, grilled fish. unlimited booze. – Didn’t manage to do this as it was too hard to find a venue, and pretty stressful to cook for so many folks.

4) Be 5 kg lighter despite after eating all that food. – what was I thinking? LOL

5) Train for national pool championships – made it to quarterfinals in SPGG 9 ball tournament, which I trained for very hard at the beginning of the year. Subsequently took a step backward as national standards were too high, and it did not make sense to sacrifice that much to do well at the national level. Goal is under KIV.

6) Organize YEC pool west zone challenge – no longer viable as this was only possible if I was single and could afford the time to do volunteer work.

7) Complete Killzone 2, God of War 1 to 3, Resistance 2, Bayonetta, Final Fantasy 13, Uncharted 2 – Out of this list, I have only completed Killzone 2. Just hard to find that much time to complete games.

8) Archive all my god damn notes! – Check! Got rid of them. =p

9) Start rollerblading again – OMG, I absolutely did not touch them in 2011.

10) Meet up with friends who lost contact since my exam prep. – Finally met up with WQ, G and I… and especially glad to hear that I is getting married!

11) Reinstate movie marathons every month. – not a practical goal since there is limited time to spend with my fiancee. But we still do catch the good movies when we can.

12) Eat with family at least once a week. For the first 2 weeks after my exams, have dinner with my family wherever possible. – I think I managed to do this. But recently not so much.

13) Reinstate early morning tennis on Sundays – that worked out for a short while, but since W gave up only managed to sustain a few weeks with JG. On the bright side, I started to go for tennis lessons in the last quarter of 2011.

14) Reinstate badminton sessions on Saturdays – this was too difficult as it always clashed with time with my fiancee.

15) Read more books – Read Freakanomics. I should definitely read more in 2012.

16) Apply for new jobs – no longer necessary as future seems more secure in current company.

So out of so many things I wanted to do in 2011… a lot of them did not happen… but what did happen was..

1) I proposed and she accepted

2) Our parents finally met each other on more than 1 occasion

3) We planned our budget for the new house and the ROM

4) I got a new gaming rig and finally got into Starcraft 2

5) Made closer foreign friends in the form of Y from ANZ, J from HK, R & A from CHI.

6) Maintained friendships with pool buddies, and made new friends via tennis.

All in all… a decent year for 2011. Time to think about 2012.