Endgame

"I never dreamed about success, I worked for it." - Estee Lauder, Entrepreneur

Today is probably the earliest I have ever woken up to watch a movie (showing at 8.20am). Avengers Endgame is so huge and popular that most tickets are sold out, and I have to pick the earliest (oddest) slot available in order to have a decent seat in the cinema. Being a big Marvel fan who have watched all the Marvel movies, this is one I have been looking forward to. It was out 3 days ago and I initially didn’t plan to watch it urgently. Not until people around me and the social media are starting to leak spoilers. People would casually make comments like “x number of people will die in the end’, ‘there are x number of plot twist in the end’, ‘who is that guy who appear in the end’. This spoilt the movie experience not just for me, but i’m sure for many other people. So, long story short, I made up my mind to book whatever timeslot available over this weekend to watch it before people continues to spoilt it for me.

Posters promoting the movie in train stations

Lost of a childhood friend

Money is numbers and numbers never end. If it takes money to be happy, your search for happiness will never end.” - Bob Marley

Haven’t been updating my blog actively for the past month as there has been alot going on. For the past few months, I had been visiting a childhood friend of mine in hospital, who was diagnosed with stage 4, lung cancer. We are of same age and know each other for probably about 26 years. We learn Taekwondo (till we reached black belt), played basketball together and used to hang out very often. These few months, seeing his health deteriorate little by little, it had been very difficult for us to watch and emotional for everyone. Just received news that he just passed away today, at a tender age of 39 years old…

One of his dying wish. Last week, we held a durian and KTV session in the hospital together with our group of childhood friends and his family.

Took this out this morning. Actually wanted to show this photo of our childhood Taekwondo days to him on my next visit. But didn’t have the chance.

New Macbook Pro

It just passed 3 years working in my present company and it seems changing your work laptop every 3 years is a thing in the company. So, I now have the new MBP, together with a insane number of dongles. You need a dongle each for the USB-A, VGA, HDMI, and ethernet port… I have been a mac years for the past 10+ years, and experience using this new MBP has been very good so far. Gonna take some getting use to bring the dongles around.

Breaking the bank, cancelled America trip

All my piggy banks are finally full and it is time to make a trip to the bank. In total, S$1,420.85 was collected, taking me about 3 years, 7 months to save this amount. (Previous time saved was on 11 July 2015, with a total of S$1, 375.55). Now, it’s back to square one again.

Accordingly to plan, I was supposed to be in United States the past 1.5 weeks, travelling to New York and Las Vegas. But due to an ‘urgent issue’ happening at home, I pulled out from this trip at the last min. Would have love to be there with my team but I’m not really feeling sad about this as I definitely want to be close to my family during this tough time. Anyway, .I can always look forward to this trip again, probably next week.

CNY 2019 recap, + "I'm OK, You're OK"

“People cannot inspire others unless and until they are inspired themselves.”

Today is the 7th day of Chinese New Year, and it is also last day of break before going back to work tomorrow. This year, I had a crazy 10 straight days of break away from work due to 2 days of notional holidays, + 4 days of ‘force leave’ by my company, + 2 weekends in between. For a 10 days break, it is over in a blink of an eye and i realised that I really didn’t do much. Recapping back to what I did over the past 10 days, I spend 3 days with my relatives in Malaysia, visited 4 relatives/family/colleagues/friends, went to clinic twice, went to the cinema once, and I wrote my first book review - “I’m OK, You’re OK” on my professional blog page. Before I know it, i am to return to work tomorrow. Great…

Toothbrush for successful people

So, the electric toothbrush which I have been using for the past 5 years. On the 1st day for Chinese New Year, 5th Feb 2019, it finally died on me. I have gums issue. Using electric toothbrush helped and I have swear by it since. I am upgrading the model which can integrate the toothbrush to your phone, with an app that monitor and teaches you how to brush your tooth. It’s the most intelligent toothbrush in the market, it’s rocket science, but it is also the most expensive! And that is way some reviewers say this is the brush for ‘successful people’. Far from the truth for my case. But having a better smile and money saved from lesser visit to the dentist may just bring me that tiny bit closer to that path.

CNY 2019

The Chinese New Year is probably the biggest festive occasion for Chineses. For me, however, I’m not too big on this. Maybe it’s due my parents have always chose to be away on holiday during this period. Leaving just me and my brother in the country. So, even if they are not away this year, nothing changes.

I do have another family in Malaysia and gathering with them is usually more ‘happening’ and something to look forward to. Partly due to them having a much bigger family, and partly because there are many kids as well. There are bout to have many random situations.

Lot’s of random stuffs happening with the family when everyone gathers

Reunion lunch

When you are in Malaysia during CNY countdown, you will be greeted with a huge display of fireworks!

1st certification 2019!

I tried taking afew courses in 2018, but did not take a single exam. In 2019, I’m super determined to be certified. Wasted no time and took the ‘Prosci Change Management’ course in Jan. Although it was only for 3 days, it was already disruptive for my work. Going in and out during the course to attend to work and having to work till late at night to make up for the time I was at the course. Cost was quite ex (SGD 5k), but it is a very good course. Happy to pass my 1st certification in 2019!

How many rubik cube does one need? I got way too many!

New work desk setup at home

Bought a laptop stand and a ‘magic keyboard’. With that, my work desk has evolved. Pretty happy with the new setup as working on my work desk is much more ergonomic now.

Been awhile since I last play the soft toy catcher machine. Tried playing one this week and after spending $28.50, on my 17th attempt, finally caught this. Did a check and this is currently being sold for $40 online. The claws of the machine was really weak, so it was quite a miracle and alot of luck that I managed to catch him in the end. Although I did try 17 times, pretty happy with the result.

CNY

Chinese New Year is 2 weeks away, and you can see stores selling CNY goodies everywhere. CNY is probably one of the most important festive season in Singapore. I’m never big on red packets, buying new clothes, decorating your house, etc. Neither do I like CNY goodies much actually. But I like is the vibe and and the festive spirit everywhere.

Probably my top 2 favourite gundam from all the series. “Aile Strike Gundam”. This is the metal build version from Bandai. Missed the initial sales and have to pay a small premium for it. Really love this piece.

Into 2019

“You will continue to suffer if you have an emotional reaction to everything that is said to you. True power is sitting back and observing things with logic. True power is restraint. If words control you that means everyone else can control you. breathe and allow things to pass.” - anonymous

10 days have pasted and it’s my first post in 2019. Lots of stuffs to look forward to in 2019 and I can’t wait to share more. Just confirmed my next overseas trip and I will be flying 18 hours to New York and Las Vegas this time.

Well, I can’t be too complacent and need to start working on my goals this year. For a start, get my first certification in Jan. In the mean time, always be mindful of a healthier life style - Eat better, sleep earlier, exercise.

Btw, the below comic drawn by Eva, it’s so me.

Goodbye 2018, hello 2019

“Always go with your passions. Never ask yourself if it’s realistic or not.”  - Deepak Chopra

If I am to use one word to sum up my 2018, it would be ‘peaceful’ (2nd word would be ‘unsatisfied’). Many things happened in this year, and it is generally a year of not many ups and downs in my life. I ended up not achieving most of the goals set for the year, although I did attained some unplanned achievements. The fact is, there are so much more I wish to do. I either need to work harder, or stay focus.

A recap of my 2018:

1. Created a new website, blogging about my profession as a Cloud Project Manager

2. I got promoted at work

3. Travelled quite a bit (Hong Kong, Macau, New Zealand and went on cruise twice (Thailand, Vietnam, KL))

4. Tired sky diving!

5. Took my first milky way photo

6. Actively maintaining my blog, food blog, professional blog and landscape website

Status of my goals set for 2018

1. Continue the plan to set up my business - Fail miserably 

2. Pass at least one IT professional certification - Started taking afew courses, completed none.

3. Excel in my current new job - Got promoted at work and continue work in progress

4. Reducing my weight to 80kg - Another fail

5. Recover from my knee injury - Not recovered. Instead, I learned to live with it.

6. Continuing my youtube channel and blog - I can confidently say, I did.

7. I need to sleep earlier - No excuse for this. I just didn’t put in afford.

Comparing to what I had achieved in 2016 and 2017, 2018 has been uneventful and unfulfilling by far. From what the fortune teller is saying, 2019 is gonna be an average year for those that’s born in my year (year of goat). But I am not someone to be superstitious about this kind of things anyway. I have some plans coming up for 2019 and I already know some things thats gonna happen in 2019. 2019 is gonna be an awesome year.

So, in 2019, I've come up with another list of resolutions. To make it easier for me to focus, I am cutting down the list to only 5 goals. The list is expected to be a 'work-in-progress' and will be modified according to shift in priorities.

My goals for 2019:

1. Continue the plan to set up my business/long term plan (TBC)

2. Pass at least 2 IT professional certification.

3. Reducing my weight to less than 80kg (No more excuses!)

4. I need to sleep earlier

5. Continue with my personal and professional website

New Zealand landscapes

Yes, even without anyone telling me, I know it’s been forever since I last uploaded any landscape photos. So, this weekend, before 2018 comes to a close, I made it a point to upload the landscape shots taken during my holiday in New Zealand last month. During my trip, I have not plan to go all out to hunt for landscape shots, but the place was really beautiful. Luckily, I had all my photography gears. Pretty satisfied the outcome. Shots taken with Nikon D7000, DJI Mavic 2 Pro, iPhone XS Max

Annual Xmas Dinner

Probably for the last 20 past years, it has been a custom for me to meet up with my secondary school class mates for dinner on xmas eve. As each of us started working, married and having children, it has become a once a year gathering for some of us. The evolution of our gang, from the addition of girlfriends, wives, and now kids! Really hope this tradition never end.

Refa looks like a *****

A friend working at Refa mentioned there is currently a discount for staff purchase of their product. Hearing so much about it, I hopped on the chance to get one. Totally shocked at the design of this thing.

Mid Dec 2018

Counting down to the last 2 weeks of 2018. 2018 past by extremely fast. So many things happened, so much done, and so much yet to do. And very soon, it will be my annual year end post to summary my year of 2018. For now, I’m busy planning for my next 2 overseas trip, one in Asia, and the other in America.

Abit of a random post, I’ve been craving for ice-cream since coming back from New Zealand. Came across this hokkaido ice-cream shop which serves really milky ice-creams. Extremely nice, but alittle pricy. Well, everything in Singapore is expensive nowadays anyway.

Been awhile since I wrote a new food blog. Visited a tonkotsu ramen shop yesterday and found it to be blog worthy. The restaurant is even within walking distance from my home. Link below.

Food Blog

Back-to-back movie weekend

“What makes you different is what makes you Spider-Man.” - #Spiderverse

It has been awhile since I go to the movies. Was out exploring the estate of Ang Mo Kio and thought to myself, why not watch some shows today. Ended up buying tickets for a back-to-back movies for ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ and ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald’. Both movies turned out so much better than my expectations. The spider man animated movie is about ‘the Spider-Man of his reality, crossing paths with his counterparts from other dimensions to stop a threat to all reality’. A spider man movie never disappoints. I was 50-50 before I watched this Fantastic Beast movie as my experience of watching the 1st Fantastic Beast movie wasn’t too impressive. But this one exceeded my expectation. And there are some parts which connects into the Harry Porter movie.

In addition, I was sorting out the huge collection of magnets I bought as I travel to different countries. I started collecting this and stick them on my fridge probably more than 10 years ago. And, I am starting to run out of space

'Who's the Murderer'

“What is your Vortex Collision? What is it the thing that you have to overcome, and how are you gonna do it?” - Youtuber #smartereveryday

Recently, I’ve been glued to this Chinese detective series, ‘Who’s the Murderer’. Every episode is a different scenario of a murder case. 6 celebrities role-play different characters. One of them plays the detective, and one is the hidden murderer. The whole show will cycle around each of the characters uncovering everyone’s secrets, murder motive, and finding evidence to uncover who is the murderer. Totally my type of show!

Away for 15 days

Just back from a 15 days trip to New Zealand last night! There have only been 1 or 2 times when I am away for so many days for a holiday. Being away this many days, you will either feel home sick and can’t wait to go back to your home, or you don’t feel like going back home ever. Unless you are traveling for business trip, most of the time it is the latter case. One thing for sure, it is one of my biggest and most expensive ‘project’ in 2018.

New Zealand is truly an awesome country. It is my first time travelling in NZ and I travelled to both the North and South Islands. I visited the Hobbiton and thermal wonderland; saw the Waitomo glowworms, Kaikoura sperm whale and the majestic Mt Cook; ‘hear’ the Milford Sound; walked the hooker Valley track; ate the lake tekapo salmon and Queenstown Fergburger; touched the Shamarra Alpacas. AND, I’ve skydived from 12,000 ft in Queenstown. I will probably be writing a travel blog for this trip.

 Being away for some many days, I missed food from home. Can’t say NZ food is not good, but I’m more to local Singaporean food. Went for my all time favourite ‘Hai Di Lao’ steamboat first thing today.

Another new Website is born

”今日もいい日だっ！” - LiSA

Ok, so it’s official. I’ve created another website. That will be a totally separated website on a total different plaftorm. ‘luvmilo' is a personal space where I blog about my personal life, my photography/videography hobby, travel and food blog etc. My new website will be a blog about my profession in IT. I will be blogging about my experience and sharing my knowledge about my profession. Will be investing more time in it to make it more meaningful.