*fustrating*

-chelsea has won the carling cup. 3-2 after extra time. not that it's unbelievable, but it's just fustrating to see liverpool giving away the little possession that they have and because they scored first and did very well for the first 90 secs of the game. *bleh* don't want to talk bout them anymore. hey. tom, adrian and john, it's really fustrating to see liverpool play football. it almost turn me against my favourite sports!

-milan derby on eurosports tonight. it's not a must watch game given the predictable ultra-defensive play of the italians. 75% chance that it will be a draw, but i still wanna watch it before it's back to work tomolo.

lending my support

-i don't really support liverpool. but for tomolo, just for tomolo, i'll throw my support behind them for the carling cup. =) and i should be watching the match. which also means that i've been pubbing quite often this week. i went on wed to watch the barcelona game, thur for a colleague's farewell drink, sat for the man u game and tomolo for the carling cup. but it's all for a cause!!! =)

-watched infernal affairs 2 just now. i think that it was a pretty good show coz my friends told me that it wasn't as good as 1 or 3. but i gotta say that you should watch 1 and 3 before watching 2. well, at least that's how i feel.

-let's not deviate from the topic, fingers cross everyone, and hope that liverpool will beat chelsea tomolo.

what a week

-woke up pretty late today-11am. but i got an excuse! i was really really tired yesterday. i woke up at 7am yesterday instead of the usual 8am and i left for work really early and i was in the office at 8:15am. and working in the payroll is not mentally easy. it's 'physically' easy coz what you gotta do is to ensure that the timesheets and invoices match. but your timesheets and invoices have to be paid on time, or else, contractors and consultants will start emailing and asking you why wasn't so and so been paid. oh well, money matters, it's always sensitive. but so far, it's been good. i quite enjoy the intensity and dealines... in fact, i worked 42hours instead of the usual 37.5hour week. who knows, i might end up as a workaholic.

-enough bout work. it's the weekend. i shall leave it aside for 2 days every week and enjoy my well deserve rest.

-i just watched the man u vs portsmouth game. it's a typical man u game. man u will score first, before they concede a goal then they'll score the winning goal in the last 10 mins. you gotta respect them for such consist performances and heart-pounding action! =) if only they maintain more composure in front of the goal, they could have score at least 3 goals in every game! but i am glad that they won 2-1. though we might not win the title this year, we are going to push chelsea all the way to the end. and if we do win the title, it would be the ultimate lesson for chelsea. *fingers crossed*

-drank lots of beer this week too. 4 pints on thur, a pint yesterday and today... and there's a few more cans in the fridge... hmmm... alcoholic workaholic soccerholic.

HO HO HO HORLICK!!!

me me me

-watched the barcelona vs chelsea game last night. it wasn't fantastic really. it was like watching chelsea players doing what the porto players did last season. what a disappointment given the quality of the players that they have. you could have said that it was a tactical move, but still, it's disappointing. don't like chelsea anyway, so i hope that they will win NOTHING this season.
and now, i can't decide if i should watch the 2nd leg on UNITED or whatever that's available on tv for the 2nd leg. sad to say, UNITED played a very good game but they just couldn't score and Milan capitalised on a mistake. lost 0-1. but given UNITED's form, they can win the 2nd leg convincingly.
with my FOOTBALL and my UNITED and ME ME ME!!!

if only snow had colours!!!

before i go to bed, this thought came to my mind.

if only snow had colours... pink for my sister, sky blue for little kids, green for the caterpillars, blue for the boys, red for the sweet-tooth, purple for the funky, yellow for the person that we secretly like...

and if only we can see fart!!! *copyrighted from the deleted scenes of Love Actually*

it's a cold spell!!!

the title might be abit overstated given that it's winter, but it sure is colder than usual this week. as far as i know, it snow twice today. once in the afternoon and once just now at ard 10pm. my first time seeing snow from the sky. *i feel like a country bum saying this* snow is like the frost u get in the freezer, definately not like cotton-wool which i thought when i was in primary school.
apparently, it's minus 11 in russia and the cold wind is blowing from there. hey, cheer up! at least it's not minus 15 like in poland =)

went for the LSE dance society thing just now. it's entertaining. given that i don't know anything bout dance... i think i should be right to say that it had lots of different dances. though the production's tiny bit too long but the seats were tiny and there wasn't much leg-space.

who thinks that jennifer garner is stunning??? i think that she has shoulders that are too broad for her sweet face. and she's also too tall for her sweet face. what do you have to say, jon tai. defend your idol!!!

and this reminds me that i had a conversation with alicia (friend's friend) on sat night at the club bout whether i am a boob or ass person... and why did we end up talking bout such a topic... i think it's because of dancers that we saw who show quite abit of flesh that lead to the conversation...

oh well, random random me...

another different weekend

-went out for a drink last night with a friend's friends and her friends. and they open a bottle of vodka for 130 quids. what a bloody rip off! and the music wasn't fantastic either, it was like having the radio switched on at full blast on a 10,000watt mini-hifi.

-watched the 5th round FA Cup matches that were shown on tv. basically, i am very satisfied with man u's result and the fact that chelsea lost. a pity that they have some many players injuried now. but hey, man u had many key players injuried 2 seasons ago and they still made it. not that i want chelsea to win though...

-church's good today. i learnt that i'm part of a christian community, not a christian religious religion. and it's bout the people ard you. people people people... human beings... homosapians... two-legged mammals...

to the girl with a nice nose whom i saw on the street yesterday

-The former Embassy Bar has been taken over by NTUC Club!!! *DANG* i can't believe it. this cannot be happening but it's true!!! who knows, in the near future, we'll all be clubbing inside NTUC fairprice!!!

-The PM just made his budget day speech. not much comments really but i guess we gotta trust the government to make sound policies. one comment which i have is: "the govt's money is the people's hard earn money. Therefore, there's no such thing as the govt's hard earn money."

-i wanna play footie tomolo... but we might not have enough players...

-lots of random thoughts that i can't be bothered to write... i just wish for a goodnight's rest and a good weekend ahead before going back to work on monday. not that work is bad, it's just that work is work. it drains you mentally and physically no matter what.

-it just came to my mind that the thing bout Singapore is that it's effective and efficient. however, it doesn't quite have a personality. it's not very interesting or exciting. It's like the Germans. =) except Claudia.

THE GOONIES!!!

it was fun at work today! my colleagues started naming one another after characters in the show THE GOONIES. and i'm BRAND. haha.
all i can remember is that i first watched the show a very very long time ago and i've forgotten what the whole show is like. i can only remember that it's bout a bunch of kids looking for some treasure and a pirate ship. the show was actually telecast on tv a few days ago, but becoz of the generation gap-my housemates didn't know what the show is all bout and they switched the channel to something else instead.
and i thought that i was the only person ard who had watched the show. but little did i expect that it's actually a very popular show in the UK. one of those all time kids' classic. well, at least i think that it's popular with people ard my age. ha, it brings back fun memories and makes working more enjoyable.
time to hit the bed... can anyone tell me how to improve the layout of my blog... thanks.

ding dong bell

-working in the payroll department is tiring. but i don't really mind. coz it's abit more exciting. in fact, my first day in the payroll and i worked an entra half an hour. hopefully, i can do things faster and better as the days go by.

-i have the sore throat for almost 6 days liao. hopefully, the mixture of warm water and honey will make it the recovery process faster.

-to go or not to go to rome with billy... i've been to rome b4... so, should i go... but i did throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain.

-my auntie bought a really little and cute dog and my cousin posted some pictures of the dog on his blog. it looks really really cute!!! it really looks like one of those little soft-toy doggie. and she getting a golden retriver too! hmmm... i don't know which dog will i like better. i wonder if i'll ever get a dog in the future...

-looking for cheap deals to barcelona, prague, budapest, edinburgh...

-still considering if i should get the blue-shirt from Topman...

another week without soccer

-Venessa from a recruitment agency called me on wed and offer me a job in some recruitment agency along The Strand. it's the same job and it pays a quid higher but i have to start work on fri or monday. i told her that i have to think bout it and talked to my manager because of the short notice period. my manager asked me why am i leaving and do i not like my current work place. i told her that i like the current place very much but i also needed the money. so she said that she wants me to stay but she needs to talk to another manager bout offering me a job in another department which also means higher pay. blar blar blar, so now, here i am, starting a different job on monday with a 2 weeks trial period before it's confirmed. *thank you God for the opportunity and i hope that it will work out well*

-throat's abit dry... need to drink tons more water

-i'm already looking for new housemates for the next tenancy... CPH is central, near to my workplace, church and chinatown. but it's abit steep, abit too noisy. i need something cheaper... say 360 quid per month???

-found out last night that Tze and Linli are divers too. we talked quite abit bout diving last night and i so wanna do a few dives right in Koh Tao or Koh Nangyuan where the water is crystal clear and there's colourful corals, beautiful fishes and maybe whale sharks to see!!!

-looking back, i gotta say that my sats have been very quiet even with footies on sat eversince i went to white hart lane and had a few round of beers at a few pubs last sat.

-played majhong again last night and conclusion is that u definately need the 'animals' when u play Singapore style majhong. and although i know what's the winning tiles that people want, i still continue to throw the winning tile. i better stop this bad habit of casual playing in case i play with money again.

-1:20pm... let's check to score for everton vs chelsea!!!

ciao

hoping to get the answer i want

-i'll find out tomorrow if next monday will be a significant day for me...

-anna has a pretty hot body =) can't believe that she's married!

-england vs holland was boring. 4-3-3??? andy johnson on the flanks??? loyalty to owen and beckham??? at this rate, england might not qualify for world cup!!!

-throat's feeling abit sore... too much MSG for me last night... gotta drink lots of water b4 i sleep tonight

-received a speeding fine for the road trip up down from manchester. 60 quid... *sigh* and i wanted to buy a top from topman... i seriously gotta consider it now.

-i snore alot recently...

- i hope that there's football to play this sat.

-already thinking of where to stay and who to stay with in sep.

-which job position suits me the best? a trader? an analyst? a slacker?

-i'm getting old, been stretching alot recently so that i don't feel so stiff...

what do you think?

security will bring about stability and stability will bring about any form of government.

so what brings about security?

economics

inflation is lower than expected>lower dollar value... why? the reason is because central bank will hold off additional interest rate increase.

expect higher interest rate, current account and fiscal deficit to narrow>higher dollar value

"China's January export growth picked up speed, defying expectations that a weaker U.S. dollar would slow the trend and giving the U.S. more ammunition in its efforts to convince China to allow the yuan to appreciate."
-can someone please explain the analysis to me?
-why would a weaker US dollar slow China's export?
-i only know that the yuan is pegged to the dollar and it's pegged 'unfairly low' relative to the US dollar.
-because the yuan is pegged 'unfairly low' to the US dollar, the yuan is therefore 'weaker' and therefore it's currency is more competitive than the US dollar. i.e. it's goods are cheaper aboard.
-and what's next? what will a weaker US dollar lead to?

what is expectation theory?

IS-LM and IS-LM-BP... i forgotten everything liao

CAPM, binomial option pricing model, black scholes, gordon growth model...

what happens when government sell bonds? less money supply, interest rate goes up and then? in the first place, am i even right?

towards the end of last year, the interest rate was such a hot issue in the newspaper... everyone was talking bout the increase in the rate of inflation and possible increase in interest rate... blar blar blar. but look at what's happening? absolutely nothing is reported in the newspaper. and interest rate has been increasing significantly for the past few months and yet there's not much hype bout it now. and my explanation (conspiracy theory) is that in the beginning of the year, interest rate will be increased to attract financial investments, increase the value of the currency and increase stock prices (bull market). in the second quarter, imports will increase because of a stronger currency but it will be a quiet market in terms of risk and returns but there might be financial scandal that will be uncovered. in the third quarter, to increase net export due to the widening trade account, interest rate will fall, and the financial investment will flow out, the currency will be weaker, import will fall, export will rises and there will be increase in physical investment and borrowing. in the fourth quarter, production will increase for Christmas and Boxing day sales, the newspapers will talk bout inflation and possible hike in interest rate and the whole cycle starts all over...

... i must be really bored...

a week where all the leaders hit a bump

chelsea was held to a draw.
barcelona lost.
juventus lost.
we don't really care bout the rest of leagues right?

one less incentive to go to work

X has left.
=(
she's quite pretty.
one of those you classify as a 'pretty librarian'!
well, at least i got a hug from her before she left.
=)

smile and the whole world smiles with u

i just love it. i'm watching topgear now and it's bout the only show that brings a laugh to me. i shall not even explain or describe it coz i am not good at it. but the episode that i am watching right now is really funny. they are using a mega-big cannon, using a car as a cannonball and shoot it at some cars standing at an upright position some distance away. a.k.a. car-bowling. blar blar blar...

and yesterday was a smashing day. never did anything like it before and i like it. basically, it was all bout my trip to white hart lane...

but i don't feel like talking out it now. basically it's bout beer and vodka lemonade, spurs vs portsmouth, executive box in white hart lane, free-flow food, good match and some other stuff...

con-air on tv now... nice soundtrack and some good memories then...

alittle perspective of life

there's something bout life that i find intriguing...

a man from South America, who left home and has been in London for 6-8 years.
a woman from Eastern Europe, who gave up a good job in her home country and come to London to seek better life.
another man from South Africa, who hates his country, comes to London and doesn't want to return to his native land
yet another man from Singapore, who came to London just to experience life...

yes. i am that man from Singapore. the reason i applied for the working holiday visa is that i wanted travel, see the world/europe, be independant and experience life. i wanted to go to exotic places, places where the normal travel agencies do not bring you to and see lots of things. i wanted to be independant. pay my rent, cook my own meals, do my own dishes and all the other household chores. i just wanted to be different and experience life. but now, i felt that there's more to life than be able to do all these. there's nothing wrong to be doing a working-holiday, in fact, i think it's good and i encourage it. but the more important thing is to be able to see, know and compare people's life in perspective. the knowledge that you are much more blessed than others, being thankful and grateful for it and showing compassion, love and care to the rest of the people out there. i think that's the lesson that everyone must experience or at least know.

if i have to go back to singapore right now and not be able to visit barcelona, prague or anywhere and be stuck in singapore for the rest of my life, i don't feel that i will miss out on too much.

afterall, these people left home because they wanted a better life. and they had a legitimate reason to do so. it's not totally because they wanted to earn more money. but the bigger picture is that they needed more money. the needed the money to support their family, violence is so bad at home that there are security guards at the cash machine so that you don't get rob when you withdraw money, you don't get killed because you bump into someone or kidnap while driving down the road...

hope you get the idea of what i am trying to say...

01/02/05, tuesday, 5:30pm to 10:00pm and its aftermath

5:20pm - returned to the office after collecting the internal post
- fabio had already cut his finger and it was bleeding profusely
- after some first-aid treatment, the manager decided that he needed to be sent to UCH
i was asked if i could accompany fabio to the hospital
- i said yes (but i didn't exactly want to cause i was suppose to catch arsenal vs man u)
- got into the cab and got to UCH within a few min

5:45pm - registered in the hospital , sat down and waited (fabio commented that when the nurse asked for his next of kin and he said he has none here, it really struck me that most of us has no next of kin here and it's sad at times like this)
- after a quarter of an hour, he was called into the waiting room where the nurse had a look at the wound, and said that the doctor's opinion was required and we had to go out and back to the waiting room for the doctor
- weird people at the hospital. there was a guy who turned on the tv and went to get something, the nurse turned off the tv and when the guy returned, he started scolding and critisizing the nurse and the hospital. there was also another guy, who had clutches. he insisted on seeing a certain doctor. but the hospital staff just ignored him and they even locked the door to the waiting him when he tried to enter the consultation room
- finally, we were called into the consultation room
- after the initial examination, stitches were needed and we had to wait for the operating theatre to be available
- after a quarter of an hour, the operation finally began
- becoz it was a minor op, anaesthetic was not required and the doctor proceed to stitch up the open wound
- curiosity got the better of me and i watched the whole operation
- bad idea/mistake/bad move
- the skin was dangling off fabio's finger like a peeled carrot or potato skin. and when the doctor was adjusting the skin to ensure that the skin would grow back properly before he does the stitching, i felt really really sick. it wasn't the blood or anything, it was sight of the piece skin dangling from the finger that made me sick
- i felt giddy, light headed and i wanted to faint, but i didn't
*the doctor has not even started the stitching
-3 stitches was required. before the 3rd and final stitch, fabio stretched out his left hand and i had to hold his hand to assure him. sounds dodgy if i made a statement and said that i hold the hand of a gay. but i guess if you were in the situation and u get the bigger picture, you'll know that it's understandable
-when everything was done, it was already 7pm... the time i was suppose to meet aaron and joey at my place for the football match
-got to the pub at 7:15pm and it was already full. so we had to stand and wait for 45min for the match to start

8:00pm - live telecast from Highbury
- vieira and keane were arguing in the tunnel
- match started, first foul within a min
- ashley cole dived during the 3rd min
- arsenal scored in the 8th min
- man u equalised but arsenal lead 2-1 at half time
- joey texted caleb and made fun of all MAN U fans
- match restarted, blar blar blar
- man u equalised, man u led, man u had a man sent off, man u scored again
- man u won 4-2

next day, i was given a ticket to the tottenham vs portsmough match for the weekend.

thinking back, i guess i could have said no and not go to the hospital, but then, it might made someone lonely and fearful in the hospital alone. i could also left the hospital when it was 6:45pm so that i could meet aaron and joey on time, but i didn't. there are lots of things i could have done... but i guess the right thing to do and be to done is be there for someone. and being there for someone usually means a sacrifice. i am not saying that i made a big sacrifice, but i could have gone home straight after work instead of spending an hour and a half at the hospital. and you all know the reward that i got coz i have said it quite a number of times. but the other reward which is not mine and not tangible is that people know that i'm a christian and that i'm a nice guy. i said that i am a christian and i've proven it by an action.

all glory and honour to God.

quotes

i posted this in Multiply. but since not everyone has it, here are some quotes to enjoy.

-we walk alone in the world. friends such as we desire, are dreams and fable - ralph waldo emerson

-the grape gets its purple tinge by looking at another grape - juvenal

-patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel - samuel johnson

-so this gentlemen said a girl without brains ought to do something with them besides think - anita loos

-a bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it - bob hope

-i like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live tan other things - willa cather

-thanks to God, i am still an atheist - luis bunuel

-now, we are becoming the men we wanted to marry - gloria steinem

-i would die for my country but i would never let my country die for me - neil kinnock

-angels can fly because they take themselves lightly - g.k. chesterton

-there are two things that will be believed of any man whatsoever, and one of them is that he has taken to drink - booth tarkington

-all books are either dreams or swords, you can cut, or you can drug, with words - amy lowell

-some things can't be ravished. you can't ravish a tin of sardines - d. h. lawrence

-when you see what some girls marry, you realise how much they must hate to work for a living
- helen rowland

-a sip is the most that mortals are permitted from any goblet of delights - alcott-scarlett

-... i wish i could care what you do or where you go but i can't... my dear, i don't give a damn - margaret mitchell

-on the plus side, death is one fo the few things that can be done as easily lying down - woody allen

-i paint object as i think them, not as i see them - pablo picasso

-money couldn't buy friends but you got a better class of enemy - spike milligan

-never explain - your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway - elbert hubbard

-a thick skin is a gift from God - konrad adenauer

-when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal - richard nixon

-the main fault of all books is that they are too long - vauvenargues

-spread the table and contention will cease - ben sira

-chaos often breeds life, when order breeds habit - henry brooks adams

-in violence we forgot who we are - mary mccarthy

-love many, trust few, always paddle your own canoe - mary tully

-self-love seems so often unrequited - anothony powell

-practical politics consists in ignoring facts - henry brooks adams

-everything is funny as long as it is happening to someone else - will rogers

-all you need in this life is igorance and confidence; then success is sure - mark twain

-bigamy is having one husband too many. monogamy is the same - erica jong

-to fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead - bertrand russell

-a camel is a horse designed by a committee

-politics is the second oldest profession. i've come to realise it bears a very close resemblance to the first - ronald regan

-cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth - lillian hellman

-to err is human but to really foul things up requires a computer

-i don't mind what language an opera is sung in so long as it is a language i don't understand - edwards appleton

-nobody loves a fairy when she's forty - arthur w.d. henley

-there is more difference within the sexes than between them - ivy compton-burnett

-the four stages of man are infacy, childhood, adolescence and obsolescence - art linkletter

-better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self - cyril connolly

-dancing is a perpendicular expression of a horizontal desire - george bernard shaw

-it's only those who do nothing that make no mistakes - joseph conrad

-i never hated a man enough to give him diamonds back - zsa zsa gabor

-first things first, second things never - shirley conran

-i have noticed that people who are late are often so much jollier than the people who have to wait for them - e. v. lucas

-we want better reasons for having children than not knowing how to prevent them - dora russell

-few misfortunes can befall a boy which bring worse consequences than to have a really affectonate mother - w. somerset maugham

-an autobiography is an obituary in serial form with the last instalment missing - quentin crisp

-cynic:a blackguard whose faulty vision see things as they are, not as they ought to be - ambrose bierce

-this last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason - t. s. eliot

-history is littered with wars which everybody knew would never happen - enoch powell

-being an old maid is like death by drowning, a really delightful sensation after you cease to struggle - edna ferber

-an exaggeration is a truth that has lost its temper - khalil gibran

-let us be thankful for the fools. but for them the rest of us could not succeed - mark twain

-peace: in international affairs, a period of cheating between two periods of fighting - ambrose bierce

-education is what surives when what has been learned has been forgotten - b. f. skinner

-the quality of debate in the House of Lords is pretty high - good evidence of life after death - donald soper

-it takes a lot of time to be a genuis, you have to sit around so much doing nothing, really doing nothing - gertrude stein

-saint: a dead sinner revised and edited - ambrose bierce

-my life will be sour grapes and ashes without you - daisy ashford

-from politics it was an easy step to silence - jane austen

-children sweeten labours, but they make misfortunes more bitter - francis bacon

-fate is not an eagle, it creeps like a rat- elizabeth bowen

-force is not a remedy - john mright

-i do not mind lying, but i hate inaccuracy - samuel butler

-the dodo never had a chance. he seems to have been invented for the sole purpose of becoming extinct and that was all he was good for - will cuppy

-evil triumphs when good man do nothing

-man fear time, yet time fear the pyramids

i feel alittle better and happier

I felt totally shitty last week when i tried to map out my course of life for the next 6-8 months, coz it seems to be going in a certain direction which isn't really that good and i can't seem to see any way out of it.

but since yesterday, i am starting to feel much better. nothing in my life changed... for now. but it was the sum of a few events like the watching of football match between arsenal vs manchester united, receiving sweets that was brought from poland by my collegue, accompanying a collegue to the hospital which was appreciated by the company and i received a ticket for the weekend's match between tottenham vs portsmouth, catching chicago the musical with a collegue... it was all these little things that made me felt much better.

it's true that i still do not know what's in store for me at my final destination in the 6-8 months' time that i am most worried bout, but for now, i am glad that the journey has been lined with pleasant and memorable people, friendship and activities.

i got it!!!

East Stand
Executive Box
Box No. 104
Match No. 13
Spurs v Portsmouth

SHIOK!!!

i wish that...

i wish that i can some day return to a home where i can kick off my shoes and socks, close the door behind me in a sound studio, power up my good sound sytem, dim the lights, play an hour or two of nice music, sink into a large and comfortable reclining chair, close my eyes and chill.

*i miss my illegal collection of MP3 music in my computer!!!*

bored. let's blog

today, is the last day of work without anna ard. hooray!!! miss her so much. hehe. and now that she's back, i got someone to share my workload with. =)

i actually took a detour on the way home from work and went towards chinatown. but i didn't go into any saloon to get a haircut. i'm still considering if i should DIY or get it done soon... and i continued walking and went home.

got home, went online and found out that vivian wrote a testimonial for me on friendster and i approved it straight away. =)

still looking for a more challenging and better job... nothing much to talk bout... just that i'm having a 'sian' feeling. i'm willing to work 12 hours a day, just as long as i only work on the weekdays and all i ask for is that the job is finance/banking related and no sales PLEASE! and honestly, from the bottom of my heart, without a higher income, i will be stuck in london, not able to go for holidays, able to return to singapore but not able to return to london. what sort of working holiday visa is this man!!! absolute SHIT!!! blar blar blar... *damn it, my emotions are taking over and i am bout to use not very nice words*

i better run along then....