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You feel it, don't you?
2007-11-29 06:17:00
It's not out officially, and the PR guys from both the government and the banking sectors will tell you otherwise and try to paint an optimistic picture, but there's something ominous looming in terms of economic outlook for the next 12 months ahead, isn't there? You kind of get that vibe talking to people on your business development rounds, don't you, that somehow, things are just not as rosy as what the official industry watchers say.Methinks there is the dreaded "r" word lurking at the periphery, what with ridiculous property prices that are still going around, and an observable cut-back on hiring trends in some industries... and of course, we all don't know yet what the repercussions of the US sub-prime crisis bring to Asia, if any-- well, at least that sort of information is not readily available to the man on the streets.In fact, there are a lot of information with regards to prevailing economic conditions that are not available to the average Joe, and poor Joe just has ...
More About: Feel It , Feel

And you thought no one was paying attention...
2007-11-28 13:33:00
Bear's a voyeur! *grins****Been told off by my mom after she heard me trying to help a cousin with some General Paper holiday assignment (seriously, don't these teachers have a life?) titled "Humans are created equally but not fairly. Discuss."And that's some really philosophical discussion for JC students, isn't? Anyway, Mom got concerned when I suggested that it should really read humans are not created to be equal nor fair. I mean, look around you, and the evidence is evident all around: some people are more "equal" than others, and there are yet some amongst us who are created more "fairly" than others. And "equality" does not necessarily mean "fair", if you know what I mean.Not that Mom was concerned with my apparent lack of empathy for others-- this she knew already, and she's long resigned that her son lacks compassion and is some obnoxious snob. It's just that she felt that my sweet 17 cousin shouldn't be exposed to such harsh opinions of reality. Yeah right. As if C...
More About: Thought , Attention

It's confirmed...
2007-11-27 15:42:00
...that I am an Alpha Male, as is proven by me profile from AlphaMaleSyndrome.Com (there are people at Harvard U that spend time and effort researching stuff like this??), and a Visionary one at that. In short, I'm supposedly highly competitive, have a slight problem controlling my anger and frustrations at work, impatient, have high risk tolerance, and I am likely to push people working for me very hard to achieve my almost impossible standards.Not that stuff like this are new to me anyway. Other personality profiles like DISC and Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) have revealed similar traits and behaviours.Thanks anyway, Kate Ludeman, PhD and Eddie Erlandson, MD for your research work.

Music and Lyrics.
2007-11-27 07:44:00
Wicked Games is a great, great make-out song, if you asked me. There's something about the way Chris Isaak croons that haunting tune that makes it oh-so-tantalising when you're playing the song in the background while trying to play the part of the amorous lover.I think women kinda dig the song too, I suspect, because each time I have the CD playing after dinner and champagne...well, take it from me, it just works. :P" The world was on fire No one could save me but you. Strange what desire will make foolish people do I never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you And I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you "
More About: Music , Lyrics , Music and Lyrics

Grin
2007-11-26 03:09:00
I thought this was funny. Do you think it's funny? I think it's funny enough. :D
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Hmmm.
2007-11-26 02:37:00
Over the weekend, we met up with a friend of La Femme's who's an aspiring socialite.What does it mean to be a "socialite" anyway? After working for magazines, I've come to the conclusion that the word is a slang for "pompous, glamour-loving rich bum/bitch". How else do you explain a proactiveness to being photographed at glamourous high-society events wearing designer labels, rubbing shoulders with ministers and members of royalty, and trying to awe some freshie journalist about your latest "charity" drive in the form of a golf tournament which really, is just another opening for more photography moments and a slot in Singapore Tatler or The Peak?Some people seem to think that so long as you lived in a landed property in Bukit Timah, zip around in a flashy Mercedes SLK and dress yourself from head to toe in designer labels, you've "arrived", and if you joined the top country clubs in the city and mixed with the rich and influential people in town, you're part of the elite socia...

Back for a while.
2007-11-21 09:24:00
I think the lack of updates says it all: busy, busy, busy.Except that what's keeping me occupied, among other things are basically the back-end work: administrative stuff, tie-ups with other companies and independent consultants, and such. Then again, it's the tail end of the year, so don't think there's much business development work going around especially given most folks are already in the Christmasy mood.Will be back with more updates soon. I hope.
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Breathe - How Can I Fall?/ Hands to Heaven
2007-11-15 00:46:00
La Femme sent these to me, and goodness, both bring back so many memories of my school days!...'cept of course they're those old school 80's MTVs, which means pretty crappy scenes.
More About: Heaven , Hands , Fall , Breathe

Food for thought.
2007-11-14 02:52:00
Here's a nice signature signoff from someone I know that I thought was meaningful:A ship was built for sailing, not berthed safely in a harbour.How would you like your ship, sailing or berthed?
More About: Food , Thought

Multiplicity
2007-11-14 01:46:00
You call it "a lack of focus". I call it "diversification".Got popped on MSN by a friend who asked the following: I thought you were doing a HR consulting business. How is it you are also doing events management at the same time? Business not working out?CHOY GA LEY! (Cantonese for "touchwood!"). Being a pantang Singaporean Chinese, I'd say hello, don't anyhow curse me okay!The answer is YES, I am running a HR consultancy, and YES, I am also doing events management, and I'm doing it in perfectly legitimate ways: I am running 2 registered business in the corresponding industry classifications, and hence that's why I was looking for a partner to help out in the HR bit.Yes, I may have been in a bit of a hurry to start 2 businesses at the same time, but really, windows of opportunities exist only for a limited period, and I'm just trying to cash in and ride the waves, so to speak. Besides, ever heard of business cycles? That's when you only get business coming in at certain times ...

And so the story goes...
2007-11-14 01:18:00
Don't be a wise ass and go "dida di, didadidadi..." here.X called me up in the middle of the D&D last night and asked if I could meet him, but since I was already engaged for the evening, I told him I couldn't make it, and he said he'd go call up another friend for drinks. If he isn't careful, he could very well end up turning gay at this rate.Well, the company was really serious about axing him for his little office romp with Lady Love, it's a done deal, the bosses have talked to him, HR gave him a termination slip, and in a week, he's out. Goodbye glamorous financial institution career. Goodbye to my damned commission too, for the deal was that he had to stay on for a year else I refund the company (now why did I put in that clause for??), and the bugger's there for like what, four months? I have a good mind asking him to pay up the compensation from his own wallet-- friends are friends, but when it comes to business, even friends have to be calculative.Speaking of term...
More About: Story , The Story , Goes

Black tie and what not.
2007-11-13 12:13:00
Once every month, I don my monkey suit for a little supposedly-sinister gathering of sorts (shall not elaborate further), and I make do with one of those clip-on bow ties for convenience. Well it looks pretty decent enough before the rest of the gents, so I am now wondering why the hell I spent the last half hour or so wrestling with a piece of black satin trying to do up a nice bow when I could equally have made do with the old clip-on.Yes folks, it's that time of the year again, when companies, in celebration of yet another fruitful year, hold their D&Ds. Well this year, I don't have one to go to because I no longer belong to a company (ha ha), but instead find myself accompanying La Femme to hers. And some bloody sod up at the Welfare Committee decided it was going to be black tie this year. Hence, yours truly in a monkey suit.Hence, here I am typing on my laptop as I await the Princess to finish up on her makeover before we hit the ballroom-- fashionably late, to that effe...
More About: Black

Children be nice
2007-11-13 01:00:00
One thing that never fails to make me wonder: why is it that while we were kids, we always seemed to be in a hurry to want to grow up? If I could make that sort of choice, I would choose not to grow up too quickly. Life was supposed to be simple until you throw in the politics and the economic considerations, the rat race, the paper chase-- all those bullshit that were contrived from the minds of crooked people we call capitalists (Gosh, I sound like a fucking Commie here!)But I am more envious of a three-year-old who spends most of his days exploring and learning about the world around him more than I am of some self-made entrepreneur/CEO who claims he created the world he lives in. Some days I'd wake up, look at the mirror and as I picked up the electric shaver, I'd ask absolutely crazy questions like "exactly when did I start shaving?". I mean, there was a time when I wasn't plagued by the 3am shadow and had to stock up on the Gillettes. Where did that 12 year old kid who laug...
More About: Children , Singapore , Nice

Lessons in life...
2007-11-12 13:01:00
Rule No. 1: You don't shit in your own backyard. Rule No. 2: You don't screw around with your superior.Simple rules of the thumb for the corporate flirt. Don't ever try to have an affair in the office, and for goodness sake, don't have an affair with your immediate superior, no matter what a big turn-on she is.Friend of mine-- let's call him X-- found himself in a bind when (a) he had an affair with his married superior; (b) they found themselves compromised in a compromising position in her office on a night they thought no one else was around, but guess what: like a cruel divine joke, there will always be someone around, and it's always a case of don't kiss and tell, but the other people know anyway.Quite a fix huh, and X now finds himself in a sticky situation: somebody told someone who snitched to the higher bosses about the affair and that little tete-a-tete in the lady's office sans the clothes, and the bosses obviously aren't happy; and secondly, Lady Love's hubby h...
More About: Life , Lessons

Ponderings
2007-11-12 03:02:00
The past couple of days, with the lack of updates on this journal, was largely dominated by 2 big events: the new business keeping me busy with trying to hunt for new leads, and a bout of bad stomach flu that didn't let up until the weekend.I like some of the comments in the last entry, particularly the one by Enigma (she likes Debussy too? Nice!) that said that "...Ownership in relationships says more about the "owners" insecurity than anything else", and that "...its only in the last few hundred years that marrige has been romantized, before that it was a business contract,NOT a love contract."How true indeed. The marriage between my two sets of grandparents were both arranged marriages, very common of people their generation, and especially in the case of my paternal grandparents, marriage was a contract between two families forged on business relations and alliances. I'm not sure if the arranged marriages ended up with love blossoming, but one thing's for sure: both my grandf...
More About: Erin

Ownership?
2007-11-07 01:50:00
I had to correct a friend of mine last night: La Femme is the lady in my life, yes, but I don't own her. This means whatever her status, be it girlfriend, fiancee, wife, whatever, she belongs only to herself, and she makes up her own decisions whether she stays in the relationship or not.To be frank, I do cringe a little when I hear people go "this is MY wife" or "this is MY boyfriend"... MY, my, mine. Are you going to brand your partner with a tattoo of your full name across their foreheads or any other visible parts of their bodies to stake your claim?Let's face it: even if you were married to each other, a marriage certificate is still a piece of paper. It's what you make of that contract that makes the difference. And just because you came to agreement and wedded doesn't mean you now own each other.And don't give me that crap about "it's an agreement made before God". I think we now live in a time and age when really, and forgive me for saying this, but even God can be pre...

It's official...
2007-11-07 01:24:00
I'm a workaholic. I've been spending a lot more time at work since I got the business going, and work is no longer just confined within the claustrophobic 4 walls of my rented office: I've started bringing work home as well.I'm saying this because the lady in my life is complaining I'm spending a lot more time looking at the laptop computer screen more than I am looking at her. Except when she decides to pull a Naughty Nikita, that is.Then again, "work" is a lot more fun these days when it's been built into a lifestyle. I decide my own schedules, and the times when I work at home is on the days when I decide to pick La Femme up earlier from work for an early dinner or on her favourite shopping trips. Funny on days like that (with the shopping involved), her complaints are virtually non-existent.Ok, enough of my obsession with work and bragging of my lifestyle...***Court proceedings have begun for the islet of Pedra Branca, currently being disputed between Singapore and Malaysi...
More About: Official

Enough of the whys and how comes.
2007-11-05 01:18:00
Women are particularly fond of asking questions like "how come you chose to be with me?", I noticed. It doesn't matter if the woman's insecure by nature or one who's already confident by nature-- inevitably, some day, some dude will find himself being asked questions like "why me and not other women?".Like, why must there be a reason for everything? And what would be a good answer to questions like that? It seems something like "because I feel good being with you" isn't good enough an answer. What then would be the correct answers to questions like that, questions that, really, make no sense to me because nothing you say is ever acceptable?In comparison, there are more straightforward and more widely accepted answers for the more crazy things that people do. Take Alexander the Great. When asked why he wanted to conquer Asia, he simply said, "because it's there", and there you go, 40,000 Macedonians laid down their lives for him to claim his territories.Or Sir Edmund Hillary, wh...

Could have, would have.
2007-11-02 02:53:00
There would be times, I'm sure, when people would sit down over a smoke or a glass of wine in the evenings and wonder about our choices in life. These would be the moments when you'd go "I could have done this" or "what if I had chosen..."Well, in another place and time, I could have chosen to be a professional athlete. I had the opportunities to do so in 2 sports: rugby when I was in college, and MMA (mixed martial arts) as recently as three years ago when I was doing some muay thai training for the heck of it.If I had grown up in the States, I would have been crazy enough to try out for the NFL or something. Always contact sports. I grew up doing contact sports: water polo, rugby, taekwondo and karate... and it isn't so much of a sado-masochistic streak in me that makes me love contact sports as the adrenaline rush you get when you're squared off with someone physically and mentally strong and determined-- that's where you start to think fast and hard on your feet to try to r...

Not happening.
2007-10-31 07:55:00
I'm back to the old routine of hitting the gym in the morning before heading to work. Believe it or not, the last time I had such a routine was three years ago when I was working at a certain publication and editors had the luxury of reporting to work at 10am... and staying to complete the mad pile of deadlines till 2am in the morning.Anyway, for the past three years, I was hitting the gym in the evenings, and that's when everyone else does so as well, and I don't really fancy having to stand around waiting for some guy to finish his final and 8th set of bench-presses, for instance, and having to extend a 45-min workout to 1.5 hours, most of it due to waiting time. Worse still when you have people discussing about the stock market movements while hogging the machines. It'll be like, "excuse me, but can I use the machine while you take a break for like 5-10 minutes and discuss your IPO plans with your CFO elsewhere?"So there I was in the gym at 7.30am and having the luxury of tak...

How the moustache was invented.
2007-10-31 07:46:00
A friend sent this to me on Facebook... naughty, I know.You have been warned.

PD retakes GCE 'O' Levels?
2007-10-30 08:10:00
My aunt's been asking me to give last minute help to one of my cousins taking the GCE 'O' levels, particularly in Additional Mathematics and Physics."You did well in your 'O' levels, didn't you? Come on over and help poor Danny in his okay? I'll get you a nice Christmas gift this year..." she begged.That's right. Begged. Like as though yours truly here is some kind of examination deity, kind of like how some superstitious Chinese parents would tell their kids to pray to Confucius or something. Or how some other parents I know would tell their kids "pray to Jesus when you don't know how to do your exam questions."Like what, the Lord will suddenly cause the kid's pen to mysteriously fill in the blanks with the right answers by itself?? Oh man, give the good Lord a break yeah-- everyone's asking God or Jesus to do this, do that... "please God, answer my prayers. Let me score 14 As at the O levels and plant me in the top junior college..."Is that what it is?Ok, back to my au...

The Spartan's office.
2007-10-30 02:21:00
Here's a peek of my handiwork in doing up the place. I would have loved to paint up the place more and maybe put a nice Warhol-style print on one of the walls...if only the damned walls were solid walls instead of partitions!Hmmm...room's still pretty bare, but it'll do I guess. And as you can see, no, there isn't room for a cute bombshell PA. Sorry to disappoint you, Indy. :D
More About: Office , Spar

How fast time zips us by.
2007-10-30 00:56:00
Was driving along Orchard Road after work yesterday (haha...work...), and noticed that they've started putting up Christmas decorations on the streets. Well, at least there were silver and gold balls hanging from the trees.Don't blink just yet, but it's the end of October already, and in another 1,440 hours or so, it'll be 2008...and I'll be 32. Thirty-two. Damn-- I'm in the prime of my life, and I'm really glad I've decided to gain control before I hit sixty-four and start wondering what the hell went on in my life.Incidentally, a couple of other friends have decided to set up their own businesses, after years of slogging it out for other people, and I'd like to say hello to Gerald and Mike the budding IT entrepreneurs.The guys at the office spaces next to mine on either side think I'm some IT consultancy or media set-up. One guy even thought I was in advertising or events management or something-- stuff that is far removed from my actual business. But it's cool: at leas...
More About: Time , Fast

From a new desk...
2007-10-29 05:03:00
Here I am, typing the first post from my new office desk. This should call for a fanfare of sorts (ta da!), and thus far, since 8am this morning, things have been great. As in feeling great.I'm still waiting for the phone and fax line to be up before I start my blitzkrieg in full swing, but thus far, it's been emails after emails being sent since this morning, and I'm just taking a short break here.Life is good? Remarkably yes, and hopefully this is the start of better and greater things to come, like my IPO... :D
More About: Desk

Lazy crazy Sunday post
2007-10-28 04:54:00
Thought this picture was really funny:But it is a design that would certainly make the gents' rooms more interesting, no? Sort of ego-boosting quick-fix, especially if this was at the office: guy needs to get his confidence up before a meeting with an important client, makes a trip to the urinal, unzips his pants to pee, then imagines the women in the posters were real and admiring his manhood, he goes out beeming with pride and confidence and wows the client.Yeah right.
More About: Post , Crazy , Sunday , Lazy

Death Star Canteen
2007-10-25 07:05:00
This is hilarious!Clip features British stand-up comedian Eddie Izzard who's a self-proclaimed transvestite. Witty, no doubt.
More About: Star , Death , Death Star , Canteen

Oh dear.
2007-10-25 06:45:00
Speaking of me writing one- or two-liner emails, I forgot to mention that there were some that I just replied on impulse, and I'm wondering if I could have been nicer. Like there was this one fella from China:"Hi: We are an international recruitment and search consultancy based in China, and we were thinking of expanding to include the S.E. Asian region, and we plan to do this by going into partnerships with various smaller agencies, which we believe can benefit greatly from this venture. On behalf of my MD, I am writing you to inquire if you would like to partner us in this venture... (cutting the long story short by omitting the details, but note the phrase in bold.)...if you like the terms mentioned, and if you would like to explore this opportunity, I would like to invite you down to our main office in Pudong, Shanghai for a further discussion..."My reply was a rather curt: "Thank you for your interest. At this point in time, I don't think I can travel to Shanghai to meet you....

"Sorry, been busy busy!"
2007-10-25 06:11:00
My emails get really short when I am pressed for time:Me to a client: "Hi xxx, what's your hiring budget for the position?"Me to a candidate: "Hi, let's meet up for a discussion. Let me know when's good."Me to a friend: "Dude, been busy as hell. Call you again when free."...and all signed with my auto signature. Seriously, I don't have the time to sit down and compose really nicely worded emails complete with compliments. I know it's only polite that I do, but I've been running around the whole of yesterday and today trying to sort out my newly-tenanted office, sort out some paperwork, meet people, and then there's the issue of getting the tech people to come in and wire up the office, setting up phonelines... this weekend I'm going to sort out the furniture. To make things simple, I'm just making ONE trip down to IKEA, get what I want, and if the items are too bulky, get them to deliver to the office on Monday, else I'll just borrow a van from La Femme's brother who's i...
More About: Busy , Sorry

Out of my way you XXXX!!!
2007-10-23 09:40:00
Is it my imagination, or are the following really happening on the roads these days:Heavy vehicles no longer stick to the "left lane only" rule, and are hogging up the centre AND express lanes. This morning, I had all THREE lanes on a the ECP hogged by heavy and goods-bearing vehicles: trailers on the left lane, pick-up trucks on the centre lane, and delivery vans on the extreme right lane-- and it was really irritating because even if you switched lanes, you'd still be held up by the damned fatsos. Motorcycles have been known to cut into the paths of cars, but 2 motorcycles hogging up 2 lanes and the motorists having a conversation while traveling side-by-side? This is a new motorbike formation on the roads?Are there actually MORE cars on the roads now? Because it used to be as recent as four or five years ago when morning traffic wasn't that bad, and I could actually travel without stopping on the CTE. These days, I come to a complete halt every few metres travelled. WTF?Souped-...