Sunday, July 17, 2011

What is your dream?

I just watched Alibaba.com's founder - Ma Yun's speed on life.  One interesting point for me.  Some people don't like their job, complain about their job, but they don't leave that job.  They still go on life day after day the same way.  That sounds very much like me.  I don't like my current job, I want to do something new, I want to have a change of career, but I have never done anything concrete to move in that direction.  That's precisely the cause of my current terrible situation, and stagnant in career advancement.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Beautiful Sunday

Woke up at 8am, watched the repeat telecast of Japan Hour.  They stopped airing Japan Hour since the March 11 earthquake, but now they have resumed the program, but mostly old episodes.  I enjoyed watching it even though I had watched it before, just to pick up one or two new phrases, or how the real Japanese talk.  Language learning should be a joy, not a chore.

Then went for a morning swimming in a SSC pool.  Singapore is a great place for her citizens.  There are many public facilities that you can use at a nominal fee.  Swimming pool is one of them.  S$1.30 entrance fee, I don't think that's enough for the upkeep of the swimming pool.

In the afternoon, I was at the Esplanade for its once-a-month free concert at the concert hall.  It is my very first time stepping into the Esplanade concert hall ever since it was built.  It is beautiful.  I like it.  The free concert was by some school bands, you can't expect world class type of performances, but they are good by their standard.

Life is all about personal experiences.  You can be a millionaire, but if you don't spend your money to experience life, to fulfill your own wishes, money to you is just a pile of junk.  Life is not about living in the misery of the past, or the fearful of the future, it is all about living at this very moment.  Are you happy at this very moment?  If not, what has to happen to make you feel happy?  Is it something that is out of your control?   If yes, why bother?

Life is beautiful, if you make it beautiful.  The beauty of life has nothing to do with money, neither does happiness.

Comparing Prices

People will compare prices when they go shopping, but usually I don't :)  To me, the prices are almost the same and it is not worth the time to shop around, until one day I met DZ.   He taught me the art of negotiation and how much price difference you can extract from different merchants.  It is never a good idea to buy on spur.

Yesterday, as I walked past a major watch chain store, I was attracted by their Citizen Eco-Drive watches.  I had always wanted to get one for myself, but still not yet.  They were offering 10% discount store wide and another 10% discount if you pay with a certain bank's credit/debit card.

The watch I was looking at was Citizen CA0030-52E, Gents Chronograph Titanium sports watch.  It is fancy, it is light, and with precious metal Titanium as the bracelet and case.  The price before discount is S$728, after discount is S$589.  It sounds like not a bad deal, you shave off 100 over bucks.  However, I decided to do some research first before I made the purchase.  I thanked the sale lady, and left, with her face black black, didn't even say good bye to me.

As I searched in the internet, the same watch is going for ~S$369!  There is a price difference of S$220!  My gosh, I almost generously donated to somebody else's wealth with my wealth.

This really teaches me a lesson:  Must compare prices when shopping, no matter how unfriendly the sales person's face turns.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Transformer - Dark of the Moon


This is the very first time I watch a Transformer movie in cinema, and in 3D!  When I watched the last Transformer movie at my colleague's place, the scenes are confusing, objects flying around and making me feel dizzy.  I was a bit hesitant whether I should watch the 3D version, which might even worse!

Well, I was happy when the movie started.  The 3D scenes are there make the scene more vivid and realistic, but not to make you feel dizzy.  You get more sense of 'involvement'.

The story is plain and predictable, and as usual, a lot of scenes are totally unbelieveable.  For example, when one key character is about to die, there is always someone there to save him/her.  Ok, that's movie.  You can't compare that with real life stories :)

The female lead, Roise Huntington-Whiteley, is beautiful and a feast to the eyes.  I have read reviews criticizing her for lousy acting and does not fit with Sam well.  They are just jealous.  PERIOD.

If you are looking for some entertainment, to escape for a while from reality, it is a pretty good movie to watch.  If you are looking for complicated plots, thought-provoking philosophy, then please choose another one.