Land of Small-waists and Big-hats

Back from a refreshing 1 week break to vietnam HCMC (me with big waist small hat). Our airticket was booked last year at the cost of S$160 for a return trip, which cost about the same or even cheaper online if I’ve booked even a month back! Nevertheless despite the tight schedule that I had to manage, it was a fruitful vacation.

If thailand is the land of smiles , vietnam could be the land of small waists. Besides the beautiful vietnamese people , the landscapes are fanastic as well , ontop of the layered french boulevard inspired city .

During the trip it made me curious about why vietnamese are so healthy, did their low calorie diet of pho noodles and rice-paper rolls contribute to their slim profiles. I decided to do some research online to find a food consumption per capita for vietnam and singapore. However the only indicators that are avaliable from the economist are food production, which might not equate to consumption. I did come across data from the world health organisation regarding calorie consumption , but it was an aggregate figure for various countries. I would assume that vietnam is within the group of developing countries, it has the lowest overall consumption.

Source: WHO/FAO "Diet, Nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases"

Looking ahead, my 2009 to Come

An obligatory last day post of 2008, for review and stock taking. However never a regressive person I’m, I will look for new grounds to cover and paths to navigate. I do not fear the unknown but only worry being stagnant and redundant.

So the new year brings new resolutions, despite the bleak economic outlook.

Investments wise irregardless of not doing well in my financial portfolio , I will continue investing in creative capital. Because it is the future currency in the coming knowledge economy.(unless the world follows china and becomes commie, then dah government owns you and your intellectual property)

Making critical choices.

Career wise,  after graduation I would prob be stuck working in the same industry for the next 5-10 years till the next business cycle. I’ll have to decide either to pursue my professional registration or not.

Relationship wise , I want to take time to start on the right foot. When work starts, it is difficult to juggle a reasonable work-life balance especially in the building line with deadlines aplenty. Making decisions are tough,nonetheless critical choices have to made.

‘C’ this post refers to you, despite trying my darn best to understand you and from your writings, the feeling is non-congruent with I get in our communications. I don’t seem to get across. No point throwing my good time after bad, and I shall mention this again , it’s all about give and take.

‘J’ with you I think I’m out of my league, not sure you’ll be able to tolerate my humour haha. If I do ever get you to laugh

And on the same note, I came across this hilarious story as told from a female perspective.

A man wanted to get married. He was having trouble choosing among three
likely candidates. He gives each woman a present of $5,000 and watches
to see what they do with the money.

The first does a total make-over. She goes to a fancy beauty salon,
gets her hair done, new make-up and buys several new outfits,
then dresses up very nicely for the man. She
tells him that she has done this to be more attractive for him because
she loves him so much. The man was impressed.

The second goes shopping to buy the man gifts. She gets him a new set of golf clubs,
some new gizmos for his computer, and some expensive clothes. As she
presents these gifts, she tells him that she has spent all the money on
him because she loves him so much. Again, the man is impressed.

The third invests the money in the stock market. She earns several times
the $5,000. She gives him back his $5,000 and reinvests the remainder
in a joint account. She tells him that she wants to save for their
future because she loves him so much.
Obviously, the man was impressed.

The man thought for a long time about what each woman had done with the
money he'd given her. Then, he married the one with the biggest boobs.
Men are like that, you know.

Knowing men are from mars like myself, I tend to agree as well. However I would choose a bride with the biggest asset, (not necessary boobs) A bigger ‘heart’ is more important

Merry Christmas

A diamond shines no brighter
than that lovely Christmas star.
It shines in all its brilliance;
Its seen from near or afar.

A symbol of the Christ-child
as He lay upon the hay,
It tells to all the waiting world
a King was born that day.

Give us strength and hope and courage
to do our best by far
And never falter in our faith
as we watch that Christmas star

How Kind are you? 1 to 10

I was asked this question by a silly girl, how do I rate myself from 1 to 10.

The paradox is firstly ,others may call you kind for the things you’ve done for them, but dun you think it is hypocritical to say you yourself am kind? Secondly really how does one objectively quantify something as subjective as kindness. Fortunately it is not an impossible task and the key lies in statistics, numbers are one’s best friends. Take a statistically significant random sample of population as ask them to complete the singapore kindness survey.

Plot all the scores in a chart, divide the distribution by 10 equal percentiles

Attempt the quiz yourself , and volia you will know which rating or percentile of kindness based on your result. Curious of my score? Well I belong to the category “I’m trying hard to be good person, and a friend to myself”  group Haha I can readily think of 10 reasons why I’m not unkind. does that mean I’m kind?

1. I can make people laugh
2. I can make people happy
3. I can make people smile
4. I can cheer people up
5. I can brighten people’s day
6. I can be a good friend
7. I can be approachable
8. I can be crappy
9. I can make a good joke
10. I can make your day

Yes read between the lines! This only happens in uniquely singapore where we need a week of kindness movement and a month of courtesy campaign

Longing for the Love Generation

Me! Me! I want to be loved  (~*:

The Japanese fish story

The Japanese fish story

The Japanese love fresh fish. However, the waters close to Japan have not held many fish for decades. So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther than ever. The farther the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring in the fish. If the return trip took more than a few days, the fish were not fresh. The Japanese did not like the taste.

To solve this problem, fishing companies installed freezers on their boats. They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea. Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer. However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen and they did not like frozen fish. The frozen fish brought a lower price.

So fishing companies installed fish tanks. They would catch the fish and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin. After a little thrashing around, the fish stopped moving. They were tired and dull, but alive. Unfortunately, the Japanese could still taste the difference. Because the fish did not move for days, they lost their fresh-fish taste. The Japanese preferred the lively taste of fresh fish, not sluggish fish.So how did Japanese fishing companies solve this problem? How do they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan? If you were consulting the fish industry, what would you recommend?

Too Much Money
As soon as you reach your goals, such as finding a wonderful mate, starting a successful company, paying off your debts or whatever, you might lose your passion. You don’t need to work so hard so you relax. You experience the same problem as lottery winners who waste their money, wealthy heirs who never grow up and bored homemakers who get addicted to prescription drugs. Like the Japanese fish problem, the best solution is simple. It was observed by L. Ron Hubbard in the early 1950’s. “Man thrives, oddly enough, only in the presence of a challenging environment.” L. Ron Hubbard, The Benefits of a Challenge

The more intelligent, persistent and competent you are, the more you enjoy a good problem. If your challenges are the correct size, and if you are steadily conquering those challenges, you are happy. You think of your challenges and get energized. You are excited to try new solutions. You have fun. You are alive!

How Japanese Fish Stay Fresh
To keep the fish tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks. But now they add a small shark to each tank. The shark eats a few fish, but most of the fish arrive in a very lively state. The fish are challenged.

Recommendations
Instead of avoiding challenges, jump into them. Beat the heck out of them. Enjoy the game. If your challenges are too large or too numerous, do not give up. Failing makes you tired. Instead, reorganize. Find more determination, more knowledge, more help. If you have met your goals, set some bigger goals. Once you meet your personal or family needs, move onto goals for your group, the society, even mankind. Don’t create success and lie in it. You have resources, skills and abilities to make a difference.

Put a shark in your tank and see how far you can really go!

Tagged

I’m back home in Sg , been busy meeting up with old mates and stuff ….
Here’s something I’ve gotta do before 2006 cuz a good friend tagged me and I decided to pass it along…

4 Things You were Happy with This Year.
1. To come to the understanding that the Lord has a plan for each and everyone of us.
2. Learn how to bake carrot cake (not the fried kind), differeciate between rosemary and basil
3. Having successfully planned and executed a almost impossible roadtrip to Sydney immediately after my last paper.
4. Managed to tie up loose ends in melbourne ,sell my furniture, tranfer tenancy ie . praise the Lord!

4 Things You Weren’t Happy with This Year.
1. My progress with work
2. My couldnt-care-more tutors in unimelb
3. Freezing my balls off during winter without a blanket , grateful to Ginny who lent me hers
4. Not having to chillout with more ozzie mates.

4 Things You Regret Doing/Making/Acting on This Year.
1. Leaving my then beloved GF in singapore to fend for herself a whole year.
ie not being physically present , when I was needed.
2. Mis-understanding between me and sueyin
3. Not putting enough effort into my studies and slacking
4. Left Ozzie without touring GOR and GBR

Lastly,4 Things You Hope For/Turns Out Better for NEXT Year.
1. Peace between my first love & her family, her and then me
2. Keep Fit , trim my waistline
3. My lil sis & family to come to know the Lord
4. Seek my better-half…

Looking forward to 2006 , Happy New Year everyone!!!

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Rainy Friday in Melbourne

So coincidentally , I’m listening to Cure – Friday I’m in Love……

This song reminds me of fond memories, of someone I spent Christmas’04 with.
Someone I poured out my rain of love on.

Now a year later Christmas’05 , I’m still full of Love :-
Love of Christ that he give he gave his only begotten son on Chirstmas a our saviour.
Love of the Life , the long journey that the Lord has set out in front of me to walk.

It’s almost time, I’ll be back home in singapore soon. To catch up with all my friends back home.
Sneeky8s , Chaotas, Akipeeps, Armymates, Dancerwannabes …

Pictures and journal of my sydney lifetrip 05 will be up soon.. Watch this space

In the meantime here’s a sneek peek.

Object / Subject

A friend asked me today what I thought about xiaxue ‘the blogger’

My reply:

She’s just a typical singaporean bimbo ( pardon me the loose use of the word)
whom the local media supports.
It refers to someone whose only brain commands are airbrush , blur and smudge.
As an object, she not that interesting , but the subject which intrigues me is the amount of hate-mongers that surrounds her. Same goes for the Dawn Yeo saga.

Keeth likes to believe that young? singaporeans are not a malicious bunch of monkeys that would rather not spend their bolio time supporting the white elephant movement, as opposed to commenting whether the cleaner that whites pappies should get a fashion makeover