Monday, July 31, 2006

the ongoing battle with food n money

i'm not sure if it's just me or is it the same with all other girls.. i've had problem resisting food my whole life.. it has kinda tire me out.. i'm bored of having to always be concious of what i eat, so on and so forth... it makes me wonder if i should go on a really really serious strict diet for short period and then i'll get to eat and do whatever i'd like to do without having to keep watching what i eat.. =) will i though? i doubt it... i, as usual, prefer the quick easy way out.. but apparently with food, exercise, and money, it's a long term thing.. you just have to keep maintaining the balance between the in and out (whether it's ur body or ur wallet)...
the way i deal with money and food/exercise are v similar.. i'd like to be in charge (i have my expense log etc since i was studying in penang) but the truth is i'm not in charge.. i spend my money / eat whenever i feel like.. i'm a little bit better with money than i am with food though.. i still manage to put some money to my saving, whereas with food - i'm hopeless.. i could eat for the sake of satisfaction even when i'm not hungry... i don't do what i'm supposed to do.. i go with the flow.. maybe.. for once, i need to learn to be more discipline.. =P n then i can stop the battle with food or money.. :P

Friday, July 28, 2006

hip hop / funk class - episode 2

So... I've done the class and as I have imagine, I feel like a complete idiot in the class. Everyone else were doing so good - but I kept going. You know why? Because there was no one that I know of. I can't feel thankful enough. If there is anyone that I know of, they will certainly laugh till their tummy hurts hahaha. I know I would. I can't even stop smiling thinking bout how stupidly unco-ordinated I am. Oh well, I'm hoping that I can only get better, which is why I bought another voucher for 6 class. =D

Thursday, July 27, 2006

hip hop / funk dance class

I've made up my mind. Today is the day I go and try the hip hop / funk dance class in the space. I'll update later tonite (that is if I survive it).
In the mean time, I have 10 minutes to kill. So here I am...
Couple things:

  • My bessie, pipi, said that she thinks my blog's current template colour hurts the eye... So, I'm thinking of updating it - again! =D

  • Other than that, I've just started a new book (for my train rides).. It's quite good so far. A book by Jodi Picoult called "My Sister's Keeper". I won't say anything for now as I've only read as far as page 19.

  • I found this useful post for people who wants to update their blog look. Check angiemckaig.com's ultimate blogger template list.

  • Work's busy. A bit of Cognos ReportNet stuffs, and a bit of Oracle stuffs. Learn about "Pivot Table" today - Thanks to Eddy. I just can't stop learning. It makes me wonder am I competent enough to do my job? Why do I not know all these things that my other fellow developers know about? I hope I do know things that they don't know about.


5 more minutes to go... Hmm... what else do I have in mind? Plenty. Just not sure which one I'd like to talk about. Mmmmm.... *Put my thinking cap on*.Now I remember!!

  • One word, Jetstar (or two words? Not sure!) The important thing is, they were (might still be) offering EXTREMELY cheap introductory international flights (to Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia [only Bali]) and YES!!!! I got my ticket for under 400$! Tax inclusive. So, I'm going on holiday back to my home!! YAY!!! I am VERY excited. It's still quite a while to go - 6 months. But hey, knowing that I'll be going home sometime in the future feels like seeing the glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel. Well, that's a bit exaggerating, I do enjoy my life here. Still, it's a HOLIDAY.. Can't wait to catch up with my bessies, meet up with my family, food, shopping, and etc.


Now my time is up. Sayonara.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Melbourne is Australia's No.1 city

According to Yahoo! Top Stories, Melbourne is Australia's No. 1 city.. =D
That is so true... I enjoy travelling but when it's time for me to settle, Melbourne is definitely on top of my list... My lovely Melbourne...





Sunday, July 23, 2006

makeover my blog

Notice the change in my blog's appearance?
Thought I'd give it a makeover... Sort of bored of the old look already =)
For all of you bloggers out there who want to do the same, Jennifer Apple from Photoshop Support has written a great article called "Blog Tutorial - Tips For Blog Templates & Blog Design In Photoshop" here...

Happy makeover! =D

PS: For inspiration, check Karen Cheng's blog out..

backup ur blog - VERY useful

I've never really thought of this.. "Can one backup their blogs??"
That would be v useful, rite? :) Check this help page out...
Backup Your Blog

Consulting Training session with "Graeme Simsion"

I attended a consulting training session presented by the famous "Graeme Simsion".
To be honest, I've never heard about him till today and I only found out bout him after the training session. This kinda shows how prepared I am.. (not very much..) Well, what can I say? It's a "Saturday" training session - how prepared can you be? Luckily I manage to hold the urge for coffee till after lunch (we had LOTS of pasta n pizza - it's a wonder no one actually fall asleep after that). It was a highly intersting session. I learnt a lot from it... and it can only add to my to do list...

From the training, here's a list of thing I need to focus on improving:
- Communication skill (CRUCIAL!!!)
- Negotiation skill --> keyword "IF" and win-win (will come in handy..)
- Dress code (whether i like it or not, this is what creates the first impression of urself to strangers)
- Be an expert at something (being OK in everything doesn't cut it, you need to be a 'GURU ' at something!)
- Team Player (pass the buck (ie. blaming someone else) is not a good thing!)
- "What happen in the kitchen - stays in the kitchen" --> What happens within the organisation u work in, stays there... don't make it a client's problem...
- Plan plan and plan... always plan... before action.... THINK HARD!
- MBTI Personality Test

In the training session, we were doing this 'making paper plane' exercise.. Interestingly, from that exercise, the one conclusion that I draw out, was that there is no point of going forward if the thing you're doing is of not a good quality.. I'll be just wasting my time on doing something of low quality which in the end might not pass the quality control anyway. Hence, it's better stop and start a new one properly...

I've always wanted to be a developer.. At the early stage of my career, I thought they are the same thing, but now that I truly know the differences... I can see that being a consultant TOP a developer... =)
The differences between consultant vs developer (or even programmer) can be viewed here..
A v. interesting post =D

After the session, I went to visit Sugi (my partner) and kinda get into this long chat with him (I love these sessions... I simply enjoy getting something out of someone else - useful opinions or just simply debating about nothing in particular)... Anyway, we were chatting about this session that I had - which got me into thinking... Am I in my best shape (I'm not talking bout physically.. but more towards life in general - maybe I shouldn't have use the word shape)? But whatever, yah... am I already doing my best in everything that I do? I sort of feel I'm not that kind of person.. There are times where I feel that I'm kinda a slack.. With life in general, I've been able to get away with not doing much.. and it carries on with me.. I became not so competitive.. doing things in a way where they would 'pass' as OK but not 'WOW'... now, is this something I want to continue doing? NOPE!!! CERTAINLY NOT!
Seriously.. what good can it do to me??? I will only start to appreciate myself less and less. I will not be able to feel proud of what I've done (and in worst case scenario, trying to duck away when asked 'whose work is this?')... Hence, here... in *BOLD*:
I will learn to improve the quality of the work that I've done.
Reward: I'll be able to proudly say 'THIS IS MY WORK AND I'M PROUD OF IT.'

By this I mean, at the time of doing something, I will give it my all - my best and I couldn't have done it any better... no regrets..
Well, while chatting with Sugi, the one skill I've identified that I lack of is 'CONCENTRATION'... I feel it even more lately.. I find it very difficult to focus on one thing.. my brain tends to think of a million other things... and it is not very useful - so I guess I'm gonna have to change that...
Improvement and improvements... I love them... The only thing is they are mostly easier said than done.. but hey, there's no harm in trying and... only by trying.. you can succeed, else.. I'll be forever stuck here...

oh well.. enough for today. oyasumi...

Note to self: need to learn and improve the way I link the topics I'm talking bout and stop jumping from one to another.. :)

Saturday, July 22, 2006

blogging...

there is this one lady, xia xue, whom i reckon e'one who blogs, knows about... i wonder, how did she get THAT popular... xia-xue's blog.. is it truly just by blogging?
i recall a while back, someone actually hacked her account and it becomes 'A HUGEEEEE DEAL'... well, i shouldn't say it that way... even if it's this plain blog of mine got hacked by someone, i'll surely panicked... hers is like 'WOWWWWW' in comparison to mine... as soon as you see her blog, u'll know what i mean.. she has definitely put some effort into her blog...
can't deny though.. she has a great style of writting and telling her stories... even then, i'm seriously curious.. how can a BLOGGER be so popular? hehhee =) oh well... good for her! =D
there are times where i wonder... is it better to be an anonymous blogger (and being able to shout out your opinion without worrying that u might hurt someone or others (people you know) might judge you wrongly but not being able to refer to specific incident in your life or acknowledge those people that are close to your heart) OR... be an identified blogger?
like many other things, both options have their advantage and disadvantage... i suppose it is really up to the personnel (ie. the blogger, in this instance)..
totally not connected to my current topic, i've been thinking... writting for magazine sounds like fun.. or designing houses... or taking pictures for living... or even owning a book store where people can sit around and relax (but still buy the books - unlike me who hangs out at borders all the time just wanting to browse :P)... all of those sounds very interesting to do as living...
i wonder, if everyone else is like me... do you guys want to do as many things as i do - is this normal human desire? or am i greedy?
and another totally not connected topic... every sunday nite, i dread the arrival of monday morning, i.e. start of working week.... every day after that (monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday) i go to work, come home, if i'm good, i go to the gym, else i'll make up some silly reasons not to go... waiting for the arrival of friday afternoon... now when friday afternoon finally arrives... i'm not sure what to do? how do i get the most out of my precious 'WEEKEND'??? mmm karaoke? ice skating? badminton? movies? shopping? spa? all of them require money... and hence, i go and have my lovely 'weekend dinner' and end up not doing anything.... and all of a sudden it is monday again... Pfffttt!!!! It really pissed me off... maybe i should start going out more... what can i do that won't waste too much of my precious money... mmm... that's the mystery i suppose...

ciao!

Monday, July 17, 2006

last entry of the day...

hehehe i've always wondered... How Virgo Am I?

Well, according the blogthings.com ....

You are 67% Virgo


Not bad... =D Esp since I always thought I'm nothing like a Virgo-gal =)

blogthings.com

guess what i found through pipi's blog - hahahaha typical her... a very interesting site...
www.blogthings.com

apparently... i'm a ...
You Are a Chihuahua Puppy

Small, high strung, and loyal.
You do best in the city with a adults - young kids could crush you!


and a ...

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don't love them!

You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you

You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil

How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others


Mmmm.. makes me wonder... do i know myself well enough??? maybe i answered wrongly...

I like this one below though.. LOL!!! =DDDDDD

You Are 60% Weird

You're so weird, you think you're *totally* normal. Right?
But you wig out even the biggest of circus freaks!


LOL!!!! =))))

peninsula hot springs

mmmm....
peninsula hot springs

take two..

=))) one of my VERY best pal (pipi) has recently joined blogger.com...
check it out here
when i say recently, i mean 25th June 06... she's got some really interesting posts since... mmm now it makes me wonder... how did the time flies so quickly...
i can't seem to find time to do anything at all... especially blogging (and there is the excuse of not having anything too interesting to write)...
with my daily life.. been trying to actually do to cross items off my to-do list to no avail... been trying to improve my PL/SQL development skills for work (it's quite interesting surprisingly..), been trying to reduce my food intake with no success (good thing is i've been able to maintain my gym trips..), been trying to limit my shopping trips (failure all the way...), been trying to find some time to try learn new things (tennis anyone? or maybe i should start with the basic.. like riding a bike.. :P), been trying to actually do the MCAD course that i paid for a while back, and the lists go on and on...
in addition to all of those, i'm addicted to having a cup of coffee in borders while browsing its collection of interior designs and fashion magazines...
and here i am wondering where all my time and money goes... i'm not really wondering.. i just wish i can have more of the two... =)

CUT!