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Sunday, January 06, 2019 @ 7:43 PM
Till then Goodbye to my personal blogging space which slipped from my mind for a while. It is interesting to note that many of my links are now dead or gone MIA. I guess many have moved on since long ago. A recurring theme throughout the years was the question of what it means to grow up, and how I've always thought that it means conforming to a social norm. At this point, I feel that life is but a journey to find meaning for yourself. Not for others, not of others but yourself. As such, the concept of stages in life does not exist and hence the process of growing up has no meaning in itself. Let's just develop ourselves at our own pace and re-discover what truly matters in life. Happiness comes from being at ease with yourself, and we will know when the equilibrium is reached. What rings in my head now is the specific lyrics of "后来的我们". Taken out of context of the original song, I have experienced 人事物 which changed or remained constant over the years and wonder where everyone will be some time from now. Till then! Monday, January 02, 2017 @ 12:08 AM
Review 2016, Onwards 2017 Did I accomplish what I set to do in 2016? 1) Report to work between 8.30 - 9.00 am. No, it was more of 9.30 am - 10.00 am. 2) Leave for home between 7.30 - 8.00 pm. Thereabout, though days may drag till 9.00 pm at times. 3) Have meals more regularly - start 1 h lunch between 11.30 am to 2.00 pm, preferably away from work desk whenever possible. Yes :) 4) Explore a new place with my parents once every 2 months. Sadly no. 5) Do monthly reporting to myself. No, and slipped my mind completely. 6) Set weekly goals and follow up with stock check. No. 7) Go for at least 2 overseas holiday trips. One. 8) Go for at least 2 work-related overseas trip. One. 9) Be in a good position to wrap up my works for thesis writing by June (note to self: scholarship expiring in Oct 2016). Well, finished expt in Aug. Went for conference in Sept. Started writing proper in Oct, revision in Nov and submitted on 22/12/2016. 10) Have at least 6 - 7 hours of good quality sleep every day. More like 5 - 6 h. 11) Maintain my once-a-week exercise routine, possibly to increase the distance covered to 5 km per run from the current 4 km. Certainly :) And went beyond that. Once a week of 5 km, and another long distance training. Found a direct way to East Coast Park, went for Singtel 15 km race and finally Great Eastern half-marathon race. :) 12) Spend 0 min thinking, or over-thinking, matters that are not within my control. However, do spend the appropriate amount of effort and time to improve matters within reach. Vague, unable to comment.
What do I really remember about 2016?
1) Made good progress with my running regime :)
2) Started my investment proper.
3) Submitted thesis.
So, I'm gonna keep things simple for 2017. 1) Keep up with my running regime - at least 5km per run per week. Join at most 2 races, but am thinking to quit from running too long for too much - knee issue >.< 2) Do alternative workouts - 5 min simple stretch + 5 min at planks per day or at least alternate days. 3) Chart out career path and set the foundation proper for working towards this. 4) Learn new knowledge - synthetic biology? Hopefully, 2017 will be a year of learning, growing and self development :) Monday, November 14, 2016 @ 11:02 PM
Achievements (partially) unlocked! It's nearing year end and time to do a final push! First up, completed my first ever half marathon and am pleased with my timing! Was planning to run at a negative split pace, and seems like I started off far too slowly. Fortunately, managed to sustain a good pace subsequently and made a final dash towards the end. According to RunKeeper, this is a 6.30 min/km pace. That exceeded my own expectation! :) It was a pleasant run - nice cool weather, good stagger of hydration points (though, where's my banana at the 13 km point?) and good organization. 
Race entitlements were great - 4 running tees in all (2015 memorial tee from participating in Zumba event; 2015 race tee from spinning a wheel, 2016 running tee and 2016 finisher tee!), 1 cute mini sling bag, 1 travel bag and other goodies :) Post-race race village was very engaging - lots of goodies (yoghurt, fruit juice, milk, popsicles, muffin etc), a freshening station (wipes, micellar water, toner and moisturizer), massage station, photo booths (took one with my unofficial timing!) These are not the main point of participating in this run; but still leaves a very feel-good, pampered feeling!
Next up, my aims are: (1) 5 km - 5'30 min/km (currently about 5'40 - 5'50 min/km, weekly training) and 10 km - 6min/km (currently at 1h 2min). Shall I run another half marathon? Aiming for 2XU run, and we shall see again.
Thesis writing is going on well. Overshot a tough target of completing within Oct itself, but managed to finish nicely by about 11/11/2016 - nice number isn't it? Now, time to trim the writing and polish it up. But seems that I am on target!
Investments/economy? More uncertainties ahead with Trump winning the US election. My honest opinion is that life goes on even with him at the helm as this is not a position with proper checks and balances in place. But barring further concrete insights, I shall keep my speculations in check.
Strategy ahead? Still a newbie investor who has the mentality to wait for the "big crash". Seeing some bargains but thinking if they might drop further (kiasee) yet afraid of missing the boat (kiasu). Nibbling slowly, but honestly, I do not have a huge warchest to nibble continuously =\ Picking up resilient stocks selling at a discount for the moment. The bigger picture remains: healthcare, technology and e-commerce.
Sunday, September 25, 2016 @ 9:53 PM
Good checkpoint Back from my conference trip to Munich. Had a great time there in this peaceful city as well as a day-trip to neighbouring Salzburg. The conference host was most hospitable and we were all well engaged everyday with "play" activities apart from day time "work" (aka attending talks). Night city tour, reception at English garden, banquet right on the Alpes :) One thing that striked me most was the lack of obsession with technology there - commuters were reading books and magazines, knitting, solving some puzzles in their little books or interacting with their dogs. Few were glued to their smartphones, and even if they were using, it was more for texting and less of content consumption. Short term life goals are looking good now. - Hoping to submit thesis by early Dec; first draft out by end Oct. Ramping up my writing efforts while wrapping up with some filler experiments. - Was concerned about losing my endurance after the 2 weeks + hiatus from running. First mini run around National Stadium was quite terrifying as I've "forgotten" the feeling incurred during running and aborted the run after a 800m circle. My first endurance run of 10km resulted in slight leg ache, which is something I've not experienced since starting on regular running. Fastforward to two weeks later, and I think I'm back in shape. 5km run under 6min/km. 10km run near an hour (1h 3min) - will work to improve timing to below 1h. Counting down to my first half-marathon in Nov! - Investment is trending sideways, just like the STI. No real buying or selling opportunity and so just sitting around to wait for things to happen. Maybe this is a lesson on patience :) Sunday, August 14, 2016 @ 6:33 PM
Of sports and attitude Joseph Schooling wins Gold Olympics medal for Singapore in the 100 m butterfly competition! A young man with dreams and the determination to work towards the goal has shown us that success is not impossible. It was also interesting to note that he swam alongside and won his childhood idol to clinch the gold medal. This is reflective of the natural rhythm of life, of succession and of life as a circle that spirals upwards. Some lessons / noteworthy quotes (written based on memory and not reproduced in full): - Have dreams AND work towards it to make it a reality. - No shortcut in life - hard work and discipline are necessary ingredients. - Be laser focused and stay on course. - There is no time for self-doubt. - Be confident as others have confident in him. - Be humble and respectful of seniors but never fear them. - 心理素质 Once we have identified a worthy goal, there is no time to lose or look back. We should move forth and make it happen. Ignore the noise and focus on what's important or the big picture. Do not feel insecure or be deterred by others' cynicism. The end point success will speak for itself. The journey is rigorous and tough but definitely satisfying. Every failure is a step forward towards success if taken positively and with the right attitude. Do not let down others' hopes and most importantly, yourself. Moving on, I just signed up for a half marathon taking place in Nov. Initial hesitations were due to self-doubt of whether I could do it, and even trivial issue such as how to reach the venue at 5 am for the flag-off (yeah...)? These are of no importance; they are matters that can be solved with hard work and planning and should not distract from my goal of running for fitness! Let's do it! Sunday, July 31, 2016 @ 2:29 PM
What do they have in common - PhD, running and investment Ans: They require discipline to yield decent results. Trying to wrap up the final few experiments so that I can start writing my thesis proper. Hopefully I can submit by end of 2016. Miraculously hit my goal of running 5k under 6 min/km. In fact, the pace was a stunning 5.40 min/km. However, this was not reproducible when the weather got warmer. Still, the follow up attempt was decent at 6.01 min/km. Should try to boost speed further with tempo run. Also, need to check the impact on this gain in speed on endurance. Am looking to push up my goal of half marathon run to end of year. Let's see. Investment had gone from small baby step taken during the opportunity presented due to Brexit, to an obsession with daily market movement and joining the herd in experiencing irrational market sentiments. It progressed from a clear long-term approach adopted few years back (index investing, confidence in market return over the long run), to trying to catch buying opportunity (patience running out from trying to wait for the next crisis) and finally being overwhelmed by noise that I lose sight of the original goal defined (recent purchase of herd following). What triggered the divergence from the original "sit back and forget about investment" strategy? Due to the decline in STI. Was the decline a concern? No, just part of market trends. What goes up will come down, and vice versa. The relative magnitude may differ. And with index investing, obviously the strategy will register a loss during downside while capturing gain during rally. It was within expectation. But was demoralized from seeing red for months in this bear market that seems to trend sideways with volatility. So what was the action taken? Overall aim evolved to income investing - to capture more passive income. A secondary objective was to increase the resilience of my portfolio so that it remains strong in times of downturn and possibly mitigate the drop in overall index. Hence, the thinking was to add on defensive counters. This actually worked out well, and the "stabilizers" turned out to be winners in terms of capital gain and dividend payout. So what's the issue? Became unfocused, and veered part of portfolio into value investing. Added undervalued stocks in the hope that the market will realize their value over time. Some trades with volatility in the market - and that defeats the thinking above. And all the strategies thus far are basically "buy and wait and forget about them"; yet I was over zealous in monitor daily price movements. The initial phase of researching into their fundamentals was exciting as I learnt new things every time and refined my evaluation criteria. But the subsequent daily monitoring (which was unnecessary based on my strategy and picks) caused unduly stress. It was no longer "fun" and this is unhealthy. (Well, at least I know that trading will not be part of my strategy as I do not have the mental capacity to deal with this stress) So finally, I went back to my sketch board and simplified the portfolio targets. Now that it looks cleaner, hopefully I can just wait on the sideline for a good opportunity to arise. And withdraw from this market monitoring which doesn't and shouldn't affect me. Now there's a contradiction here - why do I need to "time" the market and wait for the "right" opportunity? Yet, I'm still convinced that it is better to buy during downturn - may not be at absolute "low" but at least not during the "green" moment. Opportunity cost? Timing the market means not spending time in the market. Still unable to reconcile this final point. To time or not to time? Wednesday, July 06, 2016 @ 11:49 AM
Hari Raya Puasa 2016 Selamat Hari Raya! Actually it's a great feeling to have PH on a Wednesday as it's a timely mid-week break. Done with my run last Sunday. Completed 15km slightly under my target time of 2h. :) 0 - 4km: Feels great 4 - 5km: Where's the turning point...? 5 - 10 km: Just keep going. 10 km: If only I signed up for 10km. Can turn into ending point rather than continue running 10 - 12.5km: Why am I doing this? Out of energy (backdrop: the last refuel point was at 8km and the next one was at 12.5 km) 12.5 - 15km: Re-energized and go for it! (backdrop: pacer for 1h50min timing was right behind me and I didn't want to fall behind)   Overall, it was a good experience. Moving on, I will try to improve my speed with a target of 30 min for 5 km. Hopefully I can boost it up with biweekly or monthly long run of 10 km to sustain the endurance gained from recent runs. My ultimate goal is still to complete a half marathon comfortably within a year or so. The market is still in much uncertainty post Brexit. There was a sudden rally on Monday, followed by a dip end Tuesday. The downtrend may continue on Thurs. Saturday, July 02, 2016 @ 6:47 AM
Restarting blog Past events often look logical when viewed in retrospect; though in reality, most of us cannot be sure how things were going to unfold at that point in time. This uncertainty seems interesting and is best captured by writing down the current sentiments as the events occur. So I shall start blogging more frequently to jot down these brief yet frank notes on current events. On Brexit Did not see this coming; though I did express that this "crisis" will be an opportunity. There will be short term uncertainty as UK weigh its options and reorganizes itself for a post-EU world. The arrangements decided from now onwards will determine its mid-term stability. However, in the long run, I am confident that UK will do fine. They have strong institutions which are largely still in place now. On the other hand, EU appears to be a half-hearted association, grown out of good motivation but hindered by the actual execution of integration. On opportunity So what opportunity does this present? I grabbed a couple of stocks as the poll was counting and finally initiated my position in equities. Was riding on the uncertainties though certainly weren't expecting the final outcome. Nonetheless, the unexpected effect is that hot money are flowing into Asia which gives the STI a temporary though much needed boost to the otherwise bearish market. Having said so, hot money are speculative and does not represent fundamental improvement to STI's position. The situation remain volatile. It is more prudent to pick defensive yield stocks as core, while limiting slight exposure to volatile stocks - conservative investor, you see. What escaped my analysis which seemed obvious on hindsight was the unexpected boost in stocks deemed to be safe haven - telcos and REITS (especially with the lack of Fed hike for the year). On work Not on schedule. Still quite fuzzy as to how best to execute my work and collect data for convincing story. Need to double up my effort on this. Nonetheless, no doubt that the method proposed is working. Need to plan carefully for my post-thesis plans as well. On personal goals Started running more intensively. Saw great improvement over the past few weeks. Signed up for SingTel's race against cancer which is taking place tomorrow. It will be my first official race at 15k. Hope to finish the race comfortable with target time of under 2 h. My eventual goal is to complete a half marathon within a year's window. Friday, July 01, 2016 @ 7:22 PM
Mid 2016 Checkpoint In the second half of 2016, and happen to check on the 2016 resolution posted early this year. 1) Report to work between 8.30 - 9.00 am. (more of 9.30 am - 10.00 am - failed) 2) Leave for home between 7.30 - 8.00 pm. (more of 8.30 pm - failed) 3) Have meals more regularly - start 1 h lunch between 11.30 am to 2.00 pm, preferably away from work desk whenever possible. (passed) 4) Explore a new place with my parents once every 2 months. (passed) 5) Do monthly reporting to myself. (failed; what did I mean anyway? remove from list) 6) Set weekly goals and follow up with stock check. (started stocks portfolio, though not on a weekly basis) 7) Go for at least 2 overseas holiday trips. (one checked) 8) Go for at least 2 work-related overseas trip. (one upcoming) 9) Be in a good position to wrap up my works for thesis writing by June (note to self: scholarship expiring in Oct 2016). (No, this is not happening, still more expt to do) 10) Have at least 6 - 7 hours of good quality sleep every day. (6 hours...?) 11) Maintain my once-a-week exercise routine, possibly to increase the distance covered to 5 km per run from the current 4 km. (great, on track and clocking up to 10 km / week recently) 12) Spend 0 min thinking, or over-thinking, matters that are not within my control. However, do spend the appropriate amount of effort and time to improve matters within reach. (too vague, delete resolution) Succeeded in rebalancing back to personal and social life. However, work is not catching up at the desired pace and I will need to work harder on this to get the momentum going. Greatest failure is still on the sleeping pattern - certainly need to improve. Saturday, January 02, 2016 @ 5:29 PM
Of time in 2016 Good afternoon 2016 from my new Surface Pro 4! 2015 had been an ordinary and peaceful year with little ups and downs. And I'm thankful for this little resting point to re-connect with the intangible relationships in life - my family and different groups of friends. Saw from my FYP's fb comment that "Time is the best gift ever as you can't take it back once given." I recall a relief teacher ex-colleague once said that "Time = sleep + work + life = 24 hours/day". So the allocation of this scarce resource called Time shall form the foundation on how I look forward to 2016. 2016 Resolution? 1) Report to work between 8.30 - 9.00 am. 2) Leave for home between 7.30 - 8.00 pm. 3) Have meals more regularly - start 1 h lunch between 11.30 am to 2.00 pm, preferably away from work desk whenever possible. 4) Explore a new place with my parents once every 2 months. 5) Do monthly reporting to myself. 6) Set weekly goals and follow up with stock check. 7) Go for at least 2 overseas holiday trips. 8) Go for at least 2 work-related overseas trip. 9) Be in a good position to wrap up my works for thesis writing by June (note to self: scholarship expiring in Oct 2016). 10) Have at least 6 - 7 hours of good quality sleep every day. 11) Maintain my once-a-week exercise routine, possibly to increase the distance covered to 5 km per run from the current 4 km. 12) Spend 0 min thinking, or over-thinking, matters that are not within my control. However, do spend the appropriate amount of effort and time to improve matters within reach. An estimate for a working day: Time = 7 h sleep + 10 h work (+ 3 h travel) (+ 1 h lunch) + (1 h dinner) + 2 h life. An estimate for weekends: Time = 8 h sleep + 4 h work + 6 h outings / gatherings + 6 h personal time. |