This blog has officially shifted over to:

http://blog.so-rev.com/

Shoooooo!!! =)

Today marks the (re)start of the Revolution. I'm getting all so excited again! I can't believe I just spent the last 3 hours meddling with it, although I didn't really get much done. But I guess, the first step done is always 10% of the work done! In the least, it gets the momentum going.

While waiting to pick up my darling gf from the airport, I stopped the car at the cell phone lot which was right at San Diego Downtown by the marina. The night skyline of the area is really pretty, with dimly lit high rise buildings by the bay. The cool night breeze gently blows. With such a relaxing atmosphere, it is hard not to start reminiscing.

During the pursuit of my career after graduation, I realized I seldom had the time and mood to just sit and admire the beautiful city I had resided in for the past 4.5 years. It had been busy for most parts and if I'm not busy, I'm pretty much at home, at the gym or at the basketball court. I have not really thoroughly enjoyed the real San Diego. Perhaps I'm not that kind of outgoing person who'd prefer to hang out and party, either by the beach, the bay or the bars. The past 4.5 years have been used to move me closer to my aims, although not as close as I had hoped I'd be. Or perhaps my destination appears further than it appeared to be. In less than 2 months, I'd conclude my stay in this vibrant city and the exciting work that is ever-changing.

The gentle night breeze brought back memories about the first time I headed to this city, where I had my first interview for work. I had stayed at my bro's place in Fresno for one full month. I had driven down 5 hours from my bro's place (and up again after that) in my nice little Civic coupe. The mood was something that I'd never forget. Excited. Because it's a new place, it's a new milestone in my life. Everything was so new and exciting. I'd be working in San Diego, California. How cool is that?

I was such a noob at work. I didn't know anything at all. Tried hard, and failed terribly. Tried again, and failed again. But finally, I found my path, and there I was, finally shining brightly like a young star, working hard and contributing to my team and realizing my ideas. I'm glad that my first job has been so exciting, encouraging and interesting, a job which allowed me to do things that I might not be able to if I were somewhere else. I have been groomed. There's an old saying, to leave at your most glorious moment. It's sad that I can't be there to finish what I had started but I guess it's time for me to move on. I've reached the next milestone of my life.

I really can't stress how interesting life unfolds itself before a person. It really felt as if God had everything planned out. Working hard and trying to be innovative even when I'm already a lame duck isn't futile at all. I've discovered talents of people who'd probably be the ones who'd be able to help me in future and built invaluable friendships. Even when I'm not paid for what I had achieved, I've already gained far more than what cash has to offer. The idea of working while studying had never crossed my mind but I still tried to find a way to do it after it has been proposed to me. God knows that it's time to move on and concentrate on what is really important to me, that I should not be entangled with what belongs to the previous chapter. I could see that magic that God had worked out. He arranged for me to build relationships with technical expertise, then pull me away from distractions and focus on what is most important. The magic is all these were never in my plans at all, they just happened. Moving back 1 year, I was totally not prepared to climb this mountain.

Alrighty. 2 months and I'll have to say goodbye to this vibrant city and to my first team of colleagues who'd grown up with me. I can't wait for the day when I'm finally reunited with my family again. After all, it has been almost 7 long years. On the other hand, time is running out. Yesterday I was only a young lad or 21 years old, coming to US to study. Today, I'm in my late 20s, and still not anywhere near what I'm supposed to accomplish in my life. Perhaps my next milestone is at 30 years old. Time shall not to be wasted!

Saying goodbye is always tough, whether it's a human, a pet or an inanimate object. Today, I just said goodbye to my faithful car which has spent the last 3.5 years with me. Thank you, Civic. I hope your new owner will treat you as well as I did. You'll always be remembered!



Saying welcome to a new car after getting rid of a good old one isn't always as cheerful as it should be. But I think we'll spend some really good time together in the next few years. I hope this investment decision is worthwhile. Anyway, it is a pretty nice little car. Smooth and more powerful than the old one. The only things I don't like about it are manual mirrors and no cruise control!!! I think I'm going to install give it some cruise control in the coming weeks. Can't imagine myself driving 2000 miles without any cruise! Anyway, welcome dear Sentra! =)

4 months feel so slow. Why does the last leg always feel so slow? I thought I wouldn't be affected by the "ORD" mood this time since there's so much left to do, but suddenly felt so tired and no mood to cheong for anything. I'm a lame duck now. Can't wait to move on to a new phase in life, and yet can't find the motivation to start selling all my stuff. Oh well.

Nuclear meltdown?

Worried for my friends in Japan now... Imagine living with a time bomb ticking which you never know when it'll go off, something if goes off would affect not only but your next generation. Imagine you become highly radioactive. Not only is your life under threat, but also you might find procreating a lot more problematic because your kid is likely to be affected somehow. Imagine all the hopes of having a kid suddenly dashed because of a 8.9 Richter earthquake. Singapore is going to have one such timebomb in the near future. Are we able to handle such technology? Even if we are, are our neighbours going to be able to handle such technology as well in future when energy become scarce? It all looks pretty scary in the next 50 years. Looks like our doomsday is not that far off after all. I wonder if how far can radiation spread.

As the old saying goes: Money can't buy everything. Indeed there are many things money can't buy, in fact, having too much of it could even destroy many valuable things if one is not capable of wielding wealth of that magnitude. That said, one still has to admit that there're a lot that cash can do, tangible and intangible alike.

The tangible is obvious, so I'll touch on the intangible. From a more social perception, it can build better friendships. Let's face it. Which scenario is better? A group of friends going out for lunch on a "go Dutch" basis, or taking turns to pick the tab? Personally, I'd prefer the latter (not that I don't have nice friendships with the former), as that is typically the case with my closer friends, and I certainly like the feeling of that. And being able to not worry or having hesitations about the cost of the meal is certainly something being financially free can do. Of course, one has to be careful not to go overboard, as friendships built on solely cash is often disastrous.

Shifting to a more personal note, having substantial reserves provides a better sense of security. A home sheltered from the cold capitalized society is always great for growing up. Confidence and a positive outlook are also things that comes together with feeling more secure about life (disclaimer: the opposite isn't true). At least this works for my mental health. I just love feeling secure, and insecurity is totally distasteful. I would rather go all out to seek this security than to remain helpless and feel insecure.

Having control of my life is yet another motivation for me. Being in a unique situation and having gone through countless episodes of being helpless in asserting my decisions because I'm not the one with cash, I feel limited. After all, whoever has the money has the say on how it should be used. I have no qualms about that, just that I prefer the feeling of being able to use my savings the way I want to, to maneuver it to align myself with my life's goals. This is the challenge, this is God's lesson. I want to break free and fly freely. I'm in a constrained cocoon, only when I can break out of the cocoon then am I safe and qualified to fly freely in this beautiful and yet precarious world.

I'm really not sure which is better in terms of education. To nurture, support and guide a person so that the person becomes better and finally make his/her mark, often much earlier in life, or to cast a net on the person so that when he/she is finally able to get out of it, he/she is ready to make his/her mark. This totally sounds like the "两袋香蕉" (绝代双骄) story where the 2 brothers grow up in 2 distinctly different environments. I think both are good ways, but maybe I'm one who might prefer the former, even though the latter might do me more good in terms of fueling my determination. Which do you guys prefer?

Oh well, if you get to choose what you want in life, life would be so boring then. So I might actually love this challenge although there are more than enough challenges in this world already that I really don't mind having one less. :)

Been a long time since I last wrote anything... too indulged in fighting wars online and fighting fires at work. heh~

Finally a much needed break has arrived, to break off from all these indulgence. Much pleasant things had happened. Another brother being married off... me getting accepted back to sch in cold mid west... Meeting new 'relatives' and have my relatives meeting new person... Seeing my good old cousins from msia...

All these give me some renewed motivation to get back to what I was doing. But it's kinda sad when I think that my time in Sony has become limited, that I'll be leaving this fun and intellectual bunch of colleagues. Oh well, I'll have to leave them one day, sooner or later.

Was the Emcee for my bro's wedding. It was really fun. Rather than doing it in some traditional boring way, I managed to pull it off with a twist, fortunately with some strong support from the other Emcee. Glad that the crowd liked it... Glad that my bro had a nice wedding. :) Only one thing is surprising... donno how my gf became the bridesmaid. :D

Oh well... Looking forward to 2011! Will be another year of MOVE and ACTION!