My Digital World

Last weekend, my mom prepared food for Saturday's BBQ. It was kind of
birthday celebration of my brother and me. My brother was the man who
was busying with BBQ. Once football started, I was the cooker.

Besides BBQ, I was busying with organising a model shooting. My cousin,
Kevin, asked me whether I can do fashion shoots with jewels for a trader
in this area. When he said that he is working for the trader company, I
had an idea which company it should be. Indeed, when I saw the jewels,
I know I am correct.

Contacting the good models is not very difficult. But since the budget
is very limited, my choices are also very limited. However, I manage
to get a very nice model to work with.

Apart from my weekend, my weeklife is a but different from usual. This
Wednesday, I almost broke my leg while I was playing badminton. Now, I
walk in the way as many ducks do. This is a very bad thing, since the
next day, it is badminton competition that I have organised for people
from the 13th floor and from the 18th floor. As usual, there are some
people at last minute, who cannot attend this great event.

I am happy that this event is a very successful event. I have to thank
Joyce, Marion (secretary from the 18th floor) and Lisa (also secretary
from the 18th floor) for helping organising. I also have to thank Shabir
to buy stuff that is needed for badminton, since I cannot walk very well
now.

I am very glad to see that everyone enjoyed the game. Because of this
great success, they want to plan another competition around September.
People from the 18th floor want to take revenge since they lost. Joyce
told me that I should play next time.

During the battle, I took pics which can be found at my multiply-account.

On top of the nice things, I have many things to do for my project. This
week, I have a gathering with Dafina and Piet. Dafina is back from US's
conference and she said that she was dissappointed in the conference.
She had had many better conferences before. The US's one is small and
there was nothing special, although there were supported by big sponsors
like Medtronics.

The discussion with Piet and Dafina was tough. Again, I can learn from
them alot. Their critiques made me like a baby who had no clue who my
dad and mom are.
After 1,5hours of talking, they asked me to give demostration of what
I have performed so far. Surprisely, I noticed that I did a big mistake.
The problem that I thought I have solved, seemed still be there. That
means, I stuck more and more in deep dilemma.

I agree with myself that I will solve this by this weekend. Therefore,
I should "gambatte"!

This Thursday, my brother and me had our birthday. I am really shocked to realise I am 28 now! My brother is now 20. Gods...I am 28!!! I feel so old! As I said before, I did not want to celebrate my birthday. So, this Thursday I just went to U and in the evening I was in my room watching my favorite KTV competition.

At my birthday, I was very happy with all the sweet wishes from my friends. The first one is Shan Shan, who sent me a sms at night. The second one is my buddy Nancy. This Monday, I met her at Amsterdam since I brought her the SPSS cd for her. She asked me why I didn't want to join this Friday's dinner and when she heard that my uncle was passed by, she supported me, which I appreciated alot. Too bad, that I could not cheer her up, since Nancy was not happy too...

Hoi Wan, another friend of mine, sent me a sms when she was in Portugal. I am touched since she was still thinking about me when she was abroad. Celeste was the first and the only one who gave me a phonecall. I am very glad to have these friends. :)

Again, I am on my way to Groningen when I write this blog entry. It was
a tiring week. The Monday starts with working in Amsterdam. Tantra was
there too. Our tons of DVDs are arriving and we can burn again :P

This week, the company where I work, had a kind of evaluation of what
is going on with our firm and what their next plans are. I personally
think that this action is taken too late. Looking carefully at their
plans, I do not think they will succeed in their goals. But that is
not my business. :P

At the end of the working day when Gabor is left, Tantra and me were
chatting for more than half an hour. We are gossiping and talking about
everything. But one of the very important topics is about Bou. Tantra
knows him for 8 years plus. He also do not understand some of Bou's
actions.

Anyway, after the chit chat with Tantra, I took the train to Rotterdam.
On the way, I was thinking about my dinner. Every week, I am thinking
about what to cook and what to eat. Sometimes, it is nice to have a
dinner at my friend's place or at my place with my friends.

The next day was a working day for me at my U. I solved the problem of
cable connection between my computer and the microcontroller, which I
was very happy with. However, the smile on my face is just for a very
short sunshine, since the next huge problem is not easy to solve. Since
I am surrounded by so many problems, there is no other way to be a
hardworking-karfee.

At Tuesday evening, I had an appointment with someone from Marktplaats.
Since I want to buy a good bike for cycling to U. My previous plan was
getting a "roeifiets". Roeifiets is a bike which you use your arm to
move on in stead of your two legs. Doing some small researches on
internet, my hopes for getting this kind of bikes are gone. How can
they charge 3300euro for a bike??? If I have that money, I prefer to
go on holiday with my friends or give some donation to people who need
money or give the money to my family. I will also not be happy if
someone will give this bike as a gift, since I really do think it is
not worth to buy.

The deal of getting a bike, was not successfull. I asked Shabir to go
with me. After spending some Euros for calling him, he went with me to
the place where we took a look at the bike. I didn't like the bike,
because there some spots that did not look so good. The main reason
is also that it cycles not too comfortable.

The next day, I had an excursion of almost all the people from my
department. In the morning, Joyce (one of the secretaries) waited
for me at the trainstation, since the place where we all met, were
very far away from the station. Joyce wanted to give me drive. ;)

The day-out with my group was interesting. I noticed I belong more to
people who working in the Science world than people who are only looking
to get more and more money. I also want to get more and more money,
but that is because I want to use this money to give people a better
life. Today, when I was on the train and I read the newspaper, there
was an article about an 8 years old boy who worked in a balloon
factory. There was a picture of this boy. When you look at his body,
you can see that his underfeed and his body is mainly covered by a white
powder, which probably comes from the materials of the balloon. I really
hope I can succeed in my career to help these poor people.

At the day-out, I was one of the photographers. I took alot of pics.
yesterday, I stayed till 3am for creating a slideshow DVD for my group.
Some of my friends know what I mean what I mean since I have created
for some of you this kind of DVD, which consumes alot of time. I will
also put some of the pics on the web. So, do check my multiply account.

The next day was a meeting with Dafina. We had an appointment this
Tuesday too. But at that appointment, she did not have enough time
to discuss everything. So, we continued on Thursday. I also brought
her the figures she wanted to have for the US conference. Next week,
I will not go to the conference. My two supervisors will go instead.
Do I feel a bit disappointed? Actually not. Since I have many other
things to do. I am already very happy with my two publications :)
Meagan sent me an e-mail this week. She asked me if I would come to US
for the conference. I promised her that I will visit her when I go to
US and I will also stay at her appartment after the conference. Too
bad that I have to disappoint her. But I will save money to visit once.

Today, people were working on the floor. They made alot of noise.
Besides people were hunting for my DVD :P Piet came along and he wanted
to chat with me about my idea of how I make the oxygen sensor. It was
a very tough talk. He was happy with my programming part, but he had
a lot of comments in my read-out electronics. I really enjoy his attacks.
He made me strong and he made me feel like a guy whose brain is filled
with no cells. I learn alot from his experiences. :)

There is a man who I am proud of and who other people should learn from. I know this man by watching the One Million Star. He is a man who can be touched very easily. You can see how he feels, since he shows his emotions very clearly. In contrast to me, I am a person who is not very easy to get touched. On top of that, I barely shows my emotions. Neither in front of my friends or families.

The fact that I want to write about his man is that he has a very nice character that many people should learn. During the singing competition, this man makes lots of good friends. I know that the singers, who are in the top 10, do not care about who will finally win. The winner becomes more or less. That is the man I mention here. His name is Aska Yang.

When there are only 6 men left, Aska retreats, which surprises everybody. His retreat is a very serious problem for the hits of that Idol based program. Since he is the superstar. He is the man who everyone is looking for. He is the man who can touch everyone's heart. His success is very nearby, but he gives up. Why?

When he applies for the singing competition, he reported his fake birthday. Everyone thought he was 24, in stead of 29! Because he cannot withstand his dishonesty, he decides to leave. During the end of the show, he makes that clear and he apologizes for his fake identity.

I see many people who are not honest. Almost all of them, will not admit his fault. Who will give up his or her dream for his or her mistake? Aska wanna be honest to everyone. Although becoming a singer is his dream, he gives up because of his dishonesty at the beginning of the competition.

There are many things you can do. But make sure you are honest and do not have any regrets. Since some roads there is no way back...

Labels: Aska, Aska Yang, One Million Star, 楊宗緯, 超級星光大道

While I was enjoying my dinner this Tuesday and while I was watching
One Million Star season 1, my mom called me. I was very enjoying the
singing competition. I was not very happy with my mom's phone call.
My mom had a very serious thing to say: my uncle, who I was grown up
with, just passed away.

A couple of months ago, his health turned into very bad. I did call
him, but I only managed to talk to my aunt. My aunt said he was fine.
But I am told by my cousin from Singapore that his liver had a very
serious problem, which was a very bad sign. Since we are told by our
aunt that he was fine, we stopped asking in more details.

My aunt is a person who did share serious issues with others. She is
also a person who concerns alot. A few years when I was in hospital,
we did not inform her, because we did not like her to worry. From my
"love" experience, I learned to become more "open". Hiding everything
in yourself, does not only harm yourself but also other people who
concern you, especially the one who like you. This respect also holds
for this issue. Keeping everything for yourself does not take the
concern of people away. In stead, you let them more and more worry.

When I heard that my uncle passed away, my outside feels quite 'cool'.
Maybe because I did not attach to him very much, although I lived with
him till I was 8. But inside me, lots of things go wrong. First, my
appetite decreases dramatically. Second, I did not enjoy my favorite
One Million Star. I dropped my food and washed the dishes. In the evening,
I had planned to call/sms Nancy, since I want to meet her for passing
the SPSS that I have downloaded last weekend. After I am told
that my uncle passed away, I had no mood in calling or sending her a
sms. Nor contact any friends of mine...

In stead of watching the show, I was very hard thinking about my cousin
from Flevoland. Also thinking about my lovely Xin Jie and Xin Lin. I decided
to write them an e-mail the next day.

After a while of thinking, things turns into very complicated. I decided
to stop thinking and I went to my computer to continue with designing the
cover for Jok's book. I noticed that I was totally out of focus, since whatever
I did in photoshop and InDesign, all went wrong. Physically I look quite
normal, but mentally I am totally lost...

I was thinking about cancelling the appointments with Bou and Lili.
Since Bou was doing exam, I could not call him. Besides, I did not
want to tell him about my family issue. So, I tried to focus and put all the
bad things aside.

I know myself very well. I am pretty good in hiding emotions. I think,
so far, none of my friends have ever seen my emotions, e.g. being touched.
I really did not like expressing my feelings, which is a very bad thing
since others do not know how I actually feel. I should change myself in that
respect...

Enfin, in the late evening, Bou came a long to my place. When he was in
HK, he bought the Nikon D80. As promised, I let them borrow my kitlens
and teach him what I all know about photography. I think, he did not notice I
did not feel very well.

Anyway, after taking some nightshoots and when Bou had left, I went to
bed. I could not fall asleep. I think, I have turned round and round
for 3hours in my two-personsbed. I did not think about my uncle, but
unconsciously I did think about him.

The next day, I just went to U and doing my old stuff. Since I was
still metally not very stable, but I decided to meet Lili for a dinner.
In stead of going to my place to have dinner, I went to her place.
We just had a chit-chat. I did not mention my unhappy things.

I felt the whole week so so. I have no mood for meeting other
friends. Nancy sent me an e-mail about dinner next Friday. I
postpone that dinner to the 20th. But I still did not know if I want to
go for dinner. That is why I did not send her a new e-mail back.

My birthday is coming. I had planned to treat my friends for a dinner.
But since this happens, I lost the mood to celebrate. It will be just
a normal day, as the other 364 days...

I think I am back into my old days. The week started with working in Amsterdam. I don't like my part-time job more and more. I notice that there are many things are not well organised. Also, the company's target is wrong. If it continues at this way, this company will face to a very serious problem.

At Tuesday, I am back to Delft to work on my M.Sc. project. I solved many problems and I make a bit progress. However, this week, I also had had a discussion with Paddy and Dafina about my project. We all agree that I cannot finish my project by August. I am a bit mad at myself, since I should take my project more serious. However, from now on, I will work more and more serious.

I had a dinner with Faruk at out AULA. It was probably the last dinner with him at the U, since the next day, Faruk gave his final presentation and doing his M.Sc. defense. I saw Faruk working very hard for his thesis. His right hand got a bit RSI.

Anyway, I uploaded pics of Faruk graduation at my multiply-account. He did not dissappoint us, since he received a 9!!! I was a bit surprised that his defense is pretty short: I guess, it was only 45min. Well, we are all very glad he did very well!

After Faruk's graduation defense, I went to Utrecht for my first business. Bou would join me for discussing about our salary. We expected to talk to the boss. However, we only faced to other people who are boss's left and right hand. The weird thing was that those people did not look at the amount of hours and what we wanted to ask for. In stead, they wanted to add more functionalities in the design, which means that this project will be more and more expensive.

The next day, it is Jan-Wiebe (JW) graduation. I met him the day before he had his defense at the 13th floor. He seemed a bit stressing since there were many things that he had to prepare for his presentation. But at his defense, he did a great job too, since he received an 8!!! One thing, which shocked me, was his face after 1hour and 30minutes. He gave me a sign that it was very tough. I wondered how I would preform since JW's supervisor is also one of my supervisor, which is Paddy, aka prof. dr. ir. French.

Thos who are curious of the pics of JW, can be found HERE. Notice that JW's family are very tall: all about 2.00m