Just read a typical career related article today...but I think there's something in here that is quite applicable in both professional and personal life for me to remember.
Here's the essence:
Fear is the enemy of self-confidence and success and
it often shows itself as procrastination. Most people fear failure, criticism
and rejection and it’s only normal as we all want to feel good about ourselves. ... It’s sad
but true that failure, criticism and rejection are the feelings you must
experience to become a personal and professional success, but by beating
procrastination by facing your fears you will help yourself create the life and
career you want and deserve.
(Finally back from holiday a few days into the New Year...and the funny thing is I don't really feel comfortable moving on 2011 without writing my annual round up! So today, as soon as I 'think' I have revitalised myself, I just sat down on my chair to embark on this 'much owed' blog entry!!! : O)
2010...*zoom*:
This is perhaps the year that I felt have gone by the fastest, since I gradudated from university!
It has gone by so fast that I (ashamedly) only manage to write only 6 blog posts in 2010. : I It gone by so fast that I didn't even manage to write my 2010 new year resolution. So fast that I didn't have enough time to record all the things that I have experienced this year.
Or is it the other way around? That because so many things DID HAPPEN that I simply didn't have the time to get them all down!? Let this be my 'poor' excuse then...!!! : \
So let me compensate by writing a good, clear and crisp recap now to make it all up! Because it would definitely be a real shame if I don't jog down anything AT ALL for this...such...DIFFERENT year of 2010.
Goals for 2010
At the start of 2010, to my amazement, I was able to set down 3 very clear goals (without thinking too hard as well!). They were:
To go overseas and do my OE
To learn about photography
To learn how to type Chinese on computer
Guess what? : ) By the end of 2010, I can happily say I have accomplished 2/3 of it! You might think WHAT!? You only done 2 / 3 of it LemonTz!!! How can you claim to be 'happy'!!!
Well to be honest, the first goal up there, OE overseas, at the start of the year I still didn't know how viable it was! So to finally realise it (after being stuck on the idea for a couple of years), it's a pretty good feeling! : ) (See April post). So yes first one 'finally' ticked off! Doing an OE in UK right now! : )
The other goal that I achieved was to learn more about photography. : ) Specifically I was able to learn and be able to utilize my Canon S90!!! (Yay! My original aim of buying S90 was exactly this!) So I am really really happy about achieving this too!
Oh and how was I able to achieve this? (Yes meant to be a post somewhere in Oct, 2010 about this >.<). Well, through some random searching on the net, I happened to find a short practical photography course called, Camera Trail! The idea is to learn about photography by actively taking photos during the course. You follow the tutor and walk around the different areas and just snap + learn! Another great thing is that it's done in a super small group! So you get quite a lot of attention and help! : ) The other thing was that I did the course down in Brighton, which also allowed me to be a bit of a 'tourist' at the same time (as I have never been there before)! So all-in-all I had a really really awesome day that day! Definitely one of the highlight for my OE this year! : )
As for the 'yet to be completed' goal of 'Chinese typing'...I still really want to do it! Actually I wanted to learn this skill ever since I was in college and university! In 2009, one of my really knowledgeable workmate + friend taught me an input method (Q9 九方) that is much easier and logical to learn! So I am definitely carrying forward this goal for 2011!!!
Other Recaps / Achievements / Unexpected Gains:
As I have said at the beginning of this post, just so many things have happened this year. (And I am soooo sooooo lucky to have experienced so much!) So I am going to summarize it by listing bullet points of the main things for me in 2010. Here goes!
This year, not just me, but some of my friends too were able to finally set foot on their long term goal to experience life overseas!
I am really happy for them! : ) The fact that we are all able to finally make it! (And should I say even luckier that we are able to do it around the same time....the fact that we didn't purposely plan it, but accidentally hehe it just happened this way. Should I say it is fate? haha anyway less sad this way too I think : ) )
Experienced life in Norway (Oslo)!
Haha seriously I never ever dreamed or thought of going to Norway. Due to work this year, I was being sent over there and stayed for 3 months (and also at the start of my OE too where I consider myself to be at the most vulnerable state, should I say!?). I am very thankful for this experience and quite proud of myself that I made it! : D (But I also think half of the luck was due to having some really friendly workmates and Norway itself, being a less complicated and peaceful country!)
Set up and survived life by myself
Ok! The above probably made me sound like a baby! But hey I feel this is a valid achievement to be noted!!! : O After all this is really the FIRST TIME I am out there by myself.
I was able to find and set up my own place. Hey I even survived my birthday (for the first time!) all by myself too! But of course, I think this has been made much much easier for me, because I had some background remote help hehe, and fortunately good friends in UK to help and guide me through too!
Not saying it's a great achievement...but just wanted to say I DID IT (all by myself)! And just a small pat on the back for moi! : D
Indirectly visited the whole of Northern Europe
While working in Norway, my workmates (friends!) and I also did a small weekend trip to Stockholm, Sweden as well! : ) (So I have directly conquered two Northern Europe countries)
As for the other two, Denmark and Finland, well I actually did a transit in both countries and hung around their airports for a couple of hours! I know I know...it's not really counted -o-.... But can I 'quietly' say I have 'indirectly' conquered the whole of Northern Europe, please!!! : P May be, I can say 'directly'...may be hehe...
NZ
This year it seems quite a few 'not so happy' things have happened in NZ! (It's just extra sad to see it happen on the year that I'm finally out of country too!) The earthquake, the Queenstown plane crash, the parliament scandal for Asian MP, the miners.... : ( sighhh. Although I am now currently away from the country, but I sure do hope 2011 will be a better year for NZ!
Bonus visitors in UK and holiday back in HK
Didn't planned it at all when I first set foot on my OE, but I was so so so grateful that I got a visit from my mum + dad to UK end of this year. And together we flew back to HK where we were joined by my grandma from Canada and reunited with family and close friends again over the festive season. : D So so thankful for this (initially) unplanned bonus trip. What a great way to finish off and to start the year by! : )
Farewell 2010:
So there you go! My summary for 2010. Sorry about the extremely LONGGGG post. But to be honest, because so many things have happened, that what I'm writing here is probably only 10% of what I originally wanted to jog down in the year! : ( It really doesn't do it justice at all!!!
But as I said before, I am really really thankful for the year. Because so many things have happened. Although I seem to have said the same thing each year, but I guess more than anything this year, without my awesome parents and some awesome, trusting and reliable friends support (both local + remote), I probably wouldn't be like this and enjoyed my OE and life as much! Seriously, if for one second I think any less negatively, life could have been much worse I think (at least mentally!). Soooooo THANK YOU! >.<
Oh and my next entry is going to be my 2011 resolution (not today tho...lol spent overtime on this post)! This time, this year...I am determined to get it down!!! I promise! >o<
Thank you for such a different year 2010 : ) Bye Bye!
p.s. - As always, something relevant I found to end the post with...for you my friends : )
"If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together.. there is something you must always remember.
You are braverthan you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
But the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. i'll always be with you."
A sincere apology for the 4+ months of inactivity! But hey, it is now back and revamped! Hope you like the new look'n'feel! : )
Since starting out on my OE in April this year, I could hardly find much spare time to do my own stuffs. So when I do have the time, of course I have to prioritize and unfortunately blogging must be put aside.
The other thing that was bugging me was the organisation of my blog's template. Initially after the first month of my OE, of course I would have loved to blog about my experience. I was actually debating whether to open a new blog for the OE or to just keep posting onto this blog. Ideally I would like to keep everything together, with links at the top to separate posts belonging to different topics. This means I can have one just for OE. Unfortunately I could not find any blogger gadgets for this. So in the end, this kind of helped to demotivateme to get back to blogging anytime soon.
Until....TODAY!!! : D I guess deep inside me, the problem I described above just subconsciously bugs me! (lol yes, truly showing my true developer colour isn't it!). So somehow, for no reason at all, I got onto blogger and clicked into the new 'template designer'. Initially I was just clicking around playing with the themes. I then noticed the word 'tab'! Ah ha! Just the thing I was wishing for! @.@ After a few more clicks and experimenting, YES, it's achievable!!! I was sooooo happy! : ) Seriously! I was so happy with the tab, so happy with the new templates, I ended up just sitting there playing with the CSS for a good couple of hours, to get it working and looking correctly! (N.B. - this is the first time I explored blogger designer and CSS customization. So pretty happy and satisfied!)
As you can see now the tab list is located above, just below the heading! I will be picking the 'main' labels that identifiy the separate topics and add it to the tab list above. I hope you will find the new look, cleaner, slicker and easier to found things too! : D
p.s. - Apologies to my dear blog, but I hope you like your new look and that the wait was worth it! Shall now be updating you a bit more often! : ) I have loads and loads to write....until the next time!
Keeping this a short post...as I am badly staying up late in the middle of the night AGAIN!!! But I just really really wanted to document about this week, as it is a really really worthwhile to make a 'mark' for this week and rubberstamp the date!
You see it's another one of those really funny things in life. When people say "What a week of difference made", I can really feel it REALLY HAPPENING for me this week. It's kindda feel like a roller coaster ride that you normally expects to happen within a month of time...but it happened to me within a week! : O
Not going to give the details here (for fear of the impact it 'may' make...haha don't want to jinx it). But I can still remember clearly on Monday, the start of the week, when i was still feeling all blue & grey. Especially when I got asked the dreaded question...I was lost in my answer and reasoning.
Middle of the week....still doing what I can......as that's the only part that is within my control. Also had some really nice friends helping me along the way!!! And then suddenly.....'a remarkable' breakthrough! : O And then 'another breakthrough' towards the end of the week!!! I couldn't believe my luck at all! (although all good things take cost...but I was very very lucky that I was able to handle it and it all went through smoothly!)
By the end of the week, I can finally see a small opening through the grey sky that I saw at the beginning of the week! : ) A feeling of small relive! I won't be totally relived until it's all finalized and confirmed tho! But at least....things are progressing and can see it going somewhere! Yay! I'll definitely take this as my 4 years anniversary in the working-life present (which was on Sat, end of the week)! : )
Another contrasting thing within the week that I experienced was that at the beginning of the week, I sadly farewelled a visiting friend off in a dinner. At the end of the week, I was welcoming another visiting friend of mine warmly and happily in a dinner. haha incidentally both dinners were on the same part of the street, very close to one another.
So I don't know...is it what 'a week of difference' made OR is it 'a week of Differences' i.e. a week filled with differences...differences of emotions and feelings and moods and events. haha I shall let u decide. Meanwhile, trying not to dwell on it too much >o< but really hoping hard the progress will continue, moving on!!! I really really hope so....!
Prelude YES! I made it! Post '20' just to round up the number for the 2009 archive. Probably the last post I'll make for this year as I'll be out to 'party party' for New Years Eve tmr night. : D Being able to write this MUST post to round up the year will definitely make my day! (ooh and finally writing a summary in the 'year' that I was meant to 'summarise' about! haha : P w00t!)
2009...What Should I Say?
Late this afternoon my mood has turned down into a somewhat serious mood. Not too sure why tho (I even had a coffee this afternoon too!), but I think this should let me be in the right mood to sit down properly and reflect on my year in 2009 (Perfect too! As I was determined to write this blog post before the year ends!)
I'm still a bit mystified as to what I'm going to say / feel about 2009. Currently watching the news, it is reflecting on the Top 10 moments in Sports in NZ (definitely got to say a YAY to the All Whites!). hmmm what should I say about my 2009 year? I breathe out deeply...still deep within thoughts. How should I start this? I wondered. I looked back at all my previous "summary of the year" posts....it seems I have build up a style of giving a one/few words summary to describe the year. I shall continue with my tradition and start with it by filling the gaps below:
2009 has been a static year but it's also one where I have "tried, learnt and accepted".
Try, Trying and still Trying
As the global economy went down at the end of 2008, so did my decision to do an OE in UK in 2008 (see last year summary post). Although I took a prudent approach I still didn't give up the dream. I continued to seek for opportunities when I have the time. I just continued seeking but in a more passive but wiser approach.
Persisting with the idea, especially during such 'down' times, was not easy. In between the period I had to go through a lot of thinking, reviewing and rethinking. But I'm glad I didn't give up. Even though at the end I'm still here at home in N.Z, however I believe the struggling I had to go through in my mind should make me a stronger and more patience person I hope.
Acceptance
I consider myself to be quite a stubborn person. One of advantage of this is it made me a determint person in nature, it's not easy for me to give up (i.e the point I made in above section). However thiis time round, it was also through these tough times that I not only learnt but actually took into action to become 'flexible' when necessary (which is a hard concept and action to take for a super stubborn person like me).
For example I would love to be able to achieve what I consider to be the 'perfect OE' in my mind. Although I've always known that 'you can't always get everything the way you want'. But to really take it in and 'accept' this thinking as part of a stubborn person's decision making was not easy. It was through these tough times that I have learnt to be less rigid and to open up my mind to 'accept' different alternatives and possibly different outcomes. It's definitely been a very valuable lesson to learn and accomplish (for myself)...I'm proud. : )
Learning
Apart from the two big lessons above, I have also or should I say glady like to annonce that I have actually done some other 'learning' too this year. Unlike last few years where I have actually completed some Java certifications or picking up a new skills e.g. guitar or Toasmaster...this year it's more at the EQ level.
As I wanted to open myself up to more opportunities in my OE options, I decided to change my career path a bit and got out of the Development department and entered the (Software) Integration team, which will allow me to take a closer look at what is like on site working with and in a customer environment...heading more towards the 'consultant' pathway.
Being out of the comfort zone in the development team, things definitely can get 'a bit hairy' out there. Not only that I had to 'learn and manage working' with new and different people with different ideas and perceptions; in a brand new team working with new ideas; and which is transitioning from the 'not really a team' stage to becoming a team with 'more responsibilities and expectations' with much more room to grow and mature and stablize. Now you might think all you are describing here is just 'new, new and more new' stuffs. But no no, it's much more than that. Learning to work in a new and different environment, with different expectation and way of doing things is just......'different'.
Originally I set myself a goal to stick with this for at least 6 months, no matter how it is going ot turn out. So that I can actually give myself a reasonable timeframe to try this new thing out, to learn from it and to learn to adapt to changes. Now I can gladly say, "I did it" and I did 'take and learn' somthing from it and even made some projects possible and possibly with improvements too! : )
In Summary
Although this might seem the MOST BORING piece of 'summary for the year' post to date so far. Didn't really achieve anything 'physically' or 'visibly' (hence I used the word 'stable' in my original few-words summary). However it has definitely been a year of 'roller-coaster' for both my 'heart and mind and soul'. More like a tough year for me mentally to get by. Lots of decision making, wondering if it was right, wondering what I should do next. But hey......"I did it". I survived it and hopefully become 'slightly stronger' person (mentally) now.
New Years resolution.....haha it can go into another post....in 2010! : ) I shall end this year, as it is...just like this. Been there....learn it......now done!
Here's a "really really" good song to summarize the year for me..."路...一直都在" by Mr Eason Chan (陳奕迅)...here's part of the lyrics:
...
穿過一塊裡面一片黑暗沒有想過回頭一段又一段走不完的旅程 甚麼時候能習慣噢 我的 夢代表甚麼 又是甚麼讓我們期盼
That’s just life尋找夢裡的未來That’s just life少點現實的無奈
不論風吹的時候 不在傍徨的時候永遠向前 路一直都在
...
p.s. - lol as usual i actually wasn't great and took a 'weeee while' to finsih this post. After taking a break in between writing this post....I couldn't continue writing it at night at all as I have lost my 'feel' for writing such reflective post! : \ But funny enough....no idea why...I woke up 'naturally' early the next day (i.e. 31st....lol may be too excited that it's the last day at work and a party to look forward to?). With a much more clear head, I was and have now been able to finish this post! YAY! Satisfaction feeling of being able to achieve target set! : D (I shall keep this feeling in mind!)
It's almost the end of THAT SPECIAL month for me. Of course of course I owe my blog a little post before we go past it.
This year I've kept it low profile, while spending it somewhat differently than any previous years i.e. hah! A day off work (even tho it's a weekday), spending it overseas AND hah.....away from parents but spending it with friends I haven't seen for a little-wee-while. No matter whether this is gonna be my most happier / exciting / suprising b'day or not, don't really care, because I know this one will be another one that I treasure forever.
To be honest, I'm kindda sad that my emotions were some what put off by the fatigue and tiredness I collected from work before I went on my holiday. But being able to travel and get away (esp with friends to hang around) is just OARSOME! : ) hmm..how would I describe it? WARMTH!!! : D
(I mean come on I even got a celebration dinner before I went on my holiday....one can't be too greedy aye! ahah) Oh and getting an overseas delievered message from my folks...that bring EXTRA WARMTH! : )
Yea I know I'm such a kid....but I don't care!!! I would rather be a kid at heart and still be able to 'appreciate' things, THAN to be blinded or to be a whiner!
Oh and just one more thing about my trip in this 'special' month. This trip was funny because almost everyday my friend and I would experienced something that is unexpected! Now especially on 'd-day', while my friend and I were trying hard to be tourists : P....taking photos of each other....a really really kind lady voluntarily came up to us and offered to take photos for us! : O She even suggested us to walk to a more pretty place for the photo. On top of that, she was even KIND ENOUGH to want to borrow a bunch of fresh flowers for us to use in our photos! When the owner of the flower shop refused, she even considered buying a bunch for us to use in the photos!!! : O (of course at this instance, we immediately told her that there was no need! It was good that the flowers were too expensive, else I would feel SO BAD about it!!! And of course I don't blame the owner of the flower shop, he can't possibly lend out his flowers just for photos!!!) The lady was so kind, haha, it almost feels like she knows it's my b'day that day! haha Let me just greedily say how happy and lucky I am to have this happened to me (the photo she took was good too haha with other pretty flowers in the background). No matter where you are now, just want to say Thank You so much and the photos look great! WARMTH!!!
Although how I complained how emotionless I might have been....thinking back it was a happy, fuzzy and a warmth trip. It will not only leave a smile on my face, but will also remind me that despite how we continuously hear all those harsh or cruel things happening in our world.....but light, warmth and love can and still exists on Earth. Have Faith! : )
p.s. - We were even lucky enough to experience the dust storm in Oz! RAH!!!
A couple of months ago one of my upper eye lid kept twitching constantly (and I do mean constantly non-stop no matter what I did)!!! Now I remember traditionally in the Chinese culture, it is known that if your eyelid twitches (I forgot left / right hand side), it means something bad will happen. Just for fun, I thought I'll ask Dr Google to find out if it's the left or right hand side. I also thought I should investigate what caused my eye lid to twitch (as it usually twitches only a max. of a few minutes).....but this time it went on for DAYS!!!! : \
Anyway, to my surprise, there were actually A LOT and A LOT of people who wondered the same questions as me! In particular I found this blog about eye twitching which was written 6 years ago, but the blog post just kept growing even up to now, people are still making comments on it!!! Interestingly it doesn't offers any cures or even scientific explanations on the matter, but it just so happened to be one of the first few search results returned by Google! It's truly amazing tho to see how so many people share the same pain of eye twitching!!! lol but it's true, so true!!! This blog posts actually already has over 2000 of blog posts where people just want to share their unberable pain to others!!! : O
ps - It was lucky that it only lasted a week or two for me!!!
pps - In Chinese myth, it was said that 'left eye' means 'bad will happen'! : O
ppps - Apparently eyelid twitching is due to fatigue, stress and pressure (bingo! for me!!!)....but not sure how correct this fact is tho!
So back in June I made a post about "I am Spent"! Well it's almost the end of July now and this month has gone worst.....so I decided to use the word "Drained" this time!
Yes I feel my energy is gradually draining out of me each day. It has gone beyond the point of 'torture' because really it's not (as it's somewhat voluntarily). I no longer feel. I am numb physically. Hunger I don't fear. Aches in my hands, yet I continue to type. Although I am drained out physically each day, my mind is still clicking (alive and kicking hard)! I am unable to or shall I say I cannot afford to give in to rest time in exchange for one more thought, one more idea, one more possible solution.
So click click click here I go again.........right now, writing this blog is perhaps the only break time I can give....because I do want to keep up documenting the path that LemonTz walks, if not once a day, once a week, let it at least be once a month. I shall be back (and energized, once I am done with this pile of tasks)! RAH!!!
Although I was still a weeee tiny kiddo when the incident happened, but I can still remember the impact it had on the people in HK and I can still remember the march that I participated in....
I seldom do a political blog post, in fact this is probably my first. Nonetheless I think the "八x八"事件 (8 x8 Incident) is truly 'more than' deserving to be remembered by us and to be recorded in the history books! Today being the 20th anniversay of the event, I would like to commemorate the event by writing a blog post about it and sharing some related sites and articles:
Hong Kong: SC group censored 64 special feature A very very very interesting article and discussion about how an article that talks about the "8x8" incident has been left out of publication. A very interesting read (contains both orig Chinese and English translation). It is indeed extremely sad to see such 'limitation of freedom' is still as strong as ever....20 years later...
Prelude: This is my first 'porting blog post' where I am actually porting a blog post from another blog of mine! (hmm I have a feeling my msn space will one day get lost : I ....as my other personal wiki is already LOST! >.<
[PORTING BLOG POST | 09 October 2006 | MSN Space]:
Appreciation (something I learnt from school)
I remember back when I was in Yr 10 (around then) I learnt something which was quite interesting and helpful in one of those once a week 'SMT' class....errm haha if I remember the name correctly....(SMT == Self Management Training). haha I'm sure everyone had something similar if u had done Yr 10 in NZ, coz it's like compulsory to the curriculum! ahha :P
Anyway, I thought the following should be useful or at least something everyone could probably benefit from :
============ Ways to express your Appreciation/Gratefullness/Love ================
Appearantly, there are4 DIFFERENT(or 5...but I can only remember 4 ><") ways to show your appreciation to someone. Or in another word to express your "Gratefulness" and "Love" to someone. No matter if it's love with ur 'other half', ur friends, ur parents and ur family!!!
They are:
By mouth - Oral (e.g. You express ur feeling and appreciation by actually SAYING IT or telling them)
By ears - Listen (e.g. You show ur appreciation by being a good listener, you listen in deep focus to what they have to say)
By hands - Physical (e.g. You express ur appreication by giving them a hug!)
By giving - Gifts (e.g. You express ur appreciation by buying a gift or something to give to them)
By writing :O ??? (not sure if this is the 5th way...but the above 4 are DEFINITELY correct)
What this means is that different people express their love in different ways. Some express their love by actually saying it to you. And some by being a good listener, by just sitting there quietly listening to your every word.
Even more interesting is that people may LIKE TO EXPRESS and LIKE TO RECEIVE thier love differently as well. For example, one may express thier love to their friends orally. While he/she may like to receive their love (or should I say can SENSE they r LOVED) if someone give them hugs (i.e. physically).
What this means (the lesson behind this):
Well, you know how sometimes we may feel UNWANTED or NOT LOVED. No matter if this is a relationship between friends/lovers/families. If only we can recognise that people express and receive LOVE in different ways, then may be we could find that missing LOVE which always have been here. Kids may complain that their father do not love them because their father never tell them or say anything about it. But their father may have been showing his love already by GIVING his kids PRESENTS and buying them GOODS. If the kids recognised this, then they would've recognise their father loves them. Vice-versa, if their father had understood that his kids can only feel they r loved by saying phrases to them.....THEN RELATIONSHIPS could be improved and perhaps more UNDERSTANDINGS can be built.
So here I post to you these questions:
How do you 'express you love' to someone and how you like to 'recieve your love'?
And How do ur parents, siblings, friends and 'other 1/2' like to 'receive their love'?
(P.S. - Sorry abt this somewut BORING post and hope it make sense....but I hope this little fact may provide you a little realisation into the complexity of relationships....and perhaps help u in some day! )
Post number 100!!! : O Of course this 100th blog post deserves to be something different, something special to me, something I love....
So let me share something from my past, something from my pre-blog, pre-web 2.0, pre-knowing-much-about-computer age.....
愛與夢飛行 This is an album by Leo Ku (古巨基) released back in May, 1998. What I want to focus on this time is not the music though, but rather some aesthetic appreciation!
I believe I first learn of this album when I was walking pass HMV in a shopping mall in HK. I saw a big stand up poster of Leo's new album and immediately fell in love with the art work (yes a rare thing from me).
What first caught my attention was the title of the album, 愛與夢飛行 (Flying Love and Dreams). This immediately led me into a chain of thoughts. Love & Dream.....definitely something that most people would not only long for, but hope to become successful in both subjects.
And then looking at the poster itself, I just love how he held the model aeroplane, looking as if he is aiming to fly it up high (which totally portrayed the idea I mentioned above). The poster contains powerful symbols put together in a very simple way. The green background just gives you the peace of thoughts (although I am not sure about the green....but probably because green isn't one of my favourite colours!).
Seriously I stood there for at least a few minutes, thinking about the album title and the poster itself. I just love the name, the idea and the image (and probably more importantly because this is something I believe in, so obviously I was able to link to it)! And since that day, the quote '愛與夢飛行' and the image of the poster just got stuck in my head. (Which is a nice thought really! Somehow gives you a sort of positive feeling towards life.....for me anyway! : P )
Special Note: I only found out about this tonight while searching for information on this album. It turns out that my artistic sense has 'some' taste to it (if not unique)! : P Because apparently Jan Lamb (林海峰) designed the cover and packaging of this album! As the blogger in the following blog post stated so!
我的巨基年代 (Take a look at the picture in this blog, it showed some of the contents inside the CD box)
Now I'm actually interested in looking at the actual content of the CD box to see how it was packed and the pictures that were used in the album!
Music-wise: I think I would be left with a funny feeling if I don't mention about the songs in this album at all (esp. as this is an album I enjoyed and one that not much people knew/remembered about it). So here I go.
On the plus side, this album is not bad at all. Although it wasn't 'that' popular or 'that' famous (it couldn't live up to the over-whelming hype create from his previous album with the song 歡樂今宵). But in general I feel that the album was trying to do something different (and for that I do give credit for). The album is pleasant to listen to (for anyone who get a chance to 'dig' up this album hehe).
Good songs from the album include: 來年來日, 所謂愛情, 苦浪漫, 不敢說我愛你 and (of course) 愛與夢飛行!
P.S. - haha OOPS! This is actually the #100 posts (including drafts post that I've 1/2 written or never or not yet published)! Nonetheless I guess I can still celebrate on 'initiated' the start of 100 blog posts! hehe
lol with the extra daylight hour saved today, I used it to sleep in (w00t! 10 hours!) and finally caught up to doing some of my online admin (Facebook tonight).
Have been totally relaxing this weekend before getting back to doing some hard work tmr! In particular I was having a go at the 九型人格 (Enneagram of Personality Test) on Facebook (just a partial one) and the result turned out to be Quite True indeed (I think! heeh). My result (The Loyalist : P):
Isn't it funny nowadays that we combine our thoughts or feelings and comments into our chat program's profile name!? I once heard on the radio that people do it because they wish to get attention to themselves.
Well I don't really know why I do it. But I know I certainly don't do it purely to catch people's attention! I guess I know I want to put something in my msn name whenever I feel the urge to EXPRESS my inner feelings! I don't know why, I guess I'm just part of the geek cult! : P Let's blame it on that.
Ok enough of getting 'deep'. Main point of this super short blog is just that I want to show off my creative side! One day at work (at the beginning of the year when I wanted to spice up my msn name), I suddenly thought up this to add to my name:
2009 '突然想起你', '就算世界無童話' its still a 'singalongsong' : P
Pretty proud of myself! : P Becuase the fragmented sentence helped express my inner feelings, but the clever thing was I used only song titles to compose the sentence! And the songs I used are actually all my current favourites at the time!!! Pretty neat I thought (and dumb you probably think)! Nonetheless just wanted to write a small blog here to document this unique name! : D
FYI (for those who can't recognise), the three song titles are the ones between the single quotes (') in the name. : P
While talking with my friend tonight, sharing and moaning over our fatigue and tiredness during the past few days at work. She sent me a piece of reading which totally describes our current status:
Frank Lipman: “Spent” is the word I use to describe people who are overwhelmed, fatigued and feel older than their years. Does this scenario sound familiar? You wake up in the morning groggy and need coffee or something sugary to get going. Then you need more of the same later in the day to keep going. Your brain feels foggy; you’re not sleeping well; your body aches all over; your cold never goes away; and your sex drive is down. You are running on empty, your energy account is tapped out, you are physically, mentally and emotionally exhausted...you are spent. Interestingly, most people think it is normal to feel like this.
Prelude I missed writing my summary for 2008 and my new year resolution for '09 (life has been relatively occupied these days). So I thought before the first month of the Chinese New Years ends (it is 'Mooooooo...' Ox Year this year), I better write something about it before the month ends! So here goes....
A Quick Summary of 2008 Let's see....2008 has probably been a year of planning and preparation for me and sadly it is also a year of 'friends departure' too. Here goes some long rumblings on some of the stuffs I gained in 2008.....
1. SCWCD I started off the year with the idea of 'ok I think I really want to go UK' in my head. But I set a goal for myself to complete my Java SCWCD 5.0 certification first before I start looking into UK. So in the first quarter of the month, I was just studying my way through the book learning about all the Java web components and finally achieved my certification with a happy mark in May! : D
2. UK Visa After my SCWCD, it was all about getting my visa for UK. You see the UK visa system had a big change in June. It changed from the old 'Highly Skilled Migrant' way (which was a very long and tedious process) to the new 'Tier 1' UK visa'. Although I could almost send out my visa application under the old system back in June. I was recommended not to. And due to the unforeseen new visa application requirements, I had to wait 3 months before I could submit my application. Although the process of visa application was long, repetitive and requires heaps of patience; but I would definitely say no matter if I got the visa or not, it was a good educational life experience! You have to do research, read through various documents and all the fine prints on the application. LOL now I know why there are people out there who charges for helping you to submit (although luckily doing it myself wasn't too bad....it was actually quite ok!). In the end round about October I got my visa! : )
3. Reality Check Although I have got my UK visa, I didn't realise that the 2nd part of my UK plan was actually the hardest part of the equation, i.e. the actually GOING OFF to UK part. Taking it literally, yes I could've just bought a ticket and just *zoom* (fly) off to UK! But of course being a bit more pragmatic and logical in my decision making (which I guess I'm still glad to still keep a hold of), I need to consider my basic needs. One of the most important ones on my mind was "getting a job".
You see my initial plan didn't work out quite as I hoped. My company has no more vacancy in our overseas office and then there was the sudden downfall of global economy. All thanks to the HK trip I took towards the end of last year (which was a somewhat unexpected yet expected event <- yes contradicting mysef). It allowed me to hear a lot more and to gain much more awareness of just how bad the financial condition is around the world! (Extra thankful for the trip because I know that if I was still in NZ, I wouldn't get as much exposure to all the news and media about the global recession!!!). It was because of what I gained during my trip, that I decided "I better be safe then sorry"! And opted for the safer option for the time being...
4. An Extra Extra Extra Worthwhile Trip Another thing about the HK Trip was that it was extra worthwhile and meaningful to me this time because I get to meet up with my awesome pals who have gone back there to live. It was really really great to see them again. And I really do mean 'great'! You know how there's a saying that goes something like...'you don't realise you miss something until its gone'. Well haha unfortnately the really funny thing that I got out of this trip was actually even further than that.......'you don't realise how much you miss something, until you lost it and then see (found) it again'! : I (My usual saying applies here: "How Stupid!") I actually have a theory I thought up around this. May be I'll post it some days I hope! hehe just really really thankful for my trip (and my parents...if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have the opportunity to go on this trip)! : P
My Ultimate Goal for 2009 This can be described in just a few words: "Learn, upskill and change"! : P Hopefully what I didn't complete in 2008 will be done in 2009. And perhaps like the year we are in, I wish I'll be as hardworking as a 'cow' in '09! Go Mooooooo Year!
Prelude: This blog was originally dated on 4th Nov 2008....I never got the chance to finish it.....so here it is (as I feel like doing just a small music blog tonight).
Song: Funny enough there are some things on this Earth where you have to experience it in order to get its real meaning. You see I always have a disbelieve in this theory. I thought that if a person is aware enough, they should be able to learn from the mistake of others; rather than having the need to experience it themselves in order for them to understand. Let's say smoking for example, of course one would hope that you don't really 'have to' try smoking first before you can say 'no' to it and to understand the harm it'll do to your body.
In general I still believe in my theory. Because I mean, who would want bad experiences to occur every time when they learn of something new, right!? If one is observant enough, one should be able to learn from others.
So how does all these relate to the song 最佳損友 here? Well this is related to the realisation I had one day. The fact is although you can learn from others. However, if you did went through the experience yourself, you 'usually' found yourself understanding the whole situation in a whole lot more sense clearer. Probably because the reality hits you a whole whole lot harder this way!
You see I thought I understood the lyrics in the song 最佳損友 when it first came out. Yea, great meaningful lyrics there. But as I experienced some life lectures over the years, one day I came to listen to the song again and the lyrics just 'click'. Suddenly the lyrics means a whole lot more sense to me. And I was going 'ahh' and 'ooh' to the lyrics, relating to it, and found myself peeling understanding the true meaning of each sentence in the song.
So I realised that although we should try to learn from others, but if it happened to you, it's ok! Although it might have hit you hard, but it's ok because you know that you'll remember it for a long long time. And that'll make reminding you not to make the same mistake easier, because it hit you harder! : )
Anyway this song has great great lyrics written by Wyman. The lyrics are just so so true! Almost every sentence in the song I can just say YES to it! Luv it! (Sorry to those who can't read Chinese) And Eason...haha do i need to phrase him more? He just performed the song so so well, really controlling and expressing the feelings and emotions at the right place and the right time within the song. Making the song more emotional as the music became more intense towards the end! Another great Eason song! (Well done Eason, Wyman and Eric Kwok! Great song by this combination again!) For those who haven't listen to this song for a while, go on listen to it now, see if the lyrics make more sense to you too! ENJOY ENJOY ENJOY!
(Unrelated) Prelude: This is probably the longest period I have stopped writing on my blog since its establishment! : I (my excuse....due to being both physically and later mentally away from the world of bloging!) hehe as always I have so many things I want to say coming back from an overseas trip (and never got the time to write everything down....!) Any how I'm back TODAY.....so here goes....and a good first post in 2009 too! hehe More 2008 summary and 2009 goal to come later.
For Friendship: Back in the last month I went to all those X'mas days shopping. While looking for a b'day gift for my friend, I happened to see a very verymeaningful'Winnie the Pooh' B'day card. It was the perfect card to get for my friend!!!
But, for some unknown reasons I didn't get the card and I couldn't find it elsewhere. Unfortunately I couldn't find the card on the web too.>.< But at least I was able to find the quote and relevant picture on the web. The card is very very simple with the main focus on a conversation which happened between Pooh and Piglet.
To you my dear dearfriends, I will give you the same answer as Pooh : P :
Reference: - Find the quote from this site - A link to a web book that refernce the quote with a bit more context....(it happened during Pooh and Piglet walk on a snowy track...)
For a moment the idea of a 'fine line' popped up in my head (another one of those random philosophical thoughts from me).
You see I was thinking that there's probably a fine line between being considerate to you and the fact of whether one cares or not about you.
Let's take an example, if a friend said "It's ok if you can't make it to my birthday dinner". On one side, your friend may be a very considerate and understanding person, knowing that you may have difficulties making to their dinner, but it's ok, they understand your hardship and they forgive you. However, on the other side of the ball, one may think that your friend do not really care whether you come or not. If they do care about you, that they will probably put more effort into asking you to go, persuading you to go, instead of the comment of which I put to the argument here.
sighh....but then I realise......this is probably related to the fact that......
There's a fine line between genuine and fake. See another may argue that if you can feel that your friend made the comment above in a very genuine, honest way....hence it means they are a considerate person. On the other hand, if you didn't feel any honesty in their comment, you'll probably think they do not care whether you go to their party or not, thus the fact of whether you worth anything in their heart.
But the art of determining whether a person is genuine or not to you is not easy. I don't know at least for me it seems not. This is probably only because I know that I'm easy to fall for fake genuine acts or just that I'm too naive. You start to ask questions of whether one is genuine to you, one is truthful to you, one you can trust and rely on. I know this is all based on life experience and how much you have learnt in life.
But sometimes I just wish I can own a pair of glasses that will tell me whether a person has lied to me or not. I wish I can just tell whether its a lie or the truth straight away. Siggghh although life is not easy and that faith or trust may be lost along the way. But it's ok, I believe that honesty and truthfulness are still out there and that not everyone out there is trying to get you. And some are ready to be there for you for a lifetime.... : ) I still believe.
Rainbow Jello (click on image for reference site)
PS - I think I sound really lost here....but I really I do know what I'm trying to express here. PPS - I guess tonight is another one of those philosophical night for me.....haha
I gotta admit I am a "Sport Junkies", I enjoy watching most sports. If you ask me about Olympics, my mind will just sprung up with various images and stories and basically I can go on and on about it. : P (due to my sporty childhood background and one past dream of mine....another day to tell)
And of course I have been following the 2008 Beijing Olympics whenever possible. Here's one beautiful story that I will mark as one to remember for from this year's Olympics game:
The main point I want to emphasize from this article is not about pitying the great Hayden Roulston about him losing his saving. The thing I want to emphasize lies on page 2 of the article, about the good deeds the "tight five" has done in supporting the athlete. It really does remind one that despite some of the cruelties in this world, there are still tremendous lot of love, benevolence, faith andtrust amongst the people in this world. : ) Or in Chinese I would use the saying "人間有情"! Good on you Hayden Roulston for sticking to it and good on the "tight five" for doing the good deeds!!!
The NZ 2008 track cycling team in qualifying race (Sam Bewley, Westley Gough, Marc Ryan, and Jesse Sergent)
I finally stopped writing philosophical stuffs in my last few posts, but unfortunately, here it goes again : O .....it's another one of those random post that tries to be deep but probably does not make too much sense at all.....
Sometimes it's funny, you know during those late night hours when you are lying on bed, getting ready to go to sleep. Random pictures or images emerges from the past. All of a sudden your heart feels heavy. You think about the things you have lost or the things that have changed.....you sighed....and probably while you breathed, a slight pain is aching in your heart.....while the moments and images of the past flashes before your eyes.
It's funny, nothing happened today or of any significance at all that would led up to such thoughts at night. It's funny how these feelings just suddenly pops up, when you least expected and for no reasons at all. Life after all is a funny thing. hehe
I just listened to a song while writing this post, incidentally the "feel" of the song perfectly described the sort of night / mood I was trying to describe. (Luckily for me it's nothing related to the lyrics of the song, but it's sad lyrics tho!): 星期六的深夜 - 王力宏 (for lyrics click here)
Although it seems sad, but I just wanted to capture the feelings I have on the blog here. For the sake of remembrance. Life goes up and down. I'm sure I'll enjoy the up times more if I also remember the down times.
As for those who I've lost, I sincerely do hope you are doing well in whatever you are doing. For those who I still have a hold to, remember to enjoy the present as each second flies past you, because I won't take anything for granted, including all usssss out there. : )
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