strange predicament

so i finally found myself a new job. yay.

i have to serve a THREE month notice period. help.

i am already so free in the office with nothing to do.

since the taiwan earthquake, email and internet are down in office.

nothing to do. nowhere to go.

any suggestion on how to pass time in office?

new year resolution, anyone?

sorry if i seem "dao" and not reply to your comments, that's only bcos my internet connection in the office is screwed!

or should i say zit, nil, zero.

btw, today is my birthday! want to know how old i am, clue is in simplejoysinlife blog. sorry, no hyperlink. you have to find the address yourself (hint, it's on my blog lah).

i was on tv on tuesday! but i didnt catch myself. that day, i went downstairs of my office to catch a tea break, when a channelnewsasia guy sneaked up to me and colleague. colleague literally scruffled away like a rat (and a big one some more!).

guy : hi, can i ask you A SIMPLE QUESTION?

turned out i got conned, tricked!

he didnt ask me A SIMPLE QUESTION. he asked me many questions.

as soon as i answered him, within split second, he asked another.

he was interviewing people on their new year resolutions.

i didnt have any. he probed and probed and i still didnt say any.. he finally gave up. haha..

shadow or not...

i wanted to blog over the xmas weekend, but was too engrossed in play with shadow.

my worries were unfounded.

give him a toy mouse and this little guy turns from a meek weakling into a strong warrior.

these are some of his tender moments...

christmas ornaments

for kxbc

bbbrrrrrrgggghhhhhh

it's really cold in the office... thanks to the rain for the whole of yesterday and today.

and it doesnt help that i am very freeeeee.....

nothing to do.....

sian....

i go scout around for cute cat videos from youtube for you all ok? :p

another one

very cute video, from the land of neko

crisis

my hand has been mutilated by my sweet littel darling black kitten!

i think he freaked out due to coco the fat one started to hunt him down.

he is too timid and has not stepped out of his room by himself.

every time he tried to venture out, he is greeted by adults hanging around at the door. actually, save for coco, no one is interested in him. everyone just want to get past him and go to his food bowl!

but alas, at the rate he is warming up, i fear we may have to return him to his foster and get a more confident kitten.

comon, shadow, show the world you are a man!

thou shalt be christened...

blackie?

hitam?

kuro?

kopi o?

小黑?

shadow?

madness

i almost wanted to smack this man. and smash his vcr.

for some morbid reason, he was filming the entire funeral.

not only that, he was filming people up close and personal.

i dont like a camera in my face, especially when i am tearing and mourning.

at that moment, my anger overwhelmed my loss and sadness.

please lah, even if you dying to capture the moment, at least have some decency to respect the late's family.

whoever's idea this was to film the funeral, BAD IDEA.

"oh, what vcd shall we do today?"

"let's watch so-and-so's funeral!"

....

life is fragile...

one minute he's here, next minute he's gone.

please treasure your loved ones before it's too late.

loving siblings

and finally, grooming in action!

geno-style mac chicken

with crotons


i prefer croton-less!


this is what i call a healthy, hearty meal.

confessions of an options trader

or should we call it gambling? speculating?

by now you should have noticed i am updating my blog less and less regularly.

that's because i have been seminars and workgroups to learn how to trade (horrors!) in the US market (wah, so risky!)

i chose not to "announce" earlier because friends and acquaintances around me have been, and still are, SKEPTICAL.

"be careful dont get burnt"

"i have seen people lose everything"

"share market is so risky, are you sure you can make money?"

after dabbling in the US market for more than 2 months, i've got news for you.

i realised the real reason why people get burnt or lose all their money in the stock market.

it's not because it's risky (everything we do has a certain amount of risk)

it's not because market is unpredictable (well, to a certain extent, but not to that extent to wipe out your entire portfolio)

it's also not because it's difficult to make money in the market (there are numerous success stories out there)

there is one true root cause, and one only -

HUMAN NATURE

because people trade on their emotions.

when they start to see their predictions go wrong, they make decisions based on FEAR.

when they start to see their predictions go right, they make decisions based on GREED.

fear and greed are the 2 real obstacles to a trader's success.

another thing, when things go wrong, they start to blame the market, blame the broker, blame the economy, blame everyone and everything else but themselves.

how to make money when you dont own up to your actions and improvise???

to date, even though i am not making big bucks (just enough to buy treats for my cats, hehe), i can proudly say that i have learnt to manage my emotions, and able to make sound, rational decisions.

another common pitfall is people expect seminars to produce miracles for them. they spend a couple of hundreds or thousands, and expect the dough to roll in for them.

well, the only thing that will roll are my eyes!

trading is a lot of hard work, and seminars are just an introduction to the methods and strategies that have been proven to work. also, these stuff are not 100% foolproof. so people who go to seminars expecting fast bucks get rich quick schemes are going to be disappointed.

so the conclusion of this post - i have been spending time doing research and trading and less time blogging lah...

that's the main point i wanted to make. do ignore all the blah blah blah above. :)))

which type are you?

1) someone who just want textbook, model answer

for everything that happens, everything you do. you just freeze up and panic at the slightest sign of trouble. you refuse to acknowledge that life is not a simple textbook and things that happen are not going to just have model answer for you to follow.

you DONT use the brain that was bestowed on you to solve the problem. instead you just keep harping on how things and people should have SOP's. you also dont want to take responsibility for your own actions and more often than not, you find it easy to just blame others.

2) someone who recognizes life as full of challenges and ups and downs

you are ready to take on anything that comes in your way. well, maybe not everything, but you take it in your stride.

you may not like challenges and problems, but you do your best and USE YOUR BRAIN to try to resolve them.

you also try to take personal responsibility of your own actions. you strive to recognize your weaknesses and improve.

i need a tote

a large roomy tote, to lug my lifebook and essentials around.

any suggestion?

recently i fell in love with this

but it's a hefty S$1070, worse, they dont carry it in the boutique here.

anyone going to the states soon?

special feature

we interrupt daily post to bring you a special rags-to-riches feature

(que : sorrowful violin music)

there was once a ginger white kitten, who roamed the streets and longkang in a certain part of yishun.

she braved the monsoon rain, braved the humid weather of singapore.

then comes a man (with a sexy (!) moustache).

man to woman : we need to take this kid home. she doesnt belong on the street.

woman to man : ok. you clean her litterbox, clip her nails, wash her ears, brush her coat everyday. deal!

so the man, woman, and mowgli live happily ever after (with a sore ear... but that's another story)

where's weiwei

tattoo

i found the perfect cat picture to become a tattoo!

its a very serene calico kitten...

for suspense sake i shall not post the picture here.

i shall post the end-product on me!

akan datang...

protecting my asset

i spent $460 and 2 hours fixing up my desktop pc on the new desk.

both $ and time well-spent.

why you may ask.

to protect the wires and cables from chewy cats, that's why!

before : all wires were exposed, and some felines just enjoy chewing on them, waiting for a chance to get electrocuted.


after : save for some visible wires below the desk, which i am going to bundle up in a minute, all assets and cats are protected!

a journey every one of us has to go through

sorry for the long silence

there's been a death in the family

grandma passed away peacefully at the age of 92

i must say it's been an interesting experience organizing the wake and funeral and stuff. wanted to take pictures of the wake but i think some people are quite "pang tang"

afterthoughts:

1) funerals are expensive ranging from 6-10K or more (so pls start saving for it)
2) you dont have the luxury of time to get and compare quotes from different casket companies
3) thus you are at the losing end and
4) most likely you will get ripped off
5) dealing with the living is a pain in the ass
6) what's with the red string at wakes?
7) there's so many variations to chinese customs eg. give orange, give red packet with 20cents, give red packet with $2, give red packet with 20cents AND red string
8) give orange to people who drive
9) give before the funeral
10) give after the funeral

headache and concussed...

but i survived :)

have you lifted one billion yen?

i have, at the bank museum in otaru.

shikisai no oka 四季彩の丘

at biei 美瑛、北海道

this is my favourite photo of the trip
and this photo with probably the best travel partner i could ever have :)

无聊

ok, i admit it is a 无聊 video, but hey, was our first time encountering an automatic soup dispenser leh! dont you think it's ingenious? hee...

farm tomita

dont be deceived by the picture. it was summer and school holiday periods in japan, the place was packed with japanese as well as overseas (hong kong and taiwan and us) visitors.

perhaps coboypb curse and swear cos i was 麻烦 in insisting to take pictures without those tourists (believe me, if you'd seen some of their horribly-coordinated fashion, you would agree with me also), but i am happy with the results.

must thank coboypb for being so patient with me. we actually NG many times cos some idiots would just suddenly move into my picture.

but worth mentioning, japanese people are very 自动 (with initiative), when they see a person posing for a picture, they will politely halt and let you complete the process. that is unlike tourists from OTHER countries, including my own.

by early august, the lavender flowers were starting to brown, but it was other flowers' turn to bloom.

kootoo and m&m

so this is old news (as it has already been blogged by mama piggy.

still, i wanna show you the cute 3 musketeers, kootoo, muffin and milo.

muffin - he is quite vocal in telling you what he doesnt like. however, most times he will lay on his fav brown so-soft-n-comfy cushion and snooooze.


kootoo - the top cat of the household. he has this really innocent look when he looks up. see?


milo - the youngest and darling of papa porky (i was told). hey, see how well he blends into the marble flooring? hee...

cats and i

or colloquially, "me and cats" (which is grammatically WRONG!)

these were taken on our trip, courtesy of photographer coboypb
at a temple courtyard in yanaka
at sumire ryokan with owner and kuro
at nyanda park. cat: 'someone get this idiot human out of my face!"
pretty classic tabby
abyssinian ready to pounce!

time out

pls do check out coboypb's blog for more great pics of our adventure in hokkaido.

while i am away at a seminar all weekend!

have a great week ahead people.

meow...

otaru cat

the sumire cats

coco - top cat

chobi - "i want more" cat

kuro - the playful one (human = oka san, she cooked all the delicious food!)

at cats livin'

this mother with her 2 children are so cute!

nyanda park - feeding time

men like cats too

japan is truly (in general) a cat-friendly and cat adoring nation. just look at the number of guys who actually travel to an ulu small town to pay money to pet cats and spend time with them.

our ryokan in furano

while waiting for dinner, we hung out with the residents.
chobi who just loved us petting him!

hello, i am a cat, what are you?

dinner is served!


breakfast was equally sumptious too. and it would not be complete without
a slice of juicy melon!

my favourite is kuro.

this is coco, he stays in the family room and on the lounge chair.