Pulau Semakau

I had wanted to help out with ProjectSemakau in 2010 and attended their training. Unfortunately a job acceptance took me away from all these activities. I sincerely hope I may be able to help them some time in the future perhaps.

Anyway I did a classroom lesson with them and 2 survey trainings.

The first one was a Biodiversity survey training at Pulau Semakau on 31 July (Sat) 5am-12pm

Thus I took a cab in the wee hours to reach Marina South Pier. Being my first assignment cum on the job training, I am totally clueless. This is a hunting trip where we are each allocated a portion to analyse the living specimens and its population in that area. And because of the superb hunting skill of my partner, I saw plentiful actually.

E.g. corals

crabs

sea star

nudibranch

Oh my partner of the day clicks with me as we do share similar interests. She dived a lot, run marathon (she was wearing the bay run tee thus that's how the conversation started) and was a contestant for ultra-marathoner too though she did not participate as she felt she did not train much. In fact she has a friend who is also doing the race in Sahara Desert, fund raising for the Singapore. This lady friend is much more impressive who has participate lots of events and won some.
The second one was a Monitoring survey training at Pulau Semakau on 14 Aug (Sat) 5.30am-12.30pm

This is more tedious as you were walking and investigating the state of health of the seagrass and living specimens in your area based on the marker planted in the shore.

At first all we saw was just sea grass.

Then someone who had finished came over to see our progress and spotted the crab.. woot.. something different to report finally.

Then is back to more grasses 

On the way back, we caught sight of a horseshoe crab...

Other group's unidentified specimen.

I know it is cruel to bring the specimen back. Is really an issue of do we want to conduct further study and understand better at the expense of the caught specimen's life? Sigh too complicated. I can only say in the name of science!

Wooden Fish

It always amaze me why the chanting instrument is called Wooden fish (Chinese: 木魚, pinyin: mùyú), (Vietnamese: mộc ngư), (Japanese: mokugyo), (Korean: moktak 목탁), (Tibetan: ཤིང་ཉ།)

A search in wiki told me an interesting story...

A monk from China had went to India to acquire sutras. On his way to India, he found the way blocked by a wide, flooding river. There was no bridge nor boat in sight.

Suddenly, a big fish swam up. It offered to carry the monk across the river. The fish told the monk that it wanted to atone for a crime committed when it was a human. The fish had only one simple request, that on the monk's way to obtain sutras, to ask the Buddha to guide the fish on the pathway to attain Bodhisattvahood.

The monk agreed to the fish's request and continued his quest for seventeen years. After getting the scriptures, he returned to China via the river, which was flooding again. As the monk worried about how to cross the river, the fish appeared again. It enquired if the monk had made the request to the Buddha. To the monk's dismay, he had forgotten. The fish became furious and splashed the monk, washing him into the river. A passing fisherman saved him from drowning, but unfortunately the sutras had been ruined by the water.

When the monk reached home, filled with anger at the fish, he made a wooden effigy of a fish head. When he recalled his adversity, he beat the fish head with a wooden hammer. To his surprise, each time he beat the wooden fish, the fish opened its mouth and vomited a character from the sutras. He became so happy that whenever he had time, he always beat the fish. A few years later, he retrieved back from the wooden fish's mouth what he had lost to the flood.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wooden_fish

好马不吃回头草

30th July 2010

My ex-co has approached me for an opportunity. It is a good chance to leave sg. Except my mind was concentrating for VSO which I had waited for 2 months.
I know people usually say you should never return to a co that laid you. After all that means it is not an iron rice bowl. But it is their culture to terminate when in downturn and re-hire when there are opportunities.
And at least I will be posted out though visa is a probably as it is a tourist visa.
So should I go back?

Seed of greater benefit

26th July 2010

On this day, God wants you to know
... that tomorrow you will harvest the seeds you sow today. What kind of seeds do you need to sow today, so tomorrow turns into the dream you have always wanted?
Extracted on 12th Aug 2010

I was in extreme confusion and decided to use the FB's God wants you to know application again. And it reminded me of the seed quote which prompted me to find back this drawing.

Under every adversity, lies a seed of a greater benefit.
- Zig Ziglar

Is similar to another quote I read before:
Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

I still remembered I was in extreme stress that day. (I still am in, because programming never fails to make me stressed up.) I brought my brother's laptop to work and at the same time made calls. Because that day, I knew a few of my clients will be inking the deal. But I caused a lot of problem to my boss (ex-boss now but actually I'm glad to have known them).  Because it is not right to bring personal work into your work area even if the company is too lenient on you. And there were too many politics going on which is really mild (catfights I would say).. as mild as long long time ago, when my colleagues were also squabbling during my temping days. And I still remember a lady who is the secretary of the store manager telling me that this is just catfight... (seriously only females are capable of creating mild political tensions... the males will play a much venomous tactical game) as compared to her boss political struggle with other stores.

Which is why a few days later, I quit because I cannot balance anymore. And because I know clearly that I do not want to make calls anymore, though my colleagues kept asking me to continue. My boss said it best when he told the kopi-gal, that is precisely I seen through it that was why I chose to quit. Not saying those working for him did not see through it. Is just that that job was not my path or my destiny. And most importantly it will not lead me to where I want to be. But that job has widen my network and made me knew more about the world out there. And because I learnt ARK from my boss, I actually respect and am glad to have met him.

人不犯我，我不犯人，
若不损己；可为人人；
人若为我，我愿为人。

林峰 - 直到你不找我

Youtube

林峰 - 直到你不找我

记得当时谁路过
秒针忽然停顿过
气温湿度曾骤变太多
记忆不停重叠过
你的表情提示过
爱的 可能是我

想法很乱 幻觉太多
疑虑很大 直到说不清楚
心算太慢 但仍然算错
找对人 偏错过

直到开始想喜欢我
直到终于不喜欢我
直到碰上一个 逃避一个
追不上 躲不过

直到开始找不到我
直到终于不想找我
直到你擦身过 才认得我
彼此也在折磨
像当初

想法太乱 直觉对么
疑虑很大 直到爱不清楚
当这世上 全怀疑我错
总有人 相信我

直到 开始想喜欢我
直到终于不喜欢我
直到碰上一个 逃避一个
追不上 躲不过

直到开始找不到我
直到终于不想找我
直到你擦 身过 才认得我
彼此也在折磨
像当初

Love, in order to be genuine
doesn't have to be extraordinary.
- Mother Theresa

Broken CD

19th July 2010

It is official. My Swiss memories with my family in the Interlaken Ost apartment are lost forever as the CD has split. I should be grateful it did not damage my drive.

I will miss the octopus mat we had in the apartment. And the apartment is really pretty.

I will miss the lovely mountains, snow and flowers. I took so many photos I really don't know what I had taken. Thankfully dad had his film camera then still.
I really feel so sad. I thought CD is the best back-up plan. Apparently not so I guess. I wish I can recover back those memories. But what's lost can never be recovered. And life goes on.

p/s: I had been watching Back to the Future trilogy the last few days and was thinking, can I go back to retrieved these memories... sigh I still feel the pain in losing these memories. But with everything digitalis-ed, I think such occurrences are a common sight again. The curse of technology!

Sir Ken Robinson - Bring on the learning revolution

CL gave me 2 videos to watch before she MIA to be busy with work and then her Irish affair. Let me do a review on both of them, individually starting with Sir Ken Robinson whose speech gave me a boost I sorely need in my now deflated attitude.

I love that word, "disenthrall." You know what it means? That there are ideas that all of us are enthralled to, which we simply take for granted as the natural order of things, the way things are. And many of our ideas have been formed, not to meet the circumstances of this century, but to cope with the circumstances of previous centuries. But our minds are still hypnotized by them. And we have to disenthrall ourselves of some of them.

Yes, too many of us are just coping with last century’s problems and constricted with last century’s dreams. But the dreams we should really pursue, should be this century’s future.

One of them is the idea of linearity, that it starts here, and you go through a track, and if you do everything right, you will end up set for the rest of your life. Everybody who's spoken at TED has told us implicitly, or sometimes explicitly, a different story, that life is not linear, it's organic. We create our lives symbiotically as we explore our talents in relation to the circumstances they help to create for us. But you know, we have become obsessed with this linear narrative. And probably the pinnacle for education is getting into college. I think we are obsessed with getting people to college, certain sorts of college. I don't mean you shouldn't go to college, but not everybody needs to go, and not everybody needs to go now. Maybe they go later, not right away.

I know studies meant a lot. And I know many who yearn to have an education. And I know I am one of the lucky few who don’t have to sell nasi lemak when young to study my way. But I also know education has freed me and I wish I can free the others too.

There was this guy buying a book, he was in his 30s. And I said, "What do you do?" And he said, "I'm a fireman." And I said, "How long have you been a fireman?" He said, "Always, I've always been a fireman." And I said, "Well, when did you decide?" He said, "As a kid." He said, "Actually, it was a problem for me at school, because at school, everybody wanted to be a fireman." He said, "But I wanted to be a fireman." And he said, "When I got to the senior year of school, my teachers didn't take it seriously. This one teacher didn't take it seriously. He said I was throwing my life away if that's all I chose to do with it, that I should go to college, I should become a professional person, that I had great potential, and I was wasting my talent to do that." And he said, "It was humiliating because he said it in front of the whole class, and I really felt dreadful. But it's what I wanted, and as soon as I left school, I applied to the fire service and I was accepted." And he said, "You know, I was thinking about that guy recently, just a few minutes ago when you were speaking, about this teacher," he said, "because six months ago, I saved his life." (Laughter) He said, "He was in a car wreck, and I pulled him out, gave him CPR, and I saved his wife's life as well." He said, "I think he thinks better of me now."

A classic example of how adults like to impose their ideology on children. I never blame my parents for stopping me from pursuing a psychology education though even till today, I always wondered what my life would be if I had chosen to be a psychologist. But even if my current life has revolved around technology, it does not mean I have lost the life mission I wanted. And even though I have the capability to pursue a psychology education if I truly desire it, I knew I no longer want to waste the time and money on it when there are other more pressing matters to accomplish as time is running out for me.

Often, people are good at things they don't really care for. It's about passion, and what excites our spirit and our energy. And if you're doing the thing that you love to do, that you're good at, time takes a different course entirely. My wife's just finished writing a novel, and I think it's a great book, but she disappears for hours on end. You know this, if you're doing something you love, an hour feels like five minutes. If you're doing something that doesn't resonate with your spirit, five minutes feels like an hour. And the reason so many people are opting out of education is because it doesn't feed their spirit, it doesn't feed their energy or their passion.

Passion. Work passion. Something I deal and blog about many times. I know truly that I can easily like anything I like if I want. And I can easily hate it just as well. So even though I keep repeating to them how much I dislike corporate world, if fate decreed that I must stay in corporate world, I actually can tune myself to like it. But truth is, I have failed so many corporate world interviews. And I have not found the resonance that life can bring me, the passion that one has when one truly found his/her calling.

Actually while watching The Mysteries of Love, I wondered, sometimes parents always want the best for the children. But is it really the best? And when they object, how long will they take to stop objecting?

I am only one
But still I am one.
I cannot do everything,
But still I can do something;
And because I cannot do everything
I will not refuse to do the
Something that I can do.
- Edward Everett Hale

Video Source: http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html

張君雅小妹妹Ads

Image Source: 張君雅小妹妹 Facebook

I was trying to find Itchy Finger's Talking Behind the Bag just to reminisce the paper bags again. I guess I was bored because I missed the Night Festival, totally forgot it due to something that has happened lately that occupied my mind. So was just flipping the archives of National Museum exhibits and thought of seeing the paper bags again which Itchy Fingers had visited.

That is when I caught sight of her Taiwan buying Good Good Eat Products post. And caught sight of their advertisements in her previous Good Good Eat post.

And I spent my morning watching 張君雅小妹妹 instead of running... (Hopefully I will be better for an evening jog - PS. I was better but the weather was not better... darnz).


脸大


人头保证！


張君雅真人露面


張君雅，你好辣！


張君雅？張金雅？

Fuzzy scene

17th July 2010

Many years ago, my then best friend told me seconds before she fainted, it turned pitch black for her.

I never knew what she saw, but today, I saw how people could turn black and fuzzy to me. I never knew what happens when someone with low iron count tries to donate blood. And when I was donating blood, the nurses were discussing how someone vomited after the donation. And how it may be scary but the vomiting process will help her.

I also know I'm not very high in iron today. Plus I'm losing more supposedly due to natural process. But I felt fine after the donation. Had the free snack which was awful to consume but I thought it is better to eat to recover the loss in sugar I had. And I made my way into the train perfectly. Was even chatting on phone as per usual.

But halfway through I started perspiring profusely. Surroundings dimmed and people turned fuzzy to me. I held on the pole to refrain from fainting. Some eternal moments later, there was an empty seat and I had to grabbed it because if I don't, my wobbly legs might not last the journey back. I thought of leaving the train halfway to go to the ladies as my tummy seem to ache. But I felt too weak to go anywhere either. So I fidgeted in my seats, feeling hot and flushed and trying very hard to regain conscious.

Made it to my destination stop. Hid in Tamp1 ladies (luckily there wasn't a queue either) till I felt stronger. Then slowly made my way back.

I am very grateful GA had kept me safe to made my way back. I certainly don't want to faint because that will probably be the end of my blood donation.

Anyway a few days later I was asking doc about medicines and found out medicine has half lives. I think I was on some medication that week but I believed it had died out due to its half life which is roughly the period where you need to take your next dosage. So when your doctor had asked you to take you medicine 3 times a day, it meant the half life of that particular medicine is 8 hours. Interesting!

Manila Tickets bought.

16th July 2010

The tickets have been bought and confirmed. But I have not tell them the dates. Too much unhappiness. And it is just an interview where nothing has been confirmed.
Asian society believes strongly in filial piety. But if God is my father too, have I been filial to him? Through my parents, I learnt humanity and life. Through my parents, I was provided and cared for. So I must repay my parents. And I must repay God.
Then how do I strike a perfect deal for both? This is killing me!

Leader and Follower

Today 小黑trainer wrote 2 columns, Leader and Follower and made us write our names in the column. Because of his intonation, I felt he had demeaned Follower (to be weak although later when I clarified with him, he said he did not.), and I chose to be a Follower. I expected the whole department to write their names in the Leader column, and most did not fail me except for the 2 newcomers and one joker. I cannot remember the last guy choice but I remember Maggie chose to be on the fence and I thought why not be clear. However she made full sense because for every leader, there must be followers and every follower will one day be a leader too.

Anyway she said that 小黑trainer chose to find out who are the leavers and mentioned the Followers are the leavers.. which in some sense is true for me but may not be true for the newcomers (these people have not been inculcated by their doctrine which is actually very good positive psychology. (Well Doc wrote a pretty simplified article on this topic so let’s give Doc some credits *clap clap*.)

Alright I digress, so back to leader and follower. I think this video says it best!

http://sivers.org/ff

1. A leader needs the guts to stand alone and look ridiculous. Alright maybe need not be ridiculous but he must be doing something out of ordinary in some sense.
2. The first follower must have guts to publicly show everyone how to follow. Being a first follower is an under-appreciated form of leadership.
3. However the leader usually puts the first follower as his equal because well, the first follower transforms this guy to become a leader and not just a lonesome crazy fellow.
4. The 2nd follower is a turning point as it is a proof that the first follower has done well. After all, three is a crowd.
5. It must be made public where everyone can see the followers, because new followers emulate followers - not the leader.

The most important lesson is to courageously follow what you genuinely care for and show others how to follow too. So butterflygal, I must carry on this road less travelled, because I genuinely believed it will lead me to where GA wants me to.

Anyway while tearing today, I accidentally dropped by an old post on Do you want to be the same as the rest. It has been a year. How time flies. I know this probably is just the beginning of everything that might change and there will might be more clashes.. but maybe just maybe, there might not be. I can only put my faith in GA.

He who seeks one thing and but one,
May hope to achieve it before life is done.
But he who seeks all things wherever he goes
Must reap around him in whatever he sows
A harvest of barren repent.
- William H. Hinson

People take different roads seeking fulfillment and happiness.
Just because they're not on your road
doesn't mean they've gotten lost.
- H. Jackson Browne, Jr

I wish I can say this to her, but will she be able to understand it?

VSO Invitation Letter

After one week, it finally came.
I had been waiting and wondering. Because only with its arrival would I be sure my Skype interview had been successful.
But with its arrival came another dilemma. How to break the news now?

Shape Run

Finally a run only for the ladies. Well the men don't get it is always the fun part. At least there were so many pretty ladies for me to admire and thus if my running result is bad, I got a super good excuse right? No?

Anyway shape run is a run I have always wanted to join. Why? Because of the goodies. Look at the plentiful stuff in the goodies bag, so much better than Sundown right?

Timing wise, let's say I never train. And even if I do, I'm not competitive enough to really challenge the time. I prefer to sight see. So I never push myself hard at all. And the results is...

Net Time - 01:16:36
Gun Time - 01:17:21
Placing - 1437

Ok and my next run... Let's keep in wraps till confirmed.

Source:
http://www.shape.com.sg/promo/2010/shaperun/

Sales is not my calling

8th July 2010

'Sales is not my calling, because I'm too direct.'
黑的就是黑的
白的就是白的
我也蛮像《痞子英雄》里的英雄

Anyway this was an interviewer giving me her feedback. I'm very frank and direct in every interview I went. In IHIS, I was feeling cold and I told the receptionist frankly as I waited very long already.

Sometimes I wonder though, if being frank is disallowed in interview. I still have not figure that out as I am still failing interviews.

On a side note, I like the icon of merging Technology with Medical, something I strongly believe in for voluntary job. After 2.5 years studying knowledge engineering and artificial intelligence, I really hope to harness technology to improve conditions and yet not to over-do and play God. But yet there should never be a limit in what you do, should there?

痞子英雄

7th July 2010

Sunshine in your sky
See the birds fly so high
I know I can't fly
But I still want to try
Try try try...
- 痞子英雄

钱币有正面与反面
但现实生活
并不是黑白分明
- 痞子英雄

Has been watching 痞子英雄 lately and while the song sounded stupid and is not a true song, I can't help wishing to try to fly too.
These days, I feel there is too much grey areas and I really don't know what I should do in life. I had a long chat with my boss and while I no longer remember what we talk about.. I remember him doing an ARK. Every time he see this old man with walking difficulty making his way to the coffee shop or back home, he will extend a helping hand. And each time he came back (after a real long time), he will be sweating profusely and his back will ache. But he will not stop helping because he was brought up since young (from a Buddhist school), to always extend a helping hand when possible. He may not have studied much but he certainly has put whatever he studied in good use.

Seeing him make me more resolute in taking the road less travelled.

Murphy's Law tested on Skype interview

6th July 2010

I never knew Murphy's Law could be so serious till I had a Skype interview with VSO.
First the interviewer forgot our interview and we re-scheduled.
Then I realised it had to be a web cam interview or at least microphone (phone interview). Thus we re-schedule again.

And I took the time to setup my lappie for the interview a few days before the event.

But minutes before the interview, my lappie screen finally gave up and turned black. I frantically borrowed my brother's lappie and installed Skype.
And the interview went successfully for me to go to the second assessment round held in Manila.

(on a side note, I'm typing this in Manila, Quezon City on 23rd Aug and there is no way I can express the excitement or disbelief I felt then because I failed the assessment... But I will survive.)

痞子英雄

Doc today told me about a pretty gal that doc is smitten by in 痞子英雄. The forensic lady... 张钧甯. Being the blur me I did not realise till episode 4, when the style was undeniably similar, that she is the 关欣 that I loved in 白色巨塔.

Image Source: http://news.hnce.com.cn/c/2009-04-13/23083.shtml

My most favourite quote from her then:
真正的勇气是用来追求那种简单的幸福。。。
当我们在这做我们想做的事，天堂就是我们一伸手就碰到的地方。
如果你要幸福，你要坚定地伸出手，去做你想做的事，去爱你身边最爱的人。
不要等，因为心福从来没有离开过，只是你有没有看见。
- 关欣留给苏怡华的信
Re-extracted from here

Anyway forensic investigator.. a cool job I would say especially since I was actually searching about it lately. Studies once again came into my mind after all these disappointments. But were these really what I wanted in the first place? Wait... GA just kept asking me to wait as long as I am clear what I want. I am clear. I just don't know how to achieve it.

（╮(╯▽╰)╭）
吴英雄：“今天，我看到了自己的影子。”
蓝西英：“每个人都有影子。”
吴英雄：“一直以来，我以为我一直站的是纯粹的光亮，没有影子，没有矛盾，直到今天，我才看见自己的黑暗面。”

（╮(╯▽╰)╭）
陈琳：因为你以为的是非根本就不是真的。这个世界的正义也不是你想的这麼简单。”
吴英雄：“对的就是对的，错的就是错的。

（╮(╯▽╰)╭）
陈在天：这个世界上所有事情，不是只有像一枚钱币一样，只有正反两面。很多事情处在模糊地带，不是你想分就分得清楚的，顺着感觉去做，我们是人，又不是机器。

（╮(╯▽╰)╭）
有阳光照耀的地方才有影子。

Pull the plug

4th July 2010

Attended my friend's briefing and found out some startling financial stuff going on in the forex background scene. I kind of got disheartened as this only meant the rich gets richer.

Anyway learnt that the big boys comprised of Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Bank of America (Merrill Lynch). It does seems unlikely to be able to fight against these boys. Actually money isn't my main focus but it is still my survival need. After all, even after obtaining it, I cannot keep it and thus will still suffer. Guess it is going to be a long-term suffering for me.

NLB Vertical Marathon

I had wondered how tall can the library be. And it did not 'disappoint' me. It was just 16 storeys.

The view wasn't fantastic either. Plus it was enclosed (i.e. Glass walls) so photography was pretty limited. Sigh as I was preparing to take photos like how I did for my Swiss vertical marathon. Talking about that, saw a few Swiss vertical past marathoners. They changed the shirt to red colour. I prefer my white shirt haha.

However for a free event, I must say I'm impressed that a medal is found in the goodies bag. Oh and I like the toilet in that level, has a pretty good view... that is why cannot resist taking photos of the toilet..

Oh I met my NUS cum ex-colleague and a girl in the event. I did wonder who she was as I know his gf is in Malaysia.. And he kind of guess I was wondering so when we met again at the top, he properly introduced the lady to be his sister. Luckily his sister does not look like him at all. Haha.

Low in Iron again

2nd July 2010

It seems weird that I always try to donate blood and always get rejected the first round. This time, it is again the low in iron count.

Anyway the doctor is the same as the one I saw in IP and Tamp Lib. So this makes it the third time I saw him, in Eunos Lib this time.

The iron pills however, changed packaging. Oh and KH promised to pass me iron pills next time haha. I think I really need them.

Ad Sense ate my $

1st July 2010

My brother got attack in his site with a sudden spike in his click rates causing Google to ban our ip address, thus affecting me too. So the years I took to accumulate the miserable few USD bucks has gone to waste. Felt so upset considering I had just created bflygaltrails to make some serious money.

Ended up I tried to appeal but failed. Tried other sites e.g. Adbrite and Nuffnang. But somehow I wonder, is there other way to make passive income. Or I should say, am I destined to make passive income. Because wealth does not come easy for my 8 characters say whatever I earn, I will lose it to friends. And it does seem true so I'm limiting friends now. Haha.