Paul's Fulfilling Life

I haven't been following the Singapore National Soccer Team since its pullout from the Malaysia Cup in 1994. I have been surprised by the last Tiger Cup triumph against Indonesia in 2005. This prompted me to support the Lions once again. I knocked off at 6.30pm today. As my bus was travelling along Nicoll Highway, I noticed the droves of Singapore fans crossing the overhead bridge, walking to the stadium. As I had not wanted to be caught in a massive jam, I decided against buying tickets to support them, preferring to catch the live telecast of the match on Ch 5 instead. The match did not really live up to expectations, although I must say Singapore played well but Thailand really lacked the sportsmanship. Singapore was awarded a penalty with 8 mins to go. The Thai team decided to stage a walkout by protesting against the penalty. From TV view, it seems that the refree was right with his decision. The standoff caused the match to be held up for more than 10 mins. If I were the mat...

Happy Birthday To Fran May what u wish for come true for you!!! From: Paul

I had dinner @ Jack's Place AMK yesterday with my client. It was her way of thanking me for providing good service to her and her company. To say that I am thankful to clients who appreciate what I am doing for them is one of the main reasons that is making my stay in this workplace worthwhile. I would like to say a big thank you to this client. Thanks for appreciating the effort that I have been putting in.

It was an eventful Saturday & Sunday for me this week as I did something that I haven't been able to do for a long time. That is to go to the library. It has been 3 years since I last stepped into the library and the borrowing machines have been revamped. Not only that, NTUC members can now use their NTUC Link Card to borrow the books, besides the usual NRIC, SAF11B, Student Concession Cards & Library Cards. Before going to the library, I went for a haircut at my usual saloon in Hougang. I also got a new telephone for my family as the old phone has been ringing strangely for the past two days. I can't imagine house telephone are so cheap. I got the phone from Harvey Norman @ $17.90. Later, I stepped into CD Rama & got the albums that I have been wanting to lay my hands on for quite some time. 等一个晴天精选集 在你身边 In the evening, I met up with a net friend, N. I have known her for about 4 years already, but because of her busy schedule, we only met for the first time yeste...

最近，同事们都拿了花红，只有Q，因为老板不同，所以还没拿. 这位同事真的是该打. 明知是重要时期，还老是在办公时间，走来走去，和同事喜喜哈哈，到处八卦一番. 我以好言相劝，她不听. 虽然我是当着大家的面，叫她不要这样做，但我也是为她好，因为我知道她需要花红，以便筹钱办理离婚. 昨天，不该发生的事，还是发生了. 她的老板打电话回来，要她办事. 在她与她老板的交谈中，她的老板提到他听有人说Q 的工作态度散漫，老是走来走去，像是很空闲的样子.Q 听了，心有不服，问她老板是听谁说. 她老板回答是他听到我说. 她老板的这句话真的是害死我. 我很想和Q 解释，并不是我向她老板告状，说她老是走来走去，像是很空闲的样子. 其实，我的同事们大多数也不喜欢她. 他们跟Q 也是作个样，在她面前与她喜喜哈哈，但在她背后叉她一刀. 大家在工作的时候，如果你总是打扰人，我们一定会很生气. 所以，如果是我的同事们告她一状，我也不会觉得意外. 还有，我的老板，也不喜欢他的员工在工作时被人打扰，除非是顾客上门来与我们洽谈工作的事.说不定Q 的举动被我的老板看在眼里，所以便举报她的老板. 如今，Q 会担心花红可能没着落，把我当出气筒.我很想告诉她，我好言相劝，你不听，现在发生事情，你还来怪人，为何不自我反省？你如果早知今日，又何必当初？你没花红拿，你还能怪谁？

I was asked by mum to be my brother's paymaster for his CNY shopping trip.She will of course reimburse me later. Met up with him @ Suntec City. I had dinner with him at a small Chinese cafe beside the food court, before proceeding to G2000 & U2 to get his clothes. This boy is very picky & he only likes U2 clothes. G2000 clothes are asked to be purchased by mum & me as he is in poly now, and he may need some formal wear for his project presentation. After that, he requested to go to U2, where he got 2 shirts & a pair of jeans. I was telling my mum that his CNY clothes were more expensive than mine. My mum said that my bro had wanted to make her bankrupt. My brother spent about twice what I spent yesterday. It is really a case of “不会赚钱，会花钱” In the end, we had no choice, but to take a cab home due to the heavy shopping bags.

I was on the phone with my client as it happened. G, lady boss wife distributed 2 paychecks to those staff that has been with the firm for more than a year. One of them was the eagerly antipicated Big B = Bonus. I must say the bonus figure was not expected. I actually expected it to be lower, after what happened last year. I have learnt not to expect too much. Besides this, she also paid me OT for the amount of OT hrs that I have put in. If u guys are in the HR dept, u will know that OT is only paid to staff whose pay is below $1,600. This shows that the boss values us for the effort that we put in, and is willing to deviate from the norm to reward us. I feel that this new policy which she just implemented was to try to hint to some senior staff, who are not entitled to OT pay previously, to work OT when it is expected of them. After work, I went to deposit my paychecks at Suntec City & stepped into the G2000 botique. I was stunned when I saw working pants @ $59 going @ $23, and im...

I received an sms from Stella just now as I was slogging through my work. I got a shock when she told me that the concert tickets were going to be expensive. I went to the Jacky Cheung World Tour site to check and found that the concert ticket prices are as follows: - $88, $128, $168 & $198 . I just went "Gasp", it was about the same price that I paid for his Snow Wolf Lake play last year & about $35 more than what I paid for his 2001 concert. After seeing these prices, I am seriously considering to watch it or not. I just hope his new album, which is coming out soon will be good. This is one of his famous song, 祝福, for you guys to enjoy.

On Friday, I boarded Service 70 from my workplace to get to Bright Vision Hospital. Since I am taking the service regularly to work, I got to know many bus captains. An interesting question was posed by the bus captain that day. He was asking me how many bus routes do I know? He meant that the bus route from Interchange A to Interchange B, how many bus services do I know and the roads they served? He was quite surprised by the number of SBS Transit Services that I knew and it was a real eye opener for him, as I knew the routes of many services from SBS Transit 6 bus depots. For the record, here is the list of bus services that I know by their route. 16 - Bukit Merah Int to Siglap Rd (loop) 24 - Ang Mo Kio Int to Changi Airport (loop) 25 - Ang Mo Kio Int to Bedok Int 53 - Bishan Int to Changi Airport (loop) 70 - Yio Chu Kang Ter to Shenton Way Ter (Day Service) 70 -Yio Chu Kang Ter to Marina Centre (loop) (Nite Service) 73 - Ang Mo Kio Int to Toa Payoh Int (loop) 74 - Hougang Central In...

I knocked off on the dot from work yesterday and decided to visit Jason before heading home for my dinner. I reached the hospital at about 7pm. The interesting part about the hospital is:- You need to exchange your NRIC for a visitor pass before you can visit the patient. You must remember the patient's area code when you visit the patient. Jason is in Area C. Meat is not allowed in the hospital, as the hospital is run by a Buddhist organisation. The staff are used to having vegetarian food. I went up to the 3rd level, where the ward was located and saw Auntie with Jason. I chatted with Auntie to find out more about Jason's condition. This was what Auntie shared with me. He is considered as officially discharged from TTSH. His doctor is giving him a one month trial for more physiotherapy as TTSH does not have regular physiotherapy. His breathing tube is still on him as he still has a lot of phelgm in his throat. Removing the tube may cause the phelgm to be stuck in his throat, ...

I took a cab to class again this week , many thanks to the rain, which made my plan to take the bus to school. Just as I was buying my dinner at BreadTalk & 7 Eleven, I saw my ex-colleague, Sandra at the Mac Cafe. It has been 10 years since we last met up, and I am glad that I was still able to recognise her. We exchanged my numbers to keep in touch. She has just become a Financial Services Adviser. Just as I was having my class, Sandra messaged me, saying that someone who knows me wants to meet me & asked me if my Chinese name was Li Bin Feng. I was quite surprised as not many people knew me by my Chinese name, as I started using the name Paul when I was 14. This was to avoid people to keep mispronouncing my name, and making funny jokes out of it. I was thinking, it could be my primary school classmates or relatives. After my class, I was walking in the MRT station, when suddenly someone greeted me. It was my godaunt. She was the one that asked Sandra to message me. It has bee...

I just got news from Jason's mum that my pal has been transferred to Bright Vision Hospital. The hospital is located between Hougang & Serangoon North Estates. This means that I can try to visit more often as it is located just behind my house. The reason for the transfer is to allow my pal have more regular physiotherapy for his limbs. It is heartening to note that as this means that he is on the road to recovery, which is what all of us are hoping to see. His bed number is Bed 47 on Level 3 of the hospital. For those who have problems after reading the map, please contact me for the directions. Buses serving the hospital are as follows:- Yio Chu Kang Rd : SBS 43,70,73,103, 109,SMRT 854 Hougang Ave 2: SBS 25, 55,74,132,147,165

I know that Sis Ka is going for her review for her back tomorrow. Just want to tell her not to worry about it. Everything will be fine. Kor will be here to support u no matter what happens. From: Paul

I just read Elaine mei mei's blog and found out that she has broke up with her boyfriend. I hope she can be strong & get over with it soon. Mei mei, u have my support whenever u need it.

Which Positive Quality Are You? Your Result: Faith You are Faith. Faith is the belief in better things, in spite of the cynicism and doubt that swirls around us. Faith gives us strength; it inpsires us to move forward and follow our hearts. "Faith tells us what the senses do not." Love Courage Charity Peace Friendship Which Positive Quality Are You?

I was rather angry yesterday because someone of seniority in my office decided to push what he is supposed to do to me. I did oblige by helping him, but it ended up I got some harsh remarks from him after I helped him to chase the client. I was wondering if u do not know how to clear your own job, and need people to teach u on the basics, like when u e-mail to a client, u should let the person receiving the e-mail know about it, do u deserve to be an audit manager? U called me stupid by doing it. Excuse me, I am just helping u, as I respect u as a person of seniority, but in the end, what I get is all the nasty remarks. Maybe like what the receptionist say, I should tell my audit partner about it. This will defintely serve as a wake up call to him.

I met up with my financial planner, Candy for lunch today. The meet up was to make some amendments to my investment policy and also to find out how I am getting on. She sensed that I was having problems with my work & therefore suggested that I should be my own boss and be a financial planner. She is quite confident that I can succeed as a financial planner as I am a person of high perserverance. I have my misgivings though. The 1st few months starting off as a financial planner will be tough as u may not have a fixed amount of salary to fall back on, but the thing is I still need the vitamin M to pay for all the necessities. Will my friends & relatives shun away from me like I m a tiger waiting to eat them, when I tell them I wish to share some financial planning issues with them and see what they need? The good is of course, nothing beats being your own boss as u are free to set your own working hours & maybe how much u wish to earn. Who knows I may not have to wait that ...

I heard over @ Yes 933 FM today that he may be coming to Singapore for a concert in the second half of this year. I am looking forward to his concert. It has been about a year since I last caught Snow Wolf Lake with him starring in it. I last caught his concert in 2001, when I was in NS. Time really flies.

My pal, Richard gave me a shock just now by asking me if my house will be opened for visiting by my friends during CNY. Actually, my mum has already put up her suggestion that she will put up a celebration if I pass my paper ( the results will be out on 19 Feb. I hope to clear it,of course!!!) and also she wishes to meet my three mei mei. I wonder why. The best part was my pal has been asked to show his face no matter what, as my mum likes him!!! Having CNY gatherings at my place has been a regular feature for me since I graduated from poly. The guest list for this year will be somewhat similar to the one for my birthday in 2006. I am just hoping most of them can make it though. I will be sending out the invitations by the 24th.

I decided to give the new template creator a try at the new blogger. I am glad that I got it right at the first try. The new template creator seems quite easy to use. It was better than the old one. I need not make the changes to my old template if I wish to change to a new one. The font & colours will be retained, which saves a lot of time editing the blog. I just came back from the furneral service of the demised e-club manager. It was not bad catching up with my friends from the volunteer service. The food was okay, just that Indian food seems to be either too sweet or salty or too hot, therefore I didn't take much though.

My family was the last to arrive for the wedding, due to the terrible jam @ CTE. Fortunately, dad was driving cab yesterday and the cab company, being a new one, had the old walkie talkie system which means that cab company is able to share traffic info through the system. Dad, upon hearing that, took the longer route instead. When we got there, the dinner was just about to start. I liked the atomsphere of the dinner as during the course of the dinner, albeit only for the first 5 dishes, we were entertained with some 80's & 90's well-liked music by 2 guitarists & a saxaphonist. Jiaxuan, one of my cousins was commenting that the saxaphonist needs to open his mouth non-stop after the performance, in order not for his mouth to go out of shape. In the middle of the dinner, Yanbin shared with us how he managed to save on the angpows for the bride's sisters in the morning. He had launched a pre-morning raid at her house @ 6.45am, one hour before the scheduled time and ent...

The bridal car - My cousin's bro-in law, Vincent's BMW Cousin Yanbin waiting nervously for the bride! The church: Church of St Mary My aunt & her family I had to wake up unusually early for a Saturday morning to attend the wedding reception of my eldest aunt’s son, Yanbin’s wedding today. This is because being brought up in a traditional Teochew family, there is always the tea ceremony to attend. We took a cab to my aunt’s place at Balestier for the tea ceremony. My 大姑丈, i.e. my cousin’s dad welcomed us with a sumptuous spread of soon kweh, 豆沙饼，算盘子, durian tarts, while waiting for the bride & groom and other relatives before the ceremony could start. The relatives were slowly making their way to my aunt’s place. We started the ceremony soon after. The ceremony started in order of seniority. In accordance to the tradition, the married couple had to serve tea to the elders. The elders will in turn give gifts or red packets in return and wish the couple have a blissfu...

试问，假如你有个同事刚为她的新生儿庆祝满月， 你会不会与同事们合买一份礼物给她？ 我的同事们大多数都有出钱合买礼物给她与小宝宝，只是有两位兼职的同事，可能因为工资较少， 家里有年迈多病的父母， 所以没有和我们参与此活动. 为了答谢我们，该同事昨天把拿蛋糕的卡送来办公室. 我们让审计部经理帮我们领取蛋糕. 今早，蛋糕被领了回来，大家都很开心的吃着，只有Q，她认为那两位兼职同事，因为没有“贡献”， 所以不应该吃那个蛋糕. Q 认为他们总是这样，叫他们出钱的时候，老是不给，但有的吃时，就总是会去吃. 我和L 都说 Q 没肚量， 因为蛋糕卡上都写上”for my colleagues”.难道，这两位兼职同事不是我们的同事吗？ 真希望 Q 能为其他人着想，并不是每个人都像她这样有钱，每一家都有一本难念的经.

I got a pleasant surprise as I stepped into the office today. The monitor that I have been craving for has been changed. It seems that boss has took out the monitor from the audit supervisor's room as I saw that her workstation without the monitor. Maybe my boss was appreciative of the efforts that I have stayed behind to finish off the income tax returns for Year of Assessment 2006 on Friday (I actually stayed till 9pm) to fill up the Form C and submit together with the accounts. Maybe you can say that I am easily satisfied but I know that my boss won't really get a new monitor for me! At least, I can say that the monitor is another one of my favourite brands for monitor, Samsung I finally got my ex-colleague R to change a used CRT monitor for me to use at my home today. He was telling me that this 17 inch monitor that he gave me can still be used until it is spolit. This means that I can delay my purchase of the LCD monitor for the time being.

China, Later Tang Dynasty, 10th Century. On the eve of the Chong Yang Festival, golden flowers fill the Imperial Palace. The EMPEROR (Chow Yun Fat) returns unexpectedly with his second son, PRINCE JAI (Jay Chou). His pretext is to celebrate the holiday with his family, but given the chilled relations between the Emperor and the ailing EMPRESS (Gong Li), this seems disingenuous. For many years, the Empress and CROWN PRINCE WAN (Liu Ye), her stepson, have had an illicit liaison. Feeling trapped, Prince Wan dreams of escaping the palace with his secret love CHAN (Li Man), the Imperial Doctor's daughter. Meanwhile, Prince Jai, the faithful son, grows worried over the Empress's health and her obsession with golden chrysanthemums. Could she be headed down an ominous path? The Emperor harbors equally clandestine plans; the IMPERIAL DOCTOR (Ni Dahong) is the only one privy to his machinations. When the Emperor senses a looming threat, he relocates the doctor's family from the Pala...

I went to catch this movie today, which is about:- She was fleeing the West, and he the East. She was European, light-skinned, on her way back from Java, at the edge of the world. Once North-Vietnamese, now a proud Frenchman, he had an apartment in the center of Paris. This film tells the story of their embrace, 20 nights under the Parisian sky, in the shadow of Notre Dame. During these 20 nights they find refuge in each other's bodies; somewhere between the desire of a Midsummer dream and the madness of Bastille Day, they meet, and love, and lose each other in the Parisian night, in the tropical heat, under the Merapi volcano in Java. This movie is somehow like a history lesson about France, Vietnam, Germany & Java, as it showed how the female lead grew up in Java & Germany and how the male lead got himself to Paris from Vietnam. It was interesting to note how the both of them met in the circumstances that they were in and how they built it up into an intimate relationsh...