That's it! I have booked my IPPT date for 16 June 2004 (exactly mid month)! Time to bite the bullet! My last book date is 31 July 2004, which gives me another chance to book a date for retest in mid July as well. There is not much time left. Really hope that I muster up enough discipline to train, go for runs to get into enough shape to get back a silver medal. I used to think to myself, after ORD, that I would be able to keep up with the training and maybe run a time of under 10 minutes consistently for 2.4, but I just got lazier as time went by, and fatter. Sigh ... now I have to rely on the lower Category Y fitness standards. Argh!

What a productive pre-Labour Day April 30th has been! I collected my two free gift fruit blenders from UOB, updated two bank passbooks, terminated my extra Singtel and M1 lines which costed me an extra $50/mth, and watched a performance staged by my old school RJC in the evening, catching up with some old friends in the process.

Hmm, why am I putting all these in a BLOG? Interesting!

Now to get back to work and beat that deadline! Positive my man! Must be positive!

The office had a massive redesignation exercise. It is not called a promotion because it is free. No salaries were raised - only work load and job responsibilities. Also because it is free, many people were redesignated 3 to 4 ranks higher.

New Firmware - NA3000

A new firmware for Aztech NA3000 is being finalised finalized. It is waiting for unit test and then it will see the light of day. All the features that people have been wanting but did not get are mostly available. Exciting new features in this new firmware release will include

• Stateful Packet Inspection firewall
• Range Port Forwarding with Popular Application shortcuts
• Triggered Port Forwarding
• Dynamic DNS Client (Supporting DynDns.Org)

Sorry, NAT loopback is still not supported, but I have seen how it is done on competing products and will be implementing it on the NA3000 soon. Note that this development is done on my own time. I am supposed to be working on another product now.

Share Some Pictures

Slideshow with Chloe's Pictures.

Many people are looking for the DSL305E firmware. Please try the Aztech website. If you have any technical queries, you can ask me and I'll try to help.

I also provide consultation for networking, wireless, and software. Feel free to contact me.

Virgin Performance

Nov 24, 2007: I've had many hits by prospective wedding emcees looking for a script to follow. These can usually be obtained from the hotel banquet manager (that's where I got mine). However, for the convenience of those who want some prior preparation, here is a pretty good one which has both English and Chinese versions. I'm also available for hosting arrangements, please leave me a comment!

Sunday, December 14, 2003 will be a forever memorable day.

I did it! I did it for the first time. I have ventured into uncharted waters.
Just what the heck did I do? I hosted Guowei's (one of my best friends) wedding!
On top of that, I was also time keeper and contact person for the ceremony in
the day activites (tea ceremony, etc). This certainly is a great honour to be
such an important person at my friend's wedding!

Guowei and I have been friends since Secondary 3 in school. We went through the
last 2 years of secondary school and 2 years of JC. Though we took separate
paths since then, through army and university, I can say we have that unique
irreplacable connection between us that time will not be able to break.

It was 3 weeks ago that we met up. Then he popped the question to me - he asked
me to be the MC for his wedding dinner! I have absolutely no prior experience,
but the lack of experience is no excuse, because everyone has to start
somewhere. After a grand 10 seconds of comtemplation, I agreed, knowing full
well in my heart that I have many obstacles to surmount. There is only one
option for me - that is I have to do a good job - nothing else!

There would be two emcees for the dinner. One would be a friend of the bride
(her name is Xinyi) and myself. The choice of the co-host was a toss up between
Shan Shan and Michelle. Michelle was originally asked to be the English speaking
host, but she declined, stating stage fright. So Shan Shan was was asked to be
the Mandarin speaking host. We decided on Michelle in the end. I was happy to be
speaking either English or Mandarin.

I was apprehensive and nervous prior to the big day. My mind was in a constant
whirl because I didn't know exactly what to do, which given my character, I
absolutely dislike. I even paid my uncle a visit to get some pointers from him.
This uncle of mine is a veteran in hosting wedding dinenrs, having done so for
more than 3/4 of the weddings in our family. He is the de-facto MC for every
event.

After all the preparation, quesions asked, I still felt unsure. This confidence
has to be built from experience, through actually hosting events. I'm just going
to do it. Things will turn out fine. Positive psychology helps, definitely!

I put on my new shirt and tie, made sure my hair looked good, and put on my
jacket, looking my best. They say any guy looks good in a suit and tie. Haha. A
good thing, since the air-conditioning in the hotel was extremely cold. Michelle
was feeling cold, but looking stunning in a simple black dress.

I kept fumbling during the rehearsal. I either forgot my lines, or mispronounced
words. A clear sign of nervousness. I was thinking that if I fumbled during
rehearsal with no one watching, then how I would perform with 400 paris of eyes
on me. More about this later...

Michelle and I had only about one hour to plan what we were to say and how we
were going to say it. We decided that I would first speak in Mandarin, and she
would follow up with the English version. Most of the guests would understand
Mandarin, so it would be more appropriate to start off in Mandarin. We didn't
want to deliver a clinical performance, which while proper, was boring. Luckily,
despite our inexperience, we managed to plan in some banter to make the event
appear to be more lively and spontaneous. We also had help from the event
manager at the hotel who provided us with a wedding dinner script template, from
which we extracted information about the champagne pouring ceremony into the
speech. Someone later told me that it was a good move to mention the
significance of the champagne pouring, which my the way, symbolises wealth and
the overflowing of the couple's love.

I was already down with a bad cough. In the morning, I was still feeling
relatively alright. But into the evening, no amount of lozenges could sooth my
irritated throat. I just kept coughing and coughing. I had to drink lots of warm
water and chinese tea, which helped somewhat. Thank my lucky stars I could
finish my speech without breaking into a coughing fit.

I didn't dare to eat anything because I feared agitating my throat. So I only
had shark's fin, some vegetables and noodles, which came after we have finished
the champagne pouring and toasting.

Guests at the wedding, please skip ahead two paragraphs ... ignore the following
one.

Things went without noticable hitches. But there were some unexpected turns. I
forgot to ask the guests to raise their glasses before the 'yum seng'. I did not
expect that I had to lead the 'yum seng' as well! I also forgot to touch glasses
with my co-host during the 'yum seng', how ungracious of me! There was also once
that Michelle had to remind me to stand straight, because I was leaning on the
rostrum with my weight on only one leg; that looked ugly!

While our performance cannot be compared with the professionals, but I think it
was a credible first time performance for both of us. It was hard, but yes, we
pulled it off! Good work, Michelle!

To Guowei and Xinyi, I have witnessed your romance blossom 10 years ago; you
have stayed with each other through the years. I only have this to say - that
you two are a perfect match - althought you still have your little arguments. I
have not seen another couple who fit each other so well. Now your love has
matured, become more deeply rooted; may your love be stronger with each passing
day. So, when is the tree bearing fruit?

When and How to Lie Effectively

Yes I know, people hide or distort the truth for various reasons. Not all the reasons are malicious, of course, there may be a really sensible one. For example, you deliberately ignore a call from someone you don't like. When the person next asks you why you did not answer the call, you will cook up some excuse like "the phone was on silent" and "I was asleep", or "watching TV". It would be bad manners to admit that you deliberately ignored the call, wouldn't it? But then again, it would be overkill to emphasize how tired you were, or even going to the extent of saying that you fell asleep a few minutes before the call came in. Talk about being lame!

Restaurants and Food Places

Hmm ... realised that the first Mc Cafe is at Great World City first floor. On the same floor, there is Delifrance and Coffee Bean, all within line of sight of one another. Talk about competition. There is also a Kenny Rogers at Great World City! I thought only Suntec and Tampines Mall had it. Tiong Bahru Plaza have some new restaurants on the second level. Seems that these places are springing up all over the place. I should frequent Great World City more.

Taking Hints

Yeah, I geuss some people dun like to be direct and straight to the point. They prefer to beat around the bush till the cows come home. Please pardon my poor language. Well, unfortunately, if you wanna tell me something, you have to tell it to me straight. Beating around the bush never gets the point across. This explains why I am taking up Wing Chun kung fu.

We're Screwing You - Hope You are Okay with It.

I misplaced my EZLink card (with $20) since Friday. I could have dropped it on
the cab, or it could be in an obscure corner at home, to be found only many
years later if and when we are moving.

While I was buying a replacement card this morning, the helpful station staff
advised me of the revised charges, that the $15 we are paying for the card only
gives us $7 in value with a non-refundable $3 deposit.

As if headline coverage in all the local media over the past week has not been
enough! He asked me if I was okay with the new conditions, to which I replied,
"I am being very sarcastic here, but tell me, do we have a choice?"

My Weekend

Had a wonderful weekend with family and relatives. I spent Saturday at home tidying up my room (but the amount of rubbish in the place still stays the same). Chloe visited around 1:30pm, earlier than the usual 5pm or so. We had a great time laughing at her antics. Too bad I had to attend a Deppavali dinner at 7pm at the Community Club downstairs, which dragged on and on and on ... duh ... but the food wasn't too bad, except for the fact that it was served so late.

Cousin David booked a chalet for a barbecue at Aranda resorts in Pasir Ris, next to Downtown East. It was great having the four young ones altogether at once. Rachel, Herman, Cody, and Chloe. The big sisters and brothers were very obliging to 'sayang' little baby Chloe (who has just turned 1 almost a month ago); very admirable considering the fact that they are so hyperactive. Herman and Cody had no reservations about playing with uncles like Anson and myself whom they seldom met. Rachel still needs a bit of work. :)

Had two games of bowling at long last. It must have been more than a year since I've last bowled. My first game was not good. I left too many frames open, but managed to squeeze in a spare at the last frame to total 100. In the second game, I was more focused and consistent. Proper aim and the fact that the ball actually went were I wanted it to go helped a lot. I had only 3 open frames in the first 9. I spared the 10th frame and hit a 7 on the last throw, giving a grand total of 144, which I think will most likely be a year-high, considering that it is already so close to year end and I might not bowl for quite some time. I'm thinking if Wing Chun might have helped? Hee hee. Maybe all the Siu Leem Tau has strengthened my wrists, giving me better ball control. My arms felt stronger as well. Cool! Thanks to Sifu!

The score: 9- X 9/ 9/ 3/ 8/ 5- X 81 3/7 (Total: 144)

Without a Trace

Got a new pair of Sennheiser's Wireless headphones from Sid, who in turn got
a Netgear 802.11g router from me. Now I don't have to contend with Dad and
Mum telling me to lower the volume of the stereo or the TV!

Feeling rather tired ... need some extra inspiration ... sigh ... not getting
much of it though ... tough going upstream ...

Mr Brown is BACK!

Laugh till you drop! Check out Mr Brown coming out of a one year hiatus to entertain us all!

Check it out! Mr Brown

The Book that I am Reading

From Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.
I quote this paragraph:

"It was only in the first few years that she felt herself screaming silently, at times, for a glimpse of human ability, a single glimpse of clean, hard, radiant competence. She had fits of tortured longing for a friend or an enemy with a mind better than her own. But the longing passed. She had a job to do. She did not have time to feel pain; not often."

Attitude - This is a good one

Quoted from a forwarded email ...

The 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied, even though she is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.

Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.

After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. As she maneuvered her walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of her tiny room,including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window. "I love it," she stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

"Mrs. Jones, you haven't seen the room ..... just wait."

"That doesn't have anything to do with it," she replied.

"Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't dep end on how the
furniture is arranged... it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it ... "It's a decision I make
every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have
with the parts of my body that no longer work,or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.

Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away .... just for this time in my life.

Old age is like a bank account ... you withdraw from what you've put in ....... So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories

Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still depositing.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

FAMILY

Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days. But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives.

And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than into our own family, an unwise investment indeed, don't you think?

So what is behind the story? Do you know what the word FAMILY means?

FAMILY = (F)ATHER (A)ND (M)OTHER (I) (L)OVE (Y)OU

MSN Search Rules!

I have been a die-hard Google fan all this while since its inception in 1998. I use Google and only Google for all my web searches. But it seems that Google may be selective about what it includes in its database. A search on MSN for "chnrxn" turned out far more accurate results than Google. Cool! Never put all your eggs in one basket!

Minor Scare

My hard disk was acting up over the weekend. My PC would sometimes not boot, or it would hang occasionally. Then WinXP refuses to boot up properly.

Turned out to be a loose power connecter. I pushed it in, wiggled it a bit and things seemed to be okay. But first I had to boot into Win2K, my alternative OS and let it correct errors on my WinXP partition before I could get into WinXP again.

The Big Event

Getting a new apartment, worrying about renovation, buying new stuff for the house, dealing with contractors and designers, the works. Sidney is busy running around for all these things. We were at IKEA on Saturday morning to buy lights and bulbs. He bought a sheepskin rug, to the protests of everyone else except me (I always support you buddy!). My sister was kind enough to drop by and sign for the purchases to get a discount. "It pays to know people", so said his future mum-in-law. :-)

Tired but Happy

Never enjoyed myself so much on a weekend for a very long time. Even though I slept at 5am (I really was not watching the clock, and it just felt like only a minute has passed since I started at 1am) and woke up at 8am, the whole day was really fruitful. Saw Sid's new place in the afternoon at Seng Kang. The theme of the estate is very nice, but too bad it is not very populated yet. We deposited the purchases at Sherri's place (where I saw her cats) and then went to Pasir Ris for dinner. Thought of catching a sneak for T3, but we were too bushed and there were no sneaks for T3 at that time. So we all made our way back home. It was truly a memorable evening.

Woke up at 11am on Sunday feeling slightly hung over. The headache lasted the whole day. But I still went over to Sim Lim Square to check out the latest product offerings and prices. Was dozing off on the bus journey back home, woke up just in time to get off the bus, otherwise I would have ended up at Harbour Front (good I could have visited the NEL station there).

Positive Thinking Visited

The warning signs are all there. I really have to do some serious self-reflection. They say a leopard never changes its spots, but try I will, and succeed will I. I really need to be more positive about life. This previous statement is already a good start by not mentioning the negative.

Too much complaining and looking at things from a negative standpoint has already gotten me into trouble many times. It is really bad PR to be doing such things. I am lucky to have many concerned people who remind me that positivity wins at the end of the day. Thank you very much, you know who you are! Well, if you read my site that is ...

Will people start seeing and hearing a better me? I definitely wish it to be so. However I still need guidance from many people. Tough as it might seem, I really have to get it right!

I just came across this site about positive thinking

"Always look on the bright side of life ... " by Monty Python.

Special Day

Today has been a rather nice day for me. Had some interesting and funny conversations with friends and colleagues, and that is very nice. Today is also my father's lunar birthday, so we went to have dinner at ABC market hawker center along Jalan Bukit Merah. Simple pleasures can be so fun! This really lightens up an otherwise dull working life!

I have removed a portion from this entry, which basically is an unjustified complaint. I shall not find excuses for myself - I have already done someone a disservice - and I sincerely apologise.

The Unfilial Singaporean Daughter Revisited

I cannot get to sleep ... something is bothering me ...the feeling of scrunity and evaluation is strong ... something, someone I just cannot figure out. Sounds like a song? Nah ... no chance! Anyway, let's cut to the chase.

"With great power, comes great responsibility". These are the last words that Peter Parker heard from his beloved Uncle Ben before Uncle Ben was killed by a snatch thief whom Peter didn't bother to stop when he had the chance.

The same concept applies to freedom. Many of us yearn for freedom, but at the same time, we also have to enjoy our freedom responsibily. We are still responsible to our parents and people who care about us.

I believe in finding a balance. The girl in the article and people taking her father's side have their own valid views. The girl should not have just run away from home just like that. It is not fair to her parents. She is also allowing herself to be bought, but she chose to see it as an affirmation of the man's love for her. That's cheap, I could have bought her out if I had the money (yeah, if I had the money).

But on the other hand, she could have been given more freedom by her parents to choose the courses that she wanted to pursue. As long as she knows what she is getting into and is willing to bear the consequences, her parents should have let her be.

To love her is to set her free. Be not afraid that she get hurt, be afraid that she doesn't know how to recover. If she wants to blade, cycle, ride a bike, let her learn. Trust her to be responsible with her skills; for otherwise, how else is she going to look after her own children, if she never learns?

Root Searching

Read about my trip to Hong Kong and Guangdong during the summer of 1999. Now if I can only have more space to put my pictures ...