Kent's Blog

Monday, January 29, 2007

Prison Break

Okay, the "Prison Break" fever has finally gone. I can say this is the best series show I've ever seen in my life. I rented it (first season) from a shop nearby at $11 and finished it within a week. I have not been in such crazy mood for drama series since the Jap drama "Pride". Not only the story itself is very creative, they also chose the best actor for each character (something that TVB HK should learn). I like the Dr. Sara Tancredi in the drama. She is definitely my type of girl, but realistically speaking, I won't be so lucky to meet someone like her in my life.
While the premiere for the second season will be only shown on Channel5 in March, and the DVD set is not out yet in the market, I have to suffer for a few weeks before I can get back to my normal life.

Dr. Sara Tancredi (Sarah Wayne Callies)

Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller)

## I dreamed I was escaping like those inmates in "Prison Break" yesterday. Is it because I was an inmate in my previous life? No wonder I love the series so much.....

Written at 9:16 PM by Kent.

0 comments

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Not 2%...phewwww

Just received my letter today. Hmm, I was really stunned when my big boss showed me the figures on the letter. It's more than what I expected. Ya, it's not 2% and is more than enough to cover my monthly expenses on MRT rides. My efforts pay a better sum of dividend finally.
Happy? Not really. But at least won't be so grumbly. I still stick to my own plan and is working it out step by step. I'm pretty clear that my dream would be somewhere else, not within citi. The reason is not solely for money, just that I want to prove something I wish long long ago.....

Written at 11:41 PM by Kent.

0 comments

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

2% is how much?!!

Recently we always make 'weather forecast of the office' via daily horoscopes in the 我报 newspaper because we found that what it says is quite true sometimes. I do believe in the horoscope thingy. Well, after I found out some Cancer celebrities from the web, I felt that I'm the lousy and unlucky Cancer. What a disgrace...Another bad news from the boss today that the citi global average increment this year is only 2%....2% of my salary less 20% CPF, it's just ngam ngam enough to cover my monthly expense on MRT rides to office. Aduh kesiannya :(

周星驰 (Stephen Chow)
22 June 1962

梁朝伟 (Tony Leung)
27 June 1962

Raúl González Blanco (Real Madrid captain)
27 June 1977

Zinedine Zidane
23 June 1972

陶喆 (David Tao)
11 July 1969

张学友 (Jacky Chueng)
10 July 1961

Rain (Jeong Ji-Hoon)
25 June 1982

Tom Cruise
3 July 1962

## 这些巨蟹中，我最欣赏周星驰。他和梁朝伟在年轻时是很要好的朋友，两个人都很爱一起演戏。那时候他们一起投考 TVB 演员训练班，结果只有梁朝伟被入取（是因为他太帅吧）。不帅的周星驰并没有放弃，他从不起眼的小配角做起，不断的努力，懂得利用自己独特的搞笑天份，现在他获得的成就可以说是奇迹。最喜欢他在食神里的 Quote “你估我唔到!” （you can't figure me out!) 。这句话放在他的身上最贴切，从小看他演戏，真的没想到他会成为 Legend 。
成功不是偶然，除了努力和天份，还要配合天时地利人和。而他，是很好的学习榜样....

Written at 9:42 AM by Kent.

1 comments

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Tricks

## Amazing! Badminton can have tricks too!

Written at 9:56 AM by Kent.

0 comments

Friday, January 12, 2007

心动

有多久没见你以为你在那里
原来就住在我的心底
陪伴着我的呼吸

有多远的距离以为闻不到你的气息
谁知道你背影这么长
回头就看到你

过去让它过去
来不及从头喜欢你
白云缠绕着蓝天
如果不能够永远都在一起
也至少给我们怀念的勇气拥抱的权利
好让你明白我心动的痕迹

总是想再见你
还试着打探你的消息
原来你就住在我的身体
守护我的回忆

## 早上乘搭地铁时听到这首歌，情绪上下起伏，是这首歌的旋律太凄美，还是被过去的故事所感动？

Labels: Musics

Written at 11:58 PM by Kent.

0 comments

Thursday, January 11, 2007

GUCCI eyeglasses

Okie, finally bought myself a pair of eyeglasses. And guess what, it's GUCCI GG1787 in dark blue, costs me about SGD460.00 including lens. Well, I can't really believe I would buy such expensive eyeglasses in my life, even if I become a millionaire. Not my money anyway, must say thank you to my bank first. Errr...hmmmm

The reason I bought a pair of eyeglasses is because recently my eyes always get pain after working in front of my PC for long hours. And it really helps, no more pain today, just a bit "pening kepala" as I've stopped wearing eyeglasses for eight years.

I tried many brands, like Boss, Armani, D&G, Versace and Guess, but most of them are too flashy and can't give me a matured look. This eyeglasses caught me at first sight. Some might say it's not worth to buy a decent design eyeglasses, however, the frame is very sleek and classy with flex hinge, and the material is titanium too. Yeah, love it!

## May buy a pair of GUCCI sunglasses if I were still with this bank for the rest of this year.....

Written at 10:54 PM by Kent.

1 comments

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

深呼吸

词曲: 宇恆

我紧紧握着方向盤开车在回家的路上
空气很涼搖上車窗
一个人好慌张

不知道拐了几个弯经过了绿色的收费站
空气中听见我的歌唱熟悉旋律在迴蕩
什么時候眼泪开始打转

我要我自己坚强我知道我能做到
我就要活得比从前更好
123 深呼吸
就感觉這力量叫做翅膀准备飞翔
我的想法很简单沒有他們的复杂
我背负一个伟大的梦想
123 深呼吸
我呼吸爱的力量学着让自己勇敢
我知道你知道还要全世界看到我的真心和希望

## 我知道我能做到，我知道我正走向属于自己的世界.....
## 什么时候可以去旅行？想去香港，去看看没见过面的同事，去尝尝咖哩鱼蛋和 la za 面。

Labels: Musics

Written at 10:09 PM by Kent.

0 comments

Monday, January 08, 2007

撑! 撑! 撑!

要怎么撑下去？可能吗？

做得对，做得快，只是应做的本份，不算是表现好。要表现特出，还得做 project 做 system enhancement，不可以出错。问题在于，daily production 从早上 9 点做到晚上 7 点多，都已经精疲力竭了，眼睛也痛得张不开来，怎会还有额外的精力去做 system enhancement。放工后还得搭一个小时多的地铁，回到家时已经奄奄一息，吃的晚餐也感觉冷冷的。也许，如果我是死心踏地为这个 bank 赴汤蹈火的话，我会把业余时间奉献出来做 system enhancement。只可惜，我不是.....

You have to stretch within your own time limit....我好想说我已尽力 stretch 了，再 stretch 就会爆了。Volume 增加了，risk control 和 job function 也增加了，为什么人手还是一样没变？

We must have work-life balance.....赞同这个 idea 的 management 可能只躲在房间里睡觉，没有出来看看下属每晚做到几点才放工。

VOE survey 比往年的好，难道越来越多人喜欢留下来？可能问题只出现在我身上，所以每次很不满的时候，都会这样骂自己：

You are paid to do this job. Don't complain and grumble. If you don't like it, you can quit asap because many people are queuing to join this bank, the largest US bank.

是我不适合 Operations 吧？能够动脑筋解问题的机会越来越少，每天重复做相同的东西，感觉上像一部机器，也很家里的 maid，不同的是，我可以穿西装衣裤去上班，薪水比她高而已。

是我不会知足常乐、安于现状，还是这个 bank 真的很 “下水” 呢？

## 明天又有 team meeting 了，又是针锋相对的时候。Agenda 上写的大概是 new year challenges, work efficiency, teamwork 等等之类。人往往只能改变对事情的看法，却改变不了事情的本质.....真可悲

Written at 11:36 PM by Kent.

1 comments

MRT Delay

There's another delay in service at the MRT train station today. The B.Gombak, B.Batok and Jurong East station looked like another year end countdown party. It was so crowded that I only managed to board the train after three attempts.

The reason of delay I guess is nothing but another suicide case, which has become a norm in this small island. I'm just wondering why the people chose to commit suicide by jumping to the MRT track. It's not only very painful (imagine the heavy train run over your body), it also affect the people taking the train to work in the early morning. And the MRT staff have to clean up their horrific body parts scattered on the track. So silly and irresponsible!

## Treasure the chance given to live in this world. Life is beautiful. I come, I see and I conquer.....

Written at 10:26 AM by Kent.

0 comments

Friday, January 05, 2007

Aging..contingency

"The young have very little understanding about life. Who wants to live every day when you don't know what's going on? When people are manipulating you, telling you to buy this perfume and you'll be beautiful, or this pair of jeans and you'll be sexy-and you believe them! It's such nonsense."

Weren't you ever afraid to grow old?

"I embrace aging. Aging is not just decay, you know. It's growth. It's more than negative that you're going to die, it's also the positive that you understand you're going to die, and that you live a better life because of it."

Why do people always say, "Ohh, if I were young again..."

"You know what that reflects? Unsatisfied lives. Lives that haven't found meaning. Because if you've found meaning in your life, you don't want to go back. You want to go forward. You want to see more, do more. If you'are always battling against getting older, you're always going to be unhappy, because it will happen anyhow. The fact is, you are going to die eventually."

## The trades settlement team had contingency again today and we were asked to volunteer one person for help. I shooked my head again as it happens quite frequent in the recent months. And this time it's so surprising that they asked for contingency when there's only one production staff down.
Well, luckily it was Adrian who was so kind raised his hand to volunteer. He scored points again in front of us!!

Written at 12:03 PM by Kent.

1 comments

Thursday, January 04, 2007

忘词

词曲：阿信

嗯嗯搭啦我又忘了
我应该应该应该应该唱什么我应该应该应该应该怎么做

嗯嗯搭啦想起来了
我好像好像好像好像应该说我好想好想好想好想对你说

在你的面前我就变得很笨拙就像是一个不断忘词的歌手
我练习过彩排过这个时候却又说不出口

你你的温柔感动了我
我忍耐太久内伤太重
在这一秒我一定要说就算失败也不沉默

你你的温柔感动了我
我忍耐太久内伤太重
在豁出去的那一秒钟却又忘词我噢噢噢

上一句好像是有关你的形容下一句好像希望你能答应我
我练习过彩排过这个时候却又说不出口

Labels: Musics

Written at 10:48 PM by Kent.

0 comments

无聊

每天做工做得很累，每天都重复做相同的东西，而且还要乘搭一个小时多的地铁横跨这小岛。
回到家一躺在床上，顿时不想再爬起来，多么希望地球从此停止转动。
什么都不想，什么都不做，什么都不管。
哎，多么无聊的生活。
难道就这样庸庸碌碌匆匆忙忙地活过一辈子？

Written at 10:18 PM by Kent.

0 comments

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme A Calendar!

I can't imagine that my private bank never give its operations staff a calendar for the new year 2007.

Why only the marketing teams are given the calendars? (and even diary books!!!)

Are we supposed to buy the calendar ourselves?

How to make payment to the clients without a calendar?

Are we supposed to go into the system and check if there is any holiday for each country everyday?

Maybe yes, we are paid to do so.

On the first day I joined the bank, I told myself proudly, "Wah, I've joined a very big bank. Must appreciate and work hard hard for the bank."

After two years, I'm asking myself why my bank treats us this way and seems that it's getting worse. Oversea trip is cancelled, tightened control on stationery request, asia & europe securities teams are sharing the same photocopy machine, no free lunch for team meeting and lesser bonus this year? Sigh....

Are we the "disposable" one?

I understand that operations do not bring customers and profits to the bank like the marketing teams do. But it doesn't mean that we should be treated differently. I still remember the "Five Points Plan" created by the management - the members of the bank have to share the same responsibility bla bla bla.....but why we cannot share the calendars?

Today we were so pity that we asked our friends from other banks if they have any extra calendars. The response we received from them is, "What? xxx bank never give calendar meh?"

Some of them are so kind that they are willing to pouch the extra calendars to us. Really shameful and sianzzz.....

## As it is the first business day of the new year, a new staff has joined the Trades Settlement team and surprisingly it's a female with not bad looking. The guys are getting excited....a good refreshing start for 2007 (although no calendar is given)

Written at 12:20 AM by Kent.

0 comments

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

New Template

花了数小时全新设计的 Blog template 终于出炉啦！
蛮有成就感的，尤其是捱着感冒的折腾，不停地抓头想点子，不停地测试，好不容易才做出一个满意的 template 。现在回想起来，这当中的过程也蛮艰辛的。当然，那也是因为我是个 programming 白痴，否则不会做那么久。
发觉只要真的有心，没有什么事情是办不到的，只可惜以前的我不是这么想。

## 刚刚收到屋主的感冒药茶，加上昨天的夜宵- McSpicy 汉堡，那温馨的感觉又悄悄地回来了。

Written at 8:59 PM by Kent.

0 comments

Monday, January 01, 2007

What if today were my last day on earth?

The culture doesn't encourage you to think about such things until you're about to die. We're so wrapped up with the egotistical things, career, family, having enough money, meeting the mortgage, getting a new car - we're involved in trillions of little acts just to keep going.

So, we don't get into the habits of standing back and looking at our lives and saying, Is this all? Is this all I want? Is something missing?

You need someone to probe you in that direction. It won't just happen automatically. We all need teachers in our lives.

Most of us all walk around as if we're sleepwalking. We really don't experience the world fully, because we're half-asleep, doing things we automatically think we have to do.

And facing death changes all that? Yes, you strip away all that stuff and you focus on the essentials. When you realize you are going to die, you see things much differently.

Learn how to die, and you learn how to live.

~ Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie.

One of my new year wishes is to read books as many as possible. And today, the first day of 2007, I did it - bought two books from Kinokuniya at Bugis. Appreciate every second of 2007 and be proud of yourself at the end of 2007.

Written at 7:20 PM by Kent.

0 comments

祝你生日快乐

每一年的今天，我都会想起是你的生日。
今天也是一样，想 sms 一段祝福语给你，但你的手机号码却换了。
每次想起你，都会问自己到底是不是彻底地走错了。
当初如果不是那样的话，现在我们应该是一起庆祝生日吧。
藏在心底的话，希望你能听见。

Written at 12:58 AM by Kent.

3 comments