C'est la vie

Sticky situation

2012-06-03T15:39:00.001+01:00

I always forget how hot and humid this part of the world is.. I also forget how lonely this part of the world can become, especially if one’s friends are no longer in the country, let alone the town..

What does on do?

In other news, got my house offer accepted.. Need to now get the mortgage in and get things going – while I am on holiday.. Great!

A story of two cows

2012-05-27T22:44:00.001+01:00

A farmer goes to the market to buy a cow as an investment.. On arrival, only two cows remained in the pen.. The farmer would like to buy a cow, although he was not sufficiently desperate that he had to have a cow that day..

The first cow was more a calf than a cow.. It was young and by virtue of that, it was clearly in a better state of health.. Sure, the hoofs were a bit worn from the few years it has been around and the teeth a little worn because its previous owners were less caring.. But it was young.. And expensive..

The second cow was more mature.. It had seen decades go past and knew very well the land around which the market was in, grazing only in the best spots.. The age of the cow meant that while it was healthy, it was also quite worn and a little ill.. It was cheaper than the first cow but it would need better grass and better air and so would need to roam a little further away from the farmer’s house..

The farmer liked both cows and so did not want to leave the market empty handed that day.. There in was the farmer’s dilemma.. Sure, the first cow had years to go before it would begin to fall ill but it was rather expensive and could not yet calve.. On the other hand, the second cow too could go on for years with medicine, providing milk and calves almost immediately albeit it would need to graze a little further away..

How shall the farmer decide between the cows?

Going once, going twice

2012-05-20T18:15:00.001+01:00

Hua and I put an offer in for a place in Reedham at the start of last week.. I quite liked the place but Hua was a bit reserved.. Either way, we thought we would punt on it.. I was expecting three rounds of price negotiation before something gave but we lasted two..

Alas, the vendor’s expectations was a little higher than what we were willing to offer so we gave up after round two.. I mean, seriously.. If you said a guide price of X, I would expect at least entertaining offers of 15k below X instead of 5k.. If you had said offers in excess of X, then I would have been prepped.. It was a nice place, although lacked a front yard and needed a bit of fixing but alas, it would not be ours..

We went back to more viewings.. Most of the places within our budget in the Purley area were 2.5 bedrooms whereas I was looking for three bedrooms.. And two toilets but most houses come with one toilet..

But we kept with it.. And finally, I think we have found another one.. A little far away in Coulsdon and requires a little modernising and work but definitely full of potential.. In fact, one of the first homes in the UK that I have seen using a forced air heating system.. Distance vs. value for money..

A few more properties to view next week before we make a decision on whether to make a second viewing on one of those.. But alas, I will be home for two weeks after our next viewing delaying progress somewhat..

In other news, it seems I am being proposed on assignments everywhere else except London.. This was not the reason I asked to roll off my current assignment.. I wanted to spend more time in London, not to be put on assignments outside of London.. Hmmm..

Road demon

2012-05-07T18:29:00.001+01:00

After many months of saying I would rent a car and go somewhere, I finally did.. Bing was around and needed to go up to Bicester Village to replace some items so I thought I should rent a car and go..

Automatic, not manual.. It was only going to be another £10 for the ‘upgrade’ so I figured why not.. Saturday morning came and we went down to pick up the Vauxhaul Corsa from the rental company at Gatwick (premium charge £5, but hey, I get to return it any time of the week rather than just office hours).. The car itself was a nice ride although lacked power at higher speeds..

I must say, it felt good driving again.. I have not driven since my UK test last year.. The only thing was that because I have not driven for so long, my leg and arms started hurting, particularly since the drive up to Bicester was 90 minutes each way, not counting all the other stops we made at Oxford and at Blenheim Palace..

In all honesty though, it was mostly motorway or ‘A’ roads driving which meant I was driving at high-speeds with little need to be worried about junctions, narrow roads and other funky traffic like bicycles.. This made it easier in some sense.. It was only in Oxford and Bicester where I got annoyed by the number of roundabouts.. There was a road where I swear there were at least five roundabouts in the 10 minutes I drove on it..

230 miles later and only one attempt at killing a cyclist, I returned the car.. Was it cost effective? Almost.. It cost nearly the same as 3 adult train tickets (not including my season ticket discount) – and that is not counting the flexibility of travel between Oxford and Bicester.. I might do it more often if more people are travelling..

Need to work on a few minor technical aspects, but otherwise, a quite pleasant experience.. Now, to wait for the speeding tickets..

Evolution of friends

2012-04-29T20:21:00.001+01:00

Before the likes of Friendster and Facebook, friends were people you rang up every now and then or met up face-to-face to talk about the times or to share news about other people.. There would always be something to talk about just because the gap between conversations would span days, weeks, even months.. It would be focussed on the people you know which always gave commonality in the conversation..

These days, you catch up on news about your friends through Facebook, blogs or buddy messaging.. Or you hear their thoughts on Twitter.. So, when you see them, you cannot ask what they have been up to since to do so would mean you have not been following them on Facebook.. Otherwise, what would be the point of asking something you already knew?

Rumours now need not wait to spread since they often come finding you.. No more waiting for that letter or meet-up to talk about it..

My conclusion in all of this – modern technology makes socialing that much more difficult.. You know meet up with friends whom you could have spoken to on a buddy messaging service and realise that there is nothing more to talk about.. I struggle to find conversation that my social network scraper does not already mention in the person’s dossier.. I find I have to move conversation onto politics or the local news because Facebook would have told me about their lives..

It is ironic, is it not, that all that noise we make on social media has made physical conversation that much quieter..

Competitive streaks

2012-04-24T00:13:00.000+01:00

Competition exists in almost everything, as with anything in life.. My potato plants, previously all happily co-existing in the same 1 square foot bucket have now grown so much that they are in competition with each other for resources.. Already one has suffered - we had to pull the withering stalk out.. The potato it was so patiently growing had withered into almost nothingness but you could see the outline of the shape of the potato..

I considered the poor potato plant as I considered the five houses I viewed over the weekend.. It would seem that my conclusion from the viewing is that my perfect budget would not get me my perfect house.. Then again, when would that ever happen? Some expectations will have to be reset and others considered even more carefully.. We did see one property that looked quite nice, slightly under our budget, but lacked the off-street parking and had a tiny third bedroom.. But despite its imperfections, it was in immaculate condition..

But like I say, you get what you pay for.. Who would have known that in that quiet street, there had been arsons, robberies, violent crimes and all sorts of anti-social behaviour in February of this year alone.. Perhaps this one I shall let the competition consume while I wait for the perfect one to come along..

In other news, Hua and I gave notice of our intention to marry.. Shan't say where in case there are objectors out there! I jest.. Now to sort out whether we want a London reception or not for the signing ceremony..
So much to plan.. A good thing there was not much competition for a Saturday slot for the ceremony..

And in other competitive news, my colleagues convinced me to sign up for the JP Morgan Run.. Only 5.6 km and you can run, walk or do anything in between.. It is for charity.. Alas, I fear I have not been running for a while.. I could walk the 5.6 km in an hour, but when one's colleagues are all aiming for times of 20 and 30 minutes, then one becomes somewhat motivated to get in shape.. Of course running on a treadmill is very different to running on terrain in all sorts of weather conditions and slopes, but I guess that is the point of practice..

Much like my potato plants, I wonder what will happen in the end..? Now accepting bets..

Growing plump

2012-04-08T17:38:00.001+01:00

I was curious to see how my potatoes were doing.. So I got Hua to do what she does best – I got her to pull one of the potato stalks out..

Lo and behold, I was astonished to see a really, really, really tiny potato growing in the roots.. Like seriously tiny.. Like No more then 3 millimetres across tiny potato.. I did shove the plant back in but as we had a bunch growing and it was still loose in the soil, Hua chucked it..

But, how exciting! Even one of the old potatoes we chucked into the soil sort of regenerated.. If you ever wondered what happened to the ‘eyes’, they grow into shoots and then detach themselves from the potato itself.. The potato is then regenerated and continues to grow more ‘eyes’..

I was most intrigued!

Now, I just need to figure out when the potatoes would be good for harvesting.. That and how to convince Hua that the potatoes are safe to eat even if the leaves are poisonous..

Also finally ramped up our house search.. I scheduled some rather promising viewing in the next couple of weeks.. There are houses out there – some requiring some work and other not so.. It just becomes a question of how far away from the train station are you willing to go, how picky you are and how much you want to spend.. And also how much I have left to buy a car..

I sometimes wonder how the average Briton survives.. With a mortgage, a car, kids and £28,000 pa.. Ok, scratch the mortgage.. Most people rent till their late 30s..

Hmm..

Breaking point

2012-04-02T22:44:00.002+01:00

One is pleased to report that one's potato plants are growing remarkably well! In a span of three weeks, the shoots are now half a metre tall! I have had to turn the pot every week or so as the shoots kept leaning towards the window so the stalks are now somewhat curvy.. Hua resolved the situation by chucking the pot onto the balcony.. Somehow, I do not think that would work..

It is at this point that my sister pointed out to me that potato leaf - the spice - is not the same as the leaves of a potato plant.. In fact, the leaves of a potato plant are poisonous.. Who would have thought?!? A good thing I have not been plucking them and eating them.. They do look a little shrivelled though..

A few more weeks and I will start to see if my (lack of) labour are bearing more fruit.. Hua has taken it quite seriously, even banning me from chucking unwanted soap water and tea into the pot for fear that the potatos might taste funny..

In other news, I took a day trip to Oxford over the weekend.. The town felt like it always feels whenever I am in Oxford - quietly intimidating.. K says that happens.. In return though, I focussed on the environmental, religious and political activisits that line the pedestrian malls of Oxford.. It is as Total War predicts - the scholarly towns are where the resistance begins.. In fact, the little gypsy (or locally called travellers) village of Dale Farm was not defended by the locals but by activists from Oxbridge, a law student nonetheless..

The one thing that I was quietly apprehensive was punting.. I had always wanted to do it.. In fact, I do enjoy rowing and, when the opportunity arises, sailing - although not the competitive kind.. So, there I was with Hua and her friend, all wanting to go on boat, but clearly only one able to punt..

The basics of punting was pretty easy.. My first challenge was to be able to lift the pole without falling into the stream.. The pole was twice my height and made of steel - so heavy.. The next challenge was to then push the board straight rather than sideways.. That would probably be because I cannot for the life of me drop my pole straight..

My steering, though, is amazing.. I credit this to the short time I spent simulating ships and understanding the finesse of maneuvering thrusters and rudders..

But back to the real world.. So, there I was, punting with two girls in the boat, albeit one rocking the boat as she tried to play with the ducks, the swans, take pictures and paddle.. Yes, paddle.. After all, what else would you do should you lose your pole to the stream..

One is pleased to report that despite some minor difficulties heading upstream and a failed attempt at changing drivers, we made it back to the punting house with no swimmers..

On the other hand, one is also not that pleased to report that one's shoulder is now busted.. Between the heavy bag lifting and the punting, something had to give way...

Fruits of labour

2012-03-18T10:18:00.001+00:00

After many days of seeing my potatoes sprouting in the corner of my kitchen, I decided to do something about it.. So I bought a pot and some soil..

One is pleased to report that my potatoes are doing well, with roots and shoots.. With any luck, I will have doubled or even tripled my potato holdings in the next three months – and the intention is to keep it that way.. Perhaps, this is my first step towards self-sustainability..

Having said that, the two spring onions I planted are now dead by human intervention.. Ah Hua plucked them out after saying the leaves were dead. This coming from the woman who claimed her orchid died despite eight flowers budding.. I have no idea why I thought getting her an orchid was a good idea.. The orchid is still alive and well, with potentially even more flowers than when we bought it.. Even her bamboos are doing well despite having been de-potted.. Some of them are now in a home made hydroponics kit – which also means I have lost a Pyrex bowl..

Once I have achieved success with my potatoes, I shall try and move on to spring onions and herbs.. I would hardly have any space after that unless I get a garden – in which case some lettuce and other leafy vegetables.. (I still have my spice rack which I bought a year ago.. It is still quite full..)

In other news, I have started looking around for a house.. I went to see a mortgage advisor yesterday and sorted out what I need to do next.. The viewing I was meant to have yesterday was also cancelled at the last minute.. It is surprisingly difficult to find a place that meets all my criteria so when you do find one, I suppose you should leap at it.. I have yet to find one..

I would need to tidy up my finances slightly for the credit report.. I finally got round to cancelling one of my unused credit cards and about to get round to closing down my dormant accounts.. I am thinking about changing my current account type as well as I seem to be paying for stuff that I am not using, yet.. Perhaps it may kick in in the future, but who knows.. The Office for Fair Trading is looking into current accounts like mine and perhaps something will come out of that..

Ah, so many things to do – so little time..

Incidentally, if anyone has managed to access a BT Openzone with an O2 account on a Nokia phone, can you let me know? Thanks!

A little something special for you Game of Thrones fans:

Getting old

2012-03-04T23:29:00.001+00:00

Just got back from Belgium on a weekend away.. These weekends away are getting tiring!

A few more to go..

Personal weekend

2012-02-26T21:30:00.001+00:00

One of my colleagues raised this American concept of a ‘personal day’.. She put it in a work related context – you know taking a day off for no other reason rather than you wanted to.. Limited per year of course.. What she did not know was that it also applies when you are in school, as far as I know..

I decided I needed a personal weekend, literally just to sit at home and do nothing.. Got off to a great start on Saturday – by waking up at 1 pm.. Going much better today.. I had wanted to sit at home just to watch TV and fiddle with my PC (stepping out only to attend a birthday dinner – you lucky person!) but that also did not go to plan..

I joined an MMORPG after much resistance.. Actually, the only resistance was the price – which is now free provided I do not buy anything in game.. Also, I was looking for a new Trekie game.. I spent most of the weekend playing this..

The game is a wee bit complex, poorly documented, and as I often play this while watching TV or using my phone, I rarely pay attention to the Leonard Nimoy commentary.. It took me a while to understand what was going on and I still do not fully understand it..

Anyway, I played enough to rise from Lieutenant to Lieutenant Commander (I am not sure where the Lt JG rank went – perhaps I started at senior lieutenant).. Probably promising, but I would need to play a bit more.. And it does take a lot of time to play.. I am not sure how many hours I would put in a week..

In other news, I went to watch The Best and Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful.. It was a brilliant show! One character even reminded me of Ah Hua – and she recognised it herself which was good.. I had initially ruled out the show as a British literature film and wanted to watch The Muppets instead but was pleasantly surprised but the quality of film I saw.. Perhaps Bill Nighy was a clue..

Might be some late blog entries for the next few weeks.. Possible technical difficulties..

I am what I am

2012-02-19T23:29:00.001+00:00

I should charge my services as a travel agent.. I thought I could palm it off to Ah Hua and get her to book her trips with her friend, but this has now backfired with her puppy eyes and whiny voice.. So much for getting the tour guide (i.e. me) sacked!

I spent most of this week drafting and re-drafting proposition material, balancing between brevity and credibility.. Admittedly, this has been very hard for me! Credibility requires you to lay out your detailed plans which in turn gives away the game (and takes up a few pages).. Brevity on the other hand reduces the prospect of convincing the other party that you know what you are yapping about and therefore win the job..

All that while showing your edge.. Difficult! For example, what differentiates British Airways from Virgin Atlantic? It comes down to brand and any personal experience (and price).. A bunch of words is not going to express why you are better than the next.. Everyone will say the same thing, literally “I am better because I just am!”

Anyway, I have called this one.. We will see if I am right or wrong in a few weeks time.. The last one I called was very close, but wrong..

In other news, Ah Hua and I toyed with the idea of a mattress in the living room like one of those typical Chinese households.. It was brilliant because instead of bringing the TV to the bedroom, we brought the bedroom to the TV.. I cannot tell yet if it made me sleep worse as there was some champagne floating around my system that day.. Ah Hua went on a whim and we found ourselves in the cocktail bar of the Grosvenor Hotel.. Very trendy!

Now, though, I do want the mattress back in my room.. I can easily see this being a permanent feature of the living room which would be very bad.. We may as well rent a studio at this rate..

Perhaps a more expensive solution is to hook the Sky box in the living room somehow to a remote unit in the bedroom, or better to a mobile device like an iPad.. Hmmm.. One of Deloitte’s TMT predictions for the new year!

This, however, was not in the predictions.. Had this song stuck in my head for no reason..

Better speak I don’t

2012-02-12T22:27:00.001+00:00

I’ve given up on calorie counting.. It is quite hard and very restrictive.. I think the penny dropped when one of my mates collapsed in the gym thanks to his crappy calorie diet.. The calorie diet was making my weight fluctuate, rather than go down..

I think at the end of the day, I just enjoy my food too much..

Anyway, I got my laptop back from repairs.. Some bad sectors in the hard disk.. It took a bit longer to restore my software, partly because I did not know how the Windows 7 restore system worked.. I finally got it up and running only to realise I had copied over the bad sector index files across.. I have just figured out how to reset the file, so will have a go at it later tonight.

Two weeks without my laptop has proven challenging! I guess it proves I still need a laptop even with an iPad.. Another year, then I can invest in a new laptop if I need to.. Meanwhile, who knows what would happen in that time? Flash memory laptops? Instant power on by other manufacturers? The pace of technological advancement is so much quicker now.. Even global communication is so much easier with a wide variety of options..

(I have been guilty in recent weeks of using ‘subtle communication’ techniques to express my displeasure at a selection of people.. If you think you spotted one, I would be interest to know.. I have not done subtle communication for a long, long time, so imagine I am rusty..)

A shame that humans are still embarrassingly crap at communicating.. Especially those with long lag periods.. You know who you are..

Flowery language

2012-01-29T18:07:00.001+00:00

Like the new layout? Something Blogger calls Dynamic Templates.. Means you can lay it out as you like it.. Black seemed suitable in the year of the black dragon.. Also, Google+, Tweets and Facebook likes now integrated at the bottom of each post – if you make it that far.. In so doing, I managed to accidentally delete the last five posts and lose the search function.. I have reposted the last five entries (thank goodness for Live Writer!) and will work on that search bar..

Anyway, I was looking back at some of my archived entries.. Man, I reached my ‘Pax Romana’ years ago.. It is all downhill from now on, stylistically..

A funny thing – style.. I spent most of the week writing and re-writing a business proposal for what is typically a straight forward job – that is until the client tells you how much they are willing to pay.. Then you rewrite for what they would pay without looking as if you are ripping them off.. To be fair, we were not ripping them off – we were just making the best use of their money..

So, when you write something that would be reviewed by five other people, you bump into issues of style.. I have no definitive style.. I am neither a staunch believer of The Economist style guide nor do I stray too far away from it.. The simple things like spelling out single digit numbers, avoiding superlatives and nomination, etc.. (Business writing, of course.. Here, it is a completely different story..) I have also never read Eat Shoots and Leaves..

Now, my bosses on the other hand adhere to neither style.. With each having their own unique style, it can be quite a challenge putting the document together.. I particularly have issues with the one reviewer who had an obsession with infinitives.. For example, instead of saying ‘… including x, y and z.’ he would put down ‘… to include x, y and z.’ On the other hand, if he had split his infinitive, I might have let it go.. Yes, to boldly go where no infinitive has gone before..

Another reviewer had problems with Management Consulting speak.. I had to, twice, remove the phrase ‘value add’ – it implies we do not add value otherwise.. Thankfully, no other phrases cropped up.. Any ‘going forwards’ or ‘outside the box thinking’ and I would have puked blood.. I did let ‘thought leadership’ go through, but I kind of like that phrase..

I think of all the proposals I have done, I felt really in charge of this one.. Everything from the framework to the contents to the actual visualisation of how the project would come together.. Perhaps it is because this sort of project is right up my alley.. Perhaps it is because my boss is meticulous with trying to understand the big picture (so meticulous that he forgot to check the small picture like uniformity of tenses, choice of terminology and implicit exposure to extra scope – I spent some time ‘gold-plating’ the proposal)..

This is good.. Before, I was not sure if I understood what it took to identify and develop opportunities.. This is important if I want to remain in my current role.. I think I get a little of what is going on here.. Whether I like it is a completely different story..

And since we are on the topic of identifying opportunities – Hua identified one a week ago.. At her behest, I bought her an orchid, despite her killing my cactus months ago.. I also bought her one of those bamboo tower thingymagics..

At least for now, the orchid is doing well.. Another flower bloomed since we bought it, with many more to come:

I give it two months.. Any other takers?

Year of the Black Dragon

2012-01-23T12:18:00.001+00:00

Gong xi fa cai! Hark hear the coming of the water dragon – or black dragon as it has been described at work.. A year of uncertainty and therefore opportunity..

Interesting, considering my plan for the year was to cruise through life.. And I was not expecting uncertainty in the form of hard disk bad sectors..

Some tasks I had in mind for the new year:

1. Plan the wedding

Enough said..

2. Find a house

It is about time I started looking for a more permanent place to stay.. I have been keeping my eyes and ears peeled, but I have not really formed an opinion about what I want, where, and how it will work.. Then, there is a need to worry about how the financing will work..

It is quite depressing when some of your friends are already owning their first, and even more depressing when they are on their second.. My only upshot is that most of the properties are in Central London, which is not where I want to buy long-term.. Admittedly, this is a deviation from my initial plan, but I think the new plan is much more realistic..

3. Sort out my rewards

I always wanted a goal of owning a MasterCard and a Visa, which I do have, and earn rewards for spending.. However, my Visa is a bit useless – the credit limit is a bit low and there are no rewards.. However, I think I have found a solution – and it even includes an American Express for the heck of it..

The last year has seen me joining a couple of hotel loyalty cards and a few other reward types for work.. I suppose it is about time I sat down and think about how this merges on with my other reward type programmes and whether I should switch to a different frequent flyer programme..

4. Sort out the birthdays

So, last year, I made the calamitous decision to merge the address book on my phone with the address book on my PC.. The book on my phone contains numbers from the last 8 years, meticulously transferred across each and every time I get a new phone.. The book on my PC contains numbers, addresses and details from the last 12 years, meticulously transferred and updated over the years – well, in so far as I know when people’s details have changed.. Large parts of it are out of date, but that is another project (and one for when Gist stabilises its Outlook plugin..)

The goal this year is to sort out the birthdays.. Sometime during the transition between versions of Outlook, all the birthdays were moved forward a day.. I have updated some but when they started syncing with my phone, they kept getting reset a day early.. I think I understand why the records are getting screwed up, so will probably spend the year fixing them..

5. Think about technology

Come Christmas, my laptop would have come to the end of its shelf life.. Perhaps it is time to retire the laptop and return to the traditional desktop.. The reason I moved to a laptop was mobility but at the expense of flexibility in modifying the internal components.. The need for mobility has certainly been removed with the introduction of tablets like the iPad.. I use my iPad more now for quick browsing and e-mails than my laptop..

I still have that ultimate goal of creating a network of laptops – which is why I still have my old XP laptop lingering around.. I just need to sort out the linkages and what I want the network to do, especially with the advent of tablets..

6. Observe and interact

I think the best sort of friend is the sort that listens and observes without interfering.. Perhaps it is time I give less advice and listen more.. It is also time I started interacting more with those around me.. I mean it is great to have friends in different time zones, but nothing beats face-to-face interaction..

There – think I can do it?

All the world’s a stage

2012-01-15T23:12:00.001+00:00

I wonder if by human nature we are born natural spectators.. We have all those soap operas (both on television and in real life) and all we do is sit back and watch with the occasional meddling or comment..

Take Wednesday.. Probably one of the last few things I would expect in Farmville hotel is an amorous couple in the room next to me.. Farmville is not quite the honey moon destination or the romantic spot of the planet.. The hotel serves its purpose for businessmen, cruise passengers and golfers alike, but not rapturous couples..

So couple my low probability observation with thin walls and on Wednesday night, I was ‘entertained’ to more than just Eagle Eye on BBC Three and Farm Frenzy on my iPad.. There was also a series of rhythmic moans that got quicker and quicker..

My colleagues asked if I asked to have my room changed.. Well, what was the point? It was over in a minute anyway..

Moving on.. So, Marks and Spencer's launched a ‘Fuller, Longer’ range as part of their January detox specials.. I tried one of their dishes – the chicken katsu curry.. Firstly, it tastes nothing like Japanese curry.. Secondly, I was still hungry after the dish..

This got me thinking – how many calories do I consume a day? To that end, I have started, as an experiment, a food diary.. Handy the things I get my iPad to do.. So, the goal is to keep track of my food and snack intake over the next month or so with the target of losing about a pound a week. In total, I need to lose seven kilos apparently, though I think I can settle for five.. Baby steps..

Keeping a food diary can be quite difficult.. I have seen enough documentaries to know that we tend to forget the small things we eat, especially snacks.. Or worse, what happens when I have dim sum? Precisely the problem I had today.. (1 x har kau, 1 x siu mai, 1 portion of siew yoke, half x crab dumpling……)

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how much food I consume.. The app estimates that I need to consume about 1550 kcals a day to meet the current weight target.. It sounds a lot harder than it seems especially when Four Seasons roast duck, dripping in fat and oil incurs heavy calorie penalties!

But perhaps it is all in vain.. Perhaps I should return to my fatalist state and focus on the fact that eventually, we all die.. Therefore, we should live life as it is as if there is no tomorrow.. I do sometimes get worried about a slow, painful death.. I have observed deterioration in the accuracy of my hearing, speech and typing..

So, while I was sure the pharmacist did not intend to insinuate that I was at all homosexual, I think I did hear him refer to ‘my partner’ as a ‘he’.. (Is it now social convention to only use ‘partner’ when someone is gay? When did that happen?) I know it happens sometimes when people speak a language that do not always recognise gender (take Mandarin for example), but pretty sure I heard a ‘he’.

Perhaps I have developed a speech impediment that even I do not know about..

Big Bang

2012-01-07T22:15:00.001+00:00

I learnt this week that I am can getting quite good with one hand typing on an iPad.. It almost looks feels like using a console out of Star Trek.. For years I had fantasised what most Trek authors and scripts refer to as dancing fingers..

A shame the official PADD\LCARS interface costs £2.99.. I could launch into a whole how the Star Trek world is turning into reality from turbolifts to voice recognition to communication devices etc. but I think I do that too often..

Nah..

On Friday, the last thing at work, was a champagne toast for the qualifiers.. There were a lot of qualifiers and inevitably, the question posed is “How does life feel after qualification?”

It is actually quite an important question.. You start work as a trainee with the exams as a target.. But once you hit the target, then people begin to lose focus.. Quite often, that is around the time people have second thoughts about their careers and quit..

(Incidentally, limited recognition of my second qualification.. To some extent, the anonymity was good – less of a show off.. On the other hand, I was looking forward to some recognition..)

So, when the response to my question comes back as “watching more TV”, I immediately relate.. Series on my list:

Alphas
Big Bang Theory (not currently in sequence, so sometimes confused..)
Rev
The Killing (Danish version)
Have I Got News for You
Charlie’s Angels
Body of Proof
Public Enemies
The Wire
New Tricks
American Dad
Family Guy
Sherlock
Click
Mrs Brown’s Boys

With the upcoming:

Mad Dogs
Hustle
Franklin & Bash
Games of Thrones
Borgias

And the recently finished\paused:

The Middle
House
Terra Nova
Falling Skies
Spiral (or Engrenages)
The Young James Herriot
Merlin

Now, consider the above bearing in mind that Family Guy and American Dad get about 12 episodes a week each on air.. With my being outstation, that leaves me Thursday night, Friday night (unless written off by alcohol) and the weekend to watch all of that..

I need to cut some.. If I had to pick, Alphas.. I am not really connecting with it despite an ex-Star Trek producer working on it..

The new Charlie’s Angels is not working for me either.. I cannot yet accept the three almost frail looking women can kick ass..

Public enemies is just a three episode season.. And House is soon to finish.. So that goes after a bit..

Then it gets tough.. And I cannot decide..

Anyway, I am going to try some new things this month.. Not really resolutions, just some things that I will try change some of the things I have been moaning about – merely without the commitment..

Starting next week that is.. With Hua abroad, I have the TV and my SkyBox all to myself all of this weekend.. Sweeeet!

In one ear, out the other

2012-01-02T14:44:00.001+00:00

Wow! I have not used the Blogger website for a long time now.. I tend to blog via Microsoft’s Live Writer tool.. It makes for easier editing although I recognise that the format is not preserved when it gets uploaded.. The funky thing that happened since Google bought over Blogger was that they began integrating Google+ with Blogger..

Not that I use Google+ much.. I only access that on my iPad and with my out of town assignment, that became even harder.. I need 50 nights at the Marriott this year to qualify for the free wifi..

(Oddly enough, how do you pronounce ‘Marriott’? I pronounce it Mare-ee-ert but the Americans pronounce it Mare-ee-yacht..)

Anyway, I wanted to whinge about me and my lack of coaching experience.. A quick trawl through my previous entries showed that I whinged about the same thing in March 2008..

Three years on, no change.. These days, I play god.. No one wants coaching any more.. No one wants to discover the answers within them.. They just want to be told what to do.. This is true of my job.. My dad used to say that a consultant was someone who told you the answers you already knew.. In more ways than one, that is very true.. These days, though, my clients just want answers..

I think I do not mind giving advice outside of work (and often times poor advice).. I just get frustrated when people listen and agree but then do not heed it.. (I do not give advice at work.. That is just a liability..)

Alas, they only asked for my advice.. They did not put me in control of their lives so that is fair enough..

In other news, I passed my last exam and got my additional CERA qualification.. Now what?

New year, new resolutions – or in my case, no resolutions.. Just tanned from my holiday..

I need another holiday..

Austerity

2011-11-06T21:58:00.005+00:00

What a roller coaster week it has been.. My landlord evicted me earlier this week (well, had been trying since the previous Wednesday).. As terrible as that sounds, Hua pointed out it could be a blessing.. The landlord has been nothing but trouble and continue to leave our repairs undone.. Anyway, the letter was somewhat dubious, but it points to the fact that the banks are repossessing and exercising their power of attorney to sell the property vacant..

Good to know Buxton Group’s going bust.. Sounds a bit high profile, but that was the conclusion I reached based on their letter.. With an eviction date of Christmas day, I wonder if anything could be helped..

Well, it was not helpful that I was in Norfolk for most of the time while Hua was running around in Purley sorting out our situation.. Early on Saturday, we went to view a place around the corner.. A slightly higher rent, but with the rental market the way it is, it was more a case of taking the first decent thing we could.. Which we did.. We could move as soon as next week – we are just waiting to hear on a date.. The property is just around the corner and comes with an extra bathroom, a useable balcony and parking.. It is also much better maintained despite being 8 years older than my current place.. However, it comes at a price.. The rent is a third higher..

Well, with the Eurozone crisis in the background, it seemed only proper that I reviewed my own budget.. Some things will have to go to support the rental increase.. Hua and I were running through each of our expenses.. A cut here, a cut there.. Tough times call for tough measures.. I will have to hold off on the car (the new Ford Focus looks pretty amazing).. I will also have to bide my time and rebuild my credit rating.. Somehow, having 6 addresses in the last 4 years does not lend my credit rating much strength..

We will have to cut back on dining out, scale back on travel, hold off on some hobbies.. Austerity measures I call them.. Somewhere along the way back from Legoland (brilliant Scooby Doo fireworks – first time I have ever seen a firework exploding into a smiley face) Hua pointed out that we were neither poor nor did we really require to scale back.. I still think we need to if only to build a suitable cash deposit.. Call it the effect of having ambitious housing targets..

Oh, well.. All we can do now is sit and wait until the paperwork is done.. Then it will be a slow lengthy process of dragging box after suitcase around the corner.. Possibly something that will have to be done over a weekend when I get back..

Rickets

2011-10-30T10:33:00.001+00:00

I finally got confirmation that I have been formally transferred to the class of Fellow! Yea, three more post nominal letters behind my name! It was about 10 days out of date because the post got lost, but hey, the important thing was that I got it in the end..

Anyway, I had a thought the other day as I sat on my rickety first class carriage back to London – the carriage where you have to open the door from the outside through the windows.. I was wondering what all the noise was when my colleague nicely pointed out that that was the sound of the carriage falling apart.. I did think that the sound was familiar, like the sound of screws coming out..

Back to that thought.. Actually, as I think more about it, the carriage was a poor excuse for a rickety bag of bolts.. The toilet door would not lock and the joins between carriages was creaking from what must be rust.. It actually was quite annoying especially when one was thinking about the sort of interesting thoughts I was thinking of at the time..

So, this thought.. Actually, and honestly, I wonder how they could justify charging the sort of ticket fares they do for first class when it was really quite unpleasant.. Sure, you get free Wi-Fi and bigger seats that do actually recline.. And you get a table with a mini desk lamp that really is more ornamental than functional.. I mean, the lights only illuminate about 3 inches from the stand.. The overhead lights are much more useful..

I pondered as the dim light shone upon my fingers rested on the table.. I gazed out at the passing scenery of supermarkets and passing fields.. I thought how about filthy the windows were.. I mean, the trains run up and down between the two cities, with only 7 minutes at the terminal stations.. There is not enough time to clean the carriages let alone the windows.. If they treat trains like planes, then they probably only clean the carriages every month.. At least planes fly in a cleaner air..

And gosh, what a change the scenery was.. From the country scenery of farms, horses and cows to the concrete jungle.. In fact, it sort of dawned on me how urbanised London was.. There was practically a major supermarket every 2 local stops.. The train passed through the new Westfield at Stratford as well, whizzing past the other rickety carriages which have doors that can only open from the outside..

Somewhere around Stratford, I lost that thought I had.. I knew I should have written it down.. It was one of those thoughts that I thought would make a brilliant blog entry.. Alas, like a fleeting moment, the thought went..

Perhaps, I shall write down my thoughts next time..

Disconnected

2011-10-17T23:06:00.004+01:00

Post number 956.. Gosh.. I have been doing this a long time..

I am sat in my hotel room, on my bed, sipping my tea, watching TV and blogging.. This is turning into a bit of a regime, minus the blogging bit.. I would work, finish, have dinner, come back and rest for an hour or so, then go for a swim.. Half an hour's swim, a sauna, a steam room sessionand a shower later, and here I am, sitting on my bed, sipping a cup of tea and having a complimentary shortbread..

Okay, some days I get oat biscuits, but those I do not really like..

Now, my legs are aching but my skin feels great.. Having said that, nothing feels better than being at home, watching TV you actually wanted to watch instead of Embarassing Bodies.. That and free internet access..

For the moment, I am on my iPad, using my phone as a tethering device.. Unfortunately, my telephone provider does not really allow me to access certain services like the app store or mail on my iPad when tethering.. A good thing my phone also picks up my e-mails.. Also, it seemed a bit unsecured as well.. In fact just as I am typing this, someone has hooked onto my tether spot.. *disconnects* At some point I will be bothered to buy a secured hotspot generator app for my phone..

Only 46 more stays at the Marriott before complimentary wifi kicks in.. ><

Anyway, one thing at a time.. Like most iProduct owners, I upgraded my iPad to the new version iOS 5.. Tsk tsk Apple.. The OS is buggy! Things freeze, apps fail, keys become unresponsive, etc. in fact, my backup and restore failed with error -50.. Bugger.. My iPad really hates my laptop.. That or the USB port..

Had to manually reset my iPad as new.. This is why I dislike Apple products.. Everything is so secure that it is really hard to fix it when things go wrong.. In my case, I would have needed an iMac to retrieve the backup file, reinstall iTunes and then try again.. Not much info on how to do this for Windows and I could not be bothered..

Technology.. Cannot live with it, cannot live without it (as some Blackberry users have found out).

Rethink

2011-10-09T23:39:00.001+01:00

Ooooh, a month and a bit hiatus.. Sorry – had been busy with exams and the likes..

But now that my exam is over, I guess I can go back to blogging, although I think I need to change the format slightly … something thought invigorating..

Oh, who am I kidding..

So, news: I am being shipped to East Anglia till February on work assignment.. This would be the first time I will be working outside of London on extended periods.. It would be a good test to see if I would like it..

In other news, the TV has taken over my life now that exams are over.. The problem with recording TV while you are away is that there will be less time over the week to catch up watching TV.. Sounds like an optimisation problem..

I have also finally submitted by final work based skills documentation.. If all goes well, I will get my FIA post nominal.. Yay! Fingers crossed..

Right, early start tomorrow.. I will give this writing style redefinition thing a think..

(i.e. procrastinate..)

Jump up and down and move it all around

2011-08-21T22:51:00.001+01:00

Recently, I have felt my weekends just whizz past.. In pretty much no time at all, all of Saturday and Sunday are gone and done.. Life just goes past and I feel like I have had the last possible amount of time left to enjoy my weekend..

What did I do this weekend?

Watched Captain America
Had dim sum with friends
Went grocery shopping at Wing Yip
Watched episodes of Family Guy, The Borgias, Torchwood, etc.
Watched Vampire vs Vampire, a mandarin show without subtitles
Went for a walk at Riddlesdown Park
Observed Hua bake man tau (emperor’s buns)
Cooked Hainanese chicken rice
Played badminton
Walked around Kingswood village
Walked around Wimbledon
Observed Hua cook bak kut teh
Ironed my shirts

Barring item 1 which was done on Friday evening, the remaining 9 items were done in 48 hours..

Hua wants special mention that our Friday night dinner was Stir Fry at Croydon.. This after much debate as to whether KFC or McDonald’s was the better option, and that after my choice Italian restaurant closed down.. What is Stir Fry? A Chinese buffet.. £5.50 per person.. I felt so low… We were the only Chinese customers that evening..

But for all the spring rolls and prawn crackers you can eat – yum…

Anyway, I have watched in despair as the world stock markets plunged over the week.. My pension fund, having been the best performing fund up till last week has now made a loss.. So has some of my other shares.. In fact, share prices are now roughly 6% higher than mid-2009.. Disaster..

The salt came in the form of an e-mail from my pension provider who said that despite the market uncertainty, they did very well..

Very well? I fear my performance measure is inconsistent with theirs.. Either way, short term volatility is to be expected so the rational investor should remain calm and carry on..

Unfortunately, I theorised a few weeks ago that the markets themselves are irrational.. Recent rumours of HP and Autonomy saw share prices go up and down in large swings.. Same for poor Societe Generale who on the whim of a rumour saw their share price plunge.. Rumour, a statement without basis of fact.. Drawing conclusions from a statement without fact is, well, irrational..

Some may not share their view, but alas, it would be irrational to expect everyone to share a single point of view..

Given that last statement, am I on the side of rationality or irrationality? Hmmm, what a paradox..

Reading the riot act

2011-08-14T21:27:00.001+01:00

I took a body mass fat test after badminton today.. The last time I did one was years ago at University..

It’s all good news, basically.. BMI is in the right place, my body fat is just within the excellent range and my weight’s ideal as well..

Now, I just need to work on muscles..

The week went slowly (riots ignored).. My first study day in a while but that went slowly.. I woke up with a painful left eye.. I could not quite place it.. I had thought I had something in my eye because it only hurts when I close my eyes forcibly. I did inspect my eye in the mirror but I could not find what it was.. My eye is better now – less can be said about my head..

Hua took me on a shopping spree on Saturday.. Staying so close to London now has inspired her to visit the city more often.. She even made me venture out into Croydon a couple of days after the riots.. We could see the burnt buildings on London Road, although we left quickly.. There was heavy police presence all over the place.. I did want to see what was left of the furniture store on Reeve’s Corner.. Trams are still down in that area..

Anyway, yes, shopping spree on Saturday.. It made me tired very quickly.. Tension headaches and all.. Did not help I fell off the bed on Friday..

In other news, I am rolling off my project at work for another project, this time away from London.. Not quite sure how I would adapt to working away from London, but it could be fun.. It could also mean I do more work as I have discovered on my trips abroad.. When you are in the hotel room after dinner, with not much to do but watch TV, I tend to think of all the things I need to do in the office and just … do it..

Might also work well if I have access to a gym and a pool, though hopefully not as murky as the last hotel pool I was in..

I do need to work on those muscles … or lack thereof..

I suppose I should make some mention about the riots.. They did not reach my part of town.. In fact, the nearest major incident was the furniture store on Reeves Corner burning down.. That insurance loss is currently estimated at £10m.. Cannot beat the Sony warehouse burning down in North London.. That was estimated at £20m.. Poor RSA..

Total insurance cost estimate: £100m, to a maximum of £750m.. Darn you looters..

Getting the house in order

2011-08-07T21:13:00.001+01:00

See – what did I say? The US Treasury Bills were downgraded by S&P yesterday.. Finance Ministers are now frantically holding emergency talks to deal with the outcome, but I am quite certain investors will not be hit again after the disaster that was last week.. I cringed as I saw the FTSE100 fall across the week and as my investments fell to the same price when I bought it in November last year..

The US is consistently dragging the world’s economy into crisis.. Seriously, they need to get their house (or Houses) in order..

Anyway, it was my birthday over the weekend.. Thank you all for the well wishes – I think the record was broken this year for the most number of birthday wishes.. I was truly surprised, so thank you all!

My birthday itself was a quiet event (ignore the rioting in Tottenham but was I amazed by the burnt bus wreckage).. I set Hua a challenge when she asked me if she could bake a cake for me.. I asked her to make a black forest cake – the traditional cake I normally have on my birthday (although not in recent times)..

Bear in mind that this is a layer cake.. It is not easy.. It was also Hua’s first time..

Not bad, eh? Okay, could be a bit more refined with practice but for a first attempt, it was lovely! And it tasted like a genuine black forest cake too! I recommended some alterations to the recipe but I think she pulled off a fantastic piece of work there..

We also went to a new restaurant in South Croydon called Albert’s Table.. This was a modern British restaurant – often time this means disaster.. However, the chef made a fusion of traditional British favourites refreshed with modern ingredients that made it a delectable experience.. So delectable, we refused to order dessert so that it could remain on our ‘good’ list..

And, since I have not done a food review in ages, here goes:

Hua started with a crab tart.. This was an interesting starter but one could definitely taste the freshness of the crab that came through in what was a well balanced tart.. And in case you are wondering, no – she did not have chicken pox.. My suspicions were correct! In fact, she had Hand, Foot Mouth Disease (HFMD).. Even more fatal, but alas, not nearly fatal enough to kill anyone.. Unfortunately, while contagious, I seemed to be unaffected.. No one week MC for me..

I went for a more traditional English game – ballotine of rabbit and foie gras.. This was served on a bed of lentils with sauce that tasted like sweetened tamarind to me.. Either way, the complete combination was amazing.. The rabbit did over power the foie gras – but I suppose that was by design judging from how people react to liver.. The lentils gave it texture and the black spots added sourness to the dish making it quite an explosive taste on first bite..

My main was salmon and mussels served on a bed of samphire and peas with a crème fraiche pancake.. I am a sucker for samphire.. The salmon was ordinary (but fresh) and the mussels were a bit creamier than I had expected.. I was quite intrigued by the pancake – I have never had a crème fraiche pancake before.. It was very, very tender.. The slightest nudge and it would split revealing its rich, (thick) creamy inside.. Lovely overall..

Hua opted for something more traditional – old spot pork in a traditional roast.. It even came with that splendid crackling on top of that mash potato.. Yummy! So yummy, I got no share of it.. I only had two fork-fulls in order to assess the taste of the dish.. Also, I have recently stopped accepting her leftovers owing to my bulging tummy.. I surmised that her leftovers are the reason as to why I am gaining weight..

And as I mentioned before, we stopped right there.. The desserts were rather ordinary.. I was expecting knickerbocker glory or an Eton mess or floating islands or something amazing and British.. Alas, nothing screamed at me.. Not even a crumble.. However, for the price we paid (fixed set menus), it was pretty good..

In fact, the rest of the street held promise as I saw a number of interesting restaurants.. I am almost certain to return and try the rest out (especially the seafood one specialising in lobsters)! Yum!

Also went to watch Super 8 after many a recommendation from people on the other side of the globe.. Good show – interesting plot and character development.. Hua is still traumatised.. She screamed in a cinema of 24 people (100 seating capacity) which was highly embarrassing for her.. Well, not as bad as Harry Potter when she screamed and the full cinema heard her and laughed.. Anyway, good show..

Financially though, I made two blunders.. I allowed my current account to be overdrawn owing to a bill I was expecting to be taken two weeks later.. I think this should be okay – as far as I know, I am allowed one overdraw every six months on that account (for a limited number of days of course) and the account is now back in credit.. I also breached my credit card limit by 90p (damn Hawaii tickets).. This too I hope will be okay as the last three transactions will not make it to my card till at least Monday.. I also paid the card balance yesterday and so it should appear on my statement on Monday as well (thank goodness for faster payments)!

Living it close to the wire.. I should probably ask for a credit limit increase.. Either that or get my house in order..

(Edit) Note to myself that there was a landslide on Monday that cut off my usual train to and from work..