Archive for the ‘ Personal ’ Category

Falling in love during CNY in Malaysia

Just came back not too long ago from Malaysia, after spending the night at my aunt’s Malaysian home. She had been urged by her Malaysian neighbours to return to Malaysia to see the firecrackers and fireworks — “Singapore’s too quiet!” her neighbours told her. The transition into the Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year was [ READ MORE ]

No more PES

Annoyed at my dependence on Pro Evolution Soccer (an hour daily on weekdays, twice or thrice that amount on weekdays), I have taken the DVD out and placed it in a dusty drawer, perhaps never to see the light of day again. [ READ MORE ]

Office Camouflage

And the looking at her looking a little stressed, I sent the future missus a link to what I thought was a pretty funny video/gif on camouflaging in the office. Soon after I sent her the link, she said to me, “Ooh, office camouflage. I like do this! I like to camouflage in the office!” I [ READ MORE ]

Increment or Not?

This month will be the month I find out if I’ll have a salary increment. I told the future missus that if I didn’t get one, I’ll be looking for another job. I don’t know if I will though. I enjoy what I’m doing, and it doesn’t take up too much of my time (overtime’s [ READ MORE ]

70% of us think about starting our own business

I recently read in a book that “out of a 100 people, 70 will want to start a business, 15 will actually do so in the next few years, and only 5 will succeed on the first try.” (from the book bounce! by Barry Moltz) I hadn’t realised that so many people were actually thinking [ READ MORE ]

Changing Jobs for More Money

“Leaving for money” is, according to an article in the Harvard Business Review on career moves, called “Managing Yourself: Five Ways to Bungle a Job Change“, one of the major mistakes people make when deciding between jobs. Though not too extraordinary a finding in itself (surely you have heard people say, “it’s not all about the [ READ MORE ]

On Writing What I Want

I have a habit of regularly asking myself what I want in life. I’d write it down and put it away, only returning to it when the next time I thought about writing it came about. I find Google docs very useful for this exercise, but I digress. It suddenly occurred to me that I hadn’t [ READ MORE ]

Rediscovering the Joy of Running

Taking the unfamiliar route today, I felt a familiar tingling feeling on my skin: goosebumps! Whenever goosebumps appear on my runs, they are almost always accompanied by a surge in energy and enthusiasm, and this time it was no different. I picked up my pace and ran like I hadn’t run in ages: I had [ READ MORE ]

Getting a Job During a Recession

A program on the BBC about a week back talked about getting a job during a recession. “Graduates,” they said, “who got jobs during recessions were likely to be paid less than their peers who got jobs during times of prosperity.” I am, unfortunately, one of them. Graduating at the end of 2008, I went looking [ READ MORE ]

Achieving Bliss in a Striving World

“Life,” he told me, “ought to be filled with always striving for something. It keeps life interesting.” Intuitively I felt that he was right in some way. It reminded me of the concept of “flow”, where you’re so engaged in an activity that is just beyond your comfort level that you lose all sense of self; [ READ MORE ]