Expériences de Roy

2007-03-31T12:44:00.000-07:00

Was reading about this post on how to make use of the those electrical components that i used during my uni days. Haa. Look above, pretty damn cool ahz. Those colorful resister. Wonder will the resister actually form a connectivity with the alcoholic conent in the wine glass. Hmmnn... Never in a million life time. Well, the picture is courtesy from the post. http://www.evilmadscientist.com/article.php/winecharms

Interesting Powerpoint Presentation

2007-03-30T23:55:00.000-07:00

Came across this powerpoint that illustrate about how China and India is going to become against the powerful country of America. Very nice. Should take a look at the power point slides as well. They were very simple yet innovative. As mentioned by the author, a stand-alone piece of art!
I manage to insert in the slides as well. Can take a look. Surprisingly, there is even a competition going on for the best power point slides. Cool

Lightning Animation

2007-03-18T23:14:00.000-07:00

I thought since my bread and butter is on lightning. I should put more stuff on lightning. Lightning is one of the most beautiful events of nature. (The Gif image is courtesy from Wikipedia)

Trademark

2007-03-15T21:42:00.000-07:00

I went to file a trademark this morning. I have to say the whole process was made really simple. Unfortunately, the price was ex, 340 sing dollars for protection of 10 years. It's 30 cheaper if we were to file it online. I guess they want to save on paperwork.
Overrall, i was pleased with the service that IPOS provides and it only takes me approximately 30 mintues to get everything done. Cool.

Are they all indian Air Stewardess????

2007-03-04T09:19:00.000-08:00

Will be going to Mumbai and Jamnagar tomorrow. Taking SQ there. Always wondered this question! Will all the SIA stewardess be Indian? I mean or i guess most of the people travelling to india should be Indian right? But that could be wrong! I feel so "stupid" even to think of such thought! Well, i guess there should be Chinese or other Air Stewardess tmr ! I will find out sooooon enough!

No toilet!!!!!!!! How?

2007-03-01T01:41:00.000-08:00

Came across this interesting post on Bloomberg. Apparently, in some countries, public toilets are so hard to find that we can actually have a business plan spurn out from this.
An extract from the article.

Elaine Gennard-Levy spent 20 minutes searching for a bathroom while shopping on London's Oxford Street. She decided it would be easier to build her own.

``I said to my husband, there must be a better way,'' Gennard-Levy said. ``The loos are awful in this country.''

In December, she opened a luxury ladies' room on Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping area. Use of the toilet and powder room at the facility costs 5 pounds ($10).

More astonishingly, Research by ENCAMS, an environmental charity, showed 95 percent of Britons had urinated, vomited or defecated in public because no toilet was available.

This is crazy! Spending 10 bucks sing to use a toilet. I would rather don my army uniform and just pee as and when i like then. Siao. Never appreciate how easy to find a clean toilet in Singapore. That's is why whenever i am abroad, i always felt how fortunate Singaporeans are. It's really true that find a place to relieve yourselves could prove to be such frustrating moments when overseas!

Liverpool..My undying love

2007-02-25T08:49:00.000-08:00

This is soooooooo cool....My Liverpool Avatar. Saw this online while surfing the net. My love for Liverpool will rotate just like the avatar shown above! Just like Earth rotating forever! Liverpool forever!

You never walk alone!

Myself (Roy Thian)

2007-02-24T23:53:00.000-08:00

Importance of sleeping early!

2007-02-04T21:07:00.001-08:00

Saw this article today. Realise that during my undergrad days, sleeping late......or really very late is a norm. Sometimes i can even dun slp till the early morning. Kinda of like the serenity in the wee hours. Actually, if i will to wake up like 5.30a.m , i will still be able to enjoy the quietness. I should start to slp early. (Unless there is EPL or champions league where Liverpool is playing! I can't bloody hell miss that!)

An extract from the following website: http://hwebbjr.typepad.com/openloops/2007/02/get_more_done_b.html

"Jim Citrin, best selling author and careers expert, surveyed 20 CEOs and found that they placed extreme importance , not on the hours at the end of the day, but upon those at the start.

This is the part of your morning routine over which you have the greatest control. To fit it all in, it's a must to start early. The latest any of the surveyed executives wake up is 6 a.m., and almost 80 percent wake up at 5:30 or earlier.

Some used those early hours for self-development. Others used them to get an early start on the business day. Still others found that quality family time was best found in the morning. Whatever the CEOs’ priority, the morning was the time to work on it.

Shift the importance back into the early hours of the day and go home on time — Today! Once you have a hard deadline where all items must be complete (say, quitting time?), it’s amazing how many of those pending tasks can find closure."

Ten qualities i need to possess for Salesperson

2007-02-04T08:42:00.000-08:00

Been reading on the book i borrowed from Justin. Read about this top saleslady and these are 10 of her exceptional qualities.

A contagious positive attitude
Excited about the prospect of helping others
Self-assured, not arrogant. (very impt because we need to have excellent product knowledge)
I like people and people like me
Not just "book smart' (agree totally about this because there is only so much to learn from school)
If i am not having fun, what's the point? (Dad always says that doing business is just like a game, if i am not enjoying myself, i will be dragging myself out of bed everyday! Wow!)
I do everything full force
Unspoken integrity. Visibily honest. (Dad teaches me that only having integrity and honest to your customers will then be able to substain your business. Very true! If not, there will be a day customers will know your are no standard!)
Concentrating on detail without being caught up in them
I am kid like happy on the inside (I am a big kid in heart!)

Too bad for my friend Alex who just rejected on a post of Sales Engineer. Hope you dun regret your decision!

Starbucks Share Options???

2007-02-01T22:19:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, it has been a long time since i last post something. I am taking a module now in coporate finance so i guess it is appropriate that i talk about employee options. Came across this report in financial times today and read that our good coffee company is giving out share options. Interesting......

"Starbucks, already at the forefront of one revolution in Chinese consumerism by introducing espressos and double decaf mochas to a nation of tea drinkers, is planning an equally big contribution to Chinese savings habits.

The US company, with 4,000 staff on the mainland, is putting the finishing touches on a plan to offer share options to all employees in the mainland cafés that it controls, becoming one of the first multi-nationals in China to broaden incentive packages from the boardroom to the barista."

The link: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/380d2f74-b075-11db-8a62-0000779e2340.html

Bank of England Unexpectedly Raises Interest Rates

2007-01-11T07:35:00.000-08:00

The Bank of England unexpectedly raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-point, the third increase since August, saying inflation may accelerate and spur demands for higher wages.

The nine-member Monetary Policy Committee lifted the repurchase rate to a five-year high of 5.25 percent today, surprising all of the 52 economists in a Bloomberg survey. Risks of faster inflation ``now appear more to the upside,'' the bank said in a statement. The pound rose and bonds fell.

Yeah.....good good..Rise in interest rate probably will cause panic in the market and set people locking in their profits. Bonds and equity market might fall due to such correction. Time to make some profit i hope.

Data shows 2006 was USA's warmest year on record

2007-01-09T02:44:00.000-08:00

The year 2006 was America's warmest on record, according to a year-end computer calculation by federal climate scientists that was obtained Friday by USA TODAY.

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/climate/2007-01-05-warm_x.htm?csp=34

Wow....i did not know that the year of 2006 was indeed hot for US. When i was in Seattle, it was indeed not as cold as i thought it will be. Nonetheless, i still wore lots of clothing to keep myself warm and having alot of the Vietnamese noodles to keep myself warm.

Been lazy to write into my blog nowadays. Maybe the bug has died down after some time. As what my friend Yunxi says, "Singapore is soo boring, nothing interesting to update to the blog".

Back to my work of writing my thesis.....

2007

2007-01-02T02:30:00.000-08:00

Ahz........2007 is here. The first year after i have graduated. I decided to put down in words what i want to achieve this year!

I want to finish as many books as i can.
I want to earn as much money through investments!
I want to stop drinking so much beer.
I want to maintain my health and keep up with my fitness.
I want Liverpool to win at least a trophy this season.
I want my parents and family to be happy.
I want to stay with my baby as long as possible.
I want to be happy in my job.
I want to sleep as much as possible.
I want to be able to stay focused and not tempted to drive fast when other people overtake me.
I want to finish my Msc in TIP smoothly.
I want to take my friends seriously and take effort to maintain the friendship.
I want to keep winning Winning Eleven games against my brother.
I want to be decisive in all decisions and not be wishy-washy!
I want to learn how to SAVE!!!!!!!!!!!
I want to curb my temper.
I want to be patient in my dealings with people, customers, loved ones and friends.
I want to stay avoided from RESERVIST!
Lastly, i want to be like the picture, to be able to look far far ahead!

The starbucks book

2006-12-28T05:44:00.000-08:00

I have been reading this book since i came back from Hongkong. Wanted to read more about this man called Howard Schultz. Find out why my prof, Prof Tan always like to use him as an example.
I have only read half of his book and realized that in ac tual fact, he is a very simple person. Or rather, he is a ordinary person who dares to dream very big. And i like him for one very special reason. I guess i admire his determination to the extent that he will fight till the end for whatever he believes.

I especially like one part of the book where one of his friend asks him. "Howard, do you think you will still have this drive in you if you wasn't born in such cruel environment?"
I guess a person has to break free from his "Comfort" Area in order to get his own success. Maybe i feel that i have been too slack liao.

Another quote i like to end with will be from Martin Luther King, Jr

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

Even though his phase has been heard so many times, i suddenly feel its significance only NOW!

Raining Cats and Dogs back Home

2006-12-19T08:06:00.000-08:00

I have to say it is a back time to be stuck in Singapore now. It is raining like there is no tomorrow. Every since i came back on Sunday, that very night, it has been raining till now. NON-Stop. No Kidding. It's like Tuesday 12a.m now! And it has definately taken alot of inconveniences for all Singaporeans. There are so many places that are flooded now.
This poor cab was stuck near the place where they sell lots of pottery and plants at Thomson Road. Man, that is near where i stay! I hope the rain will stop soon and Mr Sunshine visit the local island soon enuff! Enough of Mr Rain!

Back home from Shanghai

2006-12-18T21:32:00.000-08:00

Well, i should start off by giving a brief description of how Shanghai has not "changed" since i left like 2 years ago. The area where i used to stay in Loyang has a new park. Looks more friendly now. Even the roads that are around Loyang station has been altered to suit the traffic in the morning.

The new shopping mall at Xin Tian Di has much more shops now but it is still only patronized by the ah mongs! We tried the Di Tian Feng at the mall and according to Jason Chan, that one is the real authentic Taiwanese opening in Shanghai. But 1 thing for sure is that the xiao long bao are delicious over there!

Even though the Xiangyang street mall where they sell fake goods have been demolished, they have since shifted to another mall. I went for a visit on Saturday and to my surprise, the whole building was hardly crowded at all. I even went to ask whether the business has been bad since the demolish, and the shop owners confirmed my thought.

I have to say this trip to Shanghai was pretty short so i wasn't able to go to all the places i wanted to visit. I couldn't go to Yu Garden where it is very similar to Chinatown. Well, i guess Shanghai will always be the closest 2nd home of mine. :)

It is Tuesday now and i will be traveling again! This time for a short trip to Hongkong to see some places with Baby.

My Country!

2006-12-08T09:02:00.000-08:00

Schadenfreude
Originally uploaded by phil uk net.

Came across this while surfing for pictures for my presentation in Shanghai. Find this really amusing. The ferrari owner must be so filty rich that he can afford to park as and where he pleases. What is a small fine to him???!!!!!!

Kuala Lumpur

2006-12-07T09:15:00.000-08:00

Just got back from KL. Have been a long trip taking the bus over there. Hopefully everything will work out fine over at KL and some fruits will show next time.

Walking to the HSBC Tree-top walk

2006-12-03T07:16:00.000-08:00

Sunday today! Had a crazy idea with Baby today. We walk all the way to the tree-top walk from my house. Took around 2 hours to and from. Very tired now. She is already sleeping like a pig behind me now. :) Haha. Never excercise lah her! Some of the pictures we took while on the bridge. Haa, and she is afraid of heights!
If only the wild ah meng are still cute and funny! Big ears leh, must be some kid who drawn it!

MSc TIP first lessons

2006-12-03T06:55:00.000-08:00

Well, the first two lessons for my masters has finally started. Well, as usual, Prof was full of his ideas and thoughts. To me, i always felt that NTC printed alot of notes for us and wanted us to read them instead. Erm, i would actually prefer them to go through more of the notes to a certain extend. :) Just me.

Came across this article on Sunday Life about this lady, Anita Roddick, who is the founder of The Body Shop. In the header, it says that entrepreneurs should not go to attain there MBA. She mentions that too much business education actually "kills" the entrepreneurial spirit in us. I wonder if i have made a mistake in continuing Ms c for my technopreneurship? She has her own website where she has alot of interesting articles she has commented. http://www.anitaroddick.com/

She actually give us 10 important tips for entrepreneurship. To summarize,

Tell stories. Sharing a vision and imaging the world differently.
Concentrate in creativity.
Be an opportunistic collector.
Measure the company according to fun and creativity. That is what Prof Tan always says about the passion in our work.
Be different, but look safe. I especially like it when she says "look". It means that we cannot take unnecessary risk.
Be passionate about our ideas.
Feed your sense and outrage.
Make the most of the female element. Often, i have read that people always say female are interesting animals. Well, i must live more to find out more!
Believe in yourself and your intuition. There is only a fine line between entrepreneurship and INSANITY!
Have self-knowledge. The way i interpret this, it could mean that before i go to war, i need to have sufficient training.

Lastly, she ends of with "Until, they can teach these lessons, business schools will reamin the whited sepulchers of the status quo".

This newspaper article was posted on Sunday Life, 3/12/2006

Enjoy.

Green Ant

2006-11-30T21:40:00.000-08:00

DSC00079
Originally uploaded by Shanghai Longyang.

Saw this green ant while out on a "mission" that day. Realize that in the ant kingdom, there are fellows who are as vain as the human beings. :)
So don't feel bad when you always look into the mirror whenever you walk past the shopping malls. Haa

Miss Cutie

2006-11-29T02:36:00.000-08:00

sofia
Originally uploaded by chrysta.

Hehe. Piggy face. The toddler in pink makes me feel that i should remain youngful and wild all the time! (Credit to chrysta from flickr)
:)

Haha

2006-11-26T10:17:00.000-08:00

warninglabel
Originally uploaded by Shanghai Longyang.

I like this warning picture very much. Saw this website through Lifehacker, http://www.warninglabelgenerator.com/?x
Very Cool. And i especially love the the Dino who crash the plane up. Very the Gozilla and King Kong! Should pout this warning sign outside my room and warn everyone else not to come and mess with me!! Haa

Standford Uni

2006-11-26T02:09:00.000-08:00

Standford Uni
Originally uploaded by Shanghai Longyang.

Saw this at Justin flickr account and realized that we went to take this interesting picture. I guess this picture worth alot to us especially coming from such prestigious school. :)
Somehow or another, i feel that we look like prisoners waiting to be executed. Scary why i feel this way. Pui.

Love??

2006-11-25T19:08:00.000-08:00

Just went with Amy to the airport to send off her friend, Janet. Heez, could sense and understand how my Baby feel everytime she have to send me off to somewhere around the globe. Must be hard on her. Haiz. Well, Janet is going back to US because her husband is working over there and we will only be able to see her in 2008. In around another year time. Baby was trying to control her tears. Haa. Cry Baby!

Love is really very amazing at times. Janet can go over to US and stay there in order to keep her husband . So wei da! Good good. Since she cant work over there, most of time is probably there checking the area out. And waiting for her hubbie to come back from work. So sweet. :)

Realise i don't always update my blog, and usually i only do so when i get home during weekends, working really takes the zest out of a life. :) Lan Lan!

Taking Good pictures with our camera phone

2006-11-20T08:43:00.000-08:00

I love this post.

http://lifehacker.com/software/
cameraphone/geek-to-live--take-better-cameraphone-photos-214781.php

I usually like to take pictures of my everyday life even though it is not very exciting. But a picture says a thousand words, so sometimes when i am lazy to blog, a picture will be perfect!

Vertical Marathon 2006

2006-11-19T07:43:00.000-08:00

Boy. I haven't been posting my updates of my life for some time. Have been very busy ever since i started to work for Dad. Well, that's life. That's what Amy always tells me. :( Got to work hard!
But i did manage to find time to participate in this year Vertical Marathon. It's my virgin attempt and i have to say i am proud and glad i finish the feat.

The 73 storey tall building always killed my knees.

The registration where everyone is excited. Really glad to see so many Singaporeans interested in sports!Me and my Brother, Vince running after the whistle has been Blown! He is running soooo fast. 1st guy!
At the end of the race, the two of us taking a remembrance picture!

Husky game

2006-11-08T03:20:00.000-08:00

DSC_0137
Originally uploaded by Shanghai Longyang.

Was browsing through the pics given to me by Bobby. I have to take the chance now and thank Bobby for some really wonderful pictures that he have taken. Very nice and so colourful! Take a look at this pic. He managed to captured the high drama and fast pace nature of the American Football. Kinda of funny when i look at this still picture. It's like idiotic guys taking time to pile onto one another. Haa. Once again, thank you Bobby.

Old man....

2006-11-08T02:39:00.000-08:00

Had a jog round the bishan park today. Nothing unusual but just that i struggle so much to finish that simple round! How long is that? 3km at most i think. Yet i was struggling to finish but at least i did not stop. Haiz. Still, how am i suppose to finish the Vertical Marathon come next Sunday. More information from here http://www.swissotelverticalmarathon.com/
Well, i just hope that i can complete it and wouldn't get cramps along the way. Got to train back to my best self!!
Will definately post more pics if i still got any energy left after the climb after the whole marathon. Phew....

Brewerkz

2006-11-05T00:41:00.000-08:00

Brewerkz
Originally uploaded by Shanghai Longyang.

Had a Wonderful time at Brewerkz while i catch the game between Liverpool and Reading for their EPL match. Pool was leading 1-0 in the first half after Kuyt did himself proud! Well done, dude! The food in Brewekz have pathetic portion but the beer over there were really very good. I have to say the Golden Ale have a really very nice after taste!

Belated Birthday Experience and First day at Work

2006-11-02T09:17:00.000-08:00

Haha. My birthday ended on 28th of October. That was a few days ago. My baby and i had a great time when we spent the day at Vivocity and catch Dead or Alive (D.O.A). It was a babe feast movie where my baby prefer Helena while i prefer Jamie Pressely. Maybe because of her character in My name is Earl.

This is Helena here. She played a rather decent fighter.

This is my favorite. Jamie can really kick ass and her abs were fantastic as well.

Holly Valance here has a very appealing attraction as well. :)

Ate at White Dog Cafe. There is a White Dog Cafe in Vivocity. Was very surprised cos of the case study that i had during my TIP course where there is another cafe with the same name in US. In fact, this cafe is doing very well. However, the vivo one is not the franchise of the United States one. Anyway, the food at White Dog Cafe wasn't that fantastic and the price was rather steep. Pui!
My Baby having a strawberry dessert over there.

Back to my birthday, finally 25 years old. Old le. Haiz, time for more responsibilities. Got to help out to work too. Cannot sit at home and do nothing loh. Have to pull up socks and learn the corporate world liao. Have been helping as a sales engineer since 31st of october. Rather interesting but could be tiring as well.

Last, i was at funan centre recently and realise this XBOX car. Behind the car, they actually allow people to play XBOX at the boot area. Very ingenious. I remember that once, a professor said that this way of advertising is very effective, coupled with a few gorgeous sales ladies, there will definitely be a huge crowd!

California Boys

2006-10-27T07:31:00.000-07:00

California Boys
Originally uploaded by hyx.

This pic was taken while we were at Bakersfield! My dear friend, Yunxi took this pic for us and i have to thank him. He made the 3 of us look so gd. Boy, i never know my good friend, Justin, the one in red could look so suave. Haha. Just kidding bro.
Heard bad news last night about him as well. He told me that his Timberland bag was stolen. Damn American Burglar, well one of them broke into the locker and stole his bad. Haiz. Well, just of bad guy in a foreign land. Pui!

My Photo!

2006-10-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

DSC_7278
Originally uploaded by Shanghai Longyang.

I was trying to insert a pic for myself and i found this rather recent pic of mine. Well, i am in a gondola (that was what it was called), in short a cable car. It leads me all the way to the top of whistler mountain.

Destroying Jerry

2006-10-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

Jerry has just been destroyed. Not the Jerry on my right but rather the real pest, rat that has been terrorizing me since i came back from US. Man, that piece of rat has been coming into my room. Just now, i was about to go into my room and have a chat with Amy through the phone. Little do i know that Jerry was there in my room waiting to scare me! Damn Jerry jumped across me as my mum was about to catch it. Man, i have never been so terrified. I feel weak. But hey! It is a f.... damn rat!

Luckily, it couldn't escaped as my mum has already set up a few traps for poor Jerry and it was caught with this sticky pad beneath it. I wouldn't say what happen to Jerry but beneath is a small little pic of Jerry. (Hey, it looks a little disgusting)

Resume Writing

2006-10-25T00:56:00.000-07:00

After coming back from US, i haven't got the chance to re-do or rather give my resume a face-lift. I need to add in my new qualifications as well as put in some nice "make up" for it. I came across this pretty useful webbie that could provide me very lots of help. http://www.lifeclever.com/2006/10/24/give-your-resume-a-face-lift/
If any one of my friends will to see this, they could probably be sending a resume that has the same style as mine. Haa.

Piece of crap

2006-10-22T21:59:00.000-07:00

Sometimes i wonder why people are so weak in thinking! They should have foresee that such a problem could exist and photo-copy, say a few more copies as backup. Now that one of the prof did not bring it back from US, and they have the cheek to ask me to re-write the whole assigment again! What the heck! I will not write it again!

Firstly, the assignment requires 1500 words
I have long forgotten all the teachings being taught to me
I am just been guan lan and not corporative!

It is their fault to mess up the whole sitaution and i am in no mood now to re-do the whole thing for them. Anyway, it is just an assigment and why can't they just let us have any 'A' grade. They even let us passed from grad diploma without marking our assignment first. Damn crap! phissss...

Unhappy Saturday

2006-10-21T08:41:00.000-07:00

Things have changed abit since i have came back. Doesn't feel this way when i am back from Europe when i was there during my Summer camp in Paris, France. Doesn't feel this way when i came back from Shanghai, China after half a year. Why now? Is it because it has been so long? I wonder. I do hope that things will get back to the time before otherwise i really dun wish to come back and learnt about the truth now.

Laguna Beach (aka the one that is shown on MTV)

2006-10-20T00:20:00.000-07:00

Laguna Ave. Behind this will be the laguna beach.

So what is legal and illegal holidays? Those that i always self-declared will be considered illegal then. Haa.

A look of the famous Laguna Beach. Well, the weather has turned cold hence the whole beach looks empty. According to a friend's friend, during summer, the whole place is so packed that a parking lot will be almost impossible to find.
Adri here looking so absorbed in her book reading. Deep in thoughts!

That is us! other than Alex who is taking this picture i suppose. I was trying to act cold. Actually, it was a pretty cloudy day.

BACK HOME! but yucks!

2006-10-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

Finally home, but wait, what happened to Singapore? What is wrong with the air quality? The air is so bad now! As i am typing, 98.7fm tells me that the PSI is 97 which is way away from the healthy range! Man! The weather is so terrible that it makes my puffing lips even worse. Pui. Hope it clears up soon.

Got to go unpack first! Too much shit in my luaggage! As a matter of fact, there are still so left over sand that i brought all the way back from laguna beach to Singapore. It somehow landed inside my suitcase. Must have been the Hollister Bermudas that i wore during the laguana beach outing. Yeeee

Going back home!

2006-10-18T08:30:00.000-07:00

I am now at Motel 6, a very famous and cheap motel in United States. The one that i am staying now is actually pretty good! Got swimming pool, free parking for cars!And best of all, this one is just 10 minutes drive to the LAX! Well, everything needs to come to an end. I prob should look forward to the new life i am going to have.

Went to the famous Rodeo drive yesterday. Got the Coach bags that i promised Baby that i need to get.

Las Vegas

2006-10-14T06:03:00.000-07:00

Famous Italian men singing songs.......

The image of the computerised routleete that "drains" away soooo mucy of our money when we gambled at monte carlo!

Famous open sky in Venetian

Paris!

2nd day at San Fran

2006-10-06T00:11:00.000-07:00

Did not do much today though. We went around shopping and seeing stuff. Well, i guess the highlight was prob that we saw a public protest in the streets. Outside Westfield Shopping mall. Took a video clip with my handphone as well.

Apple! Was contemplating about buying ipod for so long. Wanted to get one for Baby, and another nano for Joanna. well, due to lack of funds, these ideas have been shelfed aside for some time. Maybe i should just get one. Well, at least Justin did get one today! See! He bought a 30GB of IPOD at only 349 USD! Much cheaper than in Singapore!

End of First day at San Fran

2006-10-04T23:53:00.000-07:00

First stop. We took this tram like structure to visit the fisherman wharf. Bought the 1 day pass at 11 USD and used most of the transport system available. At fisherman wharf, we bought the pass to visit Alcatraz island. The ride was very smooth and enjoyable since this time we don't have to walk alot. Me, Yunxi and Alex. I was trying to look cool.

Before it all got started, we were waiting for the ferry to bring us to Alcatraz. Some of the famous people that was imprisoned there includes Al Copone. There are movies like "Escape from Alcatraz and The Rock" that were made after this island.

We visited Alcatraz!! The infamous island that was used to house all those terrible prisoners.

3 singaporeans managed to escaped and was playing punk!! Trying to aaact coollll.
Wharf 39 - The Place where all the seafood is about!

The 4 of us end our whole day trip in the famous Cheese Factory at Macy's! I had sooooo much to eat that i was practically forcing myself to finish the Toberlone Swiss Cheesecake that i had ordered for dessert! Fantastic! Being not so much of a sweet-eater, i have to say the cheesecake was really good. How i wish i could share this experience with my Baby! Wish that i could bring her here one day!

Beautiful day to start

2006-10-04T09:53:00.000-07:00

It's 4th of October today and it's 9a.m now. Beautiful outside when i look through the window of my hotel. Going to enjoy my coffee later. Going to explore the sights of San Fran later...
This kid was sooooo busy trying to feed those pigeons that she keep pouring out those seeds for them.

Graduation at University of Washington

2006-10-03T23:58:00.000-07:00

Finally, the biz plan was over and even though the graduation ceremony happens some time ago, i was too busy to blog about it. The ceremony happens in Kent hall in University of Washington.
Feels weird to wear that stupid costume again. However, i still do hope to wear it again when i get my Masters next year. Hee. Shanghai should be fun!Concientally, our grad day is actually the first day for the undergraduates in UW. Therefore, we actually get to see alot of people and how their orientation is all about. Very cool i must say!

Road trip and San francisco

2006-10-03T22:34:00.000-07:00

We have reached San Francisco via Alaska Airlines. The flight was smooth and we had the whole of back seats to ourselves. Coming back to San Fran this time doesn't create alot of excitment for me, i think. Just the same old place i have seen. However, the previous week that was spent here, i only managed to walk around union square. Well, this time, i stayed at Holiday Inn.
The whole story goes like this, we were supposed to stay at YMCA, but the whole place look very run down and we cant stand staying overnight there. In the end, we have to pay an extra of 35 USD per person for a night and the cancellation fee. Haiz, a waste of so much money. But the holiday inn was very comfortable and i guess it was very worth it.
Talk about the whole area in San Fran, it was very scary. Kinda of remind me of those days i spent in europe, specifically rome. There were plenty of weird looking and high on drugs Blacks everywhere. They were talking to themselves, begging for food and money. Luckily, those Blacks did not disturb us other than just occassionally beg money from us.
Now, i start to appreciate the saftey and high standard of living in UW! or at least near Silver cloud Inn in Univsersity District.

Meeting with Justin's Cousin or Uncle?

2006-10-03T00:56:00.000-07:00

U know what? We were so fortunate to meet up with Timberlake's (that is what we call Justin) cousin. His cousin is called Bernard or Bernie that what his friends call him.
That is Samantha. Bernie's daughter! We had a great time with Bernie and his daughter!

Beginning of US road trip

2006-10-02T22:49:00.000-07:00

Mount Whistler. Fantastic view. Love the road trip. We drive for around 5 hours to mt. whistler from Seattle. Along the way, we stopped by Tulalip Premium outlet. Below is us taking photo behind the car we rented from Budget.
It was a beautiful place that we rented and it was really cheap for around 32 US dollars per person. It was exactly like prof tan house. 2 stories, great view, kitchen, hot tub. Brillant.
View from the top.

A new email account for me

2006-09-29T02:40:00.000-07:00

I just gotten a email account, roythian@inbox.com because it has 5 GB of email size. Fantastic man! It is so huge and even more than gmail. Think i am going to use it for my storage files man!!

http://www.inbox.com/Default.aspx

Leaving Silver Cloud Inn at Seattle

2006-09-29T02:03:00.000-07:00

Finally, we are leaving silver cloud inn in seattle. We have been living in this beautiful and well-furnished "hotel" for like 5 weeks. The staff have been pretty friendly to us and did served us well. Kind of sad to leave the hotel now, haiz. Shiok to sleep so well on this fantastic bed.
That was in the cantonese restaurant we had last night before we end off the whole journey in US.

Zoka cafe right behind our hotel

2006-09-23T16:54:00.000-07:00

Alex, wing hui and I went to Zoka cafe right behind our hotel. We are sick of working in the hotel conference. We decided to go behind at Zoka cafe which serve us free Wifi and it close at 12.00am. Super shiok ah. Bad thing is that it uses firewall to block out my bitcomet and i cant dl stuff. Sianz. Got to go back hotel to download.
The worse thing is i lost 1 buck to the Wingman. Sucks, cos i lost a damn stupid bet to him. Yucks.
Well, we stayed there from 4 to 7pm. And the staff there are very nice to allow us to stay there to do our business plan.
Maybe we will come over here and do our stuff as much as possible. But we got only less than a week here.
Here is the web http://www.zokacoffee.com/

End of Biz plan in sight?

2006-09-22T00:17:00.000-07:00

Well, will the end of biz plan be in sight real soon? Haiz. Went with Franky down to the printing shop and met this guy, Bret. Very cool guy, young looking, down to earth. Had a mixed asian and american gf. Chatted with him and he was really friendly.
Later the driver Todd came down and even offered to drive us back to Silver cloud Inn. Very nice of him as well.
Tip him for $2 USD and really find the people her pretty decent and nice. Definately could see myself hanging out with them some day. By the way, rendy even offered to drive us to play bowling together with his friends. Very cool.......

Huskies Game at University of Washington

2006-09-21T00:18:00.000-07:00

Outside the stadium. That day was soooo cold yet i was wearing only my shorts. Purple is their colour, kind of gay colour to me.
All of us decked out in purple. Support the Huskies. Woof Woof...wwwooff.

This helmet-like vehicle looks really cute, reminds me of a beetle. Big fat beetle. Well, to be exact, the cheerleaders will ride onto the vehicle whenever the Huskies got a touchdown! Funny though....
Some of the cheeleaders shown here. The crowd wasnt that enthuistic lehz. They didn't really move along with the cheers.
The sky is tearing!

Microsoft's SoapBox

2006-09-20T10:22:00.000-07:00

Microsoft is going to create a similar video uploading software which will be embedded inside our MSN. It is currently in the invitation process whereby the list is full till now. Haven't got the chance the try it yet. Got into the waiting list though. Those interested can visit soapbox.msn.com.

The video of msn on soapbox.msn.com. about the butterfly was pretty hilarious!

Prof Tan House or rather old house

2006-09-18T01:44:00.000-07:00

Me and Wilson, the director or the coordinator of TIP. Funny chap.

Me and Alex looking at some girls.....Haa. Nah. We were juz trying to look cool and adorable. :)
Now it's Justin turn to look adorable!!!!!

Uncle Bob's Apple Farm at Yakima

2006-09-17T23:56:00.000-07:00

Looking soooo happy living in an apple tree farm. Shiok ah. Everyday eat apple keeps the doctor away!!!!!!!Uncle Bob's cadillac has my name on it's licence plate. Cool ah. Maybe he likes the name Roy alot ah, and prob i could get free apples whenever i visit him. Honestly, Uncle Bob is a kind-hearted and gracious man! I admired your courage and honesty! Wish i could hug you again.
More red apples....for me to eat..........See how red and lovely they look.
Beautiful sky. Love it when i seen such beauty! Makes me feel so small.
Uncle Bob. 80 years old but still going strong. Wingman was at the back trying to look cool again with the camera.

Microsoft Corporate Visit

2006-09-14T00:21:00.000-07:00

Windows Live OneCare. Bought at $20 USD. Can serve up to 3 PCs. Intend to give it to my brother as well as amy to use it together, think it is a good preventive measure for virus. Selling for $49.95 online in microsoft website.

3 Clothes for the triplets of Amy's Sister. 30 USD total. Hopefully, they will look really cute in them.

Age of Empires. Real Version and bought at 15 USD. Miss those days where i was year 2 and i could still play games with zong zeng and vincent in the hall.

Rise of Nations Gold edition. At 20 USD. Game of the year for 2003. Think it should be great fun.
Bought this Wireless Notebook Laser Mouse 6000 at $25 USD which is way cheaper than the initial price of $55 when it was introduced in the market last year. The mouse was cool and great. Take a look at the review. The cheapest price is still around $38 which is at amazon.com
http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardwarecentral/reviews/article.php/3564791

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/productdetails.aspx?pid=048

Beerfest!

2006-09-12T01:14:00.000-07:00

Stella Artois. Common in Singapore. Not a favourite of mine though.

The Newcastle Ale. Don't think i will drink it again if i had a choice cos firstly, i don't support the Mapies (Newcastle in EPL). Secondly, it is too bitter for my liking. Pui....

Boat dinner Cruise and Rowing Trip

2006-09-08T18:48:00.000-07:00

When i first look at this picture, i sure feel that i look idiotic, but after some time, i realise i look pretty cool here. Looking into the long stretch of horizon and wonderful what is left for me to uncover for the rest of my life. I certainly hope that i will always remain strong enough to wander into the vast open sea and brave and determined to carry this long and strenous journey. :)

Actually, this pic looks kind of funny. There was no intent for Adri to be standing there and it turns out that it looks as if some kind of play where i am begging for forgiveness. Haa....
Blowing my nose! Haa. Taking funny pose is what i was trying to achieve. Very Hongkie ah......

Went to the water sports activity center behind husky stadium and tried rowing boat. The sky and scenery was absolutely wonderful. Look at the picture man. It look so clear. The water here is so calm and peaceful, so we could row pretty smoothly. So unlike when we were in OBS, rowing in the Singapore waters. Pui........

Me and Adri looking cool......

Hoo...Hoo...Hooters

2006-09-08T12:54:00.000-07:00

The food i had at Seattle Hooters. Erm, i had Philly Cheese Beef Steak, and i think it is the better meal among the rest of what the rest of the dudes are having. But, it is still not very appetising at all. Well, i guess most of us go to Hooters not for the FOOD, right? Hee.

Me and Alex drinking to our hearts content. Well, i guess we are still very much sober back then. Alex was still complaining that the beer were not up the kick. Yeah Right Alex!! See our red your face is.

The 2 photos simply shows how happy our man Wing MAN (Weng Hui) is. Boy have i ever seen him smile so happily. He is simply in a state of trance. If you were to look at the pic when we were playing soccer, he always give that "I have a bad day" look. Damn, Wing Man, "You are so flirtttyyyy ah". Haa

Prof Tan and the Dinner Cruise

2006-09-04T01:16:00.000-07:00

Having classes at Prof Tan House. Kind of boring at time. But i do appreciate the fact that he made the effort of changing the envirnoment to teach us. Sort of like trying to liven the teaching "feeling". Thank you Prof!

The legendary Mrs Tan Salmon Porridge. The moment i think of it, i wanna to eat it again! It is really very very nice and smells great as well. I am hungry liao. Think i had 3 bowls of it like the top picture.

A Day where we get to play Soccer in Seattle

2006-09-02T00:09:00.000-07:00

That's us playing soccer after class today. Well, those guys in this picture are my team mates in the soccer team today. I even scored a cheaky backheel. Haa! joystna missed the ball while i socred the goal into the empty net. Cool. Boy, i looked tanned in the pciture. Look at the Weng Hui, trying to look cool again by not trying to smile. :)

Well, something interesting happen during the walk back to the inn after our soccer game. While we were walking back the short distance, a bunch of Amercian Ladies started to shout at us! One of them were saying " Hey, if you let us see your ass, we will let you see our boobs!" WHAT the hell. In the broad daylight, we actually manage to strike gold! Girls are hitting on to us!
Pui, i say. U think ang mo chicks would see something in us?wait long long also dont have lahz. Do u think we are that desparate and idiotic to acutally believe that they will show us their boobs once we undressed? No way. we juz ignore them even though we seems gian at times! Haa. "You guys are losers!" shouted them.
Well, i just wanna say no such things as good deals down from the sky.

Boring day in Seattle

2006-08-31T23:35:00.000-07:00

Well, today was the start or shall i say hopefully only once where i would say i spend a boring day in Seattle. Erm, the day started off with me sleeping till 8.30a.m until which Justin and Alex woke me up to go for breakfast. Same old shit everyday. Cornflakes, 1 egg, 1 orange juice, 1 coffee, maybe half a waffle with honey, if good appeitite, another fruit probably banana. Thats what i have for breakfat everyday, seems quite alot when compared t what i usually have at home.

Then have lessons in Bioengineering department in Uni of Washington. Class by Prof. Song. Another words. Boring. Was fascinated though by the dl speed in school. It could reach up to a total of 800 plus kbits. Fantastic and shocking as i have never seen them before. This could only mean more downloads.

In the night, i spend the time by having discussions. Getting boring here cause i really have to start work in discussions of biz plan as well as case studies. Adri mention a interesting web today. http://www.lifehacker.com
Very interesting stuff are posted in the website almost every time i log on to see. Cool
Oh yeah, when i was making the trip back to the hotel, i was touring the neighbourhood with Alex and Yunxi, guess what. I saw Lotus Elise! I guess Alex will be saying this in his blog as well. Haa. We were taking pictures of the car above when the owner returns! But he was gracious enough to let us carry on taking pictures. He said that the engine was supplied by Toyota. 4.9sec from 0 to 60mph. Zoommm....

Downtown Seattle and Northgate Mall

2006-08-30T00:25:00.000-07:00

We took the day off before meeting the professor tomorrow and went to downtown. Took a bus to downtown and it cost around $1.50 USD. The funny thing about the bus sytem here is that it is free in the morning and afternoon for the downtwon Seattle. Furthermore, it is based on the honours system. This is beacuse i suspected some of the passengers did not pay for their trip.
Went to the famous pike market and saw the famous throwing of fishes. Well, whenever someone will to buy some seafood (particulary fish), the people working there will start to throw the fishes around. I guess it serve as a gimmick and show to attract the tourists to come over. I will try to put up a video as well. :) Oh yeah, almost forgot, i had Starbucks coffee at the world first ever Starbucks Shop!! Man, it looked really different then. More down to earth, i guess.
After getting sick of the downtown Seattle, we went over to Northgate and made more shopping. I finally bought a pair of asics shoes to run. My beloved Asics! Really love them because they are so god damn reliable. should be able to withstain and last for anotehr 3 years. Even bought a pair of cargo bermudas. Think it will be good to wear it over here. Around 20 USD as well. To end of the day, we had dinner at the RAM (http://www.theram.com/). Very nice ribs even though i only try the chicken jack daniels.
Got to turn in. zzzzzzzzzzzz

Last day before i really go into Uni of Washington

2006-08-27T23:58:00.000-07:00

Went to Mt. Rainier (http://www.mount.rainier.national-park.com/) which was about 2 hours ride away from Silver Inn University (Seattle). It was a long journey and we have to leave the hotel at 8 a.m. Heard from Wilson that it will be snowing and will be damn cold on the peak. Shit head. Was totally wrong. I worn a singlet, a grey T-shirt and My new abercrombie and fitch polo to the top. Farking hot up there and i did sweat abit even though it was chilly at the peak.

Well, me, Justin and Wenhui climb all the way to Panorama Point. Cant remember how high it is, think it is around 6000+ feet high. Kinda tired after some time since i last climb so high. Woke the wrong shoes as well, my adidas casual shoes were simply not meant for climbing. But i wasnt the idiot, Wenhui even wore his black coporate shoes. What a idiot! Look at his brown soiled shoes!

The view on the top was pretty standard. I been to Huangshan before in China, so i kinda expected what to ecpect. But along the way, i was greeted and was greeting almost every Ah Mohs i have seen. Kinda of surprised at people's friendliness and willing to smile here. When i am at the peak, i did saw some snow! Little did i know i was going to have some fun with the snow. For the first time, i manage to do a snow slide. It was great fun. Did a clip with me sliding down.

At the end of the day, had some Chicken Parmesan Wrap. Ended the night meeting for my U.S biz plan. Haiz, so tired. Well, kinda of interesting topic. SiRNA. Short interfering RNA. What the hell......Ended the day having a new beer. Cool and nice and zzzzzzzzzz.

GOOGLE

2006-08-26T01:00:00.000-07:00

Finally, i get to visit Google. The google that has been associated with me almost everyday. How many of us can actually say that we actually get to visit Google. There were many takeaways from the trip to this company. Well, to put it this way, here are some points i noted.

There are really food no less than 10 feet away from each google employees.
The food that was seved were actually fantastic food. They had sashimi, sushi and other fantastic looking meals per day. They get drinks from http://nakedjuice.com.
Naked juices which are actually fruit juices that actually taste really well. I had power mango and power C. Well, i really feel very full after having one. Imagine having 9 oranges inside a O-J bottle.
The first Singaporean guy that was employed by Google gave us a talk and he was really goofy. The way he laughs is contagenious and hilarious. I guess the Googlers have their own sense of humour.
Google had many fun things in their company. Too bad we werent allowed to take pictures inside, otherwise i would have shown some fantastic pics. Errmm, they had massage chairs, pool table( I actually seen Goolgers playing then), arcade games and many interesting weird stuff that i will never have thought to exist in a corporate company. They even had this swimming pool built to the length of a human being and always swimming against the current, hence no matter how hard you swim, you will always be on the same spot.
In the lobby of Building 42, or most of the lobbies in Google, they had this projector and it shows what the people in the whole world are searching for when they type in their search in google.
Lastly, Google even gave us a goodie bag to all of us. Wonderful host and LONG LIVE Google for their wonderful work culture!

Standford Shooping Center

2006-08-25T01:51:00.000-07:00

Very High end looking shopping mall. A place that Wilson ( Our Person in charge) recommends us. When i reached there, i saw several brand names that werent readily available in Spore.

GAP
Macy
Bloomingdale
Banana Republic
Abercrombie and Fitch (My fav. so far)

Oh yeah, a pair of levis jeans cost only $30 USD which converts to only $50 Singapore dollars. DAMN cheap. Well, i ask Joshua ( A Masters in EEE guy which i met during the networking session in Standford U), LEVIS has gone down in value even though the quality is still very good. Well, all i could say is that LEVIS is still very much my fav. and it's only the Americans who are going to lose this priviledge of such good brand!

Stanford University

2006-08-25T00:31:00.000-07:00

This is the church located at the Stanford Univeristy and it looks really beautiful here because of a professional photographer, Bobby that is in my class. It really looks pretty run down when i saw it this morning.

Alex, Adriana and me standing outside a building in Standford Uiversity trying to look cool. But we are cool right. I not too sure what the hell the building is but i am sure it does look fasincating from afar.

Meeting with Steve Jurvetson

2006-08-24T23:19:00.000-07:00

This the guy that i met in the morning. Gives me the first impression that he is very gentemantley and cool. After his lecture with us, i only have one opinion left for him. Super Clever and knowledgeable. He made a few comments and even share his blog with us. One interesting aspect i take away from today meeting with V.C (Venture capitalists) is that

Start a blog before you venture into a business. Use the blog for publicity as well. Maybe that is why after so long i finally start my own blog.