hows it?

I got my first pay cheque today. yep. one whole week worth.

experiencing a shock at the mo. you know... after one whole year of hullabaloo, to settle down on a 10-hour day-shift, itsss... no child's play. you get it. right?

althought I must say, despite the hardship of having to wake up at 7 everyday, and arrive home at the hour where the hour hand and minute hand point at the exact same numbers, 12 hours later, I'm learning so much it overwhelms me. And as everyday pass, I am hungry for more.

its tiring, this job, I am still struggling to keep myself awake during the first 5 hours in the office, but it is rewarding. how far I've come from 5 months ago when I left New Zealand without a hint of the future. despair. and now, I'm on the track of becoming a professional.

its a lil' bit of bitterness, and a lil' bit ecstasy.

its like a good'ooold... Guinness Stout. thats how it is.

Some very nice people

Daniel

AK and Elaine

A cup of flat white in singapore

another attempt to make the perfect flat white.

*sorry about my obsession towards coffee

Masi Cafe

"There are places I'll remember

All my life though some have changed

Some forever not for better

Some have gone and some remain

All these places have their moments

With lovers and friends I still can recall..." In my life, the Beatles

The news of Masi being closed down devastated me for a second. but a few clicks on the internet told me its relocating, and will be re-open when a premise is being found.

Heres to hope, and the best coffee in Wellington. cheers.

You know? the job thing?

I GOT IT!

let me explain, the position is "trainee dealer" in a well-developed commodities firm, trading precious matels, agriculture good, future contracts, options, yada-yada-yada. you get the idea.

a month spending miserable time all alone in my brothers room, doing nothing but job hunting, I guess its being paid-off now. reasonable salary, good benefits, training provided, boy-o-boy am I feeling contented. I am.

yet, this is just the begining of another long strech of suffering.

Awesome.

Well, Brandon said it right..

"what makes a man? its not when a man is at its most successful moment.." he said.
"its when he's facing controversy and crisis" he continued.

haha, yeah, thats true.. but I'm not bothered by any of that now. Coz I'm drunk now. and I'm happy.

haha. =)

*drumrollss..* INTRODUCING!!

born 16th of January, 2007. 11:52am C.S.T. in Macomb, IL, USA.
7lbs 12oz and 21inches long.

his name is Kyler Ng Glaue, MY nephew. =)

Post Secret

(no new secrets are posted here every Sunday.)


(secrets are behind the postcards, not meant for you guys.)


- Woods in Sweden (with permission)





----email message-----
Sent: Wednesday, January 17th, 2007
Subject: thanks heaps!

I love them, especially the flower in shape of a heart.
knew it was you without even flippin' the letter over, your hand writting is so easily recognizable. and I was kiiiiiiinda... anticipating a CD in it. haha. but no worries, take your time.
Lots of hugs too!

St. Patrick's Day

"Here comes the cold, Break out the winter clothes..."

Listening to this song brought me back the time I was in paekakariki. WE, were in paekakariki. it was my bday and I decided to take me-friends to a nice bach 20 minutes up north of Wellington. The light guitar strum. weird chords. beautiful lyrics. its all plotting out the scene of us sitting in the lounge of the light-green bach, feeling the breeze at the top of our heads, the sunset on the far east, chatting away how we failed to put the kite up. the shallow water on the flat beach was mirroring the golden sky.

"No way November will see our goodbye, When it comes to December it's obvious why, No one wants to be alone at Christmas time..."

**pause**

I remember it well, it was April. it was almost the end of autumn. it was 2005. three more months and its one year ago.

it also brought me back to the time when I was walking on the streets of Wellington. When Im walking alone, with my head phones on. I always had my headphones on. listening to this song. it reminded me of The CD Store on Lambton Quay, reminded me of the strong wind at the junction light beside Willies foodcourt, the coffee in Masi on Willies street, where I share my thoughts with AK and spend quality time with myself and my book. also reminded me of the people, all well shielded with their wind breakers, asians, maoris, whites, blacks...

"February, won't you be my valentine? And we'll both be safe 'til St. Patrrick's Day ..."

I remember it well. the streets of wellington. the cafes I once parasite in. the strong wind. I once was there.

Someone else's

someone got herself a work holiday visa
someone got himself a PR
someone got herself a study offer
someone got himself a nice girl
someone got herself a nice trip to Hong Kong
someone got himself a job in a multi billion company

someone else's

the lil' things

Out of total boredom, not because of having nothing to to, but having done the same thing over and over again for countless hours, I went to this mall around my place for a walk. As I arrived, I went down to the super market for a spin. Hanged a basket on my arm, without any intention of buying anything - I decided to blend in anyway. Happy to have spotted a very familiar label - Bundaburg Ginger Beer (my favourite drink in NZ), with much joy, I grabbed a 4 pack and put it in my basket (bought something after all!). There was a long queue at the counter after I finish 'shoppin', as I patiently waited, I observed the very funny cashier. He was blindly handling shoppers groceries, with his specs slided all the way down to the edge of his pointy nose, so by saying blindly, I meant it literally.

He seemed relieve when he saw only one thing in my basket, a 4-pack Bundaburg. He swiftly pull the paper handle of the drinks and scanned the bar code. beep. $1.50 showed on the screen. wait the minute, this is not right, $1.50 for a 4-pack? I thought. though nerdy, but he seemed preeeety confident when he said to me "a dollar fifty please." I paid non the less, with a suspicious face.

the bar code scanner found the bar code of one bottle instead of the bar code on the paper package. sweet. I enjoyed 4 bottles of nice Australian Bundaburg Ginger Beer for the price of one!


that. ahem. made my day.

It feels amazing!

I got my first interview today!! only on the second day of my attempt to gun down every company I laid my mouse cursor on!! I know I know, its not big deal, but it actually gave me a good push on my effort to job hunt. This is my first ever interview and Ive got a lot of prepare for it!


wish me luck!

2007

and so my 2007 begins with lossing 20 bucks on poker (every penny I've got on the table). that proves yet again, that I am a complete idiot in gambling. I must admit, its rather painful when the bills drain out of your corner, and the urge of wanting to get it all back builds up as your lossing record counts to 10.. 11.. 12.. 37.. (and then you crumble!)

but hey, this a only a small taste of life, the gambling, you win you lose. and sometimes, you lose it all. lets just be glad that I am not addicted to gambling. but gambling with life? thats... a bet no one can hide. I bet 'full' -- a full life.

happy 2007.

"come january, we're frozen inside, making new resolutions, a hundred times..." John Mayer

J-A-Z-Z

I havent been this excited in ages. I went to jazz today (yes I DID!), caught up with long lost jazz time.

We went to this pub call Jazz at South Bridge in Singapore (which ive been to a few times before). when we arrived, it was an ordinary trio comprising a piano, drum, and of course a bass. but after a couple of songs, they introduced a vocal (that was a suprise, whats more amazing is, there wasnt any cover charge!). This vocal - James Flynn, scott-ish, turned out to be a very humorous guy. we've had the privilege to mingle with him (and his Eva-one-of-the-desparate-housewifes-look-alike partner) after two sessions. it was good good... Goooooooood....

also, My brother brought me to a CD store earlier this evening before jazz, a place call Gramaphone. its got a few listening post (nice Pioneer cd player, and veeeery nice headphones) with loads and loads of recommended cds, its good pretty good deals on cds, and whats more is its got all the cds I couldnt find in other places!! haha..

good times.

A Nice Dinner

4 primary school mates
2 Entrees
2 Soups
1 bottle of nice New Zealand, Hunter's Malborough Chardonnay
4 Main Courses
3 dessert
2 hours

... 560 dollars.
but thanks to my friends company, we've got a 600 dollars worth of voucher. we didnt pay a penny. Thanks again Nic. I had a great night. =)

So its being said

whats a loser?
a loser is someone who is so afraid of losing that they dont even try.
so am I tryin? or should the question be..

am I tryin 'hard' enough?

Merry Christmas

to... you! whoever you are!

Flash back

to the time when blue is blue, and white is white.

Time flies like an arrow..

life has been afloat. on still water. occational breeze trembled the stillness of the water surface. yet I wind-up floating on the exact same spot. no where to run, no where to hide, anymore.

came back from Wellington a little less than 4 weeks ago. has it been that long? trip to Australia and Taiwan didnt do the trick. I went straight to Penang up north west of the peninsular after the spin across south east asia, then all the way down south to Singapore. I knew dodging the reality was as impossible as dodging the bullet. the various indifferent choices of life huh? living the choice you've made is as hard as making it at the very beginning.

yet, I sit here, having fullfil Anna's request, trying to force my mind to concentrate on what matters the most - on searching for the very thing that when being found, things will, according to a lot of people, sort itselve out - a flippin' job.

can someone please give me a good slap?

Still excites me!

seeing a...

... for Welly on the NZ weather forecast site.

must have been a great day! =)