..my battle stance..

Today is one of those days. Incidents with some people. A graphic designer who doesn't give a damn to send me the AI file of the design work I paid for. (after ignoring my email for weeks) and her boyfriend who, in the most Indonesian way, tell me politely that he is not interested to do my business. A client who said I told him a different story about my commission rate. I thought basically he just wanted to negotiate for a discount. (thankfully, I emailed them as written record of what I said over the phone four months ago.) and last night, an email from mall management to deny us the right to add more menus to our outlet. the reason? some bullshit that was also, very Indonesian. hah. yeah.. as long as we live, we will never run out of this kind of incident. or people. and to look at it from different angle.. I have been an asshole client to the designer. Now blacklisted by the graphic designer and her bf as one of those small time but troublesome clients to avoi...

'the person is the reward'. that is not a quote from somewhere. this I said one. (in Singlish tone) Well.. after contemplating between a few options, I think this principle should be the first one. In fact it should probably be lesson no 0. Do you realise that assassination does not demand spotlight in its execution? In fact, diversion is created so that the assassin can be out of spotlight. And upon execution, the assassin does not even think about the monetary reward. She can't afford to. She only can focus on one thing. And that is the person she intends to kill. That person is the one and the all. No spotlight, no recognition, no carrot. The only thing that matters is the person. I find that whenever I am in the process of clinching a deal, or when I am helping a client.. the same principle applies. I can't afford to let myself be distracted by stuff. Be it the monetary reward, or the risk of failure, or the unethical agent that I have to deal ...

I don't usually share other blogs post. but I think this little girl is rather impressive.. especially of course if you consider the 'parents' she was talking about. Read her post here it's both blessing and also a nudge whenever you see a youth who so passionately follow Jesus.

Today I watched Paris Holiday. A chinese movie. And the light story is actually not bad! Simple yes.. but it does have things to ponder on. And I just have that super soft spot for Taiwanese accent. you little Amber Kuo! So...  I don't know whether to laugh or to sigh at this too predictable thing. But you know.. I am a bit concerned with my conclusion. I am now convinced that no one is an angel in this matter. we are all culprits. we are all devils. in one way or another. at one point or another. his tear is not any more meaningful than hers. or any less. so yeah.. I am kinda done with trying to believe that there is an exception out there. and to my (young) friend who told me.. "i wish we can be mature and just do away with playing games".. well..  I am sorry to disappoint you but.. that is just not possible. not even for you. it has nothing to do with maturity. it's just the way it is. this is not what we are primarily born for anyway....

I remember my first swimming lesson. I was thrown into the deep water just like that. Not even knowing how to stay afloat. Maybe you had the same kind of first lesson too. The instructor would teach us how to move our hands and legs. again.. before even knowing how to stay afloat. we would frantically move our hands and legs so that our body would move towards the instructor. that bloody instructor who would slowly take a step back, and another step back.. and then another.. but always seemed close enough for us to reach. on and on.. and before we know it.. our body somehow already know how to stay afloat. just like that. and it will never forget that ability. I thought it was magical. and the same principle applies to our life too. sometimes we find ourselves suddenly thrown into a deep mess. or a deep sorrow that just keep on pulling us down. there is simply no way and no point trying to figure out how to solve this crisis. the only thing we can do is to do ...

you know this one. the golden quote from cinderella movie. i thought it was a typical disney message really. but come to think of it.. kindness is profound. really. it's certainly more than just about how you do random act of kindness towards strangers. well that's good too. but kindness is much more basic and yet more challenging than that. kindness is much 'closer to home' than that. kindness is about how you treat the most annoying members of your family. and that mother or father who drives you mad somehow after every one minute of conversation. or those irritating siblings you swear could not possibly have shared the same genes with you. it is about how you handle betrayal by your closest friends. and how you react towards those bitches and jerks around you. it is about how you treat people who are inferior to you in your circle. most annoyingly, it is about how you treat people who don't bloody deserve it! when nobody sees and nobody car...

of many things that is crucial, there is one thing that can never be substituted by anything else. and that is intent . as abstract as it sounds, intent is actually very real, very tangible. and the good news is.. intent is also something that can be trained. now.. there are times when we can have a particularly strong intent effortlessly. whether it is driven by passionate hatred, love, or maybe extreme hunger. our subconscious mind is at a state where it is extremely focused towards a subject/goal. naturally the rest of our bodies are also responding to that intent. our muscles become more alert. our concentration intensifies. our pupils dilate. we are hitting the top gear. but there are times when such passion and intent are absent. most of the times they are absent. in our daily routine lives. that is when we need to use the conscious part of our mind to work. train our mind to have strong focus. focus is everything. focus is energy. start with daily stuff. like...

So here is the deal. You just got yourself a shop space. In between two other shop spaces But you were not aware that.. All the three of you are selling the same thing! Fashion & apparels. And they got a head start. They opened before you did. The one on the left has put up a banner "Lowest Price!" The one on the right: "Best Selection!" Now.. what is your move? "Lowest Price Money Back Guaranteed!" Will you get into price war? What will be your tagline to differentiate yourself? Well.. this person decide to put up this banner: I am pretty sure his business will be damn good! Heh Anyway, that was taken from the slide of a speaker, who I believe also took this material from another place. Guess the morale of the story is.. There is always the bright side of life. There is always.. always.. another way of looking at things. And comparison or competition are not necessarily the best ways to go about it.

I just got myself a new iphun 6! as we all know, S6 made a mess so obvious that I just can't give any justification not to switch from that Korean brand. Oh well.. we are breaking up, android. Moving on is tough ya. Decided not to install twitter, fb, path, and even Line on this phone. So far I survive. Only whatsapp, IG, and other useful stuff like dropbox and evernote. It feels so peaceful. No constant notification. And I become less aware too of the ongoing social media 'exhibition of good life'. social media is not the best place to learn 'gratefulness'. you know what i mean. at this phase of life, it is natural that we start taking stock. so I do too. often. especially at night. in physical and worldly sense, i suppose i only got five loaves and two small fishes. certainly won't die of starving on my own. but to meet the need of everyone and everything that matters in my life? and there are also the issue of 'comparison' and ...

for the joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10) It is interesting that Maclaren 's exposition of this verse starts with statement that Judaism is a religion of gladness. It really is. Even the weekend of Jesus' crucifixion was a festival weekend.  Our faith is really not that kind of solemn, zen, ohmmm.. faith. Our faith- the Subject of our faith, is one which is full of gladness. We revolves around this God who dances and sings over us! Oh.. and not only that. He could have just appeared with all this glory and battalion of angels before us. Surely we would have believed. Yet He chose a different way. He chose to woo us. Quite a Lover. We have every reason to be flattered, to have that silly smile on our face at any random time at any given place and situation whenever we think of this God of us. And yes.. Jesus. This Savior of us certainly has a thing or two for party. His first miracle was at a wedding party. Something to do with treating every...

lately i have been getting this dat$ng app$ mail. i think it is one of fb early day apps. been like... what? 10 yrs? so sometimes they will send you a random matching suggestion, and you can click 'yes' if you find the person interesting. and if both parties choose 'yes' then they will hook you up. of course i will normally just ignore all those emails. i just find this particular 'smart pick' quite.. er... smart, indeed. the tone of both photos just somewhat match. her height and hobby sounds right too heh. how did they do the algorithm ya? im curious.

Please try reading "Mere Christianity" by CS Lewis. This book is NOT Complicated. It is not straightforward, I admit. But there is never simple, straightforward answer to life biggest questions anyway. You may not find this book useful or important. But I promise you one day you will. I was astonished by so many deep and yet most basic truths that CS Lewis shared inside. He came up with the content during world war 1? And I felt as if he just wrote that book a few years ago. Towards the end, he touched on sexual issues, on marriage, on faith and our salvation, on grace vs work. So many relevant topics. The ingenuity of the thought.. it can only be the Holy Spirit that revealed to him. I read some of the chapters multiple times. And I tell you I almost never do that. I feel like I want the book to never end. Almost never feel that way too for other books.

:)

There are a few things that I constantly dream of. Say.. my dream of becoming a wuxia author. Or my little dream of penning songs like this guy. I lied on that 'penning songs' thing. Not too confident to admit that actually.. I want to be up there on that stage. Like him. haa.. But well..whatever it is, all those involves one little requirement. The language. So I guess I have to master this after all. Never too late, so they say.

I thought this song is cool somewhat! And the singer's (alto?) voice reminds me of our very own Reza. well.. turns out its the OST of this drama . Its "let's not be friends" soundtrack song is bloody toxic. Maybe will try watching if I got time. Like Ruby Lin a lot, even if she has grown old. She has that typical Taiwanese feel.

Just came across a new knowledge. To me at least, since I am not married yet. Lately people have been getting into prenup agreement prior to their marriage. And I took it for granted that for a country like Singapore prenup agreement is something the court will acknowledge. Singapore is a first world country with rather high divorce rate after all. So I thought. But it seems that under Singapore's law, the court is bound to follow the Women's Charter (under the British law) above all else. Prenup agreement is something that the court may refer to but not compelled to follow. In short, it is not legally binding. Apparently this scenario actually gives the women a better protection. (this statement is on the assumption that in majority the men will be the ones with more or most asset) Read here for more: http://singaporelegaladvice.com/prenuptial-agreements-singapore/ So we have Women's Charter, Prenup Agreement, and the Wedding Vow then. Which one is the weak...

When I first saw this quote, I thought it's really ironic that the person who posted this was the person with whom I had the most severe misunderstanding with. I am not sure if the two of us will ever truly come to common understanding one day. I too, have given up on trying to go the distance and 'fix it' in many occasions lately. When it seems that there is misunderstanding.. And it seems that the other party has decided on taking whatever action he/she deems fit, I just let it be and shrug it off. Don't be too virtuous, and don't be too wise. Why make yourself miserable?  - Ecclesiastes 7:16   So don't be too good or too wise! Why destroy yourself? (NLT) I never forget this verse from the first time I read it. But it takes me so many years to finally agree with it. Now. Jesus spoke of the weary who carry 'heavy burdens'.. I guess this is one of those heavy burdens we are not meant to carry. It's not our job to fix all the bro...

but it isn't, it seems.

July 1st.  On this day, the regret of the year before is  as far away as  the hope for the year to come.  But as far as the present is concerned,  we are entering the second half of the game. What is 2015 to you?  To me it's game time.  And more importantly.. It's, I believe, the year that answers. Or the beginning of the years that answers. Betting everything on God, making no provision for failure, .. my battle stance ..

These songs are really good companion at night. I fell in love with fairy tail when I came across the anime. It was hilarious. And I love Rave too. (same mangaka) But then I read One Piece. Suddenly Natsu felt like a poorer version of Luffy. Because their personality are somewhat similar. And unfortunately, there is a similar feel to both manga too. But One Piece and Lufffy are simply head and shoulders above everything else. Sigh.. such a great writer. So I was a bit halfhearted when I started reading the manga last week. But slowly I come to realise that Fairy Tail has its merit. To begin with.. as Budi my otaku housemate pointed out, There is no equivalent of Erza Scarlet in One Piece. Such a character is just unique. Heroic and fragile.  and yeah.. she is definitely every fan boy 's dream heh. but what I love the most about this manga is its touching moments. this particular scene is just so memorable if you read the manga.