Linux Xterm

I finally created a Linux like environment in my Windows:P the Xterm looks so ... achingly like an old friend..the hours I slogged in the XTerm labs in NUS....geesuz christ..to wax lyrical over this type of things means I have reached the epitome of geekdom..

Sam

Matthew did it! :)

Sam in happy mood :)

Beijing Photo - Weekend Over

Over the last weekend, Yang and Bees came over to join me in Beijing.. Pictures will tell the thousand words..so enjoy :)
Yang and I even swam in the indoor heated pool in Swissotel with a hotel attendant guarding us...nobody swam..so it was like we are emperor and prince wallowing in the palace..haha


The first buffet breakfast we managed to con the hotel...for free:P


Entrance to the Great Wall..


Affer the grandola, we are about to become 好汉 by climbing the 长城.


Wabe also is 好汉 !

Before the great climb!

Comtemplative mood .. imagining thousands of years ago..Chinese border soldiers were looking thru the same window..

Aha! Yang is officially a 好汉 !!

Me too!

After a tiring climb, some roasted chestnuts felt so good in the chilly mountain!

Kee brandishing his sword in the Ming tomb.

Fruit farm...got SAN CHA! Kee loves the fruit which incidentally also is one of his favorite sweets.

A massage at Bodhi Place...well recommended by almost all Nokians..

One of the 2 famous places for Peking Duck..Da Dong..the other is jingjude..which they say is not suitable for Singaporean taste.

A joyous scene outside the Tian Tan.

A attempted visual photography :P

Kee and Wabe at Tian Tan.

Mother and Son - such natural smiles:)

Father and son - bonding at its best :)

Wabe looking radiant in her smile..too bad the flash did not work as well:P

The Echo Wall...er...I didn't managed to verify this myself..

Kee in his Bob the Builder guise.

the morning when Bee and Kee left for airport...3 new big bags full of stuff from Ya Siu..hahaha

Sam

Back to SG

A bit tired after the trip and a busy week for presentation materials to present to sales vps next week.god what did i get myself into?

yang's results were very disappointing...esp for math..i knew he could do better but to trip at the last moment...i am sure i could have made a difference had i been in sg...but what to do...job security is now paramount so i can't afford to risk this..

well anyway, i hope we can work this out ..especially with my increased workload...

wabe just received news that her place will be re-org..my goodness..

it is indeed wisdom that we have overcommited in property...so wise is this wa sabe :)

Sam

Famous in Beijing

Convinced an art exhibtion in Beijing to create an art piece outta my N95 family picture :)
Now the Ang Family is famous...heh heh

Beijing

It has been 2 years or so since I last visited this place. A bit more experienced ... a bit more jaded...
Nelson has left Oracle and there is no more Oracle kakis around.

I am leading the technical solution team now and the responsibility is begining to weigh a bit .. gone are the carefree days..But the work is rewarding...I am so proud of the work done so far by the team... Architecture Team - JIA YOU!!

Anyway, hope Yang can buck up - he ALWAYS slacks when I am away...hope he will be ok..
Bee is so worried - it's high time she learn how to handle Yang....

Anyway, they will be coming this Friday..will bring Wabe and Yang to eat all the nice food and see all the nice places...and of coz..toys for the little Yang:)


Bye for now...gotta go review the work...adios...

Sam

Shares and Property

Was watching CNN last week when Fed announced they will throw in their weight to save AIG ... and instantly announced an auction for debt...

!!! the analyst looked shocked and said this is something all of them has not seen in their lifetime...are we going through the begining of the Great Depression 2?

Decisively, the shares plummeted the next few days abeit a reprise after a hilarious 750 billion appeal to bailout those rich bastards..

SPH shares dipped below 4 - till 3.8 plus....my chance for a defensive stock and a few clicks and I am owner of 10 odd lots...keeping my fingers crossed and hoping there will be more bargains soon...

On the property side, I am pleasantly surprised to find my EM back to its former glory :P

Last transacted EM in Teck Whye Lane has crossed the psychological price of 400k..

With my boss promising a sweetener for my China stint...let's pray there's hay to be made for me even while the sun don't shine!

May all partake in the art of giving money out...verily I saith unto you...ten times of what you give will be rewarded to you..

Talek Deshi.
Sam

Club Med Bintan 2

Kee eating almost an ENTIRE hawailian pizza!!


Underwater shot of the fishes...will take up scuba diving with Kee next time!


See the fishes ... crystal clear water and we can see these by walking along the beach..amazing!


Beautiful beach....further up the small island are shoals of coral fishes..


Desserts - one of the many spreads...


One of the best dishes...fresh prawns!


Garlic prawns galore...fresh and succulent!


The jovial mood is caused by freeflow wine and pina colodas..:)


One of the many pina coladas I had...heh heh


I thought this was quite good photography..Kee after 2 hours on beach play..


Grinning before the LONG climb to the Sports Centre - where we played squash...quite fun actually ..family bonding at its best :)))))


After a long swim, getting ready to shower and binge on another buffet ..:)

Continued..

hark vs spider man part 5

spider man is very angry with hark. it was a dark house hark live in there. has scary toys is call hark face toys. we fright said spider man fright said hark. pipang. iwin said hark. but only one thing can. what is that ben10. ben10 i will fright with you pipang hahaha i win said ben10. is 66 oh man. pipang. but no ones know whos wins. the end.

matthew the king

i was a king i wanted to build a king castle. i have many coin. do you want to know how much 500000000. bryan say really i say yes. wow said bryan. the end. the viwawa. i play match it i was in lever 2 win i said.

Club Med Bintan

Below are the Club Med experiences..will continue later ...Yang Kee wants his own title..

Anxiety before the trapeze jump

Dad and Son team.

The beach front.

View from the bedroom

The last week has been an incredible experience which is truly Club Med. Many years ago, when I was about to disrupt from national service, a bunch of 4 of us platoon mates booked a trip to Club Med Cherating which costed us a princely sum of 400 plus per pax for 3 days 2 nights. It was a marvellous experience when we feasted on buffets all day round...unlimited wine..beer..which was awesome to a green NS man then..

Roll forward 15 years...and I am making a return trip to Club Med abeit to Bintan. Verily I saith unto thee - my experience with Club Med remains...it is still as magical...the food and the wine...oh oh..the pina coladas.....which I drank countless ...toast to the GOs and Club Med for helping to preserve the memories....

Matthew would like to say his piece now...over to you Yangkee..

I DO VIDEO IN CLUB MED. I EAT PIZZA. THE WHOLE PIZZA. HM NICE. WE WENT TO THE SWIMMING POOL AND BEACH. I ALSO GO TRAPEZE. YEAH.

ROAR!

Singapore won the table tennis ladies semi final!

WOO HOO!!!!

So I will experience our country getting its 2nd medal after 40 plus years ... so happy...

MERDEKA!!! MERDEKA!!! MERDEKA!!

Er..just wanted to shout it out.. MERDEKA!! I not sure if the word makes sense..

So now Feng Tian Wei is the heroine...walk fearlessly into the Korean's den and defeated them...
machiam SINGA LIKE A LION! ROAR!!!!!!!!!!

hehe ok enough of patriotism..

hehe...MERDEKA!!!

Sam

Resident Evil

Starring Jin Hen as Leon, Yang as the arms dealer and zombie.

Enjoy!!

Money Got Enough? :)

I should do some movies...heh heh

Results of Certification

The bloody colleagues kept calling me yesterday to "ask" about my grades...nb...must be anxious to see if I beat them...

Open the letter today... got ..."B".

A bit disappointed...was expecting to ace it..sigh...

life goes on...

Sam

Condo

Yang surprised me recently when he asked me "Papa - I want to live in a condo.."

What? Materialistic already? So I probed - "why ? Teck Whye house not good? I thought you liked it a lot.."

But Teck Whye no swimming pool .. not "sut".. is it coz we no money?

I debated over whether to "financially" educate him..but decided this was not the time..

Anyway, I answered him..if we need pool ..just pop over to mum-in-law house - heh heh.

I mulled over this a lot...quite frankly my enthusiam for condos had waned after a while..i came to realize that the need is not one of actual consumption but a outward manifestation of our material desires...it is like why some of us bought Omegas and some bought Seikos..

I frankly used more of my casio than my omega but that is another story :)

Anyway, the time will come when yang will know the wisdom of our prudence in the early years - till then, i will edcuate him on the true meaning of assets and liabilities..

the difference in being well off and really wealthy is a huge chasm...there are very few opportunities in life...the way i see it.. a great divide will come soon and it is best we stay liquid for most part...and know when to lock in...thus when the tide rides high...then truly can we surpass and enter the nirvana of wealth...

well on the other hand.. i am happy with current anyway :P

good luck to all in the coming years...may we all spot and enjoy wealth and health!
sam

Life

The exam is finally over - I am - barring any complications in the exam grading - a certified enterprise architect..

a sense of emptiness tinged with sadness - the team members who gathered during this 5 weeks - we will depart again like nameless travellers in the journey of life.

the weekend was lazy...i managed to change a shower stand - which feels mighty good to me - better than if i had coded a fancy piece of program....so now i am a handy man:)

listening to corrine may's songs...she is a great singer...she make worship to God so sincere in her songs.

i was helping yang to bathe - and was amazed how much he has grown...

my son

when we first met, you were looking me straight in the eye
well welcome to the world, champion
with every smile, our hearts will rejoice
with every step, our love will grow
with every cry, our eyes will tear
with every kiss, we will melt...

you will grow as with all youngs
all your adventures you will embark
all the friends you will know
all the places you will see
but always know our home is always open
for you to come back to

for now, i treasure the times i picked you from school
when you always have to have mummy and me to accompany you to toilet and what not
when you decide you are brave enough
we will be so happy and yet so sad

i feel pride when you defend your friends against bully
when you spoke out for little insects...
but i worry also if you will be labelled in future in the real world.

when you are grown and have your family
you must remember mummy and papa
remember to love your kids just as we have given all our love to you.

From papa and mummy.

Sentosa: Memories of Childhood

I think the 3 boys had a great time on top of Vivo City..in the makeshift "beach".
Hopefully, they will retain the exuberance of their youth and enjoy the most of it...such memories will be worth their weight in gold when they grow up...

Sam in his where-is-my-childhood-? mood

Master Wong Jin Hen

Yang and I crafted this remake of kung fu BrYan..hehe ...ENJOY!

Check out his white crane stance...:P

Sam

Old Cruise Video

The pre-production camera Yang used to take videos when we did the cruise thing quite long ago had some audio quality issues - which a little MS Movie Maker effort kinda smooth out the edges and so - presto...presenting...memoirs of the cruise trip...enjoy.So long...will make some more such videos..need to dig out those oldies first..