The Path of Time

This evening I was at one of those crossroads in life, where I had to make a choice between choosing to have fun or study. Anyway, I finally got in touch with the firm's squash team captain and there was a squash practise session today at 6:30pm. Sadly, I had a class at 6:30pm as well. That was when I found myself stuck between the grey line of having to choose between going for my class or going for squash. Part of me was eager to go for squash because the inter-firm games is around the corner towards the end of August, and I really want to play for the firm and be active. So there I was sitting down and my mind thinking, "squash? study? squash? study? squash? study? squash? study? squash? study?". I really didn't know what to do because I did not want to give the team captain the impression that I was not interested. On the other hand, my class was important since I am pretty weak with that subject. After due deliberation and some deep thoughts, my conscience gave ...

Finally managed to find some time to catch a movie. The last time I saw The Simpsons was at least 10 years ago when I was still in primary school. it was like the best hit cartoon series at that time created by Matt Groening. The cracky family, the funny Springfield characters and some really good jokes. The movie, talks about how Homer Simpson single handedly gets Springfield into trouble by dumping a huge load of waste into the Springfield town lake and creates a massive pollution. The US government then tries to destroy Springfield to eliminate the pollution. Homer then tries to save Springfield and its people. My verdict - it won't be as good as Transformers but it'll definitely score for humour. It hasn't lost any of its shine from its TV series era. Definitely a good show to watch for a good laugh!

Having classes on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays is anything but fun. To top things up, there are additional classes on weeknights on an ad- hoc basis. At this point in time I am very much tired and I am facing bounded rationality - being pounded with information and facts! The tough part is this - having to attend classes after work is already a challenge for my brain. On top of that, my weak basics on the current subject is making the uphill challenge even more challenging than it already is. So everyday my mind is constantly asking itself, "HOW AM I GOING TO TACKLE THIS???". Being a person that tends to plan things out and thinking about possible outcomes , this time I am all out of ideas and no matter how many times I try to simulate outcomes I only end up with bad outcomes. Working hard is a forgone conclusion when it comes to succeeding in anything one does, but even hard work cannot bring about impossible outcomes. The problem is, all this time I have been relying ...

I just got back about half an hour ago. I am totally buggered and my mind is drifting off slowly into slumber land. Deadline for this current job is somehow really tight and with the lack of manpower, the job will undoubtedly be delayed. The start of peak may well be around the corner; or it could already be the start of peak. Once again, engaged with a public listed company; deadlines are always tight with all the regulations set by the Stock Exchange. Clients are rushing us, in turn our superiors rush the juniors like myself. I started work at 9:30 this morning and I have been working right up to 2 in the morning. At this point in time, the hold up is coming from the clients because like any auditor, changes and fluctuations that occur in the financial statements must be explained reasonably; and the clients have yet to get back to me on certain fluctuations which I have queried about. Today was also the round table meeting, whereby all the seniors, managers and partners meet up to d...

Coming to the end of July, the day of my June exam results draw ever more closer. Deep down inside, I am scared half to death and the wait is pretty frustrating for me. All the 'what ifs?' and the unwanted thoughts that can sometimes be a real pain. Strange isn't it, how our mind can generate so much thoughts and more often than not, it is simply not controllable. Anyone knows why? I doubt there is a concrete answer to that question. --------- Strange but true eh? A thought to share - I was actually having a chat with an assistant manager (AM) in my firm two days back, anyway this AM is currently overseeing the engagement I am working on. I guess she knows I am always uptight with work and always working towards meeting deadlines but she mentioned something that really gave a 'knock-knock' on my head. She knows I have weekdays classes and, she did say if I have to leave early for class she has no qualms about it. So, I replied saying no worries I will try my best to...

In a post-apocalyptic future where humans live in domed cities surrounded by wasteland, wolves are assumed to be two hundred years extinct. Yet wolves do walk among them, disguising themselves as humans in order to survive in the human world. Now four young wolves will follow the scent of Lunar Flowers on a dangerous quest to find that which legend promises them: Paradise. The plot in itself is very interesting, unlike the common animes that show either a far inclination towards romance or those that bend more towards action. This show talks about wolves that were once used to be proclaimed as mystical animals. Somehow, as the world degraded; their numbers slowly diminished and they were assumed to be extinct. The main four wolf characters - Kiba, Toboe, Tsume and Hige decide to journey to a place only known as Paradise, a place no one knows what it looks like or even where it is. Somehow, every wolf has the urge to go to this Paradise. Myth has it that it is a place of utter beauty an...

Yup! That is my new phone; just got it this evening and I must say I am really impressed with all the features inside this phone. For those who do not know, this model is the Nokia 9300 communicator. More details about this phone can be found here . For me, this phone pretty much has everything that I need. Ever since my old PDA of five years decided to retire on me a few months back; I suppose this phone is a good replacement. Being rather reliant on a PDA , jotting down reminders on rough sheets of papers has not been very effective for me. To give you a rough idea of how much convenience this phone gives me - imagine carrying a miniature laptop in your pocket! That's how useful this phone is to me. Some key features: Advanced voice features: handsfree speakerphone, conference calling Full keyboard and two 65,536 color displays Messaging options: email with attachments, SMS, MMS Office applications: document, spreadsheet, presentations Organizer: Calendar, Contacts, Tasks with ...

Chris Gardner is a bright and talented, but marginally employed salesman. Struggling to make ends meet, Gardner finds himself and his five-year-old son evicted from their San Francisco apartment with nowhere to go. When Gardner lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, he and his son endure many hardships, including living in shelters, in pursuit of his dream of a better life for the two of them. It is a pretty old show for most of us, but I finally got to see it today. Although the reviews were not to favourable, personally I felt it was a really good show. All of us, day in day out complain about not having enough dough to survive the ever increasing cost of living. This story however, showed how a single parent brought up his child from sleeping in public places to sleeping in shelters rushing from the non-salary paying intern program daily just to make sure they both were ahead of the queue at a charity home to ensure a roof above their heads for the night. For th...

Having to grow up in a city so commercialised and fast-paced really highlights the issue of not having enough time. More often than not, I hardly get time for anything. Just to give you a rough idea of how my schedule is like: Weekdays - time is totally devoted for work, if I get to leave work early I use the extra time for revising. Weekends - I have to attend part time classes that last the whole day (i.e. 2pm to 8pm, 8am to 4pm). That pretty much sums up how much time I have for myself. Bluntly said, I do not really have life! Time is truly of the essence in situations like this - having no time for oneself is pretty dreadful if you ask me. Time, for me is like a rare commodity that continues to be elusive. Every now and then, I take a time out and try to ask myself whether am I managing my time badly, or is it simply because there are too many things at hand that are of high priority? Work is no doubt one of the biggest time eaters in my life. Secondly, of course my studies which i...

Friday morning on the 6th of July 2007, my department and I set out for Pangkor Island .Well, not exactly Pangkor but we were setting out for Lumut (a place near Pangkor) at about 8am. As usual, having to wake up during the wee hours of the morning was a pain but I managed to get ready in time and got to my office ahead of schedule, where the bus was already waiting for us. Being a Malaysian, I had to have breakfast - none other than the typical Malaysian morning 'mamak' breakfast! :) I brought my storybook, which I bought about 3 months ago and unfortunately had no time to read due to work. So I figured it was the best time to catch up on my books. But I did not really get much of a chance to read on the bus because it was filled with team building activities. At first I wasn't too fond of those activities because it was getting in the way of my book but it turned out to be pretty amusing. Because we were heading down to Lumut, and being near the sea and beach, the theme f...

After the gruelling months of slogging through late nights and communicating with less-than-helpful clients, work is finally beginning to slow down for these few days. It is a great relief in many ways and it is indeed great to really get a short break from all the pressure. Moreover, my department has arrange for us to go down to Lumut (where Pangkor Island is situated). Should be a pretty decent trip for 3 days 2 nights, not too long and not too short a time for a relaxing trip. Should be some team building events for us, which I don't really fancy seeing it as boring. On top of that, losing teams have to end up doing punishments! But, I guess the highlight of the event would be orientation for the newcomers! Now, that's what I call entertainment! After all, I too had to be orientated when I first joined the firm! My turn to get a good laugh.....

Isn't she the cutest thing? That's my niece, about 8 months old if I recall rightly. Here's another one. Finally got the photos from my girlfriend's camera phone today! :)