One week in Lampung and I will be heading to Jakarta this afternoon, on the long ferry trip journey once again. Another 8 hours on the car + ferry, just the thought makes me tired.... On the bright side, I have been learning new stuffs here in Lampung and re-learned the finer points of the golf swing. Just played for a day and got blisters on my hand, until this professional golfer came along and taught me a better grip. The next time I will be there should be next week when I return from Jakarta.

Have been reading up on the Coffee & Cocoa International Magazine (it's a trade magazine btw) just to learn some new stuff on the trade to prepare myself for business in Lampung just in case... I might just help out my dad till next year, since I am still in the 'slacking' mode! Moreover I am looking forward to the trip to Canada at the end of the year, something that I cannot do when working with any company. Guess that's the benefit of an entrepreneur, you can dictate your own lives and holidays!

My hometown of Bandar Lampung... Note the (idyllic) surroundings! 

Back in my hometown, where the only internet connection available is a dial up connection. Lucky I had prepared my collection of animes and drama serials to keep me reasonably occupied during my stay here in Indonesia. Attended a wedding dinner of a distant relative on Sunday (my cousin's cousin) and at least was occupied during the weekend, and this coming Sunday I will be travelling to Jakarta, where I hope to be able to lay my hands on a proper broadband connection so that I can continue my job search. As to working in Jakarta, that is still a point worth considering...

At Changi Airport now, boarding my flight in 30 minutes time.....Reaching Jakarta in 1 hour and 45 minutes and Lampung in another 7-8 hours. Long journey back home and will only return to Singapore n the 20th August, so till then all my friends!!!

Outside LT2 

Two more days in Singapore, until I return to Indonesia for a long awaited break. However, I reckon I will still be occupied at Lampung even without the broadband connection since there are quite a few weddings to attend while I am in Indonesia. Moreover, I will be continuing my tennis lesson and golf lessons, besides the tons of animes to watch and PS2 games to play.

Went to Sim Lim today to purchase a HDD Casing for my 3.5" desktop 120GB hard disk, since my desktop is dying and I think I better salvage what I could. Also obtained more Canon Photo Papers to print all those graduation photos, winter vacation photos at Canada and maybe the Redang photos too.

The Singapore government announced today that it is relaxing regulations on the property market and they said it wasn't to push up prices but I think otherwise.... The property market in Singapore has been stagnant for nearly a decade from it's peak since 1997. To the banks, owners, developers and ultimately, the goverment, this is not a good news. Property prices could help to push up Singapore's GDP for all that matters but it is also intrinsically linked to the GDP growth of the country. From all points, the government initiative has been to push up property prices in Singapore for it will benefit South East Asia largest property developer, Capitaland - a gov't linked company. This can be seen from the legalization of gambling, relaxation on foreign ownership and loans and mortgages changes. However, I doubt this will do much to stimulate the market since GDP growth has been a laggard in Singapore so far, and foreigners have put more of their money in China and HK properties. Furthermore, cheaper properties that have higher growth and yield potential can be found in markets like Thailand, Malaysia and Australia so the property market in Singapore will likely to remain stagnant in a few more years to come. Perhaps when the 10 years of downturn is out ..... (just my 2 cents worth of analysis)

Outside One-Ninety 

With my family inside Nanyang Auditorium! 

Finally had the chance to meet up with my buddies for dinner yesterday. This time we had dinner at One-Ninety at Four Seasons Hotel and their dessert is absolutely fantastic! Their food was also good and reasonably priced. What I found not worth it was the bottle of Evian they served at the restaurant which costs $12+++ per bottle considering you can get one for $1.50 on the supermarket. Well, I think hotels like these just charge exorbitant prices.... Anyway after the dinner we just walked around Orchard taking photos and I guess I wouldn't see them for some time now that I will return to Indonesia.

About my trip back to Indonesia, I doubt I will be able to continuously update (or even write in this blog) my blog, so I will be taking this chance to write and post as much as I can!

Graduate le!! Yay! 

Yay! Today was my convocation!!! It was a real hectic and busy day, since I forgot to bring my mortarboard and had to head back home on the middle of the way. Was really fortunate to make it in time for the ceremony. There was still some time to wait before the chancellors/deans/professors arrive and silly me, I just know today that the School of MAE Dean was replaced by Lennie Lim. Seems like Prof Yue did something wrong... just hope it is not something like what the CEO of NKF did.

Anyway back to the convo, took lots of pics today and will post some of them shortly. Spent the day taking photos with friends and family. Even had the time to show my parents around BMERC. The best part of all these was definitely the fun of congratulating your friends and throwing the mortarboard - always a classic at all graduation!

The end of the day was enjoyed at BLU at Shangri-La, had a nice meal with a terrific view over Singapore! Superb day though a bit tiring.... but I will be spending the weekend with 'Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince' !!! Can't wait till tomorrow!

Towards the future!!! 

Beware all charitable organizations! Do not spend unnecesarily or this will be your fate! 

Can't wait for convocation tomorrow. Finally after 4 long tiring years of slogging for exams, attending boring lectures, sleeping in library, and having funs with friends and buddies, it is time to move onto a new phase in life. Kind of miss the 'working' life at the Biomedical Engineering Research Centre, but then again, that was a temporary job so we could afford to slack around but now will be the real thing to prove our own worthiness. Today's also my last day at BMERC and took a half day off to go and cut my hair, get a starched shirt for the ceremony tomorrow and have a nice rest since I'll need to wake up earlier tomorrow for the morning session.

Going to finish off with my Battle Royale novel and it's down to the last 7 students. Throughout the book, the author smartly describes the details of the death of each student and he manages to really find as much as 40 ways to get killed using an assortment of weaponry. However the main highlight of the book is the description of human nature in times of fear, as well as the reaction of modern youths on issues like life and death. After this book, it will be time to indulge in the newest Harry Potter novel. Yup, the sixth installment is finally coming out, and I hope it lives up to the hype!!!!

Speaking of hype, the NKF is really getting it in the news, albeit for bad news. The disclosure of NKF's CEO earning $600,000 per annum has resulted in NKF's donors to withdraw their donations. I think this is just a matter of time, since NKF is getting too large for its own good, and the way the CEO runs things, it is just like a 'profitable' organization (come on, it has a cash reserve of $100 million ++++) and has Mercedes-Benz(es) under its disposal, a $21 million headquarters, and a wealthy CEO. Sounds like a listed company in SGX? I think in terms of revenue, it might as well surpass many of the listed companies. Now, I think I rather open a 'nonprofit charitable independent organization'!! No wonder, all those Singaporeans are getting hyped up! Hey a recommendation here, go and donate to the Kidney Dialysis Foundation (KDF). This foundation is really run by a nephrologist (a kidney specialist) and its website is http://www.kdf.org.sg, please note that I am not affiliated to this organisation whatsoever and I do not represent this foundation so do not hold me liable for any misleading information!

Group shot at Jiajun's chalet!! 

Yup! I am officially 23 years of age as of friday!!! Did dinner at Shangri-La with my sister to celebrate it, since it's been half a year since I last saw her at Canada. Anyway she arrived on wednesday and I picked her up after Jiajun's chalet. It was real good for Jiajun to organize a chalet for us, so now I know that most of them have gotten themselves a job. The barbeque was great and lots of other uninvited animals came...... cats......somehow there was just lots of stray cats around the chalet.
As for my birthday, I got birthday wishes from my colleagues, classmates and of course my buddies. Had lunch at Swensens for lunch and got myself a free Firehouse BDae for being the birthday boy. Then dinner at Shang Palace, which wasn't planned since I was hoping to celebrate it in BLU..... but I guess I will leave BLU till the celebratory night with my parents on the 15th. Have been eating lots of good food since friday since went for Dim Sum at Wan Hao again on saturday with my grandma as she couldn't make it for my birthday dinner but somehow the quality of food in Wan Hao has dropped and Tung Lok seems a better choice for meals. Today it was onto Boon Tong Kee at River Valley for lunch as my sis sorely misses the Chicken Rice in Singapore. All in all, i would consider it a truly gastronomic weekend!!! Now onto for the treats next week!!! Stay tuned!!!

Striking a nice pose! 

Met up with lots of friends today, expecially those that I have not seen for some time. We decided to take out some time from the holidays to visit our teachers in CJC and it was really great to keep in touch, especially since Guoping, Benjamin and Faizal managed to come down as well. Haven't seen these 3 for nearly a year or so I guess so its a treat for me too!
However the regret today was being unable to send my grandma off to the airport since I was occupied with my friends whom I rarely get to meet so often. Another one was being unable to visit the daughter of my dad's friend at NUH, since I was really held up in the city. We had lunch at Marche and sat down for a long time to have a chat, about life, our work, Sheng Da's recent trip in Israel and lots more..... Then it was to meet with my cousin and her friend for dinner. We had Xiao Long Bao at Din Tai Fung and I still have yet to get sick of this little heavenly masterpiece (the Xiao Long Bao, I mean). Now I got further contacts for my career opportunities since my cousin's friend is working at Motorola as an engineer. However I am still gunning for a consultancy or finance job, so will still be on the look-out for such a job. If any of you who chances upon this blog and have such an opportunity anywhere in the world, do contact me ok!!!

Outside my ex-classroom at CJC!!