Facebook Notes – Tim's Writings

Since Facebook is archiving / removing the Notes feature in 2020, I have shifted them here for remembrance. I’ve backdated them from Jan 2020 to Dec 2010. Older posts can be found at my old LJ and/or Facebook Notes Archives.

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2 Jan 2020
EOY J-Culture Festival 2019

2/1/2020; the start of a new year, marking the completion of EOY 2019. I’ve been taking quite a number of catnaps, which I usually don’t. My mind has been brilliant at keeping awake over the weekend, but finally recognizes that it needs/can finally rest.

In no particular order, EOY 2019 would not be possible without the following dedicated EOY staff: Dawn Lim, Estelle ゼロ, Gary, Goh Heng Lee, Ng Jing Jie, Kah Moh Khair, Kiat Kai, Angie Ng, Chan Shi Hai, 幸美愛凛, Ang Yu Bin, Vero Isastranger and Lim Xinyi. Like I mentioned previously, these people are magicians. They make magic happen.

There were also many adhoc staff that made this happen: CuiMin Moh, Kael Wu, Naomi J., Zickry Ahmad, チャシンイ, Melvin, Peng Chun, Han Siang Wong, Alan Reeves, Desmond Pang, Kenneth, Don and the entire part-time operations staff. The itanshas were brought in by Ong How Chung and Rodney.

Our guests Ola Aphrodite, Riona Hamamatsu-濵松里緒菜 Unofficial Fanpage, Ru味春捲 – Ru’s Piano, Asibuto Penta and Marisu were also amazing people who made the event so fun. Penta and Marisu appeared in EOY 2014 and it’s amazing how fast 5 years just flies by. We also had an appearance from Amelia Khor 小飛鼠 from KL. The local features Intriquette, Rein レイン, Hikari ひかりん, D.N.A and all the countless talents came together to put up such an amazing show.

I also want to thank all those who came to FOH to talk to me; I may not be able to talk very long, but it’s completely ok and I’m always happy to catch up, even if it is for a while: my wonderful wife, Ling Nah Teo, MoMo Chan, Kori Rozu, Evieep ZR, Ng Bing, Tsuki Chirp, Daniel Cheong, Claire Chew, Teo Mei Nah, Chew Chin Wai, Hoi Wan Hua. If I recall correctly, we were blessed with donuts by Elie Scarlet, Aido Kaori and their 6-girl group.

If I have missed anyone, I apologize. You know who you heroes are.

Earlier this year, we wanted to incorporate lights into our show. I checked with a number of companies, but they quoted me figures that I simply couldn’t afford. A typical stage requires 2 trusses, which alone easily cost $1,000 each before adding light fixtures themselves. It would easily add around $5-7k to my production cost, where we simply do not have the budget. I cannot simply cut other department’s budgets just to make way for production.

But I really wanted to have lights. I later considered buying lights outright and rig them ourselves so that we will own them, rather than rent them. I am not expert in designing them and we can’t afford a rig, however I noticed that Suntec has a unistrut that is given complimentary where rigging can be performed. Typically production companies always use truss, chain blocks and lifting belts to secure to unistruts. That was just simply the industry’s standard way of installation because it was fast. You can chain block the entire truss down, install and hoist it up. It is just very costly.

I had to seek the advise of Fahmi Mok who recommended the lighting quantities for my show. We used to be colleagues at Tanglin Trust School back when I was a theatre tech. I recall he was my junior, but now he has risen to the ranks of the theatre manager. Together with the help of Zickry Ahmad, they help test my light(s) and advise on how to link/wire everything up. The rigging of the lights on show day was done by him, together with a few of my friends at my construction work place. Senthil Arasu was the one who advised me on the possible combinations of swivels, hangers, bolts and nuts to rig the lights up, as there was no technical person at Suntec to clearly explain to me what the sizes of the hanging unistruts were. I bought many types of clamp and bolts/nuts/rods in various sizes.

The palettes were then designed by Zickry Ahmad who later taught Chan Shi Hai how to run them. We also sent Shi Hai for a 4-day Esplanade course on lighting fundamentals.

Put everything together, and there we go… lights for our show. I’m probably bias, and I always tend to focus on the principal of 20/80, and went for 6 lights, possibly the minimum required to get a nice effect. I think it turned out quite beautifully.

We sold out all our tickets on day 2, something that we didn’t really expect. Goh Heng Lee had to freeze selling tickets for 30 minutes and got ribbons to replace as wristband tickets around 5 pm. The queues were crazy.

Angie Ng took up the part to handle the exhibitors this year, and we grew from 97 to about 140 booths this year; about a 40% increase. I didn’t expect that as well.

On Friday, we actually moved in and gotten everything ready and went back to sleep. However early in the morning when picking up the artistes, I received a call from site that our sound board (it’s our own EOY board that we own since 2014) has decided to brick itself around 9 am. As the stage snake was ran via a LAN Cat5e cable, I had to get the exact same soundboard, else with a different board I will have to re-pull at least another 15 XLR lines and re-patch. I simply wouldn’t have enough time. I thought about all the tickets that we had sold pre-sale and I nearly freaked out. It was akin to going to a concert with no sound.

Thankfully, my vendor saved my ass and he had the EXACT same model and told me to drive to AMK to pick it up and bring it back to venue. Best of all, he didn’t charge me an arm or leg for it. My relationship with him had always been shaky, but on Sat, he really, really saved my ass.

On Sat, I reached back around venue around 10+ am, and thankfully we had the technical Ang Yu Bin who helped patched everything back so that we have sound for the show. Our sound check was slightly delayed, but we still managed to run the show and open the doors in time. That morning was a defining moment. It was really do, or die.

When I sat back at my seat on the front of house on Saturday, I could feel tears building up. Every year I get a revelation from God. You know what I learned this year? That I can trust in Him, and that He always has my back. Earlier this year, I had a thought on why I wasn’t an expert at truly anything, like a superior skill. But I now understand why. I was never called to do so. If I had a single superior skill, I would never had been able to combine the knowledge across various industries from construction, events, lighting, management, sales and put everything together. The exact skills of a producer or organizer needs a vague knowledge of everything put together. This is precisely the requirement of what I was called to do…. knowing a bit of everything. God speaks to and through me at every EOY.

In any way, 2019 turns out to the biggest production we ever had, and grew by quite a bit. With the collaboration with SPF, we were featured on the TV on CH5, CH8, Channel News Asia and even the landing page of the Straits Times Home section and Mothership. We grew in size in terms of exhibitors, guests and up-scaled our production. I believe we also had the most number of artistes ever.

It’s simply so amazing to see people come together to build an event together. I’m bias, and have always felt that EOY is the most fun, exciting and enjoyable Japanese entertainment festival. You basically come, play and have fun.

What a year, what a breakthrough.

I totally didn’t expect this.

Indeed, God can do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that you can ever ask or imagine.

I no longer have to the desire to attempt mastery of a single dedicated craft, because the biggest lesson that I probably learned this year that I didn’t have to, nor was I was designed too. I am called to be who I am, knowing a little of many things, and gelling everything together.

And that, itself, is so liberating.

And with that, I wonder what else is in store for 2020…

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23 July 2019
Producers’ Picks 2020 (Performances)

In the coming weeks or so, stage audition registrations for EOY J-Culture Festival 2019 will be released. This year, I’ve decided to do something a little different by listing some of my favourite acts that I hope to see on stage.

If you lack the inspiration, or am not sure what to audition for EOY this year, please look through and consider one of the following items.

The first segment are dances, and the second are songs. There is also a piano item. I’m old school, so my picks reflect that. You may also notice a few Kpop items.

Ah, I’m so looking forward to another exciting year.

You may share the list with your friends. Hopefully this list doesn’t cause overlaps, and in no order of preference, here it is!

Thanatos (Piano): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8H8LRmNUdg

Done in 2019
Likey – Twice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2hlQkVJZhE
What is Love – Twice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0p1bmr0EmE
Planetarium – Ai Otsuka: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lN-BX6g-xAc

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2 Jan 2019
EOY J-Culture Festival 2018

Wednesday. Work has resumed, and I finally have time to sit down, write and reflect. EOY J-Culture Festival, this year, is a little different for me. It’s probably the only year that I didn’t perform on stage. Ever since 2010, I usually either use the piano, guitar or dance on stage. I had one of the most stressful setups (due to the limited timing), but was also my most relaxed EOY (once setup was done) where I can simply chill, meet people and enjoy the event. That’s what my job is; plan and organize everything to run by itself, and simply enjoy it on show day. With much planning, of course; I revised the floor layout umpteen times.

In no particular order, EOY 2018 would not be possible without the help of my awesome team of wonderful people, Dawn Lim, Estelle ゼロ, バニラアイスクリーム, Heng Lee, Ng Jing Jie, Kah Moh Khair, Kiat Kai, Angie Ng, Chan Shi Hai, 幸美愛凛 and Ang Yu Bin.

These are the most dedicated people that I have ever met in my life. I owe EOY to them.

They were assisted by adhoc staff, CuiMin Moh and Desmond Pang. I also want to thank the media people, Mervyn Lim, Han Siang Wong, Alan Reeves and Celine Chia.

Overseas guests Ola Aphrodite, Niji Universe Inc. 「虹バース」 (Aini Tomochii / Mochi Shirai) and Riona Hamamatsu-濵松里緒菜 Unofficial Fanpage made the event so fun. They were so easy to host and lovely to hang out with.

Jason Koh from Neo Tokyo Project did a wonderful job at managing the exhibitors; thank you so much. The awesome recital was also headed by KianChew KC Tan.

Although I didn’t perform on stage, I want to thank Evieep ZR for practicing with me my favourite Ai Otsuka songs. We were supposed to do Planetarium, one of her most popular songs. I gave my slot to MoMo Chan, who agreed to my request to dance Platina~ Shinin’ Future Mix, one of my favourite dances, performed every year since 2013. Thank you Tiffany Toriko, too, my piano teacher who helped in my preparation.

There were a few people who specially came over to say hello; Hoi Wan Hua, Liping Wong, Sylvia Siu, チャシンイ, Ng Bing Siang, Melissa Loh and my wife, Ling Nah Teo.

There are many other people to thank, so please forgive me if I missed you out.

Ever since the auditions last year, I was bothered by the future of EOY from 2017, especially since Barrage phased out entertainment events like ours. Moving to Suntec was an extremely big move, and there were many days where I doubted myself and wondered if we would really pull through. I remember that just a few days before our show, I saw my bank account drop to around $200+ only because I have vested so much into this.

It was one hell of a crazy move. I remember having a conversation with Ang Yu Bin weeks before EOY 2018, that perhaps that on show day, we will remind each other why we doubted ourselves, and that we had worried for nothing.

And 29 Dec 2018, day 1 of EOY, was that fateful day.

I remember sitting at the front of stage, with tears in eyes when I heard God say, “See Tim, I came through for you, right? You were called for this.”

Thank you everyone who came as a visitor, guest, exhibitor, performer, staff. Thank you for believing, pursing your passions together and for building deep, meaningful relationships with one another.

Remember, you don’t stop playing because you grow old.

You grow old because you stop playing.

See you next year.

Love,
Tim
Producer, EOY 2009-2018

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8 September 2018
Reflections from Japan

It was a crazy August 2018, and I took the time to spend a few days to chill in the heart of Japan, Tokyo with my good friends, Kiat Kai and Chan Shi Hai, as well as a few of my good Japanese friends like Tocco B Christiana, Junne Lc, Cheryl Mui, りりあ（りりあにゃん） Official and a few others.

I’m 35 this year, and almost everyday I constantly ask myself the purpose and meaning of my existence; have I lived fully today? This was reminded and enforced by reading the book “High Performance Habits”, as recommended by Amanda Lim WX.

I didn’t do much throughout the entire trip, but merely took the time to catch up with my friends and reflect upon the goodness of God in my life. I’m going to start a short piano course with my previous teacher, Tony to further improve my piano playing. And yes, I’ve always been and will continue to have conversational lessons with my Japanese teacher, Matsuyama Naomi. In my life, I always actively try to pick up things to learn, and to further improve myself.

15 years ago, I would have never guessed that I would end up working for my dad, have our 10th year anniversary with EOY and export cars with Heng Lee. I merely thought that I would probably own an online store for the rest of my life. I had a head start in my youth due to a bustling online store, but it tapered down and scaled off as I grew older with peers around me advancing in their career. These days, most of my friends make money than me in terms of salary, but it doesn’t bother me one bit. I used to measure our worth based on the amount of money that we make, but I realize that is an extremely silly thing to pursue. We must act and live based on purpose.

I was at the Hatsune Miku “Magical Mirai” live at the Makuhari Messe Hall with 30,000 people. It was mad and I was completely surrounded by Otakus and fanatics, but somehow, I didn’t really feel out of place. I’ve always been intrigued by the stage effects of how they use projections for the Hatsune Miku lives and the synchronization that band had with the live. It was unbelievable. Tocco kept disturbing me that I build my trip around the live, and that perhaps I was/am an Otaku (lol). She also asked me what made me start learning Japanese; was it because of Loli fashion?

I couldn’t really answer that, until I realized that the answer was probably anime, and then it dawned upon me; outwardly, I am not, but perhaps deep, deep inside, perhaps, just perhaps there is a small part of me that is an Otaku that is covered up.

Anyway, during the concert, I was reminded that this is what I love… stage, lights, sound and production. It was as if I was brought here by divine power to get ideas and inspirations for our EOY J-Culture Festival production this year. I *think* I was tearing a little during the live when I thought I hear God say, “This is what you like, isn’t it? I brought you here to have a look.”

I took a day trip out to Yokohama with Tocco and Junne, and picked up a Nissan E-Power Note, the very car that I initially wanted to buy about 8 months back. I felt like I was sent back to test/drive the very car that I wanted to buy, but didn’t / couldn’t. Though I love it very much, I was glad that I didn’t get it. While I was driving through Tokyo, a Honda S2000 drove up behind me in the exact colour of mine back in Singapore. I could have owned a Nissan E-Power, but somehow I was granted a S2000, something so much better. It’s amazing how God can speak to you through reminders like this.

I also took a day trip out to Disneyland, and one of the highlights for me there was the Disney Parade in the afternoon, where they were parading with their fanciful costumes, giant sets and people dancing all around. It reminded me of the Walt Disney himself, of how he envisioned the idea of building a theme park simply based on fairy tales, how he run into difficulties funding the development of the park.

Only a mad man will think of that, attempt to do that, and it takes a mad man to change the world.

Sometimes we do crazy things, and people ridicule us for it. But we shouldn’t let those people depict what we attempt to achieve or pursue. It’s amazing how God speaks to me sometimes…of all things through a Disney parade. I hope nobody noticed that tears were streaming down my face then.

Yes, melancholic as I sometimes can be, I feel so, so blessed to have all the relationships that I have build around me, and that I can have the confidence and assurance that I don’t ever need to be the boss even if/when my younger brother takes over my dad’s company, and simply being able to do the things that love, is such a liberating thought.

I have always thought that EOY is one of those things that I was called to do.

Happy. Influential. Purpose.

My 3 words for this year. From Japan.

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21 Feb 2018
Immeasurable : The Best Things in Life

Ever since I got back from Malaysia after an extended jam at the customs in late Jan, I’ve been struck with a lower back injury. I have been living in pain for the past one month, and have still have not recovered. I had back pains before, but they all disappeared within 2 weeks.

But not this one. This one has been persisting for almost month already. That’s frightening for me, because I have never been in constant pain for 1 month. At times, I cannot walk properly and it hurts the most when I sit for extended periods of time. There were times that I had to climb into a sleeping position just so that the pain will go away.

Some of my colleagues and friends who I hang out with know about my injury, and there were a number of casual jokes of me getting old and stuff, which of course they mean no harm, but when it is you experiencing pain affecting almost every single moment of the day, it doesn’t feel funny. Not at all.

In the last month, I have seen the GP, and he suspects no more than an inflammation in my back. He prescribed meds for me and is my most trusted doctor. It didn’t get better. I then later tried Tui Na, and while it did relieve my pain in the immediate 1-2 days, it still persisted after a week.

Just earlier this afternoon, I tried TCM, did acupuncture and cupping and she diagnosed it as a former injury that never really healed properly. She also identified the bone location and said that among all the patients that she had, those with this location of pain are usually the hardest to treat. The pain may subside or go away for a bit, but periodically it may still come back. After the treatment, she gave me some meds for the next week. She also highlighted that I need to stop sleeping late, reduce my intake of cold drinks and eat only white rice (no brown rice, etc).

I then asked her a very important question.

“Can I still drink beer?”

She gave me the ok, but did not recommend it. If I do drink, she says to consume both lager and pilsner types; apparently it helps balance the “liang” and “rer” so that it doesn’t further affect my back. I imagined that I cannot enjoy my food with my favourite drinks, sugar cane juice, Dr Pepper and peppermint green tea.

During the past month, a lot of things went through my head. One of the most pressing questions that I asked myself was whether I can live with this pain daily. When I was younger, I used to watch a medical drama series called “House”, and I remember that throughout the series, there were almost moments where Dr House will search for ways to cure the pain that he is constantly feeling in his knee.

There was a particular scene which he was confronted, and then he responding sharply, “What do you know about living constantly in pain?”

He also admitted that the pain made him grouchy and curt in life. And that struck a chord in me… I have always been a jovial person, but I do realize that in this last month, I had been less jovial. It is very difficult to be always smiling if you are constantly in pain.

During lunch time earlier today, I recalled that my western doctor also told me that I should avoid carrying my children, especially in awkward positions. Halfway through my lunch, it then really stuck me that this could be the very, very last time I will ever carry my kids. You only carry your children when they are young, not when they are old. I did not realize how such a simple act of carrying your children can translate into something so precious. Men in generally don’t do this, but I nearly cried.

You see, all through our lives, we go around chasing for numbers. We aim to be the top in our class, #1 when we race an arcade game, get full marks for spelling, and when we get older, we aim for the highest salary, measure our KPIs in figures, track performance based on projects completed, the highest attendance for our events, whose car can go faster from 0-100 km/h, which computer processor is faster, how many cases we close, what is our agent commission, etc. We try to validate our lives based on numbers.

And you know what, these are all foolish things. Because chasing numbers doesn’t make us happy. That pursuit is filled with turmoil because at its very root is competition and the best things in life are immeasurable. We all fall into this trap of chasing numbers and these things will never, ever bring true fulfillment and purpose in our lives. As parents, we want our children to be happy. Why then, do we teach them to chase numbers?

The ability to carry your kids, the bond between a parent and child, the fulfillment of your career, the love between friends hanging out together, how great a car handles, the smiles of the people we bless, the joy of bringing a production to live, performing on stage, a happy and fulfilling marriage. Even sex, can you measure how good it is through a scale?

These things cannot be measured by numbers, yet these are the things that really matter. And these are the things that have been bugging me; in my pain, it has forced me to look at what truly is important. I don’t do so; chasing numbers, especially salary is an extremely foolish quest in life.

I was reminded recently on how much I really, really love EOY. It is one of those things that I spend a lot of time planning and thinking on how to benefit and grow this community. How to inspire young people, give them a platform and help them grow. I was an at-risk youth once who got into gangs, drinking, lost in a world of low self esteem, but some people reached out to me. They looked beyond the acne filled face of the youth that I once was. Even till today, the scars are still on my face. I wish I was handsome, but I know I never will be.

But I want to give back what was given to me. To lead, to inspire, and to make dreams come true. Occasionally, I get judged for what I do. Girlfriends and wives label me as bad company because their boyfriends/husbands will have proximity to ladies around me, as I occasionally mix my circles of friends around.

But you know what irks me off the most? People saying that I do EOY because I get a lot of access to pretty/cute Japanese and Singapore girls.

Eh, fuck lah. Don’t measure me with what you will do it for.

But this is what happens. People judge and criticize what they do not understand.

The smiles, joy and dreams of the people is what I do it for. Some people will never understand, and I can live with it.

This pain, I really hope it goes away so that I can return to my jovial self and focus back on what I’ve been called to do.

To have purpose, direction and be a blessing to the people around me that I love.

Without numbers, and preferably without pain, of course.

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16 October 2017
My deep thoughts about EOY

I figured that if I don’t sit down to write this, I’ll probably not be able to get this out of my mind. Every time I am perplexed or bothered, my way of managing is to sit down, play a piece of music in the background and begin typing.

It was the EOY auditions today, and usually, it is always something that I look forward to. Seeing familiar faces, meeting new people is a joy, and it brings me such happiness when I see people’s dreams of performing come true.

Usually by this time, I will be very excited about EOY, planning the show deep into the night. I haven’t announced it yet, but one of my favourite dancers is coming for this year. I have been trying to get her for many years, and finally managed to do so for this. I should be really looking forward to this year’s production, but I wasn’t.

I didn’t know why too then, but it wasn’t because I was bored.

Then, it was earlier this evening through speaking to Ang Yu Bin that I discovered why I cannot fully dive and enjoy this year’s production yet…, but I have been so bothered by so many things regarding next year’s EOY in 2018.

For 2017, it is likely that it will be the final EOY to be held at Marina Barrage. From 2018, it seems that it may not be possible to use Barrage as a venue anymore. Apparently, management has decided to go with more clean water and engineering events, phasing out entertainment based events like ours.

From 2018, it will also mark the end of the productivity innovation credit scheme from IRAS, which will cut some of our financing. We have been blessed with funding from National Youth Council from 2016-2017, however while we can apply again in 2018, most entities do not get it for more than 3 times, not to mention that I am reaching the maximum age cap of 35.

This then leaves me with another big problem… finding another venue for 2018. Historically EOY has been a paid event from 2009-2011, and we went free between 2012-2017, jumping our attendance to an average of 14,000/year up from a couple of thousand. This means that I will either have to revert to a paying model, or source for a venue that can hold it for free. Regardless, a new venue will cost us a lot of money.

Along with this comes with a dilemma; going for a paid model will almost certainly drop the attendance but might increase sustainability. This bothers me also as I am so torn between benefiting the most amount of people (free), as opposed to ticketing the event. Unlike many other J-centered events, EOY is not a trade fair. It is more like an entertainment festival. I find it pointless to move to venues like Expo/Suntec/MBS; it doesn’t suit the style of our event and will likely burn us dry before we get there.

Since 2009, we have been doing auditions and I have seen so many youths’ lives impacted and changed. During my transition in my early thirties, I have been constantly questioning the meaning and purpose of life. When I was watching “The Miracles of the Namiya General Store” last week, it spoke so deep to me that perhaps for this season and years of my life, my purpose is to help people find meaning in theirs. To help, guide and show that dreams do come true. That life isn’t just about competition or chasing finances, but rather finding joy and fulfillment through people around us.

Like Black Alice, I have seen people from the EOY community grow up. While we may not contribute directly to their success; giving them the stepping stone is what we really are here for. I can proudly say that many of the talents in the J-culture were originally first seen at our festival. I am so happy to see new groups and faces auditioning for EOY, and then giving them their 1st chance to perform on stage and watch them grow.

Earlier during today’s auditions, Reina Kathy was around to audition. She was one of the earlier talents that we first met in their earlier days of EOY. She went on to perform for other events and lives.

And during the audition, she said, “I’m so happy to see you all again. It’s like coming home.”

I was so touched. Like the Black Alice Loli’s, I often see my performers as my sons and daughters. Watching them move to other events is always a bittersweet feeling; it is a little akin to your children leaving home. But today, she made me feel as if my daughter has come back home for a meal together.

This is what I fear for 2018. Then we might actually lose or be reduced in the opportunity to impact this community due to a big positioning shift. It really, really bothers me. Over the years, we have slowly evolved from a cosplay event to an entertainment event. We have become very strong in dance. And so this brings the statement that Yu Bin always tells me, “You have to trust the branding!”

He reminds me of 2009, where my people trust me more than I even trust myself. Though my self esteem is healthy and I seldom doubt myself, the outlook of 2018 still bothers me. Recently, I’ve seen and been to a few community events; I have realized that the turnout doesn’t go much beyond 100. How can I not doubt? I am human too.

I have considered many, many venues, even a community centre. But the immediate fear strikes in people around me that it will degrade the event.

But we are a festival and the facilities of a CC best suit the style of our event; a hall for performances, a foyer for exhibitors, water points for F&B, aux rooms for pop-up cafes and the like. It almost solves all our requirements for a decent sum of money.

Yet, I cannot help but feel bothered with the big decisions that I eventually have to make for 2018. Part of me really wants to stop thinking about it so that I can fully enjoy 2017’s production. However, this keeps repeated in my head in an endless loop, like how I spun out at 140 km/h at 4th gear and spun 720 degrees and crashed into a wall at the Pasir Gundang race track years ago.

Nevertheless, I feel better after writing already.

Like all previous years, I have awesome Japanese dancers for this year, which we will announce in early Nov. I’ll be also using the piano again for this year.

Ah… the mysteries and melancholy of life.

===

2 Jan 2017
How having less is often actually more

In 1999, Yahoo reigned as the most popular search engine. Back in those days, if you can get your website listed in one of the directories of Yahoo (it was extremely difficult), your traffic count will almost certain soar to thousands daily. As a webmaster then, we spent countless hours trying to optimize our sites on Altavista and Yahoo, the kings of search then.

With their growing popularity, they began diluting their focus from search, and started expanding into building portal websites, trying to make it into a one-stop centre. Search quality declined as people started cheating on search engine rankings, resulting in many spam sites. Cheating white text on white background was common at that time. Meanwhile, during this time, a little player called Google focused on nothing but quality search terms, totally ignoring portal building and the like.

And that, was truly what was most important. Instead of doing more, they did less.

Ever since young, my mother had this habit of secretly throwing my things away, especially when I am not around. Most of the time, I will never find out, and even if I did, my mother will feign ignorance anyway. She was and is still, a minimalist. Together with my wife, they greatly influenced my perception in life, on how having less can bring you so, so much more happiness. Less is often, actually more.

When I tell people that my new home is only 850 sqft, people are usually amazed and wonder how my wife, 2 kids and I can live in such a small space. What many of my acquaintances don’t know about me is that I have very, very little things. I don’t keep trash, old things or items that I don’t use in my home. I give away my books that I’ve read and only keep the really good ones, convert all my CDs into mp3’s and throw them away; my biggest possession is probably my piano, which I love very much. I was a decent athlete in primary school and have many medals, but I don’t keep them either, only pictures.

In my line of real estate, one of the things that I hear over and over again is that buyers want to buy a big house. Newly wed couples or singles want to buy a 1173 sqf 5-room HDB and say that a 4-room unit is too small; how can that be? Very often, we just hold on to possessions that we no longer have any use for because we are loss-aversion by nature. You open your store, only to find junk inside that you will never ever open nor use. It’s just taking up space, collecting dust; it doesn’t serve any useful purpose.

On the topic of small house, I didn’t realize until recently that it takes significantly less time to clean the house (I can mop my place in less than 10 minutes), utility bills are 40% cheaper because the air-con doesn’t run as hard and I can find my kids so much easier. In a big house, the kids are sometime so scattered away that I cannot feel their presence. Who likes cleaning a house? We should all spend less time at that.

In my closet, I keep only my favourite clothes so that every single shirt or T-shirt that I pick on any random day is something that I like. I do not have to fret over and ponder too much about what to wear. If I buy a new T-shirt and it doesn’t fit me well, I’ll throw it away. There’s no point in keeping it because it doesn’t look good. You must love what you possess.

I’m also in the midst of clearing my mp3s, deleting away songs that I don’t like. This way, every time it randoms something, it’ll be something that my ears love to hear. Every single one of your possessions should bring you joy. Nothing that you own should bring you sadness. If it does, you should remove it from your life. Why would you want to be reminded of unhappy memories? Have an irritating friend on Facebook? De-friend and block him. Don’t like a particular mp3? Delete it. Painful memories from items given by your ex-girlfriend? Throw them away. Horrible tasting tea? Why continue to drink it? Discard it. Have a messy car boot? Throw unwanted things away. You’ll have a cleaner fridge, more interesting Facebook feed, and for your car, you’ll save petrol, accelerate faster and prevent dirt and insects from accumulating.

I only recently discovered that I like small, rear-wheel driven cars like the S2000, Toyota 86, Mazda RX-8 / MX-5. They are generally faster, handle better because they are lighter, more economical and not to mention, easier to wash and park. They are more fun than big cars. Of course this is a matter of preference; fun cars are usually not comfortable and comfortable cars are usually not fun. 2 seater convertibles and supercars are more fun.

The same applies when drinking with friends. 1 pint of draught is nice, or perhaps 1 more if the mood is correct with food. Any more and sometimes a couple of your friends may not hold out so well; he/she may end of sleeping or go berserk, not remembering what happened. It may rob away some of the joy in drinking together. If in doubt, one pint is good.

Because often, there is a beauty in having less.

After being in real estate for 4+ years, I have noticed that the prettiest and biggest houses have the least things. The rich people have the cleanest houses. On the reverse, it is almost always the 2-3 room HDBs that have the most amount of junk. I’ve seen some really scary ones, a couple of which I was personally tasked to sell, but never successfully did.

Even for EOY, I realized that we are happier when we have less guests. It’s easier to manage and everyone including the guests are happier. Perhaps it gives everyone more time, and it’s cheaper for us too. It’s so weird…. but it is true.

When you stop hoarding material possessions, it makes you happy. It is a very liberating process once you get to it. We should also stop spending time with non-edifying friends, or non-healthy relationships. I also think less social media is often good for us.

At the end of the day, we should all have joy in our lives. Our career, family, friends, hobbies and our possessions must bring us joy. In order to truly find meaning in our lives, we must find joy. And often, having less attracts joy into your life.

For without joy, we can never find meaning.

Make a decision to have less this year.

My wife and mother taught me this important lesson, serving me as one of the most important guiding principles in my life and have benefited greatly from this.

With that, I hope that you will experience greater joy for 2017.

===

4 October 2016
At the end of the road of dream chasing…

I loved playing games when I was a teenager, and got involved in making websites for a game called Final Fantasy, which was probably the most popular in its time. That was way before MMORPGs, and was also the beginning of the world wide web. There were no such things as WordPress, Joomla or CMS systems, so the only way to make a website was to use a text editor or a WYSIWYG (Dreamweaver, Frontpage) editor.

FantasySquare was born and I made friends all over the world, some which I still keep contact to this day. At its peak we averaged about 6,000 visitors a day. We later started an online store to sell merchandise due to multiple requests from visitors, and that was, incidentally, my first pot of gold. E-commerce was almost unheard of in Singapore then, and the barrier to entry was high. Margins were also incredible.

Ever since then, I have been chasing dreams of mine whenever they came along. For years, I love Lolita Fashion, and had this crazy idea to import brand dresses from Japan. Never did I know that this will eventually bring me into contact with BABY, The Stars Shine Bright, Angelic Pretty, Innocent World, Putumayo. I had the honor to have tea and met in person Akinori Isobe and Fumiyo, the owners of BABY. I also met with Yumi Fujiwara, the owner of Innocent World in Osaka.

We were granted distribution rights to import Lolita dresses at wholesale, and this was before e-commerce picked and opened up in Japan. Ling and myself went to do retail for about 4 years, starting from Bugis Street, Cathay, Haji Lane and Far East Plaza.

In between the years of Black Alice, I also inherited EOY in late 2008, where the previous organizers decided to give it up. Even till today, I do not know the full story, but based on my interactions with them, there was probably some internal strife.

During the time of running EOY from 2009-2016, I learned about running events and productions, and later had the dream of holding a concert at Esplanade. Even till now, it still remains my favourite performing arts venue, and we managed to do a concert for Marie Digby at the Esplanade Concert Hall (picture in the header), making it one of my proudest achievements ever.

I tried training/teaching on a part time basis, because I love working with young people, and have always dreamed of being a teacher. MoneyTree granted me the opportunity, and I had many years of fun helping Ryan with the business when it was initially starting out.

Years later, with the encouragement of my parents and wife, I went into real estate and this marks my 4th year into it. Besides the regular buying/selling, I went into doing assignments (brokering of businesses) of companies. For 2017, I’ve only renewed it so that I can serve my clients on a part time basis. Some of them really trust me, and I feel bad if I terminate my license and stop taking care of their properties.

In between, I had the dream of starting a clean tech car company, and went to learn how to parallel import cars. I went for PSA/Customs courses to get the declarant licenses (which I still have) so that it allows me to submit cars for approval, and also went for a basic electric maintenance course at BCA. I still have my LTA electronic service agent account which allows me to transfer, scrap cars and the like. It was one of the toughest phase of my life because money was so tight and the market was so competitive. But the good thing is, I know how to bring back cars from overseas to be registered in Singapore now. I no longer need to risk with a parallel importer, as I simply can do it myself. It’s also cheaper too.

The point is… I have spent a lot of my time in my life chasing after my dreams and pursue actively after them. I am not those who merely speak but never choose to act. I act upon my dreams and work hard to see them through. Years ago, before GPS was popularized, I have already started driving in foreign lands. The general consensus then was that you should not drive when you are overseas because it is “dangerous”. People were very discouraging then when I wanted to explore driving in foreign lands.

However, things have changed now. Driving overseas is widely done and accepted now. I do things like driving from Singapore all the way to Thailand. With friends, we have also done legs like Taipei/Taichung/Hualien. One time, we did Tokyo to Kobe in a single day with Shi Hai. While I was planning for our Thailand trip months back, there were many that advised against it.

I tell you, the people who try to bash down your dreams are simply those who have never done it before. Driving to Thailand from Singapore is easy, and is a breeze. It is simply not difficult or dangerous. Thailand Customs and people are really helpful. People are inherently good. I had my Type R stalled before in Malaysia and locals help me push start my car with a motorbike. At another time, another 2 helped to patch my punctured tire.

Anyway, I digressed. I have come to the point where suddenly, I have no big dream/desire to pursue anymore. Recently, I have friends who wish to exit their full time job and start something on a part time basis, to gain some passive income. That, I think, is great, however, it is a very different feeling for me. I have placed my hands in many, many trades and have no longer the desire to lead a start-up anymore. In fact, I prefer to be part of a team when starting a new business, as opposed to leading one myself. I am… a little tired of it.

It is a very weird and indescribable feeling because it is contrary to what people experience in life. I cannot help but feel a little lost sometimes.

That day my wife was asking me; how about your dad’s business? My dad’s business is great, and I love doing it; learning about the business is part and parcel of the process, but it is not something that sparked off from a dream. I enjoy the learning process very much, however it is just simply not the same. It was through my dad’s business that I realize that I prefer to be part of something big. A small % of something big is more meaningful than a big % of something small.

It’s been perplexing me for a few weeks already. Perhaps, I just need a new dream or an inspiration. The thing with me is that you cannot motivate me with money or material possessions. I know many agents who will say/sell other projects just because the commission is higher, rather than what is truly good for the client. But I can’t. I cannot lie to my client and tell them something is better than the other just because the commission is higher. It goes against my principles.

I hope that through praying, that I will find contentment again. Just a couple of days back, I was reading a book to Zack titled “The Missing Piece”. It talks about a rolling ball who was missing a piece, and was desperately trying to find it. Weirdly, when it had found the missing piece, it was no longer happy anymore.

Then Zack asked me, “So daddy, what does this story mean?”
In which I answered, “Sometimes in life, you think you want something very badly. But when you really find it, you realize that you may not be as happy as you think you are. Perhaps you are most happy when you are pursing it, not when you own it.”

At this moment, my wife cut in, “That sounds just like you, dear…”

And then it struck me. Joy comes from the pursuit, not from the achievement. Isn’t that beautiful? It means that even if you fail in your ventures, you will still be happy and glad that you tried it. You do not need to succeed in order to be happy.

I think I need a new pursuit in life. I’m really satisfied and happy with how my life is currently, just that at this season, I feel a little melancholic sometimes.

Dreams are weird things. So hard to phantom.

===

6 July 2016
Life is full of surprises

A couple of months ago, the government announced the installation of 2,000 electric car charging lots. At first reception, it seems like great news because it seems like the government has decided to finally promote green transport, on a more grander scale.

In the few weeks, I wrote a letter in to LTA to request the usage of the fast CHAdeMo chargers (80% charge in 30 minutes) built in Singapore for Nissan LEAFs and other enabled cars because they are currently being tied exclusive to cars on the government’s test bed, otherwise known as TiDES program. All the cars on this program are exempted from COE (approx. $55k) and ARF (approx. $30k), and can be driven on the roads for 6 years under a special road tax which is about twice the rate of a normal car. At the end of the period, as far as I know, all these vehicles will be scrapped.

LTA wrote back to me to inform that among the 2,000 electric car lots, only up to 20% will be open to the public. They ignored my request to use the CHAdeMo charger(s) for vehicles non-registered with TiDES. It wasn’t announced then, but we now all know that the rest of the 80% electric charging lots are to be used and signed exclusively with a UK company for point-to-point car sharing, with the government subsidizing the points.

With this vested interest in EV car sharing, coupled with the time that I managed to speak with Energy Market Authority (EMA), they have confirmed with me that both LTA and Economic Development Board (EDB) are pushing toward Type 2 charging for the charging points. As far as I know, apart from Teslas from Hong Kong and some UK vehicles, all other cars from US/Japan all stick with the Type 1 J1772 charging protocol. The main makers do not make Type 2 cars (yet).

The technical difference is that Type 2 chargers can take a triple phase power (415V), which means that they will/can charge a car faster, provided it is a Type 2 enabled vehicle. It is also critical that the power supply is 3-phase, and not single-phase. We generally just use single phase (240V) in our homes, and 3-phase is more expensive to install. In real life application, I am not aware if they will actually really build 3-phase Type 2 chargers, or simply just use single phase ones with Type 2 connectors.

It’s kinda ridiculous, really. They are essentially building the lots for their exclusive contract. It has nothing to do with promoting electric vehicles on the road, even though the technology has proven itself to be very successful in countries like Japan, UK, HK and the like.

After LTA and EMA broke the news to me, I gave it much consideration to review my business model for Stellar Motors. I really, really struggled very hard and gave it a lot of thought, with many nights where I couldn’t sleep well. I finally made the tough decision of deciding to let go of Stellar Motors indefinitely due to the non-support from the government and the still many on-going changes in terms of infrastructure, which I have absolutely no control or influence on.

Because this directly means that I cannot effectively sell my Nissan LEAFs to end consumers anymore, because while they can charge their vehicles with the existing J1772 chargers, when the new Type 2 chargers are installed and the Type 1 chargers get decommissioned in 3-4 years time, my buyers will have problem charging their vehicles apart from home. Looking at the way things develop, it’s not likely that electric vehicles will get into the hands of the typical consumer until many years later.

This also means that I’ll be keeping my LEAF for my own use, and have already put up my Toyota 86 for sale. That is also a struggle in my head because I both love manual shifting fast cars and also EVs at the same time. But having driven a stick shift for 10 years, driving the future (an EV) is pretty appealing too. I only hope that the 86 finds a good buyer soon.

I’ve also intended not to renew my real estate salesperson license anymore for 2017, making Dec 2016 my final year in real estate. I’ve been in this trade for 3+ years and have learned many things, especially when it comes to investments. I’ve been blessed with great people around me like Terry Wee, Darius Ng, and especially to Jo Tan who helped me a lot in my earlier days. Adeline Peng also took the dive with me to real estate and we started together; I’m so happy for her that she’s doing so well now.

Some people have asked me why I don’t do real estate and cars part time; the reason is simple. I believe in focus, and to be truly good and effective at something, we have to focus. When we don’t focus we excel at nothing. I find it very difficult to be both concurrently effective at real estate and selling cars at the same time. I like to do just one thing at one time. EOY Cosplay Festival doesn’t count cause it’s an adhoc thing that we do once a year, and I’m only busy for a short season. It’s also something that brings me lots of joy, and have built many meaningful relationships in the past years. For some of us, it’s our 8th EOY together.

Wow.

With all that being said, I have decided that perhaps, after starting businesses for so many years and running around so much, I have done, probably everything I wanted in my life; run a concert, produce EOY yearly, start a car business, broker business deals, speak Japanese (albeit basic)…, and finally think that it is about time to go back to help with my dad’s business. My brother has been helping him since about a year ago.

Helping my dad has never been something I really let go; it has always been in back of my head. I remember during my real estate days when I was focusing on brokering businesses, there were many occasions where people asked me, “why don’t you go help your dad?”

After running Stellar Motors and with the experience of EOY, I realized that running or starting a startup isn’t really one of my strengths. I can form a team to do so and run very lean, but that would also mean business growth will be very slow. I find it extremely difficult to throw a lot of money and jump into a business. Frankly, people think that business owners are risk takers. On the contrary, I think we are more adverse toward it; just that we count the costs and risks, a lot, lot more often, and in more detail, of course.

While in the course of sharing my transition of what I am doing to people, I get a few impressions from some people that going to help my dad is a last resort, and that I should not give up on my real estate/car work. I find it hard to express or get people to understand that I have never felt that I had given up on Stellar Motors or even for real estate for that matter. To me, it is more like that I have made some calculations and in light of the circumstances (especially with the government’s move toward type 2 charging), that I decided that continuing to spend my time wouldn’t be worthwhile anymore. I didn’t “give up”.

Even if I were to do leasing with Grab, whom I had in-principal approval to work together with, investing in a $30,000 car will nett me $6,000/year over 5 years. This works out to be about $300,000 to make $60,000 annually for 5 years. If you split it over 3 partners to divide the risk, that’s only $20,000/annually per person with a $100,000 investment.

That’s just plain ridiculous. A full time job will nett at least $40,000 annually; mathematically when I annualized it, I might as well find a full time job, right? In a good year of real estate, I can even make double of that. It just doesn’t make sense.

Anyway, I digress. As I mentioned, for me, helping my dad has never been a last resort, but rather I think that having done all, it’s time to do my duty as a son to help my dad. I’m happy that I can work together with my younger brother, and it is definitely no doubt that one may wonder; who will become the boss when the day comes that my dad needs to handover the business eventually?

I have no intention no desire when it comes to such matters; people who know me know that I am not motivated by money nor wealth. I like the process of investment and the like, but not the cash itself (it is, of course, a bonus). I am completely contented to serve as minority shareholder, or even as director with no share equity because these things don’t bother me. You see, how much do you need to make in order to be happy? $100,000? Even at $3,000/month, you’ll be happy because all you need is a proper house, a nice family and simple car. If you don’t pursue for riches, that is more than enough. Anyone that tells you otherwise probably doesn’t/cannot plan his money properly.

Maybe when I was younger, I always had the mentality of 100% ownership. However, as I grew older, these things don’t matter to me anymore because a small equity stake in a big company is worth more than 100% in a small one. Furthermore, the dynamics in working in a big team to conquer big things is so fulfilling.

Many of my friends help their parents, and I now understand why. People like Mei Fang Poh, Edwin Seah Jianhong, Tay Kunming, Emily Aelfwyn are just a few on this list.

Speaking of friends, I am also very grateful to Simon Lai, Nicholas Ong, Ang Yu Bin and Kiat Kai for helping in my early days of Stellar Motors, embarking on a crazy dream to promote EVs in Singapore. Without you guys, I wouldn’t have learned what I learnt today.

I’ve now began work as an engineer for my dad, a field where I have little knowledge in, so there is a lot to learn. Then again, I’ve done a lot of things that is not within my major, which was Information Technology. Currently, I’ve been attached to Laguna National, where they are going to build a hotel at their location. For many years in real estate, I’ve always wanted to sell hotels, and similar when I travel, I’m always fascinated by quirky hotels like those in Osaka.

What I didn’t expect, is to be part of building one. It’s almost surreal; there are a lot of details and drawings, and we build the air-con and ventilation systems (also known as ACMV) for the entire hotel. Besides this, our company has built the ones for Facebook at South Bridge, Suntec City, Marina Square, The Ritz Carlton and now currently we are also involved with building Yotel (another hotel) in town.

The scale of work is just amazing and I am so blown away. Perhaps that everything that I have went through is a divine appointment set up by God, so that I can finally embark on this with a clear mind with no regrets in my life. My life journey has been totally crazy and I have changed career paths multiple times. If you think I’m fickle, I’m really not. I’ve been married to my wife for 8 years and I still love her very much; similarly, I’ve been running EOY for 8 years and I still absolutely love the work and my team. Real estate? 3+ years into the field already. I’m just quick to try a lot of things, keeping those that work and discarding those that don’t. Periodically, I do feel a little misunderstood sometimes though.

Nevertheless, this is a start of even greater things to come and I have problems fathoming the divination and timing. Each year when I look back, I always tell myself that this is the craziest year yet, and it cannot get any worst. This change, however, was something I didn’t quite expect.

Indeed, God is the God of the unexpected.

I guess this is the start of another ride again. I wonder where He will be take me this time…

===

27 August 2015
Face My Fear Again

As part of one of my hobbies, I periodically head to Pasir Gudang to have hot laps at their track, pushing my Type R to the limit. I’ve done this many times, so just a couple of days ago, it was just another routine track day with my friend, Nicholas, followed by a nice lunch, buying milk powder, a massage and a full tank of Malaysian petrol back.

I had just changed to Potenza RE11’s in the front, and shifted my Continental CSC3 tires to the rear, which was a little worn. Perhaps a little too worn. Still I didn’t think it would matter too much since, but at the high speed corner turn 2, I lost traction of my car, spun 160 degrees and hit my rear.

I had to relook at my camera before concluding that my rear tires had given up traction, causing my car to go sideways. I ravaged through a lot of grass and mud until the interior of my car was all littered with dirt and grime.

The accident keeps getting playback in my head, like some kind of post-event trauma. I had problem getting that endless loop to end. I keep wondering what would have happened if I didn’t push it, what if I had brake earlier, what if I had changed my tires, or even what if I had accelerated, or even applied maximum braking.

In my mind, I cannot come to terms with it, simply because I have taken that corner, many, many times at that speed, and never has it once acted on me like that.

Perhaps it is that fear that haunts me, because in the last 10 years, I have never done anything to cause damage or accident to my vehicle. I take a lot of pride in braking properly, heel and toe, and am always very careful in the way I drive.

I’ll probably take a short break from tracking for a while, and when my car is fixed, I can go for a few road trips again.

Then, when I feel ready again, I know that I will need to come back to face my fear, and take that corner at 150 km/h in 4th gear again.

Only then can I truly get rid of this fear; that’s how I deal with it. I know many people choose to avoid it…. but for me, I can’t.

I have to face it again.

12 years ago, I took a corner too fast at a public road and crashed into the barricade on the bend leading to ECP. The only way that I overcome now, is that every single time I take the same corner today, I still take it at 3rd with a high speed.

Maybe in November. I’ll come back to face turn 2 again.

The turn that killed my clean 10 year driving record.

I’ll come face you again one day. Very soon.

Meanwhile, I hope this endless accident trauma playback ends soon.

===

22 July 2015
The Struggles and Life of an Entrepreneur

The struggles that an entrepreneur face is among one of the most complicated forms of emotions. Sometimes, as I tread through each year, I cannot help but feel a sense of being lost. There are so many moments in my work that I can energized, fulfilled and even challenged, because I meet so many different kinds of people from such varied industries. But yet, there are also moments of exasperation and occasionally, depression.

I had lunch with a friend the other day, who is also an entrepreneur and she mentioned to me that perhaps what I am really seeking is teamwork. The kind of teamwork experience that I get from running EOY. Being an agent/broker, well, let’s just say that there is a little too much solitude sometimes. You know what disturbs me?

Sometimes, I manage to link a seller and a buyer together and the deal goes through, happily, of course. However, a few months later, the buyer, lacking the experience, don’t know how to automate/lead/run his business, and decides to resell it again. While I do get double the commission should that happen, it also makes me feel sad because there is no longevity or perseverance in what they buy.

I don’t particularly enjoy doing repeat cases; it almost seems that there is a lack of closure.

I sold my online store to my good friend a couple of years back, and he kindly gave me 25% stake in the business. For that, I am eternally grateful. From the period of 2008-2012, I also ran Black Alice, and I still miss it very, very much till this day. The experiences of running tea parties, bonding the local Lolita community, meeting the bosses of Baby, The Stars Shine Bright, Innocent World and visiting the offices of Angelic Pretty were of great experiences to me. It is still the reason why we hold tea parties annually, to keep the Loli love alive.

The thing about Black Alice and EOY is that I treat Loli’s and my stage performers a little bit like my children. We groom our performers, teach them how to act, sing, handle a mic professionally, give a platform to perform and in so many instances, watch them grow up. I’ve seen my Loli clients when they were students, till they get married and become parents. I feel a little sad when they drift apart, like how your child grows up and no longer become that close to you, like when they were younger.

A couple of days ago, I ate lunch with Emerson, the producer of J Obsession. We were having a hearty talk and I asked him, “How much longer do you think we are going to do this?”

You see, we are not that young, and into our 30’s. But yet, I’ve known him perhaps since 2005, for a decade. He’s probably the last/only person who still campaigns for J-rock, and for without him, there probably wouldn’t be anyone else doing it.

Anyway, we both agreed that we will continue to do it, for as long as we live, if all possible. For those who don’t know, the financials of an event almost never, ever makes sense. So, it makes me wonder; why do we still do it?

I think we probably continue doing it for purpose, and for meaning in life. Life is more than just about ourselves, our own family and our puny circle of colleagues and friends. Not that these things aren’t important, but life is also about changing, making a difference to the world that we live in, within the communities that we serve. I run EOY because… it changes lives. Not just the community, but also for all my staff. I’ve watch them grow from students, the military, some to become bosses and move to other careers.

The complexity of our career is that we are never really all that constant, and we have trouble getting people to understand or even empathize the challenges that we go through. Against odds and people’s discouragement, we press on, believing, while self-doubting a little in pursuing what we love. To some, we might seem fickle as we jump from thing to thing… but these are also things that motivate us; at the very core of each entrepreneur is an opportunist and often, an idealist too.

You know, there is one thing that bothers me about the younger generation. While I enjoy working with young people, they are also what we call the strawberry generation. Many cannot take hardship, criticism and crumble under pressure. They are extremely eloquent, unlike my generation, and some are very knowledgeable. However, one consistent problem that keeps popping out is that I find it extremely hard to have a very deep, meaning conversation with them. I cannot talk about deep issues, politics, meaning of life, galaxies, life-changing experiences. The topics revolve around hobbies, other people, gossips and everyday mundane things. But yet, this is the very generation that I hope to impart and guide.

I digressed.

Anyway, I’ve been a broker and went into real estate for 2 years now. It’s amazing how fast time flies. Business brokerage is fun and taught me tons of things, but I miss owning something. I miss the days when I truly own sometime to my name, create something, build a team and deliver. I have been far too safe, and discarded away some of the entrepreneur spirit from when I was younger. I think it’s time to go back, to build something again. My good friends, Felix and Raymond look up to me for inspiration when they were younger, and now, they have become great business owners. It’s my turn now, to look to them for inspiration.

If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you will find an excuse.

2 years from now, I have no idea what I will be doing. But I don’t really care. I want to make my life count. It’s time to go back to build something again, perhaps, just perhaps, to change the world, one person at a time.

Still, despite saying all these, despite the constant swinging of emotional planes, the life of an entrepreneur is still perhaps, the best one ever lived. I’ll be one again, if I can live my life all over again.

===

24 June 2015
The True Cost of Living in Singapore

So very often, repeatedly I hear people complaining about how expensive property is, or how expensive our cars are. It is true that our the ultimate quantum of our property is very expensive here, but so very often, people forgot to factor other things like interest rates, appreciation, education, child care, etc, which more accurately reflects the true cost of living.

For example, we may argue that in places like Thailand and Australia, property prices are really cheap. You can buy a sub-prime 1 bedroom condo in Sukhumvit for $100k, or a nice landed 5 bedroom in Perth for $400k. In comparison, a 5 room HDB flat in any district in Singapore will knock us off about $400k at least.

However, we tend to overlook that interest rates in other countries like Thailand easily hit 5% per annum, as compared to our sub 2% interest. That measly additional 2-3% interest will translate to an additional $150-200k over a 30 year period. If you couple with the fact that property prices are relatively not as stable as compared to Singapore, you are looking at negative gain over a 10-20 year period.

That means that in Singapore, we suffer a less chance of negative gain over 10-20 year period even if we take out a loan because of our low interest rate environment. Plus, we have no capital gains tax. That is amazing.

Having said that, it also means that if you buy a property overseas outright without loans, it will also make the most economic sense. Because the interest is pretty high. Over 30 years, 5% will cost you 2 houses. You will spend $600k on a $300k house for the entire 30 years. I find it hard to imagine a property appreciating 2 times its cost.

Food is extremely cheap in Singapore, perhaps just slightly more than Thailand. Dollar to dollar, we are perhaps even cheaper than Malaysia, especially when you consider the GDP difference of both countries. In Singapore, a nice plate of chicken rice will only set you back $3. Try looking for something like the western parts of the world.

Our cars are extremely expensive, no doubt. That’s possibly the only thing that costs so much. However, interestingly, our toll rates and parking is actually pretty cheap, as compared to other countries. Our fuel and COE are ridiculous though. It’s the single biggest ticket item for any Singaporean.

This also means that if you cast cars aside, the cost of living in Singapore is actually not very high, especially when you look at the fact that we almost never lose money off our HDB properties, have low interest rate environments, low taxes, have cheap and good food everywhere. I think that it is our monetary pursuit that makes us think that we have very little…. when we actually have a lot.

Quite often, a lot of my friends think that I make a lot of money. But the reality is that I don’t spend a lot; I am very careful with my money. I don’t buy big ticket items, I know of many places with free parking and I will walk for cheap parking. When I’m eating alone, I’ll go for $3.50 macaroni or $5 beef noodles, not because they are cheap, but because the cheap food is in fact more delicious than restaurant fare so very often.

There are tons of good and cheap things all over Singapore. It’s just that society has made us compare and compete with one another in the quest for material goods. We work endlessly day after day, forgetting the importance of setting time for our family, friends and loved ones, and indulge in things that sap our money away like hostess pubs and expensive holidays.

Over the years, I realized that we don’t need a lot to be happy. Money seldom buys us lasting happiness. To be happy is to experience the goodness of life, and find meaning in what we do. We cannot find meaning in things, nor in complaining about things.

Singapore is a great country with some silly things. Then again, which country doesn’t? We are bred as an impatient lot, but our forefathers have gave their lives to build a wonderful land for us and our children. You can buy a new HDB with $0 cash, get almost free education for primary/secondary kids, get tax-incentives and rebates for starting businesses, almost no corruption in our country, and you can walk around 3-5 am in the morning with hardly any danger to you.

The true cost, isn’t that high after all.

*Edit: I made a mistake in the interest calculation for the mortgage. 5% interest will translate into 2 times the property price, not 3.

===

29 December 2014
Appreciation Post 2014

It’s the time of the year again, where I sit down and write. Post Christmas and the upcoming new year, 2014 remains one of my best years yet, and also one of the years where I experience some of the biggest changes in my life.

It was the year I caught Michael Learns to Rock, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Taylor Swift live, and all 3 of them are some of my favourite artistes. I spoke with Kyary just for a little bit, and managed to meet her on stage after getting access from Xin Yu. Back about 2-3 years ago, I wanted to get her to produce a concert in Singapore, so it was really great meeting her.

Sometime in 1Q-2Q, I sold my place at Tampines for a decent profit, and temporarily shifted to my parents’ place. It was a shaky move, but for the sake of the future, it is what works best for us.

A few months ago, we bought a new place around Bartley, though it’s under construction and will only be ready sometime early 2016. It’s a small, but beautiful and accessible place. I never really quite thought that I will move from my 5-room HDB to a small condo.

April was also the month that Trevor was born, and I became the father of two kids. Zack and Trevor are such amazing kids… fatherhood really brings out a different side of you.

Then it was August… our annual EOY cosplay festival. We expanded to 2 days, and had a great turnout. Penta and Marisu also came and performed at our event as guests artistes, and it was a blast. We reached into excess of 20,000 accordingly to Marina Barrage’s counter; it was a lot, a lot of fun. Both were one of my favourite dancers.

I also bought my favourite dream piano… a Yamaha U3 to replace my Cristofori. Best of all, it was only $2.7k. A steal for a U3.

There were also major changes in my career; instead of focusing on residential properties, I stepped into the world of commercial real estate and business brokerage, something that I had experience in and very comfortable to deal and talk about. I closed a number of deals and got promoted from Assistant Associate Marketing Manager to Associate Team Director; about a 3-4 level jump.

With proceeds from my house and work, it was also the year that I managed to learn a bit about bonds from my brother and dad, so that I can buy some paper assets to hedge them against inflation. I’m still looking around for a 1-2 bedder to invest; in fact, I dream that I will do so well that I will be able to buy another 3 bedder unit to stay for 2015/2016.

I have always loved lolita fashion, and it’s been so long, but I managed to host and organize a Black Alice tea party with 30+ loli’s all at Lawry’s, and I had such a great time catching up with everyone. It brought me back so many great and nice memories. I cannot explain the love that I have for the Loli community. The friendships that were built over the years; I watched so many of them move from student to work, to becoming parents.

God has blessed me mightily over the entire 2014, and it was a year of breakthrough for me. For years, I struggle with trying so many different things, but this was the year that despite the so many changes, God blessed me in my career, family and life.

It is indeed true that God may not be early, but He is never late.

Every year brings a bag of surprises from God. I wonder what you have for me next year.

I love you God.

Thank you for being such a blessing into my life, and for using me to be a blessing to others.

Till now, I still stand in awe of what You have done this year…

===

14 September 2014
Church Saga

You know, a lot of people think that we are blind followers, just because we attend City Harvest. Truth be told, I do have some friends who really still think that the pastors/board are innocent, and waiting for the day that they are acquitted. That wouldn’t happen, for sure, but rather it’ll be what sentence(s) the judge decides to pass. Whatever judgement is passed will become common law for all future churches in Singapore.

If you ask me whether I’m disappointed, of course I am. I grew up in this place since Hollywood days… that makes it 17 years now. More than half my life I give my time and my youth to the church, joined the bookstore, served, cleaned toilets, painted the church, served for sound ministry and watched the church grow from 3,000 people. I participated in every single building fund since I came and I cannot deny the goodness of God in my life… that is without denial that God has blessed me and my family greatly.

With the facts of the case coming out, from what I see, it is pretty certain that the there might not be any building funds in future, and even if they are, the members will have doubt giving to the church; myself included. They’re have a big outstanding loan against the minority stake in Suntec, and there’s a good chance that they will default a certain percentage to it, or in the worst case , lose the entire property at Suntec. I just hope that they didn’t put their Jurong West building as collaterald/security against the purchase of the shares at Suntec. That’ll be catastrophic.

The church was much happier when we were all at Expo, even though the venue was rented, instead of purchased. Things went downhill when Pastor decided to go for the “Crossover Project”, which initially started off as a great idea, though later I lost interest and confidence in it. To be honest, I have never really liked Sun that much as well. She doesn’t emit the warm feeling that I get from other people like Aries, Zhuang and the like. The crossover felt like an individual’s self fufillment dream in being a pop star, at the expense of the church members’ money.

Mr Bill wasn’t so bad, but China Wine is really a can of worms.

On a side note, I have long heard and known about the inflated attendance figures, Multi-Purpose Account, horrible book-keeping by XTRON, self buying of CD’s… these are not new to me. We’re not blind and dumb followers.

Technically, what Pastor Kong did wasn’t really illegal, because they have carefully and skilfully drafted bonds to shift the monies around. However, morally what they did isn’t right. No one really knows for sure what the cash flow of the church is currently, as this is something not audited/checked… all companies are only audited for P&L/Balance Sheet, but not for cash on hand. If the cash flow of the church is screwed, then we are in serious, serious trouble.

Anyway, while jail time for previous cases like NKF is sentenced in years, they usually don’t serve jail time beyond a year. If they have really committed something against the law, then for doing so/misappropriating the building fund, this will be something that they will have to go through. I just feel sad that if people like Pastor Tan, Serina Wee did it for the purpose of simplying loving their pastor and his wife, did not benefit anything from it, but ended up having to shoulder the blame because of approving it…. that would be really unfair.

Just look at Sun. She benefits the most out from the entire saga, but yet, there is not even a single charge against her.

For now, our cell group is still staying because our support is with each other, and we are also waiting to see how the case turns out. After which, if we decide to move on, we will plan again. I’ve seen so many of my old friends and former leaders left the church already. They have been sevely disappointed, and I am, too.

I gave my tithe and building fund sacrificially for more than half my life…. only to learn that my Pastor and wife did not. That, I have difficulty accepting.

However, I also learnt that God uses imperfect people. David was a murderer, but yet God ordained him as a king and used him greatly after he repented. In the same way, when we do stupid things and run to our parents or to God, they simply just forgive us… without any condition.

Likewise, if the leadership of the church can make restitution and make things right, I can move on with them.

With all that being said, I cannot deny of the goodness of God in my life. He is just simply too amazing.

===

10 June 2014
Thank You, God, Life & Birthday Wishes

Been some time since I blogged and wrote… every time I write, or should I say, usually, I don’t title my entry first, because I don’t know where usually know where the topic head towards. I normally free up my thoughts so that I can just type at will and see what comes up.

I suppose this is like a birthday entry… I turn 31 this year. I never expected this day will come, and today is a big for me, because my wife and I just a new place yesterday, and today is in a way, our meeting anniversary.

There are so many things in life that I am grateful for; God has been always, always been so good to me. He blesses me with so many things in my life, and almost always give me everything that I want in my life. The great friends around me, the family that I have, fantastic supportive parents that believe relentlessly in me, tons of social connections and network, multiple business opportunities that I ever meddled with, to cars that I drive, career path I do… it’s just simply amazing.

Growing up, I was an introvert. I seldom talk, am shy with people and am very bad at making friends. I once got outcast when I was primary 6 with a group of friends whom I thought I was close with. I felt that I always needed to gain the acceptance of people all around me, even with the people that I don’t like.

And that, sometimes land me into trouble because I try to please people who do not like me.

If there is one thing that I learn in life in the last 31 years, is from the book called, “The 4-hour work week”. Apart from giving me the idea on having multiple assistants to do different tasks… the one important lesson learnt that we should not try to please people who don’t like us. It brings us a lot, a lot of sorrow because that severely affect your self esteem.

Learn to have an opinion… sometimes it is ok to disagree, and it is perfectly fine if some people don’t like you. You don’t have to like them back. In my line of work even for EOY, I sometime meet complete idiots. I just choose not to work with them.

But anyway, speaking of assistants, I’m also very thanking to Angie and Evelyn, who so kindly help me so much in my real estate and business brokerage work. Without them, I will be in serious trouble. It’s amazing how 3 can do the work of 5.

Somehow, as I grew up, I turned into the extrovert which I am now. I love parties, enjoy talking to many people and building connections with people all around me.

Thank you everyone for your so many birthday wishes on Facebook, Twitter, SMS, WhatsApp. I truly feel very blessed to have you for being part of my life, and for being a blessing to it.

May all your dreams come to pass.

===

6 January 2014
Post EOY 2013, Recollection of Thoughts & Dreams for 2014

For some reason, I can’t sleep.

Something keeps bugging me to stay alive… and write. It’s been eons since I last blogged…, slightly more than a year, to be exact.

I don’t even know where or how to start.

I was looking at all my old blog posts on Live Journel since 2004… I’ve been blogging for what close to 10 years? I hardly wrote anything for 2013; shifted to micro-blogging on Facebook instead.

I’ve gone a long way, experienced many things in the last 10 years, and done things that I never thought that it would once be possible. I once thought that I will be a webmaster for the rest of my life… but never did I know that I would sell it in 2013. For a couple of years, I went into Lolita fashion business and done some of the most crazy things that I never once thought that I would have done.

Post EOY, I always get a little depressed. Not because that it wasn’t good, but because of the sudden termination of work. Guests go back, emails stop and there’s pretty much nothing much to do for EOY, with the exception of chasing people for money.

EOY 2013 is the biggest and the most successful EOY till date… with 20,000 guests and big sponsors like STClassifieds, OCBC, WACOM and the like. It was also perhaps, our most stretching year. Everyone was so overworked… I was so glad that my entire team got a rest in Japan together because they were all so stretched and stressed that I could feel that they were slightly shaken.

And that, really, really bothered me for a while. I care a lot for my team’s well being.

Each year during this time, it is also the period where tons of things go through my head and cause me to think. Add the fact that my cousin, Andy passed away on Christmas Eve at only the age of 33 also got me really thinking. Life is so short and fragile.

Yes, I was in Japan to play, but it was also time where I rest my spirit, refocus and do a lot of thinking.

During my Japan trip, I drove through 6 hours of highways from Narita to Nagoya after an overnight flight on Day 1, then took a 7.5 hour drive from Nagoya back to Tokyo the following midnight all the way until morning back at Asakusa. It was crazy, but during the drive there were tons of thoughts flashing through my mind.

Of course, I really enjoyed the lives I attended together with my awesome friends, and meeting my favourite dancers is always one of the perks as being producer of EOY. Surprisingly, quite a number of people know about us in Japan… when I told Manako from Danceroid that we invited Ikura before, she mentioned EOY straight out, even though she joined way after that. I saw some of Wata’s fans again too, and even some of the random guests have seen our EOY videos before.

EOY to me, is a house of dreams. It’s a place where we put cosplayers, performers and guests altogether in one place to do the things we love. That’s why I am always so drawn to it… because I believe in dream chasing. I always feel very attached to my team, our cosplayers, our singers, our dancers and guests because doing what we like is so much fun. No one is here to judge us.

While I was watching lives and accessing the popularity of underground idols in Japan, it kinda struck me on the reality of the size and the massive challenge behind it. Even after 3-4 years, a one-man live for Danceroid does not grow beyond 200+ people in a single night.

What really hit me even harder was that… while I driving from Nagoya to Tokyo, God reminded me that he brought me to see so many things and have so much fun for EOY. He reminded me of how much I love it and He also brought up the reality of money:

That if I want to continue to run EOY till the day I die, the money cannot come from EOY. That I will have to work very, very hard in my real estate work not just to be able to support my family, bless the people around me, but to make so much money that I will always have enough money to fulfill my dream of doing an EOY every year. So that EOY can be a blessing to the local community, and also the community that I serve in Japan.

We were having dinner with Ikura, Yuzuki, Yakko and Manako from Danceroid on 30/12, and after Yuzuki, Yakko and Manako left earlier to catch their trains back, I was wondering why they needed to leave so early to catch their last train. We live at Asakusa and it was already quite far, but there still many trains.

Until Ikura told me that the 3 of them live pretty far away from Tokyo, and everyday, they will take a train from far away to work in Tokyo, where Danceroid’s office was. That is the kind of price and dedication that they pay for their dreams… to dance on stage.

Ikura drank with us and I asked her about how and why she started Danceroid. She shared with us how her family was stationed in Malaysia, and how she persuaded her mom to let her go back to Tokyo just so that she can start her dream of a dance unit. Tons of challenges came along like Minka leaving, new members, Coco departing, with the biggest of Kozue leaving the unit.

She talked until she almost cried. I feel for her because it reminded me of the struggles that I go through for running Black Alice then, and also EOY now. Chasing after a dream can be so difficult. I assure you that running EOY is no joke. It’s is really fun, but it is a lot, a lot of hard work and sacrifice. I lost a $10,000 deal because of it in Dec 2013.

Between 2012-2013, way before Kyary was this popular, we had the idea of bringing Kyrary for a concert here. I’ve always trusted my eye for good talent and quirky stuff. There was a point that we negotiated with her boss, but couldn’t quit agree on the price. Add the fact that she lip-syncs… I struggled with that. I am very uncomfortable with the idea of running the sound board with a lip-syncing artiste in front of me. I believe that a good artiste must be able to sing live well… and unfortunately it doesn’t appear that she can.

But the point is not whether she lip-syncs or not, but the point that it was not worthwhile to try for Kyary. She was just too expensive then, and that reality really struck me hard then. I had the option then, but I counted the cost and said no. Producing a concert for Kyary has been one of my dreams, and saying no to a dream when it is placed right in front of you is indescribable.

Without money, we cannot have choices. Money can buy you choices and dreams, if not, at least it can faciliate it.

With these thoughts that went through my head in the last week, I drafted out a new dreamline for 2014 of all the things that I wanted to do. The main change in direction that I wish to do, is to focus on my real estate work and do so well in it, that I never have to worry about EOY, so that I can run the show at any venue I want, with any pick of artistes that I like. I will have to restructure EOY and expand on the team, as we have grown by so much in the last 3 years.

I barely slept during my Japan trip, and I’m really glad that I went there. It opened my eyes to so many things, I met so many people and God so often spoke to me during my driving trips. I had so much fun and memories… like what Kiat Kai says… I think we miss the people more than we miss the place.

It was a time of re-alignment, re-focusing and re-strategizing for the next year.

Every year brings itself a set of challenges. And this year, is no exception.

2014 will be my most challenging year yet. But it’ll be a blast.

Because my God always makes things happen with one.

===

16 January 2012
2011 in a Post

Original Post from Tim’s Blog

And 2011 has just passed, and we’re already halfway into 2012. It’s amazing how time flies. Every year holds its own challenges, and nevertheless, 2011 was another life-changing year for me.In Jan 2011, I became father to baby Zack. Parenthood really changes your life, and I really respect all the parents (including my dad and mom) for bringing their children up. It is certainly not an easy thing.In Feb 2011, Ling and myself celebrated our 2nd year anniversary at Le Bistrot, and I played “Kirara” for her on their grand piano:

My good friends, Billy and Gloria got married, and I played “Theme of Love” on the baby grand at Shangri-la Hotel (Orchard):

In March 2011, I went for in-camp training (reservist), bought a Blackberry, and was invited to the be the guest cosplay judge for J-Obsession:In April, I did sound as the engineer for the Start of Year Cosplay event:And also had a really pretty Black Alice tea party at Lawry’s:In May, I caught up with the guys from Comic Fiesta to discuss on how we can work together, despite our dates clashing for EOY / CF. I was also offered the job at Tanglin Trust School as their theater technician / sound engineer.I started work at Tanglin Trust in June. It was also Cosfest, and my birthday. We (Ling) also had a short 1-Day trip to Batam. I spotted Elise wearing Sugary Carnival during Cosfest, my favourite AP print of all time.

In July, I went to KL to the Sepang F1 track for hot laps with my Civic Type R. A truly enjoyable experience:

I also did a cosplay show production at Marina Barrage for the Singapore Children’s Society:

August was the month of celebrations; Natsu Matsuri and STGCC. It was also the time where I met and became friends with Kipi, a very famous cosplayer in Japan.In September, I was the production manager for Drum TAO at the Esplanade Theater for a 3 day show:I was also involved with a cosplay talk-show at Scape:I also went to Chiang Mai with my good buddy, Yuan Kang. Rock climbing was one of the highlights of our exciting and crazy trip:In October, we had another nice Black Alice tea party: November was a crazy and extremely fun month for me. I caught LiSA during the Anisong concert (Anime Festival Asia) and was also involved in the Cosplay Idol, Seniors Edition event at Hougang Mall:I also went Japan with Vincent and Wilson, and it was a total blast. We attended 2 concerts (SCANDAL, Live5pb), met with many people, and traveled all over the place. Maid cafes are love. We caught up with Kipi (cosplayer), Epic Records / Sony, DANCEROID, Tocco (Baby, The Stars Shine Bright), Junne, Ferlyn and Xin Yu. One picture with DANCEROID: And in Dec…It was EOY 2011, one of the highlights of every year. It’s always my biggest show, and this year we had lots of fun. We invited Hitomi from @home maid cafe, and she was our guest artiste for this year:I also played “Persona 4 – Poem of Everyone’s Soul” on the stage, to thank all the guests for coming to EOY each year:

It was another great year, and another blast. Despite clashing with CF, the bad weather, the breaking down of the MRT, the far location, it was still a great EOY. I had lots and lots of fun.I think it is very hard to explain why I work and spend so much time on EOY… it is really very fun running your own production, and leading a team of people to deliver an event… it is an indescribable experience.

Meeting artistes, planning for stage productions, running sound, leading people, running a business, cosplay, meido, lolita are all things that I truly love in my life, and they all come together under one thing called EOY.

As with any event, there will never be a perfect one, and also being an organizer, like what Emerson says, is usually a thankless job. I so agree with that. Most importantly, is that I had fun in process, and tried to relay those feelings to as many guests for EOY as much as possible.

Lastly, in Dec, I also announced and decided to graduate Black Alice, and will stop all major activities for BA in the end of Jan 2012. Our graduation tea party was held end Dec 2011:Thank you Loli’s, for all the happy memories of Black Alice.

It was an amazing 4.5 years, and I’ll never forget about them. Thank you for giving me a chance to be the owner of Black Alice, and for changing my life. These memories will stay with me for as long as I live… and even when I die, I’ll bring them all to heaven with me.

2011 was a great year. It was challenging, but God brought me through.

He is truly amazing, and I’m looking forward to 2012. Each year, God always outdoes what I expect myself to do.

I relentlessly pursue my dreams each year, and I hope that you will, too. It is never easy, but life is too short to have regrets.

===

9 November 2011
Life & Japan

It’s been a long time since I’ve updated; the past few weeks have really been busy with the auditions for EOY. This year, there were more registrations, so we had to use 3 sessions to clear everyone.

On another note, Grace has left Black Alice as she has graduated from university, and Sheryl is the new brand manager for Black Alice currently. She’s been a great help to me so far, and she recently helped to organize the recent tea party. I think she’s a really lovely girl, and does her job well.

AFA is just round the corner this week; lots of exciting happenings this year. Hao and myself will be going for Lisa’s live on Saturday. We initially decided to go for Miku, but later switched to Lisa instead. I guess it’s no surprise that they didn’t put Kalafine and Lisa together, since those are what I (most people too, I believe) would want to see the most.

On another note, Wilson, Hao and myself will be flying off to Japan next Tuesday for a week. We’ll land in Haneda in the late evening, chill out, and then go full force the next day onwards. Some highlights of our trip will be a day trip to Nikko, SCANDAL concert at Shibuya (http://www.scandal-4.com), cutting our hair/shampoo at Moe Sham, a meido hairdressing saloon (http://moesham.com), Afilia Saga East Live w various artistes (http://5pb.jp/afiliasaga/) and multiple dinners at Cosplay/Mei-do cafes.

We’ll also be making a trip up to Epic Records @ Sony Music Studios to discuss some work stuff, hopefully we’ll able to have some collaborations for 2012. I’ll also be catching up with Tocco, a good friend from BABY, The Stars Shine Bright (http://www.babyssb.co.jp). Most probably as well, we’ll be catching up with Yumiko (aka MTP Sensei), and hopefully with Kozue and Ikura as well. I really hope to meet them again. By some weird chance if I’m able to meet Marisu…… (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UOUKRbRiww)

I’m not sure if the calendar allows it, but if possible I’ll like to catch up with Nagayama from Angelic Pretty (http://www.angelicpretty.com) and Reinnie. Before I die, I want to have tea with Aoki Misako (http://aokimisako.net/) as well, though I have no idea how that is going to happen.

After AFA is over, it’ll be EOY. It’ll be a busy period for all of us then, and Japan will be a good time to chill out, gather ideas and make some arrangements for next year.

Looking at this year’s auditions, I’m really looking forward to an even greater EOY this year. Some of the performers this year are really outstanding. I’ll post some audition videos on a later date. Although we had the least number of people auditioning on #3, it was one of the most stellar ones I’ve seen in 3 years.

Also, we’ve scored another project to handle the production and some content for the “Cosplay Idol Competition (Senior Citizen)” at Hougang Mall at the end of this month. There’s also another pending concert project; let’s see if we manage to get that as well.

Hope we’ll get even more shows to do after EOY is over~

===

24 September 2011
Chiang Mai – The Land of New Things and Adventures

So fast; it’s been 6 days since I’ve stepped foot into Chiang Mai, one of the places in Thailand that I’ve always wanted to go. It’s a city that I fell in love with; people are generally very hospitable and warm. I can’t say that for all of the city though, as I felt some of them weren’t too polite to us.

Out of the city in the rural areas, the experience was fantastic. I had lots of fun talking to locals, eating local Thai food, practicing what little Thai I know, and hearing the lovely Thai ladies in trying desperate to make conversation with their limited English is so “Na Luck Mah” (very cute).

We stayed about 50 km away from the city centre at Mae-On area (it’s really far), and cost us 800 baht each way when we want to go to town, though fortunately we rented a motorbike for like only 200 baht/day. We stayed at Tharnthong Lodges, where it’s a beautiful chill out place with cataracts just outside our small villa. Kitchen also served excellent food.

Our total stay of 6 days, 1 motorbike and with meals at our villa amount to 9,290 Baht, which only amounts to S$200/person for the entire duration. Unbelievably cheap. Though far, I love staying in rural areas because people are generally nicer, and they really treat you like guests. Our host, Prim, taught us Thai for 2 days with… no charge at all. Try finding that in town. She was really warm and nice. The only downside was that our internet was a little slow, and that I have no mobile reception on the mountain.

Most of our other money was spent on new experiences such as one day tours, rock climbing (this was an awesome experience) and a little bit of drinking. Our total trip, including airfare was about S$730. Yes, everything in, including airfare, trips, food, transport, drinks and accommodation. That is pretty unbelievable, for a 6 day trip.

I think one of the things that I accidentally discovered was that I really love talking to the local people in their local language. I never knew that it would be so fun and interactive; and the Thai’s love it when you talk to them in whatever little you know. It makes you appreciate their culture and people more.

In addition to Jap, the next language that I’ll like to pick up is Thai. It appears that speaking isn’t really that hard (no tenses and such), though writing can be a bit more of a challenge. I also want to learn Spanish eventually.

Chiang Mai was more of a time for me to rest up, especially from my super packed hours when I was doing the TAO production a few weeks ago. With all my trips, I always try to make them “business leisure”, so that I get to do a bit of work, and have lots of fun while at it. Every time I travel, my assistants help to ensure that all of my businesses run well.

I slept very well, traveled to many places and tried many new things, one of which I thought was really enjoyable was rock climbing.

We went for one at the Crazy Horse Crag, and even did rappelling into one of the caves, which was like 130ft/25m deep. I think that was at least 10 storeys high, which was kinda scary. Our virgin climb was also about 100 ft or so; really high up. That was one point while I was reaching for a rock and climbing up when… I saw a gecko STARING at me just where my right hand was. I nearly freaked out. It was bright white/orange in colour.

It was super tiring, but I made quite a few friends from USA and England from the climb. They were all beginners, just like I was. And everyone had lots of fun~

I’m actually typing this on the plane, and I love it probably love because there is no internet access. You can’t do much, except reply some of your emails and probably… write. It’s a good place to consolidate your thoughts, and pen them down in words. After all, writing is a form of expression, which I like to encourage my friends to do. It’s also a form of remembrance for the things that you do, since our memories tend to fade over time. My memory isn’t that good, so I always make use of pictures and my blog to recall my memories when I need to access them. Best of all, or worst of all, depending on how you look at it, the internet isn’t around to distract you.

Some random things that we did this time in Chiang Mai:
* Basic conversational Thai lessons for 2 days.
* Riding motorbike all around town and in the rural areas. On some nights, we were riding in complete darkness. Kinda dangerous, but we took every possible care, especially navigating up the mountains at gay hours.
* Tried rock climbing and rappelling for this first time. It was totally crazy.
* Eating at random restaurants and practicing our Thai.
* Riding into the heart of the city with some prior GPS planning on Google Maps. I love Google Maps. It’s an amazing tool, and I think Google contributed a lot to the world that we live today.
* Random foot massage after a long day of climbing.
* Drinking at a bar in town.
* One day tour to visit the Lost City, and the biggest waterfall. Did about an hour of trekking there, and got my foot yanked into a pool of water. Totally nuked my shoes from white to brown.

Over the course of a few days, we got to know many friends, and it was a great experience. Rested well, had fun, and I think I’ve brought back quite a lot of happy memories of Chiang Mai. I hope that if/when they visit Singapore, we will be able to meet up again. Facebook is such an awesome tool; I think that like Google, it changed the world. It makes keeping in touch with friends so much easier.

Yuan Kang was a great travel companion for this trip, and I think he had a lot of fun too. We’re a little sad to leave, but we have more important and fun things waiting for us back home too.

My impression of Thai girls have also changed during the course of the trip, and I think I finally understand why I have friends who marry Thai girls. I’ve always thought that there are nice, and this time, I’ve discovered that they generally have a very sweet and pure nature in them.

In short, Chiang Mai was a blast.

Whenever I travel to any country, I always try to live like one of their citizens, because I feel that through in this way, you can truly experience the culture, and how it feels like to be one of them in a foreign land.

I also try to avoid all the tourist-y stuff (or at least minimize it), attempt to speak their language, eat their food, drive on their roads and try new things. I really hate tourist traps. No one likes to be sold to.

I love holidays. Looking forward to Japan in Nov 2011. Now that I’ve been a Thai for a week, it’s time to be a Japanese for another then.

Pictures of Chiang Mai trip: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150805995165291.733127.775650290

===

15 August 2011

From IT Programmer to Sound Engineer

It’s been a while since I sat down and wrote… as in, really write. I recall that I still have an unfinished book of about 30% to complete. Although my English isn’t that great, I like writing, and blogging is one of my ways in which I express myself.

Growing up, my dad was always different from most dads. From young, I never really quite understood the notion of working for people, because my dad is a businessman, and showed me a very different lifestyle. On most weeks, my dad will bring me to his office, have breakfast together with him, buy live fish/shrimp to feed his fishes and just chill out. I recall most of my childhood days feeding fishes, learning how to rear them, playing games on my dad’s com; it was pretty fun.

The introduction of the internet was something that really influenced me. After my Ah Beng years in Sec 2, I started doing a website called “FantasySquare” (http://www.fantasysquare.com). It used to be one of the most popular Final Fantasy related websites back in the 90’s. It was also the site that incidentally led to my current online store “My Import Store” (http://www.myimportstore.com) to be developed, something that I still own till today. Maybe web designing became more appealing than Ah Lians.

Because of FS, I grew an interest in web development and programming, and picked IT as my course of study during my polytechnic days. At the end of my 1st year, I had the chance to pick either programming, BIS (a little bit of business+a little bit programming), networking or design.

I picked BIS because I had an interest in programming and business at the same time. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you see it, BIS was also the course for rejects. People who couldn’t get in into design, networking or programmer got thrown into my course. My year 1 classmates who were really good at programming got into the programming courses.

Looking at the standard of “programmers” in my course, I can safely say that the standard of the most of programmers in my course… leaves much to be desired. And that includes teachers. A couple of us can program better than our teachers. Isn’t that… ridiculous?

Still, the BIS taught me a lot of things that were useful for my work, and part of my online store success comes from it. Business as a youth was interesting probably because no one else was like that. I became a little proud of my own achievements.

Until I went for my 1st reservist back about 5 years ago. I thought I was good, but I was grouped with aircraft engineer leads, director of law firms, owners of underwriting companies, owner of busing companies. Have you ever seen an owner of a underwriting company scold another Ah Beng reservist in the same platoon in fluent hokkien until he apologized? I had. It was an amazing sight.

The owner of the underwriting company was like a civilized, professional Ah Beng. He had the language capability to converse to lawyers, and also the ability to reason with Hokkien soldiers. He was freaking cool. “Zai” is an understatement.

During my 2 week reservist with these people, I learnt many things. It was also one of the most humbling experiences in my life. These people were so successful, but yet, they behaved so humbly, and were so free to share their experiences and edify one another. It was really an eye-opener for me, because it taught me that hey, I aint that great as I think I am. It was one of my life-changing moments.

I’ve always loved Lolita fashion, and a few years after that, I attempted to start Black Alice (which now I still own), and opened our first brick and motar shop at Bugis Street in 2007. We tried a short term lease there for 3 months, before moving to Cathay for 2 years.

Opening Black Alice was really an awesome experience. Despite the many challenges that I faced, I learned many, many things. Through BA, I made many friends, but I did, however, lose a few of them. We started with the initial vision of upgrading the standard of Lolita, by educating the public about Lolita fashion and how to graduate new Loli’s from ita’s (painful-to-the-eye Loli’s) to full fledged, pretty Lolitas. We conducted make up classes, did workshops, organized tea parties and even movie screenings.

It was one of those things that I have always dreamt of doing… opening my own Loli shop, and selling BABY/Angelic Pretty stuff. Although we no longer are at Cathay, we have a small physical presence at Dark Royalties / Far East Plaza. I really miss Black Alice at The Cathay though; I have so many fond memories there.

I moved from doing online business to retail, which is a totally different market from what I studied. I had no experience in running a retail business, nor studied it, but still did it anyway. It was difficult, but it was really, really fun.

In Dec ’08, I inherited EOY. It was my favourite cosplay event then, and the organizers decided to cease it in 2008. I had some experience in business, but zero in events. Still, I felt that it was a waste to let the event die and dissipate as a memory. Sound and stage were things that really intrigue me, and I’ve learnt a little on how to handle stages through sound ministry in church.

2009 was my first EOY, as it was really difficult. We persisted, and here we are 3 years later. In these 3 years, I met Yui Makino, one of my favourite singers, Mikuni Shimokawa, another one of my favourite singers, and Kozue Aikawa/Ikura, which are 2 of my favourite YouTube/Nico Douga Dancers. This year? Maybe we’ll get to meet someone special again.

Earlier this year, I saw a sound engineer position opening at Tanglin Trust School for their performance hall. I love running stages, and being part of a school environment was one of my dreams as well. I can never teach secondary school because MOE doesn’t allow a diploma holder to.

This position happened to be a part time one, and fits well with my businesses that I own. The school knows and acknowledges that I owns my own businesses, and they still gave me the sound engineer/tech position. I’ve been with them for almost 3 months, and have just been confirmed. It’s a little weird, but I’m a permanent part-time, which means I get entitled to bonuses, leaves, CPF, and other staff benefits.

These days, for EOY, periodically we get to run shows for external parties, some which are cosplay in nature. We did a cosplay production at Marina Barrage last month, are going to do another talk show next month, and I’m also involved in another production at Esplanade Theater. We’re discussing for another event in Oct, though that is not confirmed yet.

I never dreamt that one day I’ll be running stages and producing shows. Neither did I dream that I would one day own a Lolita store, much less become the distributor for BABY, The Stars Shine Bright, Angelic Pretty and Innocent World. I met the owners of BABY (Akinori Isobe / Fumiyo Isobe), talked with their staff, visited Angelic Pretty at their office, met Innocent World’s owner and designers; it was just an amazing experience.

I studied IT, moved to retail, moved to events, and now became a sound engineer/producer for events. I got my position at Tanglin Trust simply based on my portfolio; I have zero qualifications in sound. I just had an interest in it and learned.

I moved from industry to industry, but I totally didn’t expect that I will land in sound. Perhaps 5 years down the road, I would have shifted again, perhaps to something even more fun.

Life is full of surprises. Sometimes we spend so much so much time wondering what we should do next; whether we should study this, whether we should change our job. Sometimes, the biggest problem is us. Our reluctance to move because we are so afraid to change sometimes.

The past 5 years have been really difficult for me, and though I’ve been through many challenges, I’ve learned a lot.

I have heard countless advices from people on not driving to foreign lands, not owning a performance car, not taking risky moves, but… the things that people told me not to do, are often things that they themselves do not dare to do.

Some of the most exciting and memorable experiences of my life were driving in from Tokyo to Osaka, sprinting through B roads on the opposite side of the road in Taipei, driving through mountainous trails and riding a bike in Phuket during peak hour traffic.

Contrary to popular belief, driving in foreign lands is extremely fun. Just that… some people will never dare to try it. The same stupid advices that you hear every so often. What people do not understand, they criticize.

It was a big jump from IT to sound engineering, but the journey was tons of fun.

You’ll never know what to expect, so just keep chasing the things you like in life.

I really, really love my life, and I hope you can experience the joy that I have as well.

Embrace change. You can do it.

I want to thank the former EOY committee for giving me the chance to run EOY; it was something that really changed my life. Like Black Alice, it added colour to it.

For the people who stood by me, supported me, gave me a chance and believed in me, thank you so much.

===

5 August 2011
Life & Happenings

Man, it’s been a month since I last updated.

Earlier last month, we (Vincent, Wilson, Chin Leong) went to the AKB48 cafe at *Scape to have a look, and the place was pretty good. Service was great and it’s a nice chillout location. Although food is average, the pretty waitresses/hosts made up for it. Kiyomi and Yui were very warm to us.

On the same weekend, we had our Black Alice Masquerade Tea Party at Sixth Ave. I don’t have a group shot as I needed to leave early for church service, but I did manage to get a picture together with Grace:

Grace is the brand manager for Black Alice, and she’s an extremely great help to me.

I drove to KL on 15 July for the Honda Civic Type R track day special; I love track days! It’s been a while since I last went for one, and I can VTEC to my heart’s content. Although I spun out of a couple of times, I got to know my car a little better. I mounted my Flip camera and took a video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyTnzDJbeD0

Also went for “Ballet under the Stars” at Fort Canning with Ling on the same weekend:

We did a stage cosplay production for Singapore Children’s Society on 24 July at Marina Barrage, and got some of our performers and Chris’ band to do up a show for them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93lai98DBlI
That’s Momo, dancing to “Sweet Magic”.

Last week, I went to the SKE48 live with Vincent, and it was amazing. I didn’t expect too much because the equipment at *Scape is not that great, but they brought in a lot of new rigs, subwoofers and moving lights. The lighting designer was very good.

Unfortunately, the girls were lip-syncing though. Fortunately though, we were there to watch the girls dance, not so much to sing. Though because of my job nature, I tend to be very particular with I see artistes lip-syncing. But they danced really well. They treated us with a hand-shake session after their live. Moe~ <3

Since he mentioned that his favourite was Shiori Takada; mine was Haruka Ono. I think she dances really well.

I also met up with the people from Drum Tao at Forlino, a french restaurant at One Fullerton last week. It’s a Japanese martial arts Daiko/Drums performance to be held at Esplanade Theater from 1-4 September, and I’m the production manager for the event, where I will be handling the sound, lights and other show matters for them.

That’s about it! I initially wanted to write about another topic, but I think I’ll save that for another time, since I’ve written quite a fair bit today.

Life is good so far, and I bought a new Apple iPod Nano 8GB, which will be delivered next week.

Yay! Damn fun job(s) I have.

===

5 July 2011

Life, Work & Everything Else…

Been a couple of busy weeks, finished the drama productions, and a few other assemblies (they had some performances). It’s the school holiday season for Tanglin Trust now, so it’s kinda like the lull season now. Recently we’ve been doing maintenance work, with upgrading software, tweaking speaker settings and rigging lights. I prefer running shows.

I guess it’ll be more of a slower pace till end August, when activities will probably start again.

Part time work aside, I’m negotiating for another project; hopefully we can get it for this time. It’s a smaller event of about 200+ people or so.

The technical rider for Tao: Art of Drums is also pretty complex, but I guess being challenging makes it fun. It’ll be my first show at the Esplanade Theater.

For Black Alice, we have a Masquerade theme party coming up, and I’m looking forward to it!

I was supposed to be involved in a few more other projects, but not all came true, unfortunately.

Life has been good to me so far; God has been good.

Will be going to the AKB48 cafe this Thursday; I hope it’ll be a nice experience.

Catch up with you guys soon.

===

18 June 2011

Work, Life, Holidays

Woah~ been quite a while since I updated, and I’ve been pretty busy with my new workplace, as they have a major drama production coming up next week. As I’m on a part time basis, my hours are not fixed, and some weeks I come in 3 times, on other weeks I may come in everyday from 7:30 am to 12:30 pm.

This leaves me to still do my stuff at MIS, BA and EOY, which is actually more fun.

As part of my job, I get to plan speaker placements, run mixers, and decide/design how to mic/plot sends to the mixer. It’s basically what a sound engineer does… design and make the production sound good. Been tweaking the performance hall speakers recently, and Ling bought me 2 new mics (Shure SM58, AKG C1000) for my birthday, and will probably get to use them very soon.

Earlier this week, I also shifted BA from Haji Lane to Far East Plaza; hopefully response will be better in our new location, as it should be slightly more convenient for everyone as well.

Next tea party is also coming up, and I’m pretty excited about it as well. It’s been a while since our last tea party.

Over this week, I also went Batam with Ling, and we had a short getaway for a very cheap price. We paid about $100/person, including all taxes, ferry rides, seafood lunch, dinner, 60 min massage as well as a new 5-star hotel stay, including buffet breakfast. The only downside is that they brought us to various places to “shop”, which is probably how they make money to cover for the shortfall.

Was still a pretty nice break though.

Speaking of holidays, I’m going Chiang Mai for a week with Yuan Kang in September, and then Japan for a week with Hao in November. I definitely will not have enough leave to cover for that period, but we’ll work something out.

Looking forward to my holidays, and 2011 is going to be a great year.

Each year just brings so many surprises.

Good night all, it’s time to sleep.

===

30 May 2011

Comic Fiesta, Sound Engineering & Changes

Setup two weeks was good, and I’ve been offered the sound engineer/theatre technician position at Tanglin Trust School, and I’ll be starting work this coming Wednesday. It’s on a part time basis, so I’m contracted to go down about 3 times a week, though the hours might shift if there are events going on.

Will probably be pretty interesting, since I’ll still be juggling my businesses, and doing some part time assignments at the same time. The Esplanade show in September would probably be very interesting as well, as I’m tasked to handle the stage productions for them.

Had a great trip to KL with Shi Hai to meet up with the Comic Fiesta folks last Wednesday:

It was a great time of catching up, getting to know new people and exchanging ideas. They’re really awesome people.

Prior to that, managed to have tea with Hermes and Aiko too.

Has been pretty fun recently.

Alright, it’s time for dinner at my mom’s.

===

20 May 2011

Birthday Wish List & Latest Happenings

In September, I will helping out in another external event called “Tao Drums”, which has been having tours in various countries, and they’ll be doing 4 shows at the Esplanade Theatre. I’m in charge of the technical aspects, primarily in sound and lighting, to help ensure the show goes smoothly. I also want to ensure that the show sounds good.

Tomorrow, I’ll be helping out with a setup at Tanglin Trust School with lights, which is unfortunately, not my forte. I hardly have any experience in it, but I’ll be there to learn. I think they purposely put me there to see how I fast I pick things up. Assuming all things go well, I’ll probably be awarded the part time theatre tech position sometime next month. Let’s see how it goes for now.

And I’ve updated my birthday wish list on my left side bar, just in case anyone wants to buy any gifts for me. Sometimes, I get gifts that I really don’t know what to do with them, and unfortunately I have to throw them away. Please, please do not try to guess what I want. I really feel very sad when money is wasted to buy something that I don’t need/use, especially when something else cheaper and nicer could have been gotten. If in doubt, monetary gifts are the best, and I’ll use them to buy what I like.

Thanks a lot!

=== Wishlist ===
Hosa Tech. Y-Cable
Shure SM57
Shure SM58 (Wireless)
AKG C1000
DBX 215s Equalizer
DBX 266sx Compressor/Gate
Soundcraft EFX12 Mixer

===

5 May 2011

Politics, General Elections 2011

My interview went pretty well last week, and I’m shortlisted for a trial to help with a children’s concert setup 2 weeks from now at Tanglin Trust School. Assuming nothing goes wrong then, I think I’ll most probably be selected for the position. I hope everything goes well, and I can bring more good news in future entries.

General elections is just round the corner, and I’m pretty glad that it’ll be over soon. You know, politics is a little bit like religion. If you impose it on others forcefully, you’ll lose friends. The current atmosphere is generally pretty anti-PAP, and very pro-opposition.

There are always 2 sides of the coin. To be honest, there are many good things that the PAP has done in the past 15 years, with a few credible mentions such as low crime rate, extremely low unemployment rate, good GDP growth, a strong currency, law and order, 1st in the world for corruption (lowest), low pollution and well paved roads. We take safety for granted here when we chill till out 3 am with our friends, with hardly any fear of being robbed. Some interesting stats here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_rankings_of_Singapore

Unemployment rate is damn low, which is almost certain that anyone will get a job, if he/she is not too picky. The government is also very smart to outsource a lot of their external private sectors’ work out, such as building of HDB flats, to things like bulk purchase of air tickets for students (MOE), which actually creates many jobs for people. You can bid for government projects at:
http://www.gebiz.gov.sg/

After which, the government introduces the quota system, which varies depending on which industry you are in. For example, you may only hire 1 foreign worker for every 10 local ones. This makes local employment rate high. The introduction of the casino (their main argument was that it creates jobs) also create many jobs with a relatively high pay ($2,000+) for a relatively low skill job (handing out cards). Whether it cause more debt to citizens is still unknown for the time being. Even now, I still occasionally forget that Singapore has a huge casino.

Considering that Singapore has a death penalty for 15g of drug trafficking, having a casino sure feels like a weird thing.

I gave my vote to PAP during the last round, but I probably wouldn’t be doing that this time. And I don’t like Nicole Seah nor Tin Pei Ling. Yes, Nicole is eloquent, but she comes across to me as a cynical youth that is quick on criticizing PAP, and some of her figures are baseless. I have no idea where she gets her information from, especially when she mentioned about GST, and that we pay high salaries to our ministers in the form of tax. Lots of bogus figure quotes that cannot even be found here:
http://www.singstat.gov.sg/

Singapore has one of the lowest taxation rates, and people like you and me probably only pay very little, as compared to the top tiers. My brother-in-law pays like 40 times more tax than me, though his income with bonuses is probably at most 2-4 times more than mine. And, only 1/3 of all Singaporeans are “eligible” for income tax. So… it’s not really our money to pay ministers; it’s really less significant that you think. I do, however, think that they are overpaid though. Some of our ministers’ pay are higher than American president, Obama.

And Tin Pei Lin? She’s really feels like a cute air-head that knows nothing about politics. Her speeches are boring, scripted, childish (my biggest regret is not bringing my parents to Universal Studios; right…). I almost get the feeling that she was roped in just to win the votes of the younger Singaporeans. I certainly do NOT want her to be my MP. But yes, her Kate Spade picture and foot stomp are cute.

There are tons of reasons why you should consider voting for the opposition, but don’t vote for the sake of opposing. Know why you are voting for the opposition, should you decide to. For me, I feel that 82 out of 84 seats in Parliament seated by the PAP is not a healthy figure. A good organization should have a good balance of individuals from various backgrounds, especially people who dare to challenge bad policies. A 70/30 PAP/Opposition result is good enough for me already.

One of the reasons why oppositions cannot promise many things, or rather, why it is not so important is because policies are not just invoked on the spot. As a minister, their job is to convince others that your idea is feasible, and how to go about doing it. Just because a minister think that dropping HDB prices is good (yes, it will probably benefit the citizens) doesn’t necessary means that it will happen. He will have to convince the rest of the ministers to buy his cause.

No government is completely clean, but I would like to see some positive changes as well. A few things that got me thinking, and may get you too:

* GST rose from 5% to 7% one year after the previous election. It affects every single purchase, but worst still for my Japanese imports as well. 7% is extremely painful on business margins. I cannot imagine them raising it to 10%.

* Town Council & Utility bills have been rising non-stop. 2 years ago, for utilities, I was paying about $90, now I’m paying about $150.

* ERP is a good and proven solution to congestion charging, but remember that is the purpose why it was built. I do not see why the government should charge me $3.00 on a Friday when I use the Nicoll Highway. It is almost always empty. I’ve seen it raise from $0.50, to $1.00, to $2.00, and now $3.00. That is… a little ridiculous. And they built many new gantries over the past 5 years.

* COE has been mercilessly going up; the transport minister messed up the quotas previously, and did a sharp revision in 2010, causing the supply/demand curve to go berserk. In the last 5 years, during recession I seen it grow from $8,000 to about $50,000 now. I can buy a Kia Forte with $50,000 2 years ago.

* PAP has the history of putting people to jail without trail under ISA (Internal Security Act), many under communist claims, which were seldom proven. Many people have been jailed or made bankrupt when they chose to stand for opposition. One of the most famous being “Operation Coldstore”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Coldstore

People like Lim Chin Siong (the co-founder of PAP) was jailed for 17 years, the longest ever jail term for a political party in the history of the world.

* Singapore is the 3rd most dense country in the world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_population_density). With this amount of congestion, why are we still importing so many foreigners? Although a small percentage, I have read that our government actually offers a package to some Beijing students to come over to study, all expenses paid, with a PR citizenship… using the citizens money.

* Government linked companies such as Temasek Holdings & GIC lost billions of dollars, as reported by Bloomberg. The money lost was those in our revenues, the same place where the money that we pay for our HDB flats. Is that the reason why HDB flats are so expensive? It makes me wonder if their investments are really sound.

* Ong Teng Cheong was probably my favourite president, and I have a lot of respect for him. He passed away in 2002, and was probably one of the most courageous president to challenge the government. He was the one who pushed for SMRT development, and was one of the most well loved presidents in Singapore history.

You see, as the president, no one is allowed to touch the nations reserves without his authority. It is his responsibility to safeguard the reserves. Back in the 1998, POSB is a state-reserve directly under the president’s protection, but PAP negotiated a deal with DBS and sold the reserves to them without the president’s knowledge.

OTC called in to stop the sale, but the deal eventually still went through without his consent. When he passed away in 2002, he was NOT given a state funeral. He is the first and only president of Singapore that did not receive a state funeral. In comparison, when LKY’s wife passed away, she was given one of the most extravagant send-off ever, and she was not even a civil servant.

Sources:
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2009/02/president-ongs-interview-with-asiaweek-revisited/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ong_Teng_Cheong

In short, PAP has done a lot to ensure progress of our nation. But what they have failed to do, is to educate the people about the good things that they have done. Their arrogance (i.e. Mah Bow Tan) is what truly disturbs me, especially since he serves Tampines GRC, the place which I live in.

But in the last 5 years, I really didn’t see progress. The influx of foreign talent, raise of GST right after elections really caused me to lose my trust in them. They meddled with the reserves, just like when they did so during Ong Teng Cheong’s presidency. And because I love my former president, I probably will vote for the opposition this time round.

Among the opposition, my favourite candidates are:
Low Thia Kiang, WP
Chen Show Mao, WP
Slyvia, WP
Vincent, SDP

No government can be completely clean and transparent, but they all can be better. I believe Singapore has a better future with these individuals. Please win Aljunied GRC.

Be an informed voter. Know who, why and what you are voting for.

===

15 April 2011

Interview Next Week

A few days ago, I applied for a part time position as a sound engineer/theater technician at Tanglin Trust School. I got a call from them earlier today, and I’ve been scheduled for an interview next week.

The requirements/skills that they are looking forward seem quite similar and appropriate with the experience I had, and since I have some free time, I thought it would be quite nice to run shows, stages and theatre productions. It’ll be a good opportunity to learn more about lighting as well, though my forte is still sound engineering.

Let’s see how it goes, and I hope to bring good news. Thankfully, it’s not a full time job, so I’ll still have hours to plan my other work, and more importantly, enjoy life, should I really get to work there. Adding to the fact that it’s in a school environment gives it bonus points.

I think it’ll be quite an interesting experience.

Let’s pray and see how everything turns out.

===

11 April 2011

SOY’C Cosplay Event 2011

Had a great weekend over at SOY’C. I thought I wouldn’t have too much time to take pictures, but my most busy period was during the band and karaoke competition. Thankfully, Vincent, Shi Hai and Yu Bin were there to support the event as well, so all was good.

Turnout was good, and the sound aspects generally went quite well. My only complaint is that the sound is a little thin and sharp, which I am certain that I can fix it if I’m given access to the Soundcraft board at the top. I could only cue and request for EQ/fader adjustments from the front during the karaoke, but that’s probably more apt, anyway.

Thankfully, I have full control over another mixer at the floor area for the band competition and ambient tracks. There were a 31-channel EQ, 2 compressors and 2 gates for me to play with.

Met a lot of friends, and made a lot of new friends as well. I am also surprised by the number of friends that I can tag in my pictures… a good lot of them are actually in my Facebook; I just couldn’t recognize them.

楽しかった！

More pictures on Facebook Album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=775650290&aid;=640205

===

4 April 2011

Sound Engineering, SOY Cosplay Event

Ah alright, it’s been confirmed… EOY will be supporting SOY this year for sound, and I’m the sound engineer for this year, and will be helping to plan the mics, bands, music and all other sound aspects. There’s a limitation to the number of lines, so will probably have to re-plan a little, and make the best of everything.

The venue is huge this year, and will probably see a lot of people this year. The mixer is a little far though… at level 3, so that would be a slight challenge to mix. I’ve gotten a few guys to help me out, and should make it slightly easier… no way I can do the sound alone.

I hope they have a good mixer and wireless mics.

Going to be another busy week ahead, but it’s all for the good. I hope this year will be a good one for me. The last 2 years have been filled with many challenges.

Currently hibernating at Yuan Kang’s place, doing work together. We normally chill out on Mondays together, since our schedules are relatively flexible.

Negotiating a few other projects; and hope those go through smoothly as well.

And we had an awesome Black Alice Tea party last Saturday. The place was beautiful; all the guests really loved it.

===

31 March 2011

Work, Life & All

Busy over the course of the week, mainly with many meetings and arranging for deliveries and stuff for Black Alice. I really like the Sugary Carnival series from Angelic Pretty, but unfortunately when they re-released the series, it was completely sold out AGAIN within 1 day.

Anyway, we’re having a tea party this Saturday, and attendance is a lot bigger than I thought! We have like instantly like 30+ people for this weekend.

Taking care of Zack has been pretty tiring sometimes, but it’s still a rewarding experience as a father. Now Ling and myself put Zack at my mom’s every Tuesday so that we can go dating alone then. We went cycling last week, and for this week, we caught “Red Riding Hood” at Cineleisure, and had dinner at Ootoya at Orchard Central; the food there is actually quite good~

Going through a few projects recently; hopefully all goes through well soon. Might be doing sound engineering for another cosplay event. Did sound for a combined meeting last week too.

Life has been busy, but pretty interesting so far, I would say.

Currently writing this from Linux Ubutun 10.10 via my desktop. It’s an extremely sociable OS, considering how it integrates my Facebook/Twitter/GTalk, weather, email and Last.fm directly to my desktop. Chromium browser saves all my themes and bookmarks, so that all my browsing history from my Mac is brought over.

I can even access my Calendar from Linux… and even listen to my favourite music via Last.fm and mSpot… it’s true wireless cloud computing, everywhere… and I’ve also got Google Cloud Printing for printing wireless-ly. I can do my work on any computer, on any OS, in any part of world, as long I have an internet connection. Best of all, it’s free.

I hope I manage to find more time to go back on writing my book; it’s a little overdue already, and I have a number of people who asked/reminded me about it.

I guess 2011 is a year of many changes. Slightly tired, but God has been very good to me.

===

22 March 2011

Reservist & Cosplay

Reservist was the previous week, and it was pretty fun. As usual, we spent most of our time waiting for things to happen, and we had a one day field range to practice being ambushed and to counter fire. The fun parts? Going for tea breaks, eating chendol/ice kachang, sleeping in the bunk, eating ice cream and simply just talking cock and chilling out with my buddies. Apart from rifles, we also play Monopoly Deal. Hao, Wilson, Liang Inn and Steve were there to make the reservist really fun.

For this reservist, I bought a Blackberry Tour 9630 as I wanted a non-camera phone with internet access. I wanted to get the HTC Snap, but it wasn’t as readily available. Plus, I’ve always wanted to try using a Blackberry. After using the iPhone for more than a year, I switched to the Google Nexus One, and now have a Blackberry for reservist. It is probably one of the best phones you can get without a camera… the only downside? It requires a Blackberry Internet Service (BIS) in order to go online and use their BB apps. I had to get Singtel to turn it on for a month for month, which cost about $20+ for a 5GB plan.

I’ve heard so many people complain about in-camp training, but I really… quite enjoy it. I mean, apart from the boring army stuff, we get to shoot rifles and live rounds (the scope is really like those you play in games), eat, chill out and forget about work. It is also a good time to reflect on your life, catch up with your buddies and get ideas from one another. You also get to see the weirdest people. The army is full of them.

I was also invited to be a guest judge for J Obsession, a Japanese music event held last Saturday at The Cathay. The quality of the cosplay competition was pretty good. Not all the performances were stellar, but it was a very good effort on the part of the cosplayers.

Group shot of most of the cosplayers for the cosplay competition.

And that’s Aya, the winner of the cosplay competition. Her make-up/hair/lashes were really beautiful, and she sang really well too. She wins a Sony 40″ TV. Pretty impressive first prize, I must say.

Pretty busy over the past week trying to clear work from the reservist period. Thankfully, I have Grace and Cassandra to help me take care of my entities when I am not around. I have a few important meetings over the next 1-2 weeks, so I hope all goes well, and I’ll have good stuff to be able to announce then.

Also did some simply planning for EOY as well, and once again, I’m getting pretty excited about it as well. On a sadder note, a good friend and member of our team has tendered from EOY, as work commitments and new projects have taken over. It’s a little sad, because deep down inside, although I always hope that my team will stay forever with me, I know that it simply isn’t possible.

Since day 1 when I took over EOY, I was preparing for the day that one day team members will eventually have to go; they just happened a little earlier than expected. Nevertheless, life still has to go on. People come, people go, I guess… it happens with any organization. Both of us are pretty sad, but it was time to go.

In any way, SOY is the next cosplay event coming up, and I will most probably be heading down then too. Please poke me if you see me!

===

9 March 2011

Life, Death, Work, Twitter & Everything Else…

Unfortunately, I wasn’t selected as a volunteer teacher for City College, probably due to my lack of experience in teaching. They did offer me a position to do a bit of coordination work, to ensure that each session runs smoothly, and also to do some work on social media. Interesting, but that wasn’t what I signed up for. I do coordination, project management and social media almost every day, so I definitely wouldn’t want to do that again, considering that I outsource so much of my work out. I told them that if I was not given the chance to teach, then I rather not.

It was a little disappointing, but I’m glad that I tried, anyway. I have always wanted to teach, and perhaps someday I’ll be able to exercise this passion.

My grandmother (paternal) passed away a couple of days back; thank you to all who sent their regards. My family and I are all doing well, and she passed away peacefully at the age of 96, so everyone was prepared for it. She’ll be sent back to Malaysia, where she’ll be buried beside my grandfather tomorrow. I remember her as someone who is warm, nice and speaks only Teochew, and the little that I can understand, probably comes from her.

Recently did a clean install of Linux Ubuntu 10.10 (http://www.ubuntu.com) on my MacBook, and also flashed my Nexus One to Cyanogen Mod 7.0 RC2 (http://www.cyanogenmod.com). Released Twitter for My Import Store and Black Alice as well, and did a few modifications to my rest of my accounts.

You can follow us at:
Black Alice: http://www.twitter.com/myblackalice
EOY: http://www.twitter.com/theeoy
My Import Store: http://www.twitter.com/myimportstore
Myself (Tim): http://www.twitter.com/nozomi83

I also had a nice supper with Roy and Hao earlier at Ang Mo Kio, and we talked primarily about relationships. On a side note, Ling and myself are also getting more used to bringing Zack around. It’s still not easy, but life still goes on, and we have a good time eating together and having fun as a family.

Been also getting busier lately, especially since the reopening of Black Alice at Haji Lane. I have also been working a little on EOY as well, as we’re in the midst of planning for 2011, with some major decisions to be made.

I think… 2011 will be a great year.

===

23 Feb 2011

Volunteer Teacher, Black Alice @ The Blog Shop & EOY 2011

I’m going for an interview next week as a volunteer teacher for City College:
http://www.citycollege.edu.sg/home/Home.aspx

I have no idea what to expect during the interview, nor what will happen should they accept me as a teacher. I heard that there will be training, and I guess this will be quite an interesting experience. I’ve always wanted to teach; it’s a great way to fill my calendar with events too.

I’m also looking for people to go Chiang Mai together in September, because Air Asia has this crazy promotion of $94, 2-way, all tax inclusive and I’ve heard and read so many good things of Chiang Mai. Not overly commercialized, but beautiful, great climate, warm people and cheap to live in. I’m looking forward to biking/driving all over Chiang Mai once again, with a Thailand mobile number, getting internet access all over the country while enjoying all the beautiful scenery.

I would like to work a little during the day, then perhaps go for short 1 hour Thai language course, then spend the rest of my day traveling around and enjoying life as a Thai. I hope Hao, Wilson and Roy will be able to make it. I really need more traveling partners.

During this season, I also met up with people from AFA and STGCC to do some planning for EOY this year. Nothing has been confirmed for the time being, but I believe it’ll be a great EOY once again. I’m still trying to finalize the location, as we might be using RP again this year. It’s far, but the place is huge enough to accommodate the crowd.

Also, for Black Alice, I signed up for a new retail space at Haji Lane at The Blog Shop for a small rack and shelve to display our Lolita items there. This way, our customers and Lolita’s have a place to go down to view products, try them on and even serve as a collection point for their items. We’ll be starting in 1 March, so I’m in the midst of preparing all the little details. I’m pretty excited actually… though small, we have a physical store front once again!

Alright, it’s time to watch Top Gear, my favorite car show. I love cable TV.

===

21 Feb 2011

Black Alice, Piano, Ling & Work: Things I Love…

I’m currently hibernating at Yuan Kang’s place, and we often work at each other’s place once a week, as we’re both self employed people. 2 people working together normally produces better results…. we “force” each other to be more productive in our work.

Been running a little in the past week, and taking care of Zack in the day when I can. It’s tough juggling work, life and baby, but it’s still manageable. Thankfully, we managed to train him to sleep about 3-5.5 hours each time in the night, so that at least our nights are still pretty manageable these days. Sleep is very important for us… because when I have lack of sleep, I realize that I cannot focus properly.

Also, some good news for all the Loli’s. If everything goes well accordingly to plan, we will be renting a small space in a boutique whereby you can go buy/try/collect Lolita clothes from March onwards. I’ve been looking around for a storefront for quite a while, and this might be a good place for us.

It’s definitely no where as large as it was previously, but I’m really happy to be able to have a store front again. I really love Lolita fashion and the community that comes with it. Along the years, I’ve learnt so many things, met so many people… and it’s been really wonderful.

I’m in the midst of preparing items for the shift; so stay tunned for more news of it.

Also, just last week, Ling and myself celebrated our 2nd year wedding anniversary at Le Bistrot, Singapore Indoor Stadium. It was both our first time eating french food, and it was awesome. Hokkaido scallops were really great. I also secretly practiced and played “Kirara” from “God, please give me more time” on a grand piano at the restaurant there:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM7dYLGTZmg

Piano was awesome, and I had a great time playing for my lovely wife. You’re the best.

Happy 2nd anniversary~

===

12 Feb 2011

Being a Sound Engineer & Playing for Billy/Gloria’s Wedding

It was Billy and Gloria’s wedding yesterday, and I played “Theme of Love” from Final Fantasy 4 Piano Collections for them. I was also the sound engineer for their wedding, and was in charge of handling their mics, mixers and everything related to sound. Had to handle the Garden Terrace (their matrimony), queue their music, edit some bits for them, also more importantly all the ballroom aspects for sound during their dinner. Needed to pick the mics to use (2 x Shure SM57 for my piano), plan line plots, but I would have used an SM81 for the highs if they had one.

The thing about sound engineers is that we are always in the background where people don’t notice us. While it may seem like a very technical and boring job, I have a lot of fun doing sound, and I love mixing. The only downside? I don’t get to sit much down at the table with my friends; normally have a few bites and then we’ll have to go already. One plus thing? We get a lot of power to decide on many things. It was really a crazy day yesterday~

Anyway, for “Theme of Love”, I practiced intensely for 2 weeks, although I could play part of the song very slowly prior to that. I think I played it for at least 500 times at home until Ling is sick of it. And I really did it… I managed to perform again. The anxiety that you get when playing in front of an audience is very different from practicing at home, because when you miss a note at home, you can go back to it…. but not in a performance. It is always on the spot correction… which means if I miss a key or pattern, I have to try to correct it immediately.

Some hesitation in my playing, but I’m glad to perform for their wedding, and I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did practicing for it.

I always tell people that it has always been my childhood dream to play the piano, but never got down to it until I was 26 in July 2010. My fingers can’t move that fast, and my expression isn’t that good yet, but I’m looking forward to playing for EOY 2011 this year once again. Being able to play my favorite songs on piano is a great joy.

Theme of Love, Final Fantasy 4. Recorded by my lovely wife, Ling. Enjoy.

===

16 Jan 2011

1 Week Into Fatherhood

I’ve been a father for almost a week, and it’s quite an indescribable feeling. It is filled with responsibility, joy and perhaps, a little frustration at times. Sometimes when Zack cries, I really wonder what is wrong. Sometimes, babies like to make weird noises (it’s normal), sometimes he wants to cuddle, sometimes he dirties his diapers, and often, he is just hungry.

The amusing thing about babies is that when you hug them… they normally stop crying. When Zack is hungry, he really struggles and cries like the world is ending tomorrow. Regardless, he is still a very cute and lovable boy. I think he really brought out the fatherly nature in me, something that I didn’t really expect.

There are some things that I would like to do for 2011, and I hope that they will come to pass:
* Go to Cambodia (or any 3rd world equivalent) to do community work (build roads, teach English, mark)
* Travel to Japan in 3Q 2011, drive around various places and visit Kozue, Ikura, Yumiko, Tocco, Rennie and Bao Zhong. I also want to meet with Nagayama from Angelic Pretty if she is still working there then.
* Do a slightly longer trip to somewhere not too expensive with some buddies and revisit my outsourced life, make adjustments to be more efficient and productive. A duration of about 7-10 days will be good, and if I can try 2 places, it would be a good additional experience.
* Do a trip with Ling during her school holidays, and maybe bring Zack along if we’re confident by then. Extended trips as always, of course. 7-10 days is a good time frame.

Confinement food is pretty good, surprisingly, and all has been good so far.

Nevertheless, work has been planned for the upcoming 2 weeks, and life still goes on as per normal, and I will have to learn how to balance my life even more from here. I reckon I should be able to strike a good balance.

If you’re free and would like to catch up for lunch/dinner together, please drop me a mail or SMS. I’m almost always free, and we can catch up together anytime. I love doing lunches with friends… it always invokes new thoughts in me, and I love talking to people.

Been practicing piano as well lately. Thankfully, Zack is pretty immune to my piano. He probably listened to it too often while he was still inside mummy.

Time to work on my book during this season.

===

11 Jan 2011

Fatherhood

Lots of good things happening recently.

First of all, I bought my Apple TV (http://www.apple.com/appletv/) from USA, and it’ll be delivered perhaps sometime in 2 week’s time, and it allows my home to be a centralized server where I can stream my music from my Mac to my living room, YouTube videos from my iPad to my TV, and share music between various computers.

I also just purchased “The 4 Hour Body” (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/030746363X/ref=ox_ya_os_product), by one of my favourite authors, Tim Ferriss. I model a lot on how I live my life from this guy, and my dream of extended world travel, outsourcing work and hiring assistants came from him.

In The 4 Hour Body, he talks about how to lose weight (not so applicable to me), but on more key things like how to gain muscle, improve sex life (not that mine is lacking) and a few other things in the shortest amount of time (20/80 rule). 4.5 rating out of 5, over 700 reviews. A top rated book.

Another good note is that my Cisco Flip camcorder (http://www.theflip.com/en-us/) has finally arrived, so that I can begin experimenting on videos and stuff for random records and random YouTube uploads.

I like techie stuff and gizmos, because technology makes it easy and convenient for work to be done in this day and edge. We’re no longer in the age of public releases, corporate images and stuff, but rather personalization and social media. The media used to have a lot of say 20 years ago. Things have changed. These days, anyone that blogs, writes, tweets or uses Facebook has a voice, and has the power to build an audience.

I use things like Google calendars, sharing email accounts, Google Apps (to power domains), Google Docs, Reader, blogs, twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and the like to facilitate my work. I can use my iPad, your laptop, Ling’s notebook, or even a random LAN shop’s computer… I can do my work, answer my emails and delegate work from just about anywhere.

Part of the reason why I do that is because I wish to do extended world travel in the future, that I can do my work… anywhere in the world.

The best thing? Everything is kept in sync. So if I reply an email on my Nexus One, and then decide to visit a LAN shop in the evening, the computer in the LAN shop will reflect the sent email.

So regardless of where I am, work is easily sorted out, as long I have a place with Internet connectivity. I finished all my work today despite being a crazy day, and it was a super hectic day, because….

Ling went into labor, and today, I become a father. I am no longer just “married”, or under “free” status anymore, but rather, I now have a son that I have to care for, and will have to learn how to bring him up properly and balance time with him, my wife, my friends, work, hobbies and everything else.

I am so proud of my wife… she went through 8 hours of labor, and had to go through a C-Section because Zack’s head is a little big (I hope he grows to be a smart ass because of it). She is really very brave, and it breaks my heart to see her in so much pain.

I have a new found respect for all the mothers in this place. It is truly a selfless sacrifice.

From 2011, I will learn, experiment and read on how to be a great father. I don’t want to just take any advice, and just be an average parent, because I don’t believe in being average. Wu Yue Tian would say… “Bu Yao Zhuo Yi Ge Ping Fan Ren”. It is probably the most adept description.

Perhaps when Ling feels better, we will be considering going to Japan in 2012 when Zack is about 1.5 years old, and stay in Japan for about 1 month as an extended holiday trip. I am so excited about this new life.

Once again, I get to juggle with work, life, family and make the best of my time. Over the years, I’ve experimented with countless ways to best manage my time, and I hope to do even better, now that I have new member in our family.

Good boy Zack. You did mummy and daddy proud. You are the apple of God’s eye.

I guess, it’s another milestone for me once again. Each year brings new challenges, new experiences and new things to look forward to.

And I miss seeing my wife in Loli too. I think she looks lovely in it.

It’s going to be a great 2011.

===

4 Jan 2011

Happy New Year

It’s a pretty slow Jan 2011 so far, and I’m going to be father in less than 2 weeks. Till now, I’m still not very sure what to expect, although I am mentally prepared for it. Whatever it is, it’s going to be good. It’s going to be a new experience for me as well.

Been doing some planning for EOY, Black Alice & MIS lately, with some work going on.

Currently also going to hire a new staff for BA, as well as 2 open positions for EOY. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some good applications for them.

Going to view a few Yamaha U3 pianos tomorrow, and I have RT in a while.

I have a good feeling about 2011.

I didn’t tell anyone (except for my wife) yet, and at EOY, I always encourage everyone to pursue their dreams. I am very happy, and have many fulfilled dreams, and I believe that is how everyone should live our lives, and not be the average Joe.

Like you guys, I have dreams that I wish to pursue too. I hope that I’ll eventually be good enough in my piano playing, that I’ll be able to be a mini musician, and play for weddings, events and travel overseas for mini performances, a bit like what my music teacher is doing.

I don’t inspire to be a world class musician, but as long as I can play music that I like and touch people with my music, that is good enough for me. I don’t want to keep my piano playing just to myself.

It is never too late to pursue your dreams. Let’s pursue what we love together in 2011.

It’s going to be a great year.

===

2 Jan 2011

2011…

It’s 2011, and it’s amazing how fast time flies. In this new year, I’m going to be a father, and it’s going to be totally new experience for me. Each year is filled with many different challenges and new experiences, and I would safely say that each year just gets better and better.

Typing this via my iPad and new wireless keyboard, and it’s surprisingly a good productivity tool when combo’ed together. I bought an app “Desktop” that allows split screens for $0.99 earlier this afternoon. It sucks. Don’t buy it, despite the number of reviews. It’s outdated, and I uninstalled it within like 10 minutes.

Had a great 忘年会 with Hao, Hendrick, Drix, Roy, Charmaine, Steve and Wilson yesterday at our place. Played Mario on Wii, Bluff, Monopoly Deal, ate KFC and lots of random snacks and laughed our hearts out. Hendrick brought champagne for all of us; that was really nice of him.

Was a very last minute party; initially didn’t think that they would be coming, so me, Hao and perhaps Roy were going for a drink instead.

Also caught up with my primary school classmates earlier this evening, and was a good time of catching up.

The new year awaits many changes and challenges for everyone, and I hope I do well again this year.

For this year, I hope to be a good father, and learn to balance between work, family and social life. I also hope to travel around to various places, and once again do slight extended world travel; a little similar to my double Thailand/Taiwan trip earlier this year, and also to become a better pianist.

In 3Q 2011, a few of the EOY guys are planning to visit Japan together, and probably drive through the various cities. Would be great to catch up with my Japanese friends such as Tocco, Reinnie, Bao Zhong, Yumiko, Kozue and Ikura. Maybe if I’m lucky, I can get to eat lunch/dinner with Mikuni as well. And if I’m super lucky… maybe Yui as well?

Speaking of which, I have already started planning for my piano piece(s) for EOY 2011.

Happy New Year, and may 2011 be our best year yet. May we always actively pursue what we love in life, and never give up on our dreams and inspirations.

===

24 Dec 2010

New Wish List…

I have a few new items on my wish list…

Orange TPMS
It’s a tire pressure monitoring system with fanciful digital readings of your current tire’s pressure.

Canon 35mm f2.0 Lens
A new lens for event photography. I love the 50mm, but I don’t have the luxury of space to shoot properly during events. I like to use the 20% of things (in this case, good lenses) to bring out 80% of the effect; hopefully the 35mm will help a bit.

Yamaha Upright Piano U3
I was recently shopping around for a Kawai/Petrof, but couldn’t secure any deals which I like. They were going around the $800-$1,000 range, something which is more affordable. I love my Cristofori, but I’m kind of addicted to the Yamaha’s touch on the pianos.

Had the chance of playing on a few pianos:
Yamaha Grand C6
Yamaha Baby Grand C3
Yamaha U5
Yamaha U1
Yamaha Clarinova’s
1-2 other basic Yamaha models
Kawai
Clayderman Baby Grand (feels like a Chinese piano)
Petrof
Cristofori
Sojin

Sojin feels terrible. If possible, would like to upgrade to a good upright (like the Yamaha U3, Kawai K-series), then when I get better, I want to buy a Kawai baby grand.

I like my love for pianos is like my love for cars… I love to drive many different types of cars, especially in foreign lands. Driving in Japan and Taiwan was 2 of my most rewarding experiences.

Think I’ll go buy my TPMS and 35mm lens first.

===

23 Dec 2010

Comic Fiesta 2010

Just came back from dinner with Heng… had nice Claypot Rice at Geylang.

Heng, Hao, Yuan Le and myself drove up to Comic Fiesta in KL, Malaysia on Sunday. Tackled about 700+ km, alternating between drivers. It was a fun day chasing cosplayers for pictures, and was a well deserved break after EOY.

Was happy to talk to some of the Malaysian Loli’s; they all looked so fantastic.

Had a great dinner together with Hermes and Michelle after CF.

Next year, I think we’ll be staying there 1 night in KL instead, so that we can do some shopping, eat random food and would not be so much of a rush.

Also stopped at Kulai for supper… “Shuang Wei” prawns for the win.

One with Chii, because she makes a lovely one.

And one with Hermes and Mieko, because they look so stunning. Rose Jail and Sweet Jam FTW.

All other pictures of CF 2010:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=582241&id;=775650290&l;=a46ad98d7a

===

17 Dec 2010

Random thoughts on EOY 2010…

Original Blog Entry: http://nozomi83.livejournal.com/182633.html

Now that EOY is over, there is a feeling of slowness. Prior to the event, we have emails going everywhere, SMS’es constantly coming in and running around settling all the misc last minute details. I am very blessed to have a great team that works very well together; they are just amazingly fun to work together with.

Each year, after EOY is over, everything suddenly stops. I wake up in the morning, on my Nexus and view my inbox. No new mails! Woot~

It’s a very weird feeling of emptiness because the work suddenly stops. It doesn’t gradually stops, but suddenly cuts off.

It was a great EOY for us; I really had a lot, a lot of fun. Sure, the venue was a little far, and it slightly crashed with STGCC, and while the event isn’t perfect, the majority of people had a lot of fun. Performers were very happy, the stage got even better and tighter this year. Big spaces and great lighting for cosplayers and photography. And… we had Aikawa Kozue & Ikura from DANCEROID to do a dancical for us. That was truly awesome. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did, as they are my favourite Nico Nico/YouTube dancers.

I also had the privilege to produce/direct their rehearsal and dancical, as well as settle all the misc stage/lighting issues with the help of Joshua as the sound engineer. Although I am also a sound engineer (though not as good as Joshua), I do more stage production work, such as planning for tracks, mic usage, check monitors, sequencing and deciding on the stage flow. More like a producer, rather than an engineer.

I am very proud of Shi Hai this year, as for the 1st year a stage manager, he did a very good job at it.

It was a great 3-4 days bringing Kozue, Ikura & Yumiko around.

The scene at the airport was just like Yui Makino last year. Butterflies in our stomach, and we were all wondering who will spot them first. As usual, Hao emerged the winner as the person who once again spotted them. Last year, he was also the one that spotted Yui first.

Hao and I bought flowers for them. Lillies (Hao) for Ikura, and Birds of Paradises/Roses (myself) for Kozue.

And out they come!

It was a little awkward at first (as usual), but things got settled very quickly once I started talking with Yumiko (yes, she’s Yumiko sensei!), Ikura/Kozue’s dance teacher. A few days before they came, I had a slightly tense telephone conversation with her, and it was so funny that we both say… “ごめん！” Towards the end of their trip, Yumiko and I became great friends.

Anyway, we brought them to the hotel to check-in first, before bringing them out to Vivocity for dinner, and they went to do some shopping as well. I did my 4-Ace card trick on Kozue~ her reaction was priceless. ^^

On the second day, we brought them eat Laksa at Katong (they really LOVE laksa), and then to Sentosa in the afternoon.

They really love shopping, so we dropped them at Far East, while me and the rest of the guys went to get some coffee and do some work while waiting.

It was also the day where we settled the set list, and also got the songs from them, as I needed to prepare them for their performances the following day. We had dinner at the Indonesian Restaurant at Lucky Plaza. Hao was so happy that he managed to sit beside Kozue. I managed to talk to Ikura to a little more on this day, and ask her about her experience with Aoki Misako in her latest video. I told her that I wanted to meet Aoki very much!

On EOY, Adrian, the owner of Pink Blue, gave his crazy idea for this epic shot, and I got Kozue/Ikura to signed this at the end of the day. Hao and myself brought them out to walk walk around 4+ pm, after their first dancical.

Here’s our video take of their 1st dancical; it was just amazing:

I also did a piano solo of “Euforia” from Aria:

I wanted to tell our audience and all our guests that hey, if I can do it, you can do it to. I picked up the piano in July 2010 earlier this year, and wanted to inspire people that they can also pursue what they love and dream in life, that it isn’t too hard.

Got them to sign on my giant X-stand for my office. I requested for Ikura to write my name… and cheekily, Ikura told Kozue… to write “チーム様”. LOL~ Moe feeling.

Event was a big success! Group shot here together~

We later headed to Boon Tong Kee for supper at Balestier, just like Yui last year.

Sent them back to the hotel, and gave Loli jumper skirts to both of them. They were like shocked. Ikura’s expression was priceless~

Ikura: Innocent World Kitten JSK Pink

Kozue: BABY Forest JSK Black

Earlier the day before they told me that they like Loli, but don’t own any because it’s very expensive. I hope they like it.

I wanted to Yumiko a present, but I really didn’t know what to give her, so I gave a her a musical present instead. Just before they check out, I told Yumiko that I would like to play the piano, just for her. I really wanted to honor her for bringing the girls here, and for making it happen for us. Kozue nearly couldn’t make it for EOY, and if I am not wrong, they actually dropped out of the Nico Nico Douga Musical, bought a last minute ticket, just so that they can all come to Singapore.

On the level 2 of Studio M hotel, there is a very beautiful baby grand piano and a beautiful place… it was the place that I performed for Yumiko, with Ikura and Kozue listening as well. Yumiko was so touched that she danced to it towards the end, and she told me that it was 1st time anyone actually played the piano for her.

The atmosphere there was just amazing… Heng, Shi Hai, myself, Yumiko, Kozue & Ikura. Just 6 of us in that space, with no one around, with Yumiko dancing and my piano music. Ikura mentioned that it was “like a dream”. While I was playing, I was so engrossed that I didn’t even notice that Ikura took this picture.

It greatly touched me as well, because I realized that my music can touch people too.

Our last day was filled for shopping at Marina Bay Sands and Bugis, and they wanted to eat Laksa again. Ikura loves coconut, and Kozue loves sweet stuff, like barley. Here’s me and Yumiko at our final dinner at Paradise Seafood Restaurant.

Rushed them to the airport around 8:30 pm (we were really running very late); their flight was at 10 pm. Drove like a madman with Heng averaging around 120-140 km/h. Even VTEC’ed once; I hope I didn’t scared my guests.

Ikura’s hair so pretty; she really looks awesome in pictures. My final shot together with Ikura.

Final shot with Kozue Aikawa. She’s probably my favourite net idol Nico/YouTube dancer, and I really love her dances. What is so amusing about her is that while she is super upbeat when she dances with fluid movements, she is amazingly shy in real life.

Back a few months ago, Hao and myself were talking about Kozue. I was just wondering to myself… wouldn’t it be nice to have meals together with her, talk to her and see her live on stage? I looked at her YouTube channel: net idol with 17+ million views on her channel.

Thought to myself: this will be hard, but I decided to ask anyway.

Today is the 17 Dec, and they have came, we ate, we laugh and they danced. All that we dreamed about having them here came to pass.

It is actually a bitter sweet feeling though. You see, as the organizers, we get to meet them, talk to them, bring them around, direct their show for them, etc, so a friendship and bond is formed, even within that short few days.

The great joy that it brings while they are here, is also the same sadness that you get what they leave. It is also one of the greatest perks of our job, and one of our greatest pains. While we were at the airport, just about to enter the departure gates, Ikura was shaking our hands. I was the last, and then I told her: “ちょっと悲しい。。。”. She nodded and I could see tears. Kozue’s was something like… “シンガポールへ来たのはとても感謝します。。。” I kinda of nearly teared when I saw tears in hers when she said “こちらこそ。。。”

Yumiko sensei as well… we accidentally made them cry.

Ouch, this is an emotional post. Gave each of them a goodbye hug and told each other that we will meet up for a meal together in Japan next year.

In life, very often, we do not get what we deserve, but what we ask. I pursue what I love in life, and ask for things to happen. I asked for Yui, and she came. I asked for Kozue, and she came.

EOY, Black Alice and my life is the result of all these. I may not make a lot of money like many rich people, but my life is filled with great experiences, joy and fun. I do my work simply because I love it so much. I enjoy every single moment of it, and pursue what I love in life.

While the work may sometimes seem glorious, sometimes, it is filled with tears as well.

Thankfully, for this year’s, these are happy tears.

Thank you everyone, for making EOY 2010 so special. It was truly a very enjoyable one for me. Thank you for making me feel that everything that I do for EOY is just so worth it.

May we always be courageous to pursue what we love, and celebrate our achievements every year, at EOY.

I love you guys. 感謝します。

I’ll see you all again in EOY 2011.

===

14 Dec 2010

My Performance During EOY 2010…

I did it… I played piano in front of all my audience.

I really did it. I missed a few keys and notes, but I really wanted to thank and share with the people who came to EOY that we can all be courageous to pursue what we love… may it be cosplay, playing in a band or if you’re like me, the piano.

It wasn’t a full crowd, but I’m still glad that I managed to perform with all our performers on the same stage. Come to think of it, it is also the same stage that Kozue and Ikura performed on.

It has always been my childhood dream to play the piano, but I never really took the time to. I picked up piano only earlier this year in July 2010, and really wanted to inspire our guests that pursuing your dreams isn’t really that difficult.

I hope that my life can be an inspiration to you.

If I can do it, then you, definitely, can do it too.

===

11 Dec 2010

EOY Tomorrow

In less than 12 hours, EOY will be running. It’s a pretty scary feeling, but I did the best I knew how, empowered people the best I know how, dropped people the best I knew how. Everything up is left to all my people, and to God.

It’s been a great few days with Kozue & Ikura, and I’ve gotten a few nice pictures together with them (yay, he who asks gets pictures), but I’ll post it up on a later date, as some of them are in Hao’s/Yuan Le’s camera.

Tomorrow is also the day I need to play the piano in front of 1,100+ people, and say a closing speech.

Tomorrow night will also be the day of celebration.

Finally, after one year, EOY is here once again, although in a new place and a slightly different way of doing things, but we’ve learnt so much over the years.

Seeing your favorite artistes, singers, dancers, net idols is a surreal experience. I still cannot believe… that I have Kozue and Ikura in my car back seat, in my rear view mirror, saying totally random Japanese stuff that I can barely understand, and laughing together with them.

For those who gave us a chance at EOY, とても感謝します。

See you guys tomorrow. May we all have a blast~

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