Stay hungry, stay foolish

My New Wallpaper

2012-02-05T22:31:00.001+08:00

So chio right?

Now whenever I unlock my phone I feel that the world is a better place, and I'm a happier person.

Power of a picture. As the saying goes, "A picture tells a thousand words."

Very true statement, especially when the picture is Rebecca Lim :)

Edwin

NBS => SOCSC => Where Next?

2012-02-04T16:21:00.000+08:00

I have this school mate in School Of Social Sciences (SOCSC) with me that was also in NBS last year.

His path is somewhat similar to me, in the sense that he also dropped out of NBS last year, and is now in SOCSC with me.

I thought it was pretty cool to find someone in the same predicament as me.

Guess what he did again two weeks back?

HE DROPPED OUT OF SOCSC!

(we were in the same group for Pol Sci, but suddenly he went awol, so I'm assuming he dropped out)

That guy is my idol man.

I so want to pull something like this too but... Well.

Gotta make more money before I can do it.

At least I have to show my father that I will not die when I am out in the wild.

I really do not like school and genuinely think it is a waste of time.

I will probably finish this term though, because I am involved in a few group projects here and there, and I do not want to let down my groupmates.

Especially Weikit, who is my groupmate in Tech class, which is quite fun!

Shannon also. Who is my groupmate in poliltical science.

Incidentally, Shannon, Weikit and the guy who dropped out are the same age as I am. haha, so I'm guessing I can probably relate better to older people like myself?

I'm like 4 years older than the girls in school. lol super old. The girls are all like Rowell's age. Like my little sister. haha.

~~

Wah.

I damn dulan with my stupid groupmates in one module.

Last week in class, we were tasked to do this proposal thingy. Me being me, I skipped that session (the first one this sem, so quite good, lol)

So here are the facts of the case.

1. I didn't attend class so I probably didn't know a damn how to write a proposal.

2. My groupmates attended the class, so I would assume they knew how to do it much better than me.

So, girl 1 went ahead and did draft 1.

It came out and was absolute bullshit.

Girl 2 though it was bullshit too, so she made many changes. I was expecting these changes to be good.

But the work girl 2 came out with, amazingly, was also bad. But I commend girl 2 for making the many changes because I thought she tried her best to write despite her inadequacy with English.

Then the buck came to me to make the changes.

I didn't use a damn what they wrote because it was so low quality and I rewrote the whole fucking thing.

It came to 925 words and I (unintentionally) mispelled the word dietician in it.

Girl 1 offered to do the "final edit" after my work. So I handed this 925 word thing to her.

And guess what this dipshit did?

She didn't change a damn and handed in my 925 words, together with my mispelling of the word dietician.

You attended class, listened to the lecturer, but you actually COPIED and HANDED IN the work of someone who didn't even bother reading the textbook?

I'm disappointed.

Fucking lazy idiot.

What a waste of my time writing your paper for you.

~~

You see lah, school so sian.

Last week I was at dinner with Ewen and the office people. And us being us, we began gossiping about others.

Then we talked about another fellow marketer and how he ran his office.

I really liked how this dude runs his place and life.

In simple terms, he makes a shit load of money, drinks like a moron frequently, comes to office late almost everyday, but yet still maintains a relatively okay reputation in our industry.

People can pay him 5 figure sums to write their sales letters. And his event seats are sold from prices ranging from 2K to 10K.

I like his lifestyle. I'll work towards it. Minus the excessive drinking though.

I kinda feel tired drinking so much these days. haha

~~

Okay lah okay.

I'm now going to prepare my presentation slides for next weeks presentation liao.

See you soon.

Edwin

When I was single I was afraid that I would die alone, but now that I'm married I'm afraid that I might live forever.

2011-12-12T10:48:00.004+08:00

I promise you I am the most romantic guy in this world. lol

Is this how we draw a heart? i dunno.

Edwin

So Proud

2011-12-04T02:59:00.003+08:00

A+, A+, A+, A+, A+, C-

Check this out:

Straight A's for my leadership team building module.

Genius eh?

I'm damn proud of this sia.

As you can see, I scored a C- for the quiz, and the reason why is because the quiz is the only component that requires me to study, and I just flat out refuse to mug like the rest of my friends. lol

Its quite sad though, because I believe the majority of the modules i'll have to take in school needs mugging, which sucks and is pretty pointless we always forget what we mug. Education is sometimes stupid, but well, i'm in the game and I gotta play by your rules.

But i'm still very happy with this! (-:

Edwin

She Sibei Chio Sia

2011-11-30T10:07:00.016+08:00

I'm Feeling Lucky

1.1 A Picture Of Rebecca Lim

Wah.

She really very pretty sia. Cannot help but post her pic here. I was literally ogling at the TV at her while watching The Pupil 2's finale last night. Thank god next week's new show on Tuesday (can't recall its fuckin' name) will star her! YES!

lol.

So... Here's a goal I have:

"Within the next calendar year, I want to bring a girl like Rebecca Lim out for dinner at a fancy restaurant with a name my feeble singlish mind cannot pronounce. We will dress fancily and we will have fun."

I got the idea for this while watching Pupil last night, when Utt brought her out to this fancy restarant and she looked FABULOUS. How I wish that were me (without the painful revealation at the end that is).

Yeah baby! (-:

~~

The Relative

I wanna talk about another person I really really like.

I have this relative, an aunt in fact, who I remembered mentioning early this year in this very blog.

Ever since I was young, I have sorta idolized her. Don't know why, I just thought she was very "ideal" since god knows when.

She's very smart, damn pretty (at least that is what I think), did crazily well in school, has a bad attitude like me (lol) and you know what's the coolest thing about her? She's incredibly humble.

I mean INCREDIBLY humble.

You see, I didn't mention this previously, but she is pretty well-to-do both career and financially wise, in fact so well-to-do that she lives in The Sail. Yes, The f*ckin' Sail, the fancy condo weird shaped condo you see at Marina Bay.

Guess what she tells people when they ask her "where do you live?"

She doesn't say "The Sail."

Not even "Marina Bay."

Not even " close to Raffles Place."

She just says "Near lau pa sat lor"

I was stunned by that answer. If it were any lesser a being, he/she would have taken the opportunity to wax lyrical about him/herself. She doesn't.

The Car

Early this year, I was chatting with her, and I don't remember why were we talking about public transport. But she didn't fail to remind me that she "takes the public transport to work everyday."

This is amazing. Do you know why? That's because she has a super fancy mercedes benz at home. She doesn't flaunt it, and keeps the emphasis on public transport.

I love her. I think she is perfect in every sense. You know what is the kicker? She's still very pretty for her age. I think she is at most in her mid thirties, but she still looks very sweet. Recently she got braces done and I thought that made her look younger than me, seriously. Oh man, she looks GREAT.

(I hope my mom does not read this)

No, I am not having funny ideas, she is happily married and I have no intention to mess with her or her family. In fact, they are my family too... right? I just think she is awesome.

Nothing wrong with admiring. Millions of people admire Mother Teresa too... right?

haha.

Talk soon,
Edwin

Look!

2011-11-17T01:49:00.005+08:00

Now Playing - "You Are My Destiny" by Paul Anka

Been wanting to blog for the longest time ever but haven't done so.

Its not because I have been "busy" or whatever, the thing is this, I have NOT been busy.

In spite of the fact that I am currently both working and studying, life has been pretty pretty kind to me.

Perhaps its my "complacent" nature or something, I don't work very hard in school and that has resulted in me spending the absolute minimal amount of time I can on my academic pursuits.

While others spend about a month preparing their research papers for academic writing, I swear to you I only spent two (sleepness) nights doing it. One night was spent finding my sources and formulating my idea, the other spent writing it. Tada!

I look for more "efficient" ways to do everything in school just to get the minimum pass grade so I can breeze by, and so far, it has been good.

The sad thing about academia is that I get to spend less time in the office. It may sound weird, but I do like to spend time in the office.

Maybe its because I get to do something I am pretty good at, or maybe its because I get to do something I like and actually has a practical use.

But well, that is life and I gotta live with it.

~~

In fact, I think my life is going well!

I visited Sydney twice in this semester and it can be pretty much all credited to Ewen. Those two trips were interesting, and were a first for me visiting a "western civilisation."

The place was okay, but I would never think of migrating there (many Singaporeans seem to fathom the idea of an Australian migration, which I think is not as fancy as they would think).

School has gone alright, and I learnt some stuff here and there that were interesting.

I especially like sociology, for it has shown me the "light" with regards to our society and more. Its an entirely new paradigm to life, if I may so say, that I have never thought of.

The society, as it seems, actually is a strong force that regulates our lives, to the extent that you and I never would have probably imagined.

There's more to life than just you and me, really. And no, I am not talking about some fancy higher power here... That's sociology. Pretty pretty cool.

Speaking of higher powers, recently Kason and I grown an adulation for people with great persuasive powers, or are just plain geniuses, people like Steve Jobs, Charles Manson and the like.

I learnt about charismatic leadership one day in class, and I was exposed to the "works" of this guy Charles Manson. I know he is one of the most notorious mass murderers in the 20th century, but wow, the things this guy can pull off are simply amazing.

To put it short, he persuades people to kill, just by talking to them. Crazy guy, but very much a genius.

I'm not saying he is a good person or I am to emulate him in terms of his killings, what I am saying is that this is a kind of charisma that I think defines leadership, leading people, persuading them. Not the fancy theories I learn in class.

One of my tutors is this turkish guy named Burak, and I think he is quite the interesting fella. He's pretty young, I think in his late 20s, but very bright.

Too bad he is in academia, which I think is a waste of his talent because I am certain the qualities he has will help him go far in the real world.

For starters, he is handsome and looks good, which is half the corporate battle won. The other half will be what he does, and I know this is a guy who knows what he is doing.

However, I have two other lacklustre tutors, I think they suck, but I will not be naming them here.

~~

I am not sure what I am currently doing in my life.

Is this still another crossroad? Because I honestly do not see much in going to school. Granted, I am enjoying myself here more in SMU and I think the stuff I learn here is more cool. However, I still am for the idea that I would develop better doing other things outside.

In fact, I think I have been moping around too much these past 14 weeks in SMU. I go to school and I do not give it my all. I miss time in the office and do not get to do as much as I used to do.

Its not very nice a feeling, and something has to give.

As to what, I do not know. But since I'm about to complete this semester, well, I think I should be able to mope around for the next 7... fucking hell... 7?

Oh my god.

That's 3.5 years more.

Geezus.

I'll be like 40 then.

WTF?

~~

I am so looking forward to this holidays

It is going to be INSANE. I would be going on a 10 day trip to Bangkok with Kason, and after that, a 3 day stay in penang. I don't know what the hell would we be doing in bangkok, but suffice to say, it is definitely gonna be fun!

YAY!

Okay, gonna be signing off here. Work tomorrow. yoo hoo!

Edwin

P.s. In fact, it is now the exam period, and I am still spending time moping around. lol

2011-09-14T18:22:00.004+08:00

Feminism

In school, I learn fancy stuff like feminism and thesis statements.

Frankly, I think feminism is bullshit. As long as women can ride in buses, vote, shout at men and don't have to be kept in cages, I think there is no need for feminism.

(BTW, that is my thesis statement)

I LOVE women, dont get me wrong. But just like alcoholics, it is often those that cannot make it that make the most noise.

Case in point.

LOL, talk soon.

Edwin

Get Rich Click

2011-09-03T19:06:00.002+08:00

Recently, Ewen gave me a copy of this book.

I thought it was quite nice, so figured i'd share it here.

Disclaimer: I will make like 4 cents or something if you were to buy the book by clicking on that image above, but don't do that.

If you wanna read it, just drop me a call and i'll loan it to you.

According to Ewen, this is some NY times bestseller or something. Quite cool for our internet marketing industry.

(-:

Edwin

My Ideal Life

2011-09-02T16:17:00.019+08:00

Best Picture Ever

This is very simple to understand.

All I want is this girl, this car and an apartment like that.

(-:

Edwin

P.s. I hope she doesn't see this. But I don't think she will lah. hor?

Nathan

2011-08-30T04:51:00.000+08:00

I'm the best political analyst in Singapore. Here's something I wrote on 25th July on my blog, a month before PE. I actually guessed right down to the percentage how Tan Jee Say will perform in the polls. Sad thing is I got the other parts wrong though.

25%

'Cause i'm that damned good. lol

~~

Today was a nice night out!

YAY got to talk to someone I wanted to talk to for god knows how long.

So cool.

Quite happy with that. She's like... so cute.

Yea, mesmerized by this awesome girl. This is called being "bewitched."

Luckily I drove today, so I saved money on alcohol and as an unexpected benefit, I didn't act like a moron there. HAHA

Everything went great, till I saw the email about me being rejected for the Chiang Mai trip. I was a little pissed over the email actually. But well, I consoled myself and reminded myself that I still have many other opportunities ahead.

But other than the mail, tonight was AWESOME.

Hope to have more fun nights like that.

Incidentally, this was a night that is kinda an anomaly.

1. I didn't drink
2. I drove
3. I talked more to who I wanted to talk to, with little "physical" contact. Normally I try to move closer, sometimes it backfires.

Fun fun!

~~

School is great! I enjoy SMU quite a bit, work is pretty slack (i think this is a good thing) and I hope the years to come will continue to be this slack. LOL

Okay, gonna sleep. Its about 4:51 am and I'm still bumming around on my comp.

Have fun!

Bye President Nathan!

Edwin

School means school again

2011-07-28T21:12:00.001+08:00

Now Playing - Cult Of Personality

Okay.

I got into SMU.

'nuff said.

Talk soon,
Edwin

Nit

2011-07-25T21:47:00.007+08:00

Now Playing: Alberto Del Rio Theme

Just felt like writing but didn't know what to write about.

So what do i do about that?

I simply fire up a notepad and began typing this post, hoping that with some miraculous stroke of luck I can come up with something fancy.

In fact, this is the way I work these days.

If I need to write a piece of ad copy (i'm not a copywriter, i just write stuff), all I do is open up microsoft frontpage, think of a headline, then i'll start writing. I don't even think about the ad angle until i finish drawing the tables and formatting the page.

In a sense, that is how i roll in every aspect of my life.

I don't really think much about stuff, i'd just do things, then see how they go as they proceed.

Normally nothing bad happens, in fact, i think i have done much more then i would have expected myself to do had i stuck to a rigid frame.

Sometimes i don't get the desired result. Like the ad campaigns that i put up sometimes don't work as well as i thought it'll be. Or maybe its a girl that i want to talk to but don't seem to be able to do as well as i thought.

Incidentally, in both cases, it appears that the less i give a hoot about things, the better i do. Which explains why i don't really plan. Just do lor.

Do already then think.

But in all the cases that i don't plan, i tend to have a lot of excitement in the beginning of a "project," then the excitement normally fizzes off and i move on to something else. So this is something i have to keep in mind, I have to be more steady and consistent with what i do, or else i'll hardly get things accomplished.

~~

I am in some sort of a cross roads now in my life.

Honestly, if someone were to ask me where would i be in five years time, i wouldn't have an answer. The people at SMU have yet to reply me, and i am somewhat stuck not knowing where to go.

This is quite sucky actually.

Like i mentioned in my previous post, i would like to do a few things, but whether i do it or not, is very much in lieu of the decision these guys make in their ivory tower.

There were a few occasions where i was really tempted to tell them to shove it and screw themselves because i think i can do well in life without a degree.

Then again, i remember that i told my parents that i would go back to school this year. That's why i am still in this catch-22 predicament.

I will update this place then, soon, will tell you whether i get there or not. Just emailed them (again) today and they said they are still processing stuff.

See lor see lor.

~~

These few months ahead should be fun. I am quite sure of it.

My past 1/2 year has been incredibly fun, but i didn't think i made much progress anywhere. Just a whole load of goofing, drinking and screwing off. Obviously, this is the millionth time you are hearing me complain about my lack of appropriate action, so... well. Nothing to say about that.

Oh! The presidential elections are coming up!

I am quite excited because for more than 1/2 of my life, President Nathan has been at the helm. Hmm... I think regardless of who is the next president, this new person on top should signal quite a big change in the politics of our nation.

There are only two people (in the current slate of candidates) whom I think would garner many votes, and those are Dr Tony Tan (of course) and, weird as it may sound, Tan Jee Say.

Tan Jee Say... Hmm. SDP dude. It is highly unlikely that he will be president, but I think he will be the best loser, maybe winning about 25% of the votes. Tan Kin Lian and Tan Cheng Bok can go hang their boots and watch the show, looking at how people seem to wax lyrical about Tan Jee Say and how well Dr Tony Tan has been performing these few weeks.

Let's wait and see.

~~

What am I currently doing? For those of you on my facebook, you may have seen me promoting this seminar. Yes, I am doing that and I hope to do well in this particular campaign.

Not going to try to sell you anything here (its my blog, dammit), so head to my site at http://www.LiveInternetBusiness2.com if you wanna know more. Cool?

~~

Wah kao.

Recently I frequent a particular pub quite often. Last week I went there twice (almost thrice).

Thursday was dinner with KW and Clement, since we were looking for some place to chill, we figured we might as well go there (the place is called Club Mango, its beside my office).

On Friday, a friend I met asked me if I wanna go there to drink, I said no. KW asked if I wanna go to 98. I also said no. Wanted to rest that night and emo about dumb shit.

Then on Satruday, Kason asked me if I wanna go there. And I said yes. For the second consecutive week, I went there in shorts, slippers and an oversized t-shirt. I'm amazed people still talk to me there when I'm dressed like a moron. I dress like that to a pub because I spend saturdays in commonwealth, where my wardrobe is really limited and the only stuff I can find in it are the things I wore in secondary school or to weddings.

We met this girl sometime back. WAH KAO I THINK SHE IS SIBEI CHIO. I didn't think so until one day, when KW and I were drinking at teckwhye, he showed me her pic on his facebook.

And frankly, that is the reason why I frequent the place so often. Just to check out that pretty girl.

Very superficial, but hey, I'm a guy.

Wah this girl seems very smart.

I give you one example.

I was chatting with her, and then there were people modeling on stage, here was our conversation:

Me "hey, you're not going up?"

Her "nah, go up for what?"

Me "go up model lah!" (i said bai2 mei3 in chinese, which means model)

Her "huh, model? i'm not as pretty as them."

This girl is GORGEOUS and she actually replied me so non-chalentely that she thinks she is not pretty. I think that is a bright answer. An intellectually inferior being would reply with a "thank you" or a "haha"

While the girl lacking confidence or looks would just say "of course lah, i'm so pretty" (that REALLY puts me off)

I like girls that have a little spunk, can throw back my conversation, outsmart me and be witty.

But I digress, sorry, haha KW would have said that I am bewitched (gongtao), and in all regards, i'm guilty as charged, your honour. I think i am unnecessarily bewitched by a pretty (and smart) face.

Times are fun, but how many years of this kind of goofing around can I have? I am almost certain that this awesome girl that I am talking about would be a fading blip in my life and she definitely will not be someone I will see (i'm smarter than that, actually). Sometimes I ask myself why do I do the things I do and whether these things will bring me to where I want to be.

Most of the time they don't. Then maybe I'll call it a "character building" experience. But you and I know that that is bullshit.

I don't know.

Hell I don't even know if I want to go back to phuket to find the other awesome friend i made there. (tell you more about this some other time, i found my previous phuket post too "revelatory," that's why i took it down.)

But well. Back to the same answer, I don't know. I am starting to feel like tin pei ling, everything also don't know (this sounds incredibly stupid, this i know).

Oh.

Looks like I ran out of things to write already.

Okay, gonna take a bath then do some more reflection exercises.

Till then, ciao.

Edwin

If...

2011-07-12T11:31:00.000+08:00

Okay, so those dudes at SMU haven't gotten back to me on my application.

Its a total waste of my time waiting for them to reply.

So here are a bunch of things that I want to do if the DON'T accept me. I will...

1. Instantly book a tour to goof off at one of our neighbouring countries for at least 5 days
2. Sign up for a six month membership to the California Fitness Gym in Bugis
3. Make long term plans on how I would build my list in the IM Niche.

Actually, I am hoping for...

Well, I will not say it. Let's wait and see.

Talk soon,
Edwin

Look - Pretty Girls Ahead

2011-05-28T02:25:00.002+08:00

To buffer of the effects of this inane (no, this is not a typo) post of mine, here are some pictures of some girls who I also think perfect.

Please do not see my blog as some sleazy girl site where guys come here to look at gorgeous women.

Kate Beckinsale

Rebecca Lim

Xia Yu Qiao

Damn chio.

I would be extremely happy to date any one of them.

~~

I think my grandmother wants to intro some malaysian chick to me. I don't know who she is or where she comes from. But I am some sort hesitant to the idea because I completely am unaware of who the hell she is. Very scary. I don't mind making a new friend though. But me? Hello? Me? Matchmaking?

Come off it.

And I seriously suspect my neighbour aunties (whom I am on extremely good terms with) want to intro some girls to me.

Alamak.

GG already.

Frankly ever since cleaner 1 and 2, I've never really liked anyone.

I don't think I will meet people like them anymore. I am eagerly looking for similar opportunities, but hey, haven't met the "one" yet.

ARH.

And I do not want to go to the civil service in future and sign myself up for some stupid SDU "Date with destiny" dinner blind date.

~~

Can anyone with a good heart introduce me to some of them girls you see in this post?

Like C1 and C2? Or the pictures I shared.

HAHA, not some unknown malaysian chick please.

Nicole Seah? LOL

~~

SMU hasn't gotten back to me yet. Dunno why.

Wait lor.

In the meanwhile I am quite happy working in Ewen's office.

As much as I complain (a little) about things here and there, I actually really enjoy my work. I am extremely fortunate to be where I am today and I must remind myself not to take things for granted.

Today is YJ's last day in our office and I believe I will miss him quite a bit.

As a bit of background info, yuejun is an intern that was attached to our office for his poly industrial attachment.

Before he came, I wasn't that close to Amanda.

His arrival sorta precipitated the relationship the three of us had.

Amanda and Yuejun are actually two people I really enjoy spending time with.

They sorta "humanize" me.

I mean, I normally am quite a cold person to people. In spite of the talkative person you guys always see, I actually do not really like talking to people and having to prove myself. In front of the both of them, I think I am able to be a little more moronic and relaxed. I needn't carry the argumentative stand that I have to put when I talk to normal people.

I do not have to google my statistics or prove some stat which I randomly mention. I do not have to use disclaimers and stupid mind and word tricks that I frequently pull on people (yes, I do those things) to incite them in the direction I want them to go.

YJ is gone, kinda sad.

I just hope the next intern is nice.

HAHA

~~

Waw.

This is quite a long post.

Haven't posted in quite a long while.

Okay!

Let me know what you think, drop me a comment if you want. Whether you think the girls are pretty or not, let me know.

(:

Talk soon,

Edwin Koh

Nice Song

2011-04-23T03:49:00.004+08:00

Jay Chou

Well, I thought that it isn't nice to have you see some random girl I don't even know as the header for my blog... That's why I've decided to write this post to fill this space.

So... The above is a song I really enjoyed listening to. Hope you like it. (=

By the way, check out the video above. I picked it off youtube but hosted my own player on a domain I own, that's why you don't see the youtube controls on it. Cool stuff eh? This is one of the things I do at work every day, playing with interesting technology pieces like that.

Talk soon,
Edwin

SMU Law

2011-04-11T22:48:00.011+08:00

GG already I tell you.

Last week I applied for a university placement, and guess what I placed as my first choice?

SMU Law

Nothing fancy. Granted, I like law a lot, the debates, the intellectual candy, bright girls and awesome prospects...

But I absolutely kid you not when I say that in spite of the confident outlook I tend to present, when I applied I hardly could believe that I would stand much a chance to enter the law faculty.

Irene even joked around and said "wahlau, your GP score B only you want to go law?"

It sorta felt like my applications for SPRING's scholarship last year. I couldn't really be bothered to think hard, so I made an impromptu decision and decided to go with it (thanks Malcolm Gladwell, Blink ruined my life).

I put my "thin-slicing" abilities to the test every single day and they often do not fail to amaze me.

Ewen used to say "just chiong, chiong already then think."

This living mantra I lived for some time has been thoroughly interesting.

I feel a little nervous actually, that's why I decided to do a little research on SMU Law before the interview next week (oh yea, forgot to mention, those guys there called me today, got me to an interview next Wednesday). I did a google image search with the intent to find an appropriate header graphic for this page, couldn't find much.

But I found a pic of that girl you see on top. Looks enticing, she's some student in SMU law too.

(*update* i just changed the picture to a safe rebecca lim, but she's not from SMU Law)

LOL. HOW LOWLY UN-SERIOUS CAN I STILL GET?

But then again, gotta think about the potential questions, prepare myself for next week. Kinda scared actually.

One week to think... and prepare. Frankly I normally don't prepare much for these things. Ewen can tell me at 5 pm that I would be presenting at 7. I would just say "okay lor" and just do it.

This should be easy...

Hmm...

Right?

I think I am going to watch 10 episodes of The Pupil to acclimatize myself with lawyer-lingo... by the way I can still ogle at Rebecca Lim. HAHA

Talk soon,
Edwin

P.s. I understand that this is the worst piece of exposition you can ever read from a potential law student. But hey, I'm not perfect hor.

P.p.s. What does the word "exposition" mean again?

Tumbler Blogger

2011-04-08T09:22:00.001+08:00

No Headline Needed...

Talk soon,

Edwin

Emma

2011-03-17T18:13:00.001+08:00

Click on picture above to see why I recently grew a liking to her.

Hi Emma!

Talk soon,

Edwin

Welcome back!

2011-03-10T01:08:00.001+08:00

Wow.

Seems like ages ago since I blogged.

hehe.

February has been fun! Pretty fulfilling.

Valentine's day.

As you might have expected, I did not end up dating Rebecca Lim on Valentine's (Yes, I know my skin's really thick).

LOL

But nevertheless, V day was a new start for me, because I picked up something new on that very evening... Malay Language!

I now go for malay classes every monday, and I am proud to say that next week is my fifth lesson and I haven't missed one yet!

haha

After rattling on and on about learning Malay for ages, I finally took the plunge and just signed up for it... one day before the lesson commenced.

One more step towards becoming PM!

Very often, when I blog, I have this tendency to want to shoot people down.

For the longest time, there is someone that I had wanted to put down, primarily because I felt shitty whenever I spoke tp him/her.

Then I realised that by putting someone down, I don't gain a damn thing... except enemity, that is why I think unless there is a political gain for me to do so, I should not be insulting people here in future.

Just a short note for myself.

On to other stuff...

I like Angelina.

I like Kaiping.

I like Vivien.

These are names of real girls whom types I think are wonderful.

I don't talk to them though, but in any circumstance, if I were to ever see them again, I don't know how will I act. But if any one of them (or anyone I am interested in) were to ever drop me as subtle a hint that there is a sign of interest, I would not flinch for a second and reply immediately... a yes.

So I am very sorry for any false signals that I ever gave.

I'm not going to act like a jerk here and say that I am completely faultless.

That's what I wanted to say actually. Sorry.

By the way, speaking of the girls above.

Don't ask me why, but there are some impediments here and there that I think makes it somewhat impossible getting to them. I dare to put their names down because I am quite certain they don't read my blog. Neither do we have many mutual friends too...

Maybe I don't want things enough, but hey, how many more valentine's days can I spend attending classes?

Not many.

I realise I don't actively search, maybe that is why.

Haven't found a right person yet I suppose.

Not going to just jump at the first sight of a ship. I'm not drowning anyway.

Oh yes! After two years, I am finally releasing my own product! All I need is for the payment processor to approve my account before I am ready to launch! Yippee!

I intend to hit 100 sales by the end of march, then expand to other niches.This is a software product and I think it will be easier, as opposed to common direct marketing produce, to convince people to buy.

The internet marketing niche would be where I am heading next, so be prepared. I BRING IT.

By the way, for those of you who haven't found out yet, I've left NTU and now I am back working for Ewen.

This time round my job is a lot more fun as I don't have to do all the customer support anymore. I do other stuff, and I am happy to say that these are things that I am interested in doing and will greatly help me when I do other things in future.

I am pretty thankful for where I am today.

Okay, gonna go sleep!

Smell ya soon!

Warmly,

Edwin

I Idolize You

2011-02-06T16:25:00.001+08:00

No, I am not talking about MM Lee.

Not today anyway.

In my life, I have spoken to many people. Everywhere and anywhere.

Especially after I made the out of the box decision to leave NTU.

I've heard tons of opinions

"I think its better that you stay in school,"

"You should do what you like,"

"The choice its yours, this is your life,"

"Have you thought it through?"

And the list goes on.

Today is day four of CNY, and inevitably the question of "what do you do now, Edwin?" propped up. And the next line of questions would be "what? you quit school?"

Then I would sit then and engage in the same barrage of rhetoric I return to questioners.

But then, today was different. Instead of aimless chatter which I sometimes engage in, I was given a bunch of really good questions from this aunt of mine.

She said, and I quote loosely, "doing business on your own is not easy. If you are a one man show, you are the limit. Then what if you expand? You would have to look for people to run together. Can you do it? Can you find people? Not easy."

Maybe its something from her, but because it is from this particular aunt, I actually stopped for a moment and didn't issue her the standard reply that I normally give.

Secretly, I kinda idolize her, though I've never openly said it before.

But nice questions anyway.

These are the things I would have to think about for the days ahead.

Then Kokloon asked a few questions that Serene asked me previously too...

"Do you think you can do this for the next 5-10 years?"

"I cannot answer that. I cannot predict the future and no man can." Is my standard fluff-filled answer.

But seriously, would I be doing the same thing I have been doing today for the next 5-10 years? I don't know.

But I know something actually.

I know I don't want to go back to school.

Weilin said something too a few days ago, along the lines of "if you don't go to school, the only path you can do is perhaps running your own business."

That is why there is where I am heading now.

I've handed in my matriculation card to NTU already anyway.

Right?

In a metaphoric sense, I've "burnt my ships."

I have to ponder on the issues the wonderful people around me have given me.

Talking isn't that bad isn't it? SAFSM crudely calls it "verbal intercourse."

I suppose.

I like chatting with people. Just don't think I am too arrogant or pompous. Sometimes I think I am like that when I am trying to prove a point. Luckily Seowken mentioned it to me, otherwise I wouldn't have realised it.

In life, I understand that I do not have to be right all the time. Yes, that is the truth.

I don't have to if the issue I am contending is irrelevant to me.

~~

What is it that I want out of my life?

Am I really contributing back to the world?

Is this what I want to do?

Is money the ends to everything?

I'm really thankful for the smart and wonderful people I have around me.

Talk soon,
Edwin

"Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers."

-Tony Robbins

I'm singing this.

2011-01-31T03:21:00.012+08:00

It’s a beautiful night,
We’re looking for something dumb to do.
Hey baby,
I think I wanna marry you.

Is it the look in your eyes,
Or is it this dancing juice?
Who cares baby,
I think I wanna marry you.

Well I know this little chapel on the boulevard we can go,
No one will know,
Come on girl.
Who cares if we’re trashed got a pocket full of cash we can blow,
Shots of patron,
And it’s on girl.

Don’t say no, no, no, no-no;
Just say yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah;
And we’ll go, go, go, go-go.
If you’re ready, like I’m ready.

Cause it’s a beautiful night,
We’re looking for something dumb to do.
Hey baby,
I think I wanna marry you.

Is it the look in your eyes,
Or is it this dancing juice?
Who cares baby,
I think I wanna marry you.

~~

Hey, find me someone to sing this to leh.

A gal like Rebecca Lim can?

Otherwise I'll be spending Valentine's day 2011 doing work, probably submitting articles or something. Haha

~~

Work has been fun!

I've got quite a few new responsibilities and I'm pretty honoured!

Last week I got a chance to actually write real copy and I think its really a good experience! For all the learning that I've done for the past two years, I'm finally getting the opportunity to actually use it.

At least I am doing something practical... right?

Talk soon,
Edwin

Messed up

2011-01-27T09:59:00.001+08:00

Oh dang.

I've messed up my email accounts while fiddling with my edwinkoh.com domain.

Don't email me there.

Sorry if I don't reply you!

Talk soon,
Edwin

Woo

2011-01-03T02:30:00.005+08:00

1. Let Me In

Moving and bloodthirsty, tender and horrifying, sweet and gruesome. These beautifully drawn contrasts — plus the bleak snowscape of Los Alamos, N.M. — make Let Me In the best remake (from the Swedish film Let the Right One In) of the year, and the best horror film of the decade. It's a story of teenage love and loss that makes the Twilight films look pallid by comparison.

The above is a review of Matt Reeve's Let Me In by Stephen King.

I flipped when I read what King said in his last sentence.

"It's a story of teenage love and loss that makes the Twilight films look pallid by comparison."

Cool eh? King ranked Let Me In as number #1 in his list of Top Ten Films for 2010!

EW Link

I'm such a fanboy.

But frankly, Chloe Moretz is just plain awesome.

She's just 13 and her craft as an actress, IMO, is impeccable.

Oh!

It's 2011 already!

This is going to be a blast year for me.

I haven't told every one I know about what I am currently "doing," and I find it a little difficult to explain things to people that I just cannot be bothered to.

"I write ads for a living these days."

I think I will just say that, and change the topic to Chloe Moretz.

-

By the way, Seow Ken wrote this very thoughtful post on facebook ushering in the new year for all of us. I thought that was a very nice on her part, so I just wanted to "publicly" thank her for it.

Yeah!

Okay! Off to doing what I want to do!

Love,

Edwin

This Is Addictive

2010-12-29T17:24:00.007+08:00

Hey guys,

Haven't updated in a while... You see, I've been secretly concoting a potion to make Chloe Moretz fall in me, that's what has been keeping me busy.

In any case, here's a really lame song that has been glued my head ever since I heard it during the church camp. ITS THAT ADDICTIVE!!

Update soon!

Happy holidays! ;)

Cheers,

Edwin

Things

2010-12-10T03:06:00.006+08:00

This will be a short post for me, to help motivate my sunken soul into doing more studying and actually putting in more effort and focus into my task at hand.

Alright, the exams are starting in about six days, and I am a little behind schedule and now I'm feeling a some what jittery because if I fail, nothing will happen to me.

No. Serious.

Think about it.

When I was in JC or secondary school, if I failed an exam (especially a national one), I am so going to die because I wouldn't be able to "move on" with life. If I failed the 'A's I'd be a wayward dipshit washing plates in the day and serving cocktails in the night and my valedictorian-smart friends would all move ahead while I rot in the never-ending struggle of my survival called life.

Then fast forward to today, where I am in this awesome position that if I fail, at most I'll just retake the damn thing. Who cares.

But then again, it means that I will not be getting a first class honours after my three years in school.

Arhh. Now we see the potential pain here.

Oh geezus.

What if I fail school? In four years to come when I go for an interview the dude would ask me: "so.. tell me about your time in NTU."

Then I'll return him a blank stare and I'll lose the opportunity to get this coveted job that my fellow graduates are clamouring for.

He'll say "thank you for your time."

I'll die a miserable death and live life as a vagrant if I fail my accounting exam next week.

Shit.

So much for the self-help tape I was listening to last week. All I'm doing here it trying to associate more pain to my current situation so that I can take more action but in actuality I couldn't give a damn about every word I'm reading and am making fun of going to school while I take every breath.

I've gotta motivate myself.

Here's a quote I got off another book I was reading.

"If you can learn to think well, the future will be an open door of opportunity."

"In fact, getting a good education may just be the most important price you can pay - because, perhaps more than anything else, what you do with that mass of gray matter between your ears will determine your future. In fact, unless you want to be flipping burgers and living with your parents when you're thirty years old, you'd better start paying the price now."

-7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens

Hmm.

I don't want to be flipping burgers when I am 30, working as some stupid clerical job that I hate or washing shitty toilets. And the way out of that would be education... right?

Yeap.

I'm trying to convince myself that school is the best thing that can happen to me.

Indeed.

There are many things I want to do.

I want to read.

I've bought a whole bunch of stuff recently that I want to read but keep putting it back because of school.

I want to spend time making money.

Yeah, if you haven't noticed, I barely mentioned anything about internet marketing these few months. That's also because I've been putting it off due to school, and there are a ton of ideas I have here and there which I want to implement, and I will do it during my holidays.

I just want to do what I want, go where I want, be with who I want to be.

This ties in to the concept of freedom. I think I'd be getting a glimpse of it in the holidays, so I'm really looking forward to them coming.

Hmm... Wanting to do what I want, go where I want is definitely possible... but be with who I want to be? That'll be more difficult... Provided in the first place I know who I want to be with..

Oh yeah, back on track! Indeed, I'd be really looking forward to the holidays.

And in order for me to thoroughly enjoy my holidays, I've gotta do good in this exam so I can have the peace of mind to live like I like then.

Imagine living with the guilt of examination failure.. ar, that'll suck.

So.. I'm going to anchor to my mind the association that "in order to enjoy my holidays (and thus my life), I have gotta study hard and do well for this exam, otherwise I'll be an unemployed piece of dipshit when I'm 30."

Actually you didn't have to read this entire post. All you had to do was read the last sentence highlighted above in green. It summed up everything.

But hey, thanks for being here. Alright alright, better get to studying!!

Cheers,

Edwin

9 More Days

2010-12-06T05:45:00.004+08:00

The title says it all.

~~

*Update*

By the way, I was just thinking, you don't need PM Lee to "hint" at the election date with a dumb statement like "elections are due by the next party conference."

FYI, the next party conference is in two years time. Is this really a "hint" as to the election date? Clearly not.

Then George Yeo mentioned today that elections should be before the middle of next year. Arhh... we're getting somewhere now. This is what I call a hint.

Now for my two cents worth. What do I think? I'm betting elections would be held about a month after the national budget's goody distribution date. Typically budgets are announced on february, before April (where the financial year ends). It doesn't matter when the budget is, what matters will be the date in which the government sets for the distribution of "goodies."

So here's another hint on when the election would be: take note when the government states the goodies would be given out. Election should be near to that date.

Definitely after CNY I think, so that they have more time to prepare. Maybe april I'm guessing.

However, I've got this weird feeling at the back of my head that the PM may be looking to "pattern interrupt" us this time round. Maybe have two goody distribution dates so as to confuse the opposition?

No no. I don't think so.

Recently I noticed that George Yeo began making walkabouts at Hougang. Which means the date is coming really soon... Definitely after CNY though.

Cheers,

Edwin

Insights

2010-12-05T01:00:00.006+08:00

I was just chatting with Xiangling on MSN and I got some insights that I jotted down in my notepad.

1.Girls are the sensitive ones. Not the guys.

I’ll begin this point with a small confession: I am terrified of people thinking that I am weird.

No, really.

Recently someone remarked to Jiajuan that she thought I was weird. I got a little upset over this remark because it is not the first time I got something like that. I mean, if you told me that I’ve got too many blackheads, too skinny, talk too much or whatever, at least that is something that I can change.

But if you say I am weird, that is a statement that upsets me because i) there isn’t a damn thing I can do about it, ii) i’m afraid that if one person thinks like that, another person may think the same and I risk losing everyone if I continue acting the way I am.

Then XL pointed out that girls are actually the sensitive ones. Which brought to me a point that I completely missed: no guy ever mentioned that I am weird.

No, serious.

Maybe I am not the most common guy around, but hey, if I am just like everyone else, you might as well be talking to the dude selling bak chor mee than talk to me if you think I’m weird.

You’re probably just an over-sensitive girl.

2. Two friends

Actually, I think I’m a little too harsh with what I said above. Maybe I am not really normal most of the times, and I admit, I really do ask different types of questions and act differently from most people.

Which brings me to talk about two secondary school friends whom were had rather special relationships with me. Le'ts call them G and J.

These two people are special to me because the relationship I’ve had with them was previously fraught with ups and downs. It was like we hated the hell out of each other before, then we were best friends sometimes (and good friends now too).

XL mentioned to me a few “qualities” they had, and it struck me that actually I exhibit these same qualities too.

J was known as the dude who likes to keep to himself in school.

G was the dude some girls felt was weird because he acted weird and asks weird questions.

Oh my, sounds exactly like me.

Looking at them, I see myself. I think this is a good thing actually.

At least I can see them and realise some of the blunders I’ve made, and not make them again.

I think one reason why some people thought G was weird is because he isn’t very natural sometimes. I mean, he tries to act tough and macho and stuff, which turns people off. I don’t know if I do that, but if I do, feel free to drop me a comment telling that to me. In anycase, I admit that sometimes I am not natural too, sometimes I comment on weird stuff.

Good lesson learnt here.

J, on the other hand, liked to keep to himself. I couldn’t really figure out why, but then again, I should understand why... right?

3. Having specific goals

4. Looking ahead

5. Website buzz generation

I’m lazy to elaborate on points 3, 4 and 5, but I think I may do it in a few days to come.

Haha.

By the way, its now 12:49 and I am in school on a sat night. Amazingly, there are still many people studying here with me in the canteen.

One more insight I derived from my chat with XL: she mentioned that no matter how hard some people seem to work, they do not seem to be getting good results. While some people who seem to don’t give a shit about studying, seem to do so well.

I forgot to mention that what we often see is only the surface. People DO work hard. My being here in school at this hour only proves half of this point. The other half is pointed out by the whole bunch of people still here with me studying.

I hope I can do well in this exam. Yes, I am hoping.

Cheers,
Edwin

Exams!

2010-12-02T03:39:00.001+08:00

Yes, I deactivated my facebook account again.

This time I will be back after my exams are over.

In the rare case that you are looking for me and just so don't have my HP number, feel free to contact me via Twitter @xufurong.

Sorry Zuckerberg, your invention is too addictive that I have to curb myself from using it too much to check out cute girls that I don't have the guts to talk to when I see them.

Speaking of cute girls.... ermm... I've got nothing to say here. That is bad.

Three months of school and all I can say is that I prefer the girls I met when I was in NS. Sad, but true.

Oh gosh, getting off tangent here.

Gotta go back to studying. Tomorrow's my excel & access quiz and I barely know what is the purpose of a database. Thankfully I have MS Access on my desktop, so I still can practice on it.

Yeap!

I think I will update more often. I don't know why, but I really feel like writing very often these days. Maybe its because schoolwork is so "quantitative" that I don't get much of a chance to display my essay skills. It got so bad that I was writing like a sales letter copywriter when I was doing my accounting mid-terms. Haha.

Okay okay, gotta go (again).

Cheers,

Edwin

Frugality

2010-11-21T05:02:00.006+08:00

I own a fancy tag heuer watch. Here is a picture of it. I was at Mustafa earlier today and I checked out its price: a whooping $1440.

In my wallet is a platinum card with a fancy credit limit too.

I drive to school, carry two different fred perry bags, a guy laroche wallet, nike, converse and adidas seen all around my apparel.

So am I rich? (at least to my standards)

The answer is no.

And from the way my life appears to be heading, let me predict my future to you.

Today I am an undergrad in the best business school in Singapore (yes, i’m not a very humble person, and that is not a good sign). After three years of my university education, it is expected that I get a job in one of the MNCs, like a bank (UOB, DBS, Citibank, etc.), manufacturing giant (GE, GLS, ST) or one of the huge service firms. Whatever.

My starting pay is expected to be $2800. A portion of it would be to repay my education fees. My yearly income is $33600. What does $33600 buy in Singapore?

Not much.

But don’t worry, because the end is not here yet. Let us say I do well in work, and get promoted to manager after three years (i’d be 30 then). Now I earn $4000 a month, which my annual income to $48000.

Assume that I continue to lead the fancy life that I lead today. I spend $5000 on a watch, buy a Honda Civic that costs $2000 a month to maintain. And since I am a manager, I should live in a fancy condominium that would cost me another $1000 a month to rent.

I live paycheck by paycheck.

Think about it.

Isn’t this how the normal graduate lives in Singapore? I do not know about you, but if I were to continue to live this fancy lifestyle that I enjoy today, I am certain this is going to be my life path for at least the next ten years to come.

It would then be close to impossible for me to ever save up for things like a marriage, kids, a home, etc.

Which is where financial planning and knowledge would come into play.

I am now reading this book “The Millionaire Next Door,” and its contents are blowing my mind. Currently I am only in chapter 1 of the book and already I am starting to see things differently. It mentions frugality as one of the key reasons these people are millionaires. Think about this, had I lived the life that I mentioned above, yes, I would look rich with my fancy car and watches. But deep down, only I would know that I am not rich.

Just like how I am today. Fancy watch, fancy car (courtesy of my dad), fancy card. You never know, I may have a lower net worth then the accountant girl who teaches tuition at night and carries a brandless bag that I am going out with.

Point? Being fancy isn’t the best way to strike it rich.

Owning a Lamborghini in Singapore looks cool. But have you thought about the costs? From my personal gauge, I think one should cost about $1M. Monthly maintenance costs for the pretty machine should also be really high. It also has low fuel efficiency. What about higher road taxes, insurance, and noise?

Now compare it with the Honda jazz, which is a little more expensive than the normal 1.3 litre. But the thing is that it is not really pretty, and looks very common. But beneath that commonplace appearance is a powerful engine that is both effective and fuel efficient (15KM/L). Being a 1.3 litre and having four doors, it has lower road taxes and significantly lower insurance premiums. On the Singapore roads, the Jazz is almost as powerful as the Lamborghini because we cannot speed here anyway.

Made me wonder, what is it that attracts me (and countless other males) to the Lamborghini? Appearances? Ego?

I was chatting with Kwangwei yesterday, and he made a rather valid point when I told him how perfect Chen Fala is and if I ever date her I’d treat her like a princess. He said “after you get it, it think you’d also eventually feel that its nothing special one.” Perhaps this is an apt metaphor.

Maybe the Jazz is not bad a choice after all.

Joshua also asked me something similar before. I told him I want to get a macbook because it looked fancy. He asked me what is it that goes beyond the physical and the fancy volleyball girls I frequently mention. Then he made a point which shut me up for ten seconds: when given the choice, i bought a windows OS instead of the mac, because I favoured functionality over fanciness.

Looks like I’m not heading to hell yet.

Better rethink my life. Fancy cars and watches don’t mean hoot when you know you’re gonna go bust in a year if you get fired today.

School’s coming to an end soon. This thought is pretty daunting because I am barely doing well in school. When I attend tutorials there are bound to be things I do not understand. Conceptually I am quite poor and this often leads me to procrastinating in doing my work (because I don’t know how to do them). But even if I procrastinate, I know that I must get the work done and eventually, at the moment that I realise that if I don’t do my work, i’d be dead, it often is too late and I come up with something shabby.

This is not good.

Neither am I prepared for the exams, which would come by in 25 days. I have to grit my teeth and start doing something about this, otherwise I’d just be wasting my parent’s money in taking the exams.

I have to get myself to a point where I am conceptually very sound on the examinable topics, then I must understand all the types of exam questions and do them well when the big day comes.

I have not done extremely well previously, but that does not mean I cannot do it in time to come. As Anthony Robbins say “the past does not equate to the future.” Clearly I have to buck up.

As Leslie said, “It’s time to pull up your socks.”

Cheers,

Edwin

P.s. I forgot to mention, when you drive a Lamborghini out, people may i) get jealous of you, ii) want to drive your car away.

Girlfriend

2010-10-29T20:29:00.000+08:00

Boyfriend: Is it in?
Girlfriend: awha...
Boyfriend: Does it hurt?
Girlfriend: yesssssss
Boyfriend: what do you want me to do then...
...Girlfriend: i dont know... i really like it... but i hurts..
Boyfriend: ok ok ill get a different shoe size...

Gotcha!

Test!

2010-10-29T02:56:00.004+08:00

"You coming to class tomorrow?" I asked.

"Yes." She replied.

"For what? Gloat?"

"No, to answer your questions."

Just a short post to show I'm alive.

My dad's coming back on Monday. Public transport here I come....

Uni Life

2010-10-11T18:48:00.067+08:00

The Trolley Cart Story I Shared With Many

I first want to talk about school.

And I'll start with this statement: It is amazingly challenging.

No, really.

I thought I could easily breeze through school (in terms of academics), but it looks like I am not correct in making that assumption.

Here's an example of my school work:

If you were out with me these few weeks, I would have asked you about the story about trolley carts.

"Suppose you are the driver of a trolley car hurtling down the track at sixty miles an hour. Up ahead you see five workers standing on the track, tools in hand. You try to stop, but you can’t. The brakes don’t work. You feel desperate, because you know that if you crash into these five workers, they will all die. (Let’s assume you know that for sure.)

Suddenly, you notice a side track, off to the right. There is a worker on that track, too, but only one. You realize that you can turn the trolley car onto the side track, killing the one worker, but sparing the five.

What should you do? Most people would say, “Turn! Tragic though it is to kill one innocent person, it’s even worse to kill five.” Sacrificing one life in order to save five does seem the right thing to do."

Yes, that is something I have to ponder on for my law essay. 2000 word essay. Not fun.

It is not a bit easy, but it is the most enjoyable part of the four modules I am taking.

Life in a uni is very different. Things are not as structured as they were in JC or Secondary school, and there is a lot of emphasis on self learning and discovery. When people speak or teach Uni students, they do it with the assumption that these people already know their shit and there is no need to cover the basics any more.

Take business law for an example.

We easily throw around in class "chim" words like nobodies business, assuming that everyone understands. I am lucky in the sense that I have been in contact with many English books and media previously, so I can still catch up with the ping-ponging of chim-glish around the class.

But what about financial or accounting knowledge?

If someone asked me two months ago what is an accounts receivable, bond, risk rate of return, amortization, I would have returned this person a blank stare. And now you expect me to understand these concepts just like that, and at the back of my hand no least?

This is the challenge I suppose.

The challenge to catch up with the crowd. And the challenge not to get left behind when the dust settles.

~~

The Lecture, my Modules and the tutor from China

By the way, read the little story I shared above about the trolly carts. Its very interesting. Here's the video to Micheal Sandel's lecture:

I am pretty intrigued by law actually. Its my favourite topic and I enjoy every moment of it.

Another module I take is IT, and thankfully I am quite good with this topic, considering my two years in internet marketing. Lucky me, two out of four modules I take are topics I like.

I do not enjoy accounting or financial management though. And that is precisely why I have to put in more effort in them.

It is not a good thing that my financial management tutor (and lecturer) is this China PHD student. I can hardly understand what she says in class and I really think that she is completely inadequate a tutor. Don't get me wrong, she is a nice person. I engaged her in a consultation session and ended up spending about a quater of the time in her office chatting about inane stuff. But as a tutor, I maintain the stand that she is not good enough.

She is sort of like a china teacher I had in JC called Zhang Zhi, totally inadequate. Just that luckily this time round, this teacher (Miss Dong) is a nicer person and I do not want to blast her. (not that I am in the position to do so anyway)

Speaking of people from China, NTU has many foreign pupils. It is amazing how much they have and can put in to their work. I find their work ethic very admirable, in the sense that they are willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.

Imagine that some of these people came to singapore and learnt English far later than us all, and now they are standing beside us as a fellow student? I admire them for their tenacity.

~~

Neighbourhood Schooled

I have spent the last 13 years of my education in neighbourhood schools. And for the later half of that, I held the belief that the people in the top schools were different, that the education they had was superior and I secretely admire them a lot. If you have spoken to me about results before, I always inadvertably quote that "75% of people in HCI get 3As or more. You go there, anyhow throw one stone also hit some guy with 3As. In PJC however, its another case..."

And now that I am in the NBS (which is supposedly one of the hardest, if not hardest, to get in faculties in NTU), I don't feel any special.

Really, I don't.

In the past I used to carry the notion that there were probably many more hot girls in top JCs like NJC, HCI or whatever. Extrapolating that logic, NBS should also be a babe-zone.

Looks like I expected too much. I would say that, for this particular issue, things are not unlike PJC.

Being in a top school isn't that cool afterall.

I would think that we each have our own experiences. Nothing really is that bad on its own. I am who I am (sounds like something you would say in a eulogy), and I am surprisingly proud of that.

But secretely however, I still carry the notion that because these other people have been through an education in the top schools, they have something "special" in them that I don't have. Really.

Some people seem extremely smart in school.

When I was in JC, I used to be on pretty good terms with this guy called Weikit. And Weikit was previously from HCI.

I realised that he learnt things very very quickly, had a command of English which I thought was better than my tutors and a depth of thought which I found to be far superior than mine.

I didn't understand why.

I could have written a whole page of words, and he, only throwing in three paragraphs, but still do better than me.

Its fairly amazing when I saw how he pulled those stunts off.

We skipped lectures together, slacked like dogs and visited the HOD together. In the end, he did better than everyone else in class (I would say that even to our dear valedictorian.. hehe).

Amazing. Did they feed the kids differently in HCI?

~~

I'm a little stressed actually.

For that matter, I am a little behind schedule for my readings and everything.

Not a sight I enjoy.

Damn.

And you know what, I don't even have a CCA (or girlfriend) and yet I cannot catch up with school.

I really need to handle my time better or else I had quit school or something.

My dad is not working to put me through school just to see me slack like a dog. No chance.

There are obviously a million other things I can do to improve my personal productivity, and looking at me making this blog post today, you should know that I have not done a very good job in managing my time.

~~

More Paradigms

My paradigm in the past was that people in the top schools have something special to them probably because they were stuck by the tooth fairy or something when they were young and that's why they are so damn smart.

Then today, if you were out with me, I would inadvertably mention the people from China and how awesome they are.

Looking at things properly, I do not think we do well in the things we do well in because of luck. I would say that it is the effort (correct effort I must add) we put in that will determine our success. This goes back to the Outlier theory (by malcolm gladwell) which governed a lot of my thought processes last year.

I think they are not lucky in the sense that they were stuck by an angel or something. Rather, we are lucky as a result of circumstance.

Like me. I am lucky to be in the NBS, which is why I have the opportunity to learn all the awesome, albeit challenging, stuff that I am learning today.

And the day where I get my first class honours, people probably would say that Edwin was lucky because he was from the normal stream, so he wanted it more and blah blah blah.

What if I were from HCI? People would say that he was lucky and he was bred to get the results today.

And what if my dad were the prime minister? Gosh I am not going there.

But would that all mean that I haven't put in the effort myself? I don't think so.

The key here is effort.

It is only one word, but I think it encapsulates all results we want in life.

By the way, there is a facebook comment app in the bottom of this post. Feel free to write anything you want there.

Let me know what you think about school or whether you want to kill one person or kill five in the trolley cart case I highlighted above.

Comments please! I want to see if that app works! (=

Cheers,
Edwin

Troll

2010-10-02T19:22:00.002+08:00

Check this video out.

Wow, I used to be insanely smitten with the both of them. However, looking at the clip today, I still think that the two of them are super gorgeous.

Seriously.

Then I thought about the guys they were both associated with.

First, for Gillian, there is Edison Chen.

Well, no one can deny that this fella is insanely good-looking. So I shall not talk about him.

Then there is Charlene, who was married to Ronald Cheng.

Well, looking at Charlene's choice of Mr Cheng as a husband, it made me understand this: looks don't matter.

If even Ronald can hitch Charlene, then I can marry anyone I want.

HAHA.

Well, this is a *troll logic, but let me hallucinate a little okay?

Cheers,
Edwin

*An example of a troll logic is "I like peanuts. Monkeys like peanuts. Therefore I am a monkey."

To Do List

2010-09-25T03:36:00.003+08:00

To do list:

~~1. Finish law reading, chapters 3,4,5 and 6~~

~~2. Finish Accounting readings to prepare for quiz~~

~~3. Do tutorial 3 for accounting~~

~~4. Do tutorial 3 for law~~

5. Read all the stuff for financial management, finish the tutorials so I have things to ask my tutor next week

6. Since I have my google adwords account back, I am going to create a new adwords campaign as soon as possible

7. Submit the remaining 39 articles I had my ghostwriter write.

~~

Wow.

Looks like I have quite a bit of things to do. If I didn't list them down I would have spent my weekend thinking I didn't have anything to do. haha.

The power of a list... eh?

I'll come back here to strike them off, one by one, after doing them.

Till then, ciao!

Cheers,
Edwin

Accolades

2010-09-18T21:02:00.001+08:00

*Piak*

Hmph.

There goes the dust mites covering my blog.

Erh hmm.

Oh yes!

Welcome back to my blog!

Haven't updated in awhile. Not because I had too much to do (no, i'm not here to complain about school), but its probably because I didn't have much to report.

Yes! I am now officially an NTU student, and I am starting to get use to school. It feels weird going back to school at first, but as time went by, I slowly acclimatized myself to this new environment.

Well, nothing much to say about school.

Lemme show you two pictures of "papers" that I got.

Here's admissible evidence 1: Warning

Just got it yesterday for illegal parking at limbang. Haha, I parked at a spot that prevented ALL cars from entering the carpark, because I wanted to get mcdonalds. Luckily the security guard let me off with a warning, otherwise its $107 to unlock the wheel clamp. HAHAHA .

Damn heng.

And here's admissible evidence 2:

Yes!

In the picture is a Toastmaster's Award, for "Best Table Topics," that I just got a few days ago. This awards is given for a really short speech I gave for a randomly chosen topic, that we had to deliver impromptu. Thanks to my awesome ability to talk junk and "entertain," this honour was bestowed to me.

But that is not the cool part. You want to know what is?

Guess where was it that I won that thing?

NUS Toastmasters.

Cool eh?

(by the way, it you haven't realised by now, I'm an NTU student... just wanted to clarify again.)

Too bad I couldn't join the NUS Toastmasters though. Haha.

Made me wonder.

All these pieces of paper, like degrees and accolades, have big effects on us. Money is also just another piece of paper.

Why then are we fighting and clawing over them?

Are these little pieces of paper what we are fighting for, or is it the things that these accolades bring us that matter?

Then again, what is this "thing" that these accolades bring us?

I would argue for the word "feeling."

Its the feeling we get when we make a pot of gold.

Its the feeling we get when we kena the parking ticket, but got off scot free.

Its the feeling we get, knowing that we can secure a job (which is dumb), when we get our degrees.

So when we say we are working for money, are we really working for money?

I don't want to think I am just working for little pieces of paper with deceased notables on them. Nah, that's dumb.

Ask yourself why you are doing what you are doing.

That is how I function.

I don't read my books and texts just for the sake of reading them. I don't sit at my lecture theater just for the sake of my lecturer taking my attendance. I ask myself why I am doing the things I do. And if I strongly feel that this pursuit is a waste of time, I'll screw it.

But if there is an undeniable "wiifm" associated with my current action, I would seek that out, and use that as a means to motivate myself on what I am doing.

Arh.

Talked a little too much.

So... What's in it for you?

Edwin

This is a long post, read it.

2010-08-31T04:04:00.002+08:00

"The difference between the guru and the normal guy is that the guru outsources everything."

"Success is all about getting things done."

"Don't sweat the small stuff, which has a small probability of happening."

-Ewen Chia

And this concludes my two month tenure in his office, which I have found to be the best learning experience in my internet marketing career for the past 1.5 years I have been in it. For the longest time I can remember, the above quotes were simply pieces of audio (or video) that I consumed from my acer 4740. Never would I have imagined that I would get the opportunity to work with the man himself, and actually get to work with him for two straight months.

I am not gonna go into the specifics of my time spent in his office, but I would leave it as this: "I left better than when I came."

~~

My father is back.

Which means I am almost back to square one now.

i) No more car to drive
ii) No more job
iii) No more office
iv) No more big bed

And very soon, I am back to being a student.

But fret not, I now have more plans than ever and I would want to bring them to fruition.

Speaking of plans, I just did something awesome, and that was my first "outsourcing" experience. Being online for some time, I realised some tasks were really too mind-numbing that I really do not want to do them myself, which is why I made the decision to outsource some of my own writing work and felt that it was an awesome decision I made.

For a small fee, I've effectively streamlined the majority of the workload for my website. This is what Kiyosaki calls "leverage." I am using money to leverage on the assets and time of others, so that I can achieve more and more.

And with the increased money I make, I am going to apply more and more leverage and make even more.

This is my first experience in "hiring" someone else to do something for me. This is one step that I think is extremely important that distinguishes me from the ordinary Internet Marketing crowd, who normally wants to do everything themselves. Leverage is that which is going to make you rich, remember that people! You can never ever do everything yourself!

Yeap!

(I just took a sip of vodka 7 up)

~~

Its somewhat of a holiday for me now, before school starts.

Frankly, I don't know how school is going to be, and I don't really want to think much about it.

The only validating point I can think about school is that there is going to be a lot of girls in school and I am going to be happy talking to them. That really is all about it.

I am not looking forward to competing with 19 year olds to see who gets the better GPA, neither do I want to deal with egotistical dragonboat tanned guys over who makes the final decision in our group project. This sucks.

But school is going to be interesting I suppose. This is one environment that is new to me, considering that I spent my last three years

1) In MINDEF doing despatch work and thinking about cleaners
2) Staying at home and staring at the computer for the most of the day
3) Working in a millionaire's office doing everything I am asked to do

School is going to be different.

In a sense, I am there to be "contributed to," instead of my past three years where the gist was where I had to "contribute towards."

Well, hope that it is fun.

~~

I want to go to school having a lot of money.

This was my goal beginning this year, and I haven't achieved it even today. I barely hit the mid-point for the goal I set beginning this year and I am a little disappointed in myself.

Money is going to help me accomplish a lot of things I want in school, or simply said, it is going to make my life a lot easier.

Just take transport as an issue.

Now that my dad is back, I do not have the car anymore. Which means every morning, I have to squeeze with everyone else on the train and on the long long queue bus at boon lay, and that sucks. My average journey to school is going to take me 45 minutes or more.

But... What if I had a car?

Things will be far simpler.

I just take the route: KJE, Jalan behar, NTU. Tada, i can reach school in 20 minutes. In non peak hours, I can even reach school in under 10 minutes (i'm not kidding you here, I've tried it before).

Which brings me back to money.

Imagine if Edwin Koh has his own car...

Isn't that shiok?

I think so too.

And what about fashion?

I like fashion a lot, and I like dressing in cool stuff.

When I have the freedom of expenditure, I can buy whatever accessories, clothing and anything I want, and that rocks.

What about lifestyle?

Sometimes at clubs, I save on drinks, because they are expensive. Now... What if I have a free rein on my finances?

I can do whatever I want.

I can drive to the club in my two door convertible, and then when I drank too much, all I have to do is pay Mr Valet $48 and he can drive me (and my cute girlfriend) back home.

Money isn't everything, people.

But without money, and even you cannot deny this, nothing can be done.

~~

My salary for these two months is not too bad. I would not be announcing the amount here, but I would say that taking into account my commissions (online), I am pretty comfortable.

So now I am going to school (for three years to boot).

Assuming I come out with a first class honours. So what?

I would probably end up working for some MNC, making a measly $2700 (after CPF cut) every month.

What? $2700 after three years of education? Are you kidding me playa?

My makes this amount probably in 2 hours, and these two hours were probably spent
i) sending an email
ii) eating prawn noodles with me
iii) then going for a piano lesson

I'm not kidding you here.

Which is why I am not really looking forward to school. The economics of education just don't call out to me. The friendships would be worthwhile, but the tangibles... well, lets just say that Brian Tracy can teach me more in "Psychology of selling" than my professor of business law can enunciate in 40 hours.

~~

BUT!!! Lets not forget that there are girls in school.

Which I think is a super awesome fact. For the past three years I've been living a life not unlike a monk (except the clubbing sessions). For that matter, I am still hung up on some girl I met a long long time ago that

i) Refused to reply to my SMS
ii) Didn't really say much when I wrote her a birthday card
iii) I still think about everyday.

I think I have been worthless in this regard.

I haven't seen this person in a long long while, but she has sort of become a habit in my life. Whenever I am on the internet, I inadvertently end up on her twitter page, blog and check her out. Maybe its not that I like her so much. But the fact that I have been thinking about her for such a long time, her "presence" has sort of been a part of my being.

Yes, this sounds lame, I know that. But well, I am just but human.

~~

Haven't blogged in a long while.

Feels nice coming back here.

My viewership has fallen, but I want to thank the people who still visit this place.

Of course I will continue to blog. Its a great avenue for me to express my points and ideas.

Haha.

~~

Remember my Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs) that I set last year?

I said I wanted to make $3000 a month, every month.

I've never felt closer to the goal then these two months.

For that matter, I think (if my calculations are not wrong), I am quite close to that goal already.

But now that my job is over, I have to re-calibrate my strategy towards accomplishing this.

Which is why I started out with my "project outsource" that I mentioned above.

I intend for that to be my first step towards my first million.

~~

A month ago, I met this cute girl who had the goal to "be a millionaire before 25."

I think it is definitely possible for her to achieve this. She's got a lot of family support, and she is very willing to learn. Hell, she is even from a breed of people who have the track record of being early millionaires, the Indonesian Chinese. So I would not doubt her claims.

What if I told you that I want to be a millionaire by 25?

Would you believe me? Or would you think that this is just some crazy goal that Edwin Koh has set once again just to be a moron?

Well, just don't count me out. I'm reading Adam Khoo's Secrets of Self Made Millionaires again, and I realised that I have been missing out on so many opportunities ever since I've embarked on my internet marketing journey.

Things like investment, prudence, money and asset management, etc.

I almost forgot about all those things.

All I had in my mind were how to game google, get facebook ads running, creating the best landing pages and looking to get the highest CTR from my articles.

Where has the entrepreneurial spirit gone? I was purely an internet marketer, hardly an entrepreneur, hardly a business person.

Ewen is a true business person. I've learnt so much from his attitudes that I feel that there is so much more I can do.

We shouldn't just think about the small stuff like CTR and CPC (go google these terms), but we should focus on the big picture.

What is your big picture? A job in POSB as a teller for 40 years? A job as a pharmacist for the NHG and making $4000 when you are 40? A biological science researcher who hates the sight of plants while your true interest lies in quantum physics?

I don't know.

But those definitely are not my big pictures.

Education only brings you so far.

What you do with what you have is going to matter so much more.

~~

Do you have goals?

No, wait.

Don't answer me.

Close your eyes, and ask yourself this question:

"What would your perfect average day look like?"

Spend five minutes on this.

Think about how you want to spend this perfect average day.

Who would you want to spend it with?

Where would you be?

What would be doing?

Who would you be doing it with (be as kinky as you like, I can't see what you are thinking anyway).

And then ask yourself this:

Is what you are doing now getting you to this perfect average day?

If it isn't, and I am damn sure it isn't for 99% of you, ask yourself:

What can I do now that can bring me closer to this perfect average day?

Ask yourself the hard questions, get the best answers, achieve the best situation you would like your life to be.

I sound like some hokey self help guru, but trust me on this, I just happen to know what the hell I am talking about.

~~

Just two weeks ago, I was chatting with the boss of Greenlife clinic (its amazing how many friends I have eh?), and I was telling him how much money I make online.

He then asked me "since you know all of these things, why then are you not making as much money as Ewen?"

I kept silent.

Then he said "it must be because you haven't found your why, your reason."

"Go find your reason, and go do something, you should do it with all the things you know."

I continued my silence, and I realised what he said was totally true.

I am obviously not taking enough action, and I do not have strong enough reasons. Can I blame anyone else for my lack of success? Hell no.

The remote control of my life is in my hands.

It is thus up to me to press the buttons.

The same it is for you too.

Quit looking for excuses.

The time to live is now.

Cheers,
Edwin

JC Feel

2010-08-06T16:01:00.002+08:00

This is not a carrot, it is how men look in thai pubs.

I'm feeling very very tired now. Because of two reasons.

i) I slept at about 3 am on wednesday night because I was creating some website for a promotion I want to undertake

ii) And I went drinking last night with Clement and Kason, reached home at about 4.30 am.

Two days in a row I barely slept.

Here I am sitting in the office stoning like a rock.

I feel a little bit of "stress," even though I have no work to do at all, sorta reminded me of those JC days where I also had a similar sleep regime. Even though nothing much is coming up, I feel damn tired of everything. HAHAHA

Going through the motions at my office now. As you can see, I'm blogging.

HAHAHAHA.

Okay, gonna continue to stone.

Cheers,
Edwin

Arh + Robbins

2010-08-02T02:27:00.002+08:00

My boss gave me some work to do... that I really don't feel like doing.

Gosh.

I have been dragging my feet on this one task for three days and I barely got half of it done. This sucks.

Really need to get this task finished. Its quite difficult to do, that's why I'm feeling a little bit of a heat regarding this.

I promise to finish this set of tasks before I start work tomorrow.

(=

~~

Haven't felt this kind of "procrastination" for a before. Not even in school had I felt like this. At least then, if I didn't want to do anything, I could just walk valiantly into class, look my teacher in the eye and just said "I forgot to do it," then take whatever punishment that comes along.

But its different now. I am no more longer a kid, and I have to be accountable for my actions. I told him I will get it done, I must get it done. Its not a matter of whether its easy or not (its not) or whether I like it or not.

Come to think of it, maybe it isn't that hard after all.

Yeap! Gotta go back to work!

~~

*Update*

I just thought about something I learnt from Anthony Robbins a long time ago.

He was talking about solving the major problems in our lives, and how we normally react to these situations that crop up daily.

Most of the time, when something crops up, we spend the majority of our attention on "the problem," either complaining about our plight or wasting energy on the problem.

But we all know, this would never get us anywhere.

Instead, we should only spend 20% of them time on the problem, defining it and then, for the rest of the 80%, spend it on the solution.

Which essentially is the answer I need now.

I have spent the last two days pining and thinking about this problem, but hardly have I spent a second thinking of a solution to it.

Now that I setting my mind on a "solution," I realise the task I have at hand is one which is totally doable. All I have to do is chunk it down, clearly think of the various issues I would have while dealing with it, anticipate the potential roadblocks, don't wait for everything to be perfect and just begin working on it.

Gosh.

Should've thought about this 80% Solution rule a little earlier.

This is one rule that I will remember for life.

So... Ladies and gentlemen, if ever anything happens again to you, remember to spend just 20% of your time thinking and defining the problem, then 80% of your time on the solution!!

~~

Since I am on the topic, might as well talk about this here.

On the car today, I was thinking about the topic of "chiong-ing" and "ready, fire, aim."

My boss was talking to me about this a few weeks back, and it really set me thinking about this topic. He was saying that in life, you really have to grab and fight for what you want. Thinking and pondering will never get you anywhere, but doing would.

He said that this is one principle that applies to success in all regards, be it business, relationships (ie girls) or anything else for that matter.

I think he is totally right.

No wonder he's so successful. He was telling me "actually I'm not a very smart person, really. But I dare to take action, which I think is the most important."

Irene (his wife) said the same thing to me too.

Hmm... Action.

Its the most important element to success... right?

Cheers,
Edwin

I'm 8 Years Old

2010-07-28T17:20:00.001+08:00

You're not going to believe what I am gonna say next.

Serious.

Don't believe me?

This is gonna be random.

I got HFMD.

Yes.

I could hardly believe it too.

But I got it.

What a joke. I thought only toddlers and little kids can get such an ailment?

But in anycase, since I got it, the doctor gave me a 7 day MC and I have been "working from home" since yesterday.

It began early monday when I felt some blisters on both my feet, then my fingers started to hurt, legs felt numb sometimes. I got kinda worried because I thought its some weird side effect from the paracetamol orphenadrine I took, thought my liver or some unknown body part I've never heard of was failing (because these are common ailments of some organ failure).

Walking became painful.

Tuesday morning went to see the doctor.

Told me I got HFMD. I was pretty relieved when I heard it. Even happy.

Not really surprised though, considering the fact that
i) I met two people who recently suffered from HFMD recently
ii) My boss's two kids also got the disease some time ago.

The doctor was damn funny. After I told him I got a fever on the weekends, then started feeling the sores on monday, he gave me an omnious-almost-jokingly "heh-heh-heh" laughter. I proceeded to talk cock with him, and amazingly he returned me the favour. I always thought polyclinic doctors were all boring Filipinos, looks like I'm wrong on this. Nice paradigm shift.

After polyclinic, I drove back to office to get my laptop from Irene (my boss's wife). The first thing she said when she saw me (in a mask because I wanted to prevent the spread) was "wah, 你好象中爱滋病的样子！" I laughed at her comment.

Got my laptop, so now I am officially doing my work at home.

Cannot go out though, have to quarantine myself for 7 days. Rowell gets dinner for me these days. Lunch I'll cook if she's not around. Yes, I know how to cook. (=

I thought I would be slacking like a dog when I stay at home, but surprisingly I'm pretty productive here. Managed to complete all the tasks at hand without much of a hiccup.

The sian part about this is the quarantine. Gonna spend time reading my books then!

Yeap!

~~

Have you ever met a fortune teller? I haven't.

But when I read this, I felt as though I had:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/enterovirus/hfhf.htm#2

Well, you wouldn't be able to understand this I guess... Just wanted to share my awe when I read it. Its as though someone told my fortune for last saturday to today. LOL

~~

I have this friend who commented that he/she wanted to go on a recluse. Looks like getting HFMD is an awesome way to seek a recluse from the whole world. Officially now, I am shutting myself from the entire world (except online). Looks like this little HFMD thing is doing me more good than I am expecting eh?

I think so too. Kinda cool with the idea of it though.

~~

Okay! Going back to reply my last email, and then I'm off "work"!

Cheers,
Edwin

Never understand

2010-07-12T23:34:00.002+08:00

I will never understand

i) How someone can let everything else in life go and become a monk

ii) How a guy can fall in love with another guy

iii) How the guy in the previous point fantasize about another human being of the same gender

iv) How the world came to be

v) The significance of Jesus Christ

But I can easily grasp

1) Why money can make a lot of things happen

2) How to easily fall heads over heels for a compatible girl

3) How simple it is to keep this person in my mind

4) How the pregnancy cycle goes

5) The importance of Hitler in modern history.

Looks like I have a lot more to learn in life.

~~

Recently there has been a barrage of changes in my life.

Just last week, my "upper-study" at work left for greener pastures and I am now taking up many areas of his portfolio. Workload is getting bigger, but in the meanwhile, I am learning tonnes of more good stuff related to this industry. Joshua said it good when he mentioned that having more work (and pressure) is a good thing.

I believe this is one good experience in my life that not many people would get the opportunity to enjoy. How many people can actually profess to work closely with the "best in the business" everyday? Not many. That's why I am sucha' lucky dude.

And then there is my father leaving for China for his work.

Now the house and car is left to me.

First I want to talk about the house.

Oh gosh, Rowell and I have to begin doing housework these days. We take turns to wash the clothes and hang them. We have to wake up ourselves in the morning and yeah, we now have a barrage of new tasks to deal with.

I like this independence though. Its another experience I would pay to have in my life.

I've sorta converted my own room into an "office" where I just read and do some stuff there (but not sleep) and then sleep in my father's bedroom at night. Its awesome getting to occupy the master bedroom. I've got my own toilet, TV and whole boatload of stuff! Now there is a little more separation between the place I read and the place I sleep. I quite like this too.

And there is the car. Now that I have free reins to the car, I finally understood the costs of owning this piece of modern machinery.

Just last week I went to town with my tekong mates for karaoke, and I parked my car at Central. Guess what was my parking fee after 4 hours? A freaking $14.50!!!!

OMG. That shocked the hell outta me. $15 for parking? Are you kidding me?

And now that the car is with me, I have to deal with these little costs here and there... like car wash, petrol (which is big in singapore), parking, ERP and some miscelleanous stuff here and there. Luckily my dad is paying for petrol. Otherwise I'll probably spend a chunk of my salary on oil.

But this is like a life of an adult.

I am living like an adult now.

At work people expect me to be on par with everything (which is simple). The customers pose me question after question and I am supposed to be on the ball all of the time. This is sometimes a little challenging, but I think it is good exposure.

Look at me. Do I look like an adult to you?

I don't know.

I like acting like a mildly self-conscious teenager sometimes (this is the truth) because I don't want people to think I'm too "smart." Serious.

But Weilin mentioned a good point a couple days back, which went along the lines of "just be yourself." I was reading some self-enrichment literature, and it came back to me with something better, which said "don't be yourself, that's bullshit! Be the best version of yourself!"

Yeah, be the best version of myself!

I like the opportunity to contribute at work and at home.

Looks like everything just fell into place (not pieces) for me.

Ain't I lucky?

How many 21 year olds get to

1.) Drive a car everywhere

2.) Own his own master bedroom

3.) Have his own "office"

4.) Be called a "mentor" at work

5.) Contribute to his home

6.) While still making money

7.) and still get an allowance from his parents?

I'm just insanely priviliged. And I am really thankful for everything.

Cheers,

Edwin

P.S. BTW, the top of this post is just some aimless thoughts I had earlier today. Thought I'd share it with you guys.

P.P.S. Note to self: Never drive to town unless I find a cheap place to park.

Mee tai mak

2010-07-05T01:00:00.000+08:00

Believe it or not fellas, I cooked that bowl of mee tai mak yesterday night... all by myself. Its not some instant noodle msg-filled pack, everything was real. I prepared the broth, put in the ingredients (prawns and some yong tau fu) and included the mee tai mak. Went through all the steps... Cool eh?

And the kicker is that it tasted great!

Yeah!

Just wanted to do some blatant self promotion here.

Talk soon,

Edwin

My Wonderful Life

2010-06-29T23:34:00.002+08:00

Back from the holiday! It was great, learnt alot about many things and everyone, and all I can say is that I am thankful to have such awesome friends. Not gonna talk alot about it because the pics are not with me. Just know that I had a blast!

Post-trip, I began to miss the people I went on the trip with. Haha, somewhat of a withdrawal symptom of sorts, but well... it's nice.

Back on track to now!

I'VE GOT A JOB!

Yes, I remember being the same guy six months ago telling everyone that "I will NOT get a job," and here I am, standing before you, telling you that I got one.

Well, as an excuse, I'm gonna tell you that I got a job in an Internet Marketing firm... so... my goal is still there, just that I'm taking another route towards it.

This is pretty much the first ever job I've taken up, and frankly (or sadly), I enjoy this lifestyle as a "job-holder." Maybe its because i am doing primarily internet marketing stuff when I work, but well, I still like having a job.

The lifestyle actually is nice. I wake up early in the morning, squeeze with people on the morning train, cross the roads and go to work like everyone else. I go for lunch with my colleagues at somewhere nearby, and I take the public transport home. Its a whole different experience for me.

But I'm feeling extremely contented with life. Honestly, for the past six months, I've been having a little bit of a struggle with myself about my life and priorities. Granted, there were periods that I made good money really easily, but things were not constant, and there were times I failed with some stuff and it was really hard.

Now that I am working, I am paid consistently, and I love my work.

But its not all about the work too. Like I said, I like the organised lifestyle I have now too. Let me show you what I mean.

With a job, I have money, and with money comes the other things in life. Yesterday, on my way home, I bought a box of strawberries for Rowell, because I know she likes it. Then I went home and finished up some DVDs that I missed out on. I felt fulfilled.

Today after work, I visited the library, did some errands, and I did some shopping to "reward" myself and got a really nice piece of apparel from Topman (which would be impossible without the confidence of having a salary).

Wednesday is gym day. I will be meeting Daryl on Thursday, perhaps KK on friday. Weekend with my family, and next week, I will be going out with XL on thursday, and perhaps a day for the JC peeps.

Perhaps its the work, maybe its the money. I don't know why, but I'm feeling really happy with my lifestyle now.

And you know what is the kicker? I didn't tell you who my boss is right? I'm not going to mention his name here (because of the search engines spidering my blog), but I want to say that it is my absolute honour to be working with him. He is the person I picked up internet marketing from about 1.5 years ago, and he is the person I learnt all my basics from in the beginning. And now its like a dream come through getting to work with him! Its damn awesome.

My workplace is also really nice. There is no air of a powerful hierarchy hovering over my pathetic being every second like it did in MINDEF, and I actually have quite a bit of freedom at my workstation too. I am also given quite cool responsibilities which I enjoy doing and have fun carrying them out. I spent almost the whole of monday just going through alot of video classes learning stuff, and really, i think its a little of a stretch that I am actually paid to do this. I was telling my dad that this is what I do at home every day anyway, and now I'm being paid to do it? You should be able to imagine my exuberance...

Getting a job really isn't that bad... right?

Wow, looks like I blabbered a little too much here. But don't mind me, i'm happy as a lark. If only NS were this good... I'm not complaining though. This is good enough as it is.

Hahahaha!

Cheers.
Edwin

Excited!

2010-06-20T08:03:00.001+08:00

Going to KL and Langkawi for the whole next week! So stoked!

Will be back only next sat. Yeah!

Actually I wasn't feeling much about this trip, but when I woke up today, god know's what happened to me, I began feeling rather excited about the trip!

It's gonna be awesome.

Cheers,
Edwin

P.s. The video is something we always go through when we go overseas. Check it out. I would aspire to not be a dorky tourist. Hehe

P.p.s. Update when I'm back!

My Wallpaper

2010-06-13T11:10:00.002+08:00

Just wanted to share this

That's Rebecca Lim, and that's a photoshop-ed image of my clickbank account.

(=

Figured I make a quick update.

Cheers!

Edwin

P.s. Yes, I know I'm stalker-ish. At least I'm open about it... right? HAHA

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

2010-06-08T09:19:00.000+08:00

If you've seen this before, see it again. If you haven't, spend the next fifteen minutes of your life catching it. It'll be worth your time.

Jobs said it best: "Stay hungry, stay foolish."

Yours,
Edwin

The Pupil

2010-06-06T09:00:00.000+08:00

Wendy (played by Rebecca Lim) was shot; the last scene culminated with her lying on the grass in a pool of her own blood.

It ended.

Oh my god, will there ever be a season two? I want to know what happens to everyone in the show.

The end was so abrupt that I could not believe it.

WHAT?

So many open-ended threads... Dear producer, are you gonna leave it all to MY imagination?

Gosh gosh i feel like dying. HAHAHA... all for a drama.

Edwin

This Startled The Shit Outta Me

2010-06-03T15:50:00.003+08:00

A big-name marketer sent me an email with the title:

"Legal Action due to your affiliate activities‏"

And that scared the living hell outta me.

Seriously my heart started beating like I saw a ghost or something.

So I clicked the email, and my firefox died on me. That exacerbated my anxiety. In my head I was thinking about how would I have to fight this legal battle and yada yada (even though I haven't done anything wrong).

The I loaded Google Chrome and visited my email, wishing for the best.

And I realised that this is just another one of those mass emails marketers send to everyone on their list.

This experience scared the living daylights outta me. I don't remember breaching any laws, and yet I receive such a scare. Dammit man.

I swear I'm never gonna promote this moron's products anymore. Dumbass.

Just wanted to rant about this insanely scary three minutes of my life.

Cheers,
Edwin

Talent?

2010-05-28T05:08:00.002+08:00

Have you seen this?

This is one of Dr. Goh Keng Swee's eulogies. Check the speech out.

Seriously I haven't seen a better speaker than her for a long time. And she's only 17. When I was in JC I don't remember seeing anyone speak as well as this.

I was pretty touched listening to her (the speaker) sharing her experiences with Dr. Goh. I would never have been able to deliver a speech as well as this. If this is the kind of people we still have in our society, well, Singapore really still has great hopes for the future.

This is someone I will look up to... and if you were to search my entire blog history, you would realise that I've never said something like that before about a person I barely know.

Looking at someone like that makes me kinda ashamed about how I act or the things I say sometimes. Frankly if a person like that were to stand in an election against me, even I would vote against myself. Upon retrospect, its sometimes absurd of me when I say that I will be PM.

You know what? I really would love to meet more people like that. I would think that this would be wonderful learning experiences for me. Singapore as a talent-ground, really is still quite good eh?

~~

Okay, serious stuff aside, back on track to life.

Just attended Weilin's 21st, and found it to be quite a blast! I drank a little too much though, to the point of having a headache. Not a nice headache to deal with.

But the party was fairly interesting. Made new friends, reconnected with old associates. Had a conversation kinda made my day because it was far more positive than I expected it to be. Very happy about that. I was actually taking every step with much trepidation leading to this conversation, but then when it happened, it was surprisingly amiable. Cool cool.

Which is why I'm feeling quite good now in spite of the rumbling post-alcohol effects in my tummy and the recurring headache. Doesn't seem to affect me much. Just that I cannot fall asleep (because I dozed off on the sofa earlier), and its now 5 am. Oh my, i'm pretty exhausted after a long day.

Its okay though. (=

!!!

Cheers,
Edwin

Responsibility

2010-05-27T08:02:00.000+08:00

Was just reading Adam Khoo's Master Your Mind, Design Your Destiny, and he was talking about taking responsibility for the results in your life. And so I am inspired to write this post.

I will not blame Google for banning me and taking down my business. There really are still many other search engines out there where I can utilise my skills.

I will not blame Kelvin or anyone for the things they said about me. I'm not the nicest guy around anyway, and yes, I talk behind other people's backs too. I could have done better with my interactions with others.

I will not blame myself for looking like i'm underweight. I am the one who chooses my diet, exercise and lifestyle, and if I am not the weight I want, its really because I haven't set the right goals and applied the right strategy.

I have no one to blame for my dismal performance on the internet. There are a hundred other things I could have done to make more profits, but I did not do these. And I am solely responsible for that.

I will not blame other people for my reactions. Why? Because these are MY reactions... ain't it absurd to blame others for that?

I will not blame the economy, my parents, my education, my country, my friends, my life, facebook, yahoo, Vivien, The Undertaker, Kofi Kingston or anyone, because I and I am responsible.

YEAH.

That feels kinda good.

I feel in control.

Some of the things above are bugging me like a chronic illness. Its better just to release, take responsibility and do something, then complain, do nothing and moan.

Eh?

Oh yea, all of these things fall under the "Beliefs" section of the Ultimate Success Formula Outlined above. And yes, these is my belief: I can change till I get it right.

Cheers,
Edwin

Pikachuuuuuuuu!

2010-05-27T04:05:00.001+08:00

I'm probably the crudest friend you have.

Hehe.

Cheers,
Edwin

Like?

2010-05-26T00:36:00.002+08:00

This is a hard question to ask, one that even I wouldn't necessarily have the wherewithal to put forward.

What's worse than getting the question across is hearing the answer when I didn't even ask.

The times when it is a Yes were often the brightest moments in my life. I remembered.

But the occurence which is a No often are the darkest days of my life. I'm feeling it.

Sarah dropped me something like that a few years ago. Today Clement dropped me one too.

No, it isn't that they hate me, it's that they were the ones who brought me the messsage that someone else doesn't have a favourable opinion of me.... when all along all I tried is just to be nice(r) to this person.

Its sad, and its painful to think about actually.

I'll not try to make excuses for myself here, but well, that's life, there is never a one size fits all approach I suppose.

But I want to say this... Ever since I got into NS, I REALLY TRIED to be as nice as I can to people. Serious. Of course, there will be the occassional sarcasm from me, but these are normally not targeted at people I treat as friends.

If you tell me someone I dislike hates me, I will be totally fine with that. But if you tell me someone I treat as a friend harbours some ill intent against me, I'll feel hurt. Its very scary to know that in the face of all the cordial-ism, there are actually undercurrents which I failed to touch.

I really dislike such a feeling, but well once again, this is good feedback for me. I can change, no problem!

But it looks like I needa learn to accept criticism better.

Cheers,
Edwin

My Days

2010-05-24T06:23:00.004+08:00

Together with final fantasy 12, this (FF8) is my current obsession.

I can't stop thinking about my game, and I think it is really good that I've found (or re-found) something that I genuinely enjoy.

Its sick spending ten hours a day in front of the computer doing stuff and then spending the rest of my waking hours glued to the TV watching mindless programmes.

Though it sounds weird to for me to say this, playing final fantasy has actually given me somewhat a more fulfilling and balanced life.

Yeah!

~~

Coming up with my own affiliate program! Its quite interesting to do, and I'm pretty much done settting things up. All that's left now is for me to market the program, and I'm set.

This time, there is no google, no facebook, no paid traffic.

~~

So, this is my life.

Getting my paycheck this thursday! Yay!

Cheers,
Edwin

P.s. I messed up while trying to change something on my blogskin, that's why I settled to this one. Not that its bad anyway. (=

I can't see dolphins

2010-05-21T22:18:00.001+08:00

Here's your post, Sarah.

HAHA

Do you see nine dolphins?

Frankly it was a stretch for me. Haha.

Cheers,
Edwin

Primary 5 English

2010-05-18T17:51:00.002+08:00

Was checking out Mr Leow's blog, and he had some primary 5 exam papers up, so I decided to give it a try. Here's one question:

The first answer I had in my head?

E. the fuck did

HAHA.

I'm really not P5 anymore. I think you probably thought the same as I did... right?

"What the fuck did you do in the kitchen last night?" Mother asked.

Cheers,
Edwin

Hmm

2010-05-16T06:35:00.000+08:00

Ever since google banned me from adwords, i've been having more free time than ever.

I don't have to do anymore keyword research, no more difficult technical stuff to do, no more content I need to create, no more adwords campaigns i need to manage.

It really is quite a blessing in disguise actually. Just take a look at my blog. I update this place like everyday now, because my work now is really simple. I log in to facebook, check my ads, log in to clickbank, check my sales. Tada I'm done for the day.

Everything in life happens for a reason, even the things we may not like to have happened.

Shit happens, but hey, to one man shit is just shit. To another, its gold in the form of fertilizer.

Yes.

We just have to look for the silver lining.

Me? I've got so much free time I feel so much happier now.

Hell I'm even starting to read some of the good stuff I have in my hard drive that has been collecting digital dust for far too long.

~~

Oh my.

I've recently got so much time I'm actually

i) paying attention to the news

ii) watching more tv

Which are habits I don't really like.

No no.

When there is a vacuum, something automatically fills up the space.

Looks like I'm filling up my space with some irrelevant stuff. Not good, not good.

Gotta do more stuff.

I like the idea of trying out Bing advertising, and will be looking into that these few days.

Yeah!

Cheers,
Edwin

Porno music slash comment time

2010-05-15T17:06:00.002+08:00

Remember me putting up a youtube video about a month or so ago talking about those facebook scams which tell you "see every1 who views your profile! 100% real!"

Yeah?

Here are some comments to that video.

Kinda cracked me up. Yes, I actually have an accent, which is apparently difficult to understand... HAHA

Cheers,
Edwin

Talent

2010-05-15T03:25:00.003+08:00

I bet you've seen this.

But nevertheless, I like him.

Talent.

Cheers,
Edwin

The self Righteous

2010-05-13T23:19:00.003+08:00

This sergeant is pretty.

On a side note, I felt as though the world crumbled on me... google just stopped my advertising indefinitely.

But its okay, I can live with that.

I'd just move on I guess.

Today I went for a job interview and got the job.

Abel called me to make the confirmation. However, he mentioned that if I were to work there, I'd have to shorten my holiday next month (going to malaysia for 7 days), because they think that since I'd be working there only for three months, a week off work is too long.

I decided to go for the holiday and skip the job.

Looks like I'm not fated to get a job. HAHA.

I'm more sadddened by the fact that google banned me than not clinching the job. Though there is still Yahoo!, Bing, Facebook, Ask, Miva, 7Search, I still feel for it.

Google is really damn self righteous. The fact that they dare to pull out of China is a huge testament to how stubborn those folks are. May be a good thing, may not be. There is never a one size fits all approach.

Cheers,

Edwin

10/10

2010-05-09T02:12:00.004+08:00

I'm getting a little good at handling google.

Looks like my setbacks weren't that bad afterall...

FYI a quality score of ten is a little hard to get, especially for affiliates like me. So i'm quite happy with this now, but looking at Google's track record, I don't know how long will this last.

Which is why I tried facebook advertising yesterday. Decided not to "put all my eggs in one basket," as far as my advertising is concerned.

It went amazingly well for the first ten hours, where I first doubled my money (sounds like gambling eh?), then went on sale-less for the next few hours. I've changed my targeting in facebook and am now waiting for their ad team to get back to me.

Opps.

I'm sorry I'm boring you with every post here talking about my advertising online. It is like the bedrock of what I do these days, that's why it forms a large part of my thinking processes for the day.

Well, will talk about something else the next post I guess.

No time to get complacent with the 10/10 that I got. I've learnt time and time again that it is in this moment where I face success where I HAVE to push on, otherwise someone or something else will happen to take it away.

YEAH MAN.

Cheers,

Edwin

A number

2010-05-08T01:40:00.002+08:00

I think i perform well when i'm not Edwin Koh. No, I'm serious.

I think I rock when I am drunk or high in layman terms.

I've never tried marijuana before, and i don't think i ever will, but i enjoy this state where i am able to ignore everything else in this world and live the way i want to, on my own terms.

"It's only after we've lost everything that we are free to do anything."

You know what? I haven't lost everything.

On the contrary, i'm really successful.

These last few days have been one of the happiest days in my life for the past 2 years. I've made money, money that people only dream of making. Yes, that kind, that kind where you sleep on your ass and wake up in the morning to see the paychecks decking on your berth. Yeah. that's the kind.

I was feeling really thankful, till Google decided to slap me.

Fuck that shit Google.

Why the hell can't you let me live in this fantasy world?

I was happy everyday when i woke up, looking at the money I made the previous night while I slept, and now you're taking it away from me?

Oh my god google's a total bitch. She's almost as difficult to handle as my Admin Officer. Oh wait, maybe she's tougher.

But shit she killed my income line just with a shift in her algorithm.

Oh SHIT.

Looks like i gotta change the way I deal with the big G.

Sbe's giving me more problems then anyone else in this world.

Otherwise, I'm quite a happy guy.

No, really, I really am happy.

I've got Kate Beckinsale and Tracy Lee to ogle to everyday, money that i can spend, friends I love to spend time with, a wonderful family to return to night after night. What more can I ask for?

Opps, I hope the people in the above paragraph don't see what I write, but I really think so about what I said.

I'd be happier with more money though. Shit google is making my life difficult.

Not that there is nothing I can do about it though. Much more I can do.

As I said on facebook, I refer back to my JC teacher, Mary Lim, who often said "Edwin, you're not doing enough."

Which I rightfully agree.

There is so much more I can do, so much more to achieve.

What's a million dollars?

Just another number...

Cheers,

Edwin

Ask for a slap in your face.

2010-05-02T16:04:00.010+08:00

Ask for a slap in the face.

If you show somebody a piece of your work and you ask them “what do you think?”, they will probably say it’s okay because they don’t want to offend you.

Next time, instead of asking if it’s right, ask them what’s wrong.

They may not say what you want to hear, but the chances are they will give you a truthful criticism.

Truth hurts, but in the long run it’s better than a pat on the back.

Paul Arden

Check out my tagboard.

You'd see a few rather blunt statements made about what I wrote and me from Daryl.

And frankly I like what I am seeing.

It isn't that I am a masochist for liking it when people criticize me, but rather, I figured that it is in these truths that actually give me big opportunities to grow and not make the same mistakes that I made.

Like my previous two posts, where I showed disdain for certain quarters, which is not correct at all.

And upon retrospect, what is the point off being anti-something? When we focus on what we don't want, would it bring what we want (which is more important) towards us?

I don't think so.

That is a side note, but in future, I would prefer it when people tell me what are the things I can correct and make better. There is always room for improvement, and I'd like it that I am personally aware of these possibilities.

If you're wondering who is Paul Arden, he's an advertising legend in UK. I'm a huge fan of his book "Whatever you think, think the opposite." You can check my loan records, but I've loaned it from the library for at least five times.

Too bad he's dead.

Personally I've learnt many life principles from his very simple works. You should check out that book I just mentioned. Its full of pictures and I believe has barely 1000 words. Very cool stuff.

Yeah.

I like Chinese girls, I also like Caucasian-European girls and I like it when they are skinny or average weight.

Cheers,

Edwin

P.s. I've increased the font size.

No Government Service

2010-05-01T08:23:00.010+08:00

“TRAPPED. It’s not because you are making the wrong decisions. It’s because you are making the right ones. We try to make sensible decisions based on the facts in front of us. The problem with making sensible decisions is that so is everybody else.”

Paul Arden

Never say never, some people say.

Me?

Standing before you today, I am going to tell you that I am never going to work in the government in future. Here are four reasons

i) I worked in MINDEF
ii) I was rejected by SPRING for the scholarship
iii) The salary of government officials is measly
iv) You normally have to work under moronic dorks.

Okay, point iv) is a joke, but I am serious about the other three points.

For the past five or six years in my life, I have had this idea that someday I would want to work in the government as a super-high-ranking person like a permanent secretary or a minister (yes, laugh at me if you want). Which has held be back from doing some things I want to do because I want to be "accountable" for my actions in future.

Secretely, I tell myself whenever I am about to do something stupid that "hey, if you do this, someday when you run for political office someone will find this skeleton in your closet!"

Which often was a good enough deterrent to stop me from doing something stupid.

But I realised that it is these "right" decisions that often bring me nowhere.

The "honest" affiliate promotion.

The "clean" site.

The "accountable" citizen.

The "acceptable" presentation.

The low hanging fruit.

Screw that shit.

Yeah fuck it.

That is how my normal thought processes are, its just that I don't voice it that much.

Sorry to disappoint, but you'll never see me a minister.

I'd rather be a vagabond, a Frank Kern, a beatle, a revolutionary.

The safe decision has danger written all over it. Think about that for a moment.

Am I going crazy? Nah, I'm more sound than ever.

~~

Yes friends, I know I am starting to sound like a broken radio. Everytime you talk to me I seem to have this grandiose money-making plans and goals but never have I seem to achieve those aims.

Give me a little more time yeah? I'm really working on it, working on things and making them work one by one.

I really believe in what I do (or can do).

A few days back Joshua and I were chatting, and we saw this other friend who spelt out some goals in her FB profile that were a little big, and I realised the first thought in my head was "she wouldn't make it."

I hope that when I do say things like that, you wouldn't think I'm a loon not knowing what he is talking about. In spite of all my tongue-in-cheek-ness, I really do know what I'm talking about.

It isn't that I don't make wrong choices though, but upon retrospect, ain't the wrong choices we make often the best ones?

So, believe in me for a little more while.

I'm the same guy that failed my PSLE and still got to Uni right? Too bad I was rejected by SPRING. Opps, I mean... luckily I was rejected by SPRING.

At most when all else fails I'll just "go to school, get a degree, get a job, be early and work hard." Not bad a choice right?

Maybe I'll even find a "highly educated" and fat wife from the government Social Development Unit when I go for speed dating when I cannot make it.

No, fuck no. Even that's too much of a stretch for me.

Haha.

Yours Truly,
Edwin

Our Response

2010-04-29T20:48:00.003+08:00

E + R = O

Event + Response = Outcome

Earlier today I was reading Jack Canfield's The Success Principles, and the above equation called out to me.

I finally went to the gym today after a two month hiatus... and now I'm in pain after the exercise, especially the squats which totally killed me.

After gym, I went for dinner with Joshua, and something pretty embarrassing happened. While we were crossing the road beside the bus interchange, there was a bus that came close to us, and as a natural reaction, one would make haste when crossing the road by running. Well, when I did just that and tried to run to allow the bus to cross... my post-squat jelly legs gave way, I fell down and scraped my knee like a little boy.

It was stupid.

I couldn't believe it that my legs gave way. In my disbelief, I decided to run again when we got on the walkway, and I realised that I couldn't do it at all. With every haste I made I fell down.

This was a very weird experience for me, considering that I am the same guy you saw in Unity jumping everywhere from class to class like a bunny... and now I'm handicapped like a 70 year old?

Such a situation illustrated to me the limitations I have as a person (be it physical or whatever). No one is perfect, and neither am I. But it is what we do with what we have that matters, not what we don't have. Yes, I may not be able to do one more thing today (i.e. run) but does that mean that I am not able to do the other 50 million things that I can do?

The answer is no.

There is so much more to life.

One little handicap ain't gonna change a thing. For that matter, I'm certain by next week I'll be better than ever... all thanks to the squats.

A win-win situation? You damn sure bet it is.

We may not be able to control the event, but we definitely are able to control our responses, which in turn changes the outcome to however we want it to be...

Cool stuff? Check out Canfield's book.

Cheers,

Edwin

Life

2010-04-29T16:42:00.001+08:00

“SIMPLY CHANGE YOUR LIFE. The world is what you think of it. So think of it differently and your life will change.”

Paul Arden

Friends

2010-04-28T09:26:00.005+08:00

I used to have this idea that the more "friends" I have on facebook, the more followers
I had on twitter, the more popular I would appear to be.

But recently, I sorta had this habit of rejecting friend requests and deleting people from my list. Sometimes I don't like what I see, sometimes its because I really don't know the person and couldn't be bothered to ask "you are?," just to get a "just making friends, haha, how's your day going?" reply.

Maybe its because I learnt more to appreciate the people and things around me, or maybe I'm just becoming a jerk, but in any case, that is definitely different from how I thought in the past.

~~

I'm not being racist here, but have you seen the recent trend of some people on facebook? They seem to like to add some weird adjective as a middle name to themselves, something like Fadly Donut Latiff, Fatimah Cupcake or Ahzhar Retarded. Whatever.

Makes me wonder, why do they seem to like to "follow the crowd," when its so obvious the crowd very often is out of the "crowd?" Like weirdly shaped caps, low class stickers on vehicles or cheap geely cars with ugly body kits.

Maybe that is the way they express themselves. But people, aren't such behaviours more suited for children or teenagers? Well, I don't know.

I am not specifically targeting this race, but rather some behaviours which (even the Chinese occasionally illustrate) totally nauseates me.

Yeah, whatever.

Edwin

Spring Awards

2010-04-27T13:42:00.004+08:00

俗话说，入围就是一种肯定。

首先我要感谢我的家人，我的爸爸妈妈，还有我的妹妹。

今天我能够有这个机会参与这个奖学金入选过程是我的荣幸。虽然我没有成功的获取这个奖学金，我很庆幸自己有这么一个经验。

我也想感谢我的朋友多次给与我的支持和鼓励。今日没得到这个奖学金，心里感到最对不起的是所有给与我支持的人。

~~

Okay okay, i took about twenty minutes to write the above. And no, its not some weird song lyric.

Just wanted to say that I was eliminated from the scholarship application process, and well... that I am "happy" that they considered me in the first place...

入围就是一种肯定。

Right?

HAHA.

Now I feel like Ann Kok + Shaun Chen + Terrence Cao all added together.

Nevermind lah, at least got nomination right?

HAHAHA.

Since I didn't clinch the scholarship, time for plan B.

I was looking at incorporating my own company, and realised that all I need is just $65 to register one.

Good good.

Spring, here I come again.

Mebbe this rejection isn't that bad afterall...

(=

Cheers (and this time I mean it),
Edwin

Community Channel

2010-04-23T08:45:00.004+08:00

Check out Community Channel on youtube!

I think Natalie's damn funny.

Recently I became a fan of her video logs and found them to be thoroughly interesting. She talks about the simple and mundane stuff we all think about but don't actually voice, and she does a great job illustrating these perspectives. Great job.

Look Community Channel up! (=

Cheers,
Edwin

Blessing in disguise

2010-04-22T09:21:00.003+08:00

I haven't mentioned this to you before, but do you know that recently my yahoo answers account got suspended for "too much commercial activity?"

Yes, that happened about ten days ago. If you didn't know previously, Yahoo answers actually was one of my biggest sources of income online, and they actually suspended my activity.

The normal guy would have banged his head on the wall and given up. But no, Edwin Koh ain't the normal guy.

Finally I was banned by Yahoo, which really was a great blessing in disguise because I finally began working on the things that I am supposed to work on, instead of aimlessly poking around yahoo answers and getting only substandard results.

This past week for me has been very interesting. I spent most of my waking hours in front of the computer working on two marketing campaigns, and the first one failed. I'm not giving up on that yet, so I will continue to work on it till I at least see one sale and recoup my losses (this is a big project and each sale brings in $100).

The second one is better. I just saw a bit of results coming in, and I am certain that when I continue to bang on it, it will be a raving success. I've seen people making over $2000 a day promoting this same offer, and I intend to scale things up to that level some day.

Wah, but it was quite mind-numbing work. Imagine spending the majority of your waking hours thinking about advertising and marketing. I tell you, when that happens, even your rest hours will not be spared. At least that was what it is like for me now.

In bed I can't fall asleep easily because in my head are new ideas constantly popping up on how I can improve my marketing. And I can't really sleep because I'm consistently awaiting the results of my many "experiments" online. And yesterday I decided to keep vigil beside my computer to monitor my campaign that I decided to sleep next to it.

Its really fun to be immersed in work though. Somewhat physically draining, but I am certain that the results will be well worth it.

Last year I set goals that were big. I didn't take the action necessary to bring it to fruition. But lucky me, I am doing it now.

Thankfully Yahoo suspended me, otherwise I would still be where I was 10 days ago.

Lemme talk about something else other than internet marketing okay?

Oh yeah, have you seen this little clip I posted on facebook?

=> http://www.EdwinKoh.com/Movie

If you haven't, check it out.

Wow, I was extremely amazed when Rowell first showed it to me. This technology is very new to me.. OMG, imagine what you can do with that kind of power. Now that our world has this kind of video technology, what really is the limit to our prowesses?

Take a look at the iPhone and the iPad. Yes, these are things we only see in science fiction movies when we were young. Hell, it was even seen in Harry Potter with those moving photographs. Damn we really are living in the proverbial future and I am very excited to be a part of this world.

It would be thoroughly interesting to see how we proceed in future...

Hmm... I seem a little too serious here don't I?

But its okay I think.

Hmm... Spring hasn't gotten back to me. Wonder why... Even if they are not taking me in, they should have emailed me by now...

I was thinking about this scholarship, and a wonderful thought came to my head regarding Spring and the remuneration they would give me. I'm not going into details here, but I would say that whether I get the scholarship or not, I'm gonna still win in this equation.

Very excited to hear from them soon. I believe tomorrow would be the last day for them to get back to me. (=

Cheers,

Edwin

Post

2010-04-19T21:23:00.002+08:00

HAHAHA.

I just posted a new entry, but took it down immediately because it was a post primarily filled with my bitching... which I thought is totally inappropriate.

So... Lemme talk about something else here okay?

~~

Actually no.

I just wanted to fill this space up with something...

I'll be back to talk about more concrete stuff when I've got the mood. These few days all I think about is internet marketing and internet marketing.

I swear to you that I dreamt about butterfly marketing, google adwords and advertising almost every night (or afternoon) I sleep. Its weird, but its cool.

I'm turning into a zombie.

Cheers,
Edwin

Aiya

2010-04-13T01:24:00.004+08:00

Damn.

I've got it mapped both in my head and in paper, and I'm still wasting time not doing it. So here I am, blogging and promising myself that after I am done with this blog post, I will get back to work on another blog that I am doing.

I quite dislike doing the techie and design stuff because I'm not very good at it. Aiya, gotta still do lor, someday I will outsource these laborous tasks, but today, I gotta get myself good at it first. (=

~~

Oh, you would have noticed the picture on the top of the post right? She's the girl I was mentioning in my previous post.

Very pretty right?

I like the role she plays in the 9PM show. That's all I wanna say actually.

Not gonna elaborate, just thought I'd share this nice picture with you guys.

~~

Okays, back to work on my wordpress platform.

(=

Cheers,
Edwin

Tetris updated

2010-04-09T15:35:00.006+08:00

I don't mean to sound philosophical or something, but while I was playing tetris (which is the only game I've been playing for the past few months), I had these ideas in my head.

You see, just a few weeks ago, there was this one day that I got pretty agitated because I couldn't seem to "cross" the level that I wanted to. I kept on losing to the computer despite how hard I tried to win it. It was one of the rare times you'd see me banging my keyboard.

Fast forward to yesterday night, after a few weeks of just poking around, I won the match that I had so much frustrations... almost effortlessly.

"When the student is ready, the teacher appears."

That was one thought that hit my head.

Ermm.

It was like when I don't have something, it really isn't because everything is against me and I should go bang the wall because of that. But really, when I don't have something, it is because I am not prepared for it.

This is a tough concept to explain I guess.

But well, assuming that I won my tetris game a few weeks back, did you think I would have spent these few weeks poking around and improving my game (unconsciously)? I don't think so. And it was precisely because I improved myself by continuing to play that when I attempted the challenge yesterday night, it seemed effortless... because I was finally ready.

I realised that for many things in life, there isn't a need to force it down.

When I was in secondary school, I had this friend who tried to force down the teachings of the bible to me, and she kept on asking me, week after week, whether I "accepted Christ." Of course I didn't. Why? Because I didn't understand a damn thing about it.

She was forcing the notion down my throat when I wasn't prepared for it. Ask me the same question today and I would have different answers, not that it is a yes. To put it simply, I would have been far more receptive had she not try to force it on me.

Which brings me to my next point of gradual ascensions.

We really don't reach the top overnight. No one does that, and if anyone tries to manipulate things to his favour and cheat, one way or another, the universe will get back to him. Sounds weird coming from the guy who always looks for shortcuts eh?

But no, I realised that in the long run, hard work and perserverance still matters.

I can learn how to "rapid fire attract" girls, yes, and I can learn how to pick them up from streets, look for indicators of interest, establish my value and go for the kill. But what matters after that is still the same. Basic relationship principles will still matter. I still have to build rapport with her, work things out as normal.

Or take business as an example. I can have all the guerilla marketing and negotiating strategies. But if I mess up basic business principles, I'm not gonna succeed in the long run.

It balls down to the "character vs personality" ethic that Covey covers I guess (opps, I think i'm losing you here).

HAHA.

Back on track, my point is that we have to be prepared for what we want, otherwise if it comes, it would be hard to keep going. Thats all I'm trying to say actually.

Otherwise we can adapt. I can do that too, but I prefer being prepared.

Am I ready? Not for some things, otherwise yesterday would have been a different day for me.

(=

~~

*Update* 9 PM Friday 9/4/10

I was watching the 9 PM show on channel 8, and saw this girl who was getting married to this guy driving a ferrari. This guy brought her to a piece of land and told her that he just purchased the option to the $8mil property and will be building a home there... in her name.

Wow. I was looking at that girl, and the thought that went through my head was... if I were this guy, I would also wanna marry her.

It's out of the ordinary for me to say this, because I normally have a disdain for Singapore (or Malaysian) actresses. Just ask me what I think about Jessica Liu.

For that matter, I think this girl is Malaysian. Cute property, cute girl. Nice eh?

I don't think I've met anyone like that in my life yet. Oops, I think that's my point here. Continue looking I suppose. In the meanwhile I'll work on the tangibles, like learning how to purchase an option to an $8mil piece of land or simply understanding more more about content syndication online.

So this is to my father, mother and Teo Chee Hean, I just haven't found the right person. Especially to DPM Teo, who said "It just doesn't exist! You're looking for this 10 which doesn't exist maybe 8.5 will do or 7.5 will be alright and then you just adapt to each other."

Yes dude, I'm still looking, unlike those people you see queuing up in Beauty World to get a Vietnam wife or going to China to look for a bride. Nah. My 10 exists. I saw a glimpse of her on TV just now. Its just TV though. Don't take it too seriously.

(=

Cheers,
Edwin

I'm Really Thankful For...

2010-04-06T16:53:00.009+08:00

Let me pen this down before I lose this train of thought.

I just finished a swim at the CCK stadium, and on my way back, I had this idea popping up in my head... I'm one helluva lucky fella.

I really am.

I have everything I want in life and I don't have anything I don't want (think about this).

Serious.

I am able to go anywhere I want, whenever I want. I want to swim, I swim. I want to gym, I gym.

I want someone to talk to, I get someone to talk to.

I want money, I really get money. I have more money that I usually spend (thanks to my wonderful allowance from my parents and clickbank).

I have great friends. And this is something I am damn proud of.

I am not gonna name people here, because I'm afraid I may forget to list anyone, but if I asked you out to hang out, hung out with you before these past few months, you are on my list of great friends.

Yes, you, don't look away. That includes Sarah Chung too.

I am really thankful for everyone that bothered to, in one way or another, care for me. Just take a look at my tagboard, it is full of encouraging words from so many people. I mean, isn't that wonderful?

I know I haven't been the easiest person to deal with all my life. I messed with people alot, and made little mistakes here and there. But once again, I wanna say that I am really lucky to have not only survived everything, but emerged a better person from every single ordeal.

There is never a one man show, neither is Edwin Koh one.

The only complain I can make about my life is myself. Seriously, I have everything, but I do not seem to make the best out of all I have. Just take my internet marketing as an example. If you ever seen my hard-drive, you would see the best of internet marketing tools in my arsenal, I'm not kidding you here. I am quite sure that when I make the best out of the things I have, it is just a short matter of time I become a millionaire. Serious. Once again, its not all me, but its a culmination of strategy, tools and everything else that will help me achieve what I want.

But we're not talking about this today.

I just am thankful for all that I have.

Of course there are still things that I want that I haven't achieved, but that is all because I haven't taken the right action to do it. But I am also not talking about this today.

I just wanna use this post to extend my appreciation for all the wonderful people I have around me.

Like Kwangwei (though I don't think he'll be seeing this, he's going outfield) who frequently asks me about my progress and stuff, just in the name of being a great friend. Or even Daryl, take a look at my twitter board, he has been there listening to some of my grouses, formulating "strategy" with me, once again in the name of being a wonderful friend.

Ah heck, lemme just name people lah.

Shirong and HLK, who along with Kwangwei are still that wonderful bunch of friends I had since I was 11. Yes, our dearest shortie Serene Kee too. Aiya some day I really must visit Serene's mum to relive my childhood fishball noodle fantasy.

Clement and Kason too. I never thought I would have made good friends in NS, but you two are the contrary to this belief.

My JC mates, especially you guys. Yes, you guys.

Thank you Eileen, thank you Johua, thank you Seowken. We are definitely good friends... till the end eh? You guys are a damn great bunch to hang out with, we've grown, we've changed with the times, but well, we're still that damn good friends, and I like that very much.

And of course, my family, my dad, mom and sister. Thank you for always being there.

There are many people that helped me proceed to where I am today. I really can't name everyone, but well, you know who you are. Even if we haven't met in awhile, like Siewboon.

This is my life... I can do whatever I want, eat whenever I fancy, sleep if I'm lazy, all thanks to all I have.

Ain't my life that damn good?

~~

HAHAHAHA. Eh, please note leh, this is not some suicidal note okay? I'm still super happy a person hor. I'm not some stupid idiot who uses a cigerette butt to burn myself because I'm emo then kaobei kaobu to get attention one lah.. HAHAHA. (I think this is funny. LOL) I don't smoke anyway.

I was just thinking about this on my way back on my bike and wanted to pen it down. The thankful person is the happy person, and that of course is yours truly.

I think Shawn Micheals retirement emotions got to me lah. But me retire? Nah, no way, its all a clean slate from now. Right?

Cheers,
Edwin

Cool poop

2010-04-04T18:21:00.001+08:00

Ever wondered do snails excrete? To put it in more layman terms, do you know how snails shit?

Well, I also didn't know... till today.

I was taking a walk around my neighbourhood today to collect my thoughts, and as per normal, I observe my surroundings a lot. The leaf on the floor, the butterfly flying towards me (they always seem to like human contact don't they?), the uncle with his two walking sticks and yes, snails.

I always pick up snails whenever I see them. And this time it was no different.

There was this snail, innocent as it was, sitting on the green railing on my left while I made my pilgrimage across commonwealth crescent. Its normal-beyond-normal shell caught my attention and me being me, decide to prod it a little to get it back into its shell so i could pick it up.

AND GUESS WHAT I SAW?

OMG A LONG LONG LINE OF POOP ON THE SNAIL.

HAHAHA.

It was a startling revelation. In my years of picking up snails, I've never seen one with poop. And this poor snail, while making toilet, had to be prodded by such an insensitive boy in yellow shirt.

I prodded it a few times, but it refused to go back into its shell. Then I realised... it doesn't want to bring the shit back into its shell... who would want that anyway right?

LOL

Damm stupid.

I called my mother to tell her about my snail saga but too bad she was sleeping. I have this tendency to call either Rowell or my mother to report to them these stupid things I do or see.

So much for a walk in my neighbourhood.

Prior to that, I went to buy 2 G2 pens from Clementi.

Yes, Clementi. Damn stupid. It took me about 40 minutes of walking in Clementi to find a book shop. I've always thought that there is full of shops there in Clementi selling everything, then I realised I was wrong. HAHA, I couldn't even find a single place that sells a G2 at all that after 40 minutes of an exasperating walk, I decided to just ask the security guard at some ulu shopping centre where can I find a book shop.

He said he doesn't know. So me being me, I decided to small talk him. And after a minute of cocking, he remembered that there is a book shop in the MRT station. Lucky for the small talk, otherwise I would have went home empty handed without my G2 pen.

How did I land in clementi is another story all together.

As I mentioned just now, I was taking a walk around my neighbourhood, and after about ten minutes of this journey, I thought that I am really bored and decided to go somewhere else... but where to? I thought. And do what? I decided to set on a journey to buy 2 G2 pens.

So I decided to let fate decide my course, and headed to the bus stop and took the first bus that arrived. It was 105. I took it, and decided that I will alight at Clementi because its a central and definitely has bookshops.

Well, this randomness paid off, because not only did I eventually buy my pen, I also found an ATM, used it and made one important decision regarding my internet marketing after the ATM session. I also had bubble tea in Clementi and thought it was refreshing.

There were a few console stores in Clementi too, and I headed into one of them and finally asked someone how much a PS3 costs. I was told it costs 440, which is well affordable but I don't want to get it now, not at least until I can settle the issue of income consistency. Which is actually quite a good afterthought.

I have a cool life don't I? So much for an afternoon spent alone, moving around and just taking time to think.

And here I am, blogging to recollect some of my thoughts so that I don't have to rack my cranium to remember all this stuff. Guess where I got this tip? From John Reese when I was listening to his audio-course while I was loitering around Clementi.

"In any moment the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."

I could have stayed at home and sulked the living hell outta myself. But at least I got off my butt and did something, and that totally made all the difference.

~~

I realised that in life, nothing is insurmountable. And everything that happens happens in the name of being a good thing, regardless of its nature.

So. What next? (see, I look ahead in life)

Nothing much.

Just looking forward to meeting Phillip Yeo for my "chairman interview," build my internet empire and prepare for school.

I'm a simple person eh?

No... Maybe not.

Not at all.

So much for looking at a snail poop and taking a short walk.

(=

Cheers,
Edwin Koh

JC again

2010-03-31T15:15:00.003+08:00

These few days I feel like I'm in JC again.

Serious.

Before I start let me say something here, remember myself saying that I am working on something really really big now, something bigger than internet marketing? Let me spill the beans a little on this thing I'm working on because I realise that there is no need to keep it a secret after telling it to so many people... I'm working on getting a scholarship.

And surprisingly or not, I actually did good in the few tests that I was put through, namely my application essay, on-the-spot essay and first interview. Well, I passed all that already.

So yesterday was the day that I had to go the this organisations assessment centre for a whole day of activities, ranging from group work, group games, some tests and an oral presentation from me.

Wow.

My day was spent with a group of smart kiddos.

All like I was in JC again.

And we had to work together, do some mind-taxing activities, a lotta thinking and alotta doing.

It was like a competition, as though we were in a reality TV show. Think The Apprentice. Yeah, that was my day yesterday.

On one hand, we had to work as a team. On the other, we had to work for ourselves to make sure that we stand out. Kinda weird a juxtaposition, but well, that was how things were.

And these people I was with are a smart bunch, and it really has been awhile since JC that I had to work and compete with a bunch of people who are that bright. Really reminded me of JC, where people were really bright and we had to work together for a common purpose.

Now don't get me wrong here, it isn't that the people I hang around these days are dumbasses. Far from that actually, but it is that when I am with friends, we don't compete, I am totally comfortable with them, there is no need for us to out-game each other.

Then I had to speak in proper English. Not that it was difficult for me, but I went back to my JC state where I used bigger words, gestured a lot more and well... acted like a JC kid instead of the noisy tongue-in-cheek me you see today.

It was a very fun experience though. The games and stuff we were told to do had quite a bit of challenge to them, and we really had to work things out as a team to jump through the hoops. Now my thighs are aching from the game we played yesterday.

It may sound weird for me to day this now, but after 2 years in MINDEF, yesterday was my first time actually seeing so many girls my age or younger. It was fun though.

But really tiring, both mentally and physically. I felt like dying on my father's car when he came to pick me up after the day yesterday.

I was so bushed I decided to head home for a ten minute nap before going out in the night to meet a few friends in Bishan to discuss something we were planning.

While talking to this group of older friends, I very naturally used the word "altruism." I sound like I was in JC again eh? HAHA

~~

These few days another thing happened, and my reaction to it was very similar to what I would have done in JC too. In my head were ideas floating around on how can I out-game this person and how would I be able to plan my moves and execute it in the best political manner possible.

Then I realised that I really shouldn't be playing this game at all. I'm kinda lazy to play it, and I don't really want to win it anyway (though I'm sure that if I want to, I can). The only reason that I would try to do it is because I enjoy the thrill of competition. That's all.

Wah lao eh I actually spent time thinking about something so bo liao.

HAHA

There really is no need for me to blast someone down till they are on the ground. I used to do this in JC actually, especially with a teacher I didn't really like in J1. I think I did a really good job of smearing her in shit, but upon retrospect, I realised that I don't have to do that at all. Serious. I could have gotten more of what I wanted had I faced the issue with a sense to generate goodwill, instead of enmity.

Really.

Goodwill.

I like the sound of that word.

Goodwill.

Recently Frank Kern has been harping on the issue of goodwill and I am really inspired by what he talked about regarding goodwill and life.

How generating goodwill is important, is relevant. And instead of thinking on how you can kill your competition, since they are in the same game as you are, why not work with them? You have common objectives anyway.

Oh, sorry, I was talking to myself there.

So no. No game.

~~

Have I ever mentioned to you how I got into my first relationship?

I don't think I ever did, not to anyone else actually.

Today, I want to talk about this.

It was back in 2002, when I was still the angsty little kid who loves riding his bike after school and hanging out with friends doing all sorts of stupid things. That was me.

I was in the band then. Well, and in the band, I sorta had quite a bit of fun with this particular girl. Lets call her M.

So M and I hit off really well. And we caught the attention of my group of friends.

Since we were 14 and going steady was the "in" thing then, my group of friends asked me if I liked M. I couldn't really give an answer. As much as we hit off really well, I didn't really think of her in that sense of being my "stead." I really thought so then.

But well, my friends urged me to go after her, and I did.

And well, I succeeded... so to speak.

That was the start. I didn't have a mind of my own, and simply took the suggestion of my friends and did the deed, just because it was the "in" thing, and almost everyone else around us is attached.

Fast forward to today. I am 21. Many of my friends are attached, to the point that it seems like the "in" thing now. In the back of my head is this girl who I liked since way back (before JC, I have to specify), and I've got a few wonderful friends urging me on to just take the leap.

I realised that this situation is extremely similar to what I faced way back in 2002. Friends urging, people attached, a wonderful girl in the horizon.

The difference? I have my own mind today.

I didn't mention what happened to M and I eventually, but we broke up and ended in very stupid squabbles and fights in class and stuff. It got me into a bit of trouble then and I ended up once in the discipline master's room for hitting another guy. It was childish demeanour then and I'm certain it would not happen today.

But I also didn't mention that I had my doubts about how much I liked M when my friends urged me on. I didn't have those doubts on my second "relationship," because I was certain that she was someone I really liked.

Once again, fast forward to today. What am I thinking?

Dunno.

Pray hard that I get my scholarship okay?

Thanks!

Cheers,
Edwin

OMG? Divorce?

2010-03-29T16:00:00.003+08:00

Who would have believed me if I told you that Gillian at the back takes nude pictures and Charlene here is married to Ronald all this while?

No one.

Neither would I.

But well, the facts are out. Twins aren't the cutesypies we thought they were.

Take a look at that youtube video. Yes, the one I uploaded.

It was taken in 2006.

Then I was still somewhat of a fan, and I took abit of effort to do an audacity recording of that clip, convert it to MP3 and then cut it into pieces so I could use it as my ringtone. And if you tried something like this four years ago, you'd know that it takes alot of time because of tech-issues.

Tamade.

I'm damn shocked yesterday when I watched the news and they showed that Charlene was married to Ronald all along.

Luckily I'm not that crazy fan I was last time, otherwise I would have committed suicide.. twice, considering what happened to Gillian the other time.. now Charlene.

Next? I'm waiting to see Selina's photos, Hebe married to Jay Chou and Ella confessing that she's lesbian.

Nah... I'm joking on that SHE comment, but I was serious with the other things.
HAHA

Cheers,
Edwin

Procrastination

2010-03-26T15:09:00.003+08:00

A few weeks ago, I was insulting a friend on facebook because she kept on complaining and complaining about procrastination on her wall, day after day, moment after moment. I found her complaints a little irritating and so I threw some bits of sarcasm at her while essentially pointing out to her that procrastination will bring her nowhere.

And guess what I'm doing these two days? Procrastination.

HAHA.

About what you may ask?

Well, about some really important things to me. Really really important.

Not gonna talk about them here, but I would say that these things are the biggest things I've embarked on on my life. Bigger than internet marketing, bigger than my previous "secret" project. I will talk about them when I've succeeded (see the confidence here?).

But I'm procrastinating from taking some of the important actions and preparations I've gotta do. Haiya, the point of this post?

To get myself moving on the keyboard so that I can start doing something.

Yeah, and to quit thinking too much that I stifle my own creativity. I tend to do that sometimes, do too much thinking that I lose some bit of "flair" in what I do, so to speak.

Sometimes I think I do much better when I don't really care about things. Like speaking to people or just chatting. If I do not place much emphasis on the outcome, I usually derive more from conversations. I guess being natural is always a winning hand I suppose.

In the past, I tried "planning" before making phone calls or making contact, but I realise that my form of planning only makes me not as interesting... I think. Last night I was chatting with Rowell on MSN, and it was a very impromptu thing, but I genuinelly thought that I was damn funny and natural with her. HAHA. I started out with a very boliao statement "I LOVE YOU," then I went on to tell her I was having honey stars and had nothing better to do, thats why I'm bugging her, and it went well. LOL

(Oh yeah, if you don't know yet, Rowell is my sister.)

The age old adage "Ready, Fire, Aim" comes to my mind once again.

Yeah, ready, fire then aim... that'll cure all means of procrastination.

Alright, off I go, onward with work!

Cheers,
Edwin

Money

2010-03-21T10:49:00.000+08:00

Boomz.

I just made another sale.

So what?

I'm disappointed though.

For the past few weeks, I embarked on a new direction for my internet business; I started collecting leads. If you don't know, let me tell you, in the world of business, the money is very much in the list and the value you provide to them.

I said I made a sale again, right? But I didn't mention where did I make it.It was via the efforts I took a long time ago. Once again, its like money falling from the sky, but i'm not really proud of it though. My recent list collection venture didn't go very well in spite of the effort I put in it, and I'm a little taken aback by it. I am rewarded not for my recent efforts, but rather something I did last time.

I was expecting to monetize my list but it didn't seem to come to fruition.

Hmm...

It probably is something I am not doing right somewhere. Gotta go re-look my overall strategy concerning this business, and then do something about it. I have got a vague idea what I want to do about this, but I gotta refocus and do it better.

I'm considering doing PPC again, but well, gotta go do a little bit of research before I try the big G once more.

~~

Lala.

I'm probably the most popular guy in this world.

It is barely saturday, and people are already asking me out on mon, tue and wednesday. I'm popular right?

NOT.

Haha, not here to complain though. I'm just feeling a little jaded that I didn't collect leads as successfully as I envisioned it to be.

But hey, experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted, eh? I heard that from Randy Pausch's Last Lecture and it still sticks to me even today.

It first got to me last year when I was jaded over the some stupid issue, where i didn't get what I wanted and well, thought that what Pausch mentioned made sense.

Upon retrospect, I really think so.

Without these experiences of failure, I wouldn't have learnt many lessons, and gone through some of the more interesting things I've experienced and met the people that I met.

Take the SAF SM as an example. I first came to contact with him at an SAF dinner, after I was drunk and high and crazy, I began walking around the dinner venue, toasting everyone, taking photos with all I met and ended up at the VIP table.

But i didn't mention why I was drunk that night. I drank and drank because some stupid girl didn't reply my message. I was unhappy and i drank. Had she replied my SMS, I wouldn't have drank as much, wouldn't have had the guts to talk cock at the VIP table and then wouldn't have made left an impression out of the people there.

One day he walked up to me and said "come by my office." He then mentioned that I looked very active in the MINDEF (which I wasn't, this is called "perceived value") because of that night in the dinner. That became the start of an interesting learning relationship, and he became the person I learnt the most from in my stint in the SAF.

Just two days ago, I returned to MINDEF to look for a little help, and guess who I looked for? The same guy I met at that dinner.

So much for just a stupid SMS. Thanks V.

I'm starting to believe that everything happens for a reason, a good reason to say the very least. So what if I didn't succeed in my lead generation efforts today?

Cheers,
Edwin

Eclipse

2010-03-14T02:30:00.001+08:00

Twilight.

Time really flies.

Its now the third film in the series and sometimes in the day, in the back of my head, i still think about things that happened during the first film. I'm not complaining though, just that I realised how much the world will move forward regardless of how much I look backwards.

"Every second you spend looking back you take away from the future."

Indeed.

Not gonna go philosophical here, kinda lazy to write actually.

My job these days seem to be one of a writer of sorts. Everyday I just write and write and write, then submit the things I write. Most days its about 2000 words or so, which is good practice for school I think.

I am now able to come up with 2000 words in about 2.5 hours plus the research. Kinda good actually, considering that that is all I work in a day. And this time however, i'm pretty confident of the results I will get if I keep this up. (=

~~

Nothing much is happening in my life these days. I think its quite nice though. Surprisingly, I still go out almost everyday. Some day its just gym, some times I go out for dinner with a few friends, on days that my father is free we go out. Not really routine, but nothing refreshing.

I don't really keep up with the news these days though. I made it a point to stick to my "low-information" diet. Peculiarly, I don't think I have lost out much actually. I still read though (I read more these days actually), but I only read the things I want to.

Not looking to become a "zai nan" though. I sometimes think that is a loser mentality to life, staying at home, keeping quiet like a moron being a social retard and hoping that someone would come ask me "why so emo?" I detest such a means of attention and well, I'm just not that kind. HAHA.

~~

I got the idea from a friend to do work outside of home (quite an irony because internet marketing is apparently a "home" job), which I found to be quite a wonderful suggestion. I was looking at the things that I wrote yesterday at macs and I realised that I got more things done in that little 1.5 hours I spent there and actually came up with something I find to be of good quality. So I will continue to do this in future, working outside then going home just to do some touch up and then PLAY!

Was reading some success literature and it was talking once again about goals. But this time, a question was posed to me regarding the consistency of the goals that I have as opposed to the once I used to have. I then realised that the things I wanted in the past were similar to what I want now. There may be a difference in the "values," but essentially they are pretty similar.

I'm not trying to toot my horn here or something, but I really think I've grown much these few years. I was playing FF12 just last week and I realised I am far more capable in learning and playing the game as opposed to the same me four years back. I even took notes when some character made a useful comment so I could use it to my advantage when the time comes. All that just from playing a game.

There were many life lessons I've learnt from the weirdest places I can imagine these years, and I think i am thankful and happy for these little things.

Haha.

~~

Hmm...

Wait a sec... This blog post sounds a little like a suicidal note or something eh? LOL

Don't worrry MAN. Like I said, I'm never the guy who would fake depression just to get attention. HAHA. I like life to be nice and happy more than being depressed and moronic.

In actuality, people stay depressed actually because they realise that there are more benefits to being in that state than being out. You can feel free to dispute me on that claim, but I know what I am saying. The benefits may come in the form of attention, societal pressure or just an inner need to wallow in self pity.

I needn't explain what I mean by attention or wallowing in self pity. You surely know people like that and subconsciously, this behaviour of theirs will get them what they want.

Societal pressures come in a form like... say someone close to you just died. How is it that you should react? In most societies, people are expected to mourn, cry and be sad. Now what would happen if you appear non-chalent or even happy when someone close to you dies? Yes, you would think that others will see you as weird. So, as a need to fulfil the societal pressure, you grieve and be depressed.

The choice really is yours. Happy or sad, its up to you. Not me, not your dad, not your employer, not your teacher and not your non-existant boyfriend.

Feeling depressed because you have no boy/girlfriend? How about enjoying your freedom and be a happy person while you can and appear far more attractive to prospective partners? Go improve yourself, look better, read more books, do sports, make the best out of your life! Who do you think has a better chance of getting hitched? The emo piece of emotional baggage or the confident and happy person? You know the answer.

Unhappy because you cannot score well in your exams? Why wallow in self pity? Why waste time looking back? Instead be content that you get a chance to go to school, make friends and live your life while others would pay anything to be in your position. Then make amends, work harder, work smarter. Take this as an opportunity to get to know your professors better, form a study group. There are a million and one things you can do to turn things around.

Anything and everything can be reframed. Take it from me.

Seriously.

Even death. Do you know that in certain cultures, death is celebrated because a person is released from his baggage?

I'm for the notion that if someone else can do it, we would be able to pull off something similar. Not necessarily the same, but similar, if we know how to model the behavioural patterns of these people.

Nothing is ever perfect, and everything else has room for improvement. Its never the end of the world, though it often seems as though it is. But no. Getting rejected by a girl isn't the end of the world (take that from me too). Neither is getting retained in school.

"When people succeed, they celebrate. When they fail, they reflect."

Once again, its what you do and how you think about it that really matters.

"Every failure brings with it a seed of equal or greater opportunity."

I like the sound of that too. Not that I condone failure though.

Cheers,
Edwin

Be happy!

Jack and My New Laptop

2010-03-11T23:35:00.000+08:00

Muhahahaha.

Smile for me, as i present to you... my new laptop!!

Yay! I finally got myself a new laptop after using the old hand-me-down IBM thinkpad for like four years. That thing is seriously prehistoric, maybe its about 7 years old I presume. But lets not talk about that here... its over!!

So i got this acer 4740g (is this what its called?), and i'm pretty happy with how it looks. Note, I don't really understand techie stuff and I don't really care how good the graphics card is, apparently it is, but it doesn't matter much to me. As long as its user friendly, I can surf the web, post articles, do some marketing, a little web editing here and there and I'm happy.

I'm a little irritated by adobe though, cannot seem to download a stupid 1.8mb file for the flash player even in 30 minutes. 1.8 megabytes and you can't finish the download? That totally sucked.

But other than that I like my new lappy quite a bit. There is some dolby home theater specs to it, a fingerprint recognition interface, many many cool things and i have yet to finish exploring the device. I have this tendency to not make full use of the stuff I have (like my desktop pc which I think has awesome specs), so this time, I'll try to make use of the user manual provided to get the most out of my experience. YEAH!

Its nice having a new laptop really. Sometimes I envy people who can shift their work environments everywhere and anywhere because of the mobility a laptop gives. Now I'm in this privileged group and I'm thankful for that.

This thing will probably follow me till I end school in three years time, so it must be kept healthy and clutter free. Yeap!

~~

OMG. The whole world is talking about Jack Neo and comparing him to Tiger Woods. I think he's a moron for trying to mess around and making a big mess out of everything. He has everything to thank for for his so supportive wife. Its none of my business though.

He actually snagged a 22 year old... while he's 50. OMG. I would never date a 50 year old. Not even if she is Kate Beckinsale. No chance man. But the girl actually was willing and even mentioned that she "loves" him. Hmm... That is weird. I would find it a little disturbing if I found out that any of my friends or classmates were dating 50 year olds. It's really a weird predicament holding hands and being intimate with such an old person.

But its different for females as compared to males right? This is one thing that can never be equal I think.

But once again, its none of my business. (=

If you were Jack what would you do?

Me? I'll pull a Fiona Xie-quese AWOL. I'm good eh?

Haha.

Did you see the media conference that Jack had? I saw it and I almost had tears coming out of my eyes. I don't care how I joke about this, but I really don't envy either the wife or Jack. Its a sad predicament, and when I saw Mrs Neo bursting into tears and filled with emotion... my heart sank.

Damn.

~~

Alright.

Gotta go.

Cheers,
Edwin

Hmph

2010-03-08T19:06:00.000+08:00

Initially, my plan for today is to create a site using a software I recently acquired, but then there were some problems with the interface that I couldn't figure out, so i contacted support and now am waiting for a reply.

In the meanwhile, I'm gonna go write articles, do some forum postings and stuff to make sure that my time isn't wasted.

Yeap. I'm kinda motivated to do work today actually. Probably because of what I said to my dad last night about what I intend to do pre-uni and my plans. I figured that it would be important for me to at least be accountable to him and not seem like some crazy kid sitting infront of the PC all day and not playing games or chatting with people.

(=

Okay, i am writing this post as a "break" from work, now I'm gonna go do some registrations, fill up some forms and then dinner!

Cheers,
Edwin

Commitment.

2010-03-06T03:30:00.000+08:00

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets:
Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. “

— W.H. Murray

WAH

2010-03-05T03:17:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I finally met Dylan Loh in person.

I was out with Shree, and before meeting me he had something to do with Dylan. So I met them at AMK.

In case you don't know, Dylan is an internet marketer, and he's a millionaire. And guess how old is he? 24.

I was finally introduced to him after being on his email list for about 5 months or so. Well, he's quite nice, pretty friendly.

But I was blown away by how ordinary we, as a bunch there at mcdonalds, looked.

Not that there is anything spectacular about me, but about the two other guys I was with. Both millionaires, both just about 2 years older than me. OMFG I felt like a big loser in front of them. And if you know me, I'm not the kind that will feel this way normally.

I mean. The two of them are in the same market as I am, internet marketing, and we are almost the same age. Hell I think Dylan is in NTU too. We share similar paths, we even wear the same god damn white shorts... But there he was, a million bucks more than me. And there Shree was, living a life like Tim Ferriss suggested.

Dylan casually mentioned to me that he has a candy store in Iluma and told me to visit someday. Of course I didn't really react much. I even acted blur when he talked about his store.

But damn I was impressed. You know what? To have a store in a place like Iluma is like super super expensive. And there I was, sitting with this dude, 2 years older than me, who has a store in iluma selling candy.

And last I read online, he also bought his own car, a mini cooper or something I believe. OMG that's so awesome for someone this age.

It was great getting to meet these people from time to time. But everytime I do, I ask myself, why ain't I there.. yet?

Hmm...

Cheers,
Edwin

PS3

2010-03-01T22:53:00.001+08:00

I was just thinking...

What's the big deal about coach, agnes b, prada, burberry, LV, etc., stuff?

I'd rather get a PS3, it makes me happy for a few years. Sometimes I rather wear the no-brand bling watch I own than the ORIGINAL (let me haolian abit can?) Tag Heuer I have.

Maybe its just me.

But I am the same guy who said this four years ago, when I started JC

"Next up is the image factor. I used to think i was fine, and am a normal guy. Well, i was wrong. Here, in a JC, almost everyone has "branded" goods like Nike shoes or Billabong bags… Well, this image thing is a pretty hard thing for me to handle, simply because my father is not the richest man on Earth. It’s not like i cannot afford such "branded" items, but i do not see a need for the "brand chase." Despite me saying all these, i, as human, would probably also feel awkward if i am not a "branded" individual… Looks like a change might be needed…"

And by the end of JC, I am also the same guy with the nike shoes, bags from crumpler, nike and billabong. Whatever right?

HAHAHA.

But in anycase I really will not get anything LV or that level anytime soon. The PS3 is higher on my list of priorities.

(=

I'm a guy anyway.

~~

Wah. March already seh.

Damn fast man.

I zobo do nothing for 1.5 months already. OMG.

School will start really soon. Gotta quicken my pace on the things I'm doing. Making progress, but need to expedite the processes.

Yeap!

Cheers,
Edwin

Dear Diary

2010-02-24T23:11:00.003+08:00

I'm probably the most irrational person I've ever known.

If you've spoken to me recently and asked what I would be doing post-ORD, my likely answer to you is that I would be relief teaching. And the expected question one would pose me thereafter is "which school you going?"

I initially answered with "RJC" or perhaps "some top school." So that I can enjoy being in a top school for once. And rightfully so, I said that about 50 times to 50 people.

Then recently, I was working in Chinatown and I got a little tired of travelling around just to go to work. So if someone asked me where would I be teaching, I would reply, "Unity" or perhaps "somewhere close." Rightfully so, I told that to my father and everyone I met during chinese new year.

So, the expected course of action for me now is to either

i) Go to unity or a "nearby" school or

ii) Go to RJC of a "top" school.

Guess what I just did?

I just signed up for relief teaching in a school that is neither "nearby" nor anywhere close to being "top." For that matter, I think it is probably one of the not-so-high-ranked schools around this area... Bishan.

Oh my god. Bishan for gods sake.

I'm just praying that they don't call me or else I'll have to travel like mad just to get here.

I must be crazy.

~~

Then... After my visit to that school, I had some time to spare before my next appointment, so I headed to the school of my dreams... Raffles, because it was nearby.

And I sorta "trespassed" the place with the aid of some "helpful" students. Some boys were getting out of school, and so I went to ask them where is the general office. They gladly opened the side gate for me and I entered. I entered without signing in at all. OMG its easier to enter raffles than most neighbourhood schools, I now realise.

Raffles is an insanely wonderful place, and its really really big.

Here were some of the scribbles I made while I was in the RIJC canteen,eating cup noodles.

"There is a cafe, a 7-11, and this place is insanely big with the hostels, and a huge carpark to boot."

Yes, you didn't hear me wrong, there really is a 7-11 in the school compound, in RIJC (Raffles is one big village).

"OMG, the students here are very very polite."

I spoke to a few people, asked for directions here and there, and the pupils were really really polite and nice to talk to. Every single one of them. OMG. I'm so proud of these pupils.

"The feeling of eating in a JC canteen again rocks."

'nuff said, that one is self explanatory. It was just nice sitting down in the canteen and simply enjoying myself with my cup noodles.

"Amazing, roughly 75% of all the people I see now in the canteen are going to score 3 or more A's in the A levels. Simply amazing."

In pioneer, we often query ourselves whether we can be promoted to J2. Over here, I think people are secretly asking themselves "will I be among the suay 25% to get less than 3 A's?" OMG.

Its a real interesting experience just spending a little time there. I wanted to visit the Raffles general office too just to register for relief teaching there, but I was too late and the office was closed. Too bad.

So that leaves me with my irrational choice being the only school I signed up for so far for relief teaching. There is actually a likelihood of them calling me because when I looked at the book I signed in, there were only a few names in it that had suitable time slots.

OMG.

In anycase, it was a fun day, and I am real tired. Gonna sleep like a baby.

Cheers,
Edwin

Apple Fast Day 2

2010-02-23T17:06:00.001+08:00

"I'm on a... special diet." -Edward Cullen

LOL.

That is something that I can probably say too.

Fancy having a diet filled solely with apples.

Today is day 2, and I find this fast pretty challenging. As the name goes, it really is a fast, per se, and at certain times of the day, I do feel the hunger and some discomfort. Never in my life have I really felt hunger, and I now really am starting to appreciate the food that we have on our tables (that we seemingly take for granted) everyday.

And as per normal, while I was turning back and forth in bed today, I had some thoughts about food and governance. I was thinking, if someone can control the diet of an entire country, this person can essentially rule the place if he wants. I was thinking about food authorities, how we do things in singapore and I am once again, very proud to say that our country excels in dealing with food supplies, hygiene and stuff.

Quite an interesting experience actually.

I also faced a little of an opposition from my father about my special diet; as it always goes, whenever I try somthing out of the ordinary he'll freak out. I'm once again lazy to explain to him why am I doing what I am doing. I normally face that also. Probably in his mind he thinks I'm some crazy 21 year old who eats apples all the day, doesn't go to work, sits infront of the computer for the whole day but doesn't play games. Yes, that's me. Does that sound weird to you?

It doesn't to me. Not the computer part anyway.

But back on track.

Apple diet.

I'm now getting a little sick of eating apples, its probably ny 40th hour in this fast, and I had about 11 apples already. I should be stopping at the 48th hour mark, because I've got stuff to do tomorrow, quite an important meeting to attend. Yeah!

I didn't finish the 3 day fast, but i'm quite happy with the process that I've gone through. Not happy about my dad, but I can live with that. I normally do.

~~

Yesterday night when I went to sleep I purposely turned off my phone. Normally I don't do this, but today I did, because I didn't want my dad to call me to ask if I want to eat anything in the morning, then engage in another "discussion" with him again.

I forgot to turn on my phone until just 20 minutes ago. I received three messages that are out of the norm, the kind that will change the course of my life for some time to come.

i) Someone I met in Chinatown offered me a job that pays pretty well, promoting credit cards.

I'm not sure if I want to take that job, maybe I should, I don't know. Gonna ask him about the working hours, then I'll decide

ii) SSG Ranjit messaged me telling me a friend's grandpa passed away. Sorry to hear that.

Probably I will attend the funeral or something, that I also am not sure...

iii) Finally, a mentor smsed me with some news that is damn cool. HAHA!

When this idea works out, it will determine what I would be doing for some time to come I think.

I replied to all three sms-es already.

Yeah!

~~

Upon retrospection, my dad cares, that is obviously why he often acts like that.

He sees me as a kid, really, and probably thinks I'm not mature enough to make concrete decisions. And when I do he just thinks I'm being childish or lazy.

Well, he's right about the childish and lazy part actually. Think about it, why would I want to grow up so fast and cement my thinking like a wall? Why should I work like everyone else and get what everyone gets?

I don't think these are ideas he'll ever understand, that is why I don't like talking to him sometimes. But I can never omit the fact that he cares. And that really is... the bottom line.

Cheers,
Edwin

"It's like a human living on tofu. It keeps you strong and healthy but your never fully satisfied" -Edward Cullen

Apple Fast Day 1

2010-02-22T12:14:00.000+08:00

Today is day 1 of my apple fast.

The rules of this fast are simple:

1. Eat only organic apples all day long.

2. Drink warm water all day long.

3. Do this for 3 days.

As the name goes, I am going on a fast, the kind people go through for religious purposes. The reasons are aplenty for me doing this, but essentially I just want to test out a new habit and relook my diet. The detoxification effect of this fast also fascinates me. Here's a webbie with some info regarding what I'm doing here: http://www.astrodreamadvisor.com/Body_Apple_Fast.html

So... I am approaching my 12th hour, and already ate 5 apples.

Yesterday night was a little tormenting as I kept on thinking about bak chor mee and tom yam ban mian. But I will persist!!!

Haha.

Maybe I'll lose some weight in the process, but I don't really want to see that happen. Its okay though, I can live with this externality.

Wish me luck! Will be updating on the progress of my apple fast soon!

Drop me any comments in my tagboard or twitter if you'd like. I'd wanna hear your views! (=

Cheers,
Edwin

Different Values, Different Goals, a Different Age

2010-02-21T05:42:00.005+08:00

Now that I am where I am in my life today, I realise that some things that mattered to me tremendously in the past don't mean a thing to me now, while some perspectives I held then are completely different today.

Take my goals as an example.

In secondary 4 onwards, all I wanted was be ranked number 2 or better in school. I did it, and I topped both national exams I took part in.

In JC all I wanted was to do good, and I did fairly good.

Post JC, year 1 of NS, I wanted scholarships. I looked at EDB, FireFLY, MTI, MOE and what-not. I wanted to go to the best schools in the world. I envied the scholars I meet in MINDEF. Going to London to study was the biggest goal in my life.

That was then.

Alright. Let us now bring things to perspective. Today, those things don't matter to me anymore. I don't really care about scholarships so much, I do not NEED the scholarship. I no more longer crave to head to London. No.

Its weird how we change with time. Or for that matter, how I changed.

I just received one of those brightsparks promotional emails about the EDB scholarship. Hmm, and that set me on course to think about this topic. It is surprising that I actually had the crazy thought that I can actually get the *EDB scholarship if I want today. Maybe its my experience in the civil service in the past two years, or maybe its the things I've learnt about dealing with stuff these times. I don't know, but I sorta have this confidence that if I want it, I definitely can snag it. Serious.

One big idea I have in my head to create plans is this methodology known as "reverse engineering," and upon doing the RE in my head, I realise that most big things in life ARE achievable. It really is just a matter of strategy. And to top it up, there are so many scholars coming out every year, and if they can do it, I really don't see how can't I plan it out.

But no. I'm not going for it. In my life today, I actually don't peg such a high value to scholarships anymore. Perhaps I may even peg a higher value to attending a five day seminar with Anthony Robbins than to getting a MOH scholarship.

~~

I was chatting with Rowell just now, and we were just talking about schools and stuff. I suddenly mentioned (genuinely)that NAFA is cool. fashion designing and topics related to art are real fun. Then she replied "Don't bluff. Last time you tell me that people who go NAFA all no brain one, now you tell me its good to go there?"

Then it hit me. I really changed. Because I really said those same things to her before.

I used to think academic results were everything. What school you went to, what scholarship you held, which course you took and what-not were key determinants of a person's identity. And if a person didn't do well in school, there must be something fundamentally wrong with him.

I was so wrong.

Remember my craze over two cleaners last year? Yeah, those were the two people that shifted my point of view about academics. I started to really understand that school results don't mean as much anymore. Those two girls did crappily in their 'O' levels, but they actually outsmarted and out-gamed me in many ways that no one else ever done. The feeling sucked, but the lesson learnt was priceless.

If someone told the old me that he got more than 20 points for his 'O' levels, I would seriously question both the ability and the character of this person. But today, I completely don't carry this perspective anymore, not at all.

I learnt many other things too from that experience, but that is not the scope of my topic today. Some other day... I guess.

And in these two years, I did internet marketing and my "secret project." It then struck me that many, if not most, of the insanely successful people I met are not of the typical scholarly type I used to envy. No.

More often than not these are normal people, who simply took extraordinary steps that made their lives different. These are people who make millions every year, mind you, much more than our common scholar can make.

I read online that the CDF (Chief of Defence Force), a Lieutenant General, makes S$80000 a month. I don't know if that is true, but lets assume for argument's sake that it is. Furthermore this is a man close to the apex of the civil service in Singapore, and frankly speaking, not many scholars will reach those heights.

But you know what? That is the very same amount some top internet marketers make in A DAY. Yes, I'm not kidding here. A DAY was what I said. Oh yeah, and its in US$. The old record was a million a day by John Reese. Not sure what it is today though.

And once again, many of these people are not the typical scholarly kind.

In terms of perspective, I've really changed in the course of NS. A good change, though, I would say.

Two years ago, if I applied for a scholarship, the question in my head would be "what if I don't get it?" Today, in the same situation, I would ask "What if I got it?"

~~

Frankly, I'm a little money minded as of late.

I spend most of my day thinking about internet marketing. I guess this is good. And I intend to make this work real well. I have other things in mind to do besides making money, but for now, I would wish to concentrate on this.

Subscribers, leads, traffic, conversion. Haha.

~~

Should I try to apply for the scholarships just for experience sake? I don't know.

But I don't fancy the idea of working in the government for 5 years under a bond. Yes, you can retort me with "but there are scholarships without bond you know?" Then I would say "scholarships without bond got lesser value mah."

In any case, I fancy freedom. The idea of getting bound by a scholarship doesn't excite me much. Not as much as getting 500 people on my subscriber list anyway.

Cheers,
Edwin

* I'm not out of my mind, and I know how "prestigious" such this scholarship really is.

P.s. And yes, I am not being arrogant here. Scholars and scholarships are still vitally important in our talent development and search process, and I am not discrediting any of these entities or individuals.

P.p.s. Finally, there is never a one size fits all approach.

Food taste nicer when you eat it with someone you love

2010-02-18T15:04:00.008+08:00

Guess what?

That thought popped up in my head early today when I woke up. Its a surprising morning, because I woke up at 6 a.m., without an alarm clock, all on my own.

Now why did I come to that thought?

I don't know. Just felt that way. Or maybe I was just hungry. But then I envisioned in my mind interesting scenerios where I had lunch with different people, and it was more often than not a happy experience.

Just that actually. I'm starting to sound like some 19 year old girl with nothing better to do but rant.

Oh.. speaking of 19 year old girls...

Nevermind.

~~

I got my own copy of Truthaboutabs, and will be looking to reading it and applying the stuff in it, about getting ripped abs.

Haha, as I mentioned on facebook, Eileen told me I'm growing a little horizontally, which I rightfully agree. Gotta do something or else I really turn into a fat ass.

HAHA.

And yes, that link about Truthaboutabs above is what we call an affiliate link. If anyone who purchases the product through links like that I put up online, I make money. That is essentially what I do online, putting up links at the right places to get the targeted traffic. Sounds easy? But not very actually.

Questions answered?

Indeed.

Edwin

The Climb

2010-02-13T05:15:00.000+08:00

Finally my stint in Chinatown has come to an end.

Wow, looking back, it really has been a fun experience. I've made quite a few friends and got pretty much more learning than I expected.

For one, this is the first time I've worked in a "sales" job, cold approaching tons and tons of people asking them if they want coffee. More often than not, people don't buy. But when we build up relationships with people, talk to them, get to know more, we normally sell more. The general rule of thumb is that the longer a prospect stays in my shop, the more we eventually sell to him.

I liked the interacting with people part the most. Yes, there were thousands of rejections we got. But they were part and parcel of the experience, which I think is definitely good for me.

And for the first time too, I had to work with someone I had a real disdain for. I believed I handle my irritation with him well, and all in all I would think of this as also good learning, on dealing with someone I really dislike. And yes, I gave him my piece of mind just now, in a real amicable fashion, which went better than I expected.

I also really liked my neighbours. Real nice people to be with, had quite some laughs with them, so it was wonderful. And not forgetting my colleagues, which made the experience far superior and fun.

Moving on, I would likely continue on my internet business, and expand the niches that I cover. This will be one of the main things I would be focusing on before starting school, and I intend to go to school with a lot of passive income online. The following few months would be building these passive income wells online. I've got one now, and it has by far already made me US$150 last month. Many more to come!

Notice my rampant use of the word "experience" in this post. This is because I value the process more than just the eventual outcome (like salary day). As Miley Cyrus sang in The Climb "Ain't about how fast I get there, Ain't about what's waiting on the other side, It's the climb."

Indeed, life is all about the experience. I'm glad I got the chance to do this New Year stint.

~~

Throughout these few days, I made a few short notes and observations, more like twitter messages, so I'll post them here I guess.

- Met this girl with a rough voice, broad shoulders and real tall, and suddenly came to the realisation that this is how Quah Ting Wen actually should look like. It scared me like mad actually.

- On my way home today, there was this uncle who came and ask me for directions. We ended up chatting like we known each other for decades. He's a real nice man and wow, he told me he would be skipping Reunion dinner tomorrow just to work, because his family needs the money and stuff. It was a sad sight la. He then gave me a new "nian gao" before I boarded the bus. So nice of him.

- And on the bus, I bumped into this friend who had a passion for advertising. It was awesome to meet up someone like him who enjoys creative media and advertising as I do. I shared with him the works of Paul Arden and Charles Saatchi, and he's the only person I ever talked to about my interest in advertising. Cool.

- My neigbouring shop sells 3D dolls, and they actually had two of them made out of me. Too bad I didn't buy my own doll home. Haiz. It was cute though.

- Everyday on my journey to work, I play with tetris on my phone, and now I'm quite good at it already. Haha.

- There were two aunties I worked with during my first week, and it was nice having them around. They kept on pointing girls out the "pretty girls" to me, but I never even found one of them attractive. Most of them I thought to be pretty meaty (which I don't fancy) actually. Guess this is a difference in perception of beauty.

- I wrote this after my first day of work "I am starting to feel, once again, that I can make a difference in this world, two weeks after my ORD." It was after making my first "business decision," where I suggested to my boss that we should let people sample iced coffee and that I was "confident" that I would definitely give them all out. He took the suggestion and till today we still serve iced coffee, which is good.

~~

Well, its over. Time to move on to greater things.

For one, I would definitely want to do relief teaching. It would help me to wake up early so my day can be more organised. I realise that whenever I wake up early in a day I get more done. The later I wake up the less I accomplish. So relief teaching would be part of my "lifestyle" design.

I also like interacting with pupils and teachers, so it would be a win-win definitely for me. And the pay is better than selling coffee too. I like that.

My "secret" project has progressed to something new now, and I like the idea of this new initiative. It's gonna bring me to places I've never thought I would be, and making money in the process. OMG there is so much life has to offer that I am so happy just to be here.

Alright! Its 5.13 A.M and I'm gonna go catch a nap, wake up tomorrow and its CNY eve! Yeah!

(=

Edwin

Haolian something let you see

2010-02-08T22:13:00.001+08:00

While waiting for water to boil (i'm making coffee at home), lemme show you something.

It may not mean anything to you, but to me, this is kinda a big thing.

JOHN REESE REPLIED TO ME ON TWITTER!

Cool eh?

He's kinda one of the people I idolise online for his amazing accomplisments, and he actually was nice enough to reply to my tweet! OMG!

John has had a really impressive streak in the IM world. He was the first person to do a "million dollar day," meaning he made a million in sales just in one day, selling his trademark program "Traffic Secrets." I think he is awesome.

So happy!

~~

I really like my life now.

Serious.

The freedom and everything.

No more Staff Sergeant looking at me, no more admin officer stabbing the people around me.

I like the money, I like the people I meet and I enjoy the freedom.

I can keep my hair long, and I can get myself bald. Anything I want, I can do.

I can make money anywhere I want, and I can spend money anywhere I want.

Life is great!

YEAH!

One more great thing? There are finally human beings of the opposite gender finally reappearing on my radar. Not many yet, but good that it isn't like NS anymore so. YEAH.

~~

I needn't hide doing internet marketing anymore, and that as a change made all the difference. Because for the first time since I started internet marketing, I am starting to rake in profits. Hell I am even taking up projects to do! Yeah! Money to spend!

I wanna get a leather jacket. OMG its so cool.

Yeah man, and I wanna get so many other things. YIPPEE.

(=

~~

Just went shopping today for new year clothes! So fun just spending and spending. HAHA. I am high on consumerism today! HAHA! Today is my rest day from work, so I managed to accomplish a few things I set out to do today.

i) Met up with Josh
ii) Did my CNY shopping
iii) Met up to discuss a project
iv) Went to Great World City to spend my $30 Harris Voucher

Good day. Wanted to cut my hair and go to the gym, but didn't fit in. Guess I'll do that tomorrow.Yeah!

Okay, finish doing the kopi already, gonna shower than work on the project, back to work tomorrow!

See you around!

-Edwin

Back and with a job

2010-01-31T01:39:00.000+08:00

Howdy! Back from my HK trip! Took lotsa pics, had quite a bit of fun, I will be posting about the trip soon I guess, but since today is my first day at work outside in a real job, I wanna blog about it.

Last few weeks, a friend Magesh called me and introduced me to a job selling coffee powder in Chinatown, you know, those parsa malam type of shops that are always there during CNY, and I hastily agreed, which I think is a poor decision. After I went off the phone with him I realised there were a few other things I really really want to attend that would collide with my work schedule. Damn man. And the pay, as much as some other people would think is good, really doesn't fascinate me much...

Shouldn't have made that promise to him so readily. KNNB.

In anycase, here is my post I wrote somewhere else...

~~

I realise that internet marketing is far easier than a normal stupid job.

Today was my first day in my life working outside of the confined spaces of a government job, and I found it to be pretty tiring, much more tiring than I expected.

Do you know how hard I work online? Not very hard.

Last week, I was in Hong Kong, completely without my computer and without any actual work on the day, I made 2 clickbank sales in a day from the efforts I put in three weeks ago, which took me less than 2 hours to put up.

And let me tell you, this simple 2 hour work has brought me about US$160 in revenue already.

What about my work today? I am not complaining here, but all I want to say is that I really had to work hard for my money, talk to tonnes of people, stay standing for hours, carry heavy stuff and shit, all for $7 an hour.

Yes, S$7 an hour. FML.

Come on, with my 2 hours, I hit US$160, which makes it about US$80 per hour if I work it out. Ain’t it really really stupid for me to work a crazy job that pays me S$7 per hour? And if you don’t know, this translates to about US$5 per hour, barely minimum wage. OMG.

Comparatively, IM is so much easier.

(:

But to be fair, I had quite a bit of fun too at work today. It was quite enjoyable experience selling stuff in real life, instead of the confines of the internet space. I think this is a good experience for me and I believe there would be a lot to learn. I even learnt alot just in one day of work, about sales and stuff. But what I really liked was the exposure to the general public, offering them samples of coffee really is pretty fun.

Surprisingly, Singaporeans are more friendly than we have thought them to be. I never got any blatant and stupid rejections from anyone at all. On the contrary, people were really nice when I presented them samples. Smiles and nods were frequent and nice to see. (=

Not many cute girls though, but what would you expect from chinatown? HAHA.

~~

I realise that I know quite a bit of people. Serious.

Today I went to chinatown two hours early, so I was just walking about the place. And I bumped into about 5 people I know. Then when I was working, I saw many people I know too. OMG, that's really good I think. I once heard someone make this statement "in life now, it really is not who you know already, but who knows you that matters."

Cool stuff. I love making new connections! (=

~~

Got some stuff to do, damn still not gonna sleep now. Long long day tomorrow. Meeting in the early afternoon, work from 4PM, SK and Xiuli's bdae at night. Looking forward to more!

HEHE!

Edwin

New Layout!

2010-01-20T20:12:00.006+08:00

Okay, I guess I'm a little tired of that teenage emo blogskin that used to be here, so I decided to make a change here.

Indeed, it was fun making the template changes and I enjoyed tweaking my site here and there using the new XML interface or whatever. I normally do not like doing the technical stuff like this, but I guess it is important that I at least know how to do it.

~~

Having a little bit of a flu again. Wonder why?

And I am feeling really sore and aching after the gym session on Monday with Clement. Haven't been to the gym in awhile and wow, I was really happy to be there then! It was refreshing to hit the weights again but I guess I am not living with its side effects.

These few days at home have been more boring then I expected it to be. Though I go out everyday for some reason or another, I still don't think I am occupied enough. Haha.

Gonna go plan for more things to accomplish! (=

~~

I'd be going to Hong Kong next week with my family. Kinda looking forward to the trip, hope I have fun there!

The preparations and stuff are already done, so all that's left is doing a little research on my part so I can have a little more freedom there.

Update again!

Cheers,
Edwin

ORD LOH

2010-01-18T01:11:00.003+08:00

ORD LOH

Haven't blogged in awhile.

Its nice to see that people still visit my blog, haha.

So in anycase, i think i will be blogging more often these days, because I just ORD-ed (you may or may not know this).

YEAH.

I'll say it again.. I JUST ORD-ed.

The feeling of freedom is wondrous. This is my fifth day and I am loving it.

My last day in MINDEF was awesome. I did what I wanted to do, bade my farewells to almost everyone I wanted to. So it was nice la.

NS has been good to me, I've learnt alot, met many friends and grew many fond memories to the place I was at. I was lucky in that sense I guess.

~~

I feel very different today as I felt any other phase in my life. The things that used to fascinate me in the past hardly incite the same reaction in me anymore. I used to look forward to occasions like the CNY with great anticipation. But to me now, its just another day on my calendar.

I used to be really thrilled when I meet some people or do some stuff, but now, I cannot say the same.

To be honest, the one thing that really thrills me now, the most, is simply seeing money come in to my affiliate account. Every time I see a sale made I smile. But that is pretty much it.

Perhaps I really should try more new things, otherwise my life tomorrow will just like my life today.

~~

As I age, I think differently, and I think I really slackened in terms of mental rigour and stuff of the like. I do not think that I work as hard as I used to in school (though I was lazy then too), and the feeling kinda sucks.

I do not feel as though I am filling my time well with what I am doing now, and I really must change the way I handle things, handle my time, diet, exercise, energy, mindset, goals, relationships, etc.

This year, I am 22.

22 is a really scary number to look at. (I think I said this before, LOL)

So, where am I heading this year?

I'm looking to make money, lotsa money, then go to school come august and have an easier time there. This is not to say that I will go there and play the pig, no. But with capital, many things are easier, especially school. Don't ask me why, i've got my plans though.

I will not be putting specifics here this time round. This doesn't mean that I am not specific or goal oriented, just that I think the time isn't right yet. (=

~~

ORD loh.

Edwin

2010-01-04T23:21:00.005+08:00

Click

Life, as it is, is the best there ever is.

My life, your life, it is the only one we have. The only one we will ever have.

The best things in life are free.

~~

Just finished watching Click (because Kate Beckinsale is in it) and I am now full of thoughts in my head.

I feel for life, feel for everything.

Life is not just about earning a million bucks, sleeping with the hottest girls in the world, winning the olympics, promoting to a CEO or becoming the prime minister. No way.

It is far more than just that. Our choices in life determine where we go and what the outcome is.

These few months, I have been frantically running up and down, more than ever, like a hamster on a threadmill, not going anywhere at all.

Setting goals and not fulfiling them, half-heartedly live my life and going through the motions. I ought to ask myself, is this the me I want to see 10, 20, 30 or even 50 years from now?

Am I who I want to be, being what I want and being with who I want to be?

This is not a post that I want to talk about my new years resolution. No. I just want to reflect on how I do things now, and decide whether this is the best way I want to go, and for the first time in my life, I am going to ask myself if I am going to pull it through.

Where am I heading with what I am doing? What is my outcome?

What is yours? Do you think you are maximising your time? Am I?

I should and I must.

Life isn't short, per se, but that doesn't mean I should spend it aimlessly just because I am young.

For that matter, I am not young anymore. I am 22 this year.

22.

22 years old.

That is a far decade since I first stepped into unity.

And where am I now?

Not where I want to be.

My friend Shree is a millionaire at 24.

A few friends of mine have great relationships with their other halves that I really envy them for.

Some people are at the peak of their health today, and I cannot even finish the 2.4 with a pass mark.

And mentally, I am not strong enough yet to pull of the things I want to do.

~~

In less than 10 days, I will be unemployed.

Where are those big goals I've set a month ago, you may ask me.

And here I am, standing before you, telling you that I am nowhere near them.

I've deviated from my route too much. I haven't followed my "internal GPS" enough.

I know what I can do, but I am not doing it.

Its a sad sight, one I hate to see. I hate to disappoint you, but more so, I detest disappointing myself.

There is really so much more I can do.

I want to look back in 5, 10 years time and pat myself on my back for a good job done, not looking back with regrets and saying "why didn't I do that?"

Its always better to regret doing something that regret not doing it. I only have one life, and as cliche as it sounds, I must live it.

Click is an awesome movie, I felt for it. Go watch it if you'd like. I enjoyed it because Kate Beckinsale is in it, but more so, I loved it because of the message it brought across to me.

~~

Plan, execute, track and maneuver. I also just began re-listening to Personal Power II by Tony Robbins. This time, however, I am following the schedule set by Tony and not by me.

(=

Edwin

CD

2009-12-20T22:44:00.004+08:00

Long Time No See

Wow.

Haven't updated in awhile. I guess you readers are sick of seeing the "Action Cures Fear" post already eh?

Haha, in any case, here's a short update.

I've been recently pretty busy with my "secret" project and have been running around the place like a chicken with its head cut off doing stuff, while still juggling the burden of NS. It is really interesting to do the things that I have done recently, but till this project is complete, I'll keep it a hush. But it really is fun fun!

Hehe.

~~

Do you think I can sing?

Guess what happened last Thursday?

You would never have imagined it in a million years.

I WON THE GOMBAK IDOL! Yes I did! This is a competition held in my base for our christmas function. I was supposed to join the competition as a group with two other friends, but they were on MC on the day itself, so it was left with me alone. I wanted to squirm myself out of the predicament too but it was to no avail. So I LL have to join lor.

The thought of participating was pretty daunting to me at first. For one, I've never joined any singing competitions before, so I do not have any competition experience at all. And I was never a singer, choir member or anything, hell, I don't even think I am a good singer! To top it up, I was super unprepared for it, the song choice was only decided one day before and I was thrown on stage just like that without much of a rehearsal.

But luckily I did join, because I won eventually. The winning prize is a coffee set together with cups and stuff, but that isn't all... because the winner also gets 2 days off work!!! YEAH! I'm super happy to announce to you that I've got the two days off work!!

Nevertheless, I have got to give credit where credit lies. I did not win just because I am a good singer (i'm not). It was a culmination of factors coming together that allowed me the victory. My other two partners played a part to send the sound clip to the organisers. On the day of the competition, I had a great level of support from the people in my base, which really made all the difference.

Remember me always going for many seminars these two years? I also applied some of the things I learnt in seminars when I was on stage, their presentation and body language I modelled, like running to the stage instead of walking, standing posture and stuff.

And since I recently have this crazy loon over Quah Ting Wen, I read up many of the interviews of her on the papers. In many of the interviews, she mentions the routines and things she does pre and post competitions, so I simply modelled them (like listening to the ipod to calm down). And I had her in mind while competing, thinking about winning trophies and stuff got me pretty motivated. I did visualisation too. Guess this was great "mind work" in practice.

Good experience all in all. I am the Gombak idol! HEHE!

Oh yeah, and for the song choice? I sang Tong Hua.

(=

Edwin

2009-12-03T18:50:00.000+08:00

Action Cures Fear.

2009-11-28T15:54:00.007+08:00

Reporting

Remember not long ago I set some darn big goals and openly raised them here? It has been about a month since I've set them, and today I am here to report on my progress.

So here's my progress: none, or at most negligible.

I'm starting to feel scared.

It is not like I am not putting effort into my work, but it appears that I am still not getting the results that I want to.

The things that I tried have not worked yet. I promised that I would be making $3000 from my ORD onwards, but if you were to now check on my affiliate account, it has not been earning for about two months, which is really really bad.

Unknowingly, I was just "slapped" by google today and they raised my advertising fee. Damn, there clearly is something incorrect with the manner in which I deal with them, so I gotta go figure that out and get back on my two feet.

Ezinearticles just suspended my account for "plagiarism," which irritated the hell out of me. So I guess I gotta just put in more effort into coming up with more real life content.

Hmm... My problems don't really seem like problems do they?

I really want to achieve my goals.

But recently, a friend posed me this question "How much do you REALLY want it?"

"If you want it enough, you will get it."

And you know what? I totally agree with him. Because if I wanted it enough, these little setbacks would not have held me down. These setbacks are there for a reason. They are there as a test to my resolute towards success.

I have so much more to do.

So so so much.

I must also cease from being the "armchair theorist" and began taking more action. These past three days I spent quite some bit of time doing adwords, and I realised that I learnt more in these hours than I've learnt reading and reading. Action brings with it momentum, I finally understand.

Though I am not the success I want to be yet, I will make this work. I must make this work.

I do not have much time left to my ORD, about seven more weeks to go. Got to begin working smart, working hard.

Goals Goals Goals! 44 more days for me to work it ALL OUT.

I am going to look for more solutions, look for people who have done it in a short period of time, model them and be what I want to be.

Edwin

2009-11-21T00:41:00.002+08:00

The Low-Information Diet

If you read my tweet, I said that I am streamlining my infomation input. This is an idea I derived from The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss, and it essentially outlines the cutting of the "fat" in an individual's media consumption and going straight into the meat. This is called cultivating selective ignorance.

So here are the ideas he outlined:

No newspapers, magazines, audiobooks, or nonmusic radio. Music is permitted at all times.

No news websutes whatsoever.

No television at all, except one hour of pleasure viewing each evening.

No reading books, except for this book (4hww) and one hour of pleasure reading prior to bed.

No web surfing at desk unless it is necessary to complete a work task for that day. Necessary means necessary, not nice to have.

I am going to go just that. I also just unsubscribed myself from about 90% of the email lists I am on, and only keeping those that are essential. I also dealt with all the unread email, junk mail, draft folder and deleted folder in my mail and now, its streamlined for me to get the best out of my emailing experience.

One more thing, I will only be checking my emails twice a day, instead of the fifty or sixty times I used to do it in the past. This will be a big habit to break, but I've gotta do it.

With all the time saved, I will focus on the essentials of the things I am doing online, and just focus on one task at a time. No MSN, no facebook, nothing but the task at hand.

~~

On a side note, I'll be starting a new blog that I will open on monday, 23rd November 2009. This blog will be about a new responsibility that I will be taking on the following week. So stay tuned!

(=

Edwin

2009-11-11T01:34:00.003+08:00

Aiyo

I thank God he "cupp-ed" my phone.

HAHAHA.

This dude called Adam Kaye (who deals with customer relations) from a coaching company in the states called me after I expressed interest in its programme. It began with a few emails here and there, then I gave him my number.

He called and was super pushy on the phone. I've never heard a more pushy salesman in my life. So there he was, selling me on his US$2500 coaching program. Wow, knnb, of course I wouldn't want to buy that, its so insanely expensive. The last coaching I got, it was in Singapore, with Ewen Chia, in person got email contact phone number somemore and I paid far less than that.

Then he decided to downsell by telling me that he'll give me access to some great products his company has... for a thousand US bucks. Are you freaking crazy? I've got so much stuff I have yet to finish and you want to send me more and still charge me?

Siao one. But he was really really pushy on the call and that really sucked. I'm a little pissed after the call, but to hell with that, luckily I escaped unscathed, without any money lost from my bank account. HAHAHA.

Obviously I said no to all of his deals la. Siao I can get so many better things and better value coaches with that amount la.

I once again, thank god, that he cupp-ed my phone so I can sleep peacefully tonight.

~~

This is an important experience for me. It is one of my first "negotiations," though it did not go very well, but it illustrated to me how cut and thrust this world really is.

Just last month, I met this really cute insurance agent called Yizhen. Obviously, her point was to sell me insurance, but my point was not to buy anything. It was more fun chatting with her though. Maybe she is not as "skilled" as a sales person as Kaye, but well, I think the world would be such a wonderful place if all the sales people were like her.

Haha, I think she is the cutest girl I met this year. But that is beside the point. LOL.

I am actually a little shaken after the call. Haha, but well, life still has to go on.

Edwin

Stay hungry, stay foolish

My New Wallpaper

NBS => SOCSC => Where Next?

When I was single I was afraid that I would die alone, but now that I'm married I'm afraid that I might live forever.

So Proud

She Sibei Chio Sia

Look!

Get Rich Click

My Ideal Life

Nathan

School means school again

Nit

If...

Look - Pretty Girls Ahead

Nice Song

SMU Law

Tumbler Blogger

Emma

Welcome back!

I Idolize You

I'm singing this.

Messed up

Woo

1. Let Me In

This Is Addictive

Things

9 More Days

Insights

Exams!

Frugality

Girlfriend

Test!

Uni Life

Troll

To Do List

Accolades

This is a long post, read it.

JC Feel

Arh + Robbins

I'm 8 Years Old

Never understand

Mee tai mak

My Wonderful Life

Excited!

My Wallpaper

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish

The Pupil

This Startled The Shit Outta Me

Talent?

Responsibility

Pikachuuuuuuuu!

Like?

My Days

I can't see dolphins

Primary 5 English

Hmm

Porno music slash comment time

Talent

The self Righteous

10/10

A number

Ask for a slap in your face.

No Government Service

Our Response

Life

Friends

Spring Awards

Community Channel

Blessing in disguise

Post

Aiya

Tetris *updated*

I'm Really Thankful For...

Cool poop

JC again

OMG? Divorce?

Procrastination

Money

Eclipse

Jack and My New Laptop

Tetris updated