Hits and Misses Of My Life So Far

Recently, quite a number of friends told me that I’ve changed, I am no longer the one staying late in the office and quietly immersed myself with work, work, work most of the time. Also, I smiled a lot nowadays and more witty and funny when I am socializing/communicating with them.

Frankly, I do sense my own transformation (and I hope this is towards the right direction). If you asked me whether it is due to any particular reason/incident, my answer is NO. It could simply due to the natural progression when we are reaching certain age!? In any case, I am an optimist and always look thing at the bright side, thus it is no surprise that my positive energy is getting stronger and stronger. ;-)

I do have my hits and misses throughout my 20+ adult years but when looking back, I am still proud of myself for being able to grind out my own career in a foreign land (Singapore), landed with a lovely wife and able to be a contributor/giver most of the time. If you ask me for my regrets in life (who don’t have regret?), I have a few, some of the more prominent ones are:

1. I am playing it too safely (I am taking far too few risks/challenges in my life and thus it makes my life uneventful most of the time. Less Challenges = Less Surprises = Less Fulfilment).

2. Get to know far too few buddies/good friends (I consider myself introvert and don’t really like socializing but it sets to change, I am chalking up my buddies count as it is never to late to get into meaningful friendships ;-))

3. I am a slow adopter (in Chinese, we called it 慢半拍 which means I am slower in adopting to the new things/development, be it technology trend, investment opportunity etc…)

4. And many more…

As mentioned above, overall I am still happy with my life thus far (even though I am not considering my life as a successful one yet). To borrow what my CEO like to quote: The Best Is Yet To Come! I like this quote as it is always good to have something to look forwards to in life. Besides, with my new found passion of blogging, I am setting myself a personal goal to create bigger online presence in 2012 and reach out to more friends and acquaintances in the blogsphere and/or social network communities. This will enable me to live-up to my motto of Inspire It Forward!

Last but not least, my sharing of the original inspirational quotes:

What about you? What is your hits and misses in your life? Do share your view here.

Cheers!

GREAT Surprise By A SMALL Lifestyle Mall: Greenwich V

WARNING: You might find my sharing today a bit boring as it is my personal experience to a new lifestyle mall (yup, you read it correctly, I am going to write about a mall). If this warning doesn’t deter you, read on... 

Last Sunday, I made a last minute decision to pay the new green-theme lifestyle mall, Greenwich V, a visit. As the mall’s location is not far away from where we stay, we (me and my wife) decided to take a train ride then 10 minutes walk to the destination.

I must admit that the mall is quite out of the place (i.e. not located near the central district of Singapore where most of the famous shopping malls are located) but with it’s green theme, nicely decorated parquet walls/floors and the beautiful sculpture at the entrance (which is THE main attraction of the mall), it gives me a sense of foreign landscape (i.e. non-Singapore style). And we are pleasantly surprised. This 2-story outdoor mall is a perfect location for a cup of tea/coffee or even meal with friends. This is mainly because the mall has more food and beverages shops to choose from.

We don’t usually be wowed by lifestyle mall located at the residential area but Greenwich V does surprise us with all the right touch and great mixes of shops! We had our sumptuous lunch at Cedele and evening coffee at The Coffee Bean And Tea Leaf. We have a great time there and sure to revisit it again soon.

Following are some of the photos I took from mall:



Greenwich V - The Lifestyle Mall



Some of the shops



Me at Cedele Retaurant

 

Me again at Cedele Restaurant

 

The rare coconut tree overwhelmed by dark cloud



The Statue

The statue 2



The statue 3



The Statue Sorry, that's me ;-)

 

What's the statue about?



The Coffee Bean And Tea Leaf

Do you have any similar memorable experience with any of such lifestyle mall near where you live? Share you experience here.

Cheers!

The Flowers Of War - A Great Epic About Survival And Sacrifices

Courtesy of Shaw Theatres and Omy, I managed to catch "The Flowers Of War (金陵十三钗) earlier than the rest in Singapore. Prior to watching the movie, I have been receiving a few feedback from friends and review from oversea that this is a flop, measuring by the standard of the great Director of China, Zhang Yimou.

After watching the movie, I must say that most movie review/preview are subjective and they are like weather forecast i.e. occasionally right but most of the time WRONG! First, I must declare that I am not a war movie enthusiast (the last war movie that I watched in cinema is "Saving Private Ryan" and that's purely because of Tom Hanks !), for The Flowers Of War, I am giving it a two thumbs up!

Set in 1937, during the Nanking Massacre and basing on a true event, it is an epic about survival and sacrifices, the great cinematography and sterling performance by the lead actors and actresses (lead by Christian Bale aka the batman and Ni Ni [from China]) outclassed many other similar war movies. It's intense and brutal but a long the way Christian Bale still managed to crack a few jokes/funny lines here and there to "compensate" for the movie's intensity.  

Following is the brief synopsis from IMDB.com :

A Westerner finds refuge with a group of women in a church during Japan's rape of Nanking in 1937. Posing as a priest, he attempts to lead the women to safety.

Cheers!

Inspirational Sharing - Inspire It Forward (#16)

It has been a while since my last inspirational sharing (5 months to be exact), fret not, I am back! Or rather the inspirational stuff is back. Over the past few months, I've made quite a number new friends over the social media and had have some good conversation over our lives, the relationship and family matters, all are good sharing...and I will cherish them all!

Hope to get to know more friends from around the world and spread as much positivity around as possible. By the way, in case you don't know, I can be connected at Facebook or Twitter. 

Meanwhile, enjoy my inspirational sharing...

1. Inspirational Video - The Power Of Words:


2. Inspirational Quotes (Original):

Cheers!

Make It Right For A Better Ride!

"Make It Right For A Better Ride" is the slogan for the new initiative on promoting graciousness on public transport. It was brought to us by Public Transport Council of Singapore. 

If you are a frequent public transport commuter, you might have already chanced upon a few of the colorful and nicely done up "Make It Right For A Better Ride" posters. If not, check out some of the examples here:

Some example of the posters

Among all, this is my favourite

It is a timely reminder for all of us to practise graciousness while using the public transport. As most of the Singaporean will attest to it that the public transport (mainly the MRT) has been going through an "ageing" phase nowadays whereby train breakdowns are common scene/news for the past few months. But hey, all things went through wear and tear and I personally still have full confidence that our public transport will resume it's glorious World Class Transport standard soon. 

I take public transport to work everyday and I have quite a number of good and not-so-good experiences. For a truly pleasurable commuting experience, I personally view that all commuters need to practise S.P.G (no, no, no, I am not talking about Sarung Party Girls here). Actually, I am talking about:

SMILE

PATIENCE

GRACIOUS

Thus, whether you are the one who are giving up seat (for those who need it more) or you are the one who are receiving it, do practise S.P.G. as well! It goes a long way.

Last but not least, do join the “Make It Right For A Better Ride” Twitter contest and stand to win a pair of movie tickets! More details on http://on.fb.me/betterride.

Cheers!

Dr Seuss' The Lorax (3D)

Have you ever wonder what would our world becomes if there is no trees around us? Not even a single living tree in our living environment? I know it's kind of a serious question but this is exactly the message that the latest blockbuster animation, Dr Seuss' The Lorax is trying to "warn" us (based on the latest IMDB Chart, The Lorax tops the US Box Office with USD70.7m on it's first week of release!)

Courtesy of  omy.sg, managed to catch the evening show of The Lorax (3D) with my wife today. We totally enjoyed the movie through our long lost kid's eyes (at least for me). From the creator of Despicable Me and the imagination of Dr. Seuss comes the 3D-CG feature The Lorax. It is a very entertaining and fast paced movie, coupled with it's awesome 3D-effect and educational value, it is a highly recommended family movie that you don't want to miss. Expect lots of singing, dancing and comical moments (the usual stuffs kids like most). Thus, as long as you are watching it with a kid's eyes, I am sure you will enjoy it, TOTALLY!

Details of the movie:

Cast: Danny DeVito, Zac Efron, Ed Helms, Taylor Swift, Rob Riggle and Betty White
Directed by: Chris Renaud 

Synopsis: An adaptation of the classic tale of a forest creature who shares the enduring power of hope. The animated adventure follows the journey of a 12-year-old as he searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find it he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world.

Stills from the movie:

And the bonus photo:

Omy's rep (Alvin) with me before the show

Hope you enjoy the movie as I do!

Cheers!