Cook for Your Team !

The latest trend in team building is to utilise existing resources (i.e. employees) to entertain each other in the name of team building, which in turn, is a way of `maximising' resources. Of course, it does help to save on the cost of a commando trainer (for outdoor sportsy activities), or smart-aleck facilitators (for those mind boggling games, played indoors).

A few days back, I was in one of such new trend team building, where a group of us, were brought over to a local golf resort hotel, and participated in a `Cook for your Team", team building exercise. Ah, how this works is, we were divided into a few groups, and each group was randomly given a recipe to follow. Then , they had to work together in the hotel's kitchen to come up with the food for the evening's dinner! that is, they need to serve the team respectively through whatever culinary skills they might possessed (or not!).

For me, I was in the odd group out, the `entertainment cum decor" group; where part of our job was to turn the bland hall into something presentable, and also keep the entire team entertained for up to 1.5 hours. We further split up our team into 2 small groups, one for decor, and the other for entertainment, and i fell into the former.

The materials we were given? were all very basic and `natural". We had coconuts, coconut leaves, banana leaves, roses, dried leaves, etc. Of course, we also had the proper table cutleries, napkins, water goblet, etc that we have to set up.

Ah ha..here is where old me, comes in useful. Long long time ago, I've actually attended a short course on fine dining, and ahem, as a result, I was pretty familiar with the settings of the fork and spoons, which to place where etc. :P

The end result of our 2 hours' hard work , (drum roll please!)....ta-dah !

As you can see, the banana leaves because our table runner..and we sprinkled rose petals of pink and red roses on top, to give a light, natural yet romantic air to the atmosphere...ahhh....
The whole place lit up and looked amazingly magical!! :)




We also folded the napkin so that it can hold 1 stalk of rose for all the `guests' (aka our other team members, who are the cooks




...and then someone also had a stroke of genius...to decorate the otherwise bland glass `table mat', with a dried leave underneath!!








And alas, the food was out from the kitchen!!... behold, the food galore...wah. that was something else! the cooking group really produced a glorious buffet spread for us...yum yummy!
This particular dish is worth a mention. This is the Nasi Hujan Air Panas, which comes in a an array of rainbow colours. The team that produced this, consisted of one Aussie girl and 3 guys, all 3 of whom, has never step foot inside the kitchen!! 2 of the guys were from Korea..and when later I asked one of them, how did the dish come out looking (and mind you, tasting as well) so good, his rather perplexed answer, "I dunno..I only wash the rice.."..ha ha..



More food!!




And last but not leat, not forgeting...the Desserts Galore !! (oh no...there goes my diet..again!!)

Decisions, decisions, decisions

Had the priviledge of attending a closed door forum with our company's top brass earlier today. One of the things that I lifted off centred around `decisions'.

"You exists in the company because of the decisions you make. When you make no decisions at all, you cease to exist". Isn't this profound?

This really brings me back to my 1st year with the company, with the MD then. When I went in for a consult with him for a decision to be made on a particular project, his reply was "You are paid to think.. tell me what you want and what you decide..if I find it acceptable, I'd go with it, but first you must think, decide and propose".

That, combined with today's comments are both proving to be very valueable insights for me.

Life is really all about decisions (which are also choices, in guise). Work life or personal life.
Every morning, I can decide to get up and go to work, or call in for an EL if I don't feel like it (ahem, not that I do that..just that its possible, right?).
I can decide to eat the fried noodles, which i love but of which will increase my caloric intake for the day, or choose a healthier breakfast.
I decide what clothes I want to wear today.
I decide what deadlines to prioritise at work, which meeting to pay more attention to.
And at night, I decide what to do after work, and then what time to hit the sack.

Yes, when we cease to make decisions, all the above will not happen...and really, we cease to exists..

My New Activity

I've been putting it off again and again. Finally, yesterday i decided enough is enough, and if i don't get moving, I'd fall back into the trap of inertia..with determination, I finally ventured out and went to try out something new...

What did I do? I went for my first class of Yoga!

Why did I do that? well, the virtue & supposed benefits of practising yoga has been expounded many a times by so many people. It is an `activity', a form of exercise that purportedly can help one to achieve control of the body and mind, to tranquility and stillness of mind through a series of postures and breathing exercises.

In a way, I reckon it can also be taken as a form of meditation. I've been meaning to attend Yoga classes as a way of dealing with stress and pressures, but never gotten around to it. The first (and last time) I ever tried out a class, was a few years back, in my no-longer-going fancy gym-in-the-mall. The class had over 20 students. And I couldn't follow the moves by the teacher, and at one point, when he tried to correct my position by tilting my head, I heard a loud `click' coming from my neck, and heck that was pretty traumatic!! though nothing untoward happened to me (or my neck), still I never dare to go back again!

This time, I decided to try out again, but to choose a proper Yoga centre, instead of those in those gyms. Ended up I went to a neighbourhood Yoga centre (so I have no excuse that `no parking in the shopping mall' or `too far'), as I wanted convenience and no frills (translate to `cheap' fees).

My initial apprehension melted away after the class started. I thought the teacher will be intimidating, turned out, she was not. I thought the other students will laugh at my clumsiness, turned out, they are more interested in getting their moves right, and its all about `doing your own thing'. I thought I was improperly dressed as I expected all the branded yoga wear to appear (just like in those chain gyms-in-the-mall, where girls dressed to `kill' in the gym!), turned out, everyone was dressed appropriately for yoga, but in an easy going manner (translate to "non fancy yoga pants/track pants and tshirts or normal looking exercise tops").

Did I enjoy the session? well.. there were ackward moments, when my body just wouldn't turn and bend properly. Guess this old pack of bones really lack stretching for a long long while! But the session turned out much better than I expected! I was able to follow 70% of the time, and I consider that pretty encouraging.

In fact, I signed up there and then for a package of 12 classes. Ah..like what they say, its only with consistency that will lead to results. I thought the price was pretty reasonable as well (and yes, it was a `no frills' yoga studio), and the class size is no more than 10 at a time (because the studio area is small!). The teacher, Jo was very pleasant to talk to and also very patient.

Hey, I might not be aspiring to be a Guru, but at least some day I would want to be able to call myself a Yogi (i.e. someone who practices yoga), and be better at stress control, be more `nimble', and more relaxed! and yeah..do headstands. :)


Namaste!

Whatever happened to ME?

My long hiatus from my blog is very glaring. I have had friends (`loyal' readers of what little I have wrote) calling me and asking me, `when are you going to update your blog?", "are you ever going to write a new entry?" and lately even my brother (whom i never knew ever read my ramblings) actually posed the same Qs as well.

So the question really is, whatever happened to ME all these months?

Here's the answer:- I `delivered' another new `baby' for the company! and since then had been hecticly busy with 'feedings, burpings and diaper changes'. To those uninitated, I have just launched another product for my company (4th one in 6 years, to be exact), and have been `mothering' this new pink little baby with lots of tender care and attention.

Now, the baby has learnt to crawl.. but nonetheless, things at work has not simmered down like before, rather, its on the contratry. I have since also adopted another portfolio, and some expanded responsibilities.

Whatever happened to ME in my personal life then? nothing much, same ol' same ol'. But as time goes by, I have also realised that we go through phases in life when friends come and go. And as one gets older, and more friends get married (when they become `Smug marrieds') or add more to their brood, they tend to have even less time to socialise with the Singletons.

Do these Singletons unite then? Alas, this is not always the case. Again, with the passing of age, people tend to develop different interests, and likes, and some fixations in the way things are run. Flexibility to embrace and accomodate diversity & differences also starts to wane. In time, one will hang out only with those friends who are least threatening to their established routines.

So, whatever really happened to ME? all of the above! plus procrastination, plus lack of inspiration, plus ......

Whatever-la ! I better get started again on all those blog ideas I have jotted down over the months...waste not!

Behold, the Northern Babe is back.

Procrastination is the Thief of Time

I have been so lazy. Have not been updating my blog in the longest time!
There are many reasons (or excuses) for this. Mainly I have been going through a rough patch in my personal life. Can’t really begin to tell the story here as it is not so simple.

The truth is, for the past few weeks, I have been grappling and trying to get a grip on myself and my emotions. Remember the Whitney Houston song of yesteryears, “Where do broken hearts go?” Well, that song sums up nicely on how I had been feeling.

Been trying all sorts of ways to pull myself up. In the midst of all this, I was assigned to a business trip to Monaco. A dear friend commented that when one is down in one’s luck, one should go `down south’ to `change our fates’, so, we happily concluded that the location of Monaco in Southern France is really `down south’, hence things should be brighter & better when I return.

So I went… came back…got immersed in work and spend my nights absorbing tv series (Grey’s Anatomy is a great `escapist’ show!)….and whadda-ya-know, the weeks FLEW by…then the months (well, 2 months to be more exact). The next thing I know, `TIME’ seemed to have came and went, and left me breathless! Suddenly there are things that I haven’t been doing all this while during my escapism trail, but yet, now I can’t turn back the hands of TIME.

What started out as just purely a survival instinct of escapism had turned into a form of laziness and putting-off-till-tomorrow-what-can-be-done-today…

Procrastination! Ah… indeed it is the thief of time..

The FAQs of Life !

Received this beautiful piece some time back. Am sure all of us would have asked some of these questions at some juncture in our lives, esp when the going gets tough! Found it kinda cute the way all these `frequently asked questions (FAQs)' are being presented, hence would like to share it here.

Kudos to the author (`ANON') who wrote this. :D

********************************************
God: Hello. Did you call me?
Me: Called you? No. Who is this?

God: This is GOD. I heard your prayers. So I thought I will Chat.
Me: I do pray. Just makes me feel good. I am actually busy now. I am in the midst of something.

God: What are you busy at? Ants are busy too.
Me: Don't know. But I can't find free time. Life has become hectic. It's rush hour all the time.

God: Sure. Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you results. Activity consumes time. Productivity frees it.
Me: I understand. But I still can't figure out. By the way, I was not expecting YOU to buzz me on instant messaging chat.

God: Well, I wanted to resolve your fight for time,by giving you some clarity. In this net era, I wanted to reach you through the Medium you are comfortable with.
Me: Tell me, why has life become complicated now?

God: Stop analyzing life. Just live it. Analysis is what makes it complicated.
Me: Why are we then constantly unhappy?

God: Your today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday. You are worrying because you are analyzing. Worrying has become your habit. That's why you are not happy.
Me: But how can we not worry when there is so much uncertainty?

God: Uncertainty is inevitable, but worrying is optional.
Me: But then, there is so much pain due to uncertainty...

God: Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.
Me: If suffering is optional, why do good people always suffer?

God: Diamond cannot be polished without friction. Gold cannot be purified without fire. Good people go through trials, but don't suffer. With that experience their life becomes better, not bitter.
Me: You mean to say such experience is useful?

God: Yes. In every term, Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first and the lessons afterwards.
Me: But still, why should we go through such tests? Why can't we be free from problems?

God: Problems are Purposeful Roadblocks Offering Beneficial Lessons to Enhance Mental Strength. Inner strength comes from struggle and endurance, not when you are free from problems.
Me: Frankly in the midst of so many problems, we don't know where we are heading...

God: If you look outside you will not know where you are heading. Look inside. Looking outside, you dream. Looking inside, you awaken. Eyes provide sight. Heart provides insight.
Me: Sometimes not succeeding fast seems to hurt more than moving in the right direction. What should I do?

God: Success is a measure as decided by others. Satisfaction is a measure as decided by you. Knowing the road ahead is more satisfying than knowing you rode ahead. You work with the compass. Let others work with the clock.
Me: In tough times, how do you stay motivated?

God: Always look at how far you have come rather than how far you have to go. Always count your blessing, not what you are missing.
Me: What surprises you about people?

God: When they suffer they ask, "why me?" When they prosper, they never ask "Why me?" Everyone wishes to have truth on their side, but few want to be on the side of the truth.
Me: Sometimes I ask, who am I, why am I here. I can't get the answer.

God: Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who you want to be. Stop looking for a purpose as to why you are here. Create it. Life is not a process of discovery, but a process of creation.
Me: How can I get the best out of life?

God: Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.
Me: One last question. Sometimes I feel my prayers are not answered la.

God: There are no unanswered prayers. At times the answer is NO.

Me: Thank you for this wonderful chat. Its is pretty inspiring.

God: Well. Keep the faith and drop the fear. Don't believe your doubts and doubt your beliefs. Life is a mystery to solve, not a problem to resolve. Trust me. Life is wonderful if you know how to live!

Ahn Neyong Ha Seyo! ~ Memoirs of Korea

Was flipping through my photo album and suddenly realized that I have actually traveled to many places in the last 2 years, but I have yet to `story’ anyone either on my travel tales or via pictures! (you will see from the date of the photos, there were taken some time back! Haha.. )

So shall now attempt to rectify that. :p Some of the photos are really interesting, so would be kinda a shame not to post them…

I was there for 1 week sometime in late 2005. Was there for an official function. However, after a few days of being `locked in’, was feeling pretty restless and finally ventured out to have a look at the city, Seoul.

Although traffic itself in Seoul is pretty horrendous, fortunately, the city has an excellent public transport system, in its subway system, and also, the hotel concierge was extremely helpful (i.e. writing little cards of directions in Korean for the non English speaking taxi drivers), I was pleasantly surprise to discover that it was relatively easy to move around.

On my walks in the business district, found the foodstall below, at the five-foot way of a busy street! Bbq sausages and also all kinds of meat products. Sure looks yummy!


at nightfall, ventured into one of Seoul’s famous night market, Nam Dae Mun. There were all kinds of different merchandise on sale, from clothes, to foodstuffs to lingerie.
Giant mushrooms seemed to be one of the more popular items on sale, and yes, the infamous Korean ginseng as well.

If one is to walk along the smaller alleys, one can really find and get to savour the `real’ taste of Korean cuisine – the local food. And that was exactly what I did. Saw a few variety of dishes/noodles, but guess what I ended up eating?

Ended up tasting one of the weirdest dish of my life…- Beef spinal cord soup! (sorry..can’t find the pix).. Hahah… didn’t know what it was at first but saw lots of locals relishing the dish. But finally, together with two doctor friends, managed to confirm it as spinal cord! Surprisingly…it really did taste good! :D

World in Figures - a Quick Snapshot

Just learnt today that according to the Economist's Pocket World in Figures 2008:-

1) Norwegians enjoy the world's best quality of life, followed by Icelanders and Australians; (hey, that’s pretty cool ! the Vikings have it good…:P )

2) Greeks smoke the most cigarettes, Japan reads the most newspapers and Ecuador has the most murders per head of population, 18.3 murders per 100,000 inhabitants;

3) Japan also has the world's largest proportion of elderly people with 26 per cent of its population over 60;

4) while tiny European country Luxembourg has the highest GDP per capita (pretty cool for a small country! Been here before..nice little place but thats all I could remember though..);

5) The United States has by far the biggest prison population with 2.2 million behind bars (no wonder they can come up with such excellent plot for the `Prison Break’ series :P);

6) while China carries out by the far the most executions — 3,400 in 2004 (! Oh dear! ) ..

My oh my.. Certainly some of these figures would raise eyebrows!
Does make me wonder.. where exactly would be the best place to live in this world?

Accept the Pain

Been meaning to update my blog for the longest of time! But life sometimes runs faster than one can manage to keep up..

Anyway for starters, for the past year, life had not been that easy for me, both on the career front, or on the personal side. Many a times when life is down, I consider myself blessed that there will always be someone, somewhere, usually a friend, who’ll send me some forwarded messages that suddenly helped to brighten up my day and warms my heart. These messages give me encouragement to strive on, sometimes they are just simple messages that tries to make sense of our very existence in this world. At other times, they do not carry any serious messages, but simply, just a kind warming gesture showing you that you are not all alone in this world, and somewhere, someone is thinking of you.

So, sharing with all..the latest that I received this morning from a friend. Its called,
“Accept the Pain”. Enjoy.

No Pain No Gain… Accept the Pain, Future will be Fruitful…
Don't feel the work you are doing is pain, because there are always a reason for that pain or work.
So face the pain, for all the pain you face, there will definitely be happiness & success ahead.

My Humble Abode – One Year On

Last month, in July 06, is my official first anniversary in this place that I call `home’. My rented apartment in Kota Damansara.

Flashback to 1 year ago…when after a frantic 3 weeks search, I finally found a place that I could call `home’. I was so excited to finally be moving on, from the little room that I had rented for close to 6 years to this brand new apartment. My new apartment comes at a cost of RM800 per month, not inclusive of the utilities bills. However, with this amount, it heralded in a new chapter of my life, whereby I could at long last, live `freely’ as a single young executive working and living in KL.


Fast forward, 1 year on… whats the difference in my life now? For one thing, for the past one year, I really enjoyed having a place that I could call my own, even though it is just a rented premise. I no longer have to put up with eccentric behaviour of my then landlord who was prone to anxiety attacks and was on medication chronically. I do not have to clean the shared common toilet, whom I shared with some KDU students who did not even have the good sense to flush the toilet after use (gross!).

I have found peace and tranquility at home, and I am also finding it soothing to just simply hang out at home, instead of in the shopping malls, or gyms, or pubs. I can cook as and when I like, and the fridge is loaded with my stuffs, and no one is throwing them out like before.

Going to work is a breeze… I can wake up only at 8am, and can still make it the office, on the dot at 9am, if I were to leave my place at 845am. Hahah… this goes well for people like me, who are more nocturnal by nature.

Well, I guess, in the very nutshell, its all `me, me, me’!!

Lest I sound like a contrite, self centred person (which I hope I am not), I still love company of good friends and family. I have also set up my apartment with a 6-seat dining table, and got cutleries in sets of 6’s, in anticipation of my hosting dining parties for friends. I have found that I have a good colleague who happens to be my neighbour (same block, same floor!) and when sometimes her good hubby is outstation ,will pop in to say hi, chat, and when I am stressed out, was even kind enough to bring me a box of green tea.

Finally I can sometimes just lay back and say `yeah, life is good’… as I enjoy the serenity of my apartment, and admire the minimalist furniture that I have in place, of which gives me all the furniture comfort of a home I need, yet not overwhelming and still appears spacious, which I like. It gives me a sense a pride also to sit back and admire the few things I have brought back/preserve from my travels or past events, that now adorns the empty spaces my living room, making it more homely and habitable.

My humble abode. My peace haven. On my one year ‘s anniversary here, two good friends also moved into another adjacent block. And nowadays, we hang out like before, but it is either in my humble abode, or theirs.
Life, as they say, is as good as its gets…. :D

Year to Date (YTD) updates

Can't believe it had been aeons since my last entry. alright, even that was a pitiful attempt at blogging when my overall entries year-to-date was only standing at 2 !

The months had not been easy on me, mainly with my escalating workload, and constant travelling. A lot of my nights were spent on clearing my backlog of emails etc as my day is spent going out to meet my clients and working with my team to ensure that our product launch, coming up soon will be well received and the product will just fly off the racks!

Next week, i will be travelling again, going on a roadshow hopping from Kuching to KK, to Penang and Ipoh. following week, Singapore again!

Need to put effort in order to juggle the fine lines between working for a living, for living for work. The positive side if things is that I still try to `live' a life away from office, trying to weave some activities into the web of never-ending work and work-related travelling.
This weekend, met up with my regular kaki for movie and our usual supper and drinks. Only reached back home in the wee hours of the morning, at 3ish; of course, after we hang around Soul Out watching the Ghanians thrash the Czechs at 2-0. Yeah ! (but hey, am not a football fan at all...heheh..just let myself follow the flow, and everyone was just so `in' into football these days. I must keep up also with the masses , even if my interest is not even there.)

Dragged myself out of bed at 10ish this morning, so that i can meet up with 2 girlfriends for an early morning movie (again!). "X-Men 3" was good and entertaining. Never loved Wolverine more than this movie. In the past, he seemed like a immature and hot tempered anti-hero. At least in this one, he has mellowed and hmm... seemed more appealing. hahah...maybe I am getting old, and older men are more attractive these days?

A `Hole' To Make One Whole

Last Friday night, I had an event. It was just one of those events that is part of my official duties but as usual, the days before the event was full of frenzied last minute touch-ups, and a few sleepless nights for me, as my brain raced at checklists even in the wee hours of the morning. Talk about work-related insomnia, this was certainly a classic example!

On the way to the hotel downtown, I felt that my ears (specifically my pierced earholes) were getting quite painful, maybe I tossed and turned and pressed down on the earlobe too heavily the night before (?). Hence, I removed my right earring from my ear. The relief was felt immediately. So, happily I went about with the event etc.

The next day, I found that my ears were still swollen, and hence no earrings could actually make it through my right ear hole. Thankfully, the other side, which is not swollen, everything was fine. I consoled myself that its was just `one of those days’, and that I would try again the next day. By Sunday evening, when I still couldn’t get in any earring into that earhole, I was really panicking. Tried using the `S’ shaped dangling earring, no, can’t get through. Then changed my strategy to using the white gold ring, alas, same result! Finally, tried using my pure gold rings, still unsuccessful. In the midst of all these trysts, my ears started hurting more and more. Alas, it was time for me to surrender and admit defeat – my `hole’ has closed on me.

Spent the next couple of days in distress and bemoaning my “loss”. Smsed a friend about it, and he sent his `condolonces’ and tried to get me to think of not wearing earrings as akin to girls cutting their long hair short after a long time, and that “it’s all a matter of looking at things from a different perspective”, and of course, that I would also have to just get used to the new way of things (ie cannot wear earrings).

However, I was beyond consoling. Guess in a way, this `loss’ invoked in me emotions that I have never thought I would ever have, in association to something as simple as, a `hole’. Brings back memories of those younger days when I was too afraid to have my ears pierced and my grandma used to admonished me that “if you don’t pierce your ears, you won’t look pretty on your wedding day coz you won’t get to wear earrings”. That sent me to the goldsmith when I was 12, gritting my teeth and bored the onslaught of the sharp (but short) pain that pierced a hole each through my thick earlobes.

For the next few years, I happily wore my gold rings until one day, an accident brought an end to all this. Was knocked down by a car and hit my head hard on the ground. At the hospital, when they were prepping me for x-raying my head (with the bump), my earrings were literally torn away from my ears. No kidding, the pain then was so awful that I could have sworn it felt like they were pulling off my skin with pliers. Hence the end of my `hole’ story, part 1.

My 2nd attempt happened just a couple of years ago. In a rare showcase of camaraderie and bravado, went together with a good friend to have our ears pierced one Chap Goh Meh night, since this is supposedly a good day for doing so. Hence started my second era of wearing earrings.

Coming back to present day, with this `hole’ closure, suddenly, it seems that all that drama is all for nothing. Suddenly am faced with issues even bigger than the words of my grandma, and the physical pain of ear piercing. Suddenly, I realized that this loss somewhat, somehow affected me in terms of my feminity.

Moping my loss, I simply could not imagine not having ear holes to wear all the pretty earrings that I have in my possession. Makes me feel less female in comparison with the girls about town, and I try to make up by covering my ears with my long hair. A friend even joked that since I still have the other good ear with the hole, I could actually start a new fashion trend of just wearing one earring! Funny as that may sound, still it didn’t appeal to me. I still felt that I have lost a part of me that is very female. A thought did creep it that maybe since it was so difficult for me to keep my `hole’, perhaps it was just meant to be?

Finally, four nights after the first realization of the `closure’, I found that my ears were no longer swollen, and decided, oh well, maybe, just maybe, with the swelling gone, I might be able to find my `hole’ back? With the remotest of hope, I sterilized my earrings, lubed on plenty of Johnson baby oil, and tried, and tried…walluup..what did you know? It just went through!!

Wah! Am estatic with joy!! Finally, I feel `whole” again. :D
What a difference a `hole’ can make!

Smsed my friend again that night, “Ahem..I have reclaimed my `hole’ tonight… poked right through”...
Guess what he answered? ‘wah.. that prose sounds so porno…..luckily I understood the context..” haha !!!

Hello WORLD....here I come!!

Have been inspired to start my own blog by a friend whose blog am a loyal fan of. Guess been reading too much of other people's posts and since then have been itching to start typing away but alas, have always been bitten by the lazy bug, and nothing ever ventured..

So, why start tonight, finally? reason is I have been following a very exciting Hong Kong series on DVD (20 episodes condensed into 1 DVD) for the last few nights and thought that I would have that pleasure of continuing the `chase'. Ah ! but what have I done? I actually left the DVD in the office! so, suddenly am at a loss of what else to do..might as well stop procrastinating and start my blog, a new start to a new year, yea!

Although the first week of the new year has already slipped by, i believe it is still a good time to start thinking of what I want to get out of the year, i.e. make new year resolutions! So, here goes my humble list, hopefully, my string of resolutions will be practical enough to still be in force when we reach later part of the year...

1) Live a more healthy lifestyle
By having that subheading, am I currently living an unhealthy lifestyle? well..not exactly... but i do think I can actually improve further by making some changes, such as `early to bed, early to rise" (2am bed time on working nights has to go!!), more frequent visits to the gym (esp hotel gyms when am travelling), more diligent in taking my supplements, must remember to brew my monthly bird's nest for complexion, drink more h2o, less coffee !

2) Keep a healthy balance between work and personal life
This is a mighty tough one!! but i think i am already seeing progress...at the very least, I have stopped working on weekends, unlike some time ago, when I was practically working 7 days a week. However, with a very tight travelling schedules, and work plan in view for this year, I believe I would need to put in more `effort" in order to keep this balance, and not let it slide and skew more towards the work arena. After all, am not getting any younger and hence, must really live life and not just let life pass me by, without enjoying it more.

3) Revamp my personal finances for better management
Whenever someone asks me about my personal finances, I always skidded the subject. My excuse had always been, "Finance was my least fav subject back in biz school...!!". anyhow, late last year, I finally took a long hard look and made some critical conclusions of my current status. Hence, it is time for action and a call for revamp! will need to spend some time in this area and be more diligent too in studying investment options and hopefully by mid year, I would have a better level of knowledge to start investment.

With only 3 resolutions, will try hard to stay on track. Hopefully by end of the year, will have one posting, to reflect on how the year's been. Belated Happy New Year to all !!