New Years Resolution 2011

Well well, 2010 breezed by so quickly. It's amazing. In a twinkling of an eye, its already the eve of 2010.

Looking forward, I'm going to set some goals for this coming year.

Spiritual
-plan more YA outreaches
-do visitation once a week
-disciples
-read 4 books

Health
-exercise 3 times a week(swim/run/gym/badminton)
-no snacks and soft drinks
-eat more fruits

Finance
-save 15% of income
-use only 1 credit card

Relationships
-visit family 4 times a month

Career
-finish tasks ahead of time
-go for courses

2011 here I come!

One of the hits during my younger days

I need a new phone!

I must say it looks very very good... :)

Building your barn

It's important to have savings in life. Especially when you are expecting big expenses in the near future, eg. house renovations, money for higher learning, etc.

The rule of thumb is that you should be saving at least 10% of your monthly income, but for some of us out there, you might not be saving fast enough to meet your target, eg. your house renovation is expected to start in 2012, but you only have 2 years to save.

Therefore, you might try to increase your savings to 15% or 20% depending on your lifestyle and discipline. I guess a lot of factors affect the aggressiveness in which we save.

1)LIFESTYLE
Depending on your character, you might be a spendthrift, spender, madman when it comes to money. I'm currently logging every single expenditure I've made for the month of September. It gives a clear picture of where the bulk of your money goes, and if possible, ways to cut down on spending.

Some of us have cars, some have education loans to repay, some have one credit card, some have many credit cards, some like to shop everyday, some like to pay expensive stuff, all these affect your savings.

2)DISCIPLINE
This word keeps popping up recently in my mind, someone once told me that discipline determines destiny. (details also but thats another story). I can say that I think very carefully before spending money. Especially purchases above $50. Even during shopping in the supermarket, I try to buy value for money stuff. Recenly I thought of getting a key pouch to keep my keys cause the number of my keys grew and the keys keep poking me. I had in mind a buffel keypouch but when I saw the price $50 i decided against it. Cause to me, my keyring does the job. Who cares about a few pokes?

Some of us have a heavy lifestyle, like hospital loans and family bills to pay, but they are discplined, they don't go on holidays, they don't buy big purchase items randomly. They will have savings.

Some of us have a light lifestyle, no bills to pay, nothing, but they are ill-disciplined. They buy presents for the whole world, they take cab wherever they go, they just buy buy buy. They will not have savings.

The people who save best are people who have a light lifestyle and are very disciplined.

I'm all for enjoying and pampering yourself once in a while, but my personal conviction is, i know i have something i need to pay for in the next 1-2 years, rather than borrowing money or taking a loan, I'd rather save up and pay for it cash.

New things

More than half the year has passed. Its already August! Looking back, this year is really a year of new things.

I got married in January. New wife.

I moved into a new home in Simei in February. New home.

I lost my phone in a cab in July. New phone (sort of... thanks nick).

I bought my first car with my wife in July. New car.

I am starting work in a new environment in August. New job.

Truly, its nice having new things. The rush and the excitement of owning something for the very first time is indescribable. 

But how do you maintain something which is new? Do we lose our interest in our new things quickly? Do we then look for other new things? 

I'm quite a sentimental person. My pair of Billabong berms lasted me 10 years, since JC days all the way till today. My backpack lasted me 6 years since NUS days all the way till last year. My seiko watch that i bought last august will probably last me the next 10 years. woahaha..

I believe its good to own new things, and to update ourselves. But there are some things that's worth holding on to. I quite like classic, timeless things. :)

My family

Few things in life are more important than family. Introducing... Top row(Kelvin, my sister Lisa, my wife Joyce) Bottom row(my mom, my dad)

Another pose... I like this one better hahaha...

Treasure your family. Peace.

I think I'm old

Just played a game of football with Ronald Yong, Edwin Ong, Adam and Rayvin last Sunday @ Kembangan.

The pitch was slightly damp after the rain. EngWee and Joyce Tham were the earliest, they and their usual gang of childrens church kakis were there.

Playing brought me back to the good of secondary school days where splattering mud was the norm on our white socks and shoes. Running Sprinting to get those long balls or doing empty overlapping runs felt really good. Apologizing for every pass that went wrong was nostalgic.

But somehow, the old body isn't what it used to be. Instead of recovering in a day, my thighs are still stiff and sore up till today(3 days). Considering i didn't try to run alot on Sunday, I cannot help but admit, I feel old.

I guess when you're older, you don't play with mindless running, but you play with your head.

I hope this is a regular affair. Can't wait for the next game.

(but let me recover first. ouch.)

My VW Sales Exec just called me...

...to say that my car is arriving in singapore this week. Give some time to do checks and registration, th delivery date is by mid july latest. Finally after almost 4-5 mths of waiting. my tin can with 4 wheels is coming.

This is going to change my life forever! Freedom of travel, extremely expensive erp and carpark fees, as well as the ability to bless others with a ride home. (especially the easterners) :D

I can't wait! Yahoo!

3rd or 4th?

Who cares?! See you in the Champions League.

What a weekend!

Spurs 1-3 Sunderland (shock)
Spurs 0-2 Portsmouth (disappointment)
Spurs 2-1 Arsenal (delight)
Spurs 2-1 Chelsea (confidence)
Spurs vs Man Utd (???)

What a comeback! Now we are in pole position for 4th. It's between us and Man City now...

This weekend will be crucial for us. Hope for good results! Going for the long awaited win at old trafford and rooting for Arsenal(Wuayboon Sweesiang jia you!) to crush Man City.

Edwin Ong, its crunch time this weekend. It will be a good game.

Haven't seen such a tight race this time of the season in a long long time.

COYS!

Comeback Kings!

Sunday was a bad day for tottenham. It's the semi finals of the FA cup against Portsmouth in Wembley. Tottenham were favourites to win it obviously(Portsmouth are bottom of the league/relegated), but football is football. We lost it 2-0 in extra time.

I won't blame the pitch that made Dawson slip up in the crucial moment, both teams played on the same pitch. I won't blame the referee for giving a penalty right at the end. But it was a gloomy night for me and Joyce (we watched it at my parents place at hougang until 2am before heading home to Simei).

We have to bounce back!!

As Redknapp says, "Winning a match doesn't make you a good team and losing a match doesn't make you a bad team. It's how you perform throughout the season."

Words of wisdom.

Beating Arsenal will effectively end their title bid while strengthening our place for a Champions League spot. Massive game at the Lane tonight. Massive. (Swee Siang and Wuayboon watch out!). Also see http://joyciejewel.blogspot.com/2010/01/london-day-7.html

My head says it is a draw but my heart says it is a win. So Come on you Spurs! We're still in it for fourth! Manchester City will be favorites now but who cares? Just go for it!

Volkswagen Polo

Yup, Joyce and I have booked our very first car. The Volkswagen Polo!

Due to the popular demand (thats what they say la), we're only going to get it by June. I guess good things come in good time.

We both like the design, the brand, the fuel economy and also the low CO2 emission.

It's european car of the year for 2010 so it's got to have some standard. Anyway, I've been doing lots of research for the past year looking out for a good deal, after so long, its been decided.

Fortunately, we booked it at a price that is about 4K cheaper than the current price, so i guess its a good deal for a continental car.

Coming soon! Initial D Singapore version. VROOMMM...!

Hey Ah Hoe Ah In-fan-try Ah!

I will be wearing green from 090310 - 260310...

New home

Busy trying to get my life back in order. Me and Joyce are furniture hunting these days. Trying to get cheap but nice furniture, searching for good deals. Thank goodness Ikea and Courts are nearby.

In the mean time, getting our gears back to working mode after a long break. Time to go full steam ahead. Fruitful year ahead this year! Amen.

Thank you all those who volunteered to help us fix the dining room light as well as dismentaling and throwing away all my old furniture. You guys are our personal BAI JIA LE *in chinese 

:)

Old things no go, new things no come. *in chinese

Happy new year!

London Day 12

 

  

  

 

 

London Day 10

It was as full day for us today. We signed up a one day tour with golden tours. Supposed to visit Warwick Castle, Shakespeare's birthplace and Oxford university, where Harry Potter was filmed.

 

After spending so much time in London, it was a breath of fresh air to go out to the country side. It's about 2 hours drive away from the city.

 

Lots of sheep and open green spaces. Beautiful landscape.

Finally arrived at Warwick castle. A real English castle that is restored and is supposedly to be haunted.

Wooden catapult replica.

Castle bridge entrance over a moat.

 

 

The castle was filled with real armor and weapons used in olden times. Old furniture and pictures fill the castle.

 

  

  

Here is the defense mechanism of the castle. Enemy soldiers are trapped between the first gate and the second gate. The defending soldiers will then pour hot oil or shoot arrows from above.

 

  

Next off we made our way to stratford, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. But before that, we encountered a short shower of snow! Joyce was thrilled.

Asked me to take photo of it. We are ssnoooow desperate.
 

  

 Anyway Stratford is this peaceful little town with many old buildings, some as old as the 500 years old. The black and white are marks of restoration during the Victorian era. Originally, the wooden beams are not painted black.

 

  

Finally we made our way on foot to Shakespeare's house. The floor of which is the actual floor which Shakespeare walked on as both boy and man.

 

  

As you can see, the houses of 1500's are not very big. The ceilings are about my height and the doors are even shorter. It's not because people are short in those days, rather, its to keep the heat in cause the winter, would you believe it, is 10 degrees colder than today's.

After which, we drove off to Oxford University. It's really a town that has nothing special in particular, except it's university. The rivalry with Cambridge was so strong that in Oxford, you cannot mention the word Cambridge, so everybody refers to Cambridge as "the other university".

 

  

  

  

Oxford University is actually an umbrella of many colleges. So if someone says he is studying in Oxford, what he really means is, he is studying in one of the colleges under the umbrella. Anyway all pics are in this college called Christchurch college.

 

  

  

  

  

Everything about Oxford is very elaborate and intricate and ancient with rich history for almost everything.

Oh this is our tour guide. Quite knowledgable indeed.

The place where Harry Potter was filmed. It's actually the dinner banquet hall full of portraits of great people.

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

It's a beautiful place to get educated. People like C.S. Lewis, Tolkien, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair.

Signing off now, we got train tickets to Edinburgh, 4 hours train ride to the northern part of Britain. Watch out for tomorrow's blog!