God & Traders

A thought suddenly came into my mind - Substitute the word "God" with "Market" in any passage, and most likely the passage will still make sense.

Life. Diablo.

Life is just like Diablo. You level up. Earn gold. Buy stuff. Have fun. Until one day you reach Inferno and realize that life sucks.

...

Well, not really sucks, but it makes u realize what are the 3 most important things in life.

Gold, Luck, and Companion.

Come Into My Trading Room: A Complete Guide to (Obscenities Commonly Heard During) Trading

"Ah ah ah... still don't go up?!?"
-when rest of the market is moving in favor of our position

"Seh seh seh... siao liao la!!!"
-when the rest of the market is moving against our position ("seh" means dizzy)

"Wa lan eh, seh la!!!"
-when the rest of the market is moving against our position, version 2

"CCB FUCKERS, now gimme 50 cents! 50 cents! Give! Now!"
-when demanding for a miracle

"Please la, Osaka God, gimme 50 cents... Osaka God... 50 cents... Please please please..."
-when begging for a miracle ("Osaka" here refers to the contract we trade in)

"Wa song song song! Heehee!"
-when miracle happens

"WTF?!??"
-when in disbelief

"CCB Fuckers!!!"
-when someone doing something funny with the market

"Wa liew... very tired la... give me some easy trades la..."
-when market very tough

"Sian la... don't know how to trade la..."
-when market very tough, version 2

"Tap out, tap out... very tired la... tap out..."
-when our position is unfavorable and is begging to scratch ("tap out" is a wresting term which means surrender. "Scratch" means exit position at break even)

"Oh shit shit shit..."
-when something demands instant reaction

"Ooo song!"
-when taking profit

"TMD CCB FFUUUUUU!!!"
-when taking a loss

"Wa lao eh... FUCK MY LIFE!!!"
-when taking consecutive losses

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

After a week of intensive emotional outbursts, I feel like going into the forest and meditate for seven seven forty-nine days.

Life.

Do you find that your life is very hard?

Fighting for your existence everyday.

Another colleague disappeared today. Just a simple handshake and "All the best", and then,

He was gone.

As another colleague love to say,

"FUCK MY LIFE!"

Lol!

Mine is a cruel world. Will continue to fight.

Fighting makes you feel alive.

:)

Sailor

歌曲：水手
词曲:郑智化

苦涩的沙吹痛脸庞的感觉
像父亲的责骂母亲的哭泣
永远难忘记
年少的我喜欢一个人在海边
卷起裤管光着脚丫踩在沙滩上
总是幻想海洋的尽头有另一个世界
总是以为勇敢的水手是真正的男儿
总是一副弱不禁风孬种的样子
在受人欺负的时候总是听见水手说
他说风雨中这点痛算什么
擦干泪不要怕至少我们还有梦
他说风雨中这点痛算什么
擦干泪不要问为什么

长大以后为了理想而努力
渐渐的忽略了父亲母亲和
故乡的消息
如今的我生活就像在演戏
说着言不由衷的话戴着伪善的面具
总是拿着微不足道的成就来骗自己
总是莫名其妙到一阵的空虚
总是靠一点酒精的麻醉才能够睡去
在半睡半醒之间仿佛又听见水手说
他说风雨中这点痛算什么
擦干泪不要怕至少我们还有梦
他说风雨中这点痛算什么
擦干泪不要问为什么

寻寻觅觅寻不到活着的证据
都市的柏油路太硬踩不出足迹
骄傲无知的现代人不知道珍惜
那一片被文明糟踏过的海洋和天地
只有远离人群才能找回我自己
在带着咸味的空气中自由的呼吸
耳畔又传来汽笛声和水手的笑语
永远在内心的最深处听见水手说
他说风雨中这点痛算什么
擦干泪不要怕至少我们还有梦
他说风雨中这点痛算什么
擦干泪不要问为什么

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewy0wrkOfyg

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sometimes you will hear songs that will resonate within you.

Luck

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
- Seneca (Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD)

The Truth

Had a revelation after reading some books and a chat with friend, which I will try to put to words as best as I can.

What is the "Truth", or the "Reality" (about anything)?

The short answer is, there is no such thing as the Truth or the Reality.

Everything thing we see is filtered and colored through our perception, i.e., our five basic senses, our previous experiences, our mental wiring etc etc. No one see the same thing in the exact same way.

Take a simple chair for example, even though it is just a simple chair, we consciously or subconsciously form opinions about it - a comfortable chair, an ugly chair, a red chair, even a "simple" chair. So what is the universal Truth/Reality about this chair? Nope, there is none. No one see the chair the same way.

Having agree that there is no universal Truth / Reality, here is the next question:

How do Conflicts arise?

Conflicts arise when two different person's truths / realities are different from each other, and they both insist so strongly on them that they try to make the other person see their version of the truth / reality.

However, in my opinion, the conflicts are absurd and unnecessary, since there is no universal Truth / Reality. Everything is just a matter of perceptions. If everyone can see the Truth and Reality for what it is, which is simply a series of different perceptions, then everyone will be able to understand everyone else perfectly! Won't that be a wonderful world to live in?

However, given that we do not live in a perfect world, how can we make use of this insight After all these ramblings, how should we see the world?

So what exactly is the Universal Truth?

My Truth is simple. Truth is...

Whatever that works.

What do I mean by "whatever that works"? "Works" can mean myriad of things - Confirming observation, make money, bring happiness etc.

Let me give an example. For thousands of years, people's truth/reality was that the Sun revolves around the Earth. It had worked for them for thousands of years  (confirmed their observation, boosted their ego, made them happy etc), so there is nothing wrong with it.

Until one day, Copernicus found that that particular truth/reality doesn't work so well anymore (doesn't fit new observations), and thus, he changed it. Today, we believe that the truth is that the Earth revolves around the Sun. So it is the current truth until somebody else changes it. Simple as that.

The same applies to everything else. Evolution Theory, Technical Analysis, God, what I / other people should or should not / can or cannot do etc etc.

All that matters is whether it works.

Hence, to summarize, there are 4 levels to Truth & Reality -

Level 0: Truth is the truth (as you perceive it to be or think it is).
Level 1: Truth is there is no Truth.
Level 2: Truth is whatever that works.

Keep an open mind and open your eyes. Look beyond what you think is the truth & reality, you will see the infinite possibilities and reveal the Truth & Reality for what it truly is.

P.S. Actually there is a Level 3 that is more advanced:

Level 3: Truth is what we choose to create. After knowing Level 1, we consciously create, change, manipulate the Truth as we see fit.

(But attempts to do these will have unintended consequences. So, for all practical purposes, we will just stick to level 1 and 2.)

P.P.S. Perhaps, this post is an attempt of Level 3 truth.

********************************************

Buddha was seated among his disciples one morning when a man approached the gathering. “Does God exist,” he asked. “Yes, God exists,” Buddha answered. After lunch, another man appeared. “Does God exist?” he asked. “No, God does not exist,” Buddha answered. Late in the day, a third man asked Buddha the same question, and Buddha's response was: “You must decide for yourself.” “Master, this is absurd,” said one of the disciples. “How can you give three different answers to the same question?” “Because they were different persons,” answered the Enlightened One. “And each person approaches God in his own way: some with certainty, some with denial and some with doubt.”

Horoscope

AQUARIUS

The forbidden colors are reddish green and yellowish blue, invisible because the cells of your retina are not built to register them. But scientists have found a way for a few lucky people to glimpse the hues. Aquarius, I suspect you are close to experiencing a metaphorical version of this breakthrough- see something that is supposedly impossible to see.

 

- freewillastrology.com

Last Lecture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

 

We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.

Have something to bring to the table, because that will make you more welcome.

I probably got more from that dream and not accomplishing it than I got from any of the ones that I did accomplish.

You’ve got to get the fundamentals down because otherwise the fancy stuff isn’t going to work.

When you see yourself doing something badly and nobody’s bothering to tell you anymore, that’s a very bad place to be. Your critics are your ones telling you they still love you and care.

Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.

Head fake learning is absolutely important, and you should keep your eye out for them because they’re everywhere.

The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough.

It’s pretty easy to be smart when you’re parroting smart people.

It’s very important to know when you’re in a pissing match. And it’s very important to get out of it as quickly as possible.

Until you got ice cream spilled on you, you’re not doing field work.

I can’t tell you beforehand, but right before they present it I can tell you if the world (his students project work) is good by the body language. If they’re standing close to each other, the world is good.

If you’re going to do anything that pioneering you will get those arrows in the back, and you just have to put up with it. I mean everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

Somewhere along the way there’s got to be some aspect of what lets you get to achieve your dreams. First one is the role of parents, mentors, and students.

And he (Andy Van Dam) said, Randy, it’s such a shame that people perceive you as so arrogant. Because it’s going to limit what you’re going to be able to accomplish in life.

You just have to decide if you’re a Tigger or an Eeyore.

I have a theory that people who come from large families are better people because they’ve just had to learn to get along.

Loyalty is a two way street.

Syl said, it took me a long time but I’ve finally figured it out. When it comes to men that are romantically interested in you, it’s really simple. Just ignore everything they say and only pay attention to what they do. It’s that simple. It’s that easy.

You can’t get there alone. People have to help you and I do believe in karma. I believe in paybacks. You get people to help you by telling the truth. Being earnest.

I’ll take an earnest person over a hip person every day, because hip is short term. Earnest is long term.

Apologise when you screw up and focus on other people, not on yourself.

Don’t bail. The best of the gold’s at the bottom of barrels of crap.

Get a feedback loop and listen to it. Your feedback loop can be this dorky spreadsheet thing I did, or it can just be one great man who tells you what you need to hear. The hard part is the listening to it.

Don’t complain. Just work harder. That’s a picture of Jackie Robinson. It was in his contract not to complain, even when the fans spit on him.

Be good at something, it makes you valuable.

Find the best in everybody. Just keep waiting no matter how long it takes. No one is all evil. Everybody has a good side, just keep waiting, it will come out.

Be prepared. Luck is truly where preparation meets opportunity.

It’s not about how to achieve your dreams. It’s about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself. The dreams will come to you.

A Pen is a Wand

Watching Harry Potter on TV. Noticing a pen on my table. Suddenly, have random thought that actually,

A Pen is a Wand.

And a very powerful wand at that. It has the power and magic to create an entire world, fueled only by the imagination (mana) of the writer.

Powerful.

Books I Have Read Since I Joined A Proprietary Trading Film on 20 Feb 2012

Wanted to chronicle the list of books I read so that I won't forget them.
(Updated on 12 Aug 2012)

1. Compleat Day Trader by Jake Bernstein *
2. Compleat Day Trader II by Jake Bernstein *
3. Trading For A Living by Alexander Elder *
4. The Trader's Guide to Key Economic Indicators by Richard Yamarone *
5. The Secrets of Economic Indicators by Bernard Baumohl *
6. Mind Over Markets by James F. Dalton, Eric T. Jones, Robert B. Dalton *****
7. How to Get Started in Electronic Day Trading by David Nassar ***
8. Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki ****
9. Markets, Mobs, and Mayhem by Robert Menschel ***
10. Studies in Tape Reading by Richard Wyckoff ***
11. The Day Trader Survivor Guide by Christopher Farrel ***
12. Japanese Candlestick Charting Technique by Steve Nelson *
13. Secrets of Trading Pros by Jack Bouroudjian **
14. The Market Never Sleep by Thomas L. Busby **
15. Techniques of Tape Reading by Vadym Graifer & Christopher Schumacher ***
16. Rules of the Trade by David Nassar **
17. How to Trade in Stocks by Jesse Livermore **
18. Markets in Profile by James F. Dalton, Eric T. Jones, Robert B. Dalton **
19. The Trading Edge by Ricky Cheng *
20. The Art of the Trade by Jason Alsan Jankovsky ****
21. Time Compression Trading by Jason Alsan Jankovsky ****
22. Black Swan by Nassim Taleb ****
23. Fooled by Randomness by Nassim Taleb *****
24. Enhancing Trader Performance by Brett Steenbarger ****
25. Psychology of Trading by Brett Steenbarger ****
26. Intermarket Trading Strategies by Markos Katsanos **
27. Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas ***
28. Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre *****
29. The New Paradigm for Financial Markets by George Soros ***
30. Trader Vic - Methods of a Wall Street Master by Victor Sperandeo ****
31. Trader Vic II - Principles of Professional Speculator by Victor Sperandeo ***
32. Predatory Trading & Crowded Exits by James Clunie **
33. Trade with Passion and Purpose by Mark Whistler **
34. Performance Trading by Steve Ward *
35. World Event Trading by Andrew Busch ***
36. All About High-Frequency Trading by Michael Durbin**
37. The Education of a Speculator by Victor Niederhoffer *****
38. How I Trade for a Living by Gary Smith **
39. Trading Secrets by Simon Thompson **
40. The Speed Traders by Edgar Perez ***
41. Hedge Funds Myths and Limits by Francois-Serge Lhabitant ***
42. Inside the Black Box by Rishi K Narang
43. The Magic by Rhonda Byrne
44. Market Wizards by Jack Schwager ****
45. New Market Wizards by Jack Schwager ****
46. Super Strategies for Puzzles and Games by Saul Levmoew and Elizabeth Early Cook
47. Understand Arbitrage by Randall S. Billingsley (Read half) ***
48. Pair Trading Quantitative Methods and Analysis (Read half) ****

Currently Reading:

1. Understand Arbitrage by Randall S. Billingsley
2. Practical Speculation by Victor Nederhoffer and Laurel Kenner
3. Basic Black Scholes by Timothy Crack
4. Econometrics of Financial High-Frequency Data by Nikolaus Hautsch

Stars rating represents only my personal liking. All are nice books (but some are nicer than the others). :)

Poker Rules

From http://www.dailyspeculations.com/wordpress/?p=7334

World class poker rounder and poker player, Thomas Austin Preston Jr. aka "Amarillo Slim" died of colon cancer yesterday at the age of 83. Known as a real solid poker player, he was also a great prop hustler, one of the best on the planet.

Slim listed 10 rules for poker success that have relevance in trading.

1. Play the players more than you play the cards.
2. Choose the right opponents. If you don't see a sucker at the table, you're it.
3. Never play with money you can't afford to lose.
4. Be tight and aggressive; don't play many hands, but when you do, be prepared to move in.
5. Always be observing at a poker game. The minute you're there, you're working.
6. Watch the other players for "tells" before you look at your own cards.
7. Diversify your play so others can't pick up your tells.
8. Choose your speed based on the direction of the game. Play slow in a fast game, fast in a slow game.
9. Be able to quit a loser, and for goodness' sake, keep playing when you're winning.
10. Conduct yourself honorably so you're always invited back .

Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama was asked what surprised him the most.

"Man - because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present, the result being that he does not live in the present, or the future, he lives as if he is never going to die and then he dies having never really lived."

Rubbish

What I write is rubbish.

Because too much input these days:

Psychology, persuasion, trading, hypnosis, finance, mentalism, philosophy, stories, plays, hustles... books, videos, plays...

When there is input, there is output. After digestion...

Rubbish.

P.S. 有了工作，生活还能这样充实吗?

The meaning of life is...

... to watch a leaf falling gently in the air and realize it is beautiful.

... to listen to the waves flapping gently against the beach and realize it is beautiful.

... to feel the wind blowing gently on your face and realize it is beautiful.

It is a beautiful day.

 

Stan Lai's Plays

After watching  賴聲川's 《那一夜，在旅途中說相聲》 and feeling SUPER impressed, I planned to dig out all Stan Lai's plays from the internet to watch. Listing (and rating) those I watched here so as to keep track:

Plays:

《暗戀桃花源》（【表演工作坊】演出，1986）  4.9!/5.0

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/kx876QpCg7c/

《十三角關係》（【表演工作坊】演出，1999） 4.2/5.0

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/sgLIOk6IoeQ/

《亂民全講》（【表演工作坊】演出，2003）4.3/5.0

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/kiHdDZKXbyQ/

Cross Talk Series

《那一夜，我們說相聲》（【表演工作坊】演出，1985；1993重演，1994美國、亞洲巡迴） 3.2/5.0

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/hUEni1NeNzQ/

《千禧夜，我們說相聲》（【表演工作坊】演出，2000-2001；北京、上海巡演、2001；片段參加中央電視台春節聯歡晚）4.5!/5.0

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/WQFs9zfXH-o/

《這一夜，Women說相聲》（【表演工作坊】演出，2005；新加坡巡迴演出、2005；北京版大陸巡迴，2007）4.4!/5.0

http://www.56.com/u84/v_NjE2MTI3NDU.html

《又一夜，他們說相聲》（【表演工作坊】演出，1997）4.2/5.0

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5252833579897641952#docid=1492879871952724539

《臺灣怪譚》（【表演工作坊】演出，1991）

http://www.tudou.com/playlist/id3745078.html

 

Complete info about Stan Lai including list of all his plays:

http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B3%B4%E8%81%B2%E5%B7%9D#.E5.8E.9F.E5.89.B5.E8.88.9E.E5.8F.B0.E5.8A.87.EF.BC.88.E7.B7.A8.E5.8A.87.E8.88.87.E5.B0.8E.E6.BC.94.EF.BC.89

Satisfied. :)

电影《一一》的经典台词

"每天讲得都一样……几分钟就讲完了……我好像白活了……每天都像个傻子一样……我每天在干什么……"

*****************************************

"电影发明以后，人类的生命比起以前至少延长了三倍！"

*****************************************

"你看到的我看不到，我看到的你看不到，那我怎么知道你在看什么呢？

我们是不是只能看到一半的事情。好像我只能看到前面看不到后面。"

*****************************************

"你看，这些年，我这么辛苦，我这么努力，从早忙到晚额，NJ你知不知道，我一点也不快乐。"
" 做的都不是自己喜欢做的事 ，又怎么会快乐呢?"

*****************************************

"婆婆，对不起，不是我不喜欢跟你讲话。只是我觉得我能跟你讲的，你一定老早都知道了，不然你就不会每次都叫我“听话”。就像他们都说你走了，你也没有告我我你去了哪里。所以我觉得，那一定是我们都知道的地方。婆婆，我不知道的事情太多了。所以，你知道我以后想做什么吗？我要去告诉别人他们不知道的事，给别人看他们看不到的东西。我想，这样一定天天都很好玩。说不定，有一天，我会发现你到底去了哪里。到时候，我可不可以跟大家讲，叫大家一起过来看你呢？

婆婆，我好想你。尤其是我看到那个还没有名字的小表弟，就会想起你常跟我说，你老了。我很想跟他说，我觉得，我也老了。"

Mexican Fisherman

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village.

 An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

 "Not very long," answered the Mexican.

 "But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the American.

 The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, "But what do you do with all your time?"

"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs...I have a full life."

The American interrupted, "I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you!

You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.

Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant."

"You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge enterprise."

"How long would that take?" asked the Mexican.

"Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied the American. "And after that?"

"Afterwards? That's when it gets really interesting," answered the American, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start selling stock and make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And after that?"

"After that -- and this is the best part -- you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, catch a few fish, take a siesta, and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends!"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Although I am broke, sometimes, I have the feeling that most of my friends are working their ass off so that they can have the life I am leading now when they are 65.

Peaceful...

每天对着电脑会变笨

Yup, 会变笨。

Why I Want to be Trader?

Yesterday,  I was being asked this question. I wasn't able to articulate my reasons coherently at that point of time because all the ideas are in the back of my head. After sleeping through it, they are now in front of my head:

1. Freedom - As a trader I can choose to trade wherever I wants, whenever I wants (mostly), and the rest of the time, do whatever I wants. 

2. Independence - Working under an organization means your income (lifeline) is under the control of that organization. It is like another person is putting a hand around your throat, 非常不舒服. A family doctor, a lawyer, a boss, a trader controls their own income. An engineer doesn't.

3. Compounding - Trading (and investing and doing businesses) is a way to "钱生钱", as compared to "劳力生钱". "钱生钱" is a positive feedback cycle, as in 钱生钱生钱生钱生钱生钱 etc etc etc. Wealth grow faster this way. Very much faster.

I imagine there are 3 stages of goals in my life after I graduate.

Stage 1: Earn capital
Stage 2: Grow capital
Stage 3: Spend capital

Stage 1 is comparable to finding seeds. Stage 2 is like planting the seeds to grow fruits, and then use the seeds from the new fruits grown to grow more fruits. Stage 3 is... just to enjoy the fruits.  :D

As of now, Stage 1 will be completed on the 20 May 2011. Stage 2 will be starting soon. Stage 3... I will "worry" about it when the time comes. Most likely it will involve travelling around the world, sport car(s), condo(s), piano, and maybe volunteer works. =)

Blogging

Blogs are things of the past... gradually but surely replaced by Facebook. Who nowadays still read blogs? Who nowadays still write blogs? Those who still clings to old traditions I guess. And those who have too much time to spare.

For those bloggers who gave up blogging, perhaps they also gave up a piece of themselves somewhere along the process. A piece which they locked up away into the deep recess of their mind. Its voice muted, lost in the din of the hustle and bustle of everyday mundane life.

Until they blog again.

Back 2

Why some people drink coffee everyday?

Why some people smoke cigarette everyday?

Why freshgrads want to find a job asap?

Why some people are anxious to get attached?

Why some people believe in God?

Why Jiahong and Jiangfeng wants me to get a girlfriend?

Why Minghui thinks I would "fret" when I can't find a passion?

There may be hundred of reasons, but could one of them be that

People are afraid of Freedom ?

Everyone thought that they love freedom, but subconciously they know that freedom is scary. Without something/someone they can depend on, or attached to, or tell them what to do, be it a thing, a person, a religion, a goal, etc., they don't know what to do. They felt lost, empty.

"Life has no meaning," they would say.

And I would agree with them too. After experiencing so much freedom alone in a foreign country for extended period, I realised that, ya, Freedom. Is. SCARY. The only person deciding what you should do is yourself. The only person judging that the things you are doing are right is yourself. The only person you can depend on is yourself.

Scary.

After understanding the "dark side" of freedom, I felt that I have grown up. After all, growing up is all about dealing with increasing freedom (even the freedom to give up freedom). But I will never give up my Freedom easily. To me, I believed that having options is always better than having no options. Hence, the religion I always wrote in the religion column of any forms:

Free Thinker.

So ya, to reply some of the comments of previous entry - having passion (aka "meaning of life") is good, having no passion is not that bad either... at least I am still free to be passionate about anything... or anyone. Haha!

Back

An instructor told me when I am in US:

 

"It is always a good experience to live abroad for a while. Not only can you see new things in new country, you also see new things when you go back to your old country."

 

I am back. He is correct.

 

I see many things now with cynicism. Many things are so stupid. Hall allocation. Swine flu alert levels. Case of NTU student suicide. Etc. People wasting energies on purposeless things. *Yawn*.

 

And because many things have become purposeless... time has lost its value to me. These days my working hours on weekdays have increased from 830 to 6 to 7 to 7. Plus I have to work on Saturadays. But the funny thing is, I don't feel a thing. No dulan, no complaints. OT OT lor. No big deal. Nothing else purposeful to do anyway.

 

When you take the Slack philosophy to the extreme, you will find that you won't mind Work anymore.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Btw, I have already concluded my search to the Purpose of Life, at least for now, after a good chat with Jiamin. The single most important thing in Life. The thing that, without which, you will find your life utterly meaningless. The Answer that everyone seeks, the Truth, and that is... *drum roll...*

 

PASSION.

 

The Meaning of Life of a person = the Object of Passion of the person. There is no universal "Meaning of Life".  There is no meaning to Life. I have search for it before I went US. I have search for it half a world away in US. I have even drove 5 hours to search for it in Chicago. It is not there. My 3 months in US is purposeless. I felt the angst of an existentialist during my last month in US, when I am all alone with a car and an apartment.

 

Only when Jiamin asked me, "how you feel when you are doing production?" Then it hit me. The reason why people can find meaning in life climbing Mt Everest.

 

PASSION.

 

The Meaning of Life is different for different people. Climbing Mt Everest. Girlfriend. Boyfriend. Doing Productions. "God". Etc. Anything can be one's meaning of life, if it is also an object of one's passion.

 

Don't know why I took so long to realised it. Currently, I have no passion. Everything is meaningless, purposeless. Everything is so stupid. But it doesn't matter anymore, cos I already know the Reason.

 

Life goes on until I find the object of my passion. Then, life still goes on.

 

 

Hall Allocation

I find the whole thing really absurd. The student body completely rejects "3 person per room" scheme. The student body complains cannot get enough room. Of course, SAO spending so much effort coming up with a stupid plan that allocate rooms by distance from home rather than by merit doesn't help solve the problem. In fact, it has nothing to do with the Problem. And what is the Problem??

 

There is NOT ENOUGH rooms for all the students who want a room!

 

How do you solve a Demand-Supply problem? Simply increase supply or/and reduce demand!

 

Of course, one doesn't build new halls overnight. And raising price of rooms to decrease demand is inhumane. So actually the best solution is the "3 person per room scheme"!

 

I don't know why the student body protest so vehemently against it. I am also surprised that SAO gave the scheme up so easily. (Authority usually never listens to mass.) Actually what the scheme needs is just a little modification to make it work.

 

The reason why the student body protest so vehemently against it is simply because they are used to double or single rooms. So to work around it, simply allocates triple rooms to the freshies, who ain't used to the comfort of a double room! This works two-ways: First, more supply is created, leaving more rooms for the seniors. Second, it reduces demands, as less freshies may want to squeeze in a triple room.

 

The second adjustment to the scheme is simply to make the triple rooms cheaper per pax! Even if the price per pax in triple rooms is reduced by half of that in double rooms, the hall still collects 50% more fees for each double room that is converted to triple room. I am sure some less well-off seniors may even volunteerily opt for triple rooms if the price to stay in hall is reduced.

 

So in conclusion, just a word to say to NTU authorities and student leaders: Instead of focusing your energies on the allocation plans, think of something that will actually SOLVE the Problem. What is the point of trying different ways to allocate rooms if you don't have enough rooms to allocate in the first place?? Or should I say, if you have enough rooms to allocate in the first place, you don't have to think so hard about allocating rooms?

 

P.S. That reminds me of the shuttle bus waiting problem. Every year the bus routes changes. For f**k?!? It just makes me laugh. Haha!

 

 

Movies

Just a little observation before I start: Why these days most of my fellow blogger friends stop blogging anymore? Is it because that I stopped blogging? Hahaha!

 

Anw I think I wrote before that I can't blog on my laptop cos for some reason my Window Vista don't allow me to login to msn space. If I want to blog, I can only blog from my workplace. But of course, it is not right to blog during work, and so I didn't blog. With everything accounted for, let me start blogging proper:

 

(Don't ask me why am I blogging now. If I have a choice, I won't be. In fact, I won't even be at my workplace.)

 

So, what the hell have I been doing these days?

 

Ever since my colleague went back to Singapore a month ago, I have been left on my own in a foreign country half a world away from home. But on the up side, my company had left me a car and an apartment with 2 bedrooms. (One of the bedrooms has became my wardrobe.) And so, with the car, I had been travelling around the city, and even to another city, when I am not working.

 

However, after a while, I found out that my cash isn't unlimited. So I opt for a cheaper form of entertainment, watching movies. One difference between Singapore and US movie theatre is that US movie theatres is free seating. So in order to get a good seat, you need to reach early. The other difference is that US movie theatres feature even longer advertisements than Golden Village theatres. This works strangely well together with the first difference.

 

Anwz these are the movies I watch in US:

 

Watchman

Fast and Furious

Knowing

Monster VS Aliens

Hannah Montana

Earth

Wolverine

Star Trek

 

So far, Knowing and Star Trek are the best of them all, while Fast and Furious and Monster VS Alien are the worst.

 

Other than that, I also watched some movies on my laptop:

 

Life After People (history channel documentry)

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Nania

Slumdog Millionaire

Battle Royale

Battle Royale II

 

I felt that Slumdog Millionaire is overrated. Overall it's good but it is just too... artificial. Knowing, Life After People, The Day the Earth Stood Still, watching these 3 shows together really made me think for quite a while... about human species as a whole... what is its purpose, is there a purpose, or just a random accident?

 

One special mention is Battle Royale, which is one of the BEST bloody shows I had ever watched. How human nature is magnified when facing death. Actually I thought nothing of its story at first. If not out of curiosity why my cousin wants me to order it specially from Amazon, I would never had watched it. Very highly recommended.

 

Ok, time's up.

 

Next movies I am going to watch: Momento, 12 Monkeys, Donnie Darko, 1408, Godfather. Ah, and Angels and Demons.

 

TATA!

 

New hobbies

No. 1: Watch Hannah Montana.

 

The cable tv here have a hundred channels, literally. One of my favourite is the Disney channel, where they will show Hannah Montana without fail every single day. Back when I was back in Singapore, I have heard of this person without knowing who the hell is she. Only when I am in US and chance upon an episode of Hannah Montana then I realise it was a very funny comedy serial!

 

Anw, it was about this 16 year old girl whose show name is called Hannah Montana and she is a world renown superstar. However her real name is called Miley Stewart (and her really real real name is Miley Cyrus... can be really confusing...) and no-one knows about her superstar identity except her family and a couple of close friends. Then the show is about the interesting things that happened around her, her father, her brother and her friends... all of whom are damn funny by themselves. And the father in the show is really her real father in real life! Pretty cool guy. =)

 

A good show to watch when you have nothing to do. The Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Wizards of Waverly Place are pretty good too! America has some pretty damn good scriptwriters and actors. And they are showing Hannah Montana the Movie here soon. You bet I am going to watch!

 

No. 2: Coin collecting.

 

The coins here in USA are damn confusing. They are called quarters, dimes, pennies etc, and their size is not proportional to the value it contains. It took us quite along while to figure what their values actually are. For the uninitiated, quarters are 25 cents, dimes are 10 cents and pennies are 1 cents.  

 

Anw the quarters here are very interesting. They have this State Quarters Program where they release 50 different types of quarters, each having a different picture for each of the 50 American states. And so yup, I have collecting them for the past 6 weeks... right now I got 36/50. Quite hard to find the rest though, but I will continue to try hard! *determined*

 

No. 3: Shopping

 

Self explanatory. Spent around S$3000 during my past 6 weeks here. Mostly on food though. But here is a freaking shopping heaven! CK, Gap, Nike, Adidas, Fossil, Coach etc etc... Shiok!

 

 

Another day in USA.

 

World Peace

Watched the latest episode of Gundam 00, where the protagonist (Setsuna F Seiei) suddenly "evolved" (reached enlightenment) during one of their final battles and his Gundam began to emit light/particles to everywhere. And where the light touches, everyone starts to understand everyone else and the fighting stops.

 

How good this will be, if such thing exists?

 

Will it be possible that everybody understands everybody else?

 

Is it possible to have no wars, and everyone lives in peace?

 

That is what I like about Gundam series... it makes you think about whether a world with no wars and no fighting is possible. And what means it will take to achieve this. Songs? Gundam? Or the magical GN particles?

 

Considering current technology... Will Web 2.0, eg. Facebook, blogs etc etc. achieve the same thing, allowing people to understand one another? I guess it is going in the right direction, but it is still far from the goal of achieving world mutual understanding and peace. With the internet, everyone can post their ideas online, promoting understanding between one another. However, the problem is also that EVERYONE post their ideas online. There are simply too much information online for a normal human being to absorb.

 

That is human capability limitation.

 

Until technology allows humans to absorb information at the speed of light, (Web 10.0 perhaps, where world wide information is fed directly to the brain), world understanding won't work. (Perhaps we really need GN particles.) And that is only the first hurdle.

 

The second obstacle is human imperfection. Everyone is has a dark side within oneself, no one is a saint. We can only keep the dark side under control. Under certain circumstances , be it extraordinary ones, but still, the dark side will eventually be unleashed. This is due to the simple fact that human beings has needs... and greed. Until human beings has satisfied all his needs and reach a certain level of civilization to control his greed, living in peace will not be possible.

 

Well... can we reach that level of civility and understanding of each other? No one knows. In the Watchman and Gundam, the idea is that ONLY a designed catastrophic event which push human beings to the blink of extinction can push human beings through its next evolution. Do we really need that? Can we not naturally become enlightened ourselves as a species? Maybe not in a hundred years, but perhaps in a thousand, or ten thousand?

 

Before we destroy ourselves.

 

Things to think about.

 

 

Random random

Working in a foreign place for a long period... sometimes you just lost track of time. There is nothing much to look forward to on weekends. You can't go out, cos you are already "out". You can't meet friends cos you don't have any friends here. You can't go where you want to go most of the time, cos you are sharing a car with someone else.

 

Ramble ramble... The reason why I am writing this blog now is precisely because I am sharing the car with someone else. If not I will already be back in my own apartment doing some other things.

 

Oh well... life isn't perfect most of the time.

 

 

Anw a friend mentioned that now being all alone in a foreign place, it is a good time to think about somethings... like...

 

What you want to be in life? What you hope to achieve in the future? etc etc.

 

I tried to think about it. But my head hurts. I just live where life takes me. A paper boat in the grand river of life. Let it be.

 

 

I don't know why... but recently I felt very cranky. I am very easily upset by a lot of things. For example, people want to waste time chatting in  the company instead of going back to the apartment. And I am stuck with them... ya know... the car sharing thingy. I HATE to stay in the office when I have finished all my work. What is the point of wayang?? (esp now there is no one to wayang to.) 

 

I need to change my altitude. Positive thinking, Jiefeng. POSITIVE THINKING!

 

You want to waste time. Fine. Waste time. I will write my blog.

 

~ An entry written inside the Boeing company.  

 

 

Next: Miniclip time!! 45 more minutes to waste. Yeah!

 

 

Random

A good game never fails to lift up my spirit. New games to recommend for psp: Prinny: Can I be a Hero? and Flow. The first one is a 2D platform game (like Super Mario) that makes me laugh and curse non-stop. The 2nd one is a unique and beautiful game that can't be classified under any existing genre of games. It's tagline is: "Life could be simple". 

 

How true.

 

Finally sorta got use to USA after one week. St Louis is a quiet city. You can see very few people walking on the road. Perhaps due to the cold. The shopping centers here ain't pack like in Singapore. People here are very friendly and polite. Food here is ok, as long as it is not in Boeing. We found a chinese food place near where we stay. Da bao chinese food for dinner back our apartment every day. Btw, so far I haven't found the famous St Louis steak in New York New York Resturant Menu, don't know have or not one...

 

Driving-wise, I finally got used to left-hand drive, which is very different from right hand drive. The slowest lane and the expressway exits are on the right instead of the left. Right turns, into the road closer to us (instead of the further one), can be done even in red light. And here on expressway, if you drive at 90km/h, you will find yourself overtaken by everyone on the road, even by big trucks. This is in stark contrast compared to Singapore. But of course, expressways here consist of 5 lanes, so you can't block others even if you want to, like what many Singapore drivers loves to do.

 

Shopping here... USA is shopping heaven! Just one week here I bought 6 shirts, 1 jeans, 2 berms, 1 jacket. And we haven't gone to the Osage Beach Premium Outlet yet. Also haven't gone to any of the places of interest yet, cos it is so damn cold out there. Will go when it was less cold. Perhap we might even go up to Chicago.

 

Oh btw, in my apartment there is a hundred channel cable tv. They always have some interesting shows on all times of the day. Just heard a very interesting line on tv to compliment a man (ya, I was blogging while watching TV) : "All men wants to be you, all women wants to be with you." =)

 

Will update more if there is anything to update.

 

 

Touched Down

Finally reached my apartment in St Louis, Missouri after a 24 hrs + journey. As a lady in my plane aptly put it, "it is a miracle that I can still walk!" Anw just some updates:

The time here now is 7am Sunday, equivalent to Singapore 9pm Sunday, 14 hours earlier in Singapore. The temperature here is around 0 Degree Celsius. Going outside now is equivalent to going into a freezer, it's damn cold. Steam will come out of your mouth when you breath here. Better stay in my apartment... though it is also damn cold in here. And btw, my apartment here is surprisingly big. I have a room and toilet and a queen size bed all to myself. Shiok! It almost feels like it is worth it to suffer 24+ hours just to get here. Almost. Hopefully the rest of the 3 months will be just as shiok.

Mind is still a bit groggy as I can't sleep since I woke up at 4am just now (equivalent of 6pm in Singapore... you know, knock off timing). Feel free to message me if you need anything from US. 

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!