What can you get for $35?

What would you do with $35? For me, It's an experience with half hour tarot card reading! One of my good friends, who is quite a big believer in this stuff, convinced me to have a go... & Surprise surprise, I was quite amazed by its accuracy even though I went in with a sceptical mind!

I just have to post up the results here so that I can check years later whether the reading is true or that person is just a hoax.. Basically in the 1/2 hour session we can ask them anything we want to, but if we have no particular concerns, then they will just proceed to do some general stuff until we do.

General reading: She mentioned that I've a conflict right now in my mind, which I presume to mean the choice between staying here or moving somewhere else when I finish Uni. I then went on to ask which option is better (she did another reading), & then she said it's better for me to stay here because I will die younger from all the stress at work back in Singapore (becoming uptight etc etc), even though I will be richer if I move back. She said I will still be rich here (but just not as rich as if I move back) & I will also enjoy my life here much more.

2nd reading (business): I asked her will my first business be successful, & she said it will be a smooth, but not explosive success, which means that this is not what will make me rich (from the 1st reading). I then asked about my future (in terms of work), & she mentioned that I will have 2 sources of income (Which I assume to be the 9-5 office work & my part-time work), & I will have to make a decision between the 2 in the near future because I won't have time to commit to both. & guess what, I think I already know the answer to this one!!

3rd reading (life, in general): Consistent with what the 1st reading said, I will become rich in my early 20s, & I will become a generous philanthropist by the time I'm 40. Side comment: I definitely can see myself doing this if I'm really rich since I'm already doing a bit of that when I'm still a poor student now!

4th reading (general guidance): Since I didn't have any other questions, she proceeded to give me a guidance reading. It says that I should take more risks & follow my heart when making decisions, which I think is what I've been doing so far in my life, even though the decisions might be irrational sometimes.

5th reading (family): I asked for what does she think of my relationship with my bro, & she said the key is to forgive but not forget, which pretty much sums up the situation. Next, I asked how to deal with my dad, & the tarot card says I can't reason with him (very true!) but I just need to listen to my inner voice...

...& that's all we had time for! Would have had much more time if she didn't sidetrack and talk about politics in China, Middle East, & all her travel adventures. Anyway, I think the reading did point out some general directions & facts in my life right now, so in a sense it's pretty much true. However, for some part of it, I kinda suspect they tell all the people the same story/answer, since it probably can apply to all types of situations (read the part on family). People generally won't ask questions on these unless they have some concerns, & I was really going to test the accuracy of the reading by asking how's my relationship now with my mom (because that's 1 that I'm clearest at), but I didn't have the chance to since the session was over. Well, there's always next time if I decide to go back again. Pretty impressed & happy with the reading results though, & hopefully these will really become reality. It's good to have these as a guidance, but as my uncle always said: Money won't fall from trees, & if it really does I have to be there quick enough to pick it up, which means that I still have to work hard to achieve those visions..

Effect of SARS on HK

Everyone is well aware that SARS had many impacts on Hong Kong, among them economic and tourism. The following is a paragraph from one of the readings I had to do for my assignment in 2nd year (thought I might just share this):

Among the victims of the SARS outbreak is Hong Kong's new tourism slogan:Hong Kong will take your breath away . In light of the outbreak, authorities have decided to stop using that advertising slogan.

:)

That must be at least a 1.5m jump!!

Think Different

A badminton story....

'Is it only through tribulations that true friends reveal themselves?'

I've learned much more about those people around me in these 2 months than, for some cases, more than 3 years that I've known them. I don't know how to express my gratitude for all the support they've shown me during my difficult times these few months, & I'm eternally grateful to these people that have made me realize that life's worth living....

As some of you have known, I've been in pretty dejected mood since the AUG selection. I've sort of lost the motivation to carry on playing and training in the sport that I loved so much, & I was seriously contemplating the possibility of getting away from all that at the end of the year (Possibly by leaving Melbourne altogether). I've lived past these 3 years in the team selection process by keeping a positive outlook on the future everytime I'm bypassed for a spot on the team, telling myself there is always next year to look forward to. I was constantly trying harder & harder every year since I made it into the SUG team in the 1st year, only to be left dissapointed every single time at the end. All those time, my mind focused on the negatives, like why was I the one to be abandoned when I'm as good as others. It is only after a while that my thoughts cleared and I told myself that I will train harder next time to prove that I'm better, not just as good as any others.

Since then, I've never missed a single training session. However, 2nd year was another big dissapointment because they picked other people ahead of me again because of my lack of ability in singles... I really hated myself at that time and I thought why did I even bother trying at all in a place where no people valued my effort and,to some extent, talent. I was ready to walk away from it all and quit this club altogether...

During the summer holiday break, I went back to SG and played in some competition with my cousin, who had been my doubles partner since our days in Indo. I told him that I was probably never going to play any baddie again when I leave for Oz (based on the reason above). He respected that decision, but added a comment 'Do what your heart really says' (in Hokkien, this is the rough translation :))... Obviously he knew it's not going to be easy for me to give it up, because both of us shared a passion for the game since we were kids...

Year 3 started. I was hesistant to turn up to training at first, fearing another heartbreak was in the making. However, after staying away from baddie for the rest of the holiday, I started feeling empty inside me. It's like a piece of me was taken away, & I'm no longer a complete person. I finally decided to give it a try again, & I'm glad that I made that decision. It's not just the achievement of being finally recognized, but it's also because of the support of some people when I didn't make it the 2nd time. A team member was actually offering me his place in the team,an offer which I declined because the team needs him more than me. At that point, I realized that it's not the spot on the team that matters the most, but the special relationship that I've built up with some people over this period of time (Although it's definitely even more special to be able to play w/ them obviously :).

I'm not the most religious person there is, but my prayers go with the team. I sincerely hope that they will finally get the long awaited AUG trophy, & when that happens, I will be the 1st one to cheer for the team, and even more importantly, for the sport that I love so much.....

I was talking to a close friend, & even though she was really sick with flu she still dragged herself to console me. We've always supported each other a lot, dating back to the days when we were in Trinity. She gave me an advice when I told her the situation: 'at the end of the day, badminton is not your career...', which pretty much cleared every doubt there is in my mind. It is true that it's never going to be my career, which I have no doubt is in business, but I can still promote the sport ala Tony Gunawan, my hero and role model... & that is the road I'm traversing on from now on....

Politicians on the catwalk lane

~~~Enjoy~~~

Stress Stress!!

After having it esay for the 1st part of the semester, all the assignments are piling up for the second part of it. I have to submit 3 reports, 2 projects, & 2 presentations in the 1st 2 weeks after Uni break. Most of those are actually group work, & I can swear that they're much harder than individual assignments in commerce. Looks like I won't be having much of a break this time...

Why must there always be a prick (or more) in every single group that I've been assigned to? I had 2 very, very lazy chinese girls (who, btw, still can't speak English properly even after attending high school here for 2 years!) in my 1st year accounting subject & I practically had to cover whatever they were doing because they either 1) didn't do it at all or 2) give me a sub-par work, which is not really any better than not doing at all since I pretty much have to redo all of it anyway! That experience was one of the many reasons that made me swear not to take another accounting subject in my uni life again.... & now I have the luck of dealing with an Oz gwuailoh who is among the worst people I've been working with so far. A list of things he has done:

1) Coming very late for meetings
2) Skips meeting altogether
3) Doesn't prepare anything when he comes to meetings!!
4) Promises to send his work for everyone else to see 1 month ago & I still haven't seen it materialize till today... (Called him just now to ask for it, but he claimed he sent it to the wrong email.. which is odd because I've only ever given him one before.... another of his stupid excuses, but at least he's better at making lies than that Speed guy... Called him up after waiting for 1.5 hrs w/ boi2 and he said: "I'm on a plane right now to Perth...", which is the DUMBEST EVER reason a person could come up with...)

I'm seriously very pissed with him right now and if he doesn't send me his work by tomorrow night, I swear I will cross his name off the group list!! I'll have a fair bit of explanation to give to the tutor and also maybe have to take over his workload, but I guess it's still much better than waiting for something that would prove futile in the end. Frustration vending ends here. Have to get back to work..... GRrrrrrrrrrrr...............

Interesting finance article

Was reading BRW's virgin guide to investment.. This paragraph comes from the article:

Is the share market gambling?
All gambling involves “risk”. The share market involves risk, so it must gambling?
Sounds logical? No. This has the same logic structure: All gorillas breathe. John
Howard breathes, so he must be a gorilla...

Now, if only all the finance stuff are as interesting as this...

Stupid work...

I don't know whether to count this a blessing or a misfortune.... Our project manager doesn't seem to be interested in what we are doing for them and she doesn't even care that we leave early this afternoon (& by early I mean we're REALLY there for only 1 HOUR before my group members started complaining & decided to leave since we were doing nothing anyway). I heard that all the other groups are putting up extra hours with the organization they are assigned to, & frankly speaking I would rather be in their situation. I hate sitting there doing nothing all the time (because we are already starting to write up our final report & hence there is nothing left to do..) and also have to withstand the deafening silence in the discussion room when everyone is doing their own stuffs. I've got hardworking team members this time, but it feels like they are not keen to make friends & just want to stay 'group members'. We don't talk much about much else other than school work & the project, which after a while can become a stale topic... & I have to spend another 4x3 hrs with them before this stupid project ends... What did I do wrong to deserve this???

Was chatting with my friend this afternoon. She was one of my Trinity friends and she couldn't understand the reason why I'm doing commerce given that she knew I hate maths. I tried to explain to her there are not really that many faculties I could walk into (I could imagine being kicked out of Archi. within the 1st week when they see my horrible drawing (if you can call that a drawing at all..). Same goes w/ Engineering...), & come out alive at the end of the course. I could probably do Arts, but what am I gonna do after that?? Law? Probably, but I hate long hours of work reading those statutes every single day. Medicine? Think that would involve some type of drawing as well (Molecules maybe?). The only other 2 faculties I can go to are Maths and Commerce, & I definitely took the easier option, in terms of the maths involved to complete the course! (Anything that can't be calculated using calculators straight away is too taxing for Uni...)

Gonna start doing my marketing assignment before going for baddie later. Hopefully can get a fair bit done before that...

Temporary insanity

Aptly named boat (on the hull)

Game of the day: 20Q

This is an AI program (I think) that will guess what's in your mind (has to be an item) within 20 questions. Works most of the time, unless you give it very vague commands. Anyway, it's still quite fun and here's the link:

20Q

~~Enjoy~~!!

Chia Chi's sistEr?

I was looking thru' the world ranking and I discovered there are 2 TPE female players w/ awfully similar name. One is Huang Chia Chi (our ex-coach) and another 1 is Huang Chia Hsin, who looks pretty similar to Chia Chi (Photos found using Google, just how powerful is this stuff??)

Some insights into the pic:

Hung's thoughts --> 'another tournament gone... Haven't added anything to my cabinet since.. Hang on, did I even win anything before?? Oh well, at least Chia Chi will keep on fillin' 'em in for me, so it's all good....'

Erica Pong's thoughts ---> 'Just another all-too-routine day at work.. fight hard to the final and get beaten 11-3 11-0 by ChiA Chi... *sigh*'

Tournament review (part 2)

Sunday, A grade tournament.. Never expected much out of it every single time because of the many quality players entering this grade.. Was supposed to play all 3 events (again..) but I couldn't get to sleep the night before and had a splitting headache when I tried to wake up in the morning. Rocked up at around 10.30, just around 1 hr before the doubles started. Did some umpiring and warm-up before we took to court...

1st match wasn't fun at all. In fact, it's a total joke. Won't go into any details as it will just be wasting my time, but we beat them 21-0 w/o them getting a single serve (enough said...). Great, I was feeling pain all over my body (from B grade) and had hoped to get some warm-up in the 1st round, & I didn't really get any....

2nd round match against Rae Mun/Jim. Started positively by taking 2 pts, & then we defended well everytime they were attacking. I thought we were playing ok, given that our opponent was an ex-commonwealth games rep. Half way through though, I started thinking he wasn't actually that good at all, even though he's really powerful and could take anything we threw at him. On the other hand, we also could deal with whatever they dished at us, so it was an even match overall. However, I think we lost a bit of concentration and went down 11-3 before changing side. Rae Mun started smashing at me more when Jim was in front at the net, so I used my usual style of driving cross-court and moving to the front to finish it off. It didn't really work as Rae Mun had a strong wrist and he could normally just lift it up, but at least we managed to get into attacking position. This type of exchange just kept on going for a while, & we finally lost 21-9. A teammate commented that it doesn't look like we had lost by that big margin bcoz we seemed to be matching them in every department, but I guess Rae Mun was really the deciding factor there as he was stronger than any 3 of us on the court. We were feeling pretty tired from all the smashing in the match but he just looked as fresh as before he had played us!

Out of doubles. It's ok. There's still the mixed doubles to look forward to, or at least I thought that was the case then. When we started the mixed doubles, I was suffering a lot from thigh muscle pain & I couldn't get myself to move at all, & we got beaten 21-9 again by PJ/Kitty. Han Xue was also not feeling well at that time & we decided to pull out from the event, since it's quite pointless to continue at that stage.

It's finally the end of all the tournaments this year. I think I definitely played better in tournaments this year than previous years (I don't think I even played any last year..). Some recent achievements include: advancing to City of Melbourne A grade MD semis (w/ Andrew aka boi2), winning Melb U B grade MD & MXD (again, w/ Andrew & Han Xue, respectively..), and potentially could get much further if I had any luck in tie-breakers (Monash Open A MS vs ??? (can't remember his name) 14-16, Monash Open A MD vs Ferds/Hero, lost both sets 20-22).

To sum it up, it hasn't been a bad year so far in tournaments. Hopefully can get a few more wins under my belt in next year's tourneys!

What a great feeling to be wanted!

Went to play baddie this evening w/ the usual gang. I was feeling dead as Derrick & I sort of got too 'excited' on living in Geelong and we discussed it the whole night. I ended up sleeping at around 5 (I think..) and had to wake up at 11 bcoz it felt funny to still be sleeping at that hour and I had to get to work soon...

& another uneventful day at work passed. We were not even discussing anything to do with the project as it seems like our project manager were not that interested in the results anyway. We sat there for 3 hours chatting about everything from Geelong to Hobart & also the latest cheap restaurants in the city (one of our team members would have friends coming over to visit her & she needs to bring them somewhere, preferably somewhere cheap, of course..).

Went back at five sharp, & I walked to the sushi place to get some dinner (4 rolls for 5 bucks!). Passed through Fox & couldn't resist the temptation to buy something inside (Tried on clothes for 30 mins & ended up buying 1 :)). Need to really curb my spending habit...

So, so tired when I finally got home that I had to try & take a nap b4 going to baddie. Didn't end up sleeping again, of course, and still went for baddie. Hmm, seems like I'm writing in too much details & it's not related to the main thing I want to say... all right, straight down to the main topic... Was talking to 1 of the teammates at baddie (can't really say we're teammates, bcoz we haven't really been in the same team b4 actually...) & he asked whether I'd still be here next year as he'd really like to see me play in the Uni. Games before I quit Uni for good. Truth is, I really want to go but as fate dictates, it doesn't pay to be a doubles specialist during the Uni selection as I have been kicked out pretty often because I don't play singles. It's sort of a curse for me really, even though I've tried hard to learn how to play singles in the past 2 months, I still think I suck at it. I wouldn't have been happy even if I get to go to Brizzie & play singles for the team because that's really not my stuff. Yeah, so in a way really, I'm not too sad on not making it this time because I won't be there to play what I want to play anyway. Whichever way it is, I'm still happy to be recognized for the effort I have put in during these years. That question alone really brightens up my dull day!

& to actually still go to Uni. Games next year, I have to be somehow still enrolled in the Uni. I was thinking of doing some diploma course in language, but that would really be tough if I have a full time job as well. Any suggestion ppl?

Results of Ballarat Open

Stumped into that page (somehow) and I was pretty shocked at the results:

Hung caned 15-3, 15-0 (I think..) by a HK guy (Chan) in Singles!

Hung/Jim thrashed 15-2, 15-3 by another HK pair (Tan/Lam)!

Brehaut lost 15-2, 15-6 to Andrew Smith (Eng)

Chia-Chi lost 11-4, 11-4 to a German chick in the final...

& these are supposedly the 'better' players in Oz... & they're getting whooped left & right once they meet overseas players... that really shows the difference in standards of those badminton-crazy nations with the not-so-into-it ones, like Oz...

Series review: Lost

Derrick lent to me the whole season of Lost which he borrowed from his friend when I complained to him how bored I was. At first I was sceptical on how good this show would be, mainly because I heard the plot was based on survivors of a plane crash trying to figure out how to get the hell out of an unknown island. I have the perception that it's gonna be like they're going to be running all over the places and trying to get help, which was pretty much what they did in the 1st episode. Getting more sceptical, but I was pushed on to watch another because of the ending of the 1st (1 surviving pilot getting eaten by some unknown creatures..). It may sound cheesy, but at least there's something to get excited about...

I have to say I'm glad that I continued with the 2nd episode, which started to explore more of the characters' backgrounds (there are 48 survivors, at least!). It's very interesting to see how the story unfolds, with all the main characters having very dubious backgrounds. I'm really impressed so far with the script writing (I'm up to the 3rd ep. when I'm writing this!) and also the acting of the main actress, Evangeline Lily, who plays Kate in the show. She's really hot (at least I think so..)and also does pretty well for her 1st speaking role, EVER!! + the fact that she is playing an interesting character, it's all adding up to be a excellent show! Some spoilers here: there are a lot of weird characters inside the show. A know-everything-Doc (he even knows something about electronic transmitting devices!), a pair of bro/cry-baby sis, & an odd Korean couple (the husband was telling the wife to button up to the collar when someone tried to speak to her, & they don't understand a word of English!). There's a conversation that I found very interesting:

A (a nerdy, huge American): So you're a mechanic? (or maybe some electronic expert, can't really remember)
B (Might be a muslim): Yeah. I repaired equipments in the Gulf War.
A: No way! My brother fought in the Gulf as well! So which division are you from? Army? Navy?
B: I was in the Republican Guard..
A: oh... (& it went quiet for both of 'em for a while...)

Highly recommended show! I have to thank Derrick for enticing me to watch it this time, even though his last recommendation (Spiderman) sucks. YES, you read it right, I think SpiderMan 1 absolutely sucked and was way overrated! Perhaps it has to do with Derrick raising the bar too high when he came back & told me it's a must-watch of the year, but even if he hasn't I'd still think it's not worth all the good reviews it had. More on that next time, & now back onto watching more of Lost!

Interesting article on Yahoo!

Found this interesting article on whales when I was doing my usual 'surfing-coz-I'm-bored' routine. Apparently a lot of the theories about humans are totally unfounded and are just presumptions of those so-called 'scientists'. This story points out one of 'em:


NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario - An enterprising young killer whale at Marineland has figured out how to use fish as bait to catch seagulls — and shared his strategy with his fellow whales.

Michael Noonan, a professor of animal behavior at Canisius College in Buffalo, N.Y., made the discovery by accident while studying orca acoustics.

"One day I noticed one of the young whales appeared to have come up with a procedure for luring gulls down to the pool," the professor said. "I found it interesting so I noted it in my log."

First, the young whale spit regurgitated fish onto the surface of the water, then sank below the water and waited.

If a hungry gull landed on the water, the whale would surge up to the surface, sometimes catching a free meal of his own.

Noonan watched as the same whale set the same trap again and again.

Within a few months, the whale's younger half brother adopted the practice. Eventually the behavior spread and now five Marineland whales supplement their diet with fresh fowl, the scientist said.

"It looked liked one was watching while the other tried," Noonan said of the whale's initial behavior.

The capacity to come up with the gull-baiting strategy and then share the technique with others — known as cultural learning in the scientific world — was once believed to be one of those abilities that separated humans from other animals.

But biologists have since proven certain animals, including dolphins and chimps, do this.

"This is an example in which a new behavior spread through a population," Noonan said. "We had the opportunity to see a tradition form and spread in exactly the way that cultures do in humans."

He first shared his research earlier this month at the U.S. Animal Behavior Society Conference in Utah. Since then, he said, his phone hasn't stopped ringing.

Tournament review (part 1)

What a tiring weekend it has been! I skipped 4 hrs worth of lectures & tutes on Monday because I was feeling dead the whole day... Not that those are really important anyway, but I would have usually attended them rather than sleeping at home. Even after several days, my body still feels tired and I don't seem to have much energy to move around, but then that might be because I haven't been sleeping well at all.

Some personal reviews on the tournament results. Saturday: played 3 events & won 2 of 'em in B grade. I sort of expected myself to get that result, even though it wasn't as easy at it looks. In singles, got through the 1st round pretty easily and had time to play around trying to get tighter net shots so that I wouldn't struggle to win in the subsequent rounds. After a while, I felt confident and it was time to move on. I started smashing a bit & finished the opponent off (who by that time has 11 pts) in 4 mins. Fantastic. Everything going according to plan, until I meet the unseeded-but-turn-out to be eventual winner in the 2nd round and got canned 21-2! Well, that wasn't really a true reflection of the match, but even then I wouldn't have beaten him. Great, out of the singles in the 2nd round B grade & I was supposed to be playing A grade on Sunday!

Turned out that it wasn't such a bad results after all. It allowed me to conserve my energy to play doubles later in the day. Got through the group stage of Men's doubles pretty easily (beat both pairs by less than 5 pts), & we're scheduled to meet Tack & Michael Ong in the semis. Surprise2x, Both Boi2 & I agreed & came up to the quick conclusion that we should keep on lifting to Michael till he f***s up himself, which was exactly what we did during the match. Now, for those who doesn't know Michael, he is actually quite a decent player w/ a decent defense, but that's about all he can do (oh did I forget to mention that he only does drop shots, or maybe those are smashes??). We stuck to our plan, keeping Tack out of the game almost completely and watching how Michael got pressurized and stuffed up his shots. Leading 11-4 at first, we quickly got to 14-4.... & that scoreline persisted for 10 mins before they made a breakthrough. By then we were losing a bit of concentration and they were starting to catch up, but once we started hitting to Michael again, there was no doubt who would be the winner ultimately (Final score: 21-12)

Had to be pretty content with the results thus far, since that was only the 2nd time I've partnered Boi2 in tournament (the 1st time was in City of Melbourne Kilsyth, lost to Einstein/Luke 21-17!!). Boi2 still hasn't grasped how to play doubles the conventional way, but he made it up by covering the court well during those matches (w/ his singles footwork!). I always felt secure when I need to go forward to finish off a point because I know he's able to cover for me at the back. All good, now on to the final. Tack had earlier warned us that those 2 indos. are hard smashers & we'd have to be careful.

A lot of players don't like playing against hard smashers because it's hard to return their shots. I happen to have the opposing view. Since my game is based on strong drives & counterattacks, my game actually thrives the harder the opponent smashes. That was proven in the final when those two players would smash directly at me & I'd drive it cross court and move forward to kill off the point. Even if they managed to get past me Boi2 would be at the back to finish it off with a smash & we took the 1st set 15-3. 2nd set was much more tiring from a physical perspective as we started to hit long rallies and I was hitting frameshots when I tried to smash, which always happens whenever I'm tired. Boi2 was still holding up & it was an even match until 12-12. At that point I thought it's either now or never as I thought my body probably wouldn't hold up if there's a rubber set. Summoning all my remaining energy, I started smashing full power & luckily that strategy worked. We ended up winning 15-12 and the 1st winner trophy was in the bag!

Mixed doubles: No big problems in this category. I thought the toughest match was actually the 1st one, when we beat Jonsen/Diana 21-8. The scoreline probably doesn't reflect the intensity of the match, but we held up & they self-destructed towards the end. Sailed past the other group matches easily, but I was still feeling tired from the Men's doubles final at that time (courtesy of my partner Han Xue, who took over the 'normal' guy's role for the remaining 2 matches while I was standing at the net!). We then had to beat Boi2/Alice in the semis, & again I wasn't playing much of a role in this one, allowing Xue to control the match at the front and I was just finishing off the chances she had set up. Marcus stood on our way to the crown in the final, & according to Xue & Kitty he has a really strong smash. They kept on reminding me not to lift at all, particularly Xue, who really believed that she couldn't take his smash. During the 1st set, I found out that he didn't really have that strong a smash & he's way overrated in terms of his abilities. Xue was making errors at the net throughout the match, which were not really typical of her usual steady style. She told me during the break (we won 1st set 17-16) it was because of her fear of Marcus's smashes if she was forced to lift, that had forced the errors. I reassured her that I could take his smashes all right & she didn't even need to come back if she had to lift. With Xue making less mistakes, she started to set up chances again & before long, we won the 2nd set 15-4. 2nd trophy in the cabinet! Yay! I was less enthusiastic with the rackets prizes though, since I already have 4 of 'em in my bag.. oh well, I won't complain so much since it's all free...

To be continued....