After a long absence...

After a long absence from the blogging scene, I have resolved to get back to writing...

I do too little of it (in English anyway) these days, and seeing as I'm surrounded by lots of English notices and signages with grammatical errors, spelling errors and basically usage of the wrong terms, I figured I better get back to it, just so it doesn't deteriorate... (on a side-note, I am sure that if a company can win the job from the city government to revamp and review all public notices on their Chinese-to-English translations, that company will be super rich)

Anyway, am looking forward to writing more from now own, be it random thoughts, book reviews or updates on some travel...

Quick Update from Taipei

Yes I am alive and well and in Taipei :)
In my apartment right now... a small cosy room located quite near my office and within 5 to 10 mins of lots of food and shops

pictures coming soon!

Cos I'm Leaving On a Jet Plane....

Yes I am leaving on a jet plane very soon... on a one-way ticket as well...

Heading to Taipei, Taiwan to begin a new life in a new country, and working for Atelligent Global Consulting Corp. for 1 year...

Just got my Resident Visa on Monday so that I am entitled to stay in Taiwan for 3 months... More importantly I will need it to get an Alien Registration Card (ARC) and proper documentation to work legally...

so it's all progressing nicely... :)

Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009!

I took some time to reflect on the 31st of December 2008, and managed to compile my thoughts about some of the major things that have happened in 2008.

You can find it at http://www.geocities.com/tuitionmatch84/My2008.pdf

Thanks to everyone who was a part of my 2008 :)

My Video "productions"

As mentioned in an earlier post, I was helping out with the organizing of the AIESEC Singapore Gala Dinner 2008. This year being the global 60th Anniversary for AIESEC, the celebrations in Singapore were aimed at being much much bigger too... so yes the Dinner was held on 13th Dec 2008 to great success, with a total turnout of almost 300 people...

I'm happy that my videos were screened during the dinner as well so here they are.. all these are made using the Pinnacle Studio 12 software... I can't say I'm an expert in video editing but at the least I'm much better than when I first started using the software :)

Opening Video to Gala Dinner 2008


History of AIESEC Singapore - 1972 to 2008


Tribute To Mr. Mike Gorrie


and this is something outside of the Gala Dinner, the introduction video to Developing Leaders Day 2008

Back from KL!

I'm back from KL! the trip was a short one, we left Singapore on Friday afternoon and got back on Sunday night... so all in all, really just a 2 day trip...

But what a great 2 day trip it was! From catching up with old friends by dropping by the MyLDS site for 1 night stay over, to heading to KL city and checking into a backpacker hostel I stayed at in 2005, to eating LOTS of yummy yummy food, to enjoying fantastic AIESEC Malaysia RACE Dinner (formal dinner) and taking photos plus catching up with old friends, to all the random conversations had with the boys I was traveling with and to the fulfilling massage...

what a great trip... am totally refreshed coming back :)

next big thing: AIESEC Singapore NLDS! am interested to see how I will adapt to playing a non-faci role (the last time I was a full delegate was in 2004... I have been agenda manager and facilitator for all NLDS since then) but looking forward to it!

Out of Town...

I'm going to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to sight see a bit and to attend the RACE 2008 Dinner! (that's the AIESEC Malaysia Gala Dinner)

on a slightly related note, next week is Singapore NLDS!

So will be disappearing from the blogging scene for a while :)

The Geek in Me

I've recently been trying out some new softwares and new ideas...

well not entirely new software.. my laptop has had Macromedia Flash installed since I bought it in March, but I never got down to learning how to use it... but now, I'm happy to present my FIRST ever Flash banner!! It's there on the left of my sidebar, for the AIESEC 60th Anniversary Celebration Dinner in December 2008 :) yes, yes it's very simple but hey, I'm still proud of it! unfortunately, it is only viewable on Firefox and not IE.. I have no idea how to fix that so drop me a message if you do know! (you can out it on your blog and website too! Just click HERE)

Have been 'revising' some of my Dreamweaver and HTML techniques too with the new website for the same event, at www.aiesec.org.sg/60th/ again, very simple website and the most challenging thing was to get the photo slideshow to work properly

Have also recently acquired Pinaccle Studio 12, a movie editing software that is more powerful than Windows Media Player...

And yes I am still going through, albeit quite slowly, my Dummies Guide to VBA Programming in Excel 2007...

So yup! these few days will be spent playing around with Flash, Pinaccle Studio and VBA for Excel..

I'm so excited! :)

Photos from my travels

I finally took the time to sort my photos and to upload them on Facebook...
so with that, let me introduce a new addition to this blog!!

Check out the side bar, with the drop down menu for My Travel Album

I am still in the process of uploading photos from the various countries I have visited (mostly thanks to AIESEC, and mostly from July 07 to July 08) so stay tuned as the list grows!

Countries listed so far include:
Skopje, Macedonia - Feb 08
Ohrid, Macedonia - Feb 08
Sofia, Bulgaria - Feb 08
Tokyo, Japan - Mar 08
Guang Zhou, China - May 08
Bandung, Indonesia - June 08
Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam - July 08

My latest read...

I am currently reading a book titled "Jihad - The rise of militant Islam in Central Asia".

It is written by Ahmed Rashid, who is a journalist based in Lahore, Pakistan and is the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia correspondent for the Far Eastern Economic Review and the Daily Telegraph. He also writes for The Wall Street Journal.

It's been an interesting read so far, and has gotten me quite intrigued in the history of Central Asia. It's also rekindled the interest I had in Islam from the days of doing research in undergraduate days for a Sociology professor...

More thoughts after I am done with the book...

Update on FBI Game

Dey has kindly enlightened me further on how this game should be played! It needs to be asked in real-time, such as face to face, or on MSN, Skype etc... The idea is not to give that person a lot of time to think before answering!

so if you still wanna play, drop me a note somewhere on MSN or in a comment :)

Out of town

Will be in Vietnam from 8th to 22nd July...

Thank You...

I am alive!

Here's another quick update, considering that the last one with slightly more content was done in early March..

So yes I am doing well as always... since IPM in Macedonia, followed by the short trips to Bulgaria and Turkey, I've visited Japan as well to facilitate at the Asia Pacific Exchange Leadership Development Seminar, a 1 week conference for Asia Pacific... (I had 1 week in Singapore from the previous trip before jetting off again) it was a great experience seeing highly motivated and very fresh members from all over AP, and also experiencing the diversity and professionalism of like 12 other facilitators from around the world.. not to mention the 5 days we spent in Tokyo after the conference... highlights include Disney Tokyo, Kamakura, lots of walking, lots of sushi and lots of photos :)

Getting back in end March saw crazy preparation for the AIESEC Symposium 2008, that we were proud to be hosting together with AIESEC International. with 60 corporate representatives and 30 AIESEC youths from Asia Pacific, we convened in the Fullerton Hotel for a day of speeches, sharing, discussions and networking around the topic of Youth Talent: Leadership and Innovation.... really enjoyed myself... such an eye-opening and fulfilling experience...

after that, it was great times with Shirley who was in Singapore on country visit... I think the elects were really challenged and have emerged wiser and more motivated... it was crazy social times too with what felt like the world visiting Singapore... Cyrus from HK, Sandy and James from Malaysia, Won from Korea, Aman and Rishabh from AIESEC International, Fish from China, then Pui from Thailand, Yuichi from Japan... fun times :)

so yeah.. here's the update thus far... will be in conference from tomorrow onwards till 11th May... Am chairing the EVOLVE Conference (5 days, 120 delegates of which 105 are foreign, lots of external particitation)... after that, will be leaving for Guang Zhou for Asia Pacific Member Committee Transition Camp 2008 from 20th May till probably end of the month...

stay tuned!

Quick Update

Just so you know, I am alive and well...

currently writing this from the airport in Istanbul...

this has been quite an intense travel experience...

from Singapore to Istanbul to Skopje to Ohrid,

and the Ohrid to Sofia (Bulgaria) - 8 hours plus of bus
Sofia to Istanbul - 10 hours of bus
Istanbul to Dubai - 4 hours flight
Dubai stopover - 8 hours
Dubai to Jakarta for quick stop and then Singapore...

Looking forward to home :)

more updates maybe in April...

Next stop... Leaving for Japan on 13th March!!!

Happiness...

is fighting for Ice Cream with the team you love...

thanks for a great meeting, great dinner and great dessert session that day!!

What a Diwali that lights up my world!

I'm alive!

wow it's almost been 3 weeks since my last posting... so here's what's been happening since Oct 8, 2007

Charity Change Challenge 2007
The effort from the BEADS team paid off in their Charity Change Challenge on 11th October 2007, as they set the record in Singapore for the longest chain of coins. The event was aimed at raising awareness and funds around HIV/AIDS, a pertinent but under-exposed issue in Singapore that AIESEC has chosen to address. Good job to the team for this record!

AP HEROES Conference 2007
The 2nd HEROES Conference in history of Asia Pacific Growth Network, and now a formal and official GN conference! Also my first time facilitating at an actual AP conference :)
Heroes was from 18th to 21st October, and GN board was in KL, Malaysia since 15th Oct for meetings and preparation... Heroes prep took up quite a big chunk of time as well since my last blog update.. but it was a great experience... totally loved it!

hmm seems that aside from those 2 big events, I've just pretty much been busy with meetings and other usual AIESEC work stuff...

Some things that have been keeping me happy include:
- Conclusion of the ICX Killer Cup weeks, with lots of sales activity going on in the LCs, and which has translated into lots more raises!
- all in all, lots more results flowing in, and lots more on their way to come!
- Taekwondo training has been good... after finishing with grading, now the focus is around physical training and practising fundamentals of the different kicks... so far we have done a lot more legwork and even sparring... lots to learn still but totally enjoying it...

and yeah that's it for now.. I am starting to think my AIESEC journey posting will only be out in Dec, after NLDS cos that's the next break for now!

Taekwondo update

Went for my grading yesterday (Sunday) and am happy to say I am no longer a white belt! Have passed and gotten white belt with yellow tip... Next grading is about 3 months from now...

• 10th kup (white)
• 9th kup (white with yellow stripe)
• 8th kup (yellow)
• 7th kup (yellow with green stripe)
• 6th kup (green)
• 5th kup (green with blue stripe)
• 4th kup (blue)
• 3rd kup (blue with red stripe)
• 2nd kup (red)
• 1st kup (red with a black stripe)

The nine degrees (dans) of Black are organized into skill levels:

• 1st-3rd dan (Novice) with the title of Assistant Instructor (Boo-sabum)
• 4th-6th dan (Expert) with the title of Instructor (Sabum)
• 7th-8th dan (Master) with the title of Master (Sahyun)
• 9th dan (Grand Master) with the title of Grand Master (Saseong)

Update update

Ok so I have been somewhat inactive on the blogging scene...

so what's happened since my last book reading marathon? Can't remember much really...

though some things that definitely stand out in memory include:

Meeting up with school friends
these people have been trying to book me since June/July but as most AIESECers know, that's like the busiest months with transition and planning, followed by the crazy period just before IC, the traveling to IC, then there was the craze with our National Induction Conference... yes I think you get the picture...

well things have moderated out since then (well kind of) so I've so far met with a group of high school classmates, and with a bunch of my Junior College training mates... been great to get back in touch with these people... pretty much talked about what's going on in life now that we've all graduated and are working... most people seem envious of my job even if it is quite different... think the opportunities for traveling, network and doing what I like at a kind of flexible working rate helped in that...

Getting fit again
Since studies are officially out of the way, and driven by the need not to get fat, flabby and decadent, I've signed up for Taekwondo classes... actually I joined the club in SMU which would make going to training easier once we officially move into our office which is located in the SMU underground... I just got back from my 2nd training actually... nice feeling to be a newie again... great feeling to be moving and stretching and getting back into shape... and definitely looking forward to more legwork and techniques to learn... not forgetting it's cool to meet new people outside of AIESEC :)

Doing AIESEC stuff
hey it's my job... of course it stands out in memory... been working quite a bit these days... even Saturdays are not spared (but I expected that when I signed up so it's cool)... but I'm enjoying the fact that now I'm more used to this full time thing, and am able to take time off on some weekday evenings to just chill and get away from work... been totally enjoying my Sundays as well since it's kind of reserved for my day off... definitely getting the hang of doing this full-time and still maintaining some sort of balance...

and that's what's been up these days... next travel stop will be KL, Malaysia in mid-October... looking forward to the makan sessions then...

Off to International Congress 2007, Turkey

Flying tonight, 13th August 2007.

And will only be back 1st September 2007.

In the meantime, will be getting the most out of Turkey and of course the conference itself...

see you around!