Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Pretty Boy.. T_T

I am very confident that my face resembles Kim Jeong Hoon. Some of my friends have admitted that =) However, this website really gets to my nerves. Basically this website tries to match our photos with famous people's photos.

Friends or anyone out there.. I want your comments after seeing the result.

Btw, this is the photo that I upload to the website.. It's taken using my new phone, Sony Ericsson K750i.


OK, let's analyze who are the ones out there resemble me.. Famous people i mean..

1. Mai Kuraki (72%) - a Japanese pop singer, and btw, a female singer T_T


2. Zhang Ziyi (68%) - Everyone knows her, one of the most famous Asian actresses in the world.


3. Beyonce Knowles (68%). Again, a female, and again, very famous. I don't mind resembling her voice quality though.


4. Kangta (66%). Finally, Thank God, a male!!! Yeah.. i think we are really similar to each other!!! =)


5. Joey Yung (66%) - a Cantonese female singer. Never heard that name before..

6. Michelle Branch (63%) - A very famous female singer. Michelle, Are you happy now? that I resemble you? =P

7. Fiona Xie (63%). A Singaporean actress. OSIM, I am better than Fiona. I lose more than 20 kg. I doubt she lose more than 10 kg for her whole life. Give the advertisement contract to me.. !! =P


8. Song Hye Kyo (61%). That "Full House" actress, yes, you are right.


9. Drew Fuller (60%). An American actor. An actor. An Actor. I repeat, an actor.


10. Zoe Tay (60%). Singapore's very own.



Oh my goodness, only two out of 10 of the famous people who resemble me are MALE!!! T_T

Btw, I have tried using different photos of mine, and the results are about the same. More (I mean, much more) female celebrities resemble me compared to male. Let's think the positive way.. I am waayy too pretty as a man ^^

New Phone - Sony Ericsson K750i

Given my room and all i have inside, I can live one or two days or maybe one week without a single cent in my wallet. However, please don't force me to live one day without phone. I have tried that today and I just can't stand it.

My old phone, Nokia 6101 and my brother's old phone, Nokia 6600, all rest in peace. Yeah, I regret I didn't take care of the phones. They have been falling down, hitting the floor, bouncing back several times and they finally given up. Poor phones...

OK, let's now talk about my new phone.. So excited!!! ^^
I think it's the best phone in the world with the price less than SGD 300. Yes, my Sony Ericsson K750i only made me poorer by SGD 278 (I bought here)

With a good quality MP3 player (I rate it as 7/10), FM Radio, and good quality camera (i guess 7.5/10), this phone is definitely value for money.


About the photo samples, I will post some of them in my next post..

Thursday, May 24, 2007

LISC Photos! :)































































Yup, I am the one in dark blue T-shirt... I never look that happy for months :)

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Attitude is everything


John is the kind of guy you love to hate
John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood
and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask
him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would
be twins!"

He was a natural motivator.
If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the
employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and
asked him, "I don't get it!
You can't be a positive person all ! of the time. How do you do it?"

He replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two
choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or ... you can
choose to be in a bad mood.
I choose to be in a good mood."
Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or...I
can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.
Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept
their complaining or... I can point out the positive side of life. I choose
the positive side of life.

"Yeah, right, it's! not that easy," I protested.
"Yes, it is," he said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all
the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to
situations. You choose how people affect your mood.
You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's
your choice how you live your life."

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry
to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about
him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a serious accident,
falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released
from the hospital with rods placed in his back.

I saw him about six months after the accident.
When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be
twins. Wanna see my scars?"
I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through
his mind as the accident took place.

"The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my
soon-to-be born daughter," he replied. "Then, as I lay on the ! ground,
I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or...I
could choose to die. I chose to live."

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.
He continued, "..the paramedics were great.
They kept telling me I was going to be fine.But when they wheeled me
into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and
nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read 'he's a dead man'. I
knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.
"Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me! ," said
John. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes, I replied.' The
doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I
took a deep breath and yelled, 'Gravity'."
Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me
as if I am alive, not dead."

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his
amazing attitude... I learned from him that every day we have the
choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34.

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Juventus is Back to serie A!!!


Juventus, demoted from Italy’s top flight last year because of a match-fixing scandal, was promoted back to Serie A yesterday with three games to spare after a 5-1 victory at Arezzo. Juventus tops the Serie B standings with 82 points.

Alessandro Del Piero netted his 19th and 20th goals of the season and Giorgio Chiellini also scored twice to defeat struggling Arezzo.

Juventus’ return to Serie A came despite a 9-point deduction linked to the match-fixing verdict, which came after its former general manager Luciano Moggi was found guilty of improperly securing favorable referees. Second-placed Genoa’s hopes of automatic promotion took a slight setback after a 2-2 draw at Bari, while Napoli, in third, tied Modena, 1-1. (REUTERS)


My comment:

Regardless whether the match-fixing scandal is true or not, and whether it's fair for Juventus to receive such a punishment, Juventus has proven themselves to be outstanding. Winner is always winner no matter what. And serie A, here we come.. Inter, Milan, Roma, see you very soon! :)


Alessandro Del Piero, the man!



Sunday, May 13, 2007

Lord, I am back Home

Praise God, He is amazing.

I am a Roman Catholic, and I was baptized about 10 years ago when I was in Primary 6. I go to church quite often. Basically, I used to think that my life, although it's not that "holy", but it's not too bad.

However, after attending a retreat organized by NTU Catholic Community, I started to examine my life honestly, and I found that my life is really terrible. I cried over my life in that retreat. It's the first time in my life I cried without feeling ashame.

I learned in that retreat that God really loves me so much. Last time, when I was in a big depression or I got a lot of problems to solve, I used to question.."God, where are you?" I even often questioned the existence of God. However, after that retreat, I know that God is always there, watching me, guarding me. Although I am very weak spiritually, and I realize that I very often don't give Him the respect He deserves, He always calls me back. I know, inside my heart, God always call me to come back to Him, but I always neglected it. But now, here, I want to testify to you, all of you, I am back home. I am back to Jesus, my God and my savior. Praise the Lord.

I've experienced a great joy and peace in that retreat. Something that I have never experienced for years. However, maybe the biggest decision I made during that retreat is my decision to fully analyze my life and confess all my sins that I can remember. I never confess my sin for two years and the last time I confess, I only confessed some of my sins (btw, Catholic church has a sacrament called Sacrament of Reconciliation to give us chance to confess our sins.) I am a bit afraid in the beginning. However, God gave me courage to really confess all my sins. It was really a great joy and peace in my mind after confessing all my sins and knowing the fact that all my sins have already forgiven by God, I tell you, it's a fantastic feeling. It's like you have been carrying a very heavy and smelly rubbish bag with you for 2 years and suddenly that rubbish disappear, nothing left.

One of the other great experiences is when we had our baptism of the holy spirit. I used to be skeptical and to be honest, a bit afraid, of Charismatic thing. I believe that such thing is there. However, I didn't really understand why such thing exist in the church. However, after experiencing that myself, I am completely convinced that it's really from God. I experienced that myself. And here, I testify again that I have not experienced such peaceful experience for my whole life. For twenty-one years of my life. It's more peaceful than anything I've ever encountered. I lied on the ground for, I guess, 20 minutes, and I felt really peaceful at that time.

I have been experiencing so much of God's love in that event. I know my life will change after this and I am looking forward to that. I don't know what transformation God is going to do. However, trusting in Him is the single best decision I've ever made for my whole life. I know it's not easy, but, knowing that I am indeed very weak and nothing without Him, makes me realize that I have no other choice but relying on God. Again, I emphasize, that's the single best decision I have ever made in my whole life.

And after that retreat, I wrote in my book, and I want to share with you all. I wrote there
"Jesus Christ, my life is for You, and You alone."

And I know, I make a right decision to follow Him. Thank God for everything, and thanks for calling me again and again. I am back Home, Lord. I am back Home.

Notes:
Special thanks to Father Jivan, Father Simon, Ronald, Melisa, Meme, Cindy, Yossi, Vidy, Ai, Iwan, Marcel, Thandar, Ivan, Ale, Thomas Haw, Anne, Andy, Meggy, Reynard, Timmy, Nino, Naomi, Ucup, Randy, Tobias, Alvin, Fitri, Ria, Dan, Mbah Chan, Atika, Adri, Agustine, Valent, Stefin, Ira, Erwin, Yesicca, William, Achong, Pauli, Marco, Sonny, and everyone else who have shared your belief and experience to me. It has been great to meet all of you. God bless...




Wednesday, May 09, 2007

I Resemble Kim Jeong-Hoon!! =P


I love Korean dramas so much. The latest Korean drama that I watched is Princess Hours (Goong) starring Joo Ji Hoon, Yoon Eun Hye, Kim Jeong-Hoon, and Sung Ji Hyo. After watching too much of it, I realized one thing. I look like Kim Jeong-Hoon! Unfortunately, none of my friends agrees with me (You all are too much!!)
Here, I will show what I mean by that. Please look carefully.

OK lah, not very similar. But please, he wears nice clothes and he got nice make-up, and I don't!

Your comments are highly appreciated. However, comments saying that I don't look like him WON'T be approved. I think we are just twins =)

















By the way, the girl beside me is Greysia Polii, top Indonesian badminton player and beside her is Yulia.

Women = Problems? =P


Interview With God

Taken from my friend's blog.


I dreamed I had an interview with God.


“Come in,” God said.


“So, you would like to interview Me?”


“If you have the time,” I said.


God smiled and said, “My time is eternity and is enough to do everything; what questions do you have in mind to ask me?”


“What surprises you most about humankind?”


God answered, “That they get bored of being children, are in a rush to grow up, and then long to be children again.


That they lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health.


That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live neither for the present nor the future.


That they live as if they will never die, and they die as if they had never lived.”


God’s hands took mine and we were silent for a while and then I asked,

“As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons you want your children to learn?”


God replied with a smile, “To learn that they cannot make anyone love them.
What they can do is to let themselves be loved.


To learn that what is most valuable is not what they have in their lives, but who they have in their lives.


To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others.

All will be judged individually on their own merits, not as a group on a comparison basis.


To learn that a rich person is not the one who has the most, but is one who needs the least.


To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in persons we love, and that it takes many years to heal them.


To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.


To learn that there are persons who love them dearly, but simply do not know how to express or show their feelings.


To learn that money can buy everything but happiness.


To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it totally different.


To learn that a true friend is someone who knows everything about them, and likes them anyway.


To learn that it is not always enough that they be forgiven by others, but that they have to forgive themselves.”


I sat there for a while enjoying the moment.


I thanked Him for His time and for all that He has done for me and my family, and He replied,

“Anytime. I’m here 24 hours a day. All you have to do is ask for me, and I’ll answer.


People will forget what you said.


People will forget what you did,


but People will never forget how you made them feel.




Jesus calls you everyday.. Will you answer Him?

Sunday, May 06, 2007

It's about choosing friends

People often asked me in the past, what makes me always stand on my life values (integrity, honesty, friendliness, and respect to other people)?

My answer is simple. Surround yourself with good people and rest assured you'll stay good.

And that explains why I am very selective when it comes to choose my friends.

I am lucky I have the best parents who taught me all the necessary stuffs required for life since we were very young. I am lucky I went to the best schools who, not only prepared me academically, but also psychologically and spiritually. I am lucky that during twenty-one years of my life, I am surrounded by good friends. I understand I am indeed very lucky.

When it comes to choosing my friend, I only believe one rule of thumb, "If I only have this particular person as my only friend for the rest of my life, what will my life become?"

Will it become very rewarding? or it turns to be messier? Will my life values stand? or will they be shaded away? Will I go closer to my ultimate dream in life? Or will I think that my dream is merely a dream and I should forget about it and get a life?

Along the way, you will find out that some of your friends just can't fit into you anymore, and it's time for you to either make a distance, or say goodbye altogether. You are the one who experience the friendship, so you should be the one who is able to judge it.

It's not selfish, it's just being smart. You will realize that everyday, you will resemble group you spend most of your time with. And as I said in the beginning, the only way to stay good is by surrounding yourself with good people, and for me, staying good is very important. I believe you also think so.

Don't destroy yourself just because you mix with the wrong people. I learn it the hard way, so I understand that principle very well.

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Aviva Singapore Open 2007. LIVE.


As a great fan of badminton (and a competitive player myself), I always enjoy watching badminton matches. I've just come back from watching semi-final matches of Aviva Singapore Open just now, featuring almost all of the world's best players (The Committee claimed that this year's Singapore Open is tougher than the Olympics.)

As an Indonesian, I definitely cheered for Indonesian players there. Unfortunately, only 1 pair can go to tomorrow's final, and the remaining three have to end their Singapore Open journey in the semi-final, which is not bad at all.

The game of the day is definitely a match between Peter Gade of Denmark versus younger Chen Yu of China, which took 1 hr 10 min, and Chen Yu outshined his senior, 21-15 23-25 21-17.

A battle between Indonesian pair, Chandra Wijaya / Tony Gunawan versus China's Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun were also fantastic. The Chinese pair finally beat the Indonesian in more than 1 hour also.

It has been a tiring yet fun day for me. I almost lost my voice because I shout, shout, and shout for about 5 hours without drinking. Quite crazy I know, but that's the way it is and I had a great time.

And not forgetting the fact that I managed to take photo of myself with Greysia Polii, who, with Vita Marissa are the best Indonesian female double, and Tony Gunawan, also Indonesian, one of the best male double in the world.


What a day...

The king, Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand










The queen, Zhang Ning of China












What happened Taufik?? We miss your gold..









Local favorite, Ronald Susilo. Well done!










So sweet!! :D

However, Aviva Singapore Open 2007 is not so sweet for the sweetest couple in badminton, Lin Dan and Xie Xingfang.

Not another boring night...

I've just came back from having a farewell dinner for my Taiwanese friend. We had dinner at a Chinese restaurant at Bugis area, then continued with a drink at Rochester Park (opposite Anglo-Chinese JC and NTU Alumni Club).

For dinner, I had a nice pork noodle and tofu, they are yummy. I know it's fatty, but who cares about fat or calories or whatever when you eat a good food anyway... I've been losing a few kilograms these days so I thought that having a bit of sinful food won't kill.

Then we proceeded to a place like cafe at Rochester Park. That place is soooo.... fantastic! Oh my goodness! It has been a long time I don't see such a nice cafe with fantastic ambiance. They have a lot of trees there. We are like in the middle of a forest, I don't know how to express it, but that's just wonderful. I always like nature, and I feel like... oh gosh, I would love to spend the whole night here, just enjoying the scenery while having a nice talk with my friends.

I had wine. I am a great fan of wine, and their wine tastes good (It's not superb, but it's quite nice, really.). Enjoying a nice wine while having a light chat with friends in a beautiful place. I couldn't ask for more.

OK, finally, not another boring night reading people's blogs... :)

And btw, tomorrow, my diet program is going to start. I need to lose a few more kilograms.

Thursday, May 03, 2007

You Give Me Wings - by Hady Mirza

I always support music with great lyrics, like this one. A song by Hady Mirza, Singapore Idol II winner. Let's support Singapore music!! :)

You Give Me Wings (Hady Mirza)

Sometimes it’s hard just to be yourself
I know you know
So close to tears wanting to give up
I felt all alone.....

But now you’re here right by my side
And I just want you to know

You give me wings when I’m falling
You lift me up when I’m down
Taking me high touching the sky
Yeah,you make me fly...

Now I am stronger than I was before
Because of you
I feel so alive and I’m wanting more
I can’t believe it's true
and now you're here,right by my side
Don’t ever let me go.....

You give me wings when I’m falling
You lift me up when I’m down
Taking me high touching the sky
yeah,you make me fly...

you give me wings

How true is my blog?

Some people have been continuously asking me about this... Is my blog that true? Or do I add a lot of lies there to make it more interesting?

Let me come back to that question later. I will tell you a story first.

When I was in primary 4, my class had an impromptu quiz. Noone came there prepared, including me. The teacher gave us 30 minutes to prepare for that quiz and she left us alone in our class. Almost all of my classmates knew what to do, they wrote a very nice cheat-sheet. Sadly to be said, I did the same thing. That's the first cheat-sheet I ve ever make in my life, and the last (of course, beside the cheat-sheets I make in my last exam, because we are allowed to bring that to our exam hall.)

However, when the quiz started, I was so afraid to open the cheat-sheet. I was sweating as if I just run a marathon, and I was dead meat, staring at the question. However, because I was smart, I can do the question and get 7 out of 10 marks, without cheating. That's higher than the average score, that's about 6 out of 10 (as a result of cheating, who the hell can answer that quiz with only 30 minutes of study...).

My cheat-sheet was still in my pocket until I went back home. I don't know what happened, but in the evening, my mother called me. She found that cheat-sheet in my pocket! She was very angry to me. She cried for two hours waiting for my explanation. Now, when I reflect it back, I don't know why I didn't just tell the truth, that I never used that cheat-sheet (which is true). But that's not the point. She was really disapointed to me.

My mother, who is the most important individual in my life, taught me many things since we are very young. She taught me the importance of honesty, integrity, hard-work, respect to people, and to be friendly with everyone that we met. They are values that I always believe in until I die. One of her sayings is.. "Benny, it's better for you to get zero for your quiz than get full mark as a result of cheating. Never do that in your study and in your life."

Btw, that's the first and the last time I tried to cheat in my quiz and exam. Maybe my mom has forgotten that incident, but I will always remember that for my life.



OK, now, let me answer that question. Is my blog really true?

Sorry to sound like a Saint. Sorry to sound like a politician.
Yes! Every sentence in my blog is true.

It's not the purpose of this blog to make me popular. I don't intend to be a very popular blogger like Wendy with her xiaxue.blogspot.com or Kenny Sia with his kennysia.com

I know that my humble blog won't make it to the "most popular list" or "most read list" or whatever... I am not interested.

However, rest assured, this blog is the most honest blog around, because you know who the author is... ME!

Thank you so much and keep reading.

Singapore is the world's fastest...

If you believe what Donald J. Trump always said in his The Apprentice, that New York is the fastest, most stressful city in the world, read this survey.

According to a British psychology professor, Singapore is the fastest city in the world... in walking. I am not joking, it's true.

He somehow managed to record the average walking speed of people in 34 major cities in the world, and make a list. The distance travelled is the same, 18m, and here is the time taken to travel that distance (Top 10)

1. Singapore 10.55s
2. Copenhagen (Denmark) 10.82s
3. Madrid (Spain) 10.89s
4. Guangzhou (China) 10.94s
5. Dublin (Ireland) 11.03s
6. Curitiba (Brazil) 11.13s
7. Berlin (Germany) 11.16s
8. New York (US) 12.00s
9. Utrecht (Netherlands) 12.04s
10.Vienna (Austria) 12.06s

Eighteen meters in 10.55s? Wow, that means much faster than three meters in every two seconds. Cool!!

No wonder people here are so slim although they often eat fast foods... :)