Middlesbrough 2 - 2 Newcastle United

No Comment - Post a comment

Final - The Riverside Stadium Attendance: 28,875
Middlesbrough 2 - 2 Newcastle
Mido (28)
Julio Arca (80)

Charles N'Zogbia (22)
Mark Viduka (77)




 

Influencial Me?

No Comment - Post a comment

Since the launched of this blog, it has managed to boost a visitors of 600+ to date, averaging about 20 per day. I would like to thank all of you for your continual support. I will do my best to update this blog whenever I can. Feel free to email me regarding anything that you like to know or would like to share so that I can post it here.

This blog has also managed to influence a few of my friends to create a blog of their own. One of them is my dear Wendy. If you have been drinking wine all along but do not know its origin, history, this is a great site to start with. Like Wendy herself, you would definitely find the blog interesting if you appreciate wine as much as she does. The other is one of my OCS friend Glen Jiang aka Jiang Baby lol. A personal blog he started, you can find some interesting information and thoughts from an interesting blogger who has studied arts.

Anyway, my dear and me went for Grace's SIM Bash at St. James' Power Station yesterday night. It was packed and we wasted some good 15-30min waiting outside. After some drinks, we went to the dance floor but music for that night sucks and we got out after an hours plus. My dear was hungry so we headed to Jalan Kayu to eat her favourite cheese prata. (why do girls like cheese so much?) Unfortunately, I did not have any drops of alcohol that night as I could not touch it for a good 6 months. I cannot tell you the reason, unless I could kill you after that... with cheese.. haha

Its obvious which one is me right? I was stepping on some platform and hence explained for that difference in height. :P

 

Update on my Crib

2 comments - Post a comment

As promised, here are some updates to my crib with photos and videos.


























Before & After.
Yes we bought the same bedsheet and pillow case from Ikea.






Just to show off that I dedicated 1 section just to put the photos of us :)







These 2 pictures were taken while studying at around 1am. Feeling hungry, I decided to try out the 2 food that were given during my time in NS where there was an amazing race and we were given those "rations" during "outfield". It was in left lying around in my house for 3 to 4 months without anyone touching it. I gathered that even if I am hungry at home, I would not eat it as there are many others to place it. So I decided that if I were to get hungry in hostel I would eat it! Yes I did and boy was it delicious!















From left to right, cup noodle, butter cookies, milo, "ba teng", salmon spread, fresh apples! All thanks to my lao dear! She bluff me saying she was going out shopping with her colleague. While studying half way through my lonely Friday night, I heard the closing sound of my door. I turned around and saw someone look so much at my dear. I was left stunned for 0.05s and finally realised it was indeed her! awww... she made all the way from her workplace to Shenton Way to find me and even bought me so much food. So sweet of her. Couldn't help but hug her straight away hehe. btw, she was suppose to teach me one of the maths question but she didn't know how to and fall asleep after that. But seeing her sleeping so soundly, I just feel good.















Latest update. Notice my "guardian of food angel" has changed place? Yeah, I figured out that the food bought by my dear was important, hence I decided to let it guard those cookies and milo. However, I managed to find another "guardian" to replace it. It was given free in a goodies bag when I signed up for NTU Investment Club.


And finally, I was too bored and I decided to take a video.

 

Updates

No Comment - Post a comment

I have to apologize for the lack of updates these few days as school work is really keeping me busy. I finally have this little time at this wee hour to update my blog as my first lesson is at 2.30pm tomorrow because the lab lesson is alternate weeks. Normally I would sleep at around 1am because my lesson starts 8.30am everyday except Monday. I realised I could not sacrifice sleeping time to study till late night as I will fall asleep during lecture in the day. (Unfortunately, I am too embarrassed to stand by the side or do some jumping jet at the back to keep myself awake.)

I gotta go back to my 3 tutorials due next Monday so that I can have no worries to accompany my dear this weekend. Look forward to my next post as there will be interesting photos and videos about my hostel. :)

Anyway, you can subscribe for updates to this blog by entering your email address on the right. You will be notified by mail when there are new post.

Just to cap it off with one of today's news.

NUS plans university town in Clementi
Extracted from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/295536/1/.html

Come 2010, the way undergraduates live and play on the campus of the National University of Singapore (NUS) will change when its new University Town - to be built at the former Warren Golf Course in Clementi - opens its doors.

The idea behind having a minimum of four students living together is to "give them that communal living experience" and let them interact with friends from all over the world, said Prof Kong.

Currently, about 6,000 out of 32,000 students live on the Kent Ridge campus, which will be untouched by the latest revamp.

To be built at a cost of $500 million to $600 million, the new University Town will feature special themes for each college.

While plans are still being drawn up - the winning consortium to build the 19ha town will only be appointed in December - Prof Kong revealed that four themes being considered are technology and innovation, environment, health and sports and media.

Early estimates suggest that rents will be about two to three times more than what is charged at a Kent Ridge hostel, but Prof Kong (picture) said the final price would depend on the eventual winning bid.

 

National Day Rally 2007

No Comment - Post a comment

For those who missed the National Day Rally 2007 speech by PM Lee, you can view the video here.

Draw-down age for CPF minimum sum to be raised progressively to 65
SINGAPORE : The government is taking more steps to ensure that Singaporeans have enough CPF savings for their old age.

It is raising the draw-down age for the minimum sum from 62 to 65. more


CPF savings to earn higher interest
SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced a one percentage point increase in interest for part of the savings in Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts in his National Day Rally speech on Sunday. more

Many say PM Lee's speech addressed needs of elderly and poor
SINGAPORE : Many Singaporeans have welcomed the announcements made by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his National Day Rally speech.

They say Mr Lee has delivered a comprehensive speech that touched on various issues and addressed the needs of the elderly and poor. more


Singapore looking into setting up fourth university
SINGAPORE : The Government is looking into setting up a fourth university in Singapore.

During his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also said the objective is to allow 30 percent of each cohort to get into publicly-funded universities by 2015, compared to 23 percent today. more


HDB to revamp housing estates with series of upgrading initiatives
SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong outlined a series of plans to make public housing more attractive, appealing and affordable in his National Day Rally speech on Sunday.

These
plans include giving a new shine to old estates and developing first-class living environment. more

 

Another Barrier to Cross?

No Comment - Post a comment

Thanks to all who showed concern. I would like to say that we are back together. Long discussions were held, tons of questions were posed, but I am glad that things turn out positive.

Thanks for the chance the opportunity to accept this relationship back dear. Hopefully we will build on this recent breakout and keep improving on it, on ourselves. I am still glad that you have not given up me after all like how I wanted you back too.

Look forward to next month *clearing throat*, look forward to my pasta this sat, look forward to our next salted popcorn war, look forward to the showering of love you will continuing receive in your life from me.

Still loving you.

 

I'd Rather

No Comment - Post a comment

Its only through separation then we realized the importance of it. If there is ever one more chance, I would give up my everything for it for you're too much for me to love. Promises will never come true if opportunity is not granted for it. Improvement will never be seen if chance is not given.

Too many chances were given and the results is still the same. I am sorry but this is also not the ending I wanted.

I am sad, so are you.
I am depressed, so are you.
I am lonely, are you?
I love you, do you?

"The night is here again, wish I could be there for you, every night that is"




"I'd Rather"

I thought sometime alone
was what we really needed
you said this time would hurt more than it helps
but I couldn't see that
I thought it was the end
of a beautiful story
and so I left the one I loved at home to be alone (alone)
and I tried to find
out if this one thing is true
that I'm nothing without you
I know better now
and I've had a change of heart

I'd rather have bad times with you, than good times with someone else
I'd rather be beside you in a storm, than safe and warm by myself
I'd rather have hard times together, than to have it easy apart
I'd rather have the one who holds my heart
whoo-oo-oo-oo yeah

And then I met someone
and thought she could replace you
we got a long just fine
we wasted time because she was not you
we had a lot of fun
though we knew we were faking
love was not impressed with our connection they were all lies, all lies
so I'm here cause I found this one thing is true
that I'm nothing without you
I know better now
and I've had a change of heart

I'd rather have bad times with you, than good times with someone else
I'd rather be beside you in a storm, than safe and warm by myself
I'd rather have hard times together, than to have it easy apart
I'd rather have the one who holds my heart
who holds my heart

I can't blame you if you turn away from me, like I've done you,
I can only prove the things I say with time,
please be mine,

I'd rather have bad times with (please be mine) you,
than good times with someone else (I know)
I'd rather be beside you in a storm (anytime),
than safe and warm by myself (so sure baby)
I'd rather have hard times to gether,
than to have it easy apart
I'd rather have the one who holds my heart (my heart)

I'd rather have bad times with you (surely),
than good times with someone else (surely)
I'd rather be beside you in a storm (oh yeah),
than safe and warm by myself (all by myself)
I'd rather have hard times together,
than to have it easy apart (you know it)
I'd rather have the one who holds my heart

I'd rather have the one who holds my heart
I'd rather have the one who holds my heart
whoooo.....who holds my heart

 

The End of a Beautiful Journey?

No Comment - Post a comment




We have not contacted each other for 2 days. Are we at cold war? "Experts say the person will ignore you when he/she lose interest in you." Did I ignore her? Or is it the other way round?

Past experience is horrible. I am unsure of who I am with all the confusion she gave me. I love her. Does she? If so, how much? Are we really losing interest and patience with each other's weak point?

Most of the time there is no right or no wrong, its just that each has his/her own opinions and expectations. Why can't she understand this?

To be frank, I am tired of all the quarrels, arguments. Things turn bad because of small problem but became big because of our personality. It can be solved when small problem don't appear, why is she still unclear about this?

I am learning to give in even when its not my fault. Just how many times did we quarrel and how many times I'm the one to apologize? Not because its my fault but its because I can't bear to her lose just like that. I read from a web site saying that a guy should admit its his fault even when its not his and after things turns better, the guy then will explain to his girl where the real fault lies. However, I cannot find myself the opportunity to do that because when thing turns better, explaining back to her the rational might turns thing sour again.

The feeling of being accused is horrible. I still remembered that night. There was no apologies from her, is it because I was at wrong first? But is it due to the accusation that cause the quarrel also?

She got a strong personality. And an ego that she did not realise herself. I find myself to be able to say all these here because I can't say all this to her for she will explain back with her rational that she is correct. This is our communication gap. I am unable to express myself in front of her.

Recalling back my reason for parting the previous time, she said it was nonsense and selfish of me for doing that. Does she get my intention now? Things happen unknowingly and till now she just cannot accept the fact and quarrels arise from this. She has forgotten what I have told her when shes angry. Even when shes happy, does she remember? This is the sort of questions that she would posed to me sometimes. Failing to do so will only cause a black face in her. But for me, I would just smile back and tell her the stuff. Because I find myself to have no rights to get angry in front of her. And afraid as a result, she would like angry too because of her bad temper and in the end I will be the one to console her.

Referencing things as examples just to support my reasoning, she said I am taking things to counter her. Just what must I do to make her happy?

She would always point out that I am getting insensitive to her, providing no security to her after all previous quarrels. I would like take it and promise to change as mentioned in her of her many a times. Does she understand the difficulties in doing that? Can't she find me trying to change also? I tried to pinpoint her one time when we were with our good friend. She was unhappy and told me about it at a later time. She said she was angry with that because thats the normal her actually. I failed to understand that because most of the time we seldom go out with other friends together. Am I wrong in this case too? I really have problem adapting to her bad temper personality like how she have problems adapting to mine character too.

This is all part and parcel of relationship, we need to improve ourselves in order to last longer. Can someone please teach me how to cope with a bad and hot tempered gf? I really love her and would like to be with her all my life. This feeling of cold war is hurting us as each day goes by.

Waiting patiently...

 

Singapore shares tumble 3.35%

No Comment - Post a comment

SINGAPORE - Singapore share prices plunged 3.35 percent on Wednesday, clobbered by the escalating fallout from the crisis in the US sub-prime mortgage market, dealers said.

News that more hedge funds are being squeezed in the US credit market's troubles led many investors to sell down portfolios, causing heavy losses across the region, they said.

The Straits Times Index fell 113.34 points to 3,273.25 on volume of 2.43 billion shares worth S$2.61 billion.

Declining stocks outnumbered risers 798 to 148, with 626 issues unchanged.

DBS Vickers Securities' retail market strategist, Yeo Kee Yan, said the worsening sub-prime mortgage woes in the US continued to be a drag and further declines are likely after the benchmark index broke through the 3,300-point psychological support level.

"The downtrend is still there, we could see the index correcting to 3,150 in the next few months," Yeo said.

"We still don't know the outcome of this sub-prime problem in the US."

Apart from the unravelling of the US sub-prime credit market, Yeo said he is concerned that a sharp correction in the Chinese stock market could trigger another wave of selling across the region.

A renewed spike in oil prices during the hurricane season in the United States could also add to the markets' volatility, he said.

Banking shares were among the hardest hit again, with DBS Group Holdings down S$1.00 at S$20.20, United Overseas Bank off 60 cents at S$20.90 and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp down 35 cents at S$8.35.

Property stocks were also weaker, with CapitaLand falling 35 cents to S$6.90, Keppel Land down 20 cents at S$7.90, and City Developments skidding 50 cents to S$14.10.

Singapore Telecom fell four cents to S$3.46 as investors continued to ignore its forecast-beating first-quarter results released on Tuesday.

Singapore Airlines fell 60 cents to S$17.60 and conglomerate Keppel Corp
pulled back 60 cents to S$12.00. - AFP/ir

Source.

Value investors are loving this short period of declining market to DCA into their targeted stocks which will hopefully fall to their target buy-in price. As for me, I have also targeted a few good fundamental stocks, unfortunately it has yet to reach my buy-in price yet. I have also been aiming some stocks using technical analysis approach. Mostly are oversold, however few are accumulating at uptrend. I shall wait.

For potential buyers in the next few days/weeks, I strongly suggest that you would approach with DCA strategy to take advantage of the volatility of market these few weeks.

Happy investing :)

 

Music of the month (Aug)

No Comment - Post a comment



Ritchie Blackmore's Rainbow - The Temple of the King (Live)


One day, in the year of the fox
Came a time remembered well,
When the strong young man of the rising sun
Heard the tolling of the great black bell.
One day in the year of the fox,
When the bell began to ring,
It meant the time had come for one to go
To the temple of the king.

There in the middle of the circle he stands,
Searching, seeking.
With just one touch of his trembling hand,
The answer will be found.
Daylight waits while the old man sings,
Heaven help me!
And then like the rush of a thousand wings,
It shines upon the one.
And the day has just begun.

One day in the year of the fox
Came a time remembered well,
When the strong young man of the rising sun
Heard the tolling of the great black bell.
One day in the year of the fox,
When the bell began to sing
It meant the time had come for the one to go
To the temple of the king.

There in the middle of the people he stands,
Seeing, feeling.
With just a wave of the strong right hand, he's gone
To the temple of the king.

Far from the circle, at the edge of the world,
He's hoping, wondering.
Thinking back on the stories he's heard of
What he's going to see.
There, in the middle of a circle it lies.
Heaven help me!
Then all could see by the shine in his eyes
The answer had been found.

Back with the people in the circle he stands,
Giving, feeling.
With just one touch of a strong right hand, they know
Of the temple and the king.

 

Final Update of QET Results

No Comment - Post a comment

For the benefits of those who has no idea what is QET, please refer to my entry here.

Yes today is the release of QET results. Wee Hian and me woke up at 7.15am. He set his alarm using the stupid radio cum alarm clock, the alarm rang is damn irritating. We check the online for the results but it was not released yet.

At around noon time, he smsed me asking me for the pin so that he can check for it. At first I confidently said I pass the paper when he asked me to guess. But he said I failed. I was shocked and depressed cause another module gonna eat up my valuable timetable again. Luckily, after another confirmation sms, he said I pass. Heng ah!!! phew!

Its the second week of school. Been quite busy with first few weeks although some of the tutorial and lab lessons are canceled. First few weeks are always hardest to start back the study engine especially after a stagnant 2 years in Army. However, things are so far so good still can manage to catch up with the lecture. Hopefully things will only get better as each day goes by.

 

Bolton VS Newcastle United Highlights

No Comment - Post a comment

Final - Reebok Stadium Attendance: 25,414
Bolton 1 - 3 Newcastle
Nicolas Anelka (50)

Charles N'Zogbia (11)
Obafemi Martins (21)
Obafemi Martins (27)


 

Interesting Video

No Comment - Post a comment



Came across this interesting video that will rekindles our childhood memories. Just thought of sharing it with my readers. Enjoy~ :)

 

Newcastle United Pre-Season Squad

No Comment - Post a comment

The Signings


Geremi (Chelsea, free)

Born: December 20, 1978
Birthplace: Batousam, Cameroon
Height: 175cm
Weight: 85kg
Pos: Right Back/Center Mid
Age: 28


Joey Barton (Manchester City, £5.8m)

Born: September 2, 1982
Birthplace: Huyton
Height: 180cm
Weight: 70kg
Pos: Center Mid
Age: 24

David Rozehnal (Paris St Germain, £3m)

Born: July 5, 1980
Birthplace: Sternberk, Czech Republic
Height: 191cm
Weight: 80kg
Pos: Center Back
Age: 27

Mark Viduka (Middlesbrough, free)

Born: October 9, 1975
Birthplace: Melbourne, Australia
Height: 188cm
Weight: 92kg
Pos: Forward
Age: 31


Alan Smith (Manchester United, £6m)

Born: October 20, 1980
Birthplace: Rothwell, Leeds
Height: 178cm
Weight: 70kg
Pos: Forward
Age: 26






Claudio Cacapa (Lyon, free)


Born: May 29, 1976
Birthplace: N/A
Height: 1.80m
Weight: 77 kg
Pos: Center Back
Age: 31
Nationality: Brazil




Jose Enrique (Villarreal, £6.5m)

Born: January 23, 1986
Birthplace: N/A
Height: 184cm
Weight: 76 kg
Pos: Left Full-Back
Age: 21
Nationality: Spain

OUT: Scott Parker (West Ham, £7m), Titus Bramble (Wigan, free), Antoine Sibierski (Wigan, free), Craig Moore (released), Pavel Srnicek (released), Olivier Bernard (released), Alan O’Brien (Hibernian, undisclosed)

Injuries

S Given - Groin - no return date - very doubtful
A Luque - Groin Strain - no return date - unknown
C Babayaro - Groin - no return date - unknown
M Owen - Thigh Strain - 18th Aug 07 - very doubtful
J Barton - Broken Metatarsal - 17th Sep 07 - unknown
B Emre - Ankle - 18th Aug 07 - doubtful
D Duff - Ankle Surgery - Nov 07 - unknown

This is one of the most exciting pre-season squad by far since Kevin Keegan era. Uncle Sam really did a marvelous job I would say. Well, lets see how I can come out with my first XI.

Owen Martins
Duff Emre Barton Milner
Enrique Taylor Cacapa(CPT) Geremi
Given

Unfortunately, due to the injures, Owen, Duff, Emre, Barton and Given are left out. So I forsee Sam to field the first XI tonight as below.

Martins Viduka
N`Zogbia Butt Geremi Milner
Enrique Taylor Cacapa(CPT) Carr
Harper

Tonight is the first match of the season and its a Live match against Bolton at 10pm. Stay tuned!

 

Update on my crib

2 comments - Post a comment

Finally, the pictures for my crib is ready. Most of the stuff like bedsheet, pillow, chair etc are from Ikea. Be alarmed, be surprised but don't be happy cause you are not gonna have the chance to lie on my bed!




















Hows my new bed? I was conned. Firstly, there are actually 2 pillows stacked together. However, the 2 pillows are known to be "give-a-way" pillows simply because when I lie on it, I can practically feel the bed itself! argh. Secondly, the blanket ain't a blanket at all. Its just a cloth with some opening, guess you need to stuff something inside yourself to make it look at a blanket lol. Anyway, I try not to make my bed too comfortable because you know why :X




















My work desk.No, the chair does not come default and it cost me close to a hundred bucks! I don't mind spending a bit more for a better chair because I will be on it most of the time and I need to take good care of my back cum spine. (dear, see I know how to take care of myself!) It really is comfortable. Worth every penny.
Yep, I dedicated 1 section to my food to fulfill my hungry stomach at night while studying. I also dedicated 1 section for photos of me and Wendy :)
So far, nothing much on papers and books yet as I have not really got into the lesson proper. Heavy stuff will comes in from 3rd week onwards.
Ok I need to clarify, the tissue box was brought in by my roomate Willy Kuah, not me!
Missed out something? Yes! If your eyes are sharped enough, you would have notice the small little greeny bird at the top right, behind him are some oreo biscuits and cakes, he is my guardian of food angel!




















My wardrobe. Its really a headache to think what clothes to bring for school. Miss the army life where only 1 green no. 4 uniform and some PT and admin kits will do. The basket for bathing was suggested by my dear xie xie :)




















I rejected the idea of bringing the TV from our army bunk to here. But he wanted it. So, I told him to off it whenever I'm in the room. And thats the electric kettle at the bottom. The water at NTU taste weird, like tekong water. And boiling the water does not eliminate the funny taste argh.

Posted by Picasa

 

My Investment Philosophy

No Comment - Post a comment

A person who supposingly claimed that he/she was my ex classmate (see the chat box), recommended me to the Manulife Golden Regional China Fund. And I thought I would just share some of my investment philosophy here.

First, some basic informations about the Central Provident Fund (CPF) that every Singaporeans should know. It consists of 3 accounts, the Ordinary Account, Special Account and the Medisave Account.

Ordinary Account - the savings can be used to buy a home, pay for CPF insurance, investment and education.

Special Account - for old age, contingency purposes and investment in retirement-related financial products.

Medisave Account - the savings can be used for hospitalisation expenses and approved medical insurance.

Your CPF savings earns interest. The CPF Interest Rates are reviewed quarterly. Currently, savings in the Ordinary Account earn a minimum interest rate of 2.5% per annum, while savings in the Special and Medisave Accounts earn additional interest of 1.5 percentage points above the prevailing Ordinary Account interest rate.

Next, CPF OA only allows us to invest up to 35% of our account into shares, property funds etc. You can refer to here for more information.


Hey my ex classmate, due to the above fact, I will only buy UT when I have accumulated enough in my CPFIS-OA. As for my spare cash, I prefer to read up annual reports to buy undervalued business. Thanks for your recommendation anyway and I do not have the luxury of $5000 cash for its initial minimum investment. :)

Source.

 

Happy 42nd Birthday Singapore!

No Comment - Post a comment

Wishing Singapore a happy 42nd birthday! Ever thought of hanging the Singapore Flag as some decoration? Ever wondered how should the flag be placed among other flags? Well, if you didn't know, there are official guidelines on using the flag. Lets take a look at them.

The National Flag - Guidelines

Singaporeans and non-governmental buildings may display or fly the national flag to identify with the nation. Singaporeans are encouraged to do this during occasions of national celebration or national significance.

How it may be used
1. When the flag is displayed outside a building, it shall be displayed on or in front of the building. Outside the National Day celebrations period (month of August), it must be flown only from a flagpole, and if it is displayed or flown at night, it should be properly illuminated.

2. Within Singapore, it should take precedence over all other flags, subject to international practice. When displayed or flown with another flag, it must be in a position of honour. This means it should be positioned where practicable, either above all other flags or to the left of the other flags, as seen by a person facing the flags.

3. It may be reproduced in reduced size representations and displayed at all times, but it must be in its true form and colours, regardless of size.

How it cannot be used or treated
1. The flag cannot be used:
(a) in any trademark or for any commercial purpose;
(b) as a means, or for the purposes, of advertisement;
(c) as, or as part of, any furnishings, decoration, covering or receptacle;
(d) at any private funeral activity;
(e) incorporated or worn as part of any costume or attire; or
(f) on any private vehicle.

2. No person shall produce or display any flag which bears any graphics or word superimposed on the design of the flag.

3. The flag should be cleaned when dirty, and replaced if it has faded. After any washing, it should not be hung out to dry outdoors together with other laundry. Any worn out or damaged flag should be disposed properly, not left visible in dustbins. Torn or worn-out flags should be packed into a sealed black trash bag before being disposed.

Source.

 

Exciting Week Ahead

No Comment - Post a comment

Finally after a 2 years break from school for my NS, I am back to studies again. Its 12.35am here at my NTU hostel Hall 5.

I was so low morale at around 9pm at home. The thought of leaving my home and come back only in the weekends, the thought of leaving my dear again, and the thought of starting a course which I have lost so much interest over the 2 years were just too much for me to swallow in minutes or even hours on the train cum bus. So I decided to pamper myself for the first time moving in to my hostel. Hence, I took a cab and I specially choose a Hyundai Sonata cab because I always wanted to sit in one when it was launched in Singapore.

First impression of the Sonata inside was that it is rather cramp compared to other cab especially Toyota Crown haha big difference I know. I rather like the new leather inside. It is on Auto Gearbox Transmission and its engine is rather powerful. The driver is surprisingly young and I almost said "Uncle, NTU xie xie". The satisfactory of siting in the taxi and fast driving just lighten my heavy heart which I brought when leaving home. As he was driving quite fast and it was at night with little traffic, I reached NTU in about 15mins time. 17 bucks.

I have finished unpacking all my stuff and done with my room except I realised the fan really cannot make it. Am considering to get a more powerful fan. Then I also need a 1.5L bottle to put inside my room as the water cooler is rather far away. I went to bathe after that, feeling a bit weird to leave room half naked. But I don't care, its so much easy with a shirt less to go bathing.

Alright, so wheres the excitement that I mentioned?

Firstly, the stocks market is getting more and more interesting with the few recent corrections. Panic market aunties and uncles are selling their stocks to minimize losses, bargain hunters like me are busy researching for strong fundamental stocks to buy in cheap. 2 of my best performing stocks Contel and China Fashion has dropped from a +30-50% to now +10%. Have been queuing to load up more China Fashion for the past few days but could not get it at the price I wanted. I shall continue to monitor its movement for the week, of course not forgetting China HongCheng and ETLD IPO launching.

Secondly, its regarding my beloved Newcastle United. Under the managing of Sam Allardyce, Newcastle has acquired 6 new players. They are Geremi (Chelsea, free), David Rozehnal (Paris St Germain, £3m), Joey Barton (Manchester City, £5.8m), Mark Viduka (Middlesbrough, free), Alan Smith (Manchester United, undisclosed). During this moment of blogging, Sam is still negotiating a few more deals such as Cacapa, Enrique, Drago etc. (I know cause he just updated me last night).

Ok lah lastly its because of my NTU life has just began. Looking forward to study and hostel life after a 2 year gap. Its 12.58am now I am missing my dear who just ended the phone about 30min ago. Finally, those few noisy buggers had already left the Hall in a lorry. Time to sleep. Hopefully I can find time and energy to take some nice pic of my hostel and upload here.

Good night.

 

IPO Internet Placement Shares

No Comment - Post a comment

I came across a SGFunds forum thread that was discussing about IPO. From there, I understand that some underwriters will include a small portion of the shares for their own Internet Placement. This is to encourage more people to bid for the IPO via their system so that they would earn the $1 or $2 fee.

For IPO bidding, each bid will cost you about $1 or $2 depending on where you bid from. DBS Internet Banking offer this IPO bidding but it cost $2. For normal shares buying, it cost you at least $25 to do a transaction depending on brokerage and amount involved.

I went to MAS Opera web site and realised that whenever DBS is the underwriter, they would offer some of the shares via their DBS Vickers Securities as Internet Placement Shares. The advantage of this is that not many people will bid through here as not all have their trading account. (1 of them is me). However (sad to see this word?), most of the time the share allocation for this is actually very small. So if you want to try your luck, bid for its public and placement shares!

 

RE: QET @ NTU

No Comment - Post a comment

Just an update after taking the QET. What's QET? Refer to my previous previous entry.

I reached the Hall 10mins before time. There are tons of people waiting outside, luckily the route I took lead me to a shoutcut to the queue so I was the first few to go in. While waiting for the rest to come in, I have the opportunity to just scan through all the people to identify familiar faces. To my surprise, quite a number of familiar appeared. They are Alex, Zhenglin and Xian Hui from my Poly DCNT Course (Diploma in Computer & Network Technology). Billy and Willy, the twins whom I knew through Army life. Not to mention Nigel whom I got to know through my SCE/MSE orientation camp. Actually thats about it lol.

So the time began and we were suppose to write a short essay of 250-300 words. 2 topics were given. 1 of them was asking you to describe the qualities of a parent needed to raise a child. The other was a subjective topic asking if you would benefit from a gap of 1 year between studies. I was not too sure what do the 2nd topic means. A 1 year break between Uni studies? Or a 1 year break after Poly/JC? So I chose the 1st topic. After a 5min brainstorm, I pen my thoughts without drafting (as usual).

1st, I mentioned about raising children in Singapore was already hard in the first place due to the long working hours and competitive industry, it adds further burden to parents. 1st quality needed - Good Time Management Skills.

Next, you would want to provide everything for the child. Hence, a good and early financial planning for the child's University education. Of course, parents need to plan for their own retirement before any others financial planning. So parents should start early to have a child's University education planned. This would include the annual expenses needed all the way from Kindergarten till University including the various school fees at different stages. Not forgetting to take into account our dear friend Mr Inflation. A rough gauge of 1-2% will do.

Finally, due to words constraints, I quickly ended my essay by stating raising a child is not just providing care and concern, its also about guiding and teaching them towards the positive and right direction. With proper guidance, the child, hopefully, will grow up to be a righteous and positive man/woman towards things. Last but not least, teach your kids early about financial planning so that they will take control of their own money from young. 1 good way is to give them a book call "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki as their birthday gift. Of course wait till the kid know how to read English first. =)

There you go. A close to 300 words essay done in 20mins. So the rest of the 70mins, I was just stoning and rocking away because we were not allowed to leave early. (WHY?)

As discussed with Wee Hian, that afternoon we will be heading to Queensway's Ikea for purchases of stuff for our new "bunk". Total damage was about $170. $98 for the chair LOL. We bought bedsheets, pillows, blanket, dustbin, small table for our laser printer etc. Photos will be shot and uploaded next week when I start staying in my new "bunk".

 

IPOs Bulls

No Comment - Post a comment

Few days ago I came across this useful web site www.listedcompany.com. It has many useful information and services provided for investor.

Particularly referring to its IPO page, the company managed to compile a list of IPOs details such as IPO price, 1st day closing price, gain/loss etc. You can see that that almost 9 out of 10 IPOs launched in the year 06 and 07 experienced a gain on its first trading day. Narrowing down further, IPOs launched in the last 3 months experience positive gain and highest RH Energy with a 171.9% gain on its 1st trading day (Bidded but was not allocated for the lot argh). You would have gained aplenty if you were allocated some lots for every IPO and sell them on the first day. On the other hand, with more and more people entering the market, the chances to being allocated for even 1 lot is getting lesser and lesser.

With the few recent market corrections beginning to forcing some investors to sell and causing panic and fear, will this stretch of IPO bull run continue for the next few IPOs?