.....times of refreshing.....

While reading  the daily news lately, I came across a section on retirement planning and provident funds. A top minister in Singapore was commenting that we should start our retirement planning as early as possible. This struck me a bit. I've been very bad with my financial planning and can't even control my expenses well, thus, don't even mentioned about retirement planning. Perhaps I really needed to work out from scratch of a long time financial planning , tracking and monitoring.


I read a few books of late on financial planning and the one which I like most is the one written by Azizi Ali, Millionaire are from another planet.

One of the most basic foundation of financial planning is to watch over your expenses by periodically update your expenditure and monitor your cashflow. Work out a monthly and annual budget and try to stick to the budget as close as possible, of course make adjustments from time to time as the budget is just a projection. Save at least 10% of your income monthly and put aside a small percentage for emergency funds. Your cashflow should be ideally expenditure less than income.

Once you have started savings and have a good foundation, start looking out for other side incomes like doing part time work to complement your main income. These are mainly part time jobs and investments.And, continue to do well in your main job as promotions and rewards will lead to more perks.

Time for me to work out a good financial plan...hope it's not too late to do so.... LOL


Proverbs 24:3-4 :-
Through wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; and by knowledge the rooms shall be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.


Proverbs 21:5:-
The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenty; but the thoughts of everyone who is hasty only to poverty.

I really don't have much time lately to blog as well as read and comment on others' blogs. I also don't have time to prepare for my exam, which luckily I haven't sign up yet. I also don't have time to do some reading on my favorites self-improvement books. And, I only have time for- BOLA! :P Thus, do forgive me if I didn't visit your blog as often as before lately..hahaha...

Btw, I read in the morning paper about a devastating accident happened in Johor where a bright teenage life at his early 20s has been ended. His girlfriend was driving the car and God knows what happened, the car was in a terrible shape after the accident! I'm  sorry for the victim's family but I have no comments on this incident, as to who 'salah'.


However, this brought to my mind on the reckless drivers that I encountered on the highway. They overtook you on the left emergency lane and within seconds, they are back on the fast right lane. Some of them  tailgated you although you are driving at 110Km/h, which is the speed limit. They flashed their headlights at you if you don't give way while on the right lane. They drove so near to your car after they overtook where you have to applied the brake. The list go on....


I wish if every drivers kept to the speed limit, practise a little courtesy on the road, have enough rest and not under stress or under influence of alcohol or medications, a little patience and so on, it will be great driving experience.

Have a nice weekend, folks and Ole Ole Ole.....

I attended a briefing last week by some company eager to clinch some business deals. Almost the whole upper management of the company attended including their CEO. After the presentation, some of the attendees noticed something not quite right with the presentation and later the company realised they make some very 'amateurish' mistakes...something that an account manager or project manager shouldn't be making, especially since it is related to a business deal.


Recently, I read  news that Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs have to endure some embarrassing moments when wifi connectivity is unavailable due to overloading during his important iPhone 4 demo in Apple's premises. This event is to be witnessed worldwide as online videos were immediately uploaded everywhere on the internet after that. He has to cut short his presentation.

If these 'big shots' can make mistake which can be of grave concerns, how about the rest of us? Mistakes always happens and it will happened to anyone now or future, be it a 'small fry' or a 'big shot'. Thus, I feel that  if you made a mistake whether in work or home, do not feel too bad about it as you're only human and not perfect. Moreover, some mistakes could be due to an overloaded schedule in work or stress.

Tell yourself that it's ok to make mistakes though do try your best not to commit one,  if possible. Furthermore, classical stories like Edison , the great inventor, make almost 1000 mistakes before he's successfully invented a lightbulb.

Yes....it's the time again!! After a long four year wait, the majority of the football fans in the world will party for one month. The biggest event on Earth is about to begin !! The impact of world cup is so great that some companies willing to give time-off to their employees, especially in European countries.

For me, I have been quite a follower of  the World Cup since I was 12. Of course, my favorite team during then was Brazil. (It's England and Argentina now :p ) I witnessed the best matches of all time when Brazil (with Zico) beat Argentina 3-1 in the Espana 82 quarter-finals match. Some other memorable matches which I remember were Argentina-England quarter-finals  in Mexico 86, Argentina-West Germany in the final match of Mexico 86, Argentina-Italy Semi-Finals in Italia 90, Brazil v Holland in France 98 semi-finals, Brazil V Germany Final in Korea 2002, Italy V Germany Semi-Finals in the previous edition - Germany 2006.



For this edition, I picked Argentina to win the world cup based on the following theories-

- No European teams has won outside Europe ( check the winners' stats at wiki )
- Usually the favourites will not win but the underdogs, so don't expect Spain to lift the cup.


By the way, I predicted Italy will win the last World Cup and won some small bets with Singapore Pools. :P


Anyway, I'm afraid this edition may not be that fun for me as I didn't subscribe to the cable tv in Singapore as the telcos has been charging exorbitant fees to subscribers for the event - around S$94.16 compared to the last edition. I have to resort to watching it elsewhere. I can only watched a 'proper' match when I'm back to JB during weekend breaks.


Get ready for the biggest event on Earth with beers, nuts, McDonalds, titbits and etc...Last but not least, guys, make sure you don't desert your wifey and girlfriends for the next 4 weeks :)

How well you take criticisms or feedback? As we all know, these are part and parcels of life, be it in workplace or home. Criticisms can be constructive and positive to oneself if taken positively with an attitude to improve the situation. Of course, most of the time, it was viewed as negative and may lead to conflicts, depression and frustration.


I always love to blog about something that I guess 'we knew but could have forgotten it', and especially if I came across it, be it on my own self or others. Like criticisms, most of us knew whether the feedback received are good for ourselves, our projects or other endeavors.Of course, it's not easy to turn criticisms into something positive but I believe it can be practice.


Well, if the feedback directed to us or our work is for our own good, then let's not felt too bad about it but seek to take it in good stride and improve ourselves. Bear no grudge against the critics but take it as something you've learned. Furthermore, everyone around us can be teachers to us, be it our peers, families or subordinates. However, if you find that the feedbacks are of evil intentions to hurt you, then it's encourageable to take some actions on it like talking to your boss ...etc.

On the other hand, when giving feedback, I felt that it's good if it could be constructive and not hurt someone's feeling but seek to motivate them. This will be more effective for the good intentions and turn the criticism into something positive.

One of the best places and attractions to hang around nearby JB city area is the Desaru Beach. It's just an hour plus drive from JB city on a straight long road to Ulu Tiram district and later go further up to Kota Tinggi town. It will likely take around 30-40mins to reach the junction of Kota Tinggi, depending on your location in JB. From the Kota Tinggi traffic lights junction, you turn left into another easy-to-drive straight road , which will leads to another junction to Desaru Beach after 20-30 minutes drive. Turn left once you reached Petronas and it will took you 10 mins to reach the beach. If you drove further on instead of turning to Desaru Beach, you will pass by another beautiful resort, Sebana Cove Golf and Marina Resort. Further down to the end of road will be the Sungai Renggit town which boast great seafood. Check out the map below and click to enlarge.


I had been to Desaru numerous times and have visited most of the places there - the beach, the fruit farm, Sg Renggit town, the resorts along Desaru Beach and  Sebana Cove Resort. I will probably visit the Crocodile farm and Ostrich farm sometime later.

I was there again over the long weekend and was at the Desaru Pulai Hotel. Check out the pics below -

The Pulai Desaru hotel as look from the inside, near the swimming pool and on the way to the seaside.

 Another pix of the hotel from the beach. The room rates is around RM240+ per night with breakfast for two persons. Check out the rates at their website here.


One of the corners of the resort's lobby. I love the atmosphere there now,as they have decor the place for the World Cup. Imagine having a coffee or beer there watching a World Cup match at night with some buddies or maybe ang moh babes....hahaha..



Last but not least, here's my little princess, my adorable prince and my lovely wifey. Where am I? I'm the cameraman la... :)