A Beautiful Life

Letting go.

2009-07-02T10:03:00.000+08:00

My favourite story about learning to let go.
Hope it will help you.

Once upon a time, there were two monks who went on a pilgrimage across the country together. One day, they came to a river bank and saw a beautiful girl who was unable to cross the river.

Seeing her difficulty, the elder monk volunteered to carry her across the river on his back while the younger one looked on in consternation.

When the sun went down, the monks came upon a dilapidated shack and decided to stay there for the night. The elder monk quickly fell asleep while the younger one twisted around, unable to calm his mind. Finally, he woke up the elder monk and reprimanded him for what happened during the day, "As monks, we are supposed to keep away from women. I am really ashamed and troubled by what you did today!"

The elder monk looked at his friend and a smile broke up on his face, "Oh, so that has been bothering you! Brother, I have left the girl behind by the river bank, why are you still carrying her around?"

The passing of a King.

2009-06-28T21:53:00.000+08:00

It was Thursday evening. I laid on my bed reflecting on the day's event before I turn in to sleep.

The progression at work I had today. The reservist deferment I am supposed to be doing. Michael Jackson's death.

Then it dawned on me. He really died. There's no more Michael Jackson.

It was just like any other morning. I switched on the television to scan the news. And the news ticker at the bottom of the screen screamed "Michael Jackson died: US Media". I read that line again. I immediately switched on my laptop and went online to confirm the news. When online sources confirmed it, my heart sank.

I was so excited when I learnt that he was having a comeback concert. He will finally make people remember how good he was. All is going to be alright again.

Yet, less than a month more to his grand return; he had to go. No Britney Spears comeback.

May you rest in peace my old friend.

I Still Love You

2009-06-16T08:45:00.002+08:00

Are women born this way?

2009-06-13T10:58:00.000+08:00

Man, my ears hurts.

Deductive Reasoning

2009-06-13T09:57:00.002+08:00

Image via Wikipedia

John is mowing his lawn when he sees a new neighbor moving in. He stops and steps to the fence to see what the new neighbor is like. After calling him over, the new neighbor, Bob, tells says that he is a Professor of Deductive Reasoning at the college.

John- Deductive Reasoning? What's that?

Bob- Well, lemme give you an example. I see you have a doghouse. That leads me to believe you have a dog. If you have a dog, perhaps you have children. If you have children, then I would deduce that you have a wife. By having a wife, you are enforcing that you are a heterosexual.

John- That's pretty neat!

They part ways and John goes to talk to another neighbor, Jerry, who is watching the move.

Jerry- New neighbor, huh? What's he do?

John- He's a Professor of Deductive Reasoning at the college.

Jerry- Deductive Reasoning? What's that?

John- Lemme give you an example. Do you have a dog?

Jerry- No, I don't.

John- Fag!

Elektra

2009-06-08T23:25:00.004+08:00

My 6 years old sister, Christy was watching Elektra on TV just now. In the movie, there is a character called Tattoo. His special ability is that the tattoos on his body can come alive and attack his enemies.

I told Christy that she should tattoo a hamster at her butt cheek. Then as she grow older, the hamster will grow fatter. She commented that if she ever wanted a tattoo, she will tattoo it at her lower back. I guess she learnt from TV that girls normally have their tattoos on their lower backs.

Free samples!

2009-06-08T17:17:00.000+08:00

Who loves free stuff?

If your answer is a big fat "YES", then this post is dedicated to you.

Did you remember recently there was a news about a Japanese store that consist of only free samples for members to take whatever they want?

All they have to do is to pay for membership fee and they have access to all the samples. After using the samples, they will just have to provide feedback.

Apparently, there is something similar in Singapore too!

Enter Fr3b.com! Just sign up at their website and start claiming your free samples. The samples will be mailed directly to your address.

Remember to tell me what you claimed; and if it is any good. So I can use my points wisely.

Run along to Fr3b.com now and thank me later. Oh yah, remember to bookmark. The site name is kind of difficult to remember.

Commitment.

2009-06-07T15:21:00.010+08:00

Today marks 1 year and 2 days anniversary between Gabriel and Mabeline. Happy Anniversary! Time really flies. And this morning before church, he told me that they are getting married soon. Tentatively early year.

Woah!

And of course as his best friend, I am going to be the best man. I would seriously need to lose some weight, and look my best for my best friend's wedding. 6 more months to go! Let the weight loss regime begin!

Speaking of weight, everyone has commented that I have gained a lot of weight recently. My weight loss journey has not been going well. Within these 2 years, I have gained around 15KG. The heaviest I have gotten is 80KG. I must have very dense bones. They are probably made of adamantium (A kind of metal that was bonded with Wolverine's bones).

So what do I plan to do about it?

Cut down on my eggs intake. The amount of eggs (with yolk) I eat every scares my friends.
Cut down on carbohydrates like white rice and white bread.
Drink more water.
Run.

What is my running schedule going to be like?

As a start, I would be aiming to complete 20KM every week for the month of June. And then increasing it by 5KM every month thereafter.

June 20KM, July 25KM, August 30KM, etc...

I will be tracking and posting my running log here every Sunday evening. So if you don't see one here, feel free to scold me and wake me up!

I currently weigh in at 76KG. I have no idea how I lost the 4KG. What a pleasant surprise.

Other than the commitment of love between Gabriel and Mabeline, my commitment to losing weight, I want to talk about my commitment to Christ.

I have been attending church regularly for the past year. And this month, I will be baptist. If you are free this coming 28th June, please come down and give me your support. My church is at Adam Road.

Thank God It's Friday!

2009-06-05T11:06:00.000+08:00

Why get a dog?

2009-06-02T21:00:00.005+08:00

I admit, when I was younger I wanted a dog. Who doesn't. But I was fortunate enough not to be born into a HDB flat. So I do get to have some contact with dogs when I was little.

As I grew older, I began to see things differently. The pet industry have been thriving in recent years. Owners are now bringing their dogs for spas, pedicures, dog cafes... Hell, even I don't treat myself this well.

I can never understand people spending $200-400 every month for a dog. I was watching a current affairs programme on TV and one dog owner who was interviewed said that in this ecomonic downturn he had cut back on his own spending but not the dog's; he still insist on giving the dog the best of everything. People are not taking care of themselves yet they want to give the best to a dog.

Another thing that pisses me off is dog meals served in cafes/restaurants. Everything must be made healthy and nutritious because this/that is not good for the dog. We know all about not giving junk food to the dog and yet we don't take care of our own bodies.

Dogs don't live long enough. A typical dog lives between 10 - 12 years (Times that by 7 to get the equivalent of human life). Once you have given it love, time and money. The dog dies on you. Sure, the memories were great, but the pain must be deadly too. Rather than to let your children and yourself go through this pain, I will never get a dog for my children. Too many friends around me had gone through this pain, the sight is not beautiful.

Dog owners/lovers can start flaming me now. This is supposed to be an attempt to distract you because I am too lazy to blog.

p.s: I do like dogs. Just not as pets. It's just like how you like to play with babies but don't want to take care/have of one.

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T21:18:00.001+08:00

Was shown this video in church this morning.
Hope you will enjoy it as much as we did.

Why I refuse to join Singapore Idol.

2009-05-01T19:55:00.000+08:00

Singapore Idol 3 registration starts today. Have you registered for it?

Visit the official website for more information: http://5.mediacorptv.sg/idol

Me? Although I love singing, I don't think I am good enough to sing in front of such a big crowd. I don't think I look like an idol anyway. What's more, once you exposed yourself to such things, it will be quite hard for people to take you seriously anymore. Career suicide.

Besides I already have Sea Urchin. Haha!

Most importantly, I don't want to end up working for 7-11 for my life like this guy.

Technology bug.

2009-04-30T09:31:00.000+08:00

If you have not heard, I have been cursed with the technology bug recently.
Almost every piece of technology has malfunctioned.

The LCD monitor for my PC has new blue lines appearing everyday. I stopped counting.

My laptop LCD monitor started to flicker soon after. I am contemplating selling the laptop and getting a NetBook instead.

My trusty Nokia E61 started restarting by itself. I stopped using it.

My Creative Zen Vision: M cannot be powered on anymore.

I need to shower myself in holy water...

I am supposed to be traveling around the island today for appointments, but look at the weather outside now.
The bad luck continues...

S Factor Episode 4

2009-04-28T18:31:00.001+08:00

The girls that were eliminated were back this time for a chance to get back into the game. Sun, sand and girls in bikinis!

My views on The Star Awards 2009

2009-04-26T23:31:00.000+08:00

Did you guys catch The Star Awards 2009? Which was supposedly the ~~only~~ biggest TV award show in Singapore every year?

I guess most of the award winners correctly. One of the surprise I had was the double award winner for Best Female Supporting Actress. Why give out 2? My family thinks it's because Xiang Yun had expressed interest to leave the industry and this award will probably entice her to stay on.

My mom says Lin Mei Jiao should actually win the award. But I have no idea why the award was given to Ng Hui instead. I did not watch Little Nonya.

But boy am I glad Ou Xuan did not win Best Actress award. And to top it off, Joanne Peh won. I was hoping she will win. True be told, I did not watch Little Nonya, so I do not know how her acting was in the show, but everyone has been telling me that she was good in it. And she gave me permission to follow her in her protected Twitter page. So my support goes to her.

Expected Dai Yang Tian to win Best New Comer even though he can't act. Hate it when MediaCorp likes to shaft it down our throat who they want to be the next big thing.

Expected Chen Han Wei will win Best Actor, MediaCorp likes to give awards to people that act retarded, gay, or terminally ill. They always think that this is considered "break-through" acting.

With regards to Guo Liang winning Best Host for CelebriTea. Is this a sympathy prize to him for not being about to outshine Quan Yi Feng after so many years? Yes it is a good host, but to win because of CelebriTea? That show is draggy and boring. And you do not need outstanding hosting skills to host that show.

Congrats to Henry Thia and Zheng Ge Ping for winning Top 10 Popular Male Artist. And to Belinda Lee for winning Best Informative Host. Been a fan of all your shows! And poor Fiona Xie did not win anything this year.

Results:
Best News Presenter: Tung Sook Hua
Best Male Actor: Chen Hanwei (By My Side)
Best Female Actress: Joanne Peh (The Little Nyonya)
Best Male Supporting Actor: Chew Chor Meng (The Golden Path)
Best Female Supporting Actress: Xiang Yun & Ng Hui (The Little Nyonya)
Best Newcomer: Dai Yang Tian
Best Local Drama: The Little Nyonya
Best Host: Guo Liang (CelebriTea)
Best Informative Host: Belinda Lee (Dancing With Belinda)
Best Variety Show: Life Transformers
Super Star Award: Huang Biren

Top 10 Popular Male Artist:
1. Chen Hanwei
2. Tay Ping Hui
3. Bryan Wong
4. Mark Lee
5. Christopher Lee
6. Pornsak
7. Henry Thia
8. Zheng Ge Ping
9. Elvin Ng
10. Qi Yuwu

Top 10 Popular Female Artist:
1. Rui En
2. Felicia Chin
3. Jeanette Aw
4. Joanne Peh
5. Jesseca Liu
6. Xiang Yun
7. Yvonne Lim
8. Vivian Lai
9. Ivy Lee
10. Quan Yifeng

Extreme Sheep Herding

2009-04-26T17:43:00.002+08:00

Today after church, Mabeline was sharing her experience in shearing sheeps while she was in Canada. One thing led to another and I brought up this video about sheep herding to Mabeline and Gabriel. I guess this is what farmers do when they get bored.

Much effort! Little effort!

2009-04-26T14:11:00.002+08:00

As promised to Dengli, I am going to post the Soy Joy TV commercial. And for all the other blog readers that don't watch TV, have a look below too. It is quite creative and funny.

No content?

2009-04-26T00:02:00.002+08:00

I just came back from a class gathering of 4 people; can that still be counted as a class gathering? Anyway, 3 out of 3 classmates complained that there is not much personal content going on in my blog recently. Ok I admit. Even I myself felt so.

There are actually a few reasons for this phenomenon.

Twitter. Ever since I started twittering, I felt less and less obliged to expand on a topic I want to talk about. All I wanted to say was summarized into 140 characters or less.

If you still do not know what is Twitter, you can either continue living under the rock, or you can watch the video below. After that, you can add me in Twitter: alexleecheeseng.

Work. Who would want to hear about my work? Apparently, 2 out of 3 of my friends do. So I guess I will have to start writing some financial planning tips here. Likewise, you can call me out for a personalized one.

I don't have that many things to complain. Actually I do, but I do not want to get into trouble with the law. After so many cases of people getting into trouble for posting silly videos on YouTube, writing offensive stuff on their blogs, etc... It is best to learn how to protect ourselves.
No camera phone. A picture paints a thousand words. If I have a camera phone, I can get away with not writing anything and just posting pictures. *coughs*BonitaMa*coughs*

But poor Alex does not have a camera phone. And his camera is too bulky to bring out. So no pictures for you readers.

With all that being said, I will try to come up with content with more substance ok? Readers (no matter how small amount) are so hard to please.

How to instantly fail a drunk driving test.

2009-04-25T13:44:00.001+08:00

S Factor Episode 3

2009-04-22T23:40:00.001+08:00

Watch the 3rd episode of S Factor here.
See how "smart" the girls are.

Asagohan (Japanese rendition of Beethoven's fifth symphony)

2009-04-19T22:08:00.003+08:00

Must be the choir boy in me acting up. I am so impressed with their performance. Haha...

The Wrestler + Gran Torino

2009-04-18T22:42:00.002+08:00

First of all, let me start off by apologizing for not having a blog post with real content recently. Not that I do not have ideas on what to blog on. I just got lazy and tend to shelve the ideas.

This week, I saw 2 movies. Movies about old men. I know most of you know I love young girls (who doesn't). So why the sudden interest in old men?

As you have seen in the title of this post, the 2 movies I saw were The Wrestler and Gran Torino. Frankly, after watching both shows, I found out that there were various plot points that were pretty similar.

Without spoiling the story much, I'll attempt to give my review on the movies.

I have never taken note of Mickey Rourke before. But after watching this movie, I can tell you that he is a good actor.

This movie follows the story of Randy 'The Ram' Robinson, whose glory days were mostly behind him. It shows his struggles to keep up with the game with his beaten up body, on relationship with his daughter and accept life without limelight. And of course the ultimate sacrifice for his art.

Two things I love in a movie are a good storyline that is believable and a good soundtrack. This has both. More wrestling scenes would be great though.

Rating 4 out of 5 stars.

Ok, Clint Eastwood. Good ol' Hollywood ass kicking hero. Most of us know him as a actor. Do you know he actually has directed more movies than Steven Spielberg and George Lucas? To get more amazing facts about him, you can go here.

Walt Kowalski (played by Clint Eastwood) is a grumpy old veteran that participated in the Vietnam war. Mostly racist and intolerant of younger people. He slowly learns to open up his heart. He not only accepted the new migrants in his neighborhood, he helped them too. You'll have to see the movie for youself to know why he was a hero to them.

A good movie about racial tolerance and how bad ass Clint Eastwood can still be despite his age (79 this year).

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Susan Boyle (Britains Got Talent 2009)

2009-04-13T18:38:00.003+08:00

Never judge a book by its cover. Never write off a person based on his/her looks. I was smiling with tears in my eyes while watching this. Beautiful.

Embedding is disabled, so please go to the link here to view it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

S Factor Episode 2

2009-04-13T11:11:00.005+08:00

Watch the second episode of S Factor. Cat fight! Meow!

The scariest work safety video. Ever.

2009-04-13T10:15:00.001+08:00

It would actually be quite cool to sit through one of this video at work.