I'm Home

I'm back in Melbourne for 2 weeks, it was a very sudden decision to fly back. I only booked my tickets earlier this week and i was off flying by friday. It was an exhausting flight spanning across half the globe from London to Dubai to Singapore and finally to Melbourne. So here i am now, feeling slightly jet lagged and wide eyed at 2am. I'll be spending my time mainly with her but also catching up with friends and family. Right now, i'm feeling kinda blue, i can't really explain why. It feels loney to be here, it seems strange but i felt empty last night and again right now. Maybe it's cos everyone's asleep and i'm still adjusting to the timezone difference. Also, this was quite unexpected but i'm also missing London quite a bit. It feels wierd to be torn between 2 cities, both feel like home, but i know this is my true home. Yet London has been so awesome, i can't really discount it in any way. I can't wait to catch up with friends, though i do feel kinda nervous. What would it be like after 7 monthes, would it be awkard? I wonder if Gerald's awake at the moment, it'll be really nice to have some company cos i just know that i'll struggle to get any more sleep tonight. Maybe i'll do some packing, or web browsing, or any other thing other than going to bed.

HSMP

It's official, I am highly skilled! I received notice today that my application was approved, thank God! That's the hardest part of it, now onto stage 2 of the visa application and hopefully in a few weeks time i will get the stamp of approval on my passport.

The bathtub upstairs has been leaking for a few weeks now after every shower and the floor directly below, as can been seen on the ground floor, was soaked and rotting away. Until on monday morning when i was on my way out to work i saw a gauging big hole in the ceiling and rubble on the floor. The ceiling had fallen apart! So now, we don't have a shower at home and i have had to resort to the shower at work, carrying my toiletry and change back and forth.

Haven't really been up to much lately. Had a stag party on saturday (paintball and brazillian meat feast) followed by the usual footballing on sunday afternoons. Bumpt into an old friend from uni who is also in London right now, and dreaming about the holiday trips i want to go to, but will be missing out on a canary islands trip in the next couple of weeks.

It's been really chilly in the last week, i'm really glad i have my scarf and gloves with me, thanks goes to all the guys back home who gave it to me as a leaving gift, they're coming real handy right now. I'm gonna need to buff up a bit too and get myself a winter jacket, the winter here is extreme i hear! That's all for now, hopefuly there will be some good news in my next post.

Bed Sheets!

Yes, i have increased my comfort levels up another notch. I have new bed sheets! And to think that all this time i have been sleeping without any covers, how barbaric of me.

Last weekend was one of the slowest since starting work. All the regular guys i hung out with were overseas and so i was home most of the weekend. I feel like i'm missing out on all the travelling, and since it's coming to the end of holiday season i may need to wait for a while until the next trip is organised. I did manage to cook myself my very first meal since starting work though, but i sense that things will start to pick up again later this week.

Also having trouble sleeping lately. Even though the days are getting shorter, the mornings are still quite bright and the morning sun shines directly through the window above where i sleep.

Tommorow my HSMP application with be submitted, everyone wish me luck! And good bye university testamur, i have a feeling that you will not come back in the same prestine condition that you will be sent off in.

LEGOLAND

Been kinda slack in updating lately. I went to Legoland last weekend which was a blast and have been to a few farewells and gatherings. Work is keeping me busy and afterwork happenings are keeping me even busier, so the only thing i can cut down on is sleep unfortunately. I've been trying to eat more healthy but i still don't manage to cook anything at home, will always be eating out somewhere everynight of the week. I meet a few pals from back home which is really good but 2 have gone back home now leaving another 2 behind. Will try to update more often, if i don't someone give me a poke on facebook!

Percy Pigs - Part 2

Despite all the torrential rain and flash floodings around the UK, i am in a celebratory mood! Why, because i got my first pay! There are so many things to do and buy and so many lunches and dinners to pay for.

Some of you may recall a couple monthes ago how i visited a marks and spencers store on a wet and miserable day, much like today. I went inside to check it out cos i was lost and came across those percy pigs and began to feel sad and lonely. I know it kinda sounds silly, but during that time i remember vividly that i said to myself that i would return to that very same marks and spencers when i got my first pay and buy myself some percy pigs. It kinda kept me going in some ways during the bad times, and i haven't forgotten about it since then. So today after work i went down to oxford street and bought myself some percy pigs from my first pay, as you can see in my flickr account. Sounds kind cheesy doesn't it, but thats just how my brain works sometimes, i like to mark a milestone with something personal to remember it with. I also bought some other stuff which i hadn't been able to afford previously, just very simple foods that i've been missing and also the newest Lifehouse album. I feel like i'm returning to normal again to be able to have that freedom which i have denied myself for 3 monthes now. But now the drought has broke, and the rains are back again!

Work is starting to roll along slowly now and i'm starting to feel a little bit more useful. I think i have given myself quite a lot of pressure to perform well, and from that i've adopted new work ethics. Actually i'm not quite sure if the pressure is from myself or from others expectations of me, but either way it's quite motivating. Also, HR have agreed to apply for a HSMP instead of a work permit for me. The difference is that the HSMP will give me more freedom and security, whereas the work permit would mean that i would only be allowed to work for my company. What that also means is that unlike the work permit, the HSMP would not require me to return to Australia for processing, so sadly i'll be missing out on a company sponsored flight back home and will have to wait a little longer before i get to see everyone again.

Rainbow Days

It's not long until pay day! Woo hoo! It'll be my first earnings in a foreign currency, another 'first' to add to the list. The pay is gonna be real handy too and the timing couldn't get any better, my account balance was down to 2 digits last week until a good ol-buddy ol-pal intervened and topped it back up to 'living' levels again.

Also! A couple buddies from oz will be touching down in London tommorow! How exciting! I can't wait to see them, i miss all the people back home.

Midsummer's Night in London

My first real weekend is coming to a close, but i have throughly enjoyed it to the full. It is not much different from my pre-employment days but it's really the fact that i do have rest days to look forward to and do something other than work. Kinda funny how i wish i had more time now that i'm working but this is exactly what i wanted in the first place. Strange we human beings are. So anyway, i now need to manage my time thoughtfully and keep everything in balance.

It's really hot at the moment, it's almost midnight and i'm sweating like a pig. It was a nice bright morning, then it started raining in the afternoon just as started playing football (aka soccer) and got drenched when it got heavier with thunder and lighting. It stopped and the sun came out and now the heat is gonna make it hard to sleep. And i need a lot of sleep, cos i will be meeting my manager as he comes back from his leave. But before that, there is something really important that i must do.

Sleepy Heads

I have survived 3 days! I jump out of the beds in the morning but slowly i'm getting tired from not having enough sleep. The afternoons are worst when the drowsy demon comes and gets me and i have to really fight it off. I think it's just an adjustment phase, since it has been 2 full monthes since i have gotten into a proper work ethic routine. Hopefully my bio clock will get back on track by next week, that's what i'm aiming for anyway.

So the Scotland roadtrip is going ahead, but without me..boo! It's gonna be slightly sad to miss out on such an exciting trip with so many of the guys. But it just isn't meant to be for me. Actually, my manager is away this week, and my manager's manager is away in singapore on a business trip. So i have absolutely no one to report to if i wanted to take leave anyway. No matter, i wish all the guys a safe and happy trip, if one of you are reading this take lots of photos and make me feel really jealous!

Today at work, i almost lost my desk. Not literally, but this lady just came up to me and said that i shouldn't be sitting here, this desk space belongs to another group. I was quite stumped and i tried to explain to her that my manager wasn't here and that i would follow it up when he comes back on monday but she wouldn't have any of it and simply turned her back and walked off, leaving me slightly bewildered as to exactly what i should do. Anyway, it's not like i can just pick up and move to another desk, things don't work that way at a humungous organisation like BC, there are so many processes in place, it's simply not funny. I far as i knew, i was assigned to this desk, it has my name on it (literally, has my name on it i'm not kidding you) and even my profile on the intranet pinpoints exactly where i sit so there's no mistaking that it's my desk. I'll leave it to someone else to take care of, it's simply not my responsibility in the first place to decide where i should or should not sit. I've only been there for 3 days for goodness sakes. Shenanigans!

The Time Has Come

This past week has truely been enjoyable. It was my one real week of relaxation and fun without a thing to worry about. I will remember it as my final week of freedom before starting work. Which is tommorow! I haven't had much rest though so i think i will feel it tommorow morning when i have to get up and out of bed before 7am. Yes, 7am! I'm so excited about work yet nervous at the same time, it's like going back to school after the summer break. There will be many new challenges for me but i think it will be very rewarding.

Today, Tony Anthony gave a talk about his life. As a child, he was sent back to China and was brought up by his Grandfather who was a grand master in kung fu and was very harsh on his upbringing. On returning to England, he was very timid and was bullied and outcast by other kids. He learnt to defend himself and earned respect by pushing his weight around and he too became a bully. He later entered competitions and tournaments and eventually became a 3 time kung fu world champion. He then became a body guard and was quickly promoted and had high profile clients, then later becoming involved in crime like debt collection, robberies and even murder. During his time in prison, he was self-destructive and violent, dangerous to both himself and to those around him. His book 'Taming The Tiger' tells of the amazing transformation and how he came to know God. He has a very powerful message to tell and his story is touching.

Green For Go!

Wow, has it been 2 monthes already since i left home? It sure feels like a lot more time than 2 monthes has passed, yet these last 2 monthes have been so fast!

Lots has happened. Firstly, the serious stuff. The bomb scares last week has been a big shock, it doesn't get any closer than this. Only earlier in the week, i had been past the area where the first car bomb was found. And to realise that these things happen right here in central London has put things in perspective. Not that i've been living in a hole, i do know of the events in the past but to actually experience it is a different thing and then to realise that I live in a dangerous city where terrorism is a real and constant threat. Since then, i have tried to avoid crowded places and anywhere which may be prime targets. People seem to have carried on with their lives as per usual though and things have recovered quickly. Business is as usual.

These last couple weeks have been spent waiting for my checks to go through, and today i finally got the green lights from HR that everything is A ok. I will be starting on the 9th of July, which gives me a full week to loiter around and do nothing before the real thing. Today i meet with my agent who treated me to lunch at liverpool street. The food was good, especially when it's free and it was my first experience at sushi train too. I later met with HR to arrange the paperwork for my work permit, and i was pleasantly surprised to learn that they will need to fly me back home to get it done, all paid for by the company of course. So i will be coming back home sometime soon for a little visit hopefully in a few monthes time!

So the week ahead should be relatively stress-free and relaxing, but the weather has been unrelentling. It has been raining all week and there is no end in sight. I was considering of going to wimbledon to watch the tennis but it'll probably be hampered by the wet weather. There have been so many game delays that the officials are now thinking of extending the tournament for another week.

Other things on the agenda are a road trip to scotland, but of course i'm trying to get leave for that so i don't know if that is going ahead since it will be during my first week of employment. And also, i need a haircut, badly.

Idleness

I guess as soon as i received the offer from BC, my mind had already been made up to join them. So the decision that i made earlier this week was made with a clear head, although it was quite a shame to decline the GS offer. They very kindly gave me a tour around their office to meet the team on monday and even took me out for lunch, and i was very impressed with them. They seem to take great care for their employees well being and promote best practises in the organisation. In the end though, the BC offer was too hard to dismiss, so i choose them.

At the moment, i'm just waiting for them to do some background checks including reference checks, security checks and medical checks. So many checks! I have a provisional start date of the 9th of July which is just over 2 weeks from now. You'd think that this would be the best opportunity for me to do some travelling right? Having secured a job and having 2 weeks of freedom, but in reality it doesn't quite work that way as i am quite broke at the moment. Living frugally seems to be the order of the day until i get some savings going. So i have spent this week visiting the british musuem and even stumbled upon this unofficial tour of the bible. It lead me to the british library and there i was able to see a parchment of the dead sea scrolls, 2 of the oldest bibles in the world, and many other wonderful ancient artifacts..like original beatles lyrics written with paper and pen. Ok that's enough for now, back to idlesness i go. At least i have some time now to catch up on my favourite webcomic, Questionable Content!

Broken Keyboard

Certain keys on the keyboard of my laptop ceased to function overnight without a trace which made chatting and writing emails very challenging and put a halt to the updating of this blog. I bought a compact keyboard yesterday as a temporary fix, but i think it's time for me to buy a new laptop. In case some of you are curious, the suspect keys where spacebar, 'n' and 'b' along with some other control keys like 'down', 'delete' and 'Fn'. Not having the 'Fn' key means that i am now stuck with my current brightness setting, for eternity.

I've settled in at my new place quite well although i have not spent much time at home during the day, its starting to feel more like home away from home. I like the location here, it's quiet, there are many shops and it's easy to get around. However, i only found out after moving in that the landlady not only smokes but smokes inside the house and i can smell it in my room in the mornings. What a shame, it was almost exactly what i wanted, i don't think i can live anywhere for the long term where there is smoking allowed so i'm gonna have to move out sometime.

I received the contract from GS on wednesday night, and it was a little more than what me and my agent were expecting. So far so good right, but there's a twist. After receiving the verbal offer last week, i stopped applying for new jobs and was just finishing off whatever interviews i had in the pipeline, and BC was one of them. During the BC interview, i had told them about my GS offer, and they (unexpectedly) fast tracked the recruitment process. Within 2 days, they had me in to do the rounds and by wednesday morning they had made me a competing verbal offer!

The ensuing scenario has been quite an eye opener for me, and i'm very flattered by it. Both companies have been trying to pitch their role to me since then, with the BC team inviting me for casual drinks on the thursday night just past, and the GS team inviting me for lunch tommorow. I think i have already made a decision though. I received the BC contract yesterday so i now have both in hand. I really value the GS offer, they are very prestigous and certainly it was a very tough and drawn out process to get to the end. Samson and others have all said that the GS name carries itself meaning that even if it was slightly less than other offers, it would be worthwhile in the long run. However, BC have made an offer too hard to refuse. They are offering better technologies, packaging and title. It is beyond what i had ever hoped for, and I am thankful for what has been given to me.

Oh, after buying the keyboard at Tottenham Court Road yesterday i went down the road to check out The British Musuem. Wow, it was amazing! I went on a tour of Assyrian Reliefs then moved on to see the rest of musuem. The 3 highlights were The Rosetta Stone, The Greek Parthenon Marble Sculptures, and The Egyptian Mummies including Cleopatra! It's so ridiculous because all it cost for me was a ride on the tube (about 2 quid) because all the musuems and galleries here are free entries.

My Place

The last few days has been crazy busy, i've hardly had a chance to sit down. But here i am now, i finally have my own place! Yay! I just moved in and will experience having a bed of my own for the first time in a long time. What more, it has a super decent internet connection so no more walking to the library for email access! *Big GRIN* I'm sharing a house with my Turkish land lady, a French woman who seems pretty nice, and a Brazilian couple whom i have not met yet, it's a very culturally diverse household which is cool. It's still kinda near where Samson is, so it'll be convenient for us to met up. I'll be spending the next few days exploring the neighbourhood around here and see if i can find any handy shops. Will report more later.

Hallelujah!

My prayers have been answered! On monday, after 4 rounds and speaking for over 5 hours with 10 people over 3 weeks, i finally received an 'intention to offer'! Sing and dance for joy! What does it mean? Basically, the company is in the process of preparing a contract for me which could take a while but in the meantime they want to assure me that they fully intend to hire. Thank God! I have been so stressed out and depressed in the last few weeks, and this is a great release.

I have to say though, in the beginning i was pretty sure that i would not make it through because i honestly thought that i didn't fit their profile. But if there's anything that i'm still trying to learn it is that there is no certainty in life and to expect the unexpected. Now my next task is to find my own place, which i must do before the weekend. I really look forward to settling down into a place, starting work, meeting new people and getting into a routine. My life here in London begins...NOW!

One Month

Well it has been one whole month that i have lived here in London and the weeks have past by faster than i expected. I originally wanted to make a side by side comparison of how life here is different from back home, but i don't think i'm really in the right frame of mind to be talking about that right now, perhaps another time.

One thing that has really changed for me is my perspective of life, i think i have lost many things but have gained one very important thing in return. And i know that suffering is a very strong word but i believe that all the difficulties that i have gone through and will go through is something that is necessary in order for me to fully appreciate what is to come ahead. I wouldn't have come to London if i didn't have a belief in myself, and that belief has carried me through job interviews, but not so much so in my personal hardships. I know that i am still lacking strong charactership and there are many flaws that i need to overcome.

I went to a home group yesterday and we had a discussion about suffering and persecution. I feel that i need to be honest with myself and be able to speak freely about my situation to people without fear of being judged. It is a very difficult thing to do, to be able to open up to others because we tend to be cautious and place a mental wall that guards us from the outside world. Afterall, we all like to think of ourselves as being strong, self-sufficient and without flaw, but how many of us are willing to admit our weaknesses, deficiencies and imperfections? We like to maintain a good reputation amongst our peers, and so we do not expose our selves for fear of harm. But if we have full self awareness of our faults then we free ourselves of the burden to maintain this ideal image of ourselves.

New recruits are sent to boot camp to be broken down only to be rebuilt back up so that they become displined and strong. Am i being broken down now by Him to be rebuilt spritually? I like to believe so and will take the steps to see that i will follow the right path.

First London Summer

It is the first day of Summer today here in London and things have picked up a little this week. I went through a few successful interviews and yesterday i did a the 4th and final round with an Investment Bank. At the moment i'm waiting on a decision to be made, more news to come once i get it. Wish me luck.

Although i don't have any job offers yet, I will need to start looking for my own place. I don't really know where to start, there are so many places to see and it will take some time to find a suitable one. Ii understand that it will be difficult to get a place though since i don't have any income yet to prove to landlords that i will be a reliable tenant. But i don't really have a choice anymore cos i really need my own space to breath..

I didn't updated my blog this week cos i felt that all i was doing was complain about how crap things are, and they were pretty crap earlier in the week. It's a constant rollercoaster cycle through depression and hope and back again, over and over. I always have a stern face on and there aren't many occasions to smile about. I haven't had a good laugh for a while either. But don't give up on me, i haven't lost all hope yet.

Another Bank Holiday

Tommorows a bank holiday so it has been another long weekend over here, not that it really means much to me since i'm not working anyway. But i have had an extra day to 'rest' my brain a little. Samson and T are away camping somewhere in the booshes, but the weathers been real crap so it might be quite miserable for them. So that means i've been at home on my own and how have i spent my time you might be thinking? Studying of course! I really need to buff up my business knowledge in derivatives and investment banking if i'm to score a decent job over here cos i've figured out that being technically strong on its own isn't always enough.

I did get up to some leasuirely activities yesterday, I went to the victoria and albert museum as well as the natural history museum. There are lots of things to see there and a single weekend visit won't be enough time to take it all in. I recommend going on the tours as you will understand and appreciate a lot more that way. There's one thing that's been really troubling me lately but i'm not ready to tell the world about it yet, maybe a bit later though.

Getting Lost

It has started to warm up again these last few days and i have noticed a direct correlation between the amount of sunshine and my levels of happiness. Perhaps London is some sort of controlled environment created by a bunch of Psychologists in white suits who have made this matrix like world to test their hypothesis and i am just a hapless subject in their experiment. Yes, we are all in this illusion together, this is not real, i am just a figment of my own imagination and so are you.

I took up Chans suggestion and tried to get myself lost in the neighbourhood. And he was right, it is hard to get lost especially when carrying a map. I don't think i'm brave enough to go wondering without a map yet, maybe when i'm more familiar with the streets, but then it'll defeat the purpose of getting lost when i already know the streets. One of the things that is lacking here are natures stripes. People back home know them as the green parts next to a footpath usually with grass and or trees on them. Over here, it's like a concrete jungle, streets aren't straight and the colours are all a variation of grey or brown.

I've been doing a lot of job related stuff lately. Lots of tests, lots of phone interviews and a few face to face interviews. I'm waiting to hear back from a few companies at the moment but this time i won't be keeping any hopes up, i'll be better prepared for rejection. The interviews have actually been good for me, i've been getting better at answering questions with all the practice i've been getting and it's been a good learning experience. Tommorow i'll be doing yet another interview but this time it's with the development manager that i meet on friday. You might recall that i spent a ridiculous amount on money for dinner last week, well Samson says to see it as an investment, so hopefully tommorow is pay day.

Paraguayan Horse

Thank you to all the kind messages that everyone left for me, it really helps to know that i still have friends out there who are not only aware of my spartan existence through reading this blog and keeping in touch, but are also cheering me on when i feel down and out. It's somehow satisfying to share this experience with all you guys, and i hope that i can at least entertain a bit little through the reporting of my day to day happenings. On with the show.

Besides being able to see a little bit of a major investment bank, the interview on Thursday was almost a complete waste of time. From the very onset of meeting some of their people, they didn't show any enthusiasm, interest or emotions, and worst of all they weren't even looking for a C++ guy, they wanted Java! This got me thinking, why the heck did my agent set me up for this interview, was i just a filler so that he could sell another candidate? It didn't make sense to me. On the way back home, i felt chewed up and spat out and all for nothing. Now i know how it feels like to be [insert name of a washed up celebrity]...

Fridays interview was a surprisingly pleasant experience. I mean i only spent a half hour with the manager but i could sense that he was a geniunely nice guy. It was a one on one meeting in his office, so it was quite intimate, and i don't mean that in a queer way okay. Informal would probably serve as a better word, and i still like girls.

Samson arranged for me to meet a Development Manager, a buddy of his from Sophis from his old days at Rule, for a casual drink in the evening so i had a couple hours in between. I walked towards St Pauls Cathedral and went inside to observe their Friday evening song. I would later think that maybe i should have stayed where i was because after the drinks with Samsons group, we went to an expensive restaurant where they served 'good meat' for dinner. Okay, i thought this was gonna bust my budget, but i wasn't the only one that was gobsmacked when the bill arrived to the tune of 360 pounds for 8 people! I mean you wouldn't beleive it when i tell you that they had the guts to charge 3 pounds for mushroom sauce to go with your steak. Where in the world do they charge you to have sauce with your steak, please tell me! You might be thinking, well it must have a been a worthy meal fit for a king, but i thougth it wa ta royal rip off for over cooked steak and a couple sides. Poor Rufa, she only had a desert too. However, the excitement didn't end there, more was to come.

In an attempt to avoid being labeled a 'Paraguayan Horse' by his Brazillian buddies, Samson (along with me) was dragged to a club at Old Street later at night. Now, i was totally buggered already by this stage and i'm not particularly found of being trampled on and having drinks spilt onto my suit, though my suit has already seen listerine on it which is pretty much alchohol anyway, so i took the first excuse to make my way home when Rufa made a convenient excuse to leave too. But me being the noob that i am, i took a gamble and caught a late tube to Bank station only to find out when i got there that all connecting lines back to Sheperds bush, aka HOME, were finished for the night.

OMG, I was stranded! I had given my London map to Samson back at the club, spent all my cash at the restaurant, and had no idea which way was north, not even to mention which dark and winding London street was going to take me home. I tried to walk my way back to Old Street station but only got as far as Moorgate station before losing my bearings again. I met an Old man at the station who had just returned from teaching English overseas and like me was also stranded. He told me that he had lived in London for 20 years and still didn't know his way around all parts of London, one could easily get lost here without a map. Luckily, Samson received my distress signal and as swift as an eagle came to my rescue.

Percy Pigs

Today has been the lowest point to date since my arrival, i received 2 rejections in 1 day. I won't go into detail, but i think at least 1 of them was unfortunate and there wasn't much i couldv'e done about it, and the other was just by my own mistakes.

I walked down what i thought was Regent street in the afternoon and realised that i was lost, but not before it had started raining. I went into a Marks and Spencers and had a look around. I found some Percy Pigs and immediately thought of my gf and how much i missed her. It made me even sadder and i missed home terribly. I had to escape into the rain, it seemed like a good cover for me at the time, to be anonymous amongst a crowd and wallow in my own pity. It rains a lot over here.

Not to dispair, i have another 3 face to face interviews to come. Hopefully i will learn from my mistkaes and improve from them. But right now, i'm troubled with a dilemma with 2 agencies i'm with. Each are trying to get their cut of the action and i'm stuck in the middle. But all i want is a job, simple as that. Everywhere i look, i see people that are busy doing their work, and i think to myself i want to be just like them. I see people laughing and having fun, and i want that too. I want to be normal again.

First Interview Tommorow

On Sunday, Samson took me to the local church which he has been attending and I thought it would be an opportunity to meet some good people and feel being apart of a community again. And I was able to nice people which was great for me and i hope to be able to know them better.

During the service, there was a lot of worshipping and prayers and it was a time of reflection. The strange thing for me was that i felt quite emotional during the singing and at one stage i felt i was on the verge of tears. I can't really describe it, but i realised that some things were out of my control and i should be humble of my current situation. It was quite healing for me spiritually and the message i took with me was that one should not be too proud to ask.

Things have picked up a little bit as of today and the ball has started rolling so to say in respects to my job hunting. My agents will be trying to set up interviews with a few investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Barcap later this week, and tommorow i will have my very first face to face interview with a company called Trayport.

There is a saying i heard this week which has been stuck in my head. It goes something like this.

No lasting glory was without struggle.

I will draw from those words for inspiration when i need reminders of why i'm here, what i'm here for and what i need to do.

No Internet

No job, no gf, no social life and no internet. How soon will it be until things pick up again. A week? A month? A few monthes?

The last time i had a taste of the internet at home was yesterday morning, and it has dried up since then. So i have not been able to be on call to apply for any jobs or answer emails from agents and such. It is slightly disappointing that it will probably remain this way, so i have had to look for an alternate solution.

I remember passing an internet cafe on my way back from hammersmith, so today i went to go check it out. It started raining as i walked there and i thought to myself, bugger i'm gonna have to walk to the cafe and pay like this everyday until who knows when, making job hunting just one little bit more draining. I passed by a local library just doors away from the internet cafe and went inside to check it out and was lucky to discover that they provided free internet access. Tomorrrow i'm going to go back there to sign up for membership and make a deliberate effort to go down there every morning to sort out my business.

The Waiting Game

I think i was experiencing a mild case of depression, but the downward spiral has been halted temporarily today. It is hard being alone and with so many changes in my life in such a short time, but i think it will take a while for readjustment. For now, i'm mostly concerned with standing on my own feet by getting a job and moving into my own place. I know it may take some time for that to happen but in the meantime i feel kinda useless by just staying at home, waiting for emails and phonecalls from agents. I do however, have a telephone interview tomorrow, my very first so i aim to do well in it. I don't think it will be a problem finding a job here simply because there are so many jobs out there at the moment, and i mean ALOT! But it's frustrating that after doing all the leg work with agencies i still need to wait for companies to get back to me. I know it has only been a short time but i am eager to get out and just start doing some interviews.

Last night, Samson and Rufa suggested that i spam as many agencies as i could, so thats exactly what i did today. Let me just say, if you ever plan to take this strategy make sure you have plenty of free time set aside to answer all the calls and emails that you get, because you will get many! Only hours after sending off 20 applications in the morning, i was unindated by agents all trying to contact me at around the same time and by afternoon i had forgotten how many calls i had taken. It was so crazy that i wasn't even able to have lunch until almost 4pm.

I think the jetlag is still there, because i am still feeling sleepy at around 5-7pm. I need a way to fight the drowsy demon when it comes around next time, but how. Maybe i'll go for a walk or take an early shower or maybe even play some wii. I will report on my progress in the next few days.

Bank Holiday

It's a long weekend so not much is happening at the moment. Back at home holidays are generally known as a Public holiday whereas over here it's a Bank holiday. Just another British quirk i guess. So the last few days has been kinda quiet, the holiday just means downtime from job hunting for me, adding to my existing frustrations. Good thing is that Samson just brought a Wii back home, and we've been playing that all weekend. We're getting pretty good at the sports games now and we even have Zelda to play with. I even had a chance to buy a cheap duvet and pillow, increasing my comfort levels by 1 notch, but still way below what it was in my previous life. *Sigh* I miss home and everyone back there, especially my gf *sigh some more*. I really miss her.

I'm told that i'm experiencing jetlag at the moment. That explains a lot the sleepiness i'm having in strange hours but i think i'm slowly getting out of it. I also unsuccessfully tried to make some spaghetti bolognaise, and T hasn't stopped reminding me of it yet. But the bright side of it is i can't really make pasta any worse, it can only get better. Right?

Exploring

The suit was still wearable after the treatment it received in my luggage and the smell of listerine is not noticable anymore. So the last couple days have been spent meeting up with agencies and exploring parts of London.

I've have so far managed to see a few interesting places. First was The National Gallery, this was a total surprise to me as i was making my way to Regent street to activate my bank account, i just happened to stumble into it. It's a truly spectacular place to view. The Apple super centre on Regent street is full of people looking for free web access. Which is a clever way of getting people to use and familiarise themselves with the Apple products really. The day was rounded off by visiting Buckingham Palace, what can i say it had to be done.

Today i met up with a couple other agencies, and so by afternoon i had a few good hours to explore London bridge with. I walked across London bridge by the Thames river and back again through the Tower Bridge. The thing that continues to amaze me about this town is the amount of history it has, and how there are great attractions that you will see in the most unexpected places. Like the Monument for example, it's just hidden away in some small street, totally surprising.

London

I'm finally here. It's my second day and my head is a total mess at the moment. Where do i begin? Oh yes, the flight.

I was lucky enough to score a aisle seat with an empty spot next to me so i had plenty of room to stretch out. It was a gruelling 12 hours flight, but so far so good i thought to myself, until i landed at the airport. They weren't able to open the door of the cargo compartment to unload the luggage and they could not say how long it may take. They advised us to leave and they would later deliver our luggage to us, most likely by the next evening. The problem was i had an interview the next morning and my suit and shoes along with most of my clothes was checked-in, i wasn't going to be able to get my suit in time. It was not a good start. We were told that the engineers were working on it, so i figured that i would wait around a bit and hopefully with a bit of luck be able to leave with all my luggage. After an hour of waiting and just before i was about to leave, we received news that they were able to open the doors but there was oil damage to some of the bags. So anyway, 5 hours after landing, i was able to finally pick up my luggage from the carousel and quickly opened it to check that everything was fine, and that is when i discovered to my horror that the listerine bottle had ruptured and had spilt all over my brand new, unworn suit jacket.

I was able to go straight through customs and onto the tube to meet Samson and T who were waiting for me at Hammersmith station. By this stage, i had been awake for almost 48 hours with only a few light napping sessions totally around 2 hours. I kept falling asleep on the tube and was sure that i would miss my stop, good thing i didn't. So anyway, the night came to a good ending when i finally saw them and promptly gave them a hug, since i had not seen any friendly faces for 2 days already. We went back to their place, had some late supper at a local cheap chinese restaurant, and the stain and smell of the listerine began to fade. There was more to be done the next day so i quickly fell asleep in my first night in London.

Will write more about todays events, tommorow. Be sure to check back then, i will be posting some photos i took during the day. G'nite all.

Hong Kong

I am absolutely buggered. I have been up all day and night, and i have to survive the next 10 hours while i wait to board my next connecting flight to London. On the way here while descending, my ears had a hard time readjusting and started to get painful. I lost most of my earing in my left ear for a good 20 minutes or so, and freaked out a little. And even though my hearing has been restored the ear is still sore in the inside. It was 28 degrees here when i landed, a pretty hot night even for Melbournes standards, but it has seemed to cool down a bit.

I haven't been anywhere apart from 2 levels of the Hong Kong airport, but the people here seem to be friendly and helpful. It seems to be a nice place to visit, and my rusty grasp on Cantonese has worked well for me so far. I will definitely come for a proper stay to see this land properly on my way back. For now, it's just very quiet, pretty dim and a little bit cold. I gotta say, the cool thing about the airport is the free wireless internet, and i even managed to find a power outlet near a seat and table. What else can one ask for, really?

And just for the record, my first meal here was instant noodles with fried egg and spam with a coke. My sleeping patterns is pretty messed up at the moment, i have no real idea what time it really is for me. I am thinking in 3 different time zones. What time it was when i left, what time it is here locally, and what time it will be in my final destination. Right now, i wish i could just curl up in my bed back at home and rest my tired eyes.

Flickr

My Flickr photo album is finally up, please enjoy! I will be posting photos of places that i'll be visiting in my travels, so do keep checking back every now and then for updates.

Today was very strange, after having lunch with my gf i had a few hours to kill before she finished work. So i had the whole afternoon off to wunder around the city. It was very relaxing and i came to realise that this is what is what life must of felt like back in uni days.

Why Am I Still Awake?

I've had very little sleep this whole week, it was jam packed full of social outings and farewells but i've finally come to the end of it. Thank you to all who came to see me one last time before i head off to London. I really enjoyed the times we've had together, and it's sad to say good bye to you all. Lots of jolly adventures await for me in old London town, it's only less than 2 days away!

I will try to post the pictures that i've taken in the last couple weeks but Flickr seems really slow tonight, so it'll have to wait for another time. Please be patient and check back in a day or so.

This Time Next Month

I handed my resignation letter in on Friday. It is exactly 1 month away to the day that i will depart dear ol Melbourne for the bigger world at large. What an exciting time it is for me! For now i'm super occupied with organising, packing, sorting, throwing and studying..yes studying! I need to be uber prepared for the job interviews that i'll be taking. Getting to this point has been a long process, and i there is more stuff to be done. ALOT more. Just thinking about all that i'm leaving behind makes me feel depressed, but thinking about walking down the streets of London sparks excitement in me, it's a mixed bag of polarised emotions.

Londonia

Hey world, I'm going to London via Hong Kong in May! Enough said, for now.

Neighbours

Hey guess what, i have a new neighbour, and that neighbour will be Chan! Wow! He just bought an apartment in the block and will be living downstairs in a couple monthes time. I may not be around to help him move in though, since i will most likely be overseas by then. Speaking of which, i submitted my visa application yesterday and i should get an answer in a couple weeks time. Wish me luck.

Times Up, Almost

My God, has it been 3 monthes already? There has been so much stuff going on over the summer, that i've hardly had a proper break to sit on my ass on a weekend and just plain ol veg out. Until today.

So i better get my butt in gear then, it's not long until April and May rolls around. I feel like i'm procrastinating too much, and wasting time here. I definitely need to cut down on Warcraft3 and spend more time polishing up on some tech skillz. Time to get the whip out, hoo-yaa!

Badminton Mad

Yes, just like this time last year i have gone badminton mad again. I'm absolutely exhausted now, and i feel like taking a sickie from work tommorow to recover from my sores.

Freedom At Last

So i'm finally here, i finally have some free time. I've gone from having absolutely no time at all, to having a whole bunch of time on my hands. Challenge now is to fill in those empty time slots with things to do.

Hurry Up Time

This time next week, i'll be partying very hard at the company christmas party in a manner representing my glee in completing my last exams, EVER. And i really do mean ever. I'm sick of studying, too many sacrifices, too few rewards. When asked, i will reply with
"no more studying for me thank you very much."

Built To Spill

Hey, i've been very lucky to get a hold of not 1 but 2 Built To Spill albums! Go check them out, they are very cool.

So what's been happening this week? Well, not much. The week commenced with an evacuation drill on monday, which is always my preferred way of kicking off monday mornings at 9am, and i was 'nominated' to be our sections fire warden because

"the company has a tradition for new comers to participate as a means to meet everyone in the office.."

which is total bs of course and just a lame cover of the fact that no one else wants to be the warden. And i've been here for over 7 monthes already, come on! The term new comer no longer applies to me. The fifty thousand other developers who joined after me are new, i'm old school, 7 monthes of oldness in fact.

So anyway, i stuffed up cos i prematurely (hee hee, that's a funny word) gathered everyone together before the actual warning alert tone, so people were left standing around looking at each other with sheepish faces, whilst i cowered away in shame and embarrassment. Not long later, everyone figured that they probably should go back to their seats.

Oh it was snowing a couple days ago. Yes, snowing in November in Victoria! It's true!

Vince and I went to this myOE seminar after work today. Every little bit of information counts, i suppose.

It's Under Control

Boobs are getting bigger! Woo hoo!

Okay, i'm think i've finally gotten a hold of my assignments now, and they're on track for completion by next tuesdays due date. Which means, my mood is gradually going to go back towards normacy by 1 notch. Although, only until i finish the exams and get my results will i finally return back to my true normal self.

Spin

Its during bumpy times when you listen to a particular song at a particular moment that you feel it really 'click' with you in that one instance. Today on my way home, i was listening to my iPod and drew some inspiration from this.

Everything i know has let me down.
So i will just let go.
Let you turn me inside out.

My own interpretation of 'spin' is not so much directed at any one person, but more of an outside look of the world around. I need to let go some. For me its about finding some bit of hope in times of despair, and to be able to see the bigger picture outside of the current situation no matter how bleak it may appear at that point in time.

Here's the live version, it's a bit raw but that's what i like about it.

Another Year Older

Big thanks to everyone for celebrating or remembering my birthday this year. You guys make a pretty miserable day that much less miserable for me.

Back to School

I started my graduate diploma of applied finance and investment this week. The trimester goes for 10 weeks and ends with the final exam being on the same day as the company christmas party. Lots to look forward to. For the moment, i'm studying like i've never studied before. I'm pretty much devoting all my time to reading the subject material for the moment. Reading on the train to work, on the train back, before dinner, after dinner, before bed, in bed, etc. This means i have even less of a life than to what little i had before.

Also, i've mostly decided on overseas working plans for the near short term. More to be revealed as the time comes closer and plans get tighter.

Overload

Lately at work i have been feeling that i am being overloaded with work. Tasks are being stacked onto me faster than i can finish them. The resulting effect is a backlog of work, all having a mixture of urgency attached, with the same amount of time to do them in.

I have been given too much responsibility with not enough lead in time. This may sound like a good thing to some, but in practice it can be a bit over whelming. I'm doing more maintenance and support work than i was prepared to do when i was hired and not enough development. I want to be doing more coding and more design and less debugging and less enhancements!

Falls Creek

I'll be heading off to Falls Creek tonight for the weekend to do some snowboarding. Yay! I'm so excited, i've been waiting for this for a while now and it'll be my first trip there. Though i have a feeling this may be my one and only trip to the snow this season. Boo! Anyway, i'll see everyone back in a few days time.

Also, some very good news has just come through today and i am totally relieved, i think i will have a good time this weekend with very little to worry about.

Time Allowances

I've started running again this week. I'll be training for the up coming snow trip to Falls Creek in August. I'm so excited!

Lately i've been staying back in the office after work to hang out, most of the time it's to play Nintendo DS or foosball or both. It's really taking a lot of my time away yet i continue to do it. This coupled with my new found determination to go to bed before midnight means that i really only have a couple hours of real 'free time' each night in which to do things. And of top of that, i'll need to squeeze in a half hour every 2nd day to go jogging.

I'm Connected

We finally have ADSL at home now, after all these years of dial-up connectivity sadness. It definitly makes better sense, the only thing that really prevented us from upgrading in the past was not knowing whether we'll still be in the same place 6, 12 or 24 monthes away. That isn't really an issue anymore.

So it's been a while since the last update. I think i was in a pretty buggered state in that last post, well that aspect of life hasn't really changed. Too many things to do and not enough time to do them with.

Things are going to be better soon, but not before they get worse. I rememeber being in a pretty content state back in February for a blissful month or so, and i reckon i'll be returning to that in a monthes time, all depending on how things go.

My boss keeps piling up work for me to do, i guess that means i've probably passed my probation.

Okay, it's 4am right now and you've probably noticed that i'm not really stringing my throughts into coherent paragraphs. So maybe i should stop here and continue during normal daylight hours. For now, check out how to open a bottle of beer the Scandinavian way.

Very Tired

Hey, I fell sick last week, the sick of the painful and sleepless kind. So that put a big hole in my 10 km run training and i missed a few days in the schedule. But not much was lost, earlier this week i decided to start all over again from week 1 and now i'm back to running again.

Work has been quite busy, i'm currently in my probation period and i'm doing all that i can to make sure i make it through these testing 3 monthes to come. All this means working like a very eager beaver and coming home late when it's all dark and cold outside. I don't think i can sustain this current life style for much too long, least i break down into a pile of mess by the end of it.

Samson is coming back to Oz in August to visit for a couple weeks! It'll be great to see him again, and i hope we an squeeze a snow trip in there somewhere while he's here.

Oh also, everyone update your blogs! There's been a world wide shortage of blog updates. That's what my little birdy told me the other day. Me go now.

10 Km Run

Bernie and I begun our 10 Km run training on monday. Bernie is a seasoned runner from his NS days, and is already capable of doing a 5 km run at will. Not only does he work in the building directly opposite to me, he's also on the same level. We have decided to do our running seperately though since it'll be tricky to juggle our hours. But at least we started the 5 week schedule together so as to keep each other in check if we miss a day or slack off. Furthermore, I'm motivated by his funny threats to "come over to your building, go up to your floor and kick someones butt" if i miss a session. He's joking of course, he's too nice of a guy to do such things. Let's see how far we go with this.

5 Km Run - Finished

Hey all, just reporting on my progress. I finished the 5 Km run on monday in the time of 30 minutes. It was really tough, but really rewarding. All the hard work in the last 6 weeks paid off i guess. I'm going to take the rest of the week off and then maybe look into the 10 km schedule with Bernie next week.

Happy Easter

I started my new job on Monday, but i've been spoilt with shorter than normal working weeks. Things are coming on okay, i'm still adjusting to the office and its people. Just little things like which directions doors open to, whether you push or pull them, umm yeah that's most i can think of right now. After only 3 days, i've been poached by another team, which doesn't make much of a difference right now as they never told me which team or what work i was to be doing when i was hired. My only reassurance was that that'll find a spot to put me. And i seem to be getting along well with the guys around me, which is great. They placed me next to a window too, which is very unexpected. Basically i had to swap desks with another guy, and the guy i was supposed to be 'replacing' pretty much took my 3 day old job (and desk) and i took his. Oh and like Samson, we also have a foosball table at the office, though the guys there have been playing for years already, so i have a bit to catch up on before i get to their level of crazy-foosball-action-skill-variety.

It's pretty exciting to be working in the city. I already have a few friends who have been working in offices on the same street and Alex will be starting his new job next week too, being only 2 tram stops away from me. So there won't be a shortage of company for lunches and after work activities. That's all for now.

Gone

Hey, it's my last day here at the company. I'll be outta here within the hour. Many people have asked me how i feel, and to be honest i'm not sure really. It's definitely a strange mix of feelings. For now, i just can't wait to go home and relax for the rest of the week, before the fresh start on monday.

Halfway There

Today marks the 1/2 way point in my little quest for personal glory, the 5 km run! As the days go by, each suceeding session has gradually increased in length and intensity. I can't give up now, i gotta keep going! Repeat mantra *I think i can, i think i can..*

Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa

I've gotten around to telling everyone in the team about me finding a new job and leaving the company sometime in the next couple of weeks. Strangely enough, what i particularly enjoyed about this was seeing the expressions on their faces when i tell them. Most people look shocked or surprised while others maintain a calm look as if they had already heard about the news floating around the office.

So work has come to a slow down, to a dwindle almost. And how have i occupied my time you might be thinking? By seeking out and hunting down some old favourite nes/famicom game roms of course! One of the gems i found is Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa, also known as 'Mario Baby' outside of Japan. Before this week i had never known the actual name of this game, my brothers and i used to just call it 'the baby game'. It is very cute and very colourful, and immensely entertaining, for a 9 year old boy.

Rugby Sevens

On Thursday, i was able to score a few free tickets from work to watch the Commonwealth Games Rugby 7s matches. So i called a couple of Rugby watching buddies and headed to the city that evening readied to be pampered with Medallion Club seatings.

For those that are unfamiliar to Rugby 7s, it's basically a scaled down version of Rugby Union, where there are 7 players to a side and the matches are played in 2 halve of 7 minutes. The playing field is the same dimension as regular Rugby Union, so this allows more opportunities for attacking runs as players have more ground to cover. Short and exciting, it was great to watch.

Also, a bunch of us from BOGA will be going to watch the badminton mixed team semifinal events tommorow. I feel like i'm being spoilt with sport in the past month.

Unreliable People

One thing that really pisses me off is having plans made and then fall apart with consistently unreliable people. I can't believe i allow this to happen to me so many times without actually doing anything about it. Something needs to be done.

Strange Noises

Last night while reading in bed, i heard a very strange yet familiar noise. At first i could not determine where the noise had been originating from. Was it in the room? Was it outside? Was it downstairs? Then i figured, the only place that'll make any sense would be in the roof!

I wonder what it is, we've heard that noise before in the previous place we lived in, and it freaked the hell out of everyone. We thought it was some psychotic serial killer stalking us in our front yard while we slept. But now that we no longer live on ground level, it couldn't possible be someone outside, it seemed much closer than that.

The noise is a multitude of heavy breathing, growling, hissing, all combined in one. Maybe it's a possum or a feral cat. Whatever it is, it better beat it before i beat it.

5 Km Run

Siting infront of a computer desk all day doesn't do much good for my fitness, so i've just started a nike training schedule which will hopefully train me up to do a 5 km run in 6 weeks time. I'm up to day 3 of week 1, let's see how far i can go before i give up!

Many things have happened work-wise in the last few days. I've signed the contract for the new job i've been offered and i've put in my resignation. I'll be starting at the new job after i serve out my 4 week notice.

Yesterday was my boss' (former) last day at the company. As he 'shift-deleted' his way out of the office, i couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness to see him go. He has amazing talent and i have learnt a great deal from him in the last 4 years. Thanks for all you've done for me Pete, i'm sure you'll move on to bigger and better things.

Change Of Scenery

So i have monumental news to announce, i got a call this morning from the people i had a job interview with from earlier this week. I've been offered a job at a company which develops Australia's premier share market information system, as used by the majority of professional equity market participants across Australia and New Zealand (that came straight out of their website). They want me to come in on monday to get the paper work sorted out, which is just awesome! I couldn't hold back my excitement over the phone. I feel very lucky.

Also, check out Yuli's blog, it was one of the first blogs i visited regularly. And She may not know this, but it was from her blog that i got the inspiration to start my own blog. So do check it out, it has lots of pretty colours.

Attentive Builder

Here's a snapshot of my personality as of today:

Personal DNA map

This has validated what i have always suspected, that i need brighter colours. Oh and that i am below average in almost all of the 13 listed personality traits.

Take the test for yourself, you can't do worse than me. Thank you personalDNA.com for letting me know what a loser i am, i didn't really need my self-esteem anyway.

Possum

I visited my old University campus last friday and noticed a great deal of change around the place. The most impressive change was the new building they constructed for the IT faculty and the multi-storey carpark. And in amongst all this change was this old white weather board house located right in the middle of campus which is commonly thought to be privately owned.

Since the campus is fairly small and land is in high demand to meet the progress of the ever growing campus, you will think that the prime real estate that the house is sitting on will be highly regarded by the university. I'm baffled to think of a reason why that house hasn't been acquired and knocked down to make room for expansion.

I'm sure there is a very interesting story behind that old house, probably because the owners have been there for over 50 years and are probably too stubborn to sell it, and are purposely refusing to negotiate any deals with the Uni just so that they can stick it to the man. If that were the case it would be either really silly or really smart, cos i'm certain it would easily fetch over a million bucks.

Oh and as i walked past that old house, i noticed a possum sitting on the fence. I wonder if that was the very same possum that bit Alex as he tried to feed it one night many, many years ago. I believe he got a shot for the bite too.

Winter Olympics

Work has been pretty busy lately, there seems to be never-ending shite that i need to take care of, when will it all end.

Last night, i watched the closing ceremony for the XX Winter Olypics. I always feel a sentimental sense of melancholy whenever the Olympics end, or when any other major sporting event ends for that matter. It's sad to see you go, you have been my sole source of entertainment in the past 2 weeks. That's pretty sad when you think about it. The end of the snow-season also evokes similar feelings of dispair and sadness.

And with that comes one other thing, no more late nights staying up watching tv during the week, and instead focus on other more vital biological circadian cycles like sleep.

Home, Sweet Home

This week has been mighty busy. On the weekend, I moved into my new apartment. Thanks goes out to all the guys who lent some muscle for the move, you guys are the best! Since then, there has been been unending unpacking, cleaning, assembling, organising and what not. Then there's more cleaning to be done at the place i'm moving out from. And on top of that i've been going to several job interviews throughout the week as well as attending to my full time job. It's a very hectic schedule but the weekend is near, oh so very near.

I have a home i can finally call my own!

Badminton

Guess what world, i have gone badminton mad! I think i know what my problem is, obsession. I have a tendency to obsess over things and go absolutely bonkers, my friend agrees. Now i can't stop thinking of playing, i want to play! Play i say!

Hey, at least it's keeping me fit.

In other news, Samson has finally landed himself a job in London. Hurray for Samson! Now he can go out and reward himself by buying a PSP. You know you want it.

Beware of Badger x 3

Oh God, what have i done!? I have just unleashed badger, badger, badger to the world via mp3 mobile ring tunes.

Hey, i'm moving into my new apartment earlier than expected. More about this some other time.

I was just thinking, 1 life time is just not enough. I need more, at least twice that maybe even 3 times as much. The reason i need those extra lives is so that i can avoid making the same mistakes that i've made in my current life and instead concerntrate on the things that really do matter. You know kinda like playing super mario bros on NES, so you'll know which pipes have the big red ugly venice fly trap thingy with freckles or which bricks you need to break for that green mushroom 1 up. For those who aren't familiar with super mario bros, i apologise. I promise not to make any more crap analogies like that ever again.

BlogThis?

Just trying out the 'BlogThis!' link that appears at the top of my page. It allows me to create posts directly from the blog without going through the whole ritual of logging in and blah blah. Very cool!

Katamari Damacy Music

Dessy bought a new lappy yesterday, i am yet to get my dirty little hands on it.

I was able to rip the soundtrack off the katamari ps2 disc while at work today and now one of the songs is stuck in my head on constant repeat. The same line over and over again darnit, it's so catchy.

Guess what? The winter olympics start next week. I'm excited!

Federer the Invincible

Yipee, the weekend has come early for me!

The toilet compartment in our new office is sealed so tight that the air in it makes a swooshing sound by simply opening and closing the door. This has the unnerving effect of making me believe that someone has just flushed the toilet, every single time i enter.

Watching Federer play tennis is simply beautiful.

Don't Worry, Really

Unfortunately, there is no easy way of importing my older postings to here as that feature is not currently supported by Blogger. So i either wait until this feature has been implemented or i manually copy and paste every single posting here, which needless to say is long and painful.

I finally got my extreme-tracker working. I gotta say, i'm really liking the stuff i can do with Blogger, it is far more powerful than the one offered by Friendster. At the very least, it doesn't send out those annoying email reminders to everyone whenever i make a new posting.

Alex sent me this a few days ago, i thought it was really helpful. In short, the message here is "I do not have a care in this world because I've cast every one of them onto my Lord." Now that's some good advice i can certainly use!

Hello!

Hello! Welcome to my new blog!

The migration of my current friendster blog to a much cooler host like blogspot has finally happened. So here it, i hope you enjoy the new look and i'll be tweaking it over the next couple days so expect some changes to the site.

That's all for now, take care.