A Bike

A Zen Teacher saw five of his students return from the market, riding their bicycles. When they had dismounted, the teacher asked the students, "Why are you riding your bicycles?"

The first student replied, "The bicycle is carrying this sack of potatoes. I am glad that I do not have to carry them on my back!" The teacher praised the student, saying, "You are a smart boy. When you grow old, you will not walk hunched over, as I do."

The second student replied, "I love to watch the trees and fields pass by as I roll down the path." The teacher commended the student, "Your eyes are open and you see the world."

The third student replied, "When I ride my bicycle, I am content to chant, nam myoho renge kyo." The teacher gave praise to the third student, "Your mind will roll with the ease of a newly trued wheel."

The fourth student answered, "Riding my bicycle, I live in harmony with all beings." The teacher was pleased and said, "You are riding on the golden path of non-harming."

The fifth student replied, "I ride my bicycle to ride my bicycle."

The teacher went and sat at the feet of the fifth student, and said, "I am your disciple."

我是大舅舅了。

Supprise supprise.

My Cousin will be giving birth to a boy around next CNY. She hopes that i could go back to my hometown to share her joy. Such is life. What can i get for my new baby nephew ?

As the eldest male (in terms of hierachy) of my generation, i can't help but feel the sense of senescence sinking in.

On today(Monday)'s Strait Time, inadvertently, there is an article by a columnist in Life about the ticking biological clock of men and how he envied his peers who already have their offsprings crawling around. He rounded off his column with this sagely advice from a friend :

"Do not mistake the need for intimacy with the desire for children. Most men do get confuse but the women would spot it immediately"

As expected, the anithesis to all this came in the form of news of my colleague's father passing away.

While as much as i wish for my obliteration as soon as possible, my ride in this hell seemingly has yet to expire. With all the above happening in the span of one Monday morning, the sense of my own senescence is cleared, at least temporarily, which is summarised as :

Life and Death.
Falling snow.
Enjoy your food.
Lost is lost.

A moment

Office cold.
Sunshine bright.
Shivering skin
Blood warm.

Mooncake Day

The moon does seem to be rounder and brighter last night.

In remembrance, i write my first haikus.

"The moon is bright
I walked with my sight
Still got tripped
Cause I ignored the night.

Light and dark
Both play their part
Forsake the other
The tougher your path. "

Driving to work

Drove to work on my previous old car. Not a bad feeling even if it was raining heavily all around.

Dropped my phone on the floor in the afternoon. Menu button is not working. Sianz, even though still can use basic function. Maybe shd ask my brother to repair my phone as he's in related services. Dunno how much it will cost.

Going to MAS to burn the shows. Will wait until ERP is over.

Still have to return the library books by tonight or will kanna fine.

Oh yes. Congra's to Vinna for her birthday today. Dun think i will drop by Rouge later though. Well... i just found out today lah. ha ha.... Come to think of it, today is also our MM's birthday too.

Really feeling a bit feverish. Dunno if should take the opportunity to see a doctor and take the youknowwhat. See my mood lah.

The Last Last Return

Last day at MAS site yesterday.

Met K for lunch at Raffles Place MRT. Procede to lunch at China Square. Had Tea Rice for the first time in my life. Must say its an acquired taste, its of different taste compared to all the food i ate before and with a bit of minty aftertaste. Think its a Teochew Dish. K likes it very much and accredited it as a direct cure to her coughing. Its also kinda of popular in JB too.

Met 4 friends for dinner at City Hall. Went to this 3rd level Japanese-themed restaurant Hisatomo. According to friends, the food is not very good even though their service is ok. Went home later.

Oh yes, think Karen got engaged while doing that slimming programe some time ago. Bit late but Congra's. Think i should call her some time soon.

Going to have to go back to office for the last last last time later tonight in order to burn Sin City and Initial D 4th Stage Episode 17. Episode 18 should be out in one week's time. According to various forums, Stage 4 will be extended another 2 episodes. Have to wait for donkey months again. How will it end?

The Last Return

Went back to my old project at MAS to "help out" my colleagues. Will be stationed there till Thursday.

Went to Changi Airport to purhase the hourly rainfall record for the month of July. Didn't remember that it costs $28.50 leh. Took the opportunity to have lunch with my 2 former colleagues stationed at T3. Think both of them slimmed down a lot.

Came back to site office around 1400hrs. Think my colleague will ask me out for a drink... Have not touch a drop of alcohol since 1/8/05 though. hmm...

But K disovered that my university classmate Karen will be featured in a Channel 8 slimming programme (under Jean Yip), which will be aired today at 2000hrs. Can't wait to catch it though... Maybe i should call Karen later... hee hee...

How To Write a Chinese Poem

A well-known Japanese poet was asked how to compose a Chinese poem.

"The usual Chinese poem is four lines," he explained. "The first line contains the initial phrase; the second line, the continuation of that phrase; the third line turns from this subject and begins a new one; and the fourth line brings the first three lines together.

A popular Japanese song illustrates this:
Two daughters of a silk merchant live in Kyoto.
The elder is twenty, the younger, eighteen.
A soldier may kill with his sword,
But these girls slay men with their eyes."

高兴得太早

Sianz. My high-key exercise from 23/11 to 10/12 still on for me.

hmm.... apparently different companies are called up for this exercise. Only a few from my gang got lucky and escape this one by being in different companies.

In an alternate perspective, it would be a nice break though.

Year end Reservist Cancelled !

According to a friend. Hope its true though....

Ha ha... now that reservist time had been cut to 10 years, i will only have around 8 more years left.

Now the problem is how to pass my IPPT or rather go through my RT without any hassle. Can't jump and run to save my sorry butts. Given my deadline is still some months away, i doubt that i can make it even then.

The story of my poor stamina and passive attitude to exercising started during the age of 6 or 7 when i was diagnosed with some serious asthma (according to my dad, it was due to his feeding of crocodile meat to me when i was a weak baby, something about it being too 凉. but who knows?). Since, i was excused from from all execises in my primary school based on my MC (real one lah). Coupled with laziness, my reluctance to move my sorry ass eventually formed part of my weird personality.

My time spent in JJC at least involve some PE lessons because i was scared of not able to withstand the onslaught of BMT. But fate had its own designs. I was thrown into the C1L1 band which effectively restricted the amount of exercise that i would be subjected to. Which is obviously why i had never passed my NS IPPT once.

Now as a NSmen, i guess RT will be certainly a bi-yearly affair. Wahaha...

Nothing Exists

Yamaoka Tesshu, as a young student of Zen, visited one master after another. He called upon Dokuon of Shokoku.

Desiring to show his attainment, he said: "The mind, Buddha, and sentient beings, after all, do not exist. The true nature of phenomena is emptiness. There is no realization, no delusion, no sage, no mediocrity. There is no giving and nothing to be received."

Dokuon, who was smoking quietly, said nothing. Suddenly he whacked Yamaoka with his bamboo pipe. This made the youth quite angry.

"If nothing exists," inquired Dokuon, "where did this anger come from?"

我本是刀。

我是刀。

借刀杀人的刀。

只可是有盔甲。

刀插不进去。

所以刀不再是刀。

而是废铁。

因为被使用者丢弃了。

The psychology of investing

Been busy at work. Really busy. 120% effort. Siao!

Finished 2 of the library books. Lets do a recap on “The psychology of investing”.

Points to note :

1. Pride & Regret leads to selling low and buying high
2. Overconfidence leads to blindspots and over estimation
3. Trust your mathematics. 1+1=2, never 3, no matter what everyone else is saying
4. Probability will win over luck in the long run
5. Be an investor not a trader
6. Don't bother buying rising stocks. Its usually over-valued once you notice it.
7. Look at the interactions of your portfolio. All stocks act in tandem. Look at the Big Picture
8. Diversify
9. Self-discipline

Been hiding at home after work since Monday. Hermit Life.