Oh my weak pocket and frail heart..

Urgh... *faint*

*breathes faintly.....*

Can't believe that I've mercilessly depleted a substantial bit of my savings on my indulgent spends in the last month... *gasp*

Just did a quick peek on my balance and the above mentioned was my reaction to the number that I saw... Am never good with numbers... and never really liked them... but when it comes to bank account balance... *Ursp*

Oh well... gonna tighten my purse strings u bet!

*locks credit cards and atm cards away*

A quick post on my supposedly 'career' destiny...

I discovered a really intriguing 'test' that identifies my strengths lately, thanks to Mr. Jack Hong... I thought the test was really accurate and it kinda puts a perspective on my life and the way I lead my life and my behavior... But that shall be another entry on its own...

Just a quick one before I go to bed tonight... Just amazing how astrology.com hits the nail on the head even if it's really supposed to be generic...


Free Sample Career Path Reading for Zen

Your Individuality: Sun in Capricorn

You were born under the sign of CAPRICORN and your ruling planet is Saturn, the planet of patience, wisdom and maturity.

Your Sun sign is CARDINAL and this indicates that you were born to be a leader, either in thought or action. You are never completely satisfied in a subordinate position carrying out the ideas of others, unless they are part of your aspirations. You are comfortable working independently or occupying a leadership position.

Capricorn is an EARTH sign and this makes you realistic, practical and concrete. You will have a strong desire to accomplish material goals and need to feel that your career or enterprises permit you to grow a little more each year.

WOoOOooohhhh.....

Finally... The Tipping Point...

Finally.... finished reading the book. Have to admit that there was somewhat some kinda inertia when reading this. Hahaa... I was rather slow in absorbing what proved to be rather interesting theories. Guess at this point of time in my life, I was looking for more light-hearted stuff...

Anyway, decided to try my luck and put the book up for grabs in Yahoo Auctions. I figured that I should do this once I know that books that I buy are not meant for keeps in my collection. Got to do this before it collects cob webs and dust in my 'filled-to-the-brim' book cupboard.

However, decided to post up some notes here so that I can recall and reflect on my take-aways on this book...

Plot:
The Tipping Pt is the moment when an idea, trend or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips and spreads like wildfire i.e. like an epidemic. This phenomenon is crucial in the selling and dissemination of ideas and information.

Key Factors:
i) The Law of the Few - You don't need many people to make an idea or a project successful. All you need is just a few. However, these few have to be exceptional people who are able to spread the word through social connections and energy, enthusiasm and personality.

ii) The Stickiness Factor - The key in successful marketing campaigns is the element of contagiousness. It means to make the idea reach as many people as possible because there is an impact in the method of marketing. It sticks in peoples' memories and it's difficult to get it out of your head. For example, it's difficult to forget KFC's "Finger licking good" tagline, Pizza Hut's "235-35-35" jingle or the Telly Tubbies, Hi-Five or the Sesame Street for kids.

iii) The Power of Context - Epidemics are strongly influenced by their situations - by the circumstances, conditions and particulars of the environments in which they operate. Even the smallest and subtlest and most unexpected of factors can affect the way we act. The key to getting people to change their behavior, in other words, to care, sometimes lies with the smallest details of their immediate situation.

For example, in a robbery case in a certain neighbourhood, the alarm may ring loud and strong in the middle of the night, but being in a neighbourhood of perhaps a few hundred people, the robbery may go neglected as everyone might be thinking that "Oh, one of the others will contact the police...".

Main casts:
There are usually 3 types of protagonists in the Law of the Few.

i) Connectors - People with a special gift for bringing the World together, people who knows alot of people, has alot of networks AND has the ability to connect and introduce one party to another in a relevant context. They usually have a extraordinary knack of making friends and acquaintances.

ii) Mavens - People with the power to spark word-of-mouth epidemics because they are influential. Mavens are people who accumulates knowledge and information and are more socially motivated to share their knows with the people around them. Their main motivation lies in the want to help and educate.

iii) Salesmen -People with persuasive powers.

Summary: Mavens provide the information, connectors are social glue and salesmen basically do what they do best, sell.

Most importantly as well, intuitions should be heard AND tested for human beings are intuitive creatures.


And there you have it... the big picture... don't you wonder if these are factors which makes the apple and the tick globally renown???

Interesting... isn't it?

It's been noisy...

There's alot of noise up in my head and it hurts so bad... I want them to go away... =(

I think it's time for some solitude and quietness...



Way back into love (Music and Lyrics)

I've been living with a shadow overhead
I've been sleeping with a cloud above my bed
I've been lonely for so long
Trapped in the past, I just can't seem to move on

I've been hiding all my hopes and dreams away
Just in case I ever need em again someday
I've been setting aside time
To clear a little space in the corners of my mind

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
Oh oh oh

I've been watching but the stars refuse to shine
I've been searching but I just don't see the signs
I know that it's out there
There's got to be something for my soul somewhere

I've been looking for someone to shed some light
Not just somebody just to get me throught the night
I could use some direction
And I'm open to your suggestions

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart again
I guess I'm hoping you'll be there for me in the end

There are moments when I don't know if it's real
Or if anybody feels the way I feel
I need inspiration 

Not just another negotiation

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love 

And if I open my heart to you
I'm hoping you'll show me what to do
And if you help me to start again
You know that I'll be there for you in the end

Tea Cosy at Eclectic Attic...

Had dinner over at Tea Cost at Eclectic attic the other evening at Plaza Sing... Was tempted very much by the variety of Foie Gras dishes that they seem to be offering.... It was a very nice place! =)

Very quaint restaurant design. They sell the furnitures that are being used as restaurant tables and chairs too!! =) Reminds me a little of Paisley and Cream actually. Very 'English'....

Prawn Cocktail and Wild Mushroom Soup on the left. On the right, we have Foie Gras with Apricot Jam!

Some Dory fish dish and a closer pic of the Foie Gras!!

Alritey... I'm bushed... attended Petrina's Church weddding and lunch reception today, followed by 'Xiao Gua's' ROM and Walas after... waiting for my hair to dry now actually. Need to go sleep soon!!! Early day tomorrow again... Chel's wedding waiting for me!

Will update with more pics soon! =)

And my stars read...

"While learning what you don't want is important, thinking about your romantic future in positive terms is also important -- especially when it comes to conveying it to others, online or in real time!"

I was told not to think too much for now.. Give myself a real break... I think a break I should take then... =/

Anyway, received some pictures from Liqin again today... Taken from Marcus' and Cynthia's ROM. Obviously, she did some magic to the photos... Haha... Suddenly, I seem to have flawless complexion... You'll see what I mean....




Can't believe that I've got 3 weddings this weekend! Two on Sat and one on Sun! It's the 070707.. just like the 060606 phenomenon... I think I have up to 121212 OR 200122012 to get myself married... Hhahaa... OR we can have it 2102/2012... That's quite cool too! Wahahaha.... *I must be really bored... =P*

Games night at Yilin's sometime back...

Am SO SO SO NOT in the mood for work today... Bosses are out of office and I couldn't lift my spirits to embrace work... lol...

Anyway, was revisiting some of the photos from games night at Yilin's some time back and thought the pix were actually quite cute.

We played quite a number of games but the funniest and cutest I suppose was Dilbert... Decided to post the pictures here for memory sake... =P

New lappie!!

Stayed up till 3 plus am last night setting up my new lappie!

Got everything up and going, short of programs... But I think I got a pretty decent deal... May not be the best around but oh well... I'm committed...

Couldn't believe how I dealt myself a damage of $1599 within 30 mins after lunch...

Had a lunch meeting, after which I popped by Funan to purchase Norton Internet Security for my office terminal... reached Funan and realised that there was a laptop deal going on. Buying a lappie has been on my mind for the last few weeks, since I shifted the desktop out to the study for Daddy's convenience... thought more about it when Mummy highlighted the Courts' deals on Acers and HPs... Went Sim Lim to compare prices but nothing caught my eye that was within minimal budget of $1500. Would have loved a Fujitsu.. but really... I wouldn't have been worthy of such pricey lappies... I'm a basic user...

Anyway, walked into Lenovo after checking out the "Beat the GST hike" deals that were going on on the ground floor, in the atrium. Saw one that was not exactly within my budget, but pretty close, going at $1599. What's more, they were giving a 1GB RAM add on... I thought that was pretty decent considering that I'll be having 2GB RAM for a $1.5K lappie.

What's more, it comes with a NVIDIA GeForce Graphics card... (Good for gaming if I decide to go back to that)... and it's a 1.66Ghz (T5500) processor... And it's not the ugly black IBM design kinda lappie.. it's in 2 tone silver - light and dark... heh...

And so.... my heart was moved... But I was determined to look for a better deal... I spend the next 20 minutes, walking in and out of the other surrounding shops. And guess what.... the other deals I found were all going for $1699 / $1799 WITHOUT the 1GB RAM add-on... so I was SOLD...

Went back to the shop... said that I was keen to buy... asked to upgrade Vista Home basic to Vista Home premium and they said they can't do that... due to licensing issues (excuses so a friend said)... and I asked what else they can throw in... they said it comes with a lappie bag... I was like... "Anything else extra cuz that's standard package?"... and the sales guy went... "Laptop sleeve?"... I was like... "errrr... Okies... I think I need a mouse..." and so I got myself an Microsoft Optical Mouse for my lappie too! Hahaha... Ain't such a big deal I know... but being the typical Singaporean, some useful freebie's better than no freebie at all!! hehe....

Anyway, here's my new toy!! =)



Haha.... pretty tempted to customise my lappie cover some how or other..... but see how that goes... Lol... In the meantime, here I am, blogging with my new toy! =) *heartache... ^$^... but happy! =) )