Fighting the jetlag

Has been three days since we returned to London. Xueyan is soundly asleep in her room while I am typing away and surfing the net. Yes, still suffering from jetlag. Was up at 5am yesterday and today I woke up before 7am. I thought going to sleep late i.e. 11+ would help me but I am still waking up so early!

The weather has been extremely cold and windy since we returned. Hengyi, my colleague, told me it has always been like that. Looks like we have gotten used to Singapore's hot and humid weather!

One bad news for Xueyan though. She brought loads of DVDs back from Singapore this time round BUT, given we lost our DVD remote control, the dialogues are in Cantonese which we can't really understand. So had to resort to watching I Am Not Stupid Too last night (we saw Esther!). Must hunt for a cheap DVD player now.

Back in London

Finally after 14 hours in the air and catching up on some rare flight sleep (and in the process, missed some nice movies), we are finally back in London.

No sooner have we arrived back @ Boardwalk Place, Miss Wee engaged in her favourite hobby - all hidden under the blanket and pillows! Another hour before the work day starts, time to do some unpacking.

One more day... but not without meeting a close brother...

All good things must come to an end, never mind even if it's expected. This CNY trip has been particularly rewarding as I managed to catch up with close relatives and friends that I have not met for a long time. And rewarding for the local retail outlets as well as we must have spent a few S$k here.

Met Weifu and Merlin for lunch at Ivin's today. Jeiel (as everyone has already said) is really cute (handsome), very quiet (steady) and obedient (no crybaby). I can only wish that my kids (note the emphasis on the "s") will turn out to be like him. Weifu and Merlin shared that they have been praying for the unborn Jeiel at the start of the pregnancy and it's truly amazing to see how God works in the life of this baby boy. I then had the chance to meet up with Pastor Roland and Chun Mei and blimey, have they not looked a day older. Pastor Roland is indeed the "lao hero"! Roland and Chun Mei, along with Andy, have been instrumental in bringing me back to church. Seeing them and sharing with them about my time in London and various prayer needs reminded me of the good old days in CFCC. Weifu topped it by praying for me just before I left them.

For many of us who know Weifu/Merlin at the onset of their courtship, to their wedding (I was the driver!) and now seeing them as proud parents of a healthy boy, we can only give thanks to God for the many amazing things that happened and will happen in their lives. Their lives have impacted me and I am sure many can testify how their's have impacted the many.

It's 23 hours to departure and how fast the 14 nights have gone. Will really miss seeing my parents and sister and my relatives. I have never missed my parents so much and this time away has actually brought me closer to them and wanting the best for them. Xueyan no doubt will feel the same with her family. Hearing my mum say "it's good for your career to stay in London for a few more years" is especially touching since my sister shared that my mum misses me a lot while I was away. Putting my career above her personal feelings. Indeed the best mother in the world and I will not exchange this mother-son relationship for anything.

Will not be blogging until I reach London as I intend to share more time with my family. The next few months will pass by very fast and, God-willing, we will be back before the next CNY!

I went, hoping for a chance to talk...

... but, as the wise man says, opportunity doesn't come by twice.

Surprise them!

I was looking at Eliza's blog when I chanced upon http://jonoandsandra.multiply.com/, Jono and Sandra's blog. Interesting read! This further proves that blogs are not just for "kids". Sandra also has her own food blog (http://gagamama.multiply.com/).

Go, leave your mark and surprise them!

Counting down the days...

It has been more than a week since we returned to Singapore. I remembered counting down the number of nights I will get to sleep on my comfortable Four Stars bed when I was back in Singapore last Oct. And as of tonight, it's five. A sad, miserable five.

This trip has been a different experience to the last as it's 1) longer 2) CNY and 3) not being away for a long time (only 4 months since we last returned). Other than seeing relatives and collecting ang pows, time was spent catching up with childhood friends (i.e more than 10 years which implies I am either old or we have known one another for a long time.

Interestingly, the topic has now shifted to buying/renovating a flat as compared to which football player is better, location and housing loan amount as compared to the latest movie. I have a group of close mates from VS/VJC (about 12-13) and half are already married with 2-3 more getting married in the next one year. Guess time is calling on us and I can't help but feel my singlehood is entering the sunset industry stage.

The next few days look busy as I look forward to catching up with former KPMG colleagues (can't wait to catch up with Shoops/Peter/PP/Serene/Winston/Amy etc). I know the 5 nights are going to go by like a breeze. I am already planning our next trip back in the second half of 2007. Looks like Andy's marriage in early October provides a good excuse!

It did snow!

Amazing and this time worse than the snowing 2 weeks back. A mate's flight from Stansted to Rome got cancelled. Enjoy the pictures. Freezing!

The marina outside our estate

At the carpark

Xueyan outside our apartment

Something Ching can't understand...

Can someone explain to her?

Will we see snow tomorrow?

For most who have seen snowfall before, this is hardly exciting. Then again, London hardly experienced snow and it is actually quite thrilling to see that on way to work. It's close to freezing temperature today and the forecast is -2 degrees tomorrow.

Since I am not going to work until 10am, guess I will open up the curtain, make myself a hot cup of milo and enjoy the falling flakes.

England braced for heavy snowfall

Snow fell across the South East, including Brighton, during January. England is bracing itself for wintry weather with a blanket of snow forecast to fall across much of the country.

The North East experienced light snowfall on Wednesday morning, but up to 6ins (15cm) of snow was expected to fall later in a number of regions.

The worst-hit areas are expected to be hilly parts of the Midlands, such as the Cotswolds, with East Anglia and the south of England also expecting snow.

The Highways Agency said it had 400 salt-spreading vehicles on standby.

It said England's motorways and major A-roads would be treated with salt before the snow arrived, while work to treat and clear the roads would continue throughout the cold snap.

Racing off

Early snow in the North East was worst in coastal areas, with a light coating in Newcastle.
Horse racing meetings at Carlisle and Ludlow were called off because of frost.

Bob Davies, clerk of the course at Ludlow, said: "It went down to -10C (14F) and we have got frost an inch-and-a-half (3.8cm) into the ground."

The Met Office issued a warning of heavy snow spreading north east across England on Wednesday night, extending across the Midlands, London, the South East and East Anglia during Thursday morning.

Driving warning

While people in the Midlands were warned to expect up to 6ins (15cm) of snow, the Met Office said London and the South East could see up to 2ins (5cm) by Thursday morning's rush hour.

The Highways Agency has warned against driving in the snow unless a journey is essential and urged drivers to listen to travel bulletins while on the road and make sure they are prepared with items such as warm clothes, food, water, boots, de-icer, a torch and a spade.

Network Rail said railway lines in Kent and Sussex were most vulnerable to snow and ice because they take their power from the rails rather than overhead lines.

The South East and parts of northern and eastern England were hit by snow in mid-January.

Bookmakers Ladbrokes has offered odds of 6/1 that snow will fall in London on Valentine's Day - next Wednesday.

BBC

Price of studying

"The benefits of studying are limitless and priceless", that's what my parents used to say. Well, now you can put a value to it. In a certain sense.

Degree adds 160,000 pounds to lifetime earnings

LONDON - A university degree adds an average 160,000 pounds to an individual's lifetime earnings compared to people whose education finished at A-level, a study said on Wednesday.
Medical graduates can expect the largest boost to their income, earning an additional 340,000 pounds before tax over their career, said the report conducted for the vice-chancellors' body Universities UK.

Graduates in engineering, sciences and maths enjoy the next highest increase, of around 240,000 pounds, said the study, prepared by accountants PriceWaterhouseCoopers and consultancy London Economics.

Men from lower socio-economic groups who earn degrees gain the greatest financial benefit compared to men from similar backgrounds who do not attend university.

The study also found that the massive expansion in university students over the past 15 years had not eroded the so-called "graduate premium".

It said this was because demand for people with university qualifications had increased in line with the supply of graduates.

"Higher education is still clearly a worthwhile investment for the individual," said Universities UK Chief Executive Diana Warwick.

The study challenges concerns that rises in student fees in England have reduced the financial benefit of a degree.

It calculated that students were actually slightly better off, in part because they no longer have to pay tuition fees up front. (Reuters, 7 Feb)

While £160,000 (S$480,000) looks significant, an average worker's career lifespan approximates 35 to 40 years. On that note, having a degree adds less than £400 to one's monthly salary. Premium of having a degree?

Most people have degrees nowadays and, I think, no longer gives an edge over non-graduates. Ever since I started working in the banking market, I could see that it's MBAs that are a lot more valuable as the MBA graduates tend to get hired in Front Office (where the moolah is).

My MSc course at Imperial College costs £22,000 (excluding books). Investing that in a fixed deposit at 6% a year will get me £120,000. That means I only get a net £40k benefit over 35 years. Worth it? It has been more than 3 months since I stopped studying. Maybe it is time to dust off the covers and start "burning the midnight oil" again.

Back from Hamburg/Lubeck

What a tiring trip. Just got back 30 minutes ago and Xueyan obviously got a cold from the wintry weather in Hamburg/Lubeck. Quite a nice town for a weekend getaway. A pity the sun wasn't around to meet us.

Remembering NS after 10 years...

I was looking for the theme song of former NS brigade when I came across the following ads (not exactly) which had me in stitches. My British colleagues obviously couldn't quite understand why I was laughing with tears. It has been 10 years since I went into the army and blimey it was certainly an interesting adventure. In retrospect very funny. And totally a waste of time.

Elephant in the Way

Crooked Cashley Cole

I do not believe in karma but I can't help but felt some of it in Mr Cashley Cole.

Cole's season not over despite knee injury

Chelsea expect Ashley Cole to play again this season after the England international defender was diagnosed with posterior cruciate ligament damage.

The left-back was injured during last night's Barclays Premiership clash with Blackburn when he twisted his left knee - and it was feared he may be ruled out for the remainder of the campaign.

However, a scan has revealed the 26-year-old does not require surgery - and the club's official website tonight said he is expected to feature again this season for the Blues.

However, the player is almost certainly out of the England squad for next week's international with Spain at Old Trafford.

Cole was carried off on a stretcher during the second half of Chelsea's 3-0 victory last night.

The former Arsenal defender trapped his studs in the turf as he attempted to control the ball and went down in agony clutching his left knee.

Cashley Cole was one of my favourite Arsenal (now ex) players until he moved across the city to join the Russian revolution - Chelski. Whether it's for money or motivation, I no longer care cos it's history and he's history. I dun feel at all sad for him and I know how terrible knee injuries can be, more so a professional (since I have had knee reconstruction surgeries on BOTH knees). Is this case of posterior knee ligament injury some justice for Gooners?

Congrats to the Lions but...

... how on earth can this happen?

Shambolic scenes overshadow Asean final

Singapore beat Thailand 2-1 on Wednesday but the first leg of the Asean football final was overshadowed by shambolic scenes when the Thai team walked off the pitch for 15 minutes.

In a fiery contest, a dubious penalty decision eight minutes from time sparked the walkout that showcased the worst of Southeast Asian football.

Noh Alam Shah was adjudged by Malaysian referee C. Ravichandran to have been pulled down by Thai centre-back Niweat Siriwong but the Thais were not ready to accept the decision.

After manhandling the referee the team stormed off the pitch and refused to return until Asean football officials persuaded them to get on with the match after holding it up for 15 minutes.

Mustafic Fahrudin calmly converted the spot kick to hand the defending champions their first victory over Thailand on home soil for almost 30 years and a psychological boost ahead of the return leg in Bangkok on Sunday.

It capped a frantic and scrappy match, with just one shot on target in the first half.

It came from Singapore who shocked Thailand by prising open their defence against the run of play to take the lead in the 17th minute.

Indra Shadan Daud picked up the ball on the edge of the box and had two stabs at goal, which were both blocked by the Thai defence.

The ball bounced to Fahrudin whose shot landed at the feet of Shah who swivelled and let rip from 10 yards with a left foot rocket that Thai goalkeeper Kittisak Rawangpa flayed at but missed.

It was Shah's 10th goal of the tournament, built on the back of his seven goal haul against Laos in the group stages, and he was ecstatic, gesturing to the 55,000-strong crowd to get behind the team.

Fired up, Singapore played a physical game and at times it was brutal.

Four yellow cards were brandished in the first period, and seven in the match, with both sides fortunate that the referee didn't get out the red as dangerous tackles came thick and fast.

Thailand came out in the second half a different team, immediately pressing on the attack, and scored with their first sniff of goal four minutes after the break.

Striker Pipat Thonkanya picked up a ball slotted through the Singapore defence after a midfield blunder and calmly rounded goalkeeper Lionel Lewis to roll the ball home for the equaliser.

Pipat had another chance four minutes later after some sloppy Singapore defending but lashed his shot high and wide from just inside the penalty area.

Thailand could sense victory as the home side lost their composure and they were unlucky not to score before the penalty decision that brought the game to a standstill. - AFP

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It's probably very easy to say the Thais were big losers, but I guess that is the harsh reality. An ever-present in Asean cup finals and undisputed soccer champion. This defeat is probably hard to take, especially on away grounds. Not to mention, Thailand survived a tumultuous 2006 with a political coup, upheaval in the equity market, social/economic uproar over Shin Corp. This defeat might just have broke the camel's back.

A New Wonder

For the last 15 months, we have struggled with watching TV programmes. Back home i.e. Singapore, my place was wired up with Starhub Cable TV. Many channels with unlimited programmes especially soccer meant I could spend hours in front of the TV and not get bored. This until London.

There are basically 4-5 BBC channels for non-cable subscribers. BBC, being BBC, was a bore. Initially the international news and documentaries were pretty interesting, but as a seasoned potato couch, that is never good enough. Cable TV is also pretty expensive(£50+) and does not carry our much-missed Hong Kong series. Despair and sorrow sets in... until we discovered....


Basically, SoP is abbreviation for Streaming over P2P. Sopcast is the Streaming Direct Broadcast System based on P2P. The core is the communication protocol produced by Sopcast Team, which is named Sop://, or sop technology. Their goal is to let everyone in the world have a chance to set up their own on-line media world.

With this, I was able to catch Arsenal vs Bolton live on ESPNStar Sports or watch Phoenix TV or Star Movies. Folks back home probably will not appreciate this that much given the overwhelming number of shows available on Starhub and, more importantly, live soccer games.

Have a try and you might be able to catch some UK shows!

A Game of Two Halves

I snapped this on the way to church this morning. No idea what statue this is, other than it being behind Westminister Abbey. We were late for church but I can't resist shooting this. Especially since sun's a premium in London these days. Kiah Ngee was due to travel to Tokyo in the afternoon so we missed the weekly ride. And as usual we were late (Ms Wee refused to wake up until I have showered which is a little silly since I have my own toilet and she has hers).

The CG was scheduled for catering duties today. I was totally mad as we were supposed to sell coupons to the church members queueing up to buy lunch boxes (£2.5 which is pretty decent). Yet some members were going straight into the kitchen for their own personal transactions. I spoke aloud, saying why are there two queues and why wouldn't people following the correct queue? Some had the audacity to say that they are church staff and need to buy for others. Blimey, din know we have 60+ church staff.

Back to the subject title, bogey team Bolton managed another "victory" against Arsenal; this time playing to a 1-1 draw in the FA Cup. The Gunners couldn't cope with the physical play and aerial bombardment for the first half, and, unsurprisingly, fell behind to a Kevin Nolan's goal shortly after the break. Toure's equaliser was particularly sweet and the endless attacks on the Bolton defence cannot yield another goal. If only Arsenal plays like that in the first half. Cesc, as usual, has a fab game. Too bad, another energy-sapping game at the Reebok. This time, I will be praying for two good halves.

Blood on our hands?

Just came back from watching "Blood Diamonds", the show starring Leonardo DiCarpio and Jennifer Connelly. It's a show, as aptly titled, about conflict diamonds and how the money generated by the mining, export and sale of such diamonds are used to fund civil wars in Africa.

I have heard/read about this before but had not paid much attention to it. Diamond is a gal's best friend and a wallet's worst. I have brought rings and necklaces before yet I have never considered the possibility of them having "blood". I did a search on certain jewellery shops and, phew, that they are conflict-free.

As much as the show was about diamonds and how people were going around killing their own people (of the same nationalities and colour), I was particularly disturbed by what Leo said in the middle of the show. He was with Jennifer and, with a bottle in his hand, said:

"Will God ever forgive us for doing this (ie the killing) to one another?" He paused and said
"No, He has forsaken this place a long time ago".

Will a great and mighty God, so full of love that He gave His only Son to die for us, do that? On the contrary, it's the evilness in Man and the pursuit of power and the lust for material, temporal things that drive all these insane behaviour.

God is around and watching and, probably, weeping at His Creation. And He knows He gave us a choice - to choose His ways or ours. And for most of us, and more often than not, it's the latter.

The KPMG Way(ang?)

The KPMG Way defines our common purpose and reflects what we stand for and what it means in practice, namely that we are:
Professional. We are knowledgeable, act with integrity, and strive to provide services to the highest professional standards at all times.
Understanding. We develop strong, enduring, and independent working relationships with our clients, both as individuals and as teams.
Challenging. We proactively seek to establish the facts and apply judgment, in order to provide insightful advice.
Successful. We recruit and develop some of the best people and demand the highest standards of performance for our clients and for KPMG.

------------------------------------------------

This came just when I was about to leave KPMG. A very idealistic but proactive move towards creating a perfect working environment for KPMG staff. Recently an email went around the small city of Singapore of an ex-KPMG auditor complaining to the Head of HR regarding certain instances of ill-treatment resulting in his/her eventual departure after only half a year in KPMG Singapore. The actual email is not posted here because:

1. Contents have not been verified;
2. Should remain P&C (even though it was forwarded by a KPMG staff); and
3. Bias as it came only from the ex-auditor.
   

Amongst the grievances:

1. Lack of guidance given by seniors;
2. Verbal and emotional abuse;
3. Late hours; and
4. Lack of empathy demonstrated by superiors.

The most worrying thing (for me) regarding the email, however, was not the difficult circumstances he/she was in BUT how it relates completely to my situation back in KPMG Singapore. I remember:

1. Working the first weekend I joined KPMG;
2. Spending National Day, Hari Raya, CNY in office;
3. Spending two nights and sleeping on the carpet at the client's place; and
4. Working virtually 18-hours weeks for a good part of the year.

However I do not remember having any desire to pen such a letter. In fact, I had excellent memories of my time in the firm. Seeing many of my colleagues "fighting" alongside me during those late hours, seeing the satisfied faces of my audit clients and having long lunches/coffee breaks bitching about our managers (who are still around). Yet, I asked myself, am I guilty of those charges brought by the ex-auditor? I do remember the insane deadlines and having to leave my juniors to fend for myself while I fend off the managers and clients. Did they ever feel the same and not complain because I was too oppressive? Did I drive them to insane hours causing them to age?

Perhaps these are questions I can never get answers. Hopefully I have been good. =)

Rude awakening!

Woke up this morning feeling extremely chilly. Thought it was due to the cold wind coming in from the window I left open last night. Little did I know I was in for a freezing shock.

It hasn't snowed in ages (not least in the 14 months I was here). Little wonder Arctic temperature was predicted. Gosh, time to layer.