Tag: life

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the otnaicus daily

Edition 299 – Asian Youth Games 2009

I’m fresh out of an external directing gig. By external, I mean not church related. Grateful for the opportunity to direct the Asian Youth Games (AYG) 2009 Opening Ceremony. Even though it was just for live projection within the venue, the experience is nevertheless an enriching one. I haven’t seen the live broadcast version yet, but I’ve been hearing that our version could have been better that the broadcast version.

Anyway, it couldn’t have been done without a wonderful crew. Their first time seeing the entire performance was on the night of the full preview. We were left with a lot of room for improvement. And improved they did. Felt the crew gave it their all during the actual show. Moments captured and cues were prepared way before the AD gave the cue. We were just one lean, mean and well oiled machine. And some of the crew even got airtime on national TV.

The experience also broadened my horizon in terms of working with people in the marketplace. I guess we really have to know their lingo, to know how they work, to be able to take all the crap (excuse the language), etc. and at the end of the day, not be too affected by it all. Learn the good stuff, forget the rest. And sometimes, keeping it simple is the key.

Tiring? Of course. Being holed up at the venue for 3-4 days watching rehearsals is no joke. But learn much? That’s for sure! And I would definitely jump at such a chance again. Kudos to the fantastic crew!

Until the next time, cheers… :Þ

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Edition 298 – Birthday

First off, a very big thank you to everybody who has wished me Happy Birthday. I think this year, I received a record amount of birthday wishes. It definitely made my day.

The Princess played a game with me. It was definitely very elaborately planned. She dropped by my place at around noon and handed me one of the seven cards that I would receive throughout the day. At every hour, I received a new one, each containing a note and a clue. At the end of the day, I was greeted with a dinner with a close group of friends. A nice surprise indeed as I have already had dinner and celebrated my birthday with them the previous night.

And the gift from the Princess is a Braun Buffel wallet. Something that I’ve been meaning to get for myself for the longest time. It is already in service. My old wallet was falling apart anyways. Haha… Timely indeed…

Oh… Not to forget the little rubber duckie that with my horoscope that Wanxia gave me.

A very memorable birthday indeed. One where they made me “cry”. Here’s to a fantastic year ahead. Thanks once again to everyone who has made a special day even more special. Cheers… :Þ

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Edition 296 – Drought….

Referring to the fact that I haven’t updated for close to a month. Aside from the fact that I’ve been quite busy at work, nothing much has transpired.

Grateful for the chance to go on a mission trip once again. Went to KL last weekend to complete the trip that was aborted the previous time round. All in all, a very good trip. And also a very busy one. I was on the ground running from the moment I touched down in KL. We stayed at the same hotel, Sunway Pyramid. And this time round, I only stepped into the shopping centre next door exactly once in the entire stay. A testament to the packed schedule that I had. Next one should be in July, and this time it’s to Jakarta. I’m not exactly alien to the place, but it’ll be my first time on a mission trip to Jakarta. And it has been ages since I last went back there.

This weekend is packed. We have Emerge (supposedly, a “mini” one), and then Global Day of Prayer and then teardown. To say that the weekend will be tiring is an understatement. But God’s strength and provision shall prevail.

I wonder why these days I find it hard to blog. Nothing seems to want to come out. Anyway, I shall leave it here for now. Until the next time, cheers… :Þ

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Edition 295 – A Post… Finally…

I just realised that it has been a good half a month since I last blogged. Think I’m falling into the rut that my blog once fell into. The updates just get less and less and finally stops altogether. Trying hard not to let that happen.

Work has been busy. Suddenly, I seem to have multiple things that I need to work on and they all seem to come with high priority. As much as I want to prioritize, how do you do that with things that rank very much the same on the priority list? I guess I got to set up a schedule for me to finish up all the tasks. At the moment, it seems quite overwhelming. God, grant me the wisdom to manage my time…..

I’ve begun to treasure my days off very much. I don’t know why, but it suddenly seems as though I don’t have a lot of alone time anymore. Maybe it’s because of the nature of the job. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the work. It’s just that off days seems that much more precious in this line. It feels as though you’re on a well-deserved holiday and all you want to do is to just sleep in, and slack around at home. Ahhh…. Bliss…..

Weather has been murderous lately. Hot, humid, and no wind. Reminds me of summer in Taiwan. The sun beats down relentlessly and hurting your skin. It has been raining the past few days and the weather slightly cooler, but I long for the weather that we had at the beginning of the year. Pray that this hot and humid season will come to and end. Almost feels like a heat wave.

Suddenly just crossed my mind why I may be blogging less: Twitter!! You can check me out at http://www.twitter.com/otnaicus. But do note that my posts there are protected, so you would have to ask for my clearance.

Anyway, time for me to hit the sack. So until the next time, cheers…. :Þ

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Edition 294 – The Week After Easter

Random post coming up…. You’ve be warned….

  • Been busy rushing for a project. Suddenly felt like the Taiwan days again, rushing people for changes and testing the rushed changes.
  • Immediately following the Easter drama, the TV crew and myself had to attend yet another rehearsal for the Love Busters series.
  • The Princess made her directorial debut for dramas. She did a fantastic job.
  • Another TV crew made his debut as a drama AD. Did not too bad of a job too. Definitely trainable.
  • I can see myself being replaced as drama director… PTL!!
  • Spent some nice time with the Princess last week and this. Feels good to make time and spend it with the loved one.
  • Discovered that I appreciate coming to TD for SOT in the mornings. Nice to have a bit of quiet time away from the office to do work.
  • Am at SOT right now typing this.
  • Went for karaoke session with the TV gang yesternight. Had a good time laughing and fellowshipping.
  • Had a pretty expensive dinner before that though..
  • The first time I saw the Xtron office close, locked up and armed by 7pm.
  • I’m coming to the end of this post.
  • Until next time, cheers…. :Þ
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Edition 293 – Easter 2009

chctvm_easter2009

And so Easter 2009 is over. A fantastic drama production, coupled with powerful preaching from Pst. Kong led to a lot of lives being saved. Praise the Lord!

This Easter is pretty taxing. Tonnes of services, most of which has its own drama and its own sets of rehearsals, meant that our crew is stretched to the max. But I thank God for willing people who are ready to stand in the gap and go all out to make Easter happen. May it be serving multiple services, or being part of the many drama crews, these individuals have come together to work as a team, and together produced a fantastic production that made a difference!

So a big THANK YOU goes out to all the willing individuals. YOU have made a difference and God will surely remember your faithfulness. Keep on keeping on!! :Þ

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Edition 292 – Rawr!!!

A few strangers got on my nerves while walking back from Tampines MRT station after Easter drama rehearsals on Sunday. I don’t know whether it was just me in a not-so-good mood, or it was really the inconsiderate, everything-for-myself attitude that a lot of people seem to have on that particular day.

First up, it was the lift. So the lift doors opened and people stepped out. Before anybody could even get in, the doors started closing. Now, should common sense and a bit of considerateness prevail, people standing inside the lift by the controls should have reached out for the door open button. But no. The entire “contents” of the lift was just staring at me trying to keep the door open. Imagine that.. Just STARING… I mean, how selfish and ignorant and inconsiderate can one get? Oh, not just one, it was a lift-load of people. Argh!!

And then while trying to get out of Century Square, a bunch of people just started squeezing past me and Debbie as if we were not there. Just plain dumb lah. Either they couldn’t estimate the space correctly, or they are underestimating their own size. I know it’s mean, but that was what was running through my mind then.

Sigh…. Am I being very idealistic? Is common sense really not that common? Is considerateness (if there’s such a word) really that difficult to come by?

Le sigh……. :Þ

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Edition 291 – Long Day

Finally got around to visit the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, better known as ICA, to submit my application for Singapore citizenship. As usual, when I submit these kinds of applications, it tends to become a bit “drama” during the process. Today didn’t prove to be an exception.

So it started from the day before. Forgot to bring documents to photocopy. So I thought that I’d just scan it from home and print it out using my printer. As my scanner was old and could only work with my old computer, I had to setup my old computer to do the scanning. When all was setup, I found that the scanner, for some odd reason or other, refused to work. Spent another hour or so trying to figure it out but finally gave up. Went into office at the crack of dawn on D-day to get things photocopied. After that, I had to rush home to pick up another document that I forgot.

At the same time, I discovered very late on the night before that I needed some details from my parents. I had to wake them up very early in the morning just to get their details. Felt very bad.

Met with a bad traffic jam when travelling from home to ICA via cab on the PIE. Second time in a row while taking cab in the morning and meeting with a bad traffic jam. This time round, I saw three sets of pile-ups. All within 100-200 metres. I was wondering whether it was all part of the same big pile-up. At least 7 to 8 vehicles were involved.

Anyway, after all that “drama”, I finally submitted the application. Thank God that the number of people applying for citizenship is far far much less compared to people applying for permanent residency. So it took much faster than anticipated. All I can do now is sit and wait for a favourable outcome.

All in all, a very good day indeed. Tiring, but good. Do keep me and my application in prayers. Hope to hear good news from ICA very soon. Until the next time, cheers… :Þ

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the otnaicus daily

Edition 290 – The Late Edition

The week has gone by very fast. It felt like the week started not too long ago and we’re now coming to the middle of the week in a few short minutes. At least, in my opinion, I had a productive week so far.

Work has been ramping up pretty quickly for me. The company is fetching and is trying for quite a few external projects and I’m being roped in to help in them. For a moment, I felt as if I’ve been thrown into the deep end of the pool yet again. But I surprise myself. I used to feel very lost and stressed when I’m faced with such situations. But today, I just tell myself, “Rise up to the challenge!!” Yes, I still feel stressed and lost but I guess I’m handling it all differently now. I take it in my stride and tell myself that it’s all about stepping out of my comfort zone and doing the best I know how. And I take comfort in knowing that I have colleagues and friends whom I can turn to when I need the help. I’m used to managing projects in the IT world, but this is a whole new ballgame and I intend to step up to the challenge, since I’ve decided to go down this route.

This week has seen me going under the weather as well. Perhaps it’s because of the fickle weather. Blocked nose, frequent sneezing and feeling hot. I think I have a fever that comes and goes. A teeny bit of sore throat as well. I pray and hope that it’s not one of those cases where I fall sick badly (*touch wood*).

My Mac has been serving me well. Exactly one week old today. And the mouse hung on me today. Keyboard was working fine and the applications and operating system were humming along. Just the mouse decided to hang. Over-complicated drivers for the multi-touch stuff? Perhaps. It was so bad that I couldn’t get the Mac out of sleep mode when I came back from a meeting. I had to resort to pulling the battery. Oh well, like a friend said, Mac or Windows, it’s call created by humans. And I’m typing this blog entry on a Windows 7 x64 virtual machine running on the Mac. Cool eh?

This has been my longest entry in a while. Guess I’m in the writing mood. Tomorrow, there’s a high-key meeting at work that I’m supposed to participate in. Hope if there are questions that come my way, I would be able to answer them. God, really need your guidance and favour on this one. Want to be at my best for the company and for You!

That’s it for now. By the way, typing on this keyboard is such a joy. But I think the experience is hampered somewhat by the keyboard protector that is over the keyboard. But all in the name of protecting the investment.

Until the next time, cheers… :Þ

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Edition 289 – MBP

I had a friend ask me this week what is MBP. I had mistakenly thought that this was a pretty synonymous acronym that people would know. You know, acronyms like MRT, SBS, TCS, SBC, etc. But apparently, I think MBP is only known to gearheads. In other words, computer nerds.

So WHAT is MBP? It stands for MacBook Pro. And why am I blogging about this?

Because I am now a proud owner of one. Thanks to my new company subsidizing the cost, I purchased a MBP for work. Have always wanted to own a Mac, and finally I have one in my hands. Didn’t take long for me to get used to a Mac having used one in the office prior to purchasing my own notebook. But I still feel that some stuff are better done on Windows. In short, I’m happy with it.

But one disappointing thing. A day after I received my MBP, I read on the Net that Apple has quietly bumped up the specs of the MBP. So now, the model I purchased actually came with a 2.66GHz (mine comes with 2.53GHz) processor. Sigh… Who wouldn’t be disappointed? But then again, it’s only a 0.13GHz difference.

So know the whole world knows what MBP stands for, or at least the readers of my blog. Until the next time, cheers…

PS: I gotta figure out how to get that accented “U” that looks a smiley on a Mac.