Shhh! Secret Life of a Princess

Random, provoking thoughts from a self-confessed princess :: with focus on motivational learnings from the media. I hope to inspire everyone to be the best they can be

Saturday, May 31, 2008

My Personality and Career Profile

From PeopleMaps, the description of me is quite accurate, esp at this stage of my life:

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The Last Lecture - Living Life

This is worth 10 minutes of your life. Inspirational talk by Dr. Randy Pausch, a cancer patient about how to live your life. In short, life is how you live it. Two important quotes:
  • Experience is what you get when you don't get what you wanted.
  • Brickwalls are there for a reason: They let us prove how badly we want something.




And the best part is this talk has allowed him to leave a legacy not only to the audience who can watch it now but to his three sons in the future when he is not around anymore. If you are interested to watch a movie with the same theme, watch 'My Life Without Me'

Funny how people live life with more passion and chase after their dreams only when they are about to lose their life.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

I Survived Shutdown Saturday!



Shutdown Day or Shutdown Saturday! That is what they called 3 May 2008 where people all over the world are encouraged to shut their computer and not use Internet for at least 24 hours to remind people that there exists a world outside your monitor screen. Some applauded this initiative claiming that it will increase face-to-face communication and allow for greater bonding among family members. Some cited it as a silly activity that deters one from growing, working and living. I was hesitant to participate in this preposterous activity, thinking that despite it not being a working day, I still had to monitor my weekendly English Premiere League matches and be online to make sure my programmers are able to reach me when problem happens. Besides, one day without Internet is like taking away my breathe especially in this country with ubiquituos broadband and wireless access.

Thus, it was suprising and refreshing to think that despite not wanting to participate initially, I ended up supporting this initiative as I inadvertently joined by not having my laptop on for more than 24 hours. The last time this happened was when I was on vacation, never in Singapore. I am indeed proud of myself.

A few things I found out without the Internet are:

1. I actually have a life.
2. I walk at a slower pace.
3. I could see what I am eating and even thought of taking second rounds.
4. I had a long heart-to-heart talk with someone who actually responds.
5. I talked to a stranger on the MRT.

Below is the chronology of event on Shutdown Day and why I end up not using Internet anyway:
12am - 12.30am: Wanted to check online the TV schedule of the say but found that Internet was down. After meddling around for a few minutes, I found that my landlord has disconnected the Internet as they were renovating their house earlier.
12.30am - 1.30am: Since there was nothing I can do, I shut down my laptop and proceeded to sleep beside my mom who started talking about friends, foes and fortune. It was a great bonding session with my mom which I have not done for months already.

10am - 1pm: Woke up in time to go to the BloodMobile Organisers Talk where I was invited to attend as I organised Blood Donation Drive under Project:Senso previously. Amazing how I can learn more so much from a simple 1 hour talk on blood types and the disease called Thalassaemia compared to what I could have found out if I was to stay in front of my connected PC. I would never have typed the word 'Thalassaemia' into Google or any search engine for that matter but by being our and about, I learnt that there is a society of people all over the world who has this disease and requires regular blood transfusion and bone marrow just to stay normal and for some to even survive. It has given me a new enlightenment to look at someone with pale skin and bone disfiguration and ask if that person actually suffers Thallaseamia. It gives new meaning to donate blood now knowing that 1 out of every 20 people requires regular blood transfusion monthly.
2pm - 5pm: Went to view the first show unit of a condo in Singapore called Rafflesia only to find out how much the property price of Singapore has escalated. Followed by shopping in Junction 8 where I found new movies to watch and books to read.
6pm - 7.30pm: Walked around Ikea and finally found the container I had been looking for so long. Somne good can come out of walking aimlessly after all.
8pm - 10pm: Met a friend for dinner with my mom and has delicious seafood by Singapore's old turf club called 'Turf City'.
10pm - 11.30pm: Went to Jurong Hills that overlooks the beautiful lights of Jurong Island where the oil refineries burst with fire and cranes and tall chimneys abound.

11.30am - 12am: Arrived home and showered, looking forward to open my laptop just to brag about how I actually achieved 24 hours or more without Internet and of course to check EPL scores. I survived "Shutdown Saturday'!

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