Something to look forward to!

Finally, the trip is CONFIRMED!

I'm going to Vietnam!!

No more a dream but a reality, thanks to soon-to-be travelmate Iris, with many solo runs throughout the years!

Am going to borrow Lonely Planet (hey hey, I recently bought a book on the story of how it came to be... exciting, will read it on the plane to Vietnam) and pore over the numerous info I printed in a 'Vietnam Frenzy' yesterday... including Cat Tien, possibly with birding opportunities!

Keep you updated when I have more info! C ya!!

14 October 2006

It's Hi to Sentosa again.... this time with Kym, birding buddy I'm trying to convert to a running partner as well. Fine runner too! Negotiates the ups and downs (& there're many!) effortlessly, with nary a hint of breathlessness...

And the synergy you created when you're with another! Without her, I wouldn't have explored the isolated Serapong Hill, which I always bypassed after the telecoms tower(today we saw a whole flock of cuckatoes cackling like nobody's business). It's a neverending upslope which rewards the persistent with a panoramic (or at least as panoramic as it can get with a small window framed by luscious leaves) view of the golf course & harbour. We heard the elusive barbets chatting to each other across trees, possibly talking about us humans, for all their propensity for modern gadgets, not having eyesight sharp enough to spot them....

We detoured after the freefalling slope to Palawan Beach & inched stealthily up the stairs to spy on a group of striped-tip babblers having a whale of time under the bushes... not sure what it as doing, but the leaves shook violently... saw what's supposedly a pied triller ?(ID according to my book hours after the trip - with band across eye & beige.... somewhat like a bulbul but with a longer tail).... Had also concluded earlier that I saw a prinia hiding away in the bushes of a golf course (which Kym missed) but more likely a less exotic ashy tailorbird... My ID skills are less than perfect of course, having mistaken a golf ball for an egg...

5-8 October 2006

Truly life-changing days! Went to ADAM KHOO LEARNING TECHNOLOGY GROUP'S WEALTH ACADEMY - it's pulsating pace of chock-a-block-ful information and very valuable money-making tips! Enlightened this little-frog-in-the-well about the wealth-creating passive streams of income that recur to give additional $$$.

It's a joy to surround myself with enthusiastic, high-energy people who have all the qualities of a WINNER, which is what I want to be! Adam & Stuart were particularly energetic. Our lessons start at 9am and stretch all the way to 1pm (which leaves around 4 hrs of sleep per day). By the time we say goodbye, it's actually also time to say 'Good Morning!' In spite of this, their voices never once falter because of their punishing schedule.

IMPORTANT LESSON:
IF YOU WANNA BE SUCCESSFUL, YOU MUST HAVE A HIGH ENERGY LEVEL!!!

Also particularly enjoyed the interactive learning games, especially the 'gambling' game where all of us revealed our true selves - how you react when the market is going on a bull or bear run. (I made a NP of $51 :) )

It also opened my eyes to what REAL investing is! My erstwhile strategy of investing and holding on to a diversified portfolio of unit trusts for capital appreciation is all wrong! Adam fed us with practical tips on how to invest in ETF, US stock markets, value and momentum investing..and what WARREN BUFFETT is buying!!. Truly exciting!!! I just wished I hadn't put so much money into unit trusts and have started liquidating some cash cows for setting up my USD accounts to start trading. How nice it is to be a part-owner of WALMART, GE, GOOGLE, NIKE, etc.....

So it's Bye-bye to my spending days. Instead of amassing stylish Nike tees, I'd rather be stylish accumulating NIKE shares now...


For Adam's post on Wealth Academy Oct 2006, go to www.adam-khoo.com

1 October 2006

A day I hope will be repeated again and again, 'cos this is the kind of life I want to lead.... An invigorating morning run at Labrador Park, tuition in the afternoon to satisfy my teaching fix, topped off with some classical music.....

I can't believe how long since I last visited Labrador Park, during my schooldays at nearby SAJC, always relishing a jog there for PE instead of the usual lessons. I'm struck by how much it has changed. Gone are the days of unpaved paths, the dense vegetation, the long, flimsy staircase which miraculously brings us from the narrow beach back to the lane near the entrance after our PE teacher had led us on a long winding path. In are the orderliness, the platform, the boardwalk, groups of anglers, bikers and even a whole horde of Japanese teens..... What happened to the peace and romance of a charmingly untainted hideout? Luckily, the sighting of 3 juvenile yellow-vented bulbuls feeding on a fruiting fig tree brought some relief to me...

Talking about relief, nothing soothes the soul like music. Went to the SSO concert @ Kranji Turf Club. Conducted by maestro Lim Yau, the crowd lapped up familiar strains of the following:

Overture to Die Fledermaus and Eljien a Magyar Polka, Op. 332 by J Strauss II
Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana (I love!!)
Colonel Bogey March by Kenneth Alford (so this is the name)
Finale from William Tell Overture by Rossini (played to death, but who mind?)
Beatles hit medley (yellow submarine, hey jude, yesterday, I wanna hold your hand....)
Capriccio Espagnol, Op. 34 by Rimsky-Korsakov (never heard before, but obviously bearing the unmistakable hallmark of RK's work)

Strange that nobody shouted encore..... but the musicians obliged automatically....and as they say...

What an enchanted evening!