Rant 1203 / Another Lesson Learnt. The Hard Way.

Just got the Prestige card and the Citigold status, and all the perks are so awesome.

1) Citigold Centres around the world are all lounges apparently, and I have free access to them. There should be free coffee but no wifi in SG.

2) Free one-way limo transfer for every $500 I spend on travel-related expenses, eg flight or hotel, but limited to four per year.

3) Free very basic travel insurance when I charge $500 for the same travel expenses.

4) Free ABTC (for access to the express "air-crew" lane through customs at 19 countries)

5) Lots of miles (1.4 miles per SGD local spend + 15% relationship bonus for first five years, 20% for next five years, 30% for 11th year onwards = 1.61, 1.68 and 1.82 miles per SGD local spend respectively)

6) Special Cathay Pacific rates (not that fantastic TBH)

7) Priority Pass giving me 4 free entries per year to airport lounges all over the world.









































This sucks. Really shouldn't hang out with any girl too often, regardless of whether I'm interested in her.

Learnt this the hard way. At least it wasn't too serious.

So I had a falling out with this girl I've been going with a lot. Purely platonic. She's still trying to get over her ex and I had no intention of going for a girl like her.

Stopped talking for a couple of days, but when I cooled down after 2 days, I noticed I was missing her. Ok, that wasn't too bad. Maybe I just miss having a companion who can hang out at weird hours during the day on weekdays.

But then I dreamt of her 2 nights in a row, and I don't dream about people.

Now I'm pretty sure I'm having some feelings for her, and told her rather brusquely to leave me alone when she tried to talk to me again. Of course I explained why and she agreed it was a good idea too. But she had to keep on talking and asking questions and doubting whether I'm handling it well, hence "brusquely".

Not surprisingly, she's blocked me again. Not sure if she's pissed or if she thinks she's doing me a favour (it actually didn't matter) but overall, this is inconsequential for the time being. The problem is that I'm wondering if I should cut off all contact with her, because we're still in one group chat on Whatsapp and she's kinda active in there.

I've already resigned from our mobile game that we were playing, but this last chat still reminds me of her. Moreover, I keep mentioning her in my conversations with others.

At least this is nowhere as bad as the last few girls I had some serious feelings for.

But shit, why does a girl like that have to be so sweet and smart? It really doesn't help that she's the sweetest girl I've ever met, albeit only when she's in her happy mood. And pretty. All the time.

Annoying annoying annoying. Even when this is over and we're back in contact again, if at all since she's blocked me again, I will not go out with her so often, nor with anyone else for that matter, unless I'm trying to date someone.

On the bright side, I'm back in contact with a girl I had made a mistake with earlier this year. She's attached now and we still don't have that much to talk about.

In addition, I'm back in contact with a few other guys and made a few new friends through online means. New method to replace my old one, since my old one wasn't working. The coming weekend is already full!

Rant 1202 / All Calm On The Surface.

In spite of everything here, I have accomplished nothing. This is what is constantly gnawing at me - that I will have done nothing of note by 30.

I talk about beginnings all the time, but whatever happened to all the good endings?

Is this impatience or is there something truly wrong here?

I simply cannot tell.





























Nice girls talking to me but I'm not sure. Will date but cannot be serious. Not easy.

Going to Taiwan and meeting some new people this time. Same with NZ. May encounter someone awesome. Who knows?

Must leave my options open and avoid tough decisions.

Rant 1201 / This Is Pretty Short Despite Taking So Long To Get Posted.

16 Aug 2014

So who are my international readers? The last post had 20 views the day it was posted (accurate as of 0030 Saturday +8GMT), yet the blog only had 10 views from Singapore.

The other 10 were most likely from Russia, US and UK. Strange to think that Russians would be interested to read about my life.

























25 Aug 2014

Going to Phuket with two ladies tomorrow. Sounds enviable but they're both not available and older than me. Hot though. One is engaged while the other is in a limbo state between freshly broke up and still attached. Long story.

Good tips from them nonetheless.

























01 Sept 2014

Talking to a lot of people now so the desire to blog is getting really tiny.

There was a funny incident with a sea gypsy boy in Phuket though. (Sea gypsies were nomads who travelled around in boats for the last millenia who only settled down on land around the Andaman Sea about a century ago, but even now they're still mostly fishermen and sailors.) When my guide learnt that they didn't like school, she asked in Thai if he knew how to fish. He said yes, so she asked if he could speak English.

And he replied," No, but can you fish?"

So cheeky lol!

Anyway the sea gypsies were an interesting people. Kinda like the kampong folks in Malaysia. They believe they originated from some part of Indonesia but lacking a written language, they can only make claims they will never be able to prove. However, they also speak Bahasa Melayu in addition to whichever language is spoken in the country their ancestors chose to settle in, so it's kinda confusing.

The guide also brought me to see the village chief who was a second-generation sea gypsy. His parents were some of the first sea gypsies to settle in Thailand, so he was one of the few remaining ones who still recall what their original boats looked like. Today, they all use boats with similar shapes but with motors, so no oars, no shelters and no sails.

In order to let his descendants know what he had seen in the past, he has become the only boat model maker in the village, and I actually bought one without haggling. 1000 baht, but it seems meaningful enough to be worth the price. Similar boat models in the airport were going at 2300 bahts, and those weren't lovingly carved and lacquered by the village chief of the largest sea gypsy village in Phuket.

So this 1000baht was definitely worth spending.

























04 Sept 2014

Back to 86kg again.

Seriously, I now believe it's because of the lack of exercise. This weight loss probably isn't due to the reduction of fats but that of muscular mass instead.

How else is it possible that I can lose weight despite eating so much in Phuket?



















The change in photo in my online profile took some time to work, but work it did.

Now I'm chatting with three girls simultaneously all of a sudden, in addition to the chats I already have with platonic friends.

Too bad I really don't want to go out with anyone from now till the coming Wednesday. Got to clear a huge backlog and a few appointments have already been made on top of that. Maybe just for one of them, I may make an exception. She's kinda unique in that she's also into extreme sports and yet geeky.






















So now it's settled - I'm like the younger brother she never had. Part of me likes her, but the rest of me (mainly my brain) knows it's a ridiculously bad idea to try to go any further. She's hot, thoughtful and smart, but she also comes with a humongous package of catches. On my end, I'm not smart, thoughtful nor experienced in (real) life. Liking her is just me, as a straight guy, being shallow.

So this is what it's like to have an elder sister.

Btw I'm not going to concede that I'm less experienced in all aspects of life, just reality. While chatting with a friend who's working in cybersecurity a few weeks ago, he actually asked me why I didn't go into his industry. Yes, I was flattered lol

I was just young, curious and playful. While my sister here went partying and drinking and getting into bad relationships, I was more interested in getting access into accounts, bypassing censors and finding out how software pirates work.

Just to be clear, I never went further than trying to be a script kiddie. Having almost no experience in programming, I couldn't have done anything more than use what others have made and put online. Moreover, my knowledge on social engineering is limited, not to mention outdated, since I've only read the books by Kevin Mitnick and a bit more online.

Then again, I bet a lot of the local uni grads going into that industry probably haven't read or done what I've done anyway until they've worked there for a while.
























Oh wow my new CC has SO MANY PERKS!

If I pay the full travel fares with the card, I automatically get free travel insurance! Holy crap!!

But I've got to clarify what "full travel fares" mean - does it simply refer to the airfares? Because if the price of the tour is included, then I won't get it for the NZ trip. Otherwise, I haven't booked my air tickets yet so I still have a chance!

Also, free golf games. No use for that but maybe I can find someone to play with me and teach me.

As for the renewal fees, I really don't see any reason why I shouldn't pay. Comes with 25k miles for the S$535 fee. Since the normal mileage rate is 1.4 miles per dollar spent, this rate for the renewal fee (46.7miles per dollar) is just awesome. With this card, I seriously don't get why some people are telling me that I should never pay the renewal fee for cards.


Another thing I noticed was how eager they were to get me the card. The biggest hint is this: they have yet to ask me for any document other than my IC. With the money I've deposited in the bank, they are clearly not giving a damn about how much I make - and I make about A LOT less than the $120k p.a. that they require for this card.

This is funny to me because my bro actually got rejected when he tried to apply some good cards with another bank. Really, money talks.