Tuesday 23 August 2016

Rant 1231 / Judging A Book By Its Author

22 July 2016

So according to this blog, Citibank has the lowest commissions among the stock brokerages in Singapore that let me own my stocks. Looks like when the next financial crisis hits, I'm going to be staying in the same bank.













23 July 2016

I've never liked it that people complain about how others aren't doing certain things for them as if they're supposed to do it without being told out of the kindness in their own hearts. 

Humans did not evolve to be kind; the nice ones tend to die first. We're social but the self always come first. Moreover, we cannot expect others to be like us and remember everything about us the way you remember their details, if you actually do remember everything.  

When others around you fail to meet such expectations, that's exactly how people get grouchy and hate the world. 

And that's silly - you're just giving yourself depression for nothing. 

When the rest of the world seems to be off, be it that everyone's crazy except you or everyone is stupid but you, the fact is that there's this likelihood that you're the one with unrealistic expectations. 

So chill, and expect nothing from everyone. Life is a lot more pleasant that way. 

Otherwise, why not do something about it? Instead of constantly mulling over how someone didn't do something when it's something he/she is supposed to do it for whatever reasons, why not remind them or just do it yourself?

































25 July 2016

So I've backed this KS project that has an interesting but definitely unoriginal idea of using magnets to replace shoelace tying.

Basically, you loop your laces into the holes of each piece of magnet and you simply attach the two magnets to each other to tighten your shoe instead of having to tie your shoelaces.

You know what that's good for?

Army boots during training.

This is provided they're really strong, and I hope they are as good as they look in their videos.


















Again, I've reminded myself why cheap shoes aren't worth risk. I've gone through three pairs of them so far and only one was really comfortable - the other two gave me blisters.

Yes, I'm spoilt, so spoilt I didn't know how uncomfortable it needs to be for a pair of shoes to give me blisters. Blisters used to be something that happened to other people, a problem friends tell me about, a myth as far as my body is concerned. But no longer.

The only comfortable pair, however, has really slippery rubber soles, so I'm going to have to do something about it, like filing it.

In the end, I'm going back to Gilt, where I had gotten two pairs of shoes that I still wear today.
























31 July 2016

So here's a little bit of knowledge that might come in handy if you ever get lost in a forest - moss grows on the north side of trees and rocks.

And here's the catch: you have to know the reasons why or this can be completely inaccurate when you try to use it.

I was playing Tinker Island when this came up and it said that using moss to find the north is inaccurate. Doesn't moss simply grow on the north side of trees?

This website explained everything when I googled on this.

First, moss likes moisture, not the North Pole. It does not simply grow on the northern side of everything because it likes that direction the most.

Second, it does not particularly love sunlight - it needs it but not that much. In fact, sunlight dries things up, so moss doesn't grow so well in well-lit areas, hence that gets rid of the East and West.

Third, the northern side of things get less sunlight only in the northern hemisphere; it's the southern side of trees and rocks in the southern hemisphere. This is due to the curvature of the Earth. Therefore, moss grows on the northern side only in this half of the globe while it grows on the southern side down under (and in South America).

But if you're close to the Equator, then you're screwed.

Anyway, this method isn't very useful when you don't have a compass, since this is all about moisture and shade. For all you know, the next time you're in a forest, you may find that the moss is everywhere. You could be in a rather cool and shady spot, or it's a very humid area.

It's actually easier to plant a stick in the ground in a sunny area and use the shadow's movement to find the East and West. But you can probably try the average direction of the moss on multiple trees when you don't have good sunlight and you're in a rush.
























2 Aug 2016

Feeling good but slightly apprehensive this morning.

Good because I woke up to a weight of below 95kg - 94.8kg to be exact - despite my large meal last night that included ice-cream and a lot of pasta.

My return to the world of P90X begins today though. Got to do it while I'm still in the best shape I can be in after completing my quota of RT (remedial training) sessions this year for failing the physical fitness test IPPT.

Of course it will be the lean version, and after my previous attempt at it a year or so ago, it's still uncertain if I can handle it at the pace set in the video. Therefore, my goal is to follow it as much as I can without stopping.

Won't be easy.

Of course, hopefully it will be easier than the Hammer series my bro is using currently. Leaping over the gym bench repeatedly looks hard! And I already know that lunges with side twists using weights is hard from my RT. My core is in a terrible state right now, and that's after significant improvement from RT!


















... And Core Synergistics is complete! That was not easy and had to be at least thrice as intense as my training during RT, although I was usually in the weight-loss, ie least intense, group.

Some of the exercises were beyond my flexibility too, so the whole thing was far from ideal. Despite of these issues, sore muscles are expected in the near future.




















05 Aug 2016

So today's the 4th day of my 1st week of Lean P90X. Wonder how bad Yoga can be. Abs Ripper X was close to impossible to me and by the 3rd exercise, my abdominal muscles were cramping at each motion, a sign of extreme fatigue (I think).

















This blog's view count has been fluctuating a lot late, with the number jumping beyond 150 on some days. Why?























23 Aug 2016

So I went to Macau and did the Macau Tower bungy and tower climb. TBH the climb was scarier than the jump because it was a sustained scare rather than a quick intense one.

Third bungy jump under my belt now, excluding the sky jump at Auckland Tower which was not a real bungy.

This could be it for me, at least as far as these ordinary bungy jumps are concerned. From this point on, unless someone wants me to jump with him/her, I'm only going to try new bungees, like the night bungy which is also available at Macau Tower but I didn't have the time to try.

Also tried a restaurant with two Michelin stars, Caprice, and one with three stars, Bo Innovation, while in Hong Kong. Bo was mindblowing with every single course, starting from the little starter before the first course that wasn't included in the chef's menu. It was like the tiny spherical cakes they sell everywhere there, except they only coat the hemispherical moulds with a thin layer so you get a piece of savoury crisp with all the hemispheres. Then they put a little bit of chopped spring onions and something else in each hemisphere before serving. The result was amazing.

Oh, and the xiao long bao there was absolutely magical!

Seriously, they do magic in that kitchen.

As for Caprice, their menu was just incredible but not as good as the food in Bo. However, they really made up for it with their impressive service as expected from a restaurant of this level in a Four Seasons hotel in that part of HK.

The food was the reason we think Caprice was demoted to a 2-star rating from 3 recently, while Bo received 3 stars after having been a 2-star restaurant previously.




















In the meantime, I've skipped a week of P90X for the Hong Kong/Macau trip and my first session, Core Synergistics, yesterday was tough. It felt tougher than my second Core session but not as bad as my first.

Haven't gained much either. Still 94kg. Oh yeah!



















The Robert Graham shirts arrived yesterday and they are fantastic! Such a steal too, for shirts like these. They usually go for US$250 a shirt but the two only cost me less than US$180 total! Woot!





















I have to do something I enjoy.

I have to change what I'm doing now.