.

moved.

2011-05-01T21:48:00.003+08:00

http://octoberpillbox.com

dec.

2011-02-28T17:43:00.001+08:00

www . ang k o r marathon . org

fire+cup.

2011-02-26T20:06:00.001+08:00

remember i was seeing this tcm.

in any case, i was back to her this morning, and she says my body is persistently heated up.

(probably from the many chicken wings sessions)

she said, let's do fire-cupping to get rid of some of that heat.

in my usual fashion, i agreed

(i've never done it before by the way)

joke.

2011-02-24T23:50:00.002+08:00

the caption goes like this,

"A Libyan military pilot walking next to his Mirage F1 fighter jet after landing at Malta International Airport on Monday. Two Libyan pilots flew their warplanes to nearby Malta to defect rather than bomb protesters as ordered"

the cost of an average fighter like this, 50million USD.

I can imagine the pilot over Malta airspace,

Pilot: "This is Warpig, seeking permission to land, and will also sell you this craft for 50% less than market rate"

Control: "Warpig, you have permission to land if you will give us 60% off market price"

Pilot: "55%"

Control "You have permission, lane 2, land with caution"

Pilot: "Roger that"

peter pan.

2011-02-23T00:47:00.003+08:00

as you know, i work in a bank.

the most fevered word is "BULL"

and the feared word is "BEAR"

for obvious reasons, the terms "bear" and "bull" are thought to derive from the way in which each animal attacks its opponents. a bull will thrust its horns up into the air, while a bear will swipe down. these actions were then related metaphorically to the movement of a market: if the trend was up, it was considered a bull market; if the trend was down, it was a bear market.

we had these little 'bulls' given to us by one of the fund houses.

200 of these actually; to what we are going to do with these, we have no idea.

and so,

i was staying late in the office today,

and i decided,

to my colleague's desk,

defining unacceptable

2011-02-21T00:47:00.001+08:00

of sparks.

2011-02-21T00:37:00.004+08:00

someone asked me, what is the difference between sparks and chemistry.

i'll say, chemistry is...a reaction, as with you put two chemicals together; you get a reaction. positive or not, aside. positive chemistry, therefore is just a positive reaction, possibly in a platonic fashion.

now, sparks are different.

they make your heart beat a little faster, brings out the excitement in your eyes, and you closer to 16 than you have felt for a long time to come.

but as i grow older, such sparks are less and hard to come by, and it's probably i'm just hardened by life, relationships and such.

but, but, but, in a controlled fashion, it still happens,

instead of BOOM POW WHOOOOOO

it kinda quietly go "p-o-k, p-o-k, p-o-k", much liken to a quiet smile to yourself that tells you,

'hey, this one's special'

on a unrelated, and happier note, we (candice, flora + me), celebrated clement's birthday today, will post pictures when it's posted on f/b by the rest.

teppanyaki

2011-02-19T00:34:00.002+08:00

i like teppanyaki,

and recall the days of benihana during my brissy days; that teppanyaki was entertaining, cheeky and delicious. beats most of those in singapore.

so on that note, i want to share my 'minor fantasy', i shall have a tiny winny cafe, with the same teppanyaki bench, serve breakfast in the day, cooked by yours truly, with my wife making the coffee for you.

then lunch time i close, probably snoozing somewhere

then dinner, i again, Bulaien Tokokawa shall be your teppanyaki chef, making you catch prawns with your mouth, taking shelter from my raining eggs, and drooling away at the same time (:

reputation

2011-02-18T00:58:00.003+08:00

i work in this big american bank, so we get visitors, and big internal events etc.

my name is, bryan low yi teng.

there are other B.L. in the team, such as

Brandon Lim

Benson Lee

Bryan Low

Bryan Lau

so each gets their own 'call sign'

and me, being bryan low

was shorten to b.low.

couple of days ago, we had some ladies external of the bank come.

my colleague (innocently i hope), introduced me,

hi Janet, this is BLOW.

miss peacock.

2011-02-16T23:56:00.001+08:00

i can see you coming to my blog, and reading.

and it's unfair that you keep your blogged locked

(i'll be very disappointed to know that you didn't update, hence you locked it!)

i shall check daily from here on, and await my pleasant surprise.

;)

random

2011-02-16T23:52:00.002+08:00

it's been almost a year and a half now, and i think i have done (reasonably) well for myself, career and all. but that aside, i remained a skeptic.

recently, i got to know another skeptic a little bit better, and i could almost feel her pain, much as how i have lost faith in the female population (almost) entirely.

this post like its title, is random

and goes nowhere (:

kampung

2011-02-15T00:03:00.003+08:00

i was on facebook, where i came across bob (an ocs mate) photos of this 'last kampung' in singapore, which i am now determined to go there on a random sunday morning.

interestingly, it took NYC to run an article on it

in any case, i thought it was a real shame, we have still quite a bit of land to go around, i'm sure we can keep this little place for later.

side note, i'll love to open an old-school-kopi-tiam here :)

article, here

of walls.

2011-02-14T00:00:00.002+08:00

perhaps :)

good week ahead!

needles.

2011-02-10T00:30:00.004+08:00

randomly,

about, say 3 to 4 years ago, i started having these pimples on my chest which wouldn't burst nor heal. doctor said it was keloids, which is basically scar tissue, over healed wounds if you would have it.

so fast forward to mid last year, i went to see a doc about it, and he injected some steroids into it, which, well...helped a little.

in any case, this year, at a recommendation of a colleague, i went to see a TCM, and this was what she did

.

.

.

i edited it to black and white, so you can continue to digest your supper and still count the number of needles she used.

yes, that's my chest you're looking at.
.
.
.
this must be how Gulliver felt when he was attacked with mini arrows.

:)

2011-02-08T23:08:00.002+08:00

was a very good laugh for a morning.

what's new.

2011-02-06T01:41:00.002+08:00

i've got a macbook air.

also

i started a little something with alex, so all you people there who have friends getting married, send them my way!

checkout " http://savethedate.sg "

it's still being enhanced, but it's all up and running!

cycle of life.

2011-02-04T18:26:00.001+08:00

when we are toddlers, we behave like kids, wailing to get our parents' attentions.

as we grow older, we detest our parents' attention, often wanting to break out of it

then we have kids, and we willingly give them our attention, and they demanding it

then as the kids grow older, we as parents start to seek attention from our kids

then we start behaving in an almost childish-like manner, to seek attention from our kids.

hmmm

golf.

2011-02-03T21:28:00.002+08:00

i remember wanting to pick up this sport, partially for work sometime in end december, 2009.

a friend's mum gave me 2 lessons on the driving range in early 2010, and that was that.

come january 2011, a client invited me to go play
.
.
.
and me being me...

with 2 lessons on the driving range
.

.

.
went
.

.

.

to a 18-hole course.

needless to say, it was....well, pui
the consolation is that, and as per my client,

form - 10 points
function - 3 points.

and so, my quest for improve the game shall begin!

i swear.

2011-02-03T21:22:00.001+08:00

in the face of my 30odd loyal readers, and the millions of people out there,

that i,

bryan low yi teng

when married, and with kids, with a huge-ass pay cheque will
.
.
.
give 'ang pao' amounts that keep pace with inflation =)

just random, on the drive back from my aunts place, the fact that i am working and don't need these red packet money aside,

i remember when i was young, like 11...my ang pao amount was 50bucks, fast forward another 17 years, it's still 50 bucks. i shall teach my kids the power of compounding interest; inflation; and i shall have inflation-adjusted-red-packet-amount!

=)

i'm alive!

2011-02-03T17:21:00.002+08:00

january 9 till now, that's just about 2 weeks, not too shabby.

now i have some time to breath over the CNY holidays.

i had a somewhat interesting conversation with some friends just before the holiday started, and i thought i will pen it down.

i attribute it to hanging out and working in aussie for a part of my life, anyway, here goes.

we were talking about work and life, and how it is important to be successful in your career, do what you are really good at, work up the ladder, earn heaps etc etc. and i was saying, in these couple of years, we should try as many things as we can, do well in the things we try, and really, don't worry too much about how much we earn, yes it matters, (i'm not going to settle for a crappy pay of course) but more so, it really should be about experience.

see, between now (read: 28) to say, 32 or so, it is probably the only couple of years that i can remain (reasonably) carefree (read: no kids, naggy wife, mortgage, liabilities etc), that i can go ahead and do pretty much whatever i want, i can't be when you have a 1million mortgage, 50 thousand car loan; by then, you will probably be too shackled by, well..life to even live a life that you wanted.

oh, this doesn't mean i don't like my job of course :)

happy hip hop new year!

fridaynight.

2011-01-09T14:22:00.002+08:00

one of the many celebrations the bank has, the theme was "GREEK" with a best-dressed competition and all.

YES, we won :)

24dec2010

2011-01-01T14:05:00.002+08:00

10 years and counting :)

remember.

2011-01-01T13:24:00.002+08:00

@ming

i'm back!

2011-01-01T12:42:00.001+08:00

read it in the papers over there :)

as per my sister.

2010-12-27T03:44:00.000+08:00

pinic.

2010-12-26T09:08:00.002+08:00

two firsts,

1) picnic - i have done plenty of BBQs, but never a picnic
2) i visited botanical gardens - in my twentyoddyears of existence, i have never visited the park.

it was a good x'mas morning :)

feb20, 2011

2010-12-19T09:28:00.006+08:00

i read this travel article on the business times yesterday morning :)

it's a sporting/charity event, where money is raised for cambodian kids to buy them bicycles, so that they can get to school, get an education, lift themselves out of poverty.

there are options for,

1) 10km run
2) 10km bike
3) 21km run

i reckon i'll do (3)

event details @ http://babcambodia.org/keptrio/

since yesterday, i've recruited

koh ming hao
clement kwek

i made A3 copies of the article, and stuck them over my colleagues' desk as well :P

p/s: drop me a mail if you are interested to go.

poppingby.

2010-12-12T19:40:00.007+08:00

this year is feeling, quite christmassy i'll say :)

side note, remember my post that everyone is fighting a personal battle, and that we should try to be kind to people that we come across. on a (somewhat) related note, there are always some clients that make me feel valued and worthwhile, and it has nothing to do with business.

on friday, i met a client; and she went

"what happened to your face!" (i had some massive pimples)
"i'm going to send the driver here on monday, he'll pass you some cream and medicine, make you handsome again"

i smiled and laughed, and reminded myself (yet again)to be kind to people that i come across :)

:)

2010-12-12T14:07:00.000+08:00

40hands.

2010-12-12T14:04:00.002+08:00

coffee's better than food for thought,
but food for thought's food's better =)

i wonder.

2010-12-09T23:49:00.003+08:00

i was reading candice post, and i suppose we are all fighting our own battles.

and yes, i often wonder that too; and often i still question myself about the way things panned out; but anyway, let's not dwell too much on that.

i'm working on something way way way more exciting.

so, akan datang

random.

2010-12-04T22:58:00.002+08:00

sb.

2010-12-04T22:40:00.003+08:00

i've been spending my every other evenings, rare evenings that i'm back earlier to watch game changers on bloomberg, today i watched the steve jobs segment.

and i liked a particular mention about the man himself;

apple is the only company that does ZERO marketing; they don't care what the consumer wants. they just create.

and i agree, just tell them, this is what they need =)

flea market, more!

2010-11-29T21:14:00.005+08:00

true enough, bryan lau (read: 2nd picture, skinny guy, witch hat, random signs) uploaded the rest onto facebook, and here are more pics of the day.

the truth is, we were NOT prepared at all, no signs no table no nothing, and everything was spontaneously done on the spot; even the markers had to be borrowed from the drink stall.

bryan lau exact words were "when i look at the stuff, i'm like...who will buy these", but hey, we did good! we sold and sell and sold and sell :)

pictures;
.
.
.

:)

flea market, success!

2010-11-27T20:57:00.005+08:00

these are only few photos i have taken from my own iphone, the rest should be popping up on f/b over the next couple of days.

noteworthy, i was at butter yesterday till 4.30, then went to studio m to celebrate meiyi's birthday, only zonked out at 6am, woke up at 8 to go to work, then to scape park to prepare, and surprisingly, i was not tired! (until now, read: 9.00pm)

the stall locations was on a first come first serve basis, and we were able to get a corner table despite being almost the last one there, i happily moved the table out to get better visibility. i then started tearing up the cardboard boxes and wrote "NAME YOUR PRICE", "SHOW ME SOME LOVE", "FOR CHARITY" etc.

the black string you see at the back, is actually improvised from a trash bag.

below is me and elyn, we were there from start till end.

throughout, members of the entire team came by, helped to sell, shout, do manicure, bought some items for themselves, great fun, great fun.

our neighbour's store's owner's son, happily started playing with the team, and decided to be our mascot.

anyway, till the end, we have some clothes unsold, and i just went,

ONE DOLLAR
TEN MINUTES,
STARTING, NOW!

boy, you should see the crowd come from nowhere =)

well, i reckon it was a success, and i bet we had the best sales in the entire flea market.
(at last count, i think we made almost 800bucks)

:)

p/s: now the only-had-2-hrs-sleep is kicking in

come!

2010-11-23T00:11:00.003+08:00

yep, we are seriously, honestly, confirm running this stall this saturday, and will really appreciate if you can spread the word and help us run out of stock =)

see you there!

phrase.

2010-11-22T00:01:00.002+08:00

i was having coffee with alex on saturday arvo, and he shared parts of a book he was reading with me. and one was a phrase, which is what i do, quite a fair bit.

"don't ask for permission, ask for forgiveness"

i don't have to explain much, basically, too many of us just go and seek permission and run through heaps of red tape and nonsense before we are given the green light, and by that time, the war has finished.
.
.
.
now, my sister is quite the person too, wack first, sort it out later.

and so i shared with her, i msn-ed her and told her, she's quite the quote, to which she replied

.

.

.

rush.

2010-11-21T11:24:00.003+08:00

i finished my swim, and was waiting for the lift up.

this young boy from afar, sprinting towards the lift landing for all his life was worth.
i stepped into the lift, just when this young boy rushed in and went...

"FIVE" (to which i pressed for him)

me, "are you in a rush?"
boy, "no..."

me, "what are you running so fast for?"
boy, *thinking*... "don't know"

to which i smiled a funny smile to myself, must be one of those imaginary stories running behind his head, perhaps he being the hero rushing up to save a damsel in distress, or he evading a kidnapper of sorts, i remember doing that =P

fridaynight.

2010-11-20T19:46:00.001+08:00

i probably should have taken more pictures, but i reckon this place is awesome.
i went there again today with alex and his wife; and told him, when and if we do get a shop, it's going to look and feel mighty close to this.

yes yes, no originality i know but mine will rock more.

(:

good idea.

2010-11-17T09:33:00.003+08:00

while colleague L was away from his desk for lunch
colleague E decided that colleague L neede some company

and so,
.

.

.
colleague went around the office and,
.

.

.

my biggest regret of 2010, was that i missed the look on colleague L's face when he's back.

damm =)

somepeople

2010-11-15T22:11:00.003+08:00

read my blog to correct my english :P
so goh meiyi, are we FOURTY-handing =)

yep.

2010-11-14T23:09:00.000+08:00

from ming

btw

2010-11-14T22:46:00.003+08:00

i decided to lay out the back posts :)
because since i blog so INFREQUENTLY now, you can entertain yourself by reading my shameless past :P

side note,

on nice places i've tried in singapore for the past year odd (that i have been back)

the more try-worthy (and less known i imagine) so far

big ben (siglap)
garden slug (telok kurau)
district 10 (newton)
mimolet (bt timah)
shore (closed down)
food for thought (below post)
papa (below post)

and target for next week, as spurred by candice goh shall be,

fourty hands!

aussie pretence.

2010-11-14T22:36:00.007+08:00

:)

it's been sometime since i had excellent company + brunch + coffee
and almost felt like it was not quite singapore.

i was famished after a swim before i went for brunch, hence it was a case of
"eatalready-thenrealise-forgottotakepictures"

then off to,

no space, hence this arrangement.

you could almost tell it was a recipe for disaster when our ben wong almost flipped all three cups of coffee in the air.

and its monday :)

whooohooo

daily wish.

2010-11-12T23:10:00.003+08:00

here's me keeping my up weekly update promise.

it heartens to see that there are still heaps of random people reading, although i bet you guys were thinking like the above.

i work on level 12, and my daily wish every morning, would that EVERYONE in the lift, will work on levels 13 and above, and today, despite a packed lift, my wish came true :)

i'm afraid life = work now.

i met up with clement and candice not too long ago, and our dear ms goh was saying, blogging simply takes up too much effort, i do agree with that, but hey :)

this is going to be a packed weekend, will update again.

good weekend peeps

@gabriel.

2010-11-08T00:13:00.001+08:00

i liked what gabriel blogged about,

he asked, "what it takes to be a good officer", and quoting him,

Well spoken,
Well read,
Well mannered,
Well informed,
Well groomed,

well said bro.

like finally.

2010-11-06T22:00:00.002+08:00

these pics are one week old, and pardon the excellent camera quality.
some friends from indo visited, and it was over Halloween, so we went to pump room, and i must say, we have come a long way in celebrating halloween!

anyhow, my job (literally) drains me, but will TRY to update weekly here on :)

intelligent me.

2010-10-20T00:42:00.003+08:00

i have always, at least think i am quite intelligent; no one will say i'm stupid, or slow, or not-witty,

you get the idea.

even if you meet me for the very first time, and engage me in some sort of conversation, i will be able to hold my ground, for sure.

i went to pedro citylink to a specific pair of shoes, which wasn't available, and had to reserve it at ION orchard, so the salesperson had to assist me

naturally, had some small talk with the salesperson, which he also asked for my name and contact number.
.
.
.

and he wrote it down
.
.
.

and
.
.
.
handed it to me.

=)

eat,pray,love

2010-10-20T00:36:00.001+08:00

i watched this movie today, and well, got me thinking a little bit about my own life, but let's not get there :)

one of my favourite quotes/lines/sentence from the movie will be,

There’s a wonderful old Italian joke about a poor man who goes to church every day and prays before the statue of a great saint, begging, “Dear saint—please, please, please…give me the grace to win the lottery.” This lament goes on for months. Finally the exasperated statue comes to life, looks down at the begging man and says in weary disgust, “My son—please, please, please – buy a ticket.”

mr goh.

2010-10-17T16:49:00.004+08:00

and truly, this is the most fun, touching, best-est wedding i've attended.
(*ahem* because i was the emcee :P)

but TRULY, it was HEAPS OF FUN.

congrats and well done bro :)

hey :)

2010-10-17T15:48:00.004+08:00

i have been bugged plentiful ever since i stopped blogging, and it was quite heart warming to know that people do read my blog, plus the fact that most of the things I write are nonsensical.

my current job is client facing; and the more serious and steadfast i appear, the better (i imagine), but then again, after almost a year in the job, i realised that the best clients, are the ones that see you as a person, rather than say, a face of the firm you work for.

which then made me realise, i actually share most part of my life with people i meet, and they too...let me into their personal lives.

by the way, i just bought a car :)

p/s: this blog started in july 2008, and i do suppose its better to keep the past as past, after all, we all should be forward looking. SO KEEP UP with my posts, because only 10 are displayed, and after that, no more! =)

naruto birthdate

2010-07-03T21:59:00.003+08:00

on thursday, when my sister came back home, and saw me,
she immediately exclaimed

BROTHER! YOU'RE BORN ON THE SAME DATE AS NARUTO!
A M A Z I N G!

wahahaha :)

on work.

2010-07-03T01:00:00.001+08:00

i don't wanna hear "cannot"
i wanna hear "why not"

=)

adel's wedding

2010-06-29T21:37:00.002+08:00

i saw that adel posted up photos of her wedding, which i emceed and enjoyed myself tremendously.

some pics to share :)

kudos to hailing, who last minute volunteered to be the chinese emcee.
seriously last minute, she came to the wedding as a guest, and we just asked her to emcee, which she agreed. so without any script, preparation what-so-ever, she just translated whatever i said in real time =)

have a great week ahead!

more random.

2010-06-28T22:15:00.004+08:00

There's a place I dream about
where the sun never goes out.
And the sky is deep and blue.

ivy-edge of the ocean-and just in case, click here to download

but really, i remember a place, where the sun doesn't set
where i drove along a never ending coast, in a rental ford

=)

random.

2010-06-27T19:47:00.002+08:00

"he didn't even consider anyone could 'fail' at life. life was life-with all its bizarre twists and turns."

I said that's life, and as funny as it may seem
Some people get their kicks,
Stompin' on a dream
But I don't let it, let it get me down,
'Cause this fine ol' world it keeps spinning around

frank sinatra - that's life

short latte.

2010-06-13T12:48:00.004+08:00

i have a habit of carrying a book around with me, so other than reading market updates on iphone, i entertain myself otherwise.

i've just finished "the economic naturalist", and an interesting article speaks of starbucks, (the story of starbucks is not the point);

**the pictures below are all taken in singapore**
the book goes to say that, a standard coffee is actually 60 oz, and that equates to a 'short latte', but starbucks on their menu board only have the 'tall' or 'grande' version.

however, if you were to go to starbucks and order "a short latte", they actually have it.

and after reading that article, i went to try.

you can see, on the menu board, a tall latte is $5.20

i went and asked for "a short latte", which costs only $4.80.
you may then ask, 40 cents difference, might as well go for the the bigger one.

hey, mind you...the 40 cents extra just gives you an additional mouthful of MILK, no matter it's short, tall or grande, it's still ONE COFFEE SHOT + MILK.

such a scam =)
and to think, i've been ordering tall lattes of my entire starbucks-drinking-life.

month six, week one

2010-06-05T10:02:00.002+08:00

i truly treasure my weekends now, not because i have more time to myself, but the main thing is that i can pay off my sleep debt incurred over the week =)

don't get me wrong, i love what i am doing, (and that's why i spend a little more time at work); plus it doesn't help that i take about 1 1/2 hours to get to work.

so my typical day will have me wake up at 6.30 in the morning, catch the 7am bus, reach work at 8.40 or so, finish work at 9+pm, reach home (usually on a cab) by 10+pm, read a little, sleep at 12+ or so.

so i love my weekend sleep, but unfortunately...

these days, there's a problem.

last last last friday.

2010-06-02T23:01:00.003+08:00

met up with a couple of the guys after work, drank till 2 in the morning, and i was the first one to leave!

age is catching up =P

the weekly update

2010-05-30T15:08:00.002+08:00

told ya i'll update each week instead =)
so what has been happening?

i've started work for about 2 weeks now, and loving the place i'm at.
colleagues (mostly) are nice, including the boss.

and i think, one of the best things about working off a branch, is that you are in a team of 20+, versus in some main corporate office, where you have heaps and heaps of people, which naturally translates to heaps and heaps of politics.

i've worked in plenty of jobs, and in my last job, my boss wisely told me "bryan, as long as you have more than 2 employees in the workplace, you will have politics"

i've never liked playing the political games, and i've survived well just minding my own business and doing my own job well, so let's hope that continues to be the case.

what else?

i've been stocking up on my tailored clothes and ties.

mum says i have way too many ties...

i always say, where got =P

cluckcluck

2010-05-23T12:12:00.001+08:00

i miss aussie a little bit less now =)
BECAUSE...

NANDOS HAS LANDED HERE! =)
wahahahahhaa

so far, so good=)

2010-05-19T00:04:00.001+08:00

i know there's this huge void of updates, i'll do it weekly, *promise*
now the exams and all are over, and i'm as they say "on the field"

work is good, colleagues are great; on the work front, nothing much to complain about.

side note on my life,

when i was 17, going to poly...which poly?
temasek polytechnic - EAST SIDE

when i was 20, going army...went to OCS - kena posted where?
3 guards, bedok camp - EAST SIDE

went australia, finish studying...went citibank - kena which branch?
parkway parade - EAST SIDE

oh...did i mention?
i stay at JURONG EAST - WEST SIDE

=)

BIG SMALL

2010-05-09T22:33:00.002+08:00

this happened sometime ago.

point aside, i took many pics of different occasions with the intention to blog, but come work and exams and *many many more excuses*, they are often left till times like this, whereby i have some spare time to blog =)

so this was last weekend back, at glen's place, where he painstakingly did up a "big-small" gambling setup, and we had heaps of fun.

one colleague of ours, not very lucky as you can see.
three of us had our bets on the dice numbers being ONE, FOUR, and SIX
.

.

.
and you guessed right,
the three dice 'readings' were exactly those three numbers.

hahaha, her expression was priceless =)

that's anqi for you by the way =)

random

2010-05-08T12:51:00.001+08:00

i find myself quite impatient at times.

like at home, i find the 3G network way too slow
for words-with-friends, wassap-ing etc.

and i always feel compelled to use the wireless instead.

weekend!

2010-05-07T21:43:00.001+08:00

training, aka 'honeymoon period' is coming to an end by next week,
then it'll be down to work proper, where i hear bankers typically work till 11pm+ everyday.

so i'll look forward to that too!

that's amassed over the past 7weeks or so at training =)

alotalotoffood

2010-05-05T23:41:00.001+08:00

met up with the 54/03 ocs people =)
orbat, 2nd from left is going off to the middle east for work.

it was a good good wednesday night :)

whoohooo!

2010-04-30T23:13:00.002+08:00

friday =)

a couple of things needs to be sorted though

- studying
- sorting out a friend's resume
- send out a couple of emails that i owe

ah well, happy weekend!

togethering.

2010-04-30T01:00:00.002+08:00

i found this little shopping cart in bugis junction that stocks awesome ties, at 10bucks a pop
which is awesomely cheap.

so i brought two of my colleauges there, elson and aloy, sharing is caring i say.
and that's not it

and in true secondary-school, togethering, gay-ness fashion,
we decided to wear the same tie against a white shirt to work.

wahahhaa!

walking together, we looked very much like some credit card sellers =P

i have

2010-04-28T22:56:00.002+08:00

5 more exam papers to clear by next week.

then i'll start work proper, like proper proper =)
so bear with me please!

p/s: kick-ass the movie is NOT-WATCHABLE.

side note,

every morning, at training class
we have the huddle session; basically a rar-rar thing to start off the day, where by you'll play a little game that relates to a particular value of the day.

so yesterday, was along the theme of team work, and we were asked to, in our groups create a standing structure out of poker cards.

and so, lo and behold,

our poker-card-house with STARHUB CABLE TV ANTENNA =P

soon soon,

2010-04-21T22:14:00.001+08:00

updating soon =)

words with friends (no more) =P

2010-04-19T22:46:00.002+08:00

*conversation with priscilla*

pris: aye bryan, what is one word, with H as the second letter?
bryan: CHIN?

pris: YAY! 54 points!!
bryan: wah! hahaha, who did you just killed with 54 points

pris: YOU LOR!
bryan: ....

foolscap + graph paper.

2010-04-18T21:48:00.001+08:00

15 years in the making

2010-04-18T11:55:00.005+08:00

1995 was the year when i was in class 6b, jurong primary school
15 years down the road, everyone is still heaps of fun to be with

so you had a bunch of 27 year old(s) playing, "lom jiang pus", "rock paper scissors", "5/10", "ji-kou-pa", "zhong ji mi ma" among others.

it was just non-stop-laughing from 7pm to 2am.

p/s: so we were playing indian poker, to finish up the massive amounts of beer that we bought. vincent had a diamond ace, and i happily went to take a picture of him...thinking that he's going to have to drink for sure.

what no one told me was
.

.

.
i had a hearts ace on my forehead.

hahaha =)

cannot use.

2010-04-17T14:47:00.001+08:00

no acronyms it seems =(

different.

2010-04-15T23:02:00.002+08:00

my days are spent at macdonal house.
so while everyone, (supposedly) same room, same treatment,

not everything is equal.

side note,
someone told me, we're all born into this world as a pair; that god planned someone for each and everyone of us. but somewhere, somehow along the way...we lost each other, and hence spend most of our lives searching for that someone.

someone =)

i have since,

2010-04-14T06:53:00.000+08:00

shrunk =)

pang-chek

2010-04-14T00:15:00.003+08:00

apologies peeps =)
been busy with exams preparations

will defn update soon!

p/s: i hopped onto the iphone bandwagon =P

translation.

2010-04-11T23:16:00.005+08:00

you guys know the song 张学友-想和你去吹吹风

well, when i first got the song, i didn't install the chinese language input
(obviously, i'll never use that in australia)

so when a friend sent me that song,
and it was all in gibberish
like,

so, i just conveniently named the song,
.

.

.

p/s: i was just going through my playlist, and got tickled by this.
so share share =)

i think,

2010-04-11T09:47:00.002+08:00

other than falling for someone,
everything is a matter of choice =)

a random thought halfway through a sunday morning swim.

to insist

2010-04-10T22:06:00.002+08:00

that someone take the mints that you have
and not be too subtle about it.

simply leave the mints and a corresponding note on the recipient table
saying
.

.

.

the reasons,

2010-04-09T20:59:00.004+08:00

there, these are (almost all) the people that made my past few weeks AWESOME.
from left, farhan, bryan, bryan, eugene, alvin, isaac, elson, myself, stanley, racy, aloy, malcom
glenn, faye, tania, eugene, ivan, cheryl, pris, anqi, evenly, theresa, edmund.

p/s: of course, and naturally, there are more than one reason to look forward to mondays =)
as of last count, there are 2792 reasons =p

.

.

.

side story, if you realise in the pic, there are THREE bryans.
believe it or not, in the training class...there are

1. bryan low (myself)
2. bryan lau
3. bryan wong

but that's not the story i'm telling today.

i remember, one week before i started training proper, i was required to go down to the esplanade branch to open an account.

and so, i did.

and guess who was there, at the same time
.

.

.

bryan lau.

SO...

after handing in my I/C, and obviously
not knowing each other, we just sat at the waiting area to be served,
and along came "elles", the personal banker

and she went "mr low?" (i react to LOW, or LAU, and so did, the other bryan)

so both of us made eye contact, and proceeded to stand up.
and noticing that we BOTH stood up, we looked at each other, and looked at elles.

elles: err....BRYAN LOW?

so AGAIN, both of us took a step forward

elles: err...LOW YI TENG BRYAN?

and yes, it was me.

hahahaha!

what are the chances,
TWO BRYAN
BRYAN LOW/LAUs

SAME EMPLOYER
AT THE SAME BRANCH
AT THE SAME TIME

never buy 4d though
cheers to the weekend =)

days of now

2010-04-09T01:01:00.003+08:00

are mostly spent in a room full of the funnest people around.
truly, i think this is the best "classroom" time i have had =)

p/s: today was a good day. in fact, it's good 2472 times over =p

snippets of sunday morning

2010-04-07T23:24:00.004+08:00

and of course, with excellent company =)

We know, other people
But we ain't other people
So we'll do things our way

on fate.

2010-04-06T22:58:00.006+08:00

i think our lives, are somewhat formed around classrooms.
that's where fate, takes place in its most concrete form.

come primary school, when you are innocent and a blank canvas,
your 'de-facto' partner, usually ends up being your best friend,
and likely to have the most impact on your growing up years.

mine was a little like that.
people who sees my handwriting these days, almost always have the comment that it's small and very neat, much like a girl's.
what i don't tell is, that when i was 11 and 12, i sat beside this girl with SUPER NEAT handwriting, and i kinda emulated her.

come secondary school, again it's the same.
where fate (or the form teacher) places you in class, in one way or another, determines your life.

i recall i was fortunate to be in a circle of smarties and goody-two-shoes, which kinda steered me in the right direction

and so the circle repeats itself.

poly days, whoever you are grouped with, (provided with a good working relationship) ensues a lasting friendship.

university days, even more in the hands of fate.
DAY ONE, have to form project groups already.
so LITERALLY, whoever you sit beside and around, are by default your project group mates.
and translates to your circle of friends.

now, training class in the bank
same thing =)

but i'll say, fate has been very kind to me =)

p/s: of course, seat changes are part of fate as well (kind twists of fate)=P

of interesting lectures.

2010-04-05T22:12:00.008+08:00

if you have not already know, i joined a bank
and there's training to be completed before you can start work proper.

it was a long lecture today.
and these are the SWEAT AND LABOUR for today.

p/s: before i start the story, just getting the pictures for this post, sweat man.
have to scan, crop and name the images.

ANYWAY, here the story goes.

BORING LECTURE RIGHT,
so calls for some form of self entertainment.

INTRODUCING,

and,

and of course, i'm the other contender.
it goes like this, priscilla says to draw something,
and i'll draw, vice versa.

then we'll get racy toh, and if she can identify the drawing the first time around
then the 'artist' wins

needless to say, my art sucks!
BUT IT WAS HEAPS OF FUN.
.

.

.
i was asked to do mickey mouse,
which turned out more to be like mickey rabbit

although i think priscilla's mini cooper a bit pirated...
racy toh got it anyway

but nevermind,
checkout my EVEN MORE PIRATED PEUGEOT
(btw, that THING, is supposed be the lion-head-logo)

pris's version of kung fu master
look like some satay seller i say =P

THIS ONE...
i draw until i out of breath,
and all racy toh (the judge) could come up with was
gymnast, olympian, somersault...*mutters*

this one, pris wins.
hands down

THIS ONE, supposed to be BANKER
and after drawing...

racy toh went
.

.

.
I KNOW!
BANK ROBBER

*takesknifeandstabsself*

priscilla is good...

this one i got it,
(i'm getting better with practice)

again,
gotta hand it to her =)

OBVIOUSLY, i draw an indian behind a counter right,
and the display refers to the fx exchange.

BUT...racy toh went...
"trader?" "banker?"

*sigh(

hahaha!
this one, again priscilla got it

this one,
i got it =)

i can't believe racy toh guessed this right

this one, i clinched it =)

such an artist, that girl.

this one challenging...
i was supposed to draw "FHM FIRECRACKER"

this one,
the judge got it.

oh, and my favourite
check out

THE BELLY DANCER

hahaha =)

it was good good good good good good good good fun.

optimism

2010-04-03T23:19:00.004+08:00

this is between my mum, sis and myself.

mum: so when's your pay day?
me: 19th april

mum: so got money spend already la
me: yar, but when i start working proper, i want to earn 50K a month

mum: you DREAM ah, where got so easy
me: must be positive what! why you so negative. i go and ask ah-ning (my sister),

me: ning ah! i want to earn 50K a month
ning: SO LITTLE ONLY?

me: see mum! that's the wayyyyy
mum: OKOK LAH!

=)

"mai seng siao"

2010-04-03T12:24:00.001+08:00

qing ming.

2010-04-02T18:27:00.008+08:00

nearing to qing ming, we (mum, myself, younger sister and brother) will make our way to this temple where my father's tablet is.

so today, we went down.

and there was a sizable crowd, and apparently its the birthday of one of the deities and you could buy a 'prayer' and have the monks say a prayer while you stand before him with the 'lucky charm'

supposed to bless, and replishish luck (补运)

so i got one for myself, and another for, well, someone.

best thing, during the prayer, mine was like longer than everyone else.
meaning, my mum, sis and bro all chop chop finish, and mine was like an extended version.

and later, the monk's assistant came over and asked me if i wanted to 'pu gua' (somewhat like tarot card reading), saying that when the monk was chanting his prayer, he could sense something was amiss.

i was thinking, did he think i look tired and "眉头发黑", therefore i look like i am down on my luck, because if that was the case, it is because
.

.

.
i did a 2km swim in the morning => hence looked out of sorts
2km swim = 50mins under the sun = mildly chao ta => 眉头发黑

heh =)

side note,

i have a habit of bringing a book around, so i don't 'waste time'
and today's book is

and i was telling my (very funny) sister,

me: aye, girl ah...this book very good...but damm dry
sis: you want some water for it?

happy weekend =)

the day i became a pencil box.

2010-04-02T02:18:00.003+08:00

and as a VERY BORING lecture was going on
the ladies on my left and right
decided the 'holes' in my shirt, would be perfect to
.

.

.
hold highlighters.

uniquely singapore

2010-03-30T22:52:00.003+08:00

i'll tell you what's uniquely singapore.

you know the song,

三只老虎，三只老虎
跑的快，跑的快
一只没有眼睛，
一只没有饵朵
真奇怪，真奇怪
.

.

.

and i was on the train, back home from work

and i saw and heard this indian small girl singing to the tune of "三只老虎"

roti prata roti prata
curry rice curry rice
gimme cup of bandong
gimme cup of bandong
very nice
very nice

=）

sunday =)

2010-03-28T22:26:00.002+08:00

at 10am, i reached muhammed sultan, 'the book cafe' to meet another 3 of my colleagues to study. yes...we have these internal papers that we need to clear before we can start work proper, so here in this picture, you see racy toh, and palavarni surayanti.

in any case, on my way, on the train to the place this morning, i ran into an ex colleauge, back from hong kah secondary where i was teaching. tan chong chay samuel is the name.

so we boarded the train and,

sam: aye bryan! so where are you heading to?
bryan: muhammed sultan
sam: now? you going there to drink?! at this time
bryan: life is short my friend

=p

=)

2010-03-28T01:48:00.006+08:00

and so, the event went well (i imagine), hahaha, even with this rusty emcee going at it.

anyway, side note,

interestingly, just a few months i was still thinking what i wanted to do.
that was in australia, and at that time, i thought i would like to be a full time banker and part time freelance emcee, just because i like emceeing.

and so, at that point in time, i registered a domain "www.bankerbyday.com", and thought i could market myself differently, instead of "emcee", i'm banker by day!

life is interesting in this way i suppose, you can only plan SO MUCH, the rest...just live it.
i used to want my life very differently...and now, i too want it very differently from just a few months back, but nevertheless, my cup always remains half full.

i joined a foreign bank by the way, which is know to squeeze its staff dry, bleed them to death. so people ask me/tell me "i hear they work you very hard there", and my reply is "well, i always welcome a challenge". the truth is, try finding a job that pays you well, and works you easy. i'll much rather have a pressured environment to work in, that will iron out the lesser colleagues, that work in a less driven environment.

then people ask..."wah bryan...you can take it meh?"

my answer is "kurt kobain said, its better to burn out then to fade away"
.

.

.

what i however don't feel too good about is politics, but i know deep down, i have no choice but to participate in the game. my ex boss told me...."bryan, as long as the company got more than ONE employee, there will be politics, whether you like it or not".

i've decided, i shall just continue to be nice, mildly naive and help those that i feel deserve it. the rest, i just leave it to karma.

call it the dreamer's disease if you must,
but,

You've got a reason to live
Can't forget you only get what you give
Four a. m. we ran a miracle mile
Were flat broke but hey we do it in style
The bad rich
God's flying in for your trial

Fly high
What's real can't die
You only get what you give

p.s.
these days feel like secondary school days, after school (i.e. training class), will go to the nearby cafe to do some studying. now weekends (i.e. sunday morning) meet up with classmates (i.e. colleagues) to study!

thursday =)

2010-03-26T21:18:00.003+08:00

its finally the weekend.

i was with ying after work briefly, to get the emcee script for tomorrow's event and i was telling her, just a few weeks ago, or when we were studying, friday is just, a day.

now it's different, friday is...."ITS FRIDAY!"
albeit, i prefer my fridays to be home early and get some exercise.

i still recall alex goh telling me not too long ago, when he complains that he can't find much time to exercise. then i chided him, and told him, it's a matter of discipline!

now....i eat my words, ha! =)
.

.

.
anyway, some pics to share.

i attended chinois spa's opening with jbc on thursday, the invitation was sent way before, but come ONE DAY before the event, i was asked to be the photographer for the event

and so, i borrowed my sister's cannon slr and just pretend pretend.
people say i looked like a professional,

i just say, "it's style over substance" =)

and yes! it's the weekend =)

ADD: attention deficit disorder.

2010-03-26T18:40:00.002+08:00

i found a colleague with the same condition as me =)
cannot sit still, and study also.

hahaha =)

diversification.

2010-03-26T00:25:00.000+08:00

these days are

2010-03-24T22:33:00.003+08:00

fx,bonds,options,
fx,bonds,options,
fx,bonds,options,
fx,bonds,options,
fx,bonds,options,
fx,bonds,options,
fx,bonds,options,
fx,bonds,options,
fx,bonds,options,

and
fx,bonds,options,

oooyea.

2010-03-23T23:44:00.001+08:00

oh, and check out my magically healed ulcer,
courtesy of my dearest sister, here

it's mid week!

=)

powers combine.

2010-03-22T23:55:00.002+08:00

my left ulcer,

fell in love with my right ulcer

proceeded to kiss each other

and as my sister ~~cursed~~ said

the union is simply,

kickass.

russell 1 ahtan 0

2010-03-21T11:11:00.001+08:00

reminiscing

2010-03-21T10:59:00.004+08:00

that was at noosa, probably september 2008, where the few of us did a half marathon there.
and the night before, we walloped ourselves with beer, pizza and spicy thai food

and the run was somewhat a lao-a-thon =)