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The new Apprentice

I stayed up all nite to watch the last 2 episodes and finale of The Apprentice Season 6...i hav to admit that i am a big big fan of the reality show..cos it has veri much to do with business and there are actually lessons you can derive from the show..what makes it more interesting is how ppl fight for their lives in the boardroom and how teams build and fall apart..

this is actually the first season of any reality series that I actually supported and wanted a candidate to win. In fact..i dun even watch much of reality series..i wun be shy to hide dat i haven seen a full episode of american idol or any superstar shows..b4 the end of each episode..i would have changed the channel..or walked away..

In this season of the Apprentice..there was this guy from Korea who realli impressed me alot with his capabilities and also leadership..he migrated to the states at age of 4 and grew up in Houston, Texas and Seattle, Washington.

at age 18..he took $5000 and started a technology investment fund and turned it into 2 million dollars by age 23..while still doing his degree in business and computer information systems form university of Washington. He graduated as a millionaire...growing up from a humble family who came to the states with veri little money. Upon graduation..he joined a Fortune 500 company and earned a 6-digit pay cheque..which he in time turned his back on and started his own internet business.

He won my support based on many grounds..
1. He grew up from a humble family and that's what really kept him going (Just like i did!)
2. He has his sights on being an entrepreneur with special reference to internet businesses (Just like me!)
3. He is Asian (Hey hey..what do u tink i am?). And I really wanted to see an Asian make it against everyone else in the world.
4. He is really capable and achieved success way before he reached his 30's (Common goal..still chasing)

His name is James Sun.

in this season..the final day was left with 4 final candidates (James, Stefani, Frank, Nicole) which gone through a hell of a time to reach the final week. But although it was tough to reach the final week, some decisions that Frank and nicole made really asked for them to be fired..mixing business and emotions is no way to impress ur future boss..

So Donald Trump wasted no time in firing the 2 of them..n dat leaves Stefani and James..which really was a much tougher decision to be made compared to last yr's final 2 of Shaun and Lee..last yr's was pretty obvious..

And Donald asked people after people on who he should pick..from Ivanka..to Don. jr..to george..to the 'fired' contestants..n still it was a dilemma..n at the end of the day..Donald Trump decided... ...to fire...James Sun...which really shocked the hell out of me!

I mean all respect to Stefani..she was a gd leader from the back..but she gone under the radar e whole time..not assuming much leadership roles. N while her credentials as a lawyer is impressive..Trump can just hire one if he needs...whereas James brings with him enterprising and creativity capabilities..qualities that u need to spearhead organizations..well..Trump's reason for firing James was becos he couldnt forget something that James said during the season and I had no idea wat it was..neither did Trump reveal it..

Stefani - The New Apprentice

but my gut feel is that he will end up hiring both..I mean..James is a talent u won't want to miss. Who knows...maybe there will be a Trump tower in korea one day..

-Ivanka Trump-
Another reason to watch the Apprentice..Lol..

The mansion that winning teams stayed in..
while losing teams stay out in the open..in tents..

LTB mates @ Minds Cafe

Last thurs..i had the chance to catch up with some of my LTB groupmates at Minds Cafe..again..haha..its becoming our 'lao di fang' man..though we dun realli call it dat..but we seem to be there whenever we set up to meet..unfortunately cindy, chayanit and aloha could make it..

but who misses them anyway..*recalling all the 'fights' we used to have durin proj*..lol..and not forgettin the fact dat chayanit keeps irritating me in Stats class cos she's always beside me..sigh..stupid thai ger..haha..

Jenny . Zeyan
-The LTB Couple-

I had my hair bleached b4 i went to meet them..finally..haven done so ever since my sis's wedding..cos i've been too busy ever since..i had my hair trimmed, dyed and highlighted..and all this for a compiled total offfffff........... $50...lol..y?..connections...hahaha..jus kidding..hey were gonna move away to another location..plus we always chat when i'm there..so..hm..farewell gift discount?..and its not a bad job u know..no one got the price rite so far..haha..

anyway..we played many games..and i just cant seem to remember the games even though i have played some of them..n it was fun!..as most prob alreadi know..the games there were more uncommon..and makes it realli fun especially when its a 'sabotage' game..where u wanna pull ppl's hair out for spoiling ur plans..

I finally win in something!!

mid way thru..i met up with Ding Xiang as he was in the vicinity..was in SMU campus for school of business's interview..and hm..after chattin with him on his interview..my honest views was dat it was an average interview..school of business interview has always been in a manner of a 8 person group interview where you had to display your thought process, reasoning and how articulative u were..being in the army for too long..it has realli taken it's toll on him..and he was sort of stuck at the backfoot..in the interview..and not leading the discussion..

dat was y i insisted on booking out the night b4 to go prepare for the interview when it was my turn back then..and he onli sort of 'warmed his engines' after meeting up with me..and he regretted meetin me onli so late..sigh..i hope he gets in..den we can have more get togethers..and maybe develop biz plans as well..he's driven in dat sense as well...

after Minds Cafe..i took off to Marina Square to meet qiang and another gal (who's name dun matter..lol)..for dinner..once again..i din realli finish my meal..guess its permanent now..my appetite..at the dinner..i realli started to realise the chance qiang had in him after workin all these years..he seemed to have lost his spirit to fight for anything he believed in..

no wonder a lot of entrepreneurs say that it is rubbish to need to first work in order to start ur own biz..cos wat many ppl say abt our workforce is true...we become non-believers..and once u get into e 'comfort zone'..u'll find 2 million excuses on y u cant succeed elsewhere..whereas the matter of fact is that u jus dun wanna try..

sometimes i tink i sound so old..haha..but when it comes to work..its business..n my play attitude fades..it also came to my attention dat alot of ppl have been asking me what they should do with their lives lately..e.g. what should they study..what should they work as..what biz should they start...

and i will always ask them to pursue their passion which leads to the next question..'how do i know wat is my passion?'..quoting from one of Adam Khoo's seminars i have attended..ask urself.."if u had all the money u ever wanted in this world..will u still find urself doing this current job or business? if yes, den it is truely ur passion.." ...and many ppl (e.g. chun) will answer.."if i hav all the money i wanted..i will be shaking legs.."..which is not true..cos if shaking legs is all u do for just one month..it will be enough to drive u crazy..and u'll soon look for a challenge to take on..so dun kid urself dats wat u want..

be honest on wat u want..and u can be a veri happy person..even if not the richest..and i've been impressed upon with the idea dat u will onli truly excel when u'r doin somethin u love..and i happen to agree with it fully..so its a cycle..do what you love..and u'll excel in it (cos u'll do whatever it takes)..n u'll end up loving it even more..

this is one of the golden rules that many successful figures such as Robert T. Kiyosaki and Donald J. Trump follows by..

Reflections

Hey yor..been 3 days since i've blogged..haha..been out..n slpin too much too..somehow e Zzz monster came and never really took off..although it is my hols..but this is no way to spend it..time is money..hahaha..

n i found out dat i have actually been losing weight and my fat percentage is going down...*smirk*..generally..i gym twice a week..and unintentionally..i've been eating one meal a day..y?..hm..i'm not sure y too..just haven really been hungry lately..guess its a good thing so I won't over eat..haha..not like i ever had..but ya know..prevention is better than cure..better slim now than have to diet later.. (n no...i'm not anorexic..)

i just haven been much of a eater of late..especially after i had dat Prisoner of war training in army last yr where we were held captive and then left to survive in the jungle with nothing but a 'parang' for some 5 days?..cant remember the duration..all i know was that it was long..and i was drained and left there so long that i've became conditioned to eat really really little..probably thats why i haven put on weight all these time..

guess its a good thing..cos many ppl tryin to lose weight would wanna trade places with me..so hey..i'm not complaining..haha..plus i'm slim but not dat skinny..i'm not all bones and skin..haha..if not all dat gym would have gone down the drain..haha..

i always take some time once in a while to reflect on myself..n todae i did the same..maybe i'm mad..but i feel everyone should see themselves once in a while..

todae..went to take a look at my BGS assignment grading and i dunno if i can say i was disappointed..well..e first thing the prof said was "right alan, you did pretty well..better than most ppl..above average"..and when i looked at the report..it was a 'B'..and i asked "a 'B'?"..and she replied "yeah!..most ppl have only gotten a 'C' or worse"..

i din realli care if i was above average..but i just din like a 'B' when i see one..maybe i gotten used to the days in poly..but it din feel good..but at the same time..i didn't really deserve it anyway..cos my attitude towards BGS was poor..

den i studied Sentill's report (A++) and bit by bit realised y i fell so far..cos i really didn't make the mark..now i can choose to blame the prof (esp when she has a reputation for preferential treatment)..n have 2000 ppl agree with me.. ...But i dun wanna do dat..cos dats childish..n pushin away ur own blame..

readin sentill's report...i got reminded so many things of wat made a good report..which allowed me to excel in my poly days and i realised that there were no one else to blame realli..although i was e onli one who went for all the interviews and tried to probe juicy insights that we could write and present about..i wasn't bothered to push when it mattered..where it could be seen..so..i cant realli push the blame can i?...

the prof told me it was a waste..especially when she felt i saved the group's presentation..on final day..but once again..i accept and take responsibility for it..guess its time for some soul searching..the onli person i could be disappointed with was myself..

even though i continue my quest to own businesses..and grades have very little to do with ur career (regardless employee or business owner)...i shouldn't allow my grades to slip jus cos they were modules dat couldnt be used in the real world..

i will bounce back..

Late night on my lappy

I was just playing around in StatCounter to see what features they actually had other than hit counts as i have always been too busy to check it out..n to my amazement..there is actually a section called 'Recent Visitor Map'...and I thought it was nothing special..but i was WRONG..

It is one of the coolest functions I have discovered in StatCounter! It actually displays the geographic location of your last visitor! Maybe i'm 'sua ku'..i dunno..but its the first time i'm playin with it..

Location of one of the readers of my blog. - Singapore -

And you can zoom in further!

And Further..

And Further!!!

It actually allowed me to zoom in all the way to a specific block in Queenstown, including the IP address which I removed from the picture (privacy purpose). How cool! Although i'm not sure who in queenstown is reading my blog..but Thanks for Reading!!

There's one at Raffles Blvd, Suntec too!

*Maps powered by Google Maps

Wow..hm..who is working in suntec..shortlist suspects..Faith..Dawn..hm...both r prone to slacking at work..both equally suspicious!..hahaha..but thanks for reading as well!

Besides playing around in StatCounter..i also managed to catch up with Jamiel (SMU rock legend) who is doin his exchange over at Thailand..n he told me he's having a hell of a time. when i visited his blog..i found out why..

Cos he's kicking around with Japanese girls!

And more Japanese girls..

Even MOORRRE Japanese girls..tsk tsk..anime fetish..

And yes..girls of all races as well..lol

so there you go..now we understand..with all these company..how can he not be enjoyin his time?..lol..now i wanna go thailand as well!..hahaha..but wait a min..hm..how do u know they are actually girls? *unsure look*.

i also got to know dat both of us had places in NUS as well..n turned it down for SMU..hm..guess the stats are true dat 75% of applicants who had a place in SMU and another local uni opted to come to the former..

btw..i noticed that whenever someone boards my car..the first thing they will ask is.."what is this???" (Pointing to pic below)

And my reply is..."I dunno...."
Lol..its just some fancy display to let you know how far your fuel is getting you i guess..and also the peak that the car can accelerate non-stop to.....LOOK!..i travel at 3km/h..i'm such a safe driver...lol..and nowadays the room temperature is terrible..even at nite!..

BBQ / Drinking Session

Woke up really late at abt 3pm on sat..since I had a late nite the previous day..n den I suddenly realized I haven bought the stuff I’m responsible for ..for the bbq at clarence’s place..n I jumped out of bed..hahaha..fortunately..he came to pick me up..hee hee hee..save time n transport..haha..n we went to buy for the remaining items..

At abt 6plus..the rest of the gang (june, dave, jerry, charmaine, Xuehui, agnes, agnes’s bf) arrived at his place..muz say his place is slightly ulu as well..in sembawang..n I was tempted to drive there..but was aware we would be drinking lots..so..decided not to..

As usual..i will be helping to start the fire..at any bbq…I dunno y…even though I’m a lousy fire starter..haha..n lousy cook..(unless u like black charred chicken wings)..haha..but I hav to say..shuwei was not much better either..e chicken wings dat he bbq was so charred that he used it as paper weight for aluminum foils instead..hahaha…too bad we din really take pics of the food..evidence destroyed..

After food we started opening bottles..n xue hui brought a bottle of Ice Wine with her..which cost $300+..yum!..love ice wine..dats the best thing she has done in her life!..bring me ice wine..haha..after the ice wine..we started the drinkin games..zhong ji mi ma and other games..which I dunno the names..when we started the games..we were really jus waitin for either xue hui or Clarence to get drunk…hahahha..cos when they do..they’re a walkin disaster.. hahaha..n we would be the first ones there to film it!!..haha..for enquiries on previous Clarence videos..pls contact me on my mobile phone..haha..xuehui..just go youtube..

...Where Clarence broke his wine opener...

On route to drunk land..

During the games..we made a discovery and realized that actually Bailey actually goes terrific with pokka green tea! Yeah it sounds weird but really ..go try it!!we were all surprised..it was meant to be a forfeit..but we all ended up drinkin it cos its so nice..haha..either that.or we were already drunk..haha..

Shuwei den started to create the ultimate forfeit..throwin all sorts of stuffs into a cup..ever seen the aftermath of bailey with vodka with all kinds of mixers with marshmallows to top it off?..refer to pics below..

eeeeeew..

As the drinkin continued..dave and xue hui unknowingly entered the contest on who’s redder..n both of them looked like talking bacons or hotdogs..haha..Xuehui started to look tipsy..n thus we passed her a plastic bag in case she puked..n she went "oh..plastic bag~" and then capped the red plastic bag on her head..lol...send all of us into laughter mode..

e games became more fun as time went on..and the security had to come and remind us of the time and to keep the vol down..we were discussin to throw xue hui into the pool though..but not sure y it din happen..haha..

in the end Shuwei n I had to take off somewhere at 11..cos sentill n gang (ryan, rio and wei yuan) was gonna come to my place to catch the Man U game and also for a drinkin session..or rather..another drinkin session for me..in the same day..WHYYY???..y does everyone look for me when it comes to drinkin?..i’m such an innocent boi..hahaha..

when Man U scored their first goal..sentill shouted like there was no tomorrow..n I swear he woke up my entire neighbourhood!..n my parents too..which really shocked all of us..*Jaws Wide*..e Indian is drunk already..hahaha..

Man U beat watford 4-1 that nite..n yes!..Man U is marching on to the premier league title..in fact..they just beat sheff utd to collect another 3 points!..chelsea is doom!..

After the match..they started challenging winning eleven (all guys activity)..and who ever lets in a goal will have to drink..and sentill…got slaughtered left right center..letting in goals from everywhere..n he jus kept drinking..n drinking..drinking..till he started to not make sense (self-proclaim best player somemore..100% lose record to us..)..ryan on the other hand..was busy..mm..checkin out other ‘stuff’..which he is renown for..lol..

We decided to go for supper..or rather breakfast..at 5plus 6..n we asked sentill if he wanted to go..n he replied..

Sentill: “I cant drive!..”

Me: “we’re not askin you to..”

Sentill “I cant drive!!”

Me: “We’re only asking you to go eat with us”

Sentill “I CANT DRIVE!!!”

All of us: “WE ARE NOT ASKING YOU TO!!”

And the next 5 mins..the moment we talk to him..he replies.. “I cant drive!”..hai..yes..we got the message loud and clear and in as many ways as possible..

We went to potong pasir for supper..where they’re opened 24hrs..n sentill wanted to rest in the car instead..n somehow..he managed to set off the car’s alarm..sigh..how did he manage to do dat?..i’ve nv heard the alarm b4..n he jus had to show it to me..haha..n when I got there..he did not even know wat happened..hai..u know wat they say abt alcohol and Indians..hahahha..our turn to be racist..forever callin us mungent..n he set off the alarm more than once!..

After supper breakfast..we went back and played cards..while sentill was knocked out..and ryan was always there to suggest the meanest and most embarrassing forfeits ever..n somehow..he alway ends up the one doin it..lol..talk abt karma..i’m still considerin whether to upload his videos not..haha..afterall he did warn me not to..haha..he even suggested lickin slippers as forfeit..but we failed to agree..goodness..y r Taiwanese guys so bian tai..lol..

Rio had to do one of the forfeits dat ryan suggested..which was to run out to the road outside my place (by then 8 am)..lift up his shirt and sing the national anthem..n while Rio was doin it..a taxi turned in n the cabby opened his eyes wide..was stunned n almost crashed his taxi..lol..n we were all laughin at Rio and the cabby..he couldn’t believe he was so ‘suay’ to hav passer-bys..hahaha..

Ryan was not much better as well..he had to run topless around sentill’s car…n anyone who sees it would have been unpleasantly surprised to see him showcasing his.. … …bones..hahaha..

but realli..dat was alot of alcohol..for one nite..and i am so goin to keep up my gym regime now..

P.S> Glad to know my fat content had not gone up after skipping gym for so long!..haha..

Ai Wei Bday

After my calculus paper..i met my bro in campus..he was in SMU for School of Accountancy (SOA) interview..its his first choice..SMU is always a first choice..hahahha..he did really well for his A levels..he DOTAs everyday..and A’s A’s A’s he scores..sigh..parents was bias..gave all the brains to my sis n bro..n none to me..haha..

Btw..did u all know that Business is the most popular course in SMU but accountancy is the hardest to get in?..haha..ironic yeah..but it makes sense..SOA is a small sch..with small population..

Anyway..after meetin weijie..we den headed to Bugis to meet gary to shop for Ai Wei’s Present..found a bag which I felt was veri stylish..and the material was so nice to smother..haha..but it’s a gal’s bag..so I’m not getting too affectionate with it..not gonna say how much it is since it’s a present..but its in regions of 3 digits..shud have taken a pic though..

After we gotten the bag..gary had to head off to a chalet b4 we met up again..n since we were goin down to NTU hostel to celebrate tgt with her hall mates (which she had no idea it was goin to happen)..i went home to fetch the car since we were goin to the end of the island..hai..no city campus is like dat one..hahahaha..

When we reached NTU hostel..Ai wei was fast aslp..and fact was..she had nv woke up dat day at all..hahaha..wat a pig!..who slps the whole day on her bday?!?..when we invaded her room (which was not locked)..she was still veri much aslp..and was lookin horrible terrible really flustered..haha..n its all caught on camera..tsk tsk..n its here in my blog for all to see..haha..

Super bad hair day

21^st Bday..is supposed to be memorable..n THIS…is memorable..bad hair day broadcasted net-wide..hahaha..

She was totally surprised and her room was so messy that she took 5 mins digging thru her things to find her glasses..tsk tsk..worse than me lo..haha..after she found her glasses..she was screamin to see her whole room filled with ppl..n when she saw us..she screamed even louder..liew..handsome also no need like dat ma..lol..

...The irritating sisters...

Finally some hunks..

Pitiful though..NTU is havin their exams this week..n u cant be celebrating too much when work load is piling so high up..and gary’s exams will start next week..NUS e latest..while they were all grumbling abt exams approachin..i was grinning away..hahhaha..

After celebratin her bday..we went out for supper..n I muz say the food there is really pretty good!..one thing dat NTU enjoys is better food..sigh..n its open 24hrs..great supper place..but terrible location to travel to…somehow..i’m not dat motivated to go all the way to boon lay to eat BCM..haha..even though the one at Thompson (used to be the best around) sucks now..but still..its damn far..

After supper..i sent everyone bac home n we realized dat I covered about 150km dat nite..liew..dats 30% of the distance to KL from JB..haha..went to bishan to pick up ai jia..changi to pick up gary..den to NTU..n bac to tampines and pasir ris..n bac to home sweet home..Li Hwan (Serangoon)..the ulu place that has nth..dats how there was 150km..got to burn more CDs for the car audio..gettin sick of the same songs..