It's been two years since my last blog entry.

I always wanted this blog to be like a journal into my life but it has not been very well-organised.
Although as I spend sometime reading back the entries, it did triggered some pleasant memories of years ago.

Well, two years has been a long time. Since 2010, quite a fair bit has changed. Perhaps a fair bit is an understatement, and live changing is more appropriate.

In 2010, I proposed to my girlfriend in Shanghai at the World Expo 2010. We made it to the news too. I started a new appointment in the Force, where a new job scope and experience awaits. I learned new skillsets and also had thankful opportunities to visit the United States and London through work.

In 2011, we got married and for our honeymoon, we took the chance to visit Spain and Italy, where I could use little smatterings of Spanish to converse. I started looking for other career opportunities but having a 3 months notice was difficult. I tried applying for business school, did pretty well on my GMAT score, but failed to make the cut for the interview. I will probably talk about that sometime later. I started visiting the gym again with Gabriel. We trained for a good 10 months, before stopping again.

In 2012, we learned to live together and marriage is a lifelong journey as we learn new things about each other. I am thankful that we are similar and that we can tolerate each other quirks, most of the time. I quit my job with the Air Force in pursuit of other interests. The work there had became uninspiring for me and I needed to rejuvenate myself.

And that brings us to October.

What will the future bring? Perhaps the state of joblessness draws out the mid life crisis emotions but despite that, I feel that the last couple of months has been a good break for me to think about what I really want to do and making the best use of the opportunities that had been presented. I am thankful for the options that appeared and I hope that in a couple of years time, life would be even more exciting. 

I bought my CPU, the AMD Phenom II X2 550, a dual core processor last year based on the multiple reviews that it could be unlocked to a quad core. To simplify things, the Phenom II X2 (dual core) is nothing more than a Phenom II X4 (quad core) with two cores disabled. Originally these cores were disabled because of low yields, but over time yields on quad-core Phenom IIs should be high enough to negate the need for a Phenom II X2. There in lies the simplicity of this unlock. However, when I first got my motherboard and processor, it didn't work and I was disheartened. Yet, it was definitely powerful enough to support / run whatever I had to throw at it and I was happy.

Just last night, I was checking out the price of a new quad core as I was looking at the pricelists to set up a new computer for my cousin. I am not sure why, but was suddenly tempted to try the unlocking again. This morning, I downloaded a new bios, played around with the settings and lo and behold :) it was done! I got my 4 processors working and everything else is working great.

It has been a very interesting year, to say the least. It is only August but suddenly am already feeling rather tired, and looking back, indeed many reasons to feel as such.

The year had first started with a road trip to Melaka, exploring the various back alleys and getting to visit the planetarium. And before it seems that we could catch our breath, we were off to see the cherry blossoms in Japan. Every trip was significant, even the work ones to France and Florida in quick succession followed by the impromptu yet grand shanghai proposal. And now, I am once again at the airport, albeit the budget one, and waiting for my delayed flight to set off.

This time, the destination is sunny Hanoi. I guess I shall just focus on relaxing and not walk around too much, but somehow, a review of my draft itinerary shows it to be rather packed already... Zzz. Another 1 and 1/2 hr before my flight. Should I even bother visiting the shops inside the budget transit area??

After a grueling 30 hours, of which 21 hours flying time and 9 hrs transit, I made it! I am in Orlando, Florida. It’s summer now so the weather is exactly like back home. At least there’s aircon in the room :) This is going to be a short trip, 4 days to be exact and no weekend to explore as well, probably even less free time than the last one I went. Oh well, at least it is a different place and shall make the most out of it.

Had a call from my boss when I landed in Orlando, called me a couple of times so I thought it was urgent. Wrong assumption. Wasted 2 minutes of roaming charges as he called me to ask for a phone number. Argh! I am not a telephone directory. Isn’t there suppose to be a different ringtone when one is overseas?

Anyway, seems that one advantage of travelling this time of the year is the summer sales, coupled with their big sale for the Independence Day weekend. Should be quite a fruitful haul :) This only seems to be the big aim of the travelling group and anyway, not much time to visit the touristy spots either.

when one door closes.. another opens...

we are often so preoccupied with the lost of some opportunities that we tend to miss the new opportunities present to us. I have been lucky at my career. It has not been the smoothest of paths but I am happy with what chances and opportunities it has given me thus far. Its going to be a challenging year ahead.. time to work hard!

Anyway, I am seriously getting fatter. Weighing in at about 65 kg now, and it is definitely not muscle mass gained. Damn. Haha...

So.. its time to train. And this is my geeky setup for jogging.
Bluetooth earphones linked up with a GPS phone that measures the distance + calories burnt of my run :) Everything connects easily and it just works (though some might say the initial setup is a PITA). Actually, knowing how far you run and how fast you run is a great motivator.