Negotiation Skill

A friend of mine bought a new car on Friday and I helped introduce her to the salesperson since I also bought my car from him about 5 years ago. Since I love cars, I also have been helping my other friends get their car. One thing hasn't changed for decades: you really have to learn how to negoatiate to stay ahead of the game.

Camera Operator

Last night was my first time of operating a handheld camera (ie. not setup on a tripod) on the stage of Riverview church auditorium. I made a few beginner mistakes but I'm confident that I'll get better thru further training.

Hide and Seek

Just got back from watching the new thriller movie "Hide and Seek", starring Robert DeNiro & Dakota Fanning.

In overall, I like the story despite being a bit slow in the beginning (ie. first 45 minutes). Solid and excellent acting by Robert DeNiro & Dakota Fanning.

Constantine

Got this link from Phil's blog about the cast and filmmaker of Constantine talking about the movie.

Cars

I love cars since I was little. I love to drive (safely, of course), accessorise (but not damage the panel by drilling the panel or significantly alter the car), visit car dealerships outside working hours, etc.

My dream is to have a car dealership of my own in the future, so I'm going to get a work experience first for now and do whatever is necessary to learn the business.

Another Successful BBL

The new topic, "Inspirational Leadership of Martin Luther King Jnr.", started with Perth's BBL breakfast this morning. Record number of people attending (approximately 760 people). I think the venue for next Perth's BBL (10 May 2005) is most likely to move from Burswood Grand Ballroom 'cause it's getting pretty full.

BBL - Perth 1st Quarter 2005

Very early start tomorrow morning. I'll be helping whatever that can be done for Phil's BBL breakfast @ Burswood Hotel Grand Ballroom, Perth - Australia. Then I'm going for Riverview's monthly creative ministries nite. It's gonna be one awesome day...

Star Trek: Enterprise

I've been a star trek fan since I was about 12 y.o. Anyway, the latest star trek television series called "Star Trek: Enterprise" was cancelled after 4 seasons. Feel disappointed with the network executives' decision & I'll join the campaign that let them know that trekkies (ie. star trek fans) aren't letting it go quietly (I'm doing it peacefully, though). Let's see how it goes...

Riverview @ The Beach

The service tonight at Riverview was definitely different. The settings and the message tonight was inspired by beach. Most people came wearing clothes where you would normally see at the beach, however no bikinis or speedos were allowed nor sighted. Anyway, good to experience a change of settings and little bit of creativity.

Think Green

Toyota Prius II and Honda Civic Hybrid are the only two cars with hybrid system (ie. using combination of fuel and battery to conserve fuel consumption) in Australia at this moment. However, the price of getting a hybrid car is much more expensive compared to a conventional car, particularly for Prius II.

Honda first introduced its first hybrid in Australia, it's called Honda Insight. It has only 2 seats and very expensive as well, but consumes only about 5 ltr per 100km. The most economical car in its class. You can see it used on "The Day After Tomorrow" & "The One". However, due to impracticality, the Insight has been replaced by Civic Hybrid in Australia.

I wonder is there anything that can be done by the Australian government and the automotive industries to make these hybrid cars more affordable and introduce more hybrid vehicles anytime soon. Also, any other extra initiatives or encouragements to choose "green" cars rather than thirsty V6 and V8 vehicle would be greatly appreciated by our childrens and mother nature in the future.

More On Global Warming

Just visited CNN on the web and found an article on the global warming.

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Studies looking at the oceans and melting Arctic ice leave no room for doubt that it is getting warmer, people are to blame, and the weather is going to suffer..."

The Day After Tomorrow

Just bought The Day After Tomorrow DVD 2-disc special edition. The 2nd disc contains special features that not only telling about the making of the movie, but the science behind it as well.

Some scientists claims that the part where helicopters, people, etc. frozen instantly is impossible. However, I'm looking more at the big picture rather than the minor details, which is to take better care of our environment.

Let's see what we can do as individuals to help slow down global warming and other serious environmental disaster. Can't afford to wait around for someone else to do it first before we do.

Extreme Weather

Perth today's max. temperature: 42C, the hottest in 6 years. The weatherman from channel 10 said that the hottest February on record was back in 1991 when the temp. reached 46C. I'm missing winter for than ever now...

Happy Valentine's Day

Well... Today has been the most celebrated day by couples all around the world. I'm guessing that chocolates and flowers are the most popular & sought-after gifts. So, at least we've got an excuse to eat chocolates today (and during Easter as well, which is not far away...)

So keep those chocolates away from the heat (today's maximum in Perth: 37C). Don't forget to keep the flowers fresh as well...

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Weather

The forecast for Perth yesterday was rain, but there wasn't much rain except for a few "flashes" on the sky. The forecast for today is for a thunderstorm and should be around 30C. Tomorrow should be fine - max: 35C, then on Wednesday should also be fine & very hot - max: 39C. Let's see what will happen.

BBL - Building Business Leaders

Building Business Leaders events for the 1st quarter 2005 have already started. I encourage for anyone who's involved in doing business or intends to pursue a business career (including students as well!) not to miss out.

The number of people attending these events are growing very fast, considering the BBL network started with only a few people in Perth back in 1998. Now, over 2000 people attended the BBL events.

Please visit http://www.bbl.com.au/ to get more information.

The Bible - for Pocket PC

I have a pocket PC with a word processing and bible study software installed. It's been a great help for me especially when I have to switch between taking notes and reading the bible at the church. The software is called "Pocket e-Sword" and it's FREE!

Pocket e-Sword is available from http://www.e-sword.net/pocketpc/index.html

You can also download different version of the bible (New King James Version, The Message, etc.) and other stuffs, e.g. daily devotionals.

The Da Vinci Code - What You Should Know

Allan Meyer is a dear friend of Phil Baker & Riverview Church, a pastor of Careforce Church in Mt. Evelyn, Victoria - Australia, and a regular blogger in Phil's blog site. I got this one from his post in Phil Baker's blog site.

"I read the Da Vinci Code while on holidays in November to see what the fuss was all about. It bothered me, as it has many others, that so much could be claimed regarding TRUTH on the opening page and so little delivered. Check out these four Powerpoint presentations by Probe concerning some of the documents referred to."

Light Blogging

Been doing light blogging because I've been a bit busy for the past 2 days. Blogging will return to normal as soon as I get to catch my breath, most probably by tonight.

Sleep..

Yawn... Feeling quite sleepy now, so I think I better head to the 'dream' world. It's been a good day where I got to spend the day with my dad - mum and my 15 months niece.

Haven't spent much time with Dona today since she was working, but there's always the coming weekend and valentine's day...

Happy Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year!
Gong Xi Fa Chai! (Hope it's the correct spelling)...

Live long & prosper...
-Spock of Vulcans from Star Trek Original series-

Graduation & Learning Something From It

Feeling very great. Attended my graduation ceremony yesterday with Dona & my parents here in Curtin University, Perth. I had graduated early last year, but the official ceremony was yesterday evening since Curtin is having only once a year ceremony since last year.

Prof. Aileen Plant from Curtin University gave a great and insightful message in just 10 minutes. First, she talked about doing something you're passionate about as having money as the main & only motivation is not a good way to go. Second thing, she talked about improving ourselves by working together & using what we have learned from studying at uni.

Prof. Plant is working in the dept. of infectious diseases. She was the first to joined WHO (World Health Org.) for about 6 months in Vietnam to combat SARS. Result? Vietnam was the first country to be declared SARS free. Prof. Plant received an award from Vietnam government, recognising her contribution. She's currently working with Aust. government in Canberra to help with Tsunami's victim & combating bird flu virus.

Very inspiring...

Phil Baker & Riverview Church

Philip Baker is the man who introduced me to blogging. He started his blog about two years ago and it's been attracting a lot of people ever since.

Phil is the president of Australian Christian Churches and Riverview Leadership College plus senior minister of Riverview Church - Perth, Australia. He's also the keynote speaker and founder of Building Business Leaders (BBL) Network in Australia.

I encourage you to visit his blog site and the BBL site.

Very First Blog

Hi everyone... Well, my very first blog ever. Let's see what I can write out of my thoughts. My fiancee, Dona, hopefully will also be able to post a few thoughts in the future.