A trip down memory lane

On Chinese New Year's eve this year, I took a walk at the floral centre at Tampines Road, where my father used to have his shop (my uncle is running it now). It brings back memories of my younger days, when I would help out at the shop selling plants. Especially during the few weeks leading up to Chinese New Year, when we would be busy selling festive plants till late at night. It was usually the busiest on Chinese New Year's eve, where we would be selling plants till the wee hours, shouting "lelong lelong" as we cut the prices to clear stock. Besides selling plants, I would also help deliver them, sitting at the back of lorries as we whizzed through the roads at night delivering plants.

I haven't been doing this for many years now. Walking around and taking in the festive mood this year, I can't help but feel nostalgic about the memories of my younger days.

Sometimes, our roots run deep and hidden, that we ourselves may not be aware how deep they run.

Happy Year of the Tiger!

It is the Year of the Tiger. Here's wishing everyone a great tiger year ahead!

Same teachers but different outcomes

Sometimes I wonder, why is it that we have the same teachers, yet turn out so differently? I am not talking about the results we get in school, but rather the values passed on to us by our teachers. Is it because of family upbringing? Or the lack of it? The friends we mix with? Because in a way, they are our teachers too (peer learning). The different values we already have when we come under a teacher? Since it is rare that two persons come under the same teachers throughout their schooling years.

Is what we learn shaped/filtered by the values we already hold? Do we choose to learn what we want to learn (filtered by what we already know) rather than what the teacher seeks to impart?

Paintball

I never knew paintball can be so fun. And so tiring! It was just a short session, yet I was panting after each game (each of which probably didn't last beyond five minutes). Right now, my muscles are aching (from paintball, and the taiji practice after that). Plus the bruises from being hit...

Mamemaki 豆撒き

Today is Setsubun (節分), a traditional festival celebrated in Japan with mamemaki (豆撒き). It is celebrated with the throwing of beans, meant to drive away evil spirits while bringing in good luck.

We used to throw those beans at people... it can be quite painful. And really really messy. Makes for quite a bit of cleaning up after all the fun throwing beans at people. And even after that, every once in a while, while sweeping the floor, you come across beans hidden in some corner...

Memoranda

 

Came across this software called Memoranda (Wikipedia entry here) while looking for an open source software that I can use for an electronic diary. It is basically a personal information manager, with calendar and to-do list, yet also allowing you to take notes. So you can use the notes as a diary.

The installation is actually a Java program that you can run straight from the directory (after unzipping) without need for installation. For non-KDE users, you need to edit the shell script to disable the system tray function. For Windows users, there is a batch file that will help you execute the program.

What I like about this software is that it allows you to run it from a portable harddisk, which means you can bring your electronic diary with you. All you need to do is to unzip the program onto a portable drive, run it once, then find the ".memoranda" directory under your home directory, and copy it onto the portable drive. Then delete the ".memoranda" directory from your home directory, and instead create a symbolic link named ".memoranda" pointing to the directory on the portable drive.

Once you have done the above on one computer, the next time you use another computer, all you need to do is create shortcut in your home directory pointing to the directory on the portable drive, and you are ready to start the program.

One setback, though, is that the calendar is not interoperable with other formats such as iCal/vCal.