a few years later...

I seem to like coming back here when life gets interesting. And by interesting, I mean a little bumpy.

Three years on and I feel like nothing much has changed. I am working at Humes as a project manager. I've moved back home after a year and a half at South Melbourne. I go on some pretty nice holidays now and then. But nothing amazingly new.

This year was the year for me to concentrate on landing some of my milestones in my life. Getting an investment property. Getting ready for my next stage in my relationship. Maybe moving out of the house with my better half.

Instead, after 6 - 12 months of serious struggle, I decided that enough was enough. I quit my job at Humes.

I am so relieved. So relieved that I managed to finally come to the decision that I am not happy in my role. Relieved that in a few weeks time, I can finally stop having stomach cramps as I try to go to sleep.

I am scared. Scared that I am breaking away from what has been a relatively linear life. Scared that the job market is pretty slow at the moment and I am a small fish in a big pond.

I am excited. Excited to have freedom to choose what I want to do.

Ultimately, I just can't wait until the 27th of Feb.

Then I'll take a deep breath and see what awaits me.

halfway

Already 50% through 2012.

Work - Humes
Great. Interesting. Distance. Driving. Learning. Opportunities. Enjoying.

Living Solo - South Melb
Location. Fun. Expensive. Cooking. Freedom. Exercise. Expensive.

Social life - Friends
Time. Graduations. Birthdays. Regular Outings. Time.

Dating - Amanda
Amazing.

And we're up to speed. Recovering from glandular fever. Back to work Monday.

David.

Final 2011 words

So it's been awhile, yes? I've been back from holidays for a few days, slowly returning to the normal routine life in Melbourne as the year 2011 comes to an end. I won't go on a huge reflection, but there a few things I want to end on.

There has been a change in my career path already. My previous post denotes my last working day at Civilex. Well, that has become my last working day for awhile at Civilex. A few days before the end of exams, I received an offer from Humes to be part of their graduate program for 2012. After considering many factors, I decided it was too good of an offer to refuse. So, starting 16th Jan, I will be working at Humes :) more details on them later.

Holiday in Asia was awesome. There were a few rough bumps i.e bad weather, getting tonsillitis, passport getting damaged AGAIN, but amanda & I still had an awesome time. I have put together a few photos for blog posting, so I will be doing that in the next few days.

Christmas was held at the Teoh's again this year, with a few absences due to unforeseen circumstances. However, it was still a solid effort by my mum & dad to host, as the very next day we had another 'boxing day' party with more family friends. Look at the huge leg of ham! We're still eating it..

I am also now looking for small studio apartments to rent, as I need to move closer to the west side, so I don't crash and die on the 1 hour drive on the M1.

Anyway, 2011 will be a memorable year for me. The year I turned 21 and tasted two great steaks in two days. The year of great travels, with Canberra, Europe and Asia having felt my presence, which I think is quite an achievement and still have money haha. It was also the year of easing into my profession while dealing with lots of stress at university. It was the sad ending of my time at the CSC, while graduating from university finally (and without failing a single unit!)!

And I am looking forward to 2012! There are many exciting things going for me and I can't wait to experience them all. Happy New Year everyone, have a safe celebration.

teoh,

unemployment or freedom?

So yesterday I did my last day at Civilex for the year. It's a bit strange saying, see ya next year guys! and, have a good Christmas! in November, but there it is. I think I've made a good impression on the company for now and I'm grateful that I have a job secured for next year.

What this means is that I am technically unemployed for the next two months! Or I guess you could just say I'm on holidays for two months. Either way, I have not been without my own income since my first part time job at KFC, in year 10! Since then, I have smoothly transitioned into another job, one after another.

How has this affected my life? Well, for one thing, I should be pretty grateful for all the people who have helped me find employment. Credits go to: Amanda - KFC, Daniel Tung (Family friend) - Baker's Delight, my brother - CSC and finally David Blamey (Uni friend) - Civilex. And my parents for being my taxi driver for the first few jobs. It is both encouraging and discouraging, the former as it proves I have many good friends and family, the latter because I have yet to make it somewhere myself. I'm sure I will get there eventually.

This also means I have had my own income for the past couple of years. I have managed to save some money aside for whatever the future holds, while also spending it to go on amazing holidays and to experience many things. It has made me more responsible in some of my choices in life and given me a greater sense of independence. I believe it has also increased my appreciation of what money can buy and more importantly, what it can't.

I do think it also has had a negative impact on me as well though. My concept of money is limited to the number in my bank account and what I need/want in my life. I don't have a credit cards, I don't take loans, I have yet to make tens of thousands of dollars purchases. I'm not too sure I can handle being in debt for 20 years, because I will literally feel like I have to stay at home and not spend any money until it's paid off. My brother is currently freelancing over in the UK, surviving on whatever work he can get as a graphic designer. I find that way of living scary, but I know I shouldn't and it would definitely be a good experience.

teoh,

late night travel thoughts

So after an exhausting day of exams (two exams in one day really is way too much..), I'm taking a short few days break from studying and looking at travel plans for the upcoming Asia trip. I've been travelling so much the past few years, that I've almost gotten use to the preparation part and actually kinda enjoy sorting everything out.

Looking back at my pre-Europe posts, I remembered I had those five goals of the holiday: 1. decrease anger, 2. decrease employment stress, 3. less worry, more fun, 4. make new friends, 5. new experiences. I never got to reflect on those when I got back (mainly because I've been too lazy to post my Europe adventures STILL). I think in all goals, I more or less succeeded during the trip. It was definitely a relaxing trip, had lots of fun, hardly thought about work/unemployment, made a few good friends and experienced wonderful Europe. What a great trip, hard to believe it was only a few months ago.

The Asia trip ahead is going to be the icing of my year. Everything seems to be concluding well coming the end of November and I'm glad I have this last chance to travel before the year is up. I think I'm going to focus on my career mostly next year and there will be many moving parts to keep me grounded in Australia for a few months at least (moving out, updating all my details as non-student, figuring out fees and covers etc.). So I see this as my last travels for at least a year (but who knows!). And I haven't been back to Malaysia for so long, I feel I should at least stop by and see some relatives.

The above combined with the fact I've always wanted to go to Hong Kong with Amanda makes me excited for this trip. Can't think of a better friend to spend a long holiday with than Amanda and I'm looking forward to all the fun we're going to have.

A part of me is a little nervous, as I've never really been comfortable travelling in Asia. In general, I guess all countries have their dangers (pickpocketers in Europe for example), but Asia just seems the most dodgy of all in my opinion. I also speak a next-to-nothing amount of Chinese (going to hold onto Amanda so much), which just makes my confidence drop so much. But I'm sure it will be OK!

teoh,

VICTORY!

Today is a day of victory! For I was able to win my car insurance liability dispute. Hurrah!

For those who might've not known, a quick summary of events: basically I had turned left into a Coles Express site, to be impact with another car who had gone onto the road shoulder to by pass the line to get to a slip-lane after the Coles Express store. What followed was about $4000 worth of damages for my poor SAM and insurance, while first inclined to not assign liabilities to me, then turned around and said that it was not completely clear and liability was currently sitting with me.

Not to go too deep into the debates and arguments, after about 6 weeks, the claim is finally resolved in my favour. This has been hanging over my head for so long, cause it's $900 excess that I cannot afford at this point after recently quitting the CSC and cutting back on work hours. Not to mention savings for my Asia holiday trip.

What I would like to record are the steps I took to win the argument, so that others may also learn from my Insurance Turnabout episode (I've also been recently playing Phoenix Wright Attorney on NDS emulator hehe OBJECTION!). Basically, here is what I've learnt:

At the scene
It is important to document as much as you can on the scene. Photos are the most valuable things you can get, so hopefully your phone can take photos. Take photos of 1. your car damages 2. other party's damages 3. location, specifically road markings. These photos will most likely only be used as evidence if the case goes to court, which is very unlikely. But they will help you remember the incident and what has happened as weeks go by (and insurance claims can take a very long time!).

Also, obviously take all the other parties details. Name, phone number, licence plate (take a photo too), address and insurer. Be polite and make sure the other is OK. It never hurts to be nice, as most of the arguing will be spent with insurance. Don't spend time arguing about who is right or not, as ultimately that is all decided by insurance. NEVER admit that you are in the wrong, even if you're pretty sure you are. Until you have thoroughly looked at the road situation, you may be in the right.

Witnesses are good to have. In my case, I did not have any, so I'm not too sure how involve they become in drawn out cases, but I'm pretty sure they would be very helpful. Most cars won't stop to help you, so if you know someone saw something, try and flag them down safely and grab their contact details at least.

Obviously if you're car is not drivable, you will need to contact off-road assistance. If people are hurt, I believe you need to call the police and obviously any medical assistance if required. This falls outside of my scope.

Notifying Insurance
From my experience and other's, it best to contact insurance as soon as possible. Get the ball rolling, especially if your car needs repairs. Before you call them, take a few minutes to collect yourself and prepare what your statement will be. The guy I spoke to in this incident was very helpful in phrasing what I want to say. Some insurance people may not be as good.

What is important is that your story matches 1. the evidence/damages and 2. road situation. Remember, the insurance was NOT with you at the time of accident. So while it may be obvious to you, keep in mind that these people may not even drive in your area. Keep it simple and to the facts. They do use Google maps, so have a look yourself before you call.

If you are not sure if you are at fault, another thing you can do to assert your position is call your local police station. They enforce all road rules, do NOT call VicRoads for clarification of road rules/markings. The police will have a traffic department that will confirm whether or not something is legal or not.

In the long run
Never give up. My friend William gave me this piece of advice: Insurance companies are bastards and will 90% try and take your money. Don't feel intimidate or flustered when they call you up to tell you are at liability. Simply ask the reasons why and logically dispute it. Don't get defensive, just point out the facts that you believe makes the other party liable and ask them to explain why this isn't valid.

Insurance companies expect people to dispute when they are at liability. I was told to fill in a mailed traffic diagram to explain what happened, which was good as I was able to more clearly explained what happened. I believe this is what tip the decision in my favour. I described a situation that clearly saw the other party's car leaving off the road, based on the evidence that the speed that the car hit me at (shown by the damages), it couldn't of been directly behind me. As the Coles Express entrance was only just after the single lane, the other party must've left the road and therefore illegally created their own lane. (TAKE THAT!)

Do everything and then forget about it
What I wasn't able to do. Dealing with insurance is stressful and requires a lot of patience. Whenever you are frustrated with the situation, just remember this: What can be done to see that the situation is turned out in your favour? Have you done it? If you have, you cannot do anymore, so forget about it.

This has turned into a very long post, so I will stop there. Goes without saying that I am very relieved and happy =]

teoh,

circular wounds

here's a random post for you.

I cut myself with my razor the a few weeks ago, right in the corner of my mouth. It was only a small cut, but because it was in the corner of my mouth, it stretched every time I opened my mouth (to speak, eat, brush my teeth etc.). So it eventually became a circular wound.

Because of the constant flexing of my mouth, the wound would never really heal properly. The initial um, I dunno, regrowth of skin tissue would begin but then it would split again when I opened my mouth. It also hurt. I applied my usual treatment for cuts (aloe jelly), but to no avail.

Eventually, excess skin built up around the wound, creating a small mound of skin, making it look like a big pimple in the corner of my mouth. It took a weekend of not going out and not talking (no one at home to talk to anyway) for the skin tissue to finally stretch over the wound chasm and allow the wound underneath heal.

It made me think about something I read in a book about back in the olden times, if you got a wound from a spear, they would actually cut the wound bigger so it wasn't circular. This allowed it to heal faster apparently. Wondering if that would've helped, I googled it but alas found nothing.

It was a very frustrating wound. Doctor Marco, any advice (that's not sarcasm?)?

teoh,

How things change

I was watching the news today with my mum, and the weather report came on. Water storage levels are at an amazing 60%. Well, maybe it's not suppose to be amazing, but I'm sure for most of my friends it must sound amazing.

I'm referring to the times when we would open the herald sun in our free periods at school, to watch ling, sidney and matt tear through the brain teasers, but would first notice the little blue rectangle at the front (or was it the inside of the front page?) that would tell us our dire our water situation was today. 21.5%. 16%. Down down the levels went (just like prices are down at coles :D (we all hate that ad, mostly because there are giant hands pointing down all over at our workplace) anyway I digress).

And now, here we are, four odd years later and levels are back up. I have a feeling I'm more water conscience because of that water drought that I grew up. But the point is, how things change over time. Look at the graph above!

Anyway, I know I promised Europe posts, and I do have London almost done in a word doc. I want to photoshop some photos together though, cause blogger is really bad at showing photos.

In other news!

For those who don't know, I have gotten part time work at a civil construction firm! Hurray! The firm is called Civil EX, and unfortunately based in Hopper's Crossing. So yes, I will be making the long one hour and a bit trek across the west gate bridge to go there. Could be worse (like not having a job and staying at the call center forever worse!!!).

They pay pretty decently, 22 an hour, and the experience is worth way more than that. They have also mentioned full time work after uni, so it's something to fall back on! I've committed to every Thursday, and maybe Friday's when uni workload allows. I've also arranged to cut back on CSC hours to a mere 12 hours a week =] I start on Thursday, so I'll let you know how I go.

How I got the job? Well, it was (as is everything in my very early career life) by referral of course. My uni friend David Blamey mentioned me to one of the owner's of the company (there are three, and some history behind which I might share later) when he asked if he knew anyone who wanted to do part time work while studying. The funny thing is, we are not best pals or anything. I first met him in second year and helped him out with some computer stuff, so I'm good friends with him and his group. We help each other out with uni projects too. But I did not expect him to go out of his way to think of me when this opportunity came up. Just goes to show that if you treat your friends right, they will return it!

My dad mentioned that I have a pretty balanced life style now, and I have to agree. Hopefully badminton will continue to be regular on Sunday's and I'm sure I'll be able to cram more than one social event now and then. Things are looking pretty good.

teoh,

the end to a long holiday

So my long long holiday is finally over. And what a holiday it was.

I do have a draft post saved on blogger, with some quick notes about my days around Europe. I will probably refine them and put pictures with it in the next couple of days (hopefully). The holiday was awesome, so much more new experiences under my belt. I really enjoyed my time in London especially, seeing my sister and shopping around.

The snow trip was also great fun, another post to come. Unfortunately, I think the jet lag and large amount of exhaustion made me unfit for company with my good friends, as I slept most of the time when not out in the snow and probably seemed in a bad mood (actually I was so tired I felt very little).

The next couple of days will see some changes and some rejuvenation to my life. My brother has left for the UK, so I am officially the only sibling left in the house. I have some plans to move some things around, hopefully for the better. I also have some other things I want to bring back from my time in Europe and incorporate into my life.

But first, rest.

teoh,

my holiday aims

so, two sleeps away from going to europe and these are my aims for my holiday.

1. decrease amount of anger inside of me.

2. decrease employment related stress

3. forget about worrying and focus on enjoying

4. make some new friends

5. experience as many new things as possible

if I can achieve these five things, this holiday will be a success.

teoh,

gasland

hey guys,

I thought I would share a documentary that I've just finished watching. As I type this, the credits and banjo solo music accompanying it is playing in the background. I want to write up some of the strongest impressions and memorable parts of the documentary to share.

It's called Gasland, directed and produced by Josh Fox. I first heard of it during the Oscars, as it was nominated for best documentary. In summary, it investigates the natural gas mining method called hydraulic fracturing and it's environmental impact. It is a industry that is actually growing in size today.

Hydraulic Fracturing, or fracking, is a method of freeing up natural gases trapped within a formation of rock called shale. It uses deep core drilling to pump liquid at high pressure into the ground, to fracture the surrounding shale to free up the gas. It resembles a small earthquake.

The first issue is that out of the 1 - 7 millions of gallons of liquid that is pumped into the ground, about only half is recovered. This isn't too much of an issue if it was just water. But in fact, the fracking liquid that is used contains over 596 types of chemicals; drilling additives, anti-corrosives, acids etc. All of this goes straight into the environment, and because almost all of them are non-biodegradable, it's in there for good.

This kills local wildlife, poisons all the near by streams and rivers, goes into live stock's drinking water, decimates plant life. The list goes on. There was a sad part of the doco, where a lady had frozen multiple species of animals for proof. Rabbits, frogs, birds, even a baby doe. Fish get their gills eaten by chemicals and die.

It also goes into our groundwater and thus our drinking water. The scariest part was when a farmer filled a tub of water from the tap, and applied fire to it. You can actually SEE melted plastic forming on the surface of the water. That's how much poly-whatever is actually present in the water.

Another scene was when a man let his tap run for a few seconds, and then applied a fire. There was so much gas within the liquid, it lit on fire and burnt his arm hairs off.

Some communities are on this water right now, and suffer large amount of brain damage because of the chemicals. Most suffer headaches, lack of taste, lack of smell, unable to see clearly.

The documentary goes through interviews, investigations, researchers and even congress. It's a really good perspective. I really enjoyed this documentary and encourage anyone that interested to have a look. I have a copy if anyone wants it.

teoh,

- blank -

we humans are illogical creatures. sometimes it makes me sad. sometimes it brings me joy. all in all, i'm confused.

twenty one - the man i am

As my twenty first milestone in my life has arrived, I would like to write a little something.

To be honest, the reason I was not keen on celebrating my 21st was because I felt like I did not have much to celebrate. I like to think 21st as a time to celebrate the person's life up to now, and I did not think there was much in mine.

Amanda touched me when she mentioned about accomplishing a lot in my friends around me. It was really nice to know that I had made a positive difference in the people around me and made me feel a lot better about my 21st. Jason and Grace both reminded me of all the strong friendships I had in that room. And I was really surprised by the strongest speech coming from Tim, my past arch-nemesis haha, but really glad. After all, if I've turned my enemy into a really close friend, I can't have done much more. Those improv speeches really made my night. I was not kidding when I said they are half of my life.

Just as my friends mentioned my good character, I must credit a lot of my positive traits to my parents. I have both learnt and inherited my kindness from both of them; my generosity comes from my mother, who always gives to people and never expects much in return; my organising and social skills I must be grateful to my father.

I'd also like to say thanks to my brother and sister. Although my siblings are literally distances away, they have made the effort to come in and celebrate my 21st in their own way.

I really look forward to the my life ahead of me from the point of twenty one. Although I've been warned that it's all downhill, I hope I get to have a fun time rolling down it!

teoh,

please help.

I have been really touched/saddened by the QLD flood crisis that is going on at the moment. I have been watching the news coverage all day yesterday, and have spoken first-hand with queenslander at work about the unbelievable disaster that is still continuing up there. I can't even imagine getting flooded to that magnitude.

I would like to ask all of my readers (few as you are) to also support and donate to the relief fund as I have. They only need money, which is understandable seeing the amount of damage that is going to take so long to recover from.

My heart really goes out to everyone up there.

Flood Relief.

teoh,

whoa, where did I go

All of a sudden, I feel like I just lost the past few days of my life. I can't remember specific dates or events, I suddenly had an overload amount of blog posts to catchup/skim through, youtube subscriptions went through the roof (crazy youtubers) and emails piled up on the side.

Where did I go?

Did my sub conscience superhero take over on some urgent top secret mission to save the country and did some awesome heroic deed that for unknown reasons must stay disclosed from the public, resulting in this missing past?

Or did I recently get blasted by some psychic power by an evil villain, who stole some innocent item from me that was actually the key to the ultimate power in the world, and my mind has been confuddled to prevent me from retrieving it?

Or was I possessed by a recently passed away boy, who used me to say a final tearful farewell to his family, while at the same time teaching me important life lessons and morals that will turn me into a better person?

Or was I recruited by some secret military branch since I was young to give me the chance to kill a dangerous terrorist organisation that killed my loved one, but then found out that it the was the military branch that killed my loved one, and used my anger to trick me into working for them, which then made me turn on them, resulting in me being overpowered by this unbelievable social evil people and being brainwashed and thus forgetting the past few days?

These were my ideas for national writer's month, that me and jason probably be too lazy to do in the end.

teoh,

moving movies

What makes a movie moving to you? What makes you love a movie so much, you watch over and over again, no matter how old it becomes?

As of late, the movies I've been seeing have failed to impress. Most recently, we saw Tron 3D. It was a good movie, and despite it being a Disney movie, it was very mature in terms of action and plot. But nothing was there that really moved me.

So what movies have moved me. I guess what I really love is epic/inspiration movies. You know, those final speeches given by leaders before leading all their men to death, or that final surprise that allows victory, with all the glorious soundtrack behind it. The rising feeling in your stomach as you watch the movie, wanting to stand up and join in, that's what I love.

Emotional scenes work too. I think the climax of Tron near the end (without spoilers) could've moved me more if there were tears shed or something. The animation Up was quite touching in some scenes.

I hope a new movie comes out soon that meets these expectations.

teoh,

money ambitions

It was perfect that I decided to watch 'the social network' after my exam today, because it's furthering my thoughts in my future career.

Mark Zuckerberg owns an online social network that is worth more than 25 billion dollars, that was built back in high school. Amazing. That's only 6 years after it was first launched back in 2004. I'm not sure how true the movie depicted the foundations, but it seems fairly accurate to the facts in wikipedia. The movie is a good watch for some college drama, but not too sure it's a blockbuster worth seeing in the cinema.

At the moment, I am studying engineering, a professional trade, in which I plan to take into the industry, and work my way up through the positions, hopefully ending up somewhere near a project management position. That's annual salary, increased through promotion.

The way Mark did it was to take an idea and explode it into money. Granted, it was one in a billion of an idea, but the concept is still there. But to explode that idea, he had to apply his insane programming skills and use his friends economics degree knowledge. Skills and experience.

Not that I'm saying I want to be a millionaire or anything. In my opinion, the more money you have, the more trouble comes with it, despite the obvious benefits. But I am curious about the different paths of earning money.

Then again, you also have the moral side of things. I remember a year or so back, a person tried to scam me and jason into joining pretty much a pyramid scheme (look it up, pretty common stuff). One of the excellent points that jason brought up was that the pyramid scheme was all about making more money; there was hardly any contributions to society in general. True, you can make lots of money and then use it to contribute that way, but come on (a point to be further discussed in the future maybe?)

Anyway, the whole point of this is not the money, but taking on a challenge and making it to your goal. Something I lack a lot in my life. I wish to think on this further, after exams (and during.).

teoh,

banned!

These are dark days. The coming month looks very bleak at the moment. Mid-semester break was a joke.

We were talking about banned companies or brands the other day. Here is mine:

Sony VIAO - expensive, nothing more. First-hand experience.

HP / compaq - generally crap, terrible customer service.

Western Digital - passport harddrive cables seem to be a large problem nowadays

Apple - just kidding

Pets Paradise - horrible customer service

Telstra - nothing else needed to be said.

KFC - it's not worth it

I swear I had more, but I forget. I'll come back and edit when I remember.

teoh,

infinite abyss

currently still in a grouchy down mood during this past week. I don't know what's wrong, I'm suddenly really tired of everything, physically and mentally. I just deleted all the stuff that's bothering me, cause it was just a big whine list. Apologies to anyone who has interacted with me this past week.

I finally caught up with Lillian the other day, who told me that she was actually doing part-time uni studies. She's actually doing a lot with her spare time; she's picked up another job, doing some volunteer work down at a disable home, some church stuff and catching with friends. She seemed really happy with it, and it sounds well worth the extra few months added to her time at uni.

It got me thinking about the path I've always thought I wanted. While many people had dreams of successful jobs, travelling the world, going to [insert country] and doing [famous thing], I had pretty modest hopes of the future. A family, a house, a secure decent job, with the occasional holiday. For that to happen, it was a straight line through high school, onto university, out in the work force and just steadily build all of it up. Not that I've got any of it yet.

Now I'm wondering if that straight line is a terrible idea. New Zealand was definitely not in that straight line, but it changed my life for the better. Again, I keep thinking that I have no real deep passion for engineering (even though I do enjoy the course), I'm not sure if I can make it a big part of my life later. My straight line now seems so monotonous and boring.

I remember having this conversation with my friends, about the point of your life. In the big picture, what does it all mean. In 200 years, will anything you do survive the sands of time? But that's another topic, for another day.

and I will end my gloomy post. hopefully the next one will be cheerful.

teoh,

the world needs a slap in the face

It took me a long time to motivate myself to write a post. I had a few times when I would open up blogger, but then get distracted with starcraft 2 or just sleep.

Instead of an update post, this is about a tv show I watched on SBS the other day. It's called Insight, and the topic was global warming. They had a professor from harvard trying to pitch global warming to an audience of skeptics. It turned into a somewhat public debate forum.

At first, I was tempted just to switch it off. Having a professor rattle of research jargon to an audience isn't really going to help convince them; he just doesn't have the charisma to influence them positively. On the other hand, the skeptics just didn't seem to want to be convinced either. That just seems the way we are, once we get an idea into our head, it's very hard to change our mindsets. There was this one doctor, who was very aggressive, and even though the professor seem to address it very well, kept just shouting over him going "you're not answering the question!".

But then I realised the whole point wasn't turning people about, but more about getting people's opinions and concerns out there. Some of the skeptics had some very good point, in terms of questioning data and whether small changes would warrant a large economic change. It was good to get the other side's point of view. So it turned out to be an interesting show.

On the topic of global warming however, I still stand by my opinion (see what I mean about stubbornness?) . Global warming is definitely being caused by us; an interesting point someone made is that global warming is actually natural and all we're doing is accelerating it (which is also bad anyway). An economic pricing on it is not going to change people's lifestyle or opinion about it. It'll probably just spark more heated debate and it'll just go down hill from there. What we need is a global disaster which will wake up everyone to it. Even then, people will people argue the cause of the disaster and that it wasn't global warming.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I had a more structured post about this, but I've seemed to have lost it.

On another note, I had fun karaoking with ann and erica yesterday at my house, followed by lots of ice cream. hehe.

teoh