The Running Robot

t has been being a very long time since I penned a blog entry in the Running Robot. To be exact, 5 years since the last entry. Life have gone on with lots of changes since my last entry.   My little boy had grown from a little adorable baby to an energetic 6-year-old who couldn’t stop asking questions and making demands. While I am still a self-employed person, I had gone through some career changes in the years in between. I had headed a medium sized company and reached the pinnacle of my career. However, I missed my independence greatly during that time and decided to step away from that.   I had been struggling with the thought of picking up the pen again for a long time. Initially, I was worried about privacy. The running robot was after all a private blog about my life and my journeys. I am not sure if I should show too much of myself to what would otherwise be an international and anonymous audience. I wanted to write about hobbies and essays etc in other we...

Sunrise over the Alps enroute to Munich Resonates with my soul An old friend, Asingaporeanson recommended Steve Pavlina's website to me and I came across the following paragraphs which resonate with me. " When I had a job, I didn’t care so much about optimizing my startup routine for each day. There was a disconnect between my productivity and my results. As an employee I sometimes prided myself on how little real work I got done each day. I didn’t like my boss, especially due to his bad temper and his use of fear tactics to manage people, so perhaps being unproductive was my way of punishing him for being such a jerk. Without a job, however, being unproductive makes no sense since it’s clear that I’m wasting my precious life. So I’m very motivated to stay sharp and squeeze a lot of juice out of each day. If I don’t keep my standards high, I suffer for it, and there’s no one to blame but myself. If I ever slack off, I can reboot myself whenever I want. I don...

Changi Airport Terminal 3 http://www.channelnewsasia.com/blob/3299092/1479488837000/snorlax-garden-data.jpg It is a nice, quiet Tuesday morning, I have decided to take things slow on this day and not cram too many things on the schedule.  Former Hectic Life I had being juggling a permanent job and running my teaching business for many years. Day in day out, I had been rushing through meals, rushing from one point to another. Having many deadlines to juggle on the day job. Lessons plans to be made for my classes. Family time to juggle. etc. etc. Current Reality I woke up on Tuesday morning at 8am, sent my baby boy and his mummy to his infant care centre and drove to Changi International Airport for my medical checkup. After the check up, which ended at 10.30am, I walked out of the clinic and began wandering along the airport terminal. My mind endlessly thinking about finding something to do. Note that this is not a off day for me...

This blog has been in existence since 20 Nov 2011. Of which from 2013-2017. It was largely frozen. The running robot during that period was very busy juggling a day job and starting his little teaching business. That left him with little time for himself, hence, the blog was frozen in time. Now that the day job is out of the way, the running robot has time to sit down and write what he had missed writing in the span of 4 years. That is if, the mad driven running robot don’t go crazy doing multiple jobs again. Given that this blog began as a personal blog, a place to where the running robot shared his joys, frustrations and interests in life. So where do we go from here? I am thinking along this framework: The Running Robot Blog = Interests + Joys + Education + Opinion + Short stories*beta Interests = Cars + Aeroplanes + Running + Army + Travel + etc. Joys =   Great days + touching days Education = I am a teacher as well as a personal coach...

It has been exactly a month since I left my job of 12 years and began my freelancing journey as a full time tutor and entrepreneur. It is a walk of freedom and much uncertainty. Boss... towkay...odd jobber...freelancer...self employed...unemployed This are the many names that I have been given since I left my job. There is much freedom now...I have the option of deciding when I would like to start the day. Though it is subjected to the schedule of my students and other work commitments. And to be frank, I start working even earlier than before, so that I have more time in the afternoons. I truly get to smell the flowers in the middle of a work day and have meals at places in which I could only go previously when I was on leave or during the weekends. I have no boss to answer to. But I do have many clients who can boss me around. Thankfully, my current clients are very nice people. Financially, it is a different set of rules. While...

I went to an army mate's wedding last night. Being the only guy from my anti tank platoon in what is essentially a scout platoon wedding, I didn't expect myself to fit in their conversation. However, it turn out to be quite an experience. It has been a long while since I last saw this guys. Though we were from from different platoons, we have lived together for 2.5 years during NSF and served 10 years NS together. There were a boisterous and fun lot and now even at almost middle age, they still are. The dinner began as other wedding dinner goes. Trading of talks about work and marital status. Not to mention the flashing of children's photos on our smart phones. Guys in shirts, long pants and dinner jackets. Stuffy things. Then the talk on old missions and overseas exercises started. The shared experiences starting flowing. From the sands of Thailand, the rolling hills of Taiwan, the brutal jungles of Brunei to the wastelands of Lim Chu Kang. The stories kept ...

  A young Obama in 2008   A much older Obama in 2012 If you asked me if I have been following the US presidential elections? I would answer, "vaguely." But truth is when I knew Obama won. I was happy, in fact very happy. It has been a tough four years for him and the United States. A stumbling economy, political gridlock, natural and man-made disasters all made the job of the most powerful man on Earth, one of the toughest job on Earth too. True, Obama did not managed to deliver all that he wanted to in the past four years. But the items promised were not simple matters to solve too. With this unfulfilled promises undermining him, Obama faced an uphill fight against Romney. But in the end, the nation made their choice. They chose to stick with the most charismatic and only black president the US have ever seen. Probably the poorest president that have ever came to power too. God bless America. :) I could still remember what he wrote in his book...

Technical Support for Google Maps 8 bit: Phew...phew phew! Blow hard into the cartridge. Reload and restart your Nintendo Family System. Google Maps 8 bit should work now.

It has been almost a week since I have gotten my hands on the Nokia Lumia 710. Do I missed my E72? The answer is yes. Lets start off with the bad about the newbie and get it out of the system. 1. It doesn't sync with Microsoft Outlook It doesn't like Microsoft alot, so syncing it with your desktop doesn't make much sense. Your tasks, calendar, contacts all can't be sync directly with the phone. My old Symbian E72 sync like a dream in comparison. Wait a minute, isn't Windows Phone 7.5 a Microsoft product? 2. You can't cut and paste. Well, not in the traditional sense. Another sign of Microsoft hatred. Isn't cut and paste a hallmark of Microsoft? 3. Expected demerit, The Lumia 710 drinks... Well, a Maserati V8 drinks... So this is expected. Got to pay the price for a 1.5g processor and a GPU. Charging is necessary every night. The good or rather the Great :D 1. Very modern interface. The Windows Phone 7.5 Mango phone is very slick and very...

It is that time of the year whereby your Telco contract expires and it is time to hunt for another new mobile phone. My soup dunking Nokia E72 was due to be decommissioned. And I started looking for a replacement mobile phone. It has been lucky that the trusty E72 has managed to continue serving me till the contract ends after that dramatic scuba diving exercise. In case for those who are not aware, this blog is written almost solely on the E72. Hence, it is important that the succeeding mobile phone be up to the task in continuing to power this blog. The search was brief. As the running robot goes, budget is always tight. I could salivate at flagship phones like the iPhone 4S or the Samsung Galaxy S2 but sadly those phones are way out of my budget. I shortlisted a few phones by browsing on the Telco website (Singtel) in my case and submitted them to my colleague WJ, the Oracle of the mobile phone realm for his wisdom. The Shortlisted Phones are as follows: Nokia Lumia 8...

The weight of the world, Cuban Missile Crisis. John F Kennedy In the earlier post by asingaporeson, he celebrated negativity as his natural trait. He delights in it as the rest of the world remain baffled by his irrational actions. He becomes a father today. He had received the greatest gift that a man can ever asked for... A beautiful daughter. I offered him a succinct sentence today. "From today onwards, your daughter comes first. You, come last." I am probably the total opposite of him. While he thrives on negativity. I on the other hand has suffered the severe stings of negativity many times before. There is no joy in those stings... I can assure you. While I am not the absolute sunshine boy as my wife can attest, I definitely do not enjoy negativity. While I was young, unlike asingaporeanson. I do not play the dark figures. When I played the role playing game Dungeon and Dragons, I always choose to play the upright and fair Paladin knight. The lawful good. The knight i...

A Singaporean In Australia: Powered by Negativity : Foreword This is probably a post that nobody really wants to read. I've been procrastinating about it since I landed in Perth. That ...

It is another crazy day at work. Countless tasks, incessant phone calls and numerous emails. I worked from 8.30am to 10pm yet again. It may even be longer if my wife did not wrench me from my desk. Total mileage ran this week? 0 km. My training plan out of the window. Almost all my social plans were also put on hold. Work, work, work. It is times like this that made one query one's livelihood. Where am I heading? Am I happy? I sneak out for a little drive during lunch time. It was a short drive but it gave me a respite from my all day desk flying. The sound of the engine roar and the feeling of being able to control where I am heading gave me some relief. I long for the open spaces and the country roads of the countryside. To steer my own Nissan March along those winding tree-lined country roads. Using the throttle to adjust the car along the apex of the curves. Let me fantasize on that dream drive... Important Note: Do not attempt this with your car. It is dangerous and may cause ...

I stayed up late last night to watch the rerun of IRIS last night on KBS Channel. It is my favourite Korean drama to date. Probably because it is about espionage, politics and military service. These made an ex infantryman who read political science in university so intrigued about it. Not to mention, it has a very beautiful love story that tugs my heart every time I view it. Watching the episode last night, I realised it was set in location in a castle which I had just recently went during my honeymoon. It was the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary. In that episode, Hyeon Jun (played by Lee Byung Hun), a South Korean spy was made to complete a assassination of a North Korean politician at the Buda Castle. After all I missed several episodes when IRIS was first screened, I was not aware that it was filmed in Hungary at some point. Viewing the castle on the screen, I made out the pavements, that I walked, the statues I marvel at. The viewing point on the castle where my mind was rather t...

I have always been a big fan of evo magazine. Being reading it since 2005, and have bought the British version prior to the formation of Evo Singapore. Tonight I posted 'Night Flight' to the Evo forum in UK. For once, I am writing and the writers in the magazine gets a read! www.community.evo.co.uk/forums/thread.cfm?threadID=84177

My trusty Nokia E72 had almost met its end yesterday. Just to let you know this blog was written almost entirely on this phone. I do not have a decent computer in my possession except for this phone. While talking to a GD yesterday over a very late lunch. The phone fell overboard into a bowl of soup. To be precise, a bowl of herbal duck soup. It went head in, and poof... Display gone, sound gone and vapour all over the screen. I took out the battery immediately and went on to wash the phone of its soup and grease. My heart was pumping all the way. I put it on GD's dashboard to sun. And prayed. 1 hours later. I tried turning it on... The screen flicked on, graphics garbled..and went off. I took stock of my options, my phone was not due for a replacement till 2 months later. It will cost a bomb to replace it. Following the advice from this link: www.popularmechanics.com/technology/how-to/tips/4269047 I put the E72 into my camera box. The humidity is 40% in the box. The ...

GD, Uncle Wong and me met for dinner last night at Toa Payoh Lorong 5. It has been quite a while since we went to that particular Hawker Centre (for the benefit of non-Singaporean readers, it is a place which consist of many open air food stalls, that has cheap and delicious food.) See below: I remember asingaporeanson, Jen, GD and me doing our “Top Gear” style challenge there a few years back. We took out SGD$10 and with that we are suppose to feed 4 of us with food from the stalls. Scrimping and saving, we managed to have a decent dinner with the paltry budget. It is probably not a possible feat elsewhere in Singapore. Of course last night gathering of the Secondary classmates, we have a missing member, which is asingaporean son. We ate our satay and grilled chicken wings in tribute to him. Cheers! How much things have changed, different jobs, different status, and now being in different countries. It amazing how far things have come since the heady days of 1991 when we first ...

It has been a wet day over here in Singapore. I have been driving up and down the island to attend my family barbecue gathering in the north. It has been a while since all of us have gathered together since my wedding a few months ago. My mum made herbal soup and green curry in addition to the usual grilled food. It has been a long while since I had a taste of my mum's cooking. It made me miss the days I used to stay with my parents when I was much younger. Tonight, felt like a step back to the past. The old parking complex where I used to park my car. Walking along the familar pavements. Going to the 7-11 store which I used to patronized regularly. Seeing the old neighbours. Smelling the fresh air at Bukit Panjang...So much have stayed the same, yet circumstances are so different. It has been another quiet Christmas Eve for me this year. While I long for the hype and good cheer of Christmas parties of yesteryears. I guess the peacefulness of this year Christmas Eve has a cha...

Lately, I being reading up book from written by a Irish infantry captain who served in Afghanistan. With this, my interest in the conflict grew, I began searching for ways to connect with those troops who were deployed on the ground in Afghanistan. I found well written blogs maintained by both the British Army and by a British RAF airman. They can be found here at: rafairman.wordpress.com/ britisharmy.wordpress.com/afghanistan/ Why am I so supportive of the army? Most Singaporean boys see National Service as a chore and probably want to hear no more of it once it is done. Unlike many of my contempories who have served the army, I do not bear any grudge towards the forces. Do remember that I was one of those who had a hard time adjusting to military life during basic military training (BMT). I should have ended up as an army hater since I suffer greatly during the beginning. There were times during boot camp that I wish I could break a bone or sometime so that I could be dis...

Lately, the days has been gray and stormy in Singapore. It made the days shorter too as I found it hard to squeeze time to run all the errands that I need to do. Running in the evenings were aftected too as it often rain. So much so that I do some of my training runs in the afternoons instead. Even then it is possible to end up running in a drizzle as a passing cloud may also bring rain en route. I think I may also be affected by the seasonal affective disorder caused by the gloomy days... I am becoming grumpier lately. Or maybe it is the frustration of not being able to complete, what I need to do each day.