No reviews this week, since I’ve not done my homework and preparation due to a crazily busy work schedule. I thought I’d just post an update about what’s going on in my life so you’ll know I’ve not “blog-faded”.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know that this is the month of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. While USA and most of the world were amazed by the prowess of Michael Phelps, much of Singapore held our breath as we watched our table-tennis team smash into the finals of the Women’s Table-Tennis Team event. Although our team (Li Jiawei, Wang Yuegu and Feng Tianwei) lost to China’s team (Zhang Yining, Wang Nan and Guo Yue) in the end, we were still elated that the paddlers have earned a Silver medal. This is the nation’s first Olympic medal in 48 years. Way to go girls!

Thanks to my new toy, the Samsung SGH-P960 (you can read my brief product review there), I get to catch much of the action while on the commute through the trial mobile tv service that I’m participating in. The Samsung is a loan set from Singtel (the telco I’m subscribed to), and I get to play with it until the end of October. I might do a more lengthy product review of the phone on this blog at the end of the trial, so keep a lookout for it.

That’s all for now. I’m going to get some late lunch now. Bye!

Yes, I’ve just begun my 30-dom. Now I have to write my age beginning with a “3″. I’m not sure if I’m ready for this yet, but I’ll just have to accept whatever God throws in my way.

Looking back, I realized there are tons and tons of things which I wish I had accomplished by now but have not, either due to my own procrastination, or other “unforeseen circumstances”. However, there are other things that I’m thankful of having at my age:

• I have a job that I love (although I can’t really say the same about my pay). Even though most of ex-classmates have moved up the corporate ladder, I still honestly prefer development to management. Like I always say, I’m a follower, not a leader.
• I have a loving boyfriend who bears with all my craziness. Although he has not popped the big question after more than 3 years of dating (Why? I’ll never know), he dotes on me and assures me that “he has plans”. He’s also the only guy I know who understands and tolerates that I NEED to spend more time with 68-year old widowed mother more than with him. For that, I’m extremely grateful.
• I’ve finally officially completed my degree course before I turned 30 (although the convocation is in end August). I just received the results of my final-year project.. “Higher Distinction” (w00t!)
• My dear dear “twin” brother, a.k.a my god-brother. We’re not genetically-related in anyway, but we share the same birthday (same year, same month, same day). How cool is THAT! He dotes on me like a baby sister, and I adore him as my elder brother. As an only child, he was a very welcomed sibling to have. We used to try and trick our friends to believing that we were really twins, since we did look alike, and our Chinese names sounded similar. Our different family names gave the trick away, of course. My “twin” brother just broke the news to me this morning that the lady he was courting was no longer his girlfriend, but is now his fiancee! (double w00t)

Those of you following my Twitter/Plurk/Facebook activities probably know that I’ve taken leave from work to celebrate with the bf. We met up for breakfast at a cafe in town, and then we went to watch the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight. Great action and fantastic performance from a stellar cast, which included the late Heath Ledger as The Joker. My favorite character however is Lucius Fox, played by Morgan Freeman. Freeman is SUCH a charming actor that he ALWAYS steals the show from the leads.

After the movies, we had lunch at Spageddies. We both ordered Crayfish Parmagiarri. That was followed by Tiramisu. Yummy!

We loitered around town for a while more and then headed to a nearby Gloria Jeans for coffee and to rest our feet. That was followed by a visit to an Apple store for the bf to check out the iPod Touch, so that he could use it as a reference of what to expect of the iPhone 3G that he’s eying to get at the end of the year. Finally, we headed home together after getting dinner for my mom.

I realized as I’m typing this entry, it has already past midnight, meaning I’m now in Day 2 of my 30-dom. Well, I guess that also means I should get some beauty sleep now. Meanwhile, checkout my birthday photo album on Facebook!

Until next time, take care and God bless!

After a 3-month hiatus, I’m pleased to announce that I’m finally back to blogging again! This time should be for good, well at least until I start getting busy with whatever drops in my lap again.

Won’t be doing any podcast reviews today, since I’ll need some time to do some research and preparation first. I have added a few new podcast subscriptions to my iTunes during this time, and they’re all very good. So a keep a lookout for my upcoming reviews for those!

Meanwhile, let me just give a brief update on what’s been happening to me and the world around me in the past 3 months. First and foremost, as some of you know by now, I’ve FINALLY gotten a promotion. After working in my current company for 4 years, I’m now OFFICIALLY a Senior Software Developer. Naturally, the pay package has been adjusted slightly to match the new position. It was a reasonable adjustment, though the final figure is still on the low side, compared to what some of my peers are earning outside. Nonetheless, I’m a happier worker now.

The fact that I’m typing this new blog entry also means that I’ve finally completed my final-year modules. Well, almost. I’ve completed the final assignment, which is due for submission next week. There will be a project presentation in the following week. And then I sit and wait for results. Then if all goes well (please pray for me, folks), I can finally make the necessary arrangements for graduation. FINALLY! Woo-hoo!

On a sad note, my god-brother’s mom passed away 3 weeks ago, just before Mother’s Day. She died of cancer. I only found out a few days later after reading a couple of entries he left on his blog where he mentioned that his dad was devastated during the funeral. He himself was feeling very sad, but for the sake of his dad, he had to stay strong. I can fully understand that feeling. My own dad passed away 11 years ago, and I had to tell myself to be strong for my mom. If you will, please pray for the repose of the soul of my god-brother’s mom and my dear dear dad, as well as for my god-brother’s family that they will be strong.

Another tiny tiny tragedy that happened recently was that I broke the LED display on my newly bought Creative ZEN Stone Plus MP3 player, after careless dropping it on the floor Thankfully the player still works in terms of audio. I just can’t see what I’m doing when I’m fiddling with the settings. The bf checked with the nice people at the Creative store near his office, and they confirmed that the 1-year warranty I had on the device was not going to cover the repair if I choose to send it in (what can I say, I was careless), and the cost of repairing the LED was going to be S$69. WHAT!!!! The player cost me S$99, and the repair is $69?!?! I might as well get a new one! Urgh!

Well, that’s all for now. Will try to get the podcast reviews ready by next week. Watch out for it!

The Lion City is abuzz with IT Show 2008 exhibition which started yesterday (6th March 2008) and will end this Sunday (9th March 2008). It claims to be the largest IT/electronics exhibition of it’s kind in Singapore. And did I mention that admission is free? It’s no wonder that the IT-savvy and gadget-loving folks flood the exhibition halls in search of good bargains on computers, laptops, digital cameras, MP3 players, game consoles, printers, flash drives, etc. Being the semi-geek that I am, I make it a point to go to the IT Show on a yearly basis. Hence, I made an appointment with the bf and the both of us took the afternoon off from work to avoid the evening crowd.

Before heading to the exhibition hall, we had steamboat at the Chong Qing Hotpot restaurant in the basement of the Suntec City, where the exhibition is held. It was cold since it had been raining for days. The best time to have some steaming hot spicy soup. Yummy!

The pass couple of days have been hectic with lots of last minute bug fixes and new enhancement requests for users. School starts next week for me. Thankfully, it’s my last semester. So technically, I’ll be able to complete my degree before my 30th birthday in July, although I’ll probably only be able to receive the actual degree sometime in August or September. Nonetheless, I’m really excited about graduating this year. Hurray!

Speaking of excitement, the recent Academy Awards was definitely a source of excitement for many. I’ve not been following news/updates about the Oscars this year. I didn’t even bother to check who was nominated. But when I heard the Barrons from Catholic in a Small Town were throwing an Oscars party and inviting uStream audience to join them in Katherine’s parents’ living room, I decided to join in the fun. It’s not everyday that I get to meet up with my Twitter/Facebook friends on uStream, and we had a great time chatting with eachother. However, since I was at work, I had to be discreet and could only join in the chat occasionally.

Earlier that day, the McInnis family celebrated the 25th episode of the Monster Cookies podcast by uStreaming their show. If you missed watching them live (like me) you can the recordings of the show here. I caused a little bit confusion when Jon read my comments on their Facebook group regarding what we’re giving up for Lent. Jon and Amber wondered what I meant by “tidbits”. Here’s the dictionary definition of the word for those interested. While listening to the podcast, I also learnt that I was the winner of their contest twice in a row! Wow! Looking forward to seeing those beautiful drawings by the equally beautiful children in the mail soon, Jon!

On the topic of children, I want to congratulate James and Jenn from the Geek Loves Nerd podcast on the birth of their baby boy, James Lewis Kennison. I found out about the good news while listening to the latest episode of their podcast. Congratulations to Luis and Alesha as well on their baby boy, Dante Gabriel Escobar. Luis is also the author of one of my favorite blogs Luis’ Illustrated Blog. BTW Luis, my middle name happens to be Gabrielle.

I know I promised to do a podcast review this week, but because I had too much good news to share with all of you today, so I’ll just have to find time to write a separate entry for the reviews. Will probably have it ready within the next couple of days. Till then, take care and God bless!