Steak and Life

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here! 

I had dinner with a colleague.

It has been a very long while since my last dinner outside.

This is partly because of Covid.

But mostly, I am somewhat an introvert, usually not keen in meeting people and would love to save the money.

But the dinner was good.

The steak was very nice!

The chat was very nice!

The walk afterwards was particularly nice.

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We chatted for a long time, from work to life to investing to future plans.

My colleague was very talkative and he was a very confident man.

So when the topic came to retirement and financial wellbeing, he confidently elaborated his status.

He was in a very good position financially and he saw himself being able to retire with enough money before his planned retirement age.

• He had a million dollar plus apartment, fully paid
• He had stock investment with good performance, for which all he needed to do was not touch it until retirement, meaning he would not need to put in more money to it and it would be enough for his retirement.
• He of course had cash
• He also would have pension from his government after retirement, which would be enough to cover basic needs

So he was very confident and relaxed.

He would not be looking to make more money. Life style is more important to him. I think he would not be able to understand if I had told him that I was working the job and some extra commitment at the same time, pushing my average daily working hours to 14 hours.

He had some quite expensive toys.

He rented a 5k+ per month apartment here in Singapore.

He paid for the dinner also.

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I believe I won’t be worse off when I am his age.

Actually, by rough calculation, even if I just stay put, I believe I will be there.

However, I am not as nearly confident.

I would be seeking to trade my time and lifestyle to an extent for money.

And I can see I would be much more frugal than him in the many years to come.

For what?

I am not entirely sure. 

I know we wont starve in Singapore and would have enough to raise the kids and for retirement. Worst case, we can still rely on the government.

And all those frugal lifestyle only saved small money.

One opportunity missed or grasped would just render all that completely pointless.

And maybe that did contribute somehow to the opportunity being missed or grasped.

What is life about after all?

With all these thoughts, reflections and knowledge, I still do not see myself change much in this aspect…

Knowing and doing is oceans apart. I am a living example of that.

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Another observation I got was that he was generous.

One of the common colleagues of ours were out of the country and needed his apartment checked.

So he went. Apparently, the key had been passed to him.

I needed to shake all the steak anyway. So I went with him.

We walked and talked along the way.

When we reached the apartment, we were greeted by a lock out of battery.

We could not open the door. 

We called the guy overseas, explained the situation and he promised to come back with the battery.

Would I have done it for the guy overseas?

Probably not and probably the guy would not trust me with the keys either.

They knew each other for much longer for sure and they almost always stood together against a common boss.

But that trust and commitment does not come easy.

I also think the culture plays a big part.

None of the local colleagues has relationship of that level with them. And I can imagine I could feel more comfortable doing that for a Chinese guy also.

But I do get a sense of sincerity and content out of it.

• I am happy with my life
• I have the spare emotional and physical capacity to help you
• And I want to help you.

None of this would feel the same way if one is not happy with his life.

And people can feel that.

Till next time!

My Market Transactions - Wk48 2021

 

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

It is end of Nov 2021. One month to go! Time flies.

The remaining one month is super critical for me also.

Here is another update on the weekly transactions,

Still NIL.

The market dropped because of the new variant of Covid. 

For the counters I wish to buy, it did not drop enough.

For my existing counters, I have no expectation for them anyway.

So life goes on!

Till next time!

Slight Recovery! Monthly Net-Worth Update — Nov 2021

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming there! 

Time flies. It is almost end of Nov.

Here is another monthly update of our TNW.

Net-Worth increase from last month: 10K SGD, -0.6KG Gold

This month is a bit special.

Due to some arrangements, I have not received my salary this month yet.

So it will be counted next month as to not disrupt our update cadence.

So coming back to this month, 30% of that increase was from recovery of stock portfolio and the rest was pretty much Forex. 

SGD dropped a bit against USD/RMB/HKD.

The gold price increased, causing our net-worth in terms of Gold to fall.

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Investment: -5.67% annualized return, incl. dividend

Compared to last month, it is slight recovery.

Hope the recovery continues.

Till next time!

VR Update 3 — More than just shooters

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here! 

I bought VR for games, particularly for shooters. 

I was not looking at anything else. I did get the experience, which is awesome.

However, as I spent more time in VR, I realized it would not be just for shooters.

Games like Superhot, Beat Saber and even some fitness games are a lot of fun also. 

I do not want to say it, but they could be more fun and engaging than the shooters. 

And they bring more exercises as well, which was also a reason for me to go into VR.

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But it did not just stop there.

Watching videos and movies in VR also blew my mind.

With Apps like BigScreen VR, I could literally feel I am in a big IMAX cinema, probably better.

• No need to purchase the ticket
• No need to wait for the timing
• No need to queue to enter the cinema
• No noisy or moving people
• No more uncomfortable seats in some cinemas
• No risk of catching Covid from the guy/girl next door
• I can pick any seat I want
• I can play the movie of my choice
• I can go back and re-watch what I have missed
• I can lie down on my bed
• I can even watch 3D movies
• You can watch the same movie with your friends in their “Room” or “Yours”
• ….

Who the hell needs to go to a real cinema again? 

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But seriously, the Oculus Quest 2 is so unfriendly to people who wear glasses.

I need to get the prescription inserts.

I have just been lazy to get my eye-sight measured. But that has become so clear that it is a must-have.

Till next time!

My Market Transactions - Wk47 2021

Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash

Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

Here is another update on the weekly transactions,

Still NIL.

There has been some big fluctuations in the value of my portfolio. At one point, my paper loss was reduced to within 120K and then it enlarged again quickly.

Watching my portfolio up and down does stir my emotions. After all, that is still my money and it is a big amount, especially when I still struggle on small expenses, like VR games. 

But I am where I am and I have led myself here.

So life goes on!

Till next time!

VR — Gaming Unleashed

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

I jumped into gaming right after finishing set up of the Oculus Quest 2 headset.

And it was mind blowing!

The first game I tried was Pavlov Shack. It is incredible that this game is still free on Quest platform.

This game alone will last me for a long time.

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1.The experience and realism is just unmatched

Just some examples:

• Looking at the gun up-close and from any angle I wanted and really seeing and feeling the size of it only reminded me of the limited times where I held a real rifle in my hand
• Reloading was so fun and realistic. I spent all my time in the shooting range, reloading and shooting different guns, in my first play till the battery run out. To reload in VR, I had to pull the mag out, grab a new one, inject it into the gun and pull the charging handle (depending on whether there was a round in the chamber already), all through physical hand movements, instead of simply pressing “R” on the keyboard.
• I was reloading a M1 Grand, looking at the clip ejecting from the chamber with the satisfying sound, grabbing another clip, pushing it into the chamber and start shooting again. I was so excited then and I could only imagine how much more excited I would have been If I got my hands on this in university. I would be absolutely crazy about it.
• Aiming was totally different as well. I had to physically lift my arm and line up the sights through the scope or iron sight, instead of clicking the right button on my mouse. It all felt so cool and realistic! 
• Last but not least, turning around by physically turning around my head and body in the real world was so satisfying too. And it meant exercise!

I hope these examples give you some idea of the difference between shooting in VR and shooting in traditional gaming.

To me, once you tried VR, it is hard to go back!

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2.I got some “downsides” too

After the initial excitements, it became clear to me really quickly that my killing productivity dropped drastically.

• There was no more pin point accuracy, like in COD. With shaking arm, came shaking aim. Single fire mode still worked best for long distance, but no more one shot one kill
• Reloading took a long time and I got it wrong very very frequently. Reloading in VR involved a few steps and I could get any of them wrong. So many times, I pulled a new mag just to realize the old one was still there. Or I was supposed to pull the charge handle, but instead dropped the gun…
• Turning was still not natural to me. As a result, my situation awareness dropped drastically too.
• The clarify problem and mild motion sickness did not help either

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3.But it was just “learning curve”

With practice, I would get so much better.

When I played Counter Strike on PC for the first time, I could not move or aim properly.

Now it has become the second nature for me when it comes to playing shooter games.

I just need to adapt that second nature to the VR platform.

With a few hours of practice, I can now reload the M4 within half a second and can fend off waves of enemy attach.

I am working on turning now, especially turning right around corners and turning 180 degrees fast with fast aiming.

I will get there!

I’d better to. I wont be able to go back to the traditional gaming.

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In the end

VR gaming is exciting! 

I think the game mechanics are there. We just need easier-to-use hardware!

Till next time!

VR — First Experience

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

The Oculus Quest 2 I ordered arrived. 

The experience has been great so far.

1.Unbox

It arrived around noon. I was rushing to finish some work.

But I could not take my mind off it.

Luckily, I could squeeze out one hour in the mid afternoon to do the unboxing.

It was actually smaller and lighter than I had thought. Good!

Upon checking the items, I noticed two potential problems:

• There was a scratch on the left controller
• The top of the front cover of the headset wiggled a bit, while the bottom was very solid.

Amazon apparently had a lot of returns, just like Lazmall. So this might be another refurbished returned set.

But I did not care that much as long as it worked fine.

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2.Set-up

I read the instructions and watched a few set-up videos very carefully so that I would not do anything stupid.

The instructions suggested to full charge the battery before setting-up.

So I connected it to the charger and went back to work.

In the evening, I had time for the set-up.

It was incredibly easy. 

The headset detected my floor very accurately and the boundary drawing was intuitive and again worked perfectly.

I tried different rooms and drew multiple boundaries. And the headset remembered them all and could switch automatically with no problem.

The mobile app made things much easier as well, especially in the beginning before I got used to the control in VR.

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3.Wearing

I encountered none of the worries which I had anticipated.

When I ordered, I worried about whether my glasses would fit and whether my glasses would scratch the headset lenses.

To my surprise, they were no problem at all.

My glasses could just fit into the headset and with the glass spacer provided in the package, my glasses were quite some distance away from the lenses.

So I just started using it, instead of waiting for the rubber spacer which I had originally planed.

But anyway, I guess we would stop caring soon enough after the first time…haha

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4.Experiences

It is mostly great!

Being able to see the VR world as I moved and interact with objects by physically moving my hands, as opposed to click some buttons on keyboard felt superb!

And I was really surprised how well the tracking was, evening the movement.

When I walked in the real world, I moved in the VR world. 

Man! At that point, I really wanted a big house.

But mostly, I needed to use the controller to move around. Otherwise, I would keeping hitting the walls…

Also, bear in the mind that this was just the “starters”, like some “first contract” to introduce me to how things would work in VR. 

I have not gone into the serious gaming yet. That would be another separate post.

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5.Concerns so far

The big problem was really clarity.

Clarity was so easily ruined with glasses. 

• I would very often dirty my classes just by putting on the headset, because the glasses got squeezed and touched my eyebrow etc. 
• Sweeting would make that so much worse. 

So after some play time, even in air-conditioned rooms, I usually had blurry pictures, sometimes to a point that I could not tell a person from a pillar. And I would be emptying a whole mag on a pillar while the enemy came up on me from behind.

I guess I would probably need to get some prescription inserts if I really want to make this work.

The another problem is motion sickness.

After playing games or even watching some videos, I just do not feel comfortable, especially in the stomach.

But I have not given up yet. I guess it would take some getting used to.

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In the end

All in all, VR is a great piece of tech. 

And thanks to Oculus for bringing it to the convenience level and pricing level of the Quest 2, so that more people can enjoy it.

However, it is not perfect. None of the headsets available right now is.

And I am still disappointed how slowly the hardware is developing.

But hope is there. I look forward to the hardware to come and the experiences they will bring.

Till next time!

My Market Transactions - Wk46 2021

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

We have about 6 critical weeks left in 2021!

Here is another update on the weekly transactions,

Still NIL.

There was a buying point for Tencent last week. I decided to wait a bit more and eventually forgot about it...

Again, major difference between professional investors and amatures.

Till next time!

Embarrassing SteerCo

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here! 

I had a very embarrassing Steerco this week, with a lot of learnings.

1.What happened?

I used a different source of data for an analysis, rather than the invoice data which was supposed to be the source data for everything.

That resulted in a baseline 6 time higher.

The client captured that in the SteerCo, and no proper explanation came through and it turned into a very embarrassing moment.

The cost was high.

If I had just used the invoice data, I would have saved time in doing the analysis, saved the embarrassment as well as the time I had to put in after the SteerCo to make amends.

The time alone I could have saved would be easily one day of work.

Let along the impact of this embarrassing moment on our credibility and other aspects on the higher lever, such as the possibility of the next phase commitment, as well as the time leadership had to put in to manage damage.

2.What could have been done better?

There were three things I could have done better:

a) Maintain professional consistency in my work

b) Stay vigilant and do not take any chances

c) Be assertive to clarify there and then

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a) Maintain professional consistency in my work

I let my personal feelings impact my decision.

I was so vested in the task that I wanted to get every possible thing that can make it better, so that people would keep seeing the good work I had been doing.

So instead of the using the invoice data as baseline, as every one else was using and as I was using for any other task, I picked another source, which required much more work but did not really have any strong rationale to be a better source than the invoice data, apart from that it would make the analysis look prettier.

And I did not catch the hidden duplication in the data and thus the baseline was 6 times higher.

And then I was hit by the embarrassing moment and had to deal with the consequence.

This is a perfect example why maintaining professionalism all the time is so critical, especially in time-critical tasks.

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b) Stay vigilant and do not take any chances

I did notice the big difference.

It did come to me that maybe I should validate it with the client.

But I convinced myself out of it, because

1. The logic was sound
2. The timeline was tight
3. Client was not that approachable as they were occupied too
4. I thought no one would notice details at this level in SteerCo, which consisted only of high level management. 

So I decided to get lazy and took the chance.

The combination of client system and the way the data was extracted introduced high duplication in the data, which I was completely unaware of.

And then I was hit by the embarrassing moment and had to deal with the consequence.

Thinking back now, that piece of “detail” was actually quite eye-catching…

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c) Be assertive to clarify there and then

Even though it was a bit difficult, I did have a few chances to be assertive and just clarify the doubt right there and then during the SteerCo.

At least, clients would know this was not a mistake. We knew about it and we had a rationale for it.

Hopefully, clients would not walk away from the session, thinking we were incompetent.

And I was struggling all the while until the very end of the session.

But I did not.

Partly because I was afraid this would lead to other undesirable discussions.

Partly because I did not want to disrupt the flow.

But I really should have.

What could be worse than clients forming impression of us being incompetent?

When I seek guidance from leadership afterwards, they thought I should have too.

But I did not.

Now all we could do is damage management, which means work for me and for leadership.

It does seem that we could not have been in a worse position than we are now.

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So to summarize:

1. Maintain professionalism always
2. Do not be lazy
3. Stay vigilant and do not take any chances
4. Do not underestimate
5. Damage control is best done right there and then
6. Speak up bravely
7. Bear in mind that we may not get a chance to clarify sometimes

To us all!

Till next time!

How much is location still worth for properties in Singapore?

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here! 

About 8 years ago, when we were trying to buy our first ever property, the agent told us that location was key.

I did not believe him. 

The only meaning location carried for us then was the duration of commute to work. And we were prepared to be very very tolerate on that. 

We were literally just looking for an affordable property. (Imagine a young couple all by themselves who were drawing entry level salaries and just accumulated enough for a down payment from saving every possible penny)

How the value of property might change was beyond our consideration. Hell, we did not even think about selling the property ever.

7 years later, when we lost more than 100K over the property we picked, I realized he was right.

So much so that I came out with my own reasoning why that was the case. And I wrote a post in this very blog, illustrating my logic from the perspective of “Public Wealth”. (I am sure I am not the one who first came out with this idea. Probably this is discussed in depth in Economics class or Politics class. But I did get that idea without any reference.)

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But under Covid and all the “on-line” businesses supported by “Big Data”, how much of that value will still retain in the years to come, especially for Singapore, a small city state?

Let’s break down the value associated to location for a more detailed analysis.

What matters to me are listed below in the order of most important to least important. You can tell how “low” I am. Hahaha…

Do let me know in the comments what I am missing. We can make this as interactive as possible.

1. Safety
2. Proximity to MRT/shorter commute
3. Proximity to good schools
4. Proximity to amenities, e.g. shopping malls, hospitals, etc
5. Community (higher quality neighbors etc)
6. Proximity to parks/greenery

Let’s go through them one by one.

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1.Safety

Safety is definitely the most important for me in picking the location.

However, it is almost irrelevant in Singapore, thanks to the government.

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2. Proximity to MRT/shorter commute

With Covid here to stay, I have been staying at home (with job or no) for the past two years.

Even when Covid is gone, WFH is still going to be very very relevant.

Amazon has allowed their employees to WFH for ever.

My current company has allowed employees to WFH for 50% of the time even after Covid.

So the value of location on this aspect will be significant reduced.

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3.Proximity to good schools

I think a reasonably good school is absolutely a must for kids.

Top school is more a matter of luck, with 1–5 or 1-7 balloting chances for residents within 1km. Location only gives you that chance.

We chickened out in front of the odds and chose the next best option for our son.

And a reasonable good school is so much more common. 

And the Government has been saying all schools are the same and I believe they are taking actions to make it so.

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4.Proximity to amenities, e.g. shopping malls, hospitals, etc

With e-commerce developing at such a fast pace, Covid or no Covid, online shopping will become more and more popular. 

And the delivery will become faster and faster.

In turn, more and more types of products can be included in e-commerce platform, such as fresh goods, to satisfy more and more of consumers’ needs.

A self-reinforcing flywheel. 

What’s more, the “big data” will add so much efficiency to that.

The e-commerce may not know what you will order at any moment.

But they will know roughly how many people in your area will order how many of what products at that moment.

And they can allocate their resources accordingly.

In China, consumers are already getting their orders delivered in a few minutes in some cases.

It will only get sooner. 

It is the same with services, such as healthcare.

The digital doctors will be capable of faster and more accurate diagnostic and treatment, as more and more data becomes available and analyzed for the population.

How much do you still need physical shopping malls and hospitals?

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5.Community (higher quality neighbors etc)

Pretty much irrelevant if you stay in HDBs.

HDBs are meant for all residences in the first place.

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6.Proximity to parks/greenery

I find myself missing the big parks and play grounds near my previous flat.

Usually newly developed towns have better plans for this and most of them are not in the central area.

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

So how much of the value of location will still retain in the years to come, especially for Singapore, a small city state?

From what I heard, second-tier cities in China are offering better quality of life, with less expense property prices and slower pace of life and work.

And new “Cultural trend” is emerging from second-tier cities, like popular bands.

So this might be a sign that the location is losing its appeal.

What do you think?

Till next time!

My Market Transactions - Wk45 2021

 

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

Here is another update on the weekly transactions,

Still NIL.

Over the past week, my portfolio continues to fluctuate, but recovery is completely removed.

So still going to do nothing.

Till next time!

Recalibrate base-line/finish-line and start again

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Dear Readers,

Thank you for coming here!

Base-line and finish-line is critical in any project.

Base-line is what we compare against to evaluate and justify the impact of the project.

Finish-line is the target of impact we need to achieve.

It is strongly preferable to fix both in the very beginning of the project. 

Sometimes, however, it is appropriate and even necessary to recalibrate one or both if they clearly do not fit the actual situation, even in the middle of the project.

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A piece of news struck me, reminding me how much I missed and how close I was to it.

I know we should not be dwelling too much on our losses and we will get there sooner or later if we keep fighting.

I agree!

But still, it is hard, especially the thing I missed could put me well past the finish-line for at least one critical aspect of my life.

It is not like in a big game consisting of numerous choices in each step, I made a wrong choice in a step and had to try another path (Example A below).

It is like I could have won that game just like that and I was so close to it. And now, I have to start over and the road to win that game is so long and tough. (Example B below)

Examples:

A: The finish-line is 100 and I was at 30. I would be at 40 with a right decision. With the wrong choice, I am at 25. And the right decision next round could just put me back at 40 or even higher.

B: The finish-line is 100 and I was at 30. I would be at 120 with the right decision, which I was so close to. And now, I am at 10. It would take many right choices and many years to reach even close 100.

In A, my situations with right and wrong choice are still at the “same level”. Keep working and I will be there, maybe slightly later. 

In B, my situations are oceans apart. I do not see how I could replicate the choice to get back to 120 within years or ever.

My case is like B.

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I figured I would have two options to fix my situation: Recalibrate my base-line and recalibrate my finish-line.

1.Recalibrate my base-line

What happened happened. No time machine available yet.

No matter how hard it is, it is time to let go.

Put away the past and recalibrate my baseline.

Instead of comparing to 120, I will compare to 30, which was the base-line before the choice.

Technically, 120 never happened and “Would-be” scenarios usually do not qualify as “base-line”.

So it makes logical sense to revert to the base-line of 30.

And with 30, I can see clearly how I could make progress.

2.Recalibrate my finish-line

This could allow me to convert my scenario to Example A.

For example, with finish-line at 100, that “wrong choice” ruined my game completely, because I have lost already.

However, with finish-line recalibrated to 1000, the scenario would be more like A.

The actual “10” and would-be “120” are not that far apart.

And I will have plenty of room to catch-up, which means I am still in the game.

Most importantly, the would-be scenario showed me the real possibilities of reaching “1000”, which I had not dared to imagine.

Once the Pandora’s box is opened, there is no going back.

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Even with both base-line and finish-line recalibrated, the road will still be long and tough.

But I believe I will be there, because I am not giving up.

What’s more, I will get to see new scenery along the road.

Life is a journey after all.

What else am I going to do with my life anyway?

Let me recalibrate and start again!

Stay tuned!

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

In the end

Life could be a bitch. 

But I hope you are with me, never giving up, recalibrating as we go, starting over when necessary and enjoy the new scenery along the road.

That life and journey is ours and ours only!

To us all!

Till next time!