Eugene Teh

Mid-Life Crisis (part II)

Eugene — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 01:48:00 +0000

Attending Dreamforce 2008, annual cloud computing event by Salesforce.com, hearing amazing speeches from renowned figures such as Larry Brilliant (director of Google.org), Malcolm Gladwell (author of Blink), Michael Dell and Marc Benioff.

Seeing Obama Girl in person

Going Las Vegas, the City of Sin – a place surreal beyond imagination. Calculated and realized probability of winning is extremely low after contributing to the development of LV casinos

Meeting Jason and Sandra in their iLead trip!

Catching Jay Chou concert in Toronto; Staying in backpackers inn for the first time; Visiting Niagara Falls; Realizing that Rockerfella Center, NY, does not have X’mas countdown; Visiting Holocaust Museum; Counting down 2009 at Times Square (for 9 hours!); Taking 52-hours train ride from Chicago to SF; Learning a lot about life; last but not least down with a bad cough & flu throughout all these events

Catching Pantom of the Opera @ Broadway; And to be catching Wicked at SF!

Participating in PeakTime 2009 with Evan, Carol and Maurice!

Going to Napa/Sonoma for wine tasting and interviews as part of a strategic marketing project for stealth startup in a stanford marketing class.

Kick-ass Two Buck Chucks Marketing Death Warriors team!

Skiing @ Lake Tahoe

Attending Pillow Fight on Valentine’s Day at San Francisco

Catching NBA Game – LA Lakers VS Warriors! — awesome!

Managing 9 credits (3 modules) and a full-time job simultaneously for a school quarter

And finally, thinking about what I want to do in my future…

Mid-Life Crisis (part I)

Eugene — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 20:43:00 +0000

Seven months have passed with four months remanding, I’m currently facing the mid-life crisis of my noc journey! What have I accomplished, what have I learned and what can I do in my remaining months to close the chapters of my bitter-sweet life learning experience in Silicon Valley… These are the questions I constantly ask myself. Everyone has changed – few have the time to stop, observe, and realize it.

And now, I’ll like to recap some highlights of my roller-coaster journey!

San Mateo Refuge Camp

Living together with a group of kakhis you never once know very well in a foreign country is indeed an experience – KO, maurice, ershad, Fanz! It’s not like the army bunk experience I know of; it’s neither similar to hall life in NUS. San Mateo Refuge Camp trains you through real-life engagement with people from multi-cultural background and diversity. Staying together, setting ‘house rules’ and compromising isn’t exactly easy, but it’s hell lots of fun looking back at it! There’s never a better experience to know someone so well as you know of yourself (:

Mistaken Bay Bridge as the Golden Gate Bridge on the first day in San Francisco! hah!

First official road trip in my life – Universal Studios, LA

Alaska

It has been my dream to see the northern lights, but I’ve never imagine witnessing this breathtaking natural phenomena this early! It’s just sooooo surreal, looking at how a glimsp of light broke into the darkness of the sky and spreaded steadily from one end of the sky to the other!

It’s really nice to see how life in Alaska differs from SF or Singapore. People tend to be more laid back and took the time to share with you their experiences, stories and countries they originate from (many of them weren’t borned in Alaska!)

It was also my first time viewing glaciers on a private jet plane, first time going to a hot spring at -20 degree celcius and first time having a fun dog-sledding experience! The view is really really nice and I’ll never forget the companions I’ve travelled with!

Catching meteor showers at the balcony of my apartment (we made milo and pulled our mattress out!). Got to catch 8 shooting stars!

Attending Monetize 2008 – first local event I’ve attended! really enjoy myself – meeting great people, learning great stuff and helping out with the event!

Annual Bridge Concert – An open-air concert featuring artists like Norah Jones and Josh Groban.

I just bought this book for USD$91

Eugene — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 03:54:00 +0000

This says it all – I’m sticking (:

Should I quit or stick?

Eugene — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:05:00 +0000

I’ve been recently contemplating about dropping my class Programming Language Theory. Why is because it’s taking up too much of my time (at least 12 hours per week) in sacrifice of my time in work and things I would like to pursue.

Why should I stick?
+ I don’t want to overload myself in my final year nor extend for one more semester.
+ I just need to PASS, that’s it!
+ Class is mapped to a pretty-demanding mod in NUS, hence my results will not be screwed.
+ There’s only 6 more weeks.

Why should I quit?
- It’s taking up way too much of my time which leaves me with little to do what I like.
- I am not confident of passing, and if I fail, my in heavily in debt!
- It’s a post-grad class and I did not even take the pre-req or its equivalent.

What should I choose? I have four days to make a decision…

Chinese New Year Eve

Eugene — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 10:28:00 +0000

In Singapore, we start cooking in the morning, have lunch together (we will eat a part of what is prepared for the night), prepare for dinner and have steamboat reunion dinner in the night as a family. It is pretty much open to what we want to do after the reunion dinner – some choose to shop at Chinatown, some choose to stay home to watch TV or play mahjong, some choose to sleep and prepare for visiting the next day.

In China, lunch is normal and preparations for reunion dinner will start in the afternoon. Reunion dinner is many, many sumptuous dishes (no steamboat though) and the family will start making dumplings (“bao jiao zi”) right after the dinner. The family will then play mahjong/poker/21 and watch TV throughout the night, before eating the dumplings early in the morning (6am?). They will then put fireworks and start visiting.

In USA, we do not know if new year eve is on 24th or 25th (jan 2009) because of the time difference. We decide that we will have dinner on both 24th and 25th anyway – and we go to restaurants to eat. We have no ang pow and need to work on CNY.

The Power of Full Engagement

Eugene — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 06:49:00 +0000

Recommended by my professor, The Power of Full Engagement is an amazing book which kept me company on my 52-hour train ride from Chicago to San Francisco.

When I first stepped into Professor Tom’s office, I asked if he would recommend any book for a self-reflection backpacking trip. He earnestly scanned through his bookshelf , picked out one book and handed it over to me. At the same time, he looked at me and said, ‘This sucker changed my life’.

The Power of Full Engagement is not a conventional goal-setting or time-management self help book. Essentially, what this book sells is the importance of managing our energy, not time.

We all know that our time is limited – 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. On the contrary, many people simply jam-packed themselves with work, commitments, promises and completely exhaust themselves before they realize.

Take a look from another perspective if you will – there is no restriction to how much energy we can commit into any activity. You may have already realized that managing our time is one of the best form of time management.

Spending 12, 14 or 16 hours of day working is not the way to go. Increasing our productivity and spending a solid 8 hours working and the remainder of our time replenishing our energy should be the way instead. On the later chapters, this book will show us how we can use and replenish our energy in a sustainable fashion, which gradually build up our lifestyle!

A tremendously insightful book which shone a new spotlight to the way of life. Definitely worth your read, especially for peeps who want to have a clearer perspective of life or build a sustaining and high-performance career! I give this book five stars!

Dreamforce 2008

Eugene — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 02:48:00 +0000

Michael Dell’s opening speech

Attended Dreamforce 2008, an annual cloud computing event organized by Salesforce.com. Of which, I will like to share the keynotes by Larry Brilliant, Executive Director of Google.org – a non-profit arm of Google, on the topic of philantrophy.

As what Larry has mentioned, societal problems in the world is rising at an unprecendented pace. We will expect to fight more problems tomorrow than of today:

world’s epidemic

Diseases coming from animals are increasing. In the past decade, we have witnessed a variety of devastating virus such as small pox, bird flu and SARS – not to mention HIV.

These forms of diseases will be expected to rise because people residing in third world countries are feeding on unidentified animals whose genetic sequence is an unknown.
Climate change and global warming: Renewal energy vs Coal. Larry advocates that the world will need to place more resources on solar energy, thermal energy and wind energy development.
The reason why the world is relying so much on coal today is because the price of coal is cheap. And if we will to stay status quo, we will be prepared to witness dire climate changes and global warming.

Optimisim

brilliant speech by Larry Brilliant which won the applause of the audience

Larry’s initiative in the World Health Organization smallpox eradication program from 1973 to 1976 is remarkable – with the team eventually succeeded. This success was endorsed by 109 health ministers across the world, which verified that smallpox has totally diminished from the world.

What he mentioned, that was heartwarming to hear, is when everyone who is involved in the program congregated in the meeting room, what he saw was a meeting room filled with colours of a rainbow – people of a rainbow of nationalities, skin-tones and races – coming together to fight for a greater cause.

He also believes that good transents all religions and this by itself breaks all language barriers and racial disharmony.

My views
Coming to Silicon Valley has opened my world to the topic of philantrophy and social entrepreneurship. I guess it has struck the dormant conscious in me, to realize that the world does need a lot more help. And we, even as individuals, can bring in tremendous positive impact to the world.

It is also delightful to learn that enterprises are beginning to contribute to the society. For example, Google and Salesforce.com have a philantrophic 1:1:1 model – where they commit 1% of their time, 1% of their resources and 1% of their people in social entrepreneurship!

In Zuora, we dedicate two days a year to the community. This year, I participated in the Habitat for Humanity program where we built houses for the less fortunate. It’s pretty interesting working with drills and nails for the first time!

Threading along to the topic of overseas community service projects, I noticed that Silicon Valley students’ community service initiatives place strong emphasis on sustainability and impact:

Think about changing a school’s education system as opposed to building a library

Think about building an ecosystem in a country without the means to afford the most basic necessities

This model and shift in mindset is worth pondering about, yeah?

Road Trip to Alaska

Eugene — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 10:09:00 +0000

Itinerary

Oct 29 (Wednesday):

2:30am: Rented SUV from Alamo at Anchorage Intl Airport

The reason for getting a SUV instead of a normal car is safety. As many roads in Alaska is covered in snow, having a 4-wheel-drive is definitely safer. By the way, take note of the different of 4-wheel and all-wheel drive. According to the person in Alamo, 4WD car, the 4 wheel will take turn to rotate, and save petrol; All-WD, all wheel rotate at the same time. Getting an auto SUV which automatically switch the mode is better. Also take note that most company does not rent SUV to anyone under-25, for those that do, a 10-15 dollars daily rate applies. So go around and find ways to work around these rules.
Drive to Fairbanks (8 hours)
Gather resources from Fairbanks Information Center
This will be a place you will want to stop by to find out all information pertaining to Fairbanks. You can also check out the latest Aurora forecast, surf the web and use their phones for free!
Lunch at Mayflower Buffet Restaurant
Check-in 7 Gables Inn
I simply love this inn! As you step into it, you will be greeted by an array of plants in ceramic pots which stood right beside the glass windows. I wonder how they survive under the temperature of -20 degree celsius! Besides the cozy bedroom with a well-designed restroom and jacuzzi (not working though) attached to it, we share the commons – living room, kitchen and dining room! And the best part of 7 Gables inn is probably none other than the breakfast! Each morning, the owner will choose a dish from her international cookbook and prepare our breakfast from the recipe!!
Do q1 report
For those who don’t know about this, it is a homework due on 31st October
Hunt for Aurora!
Aurora is the prettiest tonight! It happened at around midnight, where the sky gradually turned from black to green, with a streak of light steadily glowing from one end of the sky to the other. As the aurora overwhelmed the once dark and gloomy sky, its color began to flicker between green and blueish-green with fades of red on its tip. It’s simply breath-taking!
Supper: McDonalds

Oct 30 (Thursday):

University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks Museum of the North
Santa Claus House at North Pole
A very interesting ‘house’ which sells Christmas gifts and souvenirs all year round! What’s more interesting is that you can purchase a certificate and have them shipped to your destined location anywhere on mother planet – and it’ll be marked coming from North Pole!
Lunch at Bakery Restaurant
Chena Hot Spring
One of my favorite attractions! The world works in a miraculous way where the hot spring can be really warm (like turning your water heater all the way to the max) while the air is about -22 degrees! Sitting in the hot spring for long, you’ll find your body feeling heated while ice starts forming on your hair! Really interesting, nice and soothing!
Chena Hot Spring Ice Museum
These ice sculptures are professionally-carved and, what’s more, you can get to stay a night in the Ice Museum sleeping on the delicately ice-carved beds! However, statistics has shown that most people didn’t last through the night in the Ice Museum.
Dinner at Chena Hot Spring
Hot chocolate + Aurora viewing!

Oct 31 (Friday):

Dog sledding
Lunch at Safeway
Dalton Highway + Artic Circle
The view along Dalton Highway is simply nice! Despite the freezing temperature, you get to see evergreens or trees which are completely white! You’ll get to see many trees which are bald because it’s is very common for lightnings to cause natural forest fires every summer! I regretted not paying enough attention to the geography lessons in my secondary school! I think it makes more sense to learn physical geog if we get the chance to witness it first hand!

Nov 1 (Saturday):

Lunch at McDonalds
Drove down to Anchorage (6 hours)
Flight-seeing at Anchorage

This is one of my favorites in the entire trip. Taking a private plane for glacier viewing is something unexpected from the trip, but things just turned out in a very, very nice way! Got to see really beautiful glaciers in this two and a half hour flight along the valleys of the snow-peaked mountains as the sun sets into the horizon. Niceee!!!
Dinner at Humphy’s Bar

Nov 2 (Sunday):

Scenic drive along Seward Highway
Brunch at Sausti Bar and Restaurant
2:30pm Depart from Anchorage

Thoughts on US Election 2008

Eugene — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:54:00 +0000

Residing in California for about 3 months now, I must admit that my understanding of the United States politics is neither comprehensive nor accurate; and hence, what I will like to share with you are my thoughts and observations being in the midst of an American election race!

The electoral process in the United States is very, very much different than what it is in Singapore. Here are some observations I’ve witnessed within the hype of the US elections:

Everyone’s passionate about the election! Everyone’s talking about the presidency elections day in day out – be it in school, at work and even on the street. More astonishing, what you will in school are students congregating to the TV screen to watch a live presidency debate!
Most Americans have a strong view on who they are for or against. Seldom did I meet one who take a neutral stand between the Democratic and Republicans
President-elect Barack Obama speaks really well! It’s really astonishing to see the way he speaks and how he conducts himself. Go view his debates and speeches!
Presidents in American cannot serve more than two terms. Having presidents in America being the most authoritative figure in the country, you will expect to see a change in leadership every 4 years, and at most 8 years should the president run for two terms

Obama wins White House race!

Eugene — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:43:00 +0000

McCain concedes presidency
Embedded video from CNN Video

Obama’s presidency acceptance speech (transcript)

Embedded video from CNN Video