I've been tagged for a book Meme, so I shall answer, as it's a topic that I like very much

How many books do I own?
Well, I don't have an exact count. I would say I have about 600 novels in English, probably close to 200 in Chinese, and if you add in the comics, the technical stuff, and the magazines, I think the figure should reach 1000 comfortably. I like books and I like reading. I've read every one of them, most of them more than twice, and some of them I read once every few months. I usually don't rent books from second-hand bookstores; I try out new authors often, and if I don't like what I read, then I'll just keep them in the deepest corner of my shelves. So far so good, I don't have a lot of entries under "failed experiments".

What was the last book I bought?
At the moment, I'm trying to explore deeper into the horror genre, so the last book I got was Brian Lumley's Necroscope. It's the first in a long series by the same author, so if it's good, I'll get the whole lot.

What was the last book I read?
See above. I've finished the book, and it's pretty good. Interesting idea, and I'll be getting the next book soon.

5 books that mean a lot to me.
1. Legend
It is the definitive heroic fantasy book. I know, I know, LOTR is the granddaddy of the fantasy genre, but seriously, the book is pretty heavy and sometimes, you don't want to know how the Baggins are related to the Tooks, if you know what I mean. Gemmell is a master at heroic fantasy, and you always get a lift reading him.

2. The Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy
I don't know how to classify this, whether it's sci-fi, or comedy, or tech. It's just good reading, the humour is subtle at times, and it's always a hoot.

3. Tigana
Tigana just edges out the rest, but every one of Guy Gavriel Fay's books is good. Some of the writing is just beautiful, absolutely beautiful.

4. Sharpe's Eagle
This is the first book that Bernard Cornwell wrote about an English soldier during the Napoleanic wars, but chronologically, not the first book in the series, which is 19 books, and still going strong. Fast-paced action, fascinating characters and detailed research and above all, some superb storytelling has made this series a must-read every few months.

5. Gates of Fire
I was introduced to this book from a forum for David Gemmell's fans. It's a story of the 300 Spartans that held the pass of Thermopylae from 100000 Greeks for a week. The language is a bit medieval, but marvellous stuff.

People to tag:
Diana, Leong

Ok, that settled the meme thingy. More about reading.

I started reading when I was in Primary 1. I was bored stiff during the 6 week holidays after my final year examinations, so I asked my cousin, who's an avid reader herself, for any suggestions. She passed me an Enid Blyton book. Now, let me explain this a bit. In those days, Enid Blyton was a machine. She's got a few series going on, and some of her short stories are recommended reading according to Cambridge. Her stories were classified according to the difficulty, and and the publishers labelled the books with a dragon of different colour (Don't ask me why). The green dragons are the easiest, you move on to the reds next, and then the blues finally. My cousin passed me a red, and I found that I liked it. There were goblins, witches on broomsticks...

I devoured everything. Faraway Tree, Wishing Chair, Famous Five, Find-Outers, Secret Seven, golliwogs, goblins, toy trains, everything. Pretty soon, I moved on to other authors, The 3 Investigators, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys... I read them all. Going to Bras Basah and the September Book Fair in September were real treats during my primary school days.

When I was in Secondary 1, my classmates introduced me to Lone Wolf, those books that allow you to choose your adventure, by jumping through paragraphs through the book. At that age, when you've just found the fabled, long-lost, super-duper-uber-powerful Summerswerd, the sword that collects the sun's rays and lets you shoot this beam of pure energy to smite your enemies.... man, thas was a powerful moment.

Another classmate introduced me to the Dragonlance series in Secondary 3, and I was hooked. I know, it's a little juvenile, but it was a very good introduction to the fantasy genre. I had been playing D&D and when you see Raistlin doing a Feather Fall at the Inn of Last Home... you just groan inwardly for not choosing to play a spellcaster for D&D.

I liked the fantasy genre. Belgariad, Forgotten Realms, The Sunrunners.... just name them, I've probably read them before. I also tried out other authors, other genres. Jeffrey Archer (superb storyteller), Tom Clancy (modern warfare), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (who else?), Robert Ludlum (thrillers), George Macdonald Fraser (funny writing), WEB Griffin (war stories), William R. Forstchen (alternative history), Shakespheare (Yes, the William, and I've read everything he wrote), Terry Pratchet (crazy writing), Anne Rice (vampires, horror genre), and, believe me, many, many more.

Add the Chinese novels, the comics, the tech stuff and the Penguin classics, I dare say that I've read quite some stuff. I like reading, and luckily for me, I have varied interests, so I enjoy reading lots of different stuff. Long may it continue.

Jas got the black Razor V3 and it's pretty sleek.

MP3 ringtone, digital camera, including video recording, bluetooth connectivity, all the usual stuff that comes in a stylish matt black finish. The backlit buttons are pretty big, and the software interface is pretty matured. Although Jas thinks it's a bit manly.

Too bad I don't like clam shell hand phones. And I don't like handsets with cameras, and it doesn't come with a mini-SD card slot, which can store loads of MP3s.

Firstly, many thanks for the congratulations. Really appreciate it.

Went to sign my appointment letter yesterday. I have pretty bad news. My office hours are from 0800 to 1715. 0800!!!! Heaven have pity on me. Ah well, I'll be starting work on the 20th, so I'll still have some time to adjust.

Anyway, will need to pick up a few books on Swing. In the mean time, the PC Show is on, so may go down to take a look, but not really planning to get any gadgets. Next week, the movers will be shifting my stuff over to my new place, so it's going to be endless unpacking for next week.

Will be going to Sunway Lagoon next weekend, so we're trying to find the best deal around at the moment. Been a long time since I went to KL, the last time I went was in my school days during the holidays, when we took the train for 8 hours to KL. I still remember taking the wrong bus from KL to Desaru, and ended up somewhere near Penang instead....

Hey, why do I find myself busier when I'm on leave?

Ok, there's some light at the end of the tunnel. I've got an offer after attending 3 interviews, first one with the HR, second a phone interview with the US people, and the last interview when the US people came down to Singapore.

As with everything else, there're some good parts, and some not so good parts. Let's get the not so good parts out of the way first, I'll be suffering a pay cut on my monthly salary. I have been working mostly in small startups, so my pay increments haven't been that spectacular, so it's a bit of a bummer having to take a pay cut.

On the positive side, they offer me quite an substantial amount of bonus. In addition, they'll pay me back the 4% in CPF contributions every quarterly. That's to compensate for the 16% contribution for employers nowadays.

For less tangible benefits, I have to admit that I have never enjoyed the interview process that much. Everybody, from the local people to the US people, has been nice, polite and friendly, and it has been a pleasure talking to them.

In addition, I'll be in a product engineering environment, working with Java, so it's nice to avoid all the SI jobs out there. Will be mostly working with Swing though, so it'll be a visit to Computer Book Store for me soon.

Although it's a product engineering environment, it's not a pure IT environment, as it's a life sciences company. I'll need to attend some biology lessons in the future, but I'm pretty hopeful I can handle it. I'll be signing the offer letter soon, and I think I'll be starting work in a few weeks time.

Here's to good old-fashioned honest work.

Well, today is my last day at the company. I'm posting my last entry on the office machine; I'll be wiping off all traces of my existence later.

I had gotten this job via a recruitment agency. I sent in my CV to a contact that a friend passed to me, who then referred me to her colleague who's handling the IT sector. At that time, I had just quit from my previous company, a startup that my friend asked me to join, and took a month's break from everything. I still remember that Sam, the recruitment guy, was more excited than me about the job initally. He kept on pestering me to accept the offer, even though I told him repeatedly that I'll need time to consider.

I think it's no longer constructive to talk about why I'm leaving, and what I'm leaving behind; I'd rather talk about what I'm taking away with me. No, I'm not talking about the stationery .

I have grown professionally, socially and personally. I had zero Java experience when I first joined, and I'm now able to sprout buzzwords with the best. Along the way, I've picked up a little experience on software development as well. I think the fact that I cringe everytime I see the first code that I wrote here proves that I have improved. In addition, I have had the privilege of working with some of the best developers that I've come across.

I have made many, many friends here, some have left, some may be leaving, some are still here. It has been an absolute pleasure to be working with such a wonderful team. Even though some of us may not be working together now, I think the friendship that we have built up here, some of the little tips and tricks, the good habits, that I have learnt from them will serve me in good stead in the future.

I have also matured in more ways than one. Granted, some nuggets of wisdom can only be learnt from a hard fall, and I am thankful that I did not suffer from much long-lasting bruises along the way. I can feel that I am dealing with people, things and my own frustrations better. Not as well as I would like, but still, improvements have been made.

Of course, the company brought Jas and me together. She is my Padme and I cannot imagine doing anything without her now, so I have gained more than the company has profited from me.

Well, I don't want to end this on a gloomy note. As my good friend Mr Lowem said, it's time to move on. I will take what I have gained and hopefully, move on to something better.

Au revoir.