15 Mar 2023

15 Mar 2023


Life

We moved house in mid Feb. In December, we finally sold our place (very quickly: it took less than a month from the time we got an agent to accepting the letter of offer!) The completion is supposed to be today.

And we also found a rental place that same month after viewing 7-8 places: thankfully, we rented the unit we are at now, as the rental prices have only gone higher!

After a week or so of settling in, it was a quick adjustment. The new location is very convenient (we are 5 mins walk from Eunos MRT), and there is a generally good vibe to the place. The cats are all settled in, and I have also settled into a new workout routine, accomodating for the fact that I don’t have a home gym anymore.

My grandma’s dementia seems to be getting worse, and it is stressing out my parents. I’ve offered to do what I can.

Last week, I signed up and attended Ajahn Brahmali’s 2-day teaching retreat in Singapore. It was a good boost, and also a good reminder about the importance and priority for practice (though, that hasn’t stopped me from watching Netflix with my wife: we are on The Glory now. I don’t get revenge dramas, tbh…)

Work/Learning

Interesting stuff that I did

  • completed a Team Catalysis session for a team in SGN, in January
  • finally finished incorporating company, setup bank accounts, etc.
  • A few discussions with various people (mostly ex-EDBians) about possible opportunities & project leads
  • Programming:
    • I am done with Python Crash Course: great intro!
    • Parking aside Clojure, ClojureScript and ClojureDart for now, to focus on SwiftUI.
    • I started learning SwiftUI. I’m using the YouTube course by John Gallaugher’s SwiftUI. His style is animated but explains really well: highly recommended (and I’m thankful to Soon Yinjie for recommending!)
      • and I have made a very basic app to count the affirmations daily (screenshot), which I am using on my old iPhone X (using that for development):

Upcoming:

  • workshop at the end of March, for a team at NUS. Have been dealing with business admin matters, like getting food catering.

Side Projects

  • I co-ran an Unconference on blindspots, together with Khai Seng and the fab crew at Studio Dojo. Was well received: a lot of people said it was special.
  • Participated in a Buddhist networking dinner, for young adults.
  • Facilitated a leadership retreat of a Buddhist group of working adults
  • I’m also advising a CIID team doing design research into gifting and impact investing.

Mulling Over

On this diagram.

Also, on the biases you see in the media.

And THIS! THIS! BEST OSCAR SPEECH EVER!

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Reading

  • 「三体」刘慈欣 – Liu Cixin’s “Three Body”, which is my first ever Chinese science fiction novel. The writing is very cinematic, quite engaging. My Chinese is also super rusty!
  • An Immense World by Ed Yong – I never thought about it until reading this book, but animals literally see, hear, touch, smell and taste the world very differently from us. Did you know that elephants have such acute smell that they literally walk between mines in minefields? Or that seabirds seem to navigate by smell, because dimethyl sulfide (the “smell of the ocean”) is released from krill and plankton due to ocean currents that stay the same over time: the smell-scape of the ocean is quite consistent, allowing them to navigate by smell! Fascinating writing by Ed Yong, which made me wish I read this book before doing the Sensory Design module at CIID.
  • Thinking in systems by Donella Meadows. Re-reading this book, which is one of those books that causes you to look at the world differently. A good reminder not to be pissed at the world, because… that’s just the way the systems are.

Other Stuff

Practice

  • 30 min in the morning with wife
  • Often a shorter one in the afternoon
  • Trying to chant more regularly

Working out
My workout routines have changed somewhat, influenced by Peter Attia’s The Drive podcast (especially the latest episode with Andy Galpin).

  • Daily Grease The Groove: I do pull ups (2), one arm box push ups (3 reps), whenever I go to the toilet in the day.
  • Monday & Wednesday – a kettlebell strength & power routine of clean & press, one leg Romanian deadlifts, snatches, and swings
  • Tuesday – Rucking with 16kgs. Previously I was doing this in a HDB block, climbing up and down the stairs. This had the problem of leaving me feeling EXTREMELY sore and tired for DAYS after… yesterday, I tried doing rucking on flatland, and it seems to be much better as a sorta-zone2 workout. I also did some negative dips & negative pull-ups, weighted with 16kgs.
  • Thursday, Sunday – bike zone2 workout
  • Friday – Body By Science protocol workout (time under tension of 1.5min), lat pulldown, chest press, leg press. I do this at the Active SG gym in Bedok.

Updated as of 15 Mar 23