“You know, those big audacious goals that you have shared years ago. You should consider executing on it,” said Renyi in a friendly and matter-of-fact tone. I let out a nervous chuckle — deep down I know there a small tingle of unease, this comment has hit on a nerve. In a quiet coffee house we’re in where everyone seems to mind their own businesses, we were having our mastermind group session where our pact is committed to check-in on everyone else’s progress in life and making sure that we all achieve our own personal goals and dreams.

Looking back, 2013 may prove to be one of those transitional years that I have experienced so far. I think it’s a year that I’m spending most of my time reaping and enjoying the …

My journey in Mindvalley is definitely an interesting one. When I first joined the company, I’ve been working on CustomerHugs — which is a web service for users to collect reviews and testimonials from Facebook users.

Unfortunately it is a service that didn’t caught on and was now being in hibernation mode and isn’t actively being supported at the moment¹. So in October last year, I was being assigned to my second solo project.

The Second Act

The original idea is to come up with a supplementary API service that complements with UrbanAirship‘s in-app purchase service — to be more specific about it, I’m assigned to come up with an API service that would provide just enough tools to create a more flexible in-app purchase store front for mobile apps, while …

Oh wait, it’s been more than six months since the last My Pastel Coloured Rainbow post? Wow… seems like the blogging habit is starting to wear off from me. For one I’m starting to spend time away from the computer, go out and explore new activities. And when I have something to blog about, they are short snippets of thoughts that I ended up posting on Twitter and Facebook instead of writing short posts that I used to label them as “impromptu posts”. We’ll get to the meats and potatoes of what has happened in the year 2012 in a second.

At the same time, I acknowledge the fact that the long hiatus is necessary for me to get out from my usual routine and gain fresh perspective in life. Without interaction …

For context and getting the pink elephant out of the room: I am gay, albeit a closeted one in real life — hence the rainbow reference in the title. And this is about a new pledge for myself to take the necessary steps to come out from the closet and manning up should anything bad comes my way.

My Not-So-Little Lie — “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

Up till now, I have been adopting the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy about the fact — probably to a point that I actively avoid being spotted on gaydars and completely evading the customary girlfriend question. With all the candour I could muster: I still manifest a very strong fear deep down of the potential negative consequences: biggest of which being me being alienated or disowned by my …

Two hours has passed and my iPod was already complaining and nagging me the fact that there’s only 20% of juices is left of it. Strewn across the table in front of me were pairs and pairs of headphones, I sat with my body leaned forward, eyes shut and focusing attentively to the aural stimuli that’s being channelled from the headphones. Every two minutes or so, I’d open my eyes again and flicking through the long list of songs on my playlist, thinking of the next song that I should choose to challenge the sound drivers.

And yes, I was auditioning my next pair of headphones, and I was sitting there like an American Idol judge seeking out the next star performer.

It’s really unfathomable to me that I’d becoming …

In the past, I did mentioned that I do tarot reading, mainly for meditative purpose and to seek guidance. I’ve been doing this practice only for my own benefit for the past eight years and it’s until today that I actually do a reading for a friend.

Doing reading for her meant a big deal with me: there’s always the nervousness that goes when I offer my skills to others for the first time and not knowing what to expect out of it. And the bigger fear that would be not knowing what expectations that I may need to address and the responsibility that comes with giving consultation and advice to others. Despite such doubts, I agreed to it almost instantly and embrace the opportunity.

After all, I’m quite curious of …

It’s the fourth day of Chinese New Year: while the working classes are reporting back into their offices and started work, I’m still back with my parents. My laptop flipped open with the backlit display shining at me, my stationeries and notebook spread across the dining table among the containers of Chinese New Year snacks. I’ve made the dining table back home my remote office.

After a series of hackathons, I’m starting to experiment with how to work in remote locations — outside the comforts of office cubicles where everything is within reach and I never need to worry out running out of office supplies. It’s always about learning to deal with small desk spaces, less than optimal furniture in terms of ergonomics and tuning out ambient noises and distractions from …

Continuing the tradition of reviewing the year that had past and setting resolutions and a new tone for the new year, this year would probably be my busiest, most exciting and yet the least documented year. And yes, my blog is almost totally neglected last year. For this post, I dug through my memory bank and recount the details of the past – well, it’s alway better having that than not writing about some of the issues at all.

The TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read) Highlights of 2011 As I Experienced It

Just to set up the context of the whole blog post, here’s the list of things that I believe to be my defining moments of the year 2011 (grouped by similarity and not in chronological order):

• Becoming one of the …

Quitting – even after my fourth job, I still feel the nervous and uncomfortable twitching sensation within myself. Every time as the thought darts its way through my brain, the calculating part of the brain keeps on churning the numbers: the risk and rewards, the financial projections and whether will there be a serious impact towards my bank and retirement accounts, is the discomforts, frustrations and agony justifies the departure… what if things turn for the better after that?

Most of the time, I always decided to do nothing about it: delaying the decision. After all, I’m still getting paid well and I don’t really have any immediate plans and safety nets that would make the departure a no-brainer.

And so I procrastinate for a while… or so I thought a few days back …

You probably wouldn’t know this as I’m not able to bring myself to say it: that you mean everything to me since I felt the rush upon knowing you. In due course of time, I still find myself fixated over you despite the fact that I know I need you more than you’ll ever need me.

Maybe it’s just me seeing you as perfect the way you are, even with all the flaws and quirks. In a way that Bruno Mars struck an emotional chord in me when he sings his songs.

You have such honesty shining through in your words, your eyes and your expressions – so beautiful that I’ll try to capture them with my own eyes when I get every silver of a chance. Noticing even the slightest …