First and foremost, I would like to wish one and all a Merry Christmas.
Today, we celebrated Christmas. And this was how I went about celebrating.
I woke up at around 7 and rushed to church in a cab. It was pouring and I was trying not to get the presents that I bought wet. I managed to reach before 7.30 and started by shifting the drums and other sound equipment to the ground floor. Then there was some practice and before long, the 9am service started. We played 4 songs before the sermon but could not stay for it as the sanctuary was filled to the brim. So I ended up talking to Eld Ho in the fellowship hall and discussed about the Campus Ministry. The feedback I got from some mentors suggested that it would be unwise to recruit some of the PLH band members to play for the CM's meetings on Fridays. Hence I suggested that we recruit them for about a month just to get things started and then rope in the ARPC people once we identify those who can play instruments or worship lead. This idea had some positive reception from Eld Ho and Uncle Justin. So I guess that will be the new plan.
Anyway, back to today. Service ended at 10.45 but we still had to stay to play for the 11am service. It was the same procedure as before and we ended at around 12.30. Then it was time for the gift and card exchanges. Mostly received sweets and chocolates and some cards. Once again, thanks for all who gave. Then I had a short lunch-thing with Julian, David, Julia, Lydia and Andrew. Subway it was. I left for home at around 2.30. I caught up on sleep soon after. Next up was the party@onglye. Uncle Justin picked me up and we went down to Candice's house together. The spread was awesome and the company even better. Played Dai-dee (regular and asshole) and Texas Hold 'em. We were almost down to playing Truth or Dare ver 2.0 when I had to leave 'cause my transport was leaving. It was a great party and one that I look forward to every year.
Now to plan my schedule for Boxing Day. Guess I'll do it in my dreams. Nitez~!
Monday, December 26, 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
Operation Campus Ministry
Now I'm irritated. Today I told Eld Ho Yew Kee about my plan to recuit PLH band members to play for the Campus Ministry (known as CM from here). And his reaction was a simple "No". Why? He says that we do not need a full band initially as there won't be many people attending the meetings initially. This is completely different from my plan to rope in the younger ones so that a full band can be formed and play on Fridays, creating an atmosphere only felt at GIGS and Worship Sundays.
Now, I'm confused. I was tasked to find people to create such an atmosphere and now I've just been told that a simple piano and guitar ensemble will be enough. I don't know if the older folk know this but kids/teens/youth are attracted to music in one way or another. Why do you think City Harvest Church has a youth congregation that can probably over-fill the indoor stadium and we at PSPC, a "backward" and "traditional" church, has a youth congregation that can barely fill the 200-seater multi-purpose hall?
As I sit here typing this blog entry, Planet Shakers is blasting in the background and I recall the reason why PLH seemed so "cool" and "exclusive" when I was in Sunday School. It was all about the music and the instruments they used. Drums, synthesizers, electric guitars and electric basses. Now, that was for the "cool" crowd. No more "music-less", a-capella songs of Sunday School. That was the time to rock. Even a young mind at 12 can feel that a full band makes a difference. What more a mature 20 year-old?
But before I kao peh some more, I must remember to put my fullest of trust in the "core" committee and in God. We will see this ministry take off and take flight
Now, I'm confused. I was tasked to find people to create such an atmosphere and now I've just been told that a simple piano and guitar ensemble will be enough. I don't know if the older folk know this but kids/teens/youth are attracted to music in one way or another. Why do you think City Harvest Church has a youth congregation that can probably over-fill the indoor stadium and we at PSPC, a "backward" and "traditional" church, has a youth congregation that can barely fill the 200-seater multi-purpose hall?
As I sit here typing this blog entry, Planet Shakers is blasting in the background and I recall the reason why PLH seemed so "cool" and "exclusive" when I was in Sunday School. It was all about the music and the instruments they used. Drums, synthesizers, electric guitars and electric basses. Now, that was for the "cool" crowd. No more "music-less", a-capella songs of Sunday School. That was the time to rock. Even a young mind at 12 can feel that a full band makes a difference. What more a mature 20 year-old?
But before I kao peh some more, I must remember to put my fullest of trust in the "core" committee and in God. We will see this ministry take off and take flight
Friday, December 16, 2005
Impact
Yesterday evening after work, I was on my way home when I remembered that the Impact campers were putting up a performance in church. Since I was already in Dhoby Ghaut, I decided to attend and met up with Jason and John at Raffles City where they were shopping for stuff.
We managed to reach church just after 7. Luckily the concert had not started. After a short time of worship, the concert began and the 4 teams of the camp put up 4 seperate skits with the common theme of the end of the world. Apparently the scriptwriters had to stay up the whole night before to get the script out on time. Anyway, the skits were well done and quite entertaining. Kudos to the scriptwriters who did such a good job in such a short time during a period of unholy hours. The actors/actresses were superb as well. Luke Ching was my personal favourite, playing the role of a certain Chris Antti in a skit titled The Chronicles of Prinsep-ville.
After the presentation of the skits, there was a period of intermission and refreshments . This was followed by the awards presentation. I was done rather professionally with performances in between the awards. I enjoyed especially the tambourine dance. Good to hear that they were so good that it may get selected as an item for the 125th Presbyterian Anniversary celebrations next year. But the best was saved for last. The hand mime was by far the highlight of the evening.
Looking back to the past, it was really sad that the "Exodus" of mentors had taken place but I guess that it was all part of God's wonderful and perfect plan. It was probably in all His wisdom that He made the previous batch of mentors step down and let Alex and Nick take the helm. Though the way that they left was unglam and totally unprofessional not to mention that it was done in the full intent of seeing PLH collapse, it had to be done such that people who were unfit to guide and lead the teens at PLH move away and a new batch of more qualified, dignified and responsible mentors take over and ensure the survival of the youth movement in PSPC. Now, with Doc John at the helm, PLH has never looked more 'on fire'. He has ressurected the spirit of PLH that used to flow when Daniel and his team were still aroud. The evidence was all there last night during the concert.
I was flipping through the photos taken of PLH years past. A glimpse at the group shots during camps revealed the shocking. Of the roughly 30 people in the photo, only a handful of them still remain at PSPC. Some have gone overseas while others have moved on with their families to other churches. But a majority of them left with the mentors during the "Exodus". Though it's been 3-4 years already, I still am angry and disappointed with Daniel and his bunch of irresponsible, immature, incompetent and no-backbone-to-stand-up-for-themselves people who called themselves mentors. If Ridge Orr was around at that time, I'm sure that he would have slapped each one of them left, right, centre. They knew that leaving all of a sudden was not the way to go worse still, they left en masse, leaving only Alex and Nick behind. To make matters worse, they did not inform them of their plans as Alex and Nick would surely have stopped them. The entire committee of 2001 was informed of the move except me as I, the whistle blower, am the nephew of Auntie Yueh Tarn. Letting her know would have been an even bigger mistake for them. They would not have an option to be leave. They would have been paraded around church like a bunch of traitors while people stoned them.
Out of fire a strong sword is forged. And how true it is. PLH is now stronger than ever. So to Daniel Chiam and his bunch of baffoons I say this: Your plan to see PLH falter and collapse has failed miserably. I really hope that the memory of you at PLH is erased permanently and your name is never to be heard of again in PSPC. What you did was despicable and you are unworthy to be mentors in PLH and anywhere else. You exiled yourselves from PSPC and I hope it stays that way. You guys make me sick.
We managed to reach church just after 7. Luckily the concert had not started. After a short time of worship, the concert began and the 4 teams of the camp put up 4 seperate skits with the common theme of the end of the world. Apparently the scriptwriters had to stay up the whole night before to get the script out on time. Anyway, the skits were well done and quite entertaining. Kudos to the scriptwriters who did such a good job in such a short time during a period of unholy hours. The actors/actresses were superb as well. Luke Ching was my personal favourite, playing the role of a certain Chris Antti in a skit titled The Chronicles of Prinsep-ville.
After the presentation of the skits, there was a period of intermission and refreshments . This was followed by the awards presentation. I was done rather professionally with performances in between the awards. I enjoyed especially the tambourine dance. Good to hear that they were so good that it may get selected as an item for the 125th Presbyterian Anniversary celebrations next year. But the best was saved for last. The hand mime was by far the highlight of the evening.
Looking back to the past, it was really sad that the "Exodus" of mentors had taken place but I guess that it was all part of God's wonderful and perfect plan. It was probably in all His wisdom that He made the previous batch of mentors step down and let Alex and Nick take the helm. Though the way that they left was unglam and totally unprofessional not to mention that it was done in the full intent of seeing PLH collapse, it had to be done such that people who were unfit to guide and lead the teens at PLH move away and a new batch of more qualified, dignified and responsible mentors take over and ensure the survival of the youth movement in PSPC. Now, with Doc John at the helm, PLH has never looked more 'on fire'. He has ressurected the spirit of PLH that used to flow when Daniel and his team were still aroud. The evidence was all there last night during the concert.
I was flipping through the photos taken of PLH years past. A glimpse at the group shots during camps revealed the shocking. Of the roughly 30 people in the photo, only a handful of them still remain at PSPC. Some have gone overseas while others have moved on with their families to other churches. But a majority of them left with the mentors during the "Exodus". Though it's been 3-4 years already, I still am angry and disappointed with Daniel and his bunch of irresponsible, immature, incompetent and no-backbone-to-stand-up-for-themselves people who called themselves mentors. If Ridge Orr was around at that time, I'm sure that he would have slapped each one of them left, right, centre. They knew that leaving all of a sudden was not the way to go worse still, they left en masse, leaving only Alex and Nick behind. To make matters worse, they did not inform them of their plans as Alex and Nick would surely have stopped them. The entire committee of 2001 was informed of the move except me as I, the whistle blower, am the nephew of Auntie Yueh Tarn. Letting her know would have been an even bigger mistake for them. They would not have an option to be leave. They would have been paraded around church like a bunch of traitors while people stoned them.
Out of fire a strong sword is forged. And how true it is. PLH is now stronger than ever. So to Daniel Chiam and his bunch of baffoons I say this: Your plan to see PLH falter and collapse has failed miserably. I really hope that the memory of you at PLH is erased permanently and your name is never to be heard of again in PSPC. What you did was despicable and you are unworthy to be mentors in PLH and anywhere else. You exiled yourselves from PSPC and I hope it stays that way. You guys make me sick.
Saturday, December 03, 2005
The Wedding
Today was the day I witnessed holy matrimonythe exchanging of rings and the true love between Tommy and Jophia.
The wedding service was supposed to start at 2 so I estimated that I would take 45 mins to drive from my place to Covenant Evangelical Free Church in Bukit Panjang. Not wanting to be late and not get a lot, I left home at 1 and took the TPE/SLE/BKE to BP. A mere 20 mins later, I pulled up and parked in Greenridge Shopping Centre next to the church. 20 mins only. And no, I did not speed. It was just a under-estimation of the speed limits along the express-ways.
I waited outside the church for Jason, Bench and Claire before going in. The sanctuary was more like and auditorium unlike that of PSPC which is traditional with pews and a high ceiling. We took or seats and waited for the proceedings to begin. Shortly after a quarter past 2, the bride walked down the isle with her father. Though, they must have rehearsed it dozens of times over, I could still see the nervousness on the faces of Tommy and Jophia. When she reached the front of the sanctuary, the service began with a short time of praise followed by the sermon by Rev Ridge.
With that concluded, the solemnisation began. Note that what you see on TV is more or less the same as that of a real wedding so I won't go into details. With the usual "I do"s and exchanging of vows and rings, Tommy and Jophia were pronounced husband and wife by Rev Peter Chan. Surprisingly, no one cried as the movies portray.
Then came the speeches and special items. But the highlight was the special singing performance that Tommy put up. Going solo with only a guitar played by one of his friends, he sang a specially written song to his newly wedded wife. I really remember the lyrics but it sure brought tears to the eyes of some people. And rightfully so.
The group photo-shoots were next and the time that everyone was waiting for came... The reception with food. Most of us did not have lunch so it really was a time we all were waiting for. The bunch of us (Jason, Shelby, Ben Smith, Jane and Daniel) sat together and spent most of the time catching up with each other over the food.
We left at around 4. Jason and Shelby hitched a ride with me and we went to Mel's ice-cream place in Sunset wayfor a scoop or 2. The good thing was that Mel was there but there wasn't durian ice-cream, much to the disappointment of the 2 people who just returned from the land of the koalas. We stayed till about 6.30 and i fetched Jason to his place in Holland V and Shelby to her place in Joo Seng. From there it was a short trip back to mine.
Reflecting on the wedding, I realised that true love is a must in a husband-wife relationship in order for it to work. A marriage is to last all the way till death do the parties part. Only a true love can ensure that happens. With the rising trend of couples divorcing, is it an indication that true love is hard to find nowadays? I don't think I'm qualified to discuss this issue.
Now for something more light-hearted. Pink is NOT the colour for a handphone. Handphones can take on any colour excpet pink. It's just downright ugly and defies the laws of phony nature.
It seems that when certain people show up, some others just drop off the radar.
The wedding service was supposed to start at 2 so I estimated that I would take 45 mins to drive from my place to Covenant Evangelical Free Church in Bukit Panjang. Not wanting to be late and not get a lot, I left home at 1 and took the TPE/SLE/BKE to BP. A mere 20 mins later, I pulled up and parked in Greenridge Shopping Centre next to the church. 20 mins only. And no, I did not speed. It was just a under-estimation of the speed limits along the express-ways.
I waited outside the church for Jason, Bench and Claire before going in. The sanctuary was more like and auditorium unlike that of PSPC which is traditional with pews and a high ceiling. We took or seats and waited for the proceedings to begin. Shortly after a quarter past 2, the bride walked down the isle with her father. Though, they must have rehearsed it dozens of times over, I could still see the nervousness on the faces of Tommy and Jophia. When she reached the front of the sanctuary, the service began with a short time of praise followed by the sermon by Rev Ridge.
With that concluded, the solemnisation began. Note that what you see on TV is more or less the same as that of a real wedding so I won't go into details. With the usual "I do"s and exchanging of vows and rings, Tommy and Jophia were pronounced husband and wife by Rev Peter Chan. Surprisingly, no one cried as the movies portray.
Then came the speeches and special items. But the highlight was the special singing performance that Tommy put up. Going solo with only a guitar played by one of his friends, he sang a specially written song to his newly wedded wife. I really remember the lyrics but it sure brought tears to the eyes of some people. And rightfully so.
The group photo-shoots were next and the time that everyone was waiting for came... The reception with food. Most of us did not have lunch so it really was a time we all were waiting for. The bunch of us (Jason, Shelby, Ben Smith, Jane and Daniel) sat together and spent most of the time catching up with each other over the food.
We left at around 4. Jason and Shelby hitched a ride with me and we went to Mel's ice-cream place in Sunset wayfor a scoop or 2. The good thing was that Mel was there but there wasn't durian ice-cream, much to the disappointment of the 2 people who just returned from the land of the koalas. We stayed till about 6.30 and i fetched Jason to his place in Holland V and Shelby to her place in Joo Seng. From there it was a short trip back to mine.
Reflecting on the wedding, I realised that true love is a must in a husband-wife relationship in order for it to work. A marriage is to last all the way till death do the parties part. Only a true love can ensure that happens. With the rising trend of couples divorcing, is it an indication that true love is hard to find nowadays? I don't think I'm qualified to discuss this issue.
Now for something more light-hearted. Pink is NOT the colour for a handphone. Handphones can take on any colour excpet pink. It's just downright ugly and defies the laws of phony nature.
It seems that when certain people show up, some others just drop off the radar.
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
The Campus Hub
What is in a name? Frankly, a lot. A name is like the title and introduction of an organisation or a person. Think Tan Ah Kow vs Andronicus Edward Zimmer. A few posts ago, I mentioned that the YAF combined with the PUNJ from ARPC would be setting up a new university outreach group. And here is its name: The Campus Hub.
The idea came from Prof Ho who said that people who will be using it in the future don't need to say, "Let's go to for Uni Fellowship." But rather, "Let's go to the Hub." At first it sounded quite ordinary but after a while it seemed the best of the other names that it might have had.
The whole plan will be unveiled to the church in less than 3 weeks time and I'm personally quite excited to see what's in store for us, the "pioneers" and for the uni members. I excited to see if it all works out just like it was supposed to. Just imagine...
Friday night and class had just ended. I gathered my best mates and we walked across the street to Plaza Singapure for dinner at Yosi. I really love their beef bowl. After having our dill, we headed over to the Hub. After last week, I was really looking forward to worship. The band was really cool and the music was awesome. All Christian rock songs that you would normally hear in a Charismatic church or on a Planetshakers album. To tell you the truth, I really didn't expect to hear these songs there 'cause I had this idea that Presbyterians were those ultra-conservative types which will only sing hymns and stuff. Guess I was wrong. Oops, it's almost 7:30. Hubbing is starting soon. Gotta d/c from the church's wireless network now. I'll blog later when I get home. Till then, may the Hub be with you.
... Yeah. Just imagine the infiite possibilities. Ok. It's my turn to d/c. Night!
The idea came from Prof Ho who said that people who will be using it in the future don't need to say, "Let's go to for Uni Fellowship." But rather, "Let's go to the Hub." At first it sounded quite ordinary but after a while it seemed the best of the other names that it might have had.
The whole plan will be unveiled to the church in less than 3 weeks time and I'm personally quite excited to see what's in store for us, the "pioneers" and for the uni members. I excited to see if it all works out just like it was supposed to. Just imagine...
Friday night and class had just ended. I gathered my best mates and we walked across the street to Plaza Singapure for dinner at Yosi. I really love their beef bowl. After having our dill, we headed over to the Hub. After last week, I was really looking forward to worship. The band was really cool and the music was awesome. All Christian rock songs that you would normally hear in a Charismatic church or on a Planetshakers album. To tell you the truth, I really didn't expect to hear these songs there 'cause I had this idea that Presbyterians were those ultra-conservative types which will only sing hymns and stuff. Guess I was wrong. Oops, it's almost 7:30. Hubbing is starting soon. Gotta d/c from the church's wireless network now. I'll blog later when I get home. Till then, may the Hub be with you.
... Yeah. Just imagine the infiite possibilities. Ok. It's my turn to d/c. Night!
Sunday, November 13, 2005
A big-city California lawyer went duck hunting in rural Mississippi.
He shot and dropped a bird, but it fell into a farmer's field on the other side of a fence. As the lawyer climbed over the fence, an elderly farmer drove up on his tractor and asked him what he was doing.
The attorney responded, "I shot a duck and it fell in this field, and now I'm going into retrieve it."
The old farmer replied, "This is my property, and you are not coming over here." The indignant lawyer said, "I am one of the best trial attorneys in the US and, if you don't let me get that duck, I'll sue you and take everything you own."
The old farmer smiled and said, "Apparently, you don't know how we do things in Mississippi. We settle small disagreements like this with the Mississippi Three-Kick Rule."
The lawyer asked, "What is this three-kick Rule?"
The farmer replied, "Well, first I kick you three times and then you kick me three times, and so on, back and forth, until someone gives up."
The attorney quickly thought about the proposed contest and decided that he could easily take the old codger. He agreed to abide by the local custom.
The old farmer slowly climbed down from the tractor and walked up to the city feller. His first kick planted the toe of his heavy work boot into the lawyer's groin and dropped him to his knees. His second kick nearly wiped the man's nose off hisface. The barrister was flat on his belly when the farmer's third kick to a kidney nearly caused him to give up.
The lawyer summoned every bit of his will and managed to get to his feet and said, "Okay, you old coot, now it's my turn."
The old farmer smiled and said, "Naw, I give up. You can have the duck"
He shot and dropped a bird, but it fell into a farmer's field on the other side of a fence. As the lawyer climbed over the fence, an elderly farmer drove up on his tractor and asked him what he was doing.
The attorney responded, "I shot a duck and it fell in this field, and now I'm going into retrieve it."
The old farmer replied, "This is my property, and you are not coming over here." The indignant lawyer said, "I am one of the best trial attorneys in the US and, if you don't let me get that duck, I'll sue you and take everything you own."
The old farmer smiled and said, "Apparently, you don't know how we do things in Mississippi. We settle small disagreements like this with the Mississippi Three-Kick Rule."
The lawyer asked, "What is this three-kick Rule?"
The farmer replied, "Well, first I kick you three times and then you kick me three times, and so on, back and forth, until someone gives up."
The attorney quickly thought about the proposed contest and decided that he could easily take the old codger. He agreed to abide by the local custom.
The old farmer slowly climbed down from the tractor and walked up to the city feller. His first kick planted the toe of his heavy work boot into the lawyer's groin and dropped him to his knees. His second kick nearly wiped the man's nose off hisface. The barrister was flat on his belly when the farmer's third kick to a kidney nearly caused him to give up.
The lawyer summoned every bit of his will and managed to get to his feet and said, "Okay, you old coot, now it's my turn."
The old farmer smiled and said, "Naw, I give up. You can have the duck"
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Evidence provided by the reaction to hurricane Katrina has prompted a major research institution to recently announce the discovery of the heaviest element yet known to science. The new element has been named "Governmentium". Governmentium (Gv) has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert. However, it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Governmentium causes one reaction to take over four days to complete, when it would normally take less than a second. Governmentium has a normal half-life of 4 years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as Critical Morass. When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium - an element which radiates just as much energy as Governmentium since it has half asmany peons but twice as many morons.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Framed...
framed... that was 3 LTB personnel were on thursday... all because an RP couldnt keep his cool and booked them for nothing... now these guys are facing DB as a possibility... a future runied for 3 young people...
is this world unfair? or is it just more fair to some than others?
is this world unfair? or is it just more fair to some than others?
Thursday, October 20, 2005
finally some time to blog...
today started with something different... instead of going back to camp, i went to the chevrons in jurong... it was the nmtb helathy lifestyle day and we had bowling at the cathay bowl there... 2 games on nmtb... 102 on the 1st and 133 on the 2nd... really bad compared to the times in jc when we bowled about once a week... the event ended at 1 and i went to play LAN with a couple of the other guys... in all, a day well spent...
now it's time to discuss some serious stuff...
last sunday, eld ho unveiled the plans for yaf for 2006... the friday fellowship will commence in jan from next year and will involve people from both pspc and arpc... pspc will provide the infra-structure ie the church building and arpc will provide most of the manpower... every friday night will be a time of worship and bible study for the students of the unis around the area... and through that, the church wants to form what it calls a university congregation... ambitious? yeah... hope it all works out...
today started with something different... instead of going back to camp, i went to the chevrons in jurong... it was the nmtb helathy lifestyle day and we had bowling at the cathay bowl there... 2 games on nmtb... 102 on the 1st and 133 on the 2nd... really bad compared to the times in jc when we bowled about once a week... the event ended at 1 and i went to play LAN with a couple of the other guys... in all, a day well spent...
now it's time to discuss some serious stuff...
last sunday, eld ho unveiled the plans for yaf for 2006... the friday fellowship will commence in jan from next year and will involve people from both pspc and arpc... pspc will provide the infra-structure ie the church building and arpc will provide most of the manpower... every friday night will be a time of worship and bible study for the students of the unis around the area... and through that, the church wants to form what it calls a university congregation... ambitious? yeah... hope it all works out...
Sunday, October 02, 2005
another week has passed and another will be starting again... starting from tomorrow, i will have 191 days of my ns liability to serve... that's approximately 6.3 months or 27 weeks away... considering all the time i wasted in there plus all the shit i've received, i deserve to get out... just counting down now...
Friday, September 23, 2005
today i was invited by one of my colleagues to attend a worship concert at the chapel of the ressurection which is located in sajc... it was a long time since i went there and so i gladly agreed...
the thing started at 730 but i only reached at 8 due to traffic... as i walked in, the band was just wrapping up the last bits of one way... and after that it was all the slow songs to get ppl into the altar-call mood... the songs chosen were really good and the band was great... i kinda went back into the worshippy mood again... it's just... sheesh... dont know how to describe it... but it was great...
we havent had that in prinsep in quite a while... actually, we never had something like that ever... a worship concert in which the member s invite their non-christian friends for a time of great music and simply worship... hmm... i wonder if prinsep (PLH, YAF, Believers etc) can pull it off.. it think it'll be great for everyone...i think doc john might be just the person who can make it all work out...
bleah... tired... need sleep... nitez~!
the thing started at 730 but i only reached at 8 due to traffic... as i walked in, the band was just wrapping up the last bits of one way... and after that it was all the slow songs to get ppl into the altar-call mood... the songs chosen were really good and the band was great... i kinda went back into the worshippy mood again... it's just... sheesh... dont know how to describe it... but it was great...
we havent had that in prinsep in quite a while... actually, we never had something like that ever... a worship concert in which the member s invite their non-christian friends for a time of great music and simply worship... hmm... i wonder if prinsep (PLH, YAF, Believers etc) can pull it off.. it think it'll be great for everyone...i think doc john might be just the person who can make it all work out...
bleah... tired... need sleep... nitez~!
Thursday, September 22, 2005
What best describes NSFs
We are the UNFORTUNATE
and UNDERPAID
led by the UNQULIFIED
to do the UNNECESSARY
for the UNGRATEFUL...
Yup... that pretty much sums it all up...
and UNDERPAID
led by the UNQULIFIED
to do the UNNECESSARY
for the UNGRATEFUL...
Yup... that pretty much sums it all up...
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Messing up...
I've so totally messed up my life... I messed up school-life... I messed up church-life... I messed up my work-life... How I wish I could just push the 'reset' button and make it all go away... I wouldn't mind starting it all over again... I wish I could start all over again...
Thanks to all those who sent their birthday wishes... They're really treasured and cherished...
Thanks to all those who sent their birthday wishes... They're really treasured and cherished...
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Thursday, September 01, 2005
A sad sad life...
Now is the time when I blog what I really feel about the things that go on around me.
Basically I've been feeling down and out the past few months if not the past 2 years. Ever since I enlisted into the god-forsaken SAF, my social life has taken a nose-dive... A nose-dive to hell to be precise.
Leaving school at the end of 2003 would mean that I would see my classmates very little and conscription made it even worse. However, we would still meet up occasionally for get-togethers. But the real, hard, cold truth hit me in the last outing. The last outing for me that is. In July, an outing for Albert was organised on a Sunday and the plan was to have dinner and a few drinks after that. The time spent was great. But the things was that I was not invited. Or at least not invited originally. Why do I say so? That afternoon I received a message from Razif asking me if I was going for the outing that night. It was an outing which I never knew of at that time. I eventually went uninvited.
A few weeks later, I message Shahin to ask if he was watching the EPL kick off that evening. His reply was that he was going out with friends and they were better company than the TV and soccer. Fair enough. A short while later, Razif messages me telling me that he would not be going for an outing that night and asking if I was. Oh what horror... My friend of 2 years in JC treating me as though I am not a member of the class I cherished. He used "friends" and not "S41" or "the class". I was extremely disappointed.
They never tell me anything nowadays. Everytime I read about an outing in Razif's blog, I feel so unwanted. I look back at my previous posts and wonder why I kept saying that my times with the class were moments to be cherished and embraces. But now the bitter truth has emerged. I have never been wanted. I have never fit in. Once I wrote that time spent with the class was priceless. I take it back. I take it all back.
I've always had character flaws with sometimes offend people. I've been told many times by others that I should change. I was also told that if I have to change for people to accept me, those people are not my friends. I don't know what to do.
I've been sufering in silence and today is the day I let it all out. I feel jealous of those who are always contacted. I feel disappointment with those who never bothered to call. I feel so alone...
Basically I've been feeling down and out the past few months if not the past 2 years. Ever since I enlisted into the god-forsaken SAF, my social life has taken a nose-dive... A nose-dive to hell to be precise.
Leaving school at the end of 2003 would mean that I would see my classmates very little and conscription made it even worse. However, we would still meet up occasionally for get-togethers. But the real, hard, cold truth hit me in the last outing. The last outing for me that is. In July, an outing for Albert was organised on a Sunday and the plan was to have dinner and a few drinks after that. The time spent was great. But the things was that I was not invited. Or at least not invited originally. Why do I say so? That afternoon I received a message from Razif asking me if I was going for the outing that night. It was an outing which I never knew of at that time. I eventually went uninvited.
A few weeks later, I message Shahin to ask if he was watching the EPL kick off that evening. His reply was that he was going out with friends and they were better company than the TV and soccer. Fair enough. A short while later, Razif messages me telling me that he would not be going for an outing that night and asking if I was. Oh what horror... My friend of 2 years in JC treating me as though I am not a member of the class I cherished. He used "friends" and not "S41" or "the class". I was extremely disappointed.
They never tell me anything nowadays. Everytime I read about an outing in Razif's blog, I feel so unwanted. I look back at my previous posts and wonder why I kept saying that my times with the class were moments to be cherished and embraces. But now the bitter truth has emerged. I have never been wanted. I have never fit in. Once I wrote that time spent with the class was priceless. I take it back. I take it all back.
I've always had character flaws with sometimes offend people. I've been told many times by others that I should change. I was also told that if I have to change for people to accept me, those people are not my friends. I don't know what to do.
I've been sufering in silence and today is the day I let it all out. I feel jealous of those who are always contacted. I feel disappointment with those who never bothered to call. I feel so alone...
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Joke of the Day
A Chinese tourist visits America and goes to a local bank to change his Ren Min Bi (RMB) for US$. The teller gives him a good rate and th Chinese man leaves happily.
A few weeks later, the tourist once again visits America and the bank. He was about to change his RMB once again but this time, the rate was lower. He demanded to know why he was getting a lower rate than before but his English was not that good. So after a while of explaination, the teller finally said, 'Fluctuations!'
At that, the Chinese man saw red and left the bank in a huff. Just as he was about to step out, He turned around and shouted, 'Fluc chu Americans too!'
A few weeks later, the tourist once again visits America and the bank. He was about to change his RMB once again but this time, the rate was lower. He demanded to know why he was getting a lower rate than before but his English was not that good. So after a while of explaination, the teller finally said, 'Fluctuations!'
At that, the Chinese man saw red and left the bank in a huff. Just as he was about to step out, He turned around and shouted, 'Fluc chu Americans too!'
Monday, August 15, 2005
Sunday, August 07, 2005
The Retreat
The retreat was a blast. Held over 2 days, the YAF had a great time of fun, games and fellowship. I missed most of the 1st day as I was in camp doing an operation in the morning. However, I managed to make it for the afernoon's games and the barbecue in the evening.
The barbecue was awesome as it had the most glorious spread that I have ever seen at a barbecue. Sambal stingray, satay and crayfish were on the menu. But the most interesting 'dish' was the bacon-wrapped banana which, as the name has it, banana that is wrapped with bacon and barbecued.
Normally at any other barbecue I have been to, there will always be tons of food that is left unconsumed. But this time, the food that we got was just the right amount. Well, there is a first for everything.
At the barbecue, there were at least 30 people who attended but by 11, all the 'buay steady' people, ie. those with kids and those who are just 'buay steady', filed out and only about 12 of us were left to spend the night in Yew Kee's condo apartment. And the night was cold because there were not enough beds and blankets for everyone. I ended up on the couch in the living room right under the air-conditioner. And sleeping there was a back-straining experience. I woke up to a aching back due to the awkward posture that I slept in.
The next morning, Bee Kiat, Ben and I got up early to get breakfast for the whole group. We ended up buying Roti Prata from a nearby shop. There was a short worship session and a talk after that. By 1030, it was officially break-camp time but all of us did not want to move so we stayed for lunch and finally left at 2.
By the way, for the retreat, Bee Kiat rented a hybrid Honda Civic for transportation purposes. The cas was super high-tech in that it uses a EZ-Link card to unlock the doors and a PIN number to start the engine. Fuel consumption was very low as it used both batteries and petrol to run at the same time. I managed to take the car on the road for 5 times, clocking over 100km.
The retreat was a blast.
Side-note: I'm watching the News. They just interviewed a socail worker called Jolovan Wham. What kind of name is that? Interesting. I wonder what is his chinese name.
Inertia. A real killer. So I appeal to all of you, it is time to move on.
The barbecue was awesome as it had the most glorious spread that I have ever seen at a barbecue. Sambal stingray, satay and crayfish were on the menu. But the most interesting 'dish' was the bacon-wrapped banana which, as the name has it, banana that is wrapped with bacon and barbecued.
Normally at any other barbecue I have been to, there will always be tons of food that is left unconsumed. But this time, the food that we got was just the right amount. Well, there is a first for everything.
At the barbecue, there were at least 30 people who attended but by 11, all the 'buay steady' people, ie. those with kids and those who are just 'buay steady', filed out and only about 12 of us were left to spend the night in Yew Kee's condo apartment. And the night was cold because there were not enough beds and blankets for everyone. I ended up on the couch in the living room right under the air-conditioner. And sleeping there was a back-straining experience. I woke up to a aching back due to the awkward posture that I slept in.
The next morning, Bee Kiat, Ben and I got up early to get breakfast for the whole group. We ended up buying Roti Prata from a nearby shop. There was a short worship session and a talk after that. By 1030, it was officially break-camp time but all of us did not want to move so we stayed for lunch and finally left at 2.
By the way, for the retreat, Bee Kiat rented a hybrid Honda Civic for transportation purposes. The cas was super high-tech in that it uses a EZ-Link card to unlock the doors and a PIN number to start the engine. Fuel consumption was very low as it used both batteries and petrol to run at the same time. I managed to take the car on the road for 5 times, clocking over 100km.
The retreat was a blast.
Side-note: I'm watching the News. They just interviewed a socail worker called Jolovan Wham. What kind of name is that? Interesting. I wonder what is his chinese name.
Inertia. A real killer. So I appeal to all of you, it is time to move on.
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Saturday, July 30, 2005
Celebrating the nation's 40th preview...
Today is the day when I attended the National Day preview at the Padang.
Initailly, I was supposed to go back to work on some last minute job in CNB at 3pm. But after some negotiations and deal-making with Thomas, I managed to persuade him to replace me so that I could go for the preview.
I met my aunt at her house and from there, she drove the both of us to the Golden Shoe Carpark in town and parked the car there. We then took a walk in a slight drizzle down to the Padang. But the Cavenagh Bridge was only for Yellow and Blue sector ticket holders only. We Green sector ticket holders had to go to the other end of the Padang. The SRC end. And since roads like Connaught Drive were closed to all types of traffic, we had to take the long way around. Going round the Fullerton Hotel, we crossed the Esplanade bridge and walked to the Esplanade to use the toilet. From there we walked through an underpass and finally emerged at the wet and soggy Padang. Total time walking: 30 minutes. On a normal day, a walk to the Padang from Raffles Place would take less than 10 minutes.
And so we queued to get in and absorbed more rain during the wait. When we finally got to our seats, we found them wet. And to make things worse, the seats were those which have rounded bottoms and hence, catchment areas. Luckily the pack provided a poncho which I used to cover the seat and prevent me from absorbing more water. And the wait began. The pre-parade finally started at 5:20. I won't bore you with the details of the parade but here are a few comments.
One of the Regimental Colour-bearers fell flat and face down just before the arrival of the GOH, Mr Abdullah Tarmugi. Medics who were on-hand took over 5 minutes to discover that he had fallen as the other contingents were blocking their view. To simulate the arrivals of the MPs, MM, SM and PM, stand-ins were used. And they did the job very well, waving to the crowd as the real ones would. Normally, these VIPs would draw respect. Today, the stand-ins drew laughs from the spectators. The aerial display was much better than the prevoius years' as it featured more aircraft rather than just the 'normal' F-16s and A-4s. The mobile column was rather good, featuring over 200 vehicles from the SAF, SPF and SCDF. The rest of the parade was quite 'standard'.
When you want to tell your neighbours not to mess with you, you display your weapons and use them as a deterrent. This is what I believe the parade at the Padang is. The fly-past of Chinooks, Super Pumas, C-130s, Fokker 50s, E-2Cs, F-16s, KC-135Rs and F-5Es show the might of the RSAF. The rolling past of SM-1 tanks, Bionix IFVs, Bronco ATVs and Primus 155mm SPHs display the strength of the Army. Too bad the Navy could not sail their Frigates into the Singapore River. Now, that would be quite a sight. Deterrents, whether directed as a show of strenth to possibly hostile nations or to potential terrorists that may target our shores, have worked rather well at least till now. I wonder if a nation which recently purchased nearly 100 T-90 Main Battle Tanks would be afraid of our 300+ SM-1 Light Tanks.
A birthday celebration with a political agenda.
Initailly, I was supposed to go back to work on some last minute job in CNB at 3pm. But after some negotiations and deal-making with Thomas, I managed to persuade him to replace me so that I could go for the preview.
I met my aunt at her house and from there, she drove the both of us to the Golden Shoe Carpark in town and parked the car there. We then took a walk in a slight drizzle down to the Padang. But the Cavenagh Bridge was only for Yellow and Blue sector ticket holders only. We Green sector ticket holders had to go to the other end of the Padang. The SRC end. And since roads like Connaught Drive were closed to all types of traffic, we had to take the long way around. Going round the Fullerton Hotel, we crossed the Esplanade bridge and walked to the Esplanade to use the toilet. From there we walked through an underpass and finally emerged at the wet and soggy Padang. Total time walking: 30 minutes. On a normal day, a walk to the Padang from Raffles Place would take less than 10 minutes.
And so we queued to get in and absorbed more rain during the wait. When we finally got to our seats, we found them wet. And to make things worse, the seats were those which have rounded bottoms and hence, catchment areas. Luckily the pack provided a poncho which I used to cover the seat and prevent me from absorbing more water. And the wait began. The pre-parade finally started at 5:20. I won't bore you with the details of the parade but here are a few comments.
One of the Regimental Colour-bearers fell flat and face down just before the arrival of the GOH, Mr Abdullah Tarmugi. Medics who were on-hand took over 5 minutes to discover that he had fallen as the other contingents were blocking their view. To simulate the arrivals of the MPs, MM, SM and PM, stand-ins were used. And they did the job very well, waving to the crowd as the real ones would. Normally, these VIPs would draw respect. Today, the stand-ins drew laughs from the spectators. The aerial display was much better than the prevoius years' as it featured more aircraft rather than just the 'normal' F-16s and A-4s. The mobile column was rather good, featuring over 200 vehicles from the SAF, SPF and SCDF. The rest of the parade was quite 'standard'.
When you want to tell your neighbours not to mess with you, you display your weapons and use them as a deterrent. This is what I believe the parade at the Padang is. The fly-past of Chinooks, Super Pumas, C-130s, Fokker 50s, E-2Cs, F-16s, KC-135Rs and F-5Es show the might of the RSAF. The rolling past of SM-1 tanks, Bionix IFVs, Bronco ATVs and Primus 155mm SPHs display the strength of the Army. Too bad the Navy could not sail their Frigates into the Singapore River. Now, that would be quite a sight. Deterrents, whether directed as a show of strenth to possibly hostile nations or to potential terrorists that may target our shores, have worked rather well at least till now. I wonder if a nation which recently purchased nearly 100 T-90 Main Battle Tanks would be afraid of our 300+ SM-1 Light Tanks.
A birthday celebration with a political agenda.
Friday, July 29, 2005
The Bullies
This has been a really bad week. And it started last week. Last Thursday to be exact.
NMTB celebrated Racial Harmony Day with a gathering at HQ NMTB last Thursday. All NMTB staff were invited but as I had detail that day, I did not go. So Alan and Thomas went instead. There, they talked to my OC and discussed if we could meet him some day and bring the problems we had with our supervisor forward. He was rather willing and said that he knew stuff was going on in Changi but he was just waiting for someone to step out and say something so that he could take action. The die was cast.
The next week, we met him in Changi on Tuesday. The dialogue was strictly between us STOs and him, the OC. We asked questions about offs and leave. But whatever we asked and questioned, he always had an answer. And his answers were not to our benefit. His answers were rigged. This was confirmed when we asked questions backed with statistics and he could not answer them, sometimes giving ridiculous explainations. And so the meeting concluded with us receiving nothing of worth. The wost was yet to be.
After coming down from the conference room, a transport supervisor informed us that before the meeting, my supervisor and the OC had a private talk and the transport supervisor overheard them discussing tactics on how to answer the questions that we could potentially raise and how to twist policies to their favour and to our disadvantage. That was it.
The very next day, a new rule was passed that in the future, no off will be given to personnel who do not pass their IPPT. Yes, some units practice that but it is a complete contradiction to the definition that the OC gave of off which is actually rest time. Should the new rule be implemented, it would mean that even if we perform an overnight loading operation, there would be no rest the next day before we carry out other details and increasing the risk of accidents occuring.
And it is because of this that I have come to the conclusion that NSFs are targets and that regulars are those which prey on the NSF targets. Not all regulars are like that, but it is unfortunate that my unit is full of them. Back-stabbing bastards like the OC and dogs like my supervisor. Should we take further action? It may cause more rules to be implemented but will it be worth it? Will my CO take action? Will the OC bastard us again by sucking up to the CO?
There are now three options. First, to face reality and live on. Second, to bring this matter to a higher level and fight again. Or thirdly, to try to get down-graded and get posted out. I'm currently considering choice number 3 and I might just do it.
NMTB celebrated Racial Harmony Day with a gathering at HQ NMTB last Thursday. All NMTB staff were invited but as I had detail that day, I did not go. So Alan and Thomas went instead. There, they talked to my OC and discussed if we could meet him some day and bring the problems we had with our supervisor forward. He was rather willing and said that he knew stuff was going on in Changi but he was just waiting for someone to step out and say something so that he could take action. The die was cast.
The next week, we met him in Changi on Tuesday. The dialogue was strictly between us STOs and him, the OC. We asked questions about offs and leave. But whatever we asked and questioned, he always had an answer. And his answers were not to our benefit. His answers were rigged. This was confirmed when we asked questions backed with statistics and he could not answer them, sometimes giving ridiculous explainations. And so the meeting concluded with us receiving nothing of worth. The wost was yet to be.
After coming down from the conference room, a transport supervisor informed us that before the meeting, my supervisor and the OC had a private talk and the transport supervisor overheard them discussing tactics on how to answer the questions that we could potentially raise and how to twist policies to their favour and to our disadvantage. That was it.
The very next day, a new rule was passed that in the future, no off will be given to personnel who do not pass their IPPT. Yes, some units practice that but it is a complete contradiction to the definition that the OC gave of off which is actually rest time. Should the new rule be implemented, it would mean that even if we perform an overnight loading operation, there would be no rest the next day before we carry out other details and increasing the risk of accidents occuring.
And it is because of this that I have come to the conclusion that NSFs are targets and that regulars are those which prey on the NSF targets. Not all regulars are like that, but it is unfortunate that my unit is full of them. Back-stabbing bastards like the OC and dogs like my supervisor. Should we take further action? It may cause more rules to be implemented but will it be worth it? Will my CO take action? Will the OC bastard us again by sucking up to the CO?
There are now three options. First, to face reality and live on. Second, to bring this matter to a higher level and fight again. Or thirdly, to try to get down-graded and get posted out. I'm currently considering choice number 3 and I might just do it.
Saturday, July 23, 2005
i just got home from work... bazooka loading this morning... we had to get to camp at like 7 and since there were no buses at that time, i had to persuade my dad to let me take his percious merc to work on my own...
so after quite some debating, he reluctantly handed me the key... i fetched alan and soh on my way there and ended up 45 mins early... so we had breakfast in camp before the loading commenced... everything went smoothly... even boss seemed quite calm although we complained to oc about him the previous day... so as we would say, "chop chop" done... by 830 it was complete and we were dismissed...
since the car had some space, i managed to pack in patrick and lta soh cos they were going the same was as i... fetched all of them to sengkang and i went home... so now i'm contemplating and planning today's activities for myself... bleah...
so after quite some debating, he reluctantly handed me the key... i fetched alan and soh on my way there and ended up 45 mins early... so we had breakfast in camp before the loading commenced... everything went smoothly... even boss seemed quite calm although we complained to oc about him the previous day... so as we would say, "chop chop" done... by 830 it was complete and we were dismissed...
since the car had some space, i managed to pack in patrick and lta soh cos they were going the same was as i... fetched all of them to sengkang and i went home... so now i'm contemplating and planning today's activities for myself... bleah...
Monday, July 18, 2005
and here i am in camp, blogging while the rest of my mates are playing chinese chess and just waiting for a chance to get their hands on the computer...
well, after going to bed at 230 last night, i woke up at 515 to get to work... bad combination... today i was really cranky and got pissed at every little thing... bleah... i'm still pissed...
early detail tomorrow so that's why i gotta stay in... probably another us carrier coming in early... they really should get thier own force protection detail instead of having to rely on us...
ok... better hand over the com to the rest of them... night...
well, after going to bed at 230 last night, i woke up at 515 to get to work... bad combination... today i was really cranky and got pissed at every little thing... bleah... i'm still pissed...
early detail tomorrow so that's why i gotta stay in... probably another us carrier coming in early... they really should get thier own force protection detail instead of having to rely on us...
ok... better hand over the com to the rest of them... night...
Another Fellowship of Friends
Meal at a fancy Thai restaurant in Suntec City: $18/-
Drinks at Harry's in the Esplanade : $8/-
Hanging out with S41 : Priceless
There are somethings that money cannot buy. For everything else, there is S41.
Yes, today was another day where I had the chance to catch up with the people from my former JC class of 02S41.
It actually started out as a normal Sunday would be. I got up early to go for service in church at 9am. For the first time in quite a few weeks, I actually made it on time. After service, it was YAF time and Bible study. I really like this new series on finding satisfaction at work as it is rather applicable to what I am doing now. Problematic boss, low wage etc. BS was followed by lunch with Ben Smith, Jane, Daniel and Eric. The chicken rice was great and the topics we discussed over lunch were splendid. A controlled democracy. That is the way to a healthy country free from uprisings and riots.
I then went to the hobby shop to continue on my new F-16 that I have been building for one week. Halfway while building, I received a message from Razif.
"U going tonight?"
"Tonight?", I replied.
"Class outing at Suntec at 7..."
"Hmmm... U going?"
"Yah..."
"Chau?"
"I'm waiting for his reply..."
"Ok... Will probably go..."
So at 6:15, I promptly packed my equipment and headed off to Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station to catch a train down to City Hall. However, on the way to the station, I ran into Ida and Wai Wai. So I ended up walking with them to City Hall. Razif was late so after Ruiying came, the 3 girls left first while I waited for Razif. Thankfully he was only 10 minutes late. We chatted about work all the way through Citylink Mall to Suntec City where we met the rest of the class. In all, there were 13 of us who met at Suntec City. Razif, Ida, Wai Wai, Ruiying, Lawrence, Siu Po, Audrey, Albert, Dingyan, Jun Yi and myself were early. Boss Yip and Edmund joined us later over dinner at the Thai restaurant.
The manager personally served us and we got some really great discounts from him. Fish that was originally priced at $18 was reduced to $1.99. Now that is a bargain! And so we enjoyed the meal, atmosphere with friends and all. Some things just never change. Albert was cracking lame jokes which no one could catch but this time with a bizzare Canadian accent. Dingyan and Lawrence were the Dog - Owner couple again but this time armed with Pocket PC phones. Edmund was the classic bastard again and Boss Yip "came".
Dinner ended at 9:30 and we all went to the Esplanade for a chit-chat session. On the way there we, "ran into" Chris Chau and his girlfriend, Selene. Greetings were exchanged and pictures were taken. Then Chau had to leave as he was escorting the missus home. He's flying off tomorrow so he had to spend some one-on-one time. The class settled for driks at Harry's, a pub in the Esplanade Mall. It was rather warm in there maybe because of the number of people there. We had Coke with Rum and Cranberry with Vodka. Both the drinks were over-diluted and really were not worth the money. So more photographs were taken and more stories were shared over the session.
Plans for the next outing were discussed. Friday, 8pm at Albert's place we will meet. From there, we will take a cab/bus to town to another pub/club for more drinks and a great time. I'm really looking forward to that outing. I'm hoping that I can get the car by then. Anyway, I just managed to catch the last train home and just got back less than an hour ago. I probably won't be able to wake up for work on time tomorrow. I'm off to bed now. Till the next time, leave a mark....
Drinks at Harry's in the Esplanade : $8/-
Hanging out with S41 : Priceless
There are somethings that money cannot buy. For everything else, there is S41.
Yes, today was another day where I had the chance to catch up with the people from my former JC class of 02S41.
It actually started out as a normal Sunday would be. I got up early to go for service in church at 9am. For the first time in quite a few weeks, I actually made it on time. After service, it was YAF time and Bible study. I really like this new series on finding satisfaction at work as it is rather applicable to what I am doing now. Problematic boss, low wage etc. BS was followed by lunch with Ben Smith, Jane, Daniel and Eric. The chicken rice was great and the topics we discussed over lunch were splendid. A controlled democracy. That is the way to a healthy country free from uprisings and riots.
I then went to the hobby shop to continue on my new F-16 that I have been building for one week. Halfway while building, I received a message from Razif.
"U going tonight?"
"Tonight?", I replied.
"Class outing at Suntec at 7..."
"Hmmm... U going?"
"Yah..."
"Chau?"
"I'm waiting for his reply..."
"Ok... Will probably go..."
So at 6:15, I promptly packed my equipment and headed off to Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station to catch a train down to City Hall. However, on the way to the station, I ran into Ida and Wai Wai. So I ended up walking with them to City Hall. Razif was late so after Ruiying came, the 3 girls left first while I waited for Razif. Thankfully he was only 10 minutes late. We chatted about work all the way through Citylink Mall to Suntec City where we met the rest of the class. In all, there were 13 of us who met at Suntec City. Razif, Ida, Wai Wai, Ruiying, Lawrence, Siu Po, Audrey, Albert, Dingyan, Jun Yi and myself were early. Boss Yip and Edmund joined us later over dinner at the Thai restaurant.
The manager personally served us and we got some really great discounts from him. Fish that was originally priced at $18 was reduced to $1.99. Now that is a bargain! And so we enjoyed the meal, atmosphere with friends and all. Some things just never change. Albert was cracking lame jokes which no one could catch but this time with a bizzare Canadian accent. Dingyan and Lawrence were the Dog - Owner couple again but this time armed with Pocket PC phones. Edmund was the classic bastard again and Boss Yip "came".
Dinner ended at 9:30 and we all went to the Esplanade for a chit-chat session. On the way there we, "ran into" Chris Chau and his girlfriend, Selene. Greetings were exchanged and pictures were taken. Then Chau had to leave as he was escorting the missus home. He's flying off tomorrow so he had to spend some one-on-one time. The class settled for driks at Harry's, a pub in the Esplanade Mall. It was rather warm in there maybe because of the number of people there. We had Coke with Rum and Cranberry with Vodka. Both the drinks were over-diluted and really were not worth the money. So more photographs were taken and more stories were shared over the session.
Plans for the next outing were discussed. Friday, 8pm at Albert's place we will meet. From there, we will take a cab/bus to town to another pub/club for more drinks and a great time. I'm really looking forward to that outing. I'm hoping that I can get the car by then. Anyway, I just managed to catch the last train home and just got back less than an hour ago. I probably won't be able to wake up for work on time tomorrow. I'm off to bed now. Till the next time, leave a mark....
Thursday, July 14, 2005
So what excites you?
being an STO really sucks... the job is sometimes exciting and stuff but the real problem lies when i interact with people on the outside...
every now and then, i get people asking me, " So what do you do in the Army?" first thing's first... i'm not in the Army... i'm navy... there's a difference... as for what i do, i am a sea terminal operator... "What's that?"... well, we STOs enhance the navy's capabilities by helping out with stuff like ammutioning of vessels, loading of stores, lifting people to hard-to-reach places such that they can repair stuff etc... we operate things like cranes to do this... "Wah! You can operate a crane? Do they give you licences?"... no... they are too afraid that if we screw up outside, they'll get the blame...
it's always like that... from friends to relatives... the same question.. the same answers over and over again... getting boring...
then there are other requests from friends like ,"Now that Razif has shared, Mark, so anything exciting happened during your week?"... take note that this question was asked after Razif shared about his week as a policeman, barging into people's houses and finding blood, axes and bastard files in poeple's noses... naturally, i would just shake my head and say there was nothing... the probing continues, "Come on lah. There must be something..." i'm telling you, there really isn't anything... honestly, would you really like to hear about the missile loading we did that day? and how one of the harpoons nearly hit the other? or would you like to hear about the day when we spent a whole 7 hours waiting for the navy to locate a sunken weight so that we could retrieve it? come on, don't try to kid me... all this stuff is boring to you... i mean, which normal person actually cares what TL-300E really stands for or what class of ship RSS Formidable is? i don't deal with pistols, handcuffs, death, blood, axes or bastard files... i deal with cranes, forklifts, harpoons, gabriels, 57mm HDAA rounds, hardhats, tsunami relief operations and strange sunken objects that the navy wants to retrieve...
So, what really excites you? What makes your adrenalin pump? Cranes? The Navy? I don't think so... So please ask the right people to tell their adventures and not me, a lowly pawn in the service of Singapore's largest organisation...
every now and then, i get people asking me, " So what do you do in the Army?" first thing's first... i'm not in the Army... i'm navy... there's a difference... as for what i do, i am a sea terminal operator... "What's that?"... well, we STOs enhance the navy's capabilities by helping out with stuff like ammutioning of vessels, loading of stores, lifting people to hard-to-reach places such that they can repair stuff etc... we operate things like cranes to do this... "Wah! You can operate a crane? Do they give you licences?"... no... they are too afraid that if we screw up outside, they'll get the blame...
it's always like that... from friends to relatives... the same question.. the same answers over and over again... getting boring...
then there are other requests from friends like ,"Now that Razif has shared, Mark, so anything exciting happened during your week?"... take note that this question was asked after Razif shared about his week as a policeman, barging into people's houses and finding blood, axes and bastard files in poeple's noses... naturally, i would just shake my head and say there was nothing... the probing continues, "Come on lah. There must be something..." i'm telling you, there really isn't anything... honestly, would you really like to hear about the missile loading we did that day? and how one of the harpoons nearly hit the other? or would you like to hear about the day when we spent a whole 7 hours waiting for the navy to locate a sunken weight so that we could retrieve it? come on, don't try to kid me... all this stuff is boring to you... i mean, which normal person actually cares what TL-300E really stands for or what class of ship RSS Formidable is? i don't deal with pistols, handcuffs, death, blood, axes or bastard files... i deal with cranes, forklifts, harpoons, gabriels, 57mm HDAA rounds, hardhats, tsunami relief operations and strange sunken objects that the navy wants to retrieve...
So, what really excites you? What makes your adrenalin pump? Cranes? The Navy? I don't think so... So please ask the right people to tell their adventures and not me, a lowly pawn in the service of Singapore's largest organisation...
Saturday, July 09, 2005
just to let u all know, i'm still alive... been doing other stuff lately so i havent spent much posting... anyway...
welcome back to those who are on uni break and are back here is sg... hopefully i can catch up with the whole bunch of you soon...
everything has been pretty stagnant recently... there is just no life whatsoever... this is bad... sheesh...
thankfully, the new STOs are here... heh... time to switch to ord mode... let's see... as of today, it's 276 more days till ord... time flies yea?
ok... gotta play for yaf/plh worship tml... night!
welcome back to those who are on uni break and are back here is sg... hopefully i can catch up with the whole bunch of you soon...
everything has been pretty stagnant recently... there is just no life whatsoever... this is bad... sheesh...
thankfully, the new STOs are here... heh... time to switch to ord mode... let's see... as of today, it's 276 more days till ord... time flies yea?
ok... gotta play for yaf/plh worship tml... night!
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Uniquely Singapore
For the past year or so, Singapore has been pursuing a goal. The goal was to aquire a national identity. One that would stand out from the rest of the world and would be like what samba is to Brazil and Big Ben is to England. And so the government went for it. The Esplanade was a non-starter. We concocted our own perfume and even christened our own sailing ship with the name "Uniquely Singapore". In my opinion, these really were not the answers the government was looking for.
For me, there is only one thing that would be the ultimate 'Uniquely Singapore" identity. It has been around for decades and has been widely discussed, conversed and debated about. We cannot see it but it lingers around our ears and mouths. Yes, it is Singlish. For many years now, the government has been dissuading the people from using the language as it is not a proper form of language in the first place! They set up Speak Mandarin/Good English campaigns and even banned movies which use dialect as their main language. What we, the citizens, got were Jack Neo films which made no comical sense in mandarin. Singlish cannot and should not be eliminated. Instead it should be preserved as the national identity which we have been looking for.
Where else in the world can you find people using phrases like buay tahan? In case you did not know, buay tahan means 'cannot take it' in Singlish. It is a cross between Hokkien and Malay, 2 of the most widely used languages in pre-war Singapore. In fact, Malay is the national language. Another prime example would be the use of kena sai which literally means 'to collide with/get hit by faeces'. Now, were else have you heard this phrase being used? Nowhere else. Uniquely Singapore.
Alternatively, we could consider using the Speak Good English and Speak Mandrin campaigns as something that is uniquely Singapore. After all, we are the only country that I can think of which has to educate its population on the use of proper English and Mandarin.
For me, there is only one thing that would be the ultimate 'Uniquely Singapore" identity. It has been around for decades and has been widely discussed, conversed and debated about. We cannot see it but it lingers around our ears and mouths. Yes, it is Singlish. For many years now, the government has been dissuading the people from using the language as it is not a proper form of language in the first place! They set up Speak Mandarin/Good English campaigns and even banned movies which use dialect as their main language. What we, the citizens, got were Jack Neo films which made no comical sense in mandarin. Singlish cannot and should not be eliminated. Instead it should be preserved as the national identity which we have been looking for.
Where else in the world can you find people using phrases like buay tahan? In case you did not know, buay tahan means 'cannot take it' in Singlish. It is a cross between Hokkien and Malay, 2 of the most widely used languages in pre-war Singapore. In fact, Malay is the national language. Another prime example would be the use of kena sai which literally means 'to collide with/get hit by faeces'. Now, were else have you heard this phrase being used? Nowhere else. Uniquely Singapore.
Alternatively, we could consider using the Speak Good English and Speak Mandrin campaigns as something that is uniquely Singapore. After all, we are the only country that I can think of which has to educate its population on the use of proper English and Mandarin.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
back from church camp...
spent the last 5 days at the resort beach in desaru... the theme was on missions and the guest speaker was rev klass from the netherlands...
this camp was the first for many things... for starters, it was the first time that i joined the adults for their programme... and it really wasn't a good first experience... discusions were much longer than usual and the questions were more "cheem" than those the youth programme had to offer... theirs were actually extremely simple with fill in the blank type of questions... the questions were ok... the problem was that the people were so eager in giving answers that the discussions kept extending past the allotted time-slot... the worst thing that this was limited to my group only... there was once when we were discussing question 2 out of 6 when another group ended... when we started on question 3, the rest had already gone... not a good experience... luckily bee kiat will be looking into this so i hope it won't repeat itself next year...
this was the first camp where i did not play a single form of card games... there was no tai tee, no bridge, no anything... guess that was cos i didnt have much time to play because of the group discussions...
this was the first time at camp where we had movie screenings using the lcd projector... being the av person has its advantages... one of which was the freedom to bring the av equipment wherever i wanted... and germain's room was one of these places... screened a couple of movies there on the last night...
this camp also had memories... memories of the most obnoxious person i've ever met... his name is yau-ming (ym)... and here is his story when in camp...
day one went without a hitch... the trip up to desaru was smooth and without incident... ym was on my bus with his room-mate adriel... we reached at 5 for the briefing and checking in... and soon, it was lights out... according to adriel, ym woke up in the middle of the night and turned off the room air-con without adriel's knowledge... so with the windows closed, the heat crept in till adriel got up and switched on the air-con again... the room cooled again.. but ym got up again and turned the air-con off... gosh.. he sounded like the complete b*sta*d when i found out... and so the story continues...
the next day, ym complains of sinus problems and does not attend the talks... instead, he goes swimming, saying that it would help him clear his sinus... people attend camp to participate in the activities... so if you don't why bother even coming? sheesh... the night came and ym told adriel that he wanted the air-con off with the windows closed and practically told adriel to buzz off... adriel approached bens and i who took him in for the night as we were his neighbours...
day 3 and things weren't much better... he managed to attend a couple of the talks and discussions but he pulled off a bigger stunt... mid-afternoon, adriel goes back to his room to get something and guess what he finds? the air-con was howling away with the windows open and ym no where in sight... just to put things in perspective, we were on the 1st floor and the window was a full height one which opened to a patio and the pool... at the last moment ym once again complains of sinus and tells adriel to head over to our room and bunk with us...
day 4 was the second last day... i hoped that it would be flawless... but noooooo (russel peters watchers, u'll get it)... once again ym leaves the room without closing the windows and leaving the air-con on... over lunch, he makes a smart-assed comment and says that somebody (he doesn't specify who) should go get rid of all the rocks along the beach as they get in the way of swimmers like himself... those who were there nearly choked on what we were eating... after the camp concert was over, the yaf people ajourned to my room where they played bridge... i, being a little tired, watched tv with adriel... the practice was showing... a few minutes later, ym drops by... he looks at the clock and declares that "carnivale" was on hbo and that we should watch it... he takes the tv remote of MY room, pointed it to MY tv and switches from channel 5 to hbo right in front of MY eyes... i had it... i promptly tucked myself in and pretended to sleep... adriel got a litle fed up and left the room... so ym watched the tv alone while the yaffers played bridge and i 'slept'... half-an-hour later, ym scanned the room and spotted the pack of chips that ben and I bought... he reached over and grabbed it... all of us expected him to open the chips and share it with the rest... but noooooo... he takes the chips, says he was going back to his room and waltzes out, chips and all... we were stunned... back in his room, adriel was sleeping already... ym enters and switches on the tv to watch "carnivale"... he turns up the volume really loud that it wakes adriel... ym's justification was that the bridge players over in my room were noisy and he couldn't concentrate on the show... those who play bridge know that it IS a rather peaceful game unlike heart-attack... sheesh... what a drag...
i expected the last day to be without problems... but again, nooooo... at the singapore customs when we were about to board the bus for the 2nd time, he comes up to ben and tells him to load his luggage while he goes to the toilet... basket... the bus was like in front of him... he just leaves the bag and goes... half-way to church, he asks if anybody loaded his luggage... bleddy bugger...
bleah... what a camp...
spent the last 5 days at the resort beach in desaru... the theme was on missions and the guest speaker was rev klass from the netherlands...
this camp was the first for many things... for starters, it was the first time that i joined the adults for their programme... and it really wasn't a good first experience... discusions were much longer than usual and the questions were more "cheem" than those the youth programme had to offer... theirs were actually extremely simple with fill in the blank type of questions... the questions were ok... the problem was that the people were so eager in giving answers that the discussions kept extending past the allotted time-slot... the worst thing that this was limited to my group only... there was once when we were discussing question 2 out of 6 when another group ended... when we started on question 3, the rest had already gone... not a good experience... luckily bee kiat will be looking into this so i hope it won't repeat itself next year...
this was the first camp where i did not play a single form of card games... there was no tai tee, no bridge, no anything... guess that was cos i didnt have much time to play because of the group discussions...
this was the first time at camp where we had movie screenings using the lcd projector... being the av person has its advantages... one of which was the freedom to bring the av equipment wherever i wanted... and germain's room was one of these places... screened a couple of movies there on the last night...
this camp also had memories... memories of the most obnoxious person i've ever met... his name is yau-ming (ym)... and here is his story when in camp...
day one went without a hitch... the trip up to desaru was smooth and without incident... ym was on my bus with his room-mate adriel... we reached at 5 for the briefing and checking in... and soon, it was lights out... according to adriel, ym woke up in the middle of the night and turned off the room air-con without adriel's knowledge... so with the windows closed, the heat crept in till adriel got up and switched on the air-con again... the room cooled again.. but ym got up again and turned the air-con off... gosh.. he sounded like the complete b*sta*d when i found out... and so the story continues...
the next day, ym complains of sinus problems and does not attend the talks... instead, he goes swimming, saying that it would help him clear his sinus... people attend camp to participate in the activities... so if you don't why bother even coming? sheesh... the night came and ym told adriel that he wanted the air-con off with the windows closed and practically told adriel to buzz off... adriel approached bens and i who took him in for the night as we were his neighbours...
day 3 and things weren't much better... he managed to attend a couple of the talks and discussions but he pulled off a bigger stunt... mid-afternoon, adriel goes back to his room to get something and guess what he finds? the air-con was howling away with the windows open and ym no where in sight... just to put things in perspective, we were on the 1st floor and the window was a full height one which opened to a patio and the pool... at the last moment ym once again complains of sinus and tells adriel to head over to our room and bunk with us...
day 4 was the second last day... i hoped that it would be flawless... but noooooo (russel peters watchers, u'll get it)... once again ym leaves the room without closing the windows and leaving the air-con on... over lunch, he makes a smart-assed comment and says that somebody (he doesn't specify who) should go get rid of all the rocks along the beach as they get in the way of swimmers like himself... those who were there nearly choked on what we were eating... after the camp concert was over, the yaf people ajourned to my room where they played bridge... i, being a little tired, watched tv with adriel... the practice was showing... a few minutes later, ym drops by... he looks at the clock and declares that "carnivale" was on hbo and that we should watch it... he takes the tv remote of MY room, pointed it to MY tv and switches from channel 5 to hbo right in front of MY eyes... i had it... i promptly tucked myself in and pretended to sleep... adriel got a litle fed up and left the room... so ym watched the tv alone while the yaffers played bridge and i 'slept'... half-an-hour later, ym scanned the room and spotted the pack of chips that ben and I bought... he reached over and grabbed it... all of us expected him to open the chips and share it with the rest... but noooooo... he takes the chips, says he was going back to his room and waltzes out, chips and all... we were stunned... back in his room, adriel was sleeping already... ym enters and switches on the tv to watch "carnivale"... he turns up the volume really loud that it wakes adriel... ym's justification was that the bridge players over in my room were noisy and he couldn't concentrate on the show... those who play bridge know that it IS a rather peaceful game unlike heart-attack... sheesh... what a drag...
i expected the last day to be without problems... but again, nooooo... at the singapore customs when we were about to board the bus for the 2nd time, he comes up to ben and tells him to load his luggage while he goes to the toilet... basket... the bus was like in front of him... he just leaves the bag and goes... half-way to church, he asks if anybody loaded his luggage... bleddy bugger...
bleah... what a camp...
Sunday, June 05, 2005
the week has passed once again... another sunday gone just like that... work tomorrow... i need rest...
the whole world has to know one very important fact... and this is it... shelby hates star wars ep3... ok... that was it...
anyway, besides the corny lines and crappy acting by natalie portman and hayden christensen, the show was pretty good... especially the cg fight scenes like the space battle at he beginning of the show... the ultimate turn-off were the dumb lines that padme and anakin said... and the worst of these was: anakin, you're breaking my heart!... omg... couldnt the script writer come up with something more original and less dumb... sheesh... lucas is really screwing up... luckily he's not making anymore... i'm glad the saga ended...
the whole world has to know one very important fact... and this is it... shelby hates star wars ep3... ok... that was it...
anyway, besides the corny lines and crappy acting by natalie portman and hayden christensen, the show was pretty good... especially the cg fight scenes like the space battle at he beginning of the show... the ultimate turn-off were the dumb lines that padme and anakin said... and the worst of these was: anakin, you're breaking my heart!... omg... couldnt the script writer come up with something more original and less dumb... sheesh... lucas is really screwing up... luckily he's not making anymore... i'm glad the saga ended...
Thursday, May 26, 2005
and they've done it... 3 goals down and against all odds, the mersey-siders clawed their way back from a first half deficit to win the UEFA Champions League against AC Milan.... in a space of 6 minutes, the reds demolished the 'unbreakable' defensive wall of Milan, scoring 3 goals and forcing the match into extra-time and eventually penalties... and in the same way arsenal beat man u in the FA Cup final, Liverpool keeper, Jerzy Dudek, stopped Milan star striker, Andri Schevchenko's penalty... brilliant indeed... yes, pool deserved to win...
branded underdogs since the beginning and only finishing a humble 5th in the premiership, pool silenced their critics by winning the european cup for the 5th time and thus earning the right to return the cup to anfield... but the question remains if the english FA will allow pool to defend the european title next season due to their poor premiership finish... if they are given the chance, their mersey-side rivals, everton, could be displaced from the championship... well, in my opinion, liverpool should be given the chance as they've proven that they do deserve it... some might disagree but i don't really care...
it's all about standing by... as my boss put it, something's come up up north and our ships may be deployed to look-look see-see... and they're going to do it with live missiles.. that means standing by at home, waiting for the activation phone call to return to camp and load those harpoon anti-ship missiles... just waiting...
branded underdogs since the beginning and only finishing a humble 5th in the premiership, pool silenced their critics by winning the european cup for the 5th time and thus earning the right to return the cup to anfield... but the question remains if the english FA will allow pool to defend the european title next season due to their poor premiership finish... if they are given the chance, their mersey-side rivals, everton, could be displaced from the championship... well, in my opinion, liverpool should be given the chance as they've proven that they do deserve it... some might disagree but i don't really care...
it's all about standing by... as my boss put it, something's come up up north and our ships may be deployed to look-look see-see... and they're going to do it with live missiles.. that means standing by at home, waiting for the activation phone call to return to camp and load those harpoon anti-ship missiles... just waiting...
Monday, May 23, 2005
time to update...
caught star wars ep 3 on thursday... so finally the whole story has been concluded cept for eps 7,8 and 9... george lucas said that he wouldnt be producing anymore star wars films but that is left to be seen... anyway, ep 3 was super graphic intensive and the graphics were nothing short of spectacuar... however, the script was crap... padme amidala wasnt making sense and saying stupid lines like' "anakin, you're breaking my heart..." bleah... that was the real turn-off... luckily jar-jar binks didn't squeak a word... heh... some salvation... the way anakin turned to the dark side was also a bit lame... but yeah... he had to turn somehow right?
the rest of the days came and went...
saturday was spent at the hobby shop as usual... sunday morning was spent at church again.. then did some LANning before going home... got showered and changed and then it was off to candice's for karaoke... heh... it was good... got a score of 98 like bench... haha... made bens threathen to tell lisa that i was good and draft me into the september musical... ;P no way man... haha...
ok... gtg... need to enjoy the vesak day holiday... night!
caught star wars ep 3 on thursday... so finally the whole story has been concluded cept for eps 7,8 and 9... george lucas said that he wouldnt be producing anymore star wars films but that is left to be seen... anyway, ep 3 was super graphic intensive and the graphics were nothing short of spectacuar... however, the script was crap... padme amidala wasnt making sense and saying stupid lines like' "anakin, you're breaking my heart..." bleah... that was the real turn-off... luckily jar-jar binks didn't squeak a word... heh... some salvation... the way anakin turned to the dark side was also a bit lame... but yeah... he had to turn somehow right?
the rest of the days came and went...
saturday was spent at the hobby shop as usual... sunday morning was spent at church again.. then did some LANning before going home... got showered and changed and then it was off to candice's for karaoke... heh... it was good... got a score of 98 like bench... haha... made bens threathen to tell lisa that i was good and draft me into the september musical... ;P no way man... haha...
ok... gtg... need to enjoy the vesak day holiday... night!
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
A Quickie...
Tired...
Ep3 out tomorrow... Been waiting fot his for ages... Finally the saga can end... Will be there to catch the show on permiering day...
Left work early today cos of the IMDEX Asia expo at camp... Guess they wanted us as far away from the VIPs as possible... Same for tomorrow... That would leave us ample time to go for a gd dinner at say, sakae sushi... heh...
Tired...
New slogan for MSN Messenger: Let the fingers do the talking...
Ep3 out tomorrow... Been waiting fot his for ages... Finally the saga can end... Will be there to catch the show on permiering day...
Left work early today cos of the IMDEX Asia expo at camp... Guess they wanted us as far away from the VIPs as possible... Same for tomorrow... That would leave us ample time to go for a gd dinner at say, sakae sushi... heh...
Tired...
New slogan for MSN Messenger: Let the fingers do the talking...
Saturday, May 14, 2005
A Fellowship of Friends
Saturday started bright and early. I somehow managed to pull myself out of bed before 9 and was just in time to ask my grandfather to packet breakfast for me. While waiting for it, I started digging out all my modelling equipment once again and started to finish off Javan's Freedom Gundam.
What I did was pretty slack compared to my other kits. I just basically sprayed a couple of layers of Clear coat to make the model look as though it was really painted. Luckliy the Gundam was molded in colour so this method was possible to use. I can't imagine myself taking the whole model apart and painting all the components from scratch.
So now it sits done in its box, awaiting 'shipment' to church tomorrow where Javan will pick it up.
That took the whole morning as planned. Shortly after noon, I got dressed up and headed to Compasspoint for my long overdue haircut. Then it was down to the hobby shop to continue work on the Flanker that I've been doing. All I did was decal the model today. By tomorrow I should be done with that and the topcoat can go on.
At around 5.30, I packed up and took the MRT to Somerset to meet up with the S41 bunch for dinner and pool. In all, 12 of us turned up including Zijia, Tina, Rui Ying, Colin, Razif, Nasir, Lawrence, Shahin, Wai Wai, Audrey, Dingyan and myself. We went to the Glass House and dined at Fish & Co. Spent time over dinner talking about each other and basically did some catching up. We had our fill and then walked over to Cuppage to play pool.
SAF vs SPF. That was the match of the day. the SPF team, comprising of Razif and Nasir, took the first game, just beating the SAF team of Colin and myself. The SAF bounced back during the second game and won. The third game had actually gone to the SPF but after a while, they decided to up the stakes and replayed the 3rd game. This time it was a game of 9-ball and we took it hands down. But since they 'gave us chance', we also returned the favor and played another 2 more rounds. The adrenalin was rushing as they took the 4th game. So the 5th was it. All or nothing. And it was reserved for the SAF. But it was due to a mistake that they accidentally made and Colin cooly finished the game off. Next time, we will play again.
We left Cuppage at around 10.30 and was greeted by rain pouring down along Orchard Road. There, we went our seperate ways. It was a really great day spent catching up with old friends. I really hope we can do it again soon. But it'll be better when all the people overseas are back.
Now, I'm dead beat. There's service tomorrow and YAF after that. Got to go now. Night...
Glad to see you around. It's been a long time.
What I did was pretty slack compared to my other kits. I just basically sprayed a couple of layers of Clear coat to make the model look as though it was really painted. Luckliy the Gundam was molded in colour so this method was possible to use. I can't imagine myself taking the whole model apart and painting all the components from scratch.
So now it sits done in its box, awaiting 'shipment' to church tomorrow where Javan will pick it up.
That took the whole morning as planned. Shortly after noon, I got dressed up and headed to Compasspoint for my long overdue haircut. Then it was down to the hobby shop to continue work on the Flanker that I've been doing. All I did was decal the model today. By tomorrow I should be done with that and the topcoat can go on.
At around 5.30, I packed up and took the MRT to Somerset to meet up with the S41 bunch for dinner and pool. In all, 12 of us turned up including Zijia, Tina, Rui Ying, Colin, Razif, Nasir, Lawrence, Shahin, Wai Wai, Audrey, Dingyan and myself. We went to the Glass House and dined at Fish & Co. Spent time over dinner talking about each other and basically did some catching up. We had our fill and then walked over to Cuppage to play pool.
SAF vs SPF. That was the match of the day. the SPF team, comprising of Razif and Nasir, took the first game, just beating the SAF team of Colin and myself. The SAF bounced back during the second game and won. The third game had actually gone to the SPF but after a while, they decided to up the stakes and replayed the 3rd game. This time it was a game of 9-ball and we took it hands down. But since they 'gave us chance', we also returned the favor and played another 2 more rounds. The adrenalin was rushing as they took the 4th game. So the 5th was it. All or nothing. And it was reserved for the SAF. But it was due to a mistake that they accidentally made and Colin cooly finished the game off. Next time, we will play again.
We left Cuppage at around 10.30 and was greeted by rain pouring down along Orchard Road. There, we went our seperate ways. It was a really great day spent catching up with old friends. I really hope we can do it again soon. But it'll be better when all the people overseas are back.
Now, I'm dead beat. There's service tomorrow and YAF after that. Got to go now. Night...
Glad to see you around. It's been a long time.
Friday, May 13, 2005
Life in the Navy
What a week.
Sunday was a day of a heavy rain and strong winds. Not to mention lightning and thunder. Not really a day to associate fire and burning right? Wrong. It was a weekend day that was burned. The job was supposed to start at 9 sharp with the ship's officer stressing on the sharp 'point'. So Roscoe, Alan and I took the 0730 shuttle in and got to camp by 8. We had a nice breakfast of macaroni before going to the office. By now it was already starting to drizzle. Looking at the clouds, the 3 of us just shook our heads and hoped for the best. As they say, 'The Best Is Yet To Be'. But it was not. Not on this Sunday.
By 9, the light drizzle had built up into a full-scale storm. The view through the office windows revealed nothing but torrential rain beating down on the carpark and strong winds ripping through the leaves on the trees. A check with NOB, the ops branch, confirmed that the weather was of CAT 1 status. This refers to the lightning risk indicator which in turn affects whether we can be given the 'all-clear' to work. On a normal weekday, this weather was the most welcome. But on a Sunday, it would be better if the CAT decided to catch a few mice and stay away. So we waited.
Every half hour, 1 of us would pick up the phone and dail NOB's number only to hear the dreadded news that the CAT status would not be changing till after noon. Boredom soon set in as we could not log in to the computer due to some time restriction. Lunch was the next big event and we were looking dearly for it. Finally, noon came and we went to the cookhouse. A consolation at last. They were serving a western meal today and half spring chicken was on the menu. The cream of chicken soup was exceptionally good that day. Maybe it was becase of the low temperatures that we were experiencing.
Lunch came and went and so the wait continued. Finally at 1400, good news from NOB. The CAT status had changed to 2 and the crane could start its operation. We rushed to the jobsite and lifted all that we came to lift, finishing an hour later. I had originally wanted to go down to church and join the YAF for lunch. But that was on the assumption that the job finished at 11 as scheduled. So I went straight home instead. My dad came home that night and so I had a nice dinner at his old haunt, Singa Inn Restaurant located in East Coast Park.
Coincidentally, PM Lee was there too dining with, who i think was, his family. Yes, he was there at a small table in the mini-VIP area in the middle of the restaurant's boat-shaped dining area. Plain-clothes guards were stationed at almost every entrance and watched like hawks. Well, how often do you have the PM dining in the same restaurant as you?
The weekdays followed. One of the cranes was due for servicing so a commercial crane was hired to 'cover' it s duties. Having that crane around is a real blessing as we do not have to do much work when we go out with it. The uncle driving the thing is so experienced that he does not need anybody to signal him when he's lifting something. Slack for the next 3 weeks. Furthermore, the white dog was away on leave till the weekend.
Tuesday was the day when the shit hit the fan. By not informing the black dog that he was not going for the IPPT that day, Thomas caused a shit-storm which kept blowing harder and harder. I still do not think he was at fault as he was following an order from a lieutenant and disregarding a staff sergeant's order would be perfectly all right. But the black dog did not see it that way. He really screwed Thomas up that evening. But there was more to come.
My I/C Huang had escorted the crane operator into the base and had to escort him out so as to retrieve his 11B. So under the orders of Mr Ng, the acting STO supervisor, he changed to his civillian clothes and followed Mr Ng out of the base after getting his 11B back. Meanwhile, back at LTB, the black dog was giving a lecture when he realised that Huang was missing. We told him that he had gone out and secured (dismissed) under the orders of Mr Ng who carries the rank of a 2WO DXO. But the black dog insisted that he was supposed to report to him and at that point of time, told the STOs that we were not part of LTB and told us to leave. We were apprehensive at first but we soon left when we realised that the black dog was going to ignore us.
The rest of the week was full of him ignoring us, not telling us to muster in the morning and falling-out in the evening. We're confused by this. Who's orders should we follow? That of a ranking officer or that of a department head who holds the rank of staff sergeant? What does the directive say? I hope to find out soon so as not to get into any more of this trouble.
Today is Friday the 13th. So much crap has happened throughout the week that it will probably over-shadow and bad luck that the fabled day would bring. The white dog will be back next week. But there is something I'm looking forward to. Thursday, May 19th. Star Wars Ep III will be released and I had managed to buy 6 tickets for the STO guys, excluding the dog (no pets allowed), to go catch it on opening day.
Alright. Enough of kao peh. Your comments are appreciated so don't forget to leave a mark!
Sunday was a day of a heavy rain and strong winds. Not to mention lightning and thunder. Not really a day to associate fire and burning right? Wrong. It was a weekend day that was burned. The job was supposed to start at 9 sharp with the ship's officer stressing on the sharp 'point'. So Roscoe, Alan and I took the 0730 shuttle in and got to camp by 8. We had a nice breakfast of macaroni before going to the office. By now it was already starting to drizzle. Looking at the clouds, the 3 of us just shook our heads and hoped for the best. As they say, 'The Best Is Yet To Be'. But it was not. Not on this Sunday.
By 9, the light drizzle had built up into a full-scale storm. The view through the office windows revealed nothing but torrential rain beating down on the carpark and strong winds ripping through the leaves on the trees. A check with NOB, the ops branch, confirmed that the weather was of CAT 1 status. This refers to the lightning risk indicator which in turn affects whether we can be given the 'all-clear' to work. On a normal weekday, this weather was the most welcome. But on a Sunday, it would be better if the CAT decided to catch a few mice and stay away. So we waited.
Every half hour, 1 of us would pick up the phone and dail NOB's number only to hear the dreadded news that the CAT status would not be changing till after noon. Boredom soon set in as we could not log in to the computer due to some time restriction. Lunch was the next big event and we were looking dearly for it. Finally, noon came and we went to the cookhouse. A consolation at last. They were serving a western meal today and half spring chicken was on the menu. The cream of chicken soup was exceptionally good that day. Maybe it was becase of the low temperatures that we were experiencing.
Lunch came and went and so the wait continued. Finally at 1400, good news from NOB. The CAT status had changed to 2 and the crane could start its operation. We rushed to the jobsite and lifted all that we came to lift, finishing an hour later. I had originally wanted to go down to church and join the YAF for lunch. But that was on the assumption that the job finished at 11 as scheduled. So I went straight home instead. My dad came home that night and so I had a nice dinner at his old haunt, Singa Inn Restaurant located in East Coast Park.
Coincidentally, PM Lee was there too dining with, who i think was, his family. Yes, he was there at a small table in the mini-VIP area in the middle of the restaurant's boat-shaped dining area. Plain-clothes guards were stationed at almost every entrance and watched like hawks. Well, how often do you have the PM dining in the same restaurant as you?
The weekdays followed. One of the cranes was due for servicing so a commercial crane was hired to 'cover' it s duties. Having that crane around is a real blessing as we do not have to do much work when we go out with it. The uncle driving the thing is so experienced that he does not need anybody to signal him when he's lifting something. Slack for the next 3 weeks. Furthermore, the white dog was away on leave till the weekend.
Tuesday was the day when the shit hit the fan. By not informing the black dog that he was not going for the IPPT that day, Thomas caused a shit-storm which kept blowing harder and harder. I still do not think he was at fault as he was following an order from a lieutenant and disregarding a staff sergeant's order would be perfectly all right. But the black dog did not see it that way. He really screwed Thomas up that evening. But there was more to come.
My I/C Huang had escorted the crane operator into the base and had to escort him out so as to retrieve his 11B. So under the orders of Mr Ng, the acting STO supervisor, he changed to his civillian clothes and followed Mr Ng out of the base after getting his 11B back. Meanwhile, back at LTB, the black dog was giving a lecture when he realised that Huang was missing. We told him that he had gone out and secured (dismissed) under the orders of Mr Ng who carries the rank of a 2WO DXO. But the black dog insisted that he was supposed to report to him and at that point of time, told the STOs that we were not part of LTB and told us to leave. We were apprehensive at first but we soon left when we realised that the black dog was going to ignore us.
The rest of the week was full of him ignoring us, not telling us to muster in the morning and falling-out in the evening. We're confused by this. Who's orders should we follow? That of a ranking officer or that of a department head who holds the rank of staff sergeant? What does the directive say? I hope to find out soon so as not to get into any more of this trouble.
Today is Friday the 13th. So much crap has happened throughout the week that it will probably over-shadow and bad luck that the fabled day would bring. The white dog will be back next week. But there is something I'm looking forward to. Thursday, May 19th. Star Wars Ep III will be released and I had managed to buy 6 tickets for the STO guys, excluding the dog (no pets allowed), to go catch it on opening day.
Alright. Enough of kao peh. Your comments are appreciated so don't forget to leave a mark!
Thursday, May 05, 2005
this week's been passing pretty fast... maybe it's because of the monday holiday and the thursday half day... but hey, i'm not complaining... weekend's coming again... time to rest and recharge for the next week ahead...
pool beats chelsea... now that's one great piece of news that hit my ear this week... benitez's men sure taught the Roman army a thing or 2 about soccer and humility... though the goal was contreversial, a goal IS a goal... no use complaining there, jose... not champions leage cup for you this season... heh... guess it's revenge for kao pehing too much this season...
old memories were revisited for the upteenth time this week... i brought my college yearbook to camp for a 'yearbook exchange' thing... roscoe brought SRJC's while zhijie brought his JJC's yearCD-ROM... bleddy cheap-skates... anyway, flipping through my own book made me think about the past... people i knew... people i didn't know... people i barely knew... people i wished i got to know better... how i wish i had a 2nd chance... ok... tt's enough... time to move on...
caught some interesting documentary on nat geog the other day... talked about human instincts and one part dealt with a woman's instinct to be unfaithful to her husband... i think i posted this before but here goes again... some american guy was married with 3 sons and a daughter... his youngest son developed a heriditary disease when he was about 8 so the dad went to check if he was the one who passed the disease to his son... results turned out negative... his wife also did not have the diesase... so where did the son get the disease from? the dad then did a dna test for all his kids and the results were shocking... of his children, only the daughter was fathered by him... the 3 boys belonged to 3 different fathers... shockinhg right? there's more... a worldwide study conducted revealed that 1 out of every 10 children are not raised by their realy fathers... so, will u be going for a dna test soon?
11 1/2 more months... then outta here... time is slowly slipping by... and tt's what i want... to get out of NS... boss drove us crazy this week... nxt week, we just might add a little additives into his food... but maybe not... dunno lar... up to the others to decide...
half day today cos of RSN 38th anniversary... so ended at 12 and went straight home to rest... gotta catch up on sleep... javan's freedom is still sitting there half done... but i'll get it ready by next week so don't fret...
it's now 930... i'm tired... i will sleep...
finally, u appear...
pool beats chelsea... now that's one great piece of news that hit my ear this week... benitez's men sure taught the Roman army a thing or 2 about soccer and humility... though the goal was contreversial, a goal IS a goal... no use complaining there, jose... not champions leage cup for you this season... heh... guess it's revenge for kao pehing too much this season...
old memories were revisited for the upteenth time this week... i brought my college yearbook to camp for a 'yearbook exchange' thing... roscoe brought SRJC's while zhijie brought his JJC's yearCD-ROM... bleddy cheap-skates... anyway, flipping through my own book made me think about the past... people i knew... people i didn't know... people i barely knew... people i wished i got to know better... how i wish i had a 2nd chance... ok... tt's enough... time to move on...
caught some interesting documentary on nat geog the other day... talked about human instincts and one part dealt with a woman's instinct to be unfaithful to her husband... i think i posted this before but here goes again... some american guy was married with 3 sons and a daughter... his youngest son developed a heriditary disease when he was about 8 so the dad went to check if he was the one who passed the disease to his son... results turned out negative... his wife also did not have the diesase... so where did the son get the disease from? the dad then did a dna test for all his kids and the results were shocking... of his children, only the daughter was fathered by him... the 3 boys belonged to 3 different fathers... shockinhg right? there's more... a worldwide study conducted revealed that 1 out of every 10 children are not raised by their realy fathers... so, will u be going for a dna test soon?
11 1/2 more months... then outta here... time is slowly slipping by... and tt's what i want... to get out of NS... boss drove us crazy this week... nxt week, we just might add a little additives into his food... but maybe not... dunno lar... up to the others to decide...
half day today cos of RSN 38th anniversary... so ended at 12 and went straight home to rest... gotta catch up on sleep... javan's freedom is still sitting there half done... but i'll get it ready by next week so don't fret...
it's now 930... i'm tired... i will sleep...
finally, u appear...
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Today is a day when I Earthquaked.
was supposed to get up at 6 for band prac in church at 730... but heyhey... got up at 730... rushed like mad to get to get there in a cab... bleddy hell... dont know here all the cabs are on a asunday morning... i couldnt get even one... until this one turned out of the carpark... lucky for me... i had been waiting for like 10 mins already and was about to dail for one... haiz...
the days when i dream to get my driver's licence... the car's already here... all that's left is the photo-id-ed licence in my wallet... test coming soon... must be prepared... jane just failed hers... struck the kerb during the s-course... what a way to go... dead in the circuit... hope i wont be like john from camp... vocation : driver with at least 6,000 km travelled... result: failed before getting out of circuit... experience doesnt mean sure-pass... it's luck i tell u...
anys, prac at church was followed by worship at 9 and worship+bs at 1130.. ended early and went for lunch at sunshine with javan, julian, ju, bens, hunky, ry, dan, jane and yiying... cand and andre joined us later... after that, most of the ppl left... so bens, ry, andre, hunky, cand and i went to swensen's ps for ice-cream... the 6 of us shared a giant earthquake... that thing's so huge tt the last time i had it was for a meal for 4 people... yup, it's THAT huge... candice treated so we obliged... willingly of course... heh...
was comtemplating on whether to go down to the model shop but decided against it... instead, went home to do my own modelling at home... dug out all my stuff and started on 2 kits at the same time... the environment is definately different... no air-con, poor lighting and inadequate supplies... haiz... if only they didnt charge so much...
ok... enough blabbering... it's been hot hot hot... hope it doesnt get hotter... alright... night...
where are you?
was supposed to get up at 6 for band prac in church at 730... but heyhey... got up at 730... rushed like mad to get to get there in a cab... bleddy hell... dont know here all the cabs are on a asunday morning... i couldnt get even one... until this one turned out of the carpark... lucky for me... i had been waiting for like 10 mins already and was about to dail for one... haiz...
the days when i dream to get my driver's licence... the car's already here... all that's left is the photo-id-ed licence in my wallet... test coming soon... must be prepared... jane just failed hers... struck the kerb during the s-course... what a way to go... dead in the circuit... hope i wont be like john from camp... vocation : driver with at least 6,000 km travelled... result: failed before getting out of circuit... experience doesnt mean sure-pass... it's luck i tell u...
anys, prac at church was followed by worship at 9 and worship+bs at 1130.. ended early and went for lunch at sunshine with javan, julian, ju, bens, hunky, ry, dan, jane and yiying... cand and andre joined us later... after that, most of the ppl left... so bens, ry, andre, hunky, cand and i went to swensen's ps for ice-cream... the 6 of us shared a giant earthquake... that thing's so huge tt the last time i had it was for a meal for 4 people... yup, it's THAT huge... candice treated so we obliged... willingly of course... heh...
was comtemplating on whether to go down to the model shop but decided against it... instead, went home to do my own modelling at home... dug out all my stuff and started on 2 kits at the same time... the environment is definately different... no air-con, poor lighting and inadequate supplies... haiz... if only they didnt charge so much...
ok... enough blabbering... it's been hot hot hot... hope it doesnt get hotter... alright... night...
where are you?
Saturday, April 30, 2005
2 words to describe the past week... blistering hot...
with an average temperature of 34 deg in the afternoons, singapore was baking in the sun... the heat made working on the wharf pure torture... all of us STOs were trying to avoid work as much as possible... but we still had to work cos the navy doesn't not function on hot days... i had to change my coverall everyday cos of the weather... hoping that the next week would be better... monday's a holiday and friday is a half- day cos of rsn pride day...
ok... nothing much to update... leave a mark...
where are you?
with an average temperature of 34 deg in the afternoons, singapore was baking in the sun... the heat made working on the wharf pure torture... all of us STOs were trying to avoid work as much as possible... but we still had to work cos the navy doesn't not function on hot days... i had to change my coverall everyday cos of the weather... hoping that the next week would be better... monday's a holiday and friday is a half- day cos of rsn pride day...
ok... nothing much to update... leave a mark...
where are you?
Sunday, April 24, 2005
i hate sundays... keeps reminding me that there's work... bleah... i'm so tired... wonder how i'll survive the week ahead... i've gotta keep telling myself: keep a cool head... dont do stupid stunts and the week will pass quickly... one more week down, one more week closer to ord... gaah... need sleep badly... too much MGS over the weekend already...
i'm bringing my model building back to my place after i complete the flanker... paying 50 bucks per jet aint worth it... ok... gotta run... night...
where are you? just wanna talk to you...
i'm bringing my model building back to my place after i complete the flanker... paying 50 bucks per jet aint worth it... ok... gotta run... night...
where are you? just wanna talk to you...
Friday, April 22, 2005
what a week... i spent a total of only 15 hours sleeping in the past 4 days... reason's cos i just bought metal gear 3 and have been hooked to it ever since... argh... tired... but luckily the workload this week wasnt that heavy... the detail board was practically empty and cobwebs were literally growing on it... heh... spent most of the time in the office reading e-forum jokes and the janes encyclopedia of modern military technology... so slack it was... it passed kind of quick though... but what the heck... 1 week closer to ORD... i'm not complaining... hhaha... alright... i'm off...
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
fast post...
dad's back so that means less time on the com for me... but good news too... he bought the car back from my uncle... so now there's transportation when he's around... more good news... just got my FTT results today... passed... practical test, here i come! slacking at work today... no details... just some crappy in-case-nuclear-reactor-blows-up drill that took the whole morning... alright... gotta let the big man take the com for his spider solitare... night!
solitare... solitude...
dad's back so that means less time on the com for me... but good news too... he bought the car back from my uncle... so now there's transportation when he's around... more good news... just got my FTT results today... passed... practical test, here i come! slacking at work today... no details... just some crappy in-case-nuclear-reactor-blows-up drill that took the whole morning... alright... gotta let the big man take the com for his spider solitare... night!
solitare... solitude...
Sunday, April 10, 2005
what a boring weekend...
slacked away the whole morning yesterday... got bored playing with the com and with the ps2 as well... bleah... gotta find a way to get new games... gotta find my metal gear 2 back too... in the afternoon, i met ben s for movie... caught the wedding date at ps... strange thing was that i ran into his sister before he showed up... and boy was he late... 20 mins +... luckily the adverts were screened longer than usual... so we managed to get most of the beginning... the show was pretty nice... romantic comedy so yeah... can't beat hitch though...
anyway, had dinner with him too and then went home... spent another boring night doing absolutely nothing and went to sleep early... like 930 early...
went to church today as usual.. late for service (as usual)... so i spent my time doing BS on my own... was pretty cranky in the morning and did stupid things like challenge aud about the PC and laptop issue... bleah... shouldnt have done that... but still, i'll have a word with the pastor abt it... yaf worship started late cos tommy was MIA for 20 mins... the show got on the road though... barely... but it still rolled... i've got to get more organised... and i need more people!!! arghhh... made some announcements after the worship... but the best came from josh, the american-mexican dude... he's getting 70% off all oakley products! wow... cool... now i can finally own a pair of cool shades without burning a hole in my pocket... told shahin abt it too... heh... he's more excited than i am... heh...
anyway, yaf finished on time... i was supposed to join the yaffers but i joined candice instead... her parents had gone off before her and she didnt have anyone to dine with... so we had subway... it's good to hear that she's gotten over her RJ 'being small' thing... but i guess it was tough for her... talked abt the whole jason issue... don't really wanna go into details... no... dont want to talk abt it here at all... so yeah... uncle victor and auntie doris came by to pick her up a while later... so lonely me strolled to nakamoto's to pick up my brand new vf-0d kit from the shop... finally... a macross kit that i actually like... haha... took a cab home with my mum's and bro's lunch...
the whole afternoon was spent playing winning 11 on the ps2 while my mum did her thesis on the com... dinner at compasspoint and a small shopping trip round the mall to buy ink and paper followed in the evening...
an uneventful weekend ends here... gd night...
2,400 miles away and i'm still missing you... is there something wrong with me?
slacked away the whole morning yesterday... got bored playing with the com and with the ps2 as well... bleah... gotta find a way to get new games... gotta find my metal gear 2 back too... in the afternoon, i met ben s for movie... caught the wedding date at ps... strange thing was that i ran into his sister before he showed up... and boy was he late... 20 mins +... luckily the adverts were screened longer than usual... so we managed to get most of the beginning... the show was pretty nice... romantic comedy so yeah... can't beat hitch though...
anyway, had dinner with him too and then went home... spent another boring night doing absolutely nothing and went to sleep early... like 930 early...
went to church today as usual.. late for service (as usual)... so i spent my time doing BS on my own... was pretty cranky in the morning and did stupid things like challenge aud about the PC and laptop issue... bleah... shouldnt have done that... but still, i'll have a word with the pastor abt it... yaf worship started late cos tommy was MIA for 20 mins... the show got on the road though... barely... but it still rolled... i've got to get more organised... and i need more people!!! arghhh... made some announcements after the worship... but the best came from josh, the american-mexican dude... he's getting 70% off all oakley products! wow... cool... now i can finally own a pair of cool shades without burning a hole in my pocket... told shahin abt it too... heh... he's more excited than i am... heh...
anyway, yaf finished on time... i was supposed to join the yaffers but i joined candice instead... her parents had gone off before her and she didnt have anyone to dine with... so we had subway... it's good to hear that she's gotten over her RJ 'being small' thing... but i guess it was tough for her... talked abt the whole jason issue... don't really wanna go into details... no... dont want to talk abt it here at all... so yeah... uncle victor and auntie doris came by to pick her up a while later... so lonely me strolled to nakamoto's to pick up my brand new vf-0d kit from the shop... finally... a macross kit that i actually like... haha... took a cab home with my mum's and bro's lunch...
the whole afternoon was spent playing winning 11 on the ps2 while my mum did her thesis on the com... dinner at compasspoint and a small shopping trip round the mall to buy ink and paper followed in the evening...
an uneventful weekend ends here... gd night...
2,400 miles away and i'm still missing you... is there something wrong with me?
Thursday, April 07, 2005
was on leave today... spent the whole morning stoning and slacking in front of the com... bleah... all my games are boring me out already... gotta find a way to get new ones without breaking the bank... bleah...
took my finaly theory test in the afternoon... the dumb thing was that i had to go for some simulated theory test using a computer when the actual thing was done using a pen and paper...bloody hell... waste my time... then i was back at the wheel for my 9th lesson... woo hoo... 1 more lesson then it's test time... hopefully i'll get to test before june...
anyway, the lesson concluded at 6 and i went straight to orchard to meet bench, javan, zara, andrew and bens for seoul garden.. today is javan's last day of freedom as he'll swap his pink for green and his civvies for green too... yup, he's enlisting tomorrow... heh... National Service: Where boys become men... Men who get stupid by just being there... dinner was good... made fried noodles on the pan that were actually edible... we left... no... we got chased out at 1030 as the restaurant was closing... heh... value-for-money buffet... we stayed till the end... took the nel home with zara...
back to work tomorrow again... sian... luckily saturday is just round the corner... and a very close corner for that matter.. leave a mark!
in this world, everyone is equal... it's just that some are more equal than others... or so it seems...
took my finaly theory test in the afternoon... the dumb thing was that i had to go for some simulated theory test using a computer when the actual thing was done using a pen and paper...bloody hell... waste my time... then i was back at the wheel for my 9th lesson... woo hoo... 1 more lesson then it's test time... hopefully i'll get to test before june...
anyway, the lesson concluded at 6 and i went straight to orchard to meet bench, javan, zara, andrew and bens for seoul garden.. today is javan's last day of freedom as he'll swap his pink for green and his civvies for green too... yup, he's enlisting tomorrow... heh... National Service: Where boys become men... Men who get stupid by just being there... dinner was good... made fried noodles on the pan that were actually edible... we left... no... we got chased out at 1030 as the restaurant was closing... heh... value-for-money buffet... we stayed till the end... took the nel home with zara...
back to work tomorrow again... sian... luckily saturday is just round the corner... and a very close corner for that matter.. leave a mark!
in this world, everyone is equal... it's just that some are more equal than others... or so it seems...
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Questions...
damn it... how do you make a choice between friendship and what's right?
when you know that your friend is being a real bastard, how do you choose? how do you try to change the situation? how do you make your friend understand that he/she is in the wrong? how do you persuade a person who doesn't want to be persuaded?
help me...
when you know that your friend is being a real bastard, how do you choose? how do you try to change the situation? how do you make your friend understand that he/she is in the wrong? how do you persuade a person who doesn't want to be persuaded?
help me...
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
it's been a really hectic weekend for me... been sleeping late and doing tiring work...
easter weekend... gd friday was spent going for friday service at raffle's city in the morning then having lunch with my family... then going home cos i had nothing to do... so ended playing hl2 till bedtime and then knocking out...
woke up at 430 on saturday... and while most people would still be sound asleep, i was getting ready to go to work... dailed for a cab at 5 and got to office at 545... more about this cab ride... i told the driver changi NAVAL base... but he brought me to changi AIR base instead... that took me on a 15 min detour all the way to loyang... bleah... but luckily my unit was paying for the cab fare... heh... anyway, got to work just in time for the op... we lifted some boats that acted as safety vessels for the singapore biathlon that was going on at east coast park... stayed in camp to recover the 2 boats till 1030... went home to clooect my su-27 model and went to the shop... i visited sim lim square before going to parklane... was walking down prinsep st when it suddenly started to pour... so i quickly found shelter in church cos the gate was open... but what i found in the end was more than just sheltter...
making my way to the 3rd floor, i heard the sounds of people coming from the lighthouse rooms... upon further exploration, i discovered that i had stumbled on the PLH easter retreat... i didnt exactly join in but i hung around till the rain stopped... what happened after that was well, sheer coincidence and good timing... nakamoto wasn't open for business so i returned to the church to hand around for a few more hours... i had intended to leave before their dinner but something just told me to stay... soon, night came and the night's activities were about to kick off when doc john informed me that one of the mentors wasn't coming and he needed me to take his place for the night activity... since i had nothing to do, i agreed and stayed on... he led worship later and yes, it's been a while since i attended such a convicting worship with the lighthouse... to those who know, just imagine hillsongs in concert at lvl 3... yup, he's good... if only worship could be like this every week for the yaf... sigh...
anyway, the activity started late... it was a kind of easter walk-thru thing with people going from station to station, 'experiencing' the things that jesus experienced during his final days on earth all the way to his ascension... i was in charge of the judas station... and so they came, one-by-one to experience the gosple... i planned to go home after this but a slight miscalculation caused it all to end at 330 am, 3 hours past the planed end-time... bleah... i quickly and quietly made my exit soon after... got to church at 11 later in the day to catch the service... but didnt go in in the end... but i did manage to make the announcement for the yaf worship thing... had coffee after that and went home... i was looking for much shut-eye but i got interrupted so many times i decided to give it up and played cs:s till late...
alright... that was just the weekend... dun really wanna talk abt the weekdays but just that they were really tiring and that i spent a ight in camp... been thinking of you all the time... wishing that you'll come home... hoping to call you whenever i'm bored and smsing you before bedtime... gd night...
easter weekend... gd friday was spent going for friday service at raffle's city in the morning then having lunch with my family... then going home cos i had nothing to do... so ended playing hl2 till bedtime and then knocking out...
woke up at 430 on saturday... and while most people would still be sound asleep, i was getting ready to go to work... dailed for a cab at 5 and got to office at 545... more about this cab ride... i told the driver changi NAVAL base... but he brought me to changi AIR base instead... that took me on a 15 min detour all the way to loyang... bleah... but luckily my unit was paying for the cab fare... heh... anyway, got to work just in time for the op... we lifted some boats that acted as safety vessels for the singapore biathlon that was going on at east coast park... stayed in camp to recover the 2 boats till 1030... went home to clooect my su-27 model and went to the shop... i visited sim lim square before going to parklane... was walking down prinsep st when it suddenly started to pour... so i quickly found shelter in church cos the gate was open... but what i found in the end was more than just sheltter...
making my way to the 3rd floor, i heard the sounds of people coming from the lighthouse rooms... upon further exploration, i discovered that i had stumbled on the PLH easter retreat... i didnt exactly join in but i hung around till the rain stopped... what happened after that was well, sheer coincidence and good timing... nakamoto wasn't open for business so i returned to the church to hand around for a few more hours... i had intended to leave before their dinner but something just told me to stay... soon, night came and the night's activities were about to kick off when doc john informed me that one of the mentors wasn't coming and he needed me to take his place for the night activity... since i had nothing to do, i agreed and stayed on... he led worship later and yes, it's been a while since i attended such a convicting worship with the lighthouse... to those who know, just imagine hillsongs in concert at lvl 3... yup, he's good... if only worship could be like this every week for the yaf... sigh...
anyway, the activity started late... it was a kind of easter walk-thru thing with people going from station to station, 'experiencing' the things that jesus experienced during his final days on earth all the way to his ascension... i was in charge of the judas station... and so they came, one-by-one to experience the gosple... i planned to go home after this but a slight miscalculation caused it all to end at 330 am, 3 hours past the planed end-time... bleah... i quickly and quietly made my exit soon after... got to church at 11 later in the day to catch the service... but didnt go in in the end... but i did manage to make the announcement for the yaf worship thing... had coffee after that and went home... i was looking for much shut-eye but i got interrupted so many times i decided to give it up and played cs:s till late...
alright... that was just the weekend... dun really wanna talk abt the weekdays but just that they were really tiring and that i spent a ight in camp... been thinking of you all the time... wishing that you'll come home... hoping to call you whenever i'm bored and smsing you before bedtime... gd night...
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
bleah... i hate ops sentinel... ok... a little explaination required here...
All RSN (Republic of Singapore Navy) missile-capable ships are out-fitted with dummy missiles on their racks durng peace-time... this, i suppose, is used to scare the enemy away cos a dummy missile canister looks exactly like a real one... however, there are times when the RSN decides to load 'live' missiles to 'test' them... and so we have ops sentinel, the codename for these dummy-'live' swaps for the Navy's Missile Gunboats... in order to prevent the enemy from knowing which boats are carrying the real missiles, the ops are carried out at night... and monday night was no different...
in darkness illuminated by a few spotlights, i had to do one of these loadings... we started at 9 and ended only at 2... now i'm extremely tired as the little sleep i got after that was not really peaceful... furthermore, the next day was just like a normal one with many other jobs to do...
ok... gg to bed now... nitez~!
All RSN (Republic of Singapore Navy) missile-capable ships are out-fitted with dummy missiles on their racks durng peace-time... this, i suppose, is used to scare the enemy away cos a dummy missile canister looks exactly like a real one... however, there are times when the RSN decides to load 'live' missiles to 'test' them... and so we have ops sentinel, the codename for these dummy-'live' swaps for the Navy's Missile Gunboats... in order to prevent the enemy from knowing which boats are carrying the real missiles, the ops are carried out at night... and monday night was no different...
in darkness illuminated by a few spotlights, i had to do one of these loadings... we started at 9 and ended only at 2... now i'm extremely tired as the little sleep i got after that was not really peaceful... furthermore, the next day was just like a normal one with many other jobs to do...
ok... gg to bed now... nitez~!
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Today is the day when i played soccer again...
jon keane invited us to play ball today... got up early in the morning to get to np... reached at 10+... shahin, jun yi, nasir, david and i responded to the call of the beautiful game... razif was on night duty so he didnt join us... anyway, the 5 of us s41 ppl started playing without keane... formed a 5 a side team and played with some of the local boys... beat them flat thanks to the superb footwork of david and jun yi... heh... we played one half but there was no sign of keane... so we kicked off the second half and just like the 1st, we kicked ass... at about 1230, keane finally showed up but we had already had enough and packed...
khail went to meet his girl in town while the rest of us went to the bukit timah market for lunch... then nasir and i packed into david's car to his place where we showered and prepared to go to the movies... caught 'hostage' at PS with jun yi and zif... the show wasn't that bad... but it wasnt that good either... had dinner at takat later that evening and went home after that...
hmm... i was supposed to go for the planet shakers concert tonight but chose to hang out with my S41 friends instead... it's all about opportunity costs i guess... going to the PS concert would mean not getting to see my friends from school and hang out with them... going out with my friends would mean not being able to listen to the cool PS music and hear the message of the evening... oh well, whatever my choice, i guess i would have a good time... bleah... should have been thinking of this earlier... haha...
ok... exhausted already... nitez~!
jon keane invited us to play ball today... got up early in the morning to get to np... reached at 10+... shahin, jun yi, nasir, david and i responded to the call of the beautiful game... razif was on night duty so he didnt join us... anyway, the 5 of us s41 ppl started playing without keane... formed a 5 a side team and played with some of the local boys... beat them flat thanks to the superb footwork of david and jun yi... heh... we played one half but there was no sign of keane... so we kicked off the second half and just like the 1st, we kicked ass... at about 1230, keane finally showed up but we had already had enough and packed...
khail went to meet his girl in town while the rest of us went to the bukit timah market for lunch... then nasir and i packed into david's car to his place where we showered and prepared to go to the movies... caught 'hostage' at PS with jun yi and zif... the show wasn't that bad... but it wasnt that good either... had dinner at takat later that evening and went home after that...
hmm... i was supposed to go for the planet shakers concert tonight but chose to hang out with my S41 friends instead... it's all about opportunity costs i guess... going to the PS concert would mean not getting to see my friends from school and hang out with them... going out with my friends would mean not being able to listen to the cool PS music and hear the message of the evening... oh well, whatever my choice, i guess i would have a good time... bleah... should have been thinking of this earlier... haha...
ok... exhausted already... nitez~!
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) really lives up to it's name... yes, passengers really do travel en masse and just like sardines are canned in the same fashion...
leaving work at 6, i managed to catch the west bound train just before the doors closed on me at tanah merah station... the train wasn't really packed at the time but i had to stand because the usual rush hour traffic... anyway, the train proceeded as usual... people continued to pack the train as it pulled into the various stations... then, we reached city hall... i expected most of the passengers to alight and transfer to the N-S line... they did just that... but an equal amount if not more of passengers boarded and the tight squeeze continued... at raffles place, more passengers boarded... the train was almost certainly at it's capacity and it seemed that the passengers would explode out of the cars should the doors open agian... i was going to alight at outram park station... i was standing relatively deep inside the car... finally the train pulled into outram park station and i started making my way out... pushing and shoving others around, i just managed to get out before the door closing announcement was played... others werent that lucky... a couple of people who wanted to get down couldnt as people were trying to file in the same time as they wanted to get out.. lose-lose situation... bleah...
dun think i'll take a train home for a long time... anyway, booked my FTT already... and i guess i'll have to extend my PDL... sheesh... thought i could clear this whole thing in the 6 mths i gave myself... bleah...
kkz... nitez~!
leaving work at 6, i managed to catch the west bound train just before the doors closed on me at tanah merah station... the train wasn't really packed at the time but i had to stand because the usual rush hour traffic... anyway, the train proceeded as usual... people continued to pack the train as it pulled into the various stations... then, we reached city hall... i expected most of the passengers to alight and transfer to the N-S line... they did just that... but an equal amount if not more of passengers boarded and the tight squeeze continued... at raffles place, more passengers boarded... the train was almost certainly at it's capacity and it seemed that the passengers would explode out of the cars should the doors open agian... i was going to alight at outram park station... i was standing relatively deep inside the car... finally the train pulled into outram park station and i started making my way out... pushing and shoving others around, i just managed to get out before the door closing announcement was played... others werent that lucky... a couple of people who wanted to get down couldnt as people were trying to file in the same time as they wanted to get out.. lose-lose situation... bleah...
dun think i'll take a train home for a long time... anyway, booked my FTT already... and i guess i'll have to extend my PDL... sheesh... thought i could clear this whole thing in the 6 mths i gave myself... bleah...
kkz... nitez~!
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
this is bad... been typing like crap recently... my f's are becoming d's and my b's are becomming n's... bleah... how to solve this? been typing crap to ppl on msn... arghh...
8 lessons down... 2 to go... then it's TP test and finally, licence!! giving myself another month or so...after that i'll be hoping my dad buys back his old car and leaves it here.. hah...
sian...
8 lessons down... 2 to go... then it's TP test and finally, licence!! giving myself another month or so...after that i'll be hoping my dad buys back his old car and leaves it here.. hah...
sian...
Friday, March 04, 2005
as far as movies go, closer isn't for most movie-goers... the plot is extremely deep and the storyline is just short of baffling... however, all of its short-comings are made up simply because of one person... natalie portman...
yes, it's queen amidala of naboo who saves the show from becoming an instant relic... if you say that the recent weather in singapore has been nothing short of blistering hot, then you have never watched this show... her performance was brilliant... but most guys would say that just beacuse of the strip-club scene that she did... probably sent shockwaves through most people... heh...
anyway, personally, the show wasn't really worth watching... sure it had a good cast... but come on... the plot was centralised about sex with this woman and that woman... and screwing someone's ex-lover just for revenge... and after all that, a guy asking how good his opponent's sex was compared to his own... i mean like bloody hell... too bad i can't use de-rivetting to describe the storyline... but it's true... so unless you're a film connoissuer, you will not enjoy this... go get hitched...
alright... markymark, over and out...
yes, it's queen amidala of naboo who saves the show from becoming an instant relic... if you say that the recent weather in singapore has been nothing short of blistering hot, then you have never watched this show... her performance was brilliant... but most guys would say that just beacuse of the strip-club scene that she did... probably sent shockwaves through most people... heh...
anyway, personally, the show wasn't really worth watching... sure it had a good cast... but come on... the plot was centralised about sex with this woman and that woman... and screwing someone's ex-lover just for revenge... and after all that, a guy asking how good his opponent's sex was compared to his own... i mean like bloody hell... too bad i can't use de-rivetting to describe the storyline... but it's true... so unless you're a film connoissuer, you will not enjoy this... go get hitched...
alright... markymark, over and out...
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
today was great... finished work and went straight down to plaza sing to meet bench, andre, javan and zara... basket... they didnt wait for me to get dinner so i settled for some food from carrefour... then it was time to go catch hitch...
hitch was probably the best show i've watched in like a long time... the plot is good and will smith makes the jokes just come alive... but the best part of the show was when he approached and talked to the girl in the pub... super slick... heh... if u haven't watched it yet, it's time u did... u won't regret it... haha...
the cure for the common man...
here's a statistic that shocked me today... but first the experiment... a guy gets divorced but has 3 boys and a girl before that... the kids are all grown up already... anyway, the guy asks for a DNA test to see if the kids are really his but find out that only the girl was the product of him and his ex-spouse and that the 3 boys had different fathers... and u only thought that guys cheated on their wives... ha...
but here's the statistic... experts concluded that 4o%-50% of people's parents aren't really their TRUE parents... well, it's only a statistic... but one to ponder upon and time to start questioning the folks at home... :P ... ok... dont take me seriously... cos my source aint exactly accurate...
ok... good night...
hitch was probably the best show i've watched in like a long time... the plot is good and will smith makes the jokes just come alive... but the best part of the show was when he approached and talked to the girl in the pub... super slick... heh... if u haven't watched it yet, it's time u did... u won't regret it... haha...
the cure for the common man...
here's a statistic that shocked me today... but first the experiment... a guy gets divorced but has 3 boys and a girl before that... the kids are all grown up already... anyway, the guy asks for a DNA test to see if the kids are really his but find out that only the girl was the product of him and his ex-spouse and that the 3 boys had different fathers... and u only thought that guys cheated on their wives... ha...
but here's the statistic... experts concluded that 4o%-50% of people's parents aren't really their TRUE parents... well, it's only a statistic... but one to ponder upon and time to start questioning the folks at home... :P ... ok... dont take me seriously... cos my source aint exactly accurate...
ok... good night...
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
it's been a while since i last blog... tt's cos i've been pretty busy recently... yeah... having late nighrs and all... bleah... the way pool lost the league cup was pathetic... and it backs my theory that chelsea can't win ithout fluke goals... i mean like there wouldn't have been extra time if not for gerrard's own goal... and the duff goal against man u some time ago was something you'd find in a book titled 'unsolved mysteries of the universe'... sheesh... freak goals... freaky manager... yeah...
tired again... baah... better start sleeping early again... the loss of a sleep-in on saturday has it's price... but the bloody stupid thing is that even though i did a weekend detail, my boss refuses to give those who came back OT off but gave it to himself instead... talk about being a bastard... bleah... alrighty... shall end here... gg to enjoy cable tv... nitez~!
tired again... baah... better start sleeping early again... the loss of a sleep-in on saturday has it's price... but the bloody stupid thing is that even though i did a weekend detail, my boss refuses to give those who came back OT off but gave it to himself instead... talk about being a bastard... bleah... alrighty... shall end here... gg to enjoy cable tv... nitez~!
Thursday, February 24, 2005
the SAF should start to think of giving us STOs hazard pay... today a colleague of mine fell while dismounting one of our vehicles and broke his arm... the SAF might be paying the medical bills, but who's going to pay for the risks we take?
gaah... did work yill after 5 today... then there was some buffet in camp... damn full now...
scv's a blast... and man u's a disappointment... mark, out...
gaah... did work yill after 5 today... then there was some buffet in camp... damn full now...
scv's a blast... and man u's a disappointment... mark, out...
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Haze Daze
yes, it's back... bleah... stupid haze has been getting my nose all clogged up... baah... it's thwe weather too... causing all those bush-fires all over the island... and the constant burning of joss paper ain't doing much to help too... gaah... hope it ends soon... else i'm gonna report sick... heh...
ok... tt's enough... now playing Friends by Michael W Smith...
Friends
Michael W. Smith
Packing up the dreams God planted
In the fertile soil of you
Can't believe the hopes He's granted
Means a chapter in your life is through
But we'll keep you close as always
It won't even seem you've gone
'Cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong
Chorus:
And friends are friends forever
If the Lord's the Lord of them
And a friend will not say "never"
'Cause the welcome will not end
Though it's hard to let you go
In the Father's hands we know
That a lifetime's not too long to live as friends.
With the faith and love God's given
Springing from the hope we know
We will pray the joy you'll live in
Is the strength that now you show
But we'll keep you close as always
It won't even seem you've gone
'Cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong
And friends are friends forever
If the Lord's the Lord of them
And a friend will not say "never"
'Cause the welcome will not end
Though it's hard to let you go
In the Father's hands we know
That a lifetime's not too long to live as friends.
ok... tt's enough... now playing Friends by Michael W Smith...
Friends
Michael W. Smith
Packing up the dreams God planted
In the fertile soil of you
Can't believe the hopes He's granted
Means a chapter in your life is through
But we'll keep you close as always
It won't even seem you've gone
'Cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong
Chorus:
And friends are friends forever
If the Lord's the Lord of them
And a friend will not say "never"
'Cause the welcome will not end
Though it's hard to let you go
In the Father's hands we know
That a lifetime's not too long to live as friends.
With the faith and love God's given
Springing from the hope we know
We will pray the joy you'll live in
Is the strength that now you show
But we'll keep you close as always
It won't even seem you've gone
'Cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong
And friends are friends forever
If the Lord's the Lord of them
And a friend will not say "never"
'Cause the welcome will not end
Though it's hard to let you go
In the Father's hands we know
That a lifetime's not too long to live as friends.
Sunday, February 20, 2005
went to the sajc funfair yesterday... met up with andrew, victoria and marcus before going... heh... i hoped to find mr chan and say hi to him... but i guess he found me first... got intercepted in the hall while talking with khail and zif... he came up to us and tried selling tickets but i think he only managed to sell one and ironically to khail, the miser...
followed marcus around but in the end, we spent the most time in the SC cos the whole place was like a sauna... basket... defeated the whole purpose of going to the funfair... left at 3+ then went to PS where we had mos... the unagi burger was not bad.... but kushin-bo was better... =P... left the rest soon after and went to nakamoto's...
today it was to church... but somehow YAF didnt seem as exciting as before... missing people... missing you... had lunch with my cell group and coffee after that... then i slinked back to my boring private life and went to do my model... guss i'll be doing that more often nowadays... in the past, i used to call her when i had nothing to do... now, there's only a voicemail message on the end of the line...
come back soon...
followed marcus around but in the end, we spent the most time in the SC cos the whole place was like a sauna... basket... defeated the whole purpose of going to the funfair... left at 3+ then went to PS where we had mos... the unagi burger was not bad.... but kushin-bo was better... =P... left the rest soon after and went to nakamoto's...
today it was to church... but somehow YAF didnt seem as exciting as before... missing people... missing you... had lunch with my cell group and coffee after that... then i slinked back to my boring private life and went to do my model... guss i'll be doing that more often nowadays... in the past, i used to call her when i had nothing to do... now, there's only a voicemail message on the end of the line...
come back soon...
Friday, February 18, 2005
Today is the day when another 2 of my friends left for Australia.
First to go was Shelby. Her Singapore Airlines flight to Perth left at about 9 this morning. Pity I couldn't send her off cos I was at work. But we did have somewhat of a good conversation last night when she called me at 2am. Well, I guess it was worth it as that was the last time I was going to talk to her in a long time. She says that she'll be coming back in July. Looking forward to seeing her again.
Then in the evening, it was Jason's turn to say goodbye to this Fine country. His flight was at 9pm so I could go see him off. Burned the Endless Waltz CD for him before going to the airport earlier in the day. All he needs now are the codecs to view the show. As of now, his plane should be over-flying the islands of Indonesia at over 30,000ft. He'll reach Melbourne at approximately 7am tomorrow, Melbourne time.
First there was Rachael. Then Jason. Then Andrea. Then Shelby . Then Chau. I'm losing so many friends to Australia. Wonder when it'll be my turn. Wonder if I'll ever go. I'm having mixed feelings now. If my NTU application goes through, I'll stay. But I have this desire to go over to Melbourne. Sigh. To stay or to go? That is the question.
417 days to freedom. Counting down the days... The days to eternity...
First to go was Shelby. Her Singapore Airlines flight to Perth left at about 9 this morning. Pity I couldn't send her off cos I was at work. But we did have somewhat of a good conversation last night when she called me at 2am. Well, I guess it was worth it as that was the last time I was going to talk to her in a long time. She says that she'll be coming back in July. Looking forward to seeing her again.
Then in the evening, it was Jason's turn to say goodbye to this Fine country. His flight was at 9pm so I could go see him off. Burned the Endless Waltz CD for him before going to the airport earlier in the day. All he needs now are the codecs to view the show. As of now, his plane should be over-flying the islands of Indonesia at over 30,000ft. He'll reach Melbourne at approximately 7am tomorrow, Melbourne time.
First there was Rachael. Then Jason. Then Andrea. Then Shelby . Then Chau. I'm losing so many friends to Australia. Wonder when it'll be my turn. Wonder if I'll ever go. I'm having mixed feelings now. If my NTU application goes through, I'll stay. But I have this desire to go over to Melbourne. Sigh. To stay or to go? That is the question.
417 days to freedom. Counting down the days... The days to eternity...
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Today was the last day I got to see her before she left.
I went to work as usual this morning. Had a few details throughout the day but they were quite easy. I actually had fun on the last one, playing with the ground-control unit of the aerial platform and hence the people up there were at my mercy. So I took them for a ride, swinging the gondola here and there, up and down. Heh, as I said, fun.
We were dismissed early that day so I immdieately went to Tampines Mall to meet Shelby. I was supposd to call her but she did not pick up her phone. 5 missed calls were registered. I hung around the Toys 'r' Us there. That place brough back memories of childhood and the times when I used to pester my mum into bringing me to the Toys 'r' Us mega-store next to Parkway Parade. It was so huge that it took up a 2 storey building all by itself. I used to get lost in the endless corridors of toys. Happy moments. So I hung around, looking at the new generation of toys that children are able to get their hands on now. They're so much more advanced than those of yesteryear. Well, I left after about an hour there, hoping that I could find Shelby somewhere in the mall.
I rode down the escalator and was looking around when I spotted her. Talk about conicidence. If I did not go into Toys 'r' Us earlier and look around, I might not have seen her. Pretty cool stuff, this coincidence thing. Anyway, she was with her friend so I tagged along with them till Shelby had to go. I passed her the Best Ever Worship Songs CD just before I left. That was actually the main reason why I wanted to meet her today. I forgot to pass it to her first on Sunday and then later on Wednesday. She's leaving tomorrow and I just wanted to give her something to remember the people here by.
The good-bye was short and brief and without anything special. Too bad I can't go see her off tomorow morning. The only consolation is that there's a chance I'll see her flight as it departs Changi from CNB. Anyway, I just want to wish her all the best in her studies and that she'll be alright until she comes back in July.
Now, to the Alex issue. I really don't want to comment here but I guess this warrants one. I don't believe that by telling the PLHers not to go see Jason off tomorrow is part of the makings of a mentor. I don't see any reason for stopping them from going to send a friend overseas when they don't miss school as the flight is in the evening. Outrageous? Yes, definately. I shan't comment any further.
Good news in camp. The P4 computers have finally arrived. Migration is scheduled for tomorrow. And I've got half-day off too. Looking forward to it.
Good-bye... for now...
I went to work as usual this morning. Had a few details throughout the day but they were quite easy. I actually had fun on the last one, playing with the ground-control unit of the aerial platform and hence the people up there were at my mercy. So I took them for a ride, swinging the gondola here and there, up and down. Heh, as I said, fun.
We were dismissed early that day so I immdieately went to Tampines Mall to meet Shelby. I was supposd to call her but she did not pick up her phone. 5 missed calls were registered. I hung around the Toys 'r' Us there. That place brough back memories of childhood and the times when I used to pester my mum into bringing me to the Toys 'r' Us mega-store next to Parkway Parade. It was so huge that it took up a 2 storey building all by itself. I used to get lost in the endless corridors of toys. Happy moments. So I hung around, looking at the new generation of toys that children are able to get their hands on now. They're so much more advanced than those of yesteryear. Well, I left after about an hour there, hoping that I could find Shelby somewhere in the mall.
I rode down the escalator and was looking around when I spotted her. Talk about conicidence. If I did not go into Toys 'r' Us earlier and look around, I might not have seen her. Pretty cool stuff, this coincidence thing. Anyway, she was with her friend so I tagged along with them till Shelby had to go. I passed her the Best Ever Worship Songs CD just before I left. That was actually the main reason why I wanted to meet her today. I forgot to pass it to her first on Sunday and then later on Wednesday. She's leaving tomorrow and I just wanted to give her something to remember the people here by.
The good-bye was short and brief and without anything special. Too bad I can't go see her off tomorow morning. The only consolation is that there's a chance I'll see her flight as it departs Changi from CNB. Anyway, I just want to wish her all the best in her studies and that she'll be alright until she comes back in July.
Now, to the Alex issue. I really don't want to comment here but I guess this warrants one. I don't believe that by telling the PLHers not to go see Jason off tomorrow is part of the makings of a mentor. I don't see any reason for stopping them from going to send a friend overseas when they don't miss school as the flight is in the evening. Outrageous? Yes, definately. I shan't comment any further.
Good news in camp. The P4 computers have finally arrived. Migration is scheduled for tomorrow. And I've got half-day off too. Looking forward to it.
Good-bye... for now...
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
heh... was on leave today... took it specially so that i could join jase and shelby for farewell lunch...
met jase, shelby, javan, bench and jase's cousin, sam, and friend, zhiwei at cityhall... walked thru citylink mall to get to suntec... we were really early... cos all around us were shops that still had their shutters down and without staff around... bleah... early right? so we hung around in the few shops that were actually open and waited for the buffet place to open... at 1130, it did... kushin-bo, place of japanese buffet... most of the stuff was great though i regretted taking the green tea ice-cream and siew mai... had to get rid of these abominations before they charged us extra for food wastage... so i placed a siew mai in a bowl of soup remants and hid it under a clam shell... i got rid of the last one with the ice-cream... picked up the cold siew mai and 'accidentally' dropped it in the ice-cream in front of me... bleah... cannot eat already... =P... so i took the 'masterpiece' and chucked it into the bin... heh... it was pure genius i must say... =P... haha....
the unagi was super good... had a lot of it just like the rest... we downed at least 1 kg of sashimi, 3 bowls of soup, lots of ebi tempura, 3 plates of teppanyaki a whole lot of sushi and then some... 3 and a half hours after stepping in, we left the place with bloated stomachs and a really satisfied appetite... heh... went to the arcade after that to go kill time... played some new game called ghost squad.. not bad cos they give u a sub-machine gun to go deciminate enemies... and the fire-mode can be contolled too using a switch on the gun just like the real thing... cool sia... how games have evolved since the days of pac-man and space invaders... heh... played some flight sim game that ate my money too... crappy thing had a busted up joystick which sported a busted trigger... i frantically tried to launch missiles but the thing just wouldnt fire... crappy... =P... after that i joined the nmtb guys in attending the total defence photofest exhibition while my company headed to taka... spent a half hour looking around the exhibits and then went off to look for the gang again... got them at kino before going to nakamoto's to check new stock with javan and bench... javan was looking for a sazabi but he couldnt find it cos of the kit's age... we hopped over to model art gallery to look for it but to no avail... so hesettled for some astray gundam instead... heh...
then went to church for cell group thing... go wet and stuff but it was good in general... gaah... i'm tired... gotta work tml... hopefully i can get my friday half-day off... ok... shall end here... nitez~!
will be missing you...
met jase, shelby, javan, bench and jase's cousin, sam, and friend, zhiwei at cityhall... walked thru citylink mall to get to suntec... we were really early... cos all around us were shops that still had their shutters down and without staff around... bleah... early right? so we hung around in the few shops that were actually open and waited for the buffet place to open... at 1130, it did... kushin-bo, place of japanese buffet... most of the stuff was great though i regretted taking the green tea ice-cream and siew mai... had to get rid of these abominations before they charged us extra for food wastage... so i placed a siew mai in a bowl of soup remants and hid it under a clam shell... i got rid of the last one with the ice-cream... picked up the cold siew mai and 'accidentally' dropped it in the ice-cream in front of me... bleah... cannot eat already... =P... so i took the 'masterpiece' and chucked it into the bin... heh... it was pure genius i must say... =P... haha....
the unagi was super good... had a lot of it just like the rest... we downed at least 1 kg of sashimi, 3 bowls of soup, lots of ebi tempura, 3 plates of teppanyaki a whole lot of sushi and then some... 3 and a half hours after stepping in, we left the place with bloated stomachs and a really satisfied appetite... heh... went to the arcade after that to go kill time... played some new game called ghost squad.. not bad cos they give u a sub-machine gun to go deciminate enemies... and the fire-mode can be contolled too using a switch on the gun just like the real thing... cool sia... how games have evolved since the days of pac-man and space invaders... heh... played some flight sim game that ate my money too... crappy thing had a busted up joystick which sported a busted trigger... i frantically tried to launch missiles but the thing just wouldnt fire... crappy... =P... after that i joined the nmtb guys in attending the total defence photofest exhibition while my company headed to taka... spent a half hour looking around the exhibits and then went off to look for the gang again... got them at kino before going to nakamoto's to check new stock with javan and bench... javan was looking for a sazabi but he couldnt find it cos of the kit's age... we hopped over to model art gallery to look for it but to no avail... so hesettled for some astray gundam instead... heh...
then went to church for cell group thing... go wet and stuff but it was good in general... gaah... i'm tired... gotta work tml... hopefully i can get my friday half-day off... ok... shall end here... nitez~!
will be missing you...
Sunday, February 13, 2005
finally some time to blog... been coming home late the past few days... bleah...
friday was at bs and coffee after that... yesterday was at yip's place for cny and yip's b'day...
gaah... why didn't everton hold chelsea to a draw? supid beattie... sent off... bleah... hope man u win tonight...
how iam i going to take leave on wed? boss not in town... maybe ask mr ng... hopefully can so tt i can go lunch with jason and gang...
alright... shall end here...
friday was at bs and coffee after that... yesterday was at yip's place for cny and yip's b'day...
gaah... why didn't everton hold chelsea to a draw? supid beattie... sent off... bleah... hope man u win tonight...
how iam i going to take leave on wed? boss not in town... maybe ask mr ng... hopefully can so tt i can go lunch with jason and gang...
alright... shall end here...
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
frist and foremost, wishing all of u out there a happy and prosperous lunar new year... may the year of the rooster see the accomplishment of all your dreams...
new year's eve:
went to camp in the morning... did some gangway job that was supposed to take 30 mins but i spent 3 hrs there in the end... bleah... at least i got to go sailing... :P ok... so it was just 200m... but better than nothing right? so i left at 1230 and went home... at 3 we packed up the stuff and got to my aunt's place to cook the dinner... dad was cooking so we were looking forward to it... had prawns, wings, shark's fin and a whole host of other dishes that night... good meal... and we did the loh hey thing... yeah...
day one:
went to my mum's 2nd brother's place in the morning... it was in sengkang so we didn't have to travel much... his place is like huge cos it's a 5 room but their bedrooms were puny... still, it's big... bleah... got to meet my cousins again... quite glad to see them... we hardly see each other besides during CNY... sat there for 4 hrs before going to my mum's godfather's place in toa payoh... satyed there watching some chinese movie till 7 when we went to my grandma's for dinner...
my grandma's pretty ok with me going to melbourne to study... so i guess she'll be sponsoring me then... i really hope this can go through...
day 2 tml... hoping for a bumper haul... haha... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
new year's eve:
went to camp in the morning... did some gangway job that was supposed to take 30 mins but i spent 3 hrs there in the end... bleah... at least i got to go sailing... :P ok... so it was just 200m... but better than nothing right? so i left at 1230 and went home... at 3 we packed up the stuff and got to my aunt's place to cook the dinner... dad was cooking so we were looking forward to it... had prawns, wings, shark's fin and a whole host of other dishes that night... good meal... and we did the loh hey thing... yeah...
day one:
went to my mum's 2nd brother's place in the morning... it was in sengkang so we didn't have to travel much... his place is like huge cos it's a 5 room but their bedrooms were puny... still, it's big... bleah... got to meet my cousins again... quite glad to see them... we hardly see each other besides during CNY... sat there for 4 hrs before going to my mum's godfather's place in toa payoh... satyed there watching some chinese movie till 7 when we went to my grandma's for dinner...
my grandma's pretty ok with me going to melbourne to study... so i guess she'll be sponsoring me then... i really hope this can go through...
day 2 tml... hoping for a bumper haul... haha... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Sunday, February 06, 2005
if you have ever taken public transport here in sing, you'd probably see ppl do a host of things to kill time... Some choose to read... Others choose to listen to their music... Then there's tv mobile... What i saw today takes the cake as the most bizzare way to kill time...
after boarding the lrt from my place to go to church, a weird looking guy boards a stop after me... Now, when i mean weird, i refer to his hair: armani, cemented in place using so much gel that it looked plastic... S41 ppl, think mr chu... Anyway, the moment he takes a seat, he whips out a deck of plastic playing cards and juggles the entire box with one hand, flipping it from his palm to the back of his hand and back with deftly flicks of his wrist... Guess he knows his cards like the back of his hand... Then he removes the deck from the box once again with one hand... Like someone out of the unbeatables, he fans the deck out and waves it around like a god of gamblers dance... Well, the dance ended here cos the train pulled into sengkang station and we both got off to transfer to the nel...
innovative ain't it? heh... i did up the above part of the entry while on the train down to church... now that's a way to kill time...
church was alright i guess... played for 9am and attended plh worship... then it was a super boring afternoon.. had macs lunch followed by some pool and then it was off to ps for cartel... treated some of the guys to drinks and snacks there... we couldnt decide what to do so in the end, alll of us just went home... boring huh? bleah...
after boarding the lrt from my place to go to church, a weird looking guy boards a stop after me... Now, when i mean weird, i refer to his hair: armani, cemented in place using so much gel that it looked plastic... S41 ppl, think mr chu... Anyway, the moment he takes a seat, he whips out a deck of plastic playing cards and juggles the entire box with one hand, flipping it from his palm to the back of his hand and back with deftly flicks of his wrist... Guess he knows his cards like the back of his hand... Then he removes the deck from the box once again with one hand... Like someone out of the unbeatables, he fans the deck out and waves it around like a god of gamblers dance... Well, the dance ended here cos the train pulled into sengkang station and we both got off to transfer to the nel...
innovative ain't it? heh... i did up the above part of the entry while on the train down to church... now that's a way to kill time...
church was alright i guess... played for 9am and attended plh worship... then it was a super boring afternoon.. had macs lunch followed by some pool and then it was off to ps for cartel... treated some of the guys to drinks and snacks there... we couldnt decide what to do so in the end, alll of us just went home... boring huh? bleah...
gaaah... com crashed on thursday morning before gg to work... corrupted files or something like that... got the repair-man today and all is well... but my hdd got re-formatted so all is literally lost... baah... photos, mp3s... the works... but never mind... at least my com is up to speed again and ie ain't crapping up...
spent yesterday night in camp cos i had early detail this morning... the safari bed was not bad... but the stupid mossies kept me awake for most of the night... bleah...did the detail and went home... got back at 8, showered and waited for the repairman...
my dad went out to buythe wings for the bbq later that night... 80 pcs... 4 per person... should be enough right? heh... i soon found out... at 430 i left for east coast to meet up with the guys... started the fire at 6... bleah... the BB boys somehow cannot make it... baah... 1st coy, 54th coy, 49th coy... gaah... heh... then we waited for the GOH... blardee hell... what surprise party??? got no surprise at all... baah... hahaa...
food was cooked and people were dunked... heh... needless to say that this was one great day... baah... gotta get to church tml at 730... playing for band... dun think i'm gg for yaf... plh worship... yeah... much better...
can't they make it better for us?
spent yesterday night in camp cos i had early detail this morning... the safari bed was not bad... but the stupid mossies kept me awake for most of the night... bleah...did the detail and went home... got back at 8, showered and waited for the repairman...
my dad went out to buythe wings for the bbq later that night... 80 pcs... 4 per person... should be enough right? heh... i soon found out... at 430 i left for east coast to meet up with the guys... started the fire at 6... bleah... the BB boys somehow cannot make it... baah... 1st coy, 54th coy, 49th coy... gaah... heh... then we waited for the GOH... blardee hell... what surprise party??? got no surprise at all... baah... hahaa...
food was cooked and people were dunked... heh... needless to say that this was one great day... baah... gotta get to church tml at 730... playing for band... dun think i'm gg for yaf... plh worship... yeah... much better...
can't they make it better for us?
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
there's only one word to describe my day at work... slack...
went to collect my licence from kaki bukit in the morning then went to work... stupid 930 bus didnt show up... luckily there was this other guy who was going in also so we both shared a cab in... wasnt that expensive... but hey, every little bit helps =P...
then at camp, my boss was on half-day leave... coupled with the lack of details after lunch, this left the whole afternoon free for the rest... heh... practically slept the whole day off...
arsenal 2 - 4 man utd
i have been waithing for this day for ages... the day when the devils got to highbury to silence the gunners once and for all... it cant get any sweeter than this for fergie and his boys... revenge is just so sweet... i still remember the time after arsenal's first defeat to man u earlier this season... wenger was telling the world that he could set another unbeaten streak again... but guess what? they just cant... bunch of crapsters... and divers... bloody French Diving Unit...
back to work tml... staying-in on friday... hopefully saturday will be better... nitez~!
went to collect my licence from kaki bukit in the morning then went to work... stupid 930 bus didnt show up... luckily there was this other guy who was going in also so we both shared a cab in... wasnt that expensive... but hey, every little bit helps =P...
then at camp, my boss was on half-day leave... coupled with the lack of details after lunch, this left the whole afternoon free for the rest... heh... practically slept the whole day off...
arsenal 2 - 4 man utd
i have been waithing for this day for ages... the day when the devils got to highbury to silence the gunners once and for all... it cant get any sweeter than this for fergie and his boys... revenge is just so sweet... i still remember the time after arsenal's first defeat to man u earlier this season... wenger was telling the world that he could set another unbeaten streak again... but guess what? they just cant... bunch of crapsters... and divers... bloody French Diving Unit...
back to work tml... staying-in on friday... hopefully saturday will be better... nitez~!
Monday, January 31, 2005
today is the first day i went back to changi in like 4 weeks... and guess what they gave me? a half-day off... hah... got let off at 1230 and went straight home... been sleeping ever since... just got up not too long ago... recuperation... that's what i need...
hungry... where's my mum with dinner??? baah...
gaah... pissed at IE... too many ads getting through my ad-blocking software... luckily there's netscape... the first time i viewed the internet was with netscape... that was donley years ago when i was still in p6... did some kind of pilot project with the scouts in my school... to me, it was a high feeling when i touched the macs they had... come on, that was the time when 486 and p1 were the fastest around and games like duke nukem were the best... stupid ie...
argh... sajc fun fair on 19th... dunno whether i wanna go... dunno where to get tickets... dunno anything lar...
i wanna go aus... monash of rmit... hopefully monash... but i've gotta do 1 yr foundation... so that means a total of 5 yrs spent down under... i'll be old by then... gaah... but i don't mind... at least i get to do what i like to do there... hah... melbourne... just dreaming of you...
the blues... that's what all the premiership teams are seeing... they're probably seeing their smoke only but hey... 10 pts clear of the next competition, arsenal, roman abramovic's blue army look unstoppable at the top... but i don't think their 4-title dreams will be achieved... the domestic cups won't be a problem but the champions league will certainly prove to be a challenge for them...
signing off now... hopefully bench did what he was suposed to...
hungry... where's my mum with dinner??? baah...
gaah... pissed at IE... too many ads getting through my ad-blocking software... luckily there's netscape... the first time i viewed the internet was with netscape... that was donley years ago when i was still in p6... did some kind of pilot project with the scouts in my school... to me, it was a high feeling when i touched the macs they had... come on, that was the time when 486 and p1 were the fastest around and games like duke nukem were the best... stupid ie...
argh... sajc fun fair on 19th... dunno whether i wanna go... dunno where to get tickets... dunno anything lar...
i wanna go aus... monash of rmit... hopefully monash... but i've gotta do 1 yr foundation... so that means a total of 5 yrs spent down under... i'll be old by then... gaah... but i don't mind... at least i get to do what i like to do there... hah... melbourne... just dreaming of you...
the blues... that's what all the premiership teams are seeing... they're probably seeing their smoke only but hey... 10 pts clear of the next competition, arsenal, roman abramovic's blue army look unstoppable at the top... but i don't think their 4-title dreams will be achieved... the domestic cups won't be a problem but the champions league will certainly prove to be a challenge for them...
signing off now... hopefully bench did what he was suposed to...
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