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raining cats and dogs
it has been raining for the past one week and that's very rare in singapore. i love wet weather but somhow the rain came at the wrong time. last week i had my gpmg (general purpose machine gun) live firing and it rain the whole day... so by the time we get back to camp, all of us were drenched. nevertheless the live firing took place on top of a hill at the extreme west of singapore and from the top we could see the 2nd link that connects singapore and malaysia. if only we were allow to take photographs. next on the schedule was the AR15 live range which took place last weekend. AGAIN the rain "accompanied" us the whole day... somehow i have forgotten all the fundementals on handling the weapon so i was kinda nervous especially when i am always the first few to go for the shoot. the rain has affected the visibility and i can't see the target so in the end 80% of the 160+ people who took the test, failed. vickie book a room at marina mandarin on monday night to celebrate her 22nd birthday. it was kind of her to hold her celebration earlier as i will not be able to leave camp this weekend because of some training. so we had a fun night playing mahjong cards and drinking baileys. i seriously feel that my luck suck big time because i am always the one drinking! we check out from the hotel the following afternoon and had our lunch at the imperial restaurant ala "crystal jade". somehow i spend quite a lot this week. i bought 2 dvds from carrefour at a remarkable price, a new pair of slippers from adidas and finally a DKNY watch as a belated birthday present for my mum.
i have been reading ever since i joined the army few months back and i have completed quite a number of books. the most recent one would be "the memoirs of a geisha" by arthur golden. it is definitely a very good book and i am looking forward to watching the movie next week.
2006 first entry!
finally we bid farewell to a fulfilling 2005 and usher in a brand new year. lets see... my new year resolution is to get out of that freaking place and to lead a normal life - and normal life means no more waking up at wee hours, eating sucky food, drinking 1litre of water just before you go to bed, being reprimanded with vulgarities early in the morning, being attacked by those irritating mosquitoes throughout the night, meeting unrealistic timings etc. anyway people always say this "if others can do and overcome it, i am sure you can!" my reply is simply "fuk off! and shut e hell up!" things are different and thus you will never understand how one feels at that point of time. ok... enough about that shitty place... so i was out last night, counting down to a brand new year on a bum boat, sailing down singapore river with joanne, andrew, mag, gin, jess, and jimmy. the idea was terrific because we are really close to those dazzling fireworks without the need to squeeze through the crowd at the esplanade. took some photos using my mobile with the intention to share BUT apparently the network is still abit screwed due to the mass sending of smses last night. after 5 hours, i still didnt receive those pictures in my email. anyway will upload it once it's in. yes... after alighting from the boat at about 0030hrs, i immediately rushed over to singapore expo for the mambo jumbo gig. dav and vic was already there having fun... somehow the party in my opnion was a flop. the crowd wasnt strong enough and thus making the place look empty but the music was nice though. we had a fair bit of dancing and grooving before calling it a day at about 0400 hrs.
merry christmas 2005
it's christmas eve!!! how exciting... we are coming to the end of 2005 - a year full of excitement and new experiences! do you actually remember what you did during christmas eve last year? hmm... i was having a fun night with my buddies from college at the york hotel. we book a deluxe room and we had alcohol, balloons, party hats, light sticks, snacks, presents in every corner of the room! how fun was that? hmm.. 2005 have also been an enriching year, my internship provided an opportunity to manage a 12 days local festival and how i slog my way through with countless of late nights and numerous packets of coffee. then it was my trip down to australia where i explore the country's 3 main cities. in september, i was enlisted and that ended my civilian life and for the past 3 months, i have been booking in and out of the military island where i received my basic military training. besides the unforgettable 7 days field camp and live grenade throw, i've also get to know a lot of nice people who has created the wonderful and memorable experience. currently i am into the 2nd phase of my national service as a regimental policeman with the singapore air force. training is tough and will eventually gets tougher in weeks to come but i am sure i will be able to pull through afterall many have said that my life will eventually improve after the training phase... anyway, i had a rather tough week in the air base, numerous physical training lessons and long lectures. still getting to know my fellow platoon mates. somehow the airforce and the army is kinda different and thus it will take sometime for all of us to adapt to the new lifestyle. hmm.. there is nothing much to update about my life in camp and i guess the only thing that i am looking forward to would be receiving the air force beret on the 10th of march :)
all ready for new unit
in about 4 hours time, i will be down to my new unit - paya lebar air base. hmm.. it's kinda weird when i get my posting because i've never thought RP would be my vocation. anyway thanks to all who have been anticipating my posting results. hah... though i have cleared my ippt, attend all the important courses, i still didn't end up in command school... not feeling down but perhaps was alittle disappointed because the idea about being a sergeant has always seem so much more exciting then being a regimental police. but still i am very positive that it will be equally fun afterall it's not so stressful and my new camp is much nearer to my house. just finished packing my stuff... hopefully i din miss anything out. not too sure when will i be able to book out hopefully it's not too far away because i missing the time spend with my friends! take care my friends while i proudly guard the air base for you. -_-" and one last thing - all the very best to "hatch" the new events management company! cheers!
motherfuck*r!!!
some idiot just access my account and deleted all the comments!!! !@#$%^&*(
yet another birthday...
it seems like there are countless of birthday parties this month - that also means that i've got more presents to buy! agrh... and then you have christmas and then new year... wow! i am getting poorer and will be broke by next week. anyway attended amy's 21st birthday this evening with a couple of ex-colleagues. didn't have the chance to have a good chat with amy as she has got tons of guests to attend to. i was pretty surpised to know that more and more of my ex-colleagues are leaving the company. anyway i am eagerly waiting for my posting which will only be out this friday.. and ya friday is gonna be a busy day for me, will be meeting all my ex-colleagues for dinner and coffee. thereafter, down to clarke quay for yeong fu's birthday - hmm.. what should i get for him?
singapore explorer - prelude to christmas!
Happy Birthday Marian!it's the time of the year! christmas is just around the corner and the usual place in singapore such as orchard road is all up with christmas decorations. hmm... i wonder what should i do this year... anyway last saturday was marian's 21st birthday and we had a small gathering at her place. i think the only item that is lacking at her house is a fireplace if not it would be like one of those houses you see in xmas films... huge and nicely decorated christmas tree, candles of different shapes and sizes, figurine of santa and my favourite - the nativity set! waha... anyway we had a fun evening together and i am looking forward to another outing soon.
Singapore Explorer?
this weekend was definitely "happening". first it was marian's birthday and then my bro-in-law rented a car and there we go, driving around, exploring every corner (almost-_-") of singapore. he had the car for two days so this is what we did and where we went for the two days.
saturday - our excursion started at 10pm after marian's party. our first stop was bugis where we had shanghai spicy steamboat for dinner. thereafter, we went over to swensen @ orchard for ice cream and then over to marina south for bowling. it was almost 3 in the morning when we finished our game and decided to head back to the east. along the way we stop by at macdonalds (east coast) to get some drinks and fries. the final stop of the day was changi - singapore's 2nd red light district -_-" but unfortunately, most of "them" has already off duty...
sunday - we set off for suntec city at about 5 in the afternoon after our lunch cum breakfast. the highlight of the day was a bbq dinner and so there we are at carrefour stocking up the food that we need for the night. our next stop was to macdonalds to buy the usual "two large coke and a large fries" and then off we go to kent ridge park for our bbq. it was a very simple meal - chicken wings, sausages, satay, prawns and marshmellow - enough to fill our stomach. after departing from kent ridge at about 11, we drove further up to tuas and then down north to kranji via lim chu kang.
a memorable week
after 3 long months, i've finally finished my basic military training (BMT) and have passed out from the school. time seem to pass really fast! though i was delighted and longing to leave the place, i do miss the time spent with my platoon mates and commanders. they are the ones that created the memorable experience and i am very sure that i will never forget those wonderful time that i've spend with all of them. here some key events that took place over the last two weeks.
24km route march
this was the so called key highlight of BMT, the graduating march. like most of my friends, i was so not looking forward to it! it was very tiring to walk such a long distance especially when you are carrying a load that weigh almost 20kg! and not to mention the additional stuff like attire (long sleeves uniform), helmet that stinks due to the sweat and the redundant rifle. anyway the march proceeded smoothly and infact it was fun because together with two of my buddies, jeremiah and deqiang, we led the platoon to sing throughout the march.
4 company competed in a number of games such as frisbee, tent building, tug of war, banner design, mascot design and dance. i was the only one from my platoon to participate in the dance competition. though it was fun, the dance steps were pretty challenging for me and i personally feel that i didn't really perform well that day. partly it was because i only attended two rehearsals but nevertheless my team managed to came in 2nd! the competition also gave me the opportunity to make a few new friends from the other platoon.
BMTC Sch 1 Graduation Parade
after 3 months of intensive training, we have all graduated from the basic military training centre. the ceremony begin with a parade showcasing all 4 companies and followed by the throwing of our caps which symbolises the promotion from recruits to privates. upon throwing our caps, all of us were hugging, yelling, shouting basically feeling relieved that we have finally see the light. now that i am enjoying my well deserve break, i wonder which unit would i posted to...
field camp = nightmare!
phew... finally the 7 day field camp has finished. the experience was indeed something that i will never forget for a long long time. afterall how many of us has gone through 7 days of jungle life where food and shelter is at its minimal? i can't believe i actually pull through the 7 days... morale level was at its lowest for many of us. imagine sleeping in a tent that's made up of two piece of ground sheet which is supposed to be water proof and there came the rain that turn our tents into water bed? imagine eating packets of field ration with names like "chicken noodle in tomato basil sauce" and it turn out to taste horrible? imagine shitting in the open surrounded by hundreds of mosquito? imagine sleeping with wet clothing and woke up as though it's winter? this are few experiences that i remember.
from civilian to military life...
it has been a month since i last blog... life in camp is really full of ups and downs. how i feel towards it, changes from time to time. but i guess i am beginning to adapt to the military life - at least i have been telling myself to think positive. anyway trainings are getting tougher as our physical training phase has ceased and all our superiors has a lso raised their expectations on us in terms of discipline and some other areas. nevertheless i would say that i am rather lucky as compared to the rest as i am able to get along well with most of the people in my platoon and in fact has make some very good friends in the course though there are still afew whom i thought should really pull up their socks and wake up from their idea! hah...life in camp can be pretty interesting and yet boring. you get to see people from all walks of life being thrown into the same place - some strive to impress, some simply don't bother while some others has very werid habits like polishing his boots day and night. then you have the selfish ones who basically refused to follow instructions.
the first two weeks was tough for me. the fact that we are the lowest in rank makes it worse because the amount of freedom that we are entitled is minimal and every single mistake will result in people yelling at us but gradually i sort of gave up and accepted the fact that for the next 10 weeks people will be yelling at us everyday or perhaps at least twice per day. i've also realised that friends plays an important role as they are the only pillar of support that we have in camp. i am happy that i have got two very nice (and lame) buddies whom i know i can talk and relate to, and the funny thing is we are not from the same section. afew more hours to go and i have to go back to that island so i am off to pack my stuff... till my next entry. cheers!
just lazing around...
it has been awhile since i last blog. somehow eversince i return from my australia trip, i have been lazing around and not doing anything productive. it is my last week of "enjoyment" and yet most of the time i do not really feel like going out unless there is a reason to. anyway i was helping out in an event today, the launch of mid-autumn festival being held at chinatown. i am glad to be there because it seems that everyone was there including those that has left the company like myself. though there were quite a number of hiccups here and there throughout the event, it was pretty fun to work with so many familar faces. a lot friends have been asking about my australia trip... well, i wouldn't say it was fantastic but i did enjoy myself especially when this is my first trip down under. there were a couple of interesting experiences like how i got lost in gold coast for not paying attention to the bus driver who speak as though there was a sausage in his mouth... haha ok this is how i describe their english, and how i spend one full day exploring melbourne city on foot and my first helicopter ride etc. the trip has also somehow broaden my understanding on a lot of things like studying overseas, people, attitudes and etc but i suppose this is life - it is ever-changing and thus people do change as well. oh in case you're interested, photos from my recent trip are posted up on my multiply page. so back to my current lifestyle which is not very "happening". most of the time i am home watching television, surfing the net or playing some pc game and maybe meeting my sis and bro-in-law (soon to be :) for movie at the shopping mall near my place. i am just so lazy to go anyway especially when i am kinda poor now since i am unemployed! talking about surfing the net... was reading a friend's blog earlier - hmm... of cause i am interested in that meeting but because it was my grandfather's death anniversary, there was a lot of food and thus i have to stay home for dinner. besides, i was really on a tight budget or should i say ... if i wasnt interested, i wouldn't have go all the way down to town for that mere 3 hours... ok i am done! cheers people :-)
One must never lose time in vainly regretting the past or in complaining against the changes which cause us discomfort, for change is the essence of life.
~ Anatole France (1844-1924)
French critic, writer, Penguin Island
aussie - singapore
9 hours more and i am flying back home after 12 long days in australia! somehow i kinda miss singapore - the people, the food, my friends, family and my BED! took around 400 photos along the way from brisbane to gold coast and melbourne and eventually sydney... it was very tiring to be flying around the place but definitely fun too! of the 3 main places that i've visited, melbourne is still my favourite city! shall update more when i am back tonight...
aussie - port stephens - sydney
blogging from my friend's apartment... just return from our 2D1N trip to port stephens. phew... the journey back to sydney took us 3 long hours. i suppose it's gonna take longer if not of their excellent driving skills! we rented a 3 room bungalow in port stephens and the place was just cool... the entire house was fully furnished with very useful amenities. especially the bed, it was the most comfortable on that i slept on for the entire trip. haha... everywhere in australia is nice. each and every city has its own beauty and charm. i've taken lotsa photos along the trip, shall upload them once i am back on the 23rd... till then!
* gotta go now because jacqueline and her friends has whip up a really nice dinner... and i think everyone is ready to tuck in!
aussie day 5 - melbourne, melbourne city
weather was much better than yesterday... we spend the entire day walking from our hostel to the city and we cover most of the places including st. patricks cathedral and crown... though we didn't managed to enter the casino because we left our passport in the hostel... nonetheless it was still fun walking around and exploring the places by foot. took some very interesting photos too and perhaps, due to the weather, we managed to catch 3 really big rainbow along the way! anyway tomorrow i will be going to philip island to see those penguins and will be going to the great ocean road on wednesday before i packed and flew over to sydney where i meet the rest of the peepz... and by the way, YHA hostel is excellent despite having to share the room with others, the rest of the facilities is still great and the interior of the building looks cool too, if only my camera runs on a SD Card instead of XD then i would be able to load some pictures!!!
alright folks!
aussie day 4 - melbourne, australia
took virgin blue from gold coast to melbourne today... flight was reasonably good except that the cabin pressure was somehow different from the normal flights that i took. both dav and i was suffering from stomach upset when we get off the plane.
anyway despite the the flight only took us 2 hrs, we had to set off real early to gold coast domestic airport yesterday! we left our hotel at about 4.10 in the morning to catch the shuttle bus and because it was such werid hours (excluding the fact that aussie is 2 hrs ahead of singapore) we cant really sleep and when we wanted to, it was the time to leave. anyway prior to our departure from surfers paradise, we visited the curumbin wildlife sanctuary and it was rather interesting and fun because we get to feed the kangeroos and carry the koalas... and we got some very nice photos taken as well...
phew... tomorrow i am gonna spend the whole day exploring melbourne city and will be visiting philip island to see some penguins and to take some scenic photos of the great ocean road in the next couple of days...
see ya~
aussie day 3 - surfers paradise, australia
whoo... today is day 3 of my 13 days trip to australia. i am currently in my first stop, gold coast. weather was pretty bad yesterday... rather cold and it began to rain at about 3 in the afternoon.
day1 - we didn't really have a good start for the trip and it all started with our arrival into brisbane international airport! right infront of us stood 2 people from a particular country which has a high crime rate and there came the immigration officer whom i thought was obviously discriminating asians! he demanded that i must unlock my luggage despite the fact that he already place it on the x-ray scanner. nevertheless we truly understand that there's nothing much we can do because it's their country -_-" thus we didn't let it affect our mood.
day2 - we went to movie world yesterday. it was neither impressive nor boring... in my opinion the park deserve a 6/10 rating. we took this particular bus that was supposed to take us back to our hotel in surfers but halfway through the journey, the bus stop and the driver said something which both dav and i can't really hear and understand! what happen in the end was that we should have alight and change to the other bus! and since we never, we went straight into southport and yeah even though we were lost, we display courageous spirit by attempting to walk back from southport to surfers... the entire journey took us 2 and half hours and we spend the time fruitfully by taking pictures even though we were lost!
day3 - right... 3 more minutes before my internet connection stops. i will be joining a night tour tonight that visit some wildlife places... think it should be pretty fun and exciting... till then!
almost there! finally approaching the finishing line!
2 more day to go before i officially leave the company which i have been working in for the past 6 months. my project has finally ended and i must say that i am really very happy with the end result... after all it was 5 months of hard work and countless of late nights. singapore heritagefest has indeed taught me a lot and i must say that i am very fortunate to have work with many people whom are very friendly, capable and talented. our clients has also been a very understanding bunch of people and this is exceptionally important as changes is inevitable in this industry. now that i am moving towards the next phase of my life, i do have many plans and goals that i hope to achieve in the next couple of years and hopefully i will be able to catch up with the rest after i complete my national service in two years time. as for now ... i really look forward to my well deserved trip to australia in 3 weeks time and to spend more time with my family and friends! it's true that my social circle has shrink eversince i joined this company but well... i suppose that's life... you will never be able to get the best out of two . don't you agree?
latest update..
didn't have the time to blog lately because 70% of my time is spend working, 28% for sleeping and 2% watching tv - which is the only leisure activity that i have now. sad isn't it? but anyway soon everything will end and i will finally graduate with a diploma in tourism management! counting down... 36 more days to go!
here are some updates:
Singapore HeritageFest 2005 is the project that i am working on. infact it is also the reason why i am being employed by my company. anyway a series of exciting activities has been planned and will soon be presented proudly to the public. "Heritage on the Move!" - the pre festival roadshow which will be held at 11 venues island-wide, will kick off next monday. do look out for it!
after the Roadshow, Singapore HeritageFest 2005, will officially open on 14th July 2005 at Suntec City, Tropics Atrium. Lasting a total of 12 days, the festival will comprise of activities like
- Kid's on Board! - a specially created, river-themed kid's corner, near the main entrance of Suntec.
- Festival Hub - located at the tropics atrium, the hub will showcase two main exhibition entitled "Food Prints of Singapore" and "Right After Birth". Also exciting and VERY unique cultural performances at the main stage.
you may also want to mark 23rd July 2005 on your calender. two major components of the festival will be held that day. catch some of the most prominent local bands/singers from the 70's to current in this exclusive concert "Heritage Grooves!" held at Bugis Junction, Roof Garden. be sure to come! it's free -_-". the next event would be "Fun on Foot Adventure Singapore", this&nbs p;heritage-inspired treasure hunt will start from Sago Lane in Chinatown. registration is now open and the participation fee is 12 bucks for a team of 4 (inclusive of goodie bag).
all in all, Singapore HeritageFest promise to be a fun, exciting and enriching event!&nbs p;do help to support in all the fringe activities, specially organised for you!
ok... enough of publicity for the event. other updates about me includes...
aussie trip - will be leaving for a long holiday in early august after i finish my internship. tentative plans would be a 10 days tour to 3 cities in australia. i am looking forward to it!
corrinne may in concert safe in a crazy world - whoo~ singapore's very own talented songwriter/singer, based in LA, is back for a one night gig at the esplanade concert hall. i sure gonna support her but provided it doesn't clash with my travel plan.
national service - my enlistment date is here... BUT not gonna reveal much... after all i suppose you people doesn't wish to know too. anyway i am kinda sad because i wont be able to attend my sis's engagement party.
such a long entry tonight... but i suppose my next entry will only come in mid-july. till then...
untitled
just back from yet another "irrelevant" outing with ah dell, mary seow and ah su. i am so gald to meet up with them because i've always enjoy their jokes (excluding the horrifying pic that mary took during her trip to hkg with ah su and the story about the magnet -_-"). it's always good to have friends whom you can get along with... especially after a long stressful day at work... anyway we had not-so-nice dinner before singing our lungs out at a nearby KTV. apparently the songlist is rather limited and somehow that place remind me of some unhappy... anyway shall not elaborate further. have a good wednesday everybody!~
start of the week!
it's the start of the long week... we had the usual "work in progress" meeting at the client's office today. just as i expected, the meeting lasted almost 3 hours! actually it is considerably early as compared to the many previous meeting we had. half way through the meeting, i was rather annoyed by this guy from a particular organisation. he just can't seem to understand our language! i really feel like shouting at him to "wake up" his idea and accept the fact that things cannot go his way! anyway below are two shots which i took on my new camera in "night mode". it's much clearer if i were compare it to my previous cam.
it's five-thirty-five in the morning...
it's friday! finally it's weekend again! but before i even think of the things i am going to do over the weekend, today gonna be real busy day for me. anyway i have bought myself a new camera - the olympus mju mini digital S in enamel black (gotta say a big "thank you" to belinda boh, my team "member", for telling me about the olympus roadshow). the cam is pretty cool in my opinion though i agree that it doesn't look very nice on the pic in my previous entry. anyway i shall bring it out and take some shots to see the quality. will post it up soon.
4 days away...
finally it's the end of the month! so excited as i am waiting for my pay cheque so that i can bring one of the above back home!
i have managed to sell away my old school digital camera which has already been placed under the "archive" section in the olympus website. although i am very sure i will get a new camera, i am still pretty confused as to buy which model. both are equally attractive and functions doesnt differ much either so ... any suggestion?
birthday parties @ hydl
today i am going to talk about the birthday parties happening in my office. it's always so happening when a member of the company is celebrating his/her birthday. first of all, they will buy present and usually it's a HUGE surprise! so "surprising" that the birthday boy/girl will know what she is going get! -_-" the next highlight would be the cake... you get to choose what cake you want and apprently you have to make sure you say it ONCE and say it right - because i said i wanted "pandan" cake the other time and they really give me that -_-". next would be the programming for the 25mins celebration - being a events management company, we are definitely very "pro" in such things! and usually the birthday victim will be asked to say a speech, you know... the usual "really *sob*... i am truly touched... thank you all so much *world peace*" BUT it seems that the trend is beginning to change as the time passes, new programming has been installed and more "victims" are involved.
a couple of weeks ago, a colleague from another department celebrated her birthday and we (people from my department) were invited to go down (their office is at the ground level) to enjoy her cake... so happily we were enjoying the cake and SUDDENLY i was told to sing for all of them... my "no, thank-you" din turn out that well and the result (part 1)was - ME singing "happy birthday" in cantonese.
today was joanne-the-turn-off's birthday and all of us wanted to go orchard to buy the usual cake. it was like a beauty pageant and we have to go thru a selection before we can happily go swinging at orchard rd. i was raising and stretching my hands up high, hoping to get the attention of the so call "judges" - result (part 2) - sitting by my desk in the office while the rest went -_-". being a someone who has a big and kind heart, i decide to forget about the fact that i was being eliminated, i decided to make myself useful by decorating the pantry with colourful balloons and papers (with the help of Gin and Gera). finally they came back with good food... but i have to leave the office for a "trading" session and when i came back sweating like as though i have just ran 2.4km, they have already finished their lunch. so immediately the cake was brought out and the usual "whoo.. happy birthday to you! *so sweet*" commenced. shortly after... to my horror, AGAIN i was told to perform! this time was even worse because my bosses were around and everyone was pointing at me! left with no choice, i begin to sing kai's version of "twinkle twinkle little star" which resulted in them feeling nausea... sigh...
although it wasn't really that fun (especially for me), it's still very nice of them to celebrate our birthdays. anyway i have investigate (after being sabo-ed for the 2nd time) and i realised that because i am always clowning around in the office and thus they thought i am actually a graduate from some "ulu-pandan-cake circus". i have since reflected on my poor actions and performances and have decided to turn over a new leaf... with immediate effect, i shall cease all clowning session and be serious!
yours in circus
ivan
discovery @ little india!
this evening i went to the "vesak day celebration event" at little india. i was there for work purpose which is to take some photographs for my performer. in case you're wondering, i am involved in the planning of Singapore HeritageFest 2005. it's a government project that aims to bring heritage to fellow singaporeans and to the many tourists. oh well -_-" anyway i am glad i make the effort to go down even though i was feeling real tired because i get to see some very good performance which could be the potential groups that i would like invite, to perform during the HeritageFest. above is a photo of a group of primary school kids doing the bhangra dance. isn't it interesting? they were really good and i believe these kids must have train really hard for this 5mins performance. *two thumbs up for the little ones from Maha Bodhi School*