Zi Rong's Personal Blog

NTU Bike Rally 2009

2009-03-16T10:21:00.009+08:00

It was my first time participating in a long-distance cycling event. It was a 128km route, I joined it together with my brother and 2 cousins. Here's the route of the event:

We reached East Coast Park at about 6am. The sky was still dark, there were already many people there. Most of them had their personal bikes. As we were not avid cyclists, we rented the bikes from them. The total fee including bike rental was $40, which was worth it considering the food provided, and large number of manpower needed.

The event flagged off at 7am, the seasoned cyclists raced off on their speedbikes into the distance. My cousins and I remained in the middle of the pack. We reached the first checkpoint Labrador Park at about 810am, replenished on food and rested for about 15mins.

Next checkpoint was at NTU. Soyjoy energy bars, H2O drinks and bananas were provided. By then, my thighs started to ache a little, I continued after some stretching. My thighs were so numb I had some difficulties walking down the stairs, haha. After a 20min rest, we continued to our next checkpoint at Kranji Reservoir.

The toughest part of this leg was the seemly never-ending Lim Chu Kang stretch of road. We past by 3 cemetries and a chicken farm. By then, there were people resting on the grass patch along the road. There was a guy receiving medical attention, it looked like he fell from the bicycle and injured his arm. By this time, the sun was up and I began to feel the heat. I pedaled on and finally reached checkpoint 3!

On to checkpoint 4 at Yishun Stadium. I found this leg the toughest as there were many hills to climb along Mandai road. The temperature of the air was also beginning to rise. This was where the gears of the mountain bike came in very useful and allowed me to conquer the mild and steep slopes. Even the safety cyclist commented that the hills were killing him. Onwards to checkpoint 5 at Serangoon Stadium!

In this leg, we cycled through the upcoming Seletar Airhub. We passed by the Singapore Youth Flying Club and Seletar airport. Next was Jln Kayu were it's famous for the roti prata. The traffic here was heavy, and the narrow roads made it worse. I had to slow down to avoid getting hit by cars. Lorries were reversing from parking lots, and taxis trying to overtake dangerously. We cycled through Yio Chu Kang road, and finally reached Serangoon Stadium. The sky was turning cloudy, and rain was imminent. We took a 15min rest here, had a toilet break and ate some food. By now, the Soyjoy energy bar tasted bad as it was very dry. It tasted similar to the army's combat ration fruit bar. NSmen should know the taste.

Finally there was only 1 checkpoint remaining till the end of the bike rally! We cycled through Hougang and onto Tampines Road. Mid way through, the rain started to pour! We seeked shelther at a bus stop along the way, and was deciding whether to continue. My brother and cousin was keen to go on, thus we continued pedaling despite the heavy rain. We went past Ikea, Pasir Road and finally reached Loyang Point. From here it was still quite a long way to the Changi Beach checkpoint. We cycled past Changi Air Base, Changi Village and the SIA Training College. This stretch was challenging as well cause of the slopes. The poor visibility caused by the heavy rain made things worse. Till then, we had cycled for 9 hours!

We rested at Changi Beach for about 5 min, and continued on to the finish line at ECP. From then on, we travelled along the Park Connector Network (PCN). The cycling track beside the Changi Airport runway was great. It was a completely straight 4-5km road, we cycled and saw planes taking off. There was only a slight drizzle of rain then, and the air was cool. We finished the entire course at about 5.15pm, taking approximately 10h including the breaks taken at the checkpoints.

Many people had already left, and the stage area was empty. I'm sure more would've stayed if not for the rain which drenched all the participants. The event ground was also flooded. We decided to give the lucky draw a miss and went home after changing into dry clothes, where a soothing hot bath awaits us.

I think the entire event was well-organised with the routes clearly marked out, and many road marshallers along the way. However the checkpoints were lacking of energy drinks, probably because cyclists who reached earlier finished them. The only checkpoint which had H2O was at NTU, while the rest of the checkpoints had ice water and diluted Gatorade drinks. Food like buns and energy bars were aplenty though. Other than that, the entire event was very fun and challenging. I'm also very thankful we didn't encounter any accidents along the way. This is the most physically challenging activity I've taken part thus far. My next goal is to complete a half-marathon under 2h this year end.

NTU Bike Rally 2009 Finisher's Tee (left) and Event Tee

Back of the Event Tee

A free man!

2009-03-03T16:41:00.002+08:00

I've finally completed my 2 years of army conscription service to Singapore. The feeling that I had on the day of ORD was overwhelming and priceless. It's the day when I finally gained back control of my life and no longer have to do things I don't like, and having to keep a very short haircut.

Blogging has recently become unpopular. My friends have stopped updating their blogs regularly, some even gave up on it completely. Blogging started out as a popular way to communicate with friends and sharing your thoughts with both friends and strangers who visit it. But like Friendster, it's popularity is fading away.

I really look forward to starting my studies in University. The thought of becoming a student again, making new friends and learning new things is just so exciting. I can't wait to embark on my career in the aerospace industry.

I've about 5 months before the semester starts. Recently I've been looking for part-time jobs. I've gotten one as a part-time tutor at the tuition centre, and another 4-day job as a helper at the furniture fair.

Ironic (or iconic) picture of Singapore society

2009-01-19T13:48:00.003+08:00

I found this picture from HardwareZone. I think it really depicts the state of Singapore society. The government is always advocating to help the poor cope with rising costs, but there're still so many people living in a bad state. Just take a walk around Boon Keng estate and you can see the poor living conditions many people have.
Lets see what the Jan 22 Budget have to offer to help the middle and lower-income citizens.

Happy 2009!

2009-01-02T19:29:00.004+08:00

Yeap, it's finally 2009. It's about 6 weeks till I finally get out of army. My camp is getting more regimental, early life runs and compulsory 1st & last parades. Regimentation really spoils the relaxed environment that we used to have and enjoy. But well, just hang on for another 6 weeks and it'll be all over. Several of my friends have already ORD'd and I long to have the freedom they enjoy.

What I did and achieved in Year 2008
1. I spent many months (March till Sept) doing NDP08 together with my battalion. It was super fun though, best experience I could ever get in NS. Hope to get involved in NDP09 somehow.

2. Attained driving license in May. It was my 2nd test attempt, and I spent almost $2k to get it. I know it's not possible for me to own a car yet, so I'll just drive my Dad's car.

3. That's probably about it, cause NDP took up so much of my time. I must achieve more in 2009!!

I've also set my 2009 resolutions and targets:
1. Join Nike Human Race and Standard Chartered Marathon this year. I missed out on the 2008 Nike run as I didn't know about it, I'll not miss it in 2009.

2. Get a job from March till August when I start my course in NTU. Also to earn enough money to pay off at 1 year of tuition fees.

3. Meet up with friends more oftenly.

4. Get my first IPPT Gold as a NSmen. I'll probably have to take the test after April.

I found this video online, a guy proposing to his girlfriend during a NBA game.

Holiday in Australia

2008-12-18T20:57:00.002+08:00

I went for a holiday with my family to Australia from 6 to 16 Dec. We travelled on Qantas to Brisbane. My Dad drove all the way down from Brisbane to Sydney. The route was:
Brisbane 2 nights - nothing really much in Brisbane actually. It was very quiet after 5pm, should have spent 1 night here instead.

Gold Coast 2 nights - great beaches, visited Dreamworld, Whitewater World and Movie World within the 3 days there

Coffs Habour 1 night - had to spend a night here to break the 700km journey from Gold Coast to Sydney

Blue Mountains, Katoomba 2 nights - A world heritage site, famous for the Three Sisters Rock (see my photo album). Scenery was amazing, but rainy weather clouded the great views.

Sydney 3 nights - A very bustling city. Driving in Sydney is very expensive, parking costs over $8/hour. It's a great shopping haven as well. The main shopping area, George St, is much better than Singapore's Orchard Rd. Market City have factory outlets which have great deals. We bought a New Balance sneakers for $40, Diesel sneakers for $70, RL Polo tee for $59. I had a great time here. The casino, StarCity, was cool.

Visit the photo album for my trip here.

RSAF Open House

2008-08-30T15:44:00.002+08:00

I went with my Dad to the open house. We took a shuttle bus from Hougang Interchange at about 845am, and reached PLAB at around 9am. As it was early, the queues were still short.

Here are the pictures

There were 7 lanes for the security check, we queued up at lane 7

I think both are F-16s

I queued for almost 1hr, and manage to get a feel of the Apache cockpit

The apache pilot was kind enough to explain the helicopter aerodynamics to me in simple terms

Inside the Fokker aircraft

The Chinook. The weather was really hot!

By around 1030am, the sun was scorching. The air display was alright, almost the same as the previous air force open house. I hope to see the F-15SG during the next RSAF open house.

Life, NDP, Fireworks Festival

2008-08-26T22:19:00.006+08:00

NDP

For the past few months since June, I had been busy with NDP. Everywhere in camp I hear my peers and superiors talking/breathing/laughing/joking about NDP. From Combined Rehearsal 1 to 6, plus Preview, there were 7 full-dress practices before the actual Aug 9 event. It came and gone, and it's all back to the usual life in camp.

Here's the group of people who set up the entire communications network for NDP. It's amazing how a small group accomplished a mega-scale task.
Upcoming is an overseas exercise to Aussie, another project that requires lots of preparation. That just means more OT...
I can't wait to ORD next Feb!

SG Fireworks Festival

The above are some pictures taken during the fireworks display, taken with a Casio Exilim camera.
The tickets were distributed among NDP participants, and I was lucky to get a pair of tickets during a ballot cause there were insufficient tickets to go around. Other than the spectacular 15min fireworks display, the other show performances were sub-standard. I heard people paid $30-$70 for a pair of tickets in online auctions, it's definitely not worth the money.

20,000
Anyway, I'm very surprised my blog has 20,000 hits. Thanks to everyone who visits it, I promise to update as regularly as I can from now on!

Great feeling to drive!

2008-06-14T16:35:00.002+08:00

I finally passed my driving test on my 2nd attempt. It happened at CDC on 29 May, the feelings I had before and after the test were *completely* different. I felt so nervous especially during the test route balloting, hoping very hard not to get route 6/7. But after entering the car with the examiner, the nervous feeling suddenly disappeared and I felt in control of the situation. I chalked up 10 demerit points for insufficient acceleration, sharp turns etc. At the end, nothing in the world beats the ecstatic feeling of knowing that I passed the test. All the money, time and effort I put in for the past year finally paid off! Lots of credit goes to my driving instructor who taught me the skills and gave me all the confidence to pass the test.
My parents went overseas on holiday for the past week, and I got to drive my Dad's car during that period. A 1hour trip to camp using public transport was cut short to a 15mins drive. It just felt like I had a lot more control over time. I didn't have to be afraid of missing the bus in the morning. It's really a pity that cars cost so much here in Singapore... I'll have to go back to relying on public transport from next week onwards... :(

Blog update!

2008-04-18T20:55:00.002+08:00

Woah, I realise that I've not updated my blog for so long! So many things have happened since, I'll just write about what happened for this week.

Today was my unit cohesion. We played paintball at Orchid Country Club in the morning. The first impression of the paintball arena wasn't good though, it was all muddy and rundown, and I can't believe they charge so much for the game ($15 per head for admission, $800 for 4000 paintballs shared among everyone). We formed five teams of 5 people each, and played in a round robin format. Each team got to play 2 games. The game was fun, but getting shot by the paintball was really painful. I got hit once on the upper part of the face, another time smack into the neck. That area of my neck swelled up pretty badly, some even said it looked like a lovebite, haha. There were bruises on my chest and legs. Fortunately I'm still alive!
After the 'painball' session, we had lunch at a chinese restaurant inside the club. It was a ten-course meal, a very filling one. It's great to have such cohesion as we all get to get a day off to mingle with everyone. Opportunities like that are hard to come by during the normal working days when everyone are busy.

Yesterday I cleared my ippt, my final test window which I've to clear during my NS stint. I was really fortunate as the weather yesterday was cool, great for outdoor physical activities. I completed the 2.4km route in 9.31min, falling short of my 9.15min target. Nevertheless, my Mizuno Wave Precision 7 shoe did me proud. I recently bought the New Balance 768 shoe, I chose this shoe for its excellent fore and rear foot cushioning, though it's bulkier than the Mizuno noe. Now I'm just waiting for the ippt monetary incentive to enter my bank account. :D

I've been pretty bored at home during the weekends, not sure where to go. I don't really know where to hang out if I ask friends out as well. So if anyone who's bored and wants to go out during the weekends, just call me! :D

Singapore Airshow 2008 and Singapore Flyer

2008-02-25T20:52:00.012+08:00

Singapore Airshow 2008
My Dad was fortunate enough to get complimentary tickets for the Airshow from his friend. We reached Pasir Ris MRT station at about 9.10am and there was already a long queue formed to board the shuttle bus to the show site. The queue moved very quickly though, as the frequency of the shuttle buses (the TIBS long buses) was about 1 min. The journey there was quite alright, with occasional heavy traffic along the narrow roads.

We reached Aviation Park at 10am. There was then the security clearance to get pass. It took about 30mins to clear security. We finally were free to explore the site after that. By then, the weather was beginning to get hot. We took several pictures and explored the static display followed by the indoor booths. The airshow commenced at around 12.20pm, I didn't take pictures of the air display as my camera isn't good enough.

Overall, I enjoyed the show, the extreme hot weather dampened the enjoyment a little though. Crowd control could have been much better, it was a nightmare leaving the show site. Roads were jammed with shuttle buses, commercial trucks and taxis.

Here are a few pictures:

Hightlight of the show - The Airbus A380

The smaller passenger aircrafts

Full shot of Airbus A380

SINGAPORE FLYER - website: www.singaporeflyer.com.sg

On Sunday, my family and I went on board the Singapore Flyer. There weren't many people really, thus buying the tickets and boarding the cabin was a breeze. It officially opens to public on Mar 1. Last week was open to ticket holders of the Airshow '08, with 10% discount. The ride was 30mins long. The cabin was comfortable with 4 benches for sitting. With such breathtaking views, who would want to sit down?!

The cabin

Marina Bay Floating Platform. Preparation for NDP'08

Integrated Resort construction site

Almost reaching the peak!

View of City skyline

The grandstand of the Singapore F1 GP

Other than the Flyer ride itself, the shops in the complex are great too. There're several fine dining restaurants, and also Popeye Chicken which was currently only available and Changi Airport. There is also a Flight Simulator called Flight Experience (www.flightexperience.com.sg). It's an actual commercial flight simulator used to train pilots. It comes at a high price of $155 for 30mins. It may actually be worth it as you'll probably not get such opportunities anywhere else.

Yeap, my weekend was great with lots of aviation-related activities. Hope to meet up with friends soon!

CNY 2008

2008-02-10T22:34:00.000+08:00

This year's Chinese New Year seem to be over much quicker than other years. It was still very fun though.

Here's a photo of all my cousins, my younger brother and I!

As labelled on the photo, it taken on the 2nd day of CNY when my relatives came to my house for lunch.

CNY Eve 6 Feb
I was off that day, and initially wanted to visit my teachers at NYJC. However it didn't happen as many of my classmates couldn't make it in the morning. I organised a class gathering at VivoCity in the afternoon. Not many turned up, only about 12 people in all. It was the wrong day for a class gathering as many of the shops started to close at around 3pm. The last orders at restaurants were at 2.30pm! We had our lunch at Dian Xiao Er, placing our orders at 2.15pm, blarh. We left for home at around 4.30pm for reunion dinner. My Dad prepared lots of dishes, covering the entire table! It would've been a great day if the class gathering was more exciting. At least I know not to organise outings on the eve of major public holidays.

CNY Day1 7 Feb
In the morning, my family and I went to the temple at Sengkang to pray. We go there every CNY, and it has become a tradition for us. Later on, we visited my Mum classmate's house around the Serangoon area. Lastly, all our relatives gathered at my 5th aunt's place for steamboat dinner.

CNY Day2 8 Feb
In the morning, we visited my granduncle at his house in Marine Parade. Later on, my relatives came over to my place for lunch and we played Blackjack for about an hour. In the evening, we visited my 1st aunt's place at Yishun.

CNY Day3 9 Feb
9 Feb is my Father's birthday. My brother and I bought him a new wallet as his current one was so worn out. My Dad always like to say 'it doesn't matter if the wallet is tattered, it's the content that matters' - how true! We plan to have a birthday celebration dinner after the CNY festive season to avoid the price hikes.
In the afternoon, I met up with Xavier and XinXiang for billiard at ToaPayoh Safra club.
The CNY mood is beginning to tone down for me already.

CNY Day4 10 Feb
Wilson invited some friends and I to his house. Only 3 people turned up, I thought there would've been more. We played mahjong for about 4hours and had dinner at his place.

Yeap, so CNY has been quite dull this year. The holidays are already over before I can fully set into the mood. This will probably be the last major break period for me before a reall busy year. My unit is gearing up for NDP '08 at Marina Bay. I hope to get parade tickets to give out to my relatives and friends. If you want tickets, do inform me and I'll keep a lookout for you - no guarantees though! There'll be a great spectacle of the various Naval equipment. Water will probably be the main theme of NDP for the next 4 years, when it'll be held at Marina Bay until the new national stadium is built.

I really look forward to the next class outing, hope it'll be at the beach or Sentosa so we can have more activities.

Random picture

My current desktop wallpaper - A picture I took when I visited Changi T3's Open house. It keeps my inspiration alive to be a pilot of jet plane.

Jokes

2008-01-05T10:47:00.000+08:00

*MUTHU & THE INTERVIEWER*
Interviewer : 'What is your birth date?'
Muthu : '13th October.'
Interviewer : 'Which year?'
Muthu : 'Every year.'

*MUTHU & HIS MANAGER*
The Manager asked Muthu at an interview....
'Can you spell a word that has more than 100 letters in it?'
Muthu replied: 'P-O-S-T-B-O-X.'

* MUTHU & LONDON TRIP*
After returning from a foreign trip, Muthu asked his wife, 'Do
I look like a foreigner?'
Wife: 'No! Why?'
Muthu : 'In London, a lady asked me, 'Are you a foreigner?'...
that's why.'
Wife : ?????????

*MUTHU & TOURIST*
A tourist from U.S.A. asked Muthu whether any great man was
born in his village... and Muthu said .. 'No sir, only babies were born
here.'

*MUTHU & HIS EXPERIMENT*
Muthu was doing an experiment with a cockroach. First he cut off one
leg and told it to 'WALK! WALK!' The cockroach walked.
Then he cut off it's second leg and told the same. The cockroach walked.
Then he cut off the third leg and did the same. Finally, he cut
off its fourth leg and ordered it walk! But the cockroach didn't walk. Suddenly,
Muthu said loudly, 'I found it. If we cut a cockroach's
four legs, it becomes deaf.'

*MUTHU & DRIVER*
When Muthu was travelling with his wife in a motorised tricycle,
the driver adjusted the mirror. Muthu shouted, 'You are
trying to see my wife, eh? Sit in the back. I will drive.'

*MUTHU GOES TO HOTEL*
Muthu went into a hotel. To wash his hands, he went to the washbasin.
Then when he had finished, he started washing the basin. Seeing
this, the manager asked what was he doing. Muthu pointed towards
the signboard '*WASH BASIN* '

*MUTHU & INTERVIEWER - FINAL PART*
Interviewer : 'Just imagine you're in the 20th floor of a building
and it's on fire. How will you escape?'
Muthu: 'It's simple.. I will just stop my imagination.'

*Oh... Last I forget ............. the funniest...*
At a political rally, Muthu was arrested. Why ????????????
Because a lady journalist with a badge which read
'*PRESS*' pinned on the right part of her blouse walked past him... and
he did it!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T19:10:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year to everyone! The good'ol phrase 'Goodbye 2007, hello 2008!'

I'll attempt to summarize the events that happened to me in 2007.

First Temp Job (Jan-Apr)
My first temp job was, in my opinion, a super cool one. My aunt who used to work at Ritz-Carlton, helped me get a temp job at the hotel as a business centre assistant and retail shop salesperson. It was one of my most memorable experiences.

I had the opportunity to get an insight into the operations of such a major hotel. I donned on a suit and tie during work, and got to interact with both friendly and demanding hotel guests. I got to meet personalities like FIFA president Joseph Blatter, Vegas Sands Resort owner Sheldon Adelson, and our dear ministers SM Goh and PM Lee.

I also made a couple of good friends, Sandy and Xiao Yuan. They worked at the kiosk selling cakes, which was just adjacent to the retail shop. I'll never forget the fun moments we had chatting and working together. However quite sadly, I realise I don't have any pictures capturing to moments working in this wonderful job...

A Level results (Feb)
One of the life-changing events. Again, couldn't find pictures of it, thought the NYJC website would have it, but to no avail. The college performed very well for the '06 A lvls, everyone was happy. I won't forget the moment I hugged my friends with joy upon receiving the results, and calling up my Mum and Dad with joy and relieve. The next major life-changing event will probably be my Uni graduation.

Enlisting into Navy (Apr)
All my guy friends, and I mean ALL, where enlisted to the Army. I was the only one who had to report to NDU on 13 April 07. I didn't know what to expect.

Here's a picture of my brother and I. It was taken during the first weekend when I returned home.

Navy Open House (26 May)

I got the opportunity to help out at the RSN Open House aka Navy Open House. It was the Navy's 40th anniversary. I got to mingle around with the other Navy personnel, and it was fun to see the reaction of people after they took the rides operated by NDU. There were the jet ski, banana boat and RHIBS (a military speedboat). One lady was so scared while getting out of the RHIB onto the pontoon, that she grabbed my arm so hard, blarh.

NDP '07 (Aug)
I also helped out at the NDP 07. It was also fun like the RSN Open House, as I got to experience new surroundings and to escape the routine life in camp. The memorable moments were seeing the beautiful fireworks lighting up the night sky, and looking at the large crowd of people gathered at the Esplanade Park to watch the NDP and fireworks.

Long break (Dec)
I could finally take a long break from the hectic life. I went on a trip to Kuala Lumpur with my family. I was also able to meet and catch up with friends.

Tomorrow will mark the start of the usual hectic life in the new year of 2008. I do have several New Year resolutions:
1. Make the most of my time in NS
2. Pass my driving test in April '08
3. Run 2.4km under 9mins, basically to keep fit
4. Participate and complete a half-marathon, either the Army Half-Marathon, or the year-end Stand-Chart marathon
5. Meet up more oftenly with all my friends
6. Perform a smooth landing for the Boeing 747 in the flight sim game, something which I started attempting to achieve since mid-'07.

I certainly hope 2008 will be a fruitful and memorable year for me and everyone! :)
Hopefully I'll not be too busy, and be able to update my blog regularly.

Surprise belated birthday celebration

2007-12-31T09:46:00.000+08:00

I had a gathering with my NJC PAE friends on Saturday afternoon. We played mahjong for several hours at Wilson's place. I hadn't played mahjong for so many months and forgotten some of the basic game rules.

Later on we had dinner at Changing Appetites in Marina Square. I went there once during a class gathering with my NYJC friends. The food was alright, price was the standard of a town area restaurant. There was this waitress who didn't really quite like us. She was grouchy when serving water and our orders. But other than that, the restaurant was great. I ordered this dish grilled chicken with bacon, and it was really fantastic. The fish & chips however, was quite bad. The fried fish fillet literally rocked, and the plate was oily.

After the meal, we waited for Tess to come from Victoria Concert Hall where she was attending a concert. Till this point of time, I still didn't have the slightest idea that they were celebrating our birthdays. After Tess came and ordered her meal, the waiter brought out three boxes. They actually bought 3 slices of cakes of different flavours. It was a great idea so that we could all try out different flavours of cake. There was cheese, chocolate and mango, and all were purchased from different cafes like Secret Recipe, Gloria Jeans and Changing Appetites. It was really a pleasant surprise. I received mp3 player and a digicam pouches. Time flew really quickly, and it was about 10pm when we decided to leave.

We went window shopping at the shops which were still open, like Fox and Topshop. I really had a great evening. I'll post the pictures once I get them from Wilson. My next blog entry will be about my 2008 New Year resolutions. I'm looking forward to the New Year!

Edit: Here are the pics

The three October babies

Making a wish that I hope will come true, with Weilong praying hard too!

Ending off with the blowing of the birthday candle.

Unwrapping the birthday gift, lots of strings!

Long break ending very soon...

2007-12-29T11:20:00.000+08:00

My very long break, as a result of clearing leave and off days, will be coming to an end very soon. In fact, it's too soon. It'll definitely take me some time to get used to life in camp again. It just feels like the school holidays right now, where I have time on-hand to do whatever I wish.

25 Dec 07
Christmas was alright, although not as happening as before. I went to my aunt's place at near Parkway Parade. We used to have such gatherings very oftenly in the past. But as time progresses, everyone has more commitments to meet and hence less time to meet up. My cousin's only 12, and he has an Xbox and the cool Nintendo Wii. I tried out the Wii Sports game, the tennis and baseball games were fun while the rest like bowling and boxing were a bit boring. I got a book The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford as a Christmas present. It's a UK Sunday Times bestseller. Thus far after reading only half of the first chapter, all the economic theories and terms flashed back into my mind, very intriguing indeed.
After the gathering, I went with my cousins to Paradiz Centre to play pool. There wasn't really a crowd, probably cause people were celebrating Christmas at home.

26 Dec 07
On Boxing Day, I went to VivoCity with Xavier to shop, yeah shop. I figured it was time to revamp my wardrobe for the new year. VivoCity was huge, with several brand names like A|X, GAP, Zara and Esprit on post-Xmax sales. I got myself black jeans from GAP (~$50), a t-shirt (~$25) from Esprit and a long-sleeve shirt (~$40) from some unknown shop Spades. It was also fun trying on clothes from highly-expensive (maybe overpriced) brand names like Ted Baker, A|X and Diesel. Xavier almost wanted to get a $60 t-shirt from Diesel (crazy!), it was originally $119 with a 50% d/count. That day, it took us about 9 hours to completely walkthrough the shops at VivoCity. We started at 2pm and boarded the NEL train at around 11pm.

28 Dec 07
I started the day at 6.30am with a refreshing run at Serangoon stadium. Thus far I've clocked only about 8km in 2 running sessions after recovering from stomach flu about a week ago. It's really tough to recover fitness after being severely ill. Trust me, getting stomach flu will allow you to gain one of the worst experiences in your life.
Later on, I watched episodes of Simpsons and Friends, and later the Ellen DeGeneres show. In the evening, I met up with Katrina at City Hall MRT. It was our first outing together. It started out quite awkward, but fortunately we had several common topics to talk about and had conversations. After walking around Suntec to recce the places we can have dinner, we decided on Suntec's food court. We then caught the movie I Am Legend at Suntec's cinema. It's probably the first movie I've watched where the two main characters (Will Smith and his companion dog) didn't last till the end. After the movie we had desert at the food court. At the end of the day, we took a train to AMK and exchanged birthday cum Christmas gift at the bus stop. It was a wonderful evening together, I look forward to the next chance to meet up again.

Quote A funny quote in an email from my friend
-When you are in a penalty area and you do not know what to do with the ball. Put the ball in first and we'll discuss other options later.

Link
Top technological predictions for 2008
One notable prediction: The death of the ipod. Suddenly, standalone music players look like standalone PDAs did circa 2000. In 2008, they’ll be relegated to giveaway status, like memory sticks.
Interesting...

Updates

2007-12-14T00:07:00.000+08:00

I haven't been updating my blog for a while, I had been too busy and also a little lazy to do so.

I just returned from a short holiday to Malaysia. I was in Kuala Lumpur for 3 days, and in Genting for 2 days. A shopping mall The Pavillion was recently opened. It has the same concept as The Paragon, where all the outlets of expensive brands are located, like Ralph Lauren, LV and Giorgio Armani. The mall is much bigger than Paragon though, probably twice as large. I also went to the other malls like KL Plaza, Lot10 and Sungei Wang. These are basically the main shopping centres in KL.
I also went to a Pasar Malam that's held on Wednesdays only. It stretched more than 1km along the streets, and cars were parked everywhere, with so many people around. The stalls mainly sold food and pirated CDs. There were actual road side stalls, where hawkers fried char kway teow by the streets and cooked laksa on the spot there. Singapore's pasar malam is totally uncomparable to this.
The Genting trip was boring though, everything was still the same since I went there in April with my friends. Food there is excessively over-priced, and the theme-park is outdated. A simple meal of chicken rice costs RM13, which is ~$6-7, three times the price if you were to dine in KL.

Overall, it was an enjoyable trip, takes me away from my current everyday life in NS. There's a class outing planned for this weekend, can't wait to meet my friends again. :D

Weekends

2007-11-04T20:52:00.000+08:00

This weekend is going to be over so quickly again. I didn't really enjoy it though. I had to do guard duty in camp on Friday night, and left on Saturday morning. I slept only 4 hours that night, and was totally exhausted. I ended up spending almost the entire Saturday sleeping. I manage to salvage some entertainment for myself though. I watched Stardust with my brother at Marina Square, it's quite a good movie, no regrets. One of it's soundtrack is really nice, it plays when the credit rolled.

Rule the World by Take That

I actually cancelled my Sports group subscription when StarHub raised the price to $25 at the beginning of October. Now I'm having withdrawal symptoms of not being able to watch the EPL and NBA. I'm probably giving in to the StarHub monopoly of the Sports TV industry in Singapore, and pay them the exorbitant price to get my weekly sports fix.

I finally started my driving lessons again, after stopping in April due to enlistment. I'm taking lessons with a private instructor recommended by my friend. I should've taken private lessons from the start, it's a lot cheaper. Private lessons are $22/hr, while driving schools charge $35/hr. Taking 25 lessons will save you ~$290! My practical test date is in April 2008, a long long way to go, hopefully I'll be driving to town on weekends after that. :D

Sunday,,,

2007-10-21T21:32:00.000+08:00

The weekends are gone so quickly. It'll be back to camp again tomorrow. I was quite tired today as I slept at 2am. I had breakfast with my family in the morning and spent almost the rest of the day resting. I went to Compass Point at Sengkang with my brother for a walk, I just didn't want to waste the day away. In the evening, I went for a jog at the stadium nearby. It was refreshing after the jog. I usually go alone though, as my brother doesn't want to come along and I don't have friends living nearby.

Anyway, it's the eve of my birthday! It's a pity the actual day falls on a Monday. My birthdays fell on the weekend during the past two years, and I could celebrate it with my friends. Blarh, just have to wait till the coming weekend then. I celebrated my birthday with my family today though, had a nice mango cake. It was cool having 19 candles on the cake, the light from the fire was so bright. It'll be Katrina's birthday tomorrow as well. I browsed through the web and found this about us:

"Although you are personally magnetic, you have a manner that is slightly intimidating to others, making you a little hard to get close to. You give off the subtle impression that perhaps you don't really need new people in your life. You do, although you tend to be somewhat selective when it comes to your social life, simply because your work is extremely important to you and you value your time. There is a no-nonsense directness about you that inspires trust in others. You give the impression of solidity, strength of character, dependability and honesty. Although you are an idealist and visionary, you still manage to keep your feet on the ground. You don't seem capable of doing things halfway, and that includes your relationships. You are quite focused on achieving in life."

Anyway, hope to be able to meet up with Katrina sometime soon. The A lvls are approaching, and I don't want to give such a belated birthday gift.

Update!

2007-10-20T00:59:00.000+08:00

I finally have the time to update my blog after a few weeks. There hadn't been much going on with my NS life so far, just the same old routine. I'm just hoping to get started with my driving lessons again after stopping since April. I'm trying to get a private instructor as charges at all 3 driving schools in Singapore are so high.

I hope to plan an outing with my friends from NYJC some time soon, but it's tough as everyone is so busy. Hope to go down to Orchard in the afternoon, browse through books and magazines at Kino, and probably shop for some nice clothing.

If you guys have Facebook, please add me. :)

Saturday...

2007-09-23T00:49:00.000+08:00

I finally got to meet several of my ex-classmates from NJC (yeah, 1st three months of fun JC life!). We had a gathering at Wilson's place, played mahjong and watched The Prestige movie. I hope to get the group pictures taken just now, soon. In the evening, I had dinner with my family at Yishun Central, before meeting up with my Sec Sch mate Xavier at night for pool.
Tomorrow I'll get to meet my NYJC classmates, loads of catching up to do! This weekend will definitely be a memorable one. I seldom get to meet almost all my close friends a single weekend.

I seriously hope to complete my NS soon, and get on with pursuing my University education, which is a lot more meaningful. This morning I had some trouble solving a couple of A level s integration questions. I have almost forgotten all the trigonometry identities. I cannot imagine how difficult it will be to jump start my brain in preparation for University when the time comes. It's scary...

Updates on my life...

2007-09-06T22:06:00.000+08:00

I've not updated my blog for quite a while, hadn't had time to do it. I'm able to be home today as the unit commander gave an off-day for those who were involved in NDP 07. At least my Saturdays spent to help out during NDP has paid off. It's quite difficult to ask friends out during off-days as they come so suddenly. That leaves me with only the weekends to go out with friends. NS has really limited the time I have to interact with my Secondary and JC friends. I really wonder how my NS friends maintain such close relationships with their girlfriends. I do miss the JC days when you get to study and have great fun with friends everyday. Even though there're tests and exams to struggle with, it's still much more fun than NS. Even my part-time job at Ritz Carlton was fun! Guys in JC now must really treasure what they have, for after enlistment you'll lose alot of freedom.

Anyway, I'll probably go for the Games Convention at Suntec tomorrow, definitely cool to see so many games presented in one event. I'm looking forward to playing FIFA 08, Half-Life 2 Ep2 and NBA 08 soon! I can't wait for Prison Break Season 3, the first episode will be airing on 18 Sept SG time.

Weekend

2007-08-20T17:26:00.000+08:00

My weekend was alright. On Saturday, I went out with a few friends for lunch and then later shopped around Sim lim Sq for a thumb drive. In the end, I bought a $25 1GB Sandisk Titanium flash drive for my Dad to use during work. My evening was boring though, I stayed at home as my friends either had to return to camp, were confined, or were busy. However looking on the positive side, I got to spend quality time with my family.

On Sunday, I went to Borders. I had a $20 Borders voucher which I earned during my JC1 days for getting onto the Honour Roll. I selected a book entitled 'the flying book' by David Blatner. It contains everything anyone would ever wonder about flying on airlines. I'm still halfway through the book though, and it is really intriguing. Here are some stuff from the book which fascinates me:
"When one of the two pilots in the cockpit leaves for a break, the other pilot has to put on an oxygen mask. This is because the air pressure in the cockpit drops when one pilot leaves, and the oxygen mask prevents the other pilot from getting any side effects because of the air pressure change."

"The black trolley bag carried by pilots onboard plane does not contain their luggage. It's actually all the paperwork and documents they need to go through before, during and after the flight."

It's a very good book for anyone who's interested in commercial aviation.
I've to be back in camp at 9pm later on, going to have my dinner now. Good day!

A Day Off

2007-07-30T15:55:00.000+08:00

It's an off-day for me today in lieu of last Saturday's NDP preview. All my friends are either back in camp, busy with preparations for University or working. I decided to redeem my SAFRA welcome gift at Toa Payoh's Safra club. I had a choice of either a Phillips Shaver or a 1 year sub of Maxim! The Phillips Shaver was useless to me as I already have one, so I decided to take up the latter offer.
I then went to Suntec City to buy the popular donuts from Donut Factory. The queue was alright, spent around 20 mins waiting. Their service speed is slow. There're 4 people behind the counter - one person packing the donuts, one at the cashing machine, one cleaning the glass panels and the other doing random jobs like packing the boxes. There is only one customer served at any one time, and it takes about 5 minutes to serve one customer. No wonder the queue is so long. I figured the owner would learn lessons from the first branch at Raffles City, probably have a larger counter service area, but it seems the counter space of both branches are just as small. I bought a dozen donuts of assorted flavours and left for home. So far I've ate the double-choc donut and it's fantastic. I'll try out the other flavours with my family later on at night. :D

Weekends!

2007-07-30T10:06:00.000+08:00

My weekend was great.
I watched The Simpsons Movie with my friends at Cathay on Friday night. The movie was very funny, though the ending was disappointing. I expected a big bang at the end, but it was the usual love story happy ending.

On Saturday, I went to help out at the NDP Preview, assisted in the carrying of food rations for the navy performers. It rained the entire late morning and early afternoon. By 4pm, the sky cleared and the cool weather was just nice for a parade performance. I met up with my NYJC classmates for dinner that night. We decided on Jack's Place at Marina Sq so we could see the fireworks as well. The fireworks that night was amazing, probably the standards of the actual parade itself. The small area outside Jack's Place was filled with people, all the 'Woah!' and 'Wow!' could be heard when the first fireworks exploded in the sky. It really complemented the Singapore skyline. I cannot imagine how beautiful the backdrop will be when the Marina Sands resort construction is completed.
Anyway, I'm still waiting for my friends to send me the group photos taken that night. Where are you??? Yvonne was the only one who will be studying in SMU, and she was complaining about the extremely differing culture there. The bulk of students are from RJC and ACJC. I really wonder how my life in NTU will be next time. It may probably be JC life all over again, as most of the students from other JCs are enrolled into NTU and NUS.

NDP and shopping!

2007-07-17T21:05:00.000+08:00

A group of friends and I helped out at the NDP full-dress rehearsal at Marina Bay last Saturday. Our job was to distribute the food rations to the naval divers performing at the parade. The food was not bad, lunch was chicken rice from Singapore Food Ind, while dinner was food from Pizza Hut. During the break, we went to Marina Square to shop. I wanted to buy some clothes but didn't bring enough money. Thus I decided to come back during my off-day on Monday to buy them. After the event, I went to watch the Harry Potter movie with my brother at Suntec City. The movie was good, probably cause it's based on a book by a good author.

On Monday, I went back to Marina Square. This time I somehow didn't find any clothes of my liking. I went to almost every boutique - Zara, Lacoste, Levis, Espirit, Gap, Topshop. I walked around for 5 hours, with breaks at McDonalds and Aunt Annie's. In the end, I bought 2 pairs of sports socks and a dri-fit shirt from royal sporting house. Till now, I can't believe I didn't buy a polo tee or a pair of nice jeans. I definitely bad at shopping.

I'll be helping out at NDP again tomorrow morning, again to distribute food rations. It's really a great opportunity to make new friends and gain experience. I'll probably be helping out on NDP07 itself, I can't wait to view the spectacular fireworks!

7-7-7

2007-07-07T15:12:00.000+08:00

It only comes once a lifetime. It's 07-07-2007! I've had a long break since Thursday as I had to clear my leave before December. I went to Orchard Road yesterday, spent about 4 hours in Borders and Kinokuniya. I was mentally exhausted by the end of the trip. I've this $20 Borders voucher which I got during JC1 for good academic performance, till now I've not spent it as I couldn't find a book I like. Fortunately it does not have an expiry date.

This early morning, my Aunt called and told us she had 2 tickets for the NDP NE Show this evening. As I've not been to NDP for a long time, I decided to get them. I asked about 5 friends, but all of them either had concerts to attend or had to attend wedding dinners. Yeah, I read from the newspapers that hotels are fully booked today for wedding dinners. Finally one of my friends could make it. We took up part-time jobs together at Ritz. I've not met her for almost 6 months, what a great opportunity to meet her again. I'll probably bring along my pretty old 3MP camera and hope the pictures turn out alright.
After NDP, I'll catch Live Earth! And later on, there's F1 Qualifying. Woah, I'll need coffee to stay awake. :D

Long break at home

2007-06-23T22:42:00.000+08:00

I finally had the luxury of taking leave on Friday. The long break of 3 days will definitely help refresh myself for the coming weeks. I took the days to meet up with friends, and to recover lots of rest and play time. I went to Plaza Sing on Friday night for a movie with friends from NJ, we watched Hot Fuzz. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to study in different JCs, else I wouldn't have made such good friends like them.

I just received an SMS from a female friend. She was offered a place in the Medicine course at an Indian University. I'm very happy for her and sad for myself. Sad because I'm stuck in NS for 2 years while my friend can further her studies without wasting time. I'm also sad because I don't have the chance to study overseas. A degree in a UK university will set me back S$200k. Although studying in Australia is a lot cheaper, there're no universities there which specialises in aerospace engineering. After my holiday in NZ a few years back, I really love the lifestyle and environment there - the relaxing pace of life, friendly people, cool weather.

the amazing scenery of New Zealand

Waiting for NS to be over...

2007-06-21T22:49:00.000+08:00

Thus far, I've only completed 2 months of NS. There're still 20 more months to go.
The NDU BMT ended on Monday, about 20 over people could not class up. Of course, everyone of them were very happy as not many of the trainees have the aspiration to be a diver. They're all so happy to be finally out of the course. I went out of course several weeks ago, and have been helping out with the office admin work. We get paid $350 a month to do what the Sergeants do in the office, and they get $2.5k a month. We're just like Bangladesh workers hired by Singaporean construction firms who get paid this little.
Currently, I'm just waiting to get posted to my permanent unit. I'll definitely try to spend the remaining 20 months on useful things like preparing for University by practicing Math daily, and revising and learning new Physics concepts. Now I realise that studying in school is so much more fun, mind-intriguing and mind-stimulating.

Really, really short week

2007-06-01T20:05:00.001+08:00

As I helped out at the RSN Open House, I got two days off this week. In addition to the Vesak Day holiday, I had a two-day work week! I had to be in camp on Monday and Friday, I just booked out this evening.

The RSN Open House was fun, got to see many people, interacted with both adults and kids. My group was in charge of the fun rides. There were jet-skiing, banana boat and RHIBS. I stood on the pontoon under the sun for almost the whole day, helping people on and off the ride. The sense of achievement was really great, especially when people shake your hands and thank you for the boat ride. Of course, I was sunburnt at the end of the two days there. The consolations were that I got complimentary cash coupons and met Chen Weilian and Fiona Xie during their short 30mins performance.

I'm getting tired of my iPod, the same look and features. I've been contemplating which new mp3 player to get, there're so many choices! Time to go shopping again.

Weekends burnt

2007-05-25T21:06:00.000+08:00

I'll be helping out at the Navy Open House at Changi Naval Base this weekend. I'll be working as an usher for the jet-ski and banana boat rides. I'll definitely get extremely sunburnt after the weekend. Do say hi to me if you see me! :D

NYJC College Day

2007-05-20T01:14:00.000+08:00

I finally have a chance to attend a college event as an invitee. The college day was both exciting and disappointing to me though. It was exciting as I could finally return to college to visit friends and tutors, and also get my prize. It was disappointing as I was the only one from S6A to attend it. The 3 other eligible students didn't attend. I was so eager to meet and catch up with them.

The beginning was boring, reached there at 8am, spent 1.5hrs doing nothing. The other 30mins were used for a simple briefing by the teacher in charge. By 11am, the presentation ceremony started. Row by row, the recipients received their prize. I finally got my prize, it was a brown envelope with a certificate and cash cheque inside. The process was quite fast though, faster than I expected. I also got to see Katrina. She reminds me of my birthday each time I see her, cause we both share the same birth date. I'll definitely get her something on Oct 22!

The lunch reception was a simple one, the food was good though. I also finally got to speak to Mr Haniss. He was always engaged with other students during the NY 30th anniversary and A lvl results day, thus I didn't get to speak to him. I also got to chat with Mrs Chan. She has been the best teacher thus far.

In the evening, I watched Spiderman 3! I've been desperately trying to find friends during the past 2 weekends to catch the movie, but all of them were either working or in camp. The beginning of the movie was boring, but got exciting as it progressed. It isn't worth the hype though, IMO. So many must-watch movies coming up, like Harry Potter, Pirates of Carribean and Simpsons!

I find that my writing skills has deteriorated so much. Army has made me stupid, and many of my other friends agree that the same has happened to them as well. The jump from army life to University life will be a very, very wide one. Girls are very lucky, enough said.

Someone from S6A planned a badminton session for the class, hopefully many turn up.

Lots of stuff

2007-05-06T13:19:00.000+08:00

So many things happened last week.

I finally received an acceptance letter into NTU's Aerospace program. I've not received a letter from NUS though, probably by next week. There's also no news from NTU about the scholarship application I sent, chances are that I've to apply for it again next year. I also received an invitation letter to NYJC's College Day. I pray hard that I can attend it, it really means a lot to me, to be able to meet my teachers and friends after so many months.

NDU's training is getting routine, it's just the many speculations about book out timings that make things a lot interesting. Like last week, there were almost 20 people who reported sick. Thus the sergeants wanted to reward the fighting fit by giving them a Friday night book out. However, the people who reported sick rebutted the decision saying it was unfair. In the end, everyone booked out on Satuday after breakfast. Blarh. I'm sure there'll be more of such cases this week.

Currently, I can only plan my programs on a weekly basis as I've totally no idea whats going to happen, whether I can book out during the weekend or not. Army is really so regimental with zero freedom while in camp. It has only been 3 weeks so far, my already routine life is becoming even more routine. I wonder how I'll survive in University after two years, where creativity is very much needed for me to survive.

Finally have the time,,,

2007-04-28T15:48:00.000+08:00

I finally have the time to update the blog after 2 weeks. I actually booked out last Saturday afternoon, but I had to settle so much logistics that I was too tired and didn't bother to update the blog.

I booked out at 12noon today, everyone suddenly went into a high mood today after 1 week of non-stop PT and marching. Many of the trainees were asking themselves 'Why am I posted here?!', this is how tough NDU BMT is. It is during BMT when the selection of divers starts. We sleep for at most 4 hours every day, and it is continual activities day in day out - running in Smart 4, swimming with coveralls and doing pushups everyday. We probably clock about 200 pushups daily. The instructors say by the end of BMT, you'll be immune to pushups and can do 100 of them continuously with ease.
Trainees in Tekong say certain companies are trained by ex-Commandos, but here in NDU, we're trained by naval divers, people who have gone through the scary Hell week. I've been able to handle the first two weeks thus far, the third week awaits me...

Enlistment...

2007-04-12T21:40:00.000+08:00

I'll be enlisted to NDU tomorrow at 8am. I'll probably have the first bookout on 27th April evening, hopefully. :D See everyone then!

Class gathering & trip to M'sia

2007-04-09T20:37:00.000+08:00

Doreen and I co-organized a class gathering last Friday, and it was a great success. For the first time, so many people turned up for a S6a gathering - about half the class. It was still a pity the others didn't turn up - some couldn't make it, some didn't want to come. We had dinner at Marina's 'Changing Appetites'. One thing about western restaurants is that they don't have large round tables, thus we ended up sitting in a long row, everyone getting to chat with at most 5-6 people only, the others are 'out of range'. We probably should've went to Crystal Jade instead, next time maybe. Later on, we went to the arcade. It was really great meeting them again, I've not met some of them since the release of A level results. I think among those who came, Eeling changed the most. Her appearance has become much more pleasant and appealing, she'll definitely look much better after removing her braces. The girls put on more makeup than before, and dress alot better. I guess they have more time for shopping already. Lester's still as crappy, maybe crappier.

My family and I went to Kuala Lumpur during the Easter weekend for the Qingming festival. My relatives on my Dad's side all live in Malaysia. It's the first time I've been to a cemetery, it was *huge*. The experience was really an eye-opener for me, I got to learn the procedures for praying and saw the different graves. There were a few which had 3 graves joined together, at first I thought it was probably the parents with the child, but it was actually a man with 2 wives.

It also happened to be the Malaysian leg of the F1 Grand Prix that weekend. There was a huge buzz in Kuala Lumpur, the hotel I stayed in was very crowded, mostly F1 fans. The Sepang race track is just an hour's drive from KL. I guess it'll be the same scenario when Singapore hosts the F1 race in the future.

Really last day of work...

2007-04-05T10:54:00.000+08:00

It was my *real* last day at work yesterday. Everything went extremely well yesterday, my sales was twice the usual amount and a VVIP visited the hotel. A Mexican couple was interested in the feather bed and pillows. The sales from this alone was about one grand. But as they wanted to ship the items back to Mexico, courier charges alone amounted to about $900. My shift was over before the sales was closed, so I wasn't sure if they bought it. But it was fun talking and helping this couple as they were really friendly.
The VIP who came was an board executive of the entire hotel group. The GM and Directors of the hotel all appeared together for the first time in my 4 months of work, to entertain the VIP guest.
The scene was refreshing and fun, seeing managers running around to get things going. The hotel even did a major cleanup and repaint a few days leading up to his arrival. Nothing of such happened even when the Prince of Arab visited last year, it really showed how important this VIP was.
After my shift, I bid farewell to all my friends, from the supervisor to the employees of cake kiosk, and even the cleaner auntie. The supervisor even invited me for dinner at the hotel restaurant when during my time-off from NS. I'll definitely grab the opportunity! :D

For the past few weeks, I've been weighing my options for varsity education. I've applied to NUS and NTU, and will probably get a reply in May. The option that I've the least knowledge about is overseas education. None of my friends are considering going overseas, and there aren't any talks by overseas universities going on at the moment. By the time I enlist, I'll have no time to attend talks. I've browsed through the various UK, US and Australian universities' websites, and looked for information from online forums. The cost of studying in UK or US adds up to almost S$250,000, and about S$150,000 for Australia. I've narrowed down my scope to U of Toronto, U of Sydney and U of South California, both of which have Aerospace engineering courses and do not require SAT for entry. I'd have many more options open to me had I taken SAT, really regret now. I'll definitely try find time off from NS to attempt this test, but it's very difficult to schedule anything right now without prior knowledge of the time schedules. Thus I cannot do anything but to let time pass...

Clubbing and movies

2007-04-02T09:06:00.000+08:00

I went clubbing at Zouk last Friday. It was my first time and it was a great experience. The music was too loud to have any conversation though, so we just drank and danced. Everywhere you looked, there'd be pretty girls in sight, haha. Even my friends who don't usually dress nicely, dressed to look great that day. There were also other groups of NYJCians there, I think from S5B and some other classes. This girl from S5B came over to join our group for a while, and I think she was really pretty. But didn't get the chance to talk much, we could barely hear each other... Argh. We left at around 3am, Kelvin and I shared a cab home.

During the past week, I've watched two really great movies, both of which are based on real-life stories - Pursuit of Happyness and Freedom Writers. Freedom Writers made many people in the audience cry, it was the second movie that made me sob after I Not Stupid Too. I'd probably watch it again if I get the chance.

2007-03-29T09:55:00.000+08:00

Weiss and I did a part-time job together at RCMS last Sunday. It was to pack 15 different brochures into 300 bags by 3pm. We started off at 10am, and managed to pack only 50 bags by 12 noon. Obviously, we were shorthanded. The event manager then called in another 2 part-timers, and 5 of us packed the items, and completed everything on time. Imagine if there were only 2 of us, we'd have completed it by 10pm.
We went back to the hotel on Tuesday to collect our pay. Weiss then complained he had too much money in his bank account, and decided to splurge it on a Carl Jr lunch, haha. Later on, we went to play pool for about an hour and headed home.

Yesterday Sandy and I went for lunch and movie at Marina. She's my hotel chit-chat buddy. As she worked at the cake kiosk behind the gift shop, we often chat when there were no guests. We went for lunch at NY-NY at Citylink, the food was good and price was reasonable. I'll definitely go back there again. I finally had company to watch the movie 300. I watched Pathfinders last week, and there's no doubt that 300 was much better. After the movie, we happened to walk past the side entrance of RCMS and we saw the security guard Alan. He's a friendly guy and we often chat with him during free time. He was quite surprised to see us, and I could see he was happy to see us a week after we stopped working.

Here's a nice mashup song:
Norwegian Recycling - How Six Songs Collide

Last day at work...almost

2007-03-23T10:48:00.000+08:00

Yesterday was 'officially' my last day at work, cause I am still scheduled for work on Apr 2,3,4 as they needed extra manpower. I worked morning shift yesterday, and I was in a great mood. I arranged the item display very neatly, probably the best ever since I started work. I greeted every guest with a bigger smile, and had longer chats with them. This is definitely the work performance that my manager wants out of employees every day, haha.

But as always, there would be something that would try to dampen my mood. As there was very high checkouts yesterday, the bellmen were very busy. I had a guest who needed a can of hairspray to be sent to her room urgently. I was alone at the gift shop, and my colleagues were all busy. I then had no choice but to request help from the Guest Relations Office [GRO] people. These people are the ones who walk around the lobby greeting guests, help to open the main door when people walk in. I called them on the phone and had this conversation:

[me] Good morning, I'm from the gift shop. I need help with sending an item to a guest room, the guest needs it very urgently. The bellmen are very busy at the moment.
[GRO] I'm sorry, but can you look at the lobby right now, there're many guests around and we need to direct them. We have only three around, I cannot help you.
[me] But the guest needs it urgently, can you help me please?
[GRO] No I can't.
[me] OK, thank you. ... and I hung up

I then walked out to look at the situation at the lobby. One GRO personnel was doing the door duty, and the two others were chit-chatting away! They were laughing and talking along. I was really angry at that time, but I had to resolve the problem first. At that moment, very fortunately, a bellmen walked towards me, and I quickly requested for his help to send up the hairspray. Very luckily for me, problem solved. But I still cannot believe a luxury hotel would have staff like this. Later on, I looked out towards the lobby area again, and I saw FOUR GRO people standing at the door talking away. What an efficient use of human resources, people getting paid $1,500 a month to chit-chat half the time. I then asked a security guard who has worked at the hotel for about a year, if their always like that, he responded affirmatively. He also said the security department's manager raised the issue to the GRO, but little has been done. A guest came into the store to browse, thus we stopped conversing.

Four months has flew past me so quickly, and I've definitely learnt a large amount of skills, those I've never been able to learn in school.
1. Talking to guests politely and confidently
2. Taking calls professionally
3. Understand basically how a hotel operates day in day out
4. Doing some basic cashier accounting, stock taking
5. Have an idea of what goes behind the scene at a hotel's retail shop and business centre
6. I've also been immune to looking at high prices, cause all of the hotel's retail items are marked up tremendously, some items as high as 10x!
7. Get exposure to branded stuffs like Bvlgari, Ploh pillows, Davidoff etc.

Now, I've got about a week to settle my University admission applications, and also to relax myself after so long. It's about 3 more weeks till enlistment, and it's really closing down on me.

Unlucky today

2007-03-03T20:08:00.000+08:00

I thought that I'd be able to have some fun after getting my A level results yesterday. I went to play basketball at NYJC today with my friends, and fractured my ankle. I ran towards the basket to do a layup, and my foot landed sideways on the way down. I'm sure many bballers have had this injury before, and you'd know how painful it is. Sheessh. My friend bought a pack of ice from the coffeeshop nearby for me to treat the swell. Anyway, I finally met Katrina in person today. We didn't chat, just a quick 'Are you zirong?', 'Yes' conversational exchange. I met her just after I sprained my ankle, so I was limping back to the bench in pain. I went to the Chinese sinseh for treatment, and it cost me $46! He merely place an icepack around my ankle and then wrapped it in some medicated plaster. I think the medicine must contain some herbs found high up in the mountains. Blerh.
Now, I'm limping around the house in pain. Sitting down makes me restless, but I've no choice. Fortunately there's still over a month to go before I enlist, else I'd have no time to train.

I had a talk with my parents. They proposed that I try to apply for an overseas university, and said they'll finance the expenses. Actually, I've thought of going overseas before. However that was before the A levels, when I thought that I'd have ample time to make a decision and to do research. Well, the time has come, so very quickly. I did not take S papers, thus an overseas scholarship is out of my reach. I'm not Wee Shu Min, whose parents have probably a million dollars in the bank, thus I have to consider financial matters before deciding. All of a sudden, I feel that money and perhaps S papers too, are very, very important.

A lvl results

2007-03-03T08:35:00.000+08:00

Wooohoo! The 1988 dragon batch created history in several JCs. RJC had 90% of students with 3 distinctions or more, VJC had 50% while NJC ~52%. NYJC did superb as well, 212 students had 3 distinctions or more, the highest ever, I read through several JCs stats and we're on par with ACJC in terms of students with 3As or more. (Woah!)

I went back to college at around 2pm for the results, so glad to meet all my classmates and friends again. The principal started with a short clip of the movie Heroes, the fighting scene was impressive, but I still don't get the reason behind screening it. After that, it was the most nervous moment. The principal was pretty excited when he read out the overall results of the 2006 cohort. When he said over 200 students scored 3 distinctions or more, everyone cheered so loudly! The atmosphere was really great. Of course, I sat on the ground praying that I'd be one of them. The ceremony started off with the student who scored 8 distinctions, then 6, 5, 4, 3 distinctions. 05S6A was only called out in the 4 distinctions category. By then, my hopes were slowly dying off, hands getting cold. When my name was finally called out at the 3 distinctions category, I was really relieved. I scored a B for Chemistry, the first ever B grade for Chemistry in my JC life.

After the ceremony, we chatted with our tutors. I thanked them very gratefully. My Chemistry tutor Mr Wan, came along and congratulated us. His first words to me were:
[Mr Wan] Hey zirong, congrats. But I expected you to get an A
[me] But I had been scoring Ds and Es for Chemistry in the mid-years and prelims
[Mr Wan] But at least you got a B, it shows you put in effort for it. It's very rare that someone who can ace in Physics but not Chemistry. I think it's just the fact that some people ermm..
[me] Can't do Chemistry?
...everyone laughed...
[Mr Wan] But you aced in Economics, that shows you're one who looks at the big picture. Chemistry is alot at the micro level.

Well, that says it all. If I had taken Biology, I'd have definitely flunked it. My friends who aced in Biology all aced in Chemistry as well. That's why it's called Biochemical Engineering in University, not Biophysical Engineering.

First post in weeks

2007-02-25T00:40:00.000+08:00

Woah, I've not had time to update my blog. I've been spending lots of time at work, shift is normally from 8a-4pm, and I'd be exhausted by the time I get home. I reach home at around 5pm, watch some TV, have dinner, play some games, and then go to sleep. But all these will end after I leave my job in mid-March in preparation for NS.

Anyway, Chinese New Year was great. On the first day, went to visit my babysitter. She took care of me when I was a baby till about 8 years old. We visit her every year, she is still so fit even at the age of almost 70. At night, we went to my 6th aunt's house for dinner. There was a large spread of food, including steamboat. Woah, it was great. We then played blackjack, at $1-$2 per bet, money flowed in and out very quickly.
On the second day, we went visiting again. This time was to my granduncle's place, then my relatives came over to my place, and then had dinner at my 1st aunt's place at night. This time there was Yu Sheng, the salmon and abalone really complemented the taste of the vegetables and sweet sauce.
On the third day, my friends and I visited to my friend Vivien at Boon Lay. The train journey one-way took me 45mins. That's how long it takes to travel from east-central to the west of Singapore. She invited many other friends over as well, the atmosphere was great. There was Scary Movie 3 played on TV, while everyone chit-chatted and had lots of fun.

I started work on the 4th day of CNY. Many of the staff were surprised as they thought I'd take the whole week's off. Two of my colleagues who are Chinese, took 12 days off! They went back to their hometown in Malaysia. Working in the hotel line is really stressful, especially the front line staff. The finance people get mandatory off days during weekends and public holidays, while the front line people get mandatory off of only 2 days a week.

This morning I played basketball at college with my friends. In the afternoon, I went to watch DreamGirls movie. In the evening, had dinner outside, followed by pool. I'm now typing this entry half-consciously.

Happy CNY!

2007-02-20T22:01:00.000+08:00

I've not been blogging for a long time, so to let everyone know, I'm still alive and kickin'!
CNY was very fun, I'll post an entry about it probably this weekend when I've the time. :D

Days getting boring

2007-01-28T20:54:00.000+08:00

I've been feeling really bored these few days, doing the same things over and over again. Working has become so routine that I do not feel excitement in it anymore, don't really look forward to it as much as before. I sometimes even dread it. It's still about over 2 months to enlistment.

I visited my friend Wilson, who booked out for the first time yesterday. He enlisted on Jan 12 and is now in Whiskey company, which he says is one of the slackest company in Tekong. He looked quite the same, but somehow acted and spoke differently. Perhaps 2 weeks in the army has really influenced him a little. We went to his terrace at Yishun, where he hosted lunch and dinner for us. We played mahjong in between, for almost 4 hours. His relatives were also there, and everyone especially his parents were very friendly. My NS experience will definitely be different from his, since I'd be in the Navy, spending most of my time in the water than on land.

I went shopping today at Robinsons and Heeren with my parents, bought a pair of Ashworth jeans and Ripcurl flip-flops. My shopping list still has a pair of sneakers, a watch and a shirt, I want get all of them before CNY. I've already planned a shopping trip tomorrow evening with my friends, probably going to Orchard Rd again.

I'm also starting to get frustrated with Comfort Driving School. When I first signed up, the customer service officer (CSO) told me I could get a license by April. Then when I told the instructors I'm enlisting in mid-April, they were pessimistic about my chances. My FTT was actually on Feb 23, but I was lucky to grab a 26 Jan slot, and fortunately passed it. I'll go down to the Kovan centre to speak to them. I don't want to waste hundreds of dollars on the driving course.

Work & first driving lesson

2007-01-16T11:30:00.000+08:00

I had my first driving lesson last Sunday, it was at night and raining too. It's really cool to drive, especially a manual-gear car. I had lots of problems changing the gear smoothly, I hope I'll improve quickly during the next few lessons as driving classes are expensive! It's $67 during peak hours for 100 mins, sheeesh. Hopefully I won't spend over $2000 to learn driving. Driving schools in Singapore are really making huge money, my cousins in Malaysia spent only RM1500 to learn driving, more than half the price schools charge over here.

Work is becoming quite boring, probably cause I've to do the same things everyday. I worked from 8am-4pm everyday last week, and this week its 3pm-11pm. By the time I reach home, it'd be past midnight already. Besides, I need to change quickly after closing so that I won't miss the last train home. You'd think that working in the hotel line is fun, exciting and easy. However, reality is on the contrary. The full-time staff there have to work during weekends and public holidays, junior staff get about 10 days of annual leave only, while the most senior get 19 days. Even though they get 2 off days a week, they need to hit the 44 work-hours a week by working 9-10 hours a day. It's really exhausting. I don't know how much they earn though, it's a secret every worker keeps. By using economics, I'd suppose they earn more than 9-5 job workers as extra pay is given to compensate weekend/public holiday leisure time forgone, plus the long working hours. If not, why would people even consider working in this line?

After I started working, I begin to treasure off days and weekends, much more than during my school days. Now, I'm so looking forward to Chinese New Year, all the nice food and of course, red packets! It's still one month away though, and after CNY, the thought of my A level results will start to fill my mind everyday.

Fun trip to Genting

2007-01-06T13:16:00.000+08:00

From left: Cindy, Vivien, me, Vincent, Wilson, Weilong
I'll post up more pictures when I get them.

The 3D2N trip to Genting ended so quickly. It was really fun and memorable, it is really a different experience to go on a trip with friends than with family. The travel and accommodation cost only $86, really cheap as compared to around $150 during peak period.

We took a 7am bus from Lavender and reached Genting at around 130pm, the ride was a smooth one. We stayed at the First World Hotel as it was the cheapest, no point spending more money on a better hotel as we spend little time in the room. The first night, Wilson almost lost his $300 spectacles. We shopped around after having dinner at Kenny Rogers when he found out his spectacles was lost. He went back to the restaurant to look for it, and even searched through the main rubbish bin for it with a pair of gloves. In the end, it was on his bed. On other occassions, he almost forgot to take his room key and almost lost his specs again, haha.

We went to the theme park on the 2nd day. It was great to go during off-peak period as the queues were much shorter. By early afternoon, we'd already tried all the thrill rides like the Cockscrew, Cyclone and the Spaceshot. We tried archery and watched Curse of the Golden Flower in the evening. The movie really portrayed the Chinese royal family's magnificent lifestyle. Chow Yun Fat acted the Emperor's role very well. At night, we gathered in a room and played cards. The night ended with Wilson making a huge l_v_ confession about someone. :D We went to bed at 3am that night.

The 3rd day was short. We had brunch at a dining outlet at First World Plaza. Then we played this shooting game while Vivien and Cindy went shopping. The bus left at 230pm and we reached Singapore at around 9pm. The trip was really fun, and I got to know 2 more friends in Vivien and Cindy, and also got to know more about Wilson, Vincent and Weilong. I look forward to the next overseas trip with friends, probably after the guys have completed NS.

An exciting new year awaits

2006-12-28T20:36:00.000+08:00

I'm sure 2007 will be a great year waiting for us to transition into it. For me, I've got lots of activities to look forward to. I'll be going overseas with my friends for the first time, to Genting. After that, it'll be more exciting work at the hotel. Come March, MOE will announce the date all JC students are waiting for - the release of the A level results. Even though it is still 3 months away, just a slight thought of it makes me nervous and excited. I really do not know how I'll feel on that day itself, it's something even bigger than the release of the O level results.

So far, I'm getting used to working, it is becoming a routine. Setting up the shop, talking to people, closing the cashier etc. It's definitely great working in a department with 7 ladies and 0 gentlemen. I've learnt a lot from them. They even gave me chocolates and cologne for Christmas, I really didn't expect it. I still have loads to learn though, especially how to sell items which I do not actually use. I need to pursuade guests to buy the necklace, shawl or earrings on display, items which I've never used before in my life. I've also come to know of several brand name items like Bvlgari fragrance, Pashminas (goat fur material), Allan Ross, and several other designer items.

I'm signing off now to take some much needed rest, good night!

Work, work, work

2006-12-20T10:18:00.000+08:00

After working 2 days in the hotel's retail shop, it's becoming really stressful for me. There're so many things to do and remember every single day, like stock taking (usually takes 2-3 hours), counting the money, closing the accounts for the previous shift and my shift at the end of the day, and worst of all, packing up the items on sale. People would think packing up is easy, but it's really difficult for beginners. You need to pack so many items into 3 shelves, creating space is really crucial.

My shift this week is from 12 to 8pm, it'd be 10pm by the time I get home. Although the job is tough, it's pretty fun and I learn a huge load of things. I learn to interact with the guests, operate the cashier and credit card machine, and answer countless of phone calls. It's really all multi-tasking. Stock-taking is the most dreadful task, there're more than 500 items in the shop, and you need to count every one of them.

I must really thank the full-time staff for being so patient with me, they have taught me the processes step by step in detail. So far, they've not been frustrated with my countless number of questions. Up till now, I still need to master the speed for stock taking, memorising the product details, closing the accounts and very importantly, packing up the shop. If I can handle these things, the next 3 months will be a breeze for me.

Back from Malaysia

2006-12-16T15:14:00.000+08:00

I just got back from Malaysia yesterday night.
I left last Sunday morning, my family and I traveled there by car, my Dad drove. We stayed in KL for one night at the Prince Hotel. It's so far the 2nd best hotel we've stayed, among about 7-8 others we tried in the past years. The best was the Ritz-Carlton hotel that we stayed in probably 3-4 years ago, my aunt was able to get us the staff rate for a room there.

We then went to Genting to stay for a night. My parents went to the casino while my brother and I played at the arcade and other entertainment stuffs there. We played pool, bowling and the arcade. We did not go to the outdoor theme park as it was old and boring. We've tried the rides many times already, so it wasn't really worth the while.

We then continued our holiday with another 3 nights in KL. KL was really fun, lots of shopping and good food. We visited our relatives there, and they brought us around Malaysia and recommended us where we can get very good food! The bak kut teh, dim sum, prawn noodle, grilled stingray and Hokkien Mee in KL were really good. Other than all these, the really heavy traffic in KL was really a put off.

(click on pictures for larger view)

Really bad jam on the opposite direction

During morning peak hours, the road leading out of town is split to give one more lane to cars going into town. So effectively, a 3 lane road becomes a 2 land road with one lane going the opposite direction. The orange cone was there as a road marker. Amazing eh? No chance to see such traffic rules in Singapore.

The picture says it all. This is the type of jam Malaysians face every single day during peak hours. Even during off-peak, there's still heavy traffic on all the major roads and highways. One of my relatives owns 5 cars, one car for each member of the family. Woohoo!

But overall, the trip was really fun. I look forward to my next trip there, probably next year.

Away on Holiday

2006-12-10T05:23:00.000+08:00

I'll be away on a holiday from 10 Dec to 16 Dec. Please contact me via e-mail or SMS only, I may not be on MSN unless I get the opportunity to log on in a cybercafe in Malaysia. :D
Happy holidays to all! :D

Prom pictures

2006-12-09T20:20:00.000+08:00

Lobby of Fullerton

From left: Me, Peck Hor, Dezhi

From left: Me, Genial, Dezhi, Jasmine and Peck Hor

Girls from left: Jamie, Alicia, Bee Hua, Doreen, Jasmine and Mei Kuan
Bottom: Me!

From left: Yvonne, Jasmine, Peck Hor, Genial, Lester, Me, Johnathan, Dezhi, Meikuan and Jamie

Stage of Ballroom @ Fullerton

The dancefloor

Lester met up with Yvonne. Yvonne had this really disgusted look on her face, haha.

Chem Rep Alicia and I :D

Maths Rep Genial and I :D

Jasmine and I. I think she looked really great that night.

Yvonne and I. A low cut black gown with nice jewelry

The tallest girl in class, Jamie, and I

Cheerful Doreen and I

Day @ Work

2006-12-06T22:43:00.000+08:00

Today was my 2nd day at work, and I had split shift - 730to12 and 1630to2130. It was really really tiring. I've got the same arrangement for tomorrow, I'll definitely ask the supervisor not to arrange such shifts for me ever again. Many things happened at work today. First thing in the morning, a guest requested for a hole-puncher, so I brought it up to his room. His room had many files packed neatly, and he requested that I help him pack his files into boxes. Well, in the hotel line, never say no, thus I helped. He was probably a lawyer, he was rehearsing his arguments while I packed the files. I was already perspiring running up and down at 730am in the morning! The day went on smoothly.

In the afternoon, my supervisor brought me to experience how a hotel welcome a super VVIP. The Prince of Arab arrived in the evening, all the head of departments, including the hotel manager and general manager were getting ready to welcome him, Woah. It was really an eye-opener for me. My supervisor told me that there'll be cabinet ministers attending a wedding dinner next week, I'll definitely look out for that, hope to shake hands with LKY and our beloved SR Nathan! :D

Victoria JC had their prom night today at the Ritz Carlton too. I wanted to meet a few of my friends but didn't see them. Their ballroom setting was much more grand than NYJC's...
Blarh, I'll post up the NYJC prom pics I took last night hopefully by tomorrow. It really takes time to upload pictures one by one.

Long holidays

2006-12-04T21:54:00.000+08:00

I finally have a job, it's recommended by my aunt. I work as an assistant at the business centre in Ritz-Carlton. It's a really luxurious hotel, and people staying there demand the best service. Thus it's really a great learning experience for me. I don't really care about the pay though, even if its $4 or $5 an hour, I'll still take such a job. The job's really fun, I help provide services such as computer access, photocopying and printing to the guests.

Today was my first day at work, and I almost cocked up. A guest wanted to photocopy several sets of papers. As it was my first time using a heavy-duty photocopier, I was slow, I was afraid the guest would complain about it. So I kind of panicked and tried my best to be fast. After that, I had to staple a 35-paper thick set of notes. It's the first time I use the really huge staple. The guest complaint that the stapled set was too untidy, the sheets of paper were not aligned properly thus I had to re-do the stapling. Removing the staple bullet from the thick stack of paper was not easy! Fortunately, I completed the job and continued on. Later in the day, people came in for internet access, requested stationary and printing services. I went around the hotel delivering faxes to guests, thus meeting many people along the way. It's really a great way to explore the hotel. I especially like the uniform, it's a set of dark-blue suit and pants, with a nice yellow tie to match. I can now see how I'd look in a pure business attire. :D I hope to continue with this job till March... but this job doesn't have regular shifts, thus I may not get called up everyday. You can't have a cake and eat it too. =\

2006-11-28T22:38:00.000+08:00

I went out with my Sec sch classmates today. One of them told me it was to shop for prom clothes, but it ended up as a belated celebration for my birthday. I did not expect it at all, it was a pleasant surprise. I initially planned of joining my JC mates for dinner in the evening, but couldn't as my sec sch mates planned for dinner as well. I got a really nice sling bag from them as a present, thank you! We went to Suntec for about 2hours to shop for prom clothes. I couldn't decide on which long-sleeve shirt to buy, so didn't buy anything in the end. My friend managed to get his shirt for his retro-themed prom party though.

On the way out of Suntec towards CityLink, I met my JC mates, a very large group of them. I guess it's really fate that I cannot join both groups, somehow everything was planned for today. It's my Mum's birthday today, so I came home earlier to celebrate it together with family. Time really flies, it's one birthday after another. I really wonder how I'd be on my 50th birthday. :D

It's now that I realise my blog really lacks pictures. I'll probably bring a camera along if convenient, on every outing I go to so as to capture every memorable moment.

Slow life

2006-11-26T22:27:00.000+08:00

Life has been much slower than normal since the A levels ended. It has been fun and games everyday. I'm now craving for some work to do, but there aren't many. I'm looking around for jobs and hope to find one soon.

Yesterday was my brother's birthday and we bought a cake to celebrate it at home. Today we went to Swissotel for a birthday celebration dinner for my mum and brother. My mum's birthday is on 28 Nov while my brother's on 25 Nov. The main course food was alright, with sushi and chinese food. Dessert was great, they had the chocolate fountain, durian pudding and many varieties of cakes. Overall, it was superb.

Still very bored, not sure what to do! I'm just looking forward to March when I collect my A level results! :)

Nice song

2006-11-17T11:31:00.000+08:00

I was surfing around my friends' blogs and I came across this song. It's really nice, and currently my favourite. :D

Boston by Augustana

Consider it as done...

2006-11-16T09:45:00.000+08:00

One more paper left on Friday, and I'd have officially completed my A level course. 2 years is really fast, and I've been really stressed out during the past few weeks preparing for the exams. I had totally no life, I was stuck at home every day, studying-studying-study. Now, I'm beginning to worry about the results. All I know is that I'll not get a good grade for Chemistry, probably a C. Even then, I'm not completely confident of getting straight As. I somehow feel that my Math and Econs may drop to be B grade. I guess only time will tell, come March when I get the results...

I'm still thinking of what I can do with 5 months of total free time. Almost all my friends are enlisting in January, they'd probably spend their time relaxing before enduring military life for 2 years. Meanwhile, I stuck with choosing between enrolling into a driving course or taking up a part-time job. I'll probably take up a part-time job as I may not be able to complete the driving course in 5 months.

I'm soooo looking forward to playing pool and basketball with my friends after the exams. Wooohoo! :D

Breath-taking crosswind landing video

2006-11-03T16:43:00.000+08:00

The last two landings are totally breath-taking! The aeroplanes were facing more than 40 degrees off the runway. Gosh, that's a superb pilot.

Boycott Candy Empire @ VivoCity!

2006-11-03T10:03:00.000+08:00

The sweet shop at Basement 2 of VivoCity, Candy Empire, is discriminating against disabled people. Here are two letters sent to the Straits Times regarding their encounters.

Nov 1, 2006
Son's wheelchair not allowed in candy store

I have a 14-year-old son who uses a wheelchair. Whenever we shop together, I will check the space between rows of display in a shop before deciding if it is spacious enough for his wheelchair. If not, we will skip that shop. Even then, at times we will leave if shop attendants hint to us that we are taking up too much space.

Last weekend we visited Vivo City with his sister. At Basement 2, we saw the signboard for the candy store, Candy Empire, from afar and thought of buying some.

However, at the entrance there is a notice which reads: 'Please do not bring your trolley or wheelchair into the shop''.

I can understand about trolleys which may be large as there is a hypermart nearby. But what about a wheelchair? Isn't this discrimination?

For me, it is all right if the store does not want my business. But I cannot help feeling for my son. His disability is permanent and he knows he is not welcome in quite a number of places. But to have this type of notice specifically meant for wheelchair users, it is uncalled for.

Molly Zhao Li Juen (Mdm)

---

Nov 3, 2006
Disabled dad thrown out of candy shop with vulgarities

IT PAINS me to write this but my family experienced an appalling incident recently in Singapore's newest shopping mall.

On Oct 29, we visited the sweet shop in Basement 2. During this visit, we pushed my father-in-law in his wheelchair around the shop. This visit was without incident. The family decided we would return after dinner as grandpa wanted to buy some candy for his granddaughter.

When we returned, we were rudely stopped at the entrance with a wave of a hand and an irritated expression as though we, in our apparent carelessness, had missed the notice on the entrance prohibiting wheelchairs. We had not seen this notice initially, presumably because we had not expected to be discriminated against in this mall.

When we asked why wheelchairs were prohibited, the manager retorted as if we were too dense to understand. 'The sign says so, so no wheelchairs!' He then gesticulated vulgarly at the sign behind him, without even looking at us.

Not only had the store blatantly discriminated against my father-in-law, but we also felt threatened by the manager's hostile attitude. I expressed my exasperation and we left.

As we left, we noticed another wheelchair-bound customer waiting outside. He was alone, presumably waiting for his family who were inside.

My father-in-law suffered a stroke last year which left him paralysed. We try to encourage him to venture outside the home. Imagine the hurt he must have felt. All he wanted was to buy candies for his granddaughter. We were in the shop earlier and the aisles could certainly accommodate wheelchairs.

Why build ramps in that mall only to limit access to certain shops? Are handicapped individuals allowed only to window shop?

If tenants apply principles which are against the very values the Government is striving to promote, that is, a handicap-friendly environment, landlords should not be passive and allow tenants to tarnish the good name of their establishment.

Had this incident occurred in the West, it would have created an uproar. With the upcoming integrated resorts and the influx of tourists, the mall will not want to be seen in the wrong light.

I wonder what MP Lily Neo would say about what happened to us. As reported in The Straits Times, Dr Neo's team were wheeling disabled people around to find out how to promote wheelchair-friendliness. But there we were, discriminated against by some businessman who could not care less for the handicapped.

As a business owner myself, I strive to impress on my staff that it is the masses we serve and it is the masses who sustain our business. Perhaps Mr X is not interested in the small business each family can give.

The purpose of this letter is to protect my family's rights and I will not stand down to such intimidation.

Catryna Zhang Ai Ling (Ms)
---
The Singapore government has spent time and effort to initiate campaigns to help the physically disabled. It just takes one shop to render the entire campaign useless.

Topicless...

2006-10-30T14:35:00.000+08:00

A took a glance at the visits counter on the top right corner and was quite surprised. I have over 15,000 visits to my blog since I placed the counter there about a year and a half ago. I guess I've many 'silent' visitors as albeit so many visitors, few tag on the shoutbox.

Taking a short break from mugging now, I recall the moments in the various stages of life. There were more happy and memorable moments than the less joyful ones. I loved every PE lesson in school as we got to play and I took it as a break from studies. NAPFA tests were memorable too, as I recalled how we congratulated each other after passing each station. The friends I made at each grade of school have kept me a joyful person. I still keep in contact with several Sec sch mates, getting together for basketball games and birthday celebrations. And then there were the friends I made in NJ. Although we got to know each other for only a short period of 3 months, we still keep in contact quite frequently. I also got to know several people during my course at the youth flying club. We still keep in contact via MSN. Now for the great and fun people I've met while studying at NY, from 05S6a and Science Society. Of course, these are only a small portion of my journey thus far, but they're pretty significant.

I've the ambition of becoming a pilot, be it to fly a large commercial airplane or a much smaller Cessna. I've also dreamt of enrolling into MIT and experience life in a world-reknown college. If I ever have the chance, I'll migrate to another country with my family, to get away from Singapore. I cannot imagine myself confined in a country with no freedom of speech and no space for creativity, for the rest of my life. I'll never be able to experience the world by living in Singapore. I'll also never want my kids to go through such an inflexible education system that I've gone through. It's just detrimental.

Posted to Divers Unit

2006-10-27T15:16:00.000+08:00

I got my NS enlistment letter today, and I was very surprised that I'm posted to the Naval Divers Unit (NDU). All the while I was expecting to be posted to the army instead. But well, since I passed the medical, I had a very high chance to be posted to NDU. This unit is known to have the toughest training in NS, even tougher than commandos. I do hope I can handle it... Even then I can sure I'll be fitter than everyone else after 2 years of NS. All my friends will be training in Tekong while I'm stuck at Sembawang Naval Base. Water will be my best friend in the next 2 years to come ,.,.,.

Singapore's media freedom reach greater 'heights'

2006-10-24T12:12:00.000+08:00

Link: Annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2006
The 2006 Annual Worldwide Press Freedom is out. Singapore, ranked 140th in 2005, has dropped 6 places to 146th! A 'first-world' country with third-world press freedom.
Quoted directly from the website:
Some of the worst-ranked countries fell even lower. Singapore (146th) slipped six places because of new legal action by the government against foreign media.

Finland is number 1, while North Korea not surprisingly is last.

Vivo and bday pics

2006-10-23T22:06:00.000+08:00

I went to VivoCity with my family today to watch Singapore Dreaming. The movie screening was some kind of exclusive events for staff and family of MGS. My dad works there so he got tickets for us. Overall, the show was quite boring but had lots of meaning in it. It probably requires someone who has gone through the ups and downs of life to understand the true meaning conveyed during the movie. I was surprised that the director and two cast members of the movie were there. He gave us an insight to why he filmed the movie and why he depicted the life of Singaporeans the way he did. Incidentally, two members of the entire cast were from MGS too.

VivoCity was extremely crowded today, probably because it's a holiday tomorrow. The foodcourt and fast food restaurants were all packed! The food I ate at Food Republic was probably the worst I've eaten at a food court. It was worse than my college canteen's food, so you can imagine how bad it was.

Anyway, here's a pic taken during my mini bday celebration. It's not sharp due to poor lighting conditions. There're a few more but they're really very blur.

18th Birthday

2006-10-22T19:41:00.000+08:00

I've finally turned 18 and now I can legally buy alcohol, cigerattes and watch M18 movies. =X J/k. I still cannot enter the casino though as the age limit is 21, 3 more years to go!

It's not a good experience to have your birthday falling just a week before the A levels. My birthday this year is not as happening as the years before. My friends are all busy preparing for the A levels and thus cannot celebrate with me. :( I want to have lots of fun but the other side of me is thinking about the upcoming major exams. In conclusion, it sucks.

Anyway, I went to Temasek Club for badminton with my cousins. It was quite a low-key affair, nothing really special. =\ It was really surprising that my cousins gave me a birthday gift, as I didn't expect it at all. By mid-day, several of my friends SMS'd me birthday wishes, thank you guys! :D I took pictures of the stuffs that happened in Temasek with my cousin's handphone, so I'll post them up once he has sent them to me.

I'm going to the newly opened VivoCity for movie tomorrow as my Dad got free tickets from his workplace. I heard the place is nice, especially the scenery from the rooftop, I can't wait to see how it really looks like.

Anyway, NINE MORE DAYS to the A LEVELS!!!!!!

1 more week!

2006-10-20T14:57:00.000+08:00

It's one more week to my A level GP exam. I've practiced a couple of comprehension exercises but not essays. Hopefully I can push myself to write at least one essay before the exams. Yesterday, I finally took some time to write 2 economic essays. They were not good though, I compared it with the model answers and I missed out several points. Gosh, only 2 more weeks till the economics pape and I'm still behind!

I went back to school today to return some library books and spent 3 hours doing a full math P1 in the library. I think it's best to study in school as there's no TV and computer to distract me. I'll probably go back to school more often next week.

I called up CMPB this morning and my enlistment is in mid-April. I feel happy as I'll have 3 months of break after my A levels which I can use to learn driving and take up a part time job. But it's not really good as it means I'll complete NS 3 months after my peers do. But well, you don't get something for nothing.

My birthday is in 2 days time on 22 Oct. I'll probably celebrate with my family and friends, it's quite an exciting event as it's only once a year! But I cannot really enjoy it as much as in previous years as the A levels follow just one week after! Shucks.

I came across this video in HWZ forums, it's really very funny go take a look. It's about a study survey of a lecturer in NTU.
Video here

Exam results... 27 more days to A levels

2006-10-05T19:15:00.000+08:00

Yep, it's 27 more days to the A levels. There's a large countdown board hung at the parade square to remind all of us how close it is to the final exams. I wonder how I'd perform in the most important academic exam to date. My prelim results aren't great either. B for maths, C for physics, D for econs and E for chemistry. Ever since the block test back in March where I achieved 3 As, my results have been down the hill all the way. I've not gotten an A grade since then. It will be disastrous if I cannot achieve at least 2 As at the A levels. My dream of clinching a scholarship just seems very far away. I guess I'm just not good enough to be at the top echelon of the cohort.

Even so, I think that with a lot more hardwork, I'll be able to achieve what I aim to achieve.

Birthday celebrations

2006-09-25T20:52:00.000+08:00

I finally got to hang out with my NJ friends after so long. We've not met each other for probably 2 or 3 months. This time it was to celebrate two of our friends' birthdays. Eight of us went to Sketches restaurant at Bugis Junction for dinner. It was a pasta restaurant, something like PastaMania but had proper service and nicer pasta dishes. :D
The girls baked a chocolate birthday cake. I think it was really thoughtful of them to spend time and effort to bake a cake instead of buying it. Although home-made, the taste of the cake matched the standards of bakeries, it was nice. At the table next to us, a three year-old girl was celebrating her birthday with her family too. She was really cute and we also gave her a portion of the chocolate cake. I'm sure she enjoyed eating it as well.
Later on we went to watch John Tucker Must Die, it was a nice comedy, but just the usual 1.5hours laugh-and-forget (LAF) kind of movie. It'll probably be worth it if you watch on weekdays with cheaper ticket prices. I reached home at around 12 midnight and was totally worn out.

I'll post up the wonderful pics once I receive them from my friends. :)

Prelims finally over

2006-09-20T11:44:00.000+08:00

It seems like I had just taken my first exam paper a few days ago... I completed my 2-week long prelim exams yesterday, which ended with the Physics P1&2. Overall, I handled this exam much better than my mid-year as I studied for it. The A levels is really unlike the O levels where you can just relax a week before the exam and expect to be able to do most of the questions. I had this attitude for my mid-years and I was totally wrong. The A levels is just 1 month away, and I'm quite excited about it. I have a very strong feeling that this batch of students will create history in terms of excellent academic results for NYJC. :)

I woke up early at 7am today and went for a jog at the nearby stadium. The exercise and and fresh air really brightens up your day. As I usually jog in the evening, this was the first time jogging in the morning. I was surprised the stadium was crowded with adults jogging and senior citizens doing tai-zhi in large groups. Singapore's healthy lifestyle campaign is really working.

I've got a break from school till next Wednesday, and I'm going to catch up with sleep and playing time. :D

Here's a picture for everyone:

(It's a great way to lock your bicycle on the streets)

Singapore's image dented

2006-09-15T20:47:00.000+08:00

Singapore's image has been dented due to PAP's persistence to ban 27 activists. PAP has really handled the situation very, very badly. IMF's president has now pointed out the fact about Singapore's political and 'democratic' system, something which PAP has been denying for years.

Here are some news articles:
Singapore branded 'authoritarian'
Singapore inflicted enormous damage to reputation: Wolfowitz

These articles deserve to be on the frontpage of Straits Times, but I doubt that its censorship would allow it.

Liverpool thrashed 0-3 by Everton

2006-09-09T22:10:00.000+08:00

This picture says it all.

Crunch time

2006-09-08T08:48:00.000+08:00

It's Friday today, the prelim exams are just three days away! This time, I hope I've done more sufficient preparation than for the mid-years. I still probably have to practice a few more physics and maths prelim papers, and I'm ready.

I went back to school yesterday for chemistry consultation. Mr Wan was there at about 10am, and 5 of us sat at the round table outside LT4 and asked questions for more than 3 hours, whoah. Mr Wan commented that he actually wanted to complete some admin stuff, but couldn't do so as we took up all his time. Later on, we had lunch together and he even bought us drinks.

I really want to do well in this prelim exams as it'll prepare me for the A levels. Without excellent A level results, my career options will be bleak. It will be tough to get into a course with C and D grades, especially since I'll have to spend 2 years in the army and there's so much competition this time.

A beautiful picture.

RSAF Open House

2006-09-02T22:08:00.000+08:00

I went with my friends to the RSAF Open House today. The place was very crowded, but transport there was convenient and fast, so it was alright in the end. Here are the pictures. :)

Static Dislpays

Aerodisplay show

Teachers' Day

2006-09-01T00:14:00.000+08:00

Today's teachers day celebration in school was fun. We had two Indian dance instructors leading the school in a Bhangra dance workout. Some people danced so enthusiastically till they were drenched in perspiration, while some just sat there to watch. Anyhow, the dance was fun.

My class made scrapbooks containing notes from every one of S6A for our teachers. I'm really glad we came together as a class to come up with gifts of gratitute for our teachers. While in secondary school, we gave presents individually to the teachers and the class spirit wasn't really there. I'm sure the teachers would prefer sincere notes of words than expensive gifts, sincerity is priceless.

Later on, I was thinking of whether to visit my secondary school teachers. It was already 11am then, and the teachers would have all left the school, just like last year. Thus, I joined a group of friends to play computer games at a LAN shop.

Prelims is just one week away, I never thought that time would pass this quickly. Soon, it'll be the A levels already. Somehow I do not really feel prepared for the A levels, but the aim of achieving straight As is always stuck in my head. I really need to do something effective and quick about it.

Busy, busy, busy

2006-08-23T23:34:00.000+08:00

It has been all work and no play this few weeks. Next Wednesday is the GP prelim examinations, and it's only 69 days till the A levels. We're now doing all the various JC prelim papers we can possibly do during tutorial lessons and free time. I think I've done most work on Chemistry, the Chem dept drills everyone on the MCQ and Paper 2 questions. It has really helped me revise alot, and I suddenly feel I know alot more about Chemistry than ever before. I hope this will help me attain at least a grade B in the A levels.

As for the other subjects, I feel that I'm spending less time on Physics. Thus I'm not as proficient in doing the prelim paper questions as before.
I have now set my aim for the A levels - A for Phy, Maths and Econs, B for Chem and A2 for GP. I know it's possible as my friends and many other people have attained better results than this. I really need something to inspire me - probably it is the ambition to be a pilot in the future.

Singapore Fireworks Festival

2006-08-09T10:06:00.000+08:00

I went, with my brother, to the fireworks display yesterday. The train towards City Hall was crowded, and CityLink was even more crowded. There were policemen controlling the crowd at the underground Esplanade linkway. When we walked to Esplanade park, there was more people! We inched our way through the crowd till we got a good spot with no trees blocking the view. We stood there for about an hour till it was 9pm. The first fireworks exploded in the air.

The fireworks display was not spectacular though, probably because it was Team Singapore's. :) I felt it wasn't worth all the squeezing and time-wasting.

NDP celebration

2006-08-08T17:29:00.000+08:00

Today's NDP celebration @ NYJC was really fun and special. We sold flags to help the Geylang-Toa Payoh Medical Centre for the elderly. Our class went to the Boon Keng, Farrer Park and Little India area, all of which are along the MRT North-East Line.
We did not collect much donations though, as we spent more time travelling than asking for donations. Furthermore, the areas we went to were very quiet as it was around 9-10am when people were all at work.
Our class did win the 2nd prize for the most donations collected in that area and most number of quiz questions answered correctly. We won a $30 Swensen's voucher which we later spent, at Junction 8's Swensens, on ice cream and fries.

Blogging again!

2006-07-27T21:48:00.000+08:00

I've not updated my blog for such a long time. I've been staying back in school till around 7pm this week, to complete my work, chat with friends and play badminton.

I played in the intra-JC badminton competition today, pairing up with my classmate Jamie in the mixed doubles. We walked-over for the first match as our opponents were missing in action. They were our PE teachers, but surprisingly both failed to turn up. We progressed into the quarter-finals and had a disappointing 14-21 loss. I think we played better than them but just failed to score the points when it mattered. I smashed the shuttle into the net twice, and missed the shuttle once... I think I was too nervous. My partner played well, scoring several points for us.
I don't think there'll be anymore intra-JC sports competitions held anymore, it's really great to have the class join together and have fun. My next target is to learn table-tennis. :D

My Maths test

2006-07-27T21:44:00.000+08:00

Sinking into depression...

2006-07-13T15:59:00.000+08:00

I've finally gotten back all my mid-year exam results. The results for ALL my subjects have dropped. From my block test results of AAAD, it's now BDDD.

I got a B for my usual ace subject Maths. Careless mistakes were the culprits.
I got Ds for Phy, Chem and Econs. I think I've did the worst for Physics. I didn't really study for it and now it has hit me back. I scored 45/110 for my P3, my worst ever performance for Physics. I'm quite happy about my Chem results though. I did pretty well for MCQ, and I understood the mistakes made in the other papers. But I still cannot accept the extremely poor doing for Physics. I really need to brush up, with the Prelims and A levels just 3 months away! The results have really shown that the World Cup distracted me from my studies.

2006 World Cup Champions

2006-07-10T08:33:00.000+08:00

Italy!

As I expected, Italy won the World Cup. I watched the World Cup at Chijmes together with Doreen, Kelvin, Yvonne, Weiss and Genial. The atmosphere was great, it was my first time watching a major soccer match with friends outside at a pub. Everyone there were Italian supporters, and some even waved the Italian flag! We shared a jug of beer and sat there from 12 midnight till the end of the game.

Italy dominated the first half, and they clearly had the advantage in corners. France re-grouped and did not concede a single corner in the second half! The French defense fueled their offense and they took control of the entire second half. And in extra-time, it was all boring stuff except for Zidane's headbutt on Italian defender Materazzi.

The headbutt earned Zidane the only red card of the match and he was sent off. I really wonder what Materazzi said to Zidane which provoked him so much.

Anyway, congrats Italy! :D

NJC SB @ Esplanade

2006-07-09T11:42:00.000+08:00

I went for the Etude 31 concert presented by NJC's Symphonic Band yesterday night. It was my first time attending a concert at the Esplanade, so it was exciting for me. The Esplanade definitely beats Victoria Concert Hall in terms of experience and ambience. The ticket price was steeper though.

I met several of my friends there, some from S10 and some were my primary and secondary school mates. It has been a long time since I last met them. I personally liked the FFX theme the best, especially To Zanarkand. Although I've the mp3 version, nothing beats listening from a live band.

World Cup Finals tonight! My brother supports France and I support Italy!
Go Azzuri!!!

Go ITALY!

2006-07-07T14:36:00.000+08:00

Go ITALY! MAY YOU WIN THE 2006 FIFA WORLD CUP!

Long weekend

2006-07-02T19:50:00.000+08:00

The long Youth Day weekend has been really great.

I went to The Cathay to catch a movie for the first time. I watched Just My Luck together with my younger brother. The movie was too straight forward and was not really worth the money. Anyway, the new cinema is great. Seats are very comfortable, popcorn set meal @ $6.50, much cheaper than the nearby GV. I'd definitely choose Cathay over GV anytime!
On my way there, I met my sec sch classmate Roxanne, together with her friend. She still looks great as ever.

Yesterday I spent the whole day studying Physics. I re-read all the lecture notes and made summary of the notes in an exercise book. I think this method works and I'll see how it goes on Thursday's physics mid-year exam. In the evening, I went jogging at the stadium. I was surprised to meet my economics tutor there. He has there to play soccer. There're often soccer games being played at the stadium, I think its a lower division league as there're proper referees and linesmen. Tomorrow is the last day of this long weekend and I hope to be able to complete my revision.

England's finally out of the World Cup, they deserve it as their coach sucks! He pick Theo Walcott over Jermaine Defoe, wtf?
If Italy can beat Germany this Wednesday, I have a strong feeling they'll win the World Cup.

Funny pictures

2006-06-30T14:29:00.000+08:00

Start of mid-year exam - Finally

2006-06-23T20:03:00.000+08:00

The mid-year exams have finally started, and it was GP today. It was raining very heavily this morning and a quarter of my pants, and my entire shoe was wet when I got to school. I had to take the exam in this condition. I wrote the topic "Good governments always make unpopular decisions. How far is this true in Singapore?" There were no questions in sports, and the other questions were on topics I am unfamiliar with, like religion, philosophy and medicine. I had difficulty starting the essay. I could think of all the unpopular decisions like CPF cuts, transport fare hikes, extensive media blockage. Also, the question is phrased in the way that its implying Singapore's government is good, and thus I had to follow suit. I could think of the five-day work week as the only popular decision. I just couldn't think of other popular decisions... or were there at all? :)

Next up are the 4 A level subject papers. I have not really prepared for Chemistry yet. Still struggling. I heard from my friend that the Chem paper will be very tough, good luck to me.

World Cup!

2006-06-17T14:25:00.000+08:00

It's already more than a week into the World Cup, and it's been very exciting! Argentina thrashed S&M 6-0 yesterday! It's a huge pity I didn't bet on that match. I've been betting for several matches and starting to get sick of it. I don't know why I don't like gambling. I can get tired after a few rounds of mahjong or card games. My friend who is a soccer fanatic, bets more than $30 a day. I'll probably automatically stop betting next week when I get bored of it.

I went shopping for clothes with my friends yesterday at Queensway Shopping Centre. I must admit that I very seldom go shopping and don't know what stuffs to look out for. We walked around for like 2 hours, and I finally bought 2 shirts. But I kind of regret shopping at Queensway as the shirt designs of every shop look almost the same! I spend $23 on this red t-shirt, and found out that the colour runs... If it's a $10 shirt, it'll probably be expected. But for a $20+ shirt? Gosh... Queensway is really not a place for newbies to shop at. Ah well... at least I learnt my lesson.

Later on we went to Cafe Cartel @ Marina for dinner. The pork chop was great, and we shared this Viking ice-cream which had 10 scoops of chocolate and vanilla ice-cream.
Yesterday would have been a superb day if not for the stupid red shirt I got cheated of. Argh.

Movie! and more

2006-06-09T14:02:00.000+08:00

I went out with my friends to catch the movie She's The Man at Plaza Singapura. It was a hilarious comedy, and I'd definitely recommend to anyone looking for a movie to watch.

Later on we went to Marina Square to have dinner and shop around. We passed by Carl's Jr and wanted to try it. But the meals were around $10 each, and we figured it wasn't worth the money. I wonder what's so special about Carl's anyway. I'll probably try it out some day. In the end, we settled for Han's. It was kind of like PastaMania where you had to order the food yourself and the ambience was simple. The price was reasonable too I guess. I ordered a chicken chop meal which came with a drink, a slice of toast and a slice of cake. It cost $8.80.

I'll probably go shopping for clothes soon. I'm beginning to realise that my clothes are getting old and I'm always wearing the same few shirts. It's probably because I'm usually lazy to go shopping and seldom buy clothes. My friend however is the total opposite of me. Yesterday we went out together, he stepped into the OP store and bought a shirt within 3 minutes of shopping. Ha, I wonder if I'll ever do that.

Anyway, World Cup's finally here! Tonight is Germany vs Costa Rica. I'll definitely stay up to watch this opening match, which is pathetically one of the only FOUR matches MediaCorp is broadcasting. I do not fall into the dark side by paying StarHub additional $15 for the WC package. I am already paying them a premium price of $15 per month for the normal sports group, and yet I'm not entitled for the WC matches. Speak about the evil of monopoly! I also heard that StarHub jammed the TV signal for Malaysia's RTM1 channel as it had FREE-TO-AIR broadcast of many WC matches. Blarh. Damn, I hate monopolies! I'll probably switch my Internet access to SingNet, and cancel my CableTV account with StarHub if there's a competitor CableTV provider entering the market. I've had enough of StarHub's underhand tactics.

Activity-filled day

2006-06-03T23:13:00.000+08:00

Woah, today was one hell of a tiring day.

In the morning, I met up with my Sec sch friends to play basketball @ NYJC. We played for about 4 hours before we were completely worn out and decided to rest. We then went for lunch at PastaMania in PS. I notice that food in PastaMania makes you get sick of it after a few spoonfuls. All of my friends agreed, and I'll probably make PastaMania my secondary choice for meals. By then it was already 3pm. I was meeting up with my NJ friends at 5pm. So I decided to go to Orchard and walk around by myself.

I went to Wheelock place and browsed around at Borders for about 1hour. I then went up to the AppleStore and browsed for a short while. I had lots of time to kill. I wanted to sit down somewhere for a drink, but everywhere was so crowded with people. I then bought a cup of sugarcan juice and walked around. By 5pm, I was waiting for my friends @ Orchard MRT. But argh, they were 30 mins late. Once they reached, we went around Wisma Atria and Takashimaya to shop for a present for my friend's birthday. By 7pm, we still couldn't come to a decision. We went to a Japanese restaurant at Cineleisure for dinner, and spent almost 2 hours there eating and chatting. By the time we finished, the shops were already closing and we didnt manage to buy the present.

Albeit exhausting, it was a very fun day. I'll now go lie down and have a good rest.

Class outing

2006-05-29T22:03:00.000+08:00

I had a really fun class outing today. After the holiday lectures in school, almost half the class went to watch X-Men 3 together at Bugis. The movie was alright, lots of action throughout with great eye candies.

Later, we went shopping at Bugis Junction and Bugis Village. It's only my second time shopping at Bugis Village, and I realise it's a really great place to shop. The atmosphere gave me a nostalgic feeling, kind of like the olden days shops. Although the place was like a pasar malam, the area was clean and tidy. Prices were reasonable considering its in the city area. No wonder many of my friends love to shop there. I'll probably shop for my friend's birthday present there too!

Anyway, here's a nice spoof of an advertisement on TV:
"I saw this little girl buying a turtle,

She approached the shop owner and showed him $3

She said she want to buy turtle to release in the pond for good luck

The shop owner said "can only buy one baby turtle"

After she left the shop,

I look inside my wallet, i saw a VISA card

So i approached the shop owner

He gave me a smile

Tomorrow when the little girl go to the pond, she will release one baby turtle.

She will get a BIG surprise"

Haha :)

Thoughts...

2006-05-28T14:16:00.000+08:00

The June holidays have finally begun! This is where the preparation for the A levels begin. The mid-year exams are particularly important because it is where I can build up momentum till the A levels as almost the entire syllabus is included in this exam. I will aim to get onto the Honour's Roll so as to give myself more confidence. One must never become complacent even if you do well. I watched the NBA match this morning, Pistons v Heat. The Heat were up 11 points initially, but the lead was gone within minutes as the players made bad shot selections and committed many turnovers. Sports really does inspire you to make good decisions and set goals for yourself.

I have learnt that only results count in today's society. No matter how much effort you put in, if you do not get the results, it doesn't count. The winner of the 2006 World Cup will get their place in the history books and be remembered for life, while the losers go home under criticism and a sense of failure.

Recently, I've also been seeing alot of news about Memebers of Parliament setting up committees to assess the needs of residents, and conducting Meet-the-Residents' sessions more regularly. PAP has finally woken up and try to redeem themselves after almost losing Aljunied GRC and having only 66% votes at AMK. However, only time will tell if they are fully committed to their plans to help residents. With transport fares going up soon, and GST rumoured to be increased to 8% in the near future, the cost of living can only go further up. It is also sad to see that some Singaporeans earn only $450 a month (published in Friday's ST about the New Poor), while the Ministers earn 200 times more. MP Low Thia Khiang's idea about varying the Ministers' pay according to the people's income is definitely a logical one. The new MPs introduced by the PAP were born with a silver spoon, studied in top schools and mixed around mostly with the elites. How would they understand and thus solve the problems of the low income group?

Lots of thoughts gone through my mind...

NS Medical

2006-05-19T21:11:00.000+08:00

I had to take a day off from school to go for my NS medical checkup. I made a huge mistake by picking today for the medical. There were so many people and I spent almost 5 hours at CMPB for the checkup, with almost 1 hour spent to queue up. It was the usual medical checkup, almost similar to the checkup I had for SYFC, just that this included dental, blood and vocational tests. The blood test was the scariest I think. They poked the needle into the skin and filled the syringe with blood. Fortunately, it was over within a minute. I cannot imagine those donating blood as I'll have to sit there for more than 30 mins with the machine sucking out your blood every moment. I can definitely not be a doctor. :S

The checkup started at 10am and ended at around 3pm. After that, I went to Kelvin's house for mahjong. I don't know how people can play mahjong for prolonged periods, as I get tired after just 5 games.
I missed just one maths lecture today and one whole chapter had been completed! I'll have to catch up on tutorials this weekend... the speed of JC life is picking up already. Mid year exams straight after the June holidays, and Prelims about 3 months later. I will never be able to complain that I've nothing to do anymore for the rest of the year... :(

Tomorrow is the SYFC certificate ceremony and NYJC's college day after that. Another busy day for me again. I wonder when I'll have time to complete my work.

Long weekend

2006-05-14T00:25:00.000+08:00

I had a fun time yesterday. We went to Suntec City to see Jamie's temple event. It's the first time I see a temple holding such a grand event at Suntec City's fountain. Temples are beginning to become contemparary to attract younger devotees I suppose. The event was very large-scale and grand. There were a 3 large statues where people worshipped and prayed for good health and luck.
I went with Yvonne, Kelvin, Doreen and Bee Hua. Although there were only a few people, it was fun. As usual Yvonne was the most lively person and it was nice.
I left at around 6pm to meet up with another group of friends to attend the AJC Chinese Orchestra concert held at Singapore Conference Hall. We went there to support one of my friends who was previously in NJC in the first three months and later joined AJC. There was one particular performance that everyone enjoyed the most. It was the Suo Na or trumpet (I think) solo performance. The student played it really well and livened up the crowd.

Today, I went to Suntec to celebrate my friend's birthday. We watched MI3 and had dinner at Swensens. The movie ended at around 9.30pm and the shops were all closing already. We walked from Marina Square all the way to Suntec to have our dinner at Swensens. Fortunately they were opened till 10.30pm.
Oh gosh, I've spent lots of money this weekend. I had better stay home tomorrow to study!

I can't wait till next Saturday when I receive my SYFC certificate. I can finally meet my coursemates and catch up with them. :D

Singapore #1 Box Office Hit

2006-05-10T14:52:00.000+08:00

LOL~

Eventful week

2006-05-08T22:08:00.000+08:00

Last week was really eventful. So many things to do. The elections and lots of homework and common tests!

I'm really surprised about the AMK GRC votes. A young and unknown WP team went into PM's territory and came out with 33% of the votes. It's a really poor mandate for PM Lee considering a member of the PAP team commented that they were aiming for 80%.
In school, if you get 66%, its a B grade!
On Friday, the last day of the election rallies, I went to the Workers' Party rally at Serangoon stadium. The turnout rate was very high. The whole stadium was filled and there were at least 1000 people surrounding the stadium listening to the WP candidates' speeches. It's a pity the media did not publish the pictures of the huge crowd at WP's rallies.
I found this pic on the web:

Crowd of WP rally @ Hougang

I'll try to update the blog as often as I can. It has been really busy for me this month. Hopefully I can organise myself during the June holidays.

Twenty-Six April

2006-04-26T21:17:00.000+08:00

Last Sunday's Dragonboat fun race at Kallang Basin was fun. Our team made up of 10 people from S6A won the heats and got into the semi-finals. I didn't really expect us to win that easily, but I guess everyone put in their best and we got the results. We came in 3rd out of 4 boats in the semis, quite a good result considering the other boats were from Kayak and Judo CCAs.
After the race, I went together with my Dad, down to Sim Lim Square to get a 19" LCD panel. After much consideration, I picked LG over BenQ because of the warranty policy. It set us back by $530.

I'm looking forward to the weekends as it's Mayday holiday next Monday. 3 consecutive days of rest will surely freshen me up for the upcoming week.

And yeah, Arsenal is through to the Champions League finals! :D

Wednesday!

2006-04-19T20:58:00.000+08:00

I really cannot think of a title for this post...

I've not had the time to update my blog for the past few days. JC life is getting busier every day, with more and more work to complete. I've got Maths prelim papers, Chemistry organic revision, Econs MCQ and Physics tutorials to complete.

I completed my NAPFA test today. Results were satisfactory with As for all the stations except standing broad jump which I got a C.
2.4km 10.08min/Pull-ups 12/Sit&Reach 57cm/Sit-ups 45/SBJ 230cm (just hit C grade)/Shuttle-run 10sec
I still get a Gold though. It's one obstacle down, and A levels left to overcome. But I think I need to plan out a physical training routine to ensure my fitness does not drop.

I received a letter from SYFC a few days ago informing me about the certificate ceremony in May. I'm so excited as I can meet my instructors and coursemates for probably the last time. I still feel sad about not making it for the PPL course. It would definitely have been a dream fulfilled...

I'm probably changing my current 17" CRT to a LCD panel. I've not used LCD panels regularly and it'll be exciting to own and use one regularly. I hope to get a 19" LCD panel, it'll be great to play games on it. :D

Monday again...

2006-04-03T21:10:00.000+08:00

The weekends ended so quickly that I did not really get to relax myself. The day started with a 2-hour Chemistry tutorial. But at least its better than 3 hours of continuous tutorials every Thursday. Anyway, my Chemistry teacher always pick on one student and bombard him with many questions. Today happened to be Weiss' turn, haha.

I got back my Economics results today. The MCQs were pretty easy as almost everyone were from the ten year series. So I was quite confident of at least a B. I got back the results and found that I scraped through to get an A grade. However, I could spot that the teacher increased everyone's essay marks by several points as I think many students scored poorly for one part of the essay. Mine was increased from 11 to 17. And using 11 for essay, I'd only have gotten a B. So my prediction was correct afterall.
Thus, my overall grades are AABD. I still have a long way to go before I can score well for Chemistry and to aim for my 4As.

I'll now set my target for mid-year exams: A for Maths, Phy, Econs and B for Chemistry. :)

Block test results

2006-03-29T22:11:00.000+08:00

I've so far gotten back all my results except for Economics. A for Maths, B for Physics and D for Chemistry. A C6 for GP cause I failed by comprehension paper badly despite doing well for the essay section. I'm kind of disappointed with Physics as I could have easily gotten an A if I had studied the definitions and read the questions properly. Chemistry is another story altogether. I've been scoring Cs and Ds for Chemistry since J1. Albeit I scored an A2 for O level Chem, my Chem foundation is very weak. This block test covered only two major topics, organic chemistry and ionic equilibria, but I still did so badly. If I score a C grade or below for Econs, I'll drop Chemistry... else I'll stay on and try to battle it out.

A funny picture

2006-03-24T22:01:00.000+08:00

(Click on picture for larger version)

Block test finally over!

2006-03-23T20:48:00.000+08:00

Phew, the block test is finally over. I think I'll be forced to drop one subject as I know I totally messed up my Chemistry paper. There were like ten questions which I had no idea at all, and I could not remember the reagents and conditions of several reactions. Deduction of a few marks here and there will definitely cause me to fail the paper... I've already thought through it and will probably drop either Chemistry or Econs, but its most probably Chemistry. It is my second weakest Science subject after Biology.

I'm so bored now, I've got bored with all the computer games I have. FIFA 2006 is boring... Diablo II requires lots of time... Flight Sims aren't realistic enough... I'm waiting till Oblivion is in stores before I can buy and play it. And I'm so looking forward to HL2's expansion set releasing in end-April.
........