Post Uni Blues

Right now, i am awaiting for many things to happen.

I was wondering when i would be asked to go down and sign the papers for my job offer. A friday ago i was told by HR that i finally got a job offer from CAAS as an Air Traffic Controller. That alone thrilled me lots. There was a one year training course before my probationary term as an ATC officer commences. Renumeration? Shant discuss it here. Ha.

I was talking with callsign 29-er about my job offer just last night. And then it struck me: THAT MAYBE I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO MAKE IT FOR IN CAMP THIS COMING DECEMBER! It is definitely not a cause for joy ( unlike most of my men, who would have felt OTHERWISE ). I wont want to make up my ICT with some strangers whom i've never CHIONG SUA with before. Time will pass by miserably then... gosh.

Many people have been asking me how i have been( and i bet they know that i am slacking my life away actually ). To be precise here is my typical day( after getting the job offer):

1)I stopped looking for jobs, feeling contented that i am offered with one that is really not IT related.

2)I will often wake up with strained eyes because usually the mid morning sun rays would have penetrated my soft and vulnerable eye lids.

3)I started hardcore web surfing, looking at cars, houses, chapteh know -how, and friendster.

4)I started picking up my long lost passion i.e plant aquarium. Just went down to clementi fish shop to recce the market rates for a CO2 electric generator as well as pL lights for water plants.

5)Called up DBS on payments pertaining to tuition fee loans. Tried to use the lump sum my aunt prepared to pay the loan in full, but was told i couldn't. I probed further and found out that NTU has yet to furnish details on my graduation. I couldnt wait for interest to pile up and so decided to settle for partial payment first.

6)To pass the remaining time i have, i skated even more( yearning to try this year's slalomania, hopefully in october), run, swim and clocked some boulder time in NTU.

On one occasion to a TCM with dearie a few days back,I found out from the physician that the skin complexion is a very strong indication of the INSIDE of a body. For instance, if you suffer some form of indigestion and often have constipation, it will build up alot of pimples and spots on your chin area. That sounds disturbing to me. Hence this resolution : To drink more fruit juice, especially papaya milk shake and banana juice, cos of its fibrous content in nature.

I am still waiting for all my convocation pictures to come in. And then i would show case the wonderful people who had been there for me when the going was tough.

Lousy course rep speech

I had a super long Friday.

It began with my convocation. To say the truth i wasnt really very thrilled to go there. It was my parents who were MUCH more excited about the whole event. I told dad we should set off at 8 and guess what? He was all dressed up as neat as he could by 730am , all set to get to the multi story carpark to start the engine. That's really unlike Dad. Hee hee.

Everything else then was just going through motion. While on the car I went into la la land, trying to figure out the later episode of my dreams earlier on. I thought Mom tried to interrupt my sleep but i simply couldnt bothered to answer her. Yawnz.

My tranquil was totally shattered when my dear jockey boy called me and said he got detained by Provos(Its some long story on this really and i do not have the habit of sharing my soldiers's problems with the outside world).

I had nothing to offer him except to ask him HOW HOW. It was then he let out the mischievous grin he had been trying hard to control. I swore if i could go to where he was, i would have SUPLEXED HIM one times JIALAT JIALAT. Alas my dear LEE KIAN LIM was back safe.

The only thing i could remember during my convocation, is not what the dean said, nor the special moment shaking dean's hands, nor recollecting what the course rep mentioned ( its all crap to me serious).

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Give me the chance on stage, and i will say the following:



Dear Friends, everything i have right now would not have materialized if not for your continual faith and trust in me, both as a person and as a friend. To me, we are more than just coursemates.

Xiao Ming, you are by far, the most wonderful smart ass i had ever met. Selfless and humble, you are one person whom i had no difficulty relating my problems with. If you werent that tall and clever... heh. I am still waiting for your offer to give me a ride on your helicopter.

Wann, you are also a master of all trades. I was glad you showed me the way into Julia Gabriels and made me realise how talented and wholesome you are. Your passion for what you do will always this inspiring catalyst in my shit life to come.

Zaki, you are a lucky lad. You have this big big plasma tv whose projection could fit a Fiona Xie face THAT is bigger than a life size man. I really cherish those days when we had to da pao 108 together. Thanks for your consistent encouragement even though we were often facing the same shit and hurdle. I wish you all the best in your job search. Find a good Minah and DONT FORGET YOUR PROMISE if you ever find one okie?

Kyle, I wanna congratulate you for coming this far. I am very sure you had your pressure competing with the younger ones like us in the course. You have just shown me that with perseverance, age is never a factor to get what a person truly wants. Spend more time learning what you wanna do while serving your NS, and i hope you will be as successful as our KKJ lead guitarist in time to come okie?

Now i wanna talk about the most popular man in the group.He is our dear SiKang, the lead guitarist in KKJ. This is a real loud man who really cant seem to whisper during the lee wee nam exam revision days. He is really one kind, very often caught up with his hall commitments and his lady encounters. If you dont know him, he will seem to be one real KL boy with this DIAO look. If only he could share some of his popularity with me. Ha... This guy has talent. If you dont believe me just go google king kong jane or key in KING KONG JANE on youtube.

Then now my dear pet Steve. This boy is by far my ultimate victim. I would leave his 'mark' in all the lecture theatres we went for our lessons. Thank you steve, for your consistent patience helping me in my modules, especially our struggling times doing Neural Network. I am sure with your strong motivation to do well in life, nothing can hold you back to earn those extra bucks to sustain. Jiayou lizard! 9641009X

Another character i wont forget is our lecturer poser, CJ. This guy is by far the most talented person in irritating others. His 'HP vibration mode' and his rubber pet lizard are just some of his skills that all of us will never forget. This guy is equally persistent in his studies( He always has all the important pages of the lecture notes marked with a star, super attentive in lectures ), as well as tracking THAT SOMEONE via friendster. Thank you for providing me shelter when i had to squat in hall. Remember those days drinking essense of OSTRICH in canteen 9?

If the chronicles called you up again, remember to tell them there's also a narrator in the clip okie? WAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!

Thank you zhikai for visiting me when i was so sianz and lonely in my 1057 cell. Your ruggedness in your academic attitude made me realize that its all in the mind. I just wanna thank all the robotics boys on their behalf one more time for the special effort you went through while preparing the robotics lab report. Oh yeah, i love it when you call me out for dinner in hall. If not i will really rot on my bed....

Thank you Chee Seng Onn. I guess this boy has made the greatest impact in me. He is one example of a role model for all regulars ( i once had a dream to be a regular too many years back, ). Thank you for your wonderful help, especially that faithful afternoon while i was struggling in lab 208.Sorry if one tau sa bun was not enough. You are an equally consistent runner, someone who is there to remind me that its time to run. You are more than just a course mate , and i am glad to have known you more after odac trips and many silly outings.

I wont wanna say a farewell to you all here. Convocation is barely the beginning.

And now for the man of my CE life:

Benjamin Lee, thank you for showing me how to be as crazy as you during our first year doing bouldering. You were someone i could look up to, who can play well and work well. Thank you for watching after me, especially during those days trying to fix the sponsorship problems for my pumpfest project. I am glad Yingli came into your life earlier, if not your flamboyant self and your overwhelming charm would have killed more hearts of those who chanced upon you. Thank you for making my life wholesome in uni.

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Yeap, that's convocation for me. I have loads of pictures taken. And rest assure i will post them up in future entries to come.

SCE GANG, dont forget about me. I am but a poor lonely boy who will continually seek your wisdom and financial support in life! ho ho ho!!!

The missile launching system

For the fortunate few who had been in my passenger seats, i want to emphasize this interesting idea.

Title of Project :The missile launching system

Project Code : G.O.A.T-999

Project Funded by : The company where fakie works

Projected headed by: Smart gal fakie

Project background : This project is planned in 2 stages of development

Development ( Initial ): The missile launching system with automobile integration capability.

Core usage : To launch conventional projectiles about 81mm in calibre with muzzle velocity of about 600m/s on

1) Vehicles tail gating you
2) Vehicles on the first lane blocking you
3) Vehicles who do not signal
4) Vehicles who cut your lane at a deadly pace and distance
5) Red light camera if the user has accidentally beat the traffic light
6) Traffic jams
7) Any object the user piloting the automobile deem nuisance

Development ( Final ): The manpack version of the initial development, with similiar specifications

Core usage: As per initial development. On top of that, it should be designed for easy mounting on skaters so that
1) People who deem skaters as dangerous should be shot
2) People who block your way could be blasted off
3) People sharing the court that you skate in can be blasted off
4) People who skate dangerously pass you and pose threat to your movement could be blasted off
5) People you basically dont like on skates creating a nuisance can be shot on the spot.

Expected date of Completion : 31st August 2007

Related projects / words : Parade commander, manufacturing cheap ammunition, dream car, idiotic road users

Good bye photos

I was rather taken aback when IBM service centre offered my hard drive crashing problem with a solution : To reformat and preload the softwares necessary.

If only i had known that they werent capable of salvaging my data, i might as well reformat the computer on my own.What's more I have to fork out 30 bucks for that preloading of software (yeah its not covered). If i had decided not to ask them to do anything, i have to even pay administrative fee of 50 bucks. Smart.

Thing is, i want to salvage alot of information on my laptop. It is like an insult for computer engineering graduates. I could have back up information ( sigh... have always been procastinating on an external 2. 5 " storage space ) or partition my hard drive. Those practices are just not intuitive to me. I guess i am the sort who has to learn things the hard way. KNS!!!!!

Really hated it. Well to be frank its not so much of my IA documents or FYP report( or any of the lab sessions in computer engineering modules ). It's those photos i accumulated since early 2006. Those were pictures of me and my brother who started out skating humbly against the winds of ECP in December 2005. There were also alot of video clips on my skating outings with gf, brother, fake brother and the like.

Those memories can never be brought back.

Someone plus stab me in the chest pls......

Bananas in the world...Unite!

This title is dedicated to my dear FOOT 03 fellow freshman Q, for being the banana king up there in pelepah in July 2003.

This is the THANK YOU list i compiled as of today:

1.Thank you Q, for being my friend, be it shitting in fern infested bushes or sweating your guts out belaying me while i lead climb. Those moments in Yishun Safra will live forever with me till end of time. Let's 'psycho' ourselves again to get new BLACK DIAMOND HARNESS and start top rope all over again k?

2.Thank you Q, for spotting me whenever i am trying to send a problem on the wall, without fail.

3.Thank you Q, for that assurance you gave whenever i couldnt clear a route and you showed me how to.

4.Thank you Q, for being as 'lousy' as me, when our dear ex hall king was once full of vigor and zest on the wall. Certainly i did not feel that left out afterall.

5.Thank you Q, for those countless companionship to climbasia. Though we could never be as good as those peeps there, climbing with you was a healthy way to kill my boredom.

Q,I think i'm officially out of ODAC. Felt the reality sinking into me when i attended this year's FOOT sp night. For once i was actually occupying the back row seats in the hall where all the action for the evening was. Sitting with me were good old faces like ex hall king and his beau, K.K, K.Y, Jason, Matthew the butch lookalike, SS the goondoo, and many more. Somehow i coudnt find myself singing those songs everyone did before closing the sp night.

I finally found myslf standing among the lao jiao crowd feeling slightly detached from the rest while the freshmen crowded reached their climax of the sp night, singing songs and gesturing moves from the EPOI TAI TAI song.

I was summoning my 'unglamness', trying to do the cheer with them. I simply stood there, wearing a silly smile. I felt sad. My subconscience seemed to have parted unwillingly with something i held on during my 4 years of varsity life.

I did not take part in this year's foot. And i must say i would love to if given a chance. A few hours back before penning this entry, i browsed through SS's external hard disk photos. Each picture in her 4.4G told stories, of Taman Negara, Pumpfest05, Pumpfest O6, our days as CGL in foot 06.

From the lyrics of one of Rick Astley's Song:

"IT WOULD TAKE A STRONG STRONG MAN, TO EVER LET YOU GO."

To those who cried after the sp night, let your legacy be felt in the new blood.

Good bye NTU ODAC.

Sir.................

I got kind of inspired by parade commander's latest post.

Well, i'm not talking about inspiration to sign on here (At least i dont think i will ever reach that stage.

Life has been very kind to me. So far i am free enough to write things on blogs, slalom, go for interviews ya da ya da....)

Flash backs of my army life hit me recently. On the train some time back i chatted with parade commander about those KAYU days as a cadet as well as my unit life. If i could only choose one story on my cadet AND my Unit officer life to tell, it would be the following *bling bling.... travellig back into dirty green........*



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Title :Cadet's ku ku woes.

An ultimate ku ku experience. Even wear helmet also cant get this brainless.

Starring : Wong Jian Ming, Vincent as the Acting PC

When it happened : August 2001, before sept 11 attacks

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Vincent fall everyone in after a Forward Observer exercise. Everyone was busy trying to clear stores and check that the prismatic compass ( a SAF controlled optical store )was fastened to their SBO ( Skeletal Battle Order ).

Vincent on a thursday evening : *strong hokkien accent * Oei all check your compass hoh, dont lose it ok? Not good to burn your weekends off like that hoh... MAI chu stunt okie?

Everyone : *in a reluctant mood to reply* ah...orh....

In less than 5min, the total count of compass was 39; the optical IC drew out 40. The panic alarm went auto, we felt trapped, just like how you would react if your mother was about to enter your room while you are building up the proteins within you in front of your PC / laptop.

Our fates were sealed. Too bad. Our course commander had ALL of us confined over the weekends. Not the upcoming one but the next one.

And so, the weekend passed. We all booked in with comfort items and snacks to drive away the dreaded feeling within us. For me i brought in my guitar.

On a Friday before serving the confinement.

Vincent *still the acting PC* : Stand by bed 0830 hours. Lesson at 0900...

I already started to have a headache. I just dont wanna think about my friday because there was NOTHING to look forward to after Friday. And so, we all went on an autopilot motion, swiping dust and sweeping the FOREVER dirty floor. It was then all of us in the bunk heard a LOUD CLANK.

WE just stood there, legs frozen, heart almost falling out from our mouths, eyes transfixed on that unmistakable optical object.

TMD VINCENT YOU KU KU SHIT! YOU DID NOT CHECK YOUR SBO. CB!!!!!!!


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Title :Off pass ordeal

An out-of-this-world sensation every time men want to ask for off.

Starring : LTA ENG and all his charlie bty boys, sometimes specs

Where and when it happened : Feb 2002 - May 2003, AMQ camp

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Just to quote an example. The battery was on 2NTM ( 2 Hours Notice to Move) standby duty. What it meant was that if 'the button was pressed', charlie battery had 2 hours to load up, draw weapons, draw ammunition and prepare for concentration orders from higher HQ( in short, its the REAL WAR ).

A typical 2NTM standby duty would mean that non of us can book out / stay out for one absolute week. Usually after dinner i would try to avoid walking around the men's quarters, because if i ever did, i would be purged, clinged onto. Have you ever seen the show "dawn of the dead"? That show features the living dead roaming around, feeding on fresh human flesh. Yeah i felt like a walking human flesh.A lucrative one some more. Men would flock around you with ALL SORTS OF REASONS, finding ways to spend their nights beyond the camp gates. Asking the battery seargent major would be fruitless at times, because ultimately the green light has to come from me.

There is this one particular incident whereby i had no choice but to take a leak in the men's quarter's toilet. I love it when everything that was held within my bladder just burst out. An imaginary white dove flew passed me, against the navy blue sky with cotton white clouds completing the picture....aahhhhhhh...... and then....

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR....................................

My bladder muscles had this jolting sensation. I swear that my discharging system sort of 'tarek'.



That zombified greeting was from one of my men, grinning beside me, revealing his tar stricken teeth. I tell you, the look on his face suggest that he had stumbled upon a big pot of gold.

Sir Eng( the goat ) :Oh my goodness.... can you at least wait for me to finish my wee wee!?

What a beautiful army life i had.... haha....

Freshmen Orientation Camp briefing

V suggested a drink after the freshmen briefing. I was fine with that idea since we did not really had much involvements with the actual camp itself.

Along with me and V we got parade commander, R and my dear bro down to Esplanade Harry's.

Here are some pictures. Nice shots from R i must say!


My dear fakie cum slave and R


Bro and goat with a pathetic drunk look after a 2 hr plus slalom cum sauna session in the esplanade


I cant remember the names of these drinks in the pic. They taste like anything BUT drinks sigh.


Parade commander and goat toasting to each other's simple life!


I finally convinced myself to get back a similar timex watch.

I hope for more of such drinking sessions to come!

Oh yes parade commander, thanks for the treat. YOU ARE DA MAN!!!!!

Judgement

I am simple in my perspective about life.

Whatever i say and whatever i do i hope people around wont judge me. I have my reasons for doing things. Dont look at me as if you are forever right abt things. You dun noe me.

Call it whatever you want.

I do not owe anyone a living

Look where you kick damn idiots!!

I skated to the double court for the routine FANS( Friday Admiralty Night Skate )to play cone tricks. As usual the court was shared among us skaters and 2 batches of peeps( Lets call them group A and group B) playing street soccer. Our skating ground was sandwiched among them.

Sometimes its inevitable when a flying ball comes knocking onto you; Afterall we are all sharing the court.

Tonight i thought otherwise. Maybe i was childish and immature. This soccer ball from group A strayed to group B. Some guy from group B conveniently (without even seeing where his kick will land the ball to ) rammed the ball in the general direction of group A.

The ball went straight to my brother's face. The impact: A twisted pair of specs. That's how hard the force was delivered.

It caught all skaters attention. Obviously this was a very 'no-license' way of playing soccer on public ground. I was particularly mad,cos i cant believe it that my brother said ITS OK after the guy who launched the kick simply brushed everything off with a 'I AM SORRY'.

I was also particulary mad, simply because it wasnt a ball that flew out from an intensive game, rather it was just a pure incident of ignorance.

I ranted" HEY PLAY SOCCER KICK PROPERLY LEI!"

That idiot replied " I already said sorry okie?"

At this very intense moment, one of the skaters went up and intercepted, extinguishing the heated conversation.

I was mad, because i couldnt believe that someone COULD JUST WALK AWAY PLAYING OBLIVIOUSLY though my brother seemed ok. Couldnt him just come over and check out my brother?

My brother kept saying he is ok after the incident, and reminded me not to get uptight nor frustrated over things.

Sometimes, things cant be resolved easily with a 'I AM SORRY'. As i am typing this entry, i couldnt help but think of the mistakes i've made and how easily i've said "I am SORRY" to those whom i've hurt or injured.

Life's a contradiction aint it?

I got the odac spirit, UP IN MY HEAD!

Flashbacks of me trying hard to act mature during FOOT 2003 suddenly hit me.

Back then i was holding onto my composure. A few days before i went for the camp, i told dear that 'ITS NONSENCIAL that THEY WANNA FORCE A 23 YR OLD NS boy TO SHOUT AND SING CHEERS!'

Right now, i'm beginning to see the twist my life went through in odac. I wasnt the quietest boy around in Dolomites 2003, in fact the odac culture was so strong that i decide to give up my hard up concealments and go with the flow of CHEERS AND JEERS and all the BOO-INGS. To my disappointment, my group wasnt the real RA-RA type. Many a times we just sad at one corner seeing hw 'happening' other groups were.

Vic and Ben, if you were reading this, yup i'm talking abt your group Andes.

After the foot camp i felt something missing. Nothing was there to hold me back to join the committee or sub committee of any special projects. I did not really feel the close bond with my group, nor did i feel any obligations to keep in contact with them. Ben was around in FOOT 04 as a business manager, and on the outside he seem to savour every moment working with his fellow peeps. I thought maybe i should give myslf a chance and try and see if i could make a difference in the lives of FOOT 04 as a senior attached....

I was glad i made that choice. I thought my fellow freshmen in Datuk 05 had so much fun that it induced me to be a closer part of the club. I was anything but hesitant on joining 9th comm NTU ODAC.

Certainly there were lots of ups and downs. On the outside it was a mere CCA to clock points; To me i was trying to prove to myself and see what difference i would make in the club. Its a very personal and fufilling objective for me. Points? That was the last thing on m y mind as a main commer.

I had alot of 'kayu' trip leading experiences, especially with Rachel and jianda and all the pack of lies about the 'disappearing water body that made navigation difficult up pelepah'. I could never forget the participants' bloodhound look when they kept insisting on refund. Gosh i almost lost my head off.

Siewsze was there with me during main comm stint. She watched my back and i watched hers. Together we were partners in crime, leading Taman Negara trip, being GL for Chehalis for FOOT 2005, and we endured through pumpfest 06 as fellow programmers and parted after our final official commitment as F00T 06 CGLs.

I had lots of fond memories as you all can see. The club made me a very different person. My NS officer ego was flattened and i learnt that being sincere, humble, unglam and loud is the way to bond in an organisation.

To those who are still in the club, dont lose this culture. Its this element of selflessness and unglamness that makes us stand out from other establishments.

Always do it for the one beside you.

My belongings

I hate to write such seemingly trivial stuff on my blog. But yup it aint trivial to me.

1. I lost my timex watch ( worn it during my pumpfest stint back in 2005 and did my 2006 biathlon with it, sweat numerous times during skating with it)

2. My laptop casing's zip gave way

3. My Hp is as good as dead. It gives way to pressure and auto shut off.

4. I dont have a proper bag to go out with( the bag dearie gave had a dislodged sling now; and my orange osprey bag is perpetually smelly when it comes into contact with my sweat. Bad humid Singapore! ARGH!!!!)

5. I actually accidently melted my royal robbin trekking / climbing pants with some idiotic iron. It was my favourite pants!ARGH AGAIN!!!!!

I went down to Singapore Arts Museum with Monkey last friday. The main attraction of the day was the IDEALIST artist Zeng Fan Zhi from China. His theme of artwork is based on his personal encounters during his youngster years in SHanghai as well as his own perspective on IDEALISM. My eyes were pretty transfixed to many works of his, each bearing portraits with high foreheads, red scarf ( strong taste for communism in his work apparently) and strong sturdy palms. Style of his own i reckoned. All in all i felt good, having this parallel sense of ability to decode ( or trying to decode) artists' intentions. I loved to draw since primary school days; i derived pleasure from drawing because it brings me into dimensions the real world could never offer. i probably belong to a world where everything is governed by a stroke of charcoal or color pencil....

Saturday noon was another eventful day for me. I stayed around in NTU for ODAC senior camp and took part in the night cycling dry run event. I was glad to be down for this. Every odac trip / event i put myself in brings myself closer to odac. If i could turn back the clock to where everything began back in July 2003, i would still walk backinto FOOT. I truly had no regrets doing what i had done for the past 4 years, especially with zesty, sincere and happy people....I supposed i belonged to ODAC.

Come to think of it,I guess those material belongings aint matter that much.