Euphoric

Today i learnt a new term.

Like i said i seldom read. My volcab sucks. I met my uni friend in Kopitiam for the supposedly-last-meal in changi tgt (before heading to RMG to collect medication for the runny tap).

To cut the story short, after we parted ways, i whatsapp my friend saying i would pray for her for a smooth day ahead. Being the usual grateful chap she assured me that she wasnt that uptight and upset.. but maybe not as "euphoric" as me


Huh... simi si EUPHORIC?

After a short consultation with her, i gathered that maybe being contented in life easily gets one euphoric easily?

The amazing haze that still left me in a daze

It must have been the day of the marathon.

 

Felt like it was in the midst of a heavy downpour and we gathered snuggly under some attap roof for shelter. I saw Robin Tan who had finished(and probably washed up from his PB attempt earlier). I was perplexed; A few moments ago on a Monday morning I actually visited the doctor for sore throat and runny nose. Couldn’t really comprehend how things fall into current state. I don’t remember training much (thanks to the haze, I have been a gym rat on the threadmill) and here I was supposedly in the winners den(those who can run much faster than me are all considered winners).

This is as much as I could remember from the dream I had earlier on. There was supposed to be a second part I swear. I woke up with images of the dream vivid and I thought I could recapture them at a later time of the day. Barely 4 hrs passed since I woke up and 50% wiped out

 

Happy Tuesday folks!

2015... almost over...

Im here to clear my 3 years worth of cob webs...

Life now is largely about my family and work. The inevitable phase of a typical male in urban SG. I took moments to review what i wrote during the initial years of my blog and i noticed that

1. I spent alot of time sharing knowledge(tuition, my passion for outdoors in odac, skating)
2. I found myself doing the same sort of stuff as in point 1. I fused work with sharing and found myself enjoying coaching new comers to my job. Very satisfying to groom pple into the profession.

Not sure if im heading in the correct direction in life. But i will do my best to sustain what i love without having to life a life under someone elses expectations.

The past 3 years(particularly 2014 till present) saw me clocking more hours on the guitar. I have since played pro bono in a local cafe during tuesday evenings, and made efforts to round up like minded musicians in my work place to arrange music. Not to forget the great times doing emceeing for my friends for their wedding banquets . Someone on facebook messaged me asking my rates for emcee... that set me thinking . thats more than 15 weddings in a span of 4 years. I honestly enjoyed being a significant part of someone else's lives.... and the more important thing is that from these occasions i groomed myself to be a confident person(speaking on stage, playing live music)

To a fruitful and meaningful future ahead with my wife and children!!!!!


Shall sign on again when i find myself free enough to be here.  =)

i have survived half of 21st december 2012!!!!!

Heya!!!

For those who have the time to see this, im here to remind you that im still alive!

Will post an entry in awhile. Happy new year and merry Xmas to all!

My love for this blog

Needless to say, i enjoyed writing in this blog. Time and space may have constrained my entries to less than one in a few months, but certainly the enjoyment lives on everytime i visit this blog , because:

1. This blog was created by my first batch of primary school tuition students. This year,they have just finished their Os. Wow... how time flies.

2. This blog was established during the times when i climbed / skated hard. The very existence of this blog was like a wonderful milestone for a boring man like me.

3. This blog saw me through the dark hours of preparing FYP as well as the final moments as a student before i embarked onto working life. Metamorphorsis told through this blog really...

4. Tight for time, i only continued blogging significant moments here. Well, this keeps me going on and the blog is used for stock taking from time to time.

being over zealous over things

Maybe i already knew this all along, but something recently happened to me that made me realised the truth in this.

Have you ever encountered someone who wants to do something big and has lots of fire and drive for what he/she holds true? Those are people whom one would usually look up to.

But when you try to live out that similar aspiration in your own way, that same fella comes along and show you how it should really be done. That doesnt really give one the space to try things out and learn from it

Over zealous, i mean extreme zealous can downplay your teammates. That i will always remember.

Mixed blessings

Recently, i got locked out from my own sim card. It was actually a consequence of my own 'evil' doing. Had a rough day that time at work and the last thing you would ever need is a phone that cant be reached from the outside world.

I was supposed to skate and then attend a bbq with a group of friends that evening(It was something pre arranged weeks ago). I guessed that the skating portion of the evening was called off due to bad weather, but i just thought i had to reach them to explain that i needed time to settle my sim card first before going to meet them for the bbq.

Heavy headed and drained, I drove in the persistent drizzle towards Parkway Parade shopping ( the nearest Hello! shop ) to get my sim card treated right after work. Believe me, the feeling of not being contactable was scary and dumb.

It didnt take much effort to navigate to the singtel shop in a seemingly empty PP shopping centre( in fact its a wonderful time to take a walk there. Not much human traffic then ).Right after the ordeal in hello! shop, i tried to make some contact by looking around for a public phone. Till today, i still cant forget the overwhelming sensation of assurance when i saw the PUBLIC PHONEBOOTH sign.

But what i saw beneath the sign wasnt that welcoming - it was a card phone booth.

I looked at the coin in my hand and this thought of having a phone card suddenly felt alientating. Where on earth do they sell phone cards these days?! Do they even sell it in the first place? Feeling lost and frustrated( plus fatigue from work ), i tried to convince myself that maybe i should have just gone home and sleep my woes away instead of dragging myself to meet my friends with a new sim card that wont work until half a day later.

It was at that very moment that i pondered over how i could survived on coins and card phones back in my early teen years. Appointments could still pull through ; somehow people back then could honour timings and locations to meet.

IF only my phone worked....I could have easily text-ed my friend and conveniently made my way home instead of wondering how or what to do in ECP before the bbq. No strings attached. Everything could be solved with an sms.

In the end, i still made my way to ECP. True enough, my skater friend was still in ecp waiting for me to turn up. The restlessness in his eyes( from waiting for me for 30min ) suddenly morphed into a smile of relief .

I felt better too. Something in me felt glad that i didnt "fly my friends the kite".

A new phase in life, at work

Training as an OJT had finally came to a sweet end as i cleared my validation at first go. The days after 3rd of June 2011 felt lighter ; I guessed this was only natural after going through what i deem as the string of hurdles in life.

It started with my wife's pregnancy and my boy's birth late July last year. Then came nights of inadequate rest. I lost track of time back then; I had to fly off to thailand in August for my in camp training evaluation just a month after my boy was born. Following that, I started my radar training ( for my 2nd atc license ). Life in SAA was tough. It took me many weeks of doing things blindly that i suddenly saw light in what i was trained to do. The final challenge of this was the beginning of OJT in SATCC where the colleagues you used to work with will see you in a much different light.

The only consolation throughout the much dreaded training phase in the centre was that my off days are OFF ( i.e no need to be rostered for standby ) and i KNOW everyone in the centre ( as compared to the alienated sensation i had when i was training in an unfamiliar environment for my first rating ). With patience and lots of dedications from my mentor Lionel and Stanley, things were much more manageable during the ALMOST half a year of training. Words alone cant express my sincere gratitude towards the 2 of them ( and all the others in my watch ).

Looking back, i gave myself the ultimate credit for having pulled through 11 months worth of obstacles( from July 2010 to Jun 2011 ). I think i need to slow down abit for now, having regained some form of stability in life.


When i penned down the title of the blog, i had initially left out the COMMA sign between LIFE and AT. I believed that life IS life and work IS work. There had to be a very clear distinction no matter how much both terms could affect each other. Hopefully i can still achieve a work life balance by doing my work well and at the same time achieve good times spent with my family.

Moving on....

Life so far has been mundane. The work aspect of it.

I guessed putting life to work sounds oxymoronic to many. Its either work or life ; Work= no life.

I am trying very hard to get through this period of monotony, while doing my best to inject life to work so that i dont feel that dreaded everytime i head to office. Hopefully, life will seep back into me when i get my 2nd rating.

And that is why during my rest days, i do my bid to keep a healthy mind by doing all those stuff i loved doing. It has never changed : Gaming ( street fighter ), climbing, skating and running.

Living my life day by day, these are the consolations to keep myself moving on.

Happy CNY everyone!

Finally, the first post of 2011!

The month of dec 2010 had been an eventful one. At least i saw myself skating more than 5 times in a month. Pure slalom sessions to be exact.

Words cant really describe my feelings for graduating from the recent SAA course. I could only say that somewhat, the light hit me at the very last moment. Even the instructors were amazed at my improvement over the last...3 weeks of my course? With this, i hope not to disappoint anyone in the centre, especially when all of them are so dedicated to coaching and imparting knowledge, patiently and professionally.

At home, things seem to be changing; My boy is no longer the sedated and quiet infant that most came to know many months back. He has developed very good reflexes and portrays a very keen interest in his surroundings. He wants a hand in everything he hears and sees. What a challenge for his parents!

I am gonna set myself some resolutions for 2011 ( yes, i know i have been posting this "procastinating statement" on fb for the past 2 years on my wall ).

1. I hope to be more patient and be a forgiving father to my boy. No hitting and shouting at him unless realliy necessary( hmm... what's NECESSARY ???)

2. To be a good husband to my wife, be there for her when she needs me most.

3. To clear my radar rating. Be daring to commit and have an open mind while doing every session.

4. Personal health and fitness. Watch what i eat and reciprocrate with the necessary exercises. Will i get to climb more than 5 times this year? ( I last climbed in september with Abel; seems like he is my only hope ).

Alright, lets keep the resolution simple, just in case i lose sight of my targets easily.

HAPPY CNY to everyone who sees this!

Siang Ping

Getting tired and frustrated

Got quite a headache from training recently.... Seems like i have been making all the catastrophic mistakes at the wrong times!

I am keeping my fingers crossed. Shall fight very hard to the very end. I wanna be saved from being safe!!!!!

Life of a daddy.

I am a true blue procastinator.

It took me more than 3 mths to pen this down. While i appreciate all my peers' concern over my new phase in life as a daddy, i would like to save some trouble ( by telling the same stories over and over again ) and jot down the significant moments as a parent...

The horror stories that many like to share about the night shifts... is never an exaggeration! I could still remember the last night in hospital when baby Tim refused to settle down after his 2 hourly feed ; in particular the boy cried out so loud ( akin to screaming his lungs out ) that i started to fear for the worst when the boy gets home. Little did i know that it was barely the beginning.

The next few weeks of our new addtion was anything but easy. Our lives revolved around the boy , to the point that i suddenly found myself chasing after sleep whereever possible. It was also during this period that i lost interest in doing my usual hobbies, in a bid to share the burden of looking after the boy with my wife and mum ( doubling up as our dear confinement lady ).

What i found challenging as a father is the consistent need to pay close attention to my dearie's state of physical and emotional health. The funny about having a new born is that ALL THE ATTENTION from relatives seem to only fall upon the child( and no one else ).
I often prayed to God to give me the strength to be a good HUSBAND thereafter a food father.

Initially, the boy cries only for a few reasons :

1. Hungry
2. Soiled diapers
3. Feeling burpy / colic
4. Too cold (needs some warmth from swaddling )

There were times when i really lost my patience over the boy when he simply refuse to stop crying after all we could do ( rock the boy to bed, carry him around, feeding him and changing new diapers for him ). I would his cheeks real hard and even spank his naked butt when he was just 2 mths +++ old. Of course, those acts aggravated the boy's cries.

My wife, on the other hand, never resort to physical means to curb the boy's maniac behaviour( boy cries so loud that he shuts the world around him out ). I must say that my wife has a very loving and tender approach to our boy. Whenever my wife takes over the boy from my arms after i seem out of control, i would feel very guitly and miserable for hitting the boy at such a YOUNG age. My wife will then talk and sing to the boy , engaging him from time to time. These tactics worked most of the time!

I am now a firm believer that no matter how young your child is, your tender voice and loving gaze will create a special bond that will see you through those times when your child displays tantrum at night.

Days and weeks pass... slowly both me and felicia are finding our way back to our usual lifestyle( but it will never be the same again ).I felt that the boy is slowly having this character forged in him. He now laughs and makes those OOOH and AHHH sounds when we talk to him. Is that a good sign that the boy is also getting comfortable with us???

I guess my wife's attitude to parenting has a great impact upon me as a father. Over time, I am beginning to embrace my boy's presence as one that brings us bundles of happiness and joy.

It just seem like yesterday when baby tim was delivered( he was only 2.69kg and is only 33cm long ); Today, we brought our 7.2kg boy for his 2nd dose of immunisation jab. He turns 3 months and one day old as of now.

Looking back at all the no-absolute-sleep nights of tending to the boy, i felt that it was all worth it.

How the havoc began.

It took me some discipline to even start this. So i must first congratulate myself here.

Everytime i log in to my own blog, i would remind myself how far i had come. Regardless of my achievements, i am proud to say that i have no regrets in all the things i've done up to now.

My boy was finally born on the 20th July.

Till then, i had full of apprehensions on how to be a good father, as well as being a supporting hubby for my wife who's been through so much physically, emotionally and psychologically.

Perhaps the only thing that both of us did not prepare mentally was the method of delivery. We had heard of many experiences how our lady peers had to be partially bed ridden due to recuperation from a cesac. With all the implications from an incision on the tummy, we only hoped for a natural birth.

Up to the due date (18th July ), our gynae reminded us that my wife's cervix showed no signs of dilation. We needed a dilation of 10cm in order for labour to proceed. So on the 19th July, gynae decided to induce natural labour by giving medication to my wife.

By 10pm that same evening, we were warded into Mt Alvernia; My wife was put under observation, in hope that anytime when dilation begins, labour can commence in the right environment.My wife was rather exhilarated when the cramps came in waves. But when gynae popped by on 12am midnight, there were no progress. All he could do, was to give another dose of the same medication. Throughout the night, my wife slept well. However, the intensity of the cramps started to die down...

Until next morning, we were sore to realise from the gynae's diagnosis that there were no progress. We finally advanced to the delivery suite where my wife was to be put on drip to further trigger the natural labour. With lack of food and water, i could see the fatigue building up in my wife. I was utterly helpless then. Time crawled literally. The CTG scan was anything but promising; When gynae visited us around 1230pm with the ill outcome, we made the painful decision to go for cesac. I felt the time stopping when my wife was put on GA and pushed into the operation theatre.

I was told to wait outside the theatre by this staff nurse. She looked kind of scrawny and had this chip munk look. She was with us right from the time we were in the delivery suite, administering to the blood test and drips. For her age, i think she displayed total attentiveness to my wife and i, which made her look more and more like a chip munk.

I last saw my timex watch at 1345pm; One of the male nurse saw me walking around restlessly, and offered me to wait at the lounge just beside the theatre. I sat down and went on a 'stoned' mode. The splatterings from the heavy downpour outside somewhat calmed my restlessness. I supposed the lack of absolute rest the night before had a part in this.

I dont remember if i sat more than 30min. All of a sudden, i heard the chip munk staff nurse calling out for Felicia's hubby. I stood up, only to be greeted by this little boy snuggling quietly, swaddled up neatly in this glass cradle the nurse was pushing.

"I thought i told you to wait outside the theatre right? Here's your boy....."

Come to think of it, it seemed like the chipmunk nurse was reprimanding me right in the lounge. But at that point in time, it didnt matter at all.

Timothy was finally born at 1333 hrs. With a weight of 2.69kg( debatable ) and a length of 50cm, my new born started to turn our lives up side down for the next few nights up till now, with his endless loads of shit and cries that shook the peace out of our sleeps.

This was how it all started.

I will watch your back.

Yes, you will need people to watch your back, especially in the work that i do.

I often face quite alot of challenges describing to people what i actually do at work ( NOPE i do not hold ping pong bats at the airfield - those chaps are marshallers on ground ). I guess i have already given up trying in reality, so i shall be consistent on my own blog as well.

If i was ever asked what it takes to do my job well, i would say humility. Its real lives that my colleagues and i deal with day in day out. Pride and emotions will have to be the last thing on your mind when handling those jets which keep increasing in numbers day by day. The working environment can sometimes be quite unforgiving ; It can only be worse if you have emo colleagues who take it out on you for no rhyme or reason. Nonetheless, green horns like me have to bite the bullet and continue relentlessly to explore the vast and everchanging environment in my job.

Which is why it is very important to bear in mind the screw ups you ever made and keep reminding yourself not to repeat those errors when something similiar happens. Ever since i started working solo, there had been some cases when my own vigilance fail me. Thanks to most of my colleagues who always had this I-WILL-WATCH-YOUR-BACK spirit,providing navigation services to aircrafts has never been this pleasant.


To those who have been patient and tolerant to junior controllers like me, i would like to say a great thank you. Its the professionalism displayed at work that keeps us all looking forward to do our best to make the workplace a better one to live in.

Yes, i will definitely watch over you folks. My pleasure. Cheers.

Kena visited by unknowns

Wow...Its been close to 2mths of no post. And i found many weeds hanging around in my blog.

Aint sure if doing an entry like this will negate all these bots from posting on my comment page.

For those who still bothered to even click on my blogspot, i do more regular updates on my facebook. Over there you can see more pictures. Yeah.

Expansions

Moving into my 3rd year of working life, i noticed that alot of things around me are expanding.

Many of my friends, for example, exercised less and became horizontally enhanced. I realised too, that my tummy is becoming more and more 'outgoing'. In the next few minutes after finishing this, i swear that i will sweat to clean the house and hopefully squeeze at least an hour in the pool to get rid of my unwantedness.

Family life is never a boring one. Seen quite alot of expansions in the house. First came the PS3 set that i got in late 2008... then came the rock band set that my SCE gang mates so graciously offered as a house warm gift. Not long ago, my wife bought a standing piano and started her journey in leisure piano playing. Once in awhile i would try my hands on the keyboard, imagining myself as guang liang( playing the chinese song tong hua )... but the 'soothing' music that came from the sound box was merely a figment of my imagination. My less-than-one-month old maestro classical guitar is always there to offer me consolations after trying my luck to piece up music from the piano.

A few days back, my wife wanted me to learn song signing from the 'breaking bread' book. I gave it a shot and found myself drawn to the marvels of sign language...speaking of this art of signing, I've started learning it from my varsity days( during one of the camps with WSC )but i had never learnt it properly since then. All that i knew were bits and pieces of signing volcabulary that i picked up from the HI community in St Mary's( and of course , my wife ). I always awe when i see my wife doing signing during mass... something that kicks the boredom out of a restless guy like me.

So many opportunities to expand... learning sign language dilligently, trying to pick up what those keyboards on the piano meant, spending time on games...Once upon a time i thought i was good in slalom( and regular in climbing )

With these preoccupations in my mind, i wonder how comfortable i can get for the year 2010, especially when the little one is coming this July.

Resolutions ? Probably not to expand too much of any sorts. Just wanna do what i have yet to accomplish for the past 28 years of my life.

powergel bars, nipple tapes and tights.

I completed my first full marathon on the 6th dec 2009.

My training regime? It all started out by doing frequent 5-8km runs around my neighborhood to build up the necessary stamina and basic muscle endurance. I had to make sure that my knees are properly conditioned over time to withstand the long distances ahead. I did this from late August( that was the time i signed up for the run ) to late September. On a few occasions, i joined my colleagues to do trail runs in Macritchie reservoir to spice up the training.

Outcome: Knees didnt hurt as much...By the last run of this regime my knees went back to its former glory in Army days!

I had to move away from my comfort zone of 8km runs. By early October i did about 4-5 times of 10km runs. All these while, i still joined my wife to run short distances of 3-6km around the neighborhood. Only towards the last week of October i started stretching my distances to about 12km. Did this twice before the end of October. It was also during this phase of my training that i realised how big my thighs were.. i had abrasions on my inner thighs and bled quite badly from nipple abrasions.

And so it was time for me to shop for nipple tapes and tights. I got myself this 3M adhesive transparent band aid that is water resistant. Very good and never failed me since then. Slipped onto my new Reebok black tights one morning and found no more abrasions on my groin area after the run. Shiok.

November came so sudden; i had to run at least beyond 15km to test out my knees and ankles. I spent some time to read up about replenishing electrolytes and body salt/ fluids. Bought a few packs of energy gel bars and slipped it into my tights' rear pockets / arm pouch for consumption during training. Because these gels had to be ingested with water, i had to carry my own 750ml Adidas bottle every time i ran. I remembered getting used to the 12-15km transition by first week of November and decided that it was time to push on the distance to a half marathon. That meant more power gel bars and mixing 100 plus with water to my Adidas bottle to increase electrolytes content.

By the end of November, i clocked 3 half marathons and roughly figured out my thresholds for joint pains. All these while i never had cramps.


************************************************************************************


Night before the run :3 sticks of bananas and lots of food that's sweet and high in carbo. Turned in around 11pm( i should have slept earlier !!!)

On the day itself : Woke up around 330am ... forced an energy bar( akin to a muesli bar ) and a mug of cereal into my stomach and drank lots of water before heading to take the coach from woodlands mrt to Esplanade. Plan was to release all my pee just before the run commences. I got myself a can of 100plus, with the intention of popping the can and dump its contents into my mouth JUST BEFORE the flag off. What WASN'T in the plan was the load of shit that i had to clear off my bowels just before the run.


First 10km
**********
Didnt feel the need to hydrate. Kept running ... felt that time inched by the minutes. I thought i needed less than 1 hour to clock 10km but at the 10km mark i realised that i took 1hr and 10min. OK, time to stop for a power gel makan and hydration. My ankles started to feel pain as expected, and i began pushing on to the next 11km.


11km-21km
*********
Every 2km mark came unusually long for me. Though i still don't feel the lethargy and fatigue, i somewhat lost my time sense. It all didnt seem right as compared to the distance-timing feel that i acquired during my 2mth plus of training. I was afraid that i couldnt do it smoothly since i was rather thrown off by my actual feel during the run itself. This 11km stretch started from Fort road all the way till somewhere beyond the Changi Sea sport area. It felt very very long and dreadful(i mean, at the end of this stretch i would only be at the half way mark ). I kept finding a few distinctive ladies as my pacers( it was easier to pace myself with girls because there werent much relative to the number of guys at the pace i was running ). By the time i saw the 21st Km mark, i didnt feel good at all. I thought my legs were almost reaching its threshold and i thought its finally time to stop and walk for awhile. I stopped by the side, drank like a mad horse and started doing more intensive stretching to my limbs... Took out my socks to massage my toes and started rotating my ankles.
After eating my 2nd packet of energy gel(one packet per 10km for me)i began to feel so much better , to the extent that my confidence slowly slipped back into me. I bumped into David from my reservist unit and we chatted about how dreadful the run was.
It was less than a minute that David decided to stop for some stretching because he was quite fearful of cramps along the way....I picked up my pace and left him behind, reminding myself not to push my muscles too hard. I never experienced cramps during my training( after all i didn't hit anything beyond 23km back then ) and had almost forgotten how deadly it could be if i should over strain my muscles


21km-30km
*********
Pain finally set in... This leg of the run saw me stopping the most for drinks and lots of stretching to the calves and thighs. Kept reminding myself not to fall pray of extreme contractions and slowed my pace even more to endure the whole thing. Soon i started talking myself into enduring the pain and persevere to Ford Road...I was longing to see that 30km mark banner at the end of it.
The only distasteful encounter during this journey was the energy gel collection. Everyone could only have ONE packet of gel!!!!Cheapskate! I was actually hoping to eat 2 more packets on the 30th and 36th Km mark to replenish my body. Come to think of it, i should have taken one packet, slip it into my tights' rear pocket and run back for another one back then. Tmd.

30km-40km
*********
It must have been the trick of the mind. I felt this boost in my pace after clearing the 30th km banner. It was 3hrs and 45min on my Timex wrist watch and i thought i could clear this whole shit below 5 hours... I bumped into my ATC colleague and told him that i need to 'finish my last 10km in burst mode'... HOW WRONG I WAS!!!!! In fact, this was the longest 10km i've ever ran in my life. I started to stop at EVERY DRINK STATION and never fail to walk for about 1-2min before pushing off.. somewhat it became a trend that i kept running till i see the next drink station. At least i didn't walk unnecessarily. When i reached the 37th Km mark banner near the old kallang gas work junction, i busted 4hours and 30min. Reality set in and i knew i couldn't finish it below 5. I muttered to myself that it was never my intention to put timing as part of my first marathon experience. With that i trudged on...

Final 1km
*********
All of a sudden i was in 2.4km running mode. I was in large strides along the Padang all the way till the finishing line. My timex wrist watch said 5hrs and 21min. Damn that's like close to an hour to finish that 37th to 42nd km distance!!!!

Finally, my cramps came subtly, and was gone by the time i rested on the grass patch by the war memorial.

At that point in time,I looked at my finisher shirt and marvelled for one fact: I had no knee pains and almost did this run with zero cramps!

It was my very first marathon, and i knew it wont be the last. I enjoyed this whole process of discovering how the mind is indeed stronger than the body.

Do you like ants?

Of late, i noticed the presence of small ants everytime i try to sweep my house. Most of the time i would find a few roaming on the floor surrounding the sofa. Must be the new indoor money plant, i thought. But on closer inspection, i don't see any ant nest nor any dead moths/ flies lying by the corner of the living room.

Among the pile of dust that i swept up this morning, i saw at least 5-6 ants scurrying for their lives. I swept the whole pile up into the dust pan and emptied it into the bin. As i continue to sweep, some of these ants managed their way up to the handles of the dust pan, and that's when i feel the itch from crawling ants on my forearms.

Because of this daily phenomenon, i have developed a new hobby: Ant squeezing.

2 days back, i was sitting in an office completing an accident report for my car in woodlands road. For some strange reasons, there were small ants roaming around the desks as well. So i conveniently squeezed them and started flicking their dead bodies around... for a good 10 seconds i started killing 2-3 fleeing ants on the table, only to realise that the lady sitting opposite my desk has been watching my massacre with a very queer look. I quickly switched my attention back to the papers, subconsciously finding myself fighting hard NOT to care about the ants which were still alive and kicking....

That's how good i am killing ants. Cos my house seems very sweet.

Good suit and good time.

November came fast and furious.

I am finally baptised into the Catholic Family. Having followed my wife to church since 2006, my motivation to be there evolved; Initially only wanted to get to know about my wife's belief, my focus turned to wanting to know more about my purpose in life...

I took a bold step to attend RCIA for almost the whole of 2009. I must say that the lesson was done well, to an extent that it triggered me to find out more about the Faith. 3 weeks before my baptism, one of the RCIA facilitators requested me to be one of the lectors for the Baptism mass. Gosh!!! Of course i cannot resist such an honourable request. For those who know me, i have stage fright by nature. What's more i never had the experience to stand near the altar during mass. But thank God, my reading was audible and sounded confident. Many of my RCIA mates came up to me and pat my shoulder for affirmation after my reading was done.

Just 3 days after my baptism, i went down to assist my colleague Tommy for his wedding. To be frank, i like being involved in wedding activities, seeing how fun things can be during the gate crashing session. Thank goodness, the band of sisters were very merciful and kind( if only mine was as nice as them one year back hahahaha ). It was my first time helping out as a brother( guys of my age dont get married so soon )and it was refreshing to see the whole ritual from tea ceremony to getting ready at the hotel. Certainly brings back fond memories of rushing around, looking for people to settle guest seating in panic mode, ensuring things were done right at the right time. I was very fortunate this time round to be involved as the Mandarin Emcee( if only my sec and JC chinese teachers were around; they would have been very proud of me!!! ). Being in my 650SGD suit certainly adds confidence in me. Truly enjoyed myself when i was tasked to back up Tommy's singing as a stage guitarist( peanut playing skills but heck, i was thrilled to play for him ! )

Coming up next for the rest of Nov and Dec : House blessing, standard chartered Marathon( that means waking up early to train during my off days ).

Good suit, good time. Thank God.

SUIT yourself!!!!

When i was in the midst of preparing my wedding celebration in May 2008, it never occurred to me that i need to tailor my own suit for my big day....

I bet most couples out there want to look their best on their big day. However, 2008 was a very critical year( i was doing my Air Traffic Control training and i only earned PEANUTs back then.... ); Knowing that my wedding package includes the use of their suits was really a God sent; I wont want to spend time and effort just to hunt, try out, ponder and worry about my own suit. At the back of my mind, this ' suit ' issue got chuck behind. I got through the wedding ceremony happily and forgot about this woe( at least, for the past 10 good months of my married life. )

When i was arrowed to be the Emcee for my colleague's wedding one month back, i knew that it was just a matter of time before i have to hunt for it.

What an irony , i thought. I am obliged to make a suit ( for someone else's wedding now hahahahaha ).

I chanced upon this PERSONALITY MENSHOP tailoring boutique yesterday.... as i was served by the shop owner, i realised that i have no single idea how i wanted my suit to be done. In the end my wife and i sat down and browsed through magazines featuring classic and latest designs of suits. Took us almost an hour and a half before i finally chose something comfortable.

I parted 650 bucks for my suit. I hope not to be disappointed by the worksmanship.