A fruitful Friday passed by just like that. Time flies when you are really enjoying every single moment of it.
720pm, Friday : I whizzed past the steel doors of the passenger lift that ran through the spines of Admiralty MSCP. Was quite surprised to see Clarence, one of the team Micro boys,because i have not seen him in action since late September. As soon as he stopped his routine, i greeted him.
He smiled at me as if he was equally excited to see me. It did not take me long to realize that he had just cleared his Os and was happily dancing on 8 wheels.
"Hey man, finished Os liao right? "
"Yah, sibei shoik ah. Yay!!!!!"
It daunted upon me as the words of this 16 year old sank into my head. What was i doing after my Os? Where was i enjoying my free time after the major exams?
In that split second, my mind fell into a trance.............
Red Cross House, this building behind the present park mall, felt like my 2nd home 10 years back;I was a very "uniform grouped" person, who loves to assume this instructor role and share with others what i have learned in the First Aid Duty Department. Every weekends during my upper secondary school days were spent attending courses on footdrill, leadership and first aid duty management. Semester breaks meant camps, first aid duties, red cross committee meetings and MORE CAMPS! I was from an all boys school, and combined school activities were quite a motivation for hormone raging teens like me....
Looking back, i thanked my uniformed group cca commitment in making me who i am today: a very vocal and outgoing person who does not hesitate to voice out his personal fears and share with others what he knows.
As i stood on the smooth cemented floors of the MSCP, watching clarence demonstrating his slalom kungfu, i cant help but wonder what kind of a person i would be if i had chosen to commit to some form of discipline 10 years back.
Probably i felt insecure in that sense, not having some 'specialty' sport that i can claim with pride that i can do very well in.
Ok, maybe that's why i am penning this blog entry in the first place.
11/9/07
11/8/07
A mobile running tap
I had a mobile running tap.
Last Friday, i came home feeling spineless and wobbly. I was sneezing my way into the house as i slowly settled down and took my shower. A few hours before, i was shopping for winter clothings with dearie ( she's leaving for US for work for a month! argh!!! )and i had been sneezing after leaving that shop. Maybe it was the dust from the merinos and wool and cashmere... ....
Ever since that night i have been sneezing for as long as i'm awake, all the way until tuesday. Every sneeze shook the nerves within my skull i tell you... super bad. Thank goodness i managed to recover to do this post, but was equally sadden to learn that one of my course mates had kena STD (SPENG - TRANSMITTED - DISEASE). I felt sorry for him and offered him a packet of tissue on wednesday.
Right now ( Friday ) i'm home, enjoying the off day which rolled over from Hari Raya 2 weeks back. And so i will begin my 2nd part of my course mates pictures. No particular topic in mind.
I used this picture as my desktop background in the aviation academy. Guess what happens next....
Basically i am honoured to have an ardent fan in my class. And again i was equally sorry to have spread the STD to this boy. HAHAHAHA.
3 weeks ago there was some interclass ( i almost wanted to use the word 'inter-COURSE' ) games session following the hari raya celebration. We took part in some real ku ku games. Here are some pictures...
Can you see what i was kicking?
Holding hands with the 'koon sin' of the class
October ended with a slightly happy note, having realised that i have cleared 12 modules worth of test and 2 more coming. Theory course is coming to an end, and it will mark the beginning of a month of operational attachment in the radar centre.
God, please help me tide over this one month of radar centre shift work.
Last Friday, i came home feeling spineless and wobbly. I was sneezing my way into the house as i slowly settled down and took my shower. A few hours before, i was shopping for winter clothings with dearie ( she's leaving for US for work for a month! argh!!! )and i had been sneezing after leaving that shop. Maybe it was the dust from the merinos and wool and cashmere... ....
Ever since that night i have been sneezing for as long as i'm awake, all the way until tuesday. Every sneeze shook the nerves within my skull i tell you... super bad. Thank goodness i managed to recover to do this post, but was equally sadden to learn that one of my course mates had kena STD (SPENG - TRANSMITTED - DISEASE). I felt sorry for him and offered him a packet of tissue on wednesday.
Right now ( Friday ) i'm home, enjoying the off day which rolled over from Hari Raya 2 weeks back. And so i will begin my 2nd part of my course mates pictures. No particular topic in mind.
I used this picture as my desktop background in the aviation academy. Guess what happens next....
Basically i am honoured to have an ardent fan in my class. And again i was equally sorry to have spread the STD to this boy. HAHAHAHA.
3 weeks ago there was some interclass ( i almost wanted to use the word 'inter-COURSE' ) games session following the hari raya celebration. We took part in some real ku ku games. Here are some pictures...
Can you see what i was kicking?
Holding hands with the 'koon sin' of the class
October ended with a slightly happy note, having realised that i have cleared 12 modules worth of test and 2 more coming. Theory course is coming to an end, and it will mark the beginning of a month of operational attachment in the radar centre.
God, please help me tide over this one month of radar centre shift work.
11/3/07
Bang Bang!
Here are some october shots of my coursemates. Well its not like we have time to take pictures and all. These photos below were taken a few days before my fellow international coursemates from brunei left after their 8wk stay with us.
Even though i braved the odds of university life, it is always difficult to keep awake THE WHOLE day sitting down and listening to lecturers talk.
Each of these little cans represents the sweets intake for one week. ( Your task is to guess how many weeks passed since i started the course. Winners can claim one of these 'eclipse' minty tablets from me. Taste like toothpaste though heh heh )
I stumbled upon a billard pro in my class. How did i know? Ok we dont have a billard table in the aviation academy BUT sometimes during our free time we do head down to Changi Airport Recreation Club for a few games of billard and KTV. I learnt a thing or two from this pro who started out cheating pple of money from billard table since his poly days.
Just check out his goatie. That's what i called a true blue hustler.
During breaks we turn the classroom into gambling dens
Sometimes during class WE ALSO continue...away from the eyes of the lecturer that is.
If there's a gambling den THEN there must be a bookie or loanshark of sorts
And this loanshark only operates when there's life music
Sometimes the loanshark insist more music....
Again i had the honour to steal some tricks on strings from this guitar pro who started out his jamming life since his poly days. There is NOTHING that i request for THAT HE CANT play.
The gambling den requires some form of wireless communication with the outside world. I volunteered my laptop as a point of contact with the outside bookies / loanshark. Sometimes i get abit of pressure from the lady loanshark in the class
When i could not make the mark, the loansharks in my class send me to Terminal 3 to do coolie work
They also gave weird punishments to my fellow colleague who failed to collect money. This guy was made to stay still with a 1. 5 litre bottle on his head while the rest will torture him anyway they want
Ok, this one is a slightly more prestigious form of punishment done in the changi control tower. GETTING READY to be slapped on his fat butts that is.
So far that's it. More to come.
Even though i braved the odds of university life, it is always difficult to keep awake THE WHOLE day sitting down and listening to lecturers talk.
Each of these little cans represents the sweets intake for one week. ( Your task is to guess how many weeks passed since i started the course. Winners can claim one of these 'eclipse' minty tablets from me. Taste like toothpaste though heh heh )
I stumbled upon a billard pro in my class. How did i know? Ok we dont have a billard table in the aviation academy BUT sometimes during our free time we do head down to Changi Airport Recreation Club for a few games of billard and KTV. I learnt a thing or two from this pro who started out cheating pple of money from billard table since his poly days.
Just check out his goatie. That's what i called a true blue hustler.
During breaks we turn the classroom into gambling dens
Sometimes during class WE ALSO continue...away from the eyes of the lecturer that is.
If there's a gambling den THEN there must be a bookie or loanshark of sorts
And this loanshark only operates when there's life music
Sometimes the loanshark insist more music....
Again i had the honour to steal some tricks on strings from this guitar pro who started out his jamming life since his poly days. There is NOTHING that i request for THAT HE CANT play.
The gambling den requires some form of wireless communication with the outside world. I volunteered my laptop as a point of contact with the outside bookies / loanshark. Sometimes i get abit of pressure from the lady loanshark in the class
When i could not make the mark, the loansharks in my class send me to Terminal 3 to do coolie work
They also gave weird punishments to my fellow colleague who failed to collect money. This guy was made to stay still with a 1. 5 litre bottle on his head while the rest will torture him anyway they want
Ok, this one is a slightly more prestigious form of punishment done in the changi control tower. GETTING READY to be slapped on his fat butts that is.
So far that's it. More to come.
10/30/07
10/26/07
Kallang Paya Lebar Expressway Skate
I still skate very often. Spent most of my free time doing cone tricks. Either at the void decks, the double court or the Multi Story Carpark during weekday evenings.
It would be hard to convince me to go recreational over the weekends in east coast park. The journey would be long, i would have to drive and you would subject yourself to the 50-50 chance of ISOLATED SHOWERS( that's what the meteorological officers in the aviation industry would say )
However, i responded to a calling to recre skate on a sunday morning of 21st October. No worries on weather( because it is a tunnel skate ), and its once-in-a-life-time-chance opportunity. Together i got my fiancee , edmund ( one of the woodlands skater doing speed skating )and my brother down. We had the luxury of traveling dry through the heavy showers along the journey, all thanks to dad's car, which saw us through from woodlands-> boonlay-> kampongjava rd(LTA HQ).
Most of the people in the inlinekaki forum were there. They had every reason to be there. They were speed skaters and they were avid fans of such events that allow them to parade speed skating to the public.
Those were just the early birds' pile of skates. We congregated to board the shutter bus which brought us to the entrance of the tunnel expressway. By the time we 'debus', there was already some crowd and a fun fair area before the tunnel.
To enter the tunnel, you have to walk / run / skate down a ramp that's about 15 degrees in gradient i think. The number seem small but on wheels it could kill. Quite a few of the newbie speed skaters suffered deep long gashing abrasions on their shins.
My dearie, though gutsy enough to take on the ramp, did not run away from the fate of falling. Thank goodness she had her helmets on( usually we dont wear helmets, but this one's a public skate event. ). She was smart enough to steer herself to the side of the ramp when her legs turned wobbly. During the whole mishap i was behind her, witnessing the fall, filled with helplessness. In the end she broke the impact against the side with her right wrist, in the midst her helmet rammed against the wall. The outcome : A slightly bruised right cheek, a slightly bruised wrist,a graze on her left shin and a bit of shock running into her. When i managed to get hold of her, her eyes welled up in tears. BUT she claimed she wasnt gonna cry; SHE SIMPLY FELT STUNNED.
That's where we skated from.
Some pictures that i took with her minutes after she fell
Dearie decided to take a rest at the first leg of the entrance , trauma still consuming her mind. Staying with her was my brother who wasnt really keen to explore the depths of the tunnel. I joined the caden of speed skate fellas to do the next 4 km. Folks on bigger wheels were a faster lot, and i soon found myself skating alone again( yeah, because on most occasions on any other days i did not have much friends who want to skate with me. Dunno why.)
When the runners and brisk walkers began infiltrating the tunnel, we were back at the starting point where Dearie was. After reassuring her that the skate was a DO-ABLE one, we both held hands and ventured into the tunnel, where booths selling snacks and game carts lined up along as we skate through. There were also posters explaining the construction of the tunnel from day one till today
Civil Engineers, guess which part of the tunnel this lady is facing.
Titanic, the KPE TUNNEL version ( I LOVE YOU HUNNY! )
Eyes feeling sore, with tummy growling from NO breakfast, we parted the tunnel goodbye at 1130am. Our hunger finally brought us to al azhar opposite beauty world, where my dearie , bro and i settled our acidic juices with a few plates of prata and mutton murtabak, complimented with cups of ice teh and fruit juice.
Driving home,i asked myself if i should try out speed skating on top of my cone trick discipline.
It would be hard to convince me to go recreational over the weekends in east coast park. The journey would be long, i would have to drive and you would subject yourself to the 50-50 chance of ISOLATED SHOWERS( that's what the meteorological officers in the aviation industry would say )
However, i responded to a calling to recre skate on a sunday morning of 21st October. No worries on weather( because it is a tunnel skate ), and its once-in-a-life-time-chance opportunity. Together i got my fiancee , edmund ( one of the woodlands skater doing speed skating )and my brother down. We had the luxury of traveling dry through the heavy showers along the journey, all thanks to dad's car, which saw us through from woodlands-> boonlay-> kampongjava rd(LTA HQ).
Most of the people in the inlinekaki forum were there. They had every reason to be there. They were speed skaters and they were avid fans of such events that allow them to parade speed skating to the public.
Those were just the early birds' pile of skates. We congregated to board the shutter bus which brought us to the entrance of the tunnel expressway. By the time we 'debus', there was already some crowd and a fun fair area before the tunnel.
To enter the tunnel, you have to walk / run / skate down a ramp that's about 15 degrees in gradient i think. The number seem small but on wheels it could kill. Quite a few of the newbie speed skaters suffered deep long gashing abrasions on their shins.
My dearie, though gutsy enough to take on the ramp, did not run away from the fate of falling. Thank goodness she had her helmets on( usually we dont wear helmets, but this one's a public skate event. ). She was smart enough to steer herself to the side of the ramp when her legs turned wobbly. During the whole mishap i was behind her, witnessing the fall, filled with helplessness. In the end she broke the impact against the side with her right wrist, in the midst her helmet rammed against the wall. The outcome : A slightly bruised right cheek, a slightly bruised wrist,a graze on her left shin and a bit of shock running into her. When i managed to get hold of her, her eyes welled up in tears. BUT she claimed she wasnt gonna cry; SHE SIMPLY FELT STUNNED.
That's where we skated from.
Some pictures that i took with her minutes after she fell
Dearie decided to take a rest at the first leg of the entrance , trauma still consuming her mind. Staying with her was my brother who wasnt really keen to explore the depths of the tunnel. I joined the caden of speed skate fellas to do the next 4 km. Folks on bigger wheels were a faster lot, and i soon found myself skating alone again( yeah, because on most occasions on any other days i did not have much friends who want to skate with me. Dunno why.)
When the runners and brisk walkers began infiltrating the tunnel, we were back at the starting point where Dearie was. After reassuring her that the skate was a DO-ABLE one, we both held hands and ventured into the tunnel, where booths selling snacks and game carts lined up along as we skate through. There were also posters explaining the construction of the tunnel from day one till today
Civil Engineers, guess which part of the tunnel this lady is facing.
Titanic, the KPE TUNNEL version ( I LOVE YOU HUNNY! )
Eyes feeling sore, with tummy growling from NO breakfast, we parted the tunnel goodbye at 1130am. Our hunger finally brought us to al azhar opposite beauty world, where my dearie , bro and i settled our acidic juices with a few plates of prata and mutton murtabak, complimented with cups of ice teh and fruit juice.
Driving home,i asked myself if i should try out speed skating on top of my cone trick discipline.
10/8/07
Nostalgic weakling
I didn't know why i just cant contain my feelings well.
I recalled giving Weiling her first tuition when she was Pr4, back in june 2005. Just a few weeks after that, my aunt attached another tuition 'lobang', Junjie in my care. Together, we trudged our way through endless brain tormenting sessions( yes, me inclusive, because the primary school syllabus is horrendous now ), sharing our fair bit of lame and silly jokes over cups of bubble tea. Once in awhile i would organise some free movie screening on my laptop for my aces, complimented with pizza ( yeah its on the house, from my own pocket )and tons of laughter. To top it up, i even brought them on an outing to vivocity ( and watched Ben Stiller's NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM )when the complex had barely started operating its business in late july last year.
It hadnt been easy for me for the past 2 years. Many a times i rushed down from NTU so that i can make it on the eves of their papers, just to make sure they were equipped with what they had to know. I must say that there were moments when i asked myself why i had taken up tuition and make myself suffer.
Tagged along with these gruelling tuition moments were pain-staking memories of varsity life. Sometimes, the tuition allowance and time sacrificing equation doesnt balance.Lethargy became 2nd nature; i kicked into a state of "semi-consciousness" easily during lessons and lectures, and often had to make alot of arrangements to prioritize tuition sessions over ODAC and my time with my loved ones. Simply put, tuition intruded deep into my privacy and personal life. It was always part of my consideration when deciding to go for a date or for a meet up with friends. Sometimes i would ponder hard about my life as i sank into the synthetic leather seats of bus 179 after a tiring 630pm lesson, rushing to meet my aces for another tuition session. There were days when i had lessons on friday evenings up to 930pm and i had to rush for tuition the next morning from my hall to Lavender. Just the travelling alone to-and-fro during weekdays could kill, especially when you are talking about a 9am tuition session and you knew you had to be back in school for lecture at 230pm the same day. I remembered having to excuse myself from FOOT 05 and 06 so as to clock my weekly time with the children.
Thank goodness, i pulled through everything. I smiled good bye to my aces after a simple lunch on a sunday one day ago. I couldn't say if i was actually relieved from all the obligations or was i feeling this sense of detachment from something i had struggled very hard to cling onto for the past 3 years.
Somewhere around the corner of my eye was this tinge of sourness and moist.
I recalled giving Weiling her first tuition when she was Pr4, back in june 2005. Just a few weeks after that, my aunt attached another tuition 'lobang', Junjie in my care. Together, we trudged our way through endless brain tormenting sessions( yes, me inclusive, because the primary school syllabus is horrendous now ), sharing our fair bit of lame and silly jokes over cups of bubble tea. Once in awhile i would organise some free movie screening on my laptop for my aces, complimented with pizza ( yeah its on the house, from my own pocket )and tons of laughter. To top it up, i even brought them on an outing to vivocity ( and watched Ben Stiller's NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM )when the complex had barely started operating its business in late july last year.
It hadnt been easy for me for the past 2 years. Many a times i rushed down from NTU so that i can make it on the eves of their papers, just to make sure they were equipped with what they had to know. I must say that there were moments when i asked myself why i had taken up tuition and make myself suffer.
Tagged along with these gruelling tuition moments were pain-staking memories of varsity life. Sometimes, the tuition allowance and time sacrificing equation doesnt balance.Lethargy became 2nd nature; i kicked into a state of "semi-consciousness" easily during lessons and lectures, and often had to make alot of arrangements to prioritize tuition sessions over ODAC and my time with my loved ones. Simply put, tuition intruded deep into my privacy and personal life. It was always part of my consideration when deciding to go for a date or for a meet up with friends. Sometimes i would ponder hard about my life as i sank into the synthetic leather seats of bus 179 after a tiring 630pm lesson, rushing to meet my aces for another tuition session. There were days when i had lessons on friday evenings up to 930pm and i had to rush for tuition the next morning from my hall to Lavender. Just the travelling alone to-and-fro during weekdays could kill, especially when you are talking about a 9am tuition session and you knew you had to be back in school for lecture at 230pm the same day. I remembered having to excuse myself from FOOT 05 and 06 so as to clock my weekly time with the children.
Thank goodness, i pulled through everything. I smiled good bye to my aces after a simple lunch on a sunday one day ago. I couldn't say if i was actually relieved from all the obligations or was i feeling this sense of detachment from something i had struggled very hard to cling onto for the past 3 years.
Somewhere around the corner of my eye was this tinge of sourness and moist.
10/5/07
Demoralized
So far, training in aviation academy has been merciful on my mental health. Friends have been helpful in all aspects. Some of them were from the air force, having prior experience handling aircraft seperation in Singapore Airspace. If all goes well, i think i should have no problem till the end of my theory course. I will worry about the practical course later on.
Apart from spending time with my fiancee, the next best thing i could afford after a LONG-TRAVELLING-LACK-OF-SLEEP work day is a good session of slalom / running.
I tried running the perimeters of the field beside woodlands avenue 12 two nights ago. I was surprised that i could still finish the usual course, though the timing was kind of disturbing. Was glad to run cos if you never take time to run, you will fall into a viscious cycle of procastination and soon you will lose all your cardiovascular strength on the tracks.
I went slalom with brother last night, and was pretty disguisted at the amount of absolute progression that i made relative to my brother. Put it simply, i couldnt do much smooth transition runs comfortably and my toe heel tricks werent promising. I did not know why i got so perturbed over last night's skating session.
Maybe i had subconsciously developed the tendency to compare too much with my brother. At present, i think i'm pretty caught up with the amount of progression he made since he started slipping on his slalom skates back in February 06 (i started skating in december 05 ). All i could remind myself from last night's skating session, was to sharpen those techniques that i could already do and perfect those toe heel tricks that i always dreamt of doing since DUNNO WHEN.
Haha... a little ordinary being's entry of his typical day
Apart from spending time with my fiancee, the next best thing i could afford after a LONG-TRAVELLING-LACK-OF-SLEEP work day is a good session of slalom / running.
I tried running the perimeters of the field beside woodlands avenue 12 two nights ago. I was surprised that i could still finish the usual course, though the timing was kind of disturbing. Was glad to run cos if you never take time to run, you will fall into a viscious cycle of procastination and soon you will lose all your cardiovascular strength on the tracks.
I went slalom with brother last night, and was pretty disguisted at the amount of absolute progression that i made relative to my brother. Put it simply, i couldnt do much smooth transition runs comfortably and my toe heel tricks werent promising. I did not know why i got so perturbed over last night's skating session.
Maybe i had subconsciously developed the tendency to compare too much with my brother. At present, i think i'm pretty caught up with the amount of progression he made since he started slipping on his slalom skates back in February 06 (i started skating in december 05 ). All i could remind myself from last night's skating session, was to sharpen those techniques that i could already do and perfect those toe heel tricks that i always dreamt of doing since DUNNO WHEN.
Haha... a little ordinary being's entry of his typical day
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