Tranquility Gold

I HAVE MOVED!

2008-02-10T04:30:00.000-08:00

I HAVE MOVED!

Visit my New Blog at

http://mk9alternative.blogspot.com/

=)

Going off for another overseas exercise

2008-01-15T04:25:00.000-08:00

Going off for another overseas exercise

It didn't seem so long that I was out of town, and now, after a whirlwind of work that piled up while I was gone, now I am leaving again for another overseas exercise, this time I am going to Thailand for a trilateral airforce exercise, spanning almost 3 weeks.

I'll be leaving this weekend, and will only be back late Feb.

I guess I am just fated to work like a dog.

Alienware SCREEN

2008-01-01T18:32:00.000-08:00

Alienware Screen!

This is still a prototype, but this sweet doublewide curved DLP display with OLED illumination from Alienware will reportedly be available in the second half of ‘08. The curvature of the 2880 x 900 rez screen mimics peripheral vision, and in action the performance seemed pretty flawless to our Crysis-dazzled eyes (official specs report less than .02-millisecond response time).

There’s not even an inkling of an MSRP on this thing yet, but you know we’re gonna be keeping our eyes on this sucker for ya. When Matrox first came out with it's dualhead, then came triple head, then Nvidia's dual DVI, Now you got this!!! Sure trashes out any dual or triple screen LCD setups you buffs have for now.

iWant.

Pics below and don’t miss our video footage.

Source from: engadget.com

A prayer

2007-11-28T00:21:00.000-08:00

"Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance.

We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done.

We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
We have abused power and called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.

Unhappy with my officer

2007-11-21T21:15:00.000-08:00

Tolerance Tolerance Tolerance

It's always bad when your superior officers are hanging around you with nothing to do and you have no where else to go but to withstand and endure the excruciating onslaught of verbal nonsense that serves to corrode your brain away in the armed forces only good at wasting time.

Officers who are bored will come up with all sorts of incredulously-stupid and totally idiotic subjects to infuriate the hell out of you because you can't do anything about it but cringe in despair, desperation and distaste.

And you can't do anything about it but answer in the least disparagingly-inordinate manner while maintaining your composure with responses favorable to your superiors ears no matter how BIG the lie is.

It's my third day on site, quietly protecting our country's skies while everyone goes about their daily unsuspecting routine, and protecting all the diplomats and various heads-of-state politicians on their hand-shaking overseas trip here for their summit meeting.

I settled in for a routine day that in the passing, working on my SATS and taking cat naps in between. When night fell, my superior was obviously bored and kept irritating me asking me about my relationships which are very sensitive. He kept pestering me, wasting my time the whole night in the process but I kept diverting the issue but with BSM spurring him and stroking the fire, it was a constant effort from me to edge away from the issue. Damn damn irritating, up till now, he hasn't done anything and not gained any form of respect from me at all.

I learnt a bit about him in the process, he is a callous, useless, couldn't-care-much-about-others in life and is a superficial, selfish person. His academic qualifications are probably mediocre from the way he puts it, all in the passing with no passion in that particular field, that was probably why he signed on the first place, I highly doubt the integrity of his academic qualifications.

He even openly declared that he despised "researcher", citing them to be "re-search", meaning to search for other people's works and put it as their own. I found myself aggravated by that highly degradatory remark. What the hell, without research, how are you going to advance in science at technology?

Speaking about that, turns out that he is quite a techie, which again is quite an oxymoron. Without development, research, do you think are get to use your $2000 laptop, or your 3.5G pda hand phone?! Yet he claims he doesn't care or bother, someone has to do it, someone will be doing it.

I find this lackadaisical, couldn't-be-bothered attitude very infuriating, and my respect for him has gone beyond that of non-existent. I felt like retorting but held back. What are YOU going to achieve? You speak like you have goals and visions and dreams, yet all I see is another average family-man who cares more about himself than anything else. With a poor attitude towards everything else not directly related or affecting him. I see a person who skimmed through his studies and fabricated results from non-existent subjects of interest with the minimalist and superficial of understanding. I see someone without a proper goal or any form of substantial achievements whatsoever criticizing someone else.

Lets see, in years to come what you will become, maybe a colonel? Wearing that flashy uniform with shiny epaulettes on your shoulder? Doing what? Bossing around others and not achieving anything else in the process while you try to skive off work by delegating what is yours to others.

I was glad he spent the night in his flashy car, complaining in the process of the incessant mosquitoes. These are heartland mosquitoes! They're not even jungle-hardened, and you, a senior officer... a military man... ...complaining?!

I slept an unpleasant and fitful night in an uncomfortable environment.

Am I thinking too much

2007-11-19T03:03:00.000-08:00

Am I thinking too much? Maybe I am, my brain today has been filled with all sorts of engineering problems and approaches that I would really like to do, such as the water-cooling problem that I want to attempt to cool the computers in the house, but the main obstacle will be cost, with costs going past $500, it's not a hobby that I can dive straight into.

My mind is swimming with flow-rate calculations, thermo-electric coefficients, thermal density flux, heat-load, fluid thermal-conductivity and density, surface-area matrix, costs and thermal-loading ratios, critical air turbulence, closed or open loop, double or single pass fluid diagrams, fluid forks and radiators...

After doing all the online research all day, my head has been swimming with all sorts of ideas and designs that I just can't wait to do.

The other things I want to do are to strap on a jet engine onto a bicycle! Like the JetCat engines, and other engineering problems that will be faced as well, then again, the main obstacle is cost. With the bicycle probably costing $1000 or more, and each jet engine with a price-tag of $6000 or more not including the required accessories.

Now this interests come with a completely different set of engineering approaches and problems, but nonetheless just as interesting, such as fuel-flow control, turbine spooling, pyrometry, oil pressure, combustor ramping etc.

But with both projects off my budget scale, I don't think I'll be attempting these 2 projects anytime soon, what a shame, I need money!

That's where the need and the urgency for me to apply for universities come in. I am starting to receive all my freshman packages for NUS. But I don't want to study there, in fact I want to study in the states and all I've been doing so far is procrastinating my online applications.

A long time ago, I had a dream university, then all the stories I heard of really put me off going to that place. You need at least a 3.98 GPA; be a sub-author of 2 papers, have a near-perfect SATS score and at least 3 recommendation letters from acknowledged and reputable lecturers/professors sources.

Then after some research, I heard about the world's number 1 university, Stanford. Of course it would be nice going there, but of course, it's another impossible dream.

Quite some time ago I wrote about top students, the 5 profile points that the top students always have save for some exceptions, but the majority is the same.

If you have forgotten, I surmised that top students follow these 5 points:

1) They are foreigners, hence the main goal of coming to our dear country is to work hard and get that coveted certificate.
2) They are the only child, usually foreigners have more well-to-do families back in their homeland.
3) They are older than their peers, yes, that applies in all facets of our local education arena.
4) They do not have a CCA, why have something to distract you from the main goal? Interests are secondary.
5) They are not involved in a romantic relationship, you do not travel all the way here from your country to get entangled in other distractions.

They are mature and objective oriented. Then again they are 3.9-pointers. No matter how many people like to compare my poly results and liken it to a 3.9, I am still not a 3.9 pointer.

I know what I just wrote above will infuriate some readers, but I am a native living in this small little red-dot myself, competing with the influx of talented foreigners, even though I have nothing against them, I do feel the strain myself.

What is the difference between 3.8 & 3.9? The 3.9's have very focused interests that are not diversified, with only one or two hobbies and pastimes at most. They have little or one recreational hobby, they are very structured, organized, focused on a particular and singular goal.

But I am not. I am easily distracted along the path to my goal with other lucrative interests and problems just to prove a particular point or achievement. 3.9 pointers don't bother about achievements, they want something, they go about getting it, anything else they achieve along the way are merely bonuses.

Now the most important and pressing issue will by my future studies. So what do I really want? What are my interests? Will I get it? What if I don't? What's my backup? MUST I really go there?

Hmm, so far, my inner voice says, yes. I must go there and I can't stay here. I've done countless self-reflections and have found that every time I get back to the same conclusion. Is that if I study in this country, I will be very unhappy.

Talking about happiness.

What is happiness? Getting what you want? Then why isit every time I manage to get what I want, I am not happy? Happy times are always short-lived and almost always come to an abrupt, unexpected, halt.

We can never predict the future, but we can always simulate and calculate the most probable path to go, then again, there will be many forks, Y-junctions, obstacles, trips, distractions and then our best friend fate will have that unexpected nudge that diverts you from your original path in life.

So what can we expect in the near future? After studying for another 4 years, you come back to square one. Don't get me wrong, I am definitely going down that path, just how is the question. So what have you achieved along the way? Knowledge and grades?

Then comes 2011, fresh out of university and thrown right into the farce of the working community, will be another thing to look forward to..

Why do I even bother thinking so far? I don't even know where I am going to next.

Why am I so fuddled, I must be thinking too much.

2007-11-18T22:10:00.000-08:00

Bracing a Storm

Today I was the officer in charge of a missile site. It was going to be a quiet and rather uneventful day.

I got my men to go downstairs to rest because they were not needed ontop. After doing some necessary maintainence chores, I settled in for a day of reading and sleep.

I spent the whole day on the rooftop, making myself comfortable with 2 fans, and later in the afternoon, the roof was hit by a major storm coming in from the Changi direction, I could actually see the dark clouds looming ominously in the distance as it slowly closed up, and then before long, strong gusts of wind buffeted the roof as I got into action, hastily placing sandbags to anchor the tent that threatened to blow off. It was all very exciting! Like struggling to prepare for an onslaught of a hurricane.

There was lightning flashing everywhere, all around me, and I was actually glad I was alone and the other guys were below in relative safety. It was quite exciting to be up there all alone and my excitement factor was raised as I was securing the tarp over the sandbags, a lightning bolt struck the lightning arrestor on the block right beside mine!

That was the epitome! It was a loud bang as if a GPMG went off or someone threw a thunderflash at your feet, the bang made me instinctively duck downwards from where I was! I didn't see the bolt directly, but when I looked up the arrestor had sparks arcing off it, as if it was an upside-down fireworks fired from the sky, totally awesome! Now that I think about it, I think what I did reflexively would have seem rather stupid, but haha it was exciting! A lightning bolt struck right onto the building next to me! Oh man, if that was the bang, I can't imagine what would have happened if the bolt struck the arrestor that I was standing next to instead.

Then after all that, I hunkered down in the tent, watching the mesmerizing thunderstorm in the distance and admiring all the lightning bolts flashing nearby, it was like a large psychedelic synchronized lighting display!

I didn't really think of the danger, considering I was the only one of the rooftop in a high-lightning risk environment, in fact I thought of that to be rather exciting!

Then the rain started like natures wrath and the skies took revenge on earth. Visibility went down to a hundred yards and I just sat there in the tent watching leaks form on the command tent, hearing the unrelenting wind howl outside, feeling the spray of the rain on your face, hearing rapid lightning cracks in succession nearby, the occasional crack of a nearby bolt hitting something that will make you jump, (reminds me of an ion storm from the computer game Tiberian Sun.) and the skies opened up it's floodgates.

But as night fell, the storm moved on and went inland towards the city. And peace reigned on the rooftop again.

Hmm, it was a solemn and quiet night in the passing, just another day on another rooftop protecting our motherland's skies.

What facebook is turning us all into

2007-11-10T01:47:00.000-08:00

I can't help but really write this entry during the course of my Hiatus. Hopefully it will be read.

What facebook is turning us all into

Before friendster, (or MySpace or facebook or whatever) came along, we'd actually talk to our friends. We'd call each other up, make plans for drinks or dinner, hang out abit, and when the night was over – if we were still sober – we'd say, “Hey, I'll catch you soon,” and then make good on that promise a few months down the road.

These days, instead of good, old-fashioned "catching up", we just throw sheep at each other. Or turn each other into vampires. That's how we keep in touch – we hurl metaphorical ruminant at our buddies and affectionately turn them into the Undead. I'd hate to think what goes on inside Enemyster.com.

Don't get me wrong, I am drawn to the dark side as well, having a friendster, Hi5, zorpia, everyonesconnected and facebook accounts myself. (Not that I don't check them very often), every now and then an email will pop up, where one of my friends has very pleasantly sent an invitation for me to "JOIN NOW!", and I will unwittingly just click the "ok" button, and voila, in a matter of seconds, I have a new account in what-ever-keep-in-touch.com

But now of course, the latest fad in this internet-socionetworking arena is facebook, where I am just amazed at the number of application invitations I get everytime I login. It's very surprising though, everytime I go in, I get "bashed", either someone throws me a teapot, or uses "the force" on me, or turns me into a werewolf or throws a sheep at me whatever, poor me getting bashed online.

It's all good fun, of course, and it sure beats not keeping in touch at all. But let's face it guys, one of the biggest reasons why internet networking portals appeal to us is because of the profiles of all the people we don't even know. A photo of a god-looking girl will draw you into her complete profile faster than you can say "superpoke!" Let's not forget, though, that while you're checking out her photos, news feeds and Scrabulous scores, she might very well be checking yours out – bad news if your vocabulary isn't exactly puissant.

And by the way "puissant", means potent or powerful, will earn you 36 points across a triple-word score. Only silly vampiric sheep can understand it.

Hiatus

2007-10-28T07:48:00.000-07:00

Due to personal commitments, this blog's author will be on a temporary 3-month hiatus.

This blog may never be updated again, but then again, it may. That depends largely on fate.

FX undergoing transformation.

Alienware SCREEN

2007-10-12T18:25:00.000-07:00

Alienware SCREEN

This is still a prototype, but this sweet doublewide curved DLP display with OLED illumination from Alienware will reportedly be available in the second half of ‘08. The curvature of the 2880 x 900 rez screen mimics peripheral vision, and in action the performance seemed pretty flawless to our Crysis-dazzled eyes (official specs report less than .02-millisecond response time). There’s not even an inkling of an MSRP on this thing yet, but you know we’re gonna be keeping our eyes on this sucker for ya. Sure trashes out multiple LCD screens that we're all using now! I mean, when Matrox first came out with it's dualhead, then triplehead, then Nvidia with it's DVI-dual heads, now THIS! WOAH.

iWant.

Pics below and don’t miss our video footage.

From Engadget.com

BBCDT

2007-10-05T04:47:00.000-07:00

Today is the final and last day of the Chemical Defense course! The morning begun with a hectic start and I was already worrying about a whole slew of problems that I had to settle. Everything was so last minute! Suddenly I was told that instead of them, we are the ones that have to provide the safety rover and not them, so I was scrambling to get a rover on such a short notice, a last minute medic and there was a guy who needed XL size boots and getting my own protective suit.

After the initial rush, everything plateau-ed into a smooth passing, I had a quick lunch whilst still worrying about the indents and commercial bus, then got my 2 helping auxiliary instructors to draw their protective suits as well.

After a late start, the guys were finally on their way to the gas chamber, and I finally left camp in a land-rover. Suddenly for this I felt quite lonely. Normally for an operation like this I will have a superior supervising officer over me, helping me sign forms that required Captain-level establishment to sign. But suddenly, I've become the over-all-in-charge officer.

With the guys coming directly to me for instructors, I had no one to turn to or ask for advice. But this time, I was already at the top, with no one to turn to and ask for instructions; suddenly I was the officer-in-charge for everything! So whilst the trainees left in a bus, I had to commandeer a Land Rover over to the site. I gave direct instructions to the medic, directions to the driver, thinking about a hundred things in my mind, going through a mental checklist over and over again, hoping I had not forgotten anything. I made decisions that I would not normally made, suddenly the harsh reality of the situation dawned upon the immense responsibility that I had to bear. I was in-charge of 2 officers, 40 trainees, 2 drivers, 2 vehicles and 1 medic!

The ride from camp to the chamber was a maddeningly slow journey. But I was the commander for the rover with my medic, just the 3 of us in a pathetic journey to the chamber. We arrived late at Pasir Laba camp, but with me dressed in OCS-red PT, I extruded an aura of a ranking commanding officer reporting at medical centre. That really helped me to skip the damn queue and demand for an in-charge immediately, that really got things speeded up!

When we finally arrived at the chamber training shed, the guys carried out with their chemical defence drills but everything was smooth. My trainees and the other trainees from other units did everything smoothly.

I went into the gas chamber again in my full protective suit, it's my second time going into the chamber, this time as an instructor, how times have changed. The trainees went through the chamber and exited one by one, I believe it will be an unforgettable experience for them to experience the stinging and burning sensation of CS gas (Tear gas.) Hell it was an unforgettable experience for me myself!

Finally everything ended smoothly, and the trainees returned back to camp, the medic, driver and I made our way back to camp slowly, finally this time consuming training as come to an end. And I am only this busy because some others didn't do their job.

Nevertheless, I took in all in stride, it's still a responsibility that I had to bear.

2007-09-30T02:47:00.000-07:00

This week had been a rough week, with another week to come, but I am just glad for this short-breather of a weekend.

I spent the day resting at home, listening to music, updating my long over-due diary and blog and just thinking about my bleak future.

Sometime this week, I was rudely awakened on one of the days from a bad dream, I had dreamt that two of my guys had become rebellious. That they are starting to challenge me and even speak back against me! And moreover, that that point of time, I was outnumbered whenever I try to correct them via disciplinary methods. Every time he answers back I want to just whack him, but I have got that ominous feeling that he'll crack up and attack back, sure, I'll ultimately win, but at what cost? My dignity? My respect? My self-control? Sigh...

SATA2 and Timberland wallet

2007-09-20T20:20:00.000-07:00

Recently, I bought myself a felt-golden brown Timberland wallet to replace my aging FX wallet. It's time to move on with times, and I like my new wallet!

Lonely weekends spent last week at home was spent adding another 500gb HDD to my com, now I've got VISTA ultimate on my FXPC, AMD 3500++ socket-939 processor, with 1TB of SATA2 internal HDD storage~ Yahoo!

1TB!! Soon to be 2TB...

500gbs are now the best value per gb/platter hdds, 500gb going for $218 (Seagate @ Fuwell). Go get one yourself! That's 1TB of storage at $436, $0.436 per gb. If you get a 160gb, it will cost $99 which is $0.619. That's 14% more expensive.

Sept 9-11 Videos

2007-09-18T05:48:00.001-07:00

Today started a little differently from other days, we were shown the September 9/11 video, this time I got to see the complete footage of how the aircraft smashed into the twin WTC towers in New York. The documentary showed everything in explicit detail, accounts of victims and thousands of people directly affected by the terrorist attacks. And the whole world shook in terror and disbelief as the events unfolded before their eyes on national television.

Even as I watched the video, I had to fight back the tears welling up behind my eyes. I vividly remember the night I stood there watching the news on Channel Newsasia six years ago when we were still in block 147. I remember watching the TV at 11pm that night, as we watched the 2 buildings collapse with thousands of people still inside.

The world was no longer a peaceful world and everything changed since then, everyone slept in fear, I remember how our commanders told stories about how fearful everyone was, my CO in AFS slept with a pistol under his pillow in the aftermath of 9/11. Countries went to war, others beefed up their forces, security was enforced everywhere, armed guards in KINS and armed officers on public transport.

The world has really become a different place after 9-11, and because of that fateful day, 3Da undertakes a new role of 24/7 activation and Ops VA. After watching the videos I felt it was really a tear jerker and felt fresh new motivation in my line of work in 3Da. We don't want another 9-11 copycat attack in Singapore. We are really making a difference in NS... Protecting our nation.

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2

2007-09-09T06:13:00.000-07:00

HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2

It wasn't too bad, the show was watchable, but somehow it felt lacking from the original and the though the dancing sequences were fantastic, the music and scenes didn't seem to click with one another and there didn't seem to be that magical flow from one scene to another. The whole script of HSM 2 felt rather forced. I enjoyed the first movie tremendously, what's HSM 2 about? Here's my take:

Even if you have not heard of the High School Musical franchise, it doesn't take much to figure out its target audience for HSM2 with its dreamy teen leads, perky song-and-dance sequences, and crises that resolve themselves in a rousing, hand-clapping finale. Heck, even the catty trouble-makers are inexplicably likeable. School's out and high school musical 2is here to crank up the fun and drama.

Disney Channel's very successful telemovie of last year has since spawned everything from sold-out concert tours in the US to young adult novels and a stage adaptation.

Things start on a high note – school's out and summers in. The bookish, brainy Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Anne Hudgens) and her basketballer beau Troy Bolton (Zac Efron), plus the rest of their class, head of to temp at the posh Lava Springs country club.

A recipe for disaster when said property happens to be owned by the family of drama club diva Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdher hapless "sidekick" la as a love rival – and her hapless "sidekick" bro Ryan (Lucas Grabeel).

Troy, played with much likeability by a 19 year old Efron (Hairspray), meanwhile, has to decide if he wants a basketball Scholarship enough to alienate his buddies with a new-found training routine.
“I always liked the idea of being in charge of my future, until it started happening”, the floppy-haired, twinkle-eyed hunk moans to his high school sweetheart at one point.
The movie manages to keep the momentum going with thumping, cheery musical numbers – highlights include the show-opener with what time is it, a wholesome echo of Britney spear's Baby One more time video, and Sharpay's ode to materialism, Fabulous throughout Disney's 100-minute fluffy offering.

It doesn't quite outdo its predecessor's novelty and pizzazz, but to its credit, keeps to a winsome combo of karaoke-friendly songs and teen themes about having fun, fitting in, finding love and ultimately, growing up.

Recently the high school franchise has been marred by bad publicity about Vanessa Hudgens nude picture splashed all over the net, Oh no! At first I though that was bound to kill her career, but then Disney came back saying that they'll still support her for HSM 3, then suddenly more pictures are splashed of her in various acts that are not suitable for viewing by Children. Hmm, but she's still a great actress and singer though!

HSM 2 – 3/5 stars.

Microsoft Surface

2007-09-04T06:03:00.000-07:00

Microsoft Surface

Here's a glimpse of multi-touch technology in a not-too-distant-future of what touch-interface computers will be like:

Here's the Microsoft Surface Parody!

COMEX 2007

2007-09-02T08:14:00.000-07:00

Insane Wave Pool

I went to COMEX 2007 to buy a few consumables that I really needed, and felt totally sick after fighting the crowd. The video below shows the insanity of the human population just like COMEX 2007... 700,000 people over 4 days in an area of 300,000 sq/f. Insane.

HAIRSPRAY

2007-09-01T05:31:00.001-07:00

I caught hairspray. I enjoyed every moment of it! It's a GREAT SHOW, and I give it 4.5/5! Excellent show! The lead actress and the songs are all very catchy and totally commendable. A must-catch!

A summary of a bad week

2007-08-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

Finally the week has come to a close, and I felt that I've made some really stupid mistakes throughout the week, and although the week has ended, it's time to do that little bit of self checking and self-reflection. I felt that throughout the week, I've made several social-EQ errors, treading on toes that I would require later. Although I think they are really f***ed up, after deeper thinking, I realize that those toes are vital to a smooth journey for the last lap of my NS stint in unit

I ended up getting tips from a "man", but I should be really thankful that it is my own guys that are the ones making the extra effort to approach and socialize with me.

This is what he had to say, to build relationship with the specs and men, dun draw a line at the rank. That I have to be careful of the way I speak or say something... Because there are some thing people are saying about me. Well, things like they don't really like my tone when I speak to them about stuff. Do I? Maybe I do, maybe I don't, I never really thought about myself as some very high-ranking guy, just doing my job. I don't go around throwing my weight..!

I can sense that current batch of specs do show some concept for me, but they are really screwed up themselves, always only bothered with getting offs and leaves, holing up in their bunks sleeping or playing with their PSPs.

As what he has said, he knows honestly they don't really seem all that helpful. I don't really harp on this because they are going to ord soon.

Then come the problem with the officers. I always thought my colleague is f***ed up, he's really dumb and stupid sometimes, and in AFS I could tolerate him because we weren't directly working with each other, but now in unit, he seems to be always slacking and I always seem to be working so much harder than him, yet he's getting all the offs. So tell me, what way is that jerk better than me?

Here there is no rank, just NSF helping each other out, and... you will have to work with these ppl sooner or later. Well... this is the mentality to work with, however I shouldn't mean dun forget to exercise rank when really needed but honestly, we are all NSFs with different responsibilities, just that I get it a lot harder as an officer. However not all men/specs will sympathize with your position, but if you understand their position, they'll take effort to understand mine. Is that so?

I didn't really agree with this philosophy, but it still made sense. I can choose follow his view and lead an easier life in unit, or be authoritative as in a "military" organization and lose my guys later on in life. Somehow my personality inclines towards the second option, I can't be "soft" on my guys or they'll walk all over you, which is somehow what I am experiencing now, based on my NPCC experience, sometimes the "hard" way is the way to get things done. But now after 5 months in 3Da, I'm beginning to learn that that is the opposite of being true, people here are still unwilling conscripts and I am stuck in the center, I have got to approach them the soft- public relations method if I want to get things done without them alienating away from me or bearing grudges. I really hate this method but I have no choice. The people here want to be treated equally regardless of rank, which is really just for show if you are an NSF. Sigh. If I go the hard way, the guys will already be alienating and I will be burning bridges instead of building them, and even if that's the way I want it to go, I am only going to make things more difficult for myself. I can handle it myself, but why make things difficult? I have to swallow my face and pride as an officer in unit. It's really a screwed up place to work in.

I think after thinking through the weeks events, the first option is a better choice, I should start treating the specs as colleagues, open up your difficult position to them but dun sound needy, sound like you know what they are going through kinda thing, and even if they are ord-ing, there are some things they are quite willing to help you with if you ask nicely and focus on the trainees more for now, since they'll be with you a lot longer.

This week is a complete failure of my EQ... First I shouted at a fellow officer, yes he's a complete jerk and I can easy work without him, but that will be giving extra work for myself, and for what? As much as I want to fuck him and whack the shit out of him, it's only counter-productive and will give me extra headache in the long run, with temporal satisfaction.

I find it a tenacious balance of both EQ and IQ to be stuck in-between the Captains and regulars, at the same time maintain a working professional and social relationship with the NSF men and specs in my charge. How to be professional as a 2LT when you got to approach your men using the soft approach all the time? I know the military has just the same kind of office politics as the business world, but the nature of our job calls for decisive action that sometimes requires forceful orders, not molly-cuddling. It's hard to maintain that mask everyday, but that's 3Da, and that's my NS working life now. I am not that stupid ain't I? I like to think that way, but that would mean I have to refine my way and my methods of approaching the guys in Alpha from now on.

One of my corporals mentioned now that he is helping out to take the trainees, he really wants to help take and instruct the trainees, and he now knows how a commander feels, on one hand, they are your men and you want the best for them by being really nice to them, on the other hand, you have no choice but to punish them when they fail to achieve certain important requirements and make serious mistakes. Yet, you can't bear to unleash that full bout of punishment because not only are they your men, you will be working with them professionally later on. If you are too soft, they'll walk all over you; if you are too harsh, they'll isolate themselves and you'll find it hard to get their cooperation later on. But a line has to be drawn.

Sigh.

It's teacher's day today, and almost the whole unit is going for a Cohesion day. But I didn't go, I have to stay back to conduct GPMG lessons for the trainees. So I was solo again, teaching the trainees everything about the GPMG solo, I am very comfortable with that weapon, one of my favorite weapons. So it was all fresh in my head, I taught them the stripping assembling, the 5 IA drills, followed by ending the day with a PT lesson by me.

I think I am overworking. Why am I working so hard when everyone else around me is so relaxed, is it just me? Or am I right to think that way?

Well... you are working hard probably that's the way you have usually been (whether due to ideals or fear of losing credibility to the people around you). When you are in unit, you will start to see that it is all a scam, you work hard but people rarely recognizes your hard work, since most stuff are behind the scene which half of it are unnecessary crap.

When it's finally time to book out, my brain was churning events throughout the whole journey back home. I've been thinking a lot, throughout the week, am I acting even worse than an unschooled and uncivilized person?

CES

2007-08-29T21:06:00.000-07:00

Turns out that I had to go for CES in the early morning, so I was quite pissed, I didn’t feel like going and I didn’t want to go, but F***ing colleague was incompetent and I have to end up covering his asshole for him when he screws up.

I heard that he fucked up yesterday by bringing the wrong equipment and because of that, the whole group couldn’t do anything for the first half of the day and BC wanted to punish him, yeah, serve him right! So now I have to go for CES.

But it was a smooth day, this time we were doing CES in the mounted role, everything was smooth, Cpt Ong came down for a look-see as well, but nothing much happened, after it all ended, I was completely in-charge of the cease-fire, and the V200 was a tight squeeze out of the CES dome, but it was a new experience even though I am an instructor, just that doing it for the first time was interesting. I bet the guys have never seen it done before as well.

The cease-fire was rushed, but in the end, everything ended smoothly and we all went back to camp.

Was I unhappy? Yes, maybe I was because I have a colleague who is F***ing stupid. Sometimes the things he really does is F***ing STUPID. I could tolerate him a little in AFS, but now in unit, he is one of my fellow immediate colleagues and he just doesn't F***ing use his brain, and I am quite unhappy that he is the one chosen to go to Wallaby instead of me, don't they choose who to go based on Merit? Are they telling me that he is BETTER THAN ME?

In What way is he F***ing Better than me?! He doesn't work half as hard as I do, isn't as fit as me or F***ing FIT at all, for F***, he can't even do 6 pull-ups! He's F***ing dumb shit, totally slow, totally intellectually challenged, doesn't have any academic accolades to even talk about, mediocre sub-standard 2 point GPA from Poly and just completely stupid, yet why is he getting more recognition than me?

Of course I am F***ing unhappy with colleague , a complete stupid dumbshit that I have to work with and I am completely ashamed to even acknowledge that he commissioned in the same batch as me. F***ing Dumbshit.

Exciting night

2007-08-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

Exciting night

I ended up doing the paperwork the whole day today, and when my superior walked past to see what I was busy with, I showed him a glimpse of how my exercise monitoring system works, and he was duly impressed with what I've done and wants to nominate this for WITS! Hmm.. I thought it was just a mere assignment, now it's a WITs project?

It was flattering and I was pleased with my own work for now, with all the new formulas that I've been writing in excel, =) I believe this is actually my first time writing such a complex EXCEL program, the first attempt at producing what Cpt Eugene suggested wasn't very viable, so I decided to come up with the ATR myself.

I was the BDO today, and here I am in the Ops Room after dinner doing paperwork, working on my solo-written program for that battery I was feeling good about the program because of it's complexity and the fact that I wrote everything from scratch! Using functions I never used before, yeah.

What made the night exciting was that one of the bunks at the upper levels had a damaged lock and as a result, the occupants were both locked in and out! They couldn't open it from the inside and neither could they open it from the outside, so I went up and after accessing the situation and trying various ways of prying open the door, I got permission from HQ BSM to break open the door by force! So it was my chance of a lifetime, to really force open a door, so I got to kick open the door! It surprisingly managed to withstand 2-3 of my kicks, but those were half-hearted because I thought the door was relatively weak, so I focused a little more and then BAM! The door broke open and the lock flew apart. It was very exciting! And they even suggested using a door breaking tool...

The duty officer for the day did his job, talk about all the bizarre things that occur in camp when you are on duty, it's not very often that you get to use violence and brute force for real and actual purposes! =) Who says NS is boring?

-MK

THE Bourne Ultimatum

2007-08-22T06:24:00.000-07:00

I caught the "The Bourne Ultimatum" today and it's a very satisfying thriller. I give it 4/5!!! Excellent! A must-watch.

Matt Damon returns as the trained assassin Jason Bourne for the latest showdown in The Bourne Ultimatum. In the follow-up to 2002's The Bourne Identity and 2004's The Bourne Supremacy - the smash hits that have earned over $500 million at the global box office.

The film's running time was a breathless 115 minutes, and it's a superbly kinetic action picture "The Bourne Ultimatum" treats its own narrative almost abstractly, as a series of hurdles to be knocked over quickly, casually, en route to the next futile attempt on Jason Bourne's life.

This is the most satisfying thriller of the year, Ultimatum is the most relentlessly-paced entry in the frenetic series, starting off in mid-action just weeks after The Bourne Supremacy left off. An injured Jason Bourne, a.k.a. David Webb (Damon), escapes from Russia and is making his way through Europe when he reads an article about himself in Britain's The Guardian newspaper.

Seeking out the article's author, reporter Simon Ross (Paddy Considine), Bourne knows Ross' source had to be a high-ranking CIA official. He wants to meet Ross' source not to kill him, but to find out more about his true identity and who made him what he is today. Ross' article threatens to expose the super-secret Blackbriar operation, a clandestine ops group within the CIA that makes the previous films' Treadstone group look like the Watergate burglars. The CIA, obviously, doesn't want the bloody truth about what Blackbriar is doing exposed, so they send a team to snatch Ross. The reporter's surprise savior turns out to be Bourne, whom the CIA mistakenly believe is aiding Ross and wants to expose Blackbriar. This leaves Blackbriar boss Noah Vosen (David Strathairn) one option: kill Bourne and anyone else in order to protect the agency.

Once again on the run from the CIA and their "assets," Bourne receives aid from two unlikely sources: CIA personnel Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) and Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles), both of whom have their own reasons for helping Bourne. Bourne's pursuit of Blackbriar leads him from Madrid to New York City, with lots of action and a high body count ensuing. What Bourne learns in Manhattan answers many of the series' biggest riddles, but also helps bring the films full circle.

Stripped of Treadstone and all of its double agent machinations, The Bourne Ultimatum is the easiest of the three films to follow. The premise is simple: The good guy wants to know information the bad guys have, and the bad guys simply want to kill the hero before he can expose them. That clarity is especially helpful since this sequel also utilizes numerous flashbacks to the first two films in order to bring viewers up to speed. These flashbacks are judiciously chosen and seamlessly integrated; their inclusion doesn't stink of "Previously, on Bourne" exposition.

Result is a breathless doozy that sends Bourne from Moscow to Turin, Paris, London, Madrid and Tangier, Morocco, before alighting in New York, from where the CIA's extra-legal assassination org has been tracking his movements with the most sophisticated and instantaneous of high-tech equipment. But Bourne continually beats the agency at its own game, outwitting and tricking its surveillance ploys and besting the toughest killers the company can throw at him.

Having settled certain scores in "Supremacy" three years ago, Bourne (Matt Damon) is determined to retrieve his memory this time around, so as to learn the identity he had before placing his skills at the service of the agency. Spurring this opportunity are articles by a London journo (Paddy Considine) in which revelatory details of Bourne's career were obviously provided by a highly knowledgeable source.

After a hair-raising pursuit of Bourne and the scribe at London's Waterloo Station, Bourne tracks the source to Spain, where he once again meets CIA op Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles), and then to Tangier, where a CIA "asset," or hitman, is lying in wait. An amazing chase through the port city's twisty, hilly streets and the teeming passages of the old Medina, then over rooftops and through windows, and finally to a gasping, slashing, hand-to-hand combat scene in a cramped bathroom, is a marvel of technique and sheer logistics, and one that makes marvelous use of a legendary city rarely seen in Western cinema.

Along the way, it becomes clear the CIA has replaced its former black-ops program, Treadstone, with a new one called Blackbriar, which under stern topper Noah Vosen (David Strathairn) displays a propensity for rogue action and killing as a ready solution to all problems. As they listen in on phone calls and observe Bourne's movements their secret Manhattan HQ (never before has a feature film so well documented London's pervasive surveillance cameras), Vosen and colleague Pamela Landy (Joan Allen) argue over what to do with Bourne. Landy, who developed a certain affinity for the lone wolf in Berlin three years back, wants to keep him alive, while Vosen repeatedly insists upon whacking him. Latter's increasing frustration over the mounting failures to do so amply contributes to the very pure audience pleasure the picture generates.

Greengrass stages one spectacular set piece after another, virtually all of them in crowded public places -- train stations, airports, cafes, bottlenecked city streets -- that lend the action scenes an unsurpassed sense of verisimilitude. Bourne walks away from more than one auto crash that would have finished off lesser men, but he and we know that nothing is going to stop him before he comes face to face with his own Dr. Frankenstein, a man whose image periodically flashes through his mind.

Greengrass hasn't just topped the previous Bourne movies in every way, he's raised the bar for the spy and action genres for years to come, and he's done it in a movie without very little dialogue. This is Matt Damon's Cast Away except without a volley ball sidekick and with minute after minute of pulse pounding peril and violence instead of slow starvation. Damon plows through The Bourne Ultimatum like a force of nature; a silent, a living weapon on a mission of determined, unstoppable discovery. That's right, discovery. In The Bourne Supremacy Bourne made the bad guys pay. This time he's had enough and wants to know who he is. Bourne simply wants to be done with everything and he's not the kind of guy that takes no for an answer.

The action scenes are breathtaking and they include some of the best foot and car chases ever filmed. Bourne's prolonged bout with CIA asset Desh (Joey Ansah) in Madrid is arguably the most brutal hand-to-hand fight yet in the series, while the car chase between Bourne and another asset, Paz (Edgar Ramirez), is like The French Connection on steroids. Bourne's superhuman-like ability to shake off almost any injury, blow or crash is utterly ridiculous, although it proves to be a key source of sly humor in the films and for the character's undeniable coolness.

Every second, every moment of The Bourne Ultimatum is jammed with danger, pounding and pounding against the screen in unstoppable waves of energy and intensity. Bourne never lets up, not even for a second. His cameras keep rolling and Matt Damon keeps moving, putting plans together on the fly and eliminating obstacles one by one as he moves in a steady, straight line towards his final goal in a complicated, rhythmic dance of controlled destruction.

What is perhaps even more amazing than the movie's ability to do things that'll make your jaw drop, is the way it manages to do character development in the middle of all those car crashes and explosions, and does it without words. So much of the credit for that has to go to Damon, who even though he's not talking says volumes with what's going on behind that stoic, no-nonsense expression Bourne keeps wearing. Without saying a word, Damon puts together a complete picture of what his now familiar character is going through, not just externally but internally as well. Bourne is a living weapon, but a suffering, breathing, feeling weapon who, more than ever you'll find yourself rooting for.

Damon once again masterfully underplays Bourne, simmering with intensity that is only fully unleashed when he kicks ass and takes names (literally, since he wants information). Allen finds the humanity in Landy, while Stiles hints at the internal turmoil inside Nicky. Strathairn is like a bullet leaving the chamber: He will find his target no matter what. His casting as Voss is a brilliant subversion of the "man of integrity" persona he's become known for.

Live Free or Die Hard was great fun, but there's really nothing else quite like The Bourne Ultimatum in theaters this summer. That alone is reason enough to go see it. The fact that it's such a well-made film and wraps up the trilogy's loose ends with such style. The Bourne Ultimatum is easily the best movie of the summer and probably the best action movie of the year.

for 16th August

2007-08-21T06:09:00.000-07:00

Today is actually a nice day, and a rainy weather that will normally dampen moods only served to cool the sweltering heat. But I can't help feeling quite fucked up. My tech stuff is failing, and that really lowers morale. My $30 cheap china-branded Mp3 player failed. It "died" showing the equivalent mp3 blue-screen of death.

That sucks. Moreover, for the past 2 weeks, my storage computer can't boot! Something wrong with the OS or the hard drive, I don't think I will lose any data, but still, it can't boot. With this minor setback, I am seriously considering vista installation to be the new OS instead of the old XP that I am running.

I don't feel sad over just one thing, it's an accumulation of negative events or thoughts running through my mind, like it's already mid-August and up till now I still don't have any university applications for the states, when the deadline is at the end of this year? What am I doing about it?!

My battery is quite screwed up, I keep worrying about unfinished work every day and that affects my mood, and in the end, I can't sleep properly at the end of the day. Just as I finish one set of paperwork and send it out in the email, a new email pops up and demands my attention. It's very frustrating because damn Alpha Battery is very "geh jua", in hokkien that means "doing extra things that no one else does", because the upper management that is totally screwed up, the heads up there hardly bloody know anything that's happening on the ground yet make unreasonable demands that is extremely taxing and laborious, requiring time-consuming paperwork and unnecessary tedious changes and instructions for the smallest of events and monitoring of the minutest of details that works everyone to death on a daily basis, they demand reports to be submitted of the highest quality, yet they only spend several minutes browsing through it. But it takes up a lot of time to generate that one report! Then once they are done piling up all that work on us with a simple sentence from their mouths, they take leave... off... MC... emergency leave....

wtf..

Sigh, I feel completely jaded at work. Don't get me wrong, I have no qualms serving in NS, and I don't mind taking up arms to train hard in defending our country. I don't mind going outfield on exercises. But what I mind is an incompetent head that piles his work on you and demands unnecessary time-consuming laborious reports that serve no purpose whatsoever when they are constantly absent. The rank structure is an immense flaw in the military organization during peace-time.

Then I've survived the last kind of tough training in BMT, survived the toughest Wing in OCS, and now serving in an active unit, so when I return home jaded and exhausted, nevermind, I can endure all that.

But I still have to put up with immature privates and other NSFs alike bitching, whining and complaining how tough their job is. There was this guy I once knew in Primary school and he was *$%^& COMPLAINING TO ME HIS JOB IS TOO TOUGH?

He's a $%^* RP PRIVATE!!!

*^&@!%!!!

Singapore Fireworks Festival 2007

2007-08-19T03:04:00.000-07:00

I went for Singapore Fireworks Festival 2007 today, despite the rain, got a good spot and attempted to take the hardest kinds of photos to take, Fireworks. Here are my efforts with a compact digital camera, a $120 tripod and some photo-editing touch up. =)

I know these are amateurish pictures, but i was limited by my equipment as well, my FX processing time was too long, it needed 3 seconds for every snap, and i will lose 5 photographic chances. I need a DSLR! Someone care to give me a Canon 350D?

Courtesy of MK-FX Enjoy!

HELICOPTER RIDE

2007-08-13T02:32:00.000-07:00

Monday comes something really exciting that we have all been looking forward to! Today we were having Helicopter raining, and it was very fun! It is my first time riding in a helicopter and training as if it was a real wartime activation. The helicopter we were going to ride today is a Super Puma AS-332.

Imagine a a 4 blade rotor chopping 1 meter above your head, a small screaming engine behind you and rock solid ground 3000 feet below you. What really made that impression were the screaming engines, and the heat from the engine exhaust, just being several metres away, you will be greeted by a blast of heated air and imagine 2 crazed women screaming at the top of their lungs beside your ears, that's what a helicopter's engines sound like.

We were finally seated down and belted down and all our equipment and gear secured, the puma lifted off effortlessly, I didn't even feel the acceleration, and by the time we knew it, we were staring at the ground several thousand feet away. And I spent the time staring at the lush landscape passing us below throughout the 12 min ride.

The Aircrew specialist that attended to us displayed negative attitude, but I couldn’t blame him, imagine doing this everyday day in and day out, you’re bound to get bored and frustrated. Yeah, the first few times can be a very interesting experience, but as a long-time career, you’re bound to get bored and irritated.

When we landed, everyone was never so serious before, I never felt so serious before and I helped to unload all the equipment off the helicopter in the fastest possible time. It was like a real war, with our battle-orders, life-vests and goggles, I felt like I was in a movie like "Black Hawk Down" and the down-force of the helicopter rotor-wash was really immensely powerful, blowing sand-particles everywhere in a maelstrom of sand.

Then when the helicopter lifted off, the blast of air was so powerful I was literally blown back. As the IC, I was the last one to de-bus the helicopter and the helicopter lifted off a mere meter or two away from me! Very exciting experience in a blast of wind, sand and engine exhaust heat.

We deployed, then hung around waiting for the next helicopter to pick us up at night, and we deployed many cyalume sticks so that the helicopter could see us and when it did, it was another smooth eventful 12-min ride back to the base, where we could see all the lights lighting up the Singapore's skyline and all the cars running about through the expressways. The whole of Singapore looks like one big living creature with every spot of light a cell and all the cars on the expressways and roads very similar to that of blood cells hurrying through blood vessels. Singapore looked so alive at night with all that activity.

It was totally like a war-time experience. Very exciting, and a very memorable experience.

Brekos holland V

2007-08-11T02:18:00.000-07:00

I was at home the whole day, but subsequently at night, went out to catch up with some friends, they were planning to meet in town, but since I was driving, we then to go to Holland Road for a meal. The whole night was full of uncertainties, but when we finally found a place to eat, it was nearly 9pm, and we ate at Breko’s Holland Village.

The place wasn’t too bad, service was tolerable, but just bad. But the food was pleasant, we had beef pizza and chicken coutre and the iced mocha latte was pleasantly rich. =)

overworked, underpaid

2007-08-10T02:16:00.000-07:00

Today is Friday! I was forced to wake early because of some cock-up that had nothing to do with me whatsoever. I was still exhausted from yesterday. Then everyone went for ADOC celebration at 9am, but I stayed in camp to take the trainees, it was yet another Friday, where I am one of the few officers left in camp when everyone has left for some enjoyment.

I spent the time to rush with overdue paperwork, then at 4.30pm, went for a PT run with the trainees and finally book out at 7pm. Sigh, I feel quite jaded. I am seriously underpaid and overworked man, I am not paid enough given the work I do. Why? Then why am I working so hard?

NATIONAL DAY 2007

2007-08-09T18:35:00.000-07:00

HAPPY NATIONAL DAY 2007 SINGAPORE!

The pictures speak alot for themselves.

Arrival of our funky MCs

RSAF Super Puma dropping our red lions.

Commando GOH

25-pounder gun salute

The F-16s performing the bomb-burst

State Flag fly-by. One CH-47D Chinook with 4 AH-64 Apache helicopters

Last but not least, the Fireworks segment!

Photos courtesy of ClubSNAP and SGsights and their respective owners.

Nat Day 07

2007-08-09T02:01:00.000-07:00

I was rudely jolted awake from my deep slumber when heavy rain pelted the Command Post. To think we are on the rooftop scrambling to cover our equipment and the tent was nearly blown off! Then when the weather calmed and everyone settled back down, then we realized, today is NATIONAL DAY 2007!

Yay, and here we are perched on a rooftop, tired, sleepy, but doing our duty in protecting the nation against any kind of airborne threats or terrorist attacks. Here we are deployed on a rooftop somewhere in Singapore, so I was one of the officers present and I spent much of the day staring at my "radar screen" and seeing all the aircraft on the screen in a live air-picture. It's like watching a radar screen seeing all the movement of all the aircraft currently flying about over Singapore.

It was a smooth day, till the commencement of the parade. The parade was rather interesting. Being a fresh new concept of a floating arena that will replace the much-loved National Stadium by 2010, and the organizing committee will have to organize everything from scratch, new concepts and displays are now possible.

At first I thought the parade was rather boring, the same GOH parades, the F-16 Bomb-burst, the state-flag fly-by and the red-lions commando parachutists. Maybe next year when the F-15s come in, then it could be more interesting! The Apache helicopter performance was rather mundane as well, but the only fresh thing was the use of naval assets, with NDU divers jumping off a Chinook into the water to be picked up by RIBS and missile gunboats and Coast Guard PT boats doing water performances was quite interesting, other than that, all the other military hardware displays were rather placid.

This year's NDP theme is a "City of possibilities". The first national Day Parade at Marina Bay saw many firsts – the use of the world's largest floating stage as the centerpiece of the celebrations and the surrounding waters as additional platforms for the country's biggest party of the year. Thousands of Singaporeans turned up today at the bay, apart from the 27,000 that filled the stands, 100,000 others spilled onto the Bay area.

As the parade commenced at 7pm, I was watching several screens, my radar screen, the digital channel 5 screen and seeing all those Singaporeans waving their flags or torchlight's from their goodie bags, I can't help but feel, are they truly that patriotic? Am I feeling truly patriotic? Here I am doing my duty, really protecting Singapore in case we were to come under attack, yet those are the 127,000 Singaporeans there viewing the parade in happiness, but Singaporeans are always complaining all the time and are far too complacent in everything, they gripe and grouse about everything and anything there is to complain about in Singapore. Whatever the government does is always wrong, the taxes and GST are always increasing, the cost of living is always on the rise and the list goes on and on.

So while I watch the screen, seeing all those Singaporeans who come to view the parade to show their support, stating that "they are very proud to be a Singaporean". But are they truly proud? If they are, why all the complaints everyday? It's a sense of irony I am feeling here on the rooftop, in my military uniform, viewing the parade from afar, viewing my radar screen with vigilance and with all this insurmountable thoughts running through my head.

From my position, I had a vantage view, I saw the Chinooks and the state flag fly past, with my binoculars I could see the red lions parachuting down, I saw the F-16s fly past and we had a clear view of the fireworks.

Floral bursts of colour and streaks of light pierced the August night sky, signaling that the end was near. But while the dazzling extravaganza must come to a close, first ever parade by the Bay to mark Singapore 42nd birthday has opened a new chapter in the history of the national day celebrations in more days than one.

All good things has to come to an end and we could be more glad to ceasefire early. By the time we had packed up everything and ready to RTU, it was extremely late and i am utterly exhausted.

We had done our duty.

FLASH POINT

2007-08-05T04:07:00.000-07:00

I woke late, stayed at home the whole day, attempting to catch up with my long overdue diary entries, I exercised a little, but mainly managed to catch Flash Point

Its appropriate that Flash point is set before the 1997 handover, as its exactly the sort of hard-hitting, kinetic actioner for which Hong Kong used to be known and revered for. Donnie Yen seems to have made it his personal responsibility to keep HK's heritage alive and more power to him. Come to think of it, if he had any more power, his muscles would explode through his skin.

Flashpoint tells the tale of Jun Ma, a serious crime detective sergeant has been working on to crack a triad of three brothers; Archer, Tony and Tiger for years. He planted a mole, Wilson to infiltrate into the gang. Over the years, Wilson started to have more disagreements with Jun Ma. During a gang confrontation, Wilson's cover was blown. His former “brothers” run him down, causing him to break his leg. Their thirst for revenge still unsated, they redouble their efforts to kill Wilson, and eventually kidnap his girlfriend.

Fortunately, Jun Ma has Wilson's back. A one-man wrecking crew with a long list of police brutality complaints to his name, Jun Ma singlehandedly takes on the gang. Using a deadly combination of traditional kung-fu and new fangled martial arts techniques, Jun Ma destroys the baddies in satisfyingly brutal fashion. One fellow, who uses a child as a shield, is singled out for a particularly nasty whacking.

Perhaps inspired by Mark Wahlberg's recent antics in shooter, Jun Ma also makes good use of a sniper rifle.

There have been an awful lot of undercover cop movies in the wake of Infernal Affairs, but this is the first we've seen that does not try to ape the arty style a s well as the killer premise of Lau/Mak classic. Flashpoint is all action.

I couldn't give high scores as a movie critique, but as a martial artist myself, I totally enjoyed the whole movie. The plot was quite shallow. There were several scenes that could be improved on to further promote the friendship with Wilson etc.

But for the action, totally kick-ass. Donnie Yen's fighting styles were signature Kung-Fu, but later it seemed to transgress into other styles which I identified as Jiu-Jitsu (Ground fighting and, locks and grappling techniques) and for the final fight he seemed to have used some Capoeira. I'd watch the fight scenes all over again.

FX - 3/5 points.

BDO handover and clubbing

2007-08-04T00:37:00.000-07:00

Finally, the morning dawned and I handed over my duties before going down to Watten heights to visit some relatives.

It was a rare occasion that her aunt from Switzerland (married to a German) and their children come to Singapore to visit, and the semi-D at Watten Height condo was really quite luxurious! Though not as posh as places around Namly Avenue, it was a comfortable place to be at. At night, I left on a last minute whim to watch the NDP fireworks.

So we rushed to esplanade as I drove down, giving adik a lift to Suntec before finally parking at Esplanade and rushed up into the throng of a crowd! It was just too crowded to properly describe the density of the human traffic at the esplanade.

However, I was disappointed to find out that there are no fireworks for today's preview, what a waste! And to think I rushed down for nothing, there was no actual preview and I just ended up heading home to change.

Went out to meet up with some old sec-sch pals, unfortunately not everyone could make it, but it's my first time seeing her in 7 years! The last time was back in sec3. It was quite a nostalgic feeling but we chatted like we were friends for years =)

We went to Velvet Dragon to club, I wanted to bring them to MOMO, but apparently the place has changed its name to Velvet Dragon and the inner ambiance changed a little, but still the same R&B music genre and affordable drinks. We left at about 3am because the girls wanted to go over to their pub for some food and drinks, I wasn't into that pub at all, the drinks were more expensive, the Nachos were lousy and we met a funny character who's gay, he was quite irritating actually.

The guy wasn't someone to be fooled with, then again, I am not known for being slow or dim-witted either. He tried to chat me up as well, constantly citing that I was "hot", that was quite unnerving for me, and it definitely got the other guys worried, though they didn't know how to hide that emotion.

I casually brushed him off, then that gay also tried to exert himself as a superior person who does real work with real money and was familiar with the night scene here, so naturally the rest will try to out-impress others with tidbits of information on how they were better as well. I recognized this situation and kept a low profile, no sense joining in a pointless verbal farce ain't it?

But the pub closed at about 4am, and we all had our fill, we parted and headed for home. I was completely sober, didn't drink much for the night, but the company was good.

working on the minutes

2007-08-02T20:57:00.000-07:00

We had a meeting in the morning and I was the secretary. Argh, suddenly as a secretary, I had so much more work to do! There were a lot of new directions from the Chairman, our dear 2IC who does nothing but talk and give orders to others to do his work. All he needs to do is open his mouth to direct his work to someone else and he's done. Someone else has to do his work, and it generally ends up on us 2nd lieutenants to do the work.

I spent alot of time working on the minutes for the and I groused over why there was incessant and unnecessary detail spent on the formatting and immaculate points that serve no purpose whatsoever. I had to spend a lot of time looking through the whole thing over and over again to spot if I have made any mistakes in the bulleting and numbering format, the underlines or the cntrl-tabs. The amount of time spent on this stupid document is disproportionate to the amount of time people will spend reading through it! Now I am here stuck in an inflexible organization that demands a minor piece of work to be of such rigid formatting that efficiency and productivity is compromised. And to think I used to teach others how to do minutes!! Now it's like a learning curve all over again to please the higher-ups. Of course they'd be pleased, they're not the ones doing it! I was told off because of some stupid mistake like, what the hell is the difference between "02 Aug 07" and "2 Aug 07" ??? The irony of it all, when I was the Chairman the last time, I taught others how to write minutes, and now you are telling me off for something that I was good at? It's only the rank on your shoulders that keep me from saying anything else..

Then for lunch I had to rush over to the mess to see 2IC. Of course he would have the time to sit down in the mess and have a nice long 2-hour steak lunch enjoying every morsel of his meal. I was reduced to listening to his demands, "suggestions" that naturally mean directions and orders whilst I only had a 5-min cookhouse lunch myself.

It's been a crazy busy day. I am having "lunch" and having a discussion over my SATR tasking, it's a long overdue project but then again, I have been really busy and I still owe this stupid piece of project work that I can't say "no" to.

Then as if things couldn't get anymore hectic, I was given a usual 3Da Alpha Bty signature last-minute inject. I had to rush to AFS, Rush rush rush because suddenly, my name popped up in the nominal roll and suddenly I had to take charge of some guys, be the Vehicle commander and bring them to AFS to be the sandbag party! One thing about being an officer in 3Da is that they REALLY test how flexible you are and how fast you adapt to the ever-changing situations that arise out of the blue.

The bus was late, and I was naturally the one in charge calling up the company demanding replacement vehicles immediately and demanding explanations. When the bus finally arrived, it was 1/2 an hour late and of course, the officer-in-charge takes the blame. Someone's really going to get hell for this.

Then when we arrived at AFS, we spent the time moving sandbags to the rooftop, it was tough, laborious, tedious and troublesome. And the sandbags weren't light! Required some real muscle power to get the job done and all the while whilst the men were hard at work, our dear old 2IC spent the time "eye-power" and telling stories about how tough his days were.

...

Battalion stand-down

2007-07-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

Today is supposed to be a Battalion stand-down. But I went back to do paper work at lunch, Damn right? There was hardly anyone back in Unit, and here I am working on some projects chart tasked to me by BC and 2IC. When I thought I was done, I was so shagged out and tired because tonight we will be going outfield for an IFDT deployment. We prepped at about 2.30am.

For this deployment, we were moving out en-masse in two platoons, 5 V200s, 2 PSTARs, 2 Land Rovers and 2 5-tonners! Not only that, I was PC2! I was Platoon Commander for my own platoon of 2 V200s and 1 PSTAR detachment! =) Phay was my trusty platoon sergeant and we had our platoon parade, (I never really thought I'd be a PC one day), and then after it was all done, we moved out at about 3-4am.

sword-case display

2007-07-28T08:43:00.000-07:00

Finally, the Arrival of my Sword Case

Finally a good rest for the weekend, and finally the Milestone sword case that I ordered back in OCS arrived! When I inspected the sword case, it was not too bad, the glass finishing was fine, but the delivery was so late! 2 months after we commissioned!

I won’t be recommending milestone to anyone anymore, and I heard that those who ordered from CNC got their sword cases much earlier. But so far still okay, just that their delivery was late..

My brand-new sword-case display site =)

lousy start to this Wednesday

2007-07-25T03:44:00.000-07:00

The morning was a lousy start to this Wednesday. We spent the morning at Marina trying to do a site phototaking, but inclement weather hampered our efforts and in the end, the trip was wasted, but it was also mainly attributed to the fact that the Land Rover arrived very late!

Then whilst we were taking cover in the Rover hoping for the rain to subside, I was suddenly told that I have to do duty tomorrow in camp when I am on course. I had to frantically call and ask others from other units for favors to see if they can cover my duty tomorrow. But naturally all are unwilling to help citing reasons like they are on course or finding excuses. To make things worse tomorrow is my unit's Cohesion Day and the whole unit will be out enjoying themselves. To add salt to the wound, my phone is dying.

Because of that, it looks like I have to go back to Chong pang early tomorrow morning but at least I can work on the paperwork piling up when the whole unit is out having fun. Whatever, I headed home and slept early.

unhappy mood

2007-07-24T03:09:00.000-07:00

In the day, my mood was generally okay, but gradually deteriorated and by noon I was downright unhappy, why? Maybe it's because of that incident over a text message. I don't know why I really feel like this, but I shouldn't be isn't it? Actually, how did it happen? Maybe because now that my friend has found a new companion, she seems ready to stub me.

Such a sudden change in reaction from a good friend was surprising at first, but now that I think back about it, maybe it's expected. What's with all these mixed emotions and signals that I am receiving? But seemingly overnight, our good relations in the green seems to have taken a tumble into the red.

It seems hard to maintain the friends, when one goes, another one that was lost before comes back, when that one goes, the other comes back. It's a complicated world that we have to manage on the personal front. I guess that's the natural progression of the social circle and that's life. Still am I supposed to feel better by penning this entry?

Harsh disciplining methods

2007-07-23T21:32:00.000-07:00

I've been having it really though in camp lately, hectic schedules that require my presence in several different locations simultaneously is a tremendous pressure.

Today I was juggling several commitments as a Platoon second-in-command and a training officer for the new trainees, and after finishing up the rest of the ADK lessons with them, I proceeded with the armored vehicle lessons for the operators.

But they were sloppy and progress was too slow, later when it was time for an endurance run, I lost my cool and obviously they took their own sweet time when I had already changed into my own PT attire, I went down and they still weren't there! So I went back up, just in time to catch them still half-way changing out of their uniform!

"Take your own sweet time!"

Then when they finally ran down it was past 8 minutes and I was pissed, and I gave them a good thrashing. I shouted loud enough to wake the dead and they got it really good from me, sloppy, talking when I am speaking, slow reaction. My tolerance has a limit and they just snapped my last nerve.

So much so that that the whole unit can hear my shouting and a lot of people came out to see what the commotion was about. It was just a lot of screwing, and they didn't do a lot of push-ups, but I must say my voice today was really scary because I was pissed with their attitude and lackadaisical behavior. So it went on for about 15-minutes or so.

I led the short run, just 2 mere short rounds, probably less than 3 clicks because they have a Battalion life run tomorrow and they were complaining that they were tired?! Omg, talk about unfit combat personnel. Later when they retired to their bunks, I went back to the platoon office.

My superior told me to remember that even punishments have safety regulations. That was when I learnt that the whole Unit had heard me just now! A lot of people were shocked because people in the unit are not used to this kind of punishment and everyone could hear it very clearly, even in the offices, all the PCs had comments and that was quite amusing, later in the bunk, my mates also gave me that thumbs-up, he could even hear me from the ULO office! But yes, trainees must be put in their places and once in a while we must give them a good trashing to wake up their bloody idea.

Sometimes harsh methods of discipline is necessary, S4 came to see me, but didn't say much because they are my trainees after all. Discipline must be enforced.

Modern dictionary

2007-07-20T20:26:00.000-07:00

Some definitions must be changed in the dictionary to make way for modern times, if laws and constitutions can be changed, so can definitions in the dictionary!

Divorce : Future tense of marriage.

Cigarette: A pinch of tobacco rolled in paper with fire at one end and a fool on the other.

Lecture: An art of transferring information from the notes of the lecturer to the notes of the students without passing through the minds of either.

Compromise: The art of dividing a cake in such a way that everybody believes he got the biggest piece.

Tears : The hydraulic force by which masculine will-power is defeated by feminine water power.

Dictionary : A place where success comes before work.

Conference Room: A place where everybody talks, nobody listens and everybody disagrees later on.

Classic: A book which people praise, but do not read.

Smile : A curve that can set a lot of things straight.

Office: A place where you can relax after your strenuous home life.

Yawn: The only time some married men ever get to open their mouth.

Etc: A sign to make others believe that you know more than you actually do.

Committee: Individuals who can do nothing individually and sit to decide that nothing can be done together.

Experience: The name men give to their mistakes.

Atom Bomb: An invention to end all inventions.

Philosopher: A fool who torments himself during life, to be spoken of when dead.

Diplomat : A person who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip.

Opportunist: A person who starts taking bath if he accidentally falls into a river.

Optimist: A person who while falling from Eiffel tower says in midway "See I am not injured yet."

Miser : A person who lives poor so that he can die rich.

Father : A banker provided by nature.

Criminal : A guy no different from the rest....except that he got caught.

Politician : One who shakes your hand before elections and your confidence after.

Doctor: A person who kills your ills by pills, and kills you with his bills.

And Finally Boss : Someone who is early when you are late and late when you are early

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

2007-07-18T19:47:00.000-07:00

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Synopsis:

In "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," Harry returns for his fifth year of study at Hogwarts and discovers that much of the wizarding community is in denial about the teenager's recent encounter with the evil Lord Voldemort, preferring to turn a blind eye to the news that Voldemort has returned.

Fearing that Hogwarts' venerable Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is lying about Voldemort's return in order to undermine his power and take his job, the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, appoints a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to keep watch over Dumbledore and the Hogwarts students.

But Professor Dolores Umbridge's Ministry-approved course of defensive magic leaves the young wizards woefully unprepared to defend themselves against the dark forces threatening them and the entire wizarding community, so at the prompting of his friends Hermione and Ron, Harry takes matters into his own hands. Meeting secretly with a small group of students who name themselves "Dumbledore's Army," Harry teaches them how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts, preparing the courageous young wizards for the extraordinary battle that lies ahead.

The Order Of The Phoenix is formulaic and lacking in depth, and does not make the most of the intensity in the fifth installment of JK Rowling's epic story. It is far crueler than its predecessors and begins to introduce properly the idea that we are no longer in an amusing magical playground, but are en route to an epic confrontation with real victims.

The main story at this stage is the quest of Harry and Dumbledore to persuade an increasingly paranoid and uncomfortable wizarding world that its unspeakably vile nemesis, Voldemort (played by Ralph Fiennes), has returned.

The acting skills of Radcliffe (Harry), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) and Emma Watson (Hermione) have improved, but not enough to truly flesh out the characters and provide the narrative depth that this transitional, plot-advancing film needs. They have got "angry” and "determined” down pat at this point, but struggle somewhat on the more nuanced grimaces. Harry's bellowing cod-psychoanalysis of Voldemort is jarringly awful.

Of the adult actors, Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge – Dumbledore's usurper at Hogwarts – is exquisitely dislikeable. Helena Bonham Carter as the villainous Bellatrix Lestrange is a shining but underused talent.

The director, David Yates, has inserted some lovely touches, including the Weasley twins' explosive transfer from the world of academia to the world of retail. But overall there is a shortage of those joyful little glimpses of the wizarding world's furniture that punctuated and perked up the previous films.

The fifth – and longest – book on which the film is based plays a crucial but faintly turgid role in the saga. Much is explained, much is left hanging and there is nothing like the pace of action that readers had grown accustomed to in earlier episodes (especially The Goblet of Fire). The book pulled this off because it was tantalising in what it didn't tell us.

The film, meanwhile, a necessary digest of the 800-page book, leaves us faintly annoyed that the true denouement of the cycle is now two movies distant. The chief problem, though, is not really a fault of the film but the near universal Potter-literacy of its prospective audience. Most Potter fans are now laser-focused on the release of the climactic seventh book in three weeks' time and its promise to bring together the countless loose ends.

As the waiting for the final book grows unbearable, there are moments when this otherwise enjoyable film, though nicely made and through no fault of its own, feels like a chore to be got through before the main course.

3/5 So-So, watchable movie, but not the best of the Harry Potter Series.

unhappy

2007-07-17T19:45:00.000-07:00

When I left camp, I was very unhappy, maybe because of the thoughts that ran through my head during the day.

I felt that I was stagnating in personal development, it's like during NS, your life takes a pause while everyone else leaps ahead. My friends from secondary school who took the JC path will be graduating with a degree in a year, where do I stand? I still have 10 more months of service to go, then maybe several more months to wait before I go into university.

By then my friends will have come out with degrees and getting a fresh head start in their respective professions. I must get myself that degree and a scholarship if I want to keep on par with them and even catch up with their achievements. We're not getting any younger, I'll be 22 by the time I start my university studies and finish at 26!

Why are others so lucky? Why do others have a rich family, a nice car, a place in an overseas university with a scholarship to go? Why cant I have those? Am I not working hard enough?

This blog is 2 years old

2007-07-16T06:02:00.000-07:00

This blog is 2 years old

I think the reason for my readership decline is because this blog layout hasn't changed from 2005! I guess it's high time to remake a new template and give this dying blog a face-lift or let it die. Even the shoutout box is dead.

I-just-don't-have-the-time-to-do-a-new-template!

Heck, I don't even have the time to do proper scheduled updates!

Mini-class Gathering!

2007-07-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

Mini-class Gathering

Pictures speak more than words, but we were gathered because SY came back for a rare visit from HK, and we're all gathered at Lix's place!

Stretching and Leg PT for everyone!

2007-07-10T18:29:00.000-07:00

Stretching and Leg PT for everyone!

Today in the afternoon, my PC told me I was free to do whatever I wanted for the guys for PT! ( I am the so-called in-charge for PT for the guys anyway) and PL2 2IC asked if his guys (Platoon 2's current operators) could join my training too, sure why not?

I had planned out a really tough leg PT regime to help improve their standing-broad jump. So I had uphill power-runs for them, stair-jumps, front and rear lunges, relay standing-broad jumps, so not only was I conducting, I did everything with them, so there was no excuse, several specs tagged along and trained with them as well.

I did an elaborate stretching session after they were done with their own warm-ups to further supplement their warm-up, and demonstrated my stretching methods, we didn't do full splits though, but I did splits myself when asked to demo by one of the specs. That was amusing, I think that image will be permanently etched into their memories about today's stretching session on their lower limbs

Later at night, I received a lot of comments on my insane stretching today both from those who did the training, and those who didn't, from the 2LTs, specs and my trainees. Tough training by me is good!

Caught Die Hard 4.0

2007-07-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

Caught Die Hard 4.0

Synopsis: Bruce Willis returns to reprise his role of John McLane from the DIE HARD movies for this fourth installment in the series. This time out McClane is after a group of Internet-savvy terrorists who threaten the security of the United States.

You'd think that saving thousands of lives in the past two decades could buy a cop some respect. Not so for perennially down-trodden detective John McClane (Bruce Willis).

The one-man wrecking crew who became the template for countless other reluctant heroes faces his toughest nemesis yet as Die Hard 4.0 opens: His college-age daughter. And she's not shy about treating not-so-dear-old dad to a tongue-lashing when he stakes out her dorm and catches her smooching in a wannabe-boyfriend's car.

No, the wisecracking everyman who foiled a high-rise heist in 1988's Die Hard, airport hostage-takers in 1990's Die Hard 2, and gold bullion-coveting European mercenaries in 1995's Die Hard with a Vengeance hasn't aged gracefully. Neither, for that matter, has the roughly US$1 Billion film franchise he helped found.

Which isn't to say that McClane's latest high-octane outing isn't worth a look, just don't expect it to be all that different from the many pretenders to the Die Hard throne that have emerged over the years.

What the once decidedly mortal McClane has gained in super heroic stature since treading bare-foot over broken glass a generation ago, he has lost in humor, humanity and, well, hair - making him an easy target for Die Hard 4.0 hacker and substitute cut-up Matt Farrell (Justin Long), but a much less relatable character than he used to be.

As usual, McClane finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time when he arrives at the computer whiz kid's apartment to escort him downtown and quickly comes into the crosshairs of a team of assassins bent on rubbing him out.

It seems Farrel was one of many unwitting pawns in cyber-terrorist pair Thomas Gabriel's (Timothy Olyphant) and Mai Lihn's (Maggie Q) scheme to send the US back to the Stone Age by targeting its electronic infrastructure.

Naturally, it's McClane's job to keep him alive long enough to outhack the hackers and stop them from erasing every financial record ever committed to a computer database.

It may sound like a sufficiently workman-like task but of course, this wouldn't be a Die Hard movie if it didn't involve plenty of gun battles, car chases, explosions and erm, tractor trailer-fighter-jet clashes.

There's also a much-hyped showdown that sees McClane go toe-to-toe and fist-to-face with th high-kicking Maggie Q, the net results of which is to confirm that, yes, Maggie Q does in fact look really hot in boots - especially when kicking Willis in the throat. She's HOT!

While it's all diverting enough to hold viewer's attention for the film's slightly bloated 130-minute running time, it's hard to escape the feeling that without its star, Die Hard 4.0 could easily have been the latest offering from one-time Die Hard knock-offs specialists Wesley Snipes or Steven Seagal. The action wasn't exactly overly spectacular, but as expected from the Die-Hard series, McClane is probably made of Titanium Alloys to jump off the bridge, jump off a speeding cop cruiser to have it smash into a helicopter, jump off the truck-trailer onto a F-35 Jet and later slide down the crashing and burning bridge into the rubble. He'd probably be killed ten times over in the movie, the action was all Hollywood, nothing spectacular to the plot.

Now that he's an increasingly anachronistic divorced father both onscreen and off, perhaps Willis should finally consider having McClane join them on the obsolete pile.

I'd give it a 3/5 score.

Cool Multiplication technique for large numbers

2007-07-04T08:29:00.000-07:00

Cool Multiplication technique for large numbers

JUMP!

2007-07-01T05:17:00.000-07:00

JUMP!

I went out shopping today, not because I felt like spending money but mainly because it's the last day of the week and we want to do our last minute shopping before the NETs increase and the GST hike takes into effect and everything will become more expensive. I was walking around SLS and I found something that I was looking for! I bought a $35 1gb mp3 player that was really small and almost exactly what I was looking for! I got the $10 USB charger to go along with it so that I can charge it without a computer's USB port.

Later I caught JUMP! @ the Esplanade

Combining physical comedy and Tae Kwon Do, JUMP is a high-octane martial arts extravaganza hailing from Korea that features gravity-defying stunts such as slick acrobatics, sword fighting and wall-walking!

JUMP tells the story of an idiosyncratic Korean family under the rule of a strict grandfather who insists on keeping up the physical fitness of all family members through vigorous martial arts training. The performance comes to a climax when two stupid thieves break into the house and confront three generations of kung-fu masters, inspiring a series of ridiculous scenes. Set in an average Korean home, JUMP is centered around a typical, but dramatically agile, Korean family - from the authoritarian grandfather, drunken uncle and Tae Kwon Do-chopping mother to the awkward girlfriend's suitor.

Each member is a martial arts expert, possessing championship level Tae Kwon Do, Tae Kyun and gymnastic skills. They enjoy nothing more than challenging each other to martial arts showdowns, displaying their awe-inspiring expertise.

The plot thickens when two burglars break into the family home in the middle of the night - one a sleek, mean villain, the other a plump, bumbling idiot - complete with rather scary hair! When the family discovers the intruders, a mighty battle ensues. What follows is an incredible display of acrobatic and martial arts skills, with a healthy dose of slapstick humor

JUMP is extremely unique and funny yet utterly spectacular and absolutely hilarious. It was a GREAT show! I gave it 5 out of 5 stars, each of them performed incredible stunts and very impressive performance. They did the wall-runs, back-flips effortlessly, all the stunt videos that I've seen cannot compare to when you actually see it before your eyes! I enjoyed the performance completely.

After that, we had a chat and coffee at Millennia walk before heading home.

Repair the old AMD2000xp

2007-06-17T08:40:00.000-07:00

What a Sunday, I spent some time at home to repair the old AMD2000xp computer, after several hours of work, I finally transferred all the components from the old Zhong casing to the new CT-430 casing.

All the components are working just fine, the old AMD 2000+ XP processor and Abit K7 motherboard, only thing that was faulty were a 80mm fan and the motherboard southbridge fan, so I got the stock Abit fan replaced with an ATi copper cooler! Finally got it all up and running smoothly! =) A nice new more pleasant looking casing than compared to the old beige box. All up and running nicely now.

New ATi copper southbridge cooler, on the right is the old CoolerMaster copper cooler with dual heat-pipes

Clear side window

All powered up. Cooling with 3 120mm fans

Scams at Audio House

2007-06-16T08:22:00.000-07:00

Scams at Audio House

Today I went shopping with mom, it's a very rare occasion that I go out shopping with my mom, but since no one else wishes to go shopping with her, I am the best person in the house for her to go shopping for IT electronics.

She wanted to go to Audio House to get a cheap DVD-recorder for herself following their active advertisements in the papers. However, when we got there, it was all one big scam, the advertisements splashed all over the media screamed "50% off for all products", so we thought we could get the $499 dvd-recorder for half the original price, which amounts to about $250 for a 60gb DVD-HDD recorder and that's quite a steal.

BUT ONLY IF YOU CAN GUESS THE LUCKY DRAW NUMBER OF FOUR DIGITS THEN WILL THEY GIVE YOU BACK A REBATE OF 50% OF YOUR PURCHASE.

Essentially, NO DISCOUNT. It's all a scam. All the "50% OFF" posters lying about all the place is all fake, essentially because you won't be able to stand at the counter and say "Oh the number is XXXX" because you don't know. Wtf. I got quite pissed when the salesman tried to bluff his bloody way out.

Not only was he incompetent, he was fat, sloppy, definitely lazy and couldn't be bothered with customer service, doesn't know nuts about the systems he was supposedly promoting, and just couldn't be bothered with us, preferring to continue chatting with his colleagues, what #$%@ service it is, moreover, when I took a closer look around, all the products were exorbitantly expensive! A $109 512mb Mp3 player?! Who the hell will spend over a hundred bucks for a 512mb made-in-China mp3 player?! I've never even heard of the brand before.

So in the end, we left the place without buying anything, nor buying the DVD-recorder, if I hadn't gone with my mom, she could have gotten cheated by Audio House. Word from FX. Don't go there.

Nevertheless I suggested that we go over to SLS, and my mom bought a new Panasonic Lumix FX10 camera for herself, it was on impulse but it was a good steal, we spent about $399 (inclusive of GST!), got the camera, plus a 2500mAh lithium battery on top of the original Panasonic 1150mAh battery, a 1gb SD card, casing and the usual stuff.

Highly recommended by FX. The Panasonic FX10 camera, all the usual goodies of my good 'ol trusty FX-7 but with better battery life and other new functions. I also bought a new casing to replace my old AMD2000 xp, it's a nice $60 casing with 2 led-lighted 120mm fans thrown in and a clear-acrylic side window. Got a copper ATi southbridge cooler as well before heading for home.

Ending statement? Don't go to Audio House, or Soong Brothers, they're out to cheat your money. Trust me. FX's word.

Ocean's 13

2007-06-15T18:43:00.000-07:00

Ocean's 13

Today I watched Ocean's 13.

Synopsis:

Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and the gang would have only one reason to pull off their most ambitious and riskiest casino heist—to defend one of their own. When ruthless casino owner Willy Bank (Al Pacino) double-crosses one of the original Ocean's eleven - Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould) - Danny and the gang team up one more time to see if they can break “the Bank.”

FX Review:

It's the 3rd installment to the Ocean's series, yet not quite the charm as the first movie managed to bring across. This time it's about revenge. When one of Ocean's pals, Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould) gets royally screwed like so many former (and current) Vegas players when Willy Bank (Al Pacino) robs Reuben of his share of their new casino, The Bank (a clever play on Steve Wynn and his mega-casino, The Wynn). Reuben's heart is so broken that he suffers cardiac arrest and his loyal pals return to Vegas to get some revenge.

Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his team put into play the most elaborate scheme you've ever heard of, is a plan to sabotage the opening of Bank's casino in every possible way, including rigging games for high rollers to win and ruining Willy's chances at another coveted 5-diamond award.

The scheme involves infiltrating a dice factory in Mexico (an absolutely hilarious subplot with Casey Affleck), a fake nose for Matt Damon, the seduction of Bank's right-hand woman (played by Ellen Barkin), an "Irwin Allen," and even a fake earthquake. Recapping exactly how Ocean and his gang plan to get revenge on Willy Bank would take the length of an entire review - it's complicated, yet hilarious.

Everyone on camera in Ocean's 13 looks more at home in these character's shoes than ever before. None of the excellent cast phones it in, like a few actors in other recent three-quels could be accused of doing. One interesting thing about the Ocean's movies is, while they were all good in the first film, everyone involved has become a better actor over the years. Damon, Pitt, and Clooney, in particular, have found a rhythm for these characters that works every single time they're on camera and Scott Caan and Casey Affleck have never been funnier (Bernie Mac is the only one who could be called underused in this installment).

What you come to appreciate about Pacino in this movie is how he makes this guy quite human as he runs around making sure everything is ready for opening night. The mechanics of the job are predictably and comically ornate,

The whole movie involves a scheme that borders on incredulity and impossibility, there were many scenes of ridiculous heist plots such as creating an artificial earthquake but the movie manages to mix hilarious scenes quite seamlessly together.

The breezy way Clooney and Brad Pitt (virtually a married couple at this point, going for patient walks together and finishing each other's thoughts) is quite addictive, even without understanding what exactly they and the rest of the crew are up to.

Don Cheadle , English accent still in hand, hangs out way beneath the casino's bowels . Bernie Mac runs a sham gambling charity. Casey Affleck , wearing a great big moustache, infiltrates the Mexican factory where the casino's dice will be loaded. Eddie Jemison tries to rig the blackjack machines. Shaobo Qin impersonates a Chinese high roller. And Reiner impersonates the man responsible for rating the casino, while the actual reviewer (David Paymer ) is put through a nonstop wringer of humiliating pranks . And Matt Damon , as the most hapless member of this crew, finally gets to spearhead his own very important assignment, while wearing a prosthetic beak of a nose.

But once the gig gets under way, this "Ocean's" begins to work. It may be complicated, but the pace picks up, and in slight moments the film is funny. Ultimately, if you give yourself up to its manufactured charm, it all becomes comfortingly familiar.

Overall, not too bad, but falls short of the original Ocean's 11 adrenalin rush, better than Ocean's 12, which was a complete flop. But it's all enough to make "Ocean's Thirteen" a reasonable movie. And probably enough box office to ensure there'll be another "Ocean's" just like it in the near future.

FX score: 3.5/5

FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER

2007-06-14T18:28:00.000-07:00

Today I went to watch:

FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER

Marvel's first family of superheroes, The Fantastic Four, meets their greatest challenge yet in FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER as the enigmatic, intergalactic herald, The Silver Surfer, comes to Earth to prepare it for destruction. As the Silver Surfer races around the globe wreaking havoc, Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben must unravel the mystery of the Silver Surfer and confront the surprising return of their mortal enemy, Dr. Doom, before all hope is lost.

FX Review:

Other than nice special effects (such as the Silver Surfer's sleek silver body) and the torch on fire. There is nothing much commendable about this movie. Even still, the special effects weren't very new either, (remember the T-1000 in "Terminator 2"?) He's got a silver body as well and that movie was years ago. Fire effects aren't very new either. The story hasn't very fulfilling, still it was a commendable effort to put the Silver Surfer into the Fantastic Four story, the movie was quite faithful to the original comic book story and you gotta give them points for that.

After the movie, the silver surfer didn't die, but instead was imprisoned on earth forever by Galactus, never to leave the Earth's atmosphere.

The movie attempted to input hilarious moments, like Sue Storm imprisoning Mr Fantastic in her force field, Mr Fantastic having fun in the club, Johnny Storm exchanging powers with the others etc. But all in all, the story lacked some oomph. Special effects are okay, nothing new, just eye-candy. The wedding fiasco etc. Nothing to set this movie apart from other comic-book adaptations and special effects.

And entertaining movie to watch if you are looking for something to watch. Not a must-watch, but a "watch-it-if-you-can"

Final score, 3/5.

RSAF dining in

2007-06-12T17:05:00.000-07:00

RSAF Dining-In

Today is our RSAF Dining-in! It's a ceremony and a fine dining dinner to commemorate the fact that we are new officers being invited into the RSAF community Officers Corp.

Though it wasn't held in a hotel because of our small cohort, the Officer's mess in the RSAF museum was decorated very nicely and lavishly. Reception went smoothly, and when the generals arrived, we had the mixing of the RSAF spirit. Then went up to the mess.

There was fine-dining decorum to be followed, no sloppy eating, or uncouth behavior during the dinner, and we were entitled to wine and port wine. The whole thing was a 6-course dinner, an appetizer, a soup, followed by bread, then main course and dessert.

The steak wasn't nice though, but the ambiance and company amongst your fellow once-cadets-now-officers is very nice, moreover, the waitress who served our table was very pleasant and nice.

After the dinner, we had the "Kangaroo Court" where each of us will try to charge someone else for something really stupid and trivial such as turn-out and bearing and improper behavior during the dinner.

The wine served today wasn't very good. I got the wine correct, but I got the year wrong, it was a cheap Merlot 2001 wine. I thought it was a Merlot 2004, but then again it was just cheap wine. A very nice ambiance, lots of photos were taken before the dinner ended and we left for home.

Pictures for your viewing satisfaction.

The RBS70 guys.

A Fennec helicopter

Hey, that's a hawker-hunter plane and a air-to-air missile I'm resting on.

The Symbol of officership

2007-06-10T01:41:00.000-07:00

The Symbol of officership

65/06 COMMISSIONING PARADE

2007-06-09T22:29:00.000-07:00

65/06 COMMISSIONING PARADE

Today is our big day! This Commissioning Parade is like a wedding, you only get to go through it once in your life! Not only that, marriages have become rather superficial in this modern world, but however, you can never be decommissioned and commissioned as an officer again. Commissioning is only once, and it's a moment filled with pride and honour. If you have been decommissioned, it's out of disgrace.

Not everyone will have the chance to go through a commissioning parade. Only the best of the best get into OCS, out of a annual cohort of 25,000; only the top 10% get in and even then, several have fallen out along the way. We've been training so hard for the past 3 weeks or so just for this very day!

Prior to my enlistment I have never dreamt of something like this in my NS life. I know I wanted to go to OCS and was already elated when I found out I got in, even going to the Air Force has already exceeded my personal expectations! I thought I'd just breeze through and try to keep my head above the water throughout OCS in the Army, I never expected I'll go over to the Air-Force. Now that we've gone through 9 grueling months of training, all just for this day, no time to be complacent! Gotta keep working harder!

Today is the day that we've been looking forward to, today we are finally commissioned as an Officer of the SAF.

Take out my white backing for peak-cap and beret, no longer a cadet anymore!

Pictures speak a thousand words, but there's no harm adding a few more ain't it?

The Marching-In

Marching in of the Senior Colours

Forming up

Minister's Inspection

March-Past!

Oath taking

My parents putting on my 2LT rank after the declaration of Commission =D

Hey that's me!

Tossing of caps - Presenting our newly commissioned officers!

The whole parade went very smoothly, save for the lousy performance by the Junior colours, but everyone was just plain happy and glad it is finally all over.

The two RSAF Sword-Of-Honours and me.

So after all the hype and happiness, I celebrated at home with my family by opening a hundred-over dollar bottle of Moet and Chandon Champange!

Today has been a great day =) I want to thank all my friends, loved ones and all those who sent me well wishes today, I want to say, without all the support and encouragement from my friends and family I will not see this day. An officer is nobody without his loved-ones, friends and those whom he loves and those who loves him =) To all that I love and care for, thank you for seeing me to this day! I couldn't have done it without you =)

FX

The day before commissioning

2007-06-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

The day before commissioning

It's a mere one more day to our big day. Morale is high, spirits are lifted, enthusiasm brimming and anticipation rising. Zhi Jian unhappy with the attitude of the slackers, but I understand his predicament.

As tomorrow draws nearer, I've been chatting with my other friends =) Others are proud of me, I've been chatting with Kercher and all she has are good words and adoration for my achievement of being able to commission as an officer and the conversation was very pleasant and light-hearted.

Maybe it's because I am feeling insecure about my girlfriend? Because a friend of mine just broke up with his girlfriend? They've been going nicely, but the girl has temptations from another guy and has decided to leave my friend for him instead. Relationships are so fragile and unexpected. Why why why.

Nevertheless, today is our last rehearsal. SSM has been trying his best, but he can see that everyone is very fatigued and exhausted. For a simple mistake that a cadet has done, on any other normal occasion, SSM would have pointed him out and given him a good earful. But yesterday and today, he just kept quiet and only mentions it in his debrief, I guess he really knows we are at our limit and breaking point, but 1WO Amran is still as black-faced as ever, not just with his complexion, but he's got a perpetual facial expression that is so black it makes coal shine.

Moreover today is our final and last vetting by Commander OCS! The performance was much better than yesterday but we couldn't feel it because we were all so tired, the Junior colours were as terrible as before but still Col Ong managed to pip up our spirits not only with his pep talk but also giving us a night's out! And he did it in a negotiating way that improves troop morale.

My body is "configured" and conditioned to parade, and has become very stiff and unhealthy. I feel that my diet is off-balance, I have poor physical stamina but high endurance and irregular appetite. Sigh. When we returned back to our bunks, we were so tired, but still had to force ourselves to do area cleaning and pack our bags before we got the chance to book out at close to 10.30pm to rest for the night.

I can't wait for tomorrow! And it'll arrive sooner than expected, can't believe we survived 9 months! It's nine months already since the first day we stepped into OCS. We're going to become officers!

The tense moments

2007-06-07T20:21:00.000-07:00

The tense moments (2 more days to commissioning)

For today's parade, the insensitive 2WO Subra took us today, very unlucky man. He doesn't even know what are our weaknesses that in the parades that we've been rehearsing for these 2 weeks, has only turned up once and has nothing good to say, and for in a wry twist of unlucky fate, he has to turn up today when everyone is still feeling blue and down. He punished us when we were trying to prompt each other about our mistakes, and made us run 4 rounds around the parade square when we protested that we should be practicing the March-past instead of static arms-drills.

Fuck, he was unhappy with that and without understand we ran, we're all so damn tired and were the only arm running around the square whilst others were given the chance to practice on their own! Then immediately after that we did so many march-pasts that we were so exhausted we didn't improve at all but instead got progressively worse! Then the SSM told all the Sergeant-Majors to give us a break because we needed rest and water too, and we're the last contingent to return to the gallery.

Today we had a full day of parade, wake up at 5.30am, draw our weapons, go for a rushed breakfast, then parade, then another rushed lunch, and then back to parade, then an early dinner and back to parade! I am feeling extremely weary of parade, feeling really utterly exhausted because of all the daily parades. It's so sickening, just pure exhaustion and fatigue. It's not the normal kind of exhaustion from a strenuous exercise or lengthy deployment.

It's just that every breather we have, doesn't seem to be sufficient rest, I am really tired, and I felt as if I was in "punching bag mode" today, whatever command was given, we just did it with our minds completely blank and in limbo.

But we have been having parades continuously now for close to 3 weeks! It's taking a toll on everyone. People are losing their temper and getting irritable from stress caused by the continuous and unrelenting parade rehearsals. Nothing in my previous NPCC experience has come close to the level of intensity that these parade rehearsals have reached and I've been in the GOH before!

Today is the first commander vetting, and also our first No.1 full dress rehearsal. We did it, and it went quite smoothly, except for one or two who were dreaming, but the whole rehearsal wasn't fluid. And when it all ended and OCS Commander gave us his debrief, he said it was like shit, but continued with his pep talk. He gave us encouragement, and even managed to make us laugh and turn the tense atmosphere from everyone into a very humorous one and later SSM also gave us a debrief on our mistakes before we retired back to our bunks for the day.

We were all equally tired, and when we had to fall in again, people took their own sweet time and the normally tolerant and easy-going Zj cracked. When people are tired or hungry, they get irritable, they get frustrated, they get pissed, they argue and friction produced threatens to blow up. I've hardly ever seen him angry and it's harder to make him angry than to get an SOH! He punished us for being late, getting everyone to do push-ups. He's angry for the first time at the whole cohort, even knocked a guy down because he tried to be funny by being sarcastic. It's the first time the SOH got angry with everyone. I can totally understand what he's going through, the SOH has to go through so much more than the rest of us, the SOH rehearsals, the disseminating of information to everyone etc.

That was a very tense moment and everyone kept quiet. The night went by very quietly, no one had much to say to anyone else.

Two more days to commissioning!

Visit to the Navy

2007-06-06T02:44:00.000-07:00

After the morning's rehearsal, the rest of the day we had a visit the the Navy's new proud and mighty Changi Naval Base. At least we got to rest on the long ride from one end of Singapore to the next. We got to tour around the big LST (Landing Ship Tank), the biggest vessel in the RSN, and also got to see the formidable class frigate docked. It's appearances really fitted it's mighty name!

The ship has stealth characteristics, with a RCS (radar cross section) of a small boat. It has an advanced radar, which provides 3D surveillance up to 250 kilometres and is integrated with the MBDA Aster air defence system and can intercept incoming missiles and air-craft.

The frigates are equipped with Boeing Harpoon missiles and Oto Melara 76 mm guns for surface defence.

The frigates will be equipped with Sikorsky S-70B naval helicopters, an international derivative of the United States Navy SH-60B Seahawk. The Ministry of Defence signed a contract with Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation in January 2005 to acquire six of these helicopters, which will be organic to the frigates.

These naval helicopters are equipped with anti-surface and anti-submarine combat systems, extending the ship's own surveillance and over-the-horizon targeting and anti-submarine warfare capabilities. The naval helicopters will be raised as a squadron in the Republic of Singapore Air Force and piloted by air force pilots, but the system operators will be from the Navy. The naval helicopters are projected for delivery between 2008 and 2010.

At least the Navy seem to know where to spend it's money! It's got a very nice and lavish Navy Command building, 6 new frigates, 4 vastergotland class submarines and 4 LSTs not to mention the missile gunboats and covettes. The Navy has stealth technology even before the Air-Force! And we're supposed to be the most technologically advanced Arm in the SAF? But we viewed a very nice movie about the Navy and I thought the presentation was very well done.

Last Week in OCS! (Tuesday)

2007-06-05T02:22:00.000-07:00

This is the last week in OCS before commissioning this Saturday. In the blink of an eye, 2 weeks of Joint term has flown past! So far everything is relatively smooth. The first week of joint term, we were re-adjusting to the different pace of life in OCS that was relatively different from AFS. Everything was more hectic and rushed, schedules fully packed.

Nevertheless, the past week has been a mixture of long lectures, commissioning parade rehearsals, 5-min lunches and running about getting stuff done in preparation for the comms parade. I have totally no time to do proper reflections in my diary and merely listing down our activities for the day. Somehow without time to reflect and think about my own thoughts and actions for the day, which has been dragging on for over the month, I seem to be slipping in self-integrity. I must restart my self-reflection to move ahead with my personal morals and integrity. How to be a better person when I am just occupied with so many activities? My days are full yet my life feels largely empty now. I know I have a lot to do, but are they fulfilling? I still have a lot to do in preparation for the commissioning this Saturday. It's our big day.

Many guys despite knowing that we are going to commission very soon, still lack the necessary discipline and initiative. Not falling in on time and not carrying themselves worthy as officers. Do they deserve to be officers? But we've all survived 8 months and 3 weeks of grueling training, but then again the Air Force doesn't build the same kind of camaraderie that the army does and even up till now, after basic term, pro term and now in Joint term, we still have prejudices against others within our own ranks. Am I truly ready to be an officer?

Parade rehearsals have been sporadic and manageable but increasing in intensity and taking a toll on our resistance and stamina. People are falling sick left right and centre.

But despite all that, we had a reprieve at night, all the ex-Alpha cadets (including me) were invited to the Alpha BBQ! All of us, since Tri-service term, when I left for Air-Wing, and when the other guys left after service term to their specific arms to continue to their pro-term, almost all of us turned up tonight and we had BBQ, food, drinks and live music! They also played all the videos made during the Alpha times and that really brought back all the memories!

I chatted up with my old buddies though all the past bonds are all gone. I guess it's still nice to be recognized by them. I can still remember the first 3 weeks in Alpha Wing where my buddy and I would be there for each other, doing RO at night together, looking out for each other. Just 3 weeks together forged a stronger bond between us than 7 weeks with others in Air-Wing or even 6 months together in AFS with my other buddies.

I missed that, but it's all gone now that we've been apart for almost 7 months. Two weeks of training in Alpha was definitely tougher than 2 months of training in BMT!

I guess all I have left of Alpha are the memories, it was nice back then.

I met Stephen (Ms Leong's Tuition class back in secondary school), oh my god, people still remember me from then! That was so many years ago and I have no inkling of any memories of him, but he can still remember me as the crazy guy who runs up the 21 flights of steps to the tuition class. Sigh, though it's nice to be remembered by someone so long ago, (did I make such a deep impression in him?) But what's it going to do? He'll just become another acquaintance that we won't keep in contact anymore after tonight. Maybe a hi-bye on the streets if we bump into each other, but nothing more than that.

Is this how it's going to be when something happens to my relationships or if I go overseas to study? Will I lose my friends the way it happened in OCS?

RCGC

2007-05-31T05:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the RSAF Combined Graduation Ceremony. Where I've finally received my ADA (Air Defence Artillery) Brevet, my certificates of Appointment and my Officer's sword =) It was a moment of pride! I still wasn't feeling well, so I might have looked paler than usual... Let the pictures do the talking...

My proud parents.

Samuel and I

Bunk-mates!

The RBS70 38th WSO

That's just me =) With the bloodhound missile as a backdrop. The first SAM missile to guard Singapore's Skies.

high fever

2007-05-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

I was running a high fever since last night, at 38.2 deg C, Some kind of infection, but I refuse the Doc's MCs, we had a half-day of parade today and even though I was sick but still went through two run-throughs because I cannot afford to miss anymore parade rehearsals, I felt as if I was dying, and the last run-through was really exhaustive.

Finally one week of Joint term is over and 2 more weeks to go to commissioning! Next week there'll be a full-dress rehearsal, followed by RCGC rehearsals throughout the week.

22nd WSO ADA combined graduation ceremony

2007-05-10T03:24:00.000-07:00

Today is our 24th C3/ 22nd WSO ADA combined graduation ceremony, and it's our Weapon's phase graduation ceremony.

The guest of honor is Commander of ADOC, Colonel Hoo. And I was one of the few prize recipients; I will be getting "Best Knowledge" for 38th RBS70 course. In the whole of 22nd WSO ADA cohort, there are 4 weapons and 2 prizes for each weapon, Best Trainee and Best Knowledge and each of us will be receiving a plaque =)

Zj received 4 awards! Best Knowledge, Best BT, Best Trainee for his weapon and SOH! Completely swept all the prizes off the table. But I am just very happy that at least I won something and could consider myself one of the top 5 in the whole of 42 22nd WSO course? Something to be proud of even if I am not a best trainee.

After the prize presentation, we had a dialogue with the Colonel, talking about the RSAF and ADOC 3rd Gen transformation. Then our 3 Da Bn S3 (a major) came to talk with us, he seems like a nice and gentle guy but who knows what untold horrors the new Dy S3 (one of us) will face and our instructor also gave us an ending talk where he answered some of our questions and told us really useful tips on how to become leaders.

It's actually the last day of weapon's phase and it's the last day and as of tonight they are no longer responsible for us. It was just another passing day.

a filled day

2007-05-06T03:22:00.000-07:00

Today morning itself was a mess, unkept appointments by people who completely forgot, plus a really pointless sermon by an equally clueless pastor.

I had a dying harddrive in one of my computers, and I didn't want to lose all the precious videos painstakingly downloaded over the year! So immediately after I reached home, I took a 250gb to use as the backup for the main computer, so while it slowly copied all the files (100gb in all) from the dying C: Drive, I did all the chores, ironed my clothes, then went to SLS and got myself a $217 500Gb Seagate Harddrive. My expenditure for this weekend is really insane!

Nevertheless, I went home, fixed in my new 500gb harddrive, booted the computers and backed all my data on all of them all up. Immediately after that, a pal of mine called me to go swimming, so I left immediately

Then we swam and talk about future holiday plans. The guys were planning to go to Pulau Redang for the upcoming June Holidays. Somewhere around the first week of July or the last week of June, they want me to go, but I can't promise them anything. Darn.

After the nice and refreshing swim I headed back home, the journey was smooth. I felt really tired yet was so busy the whole day! Haha. Booked in that night.

Spiderman 3

2007-05-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

Spiderman 3

WARNING: Spoilers ahead

Synopsis: Peter Parker has finally managed to strike a balance between his devotion to M.J. and his duties as a superhero. But there is a storm brewing on the horizon. Forced to choose between the seductive power of the new black suit and the compassionate hero he used to be, Peter must overcome his personal demons as two of the most-feared villains yet, Sandman and Venom, gather unparalleled power and a thirst for retribution to threaten Peter and everyone he loves.

Between a comic-buff and a movie critique, I tried to give a fair evaluation of the movie but I just can't ignore several very obvious flaws in the movie. Here's my review of Spiderman 3.

Of all the 3 movies, Spider-Man 3" is the worst, and feels like a movie franchise getting ready to shut down. It's not awful, as comic book movies go. The special effects are solid, and there are a few laughs.

But the thing that made the first two "Spider-Man" movies so memorable - the way we empathized with geeky Everyman Peter Parker and his travails - is missing in this third instalment. Where the other films had heart, this one seems to be just going through the motions, tying up loose ends before bowing out.

And early on Harry Osborn, Peter's one-time best friend turned deadly nemesis, attacks him out of the blue with a cheesy line "you knew this was coming peter", and then later on gets bumped on the head and forgets that he blames Peter/Spidey for the death of his father (the Green Goblin) way back in the first movie. The whole scene was quite lame.

Mary Jane gets savaged by the critics and is fired from her show. Darn critics. To complicate things, the now-jobless M.J. sees Peter basking in the glow of near-universal Spidey-adulation and backs away from their romance.

Meanwhile, some ambulatory black gunk from a meteorite turns into a parasite that amplifies Peter's darkest thoughts. He starts wearing a black outfit that matches his ever darkening mood and gets seriously vengeful when he finds that the real killer of his uncle was small-time crook Flint Marko (Thomas Haden Church).

As lousy luck would have it, Marko has stumbled into a physics experiment and emerges as the Sandman. I mean, he jumps over a fence, then falls into a pit just as the scientists do a "particle dematerialization" of SAND? (the scene may be impressive; the security is laughable)

Wait, there are more complications. At the Daily Bugle Peter has competition in cocky photographer Eddie Brock, who late in the film will get intimate with some of that meteorite gunk and metamorphose into Venom, yet another super villain.

Oh, and Harry regains his memory and resumes his vendetta against Spider-Man. And Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard), daughter of NYC's police chief (James Cromwell) and a fashion model who, as every comic-book nerd knows, will become our man's love interest. Then finally, all the characters Venom, Sandman, The New Goblin and spiderman comes together to duke it out in one big massive battle which results in Venom being vaporized, Sandman leaving, Harry Osborn dead and Spiderman unscathed. The whole battle seemed all-so-predictable and rather unimaginative if you ask me. Peter going to Harry to ask for help, Harry turning up to help just when Spiderman is being pounded, Peter goes to save Mary Jane blah blah..

There's enough plot in "Spider-Man 3" for two or three movies. Because that's the movie's real problem. The first two movies stood apart from other superhero flicks because we genuinely cared. But there's nothing in "3" that comes close to the lump-in-your-throat intensity of the elevated train scene in "2" (when passengers gently carry the unconscious Spidey to safety) or Mary Jane sending her superhero boyfriend off to work with a cheery/sexy, "Go get 'em, Tiger."

In fact, there's zero heat between Maguire and Dunst this time around. The villains are, well, kind of boring. The starting scene was way messy with shots from the previous 2 movies which in no way has any kind of impact on the audience at all.

And whereas the first two movies made an effort to root Spider-Man in a real world, "3" unfolds in Hollywoodland. This is a logic-free realm where the ever-wise Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) will schlep across two boroughs to pay Peter a three-minute visit so that she can say what the script requires, and where Harry Osborn's butler, like a god on a machine in a Greek tragedy, suddenly drops in to reveal a bit of information that will change everything.

At least we still get some comic relief from J.K. Simmons as bombastic newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson. And Bruce Campbell, as an unctuous French maitre d' at a snooty Manhattan restaurant, is so funny it's almost worth going just to catch his two minutes of screen time.

Sam Raimi's direction seems utterly impersonal this time around - more like traffic directing than anything else. Even when he comes up with a clever idea - an over-confident Peter Parker bopping down a Manhattan sidewalk like John Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever" - he lets it go on for so long that it's no longer amusing.

There were too many climaxes, too many battle scenes which rose in tempo, then suddenly and abruptly ended just as it began. After the final battle, the sunset should have been the ending, but it panned and showed Harry's funeral, which is completely redundant.

Kirsten Dunst acting was terrible, she hardly conveyed her emotions across; anger, joy, irritation, all seemed so fake and forced. There was poor character development, the problem here is that there are too many characters! 4 villains (including Spiderman's alter-ego himself), emotions were all amok, (there seemed to be a love triangle here with Gwen Stacey involved. Oh, the action scenes were okay, Sam Riami did well with Spiderman 2 and Doctor Octopus. But Riami Don't know how to manage the multitude of characters and emotions in this movie. Plus there was that cynical dreariness of the script.

FX gives it 3/5

Today is my 21st birthday!

2007-04-30T18:31:00.000-07:00

Today is my 21st birthday! However it was less than ideal, I was woken up rudely last night by a thunderstorm, and today had to get up early to go to camp because we were activated to do some stupid fatigue work. Why the hell can't they activate others who are still in camp? Why must they deliberately call us back when they obviously know we were on leave today? We had to clear props because of the NS40 exhibition, of all the thousands of other men available, they must call us..

After the whole thing, which ended at about 11.30am, everyone just left and I had to navigate my way out of the mess. Luckily I was driving or else I would have been wasting more time taking public transport. My other plans had to be scrapped because of this unexpected situation. Wasn't very happy, wasn't a 21st supposed to be all bed and roses and people blowing confetti the moment you wake up? But alas, everyone's at work or at school or... just plainly forgotten about me..

But later I met up with some friends in m'sia and the guys celebrated my birthday with a coffee birthday cake =) Chilled a little around before heading home.

So far I've received very nice heartfelt messages from pals and friends alike with good wishes, but it's unpleasant to note that some of my friends whom I considered as close friends seemed to have completely forgotten my own birthday! Sad.. Some kind of birthday huh.. Not even a message or a phone call. Am I asking for too much?

Some kind of 21st…

A day of Fine Dining

2007-04-29T06:20:00.000-07:00

A Day of fine dining

After church, I drove us to Great World City, where it was an impulse decision to celebrate an early mother's day lunch by dining at Crystal Jade Kitchen! We had a very sumptuous Cantonese lunch followed by a walk around the shopping centre. I bought a new rubber grip for my tennis racket, dad got himself 3 nice bottles of champagne and wine at the Oak Cellar. Amounting to over a $150 for the bottles.

The Oak Cellar at Great World City

A nice 1999 Moet and Chandon Chardonnay, a 1999 Bordeaux Chateau Cabernet Sauvignon and a 1999 Chateau Brannieu Blanc.

At night, I celebrated an early birthday dinner at Capella, Chijmes. The occasion? My 21st birthday! And I chose this exquisite restaurant to indulge in some very nice fine dining. It's a rare occasion and one that I intend to savor every moment of. It was a rather expensive Italian restaurant and we ordered a delectable selection of meats, seafood, pastas and desserts. It was a very luxurious gastronomic experience!

Garlic Bread appetizer

Wild mushroom soup

Tiramisu cake

A nice raspberry sorbet to sum up the night.

The food was nice, the ambience was very sensual and pleasant, and the most expensive meal I've ever consumed and I enjoyed every morsel of it.

Visual DNA Widget

2007-04-28T05:48:00.000-07:00

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Quite interesting, get your own!

SUMMEX is Over

2007-04-27T05:42:00.000-07:00

The dawn of the weekend signifies that we have finally finished our SUMMEX! It's the end of all the tough physical activities that we've been subjected to, and now that we've finished our Summary Exercise, Commissioning feels all the more closer.

Whilst you were all at home probably chatting on the computer, pouring over notes or textbooks in a nice warm house with a warm drink and proper lighting while the thunderstorm raged outside during Wednesday and Thursday. I was out there, braving the storm, I spent those days and nights, somewhere in Singapore huddled under the unrelenting frigid thunderstorm shivering in my armored vehicle for the exercise. I squelched in wet mud with water soaking into my boots, and ate muck-paste combat rations outfield. All to protect the skies of our nation from hostile aircraft and to protect the sovereignty of our nation. It's because of us that's the reason why Singapore sleeps peacefully.

Unhappiness

2007-04-22T05:21:00.000-07:00

Then I was thinking about all the pointless stuff in this world, why do I spend so many hours on things that meant absolutely nothing to me personally? So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they are chasing the wrong things.

The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning. I've always wanted to do volunteer work or help some unfortunate children earning that sense of purpose that I am helping my community. But now I am turning not getting any younger, what is the point of doing all that? But I do want to get about doing one day, maybe after I have finished my education path. Then the next more logical step is to devote time into building relationships that I hold most dear.

Singapore is building a new Ferris wheel that is slowly taking shape every time I see it, people scrambling for units at Sentosa Cove, Reflections at Keppel Bay, the economy, murders and crime, the debate over Ministers pay raise. The newspapers seem to be always filled with news that have no direct impact or issue with our everyday lives yet people are always so mesmerized by it.

News of new property. Why can't we simply be Singapore? Chase for super-structures and marquee events shows Lion City's lack of confidence. Unless you've been living under a rock, you know there are grand plans in the pipeline for this tiny country.

From Formula 1 to integrated resorts, from skyscrapers designed by architects like Daniel Libeskind to plans to join the upper ranks of the First World list, Singapore seems to be embarking on a massive rebranding.

We aim to be Asia's raciest, sexiest and most happening city, The Capital of Cool in other words.

As if to endorse our efforts, earlier this year, Singapore was ranked No.2 after Italy for it's nightlife and dining in The Global Country Brand Index, which is based on a poll of more than 1,500 travelers and experts.

This would seem to suggest we are close to realizing the dream. But here's the beef: Why do we need to be told what we already know: That Singapore isn't half as boring as it is made out to be? Why do we need to appear on such surveys, enlist brand name foreign architects and describe ourselves as the New York, Paris or Monaco of Asia in order to feel that we're up to scratch in the coolness stakes?

What's wrong with simply wanting to be a better Singapore?

Sure, we need headline-grabbing physical structures and income-generating events – the must-haves for any aspiring world-class city. But they're just the tip of the iceberg of cool, not substitutes for what truly defines a cool city, which is it's soul. Soul, like hip and cool, is hard to define but it's for precisely this reason that nascent world-class cities such as Singapore prize their cachet.

Of course, some would argue that Paris wouldn't be Paris without the Eiffel Tower, but famous landmarks alone don't earn a city a spot on the “cool” radar. And it's likely that Parisians couldn't care less if they aren't on any list of what's hip or cool: They're too comfortable in their own skin to give a damn.

Right now, we seem to be in the process of creating a Singapore with all the physical form and feel of the First World. But scratch that glossy veneer and the reality is far different. By relentlessly chasing after super-structures and mega-profile events, we seem to be over-compensating for a lack of confidence in how cool we are already.

Obviously, this little red dot has a long way to go in developing the soul and spirit to match London or New York. And until we do so, our definition of hip and cool can only be confined to one-dimensional physical structures..

Will the opening of the Singapore Flyer mean we're world class?

The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves, people are unhappy, the culture is teaching all the wrong things. I myself am feeling unhappy.

So why am I unhappy? Recently all that I've been bothered with was to keep my head above the choppy waters in my national service, it wasn't until recently that I refreshed myself and caught up with the events and lives of the people whom I socially interacted with. I read about all their new achievements that they've recently managed to acquire. I read about all the achievements that others that I know of are getting. Others who are achieving more than me while I mellowed in camp.

Others seem more successful, others seem more happy, others have more. I read about others going overseas for month-long attachment stints, visiting all the exotic places in that country, I read about friends going to the states to study and having a lot of fun there, experiencing a new culture and environment. Could this be the sentiment feelings of envy? Others seem to have caught up with the work that I've put in before. What can I do to set myself apart again?

I had juniors, but now they've caught up. I must really work to distinguish myself apart from the pack again. That is a very solid decision that I've decided what I must do. I cannot remain stagnant like this forever.

Played tennis

2007-04-21T01:30:00.000-07:00

Played tennis for 2 solid hours today to relief some tension. Somehow I have been feeling gradually lower and moody these few days. What's happening? I have an inkling I know what's bothering me. But why is it bothering me? Why now?

No matter how I exerted myself today physically, there was still something missing, there was something nagging at the back of my mind telling me I am missing something. Why do I feel down?

exam week

2007-04-20T01:25:00.000-07:00

After a seemingly really long week at camp because all we did was study feverishly for our last 4 exams, now today it's finally over! We finished our last 2 papers today and immediately after we booked out, I went to SLS immediately and bought a new Sony DVD-writer drive on impulse.

The training at AFS is soon coming to an end. 3 more weeks in AFS, we have our upcoming Summex soon, an IPPT final test the week after that and our last week will be our COT (Combined Officer's Training) where we'll be joined by the pilots and C3s before heading back to OCS.

The Problem with Envy

2007-04-17T00:08:00.000-07:00

The problem with Envy

With the rich getting richer, what does one do when envy strikes?

Is it just me, or do you also feel a sense of disquiet creeping up on you whenever you read the newspapers these days?

In particular, stories about the red-hot property market and how swanky apartments - with price tags to match are being snapped up left, right and centre and stories about people earning mind-blowing sums of $5 million a year?

Do these stories make you a little unhappy with your own life? Do they leave you with niggling feelings of being left out of the party, of the champagne bypassing you?

Oh, don't shoot the messenger. Newspapers are merely reporting what's happening out there, and in all probability, the stories are just the tip of the iceberg.

Actually, what's happening in Singapore - to Singapore is a good thing, when has there been another period where there's been so much buoyancy, so much optimism and anticipation, about the country?

The tide turned when the okay was given for the integrated resorts. Imagine not one buy two casinos being allowed in famously constrained Singapore. Imagine the anticipation of the new Ferris Wheel being constructed right before your very eyes everytime you drive pass the Benjamin Sheres Bridge.

With the IRs come not just high-class gambling like the sort you see in Las Vegas but also an Art-Science museum in Marina Bay and a Universal Studios theme park in Sentosa. And it's all just two, three years away.

Then came the property boom, and what a boom this time around. Singapore has never seen apartments this luxe being launched, and with price tags that were unthinkable just a year ago.

New pricing benchmarks are set every other week. The current record? The Orchard Residences where the smallest unit - 1,800 sq ft - sold for at least $7.2 million. A 53rd storey penthouse was reportedly snapped up by a Singaporean businessman for more than $17 million.

Then came news that Singapore might host the Formula One Grand Prix and that one blew everyone away. If it materializes, no one can ever say that Singapore isn't one hot city.

Picture the circus that will roll into town every year. Imagine the maniacal drone of cars in the old city Hall area, Kimi Raikkonen in his Ferrari streaking past the Esplanade, good ole Merlion spouting water in the distance, the Singapore River shimmering behind.

Singapore will not just the Paris and Las Vegas of South-East Asia, but Monaco thrown in too and everyone will get to feast on the spoils. It's a vision that makes you glad you are Singaporean and which makes you wish you were 20 years younger so you can be a big part of the future.

It's also a vision that causes envy. The disquiet I feel when I read such stories is part fear, part envy. The fear comes from being worried that in this brave new world that will be Singapore; I will be left out and priced out.

And if I.. presumably attuned to change - am feeling this way, what about others around me?

Take property for example, with prices headed north, there's no way in this lifetime I'll ever get to live in a prime or near-prime district. I live in unfashionable public housing, in the same house for many years.

Save for my tech-toys, I live in rather mundane conditions by today's standards where chandeliers in living rooms are de rigueur, and I still use fluorescent lights at home.

Still living with my parents, one day I have to get a house to call my own.

Then what? Where can I uproot to? What can I afford then? With property priced so ridiculously high, will I have to settle for something sad in my old age?

It's a though that worries me and makes me unhappy.

Or take jobs and salaries. While the my chosen profession of Engineering in the near future will never pay as much as law or accountancy, I've always thought of it a decent enough pay-master. Decent, that is, until I read about how others are earning so much more.

Which makes me wonder why I’m not up there too? Is it for lack of intelligence, ability or opportunity? Lack of ambition, energy or drive? Lack of a mentor? Why are others more able and also luckier than me?

Self-doubt - Oh, let's be honest now and call it what it really is, which is envy - isn't a good feeling.

Aristotle described envy as pain at the good fortune of others. Immanuel Kant called it a propensity to view the well-being of others with distress, even though it does not detract from one's own.

Envy is different from jealousy in that jealousy involves three parties (the subject, the rival and the beloved), while envy is between two (you and the object of your envy). Envy as a moral ill pales in comparison to killing, stealing and lying. There's also benign envy, which is akin to grudging admiration, and the more malicious form where you have dark thoughts.

But whatever its definitions or place in the list of deadly sins, it is a sour, soul-destroying emotion. It corrodes your spirit, sets you against the world and shakes your sense of worth.

It is also a waste of time because really, comparing and worrying about other's success serves no purpose other than to cause you stress. Others earning more do not make you earn less, does it?

Last week, while mulling over this topic, I read an extract from a book titled Letter to a Great Grandson. It contains life's lessons which American TV host Hugh Downs has penned in 2002 when his great-grandson was born.

In it, Downs, now 86, says that "success" in life is "a matter of adjustment".

"If you fall short of a goal, but realize along the way that there are other valuable goals and are flexible enough to shift to better ones, you will also be successful."

"If the values you cherish have evolved only from the short-term, the selfish, the hedonistic, the frivolous, your success will not be genuine."

"Values that allow and encourage commitment and the desire to contribute to others, produce some enlightenment and ratchet the community one notch higher in quality of life are the ones that will undergird success of the kind you want."

So as Singapore enters its next phase and becomes a very successful and splendid city of casinos and penthouses and rich, beautiful folk flocking to our shores, people like me will watch, partake of what they can offer and savor the riches on show.

It will hit me hard that some things will always be beyond my reach. If I can accept that, and my lot in life, I will be happy. If not, envy will breed and bitterness festers.

The choice is really ours to make.

Shooter and Vista mac

2007-04-15T02:14:00.000-07:00

I finally had the chance to book out again, weekends are a standard affair. I've been spending the week thinking, just thinking. Thinking about all the issues in the world, thinking about my interests, my goals, my dreams, my desires, my wishes, thinking how staying in camp shields my eyes from the outside world temporarily. Every weekend I read about issues that people devote themselves to the dramas of other's.

Singapore is building a new ferris wheel that is slowly taking shape every time I see it, people scrambling for units at Sentosa Cove, Reflections at Keppel Bay, the economy, murders and crime, the debate over Ministers pay raise.

So what is really important? I leave AFS in 3 weeks to return back to SAFTI OCS for my comissioning parade. That will be an event to look forward to. After 9 months of OCS training, am I finally ready to become an Officer of the Singapore Armed forces?

The next 2 weeks will be the cumulative, the cumulation of all our training set into 2 weeks of grueling tests and a full-week of Outfield Deployment. 2 more weeks to test our mettle and worth. I believe I am ready, and the next two weeks will take every ounce of energy, patience and willpower that I can muster... We will see how I emerge from then.

I managed to catch a movie, SHOOTER.

"Shooter" is an action-packed thriller starring Mark Wahlberg as Bob Lee Swagger, a former Army sniper who leaves the military after a mission goes bad. After he is reluctantly pressed back into service, Swagger is double-crossed again. With two bullets in him and the subject of a nationwide manhunt, Swagger begins his revenge, which will take down the most powerful people in the country.

Considering all the military and action-thrillers that I have watched so far, this is a sub-standard movie. If you liked "The Bourne Supremacy" or "The Bourne Identity", you will probably like this movie. Other than that, the plot development is rushed and poorly developed, action scenes are not refreshing, just another hollywood bang-bang explosion galore movie. Ending was cliched too.

2.5/5

I came across this video while browsing youtube, I know we've all seen countless of MAC Vs PC videos, but with the launch of Vista, I can't help but relate this video clip to the new Microsoft OS Vista! =D

Sunshine

2007-04-07T02:53:00.000-07:00

Last night I spent the whole night doing the video editing for the my course video and I've made significant progress, it's my first time using the Ulead Videostudio Pro 11 and I must say it's really easy to use, I am avoiding using the Windows Movie Maker because it makes the videos really amateurish, and Adobe Aftereffects seemed a little too complicated to use and learn in such a short time. I've already finished 4 minutes of the video and making good progress after 10 hours of work.

Later I watched "Sunshine" with dad. Synopsis, Fifty years from now, the sun is dying, and mankind is dying with it. Our last hope: a spaceship and a crew of eight men and women. They carry a device which will breathe new life into the star. But deep into their voyage, out of radio contact with Earth, their mission is starting to unravel. There is an accident, a fatal mistake, and a distress beacon from a spaceship that disappeared seven years earlier. Soon the crew is fighting not only for their lives, but their sanity.

I liked the show, but i couldn't give it 4/5 because the movie ended poorly, if the ending was better developed, and if the characters didn't die in such a cliched manner it would have been better. Special Effects were top-notch, standard Hollywood stuff.

This movie is not for nitpickers or physicist. The plot outline (i.e. detonating a "stellar bomb" inside the sun) sounds ludicrous at first - but if you're able to ignore this and some other scientific nonsense, you get one great movie.

Apparently Sunshine can't deny the influences from 2001 or Event Horizon, nevertheless it should be treated as an independent film. The movie reminded me alot from Event Horizon, another psychological-horror thriller in space about another sci-fi (black-hole engine). And in the case of "sunshine", the sun is dying and the crew are going to detonate a "stellar" bomb the size of Manhatten to "restart" the sun. Reminds you of "The Core" ?

The actors weren't too bad themselves, plot development could have been better. I particularly liked the accurate representations of the spacecraft, Oxygen room, a sensory room, gold-shields to shield from the sun. Accurate spacesuits with gold-foil... But several other scientific inaccuracies, otherwise great entertainment!

3.5/5

FOR SPARTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

2007-04-06T17:49:00.000-07:00

FOR SPARTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Finally it's Good Friday, (Every Friday's good..), some photos for your amusement!

The above photos are taken from http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1573546&page=1&pp=15

difference between an in-law and an outlaw

2007-03-28T04:40:00.000-07:00

Q: What is the difference between an in-law and an outlaw?
A: Outlaws are wanted

Getting old

2007-03-26T22:46:00.000-07:00

You know you are starting to grow old when you realize you have difficulty understanding some of the teen-speak lingo of your juniors or your younger siblings. You know you are getting old when all your friends celebrating their 21st birthdays, you know you are getting quite old when all your friends are driving. You know you are getting really old when all your friends are getting married!

Settler's Café at Holland Village

2007-03-18T02:36:00.000-07:00

Today I went to Settler's Café at Holland Village to meet up with a few sec-sch pals. It was a small 4d1 gathering organized by YY , and it has been ages since I last saw YY or Lek! Wai Kit hasn't changed much appearance-wise. But YY has changed a lot! We had our dinner there and played some card games such as the Ak-recommended “Munchins”, which really entertained us throughout the 2 hours there. Talk about playing an ambigious game with rules and regulations that you come up with, that translated into alot of fun and laughter.

We had a lot of fun and took several photos, following we went to have a look at some really adorable dogs at the local Holland V pet shop. But all good things have to come to an end and we parted company, YY was kind enough to give Wk and me a lift in his swanky Toyota MarkX. It's a really nice 2.5L car, with very spacious leg space and responsive acceleration =) Some photos taken for your viewing pleasure~

But still when I reached home, it's time to prepare my stuff to book in already. The weekends are SOP (Standard Operating Procedure). I return home on Friday, wash my clothes by dumping them into the washing machine. Go to sleep, the very next day I hang up clothes to dry and on Sunday I iron my uniform. It's the same routine every week, every weekend I become a house husband.. Well.. 2 more months to go!

Politics Everywhere

2007-03-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

Whew, it's finally the end of another long week and we practically spent almost everyday practicing mounting and dismounting the PSTAR. Nights were filled with bad dreams after another exhausting day. Retiring to bed seems like an ironic statement.

I was particularly perturbed by a dream was probably reflected in real-life when my week went badly, due to my frustration and weariness I burst out against my own partner.

What have I really done wrong for the week? How did I manage to put myself in such an ostracized situation? Now I am not speaking to my very own buddy. Once good friends, easy-going, with no lack of topics of discussion, now in such a stark difference.

Now that the week has come to an end, I think I really know who are the real people and friends who will come to me when I am really down and under.

On Wednesday after a lousy session of PSTAR and my outburst. Even though I put in the effort for the PSTAR, I felt very unfairly treated over a small and trivial matter instead for minor mistakes and faults committed, it wasn't even something that I did! On Wednesday night I went to the mess pretty much alone to cool down and had a lonely dinner to fill my stomach after I tossed a full plate of dinner into the bin.

In the Armed Forces. It's all about the image. It's all about the bloody image! As an officer you must always make sure your uniform is spic and span, your language is as clean as a whistle and the Armed forces spends hundreds of thousands in pretty ceremonies, lavish dinners and elaborate decorations while neglecting combat equipment.

Whatever it is, it's really stupid and dumb and everyone is still two-faced. Even as National Servicemen! Well at least that test showed that he is really another two-faced person with his own selfish goals.

I wonder is the 3.9GPA guy another such person? After what I've written the last time about 3.9-pointers it's still hard to judge his character and personality profile in fitting my description of such people.

Can you believe it's so.... frustrating and I am only a cadet! Politics is everywhere and it's already evident in my course... and we're only NS men! The higher you go up the hierachy, the more pervasive it gets. What's there to gain? or maybe my perspective of the overall training with my fellow cadets is too narrow and constricted?

IT Fair 2007 and Titoudao

2007-03-10T04:21:00.000-08:00

Finally it's the end of another week. It's been 6 months of training and another 3 more months to go. It's a long journey and I still have a long distance to go. It seems that I have been the IC for long arduous and unlucky weeks when the instructors are pissed with the other cadets for whatever dumb reasons.

Today I went to the IT Fair 2007! I've been looking forward to this fair for several months and needed to do some serious retail therapy and have been dreaming about the fair for the past few nights every time I retired to my bunk.

This year's IT Fair 2007 is the largest ever and the organizers are expecting 700,000 people over the 4 days that the fair is going to run and they've booked the whole Suntec City Convention hall for it! The place was already teeming with people at 11am when the doors were not open yet. Level 2 was the Sony attractions showcasing their much awaited Sony Playstation 3 going at an eye-popping $799 for the 60gb version! Level 3 was entirely Microsoft touting their Office 2007 and Vista OS. Level 4 was all the big boys, HP, Acer, Lenovo, Samsung, Panasonic, Canon etc, and level 5 was all the smaller booths selling accessories and other assorted items.

The place is just as crowded as ever and I merely spent 2 hours hunting for my stuff. Actually I already had the route planned out and wore boots to avoid my toes from getting trodden on. After 2 hours, I was thoroughly exhausted but contented with my purchases.

I got myself a swanky new 19-inch widescreen Samsung Lcd monitor at a steal of $299! Plus a Razer ProClick 1.6 mouse with accompanying Razer eXactmat mousepad for a total of $59. A stack of DVD+Rs for $13, 4 HP ink cartridges. A new Philips base headphones at $9! And last but not least, a Pioneer DVD-HDD 160 Gb recorder for $599! I splurged a whole month's pay in just 2 hours. Gosh, but what bliss and temporal happiness it brought for the day =).

My white Razer ProClick 1.6 mouse with accompanying Razer eXactmat mousepad. 1600 DPI of gaming sensitivity!

All the free goodies that came along with my purchases..

Titoudao

After the playing with my toys, I went for a play. Surprise Surprise, I went to see "Titoudao" by Toy Factory Productions. It's a high-class "Street Wayang" or "Getai" that you have seen last time on the streets with high-pitched hokkien music and acting.

The play is at the NLB main branch Drama centre. I never really expected myself to indulge in such plays and drama acting and the Arts. But the lead actress Pam Oei was beyond talented, all the actors were talented but she really outshone herself! Really incredible talent and able to switch roles seemlessly.

The 2-hour play was excellent and incredibly hilarious, some prerequisites are that you have to be able to understand chinese and Hokkien to fully appreciate the play. Very well done and very entertaining indeed.

Countless stories have been told about attempting the impossible. This one soars higher. Petite kampong gal Oon Ah Chiam reaches stars by laddering on her perseverance and beliefs. As Singapore building tower higher, her dreams are silhouetted by cold concrete urbanization.

For more information visit.

http://inkpot.com/theatre/00reviews/00revtito.html

Tickets available from Sistic.

Zhang Shao Han's concert

2007-03-03T17:13:00.000-08:00

Zhang Shao Han's concert

I woke up early in the morning for my much needed dental checkup. I had a really intensive scaling to clean up all the tartar buildup on my teeth that was last checked by a dentist since primary school!

It was undoubtedly the most painful visit to the dentist I've ever experienced. She used some sort of metal spike drill to drill out all the tartar underneath my gums! She dug in between my teeth and drilled out all the tartar and plaque build-up, I spat blood like there was no tomorrow.

I kept spitting out mouthfuls of blood and felt horrible. Even the dentist's face-mask had splotches of blood on it, and even with the bib I had blood splats on the front of my shirt as well. The cleanup was pure daylight robbery. But I paid it anyway. Humph. I'd rather endure 100 black-belt kicks than another session with the dentist again.

I went out reluctantly, but the throbbing in my mouth made me want to go do something other than eat, turns out that friend's friend of mine and his friend were going to catch Zhang Shao Han in concert! So I joined them. We went to St James Power station, Dragonfly to watch Zhang Shao Han live!

It was a Zhang Shao Han Mini-concert and free entry provided u had the coupon that comes with the Cd purchased. She was promoting her new album "Meng Li Hua". There wasn't a particularly very long queue, but that didn't bother the fans who braved the rain to get into the club. Wei Bing from Y.e.s933 was the host for the event! It's really different to hear your resident DJ in person rather than over the radio! She sounds even better in person, but was dressed very simply for the occasion, unlike Angela Zhang, who was in a very nice flowing white dress.

She sang several songs including, "梦里花", "给你给我" and one of my favourite, "C大调". =) It was very nice! I enjoyed her show thoroughly and it was amusing to see trembling and fumbling fans when they were personally asked by her to come up on stage, i am sure at any other times they'd have no problem singing her songs in a K-box, but on stage they were just tougue-tied and tripping over their own legs haha! All in all, it was a nice mini-concert to see Angela Live singing...

It ended at about 6.30pm and I had dinner with some of my friends before heading home.

Ghost Rider

2007-03-02T08:57:00.000-08:00

I was apprehensive before catching the big screen adaptation of Marvel Comic's Ghost Rider. After all, it is written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson, the man responsible for the god-awful comic adaptation of Daredevil. Little did we realize, however that Johnson would actually top himself – by making a superhero film that's even worse than his last.

Years ago, stunt rider Johnny Blaze (Nicholas Cage) made a deal with the demon Mephistopheles to save his father's life. Now, Mephistopheles has come back to claim his end of the bargain, by turning Blaze into Hell's bounty hunter – the Ghost Rider. The Rider's task, however, isn't exactly a walk in the park: To win back his soul, Blaze needs to hunt down the demon's renegade son Black Heart.

To give credit where it's due, we'd have to say that the Ghost Rider itself – a flaming skeleton in chains and a leather jacket – looks cool as hell (much to the relief of comic fans).

The CGI was excellent, very well done, but I think the script and the dialogue could have been done better, it was rather shallow and dialogue rather clichéd.

With that said, the rest of this film is quite unimpressive. The romance between Blaze and childhood sweetheart Roxanne Simpson (Eva Mendes) is forced, with absolutely no chemistry between the two actors.

While Mendes's performance is forgettable at worst, Cage plays Blaze as a groan-inducing annoying redneck more than a sympathetic and burdened hero. Fonda and Bentley, likewise, turn in lame performances; a shame considering that both of them have demonstrated what great actors they can be in the past. And, worst of all, the dialogue is so cheesy that at times it's like watching a daytime soap opera.

Cage and Johnson are supposedly big fans of the comic, but that love doesn't seem to translate well onto the big screen at all. With Spiderman 3 and 300 coming out later this year, we'd suggest saving your money for comic adaptations that actually show some promise.

You'll dig Ghost rider if you enjoyed: Daredevil, Elektra and Spawn. Of if you take some weird pleasure from seeing Nicholas Cage's head on fire.

I liked the movie due to the action and special effects, but that's about all. It was not too bad 2.5/5 stars.

still feeling moody today

2007-02-25T00:48:00.000-08:00

I was still feeling moody today and didn't feel like doing anything. Played a few games on my computer and smashed up the old HP 840c printer with a hammer.

I actually wanted to salvage the stepper motors from the printer, but was irritated with the stubborn screws. Normally in any other circumstance I would have patiently removed the screws one by one and gently remove the electronics that I want inside. But I wasn't in a patient mood today. Even my power screwdriver didn't seem to work, so after struggling with the printer for a while, I reached for the hammer.

Even tough ABS plastic is no match for a fury-fueled Stanley hammer. I smashed up the whole thing and eventually the entire plastic body came apart. The PCBs and steel frame sustained significant damage. Then the ink cartridge started leaking and the whole place was a black inky mess. That just guaranteed further destruction. Just imagine a scene from "The Texas Chainsaw massacre", but replace the human bodies with a printer and the blood stains on the wall with ink splotches. The motors stubbornly refused to leave the metal chassis even after I ripped off the pcbs and the cartridge carrier, so I smashed it all up at another go with the hammer.

Wasted 1 messy hour smashing up the printer without achieving anything and I dumped it all into the trash.

Booking in soon. I've already packed my bags and ready to go. Another wasted weekend. I might as well just confine myself in camp.

lousy day

2007-02-24T23:46:00.000-08:00

Early in the morning I was irritated with dad over the car issue, whenever he wants me to buy something or fetch him or someone, he would gladly lend me the car, but now that I want to borrow the car to go out with my friends, he refused to let me have the car. That was really infuriating and I had to bite my tougue to keep myself from lashing out whilst forcing down the bile in my throat listening to his bullshit and agreeing like a mindless drone.

I left the house early in the morning after a heated arguement with my dad over the stupid car, met several of my friends for lunch. Turns out that from them, it is a phase in life. When they wanted the car initially, their parents refused to eventually they relented. Maybe it's just another phase that I'll be going through. But it's just as irritating. Their parents will lend them the car if they needed to do errands or get groceries for them or even pick them up, but if they wanted to go out with their friends, access to the car would be refused.

After I left them, today I felt really down and bitter, maybe it was the car issue in the morning, or it could be the rain.. Or it could be the Nights out that we were given on Thursday but I didn't have the mood to go out at all, Nights out so what? Where can we go? What can we do?

Or it could be the bad dream on Wednesday that I went bankrupt in life, it would sound really stupid, but to me it's a really bad dream if I've failed in life and that is enough to spoil my mood for the rest of the day. After the car issue, I was just moody.

It could be the moodiness brought over from last week, or the suppressed irritation during the CNY period, or it could be the piece of news that I learnt recently. 43 students in Singapore were awarded the prestigious Australian UNSW Golden jubilee scholarships. To even be eligible for that scholarship, you need a bloody gold medal or be the top or 2nd student in your course during polytechnic. I have a friend was awarded that. Her GPA was only 0.03 points away from mine. Of course coming fourth doesn't help at all. What's the point of studying so hard when you're just so near, yet so far? WTF is the point of getting that gpa when it doesn't get you anything at all?

That's enough to make me feel bitter. Of course, she's happily studying in UNSW for a double degree now and just left a few days ago. Right now, the current count is 4 friends who have left overseas for studies. Maybe I should do the same and follow suit. Leave this bloody place for several years to simmer down.

Or maybe the reason to my current tumulous emotions could be the fact that I saw an old classmate of mine, Ting Ting and her bf. Suddenly I felt I was invisible. Or maybe I really was went to passed right through me like apparitions. Just seeing her opened old wounds and painful memories. If I see Yahloon today I will still KILL him.

Okay, maybe I've matured a little since secondary and armed with more deadly skills, I could maybe just paralyze his sister or father by snapping their vertebrae column, and let him live those wounds for the rest of his life. Yeah, that would probably be more painful.

But at least she's happy with her new boyfriend. I've got other friends who have gotten attached recently and happily too. I am happy for them, but that only means I'll probably lose contact with them as well. It's an inevitable process of life.

I went home running on a short fuze. This weekend has been dreadful, and I can't believe I am longing to head back to camp. You mean even after coming home from camp I've got to endure such bullshit!? It's been already 6 months, and I've got 3 more months to go. I am emotionally weary and worn out. I've got 3 more months to go. In the blink of an eye, 6 months of bone-exhausting training has gone by. I am just tired.

When I returned home after lunch, I found out that my dad was going to fetch a relative, giving her a lift to the airport from M'sia. Wtf? You don't want to lend me the car and now you want me to drive you again?! WTF. Most likely wanting me to drive and give em a lift to the airport.

I left the house.

It took me 3 mins to change and leave! Never really changed and left the house in such a hurry before. Just didn't want to see them before dad got out of the bathroom. Slamming the door did bring about a slight gratification. I didn't exactly know where I was going or where I wanted to go but I just wanted to be as far away from the house as possible. So I hopped on the first bus that came by, 111 to Orchard road.

Turns out that today is the Chingay parade and the bus routes were diverted. Okay. So I thought, "maybe I can see the Chingay parade to cool down", and I got off at DFS, braving the throngs of people through the underpass over to Wisma. There I got myself a slight vantage point sitting ONTOP of the Mrt shelter. (don't ask me how I got there, it wasn't exactly too difficult) moreover my decision making and consequence processor wasn't working perfectly. I felt as if I could have easily taken on 4 armed cisco auxiliary police guards patrolling the area. You know that familiar feeling of rage and vengeance? It was coursing through my veins that moment. I needed something to vent my irritation and pressure valve that was waiting to blow it's top. I just wanna hit something.

The bloody parade was so slow. Progress was non existent and the performers seemed to be milling about on the road more content with chatting with one another and moving up and down their elaborately decorated floats. I felt more irritated just watching them as if I was waiting for something to happen, obviously nothing was happening and what a joke of a parade this was. So I left and had dinner alone at pepper lunch at Taka. It was mildly gratifying, but I wasn't fulfilled. So I had another meal at Yoshinoya just opposite. It was strange, I didn't feel full, so I had another meal at MOS burger just opposite. 3 meals! I don't know how I managed to eat it all but I did.

I left, it was depressing to eat alone, depression seem to ease a little bit of the anger and irritation and I was slightly calmer, so I walked around. So this is what it feels like when you just need to be alone. Actually it's not my first time I am walking around alone to cool down. But now I am doing just that. I was just moving around making decisions on the spot. I walked around taka and wisma atria looking at mannequins and displays through the shop windows, but not mentally registering anything.

Mindlessly I left taka and walked over to the bus stop where I'd usually head home. Then I just remembered that 111 was diverted because of the Chingay parade, but that didn't stop me, the first bus to come by was the Great World City shuttle, and I hopped onto it and before I knew it I was at Great World City. The place was just as crowded as Orchard. After roaming around for a while just wasting time. I went home. My parents had already left. I chatted on msn for a while before I hit the sack.

It has been a lousy day.

Happy CNY!

2007-02-19T07:02:00.000-08:00

To all my friends, and those visiting this site, FX wishes you...

祝你：
新年快乐
身心安康
心想事成
万事如意
恭喜发财！

A Very happy Lunar New Year!

AS A SPECIES

2007-02-17T06:20:00.000-08:00

AS A SPECIES, we've hit the bedtime barrier. You can eat at your desk, socialize in the break room, and answer text messages on a date, but sooner or later, you're going to have to sleep. After 18, 19 hours awake, your brain function starts to fail. Coffee might keep you up, but you're not going to be focused. Coffee? You might as well be commuting by buggy.

Old-school stimulants like caffeine, amphetamines and the drug Ritalin are about to be marginalized by eugeroics. This emerging breed of "wakefulness" pills promises to keep the workers of tomorrow not just awake, but alert, on-task and feeling fine through the night and well into the next day.

Remember these names, because they're your future: Modafinil, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1998 for the treatment of narcolepsy and marketed in the U.S. as Provigil, is already giving a competitive edge to everyone from Air Force pilots on 40-hour missions to (less legally) college students cramming for exams. The drug's maker, Cephalon in Frazer, Pennsylvania, is awaiting FDA approval for armodafinil, which promises even longer periods of wakefulness on a single dose, and Irvine, California–based Cortex is working on its own drug, code-named CX717 and developed with funding from the military. The drugs are targeted at sleep disorders like narcolepsy, but it's their dramatic potential influence on the workplace that has researchers and efficiency experts buzzing.

Scientists understand how the drugs work only broadly. Unlike traditional stimulants, eugeroics don't simply jazz up the whole body. Instead they tweak specific sleep-related mechanisms in the brain, so users don't feel jittery or wired, just alert. And in experiments with CX717, sleep-deprived rhesus monkeys on the drug often outperformed their own wellrested but undrugged best efforts on mental-performance tests. Modafinil, too, is definitely a cognitive enhancer. Studies of alert human volunteers, the drug improved planning, concentration and impulse-control skills, and even boosted some forms of memory.

Here's the rub: The drugs don't replace sleep, and decades of research show that sleep deprivation prompts immune dysfunction, depression and other disorders. Sleep isn't something we should be looking to phase out of our lives. Yet the economic pressure to stay out of bed is intense. Cutting out four hours of sleep a night would free up almost 1,500 extra hours a year. That's an additional nine months' worth of standard 40-hour workweeks - plenty of time to earn a promotion or start your own company on the side (or, worst case, slog away in obscurity).

From Napoleon to Edison to Churchill, many of history's most notable figures got by on only a few hours of sleep a night. Give an entire workforce the energy of a Thomas Edison, and you've got a new Industrial Revolution. For better or worse, when the trend takes hold, there will be no going back.

Imagine sticking to double lattes while everyone else in the office—or at the
start-up down the road—is juicing on the latest eugeroic, and you'll seem as naive and obsolete as the NFL linesman who swears by protein shakes alone.

Daddy, how was I born?

2007-02-15T07:09:00.000-08:00

A little boy goes to his father and asks "Daddy, how was I born?"
The father answers:
"Well, son, I guess one day you will need to find out anyway! Your Mom and I first got together in a chat room on Yahoo. Then I set up a date via e-mail with your Mom and we met at a cyber-cafe. We sneaked into a secluded room, where your mother agreed to a download from my hard drive. As soon as I was ready to upload, we discovered that neither one of us had used a firewall, and since it was too late to hit the delete button, nine months later a blessed little Pop-Up appeared and said: You've Got Male!"

a very angsty entry

2007-02-11T20:49:00.000-08:00

This is a very angsty entry and is the product of bottled up emotions that have lasted over a period of time till now.

It's finally the end of yet another week. I don't know what exactly it is, but somehow or rather the weeks seem to be getting longer and longer. I was feeling unhappy and moody since Friday. What have I managed to achieve for the week? The end of this week marks the finish of 6 weeks of weapons training, with another 14 weeks to go. It just seems to drag on and on. There's nothing wrong with the training, but I just wish I could just do something more instead of wasting the 5 days in camp just wishing for the weekend to arrive at an accelerated pace. What is wrong?

FX tranquility? What a joke, I feel far from being tranquil right now. I feel distant, detached, unhappy, moody, defensive, aggressive, irate. Maybe pained.

Why do I feel this frustration even though the weekend has finally arrived? Is it the routine? What have I been doing this 6 weeks in weapons phase? Or the 7 weeks in basic phase? What have I learnt? What else do I want to do?

I don't know exactly what's bothering me, maybe I'll just blabber it all out in this pointless entry in hopes that my efforts in authoring this entry will help my heart find solitude and peace.

I am cooped up in camp, but every time I get the chance I'll scour the net for good articles to read and intellectual supplements for my rapidly deteriorating cerebral mass. I'll try to find blogs of my friends to try and keep up with their activities and keep up with their lives so that I won't feel so detached from reality and life. Yet..

I've been reading other blogs and I can't help but notice usage of certain words signifying the superior command of the English language and improvements with more complicated usage of words and vocabularic manipulation. Has my primary language of communication deteriorated to such a stage of dismal inferiority? I do read, I try to read as much as I can! But I can't seem to slow down the damn degenerative decomposing of my cerebral cortex. Has the command of my English become poorer whilst I've been intellectually rotting away in camp?

Every time I step out of camp, I am 5 days outdated from the latest news happening around the world. But News?

What a way to put it, the newspaper reports and tabloids are a real joke every time I open the papers I see the same old articles all over over again. The military spending of other countries to "protect the peace”, the damn terrorists blowing things up and Bush talking about stabilizing Iraq and pulling troops out of Iraq.

Then we have China's policy towards Taiwan, the biomedical debate in Singapore on whether Singapore is spending the money correctly. The gripes of the GST hike, bird flu fears all around the region, possible pandemic occurring, the NKF farce of TT Durai and his minions with the limelight now focused on the infamous Mr Richard Yong and Ms Matilda Chua, the IR and tourism targets that Singapore has set.

The political tussle and blame game over the bad weather gripping earth, global warming the melting of polar ice-caps, El Nino, La Nina effects, flooding in Indonesia, a feared drought approaching, Isn't anybody paying any attention?! All the problems we are facing now are caused by US! Caused by us! Fucked up humans destroying our own homes and blaming everyone else except ourselves. We pollute the waters we drink, filled the skies with our smog and litter the ground we walk on. Is it any wonder why we are paying for our mistakes? There is definitely a god up there, punishing those who deserve it. The flooding, the earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions and droughts. It just fills the papers everyday and countries blame each other for causing the dramatic climatic shift and not doing anything about it. It's really tiring to read the same old newspaper reports day after day about the effects without seeing anything being done about it to remedy the situation.

Why is it called newspapers? It's OLD. The world we are living in is totally screwed up, a friend of mine told me, "don't blame everything on national service."Yes, I believe that is a stigma I must learn to get rid of. And get rid of it fast I must. It isn't easy, I feel so emotionally detached, festive occasions just seem to come and go. Countless of important dates and events I've missed. Valentine's day is fast approaching, but where is the love?

7 days a week, 5 days I spend in camp, yet making no progress on social interaction because all my fellow cadets and peers are trainees as well, unwilling conscripts in a place that doesn't promote social cohesion and there is jest and rivalry in every nook and cranny, not to mention the politics of the place, because of that, emotions are reserved and all everyone does is look forward to the weekend, training has lost it's human touch, bargains are not for welfare but for personal benefit.

The reserved nature doesn't end in camp, even when I eagerly come home in the weekend finally after a long week of physical training, I still have to maintain my forte and defensive posture because I can't even talk freely without fear of reprisal or unaccepting rebuttal of my point of view. I am tired, I am really tired. I cannot talk about my training because of it's sensitive nature, I cannot talk about my life because there is no life to talk about.

Whatever I want to talk about is met with uninterested attention, but instead their focus is on what they want to hear, and not what I want to talk about. As a result, I end up not saying anything that is on my mind at all, but merely replying monosyllabic opinioned statements that are so mellow I cringe at my own words. I cannot say or release what's on my mind and that is extremely frustrating, I can't say them to my peers in NS, and now I can't talk about what bothers me to my own family? I am not just physically tired, I am emotionally drained as well. Emotions bottled up with no path to go and pressure building without a release valve. Maybe one course of action is to just shut up. But isn't that what I am already doing? Maybe I should SHUT UP MORE.

In camp, it's all about the maintaining the image. Freshly pressed uniform, countless hours spent on grooming and maintenance for the most petty and measly tiny detail that serves no practical purpose. What's the complaint over ONE bloody crease in our uniform? Or ONE stubble of missed facial hair? Yes, we have to be neat, that's true, but when people have nothing to do, they pick on every small, slightest of petty of issues involving personal grooming that even teenage girls wouldn't bother about. Maintaining the image that the training serves a higher all-mighty practical purpose, what's the point of all the parties organized and the media involved? No matter how wide the commander's smile is, how big the cake is, how shiny the ceremonial sword is, how freshly starched the uniforms are or how glamorous and extravagant the parties held are, we are still using inadequate, antiquated equipment when the money could be better spent elsewhere.

But as an officer-in-training, complaining reflects poorly on the individual, even as humans we cannot gripe, cannot grouse and cannot bloody make any noise about our individual opinion, constructive comments or suggestions are shot down because there is a bloody hierarchy to adhere to. It's like hitting a wall with your fists and hoping something constructive to occur in front of your eyes.

I keep saying I know what I want and how I am going to get it. But what do I want? I don't really know what's with me, or maybe my hormones have gone crazy with my genetic structure being rearranged by the weather all around me and the environment that I currently dwell in or maybe it's the training that I am going through? I feel violent and destructive, it's like a damn pressure vessel just waiting to go atomic. I feel like exploding but I can't.

I blog this entry, I pray, I even try listening to Chinese music for refuge! In hopes of finding peace, but I just feel awful and really unhappy. What do I really want? Why do I feel this way? I just want to HIT something! But will that help?

Does this violent outburst of emotion result in a negative view of TKD black belts? Does sprouting profanity result in a negative view of officers in the SAF? Does complaining result in a negative view of my personal being?

I am only human for fucking hell!

I feel mildly better after blogging this entry. The time is now 8.40pm. I have to leave for camp in 20 minutes and the cycle begins all over again, I don't even know what constructive activity I had done to pass this weekend.

Sometimes, that's just life.

2007-02-01T08:12:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, that's just life.

Having the same hobbies & interests automatically qualified you as a friend. And if you "friend" somebody, then your friend's friend would be your friend and your friend's enemy your enemy.

But if you didn't "friend" somebody, he was your enemy and your enemy's friend was your enemy, but your enemy's enemy was your friend. Get it?

Finally the weekend is here again

2007-01-27T01:06:00.000-08:00

Finally the weekend is here again, sigh, the weeks seem to just come and go for me and I am eternally looking forward to the following weekend, and the following weekend, and so on and so forth.. Life has gradually taken a monotone timetable where time seems to have lost meaning and days trickle by somberly. Weekends come with muted enthusiasm, and go just as quickly as it arrived, the weekdays are always more lengthy in perspective, and the weekends always too short.

This week hasn't been too different from previous weeks, only more physically strenuous, I've got a pulled muscle still waiting to heal, and every muscle and ligament in my body is crying out for respite and mercy. My whole body aches with every attempted movement and I move like a man 20 years older. We had an IPPT (That physical test in the Army), a killer SOC (Standard Obstacle Course) with 6 sand-cans for additional weight on top of our usual burden. When I did the low-rope I felt as if my arms were ripped out from my shoulder sockets! My wrists hurt after carrying 24-kg missiles and I just feel bone-weary after countless sessions of physical exertion.

Since I had no mood to go out, and when the new Samsung Home Theater system with it's 5.1 surround speakers replaced the Hi-fi set in my living room, I've had 2 heavy-duty Hi-fi speakers lying around, and today I took the opportunity to install the old Hi-fi speakers to my XPC. Now I have an additional 800watts of audio power! Talk about audiophile overkill! The 2 speakers are even larger than an average full-cased computer casing. It may still be analog and stereo, but it's got dual woofers, dual tweeters and mid-range speakers. Eat my dust Creative!

21st CENTURY...

2007-01-23T00:52:00.000-08:00

21st CENTURY...

Our communication - Wireless
Our dress - Topless
Our telephone - Cordless
Our cooking - Fireless
Our youth - Jobless
Our food - Fatless
Our labor - Effortless
Our conduct - Worthless
Our relation - Loveless
Our attitude - Careless
Our feelings - Heartless
Our politics - Shameless
Our education - Valueless
Our follies - Countless
Our arguments - Baseless
Our boss - Brainless
Our Job - Thankless
Our Salary - Very-less...

Movies 2007

2007-01-21T02:31:00.000-08:00

The year 2007 is here and is going to be an exciting year for movie-goers!

In March, you have Ghost rider, Rocky Balboa and Zodiac. April will be the opening of TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and Transformers!!! (April 7th).

In May you have the movie everyone is waiting for Spiderman 3.

Also not forgetting pirates of the Caribbean 3, 28 weeks later and Shrek the third, (essentially Shrek 3).

In July, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, August we have Jackie Chan again in Rush hour 3 and The Bourne Ultimium. (Bourne Identity 3)

In June we have Fantastic Four - Rise of the silver surfer, Oceans 13 and Die Hard 4! Almost every show in the year 2007 is a sequel, but who cares? We can’t wait for the movies to screen!

A very good year for movie goers in the year 2007.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

2007-01-16T06:52:00.000-08:00

Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

You fell helplessly in love, never left each other's sides. But now don't get to see each other as much anymore. How should you keep the love going?

It starts off innocently enough, boy meets girl, girl smiles at boy, boy gets electric shock and then bam! We've got another couple thanks to cupid's arrow. Okay, maybe it isn't always as clichéd as that, but you get the idea. As time passes, both of you grow as individuals, and so does the relationship. There might be quarrels here and there, but at least the love is still strong. That's when you're physically together. But there will come a time when you might not get to spend as much time with your partner as you like.

It doesn't mean the relationship has cooled down, it just means either one of you have a commitment that is eating into the time that you both might have once shared.

Common problems with teen couples in Singapore is the boyfriend being enlisted into National Service, requiring his other half to compromise meeting only on weekends instead of anytime. Sometimes the guy is too tired after a week of exhausting physical exertion in camp, he might not have the energy to meet you and would prefer to sleep instead. Or another problem could be a transition into a higher school level such as polytechnic or a junior college. Being thrust into a whole new environment, you and your partner will need to explore and adapt, which means less time together. Couples can also be separated geographically, leaving the country for studies or even permanently, this causes havoc to people in a relationship because chances of being physically close are nil.

Problems, temptations everywhere, the lesser time spent with the other half, the more time for your own, TV, games, all these are monotonous activities and sooner or later, you will crave for something more interesting, one could even become resentful about not being able to spend enough time with your partner, and could lead to picking up a new hobby or finding new "friends", or a new friend of the opposite sex. Risky.

Anger management issues, you love your partner, it's natural to spend time together. Being deprived could lead to a short-tempered grump. All hell breaks loose when a fight starts over the smallest issue, nasty names thrown back and forth. Not good. Legitimate reasons, school commitments, both will have to learn how to compromise and understand his or her partner's inability to spend as much time as they like with them. However, if you suspect your partner is avoiding for unexplained reasons, and then it may be time for you to trash it out, bitterness building up isn't healthy at all.

I love you.. not, being apart a few days is okay, a few weeks at a time is still manageable but being consistently away will eventually take a toll, there is less contact, hence feelings, thoughts and emotions are not conveyed to each other. Being physically apart consistently will cause the love to eventually die out, where's the fun in the relationship if you can't be physically together?

So what should you do if the above circumstances occur in your relationship? There are a number of things you could do, you could keep your partner involved in your life, a simple Sms or a phone call a day will help tremendously. Or even sharing a blog where either partner can log in to update the other on their daily activities, would help if both are in different parts of the world.

Doing the small little things like the girlfriend tidying up the closet for her boyfriend, baking cookies or just going out to have dinner together will score extra points. A little effort goes a long way.

Make an effort to do things together. Do some sports or get involved in some shared activities; something both of you enjoy or are interested in. It could be as simple as watching movies together, or jus strolling hand-in-hand down Orchard Road. Watch soccer with him once in a while though the green patch on TV puts u to sleep in 3 seconds. And guys, do give in if your girl asks for another day at window-shopping, rather than suggest that she go out with her girlfriends for "that sort of activities" instead. If you're spending more time with your friends rather than with your partner, it's a warning sign that you're drifting apart!

=) Let the love blossom!!

New Apple iPhone Vs O2 XDA Atom Exec

2007-01-11T01:09:00.000-08:00

New Apple iPhone Vs O2 XDA Atom Exec

The newly unveiled iPhone by Apple is really something, it's really the glimpse of what handheld communication devices will be like in the near-future and sporting many similar features and designs of my own "dream-phone", the Apple iPhone really sports many features unseen in today's most advanced pda-phones and bearing the trademark of Apple for both functionality and as a fashion icon, the svelte iPhone has a very nice GUI, GPS-mimicking functions, with collaboration with Google Map, everything is very seamless, like a handheld street directory and phone book all in one.

iPhone features the most revolutionary user interface since the mouse. It's an entirely new interface based on a large multi-touch display and innovative new software that lets you control everything using only your fingers. So you can glide through albums with Cover Flow, flip through photos and email them with a touch, or zoom in and out on a section of a web page all by simply using iPhone's multi-touch display.

It is really a "smarter" phone, incorporating built-in advanced sensors that really doesn't require the user heavy stylus-tapping to scroll through tedious levels of menus, instead it's more "human", the iPhone's accelerometer detects when you rotate the device from portrait to landscape, then automatically changes the contents of the display, so you immediately see the entire width of a web page or a photo. The same XYZ motion sensor that I put into my "life-saver watch" has been finally put into a communication consumer device!

The proximity sensor detects when you lift iPhone to your ear and immediately turns off the display to save power and prevent inadvertent touches until iPhone is moved away and an ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the display's brightness to the appropriate level for the current ambient light, thereby enhancing the user experience and saving power at the same time.

It is basically a media-centre, mp3 player, phone, street-directory, storage device and internet-browser. Lets see how the iPhone fares when compared to another smart-phone of similar caliber. The O2 XDA Atom Exec.

The iPhone sports a 3.5 inches 320 by 480 at 160 ppi Multi-touch screen compared to the older and smaller Atom 2.7" 240 x 320res LCD touchscreen. The iPhone has Quad-band 3G GSM connectivity compared to the Atom's Tri-band 2.5G GSM. The iPhone has Wi-Fi (802.11b/g) + EDGE + Bluetooth 2.0, the Atom Wi-Fi(802.11b) only and only Bluetooth v1.2.

OS is rather ambiguous, the iPhone sporting the Mac OS X, with the Atom running on Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0, it's beyond debate to know that the Mac OS X has much better intuitive GUI interface and eye-pleasing animation, lively menus compared to a static drop-menu box of the Windows Mobile 5.0.

Both have a 2.0 mega pixel camera though. Some strengths noteworthy will be the 4GB or 8GB Storage for the iPhone compared to the miniscule 64 MB RAM, 192 MB ROM of the Atom, but it can be complimented with a 1Gb miniSD though, (that's a mere 1.192Gb of storage compared to the 8Gb iPhone).

I guess the new iPhone totally 0wnZ the O2 Xda Atom Exec in terms of user functionality, animation, features and specifications, it's not a completely fair comparison though, considering the O2 Xda Atom Exec is 2 years old. But still we can see the trend of communication devices these days. Media is a very strong factor. Not to mention the "cool" factor.

It's Year 2007

2007-01-01T17:44:00.000-08:00

It's Year 2007, and I'll be commissioning as an officer in 23 weeks time if everything goes smoothly. Actually, tradition calls for a resolution to be made, I'll be 21 years old this year, my my, how time flies in the blink of an eye and we're now already looking at the younger generation and thinking how fortunate they are, or "still so young", man! I am starting to act as if I have pushed past thirty. Actually I am very happy the way my life is going about right now. I have great friends, a loving family, a understanding girlfriend, comfortable finances and reasonable instructors. I mean, what's more to ask for? I am easy contented now I guess. You're only young once, and live it once!

Pretty much the 2006 ended with the graduation from NP, and the next chapter begun during NS enlistment when the guys shaved their heads to ironically serve the nation in BMT, then came OCS and now here I am in Air Force School. Reflections have been done before and I doubt I'll repeat it just because it the end of 2006. But unlike the Army, the Air Force has very good welfare and each trainee is treated like a fellow human, unlike the unpleasant experience that I had in BMT. Profanity isn't commonly sprouted so fervently in AFS and everyone has adequate welfare and amenities. I am glad I am in the Air Force instead of the Army, one thing is for certain, you definitely use more of your brain in a more specialized weapon system, and as a result, our skills are very specific. We've just recently finish training on a armored car and slowing moving on to the technical specifics of my missile system.

The main baulk of my time is now spent in camp, 5 days a week training, leaving little or no time for personal pursuits. But the depressing issue stays, as we grow older, our creativity wanes. Knowledge increases, but Creativity decreases. This is due to wisdom and reasoning that we learn along the way. Whereas, Children has no boundaries and are more creative, but their creativity starts to decrease the moment they go to school as their imagination starts to be bounded by education.

Still the main focus for me will still be my training these remaining 5 months till my commissioning. Now that'll be something really to look forward to! The image of us commissioning by the President as Officers is alone enough to be a strong motivation factor. 9th June 2007! Now that'll be the day! Singapore's No.2 Parade, the Officers commissioning parade at SAFTI MI. After I commission, then I'll worry about other pursuits such as my studies and such. After commission, then I will worry about my studies and apply for the relevant scholarships

Some minor resolutions that may seem quite silly blogging about, but will be done nonetheless.

- Improve fitness (goal: crack the 9-minute barrier for the 2.4km run, meanwhile I'm hovering around the 9min 20 secs zone)
- Survive my OCS training and commission successfully as an Officer in June.
- Update a complete version of my resume.

Weapon system

2006-12-30T14:51:00.000-08:00

Today is the day! Today is the last day of Basic phase and the day where we are told what weapon system we will be trained in, I got posted to RBS70. Nooooo!! It was a very big disappointment, because it wasn't what I wanted to go into. I had wanted to go to the IHAWK because the missile system is definitely much more prestigious, a larger and more potent SAM system that looks really menacing and cool from a distance. The IHAWK is the largest missile in the SAF arsenal. However, the RBS70 is a laser-guided short-range surface-to-air missile with a much shorter range and kill probability. Considering that all missiles in the RSAF will always be bigger and more menacing than anything the infantry has to offer, it is probably insignificant to be so choosy about a particular missile system isn't it?

I guess it's the recognition, but in the next hour our so, I found out the main reason why I had wanted to go into that IHAWK instead of other systems, I mean, the Mechanized-Igla is pretty cool as well, mounted SAMs on an APC (Armoured Personnel Carrier).

RBS70 training is definitely more tough, road marches with the 24.3kg missile on top of a regular field pack, a 12kg signal set and various other launcher accessories. (All the other missile systems are too heavy to be man-packed, and are mounted on armored vehicles), the RBS is also mounted, but that will come later. I am not afraid of tough training, but we were all put off by our new officer.

He is just so screwed up, he gave such a demoralizing brief, "you'll feel worse than earthworm shit." Almost everything we said was shot back at us extremely blunt and crudely without any consideration at all. He didn't smile at all throughout the 1 hour briefing and all of us came out feeling like shit after the 1 hour.

Then did I realize that the instructor really counts a lot for the morale of the men and now its rock bottom because of him. It's like the first 3 weeks of OCS all over again (The hellest of hell in Officer training and every cadet has his story to tell.) and our mood was all spoilt.

Being at officer ain't going to be easy at all, next time when I handle my men, I must remember that I don't want them to feel the same shit that I went through during training, not all officers have to be so screwed up.

Everyone had mixed emotions when they were told what weapons were going to. Most weren't posted to their choice and more than three quarters didn't get what they wanted and most felt screwed up. Most of the I-hawkers were happy though, the officer of IHAWK is just so jovial and homely. RBS is not the one I wanted to go to, I had wanted IHAWK because of him, but I guess it's fate. Sigh, the instructor is such a dread!

I guess I can gripe initially, but as officers-to-be, we are constantly reminded that we must uphold our stature and integrity. Officers don't gripe, whine or complain isn't it? We're still human after all!

Actually I dun mind tough training. If it was another instructor teaching RBS70 (there are a few very nice instructors), I wouldn't have minded at all, those instructors make the toughest of training seem fun, but this RBS70 instructor is so strict and regimental. It's back to infantry and extreme regimentation all over again, I think all we can do now is take it all in our stride, at least it's not so bad with 2 of my bunkmates who are with me in RBS. I guess, this 20 weeks of training will really show what mettle we are made of.

The RBS70 Surface-To-Air Missile System

Why do guys lie?

2006-12-29T17:17:00.000-08:00

Why do guys lie? Well sometimes it's essential. What else makes the world go round and smoothes out love's sharp edges? Not alcohol, that's for sure. Alcohol makes us tell the truth, which is why we always insist on doing out serious drinking in all-male groups. Ever so often a woman wants to know why men lie, to which there are 3 answers, (all lies, naturally).

1. You are right to pick us up on this, because of course women never lie.
2. Because chivalry is not dead and we want to protect you from the distressing realities of a harsh world.
3. Because we can't help ourselves.

Actually, two and three are crap, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a man who hasn't used them or a version thereof. Truth is, we lie for a number of reasons – the essentialonesbeingkindness,selfishnessandconvenience. Put another way, our lies will always be a variant of one of these, "Of course, I love you", "No, I won't come in your mouth" and of course, "My cheque's in the post".

By lies, I don't mean the big whoppers, I mean the small get-you-through-the-day lies we use without thinking. Except for the real bastards, most men begin relationships believing that the greatest compliment they can pay a new partner is to tell them the truth – whatever the cost. And each time we learn quickly, that the truth should be kept where it belongs – in the witness box. Because, sometimes, lies are, well, kinder...

I have a friend, who has a rather attractive girlfriend, and one day during a party she came in a dazzling outfit, until the evening she asked him what he thought of her new top. Like an idiot, he told her. She had a major sulk all evening and a week later made a real point of telling him that she'd thrown the offending garment away. The odd thing was that Mike felt dreadful, not about her binning the top but about having hurt her feelings.

But don't get me wrong. Kindness isn't everything. In fact, there's usually a healthy dose of selfishness in most male lies. PMS and bad hair days are nothing to the icy chill of terror that goes through a man when his partner says, "Do I look fat?" (Now don't lie! We've ALL heard that!) Because there's just no right answer. Say yes, and we're dead. Say no, and we'll be accused of lying...

Almost every girl I know loves to bring up the "fat question" one time or another, sometimes out of the blue, but most occurrences are triggered during meals. However as a guy, if you think "What the heck, just say it!" and admitted that your partner had put on a bit of weight. You might as well have slit your own throat on the spot for all the food you're going to be allowed to put down over it for the next few weeks, amid cries of, "so it's okay for you to eat, but I have to cut down!" There's only one answer to the "Am I fat?" question. It's "No!", said loudly and with absolute conviction. Truth doesn't even enter into it.

If kindness and self-interest are reasons to lie, so if wanting a quiet life. I mean, truth often needs explaining. And most of the time we don't tell real lies. They're what would be the truth if life was a bit fairer. Face it, men will never stop lying. We lie about your clothes, career, friends and weight – and we expect you to return the favor, and we love you anyways!

Curse of the Golden Flower

2006-12-25T22:55:00.000-08:00

These few days have really added up a tremendous amount of driving experience, I drove to the airport to pick my family up, then drove to East Coast hawker centre to have lunch as well, then driving all the way back as well. I packed my bags for camp this week, resting at home before going out again at night to watch "Curse of the Golden Flower",

China, Later Tang Dynasty, 10th Century.

On the eve of the Chong Yang Festival, golden flowers fill the Imperial Palace. The EMPEROR (Chow Yun Fat) returns unexpectedly with his second son, PRINCE JAI (Jay Chou). His pretext is to celebrate the holiday with his family, but given the chilled relations between the Emperor and the ailing EMPRESS (Gong Li), this seems disingenuous.

For many years, the Empress and CROWN PRINCE WAN (Liu Ye), her stepson, have had an illicit liaison. Feeling trapped, Prince Wan dreams of escaping the palace with his secret love CHAN (Li Man), the Imperial Doctor's daughter.

Meanwhile, Prince Jai, the faithful son, grows worried over the Empress's health and her obsession with golden chrysanthemums. Could she be headed down an ominous path?

The Emperor harbors equally clandestine plans; the IMPERIAL DOCTOR (Ni Dahong) is the only one privy to his machinations. When the Emperor senses a looming threat, he relocates the doctor's family from the Palace to a remote area.

While they are en route, mysterious assassins attack them. Chan and her mother, JIANG SHI (Chen Jin) are forced back to the palace. Their return sets off a tumultuous sequence of dark surprises.

Amid the glamour and grandeur of the festival, ugly secrets are revealed. As the Imperial Family continues its elaborate charade in a palatial setting, thousands of golden armored warriors charge the palace led by , Prince Jai. Where do Prince Jai's loyalties lie? Between love and desire, is there a final winner? Against a moonlit night, thousands of chrysanthemum blossoms are trampled as blood spills across the Imperial Palace.

Review:

It's not a bad movie, in a nutshell, the Emperor (Yun-Fat) hates the Empress (Li). He's trying to poison her with a fungus that causes insanity, profuse sweating and heaving cleavage. Meanwhile, she's having an affair with her eldest son, but he's not really her son, because there was another wife before the Empress, one who got kicked to the curb. That woman lurks in the palace seeking revenge, and her own daughter is also having an affair with the eldest son, who is, yes, her brother. The other two sons wind up as part of a giant civil war on the outside and the inside. Then come the black-cloaked imperial S.W.A.T. team of flying swordsmen. What I'm trying to say is that a lot goes down in this movie, lots of spice!

The story line is nothing amazing but flows well although not devoid of a few loopholes. For the people who're not familiar with the entire power struggle, backstabbing stories of Chinese royal families, some relationships and emotions may seem a bit too much. And it did actually get a bit overheated at certain point possibly for theatrical tensions. For those who didn't appreciate "Hero" or "Crouching Tiger hidden dragon", you won't like this show. .

This movie focuses on Gong Li and she's a good actress. Chow Yun-fat is also good but his role is not as rich as hers. Liu Ye (crown prince) is adequate for his role and the character also has a limited range. Jay Zhou (the second son) is not quite up to par with the others but he has improved tremendously since "Initial D". As for visuals, the movie thrives on sheer opulence and extravagant luxury, tons of bright colors and shades.

Yimou's greatest mistake with Golden Flower is to allow his natural impulse towards regal spectacle to overwhelm practically every other element of the story leaving a poorer plot development. After an energetic start, the first half of the film drags perilously and stiffly from one declamatory scene to the next, and with hardly any action to be seen. Left adrift without the zippy fight sequences of Yimou's other wuxia, the performers still perform their scenes of passion and betrayal in a state of constant high anxiety that verge into camp more than once.

I gave the movie 3 out of 5. For a Zhang Yimou movie, the plot is really shallow. The movie did have its good points however, most men would have been distracted with all the heaving and bouncing cleavages the movie had to offer, but the ended plot was a bit of a disappointment, with the end coming too abruptly without fair development.

Which is a shame, as Golden Flower takes some impressively unexpected turns near the end. Amidst a bloody cacophony of combat, (the scene where the palace guards fought the coup was a bloody massacre, it wasn't even a fight). Obviously the king is a better strategist than the prince, and it was like shooting fish in the barrel, the trapped golden warriors stood no chance and were either shot by arrows or crushed and impaled by a closing wall of metal. The films takes a more philosophic than pulse-pounding approach, highlighting warfare's deadening horror instead of its thrills. Also unlike many costume dramas of its ilk, Golden Flower maintains a welcome cynicism about power; it becomes clear that all the luxuriously maintained rituals would go on unabated no matter who is in power, and regardless of their wisdom or cruelty.

At least I enjoyed the ending song theme sang by Jay Zhou, a very fitting song for a bloody and sad tragic ending.

3/5 stars.

Christmas NYDC dinner with johnny, kercher and Xs

2006-12-23T23:29:00.000-08:00

Woke at 10am today, had a dian xin lunch at Tun Amina, then I drove back to Singapore smoothly, my first inter-country drive. I drove all the way to Orchard to meet dear, J, Kc & Xc at Orchard, the Traffic was just crazy. It was a mini-TKD gathering. We ate at NYDC! And the guys spent most of the time talking about NS-stuff, much to the exasperation of the girls.

Nevertheless, we had a lot of fun after dinner, walking around shopping, chatting and just taking a lot of pictures from the roadside Christmas attractions, Christmas tree etc. It was fun, but extremely crowded, it was a challenge to merely make our way through the throngs of people, and the pictures taken are a priceless memory, considering how rare it is to be able to find time to meet up now that everyone is busy with their own commitments and agendas.

This year I wanted to avoid all the major places of interest during the holiday season. Sales registers were ringing non-stop as shoppers pack malls. Last minute shoppers hit the malls at full force, department stores, shops and food courts were packed to the brim while long queues snaked at taxi stands.

The last burst of shopping will give a further boost to retailers which are reporting a bumper Christmas with higher shopper traffic and increased sales. The crowd was something you wanted to avoid, and the scene was similar everywhere, along Suntec, Marina, Orchard and including the newly opened Vivocity.

The economy is good and people generally feel like spending and consumers willingness to spend shows a strong economic sentiment, with handsome bonuses and the impending GST hike next year. All these are translating to a jolly good Christmas for retailers this year.

At centre point for example, shops reported an increase in sales of 20-25% this festive season compared to last year. Some businesses say that retail could have been even stronger if not for last week's heavy downpour which may have resulted in many shoppers staying home.

Thankfully, the weather held up yesterday and shopper traffic soared at malls across the island. More than 167,000 shoppers visited Vivocity, compared to the 150,000 at the same time of it's opening. At Ikea too, 10,000 more shoppers were at its Alexandra outlet.

Everyone was clambering for last minute deals and shopping to the last minute to jostle with the Christmas crowds and fighting the crazy traffic? Haha, I understand that sentiment quite clearly! After all I did all my shopping last week, I mean 50% sales for G2000 apparel? Even I couldn't resist that!

Pictures Courtesy of Johnny

really need a break

2006-12-21T01:25:00.000-08:00

I am sorry about the long time-lags in-between entries, but it's tough to update entries whilst being in camp, and the weekends are precious, and I'd just don't have the time or mood to update. I'll try after this holiday season...

Meanwhile I really need a break...

Christmas shopping

2006-12-16T23:59:00.000-08:00

Christmas shopping December 16th

Christmas is round the corner, and I did my Christmas shopping today, buying several presents from Carrefour and wallet shop and a necklace pendant for my mom from Taka jewelry.

Nevertheless, today is a date. We walked around marina square, roamed the whole of Millennia walk chatting and just enjoying each other's company whilst she scoured the whole of Candy empire for a particular chocolate. Then we headed to Suntec city where I bought myself a G2000 blazer that I've set my eye on for a long time. It's a gift for myself for this Christmas, and it was surprisingly cheap! It's a 50% discounted sale, and I got a matching pair of pants and a blazer for a mere $130! What a bargain! It would have usually gone for $199 and $69 respectively. To add on top of it, you'll get a $20 gift card for every $100 spent, which effectively means I only spend a $110 for my purchase.

Headed home for dinner, don't wanna sound too long-winded her, because it's really uncharacteristic for a guy to talk about his day's shopping purchases...

end of another week

2006-12-15T22:52:00.000-08:00

Finally it's the end of another week. The 4th week in Basic Phase in Air-Force school, the whole week was both physically and mentally strenuous with a multitude of drill and exams, and we're just glad to booked out and head home.