Sentiments, Condiments and Golden Moments

Towards A Better Future For Singapore

2011-05-06T12:40:00.002+08:00

Tomorrow is voting day. For once in my life, I am excited about the elections. Its also the first time I am voting. I have been following news and political events ever since the internet has flourished. Lots of information and stories that were NEVER available on the mainstream media has its share of space online. It opened my eyes and allowed me to ask questions of whether we really are in a well governed country.

Although life in Singapore is good compared to the other countries, its only good for people who earn enough to enjoy it. My only problem is I need a home for my family. I do not get hungry, I do not need hand outs, I do not need anything from the government as I think I know how to handle my life and financial situation. But, the bigger picture beckons.

The bigger picture is, is our government leading us down a road where all that matters is how much money you have and how much talent you have? There are many others in Singapore who need a change in thinking from our leaders. There are those who need the space to grow creatively, there are those who need a bit of help to survive due to poverty, there are those who need our country to remain as OUR country.

Is our government bringing us to a place where all that matters is the amount of cold hard cash you can bring to the country? If you can't generate that cash, you are just a liability? To be disposed of as soon as possible? To be chased away to another country to die? Are we really that cold? Is economic progress all that matters? We were born with nothing. We die with nothing. Everything in between is what life is about. Will Singaporean's lives be all about money and material possessions?

The PAP has brought us into a well-developed materially focused stage of our lives. The old leaders have done well. The new leaders are trying to bring us to the next level. But are they good enough? Are they focusing on the right things in life? Do we really need to keep upgrading and improving the material aspects of our lives at all costs?

The opposition wants to change our direction. Towards a more humane society where the government is less focused on GDP growth and material improvements. We are but a small little island. We were born into this country with our parents and we will grow up and do our best for ourselves and our family. That, by nature, will also be good for our country. No one wants to be a pariah of society. Who wishes to be in the doldrums of life? No one.

If our leaders care more about the people than the amount of businesses they can attract, the number of rich people to entice to live in our country, the amount of dollars they can make, then I think that we will be going in the right direction. After all, why make our country rich, if its not FOR the people of Singapore? If the people of Singapore are living amongst the rich, in a richly enriched environment but DO NOT have the means to live it up as well as the invited 'guests' of our country, then what is the point of it all?

If the direction that our government takes in the next 5 years are still towards more GDP growth, more progress at the expense of the people, more historical sites being destroyed in the name of practical need, a bigger gap between the rich and the poor, then sadly speaking, we are the ones who will have to repent if we decide to give the ruling party the mandate to carry on with their GDP-focused direction.

You can have your town council and your MP do all the brilliant work for you, increase your housing value and make your estate the most beautiful place to live in, but think about it, what matters most? Your estate, or your country? Town council plans or National plans? If there are no voices in parliament to speak up for the people, to raise points that are more people-centric than GDP-centric, we will end up with a country with the wealth in the hands of the companies and businessmen. The people are just worker bees and ants in a society of the rich. We will just be a set of numbers to be changed at will.

Ladies and gentlemen, tomorrow you will decide on our future. The collective future of all Singaporeans. You will decide on the direction that we will all take in the next 5 years. Vote wisely for the party that you think will give you and all Singaporeans a better life. Decide well for your children and your future.

Towards a better future for Singapore.

Kinect!

2010-12-13T17:11:00.003+08:00

Just bought the Kinect system for XBOX 360 yesterday!

Though I had a playpen and a baby in it watching me play Kinect Adventures in the immediate play area of the Kinect Sensor, I still managed to get it working perfectly fine! I had the sensor placed on the top of the middle speaker of my AV system and its about 1.5m above the ground, so I guess it helps to have the sensor high up!

Seems like I don't have to clear away everything in the play area to have a good time and its a good thing!

I'm happy to say its a good buy! To more fun times with my XBOX 360!

Our First Child! Arielle Seet!

2009-09-24T18:00:00.001+08:00

Isn't she lovely? :) She was born on 18th September...so cute! (of course! haha)

New Baby On The Way!

2009-09-17T19:07:00.002+08:00

Tonight, Bernice and I will be checking into the hospital for the delivery of our very first child tomorrow!

I'm feeling so many emotions at this moment that I really can't describe it!

Just pray that everything will go smoothly and that both mother and child will be safe and healthy.

Wish us luck and blessings k!

My first post on CNN's iReport!

2009-07-22T20:41:00.004+08:00

After watching so many iReports on CNN while on a nightstop, I decided to post up photos of the Solar Eclipse that I have taken while on the road from New Delhi to Agra, where our final destination was the Taj Mahal!

Here is the report!

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-302071

"Horrified by many profanities in matinee show on NS life "

2009-07-15T17:06:00.003+08:00

I read this forum letter in the Straits Times on 14th July and I couldn't believe my eyes. Although she's a woman and has no experience in National Service, its common knowledge that the ARMY is not really a gentlement's club (to use the term in its literal meaning). Does she not know anyone who has ever served NS?

--------------

I ATTENDED the matinee show Own Time Own Target at the Drama Centre in the National Library building over the weekend. One magazine lauded it as a 'laugh out loud, rediscovery of zany side of national service'. I presumed this meant it was a family-type show and took my two teenage sons, aged 16 and 14, to the show on the premise of a MediaCorp-owned magazine review.

To my horror, I was cringing uncomfortably in my seat the whole show, highly disturbed by the language used. I do not have a problem that the language was coarse and in dialects. But it was offensive when every sentence and curse uttered by the officers (rightly or wrongly, provoked or otherwise) at the NS boys in the drama was a profanity of the female genitals.

The show was a full house, with young and old, males and females equally represented. I am sure I was not the only one who was disturbed by the excessive cursing and swearing by the officers at the recruits. My observation was that people laughed out loud not at the clumsiness of the recruits but mostly because they felt uncomfortable with the profanities.

As a mother, I find it hard to imagine that after years of sheltered school life where students are taught values, to be gentlemanly and polite and respect their elders, these boys have to do NS run by officers who do not blink an eye when they curse their mother, sister, girlfriend and the whole female population by way of conversation.

My boys were shocked to realise that NS is a rite of passage where they will be officially subjected to bullying, shouting and cursing - nothing gentlemanly at all.

If this is a light-hearted look at life of NS boys during basic military training, I fear to know what my boys will face in their real-life situation when they enlist. Please, someone, assure me this is not so.

Wee Hua Boey (Mdm)

----------

Guess she expected a typical army conversation to go like this ah?

2LT 2IC - Recruit Tan, can you please fall in and gather the rest of the recruits too? Thanks! By the way, please fall in at 6am tomorrow morning for morning PT. Thanks ah!

RECRUIT TAN - You're welcome sir! I'll go do that immediately! Thanks for informing me on the program for tomorrow!

2LT 2IC - No problem Recruit Tan! Its my pleasure! I live to serve you!

---

6am tomorrow morning

2SG KOH - Good morning recruits! Can you please fall in now? er..Recruit Chan, you are standing on one leg, can you please stand on two legs? I know its very early but it'll look better. Thanks!

RECRUIT CHAN - Sure thing SGT KOH! I'll do that!

2SG KOH - Thanks Recruit Chan! Ok recruits, now that you all have falled in, let's start with some push ups ok? Is it fine with you?

RECRUITS - Yes SGT! We are okay with pushups!

2SG KOH - OK! Thanks! Everybody please go into push up position...yup...ah, Recruit Seah, can you move a little faster please? The rest are still waiting for you. Thanks!

RECRUIT SEAH - Sorry SGT, I'm still a bit sleepy. I'll try to move a bit faster. Thanks! Sorry ah guys, my body still asleep.

RECRUITS - No problem Seah, take your time ok? We can wait. Don't injure yourself ok?

2SG KOH - Ok! Now that everybody is in position, can you all please do 20 pushups? OK start now please....

RECRUITS - 1...1..2...3....2.3..4..4..3...4...

2SG KOH - Hmm..maybe you all can try to count together? It'll sound nicer! Thanks!

RECRUITS - Yes SGT. 5...6...7...8...

2SG KOH - YEs that's it...sounds so nice, like an orchestra...well done guys!

RECRUITS - Thanks SGT!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

2009-04-29T22:18:00.003+08:00

Just watched the movie with Bernice earlier.

Well, its GOOD! I found it a bit short though, but as usual, Hugh Jackman is excellent! The story is nice, pacing is good and the finale is very interesting!

Do watch it especially if you're an X-Men fan! One thing too is that there are two segments shown during the end credits. One comes quite quickly and the other is at the end.

Enjoy the movie!

Dam sighted over China

2009-02-19T19:59:00.000+08:00

Happened to spot this dam while flying over China and decided to share what I saw! I found it very interesting as I haven't seen a dam from so high up in the skies before. Actually, I haven't really seen a big full scale dam even on ground level!

The difference in the water level before and after the dam is quite a stark contrast and really caught my eye!

Pink's I Don't Believe You Anymore...such a touching song!

2009-02-19T19:47:00.002+08:00

I haven't felt touched or affected by a song for quite a long time and I do want to recommend that you give this song a listening ear...or more like, giving Pink a listening ear. This song is sang with such heartfelt emotions that one can't help but feel her pain in her relationship.

Here is the Youtube video of it...

The Most Beautiful Sight In Paris!

2008-11-29T23:18:00.000+08:00

I can't resist posting this photo up! I have taken more than 1000 photos and this is the most special one!

It was taken during the hour when the Eiffel Tower came to life with brilliant glittering shimmering blue lights! The sight was simply amazing! What the photo shows is something different altogether!

It was truly a memorable trip to the most romantic city in the world!

Paris Paris Paris

2008-11-28T14:52:00.003+08:00

Woah it has been a very tiring past 2 days! We practically walked all over this romantic city. From the Arc de Triomphe, to Place de la Concorde, to the Louvre, to Notre Dame...then took a train to the Eiffel Tower (had to relax a bit lah...I was carrying a tripod and my DSLR and lenses and flash...heavy leh...cannot tekan my wife also mah...heehee).

The Eiffel Tower was beautifully lit up in the night! Especially the 5 minutes of glittering every hour! I'll post photos of them on my other blog at www.kelvinseet.com and here, once I'm back in Singapore! Today we're going to go up the Eiffel Tower, right to the top! No less! Didn't have the time to do it the past two days because sunset was just before 5pm and we couldn't make it up before then. It'll be too difficult to take pictures of the view from there if its already dark.

Luckily, the weather had been excellent! Except for the fact that we both were tropical people and not really winter people. It had been about 0-8 degrees celsius so far and trust me, Singapore's heat is much more preferable! At least we don't have to "bao" until we look like dumplings! Its so difficult to go shopping also! Haha imagine having to change clothes to try them...nightmare!

Anyway, I'll post more later. Today running short of time. Will be departing this evening also. Back to nice warm humid Singapore!

See you guys on Singapore soil soon!

I finally own www.kelvinseet.com!

2008-11-06T12:20:00.003+08:00

Haha!

After so many years of dreaming of owning my own website, I finally did it!

www.kelvinseet.com

The website will begin my journey into semi-professional photography. I have big dreams to fulfill. I aim to be a photographer that people will respect and look up to, and have my photos bought by companies and magazines and other people and be hired to do photoshoots and take wedding photos and...

My dreams are too many! Living life without a dream is living a life that is meaningless and directionless. Of course I have other dreams too but this is just my photography hobby/semi-pro one.

:)

Wish me luck!

Fukuoka Sushi Bar

2008-09-23T14:23:00.001+08:00

How can I let a blog on Japan go by without showing their wonderful sushi!

Haha

Here are photos from the extremely popular sushi bar located at the basement of Solaria Plaza in Tenjin, Fukuoka. There are queues whole day long and its simply because the sushi that they serve are good value for money and unbelievably good!

Sakae Sushi, TAKE THAT!

Ichiban, you are good, but not that good yet!

Sushi Tei, getting there, but you'll never reach their level simply because you are not in Japan!

Enough said! Savour the photos...mmm

Salmon Toro and simple maguro

Watching the chefs cutting the fish skilfully.

Amaebi or sweet prawn!

The neverending queue!

Prices were ranging from 180 yen to 640 yen for the coloured plates, and of course you can order special stuff, but only if you speak Japanese lah! Hardly anyone speaks English there so we could only eat what was being served. But it was a great feast!

The quality of the fish and the variety of the sushi were astoundingly good. I even tried horse sashimi! It was of the texture of beef but had a sweetish taste. Something to try just for the sake of it.

Well, if I ever go back to Fukuoka, this is the place I'll surely go to again. :)

Fukuoka Fukuoka!

2008-09-23T13:57:00.001+08:00

Sorry for the haphazard postings. Haha just started exploring how to use PICASA to blog photos. No wonder so many bloggers can upload photos so easily. I always thought I had to use imageshack or something. :P (But I just realised I'm limited to 4 photos per Picasa upload...is it like that?)

My wife, Bernice, recently followed me on a flight to Fukuoka, in north western part of Kyushu. Its quite a quiet place compared to Tokyo but no less charming!

As it was just a short stay, we ate and shopped for two days (mainly, I ate and she shopped, haha) and it was a bountiful harvest! We visited the Canal City and Tenjin area, which was more than enough for exploration in 2 days.

Okie! To cut the long story short, here's a look at the RAMEN STADIUM in Fukuoka and their delicious and delightful ramen! We ate there twice. So let the pictures speak for themselves! There were so many choices and so many options that we just picked the longest queue and attacked! Haha!

Here we are at the Ramen Stadium!

This is my simple Ramen :)

This is her more "high class" Ramen with Egg and additional ingredients. :)

And this is us enjoying our meal!

The ramen were very tasty and nothing in Singapore can beat what Fukuoka can whip up! The texture of the noodles were excellent and the soup base were superb! The portions were also more than enough! However, the mini gyozas were nothing special lah. Did you even notice them? Haha

My fond memories of the best Hotate Gai!

2008-09-23T13:49:00.001+08:00

AAAH! Can't resist! This 6 gigantic pieces of Hotate Gai, which are fresh scallops, costs less than S$10 and are supremely juicy and succulent!

ONLY AVAILABLE IN FUKUOKA!

How I wish I can get another flight to Fukuoka. The scallops sold in Singapore are puny compared to these sweet delicious chunks...mmmm

The Most Ludicrous Forum Letter ever!

2008-09-20T12:49:00.003+08:00

----

Sep 20, 2008 Saturday

The Straits Times

Baby's birth cert reverses parental joy

THE arrival of my newborn daughter was a source of joy for my wife and myself - until I went to obtain her birth certificate from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).

To my horror, she was given the number T08-XX444X. As Chinese Singaporeans are aware, the number four suggests death, and implies misfortune.

I appealed to the ICA officer, also a Chinese Singaporean who understood my discomfiture. But she firmly rejected my plea because rules were rules, I was told. Subsequently, I appealed to a superior officer and waited an agonising week, making several calls in between, only to be given the same answer.

I grant that sticking to a system of rules is important. But so too is crafting exceptions which humanise the system.

My wife and I took great pains to craft our daughter's name, consulting time-honoured cultural principles, because we wanted an auspicious life for her. Imagine having a birth certificate number like 444 which counters all that.

A birth certificate is a personal and important life-long document.

A system which forces officers to stick rigidly to the rulebook without due regard for cultural sensitivities is not a good one. Rules are made to serve citizens and not the other way round.

I'm not giving up. I hope that my daughter can be given a more appropriate birth certificate number and I'm not asking for very auspicious figures.

Joseph Tan

-----

The Straits Times printed this letter and I personally find it quite fantastically ridiculous that it did! I think the editors must be trying to have a laugh or to make the day of many readers.

The birth certificate number obviously runs up in numbers in the year based on whatever calculation system the ICA has. If your daughter's life is going to be run by numbers or if you are afraid that bad identification numbers are going to destroy her carefully crafted life, then I think you are going to lead her into a very miserable one.

What if her future passport number, mobile phone number, telephone number, driving licence number, credit card number, credit card bill number, matriculation card number, EZ Link card number, car number, house address number, postal code number, staff ID number, class number, spectacles degree number, doctor queue number, salary number, bra size number, underwear size number, vital statistics number, current living date number (how does 4th April 2044 sound to you?) all have numerous number "4" in it...what are you going to do?

I highly believe she won't even care. I doubt she'll appreciate it if you are going to tell her to swap a new mobile phone number or wear a spectacle with 388 degrees instead of her prescribed 440 degrees or change her bra size from 34 to 28 or 38 or try to run away from the date 4/4/44 by hiding in a temple or something.

If you have your beliefs, do not apply them to other people. If the ICA or MP or PM or MM or UN or Interpol allows you to change your daughter's birth certificate number because you think having "444" means she's going to be cursed, then those whose birth certificates have the series "888" are going to be damn hell of a rich! (How I wish I had "888" in my birth cert, then I don't have to work hard or think too much about my life because I'll be fated to be rich anyway...right? wrong? hmm...)

Your daughter's life and lifestyle is first in your hands and then in hers. I doubt that a series of numbers are going to destroy her life.

By the way, congratulations on having a happy healthy baby. Focus on the right stuff and bring her up well. 444 is in her birth cert, but 888 is what you have gotten in life. Nothing is going to change that and nothing will...but maybe only you can.

Make her life an 888.

Update On My Life

2008-08-02T16:02:00.002+08:00

I think I owe you guys an update on my life...haha

Well, basically speaking, since October 2007, I have been busy with a lot of stuff!

The usual festivals and season greetings like Christmas and Chinese New Year came and went with the much appreciated celebrations, then I was busy planning for my wedding too!

Yup! I got married to Bernice! :) Hee...I'm the luckiest man alive! ;)

We held our Wedding Mass at St Vincent De Paul on the 8th of March 2008, and also did the whole traditional tea ceremony process. We then celebrated at Swissotel The Stamford's Stamford Ballroom with a banquet for about 420 guests ;)! It was great and went very well! A few hiccups here and there, which is usual for a big event, but overall, every one was happy! The hotel's service was excellent and so was the food! Kudos to the Swissotel team, led by Dannis Yeo!

Then after my wedding, I did a flight to Zurich, Switzerland and then went to do 2 weeks of NS training, to be a driver! Haha...now I'm a Class 4 Military Driver! Woo hoo!

After that month of March, I then did a trip to Milan with a shuttle to Barcelona. It was my first time there and did a trip to the Caste of Milan. Interesting place with 4 museums. Will post photos later! (Too long never blogged, so got too many photos to upload if I were to show what happened in my life the past 10 months!).

After that trip, Bernice and I then went for our Honeymoon! And lo and behold, I'm back at Italy and Switzerland again! heehee. But this time I don't have to fly the plane and can accompany my dearest Bernice during the flight. The trip was superb! Done by CTC and we were very happy with the tour guide, Dennis Chuang!

Well, those are the highlights of my life since last October. I'll be blogging more! As long as you guys read, I'm happy! Just drop me a comment or two! Make me happy also mah! :P

Honeymoon Pictorial

2008-08-02T15:55:00.002+08:00

Wah, I finally managed to complete the pictorial of my honeymoon with my dear wife!

Took me 3 months to get it done! It was mainly because I had to sieve through almost 5000 photos taken during the trip, and editing the 380 photos or so that I selected was quite a task!

I used Blurb and just ordered a copy of it. When it arrives, I'll post up some photos of it! Its my first time using an online publishing company and hope I won't regret it! It costs me about US$125 more or less to print a 10" x 8" hardcover book with 360 pages, so its quite a good price! Printing 380 photos at 8R size in a photo lab will cost me more!

You can catch a glimpse of the book here.

Anyway, its been a long time since I blogged. Had so many experiences and even got married! hahaha

Time passes very fast. Blogging takes up a few minutes here and there and maybe its time I start to show the world, what my profession allows me to see, hear, experience and taste on a regular basis!

Watch out for it!

The Moon and The Plane

2007-10-26T18:23:00.000+08:00

Quite an uninspiring name..haha

Was flying back from Zurich and spotted this scene. Quickly rushed out my camera from the bag, thanks to an understanding Captain, and took some shots in RAW.

Unfortunately, its the first time I'm editing in RAW and I don't know how to do it well. This is what I came up with lah. The black corners are quite obvious. Need to figure out how to avoid or edit it out the next time. Maybe the healing brush will work?

:)

Some Sample Shots

2007-10-26T18:05:00.001+08:00

These photos are nothing to shout about. Just some experimental shots to try out the camera! Nothing fantastic but just sharing lah! ;)

I Finally Bought A DSLR!

2007-10-12T02:40:00.000+08:00

After considering for so so so so long, I finally decided to get the Olympus E-510 DSLR! I bought the dual lens package and got quite a good deal for it! ;)

From today, I'll be resuming my hobby that I had partially abandoned ever since I started training in SIA. And since I'll still be travelling a lot for a long time to come (don't envy me..there are pros and cons in doing what I do!!), I'll be taking lots and lots of photos in all countries and of all kinds of interesting scenes and scenarios!

Look forward to it! I hope I won't disappoint you!

Cheers and let's get the photo taking started!

PS: Sorry for not blogging for so long. Though I didn't update my site for about 4 months (I think), there are still the occasional readers passing by my site. Thank you so much for reading! Would be nice to see comments and feedback. It will really drive me and motivate me to write more and better things for you to read!

The New Seven Wonders! My votes go to:

2007-07-06T14:59:00.000+08:00

These are my votes. I believe that these deserve to be the New 7 Wonders because they are built by people of the past without the technology that we have today, and being a trained civil engineer, these are fantastic achievements!

So far I've only seen The Great Wall Of China and have seen the Acropolis from my hotel room in Athens, but I will visit all of them when I have the chance!

Acropolis

Angkor Wat

Colosseum

Easter Island Statues

The Great Wall Of China

Petra

Stonehenge

Our dearest Lola...1st Year Death Anniversary

2007-03-27T15:34:00.000+08:00

This time, this date, last year...our dear Lola, our Yorkshire Terrier, has passed away...

Lola, we'll always remember you for your lovely face, your excitement when you see us and your constant loyalty to us...you have brought us so much joy and laughter with your antics and your quirks that no dog can ever replace you. You have been a treasured family member and you will always be on our minds.

Every time I see a dog, I see you...and how much I want to pat you...

Every time I walk pass a pet food section, I think of you...and how much I want to buy snacks for you...

Every time I think of you, I tear for you...and how much I want to see you again...

We miss you so much...may you be happy wherever you are..

Guess where I just came back from? The Maldives!

2007-02-22T12:14:00.000+08:00

Yup! See the crystal clear waters? The beautiful island? The blue skies? The fine grains of sand?

I went there for a short nightstop just two days ago and though I only had the morning and afternoon to explore the island resort I was at (Bandos Island Resort), it was enough to do a few things.

The first thing I did when i woke up was to step outside the chalet:

and take a few photos of the beach just about 10m away from my door! I was really really amazed at what I saw! Call me suaku (someone who has not seen something before, as if he/she has been living in the mountains all his/her life) but this was the first time I've seen such crystal clear waters! I'll let the photos speak for themselves:

The breakwater (that is broken)...

The beach and the water...

A boat in the distance...

One of the crabs that were crawling around...

The broken breakwater...

After taking in the scenery with a breath of delight, I went back to my room to call up the rest of the crew and arrange for the snorkelling session. Can't wait!

About 45 minutes later, we all met up and went to the reception to enquire about their dive shop. Ooops...seems like I made a mistake and took everyone on a merry go round. The dive shop was on the other side of the island! So paiseh..

Anyway, we headed down to the beach (on the first photo) and snorkelled around. Too bad I don't have a camera that is capable of taking underwater shots, so I can't take any photos. But there were a lot of dead corals around. However, the fishes were so friendly, they were found just a few metres away from the beach! We even saw a baby black tipped shark coasting around the shallow depths of beach!

Here's a photo of one of the kinds of fishes that were swimming around:

Can you make out what it looks like? Heehee

The snorkelling was good! One of the cabin crew ladies passed me a piece of bread to feed the fishes and the moment I broken a piece of it and let it float, swosh! A fish had just taken it into its stomach for lunch! After doing it for a while, I noticed that many many many fishes were swimming around me! All kinds! Hahaha...never had so much fun feeding fishes in my life! Some of the small fishes were damn cute! They swam up to my face, took a look at me and then swam away. I must be one of their attractions also! :) One thing about the waters off the island was that when it was low tide initially, we could not find a way to go past the reef as there was not enough water to swim over them. After a while, when the tide rose, we then managed to go over the low lying reef and reach the other side of it, where more marvels of the shallow waters awaited us!

The shallow waters only extended out from the beach for about 40m or so, where it then became deep in a cliff like drop. I didn't venture over the deeper part because I was mindful of the underwater currents that could pull me under, so I didn't really see how deep it was. But looking at the satellite photo above, you could tell it was a drastic change of depth. But even so, the fishes nearer the edge were much more interesting and colourful than the coastal ones! I saw a few long (about 40cm) brown needle-like fish that were floating around and was quite intrigued, so I gestured to a fellow snorkeller to see them. Both of us had no idea what it was! Maybe one day I'll manage to find out. I also saw a few black lumps on the seabed that was supposed to be sea cucumbers. They were bigger than the size of my palm and looked so charcoal'ly and shiny. Interesting!

We snorkelled for about 2 hours, taking in the sights and watery sounds of the Maldivian sea, occasionally tasting some of it (quite nice actually) and then took a break for lunch. We went back to bathe and then met up later for lunch at a waterfront cafe:

Look at the setting...how romantic eh!

Before we sat down to eat, we decided to first feed some fishes again..he. ehee..(before we ate them..erhem...). The brown thing is the bread. These fishes are really damn hungry! Which actually reflected our state of hunger also...haha...

We sat down and ordered, under the cool shade instead of eating at the tables above because it was simple too hot and humid to do so. Each of us ordered our meals and what I ordered was a WAHOO STEAK. Seems like its a fillet of the King Of The Maldivian Seas, a fish that I am now going to google out...standby please...:

(Woah....I actually ate this...)

Here's the dish:

It tasted quite nice and juicy though it was grilled. But it costs US$15.50 for it. A nice meal anyway! One thing about the service was that it was super super slow. For city dwellers like me, its really really slow. After we ordered, it took about 30min for the break basket to arrive, 35 min for the drinks and about 45min for the food to come. So if you ever go there, order your food long before you are hungry, otherwise you may feel like eating the fishes sashimi style when you go snorkelling..heehee..but don't do that. Not nice lah. Those fishes good for viewing, not for eating!

Well, it was my first Maldives trip and it was really memorable and enjoyable! I'll be going there again in mid-March and I'll surely return to the waters for another snorkelling session! If anyone wants to find out anything about The Maldives, just drop me a message!

PS: A breakdown of the typical costs involved for a holiday in The Maldives:

Air ticket (less taxes) - S$600 for Two To Go via Singapore Airlines

Boat Transfer - US$50

Resort - Varies from US$120 - US$400 per night depending on chalet type, meals etc.

Snorkelling Gear - US$5

Meals - US$15 for a western dish, US$5 for a drink

Souvenirs - US$3 for a fridge magnet and upwards for various artifacts and stuff

Comments? Remarks? Readers?

2007-02-04T01:25:00.000+08:00

I'm actually getting an average of 3 readers a day. Not bad eh? Haha, but it will be nice to hear from you! As in, what kind of topics you would like me to post and what are your thoughts etc. I need a driving force! ;)

An Interactive 777 Flight Deck for you to play with...

2007-01-04T23:40:00.000+08:00

I actually found this website quite some time ago and decided to share it with everyone here!

Its a HTML based flight deck of the Boeing 777 (the aircraft that I fly) with explanations of most of the important buttons, switches and lights that are in the cockpit. I can see it being useful for pilot trainees of SIA and of course, to all enthusiasts! ;)

Here it is:

Have fun! If you have any questions about the flight deck of the 777, I'll try to answer you as much as I can!

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-25T19:17:00.000+08:00

Wishing all of you out there peace, love and joy for the festive season and the New Year ahead!

Haven't been blogging for a while due to my heavy roster...so far in this month, I've been to Auckland, Narita, Johannesburg and Brisbane for nightstops. I also did a few turnarounds to Bangalore and soon, Dhaka. All in all, I flew the most this month!

Anyway, I finally had a break at the right time, which is during the X'mas Season. I'm grateful and happy to my rostering officer for it (though I'm still on reserve duty...:( ).

So far I had a good lunch with my family and extended family members when they dropped by (and will still be dropping by!). The menu included Turkey Breast, Honey Baked Ham, Roasted Leg of Lamb, Honey Glazed Ribs, Shepherd's Pie (done by my bro! Good stuff!), Faeng (can't spell it because I don't know how to!! Its a green Eurasian dish of pig innards, passed down from my departed Grandmother to my Godmother, brother etc...), Devil's Curry and of course, a Logcake! A Gelare Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Logcake, no less! Yummy!

Well, I wish everyone a happy and joyful season! Christmas is the season I love the best because it brings a feeling of love and happiness. Though its getting very commercialised, it still touches my heart when I listen to good old Christmas songs. ;)

Have fun!

Why do we use a Red Sock for X'mas presents?

2006-11-28T15:58:00.000+08:00

Someone asked in a forum...why do we use Red Socks during Christmas to put presents in...

This is my take:

In the beginning...

Santa Claus was a poor boxer who was called Sam The Claws...

He fought a lot of bouts but he could not win.

The reason he turned into a boxer was because he had no money to support his aging parents

Then one fine day, he managed to find a good trainer called Rudolph

Rudolph saw Sam in the alleys, barefooted and dejected

So Rudolph gave Sam a pair of red thick socks for him to keep his feet warm

And Rudolph took him in

Rudolph trained him till he was the best fighter

Sam The Claws became a legend and when he won the championship belt

Sam The Claws retired

But before he could repay Rudolph for his kindness

Rudolph died from eating poisoned meat from a deer hunter called Snort Man

Sam was devastated..and he decided to quit boxing

He went home and saw the pair of red socks that was lying on his old bag

He took the socks, went to a kids home and placed all his money inside

He walked away...but one of the nurses, an avid boxing fan saw him walk away

and said

Sam The Claws!

The kids heard the nurse shout out and one of them happened to see the red socks full of money

And that little kid with a lisp said

San ta Claws left uth a present

And everyone smiled and was happy because everyone was able to buy cold weather clothes and a toy for each for the winter

It was December 25th

From that day onwards, Santa Claus became legend...and red socks were used to commemorate his generosity...

XBOX 360!

2006-11-24T01:16:00.000+08:00

I just went to get myself a Christmas Present...heehee...

XBox 360 Holiday Bundle!

plus my own personal additions:

FIFA 2007

Fight Night Round 3

;)

Time to max out the High Definition AMOI LCD TV that is sitting around idling so far...:)

Its gaming time!

I got a queue number...but then...

2006-11-24T00:51:00.000+08:00

(These are my thoughts on the DBSS project, The Premier, in Tampines...)

Based on a $400,000 5 rm unit:

5% downpayment - $20,000 by Cash

9 weeks later, 15% downpayment - $60,000 by CPF, Cash and Grant

Loan starts to be paid off the moment I sign the Sales and Purchase Agreement based on the Progressive Payment Schedule. Means I start to pay about 3 years before I move in.

99 Years Leasehold starting from TOP

Bound by 5 years NOT to sell. Even if I need the money.

Comparing this HDB-based project with a freehold condominium unit in a less "hot" area, and comparing a regular 5-room HDB unit with this DBSS project, the differences are not balanced. If we imagine a line with a Freehold condo at one end and a regular 5-room HDB at the other, this DBSS project's payment scheme and price range is heavily skewed towards that of a condo but with the benefits and prospects of resaleability skewed towards the other end.

Although the location is good and the units are fitted with good stuff, all the above factors are serious considerations. Although I'm 28, I'm at the start of my career. I have to consider my marriage funds and my personal savings net.

I'm lucky to have gotten a queue no that allows me to choose from at least 120 5 room units, but I have to SERIOUSLY reconsider jumping into this expenditure because with interest charges incurred, the flat will cost me at least $500,000 by the end of my payment period, just around the time when I may retire.

CPF employer contribution rates are going down and the current $4500 ceiling is dropping year after year or may not be secure. Meaning I have to fork out cash in the future if the loan is too big. After 50 years of age, my 20% contribution will also drop. And who is to say that in the next 25 years at least, there will be no more CPF changes. By retirement, I will have a home but I will have very little left to survive on, unless I sell the unit after a while but chances of making a profit are impossibly low. I have to sell it at more than $400,000 exclusive of my interest charges and (discounting my renovation costs) I doubt there will be buyers who will pay almost $500,000 for a HDB project. I may be wrong, but its a risk.

To me, after thinking through all the factors above, it seems like a bad buy. The project will lock up our (fiancee and me) money in the long term and if there are opportunities to invest, there is no money to invest. I may have a good job but 25 years is a long time to be locked up in an expensive expenditure. Anything that costs 6 figures requires 6 figures kind of thinking. I'm no player of the property market but I understand the simple concept of budgeting and planning for the future.

Therefore, its a very tough decision to make. Guess I may have to settle for private property someday. At least I have the freedom to buy and sell it and to get a freehold. Also, at least there are facilities for the price I pay. But its going to be more expensive.

Oh well...life is tough...

Crosswind Landings...a Pilot's Challenge

2006-11-08T16:22:00.000+08:00

After watching this video, I'm extremely impressed! :) After all, I have to do something like this every now and then, but nothing so fantastic (...yet...)!

Usually when the crosswind is strong (crosswind is the wind component that comes at 90 degrees to the runway heading), the Captain will handle the landing. But I do remember when I was flying the Cessna 172R in Jandakot, Western Australia, I had to "crab" my way in like what you see! Of course, a B777 and a Cessna 172R are incomparable!! ;)

There are some airports in the world that present such challenges once in a while due to strong winds so I will face it someday. But I'm happy to say that I am trained (as do all pilots) to do such landings, so rest assured that we know what to do!

Enjoy the video!

The Straits Times, Wee Shu Min and MP Wee Siew Kim

2006-10-25T02:19:00.000+08:00

In the interest of fairness, I am going to post the article from The Straits Times and the corresponding replies (for the benefit of those who do not have access to Singapore's newspapers:

First, her apology that was posted on another location:

-------------------------------

dear wei kiat,

i apologise if i have distressed you with my tendency to rant. while i will not dispute some of the points you make in response to what i have written, i would like to bring to your attention the fact that the post in question was never meant to be a cogent response to the specific points raised in derek wee's article. it is, quite obviously, a rant in the heat of the moment. in addition, i don't believe that my blog has the wide readership of derek wee's, or even your own, and my intention was more to vent my own frustrations than public denouncement.

i'd also like to clarify my use of the word "elite". while i understand how misinterpretation may have arose, i intended to use it in irony, as a label that people assume i enjoy, and not one that i take particular pleasure in.

finally, i admit that i was harsher than i should have been, although the the crux of my belief in self-improvement and self-determination has not changed. once again, i apologise if my words have unintentionally offended you - i was under the rather naive impression that nobody reads my blog :)
-------------------------------

The Straits Times article:

-------------------------------

Teen blogger counselled for her 'elitist' remarks

By Ken Kwek

A TEENAGE blogger has found herself in the soup after comments she made in her online journal were criticised by many Internet users for being insensitive and elitist.

Raffles Junior College student Wee Shu Min, a daughter of MP Wee Siew Kim, sparked a heated debate on the Internet when she derided another blogger, Mr Derek Wee, for his views on the anxieties of Singapore workers.

Both Miss Wee's father and the principal of RJC told The Straits Times yesterday that she had been counselled for using insensitive language.

Miss Wee, a second-year student on RJC's Humanities Scholarship Programme, has since shut down her blog and apologised for her comments, though not directly to Mr Derek Wee.

Mr Wee, 35, a Singaporean who works for a multinational corporation, had written in his blog on Oct 12 that he was concerned about competition from foreign talent and the lack of job opportunities for older workers here.

He urged the Government to understand Singaporeans' plight.

Last Thursday, Miss Wee responded to him on her blog, calling him old and unmotivated and said he was overly reliant on the Government.

In dismissing his views, she wrote:

'Derek, Derek, Derek darling, how can you expect to have an iron rice bowl or a solid future if you cannot spell?

'There's no point in lambasting the Government for making our society one that is, I quote, 'far too survival of the fittest'... If uncertainty of success offends you so much, you will certainly be poor and miserable.'

She concluded by telling Mr Wee to 'get out of my elite uncaring face'

Her attack was criticised by hundreds of Internet users, who accused her of being elitist, naive and insensitive to the lives of Singaporeans from humbler backgrounds.

Though she has shut down her blog, her entry has been replicated on many websites and the issue is hotly debated.

Technorati, a website that tracks the activity of blogs, yesterday listed 'Wee Shu Min' as its third most frequent search term.

Mr Wee Siew Kim said he stood by his daughter's 'basic point', but added: 'As a parent, I may not have inculcated the appropriate level of sensitivity, but she has learnt a lesson.'In his statement, RJC principal Winston Hodge said:

'We are disappointed with Wee Shu Min's comments on Mr Derek Wee's posting on the Web. 'We have counselled Shu Min and have conveyed to her the importance of sensitivity and empathy, qualities that she should have exercised in her response to Mr Wee.

'We are confident that she has learnt from this experience and will be the wiser for it.'

-------------------------------

And here is the reply from MP Wee:

-------------------------------

A lesson learnt, says MP and dad Wee Siew Kim

'WHAT she said did come across as insensitive. The language was stronger than what most people could take.

But she wrote in a private blog and I feel that her privacy has been violated. After all, they were the rantings of an 18-year-old among friends.

I think if you cut through the insensitivity of the language, her basic point is reasonable, that is, that a well-educated university graduate who works for a multinational company should not be bemoaning about the Government and get on with the challenges in life.

Nonetheless, I have counselled her to learn from it. Some people cannot take the brutal truth and that sort of language, so she ought to learn from it.

In our current desire to encourage more debate, especially through the Internet, our comments must be tempered with sensitivity.

I will not gag her, since she's 18 and should be able to stand by what she says.

The new media of the Internet is such that if you don't like what she has said, you have the right of rebuttal.

Hopefully, after the discussion, everyone will be the richer for it. As a parent, I may not have inculcated the appropriate level of sensitivity, but she has learnt a lesson, and it's good that she has learnt it at such an early stage in life.'

ANG MO KIO GRC MP WEE SIEW KIM on his daughter's comments

-------------------------------

Sad to say, my personal feeling is that MP Wee is defending his daughter to a certain extent without seriously putting to thought what Mr Derek Wee has said and taking his facts and general feelings into account. As he has only acknowledged his daughter's basic points and practically brushed aside the concerns that Foreign Talent is taking over Singaporeans ricebowls in some way or other, I find it quite disturbing.

His tone is one of aggressiveness in that (in his own words), it is the "Brutal Truth" (that his daughter has spelt out so crudely) that Singaporeans will lose their jobs due to competitive concerns with the current business climate of cost-cutting, and instead of complaining, just reduce your expectations and demands. Foreign Talent is here to stay.

Well, as a Member of Parliament, I would expect him to be more diplomatic in his reply to the general consensus that his daughter had crossed the line in her "private post" and that as a highly educated lady, she should had known what is the correct boundary and how not to cross it. For example, this is my personal blog and I can post whatever I like, but I do not go around ranting, cursing and making fun of people, insulting and deriding their actions and comments (even if I do it PRIVATELY in my own home and listening audience via their ears) because I know that the INTERNET IS NOT A PRIVATE DOMAIN. Posting online is as good as posting for the world to see. If comments are meant to be private, then keep it private. If its accessible, its no longer private. Agree? If someone comes across my blog and debates my points, I won't see it as a violation. A blog is meant for public eyes. Where's the violation? I won't step into the many controversies that had happened between the government and the people concerning the Internet as the New Media. Those in the know will know what I mean. Nothing is private online.

As the case is almost closed, all I can say is that people will continue to lose their jobs to foreign talent who will work for lower wages as their Singapore wages will far outweigh their domestic home wages. This is a fact and it will happen worldwide. Maybe the solution is to just raise the standards of living worldwide till there is some form of equivalency. However, Singapore being a pro-business nation by design, due to various considerations as a little island amongst giants of the world, all we can do is to think as a country and fight as a country. Collateral damage will always occur in any battle, and in this case, its the people of Singapore...the older workers, the more expensive workers and the less desired seniors of the company.

I don't have a solution. Maybe if I do, I'll just post it on my blog and we'll see what kind of debate on my points I will get. However, don't bet on a flaming volcano to erupt based on my posts. I'm not that stupid. ;)

RJC Student vs Mr Derek Wee

2006-10-21T02:48:00.000+08:00

I picked up on this controversy in a local forum:

http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1434846

I find her comments uncalled for. Worse thing is that her father is a Member Of Parliament. Details are in the link above. However, the main post in the original blog has unfortunately been deleted and closed down. I think its in fear of repercussions. Sometimes people just don't think when they post on their blogs.

Here are some of my comments to this controversy. I posted them at different places but decided to put it in a single post of my blog, just to share my thoughts.

-------------------
Though this blog was closed/shutdown/deleted/compromised/exposed and removed, the comments that the 18 year old with a superior complex will live on forever in the Internet.

I don't really think very highly of her attitude towards the "less elite" community who has to work just that bit harder to get the kind of opportunities that she has from her background.

Sad to say, if this is what some of the more privileged people in Singapore have in mind (irregardless of age), I fear a separatist elite will appear one fine day, thinking that only the "superior" shall rule and "losers" can go be sales assistants. For one, sales assistants drive the economy. Everyone has a value and adds to society.

Whoever you are, RJC girl, I hope you did not do any damage to your father's reputation. And if Mr Wee happens to be reading this, I hope you can knock some sense into your daughter. She created an unnecessary mess by speaking out in such a manner.

Everyone has their views on life, but not everyone has the right to condemn and insult others. Unless one has gone through many trials and tribulations, only wise people have wise things to say. What our Ms RJC has said in her blog is definitely unwise.
-------------------

Also, in relation to the current and will always stay current issue of how the poor can be helped by the goverment:

-------------------

http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?p=20768281#post20768281

As far as I can tell, the PAP is keeping our cost of living in parallel with our increasing standards of living and earning potential.

However, there will ALWAYS be people who can't keep up and that is where the problem is. How is the government going to take care of these people without making them fully dependent on it.

Can you feed a man for life? If you can, you will find more men looking for you to feed them for life. Do you have the means to feed EVERYONE for life?

Imagine the poor in Singapore as the poor in India, and the Government as You, Mr Rich Tourist. If you hand out one piece of bread to one of the beggars, you will find 10 more coming. When the 10 more come, another 100 will follow. Then the whole community will grab hold of you for one piece of bread.

Do you think that it is wise to carry 1,000,000 pieces of bread in a community of 10,000,000? Unless you have 100,000,000 pieces of bread and you walk into a community of 100, then maybe you can help them for life. Otherwise, I believe its better to show them how to make bread and let them find their flour.

-------------------

Well, I'm not against charity and being charitable. I do my fair share of contributions to charity. But I'm just trying to put across what I think is the government's point of view and their policy. I may be wrong, I may be right, but as I don't work for the government, I don't represent them and my views are of my own. Just to expand on my post in the forum, I believe that being on the dole and waiting for welfare while looking for jobs can be a double-edged sword. Its only good for the society at large if everyone tries to be productive in anyway possible. If you just try, you may just succeed. If you don't, you can only dream but you will only get nightmares.

I'm lucky enough to be in a position where I can help people instead of looking for help and I will never forget the stories my father told me about my grandfather, the life of poverty that they had to go through during their early years. I'm grateful for all that has happened to me and I am very lucky to be born in Singapore, to have such a government and to have such a supportive family in my life. Meritocracy works. There will be people left behind in every race, it all depends on how they intend to run or walk or crawl till the end...or give up. Help is always welcomed by those who need it but those who seek it should try their very best when they are given it.

Do not wait to be carried to the finish line...if people see you trying, they will push you till you reach your destination. If people see you giving up, they will try to encourage you. But if people see that you have gave up, its hard to do anything anymore.

Istanbul...exotic and exciting! (Part 1)

2006-10-13T16:15:00.000+08:00

Been some time since I posted!

I realised I travel a lot but I post very little about the countries I've been to! Let this be a start of my travelling logs!

I just came back from Istanbul and it was great! Though I had a bad initial experience in Istanbul before, I realised that was because of the cabin crew that I was with. The Turkish guys were practically watching my group like hawks because of the ladies. Constant heckling and hassling plus the fact that we nearly got conned by a taxi driver was the result of us looking TOO MUCH like tourists and being unable to blend in.

However this time round, I was with a Brazilian Captain who was able to blend in with the crowd, and I dressed down a bit, so practically no one bothered us. Thanks to Captain Rocha, I had a great time seeing Istanbul! He was practically my tour guide, telling me about the place and teaching me how to get around. Thanks Capt!

For this trip, we actually had about 2 clear days to enjoy the place, but the first day was used for rest and recovery (had an overnight flight to Dubai previously and had to recover from the 5 hours difference in time). So we only went out on the second day.

We went to several places. We walked down the road towards the Bosphorus River to go to the Maritime Museum but unfortunately, it was LUNCHTIME and they were going to close. So we just went in to look at the souvenir shop. After that we caught a boat to the jetty nearest to the Topkapi Palace. The boat ride cost only 1.3 Turkish Liras (S$1 = 0.93 TL) and it was nice!

After the boat ride, we took a walk around the area to the Topkapi Palace. It was a good place to visit! (For details about the Palace and its history, do search Google about it). Entrance fee was 10 Liras. Inside the compound, are exhibits of various artifacts of the royalty in the past. Things that impressed me are the HUGE HUMONGOUS size of the clothing that the people wore in the palace. I thought they were giants to be able to wear them. Its hard to describe and photos were not allowed but trust me, they can fit a polar bear nicely! There were clothes, furniture and various household things that the royal family used many hundreds of years ago (forgive my lack of details...hee..too many dates to remember) and it was interesting!

But the major highlight was a visit to the treasury! Inside, you can view all the various TREASURES of the past! REALLY VALUABLE AND IMPRESSIVE TREASURES!! Items like Thrones from India, Turkey etc studded with gems, diamond-studded gold candlesticks (the height of a lady), Crowns, Armour...all fitted with gold, emeralds, rubies, diamonds...whew! I have never let my eyes be graced with items of such value ever in my life! IMPRESSIVE!

There were swords, bowls, goblets, plates, jewellery...all GOLD and decorated with such artistry and expensive and beautiful gems...unforgettable! Best thing was an 86 CARAT DIAMOND! It was shimmering with such intensity and clarity that my eyes were struck gleaming with light from the sheer brilliance of its sparkles! It was a gift from some royalty to another royalty. The whole treasury rooms were filled with items like these and looking at them allows me to have a sense of the glamour and artistic skills of the people in the past. Treasures REALLY were treasures. I felt like I was Indiana Jones, exploring and finding such valuable stuff for the first time in my life. All the gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, crystals moulded and crafted with such excellence...unforgettable experience! My only regret is that photos were not allowed so I can't share images with you. The guards were VERY sharp..didn't want to take the risk.

I'll end part one now...because I'm still in Dubai and I'll be flying off soon, back to Singapore. So stay tuned!

Mentos and Diet Coke = Super Fountain!

2006-09-22T12:46:00.000+08:00

Wah!! This is fun!

MENTOS AND DIET COKE!

Woo hoo! One day I must try!

Strange...my roster seems to be following the F1 Roster...

2006-09-20T01:07:00.000+08:00

When the F1 Grand Prix was held in Istanbul on the 26th and 27th of August, I was there!

When the F1 Grand Prix is going to be held on the 1st of October in Shanghai, I'm also going to be there!

Best thing is, its China's National Day!! Seems like they have fireworks and fun stuff happening along The Bund. I think I'll make a trip there for once. Though I've been to Shanghai a few times, I never did go see the famous "Shanghai Tan". Historically, that place is a really significant part of China and full of colour and excitement in its early years. With its segmented towns based on the various nations that "occupied" it during the early years in the 1900's, I'm sure there should be quite a bit to see unless modernisation has bulldozed its way through.

Anyway, just read the news that Thailand has been taken over by a military coup...not good...

2 Years 6 Months 20 Days

2006-08-14T00:30:00.000+08:00

This is how long it took me to travel the uphill road to starting my career. I can still remember the very day I stepped into SIA Training Centre and how long and tough the journey was up till this day...

21 Days of Outward Bound School

6 Months of theoretical exams and basic flying in Seletar

10 Months of practical flying (Cessna 172 and Beechcraft Baron) in Jandakot, Western Australia (away from home and enduring the passing of both my grandmothers :( ....)

1 Month of theoretical exams in STC

3 Months of simulator and practical jet (Learjet 45) flying in Maroochydore, Sunshine Coast, Queensland

1 Month of theoretical exams in STC

1.5 Months of simulator training in STC

8 Months of line flying as a second officer (enduring the premature passing of Lola, my family's beloved Yorkshire Terrier...:( )

And 13th of August has finally arrived and went, without much fanfare, but a significant milestone in my life.

I have finally completed my training.

It feels so...liberating!

Happy National Day!

2006-08-09T11:22:00.000+08:00

Its the 41st anniversary of Singapore's independence! Time really flies... I still can remember the 25th National Day and all its splendour!

When I was in primary school, I remember that we used to learn so many Singapore songs. Stand Up For Singapore, We Are Singapore, Count On Me Singapore etc etc...all classics now. I used to anticipate watching a new Singapore MTV when National Day arrives and every year (for a while, in the 90's and 80's), there would be a deluge of Singapore MTVs during August and late July. This trend seemed to be gone though...or maybe I'm just watching less TV. Hee hee..

Anyway, its great to see Singapore going strong after so many years. I'm proud to be a Singaporean, especially when I keep jetsetting to so many places in the world and am able to compare the pros and cons of each country I go to as compared to Singapore. The number one thig I miss when I leave Singapore (other than loved ones) are the FOOD and the PROXIMITY. Singapore is so small, that everything is accessible so easily! Of course, there are some cons about my country but I'm happy to report that the weighing scale is tipped quite heavily in the pros corner.

Well, tonight there will be another grand celebration in the most traditional of ways. The National Day Parade. Every year, its format is so tried and tested that nothing really changes. But this year, the National Stadium plays its last show before it leaves the surface of the earth...forever captured in photos and videos as memories...

To all Singaporeans, Happy National Day! Enjoy the holiday and be proud of who we are and what we have achieved these 41 years! :)

They are Ancestral Tablets...no no...Three Warriors...no no...

2006-07-24T15:02:00.000+08:00

One funny thing that is going on lately about the Integrated Resorts..er..maybe better known as the future casinos of Singapore with rodent..*erhem*..MICE capabilities (some convention and exhibition fanciful name lah) is the architectural design of the buildings that are going to shape the new landscape and night scenery of Singapore.

I never knew fengshui was so interesting! Some geomancers said the three buildings look like ancestral tablets, so its not going to be good for Singapore. Then the rooftop gardens (anyone wondered what would happen if there was a thunderstorm?) signify a drowning building and the roof represents a blade's edge that's going to slice other buildings to pieces (or something like that)!!

Then the rebuttal came from the designers' geomancer who said the three buildings represent three ancient type of chinese warriors with flowing armour (based on the curved building shapes) and the rooftop gardens represent a mountain top and the roof itself signifying a scholars cap and improving the knowledgeability of Singaporeans...

Wah piang...(in Singapore English)
Oh gosh... (in England English)
Come on! (in US English)
Bugger! (in Oz English)
-Type in your own phrase- (in your own language)

Interesting eh!! So what's the story now? After those buildings are built, we are going to have three warriors who looks like ancestral tombs wearing scholarly caps that have edges of swords and who are drowning under a mountain top.

Fantastic!

Hmm...let's see. Geomancy involves one person (or a selected few) having a vivid imagination and affecting the whole of Singapore's luck and the business operations of the super-big-newest-cash-cow that is going to open in another few years time with his intepretation of what the structures look like, then why not design the buildings with the DOLLAR $$$ sign? There'll be no mistake man! Imagine three big buildings looking like this

$ $ $

with the top capped with..er...a diamond pyramid like the Louvre in Paris and maybe some nice big 福 hanging upside down on each wall, I'm sure it'll be easy to intepret and everyone will be happy!

Except its going to look damn ugly lah.

What if someone (like me) comes along and says the Three Buildings look like Expensive Gold Pendants that curves at the bottom to represent the insertion of Diamonds, that the rooftop gardens represents the Green Heavens Of Above speckled with Pathways Of Luck And Fortune, and that the roof itself shows that the buildings have The Roof Of Heaven which will always ensure that the buildings and Singapore will always be protected from evil...(and so on and so on...) Would everyone listen in awe and agree with me? Hmm...

Sometimes I feel that Man has created too many false images and impressions on the common people. Whether is it true or not, it does not help to have expert Doctor Feng saying my country is going to suffer due to the giant tombs while expert Doctor Shui says my country is going to be guarded by three new warriors. If it makes everyone feel good, then by all means, do whatever you want. If you can persuade anyone that black is white, then so be it. Whoever is blind enough to listen is deserving of that belief anyway.

I'm not condeming fengshui or geomancy. Just that sometimes, it doesn't make sense. Agree?

My post about Pilot's duties

2006-06-12T13:43:00.000+08:00

To those who are looking for the post, sorry about it but I took it off my blog because it may not be according to my company's policies and guidelines. However, if you are a cabin crew keen to find out what goes on in the cockpit, drop me a mail or a comment and I'll send it to you!

Happy flying!

Singapore Idol..."tnk tnk tnk"

2006-06-10T13:17:00.000+08:00

2 weeks of Singapore Idol competition has passed! 14 of them have sung and 4 of them are now in the final 12.

But wait...er...28 contestants, 12 finalists, 4 weeks of Piano Show, 7 contestants a week, 2 voted in per week...that gives 8 finalists and as usual, a REVIVAL round. Seems like they can't just pick 3 out of 12. They must have revivals.

No matter which IDOL, SUPER or STAR show I watch, there's alwaysa REVIVAL. I think Mediacorp has a few vampire$ and zombie$ managing the show$. It$ nice to $ee people get kicked out and come back hor? Fun right? $ee them cry, $ee them $ad, then $ee them come back and laugh! Woo hoo!

Anyway, it sorts of give them a chance to come back and re-fulfill a fallen dream that will crash again lah anyway. Even if it does give them another chance to come back and try again, will it even be helpful? If they are no good, they are no good! Unless the talent pool is bursting and flooding the gates of Singapore, otherwise what's there to revive? Oh yah...I forgot...its to revive another kind of pool. The kind filled with paper that has a lot of nice faces next to numbers. Oh well.

Enough about reincarnations and restorations. I have something to say about the quality of the competition setup. What I find most distracting and outstandingly piercing is the music for the singers. Two things make up a song: Vocals and Music. If the music itself sounds like a primary school choir session, can you reasonably expect a singer of Grammy quality?

If you play that kind of kiddy sounding music for me to sing to, I think I'll just pass. Why not try asking No Doubt to sing to "tnk tnk tnk" music for their songs? Or maybe ask Michael Jackson to dance to a "tnk tnk tnk" version of Billie Jean? A keyboard is totally insufficient! At least have a proper band! Come on! How expensive is a band? Even those guys on Superband can play better sounding music than the music being played for the contestants to sing to. I would rather have a Karaoke DVD music with proper sounding drums and instruments than an artificial sounding keyboard. Heck, a beatboxer would make me feel more alive to sing than having "tnk tnk tnk" in the background!

I really pity those contestants. Even if they can sing like a pro, the moment the "tnk tnk tnk" starts I think half the mood is gone. Sian Ji Bua (hokkien for "half the mood" lah) you know? Give them the proper backing to sing their best! At least, give them a earpiece to hear the music and their own voice when they are singing!

Singapore Idol...nice idea, but please lah, $pend on what i$ nece$$ary and if possible, u$e the revival to rai$e $ome fund$ for a proper band lah..

Want a dragon made of paper, with a head that moves automatically to look at you?

2006-05-25T18:23:00.000+08:00

Watch this...

This is amazing!!! Very interesting right! Wah! By the way, you can make your own version with this file

http://www.grand-illusions.com/opticalillusions/dragon_illusion/

Woo hoo! My first ever time!

2006-05-12T15:05:00.000+08:00

I'm going to own a car!

I just booked a Toyota Yaris, off peak version, for a change in lifestyle. Heehee

It really took me a long long time to decide if I wanted a car, something that would be like a little leech sucking my bank account dry. I was thinking:

- Would I really need a car?

- Parking parking parking

- Taxis vs Car Ownership

- Being half the time in Singapore only

- Maintenance, petrol (US please leave Iran alone..haha), Insurance

- Money money money

But then I thought of it as trading in money (that I should be able to spare lah...not that I would have to starve to feed my car) for time, convenience and a little change in lifestyle. Keeping too much cash is being too thrifty. Keeping too little cash is being spendthrift. So I think its best to seek a nice balance of having the best of both worlds! Since I'm now short of time to do what I want to do with my girlfriend, family and friends, I might as well expend a bit of $$ for the time I need to have a more fulfilling and happier lifestyle!

Of course, the money used in a car can be better spent for investments and for my future but as some people has mentioned to me, sometimes its better to live within your means and for today. As long as you are happy, you are only young once, you should enjoy life. Not wait until you get married with children to take care of and too old to get around and enjoy the little pleasures in life like eating with friends, catching up and spending more quality time with more varied activities with loved ones like girlfriend and parents.

Buying a car gives me the freedom and convenience to do go where I want, when I want to. Just like when I was in Jandakot, Western Australia where I owned a A$900 Mazda 323 hatchback that gave me the freedom to explore and make ad hoc visits to family and friends there. How I wish I could do that in Singapore too! Hence the car!

With a car, I will be able to allocate more time for my loved ones and bring them around where they want to go instead of always thinking how long it will take to go to a certain place and how inconvenient it is to do so just for a taste of the BBQ chicken wings at East Coast or the Tao Huay at Geylang or the Suckling Pig at Tiong Bahru etc etc. With the car, I can finally go to the one place I haven't seen: Sungei Buloh Nature Park! Also, I can resume my favourite hobby! ASTRONOMY! Now I can go and watch meteor showers when I want to and go along for stargazing sessions with people from SingAstro (a local astronomy group). Life seems to be getting better! :)

Well, I won't get the car till after mid-June but I can't wait! Being a 28 year old guy who always liked driving (since getting a licence at 17 years 11 months old! Hee hee), its going to be a big lifestyle change. Though I won't miss buses and MRTs because I'll still take them during peak hours. :) Best of both worlds!

Those of you who drive, give me some tips can? :) And it'll be nice to catch up with you! People like Freddie, Dennis, Jen Hou, Aylwin, Joseph, Alvin, Kok Joo, Choo Chian etc I'll be calling you out soon man! No holds barred! Anywhere, Anytime!

See you! :)

My dearest Lola...we all miss u so much...

2006-03-28T20:30:00.000+08:00

She was only 7 years 9 months old...and her death was really unexpected..

She started out having some problems last weekend..she was sneezing out droplets of blood and we then brought her to a vet in Serangoon North. The vet diagnosed it as a cut in her nose and she has a infected throat. So he gave her an injection and antibiotics, anti-inflammatory syrup and cough mixture.

Few days later on Tuesday, Lola seemed a bit stiff. She couldn't lower her head and she looked blur and confused. We then brought her to the same vet and she was given another injection for a sprained neck and a bottle of painkillers. We then brought her home to rest.

On Friday, she started to squeak when she walked and then arched her back while walking. She then began to rest at places she wouldn't usually go to..I thought she could had sprained her back or legs again so fed her the painkiller and let her rest..

The next morning, she couldn't stand up... :( but she kept trying and falling over to her left side. I was so upset that I brought her to a vet in Telok Kurau.

The vet said that she had a lump on her nose (which the initial vet didn't notice) and that she could had suffered a slip disc or in the worse case, the lump could be an infection that is starting to affect her brain. He said to bring her home and monitor her. Let her rest and don't let her move about. So I brought her home and reduced her walking area..

The next day on Sunday, she was still the same. For 3 days, she had not eaten or drank much water. So I fed her water from the syringe, which she lapped up while lying down. I was quite worried but I let her rest...thinking that she would be better after some more rest..

On Monday, Lola started coughing badly with a honking noise. She spat out and coughed out thick yellowish liquid, especially after drinking water through the syringe...I hurriedly brought her to the vet and though I was promised immediate attention over the phone, I was made to wait 15-20 min till I couldn't take it anymore and requested that the nurse take a look at her.

The nurse heard her coughing badly and then took her in to take her temperature. She said there was no fever. At this time, the doctor came out and checked Lola. He said her condition worsened and he would hospitalise her immediately. He ordered a blood test and a drip and told me to wait outside and make a deposit.

So I went outside to deposit $105 to the clinic and since I couldn't do much, went home.

When I reached home, within 10 minutes, the clinic called us and informed us that Lola has passed away...we were all deeply shocked and shattered..
We didn't expect her condition to worsen till she lost her life...I was the most deeply affected because I brought her to the vet, hoping that I could bring her home in a few days time or so, with her being healthy and happy again...licking my face, letting me pat her while she lies next to my legs...

I was so heartbroken..I cried the whole afternoon and night.. If only I was more alert to her problems when she was squeaking...if only I insisted to the vet that he do an xray or a blood test...if only she got warded earlier instead of the last minute...if only I spent more time with her...she may not have left us...

The next day, my whole family went to see her for the last time...she looked so tired, wrapped in a towel..all of us cried when we saw her and said our last goodbyes...

I feel so lost without her now...everyday, everything and everywhere reminds me of her...how she sleeps in the oddest of places, how she barks at all the strangers...how she greets us in the morning...how she plays with her toys with us...how she likes to climb on to us while we're on the couch....how she steals my socks and runs away with a playful glint in her eye...how she runs and skips while she's playing with us...how she looks to us for comfort when there's a thunderstorm...how she licks my face and looks at me with the dearest and cutest of eyes...

I feel so sad...its indescribable pain...I just can't believe she is gone like that...within 3 days of seeing the vet, and with the vet saying she just needs to rest...she's gone...

Forever...

Lola...has passed away

2006-03-27T19:43:00.000+08:00

My family's Yorkshire Terrier, Lola, has died this afternoon at around 3pm.

She was 7 years 9 months old..

We all are very sad and really miss her a lot..

Lola, you have brought us countless joy and happiness...may you live in eternal happiness with God...

The ultimate Scientology belief

2006-03-21T18:05:00.000+08:00

Firstly, let me declare that I found these websites

http://www.xenu.net/archive/leaflet/xenuleaf.htm

http://www.xenu.net/roland-intro.html

when I was trying to find out more about the hooha regarding Scientology, or more famously known as Tom Cruise's religion.

After reading up a bit on the official Scientology website and the anti-Scientology websites, I decided that it would serve as an interesting blog entry. What do I think about it? Well, I think Scientology is really full of nonsense (to put it lightly). But to each his/her own lah! :)

Here's an excerpt of the website above concerning the "basis" of Scientology...read and decide on your own!

--------------------------------------

Who is Xenu?

I'm going to tell you a story. Are you sitting comfortably? Right, then I'll begin.

Once upon a time (75 million years ago to be more precise) there was an alien galactic ruler named Xenu. Xenu was in charge of all the planets in this part of the galaxy including our own planet Earth, except in those days it was called Teegeeack.

Now Xenu had a problem. All of the 76 planets he controlled were overpopulated. Each planet had on average 178 billion people. He wanted to get rid of all the overpopulation so he had a plan.

Xenu took over complete control with the help of renegades to defeat the good people and the Loyal Officers. Then with the help of psychiatrists he called in billions of people for income tax inspections where they were instead given injections of alcohol and glycol mixed to paralyse them. Then they were put into space planes that looked exactly like DC8s (except they had rocket motors instead of propellers).

These DC8 space planes then flew to planet Earth where the paralysed people were stacked around the bases of volcanoes in their hundreds of billions. When they had finished stacking them around then H-bombs were lowered into the volcanoes. Xenu then detonated all the H-bombs at the same time and everyone was killed.

The story doesn't end there though. Since everyone has a soul (called a "thetan" in this story) then you have to trick souls into not coming back again. So while the hundreds of billions of souls were being blown around by the nuclear winds he had special electronic traps that caught all the souls in electronic beams (the electronic beams were sticky like fly-paper).

After he had captured all these souls he had them packed into boxes and taken to a few huge cinemas. There all the souls had to spend days watching special 3D motion pictures that told them what life should be like and many confusing things. In this film they were shown false pictures and told they were God, The Devil and Christ. In the story this process is called "implanting".

When the films ended and the souls left the cinema these souls started to stick together because since they had all seen the same film they thought they were the same people. They clustered in groups of a few thousand. Now because there were only a few living bodies left they stayed as clusters and inhabited these bodies.

As for Xenu, the Loyal Officers finally overthrew him and they locked him away in a mountain on one of the planets. He is kept in by a force-field powered by an eternal battery and Xenu is still alive today.

That is the end of the story. And so today everyone is full of these clusters of souls called "body thetans". And if we are to be a free soul then we have to remove all these "body thetans" and pay lots of money to do so. And the only reason people believe in God and Christ was because it was in the film their body thetans saw 75 million years ago.

Well what did you think of that story?

What? You thought it was a stupid story?

Well so do we. However, this story is the core belief in the religion known as Scientology.* If people knew about this story then most people would never get involved in it. This story is told to you when you reach one of their secret levels called OT III. After that you are supposed to telepathically communicate with these body thetans to make them go away. You have to pay a lot of money to get to this level and do this (or you have to work very hard for the organisation on extremely low pay for many years).

We are telling you this story as a warning. If you become involved with Scientology then we would like you to do so with your eyes open and fully aware of the sort of material it contains.

Most of the Scientologists who work in their Dianetics* centres and so called "Churches" of Scientology do not know this story since they are not allowed to hear it until they reach the secret "upper" levels of Scientology. It may take them many years before they reach this level if they ever do. The ones who do know it are forced to keep it a secret and not tell it to those people who are joining Scientology.

Part of the first page of the secret OT III document in L. Ron Hubbard's own handwriting

Now you have read this you know their big secret. Don't let us put you off joining though.

* Dianetics and Scientology are trademarks of the Religious Technology Centre. This document is not connected with that organisation in any way.

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Magic In Istanbul

2006-03-13T01:55:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, I was in Istanbul, Turkey. I went on a short outing with some of the cabin crew. Four of us in total. The outing was quite good as nothing much
happened, because there were many tales of crew being conned or cheated during
their stay in Istanbul.

However, while sharing a cab back from The Great Bazaar and The Blue Mosque, we clocked up a hefty 39 Lira taxi fare. However, that aside, we actually had a
skilled magician as the driver!

We passed the driver three pieces of 10 Lira and one piece of 5 Lira notes making
a grand total of 35 Liras. However, the magician driver (while all of us were trying to dig out another 4 Liras to pay him) performed Street Magic (or more
like Taxi Magic) and lo and behold! He passed us back one piece of 5 Liras, one piece of 10 Liras and 2 pieces of 1 Lira!!!

Woo hoo! A free magic show in Istanbul! Didn't expect it! However, we were all puzzled at that time and insisted to the master magician taxi driver that we did
not possess any 1 Lira notes at all. The sorcerer then threw a tantrum and told
us forget it and don't pay anything and returned us the money!

Being civilised Singaporeans, we decided that magicians in the land of the East
and West are too dangerous to take on, in case they switch us around and we end
up being shrinked in size (hence not being able to fly back to Dubai the next morning) and left the taxi but not taking the money back.

34 Liras became 17 Liras in a blink of an eye! Wonderful Istanbul magic!

Well, the next time we pay any driver or any seller of anything, I'll be counting the notes in front of him/her and then passing it over to him/her. That way, no amount of magic can be performed to any effect! ;)

PS: Believe in retribution..because just as
we were nearing our hotel, his magic taxi mysteriously broke down and could
not be restarted...but that was just before he performed his miracle on us...

Something wrong with the way my blog looks in IE..

2006-02-22T23:10:00.000+08:00

Does anyone know how to solve the problem? In Firefox it looks fine. But in IE, my sidebar went all the way down to the bottom right. Any idea?

Thanks!

Singaporeans, stand up and be proud!

2006-02-22T22:55:00.000+08:00

Singapore has won Iraq 2-0! Woo hoo!

Though I'm a supporter of local soccer, I don't really go to the stadium to watch matches because time is really precious to me. Would have loved to watch this match today but tomorrow got to go to work...so got to prepare.

But one sour taste in my mouth is the sacking of the two players, especially Goh Tat Chuan. Somehow it just doesn't feel right or ethical for that to happen to him. Getting sacked because he wasn't in his hotel room at the curfew time, taking care of his sick wife doesn't seem to be a balanced decision. What's more, he got sacked though his passion for soccer can be seen from the fact that he holds a degree, yet is a pro footballer (or is he semi-pro...can't recall...).

Well, sometimes there are many things happening behind the scenes that no one will know...

Guess that's why Blogs play a part in the territory of news making and information nowadays.

Cheers to the Singapore Team!

Next match versus China on homeground...I'll be there!

Disappearing blogs...

2006-02-22T22:36:00.000+08:00

First I noticed xialanxue's blog at xialanxue.blogspot.com somehow disappeared and a strange one replaced it.

Then xiaxue was complaining that she lost an entry (xiaxue.blogspot.com)..

Wonder what's happening...

NYP Sex Scandal..."Tammy" videos a really sad story

2006-02-21T17:23:00.000+08:00

Well, this is what the media can do to people. Seems like there's a second video out for public viewing and there is more to come. The newspapers can be cruel. For the sake of public knowledge that something is happening in Singapore, some people's lives can be ruined just like that.

Whatever the couple was thinking, I strongly believe that's between the two of them. Whatever they want to indulge in, its totally their own private decisions and actions. By recording their own personal videos, the intention surely shouldn't be to publicise it (I wouldn't know for sure though..). But since it's already out, the manner that everyone is pouncing on it, especially the media is quite disappointing. Its as though it is such a huge big deal. Sex is what everyone would or would have already experienced sometime in their lives (bar religious occupations), and though the video borders on indecency, it is only indecent if it was broadcast publicly. It is private and decent if it was kept within the original boundaries of the handphone. To the person who released the videos, I await to see your punishment for distributing indecent material. Even if the two of them did something to you, there are many other ways to find justice.

Freedom of speech can sometimes kill. Just like the Danish cartoons incident. Although the girl christened "Tammy" and the guy who is still unknown to me will not be remembered after some time, the shame and humiliation that they have faced in tiny Singapore will forever be etched in their own minds and family history. That enough is damage that can kill. Kill their development. I'm not saying I agree with their decision to have unprotected sex at such a young age, but if they decided to do so, its their decision and their own consequences to face.

Anyway, to the majority of those who are so keen to watch the couple in action or distribute the videos, I say to you:

Don't destroy the lives of two young citizens. Let them be. Put yourself in their shoes.

And to the two of them, no matter what happens, just be strong and learn from the experience. Do not let anything set you back. Life has many more positive things to offer you. Do not allow one folly or one evil action to destroy your lives. Live strong and be strong.

Good luck.

Pranksters...Without A Brain

2006-02-06T23:50:00.000+08:00

Tell you a somewhat funny story..

Today Bernice, my girlfriend, came by my house. So when it was around 10.30pm, I walked her downstairs to take a cab.

So I was walking across the road, with her in front of me. Just when we reached the opposite pavement, with my back facing the road, I heard a loud "PIAK"! Then I felt a force on my left hip. I was thinking, could it be Bernice who was playing around and gave me a slap on my hip? But it was quite forceful, so I took a short glance at her to see if she was being cheeky. However, she appeared totally ignorant of what had happened!

Feeling a bit strange, I then realised a motorcyle just rode past me. Could it be them? IT MUST BE! Then I turned my head and glanced at the bike. There was the rider (obviously) and a pillion. The pillion was looking back at me and with his (could be a her) left arm slightly extended outwards. I then took a look at the area where I was hit. There was a little patch of dampness and some eggshells. It begin to dawn on me that I was the victim of a crazy prank!

Feeling a bit annoyed, I turned to Bernice and told her I was hit by someone on the bike that just rode past. She was surprised and she told me she heard that loud smacking sound also but didn't know it was a smack on my hip. My annoyance started to turn to joy after a few more seconds. You know why? Hahaha.

I'm not exactly a small little guy. I'm 1.83m and have a reasonably sized hip with adequate cushioning due partly to my Eurasian genes. When I got that smack on my hip, I didn't even move a millimetre. Didn't even gave a shout or was even shocked. Best of all, I even thought that it was a playful smack by my girlfriend!

Let me breakdown a few known Laws of Physics.

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction

Force = Mass x Acceleration

So I can gladly give you this simple equation:

Force on my hip = Force on the offending Hand

Force on The Hand = Mass of my Hip x Acceleration of The Hand

Assuming a hand weighs about, say 0.5 kg and my hip is about, say 40 kg and considering Earth's Gravity at 9.81 m/s2. Also, I assume the hand was moving at 40 km/h or 11.1 m/s and my hip was barely moving:

40 kg x 9.81 x 11.1 m/s = 4355 N

So the Hand suffered a force of 4.4kN during that smack!

Maybe the riders were expecting me to scream obscenities or jump in shock or get angry or however they thought I was going to react...but I didn't even react other than to turn and look at them. Upon reflection, I think they may be headed for a doctor or A & E in Tan Tock Seng and cursing under their helmets. :) A fractured finger or hand could be under repair at the moment.

Obviously, they picked the wrong target. Maybe they were aiming for my girlfriend but luckily she was further in on the pavement and they decided to smash that egg on me. Even to smash that egg on me, they decided to go for my hip. Maybe they thought my hips were made of jelly..I will never know.

But, I'm sure they will think twice again. If they ever strike on another person, I wish for them to lose their balance and fall off the motorcycle. I can be more evil in my curse, but no point lah!

Happy New Year! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Nanjing Massacre

2006-01-28T23:29:00.000+08:00

I recently just returned from Nanjing. It was a beautiful city and it really held a lot of memories for me. Photos of my trip can be found at My Travel Album with the link on the right. However, the most intense experience I had was when I visited the Memorial Hall for the Nanjing Massacre.

Upon my return to Singapore, I had to find out more. The museum in the Memorial Hall held lots of original copies of eye-witness accounts that were in chinese. However, due to time constraints, I didn't have much of a chance to read the accounts. So I did a check on the internet and found an excellent English version of the events.

It made my stomach churn.

After reading all these descriptions, I felt sick in the stomach. Really unbelievable cruelty. Quite indescribable. If I didn't go Nanjing, didn't read up what actually happened and seen the bones for myself, I won't even know the extent of their barbarism.

Now I understand the reasons behind the feelings behind every single Chinese citizen towards the Japanese due to the war.

Read and understand.

http://www.centurychina.com/wiihist/njmassac/

http://www.cnd.org/njmassacre/

http://www.centurychina.com/wiihist/njmassac/holo.htm

http://www.centurychina.com/wiihist/njmassac/nmjapv.htm

However, Japan today is not the same as the Japan in yesteryears. That I understand. But for those who murdered all the innocent civilians in the brutal animalistic fashion and stand free in their own homes today, I hope you die an equivalent death.

You deserve it.

MSN Messenger vs Yahoo Messenger vs ICQ

2006-01-24T00:14:00.000+08:00

First things first.

I HATE MSN MESSENGER!

Sometimes I can't tell who is who because the names keep changing. One moment its "very tired and sleeping", the next moment its "@#%@*&%^", the next moment its "I'm Superman! And I'm busy saving the world" etc etc

Also, sending files is a chore! One file at a time and its so slow! And not only that, I can't even drop messages to people who are not online! So unlike ICQ and Yahoo!

AND ALSO, when I am invisible, I can't even MESSAGE anyone! What the hell man! Bill Gates, I think you have a problem! If its not you, its your company. Wake up!!

ICQ and Yahoo have been so userfriendly and the interface is so pleasant and nice to look at. Neat and tidy. Other than ICQ trying to be everything to everyone, it still is better than MSN. What I don't understand is..

Why is everyone on MSN nowadays? Why not Yahoo? There are so many nice things about Yahoo Messenger that beats MSN hands down. Even a Yahoo Email address gives you a nice 1GB of space with so many other facilities like Briefcase and Groups and so many more! Even unlimited "small photos" sharing space!

So I urge everyone, GO FOR YAHOO MESSENGER! Try it! Once everyone is on it, MSN will have to go and wake themselves up and realise that all their messenger is about is HYPE HYPE HYPE!

MSN MSN...go away, come again another..er...millenium.

In the words of a typical uncle from a certain part of the world walking in the streets...

Pui!

;)

All about juice...ketok juice!

2006-01-23T23:41:00.000+08:00

I was at Chinatown today and went to do a bit of shopping with Bernice for Chinese New Year. Well, the place was quite empty around 6pm so we went for dinner. I had a (western) Chicken Set Meal that costs $4.50 with some mushroom soup (with mushrooms that must had been deprived when they were growing up because couldn't see or taste them much) and Bernice had a bowl of Seafood Tom Yum that made a trip to an abandoned winery and then to a specially created de-spicing machine before landing on her table. It looked right, but tasted like sour soup. Even I, who would usually drink up swimming pools after taking Tom Yum could finish the whole bowl without a single drip of sweat. That was a bad dinner. But worse was to come!

After that lousy dinner, I was looking for a drink. So I went to the fruits stall near the lifts next to the bustling area. Thinking that juice was a good idea, I went to order a cup of WATERMELON, HONEYDEW AND PINEAPPLE. The conversation went like this:

Seller: "What would you like" (not exactly in perfect English though)

Me: "Can I have WATERMELON, HONEYDEW AND PINEAPPLE?"

Seller: "Ok...WATERMELON AND HONEYDEW"
(And he was about to take the fruits)

Me: "Er..and PINEAPPLE"

Seller: "Ok, pineapple"

He then reached out for the fruits and wen tto chop it up etc. After he was done..

Me: "How much ah?"

Seller: (after much consideration...maybe he lost count of the number of fruits he took to fill a standard papercup size of my drink..) "Hmm...$3.50.."

Me: (Standing in SHOCK AND AWE, EYES WIDE SHUT, brainwaves exploding with monstrous negative energy that would had exploded his eyeballs with my stare...I stupidly took out my money and gave it to him. Can you imagine that??) "Here.."

Lesson learnt forever...never pay if you are not happy with the price. I can't believe how stupid I was and how daring he was. If I was a beng, I would had taken out my parang and smashed his juicer..but alas, I'm not.

Seller: (Takes my money and gives me my change)

And guess what, after taking a sip, THERE WAS NO PINEAPPLE!!! Wah lau weh! I tell you, that stall is BANNED 3 TIMES OVER! I WAS CONNED MAN! WAH! FED UP!

A bit of history. Whenever I eat or patronise someplace, if I think that I was conned somehow, I would ban the place.

A Single Ban would mean that I may try the place again sometime. Usually the place was too expensive in some ways or the food was not that nice, but it was balanced with one or two good points.

A Double Ban, like what I gave MOS BURGER, would mean that place is too expensive for what I had which didn't taste nice anyway!

A Triple Ban, which I NEVER gave out before, is for cases like above! EXORBITANT PRICES, LOUSY SERVICE and a HORRIBLE PRODUCT! NEVER TO BE PATRONISED AGAIN AND TO BE PUBLICISED TO EVERYONE!

Of course, I was stupid to just pay and leave and rant now after everything is over. But a valuable life lesson was learnt for $3.50. Never let sellers overcharge you. If you think its ridiculous to pay $3.50 for a cup of watermelon and honeydew juice in a hawker centre, then don't pay! Or at least, ask for the price first. If you don't see a signboard advertising prices, its usually a bad sign. So don't even think about patronising stalls without prices. I will NEVER do that again.

Ever.

The Blog War...now on!

2006-01-18T01:10:00.000+08:00

Hmm..for those who blog and at least read the "famous" bloggers' blogs in Singapore once in a while, you should had caught a whiff of the current war going on...I find it quite amusing and interesting, and have a few intuitive thoughts to share! :)

What I believe is this:

1. xiaxue and co did really do up that crazy weloveblinkymonkey.blogspot.com site and wrote all that stuff. Look at the title..."

The Young Perky bitches VS The Saggy old skank"

Quite obvious lah..

2. xiaxue was the writer of that entry, which has since been deleted for obvious reasons, and not xialanxue. Anyone with a bit of knowledge on the respective writers' styles would see it immediately.

3. xiaxue is just trying to be funny and not malicious. I don't think she's that dumb to think that people will seriously take that entry to be written by xialanxue. I believe she's just trying to spoof and irritate him/her (whatever sex xialanxue is lah). Also, whatever evidence or trails of the issue are slowly being wiped away by herself and her supporters. Its getting too hot a potato.

4. xialanxue is hell of an irritated person right now. I would be too anyway. Also, its a golden opportunity to "shoot" her ego down by legalising the issue.

5. Blinkymummy does not really care a damn about the "war". In her opinion, I believe she's highly amused and wants to see how it ends up. Most likely, she wants to see the 3 girls embarassed.

6. tomorrow.sg is going to have to find a balance and make a stand on this issue, otherwise their reputation is at stake. Not that huge a stake, but still a stake.

7. The other two gals, simple sandra and sillycelly, are luckily not sharing that hot a seat with xiaxue. I believe they may want to try to clear their names somehow, but its not going to be easy. The implication is there. But then again, they are not really involved in the main issue of the impersonation.

8. xialanxue will make sure they bleed.

Well, that's what I think about the issue. I feel that it will only get bigger and bigger till someone falls flat on his/her face and then as all stories go, it will be The End.

At least, life gets interesting sometimes with such spicy events. ;)

Have fun my fellow bloggers! ;)

Its been a busy week!

2006-01-02T11:30:00.000+08:00

Lots to update all of you once I can! Had my first flight to Fukuoka and then a turnaround at Bali! :) Once I can, I'll post photos and comments about my 1 day stay in Japan!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Getting back a life!

2005-12-16T01:28:00.000+08:00

Wah! Finally I have the free time to actually catch up on my previous lifestyle! Went for KTV with my brother, cousin and friends at Partyworld. Sang back my 90's era songs again as usual...because totally lost touch with the chinese scene! Australia not much chinese music...what to do...

But it was good listening to the rest singing the new songs! Time to learn some new stuff! My cousins and brother all getting so in on KTV compared to me, although I started my "singing career" so much earlier. All of them sing so well now! Especially my younger cousin, Joanna who is as good as a female singer can get! She and my other cousin, Jackie, were both finalists at the recent finals of "Be A Star" singing competition held at Genting. So happy for them! How I wish I can also join them on stage but now that I have an unpredictable kind of schedule, its too tough to get the right timing.

I also managed to squeeze some time trying out some "new" games (new to me lah!). The Sims 2, Rollercoaster Tycoon 3, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and so on. All of them are fun! Especially The Sims 2 which is very addictive. GTA:SA is also a fantastic game! A sub-reality for the law abiding me..hee hee..

Well, I've been studying and training non-stop for the past 2 years. Finally I passed my 777 Base Check and now looking forward to my training flights and starting my line training. Can't wait! Soon I'll be on a 3 day here, 3 day there kind of lifestyle (on average). I think I'm trying to train my body to be a 24 hour, no night no day system. Like now, almost 2am on a Friday morning yet I'm uploading photos on Friendster and typing this blog. Hahaha...compared to my younger days when I would knock out on my bed around 11-12pm. Those were the days..

Well, I'll keep all of you updated on my travels with photos once I get rolling (or flying instead)! Bought a Panasonic Lumix FX9 for that very purpose! Stay tuned! I'll try to keep this blog updated more frequently! Especially if I'm overseas and taking a break from the endless book crashing!

2005-11-16T15:44:00.000+08:00

The Keys to Your Heart

You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free.

In love, you feel the most alive when things are straight-forward, and you're told that you're loved.

You'd like to your lover to think you are optimistic and happy.

You would be forced to break up with someone who was ruthless, cold-blooded, and sarcastic.

Your ideal relationship is lasting. You want a relationship that looks to the future... one you can grow with.

Your risk of cheating is zero. You care about society and morality. You would never break a commitment.

You think of marriage as something precious. You'll treasure marriage and treat it as sacred.

In this moment, you think of love as something you thirst for. You'll do anything for love, but you won't fall for it easily.

What Are The Keys To Your Heart?

This is what I got from a site that my gf recommended. It seems very similar to the results my gf had! Haha! It's a simple Q&A site so shouldn't expect too much. :)

Blogging

2005-11-04T19:11:00.000+08:00

Hmm..guess that I don't really have the passion to blog a lot. Months in between posts! Haha!

Time really flies eh...when I started this blog I was at Jandakot, flying the Cessna 172. Flew the Beechcraft Baron 58 for a while after that and went to Maroochydore, Queensland to fly the Learjet 45. It was really great fun! Flew to heights of about 50,000 feet! Wooh! Jet flying is really so much more relaxed compared to propeller aircraft!

Now I'm back in Singapore and studying to fly the Boeing 777. It seems quite fantastic that I first took the skies in a Cessna 152 on the 12th of March 2004, as someone knowing nothing about flying, to today where I'm going to fly the Boeing 777 with 300 - 400 passengers behind me within the next two months. It will be barely 2 years! SIA really trained my peers and I well! Quite fantastic when I think about it.

I can't wait to start flying to see the world! Training has been tough and extremely demanding and intensive. From all that I have learnt in SIA, I'm really glad that I'm flying for my company. It's really a premium airline with no expenses spared for all aspects of the flight. Everyone is trained so well and all equipment on board are so comprehensive. Its really a great way to fly! ;)

Learjet 45!

2005-08-27T15:36:00.000+08:00

Time really flies! I'm now in Queensland, Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, Mudjimba, Pacific Paradise!

Completed all my simulator sessions and now awaiting my very first base check! Hope I pass it on Monday then I will able to fly the Learjet 45 for the very first time! Climbing to the skies so high...faster than ever! ;)

Gigli..oh my god

2005-05-29T14:53:00.000+08:00

Just watched that show on cable...can't believe it...I actually spent time watching it.

A few scenes were ok, but the best scene involved Al Pacino. Other than that, the story is watchable as a drama but not as a comedy.

Ahh..no writing inspiration here for the moment so I shall not talk much.. =)

By the way, I'm making very slow progress in my flights...can die man...

Couch Potato II

2005-05-19T16:08:00.000+08:00

Just searched the net for a review of the Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War film. Here it is:

Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War

And also, regrettably, I had to search for info about the crap ICQ. SHOCKINGLY it is a "WINNER BEST DIRECTOR NEW YORK INDEPENDENT FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL". Unbelievable! Please excuse me while I go look for a toilet...

Click here to know more about "ICQ"

Anyway, Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War is a very nice film from the UK. It is a comedy of an old lady whose husband passed away, leaving her a house and a son with a wife (the usual 'daughter-in-law has an attitude problem' kind of wife), and how she has to fend for herself eventually against the bad guys. The story has a good flow to it and can be quite funny at times. But mainly the moral of the story presented has a very meaningful basis. I recommend that this show be watched if you have 2 hours to spare. Its not a fast paced action movie that will get you all excited but it will provide for an easy afternoon viewing pleasure. I won't spoil the story of this show because its worth watching. =) So go ahead and try to get your hands on it if you can. Hollywood stuff are not always the best.

Well, Revelations is an ongoing series and it does get better and better. Wonder if it will ever show in Singapore due to its religious theme. Its a good show and has got me riveted every week. ;)

One thing I must gripe about Australian TV is that shows NEVER start on time and they get pushed around on different days and timeslots happily.

For example: Revelations started showing on a Sunday at 8.30pm. It then got pushed to Wednesday 9.30pm. The next episode after that got pushed to Wednesday 10.30pm. I wonder when is the next episode. This happened to many other shows too! I remember The Amazing Race or Survivor got pushed week after week to different days and different timeslots till I got fedup. Anyway, they won't even start on time. Luckily Singapore TV is not so haphazard in programming.

(By the way, my blog does not have any photos or such yet because I do not have unlimited internet access and this PC is a shared PC. Its very very troublesome to transfer photographs etc because its a Windows 2000 NT based system and its quite far from my room. So when I get back, with my own PC and internet connection, I will definitely post more photos and multimedia stuff!)

Commercial Break!

2005-05-19T15:57:00.000+08:00

Just a small short post to break up the TV shows review.

I haven't been flying since the 12th. That makes it 7 days. And I won't be flying till earliest Sunday. But I don't expect to fly then either. Ultimately, I don't expect to fly again till the end of the month when my instructor returns from his leave. That would have left me with a loss of about 18 training days. Ultimately, I'm not paying the direct costs of me hanging around here waiting and waiting, but I am paying with opportunity costs. I'm losing out on an earlier pay increment and potentially an earlier promotion to Second Officer. The more time I waste sitting here, the longer I will have to wait to be a full fledged pilot.

Anyway, on the previous Monday, Perth suffered its worst storm in a decade. There were tornadoes, heavy rains and strong winds due to a cold front that swept through the lower part of Western Australia. Bunbury suffered quite badly due to the tornadoes that swept through and many areas are still blacked out due to loss of power. Come to think of it, since I had been here, Western Australia had suffered:

The Worst Bushfire in 40 Years

The Worst Storm in a Decade

The Coldest September in history

The Wettest May in History

The Hottest March in History

and some others. I can't recall. Maybe Western Australia will be better off if I leave soon. Then there will no longer be any record breaking events again. Instructors!!! Hurry, send me home with my CPL/IR (NR) Multi soon!!!

Back to my couch potato post!

Couch Potato

2005-05-19T15:21:00.000+08:00

I have officially become a couch potato.

Yesterday I watched TV the whole time.

In the afternoon, these were what I watched:

National Geographic - Egypt's Napoleon

Showtime - ICQ

Showtime - Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War

At night I watched:

Seven - Seconds From Disaster: Mont Blanc Tunnel

Seven - Revelations

Egypt's Napoleon was quite interesting as it showcased how Thutmesis II succeeded in his 18 war campaigns about 3900 years ago (I think). Showed how he developed weapons and strategies to win his war such as using bows and arrows, axes and the different kinds of armour. As with all Egyptian shows, made me want to go visit Egypt to see the remains and ruins of all the ancient historical events. Hope I will be able to do so soon! Hee! Of course, I would like to be with my girlfriend to be able to explore the country together! =)

ICQ is a total waste of time. Although it was just a short film of about 20 minutes or so only, it made no sense, had no logic involved, had no meaning and worse of all, had nothing to do with ICQ. Having been one of the pioneering users of ICQ with a six digit user ID, I expected to hear the identifying "Oh Oh" at least. But then the show depicted full screen live video conferencing and nothing that looks like ICQ on the lead actor's PC. Even better still, the lead actress had NO PC but just a webcam. Wonder where they got their super powerful webcams from. Not to mention their super sensitive microphones and excellent broadband connections.

What the heck, I'm going to spoil the story by telling it all because it deserves to be spoilt. Here's the plot:

1. Lead actor surfs around the internet. Somehow a full screen video of a short hair blonde girl appears on his PC while he is crazily swapping screens. (Don't know why, but maybe he's just like me...bored with nothing to do).

2. He falls asleep, dreams of the girl kissing him (weirdo).

3. He wakes up, (at this point, due to heavy rain, the Foxtel "cable" connection drops due to heavy rain and thunderstorms that disrupted the satellite connection..should had called it a Satellite TV instead of Cable TV). I don't know what happened during that 3 minutes but he established a full screen video conference with the girl.

4. The girl teases him happily and he starts to create an impression to viewers that he is aroused with suggestive body language and hand movements near his zip.

5. Scene cuts through a lot of meaningless scenes of "interaction" with the full screen video conference. (Until now, still no sign of ICQ).

6. He says he wants to meet up (don't they all). She says its not safe (yah..I know it sounds weird).

7. Suddenly two guys strong arms her and the lead actor panics.

8. Screen goes blank and he receives an email: "Paragon Station at 12 noon" or something. Can't remember but who cares.

9. He decides to go and leaves his vastly large and empty room except for the laptop on his desk.

10. He waits at the empty train station. Someone walks up to him and says something to him. Lead actor goes a bit blur and says "Excuse me?", the guy replies "Why? What did you do?" (Crappy conversation with a crap retort), lead actor replies "'Excuse me' as in what did you say, not 'excuse me' as in I did anything" (Woah a revelation! Crap.) and the mystery guy asks the lead actor to follow him.

11. What happens next is fantastic. The mystery guy walks to the toilet, lead actor follows. Mystery guy enters a room, lead actor watches. Mystery guy does not reappear, lead actor became curious. Lead actor knocks on that door and enters...a cubicle with a toilet bowl. Mystery guy has disappeared! Wonderful! (Crap.)

12. Lead actor wanders around the toilet or something (at this point I already wanted to go to the toilet myself....to vomit blood) and comes across a secret passage that enters a tunnel of rooms that never ends.

13. The tunnel of rooms that never ends had many cells like a jail. Being a huge kaypoh (as in "busybody" in Singaporean lingo), he decides to peer into each door.

14. Door 1: Old man with 4-5 lingerie clad women all over him.

15. Door 2: S & M clad leather masked man with blood all over his body, raising a parang (a chopper) and chopping his own fingers off, and lead actor gets shocked by it (I was also shocked...that the director actually has an imagination).

16. Door 3: Can't remember..oh yah, it was an old man with leeches or something all over his body sucking his blood. Don't understand, don't care.

17. Door 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 etc: Director doesn't show us anything else. Good, if not I would had smashed the TV.

18. Door X: He sees his female online video conferencing partner nude and sitting on a chair with her back towards him (for those who are hoping for a chance to see the female body, there's nothing to see. Although its quite an artistic angle. Could have made a nice photo from that angle.)

19. She turns her head and asks him to open the door. He does and goes in.

20. He explores the place visually and asks her to leave with him or something (don't remember, don't care.)

21. She stands up, faces him, raises her arms and lo and behold! A strong magical light envelopes the whole place and blinds everyone (including my brain for wasting my time on this crap). When the light clears, lo and behold! She's outside and closes the door while he's inside.

22. Lead actor panics and lead actress leaves. Lead actor is now stuck.

23. Scene changes to lead actor talking to the camera from the viewpoint of his laptop. (Wah lau weh).

24. Show ends.

20 minutes of my life wasted.

AAhh...I need a break. Will be back to talk about the other shows I watched.

Aarrgghh! The Curse!!! Aarrgghh!!

2005-05-15T14:47:00.000+08:00

Just spoke to my secondary instructor. I asked him what were his plans for me and he told me that he'll fly with me just for maintaining currency. That means, every 3 days or so only. That also means that out of the 6 remaining sorties before Progress Check 4, I would only fly a maximum of 4 sorties with him for the next two weeks till my instructor returns on the 31st of May 2005!

That would leave me to fly about 3 or so sorties with my instructor before the P-Check and then a few days of waiting for the check. After that, another 5 sorties to go before the flight test. That could take up to 3 weeks if the weather turns bad! And its winter soon! Aarrgghh!!

Can't believe my luck.

What to do...just have to bite the bullet. As the prayer goes...

May God give me the strength to accept the things I cannot change...

Oh well. Guess I just got to take it as having more time to revise and consolidate my knowledge.

Saturday again!

2005-05-14T12:08:00.000+08:00

Time really flies. One week after another...just like a flash of lightning.

Anyway, I think I've been hit with the Curse-Of-The-Instructor-Going-On-Leave. In Phase One, the moment I stepped into the school in August 2004, I received news that my instructor will be going on a ten days leave. Well, I thought, just take it as a short orientation holiday period and get used to the place. When he returned, my training started. Slow progress compared to many others, but at least its a forward movement.

Then in November, I got hit with The Curse again! My instructor will be taking two weeks leave! Aaarrgghh!! That will mean I will be delayed in my training again. Sigh. What to do... So I patiently waited for the two weeks to come and go, flying occasionally with my secondary instructor. Lo and behold! At the end of two week, my instructor will be extending his leave for one more week due to unforeseen circumstances! Three weeks in total! And I was nearing nearing my Progress Check 1! Sad to say, I didn't do as well for it as I could. That's another story anyway. Ultimately, my Phase One took me 3 1/2 months. Quite a sad length of time.

In Phase Two, I was still with the same instructor. That phase wasn't so bad so I progressed relatively well enough. So I passed Phase Two and went on to Phase Three. I also had a change of instructors then.

In Phase Three, I flew like a mad man possessed. Within a span of 20 over days I almost flew all my solo sorties. All that remained were my dual sorties. Then The Curse struck again! My instructor and many others took about one to two weeks leave to attend a graduation ceremony in Singapore, which ended up in me waiting a pathetic two to three weeks just to fly about another 3 or 4 lessons before my Progress Check 3. Luckily this time I wasn't really affected by it that much. But I did waste another few weeks of potential training.

Then I started Phase Four. I thought that maybe I could be safe from The Curse finally, but no no no...it was not meant to be. Just at my halfway mark, which is as of now, my instructor decided to take two weeks leave! I thought that I would be able to complete my training by this month but now I don't know if its possible. However, I did get assigned to another instructor, so I hope that I would fly regularly with him instead of waiting more than flying. I've been away for about 9 months already and I really do want to go home soon.

Well, enough of The Curse. I may make a trip down to Fremantle today to buy some nougats, souvenirs etc before I make my way home. =)

As they always say in Australia,

Cheers!

Go Korea! Go Korea!

2005-05-11T20:57:00.000+08:00

Just read my girlfriend's post in her own blogspot at:

http://purplelyclouds.blogspot.com

She wants to go to Korea to buy facial stuff. Don't worry! I'll bring you there k? Hee! If not, I'll try to buy them for you when I fly there, if I fly there. (Don't want to jinx myself...still haven't pass this part of my training yet...cannot count my chicken burgers before they are cooked). =)

Can't wait to complete my training! Its been nearly a good 1 1/2 years since I signed on SIA! It's a really long training period! Another 6 months to go or so before I will actually fly a Boeing 777! Can't wait!! =)

Four have gone...eight remains

2005-05-11T20:45:00.000+08:00

Just a little update.

The whole course of training involves 198 Cessna 172 sorties, 15 simulator lessons and 20 Beechcraft Baron 58 sorties. It all ends in a grand finale of 2 sorties, which are the CPL/IR (Night) flight tests. That is to say, the Commercial Pilot Licence with Instrument Rating and Night Rating.

(Its not easy..trust me. Sometimes I feel so drained I just don't feel like revising...but most of the time its manageable.)

Well, not forgetting the update. My course came here with 13:

One got struck down with bad luck and got sent back quite some time ago in December.

The earliest guy to complete the course went back last month.

Two others followed about three weeks ago.

One will be leaving tonight.

When is my turn?? (Sigh..) That is the ultimate question!! Well, I'm hoping I can return to good old hot and humid Singapore in early June.

14 more sorties to go!

I'll Be 'Bach'..

Catching up on my religion

2005-05-11T20:13:00.000+08:00

I've always been a closet Roman Catholic. Although I have been one from birth, my life experiences seem to direct my beliefs in a way that resulted in me not usually attending Sunday Mass and the required activities that I should be doing as a Roman Catholic.

Interestingly, I've been reading up a book called The Story Of Jesus from Reader's Digest. It's a giant hardcover book that is about 380 or so pages filled with historical images and art of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. The main reading material consisted of stories by many many writers from decades and centuries ago. These stories were usually full based on the writers' imagination and were meant to help fill in gaps in the Bible's New Testament. I'm more than 2/3 through the book and I can't stop reading it. I think the main reason is because the extracts taken from other books, together with pictures of the historical religious art that exists around the world and factual information presented when relevant, made this collection quite a good read.

For example, the story of Jesus' miracle of turning water to wine at the wedding in Cana was developed by a writer's imagination to show the point of view of the bride and what could be going through her head at that moment. Stories like Juda's self remorse at his betrayal, Jesus's thoughts during his resurrection, Pontius Pilate's imaginary letter to a friend about his sentencing of Jesus etc, made the Bible come alive with more depth. Although all of the stories were imaginary, it did help deepen the very little details present in the Gospels. Somehow it made the verses come alive.

At the beginning of every story, the relevant verses that inspired the story would be shown. Coincidentally, one of the quotes struck me and it could be found in Matthew 6:5-6. I can't recall the whole quote now but it tells of how Jesus would like us to pray. Something like, its not necessary to give public displays of prayer but just close your door at night and pray silently to God. It somehow reflects my belief that a person should just be sincere and kind in heart, do good things and be just like Jesus, love everyone. If people slap you, offer the other cheek.

Well, I also watched a show called Revelations. It stars Bill Pullman and the pilot episode is VERY interesting. It concerns the Bible's Book Of Revelations, and the main storyline so far is that Christ has returned and so has the Anti-Christ. That means Judgement Day has arrived. I won't spoil the story for you so if you have a chance, do watch it. Two hours of the pilot episode went by very quickly, and left me wanting more. Tonight 9.30pm on Channel 7 in Western Australia will be the next episode. Will be watching it! ;)

So somehow, though I'm quite a passive Roman Catholic, I've been quite engrossed in material related to my religion. Actually I wish I had a Bible to read now. Being older seems to make me understand more and more. =) In a way, I think that's a fact of life. The older you are, the more wiser and mature you are and the more you'll understand. Things look different with every step of life..

Training wise...

2005-04-30T17:25:00.000+08:00

Well, since returning to Perth on the 11th of April, I'm now into my 3rd active week of Phase 4 and am now on Sortie 208. Another 9 to go before Progress Check 4 and another 5 to go before the CPL/IR with Night Rating Flight Tests.

Soon, I shall be back in Singapore to enjoy what others in the world would never understand if they had never been to Singapore...the multifaceted, multicultural, multitastebud extravaganza food of all kinds and variations! I'm now on an eat to live mode in Perth and its mainly because I don't get to choose what to eat during all meal times (unless I want to fork out about S$10 for a plate of noodles or rice or fish & chips etc somewhere else). Once I return, I'll be back to live to eat mode! Oh restaurants, cafes and hawker centres...await my arrival to your table! You'll love me!!

(Do I sound greedy? Heck!)

Anyway, I'm beginning to understand why people want to migrate to Perth. Its big, its a friendly state and although there are more outrageous people doing outrageous things here, life here is quite peaceful and quiet. Very very ideal for retirement, but only if you have deep pockets or a job here to survive the higher cost of living. The people here are nice and friendly, willing to give a smile when you give one, willing to say hello upon eye contact and definitely more sociable than Singaporeans generally.

Oh yah, the cars are cheap too! A Hyundai Getz costs only A$13,990 or about S$18,000. (Exchange rate at this moment in time is about S$1.28 = A$1.00). There's also a minimum wage of about A$12 or A$15 per hour for the menial'est of jobs. (I was paid S$10 an hour as a structural consultant engineer...go compare). Also, there are SO MANY places to go to (I'm not talking about shopping or nightlife..I'm talking about scenic spots and nature). With a good car, one can drive anywhere without worrying about the stuff one would worry about when driving in Malaysia. No offence to Malaysians, but car theft is quite a problem there compared to here. When my girlfriend and mother came, we all drove to Albany and it was really really enjoyable! The scenery was fantastic and I really miss those days. (To my girlfriend, we'll have many more to come! Don't worry! =P)

The weather is also much more pleasant than Singapore's. There's no problem of stickiness (which I really don't like), but there's a problem of dry skin. But nothing a little moisturiser won't fix. Being a trainee pilot, I also get to fly over lots of places in the southern parts of the state. Hailing from Singapore, where a flight in the air will reveal how tiny my homeland is, being up in the air in Western Australia showed me the difference.

Try to imagine this: It takes a Cessna 152 about 15 -20 minutes to traverse Singapore edge to edge, but it takes a faster Cessna 172 (about 20% faster airspeed) about 100 to 140 minutes to fly to Albany from Jandakot (or if you like, Perth). Now I'm on the Beechcraft Baron, a twin engine aircraft, and it would take me at most 60 to 70 minutes to reach Albany. Now imagine a Baron traversing Singapore...hee hee... (By the way, Albany from Jandakot is about the distance from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, a matter of 300 to 400 kilometres).

Back to my initial topic, I'm now awaiting my turn to return to good ol' Singapore (with its potentially exciting Integrated Resorts upcoming in 4 years time). 3 of my coursemates have already returned and I wish them all the best! I guess I could be back earliest in 4 weeks time. But depending on the weather and my skills and the instructor and the aircrafts and billions of other reasons, it could take me another 6 weeks or so. But I hope nothing goes wrong and all will go smoothly.

I patiently await my return to Singapore on Singapore Airlines, where I shall be able to enjoy 5 hours of relaxed flying (without being at the controls) whilst my colleagues (haha, damn yahyah...=P) fly me (and the other 300+ people on board) back to my motherland.

I can't wait! ;) Singapore, await the return of The Buffet King! (As knighted by my girlfriend...heehee)

So many things happened the past month...

2005-04-30T17:02:00.000+08:00

Sigh...

Passed my Progress 3 check on the 4th of April but before I started Phase 4, had to rush back to Singapore on the 6th of April because my maternal grandmother passed away...=(...life is so unpredictable. My paternal grandmother also passed away while I was training too...that happened on October 15th 2004. Then, I also had to rush back to Singapore. It reminded me sadly of the time I was in JC 1 back in 1995 when both my grandfathers passed away within two months of each other. Is this what fate likes to play up? There are so many parallels in life and this was not one of the kinds that I would had liked.

All I wanted was to at least earn my wings and put on a pilot uniform for them to see, to take a few photos with them, for them to be happy that one of their grandsons would be flying the friendly skies as an SIA pilot. Yet, it was not meant to be. Admittedly, there weren't much interaction as I would had liked with them as there were either language barriers or other reasons that reduced the amount of contact we could have, but I was looking forward to making efforts to find out more about their past and history. Guess I was too late, too caught up in too many other stuff to had done so.

I can't imagine the impact this could be on my uncles and aunties, and especially my parents. But as the old adage goes, life goes on and we all have to move on. What I can look forward to in life is that I'll be able to provide for my parents when they retire and enjoy their senior years, eventually get married and bring a life of comfort and happiness to my family. What we lacked in our early years during our childhood (my brother and I), such as travelling to other countries for tours etc, I will make it up. Being from a middle income family, there weren't much of a budget for tours and travel packages, and I hope to be able to let my parents see the world as much as possible while they are still healthy and strong.

Come to think of it, being a pilot seems like a revenge on my circumstances. To put it more positively, its a way of living a life I always wanted to experience...that is to see the world. Since I was born till I was 25, I had NEVER flew. Never ever left the ground. I had never sat in any form of aircraft and the only flying I ever did was on my PC (used to play Microsoft Flight Simulator a lot...ironically, I'm now living the dream...and loving it). The furthest place I ever went was Penang. Up till today, the furthest I ever went is to Western Australia, and the furthest point I ever reached from my home in Singapore is The Blowholes, The Natural Bridge and The Gap in Albany, Western Australia. The first time I actually looked at the Southern Ocean is from Cape Leeuwin in Augusta, Western Australia.

(Photos of this Australian trip is at http://kelvin1457.fotopic.net)

Needless to say, my record of land travels stands like this:

Furthest North - Penang, Malaysia
Furthest West - Penang, Malaysia
Furthest East - Albany, Western Australia
Furthest South - Albany, Western Australia

Nothing impressive.

Well, for someone who had never flown in his life to commit his life to being an airline pilot is tantamount to someone turning to...well...I really can't find any analogy now. But you can understand my point of view.

Now that both my grandparents from both sides of my family are not around anymore, I hope that there won't be any disintegration of family ties from all sides of the family. I'll make it a point to maintain the tradition of visiting elders and relatives as much as possible.

Blood is always and will ALWAYS be thicker than water.

Waiting and waiting...

2005-04-01T16:33:00.000+08:00

As of today, I have officially waited 8 days for my Progress Check. What a slow slow slow week...

By the way, seems like the weather just changes like magic! Two days ago, it was mid 20's degrees Celsius...yet just YESTERDAY the temperature ranged between 12-16 degrees Celsius..cold!! For a Singaporean that is..

Also, they may be hail later on...hmm..it would be my first time seeing it if it does happen. We'll see!

For now, I'll just have to wait for my P-Check again...waiting is really boring.

(What an understatement).

(PS. The net is free again! Woo hoo!)

Oops! I was wrong!

2005-03-28T14:40:00.000+08:00

Didn't predict my lunch correctly yesterday. It turned out to be Domino's Pizza! Domino's in Perth is so cheap compared to Singapore. A$8 for one large pizza on Tuesdays. That's about S$10 or so I guess with the exchange rate at S$1.28 for A$1.00.

Actually, since I'm the resident hermit at the flying college, these fastfood treats are the weekend gastronomical highlights for me! One thing I noticed is the proliferation of "healthier choices" like baguettes and salads in all the fastfood restaurants. I'm not sure if its the same in Singapore. Do you know? I'll know when I get back. =) It seems as though Subway are getting some competition...but they don't have to worry because those healthier choices are not as good and fresh as Subway Sandwiches. Woo hoo!

(I still love Subway! Any sponsorships for me? Hahaha...)

Hmm..maybe I can do a bit of a review (one at a time) of some of the fastfoods here as compared to Singapore:

KFC - The chicken here is less oily but yet has more solid fats under the skin. Also, the hot and crispy version is not as good as Singapore's. But the original version is much better!

More to come next time! Stay tuned!

Lights, Action, Camera!

2005-03-27T15:58:00.000+08:00

Been surfing the internet for a possible change of camera for a few hours...but still find that my camera has so much more value in terms of flexibility and features than the current equivalents.

Would you pay a few hundred dollars to upgrade your camera to a similar kind but with more updated features and technology but lose a few of the precious unique features and flexibility that you would miss?

I think I won't. I'll just keep my happy old loyal Olympus C730UZ. Was considering the Panasonic FZ20 or even a "internal" upgrade to the Olympus C770UZ but I think its not worth the extra costs.

One day I'll get a DSLR...that is if I start to make big money lah! But then again, I may be too practical to do so...unless more people ask me to take wedding photos for them...heehee..then it may be worth the extra costs.

If you are interested, here are some of my uploaded photos:

http://kelvin1457.fotopic.net

http://www.pbase.com/kseet2

http://www.pbase.com/kseet3

http://www.pbase.com/kseet4

http://www.pbase.com/kseet5

Anyone wants to hire a budget secondary wedding photographer? ;)

Wooh...Free free free!

2005-03-27T12:30:00.000+08:00

Hahaha call me cheapskate but free stuff are always the best!!

=)

Another boring Sunday where I'm just going to eat and then watch TV and use the Internet.

Wonder if its going to be Subway for lunch...its always fastfood for Sunday lunches.

Let me see...I'm trying to hone my psychic powers, so I'm going to predict Subway! Woo hoo!

By the way, my intuition for the past few days were spot on..whether was it concerning weather or the blackout that occurred on my very first blog or what is going to be served for lunch....heehee...let's see what happens!

Do you believe in psychic powers? Intuition and clairvoyance are what I'm aiming for!

Just wondering...

2005-03-26T22:11:00.000+08:00

Will anyone be actually reading this blog of mine?

Maybe its just going to serve as a little diary for me...haha...

I doubt anyone would actually come across my blog since there are don't know how many million blogs now out there.

Nothing makes mine special...so far...

I'll find my niche...;)

Another boring Saturday

2005-03-26T21:40:00.000+08:00

Hmm..spent the whole moody gloomy cloudy rainy day watching TV and bouncing around the walls of the accoms in my Jandakot Prison AKA Singapore Flying College Accomodations.

Haven't been out for weeks! Imagine that! Can you imagine staying in an area the size of maybe 3/4 of a football field, doing nothing else but eating, sleeping, watching TV, surfing the internet, eating, sleeping, watching TV, surfing the internet, calling on the phone...damn boring man.

I think the only times I actually leave this place is when I have my sortie. Then I can actually have a conversation like this:

Kaypoh guy: Wah, what you did today ah?

Me: Nothing...just went out finally.

KG: Where you went?

Me: Aiyah, just a few places...Cunderdin, Pingelly, Perth City...(or sometimes Ballidu, Northam, York... or Busselton, Bunbury, Margaret River...)

KG: Wah..brought back anything?

Me: Yah...a compressed water bottle, and some fresh air from 7500 feet...

KG: ??

I'm so boring...

What I need is my PC and my favourite games!!! I can't wait go play Grand Theft Auto San Andreas when its released!!!

Oh well...I digress...

At this very moment, I found a way to surf for free! Haha! That's why I'm typing this now.

So boring...life here is so so so boring!!!

Hit by blackout!

2005-03-22T20:41:00.000+08:00

During my very first writeup in this very first blog of mine, I was so lucky to have been provided with a gift from the power plants in Perth. A nice blackout in the midst of typing.

Thanks Western Power! =)

By the way, since its my first post, let me roughly introduce myself. I'm training in Perth and I'm from Singapore, where the food is so much cheaper and nicer! Can't wait to get back! So many reasons to look forward to a potential trip home in two months..

Oh well, more later...