Evening stroll at Changi Airport

Decided to take a detour to Changi Airport while on my way home from church. Somehow, i just love to go to the airport for strolls. I guess it's because you can just feel an atmosphere of joy most of the time. I mean nobody leaves for a vacation feeling unhappy right?

Changi Airport is still undergoing massive renovations and 'retrofitting'. Despite all the boarded up areas that are undergoing construction, the whole complex still looks pretty impressive. I'm so proud of our airport.

Destinations... Where do you wanna go today?

Got this shot of the flight information panel at the departure hall.

It set me thinking about the many journeys that we take in life. There can be so many destinations, so many things we wanna do, so many places we wanna go, so many experiences that would come along the way, so many things that would happen.

So many destinations, so many choices. Where's the focus? How do you know when is the right time to embark on your journey? How are you getting to where you wanna go? Who are you taking along with you? What are you gonna to when you get there? When you've done what you wanna do, what's next?

Lethargy + Commitement + Responsibility

It's funny how one can be both hopelessly in need of sleep and yet at the same time still have the energy to do work throughout the rest of the day. Yup, that's a typical workday scenario for me. I'm sure it's not by my own strength. So, big it up for the big J, yo!

I seem to have finished my work yesterday, so this morning when i rocked up to office, there was this "Now, what do i have to do today?" feeling that just popped up. Ok, after some serious thought, then it came back slowly... "ok, check this.", "then check that.", "did i collect this?", "Do i need to send anything to anyone?", "oh yes, waiting for a mail reply.". "Ah... Got it." Well, you know..., all the small, long forgotten tasks starts creeping out from the ground again. The feeling of business mixed with the longing for slacking-in-bunk - Perfect combination.

Super Long OT

I was wondering, if i drew a monthly remuneration in excess of S$6000, would i be hardworking enough to work 15.5 hours in a day...

I basically stepped in at 0730 yesterday morning and worked until 2300! Got held back, first to have a briefing around 5.30pm, and then a conference at 7pm, department meeting at 9.30pm, followed by more paperwork until around 2300. I really couldn't take it any longer, so once i finished my assigned tasks, i asked my immediate superior for permission to excuse myself. But right after, i asked him, i wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do. He, like myself was unwillingly forced, just like the rest of us to work late with boss. I really felt so sorry for him. But C'mon, we are only drawing an average remuneration of less than 10% of what boss is earning, and yet we have to work the same hours. That's such a perfect example of a group of overworked, underpaid, and under-appreciated workers. I really feel so frustrated at having to sacrifice my own personal time to do work, and yet at the same time, i empathise for boss and the rest of the branch members who also work very hard. Is this one of the cons of having a 5-day work week?

Last-minute arrow flew and got me good.

*Sigh...* This is really a good time to learn patience, empathy and forgiveness. Just finished being the official watchdog. Super tired... This was a last minute 'arrow'.

Well, apparently someone had some problems at home and needed a substitute. Well, no one likes to entertain last minute requests, so we drew lots. I, of all people had to draw the same 'lucky' lot twice. There's no escaping it, is there? Yep, It's me. Then , just before i stepped out of the office, i was told i didn't have to do it after all, since RSM didn't let the guy go. Ok, fine... Then just as i was packing up my desk to call it a day, i was called before RSM to 'receive' the arrow again, cos the bloke went home after all!

Wah... At this point in time, my blood was really boiling. Haven't been this mad in a LOOOOOOONNNGGG time. Because of him, I CAN'T ATTEND CELL!!! I asked myself: "How can he attempt to play such underhand means to escape his duty?" Then, the obliging side of me took over, so i took a deep breath, and answered RSM, "Okay, I'll do it tonight." Deep inside, i was yelling "WHY?!".

I quickly reported to the duty room, apologising profusely for being late - something which I feel, was in no way my fault. It ended up as me having a 1 hour 45 minutes nap, followed by continuous stretch of duty until morning breaks. Apparently the other blokes are super sound sleepers, and i was too kind to wake them up from their apparently enjoyable sleep. SUPER drained out, i tell you. What a way to end the weekend. I hope this day never revisit me ever again.

Sleep talking after COS Duty

Geez... Sooo tired after handing over duty. Don't know why, but just feeling so damn tired. Get this feeling as though i'm just sleep talking now. Woke up in the wee hours of the morning to lock up the office, only to find 2 buggers still in the office surfing the internet (I suspect it was some porn or illicit material. Why else would he switch it off immediate after i entered the room?), making phone call (in civilian clothes, even...). Naturally i was quite unhappy about this, given that clear instructions were that no one was to loiter around in the offices after midnight. But then the soft side of me took over, and so i just let the incident pass and pretend i'm just sleep walking.

I went back to sleep and woke up again at 5.00am to go to the cookhouse, only to realise that all the other COS had decided to come at 6.00am. No worries, though... Managed to catch a few winks in between sips of Milo. Thank God, I didn't burn my tongue in the process. Then came the Kiwis trooping into the cookhouse at 7.00am. So, no choice... gotta stay there till 7.30am... now i need to find a smoke out place to rest. super tired, can~?

2nd Duty in 5 days

Gosh... My on duty for the 2nd time in 5 days. By right it should be much of a bother, but i just feel so drained having to do it. Standing in for CS was cool, but somehow having to do my own duty slot is quite a psychological drag. Maybe it's the notion that it would still be a work day the following day , and i've got quite a fair bit of work to follow up on. Good thing though the the other duty personnel, especially the ones who have authority over me are quite slack, so most of the time duty was quite a breeze. Actually i was thinking of calling it a day early , but the S4 some guys were still hanging around the office, so i just left them there. Maybe i'd just finish up, take a nap and come back later to lock up the office.

Sunset by Clarke Quay

Was on my way back home from church and when the MRT train pulled into Outram Park station, it just occured to me that it has been ages since i went to Clarke Quay. So i got onto the North-East Line and came out of Clarke Quay Station to catch this shot of the Singapore River with parts of Clarke Quay and Riverside Point in the background just before dusk set in.

AHM 2004

Woke up early in the morning at 3.00am to get ready for the AHM run today. Hmm... dunno if it's such a good idea considering the closest i've ever gotten to 21km over the last 3 years was only 12km at ECP last month. Nonetheless, i just followed suit and got down to the assembly area, skipping brekkie in the process. We boarded the bus outside HQ block and made our way to the Padang.

When the horn sounded, everyone surged forward. Wow, there was an immense amount of energy in the air. Ok, the first 2 or 3 km was pretty much of a breeze. I even surprised myself that i kept up with CO's pace (i was running just beside him) for the initial stretch. But once we came to the stretch of road on the Sheares bridge just before Fort Road, ...*tyre punctured*... my stride became shorter and shorter, feet weighs like a ton of bricks and blistering, i started to walk. Oh no, no turning back man... couldn't catch my pace back anymore. What's worse was all the prespiration and water that i poured on myself to cool my body down had made my vest very soaking wet, and was starting to give me abrasion on my torso. The same for my shorts on my inner thighs. *Aw* Stings man...

Finally managed to make my way back, half running, half walking to the finishing line at esplanade. Boy, my legs were so wobbly i quickly made my way back to the padang and sat down. Managed to catch a 20 min nap to recover some strength before being dismissed. Went for a huge indulgent lunch at KFC Suntec with a couple of S1 branch guys. SUPER HUNGRY!!!

Morning Reflections

Virtually had to drag myself out of bed today. So tired~... Yah, but i brought it unto myself, cos i went to catch a 2130 screening of "Dodgeball" yesterday at Century Square and ended up sleeping quite late.

In addition, i had such a hard time getting a cab that would take NETS or Credit Card cos i know i have insufficient cash to cover the cab fare. Then along comes a cab that WOULD take cards, but took me to the wrong destination despite clear instructions (at least i thought it was meticulously clear... :oS ). Ended up paying $2 more than the usual fare. But i guess given the kind of hurry i was in, i didn't really care, until i stepped into office.

Today, everyone is on off for last week's exercise. Only 3 persons in the branch. Well, hope its peace and quiet again today. I don't mind staying back though... I've had my share of relaxation in Perth while they went for exercise. So I guess it's all fair.

Peaceful Dayz (... almost)

Everyone's off to range today, so the whole place looks quite deserted. Have to stay in camp to cancel the indent for tomorrow's range. Well, i don't mind being Safety Spec today even though I've cleared my shoot (*snigger), but being in camp is not too bad.

Got some "MAJOR" arrow (and i mean MAJOR), not that it's within my capacity to fulfil anyway. Managed to push it off till later in the day. But still, the fact that i'm blogging right now is a sign that it's quite a good day at work today.

X-tra S$200!

Wow... Came to the office at 0700 in the morning feeling damn tired. But i know that there are others around me that are worse. Probably a consolation for all the fatigue is knowing that i would be getting an addtional $200 reward for being a markman with the assault rifle. My detail 83.33% for the Day Shoot and 92.22% for the Night Shoot, giving as a grand total of 87.78% for the Marksman standard. Personally i only missed one shot, which i felt was pretty neat result, considering i haven't touched the rifle in close to 3 years.

The long awaited 15 seconds of fame & glory

After 17 years, with 15 years of academic training under my belt, today is the long awaited day - The mark of a new chapter of my life - Graduation Day. It seems the weather today is pretty kind to us. Not too cold, not to sunny. A little overcast by clouds, but bright enough for photo shoots. I'm going out shortly to collect my regalia. Decided to purchase it instead, cos... well, i dunno... maybe as a momento... BUT, i'll make sure i get to wear it again! Perhaps in the afternoon, we'll all go out for a photo shoot at around 1500h at UWA. But before that, i gotta go check out my graduation tickets. VERY IMPORTANT!!!Wow, so excited about what's gonna happen tonight...

Let's get dirty!!

Woah~! Going out into the lush green pastures of Singapore's tropical 'jungle' soon. Ok, yah! Going outfield soon. In fact, we set off in an hours' time.

My first outfield after more than 2 years of slacking in the urban concrete jungle. Heard there's nothing much to do this time round. Perhaps just to hang around and make sure everyone is safe, that the training is conducted safely, keep updated on what's going on... Looking forward to the mozzie bites and cooking maggie noodles outdoors... ^_^

Account Activated

Finally decided to get my fat ass over to the computer peoples' office to activate my user account. My mailbox must be flooded by now. No choice, cos i have to check on the status of my apparently important work. But hey, no one really knows, so i can still buy a few days of time to slack. *kekekeke...*

Wah! 'Siong~' ah...

My word! Started off the day with a super strenuous PT session. My entire singlet was soaked with prespiration, can? Wah... wonder if i can still hold up my fork and spoon to eat lunch later. Later in the afternoon still have 12 km run for AHM training. I'm gonna be sooo pooped when i get home in the evening.

Finally some activity

After almost 2 weeks of bumming around in the office, it was finally a busy day today. Meeting, after meeting... Only came out of the conference room at 5.30pm. Lots to talk about, but none really concerned me, cos i'm not really into the full swing of things, though there are certain pointers raised which may help me in my duties in the near future. Running in the negative zone when it comes to the 'Vitamin M' department, but still surviving... Apparently the payroll department forgot to credit my pay into my bank account. Hopefully, they'll remember that and back pay me next month, and i'll be super rich then... kekekekeke...

Movie Day

Wow! I have never been on a movie marathon for ages. Went to watch a chinese gongfu movie by Zhang Ziyi, Andy Lau, and Kenishiro Takeshi, followed by another film by TWINS, Jacky Chan, and Edison Chan. The former was nice apart from some lame & anti-climax scenes, the latter was funny but lacked substance in the plot. So overall, it wasn't that good, but still entertaining. :o)

I'm *snort* down with the *snort* flu...

*SNORT*... Oh no... i think acclimatisation is something that i seriously need to work on. Apparently, i have never failed to catch the flu bug everytime i return to Singapore, thanks to my poor acclimatisation abilities. Good things is, this time it took a little longer - 9 days to be exact. Or was it the fact that i went running under a scorching 2pm sun and went straight back to my airconditioned office after that? (I'm such an idiot when it comes to such things...) And what a 'fantastically wonderful' time to catch the bug too... just as everyone is on an off day for National Day Parade... Everyone would be out enjoying while i have to stay in my office swimming in the heaps of used tissues and nursing my sore nose. Hope ol' doc will give me an MC to stay at home too... then i don't have to be the guard dog in the office and face my ever intimidating boss.

I need some work

Give me something to do!!! Man, I never thought i'd say this, but having nothing to do really sucks. Especially when everyone around you is buzzing around like a bee, busy with work, and here i am, sitting in one corner, stuck with overdue copies of National Geographic. Not that i'm deliberately idling my time away, but there's absolutely nothing for me to do, despite many requests. But i don't blame anyone, cos firstly everything is in a mess! I can't do any work using a computer terminal as i need a smart card that in my personal docket, which somehow failed to make its way to the manpower department I.e. nothing to do except walk around, read something or... go exercise...hmm... might be a good idea...

Off comes the Civies, On comes the green uniform

Just when i thought i was having the best time of my life, bumming around, doing absolutely nothing, and playing with PS2 games, after a great time in Sydney following the examinations... Along comes the news that a dreaded letter has arrived in my Singapore home - the letter ordering me to report back to the Army. I must say, it is quite a shock, for i have exactly 7 days to pack up everything in Perth and fly back to Singapore to commence the resumption of my service balance. Thank God my uniform still fits...

The biggest battle this year

The E-word is looming again. It is no less a familiar feeling of fear, apprehension, guessing, wishing there was more than 24 hours in a day, making a part-time occupation out of transporting coffee from the coffee-maker to the urinal. Yes, you've guessed it... EXAMINATIONS!!!

15 years of formal education... that adds up to roughly 30 semester exams, another 30 term assessments, 200 weekly class tests. That's not inclusive of re-tests for failed papers, and the techincal knowledge tests that one has to go through as a trainee in the School of Infantry Specialists. One should be immune by now. But apparently it isn't the case.

I'm about 7 days away from commencing my first of probably the last four examination papers of my life, and i'm facing serious problems getting my face off the computer screen, onto my lecture notes. Geez.. talk about procrastination. There's nothing like a small beep on the computer or a small sizzling sound of sausages frying in the pan that would draw my attention away. I seriously want to do well and give it a last bang before i hang up my study cap, but as the ultimate procrastinator would say: The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak... I need a miracle...!