National 5-Crew Dragon Boat Challenge 2011

It was early in this Sunday morning, where my father is going to compete in the competition finals with his team mates, uncles that were each of age at least 50 and above, like my father is. He took me along to take a look, for unknown to me, some of his members have in fact joined in the competition under 6 names!!

It was at the Jurong Lake right next to the West Entrance of the Chinese Garden, of which I have not visited since my primary school days, might have been close to 10 years now, and I'm no longer sure exactly when. However, the location of the tentage is not that close, just much closer to the Jurong Park AND the great Adventure Park!! Ahh, the view from the high ropes wasn't much, but I still enjoy the winds under the raging sun, which gave me the sunburns on my arm. The competition was on it's last legs and the high notes, for it is the best teams that have stayed on, so it is only right that each event is as vigorous as the last!!

However, while waiting for the events that really matters, I went to explore Jurong Park, and climbed around the Adventure Park. There was not much to do, and I got back to see how the competition is going while grabbing some snacks and drinks before leaving again. There was this event, where the uncles were commenting that all the teams competing were their own people!! No wonder not much people were left on shore, as all the 20 crews were out in the waters!! It all ended rather well, as out of the 6 categories, we won 3 of them, and almost won a fourth, and took 3 shiny, golden Champion trophies back to the community club!! Well, to be taken to the community club anyway, but for now, they are proudly displayed right at Home!!!

Life's short, paddle hard!! All thanks to the crews that my father was a part of all these years, we have got quite a collection of cups and medals at Home, and it is the fabulous teamwork that made it so!! Never underestimate the power of teamwork, for they might bring wonders and make miracles where one person alone can never achieve!!

SGH Museum

I have never known that there would be a museum in the SGH, for I have never been there before, if not for the unfortunate fact that my mother was injured and need an X-Ray to be done. The museum encompass of artifacts from the past, where people donated them to contribute to the museum in hope that the works of the past great doctors and nurses, as well as how the ways of the doctors improved through the ages till now. I was surprised that the world's first successful operation for conjoined twins was done right here, in our heartland!! The twins were Ganga and Jamuna Shreshta, who had conjoined heads, with their brains interlocking each other's as shown in a plastic model made, by NYP!!

There was a video about their operation, and how they spend 7 months under the care of all the leading experts and caring nurses of SGH. Old saws and supports, as well as equipments were displayed, with the respective time lines that they were in use. Up on the second level, there was an old dentist chair, a portable vacuum for use in operations, AND a really cool 3D video that explains about the Da Vinci, an electronic surgical machine that helps surgeons with the skills, to make an accurate cut or sew wherever they are required. It was quite an experience and a pity that no pictures could be taken of the contents of the SGH museum.

15 September

This is one of the greatest and most meaningful day for me, and not just me alone too!! This wondrous, magical day that I hope could last longer, that is so special! I hope there is more to come though, for as good or as bad as things are, they all have to come to an end for the next happy thing to come along, for this is the way of life. Hope that this number means something to all of you out there too!!

Hougang Lantern Parade!! Mid-Autumn Festival!

On the 10th of September, we were told to come down and join in for this year's Mid-Autumn Festival organised by the Worker's Party for the area of Hougang. It happened to be that my cousin's boyfriend is part of this team, a part of the Worker's Party, and got each of us a ticket to join in the fun!! The location happened to be at the basketball court right underneath the void deck where my Grandma lives- an arm's length away, within walking distance. The weather isn't all that great that night, and so we were going to cycle there. My brother did not have a bike and so, my father had to give him a ride, and what a ride it was!! He got my father panting after some distance, for he stands at 69 kg, 2 kg heavier than my father, and a whooping 9 kg heavier than me!!

My brother simply adores eating, for that is his hobby!! Therefore it stands to reason that it does not take much to get him to how much he weighs now, and placed my super fit, athletic father is such a condition, panting away and even more so as the road went slopping uphill. I offered to switch with my brother, as I have a bike of my own and probably would not trouble my father as much with the 9 kg difference between my brother. This turns out to be true, for as soon as I switched places with my brother, my father never did pant as much as he did before, and the speed he was cycling at could almost match a car, for 10 seconds!!

Needless to say, we got there in no time, but could not avoid getting caught in the faint drizzle that was still going on at the same time. The drizzle did little to dampen our spirits as it has actually been years since we actually celebrated any festivals at all, and it would have gone on if not for my cousin's warm invitation. Over there, after we showed our tickets, we were warmly welcomed to join in for the celebration and got a goody bag each, with some biscuits and of course, a lantern and some candles, for without this two essential items, how can you actually celebrate a Mid-Autumn Festival?

Everyone got a different design for their lantern, although the designs were repeated in varying amounts as far as I can see. I got a lantern with the Ultraman design!! My brothers envied my luck, for they got one with a Chang-E design and the other, a Hamtaro design. My Grandma was there too, along with my uncle and my little cousin, Jovan!! He was elated to see us, for he does not have any siblings to accompany him, and being the closest in age to him, we were his companions to play with!!

There was a lot of activities on stage, primary school kids and elderly dancing, and entertainment from the hosts, the Deng Mi that is a must at every Mid-Autumn Festival, and finally, there will be a lucky draw as well!! Firstly, we all lighted up our lanterns, and then it's time to follow the crowd!! The MP of Hougang, with the garlands still hung around his neck even though the elections were over, lead everyone personally, for a round around the park, a line of lanterns snaking in the dark as part of the celebrations! After we finished walking, the host called for young kids to get up the stage for some fun activity, where the victor will be getting a specially made Pink Panther balloon!! The kids were all hyped up for it, and so, the challenge is to follow the host's actions that coordinated with the Pink Panther tune. Each round is harder than the last, so as to eliminate the number of children until the final victor is unveiled.

Meanwhile, we were busy playing with the extra candles, and the other kids were busying making a fire out of their combined lanterns, until someone went to pour water over the fire they were building up next to the parallel bars. When the activity ended, and the victor got her Pink Panther balloon, it was then that the lucky draw started! All the people surged forward to listen to the numbers that got picked, in hope of winning the television, or maybe the Dr. Dre earpiece, and to my uncle's surprise, he got a portable DVD player!! My cousin was jumping up and down with excitement, feeling very happy for his father, running around to tell all our relatives that was gathered there for the celebration. The celebration ended with songs that relates to the festival, and it is enjoyable indeed.

My niece, Claire's Second Ever Birthday!

It was a cause for celebration, My little niece, Claire, who has just turned 2 this year!! When I first met her last year, she was extremely shy. My whole family went to take a look at her, as a welcome to the world for her, but however, she was shy then, that anyone unfamiliar would cause her to cry by going near her. Now? She does not do that too often anymore, this difference of one year made her braver, just hiding her face is enough, no tears!!

We ride our bicycle there, to find that my cousin's house is bustling with activities!! A lot of our relatives were there already, because we actually were quite late. There was a buffet laid out just outside their house, along the corridor that was shared by their neighbors, and the food was delicious!! There was so much variety of food there, and unfortunately, I did not write this blog at that time and now, ended up not being able to recount much up here. Sorry!!

My brothers and I attacked the food first, for the cycling have made us ravenous for food, and how could we resist the mouth-watering spread right in front of us? I remembered going for Round 3- there was so much food!! Meanwhile, my cousin owns a great collection of movies!! Over there, while enjoying the food, there was Thor, The Chronicles of Narnia- Prince Caspian, and one other movie that i could not remember too. It was a great day anyway, for my cousin-in-law's family were there too!! It would appear that my little niece had a cousin from that side of the family, a boy that is five days older, I think, than my niece. They always get to celebrate their birthdays together, albeit that the boy will have to wait.

After making sure that everyone had their fill, my cousin brought out the beautiful Strawberry Shortcake!! Yes!! Finally the time comes!! As my niece is still too small, my cousin had to cut the cake for her. Flashes everywhere, as all of us, her relatives, wanted a snapshot before the cake is divided and shared out. The little guy was carried next to my niece, and his mother prompted him to do something, this action, which he still would not know the meaning yet, which for some reason everybody finds it interesting to watch. It was.. a small peck on my niece's cheek, but yea, since she is still 2, she does not care about this and just kept staring at the beautiful cake. It was a great day though, my cousins and I caught up, enjoyed the celebration, and gawked at my brothers as they gobbled up the entire packet of huge chocolate globules in mere seconds. This was not new to me- I quite have to grab my share of food each day before it's all finished up but my cousins have not quite witness this everyday miracle of watching food being finished so fast right in front of their eyes.

This is pretty much a cool day, and I await for the next celebration coming up, whatever it can be!! Cheers!!

Knowledge

Knowledge.

Sometimes called a gift, and sometimes a curse. To be filled with knowledge is something necessary for us all in order to claim our place at the top of the food chain, even though our physical structure tends to be more flimsy than we like. Yet, to be filled with knowledge to know what will come is a curse as well, although it can help us to foresee the dangers that lies ahead, to know what to do and what not to do when the signs of warning appears. Why is it a curse? Well, some people seem to know that their time in this realm have come to an end- that it is now the time to continue their journey in the next even though the next realm is a complete mystery to them.

Those people might call this foresight a curse, for you know now that you will have to pass on, and nothing could be done to prevent it, and if the case was like what happened in Final Destination 3 (used as an example because it was shown on television not too long ago), well you are darn right to be terrified, as your death might not come as peaceful as you wish it be. In Final Destination 3, each of the death came in the form of a myriad of horrible ways to be snuffed out, and what is worst is that you know that it is going to end that way, regardless of any intervene by anyone. All that they could pray for is to go peacefully, best way is in the sleep, peacefully, calmly. Yet, it does not go that way. Now these are just the worst of the worst cases that predictions or foresight can get you find, most which does not occur on a basis anyway.

 Now, how does knowledge come to be associated with all the foresight and prediction stuffs? Well, with enough knowledge, you can probably pick up the necessary clues to narrow down the list of endless possibilities to just a few that are most likely to come true, but those that does not even understands how the world of possibility works will probably think of you as a psychic or a magician. Yes, things can easily turn out in a way that you would have least expected, since everything have a chance to be passed, just that the likelihood is very low, for this is the way of the world, anything that seems impossible might just become possible as soon as the words leave your mouth. Knowledge will be a curse if you are proven right often, and for the worst case scenarios that you have probably predicted because the worst cases or some of the worst cases have the most likelihood to occur, and you can almost do nothing about it, effectively becoming as helpless as a baby and yet having the hideous knowledge that the bad case is coming to pass. Despite all that have been said about knowledge being a curse, knowledge is something we simply cannot live without, and there  is really no exception in this case for don’t animals have to pass on the knowledge of what to eat and what not to eat to their young? Is there no need to teach of the treacherous dangers that lies in every part of the habitat they live in? Even beings that lies far beneath the top of the food chain finds the need to have knowledge, then being the ones that stands on the very top, isn’t it even more of a necessity for us to have knowledge, and even more so?

We, having the most knowledge as compared to the fellow Earthlings that shares this very planet with us, bear the brunt of the curse of knowledge. However, there is a few that thinks beyond what most people will do, and that is to decide on the action to take, now that they know there is just absolutely no way to prevent what that is coming to pass. Ah!! There!! That’s it!! This is the key to why humans have been at the top of the food chain for centuries, and getting better and better at staying at the very top!! You see, as with Newton’s Third Law, with every action comes an equal and opposite reaction. For being able to have enough knowledge to take the correct action after any unstoppable event had come to pass, or to even take preventive measures that last as long as the measures are taken, there comes the price- the price of knowing what will be coming up, be it preventable or unpreventable, and this is the brunt of the curse of knowledge.

Why am I suddenly talking about this matter? Actually, these questions and answers have been dwelling within the depths of my mind for months now, just that I have yet to find the words to put it all in, until now!! Not boasting or anything, but with what pitiful knowledge I have compared to those great thinkers that contributed to the Human Race in immaculate amounts, I do have enough knowledge to clearly feel the might of the brunt of knowledge, and have suffered from it. How? You might ask. How did I came to feel the brunt of knowledge when one such as young as I, who barely have seen the best and worst of Life to be speaking anything much about it?? Do not worry, for your question will soon have its answer if you would just be patient. Ever experience a time when you wish that someone can have the solution to your problems? Well, I most definitely have, and that was when it got me thinking about this. For all the problems that I can no longer recall, that I wish so very much for a magic cure, a saint-like person to hold the solutions to my problems, at the very same time my cursed mind whispered those questions to me, it whispered the answers and solutions that I so very much desired for another person to tell me.

 Why is that a problem? Well, as you know, I AM HUMAN, ya, so naturally I have the need to be comforted and helped as well, even though I know, in my heart, what that must be done. I MIGHT be the source of courage, the pillar of support for some people, and regardless whether this is true or not, I do have the need too, to have someone to be my source of courage, my pillar of support!! I want to just stop thinking about the solutions that I can most likely find by myself, and just hear them come out from the mouth of another. I will want people to comfort me, to let me rely on and to show me the way around the barriers, the problems. To not be able to do that, well I feel the weight of this curse on my shoulders as well, for it does not takes a Gordon Knot to let one such as I to be whacked in the face with the brunt of knowledge. Knowledge is indispensable and vital to us all, but at the times that we feel like casting off this terrible weight, the people to help us forget about the weight of knowledge is vital as well. Through this, I hope more people can realize that the ones that seems so strong and so well guarded against any problems at all also needs to be cared for as well, and not to be abandoned!! This is really a stone off my back, to be able to get it all off my chest like, finally!! So I end my post here now, and hope that it is intriguing and of help to all of you out there!!

Networking competition stuffs...

From the 5^th to the 9^th of September, I was in school for the entire week. Why? Well, I was actually selected by my lecturer Dr. Chia for this selection training for a certain networking competition that goes on in a national and international level, if one ever did well!! Over here, I’m about to share some of my experiences that I have gained over the course of this one week. Are you ready? Here I go!!

Early in the morning, I reached school rather early as I did not want to be late or lost again, like the very first time I came to school, when I still did not know my way around. Although the situation is different now, the location that I had to report to was not a place I have been to before and so, I came early to explore! The school was strangely busting with activity when it was supposed to be semester holidays at this period. Students in group of four were dotted all around the fountain between South Canteen and Koufu restaurant, holding up a piece of paper filled with words. My guess was that there is some sort of talking competition going on as I can clearly hear the students memorizing off the sheet of paper. However, the time does not allow me to dally any longer and up I went, time for this networking thingy to get started!!

The location where I was to be, along with the other 19 candidates that comes mainly from ECC and MIT, for the next four days, was Room 34 of Block S level 5! It was a computer lab, with some flat screens computer but old processers. It was then in here, that for the first time ever, I was exposed to terms that I never have heard of before, like fibre, copper, splicing, termination, cleaving.. at loads more, but this should be enough of an example, is it not?

For the first half of the day, we will usually start with fibre, or more commonly known as the optical fibre!! In case you do not know, it is the great, great technology that will allow us to receive at least 360 bits of information at light speeds!! Why is it so? Well, optical fibre is actually an a glass rod that is ultra-thin, 9 micrometers in diameter, enclosed by a cladding, primary rubber casing, Kevlar then finally, a secondary rubber casing. Being a glass rod, it has a circular cross-sectional area, thus the 360 degrees angles are there for each small beam of light carrying information. Do you think it that it is fragile? Well, NO!! Kevlar is used as an enclosing material here!! And what exactly is Kevlar, well, it is JUST a material for making bulletproof suits that rebounds any small, deadly flying projectiles that are unfortunately targeted at you, thus saving your very life, nothing much!! And in this case, nope!! The fragile little glass rod is no target from the owner of deadly little projectiles, but instead a victim of breaking, as a result of being bend!! Kevlar deflects not projectiles in this case, but in fact becomes a shock absorber from the forces exerted on the tiny glass rod!!

What do we do exactly? Well, one of the first things to be learned was to splice the wires. Splicing the wires means to cut away all the layers to expose the glass rod. It may sound easy, but well, it is not the case for some other people that will tell you that it is no easy feat separating the coverings with the fragile glass rod without breaking the glass rod first. This feat, well it does not take a miracle to get it right the first time round, nor a lot of skill to get it right after some time, and so, we were all itching for the next step within an hour. Reluctant at first, the lecturer-in-charge finally relented and we started practicing inserting the glass fibre into the connecter. Why? Well, each connecter costs a shocking $5!! If by any chance the glass rod snaps inside the connecter, well nothing much can get the tiny glass rod out again, and a $5 connecter is wasted just like that!!

Following this, we learned to clean the glass rod with alcohol first, and then spreading a chemical on its surface. Why? Well, another type of chemical will be injected into the connecter with a needle and a syringe, and when both chemicals meet, magically within 10 seconds they will become strong glue that hardens almost instantaneously and combines both fibre and connecter to each other forever, for nothing can separate them in whole ever again… These 10 seconds is all we have to safely and successfully insert the glass fibre into the connecter, regardless of the tough texture within the connecter, and boy did we train hard!! The cleaving came next, as we have to cleave, meaning to sort of saw away the extra portions of optical fibre that is surely sticking out for good measure so that we will be able to polish the surface of the end of the optical fibre to the clarity we want, measured in terms of “DB” which I am, up till now, not too sure about what the units are.

Polish, there are two types of polishing methods. Dry polish and wet polish, where in wet polish, alcohol is placed on the polish paper to act as a lubricant that also removes away the fine bits of glass that are being worn off by the polishing. As a matter of fact, dry polish is in fact more effective and easy as you just have hold up the polish paper and move the optical fibre in a “8” shape, as there are scientific proving behind this particular action that says the results will be very satisfying. We have to use three types of polish paper, each surface finer than the last, and are differentiated by the colors blue, green and finally white. After the polishing is done, we just have to use alcohol to wipe away any fine glass bits from the end and, we are almost done!!

Oh!! And I actually missed out one important part!! We have to put in some rubber thingy called ‘boat’ into the length of the fibre before gluing on the connector, for this action is needed if we are to complete the final part!! First, the boat will be attached to the other end of the connector, and using the boat, the connector will be pushed into a connector head which allows you to connect the fibre to a sort of magnifying glass to check for any fractures of the glass. What you will see from an excellent result is a grey circle and a white ‘full moon’ at the center, for we dubbed a fracture ‘crescent moon’ and obviously a failed fibre ‘eclipse’. After this check, we will connect the fibre up to a machine that would tell us the “DB” of the fibre, results less than one being the goal we hoped for! Throughout the first four days, my new friend Justin actually managed to get a perfect zero!! He was so elated that he jumped non-stop as if he struck lottery!! And well, all this fibre stuffs are done for all the first half of the days we were there, and now, let us proceed to what the second half of the day is for!!

The second half of the day is let by two male lecturers, and here, we learnt about ‘copper’. We were to splice 24 copper wires in the actual competition and for practice in the first day, we tried 6. Within the copper wires, there lies 9 smaller copper wires, each differentiated by the colors of the wires. We have to untangle the wires and match them to a different type of connector head that shows two different color codes- we have to arrange the smaller wires according to the color code. Well, after some tries, it was not all that hard, just that we have to firstly arrange the cables neatly and fit them into a frame for the connectors. It takes some muscles for this job as the wires have to be in a tangled state to imitate the conditions of the wires in the actual competition itself. Over here, there was not much to be done, just that you have to be quick and be able to arrange things neatly.

For about the next four days, we were already training for speed as the skills were easy enough to pick up, just that the amount of cables we were to train with rose to a vexing amount. 12 cables!! Even though the actual competition requires the termination to be done at both ends with 24 cables, 12 cables at one end is 108 wires to put through connector heads!! By the end of each day, my shoulders were aching from having to bend them for about 2 hours continuously without the time spared for stretching.

Overall, it was a good experience for me as I have learnt something in the five days. The final day was where we use a tall rack to line up the cables and when we were tested for the quality of our work as well as our speed. I really hope to get in though, but the results will only be out on the holidays of my next semester so it would be a long, long wait for me… That’s it folks!! This should already be quite some things to take in, isn’t it?

Praying for the Seventh Month of the Lunar Calendar!!

Sorry guys and gals, for it has been a long time ever since I last updated my blog. For the past few weeks I have been dealing with the last of my exams for last semester, and when it finally ended, I was told by my mum to go for dragon-boating with my father yet again!! Well, each time I did that, there seems to always be a change to the plans!! And as expected, there was!!

It was the Seventh Month of the Lunar Calendar, the period whereby spirits from the depths of Hell of the Chinese religion are released for a month to our earthly realms to enjoy the offerings and to slack off awhile from the time in Hell. This day however, is the 15^th day of the Seventh Month, and as a dragon-boater, one must dedicate the spirits some offerings in order to safely traverse the waters.

On the morning itself, I did not suspect a thing, for I was not really paying much attention to such things when all these rituals and such was always handled by my parents. All I know was that together with both my brothers, we are supposed to be going for a run and some exercises first. When all things needed had been prepared, my dad’s friend came to pick us up in his lorry. And then, off we go!!

The open-back lorry was always an interesting ride for me, as you will get to see many different things all around you and feel the winds rushing through your hair!! Travelling down the road, to my surprise and confusion, we stopped under some void deck where a white van was waiting. My dad got down and headed straight to take some items from the back of the white van. Apparently, it was another of my dad’s friend that had been preparing the offerings to be taken to the sports club later for the ritual!!

Mouth- watering smell of food, fruits, especially durians wafted through the air around us, and instantly both my brothers were gathered around the van. Woah!! The delicious smell got to my brothers and mobilized them into action within seconds!! We were then told to transfer the items inside the van into the back of the lorry as the rest of the offerings are still to be collected. Heave!! Ho!! Heave!! Ho!! There!! And the items were quickly transferred over to the lorry and we headed out for the sports club with no time wasted. Looking at my brothers, I instantly knew that they can hardly wait for the ritual to end as they were all salivating for a taste of the food already!!

When we finally reached the sports club, the items were moved to the foldable tables that I have been helping to set up after I got off the lorry. And so, with no time wasted, we were off for running, passing across Saint Arthur’s Bridge and other exercises while waiting for my dad to get here for the ritual. It seemed quite long before I finally spotted the white van- my stomach had been protesting ever since I went for a run, and the remaining items were swiftly readied for the ritual. Finally!!

After offering some incense paper and joss sticks, coupled with a few minutes of prayers, THE RITUAL IS OVER!! HERE IT COMES, THE FOOD!!! Everyone swarmed around to get the good pieces fried chicken and since then, it was non-stop eating time!! Well, that was nothing much actually, just that it was just another ‘screwed-up’ Saturday again, as once more, I have avoided dragon-boating by a turn of event. The food was really nice though, and we got to bring home some portions of the food too!! Yum!!

Melbourne Rock Anthem! (Party Rock Anthem Cover) - Kimmi Smiles, Maribelle Anes, Louna Maroun

LYRICS:
Party rock is in the house tonight,
Everybody just have a good time
And we gon' make you lose your mind
Every body just have a good time (x2)

We just wanna see ya
Shake that!

Oh Shh
What's that move?
Feelin like I wanna dance with you now
Legs moving
Heartbeating
You can't dance? Hah!
Watch me then.
Stop!
Just watch and learn
Keep your eyes on my foot work
Louna, Kimmi and Maribelle
Gotta sit tight yo,
It's show and tell.

(I'm burning up)
Gunna set this place on fire
(I'm heating up)
Everything that you desire
So take my hand, let's go on a journey
Everybody welcome to ... Burn City
Oh!

Party rock is in the house tonight,
Everybody just have a good time
And we gon' make you lose your mind
Every body just have a good time (x2)

We just wanna see ya
Shake that!

Everyday I'm Shuffling.

We got our hands in the air
Everybody's down.
We gunna throw a party
Gunna rock the town.
Gone live, live, live it up
Live, live, live it up
Live, live, live it up
LIVE IT UP NOW!

Get up, get down
Put your hands up Melbourne town (x2)

Party rock is in the house tonight,
Everybody just have a good time
And we gon' make you lose your mind
Every body just have a good time (x2)

We just wanna see ya
Shake that!

We go hard in Melbourne tonight,We created the shuffle, lieeeee 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM9pDEWYmxw

If I Kissed You- Corrinne May

If I kissed you
Would fireworks fly
Woud angels sing with lollipops
Would dinosaurs cry
Would babies all gurgle in laughter and surprise
If I kissed you

If I kissed you
What would Michaelangelo say
Would he still have sculpted David
Would we be immortalized in clay
Would the poets write of love like ours
Would John Donne have his say
If I kissed you

You could be one in a million
You could be the one for me
But l guess I'll never know if I never try
I guess I'll just have to grab you in my arms and kiss you

If I kissed you
Would you lose track of time
Would you feel a surge of happiness
Running up your spine
Would you run naked in the street
with a tattoo of my name on your behind
If I kissed you
Oh, if I kissed you
Yeah, if I kissed you

Event with CIP points!! : CDC/CCC Polytechnic and ITE Scholarship & Bursary Award Presentation Ceremony And Jurong Lake Run 2011 Appreciation Lunch

This morning, I was dragged awake by my father at 7am!!! Why is that so? Well, actually, I was told by my mother that I will be going to follow my father in dragon-boating every Sunday. Having this ‘command’ so undeniably given, what choice do I regarding this matter? As it is, I have no choice but to be in touch with the bitterly chilly Kallang river every Sunday morning!

However, what that surprised me was yet to come, as instead of asking me to prepare my items for getting wet and cold early in the morning, I was told to dressed up nicely and here, I was confused!! Why the need for such when I am going to be wet already? This was where my father explained to me, that the event arranged by Taman Jurong GRC was to be early today, as well as celebrating my father’s 53^rd birthday! However, there was no time to be lost as the event was set to start at 11am and we must be there by 10am to meet up with the River Valley High Year 5 and 6 dragon-boaters, who were helping along for the event as volunteers for CIP points.

Rushing to the MRT station, we travelled from Hougang MRT station down the North East Line, all the way to Outram Park Station, where we switched to the East West Line all the way up to Lakeside Station. As it is, we have travelled ALL the way to the other side of Singapore, passing by the humongous Singapore Polytechnic, the newly established Clementi Mall and the giant IMM! What a long ride it was! I thought I was going to get car sick already from all that riding! Even so, we STILL have to take a bus from the Lakeside Station!!

The Taman Jurong GRC has seriously a great distance from Hougang!! 240 was the bus we have to take, and seeing how experienced my father is at this trip to Taman Jurong GRC, because he could pick specific MRT doors to exit and to enter accurately that would save the most time, I felt sorry for him as he travelled to Jurong each day, a long gruesome distance is was and still is, waking up at 5am in the morning to prepare to boil the water for the day’s use and to prepare for work, from which he returns home at approximately 6 to 7pm, sometimes even 10 or 11pm when he has a meeting after work.

After about 5 to 6 bus stops, we got down and crossed the road to our destination at last: Taman Jurong GRC!! A good 2 hours it was, just getting here!! As it was not going to get any early anyway, we rushed to the building where the celebration of the Nation’s 46^th birthday lay evident all over the place, and prepared for the event. Registration as volunteer was done, for without it I would not be awarded the CIP hours I would be clocking later on in the day, and roles were quickly issued to everybody.

I was given the role as an usher for the people involved in the event, and along with some of my father’s River Valley guys, we went to take a look at the venue of which the event would be held: the hall. It was then that I saw what event it was exactly-- CDC/CCC Polytechnic and ITE Scholarship & Bursary Award Presentation Ceremony And Jurong Lake Run 2011 Appreciation Lunch!! The Guest-of-Honour was Advisor to Jurong GRC Grassroots Organisation: Mr Tharman Shanguratnam, Deputy Prime Minster & Minster for Finance and Minster for Manpower!! There were a total of about 180 people receiving the awards and as an usher, I will have to show them to their seats according to the number they were given, for their seating must tally with the seating arrangement that was set up specifically for this event.

By 11.15am, things were almost sorted out, until an announcement came to say that the Minster have finally arrived, being SUCH an early bird… Maybe I should not have said that but the event was set to start at 11am… But anyway, we were all glad as this meant the event could finally get started as this here was what everyone was here for, to receive the award given by the country for the hard work they placed in their studies and to get on with all the delicious food that was being prepared all this while. All the effort placed for this event is paying off as things are going well and finally, after the last name was announced and the last award was given out, IT IS TIME TO EAT!!

There were fruits like bananas, longan, lychees, balaku (I am not really sure how it is named but this was what my mother told me….) ,  drinks like chendol, food like po pia, roti prate, satays, laksa, cai tao quay and curry puffs, well basically it is still quite a spread for any famished people right there right now, AND OFF I GO!!

2 rounds later, I got food for my father, who was still up to his neck with things he needed to do, and I went off to spam the fruits!! Later, as I was enjoying my chendol, the Minister spoke again, as this was Part Two of the day’s event, the Jurong Lake Appreciation Lunch. He spoke about the Jurong Lake Run that was newly launched this year as the very first major running event in the West of Singapore, about how successful it went, and sadly, about how the challenges that was set for the runners were too little and that the run is going to get longer and bigger as an event next year. 5km as a fun run is actually still acceptable, as it was neither too short nor too long, but to increase it!! Well, that does not sounds too good although I will still try to participate in it next year… Maybe…

After all the things for the event was done, I had to wait for my father, and heard things about the planning for the upcoming North East Run and many other things, which were mainly complains about the inadequate ways things were being handled. Things dragged to 3 or 4pm before we could finally set off to home. Oh ya!! Forgot to mention, the River Valley guys chipped in for a birthday present for my father: a waterproof phone pouch thingy that could be hung around the neck while dragon-boating!! They sung a birthday song for him too!! Well this ended well and I got my CIP hours clocked and recorded!! All that have started well should end well, and it did!! And hence, I thus end my post for now!!

A Real Ethereal Encounter... Where it all Started.. Encounter!!

The event, I could only make it after work, for the manager made us choose between one another, who to take the leave and who to stay and work. This was a freaking bastard move, to make us 自相残杀!!! It was no wonder the members of the alumni left, one after another, for this manager is really too much as when she scolds you for a tiny mistake, it will be as if you made them lose a couple of hundreds of dollars and make sure you will have no place to hide. Thus, I offered to work in my colleague's stead.

By the time I have arrived, the event was already going to the tonning part, and so I finished the food as I was famished. There, I met and made two new friends, and was talking crap throughout until they suggested going to a certain haunted house in the area where we are now, Pasir Ris. This particular haunted house was more widely known as the Red House, because of the roof color or something as I did not really get much of a look in the dark then.

We walked there with the guiding of my colleagues' friends, as he had been there in the day numerous times before. While walking, he whipped out a Canon DSLR camera and I realized that this suggestion had been planned long before I came. When we first reached the site, a strange cold shiver ran down my spine, and my hair stood from my legs straight up my head!!! I have never felt that in my life before, ever!! I thought the hair on my head were all standing already!!! A bat flew past a huge open field to us, then into the Red House itself, and the tree by the chained gates suddenly dropped a small branch almost on my colleagues' friend, the guy holding on to the DSLR camera trying to get a shot of some light he saw by the camera.

Things were getting scarier and scarier by the moment, and waves of the hair-standing shiver were running up and down my spine, raising my hair from every pore over and over again. I looked at the time. It was 4.08am. Suddenly, that guy ran away fast, holding on to his ears tightly, without looking where he was running, and was running deeper into the Red House area. This creeped us out more than ever, and so we got no choice but to chase after him and get the whole lot of us out of this area as soon as possible.

When I got to him, he was mumbling about hearing sounds asking him to get out. Without much being said, for the waves of shivers really got to me, all of us ran straight out of the area back into familiar surroundings. There, after a while, he finally settled down to tell us what he saw. He was taking pictures when he thought he saw a female figure. He lowered the DSLR only to see nothing but a stone statue in place where he thought he saw the female figure. Then, the voices started. Calling him to get out over and over again, and this was when he covered his ears and ran.

We never spoke much about this after that, all of us waiting for the day to break before moving. With this done, we went to eat Macdonalds for breakfast before each of us head home to sleep, and the following noon I have work still, and was already tired out to the max by this event that happened, and thus we parted at the MRT station and headed back.

This thus concludes my Ethereal Encounter, and from this, I hope that it would be a lesson to all. NEVER DISTURB THE ETHEREAL BEINGS!! YOU WILL NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU WILL END UP AS!!!!

A Real Ethereal Encounter... The Starting Point.. OFF TO WORK!!

For about slightly more than 4 months since November 2010, I have been working almost everyday, slugging my guts out for the money to buy myself a laptop and some new clothes in preparation for my new year in a polytechnic. Yeah, these things have already come to pass, for, the things as mentioned, well I go them already, and got awesome new best friends, Michelle and Joel, but that is after I have officially entered into a polytechnic and into a course for Biomedical Engineering, where the stress levels now is almost as gruesome as when I was working... BLAH BLAH BLAH OMG I AM RAMBLING ALL OVER AGAIN!!

NOW, BACK TO THE MAIN POINT!!! This post is describing some things in the days where I was working, and soon, you will be able to find out about what is the Ethereal Encounter...

Now, to be posting up the name of the restaurant would not be so nice, and might even get me into trouble, so let us leave it at that. Up to the point now, it would have been pretty obvious that I worked as a waiter, firstly in one of the outlets near my home. I worked as a part-timer, and thus I was only called a few meager times when help was needed. I thought it sucked as I would not be able to earn what I needed and so, I worked as a part-timer at a hotel too, booking the dates to work when the outlet does not need me. Now, hotel working hours are truly the 'no day no night' type, as one of the guys there told me he had been on a 19 hours shift!! Can you imagine that? That is just crazy but the longest shift I had was 12 hours which is still damn long, I guess.

Finally, a new shopping mall opened, and with it, came my chance to work more at less gruesome hours than at the hotel!! Delayed by the hotel shift, I came to the newly open outlet at the third day it opened. This was the period known as the 'soft opening', to let people know of the restaurant and all that it will eventually offer so as to attract more customers to come. Those days were pretty tough too, for I started work at 8 in the morning and ended up late at night, 10 or 11 plus!! All that ordering, serving, clearing, accounting and cleaning up, it was back-breaking work and I had no choice but to adapt, fast!!

As the time goes on, the waiting staffs that does not work in the kitchen became friends with me and till the time that some people have to depart to start their school life already, I started the alumni of our working group!! Urged to lead the group and get an event up as soon as possible, planning for a barbecue was done after some time. Shopping list, equipment needed, food needed, all were prepared BUT!! 

This is a very sad BUT, as by some awful coincidence, the selected date was a very busy day for a lot of them, and things were paid for beforehand already... With what remains of the people that were going to the barbecue still, my colleagues asked their friends to come along to share cost, and to make it more interesting, it evolved into a barbecue cum tonning event.

This part will be further continued in the next post, A Real Ethereal Encounter... Where it all Started.. Encounter!!...

Creepy Encounter... AT HOME!! THE LAST!!!

FINALLY!! CASE SOLVED!!! For all that troubles and mystery that haunted me for 3 weeks, this Creepy Encounter 'trilogy' had finally come to an end... Let me tell you why!!

Cause/Root of trouble: My lil brother!!

Reason: Alarm was set with that particular song in my dad's phone without my knowledge of the song being sent to my dad's phone in the first place

What that makes this worst: After my lil brother knew that the song sort of freaked people out, he decided to never reveal it for the fun of it

How this came to be solved: My father came to me for some problems with his phone, as he never once took time to explore his phone or read the usuage manual, and then!! AHAH!! I SAW IT!! THE ALARM!! THIS ******* SONG WAS THE ALARM AT THIS ******* TIME!! My lil brother smiled the 'HEHEHE' smile... and there it is, the smile of confession!!

This is just some of the reason why lil brothers are always termed as an irritant, however, he is still my lil brother, and no matter how much of an extreme irritant he is, this is the fact that will never change! Yea, this concludes the end of this Creepy Encounter... AT HOME!! 'trilogy'!! Nothing to do with the supernaturals and those unknown Hidden Ancient Ones behind the mysterious Veil that naught should thus know of.... NOTHING AT ALL!! WOO HOOOOO WOO HOOO WOOO OOO OOO, NOTHING AT ALL! TOMORROW I'LL WAKE UP, DO SOME P90X... ... blah blah blah sorry I'm rambling but yea, this is the end of Creepy Encounter!! NO MORE!!

The SU interview: Extras!! :)

I suddenly recalled this thought-provoking poem that I have seen before. It fills me immensely ,with deep thoughts after the SU interview. Enjoy!!

To see a world in a grain of sand

And a heaven in a wild flower
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.

It is from Auguries of Innocence written by William Blake.

Blake is never the easiest of poets to understand at the best of times, because he is the first by far who can justifiably lay claim to the title of symbolist poet, and as such is open to personal interpretation.

The concept of microcosm says that one can find vast truths in the smallest of things. The tiniest part of something does apparently indeed represent the entire construct. It is is an ancient Greek schema of seeing the same patterns reproduced in all levels of the cosmos, from the largest scale (macrocosm or universe-level) all the way down to the smallest scale.

The microcosm concept was utilized by a number of great thinkers ranging from the 5th-century BC Greek philosopher Democritus to the 17th-century German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz.

The aphorism "As above, so below; as below, so above" was also interpreted by philosophers to give the same meaning.

The SU interview: Part 2

I was both elated and relieved, for if I have never went for this interview, me stepping off to the wrong path, the terrible, terrible move, would have not been corrected and worst still, I would have become a worser person in character!!! After walking with Joel and talking about the interview, it was time to bid goodbye at Block A, and off we went. A few minutes later, at the bus stop, Galvin suddenly messaged me, to inform me to go for a second (first phase) interview tomorrow starting from 5pm to 10pm!!! I replied that I will be going and that was it as I proceeded to do what I have to for the night.

The next day, after school, after analyzing the hateful computer programming project and bidding goodbye to Michelle at the bus terminal, it was time for the interview!! I was extremely grateful for this chance I was given, for my wrong way of thinking was this: I have basically forgotten all that I was once taught, that what I achieved today was not only because of my own effort all along; it was because of all my sirs and seniors that passed me their skills and knowledge that I could become a medic in the first place, as the medic OIC that is leading the medic department with 2 squadmates under me. And it was for all my friends' support, like Joel, Michelle, Zuo Yu,  Varrick, Benedict, Jun Hao, Nicholas, Yee Tat and a lot more friends left yet unnamed  that I got through the trials and tribulations in my life up till now. I have forgotten what price I have paid in order to become a cadet leader and sir of my own rights, why I have to do what I have to for the newer generations of cadet leaders back in my secondary school, and why was I taught in a particular way.

I was continuously reflecting on my own actions, and recalled what my sir said about those big-headed people. You will go fast but you will never go far. What a phrase!! How true this is!! Without the support of your friends and family by your side, you can never go far!! Till it was finally my turn, the people that interviewed me the night before was changed, to a Jerome, Wahid, Teck Gim and Alvin. I had but to repeat what that I said last night, and it did not go too well, I guess, for I was bristling to show Galvin all that I have reflected and was reminded of, all thanks to him. The interview ended more quickly, for the questions asked were almost similar to those that were asked before, just that lesser questions were asked.

I took my things and left, and saw Galvin was there taking a break after handling the guy before me, for he have been at this since yesterday, and today yet again. I was hesitant to approach him, but however, at the same time, I just could not get this out of my mind!! By this time, I have already reached Block Q and is just a few steps missing to getting to the bus stop. Finally, I decided that I can no longer stand it!! I must speak to Galvin and get this burden off once and for all!! Hence, I turned back and walked all the way back to Block E Level 3!!!!

As I climbed up the stairs, he saw me and stopped chatting to Lee Keng, one of the VPs of SU other than Clarence and himself and some other people. He must have been having this on his mind too, for he walked towards me as well and there, I let loose all that was readied and kept within my mind for the past 24 hours. To my surprise, he apologized for using his extremely strict tone, which I kind of feel comfortable in after my 4 years in NPCC!! I thanked him quite profusely too after that, for also waking me up from whatever muddled state I have been these years. 

I have been in the leadership position for too long, and never did step down from this point on, thus leading to me becoming a big-headed person. 所谓，当局者迷，旁观者清。As I have a bit for a bad habit to boast, the friends I have that care about me will lwt me boast all I want, without questioning me. However, it will be this action that made them to be in no position to know that I have become big-headed and therefore, is bad for me. And as I am no longer a part of NPCC, neither will my sirs notice this in me. This was the reason that I am so grateful to Galvin and the questions he asked, for being reminded once again of what I learned would certainly put me back in the right path and set me on the way to become a better person in life!! Therefore this, is the SU interview that was deemed awesome to me, and I will probably not forget this for a long, long time. The blog ends here now, for my sharing is now over till the next time.

The SU interview: Part 1

Woah!!!

This was the one word that ran through my mind right after the 1st phase one interview. Why is that so? Well, basically it is because of the mind-blowing questions given by one out of the three person interviewing me, Galvin. The other two that were there to witness the awesome interview were Clarence and Teck Kim, ex-co members and great person of their own rights.

Here, I will be recounting my experience under the Students' Union Junior Committee interview, where I will then describe in more detail why this was an awesome interview and why it just blew my mind. (In case you were wondering, it was a different type of mind-blowing, not the type brought about by stress but by extreme respect and awe)

In the beginning, I was feeling at extreme ease when this mentioning of a Junior Committee came as I have discussed this with my best friend and great squadmate from my secondary school, Varrick. His brother, Vianney, is well respected as a Sec 2 OIC from NPCC, and now that he came to know and join Students' Union, he is quite well known and much respected still, for he is a great guy and proceeded to live up to the name he had built with his great passion excellent skills. He actually became the Head for two departments within SU itself, and thus, from him, my friend knew of a department known as Operations, which basically encompass of planning and executing the planned events. It is a job scope very similar to what we, in uniformed groups do, and therefore as we still maintained an interest in doing such things, this Operations department appealed very much to us indeed.

Though introductions about the various roles and departments in SU were made in the first General Meeting and the second General Meeting, it was not enough for me as I feel that the information provided was much too less for me to know what exactly is that I should do as thus, affected my decision to joining SU Junior Committee to sign up for it straight away. 

One of my best friend of my class, Joel, was interested in this to some extent, but would only attempt it should I decide to join in for the interview. Having discussed this matter for quite some time, I finally made up my mind to join in the interview and thus, so did Joel. On the 26th of July, we stayed back together with some friends and proceeded with the queuing for the interview. For the questions that I expected to be asked, which turned out to come true, I readied a sort of a speech about myself and what I knew to do from my days in NPCC. It goes something like this:

I have been undertaking leadership roles since secondary school, as a cadet leader under NPCC. I was a medic and also the Head of the medic department back in my secondary school and I am able to identify any possible casualties, as well as pre-empting the things that might happen unexpectedly in any events. I am also quite familiar with how things are supposed to be run and executed as all the various event plannings back in NPCC were required to be passed through me to let me start pre=empting the possible dangers and injuries that might happen, as well as to properly allocate my manpower.

Coming back to the interview, we waited for approximately an hour plus or so, and had been talking within the waiting area. Through this, I learned that the previous batch that finished the interview before we came left mainly with black faces, and that this Galvin guy is a much respected and fierce senior, which people were scared of. I did not felt much bothered by this news as I have been facing my share of such people in NPCC, my sirs and seniors. We continued to talk and finally, my turn came.

Obviously, i am not some godlike person that does not feel nervous in face of such matter of importance, and though I may have butterflies fluttering in my stomach, I willed myself to digest away all these irritating butterflies and just convert them into some crap in the toilet bowl, and yeah, time to give an introduction of myself to them!!!

They introduced themselves to me, with Galvin starting first, then Clarence and finally, Teck Kim. I was sort of ready for them as it is obvious that the 'Angel and Devil' system, which is also put to good use in NPCC, were being utilised by them, with Galvin being the Devil, the one that is the strictest, scariest, and tells you the bad news in your face directly, and Clarence and Teck Kim being the Angels, the ones that are smiling the whole time and lessens the impact of every heavy and harsh words spoken by the Devil. 

If my memory does not fails me, which it has a tendency to do so, I was asked if I know what I was doing there. I just replied that I am here now as I wanted to be part of the Junior Committee. Then, I was told to give a three minutes introduction about myself. which consist of mainly what I mentioned earlier, and i added on that I wanted to join as a Junior Committee member as I have been observing the leaders around me, and that i am tired of just standing by the sidelines anymore, that I want to now be the one that stands up to take lead. This being said, plus that I told them I believed that this Junior Committee is where I will be able to do so, despite the lack of such experience, for I will have a great many opportunities to do so.

Next, I was told to give a gauge of my confidence level, on a scale of 1 to 10, which I then graded myself as a confidence level 7, for I lack the experience to properly lead, I cannot speak to an entire big crowd of people effectively, and that.. well, I kind of blanked out and started to random blast out anything that I could think of, then which I started repeating my first point and realized it in a sudden and stopped bull-shitting around.

Luckily, they also figured out that I am having some difficulties expressing out the last point and moved on to the next question, which was about what was my strengths and weaknesses. Though mentioned, I replied that my strengths are that I know how to look out for possible casualties, pre-empt things that will most likely happen, how to plan, as to have an effective plan, you will need to have a regular plan and a wet weather plan, as well as to place buffer times between activities and to flexibly adjust the plan according to the attendance for the event, and that I know too, about how to go about executing a plan, and in the case that a leader is needed, I am able to step out and lead. Next, I proceeded to my weaknesses, that I have not actually the sufficient experience in the field itself, that I am not able to make myself to be heard in front of a very big crowd, and that about it before I blanked out once again.

Suddenly, Galvin said this to me 'I have a very bad impression of you, because you wanted to outshine all the others, but this is not the way we do things in SU. We work together as a family, and that holding on to a lower position doesn't mean that those holding on to the higher post are better than them.' Clarence added on to say 'We support each other in SU, because different people have different strengths, and we learn from each other, we teach each ote=her what we are good at, so we can all be equals as part of the SU family.' Galvin then proceeded to say 'I think you got your concepts wrong, but I can still give you a chance depending on how you will answer later.' I was dumbstruck on the spot, for I did not expect things to turn out this way, but however, this was no time to think about it.

They proceeded with the next question, with 'What is Paul?' which must be answered in 10 seconds. The first thing that ran through my mind was that I have been supporting other people all my life, and so, I replied straight away as "Support". Then, I was asked to tell them my favorite quote, which was to never leave anyone behind. This was because I always felt that that it is really damn bad to do so, for aren't they human as well? Aren't they a friend as well? I wouldn't leave anyone behind at all, for I will be feeling really bad about it, and not for anything in the world will I abandon anyone at all if I can help it.

Apparently, this turns out to be a turning point for me in the interview!! For the next thing Galvin said was 'What if, you were given another chance to go for the interview again? Not a second (phase) interview, but the first (phase) interview, again?' Straight away, as quick as greased lightning, I responded 'Yeah!! I would come again!!'. He gave me a paper to note down my name, contact number, and email, which i filled it up, and now, after thanking them, it's my turn to go and time for Joel!!

In the time I was waiting for Joel, I was immensely deep in thought, and as disappointed as I was, I actually walked out the door smiling, for my mistake in my thoughts were corrected in this rare opportunity, and as this was the very thing I, in my ignorance then, was warned time and time again to not commit. It was the heinous crime of being a big-headed person, which is essentially an arrogant person that believes he or she is able to accomplish everything alone without the help of others. (To be continued in Part 2)

Creepy Encounter... AT HOME!! 2!!!

Things must be really going crazy. CRAZY!! For once more have I heard that very same song playing yet again, at the very same time I heard it being played the last time!! However, due to the coincidence, I reckon this to be the work of nothing of the supernatural category, for the song ended exactly for a while, and my neighbours suddenly took an interest in piano and top musics from the radio stations. Here, I truly hope that I'm not wrong, and that this mystery would be solved soon. IT MUST BE!! IT'S TRULY TORTUROUS TO REMAIN IN SUSPENSE WITHOUT ANY CLUES TO GET ON AND SOLVE THIS CASE OF A MYSTERIOUS SOUND!!

Creepy Encounter... AT HOME!!

Early today morning, I was awoken from sleep by some music I heard. At first, I thought it was just my phone's alarm ringing and so, I will have to go off that alarm. However, I was pretty sure that I never did even switch on the alarm in the first place!! So how is it that there is music at this point in time??

It could never have been that the music came from other places, for when I went to investigate the source of the music, it came from the cupboard where my father places his watch and stuffs. As I got closer, I realized that in no way it could ever be my alarm, for i used Party Rock Anthem and Shots by LMFAO as the alarm tones!! That two songs as mentioned, are the kind that will jolt you awake and get you hyped up in the morning, and yeah I'm enough with the crapping around so it's time to continue my story!

The music being played was 蔷蔷 by Ella of the S.H.E. band, and it was a song that I have added into my collection of nice music two or three years ago, and there was only three devices that could possibly contain this song in the house.

1) My old red phone that my brother is now forced to used, or he will be spamming the internet and games of the new phone,

2) My old MP3, where my songs from two, three years ago are roughly all stored, and

3) My laptop!! Where my proud collection of songs are gathered, summing up to a grand total of 6.56GB !!!!

And this is where it started to get creepy. The old red phone, being old, drains off super fast, and as of the time 5.11am, which I have seen in my phone while checking, is completely out of battery. My old MP3, being old as well, and long unused, has long been out of battery. And finally, it could have never been my laptop, for it is locked with my thumbprint, and I took out the battery the night before!! So, at 5.11am, none of these devices could have produced this music!!

Creepier still, if you happen to know the contents of this song, 蔷蔷, you would have known that it is about singing for a beloved deceased dog belonging to the Ella, I think, and about asking for protection from this 蔷蔷 from the doggy heavens in the heavenly realms above, God knows where. This matter has gotten too creepy for me to remain awake any longer, so wasting no time, I dived into the comforts of my bed and resumed my sleep in a hurry. I woke up in about two hours later, and quickly convinced myself yet again back to sleep!!

Three hours later, I could no longer do so, and thus, told this encounter to my brothers and my Mum, who told me not to anyhow say and scare people. However, I know this to be absolutely true, for I am able to recount out almost every single small details during the time I was searching for the source of the song, and things were as I left them in the morning.

And this thus concludes my creepy encounter early in the morning. Creepy, isn't it? This ought to get you thinking about the realms of the supernatural and unknown, about how little we know about it, and how helpless we actually are in the face of such matters. Till the next time, and I really hope it would not be anything like this anymore...

Jurong Lake 5KM Fun Run!

Early in the morning, my whole family woke up for one thing, our one goal this day, THE JURONG LAKE RUN!! Even though I wasn't so hyped up about it, because I do not like running much, I do not have much choice in this matter as my father had signed our whole family up for the run long ago. My 2 younger brothers were enthusiastic about it, even if I'm not, and so, I decided not to pour cold water on them.

We took a ride from a very nice Ah Huat Uncle, friend of my father, and a gruelling ride it is indeed, from Hougang all the way to Lakeside!! My brothers and I unfortunately suffer from some car sickness, and did not feel as well while we were travelling. It seems like donkey's years while we were writhing about within the van itself, and finally, IT STOPPED!! We reached out for sweet, sweet Mother Gaia, and that's it!! SAVED!! No more is the churning of our insides, and after a few moments of being back in touch with Gaia, we're back and ready for the run!!

The entire place was filled with thousands of competitors, from all over Singapore, with every last one of them itching to start running! The emcee was quite interesting,and after he introduced Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam,  and that the Minister himself is going to run with us all, we were all instructed to do this-- 

1) Put your palms together!

2) Move your palms to the left!

3) Now move it to the right!

4) To the left once more!

5) And yet again, to the right!

6) Now to the centre of your face!

7) Move it up!

8) Move it down!

9) Up again!

10) Down again!!

11) Now, open up your palms, let it face each other at a 45 degrees angle!

12) Finally, raise it higher!!

And when the music started, it all made sense!! It was Shakira's Waka Waka!! And finally, it started!! However, my mum was nowhere to be seen, and we had only to start running without her. Things were going well for the first 2KM, but that was when my youngest brother couldn't take it any longer. After all, he's only 11 this year. Bad is, I wanted to try compete with my second brother, but he took off the minute the race started, and I could never leave my youngest brother alone!! My mum was nowhere to be seen, and even if my parents have said that we can just leave our youngest brother alone and go run, I just couldn't do that. I'M NEVER GOING TO LEAVE ANYONE BEHIND!!

And so, that's it. Instead of running/jogging the entire 5KM, it was just jog/walk the rest of the 3KM. I didn't feel good because after all, it took me the effort to get hyped up for my brothers!! Sure, we got free 100 Plus and stuffs, and the goal was just to exercise once in a while, but as sure as the sun's gonna show it's face on Gaia each day, I'm going to plan my things well, and still be able to not leave people behind when I can help it!!

That's it for this post then, thought it was posted late, but I conveyed what I wanted to, what that was suppressed within me while I was busy!! I'm off to bed now, and tomorrow morning, 9am, it's Mac-Donalds!! With my best friend Michelle and a hot and toasting (I hope....) Sausage McMuffin!!!

Markono Family Day

Ok, if anyone's wondering why there wasn't much post, I'm sorry!! I need things to happen or inspriation to be able to post so if you don't mind me, this post starts... NOW!!

Yesterday, when I thought I was told I'm going to be running in a 5KM run, I had to sleep early and end all my chats for the night. The next day, which is early this morning at around 7pm, I had little choice but to wake up, or suffer the wrath of my father. When I did, after all the morning routine and stuffs, my dad suddenly tell me to change to nice clothes and that we are going to Boon Lay for his Markono Family Day. I was like, huh? We aren't going to run? What did i wake up for?

However, it was getting late already, from all of the preparations and stuffs. So, my whole family set off for the MRT, to go all the way to where he works. A long journey it was, moving from one line to the other, and finally, we even took a cab to the company hidden deep within all the other companies!! When we arrived, we were met with a very warm welcome from my dad's colleagues and, the boss himself!! A lot of family members of the other colleagues had already arrived and are seated for the presentation.

Introductions about the company was made, about the new logo and what it stands for, and how their process of printing media company had evolved through the years. Talks about magenta, cyan, yellow and black ink used in the printing, and we were told that there will be a mini quiz on things they will show in the tour around. So, off we go!! From the offset team to the book binding team, we were lead through it all. It was quite interesting, and the printing machines were huge!! We got a chance to make a hard cover book ourselves and well, decorations made on it would be judged for a prize!

To the end of the tour, we came back to the presentation room, our books collected for the judging, and time for lunch!! In the meantime, with no time wasted, the mini quiz begins!! Some questions were hard, some were easy, but they made sure that everyone would get at least a prize to take home!! Overall, I understood more about my father's nature of work, how the things goes, and it's not too bad actually, but once we got home, I WAS DEAD BEAT!! And so, it resulted in this post to be so late, and there is just the photos to see for interest sake i guess.

Anyway, it's time for a farewell!! Till the next post!! Bye!!

Monday - Justin Ang, Vernon A. (Muttons On The Move) ft. Don Richmond, Sam & Robert

Monday
Written by: Muttons On The Move (Justin Ang, Vernon A.) & Don Richmond
Song by: Muttons On The Move (Justin Ang, Vernon A.), Don Richmond, Sam & Robert

Lyrics:

Let me talk to you 'bout Mondays, Mondays they really suck!
You party over the weekends, and it's hard to wake up!
The week has barely started, and you s*** outta luck!
Look out all around you, It's Monday! What the *bahh!*

[Verse 1]
Your car's caught in a jam!
Your e-mail kana spam?!
You wake up feeling old!
Your nice car kana towwed!
Your wallet kana stole!
My nose is stuck with gold!
Your food inside got fly!
...Your pet hamster, he died!

[Chorus]
Let me talk to you 'bout Mondays, Mondays they really suck!
You party over the weekends, and it's hard to wake up!
The week has barely started, and you s*** outta luck!
Look out all around you, It's Monday! What the *bahh!*

[Verse 2]
You wake up stomach pain!
Your phone drop in the drain!
The smell thats in te train!
The customers complain!
Ah bengs cannot go disco!
They cannot yo, ahyo!!


Monday Monday really sad,
Monday Monday feel so bad!
Monday Monday makes me mad,
Monday Monday why like that?

Monday Monday really sad,
Monday Monday feel so bad!
Monday Monday makes me mad,
Monday Monday why like that-that-that-that...

[Sam & Robert]
My sista says she sian!
So silly, stupid Sam!!

My tewevision spoil..
I lost my favouwite toy!...

[Verse 3]
Go school kana caned!
It's the day to blame!!

[Chorus]
Let me talk to you 'bout Mondays, Mondays they really suck!
You party over the weekends, and it's hard to wake up!
The week has barely started, and you s*** outta luck!
Look out all around you, It's Monday! What the *bahh!*

Monday Monday really sad,
Monday Monday feel so bad!
Monday Monday makes me mad,
Monday Monday why like that?

Monday Monday really sad,
Monday Monday feel so bad!
Monday Monday makes me mad,
Monday Monday why like that-that-that-that...

[Ending]
Mondays they really suck!
(Why like that-that-that...)
Mondays they really suck!
(Why like that-that-that...)
Mondays they really suck!
(Why like that-that-that...)
It's Monday! What the *bahh!*..

ENJOY!~