Monsoon hits Singapore

Played badminton with Jianlong, Kheng Hui and his friends, and I must say, it's great to be holding a racket and playing a game of badminton. Need to find other things to do other than swim/run/trek. Haha. KH had booked 2 courts, and if not for someone's last minute pang sei *ahem ahem* we could have played a doubles game with rotation!

But anyway, it was pretty fun. The not-so-fun thing was to get up super early at 7am to go down to Clementi when one has only barely 4 hours of sleep lor. 'Cos Lai Yee was waiting for her fren to go clubbing, so I just stayed and kept her company, besides her friends were either inside Zouk or still on their way there. Anyway, it was just another rainy night which many things ain't done right - We never got to watch the movie "The Last Kiss"; I was late in meeting Geoks at Queenstown; the Winning departmental store is closed at 8pm (sians) and I made my way back to Orchard to change bus, but in the end I met up with Lai again; Lai couldn't get correct shoe size or jacket size; I was home late with a $9.30 cab fare to boot 'cos I was hit with a midnight surcharge while my original intention was to go home via bus; my shoes were wet from the rain and everything. Ugh.

Oh wells, nothing seemed to go along to plan yesterday.

At least I managed to walk around and just enjoy the soothing Malay/Blues in the cafe at The Holiday Inn. Pretty nice I must say, but I'd prefer a live band and a pint of beer in front of me anytime. Talk, sit, relax, view the people around you, stare in amazement at the scenery, and just chill.

Will I get to do that? Packed calendar seems bad in doing such stuff.

Anyway, back to today...digressed again.

After badminton, the 5 of us proceeded to have some cheap (oh really?) Japanese food at Clementi, then pool...but we changed to LAN gaming 'cos all 5 of us could play at the same time! And we started off with CS, only to be pissed with the repetitive nature of stopping play after 5 minutes of gaming or so, and the server has to reset the map. So we changed to DOTA. But my computer kept giving problems and I had to change it not once, not twice but 3 times! The new computer I managed to be on was much more stable and we managed 2 rounds of DOTA. Fun indeed! Trying to thrash the computer but kept getting pwned in the 1st round (not to forget, most of us had little DOTA-ing experience), the 2nd round was much better!

Fun scenes would definitely include asking KH not to go too near to the tower, only for him to get killed by the tower and other creeps around him. Haha. But guess we need more playing time eh? (KH - more LAN gaming next time perhaps?)

After that, met Jason and Hwi Bee at Clementi to go to Beach Road to get the gas lamps. Alas, we have to make a detour into Raffles Hotel due to the sudden pouring rain!!!!

And in Raffles Hotel I saw an old uncle trying his best to remove the water which had accumulated due to the sudden thunderstorm. Pity him, at his age still working, I wonder what has our society become? Will we end up having to work till his age, or maybe even older? I shudder at that thought at times. Why can't the older generation get a rest and enjoy the life which they should rightfully have, after toiling for the past 20 years or so? Maybe, it's just the social and economic system which we have here.

Moving on, we were at the Raffles Hotel waiting for a cab when we saw a BMW awaiting for its passengers at the front of the Hotel. What made this BMW different was that it had flags at the front and apparently the passengers were so distinguished that the staff of Raffles Hotel made their way to the porch with them (a couple) to send them off.

Well, the 4 of us just stood there in awe, but our concern was just to catch a cab...so I approached the guy at the counter to help us in getting a cab, which we managed to get one en route to Bedok. (Another note: Why do we see so many cabs changing shifts at Bedok!?)

Managed to get a ride to the "Army Market", where I saw the wonderful dual-usage architecture which we have in SG!

This wonderful design allows 2 things to be done at the same time: 1) It dispels water away from the market efficiently and without hitting the covered areas (blue), and 2) It allows the watering (or too much?) of plants (red).

What a great piece of architectural skill...and I guess the poor plant must be wishing there weren't that much thunderstorms in SG? It sure hurts (oww...) as a plant to be hit and flooded by so much water lors.

Another interesting thing noticed:



No bicycles, but still having bicycles there? Hmms...it's akin to having "No Smoking" signs but still having irritating people smoking like crazy in the bus stops. Geez.

Anyway, never managed to get our gas lamps, all sold out, and the only store which carried the original version is selling it at $45 by some shoplady who gave such a black face. Wonder what's her stupid problem. Geez.

So to cut short our failed trip (and thereby having to make ANOTHER trip again...) we received a call from Mufeng regarding his meeting with HB and KH, and he wanted us to find some LPA76 batteries for him. First time I'm hearing such batteries!!! Gosh. KH and I asked around but the shops carried the normal types. Wonder which place would carry such batteries. Watch shops?

Made our way to City Hall with our sugarcane drinks in hand and boarding the bus, with the bus captain telling us not to drink, and then missing a stop to arrive at a ulu bus stop at the Padang with light rain and some tourists viewing an old tree near the memorial tower.

Went over to Starbucks @ Suntec and HB, KH, MF continued their discussion proper, whilst Jason and I settled some logistical issues. After that, we went to the food court for dinner, and then some desert (the ice there is really smooth!!!) and finally parting ways to go home.

Almost 13 hours of non-stop activity...Feeling tired, but I'm happy. Being busy and having outings sure makes time pass by fast. Yet, I'm looking at the end of holidays soon...time really flies! It's Friday!!! OMGOSH!

I wanna play Mahjong, have fun, go K...anyone??? =D

Current Mood: Exhausted

Current Music: 2moro - Nan Sheng Nu Sheng Pei

Up and Down, Datuk I've come and gone

Well, as Candice once told me about a year ago, "Each trip is different". And indeed I truly and surely believe so. Every trip I've gone during my time in the 26th has taught me new things, and the first official 27th trip did so too.

The 3rd time (ok I mis-counted...) for me up Datuk, and well some things went well, and unexpected things happen...but the most important thing was that all in all, things went smoothly, no safety issues, and no major hiccups.

Why do I not feel the spirit of Rovers during the trip? It felt so different, so quiet, so dead, during the course of the trip. Maybe it was because the comm was adapting to the new terrain, learning the routes, getting used to the rigors of a tough trek which is Datuk. Or maybe...it's just DATUK.

Datuk's a tough trek in my opinion, and it's worse than the KFC of Ophir. This is because of our weight that we're carrying and the incline in which we need to conquer.

I had none of my MacDonalds' breakfast, although I've my MacLemak; I din bring 7-Up or Coke up, but I had a can of 100 Plus up there (chilled!); I din have my Pizza Hut meal which I crave for, but I had fun on the way back, and well, thinking back, it wasn't half as bad as we had initially thought it was.

But nonetheless, the trek has been great for me so far. About half of the participants I do know prior to the trek, so it was kind of a reunion of some sorts with friends. The 25th came along as well, with IJK (Ivy, JJ, Kian Ann), Chin Khiong, Huifen, and my 'uncle' participants from my previous Berkelah, Desmond and Yah Siang.

The first thing which was out of our expectations was the late arrival of the train and a slower ride than normal to Tampin. So that delayed our arrival at Tampin, but of course, not before we had fun on the train! Who-Is-Your-Friend (aka bridge) started automatically on the carriage. Damn fun and happening, and in a way allowed me to keep awake without needing to will myself to sleep.

This lil kid was super active and even waved to us after we left!


Datuk has become Chalet Datuk


Me, Zhai, Geoks

The trek up started later than usual, but we managed to hit the summit on time, which was a relief as trekking in the dark was rather dangerous for everyone. But we missed the sunset, and had to camp somewhere else as there were too many tents up at the summit. I was rather relieved that we had a place to camp for the night. However, I had to risk taking water from the water source below in the dark, and I brought Zhihui and Junwei down for the water collection. The water was more than just a trickle now, and I managed to fill up 7 1.5L bottles very fast.


Resting on the way up!


Geoks, Me, Huifen, Geri, CK

Night cooking was great! FOOD is always GOOD! With fellow black-holians Pei Geok, Shuying, Weiguang, as well as Geraldine and Zhihui, we managed to feast on our 5 packets of noodles, 8 servings worth of pasta, as well the chicken and other food which we brought up...so much so that we had too much to spare!!!!


Guang


Geri


Yings


Geoks


Zhai


Me


Cooking!!!


Climbed up to the top (as usual) to admire the night sky, the stars, the town lights and get bathed in the winds. Well, I always preferred the night sky in Datuk than in Berkelah or Ophir (they dun even exist, I think). And it sure is much colder up in Datuk than in any of the other places (other than Stong in the morning and Sabah) I've visited before.

So much has happened since the last time I came to Datuk. Oh wells...at that time I was still happily attached, it's a wonder how much things have changed in 10 months. But change is the only constant, aint it?

Woke up in the morning to the sounds of the participants cooking and moving noisily about, and proceeded to the cooking area with the intention to cook some breakfast before the rest of the comm was awake, but was too stoned to do anything. And we moved up to the summit once again, in the day, to take more pictures. Well, the place definitely looks beautiful up at the top! With only the 6 of us up there, it felt so quiet, so away...lest the lack of water, Datuk is really a place I would love to go up over and over again!


This grasshopper is BIIIGGGG....


Whose leg is this?


They call this the Pi1 Li1 Pa1 La1


CK and his pancake - Nice!!! MacPancake has arrived!


The grass up there - strong enough to resist the harsh winds


Me, Zhai, Geoks, Yings, Geri


Look up!


All 6 of us!


In thought


Another lesson learnt after reaching the foot, but I guess we all learn better from our mistakes than from someone telling you what mistakes NOT to commit? It was kinda out-of-the-blue actually, but well, this tells us that accidents do happen. However, take it in the right stride, since everything still turned out well and dandy.

Dinner was settled at the food alley near City Square, where we had sumptuous seafood and Muslim food! The hunger just set in, after non-stop bridging on the bus and keeping awake for the 4 hours on the journey home.

And journey home was jammed-packed with cars returning to Singapore, so much so that the vehicles entering Johor cannot enter, and the vehicles clearing customs have slowed to a trickle! As we walked along the causeway, I counted the number of 170s which were stuck going into Johor - 10 in total, maybe more. It was almost empty at the immigration area, but at the waiting area for the buses to Kranji MRT and beyond, it was super crowded...So much so that we just played S-hole Dai Dee to while our time away.

I need rest! lol...

Current Mood: Tired

Post-Exam Reliever!

Ehhh...I din mean the back of my running attire last Sunday...

Went out with the Fuego peeps for a Post Exam Celebration today, after Anqi's paper (yea she's the last!) Not all turned up though, only Anqi, Kent, Mark, Weili and me.

Was in school waiting for Anqi and helping Peiyu with her laptop problem, and originally intended to wait for Wanling, but that ger ended up being at home. Awww...Rest well. lol. Saw Candice, Lianguo, Chin Khiong, Lionel, Weiguang, Andy, Shuying and Zhihui around the table. And of all of them, 2 chem engineers were already in holiday mood, yet they were back in school! Why? Hmms..

Whilst doing the re installation of PY's OSX, Shuang and Tianqi appeared, and the guys had a birthday celebration for CK! Sheesh...that LG very good ah, never tell me anything though I know they had something up...haaz.

Went swimming after my 'job's done, in an attempt to relax the aches in the muscles, and to see if there's any other 'problems' after the run. Sore foot...that's about it. Tired thighs to add. Sounds reasonable, especially after a 42km run. Hehs.

Met up with Anqi after her paper, and we waited for Kent for 5 mins (well in the end we waited for >5 mins till the 4th 96 bus, and he appeared, and we took the 5th...so did he mean to wait till the 5th 96 bus?! o_O") Reached Clementi and Weili and Mark were already there, and we made our way to The Cathay.

Along the way, there was this uncle who was quite 'enthusiastic' about moving to the rear of the bus, but the problem is, there weren't people to follow his move and squeeze to the back! We were sitting with 3 across the back, with Kent and I turning ourselves (and well our legs sticked out a lil) to talk to the rest, so the uncle just decided to happily be in between all of us with a large gap between him and the next person standing. Geez. Well, I dun mind his attitude, but if people dun wish to move backwards, it doesnt help rite?

Here's the top down view...left's the rear, right's towards the front...
o o o o o
o x o o o
x *___%%
x x o o o
x o o o o

Hmms anyway, it was not a big issue, so we managed to talk less, rest a little, and crapped more later at dinner at The Manhattan Fish Market!!!! Hahaha...

Played arcade later, just a game of Daytona and this dude had to come in to chup ji ka. Geez. Luckily he got crashed out by YOURS TRULY. Super sian cos we wanted to just have fun and not to WIN...It was supposed to be fun. But justice was served and I managed to crash him out via the use of the wall (well he tried to cut in via my left side -_-)

Then we moved on to the ground floor of PS, where there was a digital camera exhibition, and Weili was musing on which to get. Lotsa models, newer than mine! Suddenly my camera seems so old and in need of a change. Oh wells.

And The Cathay has a PINK Xmas Tree! Looks prettier at night than in the day, and it's so pinkish, it looks like a huge candy floss. o_O"







Happy Feet is a must watch! Tap dance when you're happy! Feel it inside you, and let it out! :) I love the 5 amigos. Damn cute, with a Mexican/ tang. Goes to show that:

1) There's no correct way to express your feelings. You can express via singing a Heart Song, dancing, musicals, etc etc...
2) Please save the environment. (And yes, after watching the movie we were kinda guilty on eating fishes just prior to the movie)
3) Baby Penguins are cute!!!!! (I just wanna pinch their cheeks!)

To me, Happy Feet seemed partly documentary (U know, National Geographic and the like), with environmental themes inside, whilst incorporating the great music and visuals. And when we first see Mumble's parents, it's quite obvious they are caricatures of Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe.



I wanna find my happy feet.... =) and I shall do everything penguinly possible. :P

Current Mood: Happy

Current Music: Robin Williams - My Way

SCSM marks the end of another year of running

Oh yea. Well, actually MR25's Ultra Marathon really marks the end of running for us runners, but for me, I cant make it for the New Year Eve run this year, so I've to step back and take the SCSM as the last (official) running event this year.

This year wasn't a good year for runs, for me especially. After the Dualathlon in Feb, I came down with chicken pox and never really got going after that. So essentially I think I lost about 3 months of fitness.

Then the major events came. Mizuno, NBRR, AHM. Of the 3, I missed the NBRR and AHM, 'cos of Rovers commitments. But I planned to try training on my own to make up for the loss training during AHM.

Sadly, was mistakened and the packed reading week and exam schedule proved fatal. Din manage to better my timing last year, only managed to squeeze in a sub-5 with loads of thanks to Lionel who kept pushing me on and running with me throughout from the turning point at ECP till the end.

Essentially I think I need more training la. The thighs do not feel good this year, and I reckoned I hit the wall at an even earlier time, possibly at the 20km mark or so. So that meant that I could last maybe an additional 5-7 km before I'll pull up with cramps.

The start was so-so for me. Intended to go slow and take it easy for the first half of the marathon 'cos it would mean that I could last longer, and I think I kept pace within the first 10km. The next 10km was rather fast, with about 3 100 Plus stations, 1 banana point and seeing the 21km racers returning from their U-turn. The banana did not seem to go down well, but I still managed to finish it. My priority was to try to get to ECP and maintain my speed and form. But it kinda failed. lol.

Was looking out for the deep-heat stations and stretching the muscle groups cos I felt tension on running from Fort Road towards Kits Runners. Was thinking to myself "Why din I try to get more runs under my belt? Or run the 21km?" Well, did contemplate doing the 21km instead of the full on the eve, but it was kinda too late. lol.

So as I went along, I saw Tianyuan and Huiqin, as well as Lionel, who joined me for the return leg after the U-turn. Saw OTC and some other familiar faces, and managed to pass him a spare Powergel cos he seems to need it.

The return leg was painful. Cramps came in, felt like puking and I hit the 'wall' and personally I felt it was quite doomed. 'Cos I knew what this would become. The puking part was probably due to the banana + 3 packs of powergel + not enough food. With 9km to go, each step taken hurts. But to finish, was a miracle. Haha. After the race, was really relieved to finally sit down, do nothing but nuah in pain and agony.

Shall go and train up some more, and hope to get back to shape next year! More runs!!! For those who've done their marathons, happy resting and stretch those muscles! Sleep is good...as always~

Time for trekking season! :)

SGRunners :)


Me and Lionel!


Current Mood: Achy

Current Music: Penny Dai - Tan Shui He Pian

Exams over!

Not-so-good paper yesterday.

But still, end result is: I FINISHED EXAMS!
(Well only results after xmas would spoil the jolly mood. bleah.)

Most of the class taking 6 mods, so not many free for a game of DMJ at Jax's place.

Only Ghim, Jax and me, 三缺一, but end up managed to find Andy who's (I quote) OUR CLASS de.

lol. Damn funny.

Zhan joined us for dinner, had some nice zhica near his place. (yea, after Jax changed car and he went to fetch his gf from the house too)

Was a bit slow, I admit I'm still quite a n00b at DMJ and my skills were so-so compared to the rest...but wells...it was a great day yesterday!

Hopefully the luck could have been transmitted to the exam hall instead. Ugh!

Gonna prepare for tml...wake up at a time people are going to sleep...I'm going nuts + deprived of sleep + excited for tml!

Haha...

Gonna hydrate more!

For those with papers on Monday/Tuesday, good luck yea? :)

Okay...just a point to note:
Shi Xin Hui's new album is out! Heard it's pretty good!
And I'm promoting the following songs in the next few blogs! So if ya wan can ask me haha!

Current Mood: Awake

Current Music: Zhang Liang Ying - Girl Of Your Dreams

hot dates!

Wow...just had a hot date today! Uber hot mans...with approx. 2K worth of students (maybe more?) at the time, each sweating away and in deep thought...how cool is that?

And I've more hot dates...oh yea. 4 to be exact. 1 down, 4 to go. A pity that the first was off in a hurry...but then again, I din expect myself to know it too well.

They're pretty cool u'know... All have 2 parts to it (yup, like dinner-supper) combo, and they even have codes so that we can call them up easily! READ: 1501, 2121, 2122, 2123

I love them...cos to love CHE, I must love them...

Crap...

After-dinner = Mugging
After-supper = Mugging
After-bfast = Mugging
After-lunch = Mugging

Conclusion?

Dun waste time...time to hit the books and have my hot date with my books again...Need to be more zai...sighs.

Current Music: Xu Ruo Xuan with Cao Ge - I Still Believe

Bulletproof Toilet??

Though, I could not think purposeful about this Bulletproof Toilet, nonetheless it’s something I can afford to miss even! Since the tragic 911 incident, many countries have stepped up their defense against terrorism, but, Beijing’s Zhongguan Village square has really gone far into this with a bulletproof public toilet! This public toilet…yes, its public, (and its not just by any means, restricted for hi-profile people) features the instructions in English, French and now Chinese. The bulletproof toilet costs about $100,000, and there are some 8 such things in Beijing despite its umpopularity! Guess what, give this to our, uber-rich and it will be a hit (just kidding!!)

Source: http://www.bornrich.org/entry/bulletproof-toilet-for-100000/

o_O"

WHAT A WASTE OF TAXES!!!!

(Maybe we should build one in SG :D)

hating doctors

Contrary to the title of this post, I do not hate ALL doctors. Just one...for now.

I mean, doctors ARE professionals in their field, right? If not, why would patients go for consultations and ask them questions? Questions on their reservations (and maybe fears?) of undergoing treatment, or taking a type of medicine, or the problem which they are facing.

And well, the basic service which I would have expected is that a doctor would be able to listen and understand your concern, and then reply to soothe and allay your fears.

Well, hell no. The doctor I saw today for my pimple (okay, ACNE he says...but wiki says it's e same o_O) problem, and other than putting on a fake smile and asking if I wanted to buy his products, he practically did nothing to answer my queries on the product, how it would affect my lifestyle, and more importantly, why are there so much pimples in a certain location of the face.

Yea mans, I'm concerned, and I brought up my concerns to him. But he just showed many pictures of ppl with acne problems and said "If you do not use my products, you'll get scarring, like them"

Scare Tactic?

I'm unsure...on one hand it's like super expensive and it would also mean dependence on his products (creams, gel etc...). On the other hand, maybe I should give it a try...?

But a poor student like me...parting with 100 over bucks just for a treatment which you ain't even sure gives results. And the doctor just zuobo and ask you to buy the product. WTF.

I still prefer my GP and the doctor who took care of my during my younger days. They were so much better and more concerned, and have this ability to try to understand your situation, explain to you, and give advice. Not pushing the product into your face and say "Try it, else leave it."

Hating this doctor...UGH. Waste my time. More importantly, would our doctors be of this type in the future? I fear for the worse of medicinal care in SG.

Current Mood: Angry

Random Thots...

For those who've been busy studying and need a relief from the books, click here for a great animation! :D

I absolutely love it. It's cute! Haha!

Anyway, was just thinking...if bus fares increased, why do I still see so many NACs on the 151 route run by SBS Transit (not to forget, 74 and 90?) and the conditions of the buses (such as spoilt seats, non-working air-con, poor leg room in some retro-fitted buses etc) do not seem to be of concern to the management? Are we really paying for such appalling standards of bus services? Or is that their trump card for getting higher bus fares? Have they forgotten that they are here to provide us with transportation at affordable rates also?

And to think that with ever-increasing bus fares, we have to wait for buses, and buses are still as crowded (if not more) as always. Was it like that last time? Maybe if I were forgetful and running on RAM, I would think so...but NO! I've lived in the 90s and we've seen how different bus services were run then. Compared to now? Far from it...

Talking about SBS Transit, the whole argument on granting SBS Transit the right to run the NEL on the basis that it will 'spur competition'...I believe the statement is flawed. Why? SBS Transit owns more than 60% of the public transportation system here, and the NEL is one which people in the North-East use, so we can consider it as a monopoly of the NE public transportation system. Then in that case, by economics, monopoly sets market price above market equilibrium and results in dead weight loss for the society. True?

Well, have our dear public transport operators (and PTC) forgotten their role in providing public transport to the public? It's to provide affordable transport for us, not to make money!

Geez...and the mistake keeps coming...a vicious cycle...indeed.

---

I'm falling in love with the song below haha!

Current Music: 曹格&卓文萱 - 梁山伯与茱丽叶