Saturday, September 30, 2006
Mon 25 Sep
The day has arrived. My platoon mate picked me up early in the morning, and we made our way to Sungei Gedong camp. It was pouring, and everyone was late. Finally, I was not caught for my hair. Apparently, all that the RSM (Regimental Sergeant Major) was looking out for was a slope at the back and the sides of the head. The whole day was characterized by briefings and talks by various important people who I cannot remember now. The most notable change was that I ate a lot. Other than the three meals, there was also tea break on our own whenever possible, and supper, whenever available. Some outspoken company mates voiced out that since we had nothing on at night, we should be allowed to have a night's off. So even though it was just the first day in-camp, we got a night's off.
Three of us headed down to the nearest piece of civilization with a shopping mall, and ended up at Lot 1 in Choa Chu Kang. We roamed around for quite a while, attracting curious stares because we were in our army uniform (none of us brought civilian clothes out), and eventually ended up in X-Square, which is an XBox cafe. We tried this game called Timesplitters, which worked a little like Counterstrike except that it is on console, and there are lots of weird characters available. We occupied ourselves till 10+, and then headed for our routine supper at this coffee shop we used to visit when we were still in the army...nine years ago. Talk about nostalgia.
Tue 26 Sep
We started our training on a new weapon called the Matador. I'm a LAW (Light Anti-tank Weapon) gunner, and we used to be trained in the Armbrust, but apparently the Matador is newer and better technology, so we are using it now. The weapon weights 8.9 kg on its own, which is about 2 kg heavier than the old Armbrust. We wasted a whole lot of time because the projector was down, but then again, we were back in the army, so wasting time is a typical happening. The training was wrapped up in the early afternoon, so I practically slept through the late afternoon. Frankly, I think I have been sleeping twice my usual amount of sleep during this in-camp.
I think the most productive thing that I did so far was to finally complete reading the bible. Ironically, I started off becoming a Christian when I was in the army, so that was when I first began reading the bible, and now I have come full circle and finished it while I am on reservist. The shameful thing though is that it had taken me 9 years to do it. There were some books that I just couldn't force myself to digest it. Ah well. Better late than never, I guess.
Wed 27 Sep
Everything delayed because our Matador trainer was late. To be fair, he did have something on, being at the live firing range before our lesson. In any case, what was meant to be finished by lunchtime ended up only starting after lunch. Still, he managed to wrap things up by the late afternoon, and we were done for the day. We managed to convince our CSM (Company Sergeant Major) to let us book out since we had no night training, and so three of us went down to Lot 1 yet again, to the X-Square cafe yet again, and played the same game yet again. That game isn't fantastic, but when you play with friends in a team, it actually was pretty fun.
I think I'll grow fat. I have been having about 5 meals a day. Other than the three main meals, I had tea break and supper too, but the main thing is that inbetween training, there was always ample time to catch forty winks. Some of us describe this experience as being a pig. Others describe it as being sick, because only patients try to sleep that much a day.
Thu 28 Sep
There was supposed to be IPPT (fitness test) in the morning. Even though a good number of us had already cleared the test, our OC (officer commanding) still made everyone fall in, and told those of us who passed to not take the test, but do it as a form of physical training and exercise. Obviously, we wouldn't want to, especially since most people wouldn't be regularly running except for the IPPT test conducted annually. Hence, upon the confirmation that it was merely a suggestion on his part, and that it wasn't compulsory, almost everyone fled back to the bunk.
The rest of the people practically slept through the afternoon because there was no training planned. However, for me and the other Matador gunners, we had to go to the IMT (Introductory Marksmanship Training, I think) range to practise in the simulation lab. We affectionately call the IMT range 'the arcade'. What was disappointing was that when we went there, we realized that the IMT range still uses the Armbrust simulations, which we have tried before, albeit a long time ago. My performance was somewhat odd - I was 'one shot, one kill' for the stationary targets, but missed all the moving targets.
The most surprising thing was that this time round, the OC decided to give us night's off, on our CSM's request, although we were required to return by 11 pm, since we had to wake up very early the next day for the actual live firing. Guess what? We went back to X-Square again, and brought more people with us this time.
Fri 29 Sep
We woke up at 4 plus, so that we could eat breakfast by 5 plus, draw our weapons (fortunately, the Matador gunners didn't need to) and move out by 6 am. We almost made the target except for two jokers who were missing in action, only to turn up late because they had to answer nature's call. The original target was to fire the first shot by 8 am, but we were delayed by an hour because the ammunition hadn't arrived. The first thing we had to fire was the subcalibre, which is a modification of the Matador such that you can load rounds into it and fire to train accuracy. The actual Matador is a fire and throw away one-use weapon that costs $3000.
So far, even with the Armbrust, I had only fired subcalibre before. However, somehow this time, our unit gets to shoot the actual Matador. The projectile itself is 90 mm in diameter, and the weapon is a metre long. The weapon was impressive. It was deafeningly loud to hear, and the shockwave of the blast can be felt at the training shed about 50 m away. I managed to hit my target, and see the explosion from the projectile, and it felt real good to have shot a $3000 weapon. Even till now, I have not paid that much in taxes yet, so it felt like a bonus. I was telling my platoon mates that in all honesty, when I was in the army 9 years ago, I didn't think the troopers can take on a tank, but now after the live firing, I think it is quite possible. I'm a tank-killer! If it is stationary. Heh.
Fortunately, we didn't have a night shoot, so we returned to the bunk, and idled the mid-afternoon to night away. Not everyone was cooperative though, and in the end, only two other platoon mates and I went down to help the poor guys who had to fire through the night unload and return their equipment at around midnight. The rest were still hiding somewhere in the bunk.
Sat 30 Sep
We spent the morning cleaning the weapons that were fired, and even though we were done by 11 plus, things dragged till about 2 pm before we could leave. And we had to book in by 10.30 pm tomorrow, because we would be setting off for a 3 day 2 night outfield training on Mon early morning. Almost sounds like a holiday tour huh? I guess this week's relative slackness is a counterbalance to next week, because it will be drills after drills, practice after practice through the 3 days. Sigh. It is just the lull before the storm. I only pray that it will not rain, else it would be devastating on the morale.
Yay. I finally get to blog. Haha...
The day has arrived. My platoon mate picked me up early in the morning, and we made our way to Sungei Gedong camp. It was pouring, and everyone was late. Finally, I was not caught for my hair. Apparently, all that the RSM (Regimental Sergeant Major) was looking out for was a slope at the back and the sides of the head. The whole day was characterized by briefings and talks by various important people who I cannot remember now. The most notable change was that I ate a lot. Other than the three meals, there was also tea break on our own whenever possible, and supper, whenever available. Some outspoken company mates voiced out that since we had nothing on at night, we should be allowed to have a night's off. So even though it was just the first day in-camp, we got a night's off.
Three of us headed down to the nearest piece of civilization with a shopping mall, and ended up at Lot 1 in Choa Chu Kang. We roamed around for quite a while, attracting curious stares because we were in our army uniform (none of us brought civilian clothes out), and eventually ended up in X-Square, which is an XBox cafe. We tried this game called Timesplitters, which worked a little like Counterstrike except that it is on console, and there are lots of weird characters available. We occupied ourselves till 10+, and then headed for our routine supper at this coffee shop we used to visit when we were still in the army...nine years ago. Talk about nostalgia.
Tue 26 Sep
We started our training on a new weapon called the Matador. I'm a LAW (Light Anti-tank Weapon) gunner, and we used to be trained in the Armbrust, but apparently the Matador is newer and better technology, so we are using it now. The weapon weights 8.9 kg on its own, which is about 2 kg heavier than the old Armbrust. We wasted a whole lot of time because the projector was down, but then again, we were back in the army, so wasting time is a typical happening. The training was wrapped up in the early afternoon, so I practically slept through the late afternoon. Frankly, I think I have been sleeping twice my usual amount of sleep during this in-camp.
I think the most productive thing that I did so far was to finally complete reading the bible. Ironically, I started off becoming a Christian when I was in the army, so that was when I first began reading the bible, and now I have come full circle and finished it while I am on reservist. The shameful thing though is that it had taken me 9 years to do it. There were some books that I just couldn't force myself to digest it. Ah well. Better late than never, I guess.
Wed 27 Sep
Everything delayed because our Matador trainer was late. To be fair, he did have something on, being at the live firing range before our lesson. In any case, what was meant to be finished by lunchtime ended up only starting after lunch. Still, he managed to wrap things up by the late afternoon, and we were done for the day. We managed to convince our CSM (Company Sergeant Major) to let us book out since we had no night training, and so three of us went down to Lot 1 yet again, to the X-Square cafe yet again, and played the same game yet again. That game isn't fantastic, but when you play with friends in a team, it actually was pretty fun.
I think I'll grow fat. I have been having about 5 meals a day. Other than the three main meals, I had tea break and supper too, but the main thing is that inbetween training, there was always ample time to catch forty winks. Some of us describe this experience as being a pig. Others describe it as being sick, because only patients try to sleep that much a day.
Thu 28 Sep
There was supposed to be IPPT (fitness test) in the morning. Even though a good number of us had already cleared the test, our OC (officer commanding) still made everyone fall in, and told those of us who passed to not take the test, but do it as a form of physical training and exercise. Obviously, we wouldn't want to, especially since most people wouldn't be regularly running except for the IPPT test conducted annually. Hence, upon the confirmation that it was merely a suggestion on his part, and that it wasn't compulsory, almost everyone fled back to the bunk.
The rest of the people practically slept through the afternoon because there was no training planned. However, for me and the other Matador gunners, we had to go to the IMT (Introductory Marksmanship Training, I think) range to practise in the simulation lab. We affectionately call the IMT range 'the arcade'. What was disappointing was that when we went there, we realized that the IMT range still uses the Armbrust simulations, which we have tried before, albeit a long time ago. My performance was somewhat odd - I was 'one shot, one kill' for the stationary targets, but missed all the moving targets.
The most surprising thing was that this time round, the OC decided to give us night's off, on our CSM's request, although we were required to return by 11 pm, since we had to wake up very early the next day for the actual live firing. Guess what? We went back to X-Square again, and brought more people with us this time.
Fri 29 Sep
We woke up at 4 plus, so that we could eat breakfast by 5 plus, draw our weapons (fortunately, the Matador gunners didn't need to) and move out by 6 am. We almost made the target except for two jokers who were missing in action, only to turn up late because they had to answer nature's call. The original target was to fire the first shot by 8 am, but we were delayed by an hour because the ammunition hadn't arrived. The first thing we had to fire was the subcalibre, which is a modification of the Matador such that you can load rounds into it and fire to train accuracy. The actual Matador is a fire and throw away one-use weapon that costs $3000.
So far, even with the Armbrust, I had only fired subcalibre before. However, somehow this time, our unit gets to shoot the actual Matador. The projectile itself is 90 mm in diameter, and the weapon is a metre long. The weapon was impressive. It was deafeningly loud to hear, and the shockwave of the blast can be felt at the training shed about 50 m away. I managed to hit my target, and see the explosion from the projectile, and it felt real good to have shot a $3000 weapon. Even till now, I have not paid that much in taxes yet, so it felt like a bonus. I was telling my platoon mates that in all honesty, when I was in the army 9 years ago, I didn't think the troopers can take on a tank, but now after the live firing, I think it is quite possible. I'm a tank-killer! If it is stationary. Heh.
Fortunately, we didn't have a night shoot, so we returned to the bunk, and idled the mid-afternoon to night away. Not everyone was cooperative though, and in the end, only two other platoon mates and I went down to help the poor guys who had to fire through the night unload and return their equipment at around midnight. The rest were still hiding somewhere in the bunk.
Sat 30 Sep
We spent the morning cleaning the weapons that were fired, and even though we were done by 11 plus, things dragged till about 2 pm before we could leave. And we had to book in by 10.30 pm tomorrow, because we would be setting off for a 3 day 2 night outfield training on Mon early morning. Almost sounds like a holiday tour huh? I guess this week's relative slackness is a counterbalance to next week, because it will be drills after drills, practice after practice through the 3 days. Sigh. It is just the lull before the storm. I only pray that it will not rain, else it would be devastating on the morale.
Yay. I finally get to blog. Haha...
posted by MadPoet : 11:58 PM Sunday, September 24, 2006
Sat 23 Sep
Strangely, considering I've been playing Magic since I was in Sec 3, albeit intermittently, today's prerelease tournament was the first tournament I joined. I was quite hesitant about joining the various tournaments, because I have always seen myself as just a casual player, and didn't want to invest so much money getting the good tournament worthy cards. I've visited some prerelease tournaments some time ago, but only to purchase cards. This time round, I was still wondering whether I should go for it until I saw the venue in the email - The Concourse, which is, like, 3 min walk from my house?
I bumped into a NIE coursemate and her boyfriend there, but I expected they would be there, because her boyfriend is a trader of Magic cards. I was talking to her, and I was just commenting that I didn't think any of my students play magic when I looked up and saw one of my current students, in my form class no less! Comedic timing, I must say.
Considering that this was my maiden tournament, and that I have not played Magic for almost a year now, I think I did alright. The tournament consists of 4 rounds, and each round consists of 3 matches against a random opponent. The first one to reach a score of 2 wins will win the round, and the prizes are based on how many points you get. The system is like soccer: winning a round gets you 3 points, drawing gets 1 point, losing gets 0 points. I got a decent 6 points, going 2-0, 0-2, 1-2, and 2-1 in my four rounds. I made some bad plays, but overall, considering that my card pool (randomly obtained) was quite weak, I think I constructed a decent deck and played to my best ability. What was novel to me though was the level of tension and excitement from competing. Playing casually with friends had never produced such a kick out of winning as a tournament game. After this, I'm actually considering joining the next Constructed tournament, which is for participants who construct their own decks to compete. Hmm...only thing stopping me is cost right now.
Sun 24 Sep
One of my students came to visit church service with me, but the ironic thing was that he was supposed to accompany another student, who was the one who wanted to come but wanted some company. Looks like I'll have to wait till their exams are over before asking them again.
I bumped into an old classmate. He was part of my blood brudders gang, until we lost him to City Harvest church. By lost I mean that he became almost uncontactable, and never free to join us for any event, because he was always involved in church activities. Although on one hand, I was glad to see a friend saved, on the other, I was questioning his depth of friendship with the rest of the blood brudders who weren't believers, because to me, since they are my good old friends, I would want to reach out to them. He had just...vanished. None of us knew where he went to and all, and the most saddening fact was when we heard from an acquaintance of ours that he was getting married. When I saw him just now, he was...um...twice the man he used to be. It is scary to see a man balloon that much, and I guess that kind of confirms he got married.
I'm going back to serve the nation in ulu Sungei Gedong camp tomorrow. I think I'd still be able to blog from the computer room there once in a while, but no more msn for a while. The most irritating thing about this incamp is that it is right smack before my students' exams. Grrr. The second most irritating thing is that I book out only on this Sat evening. Whatever happened to 5-day work week?
Strangely, considering I've been playing Magic since I was in Sec 3, albeit intermittently, today's prerelease tournament was the first tournament I joined. I was quite hesitant about joining the various tournaments, because I have always seen myself as just a casual player, and didn't want to invest so much money getting the good tournament worthy cards. I've visited some prerelease tournaments some time ago, but only to purchase cards. This time round, I was still wondering whether I should go for it until I saw the venue in the email - The Concourse, which is, like, 3 min walk from my house?
I bumped into a NIE coursemate and her boyfriend there, but I expected they would be there, because her boyfriend is a trader of Magic cards. I was talking to her, and I was just commenting that I didn't think any of my students play magic when I looked up and saw one of my current students, in my form class no less! Comedic timing, I must say.
Considering that this was my maiden tournament, and that I have not played Magic for almost a year now, I think I did alright. The tournament consists of 4 rounds, and each round consists of 3 matches against a random opponent. The first one to reach a score of 2 wins will win the round, and the prizes are based on how many points you get. The system is like soccer: winning a round gets you 3 points, drawing gets 1 point, losing gets 0 points. I got a decent 6 points, going 2-0, 0-2, 1-2, and 2-1 in my four rounds. I made some bad plays, but overall, considering that my card pool (randomly obtained) was quite weak, I think I constructed a decent deck and played to my best ability. What was novel to me though was the level of tension and excitement from competing. Playing casually with friends had never produced such a kick out of winning as a tournament game. After this, I'm actually considering joining the next Constructed tournament, which is for participants who construct their own decks to compete. Hmm...only thing stopping me is cost right now.
Sun 24 Sep
One of my students came to visit church service with me, but the ironic thing was that he was supposed to accompany another student, who was the one who wanted to come but wanted some company. Looks like I'll have to wait till their exams are over before asking them again.
I bumped into an old classmate. He was part of my blood brudders gang, until we lost him to City Harvest church. By lost I mean that he became almost uncontactable, and never free to join us for any event, because he was always involved in church activities. Although on one hand, I was glad to see a friend saved, on the other, I was questioning his depth of friendship with the rest of the blood brudders who weren't believers, because to me, since they are my good old friends, I would want to reach out to them. He had just...vanished. None of us knew where he went to and all, and the most saddening fact was when we heard from an acquaintance of ours that he was getting married. When I saw him just now, he was...um...twice the man he used to be. It is scary to see a man balloon that much, and I guess that kind of confirms he got married.
I'm going back to serve the nation in ulu Sungei Gedong camp tomorrow. I think I'd still be able to blog from the computer room there once in a while, but no more msn for a while. The most irritating thing about this incamp is that it is right smack before my students' exams. Grrr. The second most irritating thing is that I book out only on this Sat evening. Whatever happened to 5-day work week?
Friday, September 22, 2006
It's been a long day today again. The morning started with a brief breakfast of reprieve, and then it was work all the way till I had my first lesson. I was talking for almost 2 hours, had a break, then another burst of almost 2 hours. Then all of us taking the Masters' had to rush down to MJC, and today it was my group's turn to do a presentation. So it was more talking, but for maybe 15 min. Interestingly enough, without much planning of what to say and no prior rehearsal, I just presented on the fly, and I think it came out feeling more natural. At least our turn is over, so now we can sit back and relax for about 3 weeks while other groups do their presentations. Only that, I won't be around to enjoy for the next 2 weeks since I'd be away on reservist. Worse still, there's an assignment due two days after my In-Camp Training. Argh.
I spent most of yesterday preparing the powerpoint presentation for my group. Then again, I only began work on it yesterday, so that was probably why it stretched till 1+ am before I was finally done with it. Not quite how I would want to spend an evening, but at least I managed to squeeze out some time for anime. Now I've started watching Fate Stay Night, and it seems way more promising than the previous anime.
Some weeks back, I blogged about the Graffiti Cafe in the Heeren selling this Pontian Wanton Noodles that tasted fantastic. Just now, I spotted a stall in Bedok Hawker Centre having the same name and signboard about the Pontian noodles as the cafe, so I'm wondering if there is some franchise thing going on. (Aside: did the term 'Pontianak' come from Pontian...?) Anyway, I ordered a bowl, and here is the verdict: go for the one at the Heeren instead. Comparing the two, the one at Bedok has the same handmade noodles, but was not soaked long enough and so was a bit tough, slightly too sour ketchup, smaller fried wanton which tasted powdery, more diluted soup base. The only thing that tasted similar was the wanton in the soup. Essentially, what is sold at the outlet at Heeren is a whole lot better. Having said that, it is not that the noodles being sold at Bedok doesn't taste good at all. In fact, it should taste better than the wanton noodles sold in many other places. It is just that comparatively, the one in Bedok loses out to the one at the Heeren.
After a long period of inactivity, I decided to go check out a prerelease tournament for Magic the Gathering tomorrow morning. Especially since the tournament relocated to The Concourse because of the IMF (indirectly), which is just a 3 min walk from my house. I wonder how rusty I am now...but I still hope I can win a little prize from the tournament at least. Heh.
I spent most of yesterday preparing the powerpoint presentation for my group. Then again, I only began work on it yesterday, so that was probably why it stretched till 1+ am before I was finally done with it. Not quite how I would want to spend an evening, but at least I managed to squeeze out some time for anime. Now I've started watching Fate Stay Night, and it seems way more promising than the previous anime.
Some weeks back, I blogged about the Graffiti Cafe in the Heeren selling this Pontian Wanton Noodles that tasted fantastic. Just now, I spotted a stall in Bedok Hawker Centre having the same name and signboard about the Pontian noodles as the cafe, so I'm wondering if there is some franchise thing going on. (Aside: did the term 'Pontianak' come from Pontian...?) Anyway, I ordered a bowl, and here is the verdict: go for the one at the Heeren instead. Comparing the two, the one at Bedok has the same handmade noodles, but was not soaked long enough and so was a bit tough, slightly too sour ketchup, smaller fried wanton which tasted powdery, more diluted soup base. The only thing that tasted similar was the wanton in the soup. Essentially, what is sold at the outlet at Heeren is a whole lot better. Having said that, it is not that the noodles being sold at Bedok doesn't taste good at all. In fact, it should taste better than the wanton noodles sold in many other places. It is just that comparatively, the one in Bedok loses out to the one at the Heeren.
After a long period of inactivity, I decided to go check out a prerelease tournament for Magic the Gathering tomorrow morning. Especially since the tournament relocated to The Concourse because of the IMF (indirectly), which is just a 3 min walk from my house. I wonder how rusty I am now...but I still hope I can win a little prize from the tournament at least. Heh.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
I just finished watching an anime series Rave the Groove Adventure. I don't know what exactly to make of it. It starts off trying to be cute and funny, with bizarre creatures that are supposed to look cute, and yet it has a serious and epic storyline. The unfortunate thing is that it is neither good nor bad, so I was stuck. If it was good, I would have been glued from start to end, and I'd finish the anime fast. If it was bad, I would probably have given up halfway and condemned it to a remote corner of my anime cupboard. But this one is right smack in the middle, always seeming like it had potential to be good, and because it wasn't that good, it was slow and painful progress. It didn't help that it was a total of 51 episodes. It really didn't help that the exciting and serious parts could have been compressed into less than 20 episodes, and the anime would be actually considered pretty good. It really, really didn't help that as I was ploughing through 51 episodes, I was wondering how would it end when I was only 5 episodes away, and there were 5 difficult enemies and 1 big boss the protagonist has yet to fight, two precious stones that he had to make a journey to collect, help a girl regain her memory, and etc - and my fear was proven true. The 51st episode wasn't an ending to the whole thing. It was only the ending of a story arc. After all my determination to finish the anime series to give it a fair chance, it ends this way? I was almost going to curse and swear. It doesn't even have enough substance like Bleach or Naruto to go past 50 episodes! Bleah.
Anyway, I was reminded of something when I was on the MRT train just now. A long time ago, before we had MP3 players and handphones, the world was a quieter place. Occasionally, there would come along some miscreants carrying boom boxes, i.e. portable radio, and they would piss everyone off by blasting music in public (only acceptable place to blast it, I think, would have been at a barbecue pit), but those were few and far between. Fast forward to today, and we have tons of individuals who believe that the people around them would dearly love to listen to the same music they do, and generously blast it at the fullest volume their handphones can muster. Same inconsideration, only different devices.
I just heard a whole troupe of sirens going past my house in the direction of the city, in three waves. I would guess that there were at least 4 police cars, and two ambulances or fire engines (couldn't distinguish the sound), and I wonder what big disaster it is to mobilize so many. I hope it has nothing to do with the IMF...
Anyway, I was reminded of something when I was on the MRT train just now. A long time ago, before we had MP3 players and handphones, the world was a quieter place. Occasionally, there would come along some miscreants carrying boom boxes, i.e. portable radio, and they would piss everyone off by blasting music in public (only acceptable place to blast it, I think, would have been at a barbecue pit), but those were few and far between. Fast forward to today, and we have tons of individuals who believe that the people around them would dearly love to listen to the same music they do, and generously blast it at the fullest volume their handphones can muster. Same inconsideration, only different devices.
I just heard a whole troupe of sirens going past my house in the direction of the city, in three waves. I would guess that there were at least 4 police cars, and two ambulances or fire engines (couldn't distinguish the sound), and I wonder what big disaster it is to mobilize so many. I hope it has nothing to do with the IMF...
Monday, September 18, 2006
I spent a restful Saturday at home, completing some loose ends in work. My gf came over in the evening, and we played Xbox 360 together. It's pretty cool to have at least a game that both of us like to play. In this case, it's Ridge Racer 6.
Sunday was a regular day at service, but my two students didn't make it to church after all. Never mind, next week will be better. For dinner, my gf and I went down to Changi Airport's Sakae Sushi. Right now there is a promotion till the end of this week - $9 for 9 coloured plates! That's about half price, since a coloured plate costs $1.90. Now the thing is, if you order less than 9 plates, it doesn't count for the promotion. And ordering beyond 9, the 10th plate and onwards is at normal price, unless you are a member. Our only complaint is that the ones taking our orders never explained the promotion, and even on the posters they put up all over the place, they only mentioned that there is a special promotion for their 9th birthday, so we ended up ordering a big plate of assorted sashimi first, a hana maki, and later squeezed in 9 coloured plates to get our money's worth. We also dropped by Rainbow Caravan, a sweets shop at the airport, and I bought a Remy Martin...chocolate. A picture of it is after the post...again Blogger has issues with the uploading of photos. At least when I was just trying.
Today was just a long day of meeting, lessons, marking, and more lessons. Oddly enough, three of my students from the first three months bought me a (very) belated Teachers' Day present and gave it to me today. Ah well, better late than never. Heh. It's a mug that says, "You should be working." Not that I need the reminder though...
Sunday was a regular day at service, but my two students didn't make it to church after all. Never mind, next week will be better. For dinner, my gf and I went down to Changi Airport's Sakae Sushi. Right now there is a promotion till the end of this week - $9 for 9 coloured plates! That's about half price, since a coloured plate costs $1.90. Now the thing is, if you order less than 9 plates, it doesn't count for the promotion. And ordering beyond 9, the 10th plate and onwards is at normal price, unless you are a member. Our only complaint is that the ones taking our orders never explained the promotion, and even on the posters they put up all over the place, they only mentioned that there is a special promotion for their 9th birthday, so we ended up ordering a big plate of assorted sashimi first, a hana maki, and later squeezed in 9 coloured plates to get our money's worth. We also dropped by Rainbow Caravan, a sweets shop at the airport, and I bought a Remy Martin...chocolate. A picture of it is after the post...again Blogger has issues with the uploading of photos. At least when I was just trying.
Today was just a long day of meeting, lessons, marking, and more lessons. Oddly enough, three of my students from the first three months bought me a (very) belated Teachers' Day present and gave it to me today. Ah well, better late than never. Heh. It's a mug that says, "You should be working." Not that I need the reminder though...
Friday, September 15, 2006
Today's a long day. I started with a training session to use the new VPN key that MOE has issued to make the network more secure. It's a lot more trouble for the user end, and especially when my laptop gave me a lot of problems just now with the key. I had to uninstall and reinstall the software twice before I got it to work, and that took up my whole morning because the installation process is long, and my tablet PC is one kind of sloooow.
I had four periods of lessons after that, and the moment it ended and I returned to the staff room, I had to quickly pack up and go off to MJC for the Masters' course. I don't really like the feeling of being rushed every week, but there's only a gap of 25 min between the ending of my last lesson and the start of the tutorial.
Today's and the next few sessions are all group presentations. Today's first group went up, and took 40 min for 4 people. Since the tutorial was 3 hours long, but there were only two groups presenting, I thought that the tutorial might end early.
How wrong I was. The second group that went up only had 2 people. But they took 1 hr 40 min to present! The lady who presented first took a whopping hour. Not that she had that much to cover, but she is extremely long-winded. A point that can be made in a few sentences she would digress, give colourful examples (even to the point of mimicry of what the primary school students would say), and etc, and that one point that could have been concise took a few minutes to elaborate. I wonder if she does this in her everyday lessons...think it can drive a person mad to be listening. Even in the Q & A segment, it was the same. Someone asked a simple question, and she took 4 min to answer the question in a most roundabout way, raising up a dozen relevant and irrelevant points and examples in the process. I pride myself on being able to maintain alertness despite my severe shortage of sleep, but today, I was fighting the z-monster all the way through.
I just couldn't believe how she could talk at a fairly fast pace all the way through an entire hour non-stop.
I had dinner with my gf at Century Square basement, at a restaurant by the (long) name of OrganiCafeXperience. Its menu boasts of organic food, and it is at a reasonable price. We had a main dish each, shared a soup of the day and dessert, and it worked out to be about $15 per person. The portion to me was mediocre, but I helped my gf finish part of her share, so it turned out to be just enough. The presentation of the dish was pretty good though, with careful arrangement of the sides and the main to look artistic and colourful. The food was pretty tasty too, but there's a different taste due to the herbal garnishings and non-conventional oil (my guess), so it takes a little getting used to. The taste is just right, and it doesn't taste too salty, or oily, and the best testament to that was that after the dinner, there wasn't any desperate thirst, which food from some places will leave behind.
I had four periods of lessons after that, and the moment it ended and I returned to the staff room, I had to quickly pack up and go off to MJC for the Masters' course. I don't really like the feeling of being rushed every week, but there's only a gap of 25 min between the ending of my last lesson and the start of the tutorial.
Today's and the next few sessions are all group presentations. Today's first group went up, and took 40 min for 4 people. Since the tutorial was 3 hours long, but there were only two groups presenting, I thought that the tutorial might end early.
How wrong I was. The second group that went up only had 2 people. But they took 1 hr 40 min to present! The lady who presented first took a whopping hour. Not that she had that much to cover, but she is extremely long-winded. A point that can be made in a few sentences she would digress, give colourful examples (even to the point of mimicry of what the primary school students would say), and etc, and that one point that could have been concise took a few minutes to elaborate. I wonder if she does this in her everyday lessons...think it can drive a person mad to be listening. Even in the Q & A segment, it was the same. Someone asked a simple question, and she took 4 min to answer the question in a most roundabout way, raising up a dozen relevant and irrelevant points and examples in the process. I pride myself on being able to maintain alertness despite my severe shortage of sleep, but today, I was fighting the z-monster all the way through.
I just couldn't believe how she could talk at a fairly fast pace all the way through an entire hour non-stop.
I had dinner with my gf at Century Square basement, at a restaurant by the (long) name of OrganiCafeXperience. Its menu boasts of organic food, and it is at a reasonable price. We had a main dish each, shared a soup of the day and dessert, and it worked out to be about $15 per person. The portion to me was mediocre, but I helped my gf finish part of her share, so it turned out to be just enough. The presentation of the dish was pretty good though, with careful arrangement of the sides and the main to look artistic and colourful. The food was pretty tasty too, but there's a different taste due to the herbal garnishings and non-conventional oil (my guess), so it takes a little getting used to. The taste is just right, and it doesn't taste too salty, or oily, and the best testament to that was that after the dinner, there wasn't any desperate thirst, which food from some places will leave behind.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Wed 13 Sep
I went to eat lunch at Bedok MacDonald's with my civics class. Regretably, I don't know half the class very well because they don't take chemistry, so I see them at most once a week. More often than not though, the civics lesson is gone because of mass talks and all, so they almost feel like strangers somehow. I think they are a fun bunch of people, so that makes it even more of a waste. Anyway it was time well spent. I think I conversed with some of the guys more than I had in the last term perhaps.
I had cell group in the late evening, so inbetween, I had some time to continue playing my Xbox 360. However, I really do see the significant difference as I age. The appeal that games have on me dwindles. Even though I appreciate the gameplay, the graphics and all, I just don't get hooked anymore. There are many other things I put at higher or equal priority, and I find it easy to shelve gaming. If only my students can exercise the same amount of self-control. Sigh.
Thu 14 Sep
I had a packed morning. It started with a SPA meeting, followed by three hours of lessons. Now that the exams are looming in the corner, I feel the urgency to complete all that I am supposed to. Of course, this is the gap - the students definitely don't feel the same way. I stayed back in school to wait for my gf, and inbetween the chitchatting with colleagues, hanging around and relaxing, I completed various marking, administration, and etc. Sometimes I wonder: with my kind of efficiency, how much work can I actually accomplish if I devote my full attention to it, and stay back after school everyday? As of now, I generally leave a short while after my last lesson, because I find that I still have enough time to complete all that I need to do. Even with the Masters' course, it doesn't dent my lifestyle by much. I wonder what is there that can stretch me to the maximum potential, and I wonder what monstrous task would I have to complete if that ever happened.
One of my students, whom I taught for the first three months but had since been moved to another class, came by during lunch to talk to me. Apparently, she had decided to quit school, and take up a Business course in the polytechnic. Before she starts her school term next year, she will work part-time at a childcare centre, and I distinctly remember during the first three months when I asked the students about their ambitions and dreams, she said she wanted to open a childcare centre. I think she has guts to break away now, and in a way, losing the time spent this year in school, in order to pursue the path she is really keen on. I told her she has my support, because I have always told my students that it is more important to know what you want to do next time in life, and work towards it. Now I have an example to quote. Heh.
I think Ps Khong's message last Sunday about church beginning on Monday, and that we should pray for open doors every day is really powerful. When I prayed that, today I saw results that shocked me utterly. Two of my students asked me, out of nowhere, whether they can join me for service this coming Sunday. To me, such initiative is quite unprecedented. Wow...what can I say? God works wonders.
I went to eat lunch at Bedok MacDonald's with my civics class. Regretably, I don't know half the class very well because they don't take chemistry, so I see them at most once a week. More often than not though, the civics lesson is gone because of mass talks and all, so they almost feel like strangers somehow. I think they are a fun bunch of people, so that makes it even more of a waste. Anyway it was time well spent. I think I conversed with some of the guys more than I had in the last term perhaps.
I had cell group in the late evening, so inbetween, I had some time to continue playing my Xbox 360. However, I really do see the significant difference as I age. The appeal that games have on me dwindles. Even though I appreciate the gameplay, the graphics and all, I just don't get hooked anymore. There are many other things I put at higher or equal priority, and I find it easy to shelve gaming. If only my students can exercise the same amount of self-control. Sigh.
Thu 14 Sep
I had a packed morning. It started with a SPA meeting, followed by three hours of lessons. Now that the exams are looming in the corner, I feel the urgency to complete all that I am supposed to. Of course, this is the gap - the students definitely don't feel the same way. I stayed back in school to wait for my gf, and inbetween the chitchatting with colleagues, hanging around and relaxing, I completed various marking, administration, and etc. Sometimes I wonder: with my kind of efficiency, how much work can I actually accomplish if I devote my full attention to it, and stay back after school everyday? As of now, I generally leave a short while after my last lesson, because I find that I still have enough time to complete all that I need to do. Even with the Masters' course, it doesn't dent my lifestyle by much. I wonder what is there that can stretch me to the maximum potential, and I wonder what monstrous task would I have to complete if that ever happened.
One of my students, whom I taught for the first three months but had since been moved to another class, came by during lunch to talk to me. Apparently, she had decided to quit school, and take up a Business course in the polytechnic. Before she starts her school term next year, she will work part-time at a childcare centre, and I distinctly remember during the first three months when I asked the students about their ambitions and dreams, she said she wanted to open a childcare centre. I think she has guts to break away now, and in a way, losing the time spent this year in school, in order to pursue the path she is really keen on. I told her she has my support, because I have always told my students that it is more important to know what you want to do next time in life, and work towards it. Now I have an example to quote. Heh.
I think Ps Khong's message last Sunday about church beginning on Monday, and that we should pray for open doors every day is really powerful. When I prayed that, today I saw results that shocked me utterly. Two of my students asked me, out of nowhere, whether they can join me for service this coming Sunday. To me, such initiative is quite unprecedented. Wow...what can I say? God works wonders.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
I didn't do much yesterday, except work on my little gaming project. Until 3 am, that is.
After my lessons ended early today, I grabbed a quick lunch, and went down to look for Tagore Lane. When I called the company, the person said that they don't have stock of Dead or Alive 4, so I requested to change to another game Enchanted Arms. I took a 40 min bus ride from school to Funan, rushed to the shop that seems to sell games somewhat cheaper than market rate, grabbed a new copy of Dead or Alive 4, and a 20 GB harddrive (Microsoft apparently wants to earn through all the accessories and peripherals too), then caught a bus down to Bugis to change to 980.
And where was Tagore Lane? Off Upper Thomson road, close to Yio Chu Kang. To me, that means ulu.
That bus ride took another 45 min. All the time wasted, and bus fare, just to replace a game that was defective, and it's not even my fault or anything. Bleah. I got off from the bus, saw Tagore Lane right opposite, and I thought that it wasn't that far off. Until I started walking and realized Tagore Lane is super long. It's one big U-shaped road, with many branches (all named Tagore Lane, incidentally). Because the road houses warehouses, the distance between each consecutive building is very far. Fortunately, the guy there just swapped the game for me without much delay or red tape, else I think I would be one irritated consumer.
After my lessons ended early today, I grabbed a quick lunch, and went down to look for Tagore Lane. When I called the company, the person said that they don't have stock of Dead or Alive 4, so I requested to change to another game Enchanted Arms. I took a 40 min bus ride from school to Funan, rushed to the shop that seems to sell games somewhat cheaper than market rate, grabbed a new copy of Dead or Alive 4, and a 20 GB harddrive (Microsoft apparently wants to earn through all the accessories and peripherals too), then caught a bus down to Bugis to change to 980.
And where was Tagore Lane? Off Upper Thomson road, close to Yio Chu Kang. To me, that means ulu.
That bus ride took another 45 min. All the time wasted, and bus fare, just to replace a game that was defective, and it's not even my fault or anything. Bleah. I got off from the bus, saw Tagore Lane right opposite, and I thought that it wasn't that far off. Until I started walking and realized Tagore Lane is super long. It's one big U-shaped road, with many branches (all named Tagore Lane, incidentally). Because the road houses warehouses, the distance between each consecutive building is very far. Fortunately, the guy there just swapped the game for me without much delay or red tape, else I think I would be one irritated consumer.
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Sat 9 Sep
I went to sing karaoke with my gf and her good friend, Angeline, in the late morning. It was another friendster moment when, through small talk, I found out that Angeline knew a good church friend of mine, and they were good friends at that. I haven't been to sing karaoke for a while already, so this was quite enjoyable. Too bad I had to leave early to meet my cell brother Collin.
After meeting Collin, I went to join my gf at Funan. She's collecting her Xbox 360 today! It was one heck of a long queue at the Starhub Service Hub, and we waited close to 45 min before reaching our turn. The box appeared small, but it was unbelievably heavy. Happily I went to take a cab to reach home earlier, only to find out that with the price revision recently, now there's a $1 surcharge for taking a cab in the city area, and that Comfort cab charges peak hour surcharge on Saturday too! So I boarded the cab $5.50 poorer right away. Bleah.
I set up the whole thing excitedly, and then I find out that my Dead or Alive 4 doesn't work! Argh. I bought the game at the Comex, and the disc was heavily scratched to begin with. Unfortunately I just threw away the receipt while clearing some rubbish, and my gf dug through her wallet to find her credit card receipts; she had paid for me first because there was some promotion with her UOB credit card. Anyway, to her surprise, despite clearing her wallet of old receipts recently, she somehow didn't throw away this one. Come Monday, I'll call up the company and ask if I can get a new one. The troublesome thing is that the company is a wholesaler, so it has no storefront. Where in the world is their warehouse in Tagore Lane? Note to self: next time during Comex or Sitex, don't buy from wholesalers and distributors. Just in case. I was glad to find out that my gf enjoys racing games though, so we can play together. Ridge Racer 6 is cool, by the way.
Just when I thought Xbox 360 finally became generous because it now can play DVDs without purchasing any add-ons, I realized that I cannot save my game on it without a memory card or Xbox 360 harddrive. How many other ways do they have to squeeze out more consumer money I wonder? That fact irritates me to no end. Couldn't they have spelled it out on the box cover or something that I needed to buy a memory device? Now I have to make another trip just to get one. Suddenly that Xbox 360 doesn't look so free of charge anymore. Darn. I'm contributing to Bill Gate's millions in his pocket.
Sun 10 Sep
Today's service message packed a great oomph in it, although the service ended rather late. After service and cell group, my gf and I headed down to Hall 5 to check out the Food Fest. I don't know about food proper, but we bought a ton of snacks, tidbits, and ice cream. The place was packed out, though not as crowded as Comex was. Actually, I think a desperately hungry and poor person could have popped in here, and gotten sufficiently full on just the samples if he knew his way around. Many items were sold much cheaper than in the main stores, so it was worth a look.
On my way home just now, I found litter on the bus floor that was in fact FCBC church bulletins! I don't know which irresponsible person did it, and I think it would be doubly worse if a church member was the guilty one, but I just couldn't stand the idea that my church's name is tarnished because of this, so I picked up all the pieces of paper strewn all over the floor. It is church pride at stake here, and I won't let some litterbug be a poor testimony of the church.
I went to sing karaoke with my gf and her good friend, Angeline, in the late morning. It was another friendster moment when, through small talk, I found out that Angeline knew a good church friend of mine, and they were good friends at that. I haven't been to sing karaoke for a while already, so this was quite enjoyable. Too bad I had to leave early to meet my cell brother Collin.
After meeting Collin, I went to join my gf at Funan. She's collecting her Xbox 360 today! It was one heck of a long queue at the Starhub Service Hub, and we waited close to 45 min before reaching our turn. The box appeared small, but it was unbelievably heavy. Happily I went to take a cab to reach home earlier, only to find out that with the price revision recently, now there's a $1 surcharge for taking a cab in the city area, and that Comfort cab charges peak hour surcharge on Saturday too! So I boarded the cab $5.50 poorer right away. Bleah.
I set up the whole thing excitedly, and then I find out that my Dead or Alive 4 doesn't work! Argh. I bought the game at the Comex, and the disc was heavily scratched to begin with. Unfortunately I just threw away the receipt while clearing some rubbish, and my gf dug through her wallet to find her credit card receipts; she had paid for me first because there was some promotion with her UOB credit card. Anyway, to her surprise, despite clearing her wallet of old receipts recently, she somehow didn't throw away this one. Come Monday, I'll call up the company and ask if I can get a new one. The troublesome thing is that the company is a wholesaler, so it has no storefront. Where in the world is their warehouse in Tagore Lane? Note to self: next time during Comex or Sitex, don't buy from wholesalers and distributors. Just in case. I was glad to find out that my gf enjoys racing games though, so we can play together. Ridge Racer 6 is cool, by the way.
Just when I thought Xbox 360 finally became generous because it now can play DVDs without purchasing any add-ons, I realized that I cannot save my game on it without a memory card or Xbox 360 harddrive. How many other ways do they have to squeeze out more consumer money I wonder? That fact irritates me to no end. Couldn't they have spelled it out on the box cover or something that I needed to buy a memory device? Now I have to make another trip just to get one. Suddenly that Xbox 360 doesn't look so free of charge anymore. Darn. I'm contributing to Bill Gate's millions in his pocket.
Sun 10 Sep
Today's service message packed a great oomph in it, although the service ended rather late. After service and cell group, my gf and I headed down to Hall 5 to check out the Food Fest. I don't know about food proper, but we bought a ton of snacks, tidbits, and ice cream. The place was packed out, though not as crowded as Comex was. Actually, I think a desperately hungry and poor person could have popped in here, and gotten sufficiently full on just the samples if he knew his way around. Many items were sold much cheaper than in the main stores, so it was worth a look.
On my way home just now, I found litter on the bus floor that was in fact FCBC church bulletins! I don't know which irresponsible person did it, and I think it would be doubly worse if a church member was the guilty one, but I just couldn't stand the idea that my church's name is tarnished because of this, so I picked up all the pieces of paper strewn all over the floor. It is church pride at stake here, and I won't let some litterbug be a poor testimony of the church.
Friday, September 08, 2006
A four-day post...
Tue 5 Sep
Highlight of the day - playing pool! The pool outing turned out pretty interesting; originally, I had only asked shups! to play pool, and thinking that J should be free nowadays, I asked him along. Shups!' network pastor and her pastor's husband (Ps Jeff) then came along to join us, because she wanted to catch up with shups! and Ps Jeff can play pool with us. Then Ps Jeff's spiritual son, a common friend of mine and shups!, came to join us as well. My gf was having a chitchat session with her cell leader in the area, so after they were done, they came down together with another friend and opened another table to train the newbies. From 2 to 9 unexpectedly.
I played average today. The strange thing though is that J observed that I play a lot better after shups! left, and he thinks she is my bane at pool. Hmmm. Anyway, it's still hard to beat J even when I am playing a lot better.
By the way, did anyone else notice that everyday in the news, it's either about Subutex, or the dao bian situation in Taiwan?
Wed 6 Sep
I had remedial in the morning in school, and I think only half the class turned up. Fortunately, most had valid reasons to be absent. After lunch, I resumed with a make-up lesson. This is the first time my class is doing group work, in a more problem-based approach. A few were quite frustrated by the process, but I think another few caught on to the spirit of the style pretty well and seemed to like it. Let's see how things turn out after this topic is over and done with.
After I was done in school, I went home for dinner, and then went down to Leaders' Meeting. Ps Eugene shared quite a few exciting things about the coming year, and my network pastor also, but after the meeting was over, I tried to rush home to pack my bag for tomorrow.
Keyword: 'tried'. In the end, I waited 25 min for a bus to come to take me home on a 21 min journey. Bleah.
Thu 7 Sep
I woke up at 5.30 in the morning, and met my colleagues at 6.30 am at Lavender. 12 of us were heading to the kelong in Sibu (I think that's the place...not 100% sure). We took a 4-hour mini-bus ride up to the jetty, and another half an hour to take a ferry to the kelong, which is right smack in the middle of the sea. Here's a shot of the kelong from outside.
We didn't quite know what to expect, so we were initially a little surprised to find that there are no rooms at all, or some enclosed hall. It's all one big open space, dormitory style. Here's a shot of our sleeping area.
The ladies slept on the left stretch, and the gentlemen on the right side. Although there were mattresses supplied, most of us didn't use them because they didn't look particularly clean. When we reached the place it was about 11 am, and they told us that lunch was at 12, so we quickly appropriated the mahjong table and brought it over to our sleeping area. We managed to play for some time till the afternoon actually. Odd that we would be playing mahjong at the kelong, but we had reasons. Firstly there weren't enough fishing rods to go around, and we weren't that keen on fishing to go rent for ourselves. Secondly, the sun was blazing hot, so we took shelter. Thirdly, many of us went on this trip as a getaway, and to hang out with one another, and not so much to fish. In any case, later in the evening, I tried my hand at fishing.
Personally, I think fishing is quite cruel, specifically for the cases where people catch the fish, unhook them, and throw them back into the water. The fish would just slowly bleed to death that way. Imagine if I pierced a hook through your mouth and neck, take it out, then throw you into the water. Hmm. Furthermore, I think fishing is too passive a game. I want action and engagement. To me, throwing the line out and waiting isn't very engaging. In the same way, I think I would be bored by golf if I were to play it. Whack a ball and spend most of the time travelling to where your ball is. I tried fishing only to prove to myself that I won't like it. And I didn't. I cast the line three times in total only. I thought I at least was sensitive enough to feel the fish biting, but I just couldn't manage to hook the fish. And in all three times, the fish manage to get the bait safely without getting caught. Ah well.
The food served there was not too bad, but I guess we expected better quality seafood for a kelong, and they didn't have it. My guess is that the fish they cooked for us was kept for a while in the fridge, and may not be a recent catch. In general though, the food was good enough, and definitely way better than the seafood we ate in Batam last time round on recommendation of our cab driver.
In the evening, we were playing a game called Mafia. It's a bit like Murderer (the winking game), only more sophisticated. Anyway, the two Mafia gangleaders were supposed to be assigned randomly, and the two policemen roles, as well as the general public, were supposed to capture the 'murderous' Mafia in order to win. For the first two games, coincidentally, the role of Mafia fell to one colleague twice, and here's a shot of what he wore.
What a classic. YEP stands for Youth Expedition Project, but in the light of the game, his t-shirt looks like it reads 'Yep. Did it.' as guilty admission to the 'crimes'.
At night, we continued mahjong till 3 am before we went to sleep.
Fri 8 Sep
I woke up at 5 am because it was ridiculously cold. Now the whole kelong is naturally ventillated, and we thought it might be warm. Once it was approaching the hours before dawn, the wind was so chilly it was colder than air-conditioning. I am afraid of heat than cold, but even then, I fled and moved to the upper beds above where the ladies slept. At least over there, some canvas blinds blocked part of the wind. I woke up again at 7 am to have breakfast, and here's a shot of us at the table.
We managed to squeeze in a final few rounds of mahjong, and at the end of it all, I walked away having earned about a third of the cost of the trip back. But one third of the winnings came from my gf, so I didn't claim that part. Except for last night's game in which I walked away earning and losing nothing exactly, the other two games I won the other three players totally. Anyway the winnings had to cover for the cab fare I need in order to rush down to the Masters' course tutorial a short while after I reached home. Otherwise, I would have wanted to drop off to shop at Johor Baru.
I enjoyed the trip. There was good company, fun, relaxation, and winning at mahjong. What more can I ask for?
Tue 5 Sep
Highlight of the day - playing pool! The pool outing turned out pretty interesting; originally, I had only asked shups! to play pool, and thinking that J should be free nowadays, I asked him along. Shups!' network pastor and her pastor's husband (Ps Jeff) then came along to join us, because she wanted to catch up with shups! and Ps Jeff can play pool with us. Then Ps Jeff's spiritual son, a common friend of mine and shups!, came to join us as well. My gf was having a chitchat session with her cell leader in the area, so after they were done, they came down together with another friend and opened another table to train the newbies. From 2 to 9 unexpectedly.
I played average today. The strange thing though is that J observed that I play a lot better after shups! left, and he thinks she is my bane at pool. Hmmm. Anyway, it's still hard to beat J even when I am playing a lot better.
By the way, did anyone else notice that everyday in the news, it's either about Subutex, or the dao bian situation in Taiwan?
Wed 6 Sep
I had remedial in the morning in school, and I think only half the class turned up. Fortunately, most had valid reasons to be absent. After lunch, I resumed with a make-up lesson. This is the first time my class is doing group work, in a more problem-based approach. A few were quite frustrated by the process, but I think another few caught on to the spirit of the style pretty well and seemed to like it. Let's see how things turn out after this topic is over and done with.
After I was done in school, I went home for dinner, and then went down to Leaders' Meeting. Ps Eugene shared quite a few exciting things about the coming year, and my network pastor also, but after the meeting was over, I tried to rush home to pack my bag for tomorrow.
Keyword: 'tried'. In the end, I waited 25 min for a bus to come to take me home on a 21 min journey. Bleah.
Thu 7 Sep
I woke up at 5.30 in the morning, and met my colleagues at 6.30 am at Lavender. 12 of us were heading to the kelong in Sibu (I think that's the place...not 100% sure). We took a 4-hour mini-bus ride up to the jetty, and another half an hour to take a ferry to the kelong, which is right smack in the middle of the sea. Here's a shot of the kelong from outside.
We didn't quite know what to expect, so we were initially a little surprised to find that there are no rooms at all, or some enclosed hall. It's all one big open space, dormitory style. Here's a shot of our sleeping area.
The ladies slept on the left stretch, and the gentlemen on the right side. Although there were mattresses supplied, most of us didn't use them because they didn't look particularly clean. When we reached the place it was about 11 am, and they told us that lunch was at 12, so we quickly appropriated the mahjong table and brought it over to our sleeping area. We managed to play for some time till the afternoon actually. Odd that we would be playing mahjong at the kelong, but we had reasons. Firstly there weren't enough fishing rods to go around, and we weren't that keen on fishing to go rent for ourselves. Secondly, the sun was blazing hot, so we took shelter. Thirdly, many of us went on this trip as a getaway, and to hang out with one another, and not so much to fish. In any case, later in the evening, I tried my hand at fishing.
Personally, I think fishing is quite cruel, specifically for the cases where people catch the fish, unhook them, and throw them back into the water. The fish would just slowly bleed to death that way. Imagine if I pierced a hook through your mouth and neck, take it out, then throw you into the water. Hmm. Furthermore, I think fishing is too passive a game. I want action and engagement. To me, throwing the line out and waiting isn't very engaging. In the same way, I think I would be bored by golf if I were to play it. Whack a ball and spend most of the time travelling to where your ball is. I tried fishing only to prove to myself that I won't like it. And I didn't. I cast the line three times in total only. I thought I at least was sensitive enough to feel the fish biting, but I just couldn't manage to hook the fish. And in all three times, the fish manage to get the bait safely without getting caught. Ah well.
The food served there was not too bad, but I guess we expected better quality seafood for a kelong, and they didn't have it. My guess is that the fish they cooked for us was kept for a while in the fridge, and may not be a recent catch. In general though, the food was good enough, and definitely way better than the seafood we ate in Batam last time round on recommendation of our cab driver.
In the evening, we were playing a game called Mafia. It's a bit like Murderer (the winking game), only more sophisticated. Anyway, the two Mafia gangleaders were supposed to be assigned randomly, and the two policemen roles, as well as the general public, were supposed to capture the 'murderous' Mafia in order to win. For the first two games, coincidentally, the role of Mafia fell to one colleague twice, and here's a shot of what he wore.
What a classic. YEP stands for Youth Expedition Project, but in the light of the game, his t-shirt looks like it reads 'Yep. Did it.' as guilty admission to the 'crimes'.
At night, we continued mahjong till 3 am before we went to sleep.
Fri 8 Sep
I woke up at 5 am because it was ridiculously cold. Now the whole kelong is naturally ventillated, and we thought it might be warm. Once it was approaching the hours before dawn, the wind was so chilly it was colder than air-conditioning. I am afraid of heat than cold, but even then, I fled and moved to the upper beds above where the ladies slept. At least over there, some canvas blinds blocked part of the wind. I woke up again at 7 am to have breakfast, and here's a shot of us at the table.
We managed to squeeze in a final few rounds of mahjong, and at the end of it all, I walked away having earned about a third of the cost of the trip back. But one third of the winnings came from my gf, so I didn't claim that part. Except for last night's game in which I walked away earning and losing nothing exactly, the other two games I won the other three players totally. Anyway the winnings had to cover for the cab fare I need in order to rush down to the Masters' course tutorial a short while after I reached home. Otherwise, I would have wanted to drop off to shop at Johor Baru.
I enjoyed the trip. There was good company, fun, relaxation, and winning at mahjong. What more can I ask for?
Monday, September 04, 2006
Today is blood brudder day. Junzhong came over in the afternoon to play XBox for a while, and then drove off to fetch his girlfriend over. Yuren came over soon after, and I was showing him my pugilistic campaign project that I resumed, and we were both excited about it. Once it is done, we shall give it a playtest, and I think I'll send the pdf file over to TSR, Wizards of the Coast, to ask if they want it, and if they don't, give me an open source licence so that I can share it with the world at large for free. Anyway, that is not the main purpose; the main reason is for us to play a new campaign with a modified old system in familiar oriental settings, for nostalgic reasons.
When Zhongming arrived, Yuren brought us to this coffee shop which is very near to my place, where there is a Happy Chef western food stall. Apparently, it has received some accolades and good newspaper reviews, and the owner originally opened a shop in Australia, but decided to come back to Singapore. The western food is superb! I had this chicken kiev, which is a breaded chicken fillet with a centre stuffed with ham and cheese, coated with a special gravy. We also shared breaded mushrooms, which was delicious, and I sampled the chicken chop from Zhongming, which was good too, with an interesting aftertaste that resembles that of rose tea. The pork and fish schnizel were tender and tasted great too. Frankly, I don't think that I am a connoiseur of western food because I don't eat that often, and that I thought almost all western food from coffee shops, food courts or markets taste the same, but this stall proved much better. However, we waited quite a long time for it, even though there wasn't a long queue, primarily because the man before us ordered 8 plates! In any case, according to Yuren, most of the time when it is more crowded, the wait can be very long.
For dessert, we went to Changing Appetites at Marina Square. Even though Yuren maintains that the food there isn't good, we decided that desserts are worth a try. Three of us shared a Viking, which is a serving of 6 big scoops of ice cream. It was so much that we couldn't finish it fast enough and a fair bit of it melted, so we wasted some. The only gripe is that there were too few flavours. The drinks were served in large portions too, reminiscent of NYDC's elephantcinos (not sure if I got the spelling right...). Apparently, the dessert was better than the main dishes.
We wanted to hang out, but couldn't decide on a place. Eventually we ended up in a golf driving range off Tanjong Rhu, on Junzhong's girlfriend's request. We hung around there for a while, enjoying the strong wind, and watching various people tee off, many of whom seemed amateurish. No matter how I look at it, I can't see the pleasure of whacking a ball that way. I think I'll stick to pool still.
On our way back, Yuren and I were thumbing through the pages of a backdated issue of FHM in Junzhong's car, and when we reached the section on the Girl Next Door contest, I saw my graduated student in there, clothed in a bikini! I don't know how to describe the feeling, but it was a mix of shock and outrage, and I think it felt like (I'm guessing here) a father discovering the daughter doing something behind his back that seemed scandalous. It felt surreal. At that point I realized that if I had a daughter, I think I'll be one of those super protective fathers who will make sure she is properly covered up, and warn her that men have only one thing on their minds.
When Zhongming arrived, Yuren brought us to this coffee shop which is very near to my place, where there is a Happy Chef western food stall. Apparently, it has received some accolades and good newspaper reviews, and the owner originally opened a shop in Australia, but decided to come back to Singapore. The western food is superb! I had this chicken kiev, which is a breaded chicken fillet with a centre stuffed with ham and cheese, coated with a special gravy. We also shared breaded mushrooms, which was delicious, and I sampled the chicken chop from Zhongming, which was good too, with an interesting aftertaste that resembles that of rose tea. The pork and fish schnizel were tender and tasted great too. Frankly, I don't think that I am a connoiseur of western food because I don't eat that often, and that I thought almost all western food from coffee shops, food courts or markets taste the same, but this stall proved much better. However, we waited quite a long time for it, even though there wasn't a long queue, primarily because the man before us ordered 8 plates! In any case, according to Yuren, most of the time when it is more crowded, the wait can be very long.
For dessert, we went to Changing Appetites at Marina Square. Even though Yuren maintains that the food there isn't good, we decided that desserts are worth a try. Three of us shared a Viking, which is a serving of 6 big scoops of ice cream. It was so much that we couldn't finish it fast enough and a fair bit of it melted, so we wasted some. The only gripe is that there were too few flavours. The drinks were served in large portions too, reminiscent of NYDC's elephantcinos (not sure if I got the spelling right...). Apparently, the dessert was better than the main dishes.
We wanted to hang out, but couldn't decide on a place. Eventually we ended up in a golf driving range off Tanjong Rhu, on Junzhong's girlfriend's request. We hung around there for a while, enjoying the strong wind, and watching various people tee off, many of whom seemed amateurish. No matter how I look at it, I can't see the pleasure of whacking a ball that way. I think I'll stick to pool still.
On our way back, Yuren and I were thumbing through the pages of a backdated issue of FHM in Junzhong's car, and when we reached the section on the Girl Next Door contest, I saw my graduated student in there, clothed in a bikini! I don't know how to describe the feeling, but it was a mix of shock and outrage, and I think it felt like (I'm guessing here) a father discovering the daughter doing something behind his back that seemed scandalous. It felt surreal. At that point I realized that if I had a daughter, I think I'll be one of those super protective fathers who will make sure she is properly covered up, and warn her that men have only one thing on their minds.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Sat 2 Sep
I went with my gf to her good friend's housewarming (of sorts) in the afternoon. The best thing is that her good friend's house is just a stone's throw away from my place - at most a 3 min walk! It is an old building of almost 25 years, but they did up the interior decor pretty well. It's one of the older 5-room flats, so it is quite spacious (122 square metres). I shudder to think of the cost involved in getting a flat; their renovation came up to about $40000, which is in fact reasonable for the size of the flat, but still, that's a lot of money. Man, my whole four years of university education doesn't even cost that much.
We had sushi and sashimi from Sakuraya Fish Mart, which tasted excellent. It definitely beats Sakae and Suki Sushi any day. We also ordered pizza from Pizza Hut. The cheesy bites thing looks odd, and I find that the cheese tastes weird. There seems to be a mix of two or three types of cheese in there, and I find one of them having a too-distinct taste that doesn't sit well with me. After the meal, we had mochi for dessert, and a slice of cake as well, as it was a birthday celebration for one of the girls too, supplemented by some red wine. A relaxing time, spent in good company.
Sun 3 Sep
My mum called me and summoned me home in the afternoon after service as she was feeling giddy and unwell. Thank God she recovered soon enough. One of my boys gave me a nice acrylic paper weight, which he made himself during Design and Technology lessons over the last month. He also called me in the evening to talk about many things, and I thought that was a rare and deep conversation, because he seldom opens up, or rather, he has difficulty expressing himself well more than he doesn't want to. I hope that talks like this would be a more frequent occurence, especially with my other boys as well. I still feel that I don't know each of them well enough - at least not as well as I think I should.
I went with my gf to her good friend's housewarming (of sorts) in the afternoon. The best thing is that her good friend's house is just a stone's throw away from my place - at most a 3 min walk! It is an old building of almost 25 years, but they did up the interior decor pretty well. It's one of the older 5-room flats, so it is quite spacious (122 square metres). I shudder to think of the cost involved in getting a flat; their renovation came up to about $40000, which is in fact reasonable for the size of the flat, but still, that's a lot of money. Man, my whole four years of university education doesn't even cost that much.
We had sushi and sashimi from Sakuraya Fish Mart, which tasted excellent. It definitely beats Sakae and Suki Sushi any day. We also ordered pizza from Pizza Hut. The cheesy bites thing looks odd, and I find that the cheese tastes weird. There seems to be a mix of two or three types of cheese in there, and I find one of them having a too-distinct taste that doesn't sit well with me. After the meal, we had mochi for dessert, and a slice of cake as well, as it was a birthday celebration for one of the girls too, supplemented by some red wine. A relaxing time, spent in good company.
Sun 3 Sep
My mum called me and summoned me home in the afternoon after service as she was feeling giddy and unwell. Thank God she recovered soon enough. One of my boys gave me a nice acrylic paper weight, which he made himself during Design and Technology lessons over the last month. He also called me in the evening to talk about many things, and I thought that was a rare and deep conversation, because he seldom opens up, or rather, he has difficulty expressing himself well more than he doesn't want to. I hope that talks like this would be a more frequent occurence, especially with my other boys as well. I still feel that I don't know each of them well enough - at least not as well as I think I should.
Friday, September 01, 2006
God is quite amazing indeed. Yesterday I was blogging about my moodiness, and what God spoke to me about, and in today's National Christian Teachers' Conference, the first speaker, Ps Eugene, echoed exactly what God said to me, so it was like a double affirmation. In his first point, he spoke about God's approval being more important than man's approval, and that God is pleased with what we are doing, which is identical to the first thing God told me yesterday. In his second point, it read 'know that you make a difference', and it is about the privilege we have in serving God in such a calling. This was the second thing that God spoke to me about in affirmation as well. God actually cares enough about my condition to give me the same encouragement twice. Thank you, Lord.
The second speaker was Ps Benny Ho, a preacher whose sermons and lessons I have always enjoyed. Today, he once again picked a passage that I would otherwise have glossed over without noticing anything, and gave it powerful insight. What he shared was extremely enlightening, and I really like his use of History-Makers and Destiny-Shapers to describe teachers. He spoke about the fact that eventually, we all need to reach a stage where we want to find our specific calling, rather than stumble into God's will, so that we can be history makers, and I was wondering, 'But I already know my calling...what now?' Ps Eugene then brought it to an even higher level in the conclusion which really inspired me - as teachers, we are to be History-Maker maker and Destiny-Shaper shaper. I really want to believe by faith that my students in the past, present, and future, will someday be made into History-Makers and Destiny-Shapers for this nation, and that I have a part in it. That is indeed the very crux of why I am teaching in the first place, and I know I am in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. As with past years, the Teachers' Conference never fails to inspire and relight passion.
After the conference, a few of us went out to walk around a bit, since we are in the heart of Orchard already. For lunch, we went to the Rabbit Restaurant in Lucky Plaza. Because of the excellent food during the tea break in Marriott Hotel, as usual, I couldn't eat my usual double set meal portions, and just went for one set meal only. Hmm...I make it sound as if I'm eating very little, but actually, it's more like I usually eat huge portions when I'm there. Standards are good as usual, and we managed to induct another colleague to enjoy the food from this place. We shopped around Takashimaya, and at the toy fair, I found this little cast puzzle stall. My colleague ZH gave me a cast chain puzzle some time ago which got me hooked (that was a level 6 puzzle, the highest level for this cast series), and I decided to get another. I hung around the stall to try the sample puzzles. I solved a level 3 one fairly quickly, and the girl attending to me seemed a little surprised. I then solved a level 5 puzzle right there, and the guy who attended to me next looked rather shocked. Anyway, I bought a level 6 puzzle, only to solve it rather quickly. Darn. I need to get the other two level 6 puzzles - cast enigma and cast elk.
We ended up in Heeren to do some shopping, and stopped by Graffiti cafe for a drink. I've never thought much of the place, because it stands out like a sore thumb selling food among a few dozen retail shops. Today in particular, there was a powerful fragrance of wanton noodles, and we decided to try this Pontian Wanton Noodles speciality. My gf and I shared one bowl to sample, and found that it was excellent! The noodles were fine, the soup base was good, and the fried wanton was crispy and delicious. The char siew was tasty too, and the ketchup they used has a characteristic taste that I really enjoy because it is reminiscent of what I used to eat almost daily when I was in primary. In the end, we bought another bowl. $3.30 for the 'upsized' portion in Orchard area to me was quite cheap, and for the quality, it was worth it. Good stuff, unexpectedly.
We headed down to Marina Square eventually, only to notice the super bright white lighting that Suntec now has. I can only imagine how much money Singapore has invested for hosting IMF. I managed to find a nice three-quarters from ebase for men, at 70% off! Let me try to keep up my streak of good and cheap purchases...
The second speaker was Ps Benny Ho, a preacher whose sermons and lessons I have always enjoyed. Today, he once again picked a passage that I would otherwise have glossed over without noticing anything, and gave it powerful insight. What he shared was extremely enlightening, and I really like his use of History-Makers and Destiny-Shapers to describe teachers. He spoke about the fact that eventually, we all need to reach a stage where we want to find our specific calling, rather than stumble into God's will, so that we can be history makers, and I was wondering, 'But I already know my calling...what now?' Ps Eugene then brought it to an even higher level in the conclusion which really inspired me - as teachers, we are to be History-Maker maker and Destiny-Shaper shaper. I really want to believe by faith that my students in the past, present, and future, will someday be made into History-Makers and Destiny-Shapers for this nation, and that I have a part in it. That is indeed the very crux of why I am teaching in the first place, and I know I am in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. As with past years, the Teachers' Conference never fails to inspire and relight passion.
After the conference, a few of us went out to walk around a bit, since we are in the heart of Orchard already. For lunch, we went to the Rabbit Restaurant in Lucky Plaza. Because of the excellent food during the tea break in Marriott Hotel, as usual, I couldn't eat my usual double set meal portions, and just went for one set meal only. Hmm...I make it sound as if I'm eating very little, but actually, it's more like I usually eat huge portions when I'm there. Standards are good as usual, and we managed to induct another colleague to enjoy the food from this place. We shopped around Takashimaya, and at the toy fair, I found this little cast puzzle stall. My colleague ZH gave me a cast chain puzzle some time ago which got me hooked (that was a level 6 puzzle, the highest level for this cast series), and I decided to get another. I hung around the stall to try the sample puzzles. I solved a level 3 one fairly quickly, and the girl attending to me seemed a little surprised. I then solved a level 5 puzzle right there, and the guy who attended to me next looked rather shocked. Anyway, I bought a level 6 puzzle, only to solve it rather quickly. Darn. I need to get the other two level 6 puzzles - cast enigma and cast elk.
We ended up in Heeren to do some shopping, and stopped by Graffiti cafe for a drink. I've never thought much of the place, because it stands out like a sore thumb selling food among a few dozen retail shops. Today in particular, there was a powerful fragrance of wanton noodles, and we decided to try this Pontian Wanton Noodles speciality. My gf and I shared one bowl to sample, and found that it was excellent! The noodles were fine, the soup base was good, and the fried wanton was crispy and delicious. The char siew was tasty too, and the ketchup they used has a characteristic taste that I really enjoy because it is reminiscent of what I used to eat almost daily when I was in primary. In the end, we bought another bowl. $3.30 for the 'upsized' portion in Orchard area to me was quite cheap, and for the quality, it was worth it. Good stuff, unexpectedly.
We headed down to Marina Square eventually, only to notice the super bright white lighting that Suntec now has. I can only imagine how much money Singapore has invested for hosting IMF. I managed to find a nice three-quarters from ebase for men, at 70% off! Let me try to keep up my streak of good and cheap purchases...
