Of Chelet, Heroes and Vesak Day

Well, Game One just ended. My HQ breathe a sigh of relief and a round of 'Banzai' was heard across the darkened parade square as we gladly handed over our stuff to the incoming HQ. Tomorrow's our turn to be the Executing Units and OPFOR...things should look pretty interesting from the other side of the 'curtain'. I grew a bit pensive as I reflected upon the enormity of what we are doing. Our jubilation at capturing our objectives was tempered by a big, fat red 'X' over a company of mechanised infantry to indicate the loss of that company to hostile fire. My DS pointed out that in an actual situation, 133 funerals will be held at the void decks of HDB blocks across the island...And as operations got underway, constant reports were streaming in from the fighting at CHELET with the number of KIAs and WIAs. And as I received those reports, I took a moment to reflect what it would mean in 'real' life...One KIA meant a wife whose husband will never again walk through the front door and kissing her, one KIA meant a girl whose father will never again lift her up and hugging her with all his might, one KIA meant a mother whose son will never again kiss her hand when they meet...Some of the skills I train to the greatest of proficiency I hope that I will NEVER have to use ...that is the irony in what I do...

On a lighter note, my entire syndicate is getting hooked on "HEROES". Although Season One had just ended in the States, some of those who only heard of the buzz lately are watching them, thanks in part to the culture of 'sharing' we have in the syndicate...ahem...I would rank 'HEROES' the same as 'PRISON BREAK' which just ended Season 2...So, Jefri...I know you're reading this...GO WATCH IT!

Vesak Day is around the corner and although we would have prefered a Friday 'off' or 'self-study' day to further lengthen our much needed one-week break next week, the powers-that-be have decided that Friday will be our After-Action-Review. Oh well...gotta make the best use of Thursday to spend time with the girls...maybe we'll swim in the morning...The First Daughter is already swimming without her floaties! And she loves jumping off the deep end of the pool and swimming back to the side and doing it all over again! Her weekly swimming lessons have certainly shown results! Or maybe it's the 'pulau' blood in her! Even the Second Daughter does not hesistate to put on her floaties and swims around without insisting that we follow her every move. But of course, underlying all this is the fact that no matter how good our kids are at swimming, we must NOT take things for granted and take our eyes off them even for a minute... Well, we've almost achieved one of the essential skills in life in the form of swimming...On to cycling next...Nothing like scrapping one's knees to build character!!!

Talk is Gold

I'm at one of my usual hangouts while waiting for the First Daughter to finish her morning ballet class. Long John Silver's is definitely not as crowded as McDonald's on a weekend morning and I come here for its huge bread. Furthermore, Wi-fi access in ALL McDonald's restaurants are temporarily down so it does not really have an edge over LJS now! I checked with one of the managers in McDonald's yesterday at Funan and she said that they are currently upgrading their network and it will last until June.

Anyway, back to my story. I'm sitting near the entrance and to my left are a mother and her son, enjoying their breakfast. And throughout their entire breakfast, there was something missing…yep…they did not say a single word…OK, maybe I'm exaggerating…they did say SOME words but mostly mono-syllabic ones and even then it was only after they had finished eating. And after they had finished eating…guess what…the boy, oh I say he's about pre-teen, whipped out his PS2 started banging away at its pad. His mom gave a cursory interest and then whipped out her Handphone to SMS! I mean, c'mon, they are just sitting face to face…and no real conversation was going on. I'm not one to judge people and I try not to jump the Ladder of Inference but sometimes one can't just help it. Anyway, I try to draw lessons from events that occur around me and I remind myself of the following:-

I. Spending quality time with your kids beats spending quantity. I mean, what's the use of facing your kids for like 2-3 hours but you are not interacting with them?

2. I will NOT give my daughters any handheld gaming devices to shut them up. These 'quick fixes' are only for the short term. And these things dull the mind. And knowing how kids are fascinated with technology and all the bells and whistles it provides, they will get hooked on them! In any case, I take cognizance to the fact that everything must be done in moderation.

3. Keeping your kids meaningfully engaged and occupied is a challenge. But it is something we as parents must always strive to do. I always ask myself why we do the things that we do with the kids. Is it to raise their confidence, is it to train their discipline or is it to raise their social confidence? Keep asking these questions and more and one will find that spending time with the kids more enjoyable and something to look forward to.

From Samar to Amirah

It was decided to hold our next Syndicate makan at Amirah’s Grill. Coincidentally, it is just opposite Samar along Bussorah Street! So this is gonna be more like a restaurant and food review. There are two Amirah’s Grill around that area, the older one being along Pahang Street. It was a cool Tuesday night as we trooped into the quaintly decorated double-storey restaurant at about 1930hrs. Leonard and Gabriel were already there. I had the good fortune to get a parking space right IN FRONT of the restaurant! The rest of the guys were still finding places to park. We were led to the 2nd floor and were seated on a row of chairs. Although much smaller than Samar’s 2nd floor, it was just a tastefully decorated and the ambience was just right for an evening of fun, laughter, catching up and camaraderie. There were 2 cozy corners that can sit about 10 persons each just like Samar’s. There were 2 groups of sofas with one having a television set! We looked through the menu as Lit Lam, Roy, Mei Kheng came in. We were later joined by Kamel, Kenny, Jason, William, Jefri and Chris. Only Sean and Willy can’t make it. There was a good spread of food. From the ‘relatively’ cheap $7.90 fish and chips to Turkish kebabs to $20 butter prawns which had the Navy guys licking their chops! To top that off, there was an option for a set meal at $20 each which included soup, pita and dips (hummus and one more that I can’t remember), a main dish and ice-cream/caramel!! Being typical Singaporeans, the 12 of us obviously went for the $20 set meal! The drinks came soon after we had ordered our meals, unlike Samar’s which took ½ for every request! And they were cheaper too! And came in pots…unlike Samar’s! The 2 dips with baskets of pita and bread soon followed. The dips were nice and had a tangy taste to it and were given in generous amounts. Before we had time to finish them, the main course came! I ordered beef steak (well done, that’s how I liked it), while the rest ordered mostly lamb chops and seafood platter. The 2 accompanying slices of potatoes were crisply done…nice! The steak was delicious and I finished every bit of it! I preferred it to be a bit more well done though. Kamel (our resident fighter pilot), offered me a piece of lamb chop just as I was starting to feel bloated…well, who was I to see good food wasted. We carried on talking for another half hour after the food was finished. Roy picked up the tab (from our Crab Kill bounty but that’s another story!) and we left soon after. A simple evening dinner with good friends…In summary, I would return to Amirah again one day (they even have International Buffet at $9.90+! from 1200hrs to 1600hrs every day!), for its ambience, fast service, good and cheap food…

The day after...

I'm at my usual spot @ McCafe United Square. Drinking my normal mocha latte...With a New York cheesecake...The sign at the counter states that the "Wi-Fi access is temporarily unavailable in this restaurant"...but I was fortunate enough that United Square has its own high-speed wireless broadband internet access...Gotta fetch the First Daughter in 7 minutes time so I'll make this quick...

The Samar Gathering came and gone. It was a huge success! 23 people came include the "budak"...("Oi! I'm not a budak lah...you are the budak!")...2 surprises were sprang and I can safely say that those at the receiving end of the surprises were caught off-guard...

Oh...I will include more later but I would like to thank all those who made time to come and enjoy each other's company...I would like to thank Boboy and Yati for collecting the 3 ice-cream cakes from Swensen's Bugis Junction, I would like to thank Rina for making the initial booking and inviting the rest, I would like to thank the other 5 dads who were there to lend support to the first suprise! And I would like to thank all those who I'm sure were cringing when I announced the start of the "Bear Game" but were obliged to play because they can't really run anyway, and they played anyway. And last but certainly not the least, I would like to thank my BH for being there and for being such a wonderful mother to our two princesses...Maldives here we come!

Samar Surprise...

Well, tonight's the night...there'll be more than a few surprises for the guests...last count is 26! Will update tomorrow!!!