The Magic Faraway Tree

I grew up on books by Enid Blyton (interestingly, I always thought the author's name was Gnid Blyton...yah what, just look at the name on the book cover!), books like The Famous Five (interestingly, there were five of us cousins who used to hang out together during the school holidays. Boys around my age. And we used to think we were the Famous Five and had great adventures together! We even had a tree house somewhere in Telok Blangah Hill...but that's fodder for another story ok?) and of course The Magic Faraway Tree. I loved the Magic Faraway Tree and would eagerly 'devour' each installment! Of late I had been regaling the FD with tales from the Faraway Tree complete with characters whom I have grown up with (with help of sites like these of course!). But since my Enid Blyton books are long gone (wonder what happened to them?) and I can't seem to find any copies of it on the net, I had to make up the stories as I went along. Every night for bedtime story, I would crack my head to come up with different lands that 'visits' the Faraway Tree...places like "The Land of Do-As-You-Please", "The Land of Magic", "The Upside Down Land", "The Land of the Little People" and "The Land of the Giants"!!! And I would try to end each session with a 'cliff-hanger' so that the FD will keep asking for more! So she has grown familiar with Joe, Beth, Frannie, Moonface and many other such characters. But nothing beats getting hold of the actual books and I have been searching for it ever since. I asked Popular but it was out of stock. Even Borders. I even tried eBay Singapore but no joy. I tried Borders UK and hit jackpot! But they only deliver to a local address...so, since I have cousins visiting there now (they should be back anytime soon right?), I thought, what the heck, see if they can accept the delivery at whatever address they are staying. I'll settle the rest, no worries. So I emailed them more than a week ago. But I waited like fruit-never-fall! Maybe they're busy with the wedding. Never mind. Where there's a will, there's a way right?!

So just now, since I got back slightly early from work, we decided to get the SD a new swim wear just like her sister's. The one that is long-sleeved so that she won't turn blue during her swimming lessons that she's starting next week! So we trudged down to Tanglin Mall to the swim shop there to get her a blue size 6 suit. Looks kinda big but we're pragmatic! Not cheap I tell ya...I don't have shirts that expensive!! But her sister's had lasted this long so it's worth it! We then headed to Far East Plaza to break fast at Ramen Ten and also because there's a second hand bookshop we wanna check out. After booking a place at Ramen Ten we went to Sunny Bookshop on the 4th floor. I asked the man there to direct me to books by Enid Blyton. There was disappointingly a few books by her but I when looked closer, I found the book that I was looking for!!! And it was a 3-in-1 special, as thick as JRR Tolkien's books! The 4 of us gave a collective cheer of delight!!! Yay!!! I've been re-united with a long lost 'friend' and Kakak will finally get to read what I've read many many many moons ago...

We're going digital, sir!

Ah...it's 'official' at last! The actual uniform came out in the Straits Times today. Front page no less! It was reported in the Straits Times a few weeks ago but I guess they couldn't get hold of the actual attire then so they just showed the ones used by the US Military. A more detailed report is carried by CyberPioneer.

During exercises, I've seen some personnel wearing it as part of T&E (Trial & Evaluation). All I can say is that it takes some getting use to! 

Oh, I'm not saying I'm 'old' or anything but I've been in uniform since the 'Temasek Green' era! (The one shown in the extreme right) But that was during my NCC days! There was a transition to the then 'new' camouflaged No.4 when I was in Sec 4, I think. It seems that I'll have a chance to wear all 3 generations of uniforms! In any case, we are all eagerly waiting for the 'digital' uniform  to roll out. Expect to see me in it by early next year!

Nokia Internet Radio

I've been a subscriber to Singtel's Broadband on Mobile for a couple of months now. At 22 bucks a month, I get a 50GB download limit (which I don't think is easy to burst if all one does is checking email and surf the occasional blog) and the ability to surf the net from anyway in Singapore, even in the field! With a single push of my mail button on my Nokia E51, I get to check my email. Updating Facebook Mobile is a matter of selecting the Explorer icon. But the application I just downloaded makes having a Mobile Broadband all the more worth it! I'm talking about Internet Radio! I've been looking and testing some of these software for quite a while but they didn't quite make the mark. But this particular one works quite well! And with stations from SHOUTcast streaming via my E51, I can now bring my sermons, talks, baroque music, jazz, bossa nova wherever I go! I am now looking for a cable which lets me output audio from my E51 out to any Audio In port. Then I can listen to thousands of stations in my Stream! And even at work...Cool!

Oh, you don't really need a Broadband on Mobile account to receive the stations. As long as you have a WLAN at home (which most people nowadays do), you just tap into your own network and voila! you're in!

Also, give SHOUTcast a try. Search for any stations in the "Search for" box and you'll be presented with the stations that you want. Just click 'Tune In' to listen to the stations!

Enjoy...

That which is measured improves...

Something to share with my brothers and sisters. I stumbled upon the Heartwheel Journal while surfing the Islam Channel. Here's the explanation on its use. If you are someone who always sets goals to achieve a desired outcome, this Journal will certainly help! Happy Journalling...

This life is temporary and we are departing...

For those who thinks that the internet has nothing more to offer than the usual blogs, emails and games, think again!

As I'm typing this at 0420hrs in the morning (time for sahur soon), I've been listening to a 75min podcast on Part 2 of the Incentives of Tauba from Get Islamic Podcasts. I got it from the iTunes Store actually and was led to that website. There are tons of podcasts out there that are beneficial both spiritually and intellectually. As in anything on the internet, you just gotta discern the gems from the flotsam and jetsam. So, here's another use for your MP3 players. Instead of just listening to mindless music on your commute to work, download these podcasts to fill your journey with knowledge!

And something I got for myself during my birthday has opened up another use of my broadband! I can 'receive' up 10,000 radio stations on the internet from 'Holy Quran Radio' in Palestine to 'Bossa Nova Jazz' from Sky.fm to Baroque music from the US. And you don't even need a PC to do it! There's also a ticker-tape like news updates scrolling across the screen. You can subscribe to RSS feeds to sites that you like. I've even subscribed to this blog! It's like the coolest gadget I got for myself this year!

The wife is awake now...preparing for sahur...gotta go soon...something I took away from the sarahan so far is that "this life is temporary and we are departing..." and "work for this world as if you will live forever and work for the hereafter as if you are going to depart tomorrow"...

About the first fast...

The FD tried her hand at fasting since the first day of Ramadhan. She gamely woke up for sahur with us although getting her to wake up at 0445hrs is a bit of a challenge. But she finally did and finished her food in good time. Since it was the school hols, we let her sleep in slightly longer after that. The SD however was wide awake at 7 plus and was wondering why her ibu and kakak were still sleeping! The wife told me later that when adik was having her breakfast of toasted bread, kakak wanted to have some but she endured after she was reminded that she was fasting. Well, she finally broke fast at about 1300hrs and I congratulated her on her 'first' puasa! Anyway, she had a swimming lesson shortly after that so it was just as well she broke her fast... Yesterday, (yes, yes, it's really 0338hrs on Wednesday morning!) she did the same thing but it was slightly easier to wake her up for sahur since she slept at about 2100hrs. Again she broke fast at about 1300hrs. She had another swimming lesson too. Come to think of it, she's eating more when fasting than not! Sahur she eats a lot, she eats her lunch when she breaks fast and then her regular dinner with us! So, no worries Nyai, your first grand-daughter will certainly put on weight!!!

Ah...as always, one of my goals for Ramadhan is to lose weight. It's always an opportune time to do it...if not now, when? Last year I managed to reach my goal of weighing below 70kg even though it happened the day before Idul Fitri! But the thing about losing weight is that it's easy to do but to maintain it at a particular level is the hard part! Well for this year, I aim to lose 5kg! Yes, 5kg... Always aim high right!? For the record, when I weighed myself on 1st Ramadhan (how convenient it is that 1st Ramadhan coincides with the first day of the month! Makes for easier counting!), my weight was 73.5kg. It has been constant for the past few months. Last year's average weight was 75kg. Must be the 1, 3, 5 thingy that has been a part of many Army personnel's life since it's implementation! I'm referring to our Healthy Lifestyle programme that has been on-going. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we have our PT at 0730hrs till 0930hrs. It was a pain when it was first implemented. But that is the nature of change right? Once one gets used to it, one wonders what the big deal was in the first place!?!? That and training for both the Sundown Marathon and Army Half Marathon helped to keep the weight in check! So, the aim is not only to lose 5kg but to maintain it as such!