My Muse

8 years on

2010-04-15T22:19:00.000+08:00

After 8 years, I am finally hanging up my aiguillette! I'm gonna miss the familiar grounds of the Istana, with its landscaped and manicured lawns, the white interiors in its resplendent glory. I'm gonna miss changing at the ADC's room, going up to Mrs Kwan's office to see her, having a quick bite at the canteen before duties. But most of all, I'm going to miss the camaraderie with people who have walked the path with me, the guys and gals from the SPF, SCDF, MFA and of course my brothers and sisters-in-arms across the 3 services. I've enjoyed the ride guys! Adieu... Till the next ADC Open House! :)

I was in and now I'm no more!

2010-03-23T19:05:00.001+08:00

LOL! I was reading my brother’s blog to kill time while waiting for my flight out of Suvarnabhumi (that word took me quite a while to memorise!) Airport when I realised that my blog has been taken out from his links! Due to inactivity caused, according to him, Facebook and Twitter! And I gotta agree with him on that! I’ve not been updating my blog regularly. And for me it’s not only Facebook and Twitter. Foursquare, Foyage and a host of other location-based apps are sucking away my blog time! Not only do I not update my blog regularly, I do not even read other blogs with regularity. But come to think of it, with RSS feeds, that could be rectified... anyway... here goes...

It’s been a month away from the family... on my 6th overseas training with my current unit each lasting an average of about a month. That’s about 6 months worth in my 2 years here! Wow! A quarter of the time I’m away on overseas training! And whenever I’m overseas, my close family always helps out and for that I am thankful. From Abah sending my girls to their classes, to Boboy helping out and sending Mars and the girls for family gatherings, to Mak helping to look after the girls when Mars needs a bit of time out, I know my family can be depended upon. Plans have been set in motion for another big decision that will affect my family and those around me. Watch this space for updates! :)

I came across an article with an interesting phrase the other day that I thought was worth an entry somewhere in the future - “An Ode to the Temporary People in Our Lives”. In my almost 20 years in the Army (has it been THAT long!?), I have come across many, many people and came to know quite a few closely. My trainees, my cadets, my recruits, my men, my commanders. Some became close friends, some just disappear from memory. Some have been indelibly etched in my mind. People who were inspirational, people who motivated me, people who looked up to me, people who I looked up to. Then there were the clowns who would almost always elicit a smile when I thought of them. But none of them are ‘permanent’. I will always remember what my current boss said, “You are in the Army for at most 25 years, but you will be with your family until you die.” (or something to that effect!). When all is said and done, family is still the most important.

The training in Kanchanaburi has been tough both for the umpires and the unit under evaluation. They’re our Special Friends.... if you know what I mean! :) The day’s temperature readings were a killer 40 degrees on average, nights were clammy and the distances to cover were long. The language barrier even with our Thai liaison was an impediment but I’ve managed to pick up a smattering of Thai words to get by. I shall add that to my repertoire of Mandarin, Hokkien, French and Arabic. Shopping in Bangkok and holidays in Krabi and Phuket will never be the same! :) It has been a good experience training in Thailand. I love the rolling mountains and wide open spaces. I have fallen in love with the Mango Sticky Rice found at the night markets in Kanchanaburi Town (or K Town for those who know). I don’t know when I’ll be back training in Thailand but I’ll never forget those that I have met and made me feel at home even though I’m away from home. It certainly was a land of a thousand smiles!

Well, it’s almost boarding time. Even in the airport, I can’t really feel the aircon! Catch you guys some other time...

Congrats my girl!

2010-03-11T14:02:00.001+08:00

We're so proud of our eldest for excelling in both secular and religious schools! Marha marha!

O Australia

2009-11-23T12:53:00.001+08:00

O Australia, we meet you yet again
Far from our loved ones we are here to train
A land of riches, a land of beauty
Far are we from our beloved city

The long winding roads like rivers a'flow
Laden with gravel made the going slow
Gum trees spread out in an endless vista
From the plains to the shores of Sabina

Sunsets so gorgeous they can make one stare
Deep blue orange they are without compare
Bathing the landscape with her glow so bright
The full moon walked with us throughout the night

Skies a deep blue with not a cloud in sight
Skies so clear the stars brighten up the night
Days so hot under the shade we sit tight
Nights so cold the sun our only respite

Kangaroos caught in the cruisers bright light
Wandering wallabies jumping in fright
Ebullient emus escaping the glare
Wild horses and cattle, just stood and stare

Warm sleeping bags cocoon our cold bodies
The sleepless nights turned us into zombies
Cold morning runs on long dusty gravel
The fact that we did it, was a marvel!

From the cool of Sam to the dust of Growl
To buckin' broncos and leopards on the prowl
Chattering chinook and super puma
Unleashed airborne troops onto Atila

And now there are three...

2009-07-25T16:25:00.000+08:00

Before there were two and now there are three
All together as one big family
Atan, Ibrahim and Moha are we
Young or old, together we are happy

Our first game together was just bowling
We had so much fun, it was exciting
Win or lose, first or last, we did not care
What's important was that we were all there!

Slowly but surely...

2009-07-20T14:36:00.000+08:00

I was reading my sister-in-law’s blog about how fast her son is growing. And wishes that he wouldn’t grow up as fast as he is doing right now.

I guess this is what every parent goes through. It IS amazing how fast our kids grow. Sooner and later, we will discover that it is about letting go. Letting our kids grow up. These things creep up on you. Slowly but surely... First they start walking... then they start reading... very soon they start doing things that will further amaze you! As a parent, I know that we will go through different phases as we bring up our kids. And each phase has its own challenges. We were at Kiddy Palace just the other day and as we walked through the bottles and diapers sections I remarked to my BH about how we will no longer go through ‘that’ phase of buying those stuff again...with a tinge of sadness...

Just the other day, our two princesses did a ‘first’. We wanted some cheese to make dinner but it had turned bad (that is another story by itself, right dear!?). So I asked Kakak whether she wanted to go down with Adik to buy some cheese for us and both excitedly said, “Yes!”!!! And so, armed with $10, lots of advice about holding each other’s hands and not running, etc, we sent our girls out to the ‘world’ on their own. Oh, and I gave Kakak a walkie-talkie too! ;) We kept an eagle eye on them as they passed through the fountain area and disappeared into the club house. I had good comms with Kakak all the way. By the time both reached home, both were beaming with joy at their accomplishment!

I went for a talk by David Chiem, CEO of MindChamps at CMPB the other day and one of my take-aways from that very uplifting and inspirational talk was about creating ‘moments’ with your children. It is not so much about spending a lot of time with them, which of course is important, but more of creating ‘moments’ that they will remember for life.

What we practise in our family are ‘moments’ we hope our girls will remember for life. One of these ‘moments’ we picked up was from none other than Obama himself, from an article in the June 09 edition of Reader’s Digest. During dinner, which we insist on everyone sitting at the dining table, we would ‘play’ ‘Highs and Lows’. We take turns describing the highs and lows of our day to the rest. And we will then summarise what the other person has said. It is a very good way for the girls to do their own self-reflection of the day’s events and for us to discuss them further. And it teaches them to listen. They are so used to it now that they look forward to it and can’t wait to tell us their highs-and-lows! Another ‘ritual’ that we do as a family is to have a ‘Games Night’ on one of the weekday nights. Obviously the girls look forward to this and would do their homework, prepare their beds and school bags for the next day before they play the games, which they choose. We play Scrabble Junior, Monopoly Junior, Zingo, etc. I love these games too for it teaches the girls how to follow the rules, play fair, win and lose graciously. Another ritual we do at least once a week is the ‘Reading Night’ where we take turns reading aloud to the rest. This gives the girls confidence to ‘address’ a crowd and of course, to enjoy a good story at the same time! My ‘thing’ with them that I will not fail to do if I’m at home before they go to bed is to read them a chapter of a storybook. This takes about 15mins and they just love it! It gives me the opportunity to explain things to them. Adik will not fail to ask words that she does not know. We have finished the whole series of the Faraway Tree (one of my all time favourite book), a book on the Wishing Chair and many other shorter stories. I’m currently going through “The 7 Habits of Happy Kids” with them, dispensing to them some of life’s lessons at the same time!

Oh and another thing from David’s talk is that parents seldom say how proud they are of their kids. They may love them and say so but there is a difference between loving them and being proud of them. Kids need this encouragement. So, I personally, will always look for opportunities to say how proud I am of my girls. And of course, the recent ‘proud’ moment we had was when Kakak passed her NASSA Bronze Swimming Test. I was heartened by the effort she put in into passing her test. She told me that, “I told myself that I want to pass and that I want to do well!” You go girl! The mind IS an amazing thing...

Here’s a poem to sum up this entry’s topic...

It wasn’t too long ago

It wasn’t too long ago
I held you in my arms
Softly whispering in your ears
Allah’s name and His Greatness

It wasn’t too long ago
I would wake up in the dead of night
To comfort you when you cry
Until you drift off to sleep

It wasn’t too long ago
I would carry you in my arms
And lullaby you to sleep
Exhausted from the day’s play

It wasn’t too long ago
That you couldn’t swim
But now, my princess
Has passed her swimming test!

It wasn’t too long ago
That you couldn’t spell
But now, my princess
Devours books with gusto

It wasn’t too long ago
That you couldn’t play the piano
But now, my princess
Plays it with such confidence

As you go through
The trials and tribulations of life
And its pains and joys
Know that whatever happens
Whatever will be
I will always be there for you
I will always love you...

Effort

2009-07-09T10:17:00.000+08:00

I am only one,
 but still I am one.
 I cannot do everything,
 but still I can something;
 and because I cannot do everything,
 I will not refuse to do something I can do. 

 Edward Everett Hale (1822 – 1909) 
American Author & Clergyman

On Children

2009-07-09T00:59:00.000+08:00

You may give them your love but
not your thoughts,
for they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but
not their souls,
for their souls dwell in the house of
tomorrow, which you cannot visit,
not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but
seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries
with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.

- Khalil Gibran

Sunday morning at The Arts House

2009-06-28T09:29:00.000+08:00

We spent a lovely Sunday morning at The Arts House as the girls had their quarterly art trip there. I didn’t even know there’s such a place as The Arts House! The last time I was around the area was during the launch of the National Family Celebrations at the start of the June school hols! It’s a nice place...full of history...old buildings...

The girls looking very happy to be out and about!

We met the rest at The Arts House and waited for half an hour longer than the expected time. Apparently, quite a few of the other children, or their parents rather, had bailed out as they were ‘sick’! Even two of the teachers can’t make it. No matter. Parents were there to help out. The children were first given a briefing by the founder of the school who irritated me by repeatedly saying, “chewren” so many times! OMG!

The ‘chewren’ listening attentively to the founder of the arts school...

After the short briefing we proceeded to Victoria Concert Hall. The children were to draw the building while seated in the front lawn. Although it was a hot and humid morning, the lush trees fronting the grand old building provided us with shade and the occasional breeze a bit of relief. Being old hands at external arts events, we had brought along out ‘camou’ mat and plonked ourselves under a tree that would provide us with the most shade!

Raffles kept watch over us!

Adik started off by crying because the ‘principal’ approached her and egged her on to start...quite insistently too I might add! Adik is the sort who takes a while to warm up but after she does there’s no stopping her! After she had ‘made’ her cry, the ‘principal’ called Adik’s teacher over to soothe her. Quite persistently so too. So the poor teacher had to stop whatever she was doing to pop over to see what was happening. All the while I was observing all this with much amusement! She ended up helping Adik. She needn’t had done that actually for Adik is quite independent. Kakak on the other hand, had to be ‘encouraged’ to try her best. I did my level best to sketch the building to show her that it’s not too hard after all. A teacher walked past and commented, “Wah! Daddy can draw!”...Duh... Kakak did well too and finished her drawing in time. When it was time to announce the winner for each category, I knew Adik would clinch the top prize as her drawing was the most ‘artistic’! The last time we had the same art trip to the fire-station she was so confident that she would win that I was afraid that she would be disappointed if she didn’t! Surely that’s the quality of a champion! Adik’s I mean...not mine!!! Suffice to say, Adik clinched the top prize in her category for the second time! Kudos to you girl! Although Kakak didn’t win anything, she understood that she had to try harder and that she could do better... Anyway, the important thing was the girls had fun in the process! After drawing, we chased butterflies and took some pictures at the fountain.

In full concentration...

Adik managed to calm down after a while.

Adik and her art teacher, Jasmine

Teaser shot!

2009-06-15T01:00:00.000+08:00

A teaser shot of our latest holiday... ;)

When I was a YSL...

2009-06-04T16:27:00.003+08:00

When I was a YSL
Thinking that life was swell
I would assault up hills with ease
Running up them was such a breeze

I tried to assault up those hills again
But was myself assaulted with pain
My aching legs and heart that burned
Reminded me that I was no longer a Young Second Lieutenant!

Of Facebook, the Army, Education, Journeys & Adventure!

2009-05-15T00:59:00.008+08:00

I blame the dearth in blog updates to - among other things - Facebook! But updating my blog gives me a sense of stepping back and to - quoting from my own favourite quote - stand and stare. Facebook status updates are the quick updates one does to just 'let off steam' but to update here takes more thought and effort, I think. For me, not many know of the existence of this blog so it's somewhat 'private'...as private as a public blog could be I guess...but you know what I mean... Forgive me for my ramblings but I'm at work now (yeah, yeah, it's about 2325hrs on a Friday night) with reports to vet, reports to write and exercises to plan. So just taking a break...

2nd May 2009 was a significant day for me. That was the day I had been in the Army longer than I have not. Geddit? That day, I had served the nation for 18 years 4 months 13 days versus being a civilian for 18 years 4 months 12 days! I'm a sucker for this kind of tracking. I track my talktime, I track my receipts, I track my weight, I track my runs, I track my movement using my GPSr, I track the flight numbers of all the flights I have ever taken, I track flight times, I track distance, etc... Anyway, with today's announcement (actually we knew about it much earlier) that officers are retiring at 50, I would be in the Army for more than 32 years if I choose to retire at 50!!! Wow! Then I would have to be alive for at least another 14 years to beat back the record of being a civilian more than being in the Army...confused? Hah! Told you I just dig this kind of tracking. Anyway, a wise general told us about the 30:20 ratio for long term planning. Meaning that one marries and gets a kid by 30 and by the time one retires at 50, the kid would be 20. In Singapore's context, that would mean finishing tertiary education...

Talking about education...The FD just finished her SA1 just now. Three papers since Wednesday - English, Maths, Mother Tongue. Ha...Mother Tongue! Back in the days, we used to called it 2nd Language but I guess Mother Tongue is more appropriate now! Anyway, being first time parents with a kid facing exams, we were naturally 'excited'! Being Singaporeans, we had naturally scouted for past assessment papers to let her 'practise' all three papers. "Eee...so kiasu one!", some would say...Wait till you have your own kid facing the exams lor...This is called 'bo-pian'. Anyway, we of course try not to pressure her. We encourage her to try her best. We have seen great improvements in her MT. Used to be that she refused to have anything to do with it but kids being kids, when they see their friends do certain things, they don't want to be left out. There's a positive and negative side to it of course but I guess this peer pressure has helped the FD in wanting to improve her MT. Incidentally, I'm amazed at the kinds of material that are provided to support our kids in their educational journey. There's LEAP, there's ROAR, there' Learning Journeys, tons of other supporting materials. It's no wonder that kids are so much smarter these days. Anway, although there are CAs and SAs in place as a benchmark on their progress, to me, the journey is AS if not MORE important than the destination. It's no use if a kid can score high but did not enjoy the learning, and worse, becomes turned off by the whole process. I believe the best form of motivation is self-motivation and the desire to excel and to better oneself. This would put one in good stead throughout life. This, incidentally was what today's khutbah Juma'at was about - delivered in English at Al-Khair Mosque! Take for example, the FD's piano lessons. There were many times when she wanted to give up. But we encouraged her to perservere and to keep on trying. To me it's not so much learning the instrument but the life lessons it would teach her along the way that is more important. And if along the way, she picks up a musical skill, all the better. It was always difficult for her after learning a new piece. But each time I would try to guide her and tell her that what at first may seem difficult would get easier if only she tries harder. And each week when she has mastered a particular piece, she would feel a sense of accomplishment. It got to the point that she would practise on her own just to be better. You can't put a price to that! And she came home one day glowing with pride as she had gotten 3 stars from her piano teacher who said "bagus"! A little bit of praise and motivation can go a long way... So, to all teachers and educators out there reading this (I know at least 2...3 including the husband of one of the 2!), you guys have an important role to play to nurture and inspire the future of our nation! I have played many roles in the course of my career before and hands down the most fulfilling was when I was given the honour and privilege to lead, motivate and inspire my men. To turn them from boys to men. And when I was in OCS as an instructor, to turn civilians to officers who carry themselves with pride, honour and integrity. It wasn't easy but after 10 months of hard training and seeing these cadets standing on the parade square dedicating their lives in defending Singapore in front of the President, it was worth it...and it always brings a lump to my throat.

Next up for the FD is her Madrasah exams. Specifically Sirah and Fiqh. We're helping her revise these two subjects and coming up with mock test papers because obviously we can't find past years' papers of them! I'm coming up with a simple mind map for her complete with colourful pictures to help her remember! Then slowly but surely letting her do her own mindmaps. I use mindmaps for every aspects of my life. Planning events, self-reflection, taking notes, studying, etc. It's very useful for me but may not be for someone else. It's good for quick revision for an upcoming exam or test. I used it for my recent exam on 12th May. My path for this part of my educational journey is almost over! 10 more credits to go! With the SAF encouraging more of its officers to pursue their education, I will go for another degree in another field and may even get a masters. Why am I doing this? Partly for self-actualisation (Maslow's topmost level in the pyramid!), partly to prove that I can do it and partly to inspire my daughters. To show them that learning is live-long. And I've truly enjoyed my learning journey so far...

And someone who has accompanied me on my journeys all along is of course my better half...Among other things, she has accompanied me in my runs. Kudos to you, sayang, for trying your best! We are participating in upcoming local runs as our objective. Nothing like working together towards a common goal... We've also starting playing badminton as a family. Went to Mustapha Centre the other day and bought 4 badminton rackets. We had a raucous time playing near our place that day. Shuttlecock ke mana, racket ke mana. But at least we had fun and a good work-out with the girls! Once the girls are big enough, we'll bring them for runs...Their Nya'i used to be quite the athlete in her Raffles days right Mak?!? :)

Ah, the ATEC Adventure Club (which we coined while waiting for the bumboat back to the mainland from Pulau Ubin, for lack of a better name) had its inaugural trip to Pulau Ubin a while ago. Although it was mainly made up of avid photographers from ATEC, we didn't want to make it seem like a photography outing! It was a good ride all the way to Chek Jawa followed by the tongue-dragging, butt-cramping bash up to the summit. The guys were cursing at me for 'forcing' them to climb all the way up! They left their bikes halfway up while I carried mine (it was a personal one while the rest were rented!) till the top. The view was worth the climb. Over-looking the pristine abandoned quarry... We plan to go to Pengerang, Gunung Ledang and Mount Kinabalu next though not necessarily in that order... There are even plans to go to Bhutan and who knows one day we may even catch a glimpse of the 'roof of the world'...

OK, that's enough updating for now...it's almost 0100hrs... gotta look for the 'kiak-kiak' bed (that's the sound the bed makes when one unfolds it!) to 'koon' soon... gonna collect the race pack for next week's race with the wifey tomorrow! Catch you guys soon...

Far too long...

2009-03-29T21:18:00.000+08:00

As I stand here staring into the distant seas

The simmering lights far below caught my eyes

As I stand here freezing in the cold night breeze

The very thought of you makes me feel nice!

I've been away from you for far too long

Yet my feelings for you are ever so strong

I'm glad that you're in my life

I love you dear, my darling wife

Life So Fragile...

2009-02-21T21:56:00.001+08:00

The fragility of life is once again brought to bear

When a buddy had an unfortunate meeting with fate

On the hills of Lim Chu Kang, we used to sit, stare and share

We were quite close then, both me and my mate

I will always remember the cars he had

His streetwise ways is not easy to forget

His presence lights up any room

Talking to him will chase away any gloom

We used to stare at the stars over Areas A, B and C

Waiting for the NSmen and for time to pass

Over hot drinks we kept each other company

And talked about things that are close to us

Farewell to you my friend

Farewell to you my buddy

My thoughts and prayers are with you

Rest well dear Azmi

Of long queues, shopping and gatherings

2009-01-30T14:46:00.000+08:00

I am ‘writing’ this entry while queuing up at the bank. Having a mobile broadband internet connection makes queuing up a lesser waste of time! I can check the many news sites that I subscribe to, looking up information is a breeze with apps like rednano, plusmo and wapedia (the mobile version of Wikipedia), hooking up with friends via MSN, Yahoo or Google Talk through ebuddy is also not a problem as is religiously checking out FaceBook. Checking out the blogs that I am a fan of is also a breeze. In fact, I don’t queue as often as I did mostly due to the advent of technology. Now one can do virtually everything online whether it’s from the comforts of one’s home or on the move with the many available gadgets around. I remember waiting in queues at the bus stops or even taking long bus or MRT rides and doing most of my readings then. So why am I queuing now? Well, some things you just have to queue at the bank...

I was just talking to another buddy of mine the other day in camp and we shared the same thoughts. Why is it that I tire out easily when going shopping but can last throughout the night going long distances while I am on exercise? Ah, for those who may not know, ‘exercise’ here does not mean exercising one’s body as in going for runs or hitting the gym. Here it means ‘training exercise’...Anyway, this buddy of mine had the same experience as me and I suspect many more of my buddies feel it too! Is it just us men or men in the army in particular?!? I mean, I can walk through the jungle (we don’t usually use the word ‘jungle’ here in Singapore to refer to our training area since they are mostly ex-vegetable plots! But when you talk to ‘civilians’, using the word jungle gives them a better idea! To us, jungle would be like those found in Brunei...now, that’s what I would call a jungle...), anyway, I can walk in the ‘jungle’ throughout the night without sleep and still be fresh in the morning. But once when I hit the concrete jungles of Orchard Road, I like cannot tahan long! Even in the air-con comfort of the malls... Maybe if I put on my jungle hat, carry my tongkat (this is a combination walking and sitting stick that I always carry in the ‘field’. Here again, ‘field’ does not mean the wide open field that people play in. What civilians refer to as the ‘jungle’ here in Singapore, we refer to as the ‘field’. Geddit?) and put on my No.4, I can last longer! Why ah?

There were gatherings galore over the CNY weekend. It started with a BBQ at Nyai Bik As house (now that’s a confusing term for those uninitiated but what to do...In the first place, pangkat si Asiah to me is cousin but since young I’ve been calling her Bik As, then my kids pulak call her Nyai...so...) on Sunday attended by some 35 people! Banyak kan?!?! It was supposed to be something small...just a few trays of food that’s all. But small just don’t dig it with my family. So it became a full blown BBQ with roaring fire, tons of food and games too! Games was requesting by Aqilah for me to organise. A bit last minute for me but I dig last minute! Came up with quite decent games that involved young and old. I hope everyone enjoyed them although I lost my voice a bit. It ended way past mid-night. We even celebrated Cik Lah’s birthday. Cool!

The next gathering happened the next day on Monday. A gathering of cousins and kids at West Coast Park. We participated in the time-honoured camping-at-a-park-during-CNY bit! The plan was to stay overnight but semua macam tak larat gitu. The usual suspects descended upon WCP on a windy, cloudy afternoon sans Boboy and family who wanted to Batam-ised their bundle of bubbly cuteness. As usual, the whole place was full of people since the malls were like ghost towns. Kites dotted the skies, blue tents popped up like mushrooms and the playground was full of kids. We plonked ourselves near the sand pit and the 4 kids plus Dennis the Menace promptly made themselves at home in (and I mean IN!) the sand! There was to be a partial eclipse of the sun but with the cloudy skies, it wasn’t that obvious. Furthermore, the maximum coverage happened at about 1749hrs which was nearly twilight anyway so...not much difference. I think not many people were aware of it anyway! I brought some stuff and we played dodgeball in the sand. It was great fun and everyone got sweaty and sandy. Pak Bonyo and clan came by bearing murtabak! And gamely joined in our next game which was rounders/baseball. You should have seen the Pak Bonyo and Cik Jamilah flying and diving into the sand! Bakat terpendam sey! After that we played Twister, Mentalogy and told ghost stories till about 0100hrs when we wearily trooped back to our cars with sleepy kids in tow!

The last ‘unexpected’ gathering happened the very next day! With the usual suspects. Hai, muka engkau jugak! It was to be a karaoke outing but I suggested karaoke-ing at my place and it was soon flooded with crooning ladies and sleepy babies! The usual tidbits and drinks were prepared and I took out my entire karaoke collection for the guests to sing along to. Ada orang tu mula-mula cakap lagu-lagu untuk orang-orang tua tapi at last nyani those songs jugak! Oh, ada orang Perancis tu dating untuk berenang...tak dengar dia nyanyi pun! Just before going back, sempat jugak si Farah dan Julie main si Wii...berpeluh-peluh di buat nya!

Till the next gathering then guys...

What was the most FUN you had?

2009-01-04T02:20:00.003+08:00

Ok dah…dah lama tak blog ni… Tadi terbaca blog adik ipar aku (aku ada dua adik-ipar, tekalah sape yang blog!) dia kata boring dah pergi blog yang tak updated. So I oso dowan to be like the rest of you who has a blog but don’t update them!

Most people who has not blogged for a while will say things like “a lot has been happening in my life that I have no time to blog” or “hmmm, it’s been a while since I’ve blogged…where to start?” but I’ll try to resist that.

It’s about 0135hrs early Sunday morning…the SD is sleeping at my feet while my BH is to my right. The FD is sleeping soundly in her room. This is the second time the SD has walked to my room after I had sent her back to her room. I’ll carry her again to her room after this…She doesn’t sleep as soundly as her sister…so this walking to my room and me carrying her back to her room goes on every night…I can’t remember the last time I had 7 hours UNINTERRUPTED sleep! So those of you who have younger kids with irregular sleeping habits, good luck if you don’t train them NOW! Anyway, my years of ‘training’ allowed me to sufficiently survive on a minimum of 4 to 5 hours of sleep.

I’ve just gone through with the BH a detailed schedule of our girls’ daily timetable from the time they wake-up till the time they go to bed. From what time they eat breakfast, their rest time, playtime and study time. They will sleep a minimum of 10 hours everyday. The latest bedtime is at 2100hrs EVERYDAY including Saturdays and Sundays. We feel that it is important to have a structure and routine built into their lives. Time management is something one is never too young to learn. Of course we are flexible and will see how they are coping with their schedule. But hey, those who fail to plan, plan to fail right?!?

We crossed a major milestone in our lives as parents. The FD crossed into the realm of primary school 3 days ago. Awww…my little girl…so big already…sometimes I can’t believe that this tall, gangly girl used to be someone I can carry easily in my arms as I cuddle her to sleep…sob…sob… So parents, treasure your kids at EVERY stage of their lives… there’s no going back… that’s part of the reason why I am a stickler (and my BH too) at trying to ‘document’ every significant and not so significant moments my girls have gone through be it in pictures or moving images. I must have taken thousands of photos and many hours of footage of my girls since the day they were born.

When I finally go back to work on Monday, I would have been away from it for 25 days!!! That will be like the longest time I’ve been away from work since I joined the military many, many, many moons ago! “Wah so long ah? So rileks ah?”, some would say. Ah, but one must know the kind of training we have been through the whole year! Many overseas training away from loved ones, many local night training again away from loved ones with little sleep and rest. So, yes, I think we deserved our long break…

It has been a good 3 weeks spent with my loved ones. We believe we have created many happy memories for our girls in those three weeks. And we certainly had lots and lots of fun! Taking care of 5 kids for a few days was fun! A’Famosa, with some 25 of us all there, was fun! Korea was cold…and FUN! Guitar Hero was tiring for the fingers, but FUN! St John’s Island was FUN in the SUN! Spending time with the BH while the girls were taken care of by our parents was FUN! Going for our spa session was fun! Going cycling with the girls was fun! Swimming whenever we could at our pool was fun! Eating our sushis, pizzas, ice-cream, satays, kimchis, etc was FUN! Going ‘prawning’ with the girls was FUN! Playing with my one and only niece and nephew was FUN! Getting shot at and shooting at others during paintball was FUN! Water World with its awesome slides was FUN! Go-karting with the girls and getting oh-so-muddy and dirty was FUN! Playing the wii as a family was FUN! Regaling my girls with tales from the Faraway Tree was FUN! Having a blast at Mind Café was FUN! Most of all, just spending time with the family was the most FUN of all…just being there with them…The simplest pleasures are always the best…

Of Rocky Town and bears!

2008-11-08T08:40:00.000+08:00

Was on the flight back home from Rockhampton the other day. After we had gone through security and were waiting at the boarding gate (it's not really a gate lah, just a place we had to wait before boarding...) we had 2 whole hours before the flight. Hmm... what to do for 2 whole hours!?! I know... Let's introduce the "Bear Game" to my colleagues!

This game is known by various other names. You can read about it here... . I first learnt about it while observing a group of Hotel cadets with some instructors sitting in a Starbucks joint somewhere in southern Taiwan back in '06! I was curious since there were periods when they would be totally quiet and other times when there would be riotous conversation! Intrigued, I approached on of the section instructors there and asked about the game. Long story short, I introduced the game during one of my Monthly Cousins Gathering and there was no turning back!!! We played from about 2200hrs till 0300hrs!! Other groups I have introduced this game to was during my CSC when I taught my syndicate how to play it. Also during one of the long Chinese wedding dinners when my table played it! In all cases, there would be ernest (ernest being an understatement!) conversation in trying to vote off the "bear".

So you can imagine the scene that ensued when I introduced this game to the Chief (he gamely played it, good guy!), Mite, Lionel, Oh Kok, the Doc, Jason, Masih, Chung Wai and Kar Boon. The usually quiet waiting lounge was punctuated by our laughter, eager accusations and constant bluffing! We came away knowing how to read our friends' body-language better! We managed to play 2 full games (it was a tie!) with the 3rd game hanging in the balance when we reluctantly dragged ourselves to the waiting aircraft after the announcement was made! Some even wanted to continue playing in the aircraft!!! Talk about being 'enthu'!!!

Boardgames galore!

2008-11-06T18:36:00.002+08:00

The next MCG is coming up soon. Just to whet everyone's appetite and to 'encourage' the rest to come, here are some of the boardgames which I bought when I went to Aussieland recently. We'll definitely be testing them out!

1. iMAgiNiff

2. Apples to Apples

3. Pass the Bomb

4. Mentalogy

5. Articulate

So for those who have not indicated your response, please do so in our Facebook MCG Group. See you guys this Saturday! Now I gotta hit the books...Exams in less than 24hrs!

Hello from Down Under...

2008-10-19T10:58:00.001+08:00

Yep folks...after less than 4 months, I'm back again Down Under! Am reporting live from Rockhampton Town in an internet cafe there... We managed to get the day off!! Can't report much as I'm paying $2 for 10mins of surfing! Pics shown are of my first wild kangaroo which happened to be there along the airstrip that I was running on! And that's me in my tent! GTG...will report back soon!

The Magic Faraway Tree

2008-09-18T00:37:00.008+08:00

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!

2008-09-03T23:01:00.004+08:00

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

2008-09-03T16:21:00.002+08:00

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...

2008-09-03T12:06:00.002+08:00

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...

2008-09-03T04:16:00.002+08:00

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...

2008-09-03T03:30:00.003+08:00

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!

Adegan di Ya Kun Lot 1

2008-08-31T16:13:00.002+08:00

It happened last week when I was buying 2 slices of butter kaya toast from Ya Kun @ Lot 1 with the FD (if you dunno what's FD...hmmm...not a regular reader ain't ya?). We just came from Delifrance at the third level where the FD had bought a French loaf on her own. We're training her to buy things on her own as part of the run-up to P1 next year! So, I lined-up at the counter while the FD waited outside Ya Kun. I asked her to join me in the queue but she seemed occupied with just standing outside, carrying the French loaf from Delifrance. Since the order took a while, I sat down on a chair near the counter, waiting. I signaled the FD to sit with me but she, standing just at the entrance of Ya Kun, shook her head vigorously while pointing to something inside Ya Kun. I kept signaling to her but she kept refusing to join me. I asked what was she pointing at and she kept pointing to something beside the counter. I asked her what was it...Guess what? She pointed to a sign that said, "No Outside Food Allowed!"!!!!!!!!! Cute kan!?!?!? ;)

Selamat Datang Ramadhan

2008-08-31T16:11:00.001+08:00

Wishing all my Muslim readers a blessed Ramadhan. May we face our challenges with resilience...

Tea Session @ Al-Khair

2008-08-29T09:47:00.000+08:00

Well, here I am reporting 'live' from the Auditorium of Al-Khair listening to a talk on environmental awareness. It's part of the end-of-term tea session the pre-school holds with parents regularly.

This and that...

2008-08-23T13:37:00.004+08:00

Where to begin when one hasn't been at it in a while? Why the dearth in updates? One word - resource! More specifically TIME! Updating this in McDonald's United Square with the First Daughter munching away on Fillet-O-Fish and the wife rifling through some kids magazine that Lorna Whiston handed out after the FD's class. The Second Daughter has been 'successfully' deposited with Ms Komala @ GuG without much fuss! This I consider an achievement because the last few weeks, getting her to her weekend classes has been a drag! Literally! The drama that she played out for all to see would qualify her for some award! We don't really know what set her off but one thing's for sure - don't let her have her way! (An advice the kindly Ms Komala helpfully dispensed during one of the trying times that the SD refuses to enter her class). Once she knows that she can get away with not going for her classes, she'll do it every time! So today, after much cajoling and encouragement, she is finally receptive to going for her Early Reading and Writing class. Let's see how she's like tomorrow when she goes for her Art Class.

A Berry Happy Birthday - to you!

And so the the Wife and I went for the Parade to celebrate Singapore's 43rd Birthday. My plan was to park at the multi-storey carpark behind Capitol seeing how I thought it was sufficiently far from the Esplanade. When we reached there...you guessed it! Cars were lined up all the way to the main road from the entrance! It was already 1635hrs (we were advised to be seated by 1645hrs to enjoy the pre-parade segment) and so I decided not to wait. In the end, we parked at the National Library - a 15min walk to the Esplanade! And apparently we weren't the only ones going for the Parade to park there! We were eventually seated at our seats at 1655hrs after having dutifully collected our Goodie Bags. (Back before the days of Balloting for Parade Tix, Singaporeans queued for the prized tix at various collection centres throughout Singapore. I happened to organise the Ticket Collection Centre at National Stadium back in 2001. The tix were to be given out on Sunday morning. By Friday afternoon, people were ALREADY queuing up outside the Stadium! And some of these Singaporeans queued up just so they can get the tix so that they can collect the Goodie Bags on the actual day...and then they LEAVE! No parade no fireworks...queued up just for the Goodie Bags!) Anyway, there we were sitting in the Green Sector about 15 rows from the top. It was the first time I was at the Marina Floating Platform. Although our 'motivators' worked hard to work up the crowd, those around our area were just not responding. There was this aunty directly in front of me who actually covered her ears when I shouted! How like that? Stay at home and stare at the TV better right!?!? The atmosphere couldn't beat that inside the National Stadium. Even the fireworks sounded far off although it looked near. The sound doesn't reverberate unlike that inside the stadium. The parade, as usual, was executed to clockwork precision. The Parade Sergeant Major was my friend and I commented to him after watching a segment about him during the Malay news a couple of days before the Parade that his Malay 'berterabur Encik!', which he agreed! Same with me too...when I was interviewed for the Malay news during the 2005 Parade, I had to do a couple of takes before I considered it up to mark. Even then the wifey laughed when she heard what I said on the news! My favourite moment had to be the performance by the Black Nights and with the appropriate soundtrack blaring in the background, it was certainly a 'Beautiful Day'! When the Chinook carrying the Singapore flag flanked by 2 Apaches appeared, the hair at the back of my neck stood up...ahem... The Show Segment was nice but some parts were just a bit too 'noisy'! All in all, we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, the slight downpour notwithstanding. What a way to spend our 11th Wedding Anniversary! Thanx Commander sir! For the tix!

A happy problem...

2008-08-06T11:38:00.000+08:00

There I was working quitely in my office at about 1830hrs when who should pop by but my Big Boss! He proceeded to engage me in conversation for an hour and solicited my views on some stuff. He roped in one of my colleagues who happened to pass by. At the end, my Big Boss asked me as he handed a big white envelope,"Oh, Shah, I actually came back to pass you these. Do you want them?". "What are they sir?", I asked. "NDP tickets!". NDP tix!!! Does the sun rises from the East? Will Anwar win the Permatang Pauh by-election? Of course I want them! They're priceless! I've organised 1 NDP as the person in-charged of seating 50,000 spectators & was in another one as a Mobile Column commander but never as a spectator. So of course I would gladly relieve the much coveted tix from him. But here comes the happy problem...There's 4 of us but ONLY 2 tix...Hmmm...

Those pesky calls...

2008-06-13T18:57:00.002+08:00

I've been getting these pesky calls at least once a day for the longest time...if it's not for a new credit card, it's for ready credit. However, I'll try not to blow these people off and would just tell them politely that I'm not interested. It came to a point where I would not answer calls from private numbers. However, I answered one just like that this afternoon and was glad that I did! I was pleasantly surprised that the private number I answered was a call telling me that I've won a Nokia 6110!!! Yes folks! It was from a lucky draw from this website. I was encouraged to inform my friends about it so here it is! The Digital Concierge, Singapore's #1 Mobile City Guide!

We're gonna have some serious fun...

2008-06-08T08:21:00.003+08:00

Having fun is a serious thing! And one needs planning to be able to take a good break! Having received 2 pages of things to do from the Daughters, here then are the line-up of things we're gonna do for the next couple of days (in no particular order):-

Breakfast @ Bollywood Veggies (done!)
Walkabout @ Bollywood Veggies (done!)
Tennis with the Tennis Group (on-going)
Family Swim @ The Pool (on-going)
Catch "Moonbird" performance @ Alliance Francaise (done!)
Father's Day BBQ (done!)
Cycling @ CCK Park, East Coast Park, West Coast Park
Breakfast @ LJS (done)
Breakfast @ Ah Mei Cafe
Breakfast @ Swensen's
Breakfast @ Coffee Bean (halalised!)
Breakfast @ Delifrance
Breakfast @ Casuarina (the Daughters like the rocket prata!)
Swimming & Picnic @ Sentosa
Feed the fish @ Botanical Gardens
Feed the goats @ Hay Dairies
Catch the birds @ Jurong Birdpark
Walkabout @ Pierce Reservoir
Walkabout @ Sembawang Park
Catch the Singapore Arts Street @ Clarke Quay
Catch "Indiana Jones"
Catch a bumboat ride
Catch a HippoTours ride
Visit PC Show 08
Dinner @ Hei Sushi Downtown East
Have a sleep-over for the Daughters' Cousins
Play Junior Pictionary @ Home
Play Junior Scrabble @ Home
Play Zingo @ Home
Play Hide & Seek @ Home
Read all 16 library books @ Home and then some...
Play Dora the Explorer @ Home
Family Art @ Home
Visit playground @ Pasir Ris
Visit playground @ West Coast
And then some...

And these activities are before the Melbourne trip!!!

You're shitting me right?

2008-05-29T00:41:00.003+08:00

This morning as I was rummaging through my cupboard, the resident medic came along, passed me a piece of paper and a small bottle with what looked like a small spoon hanging from the centre of the bottle cap. "Huh?", I enquired. "This is for your stool sample, sir...", si bebudak medic tu berhujah. "My WHAT?!", I asked again, incredulous... "This bottle is to collect your shit, sir!," the medic said again trying not to smirk... Apparently, after one has reached a certain age in my organisation, one has to go through some tests to ensure one is in tip-top condition to effectively defend the nation ;) I've already done my ECG before flying off to Thailand 3 months ago. I remembered this new medic navigating...NAVIGATING (!) using his needle whilst it was IN MY ARMS!!! He was trying to find my veins but couldn't and had to turn the tip of the needle here and there in my forearms! I had to switch arms as he can't 're-use' the same one. Nasib baik gua maintain beb...sapa takut jarum confirm pengsan on the spot. But before he could DO my other arm, I hollered out to all the medics present in the room and said that whomever can draw blood from me without needing to navigate with the needle stuck inside would have free breakfast!!! So this Melayu medic came along and took over from my first medic who had been sweating profusely. He took all of 1 minute to draw blood from me for the blood test. No incident, no navigating, no sweat. Gua caya sama lu lah Melayu! I gave the first medic a choice of getting extra duties or belanja me to breakfast for his earlier jaunt into my veins. Obviously he chose the latter. And so I told the Melayu medic, there you have it...your breakfast!!!! Anyway, I really wanted to belanja the medic for doing such a professional job but as a true professional, he declined. Next was the ECG test where they stuck me with small balloon-like objects that left little red marks after it was taken out. Macam the Creature from Frankenstein dah! (BTW, contrary to most people's belief, Frankenstein is the name of the person who created the Creature and not the Creature itself.) Well, that was a couple of months back.

Back to the stool test. Hmmm...macam mana nak collect ni? Gua tanya MO dah and suggested that he come out with a Standing Instruction on how to collect one's stool! Tak kan nak let go atas botol yang kecik tu kan? Bersememeh kawan tu nanti! Anyway, I had a game of tennis with my brother, Boboy and cousin, Fauzi later that evening and asked Boboy, who was a medic in his NS days, how to collect one's stool sample. Ah...one should use the squatting toilet bowl and do it on the ceramic. Then one just scoops up one's stool and voila! stool collected! Sounds simple but nowsaday ah seldom got house got squatting toilet one... So how? Suffice to say, I managed, after much effort to collect my own stool. That has to be a defining moment in one's life!!! Nak tahu in more detail, we'll talk over breakfast, lunch or dinner?!?! ;)

P Ramlee the Musical

2008-05-19T09:29:00.006+08:00

Once again I'm blogging this while in a queue. This time at BK ECP. Firstly, P Ramlee the Musical was FANTASTIC! It was worth every dollar paid!

(This is continued on 210508 0411hrs somewhere in Lim Chu Kang!)
Musly Ramlee was like a young P Ramlee personified! There were quite a few instances during the Musical where I thought P Ramlee had really appeared. Ternaik bulu roma ku dan bulu-bulu yang sewaktu dengannya pabila mendengar dan melihat Musly! The mannerisms, his low voice while singing and his movement were down pat! The appearance of the train stole the thunder from the performers somewhat. It was one of the better scenes IMHO. But the scene stealer has to be the flirting scenes between P Ramlee and Saloma. It was just classic!

On to the holidays...

2008-05-17T14:16:00.012+08:00

Finally, my exam paper on Approaching Literature: The Realist Novel; Romantic Writings has been completed yesterday night! I forgot how many times I had entered The Grand Hall but it always amuses me to see students still going through their notes meters away from entering the exam hall. I mean, it's like the point of no return, you're just panicking yourselves dudes! We were told that it was full house - 850 students! - and yet it felt so cold and 'empty'! Why can't they make exam halls warm and fuzzy!?! Anyway, I had been on leave for the entire week which usually happens before I take exams! Thanx to my colleagues who have been covering for me... For the next half of the year, I'll be doing Shakespeare... exams in the 1st week of November. Once I reached home from my 3 hour paper, I went for a 6km run at about 2315hrs! It was a refreshing night run. I hadn't been running in a while partly due to studying for my exams (not a good reason right?) but mainly due to a constant cough which I had been having for the past 2 weeks. Sundown Marathon is just 2 weeks away and I had not been putting in enough mileage. My goal for my first ever Marathon is “To complete and not to compete!”...

Interspersed among my leave was the Appointment Certificate Presentation Ceremony for ADCs held at the Istana. I had taken a 'sabbatical' from my duties for my Command and Staff Course last year and it was GOOD to be back! The last time I was in the Istana was for the Graduation Ceremony for my staff course last September but that was different. Being with other ADCs from across the other services was something else! And of course, rubbing shoulders with the 'matas' is always useful (wink, wink!)! And since last year, SCDF officers have also been appointed as ADCs which is great! It was always great to see the entire big bunch together during the ACPC since for normal duties, only about 5 to 8 of us are required depending on the event.

Getting ready to take a group photo with the Man himself!

Mother's Day was celebrated last week at Sakae Sushi with the 'usual suspects'. After our usual Saturday classes, Ibu and Adik had gone to Takashimaya to see some stuff while I sent Kakak for her Math class. Kakak had secretly told me that she wanted to buy a Mother's Day cake for Ibu a few days before. So after her class, we went to the Polar stall at Lot 1 and she chose the cake! Ibu had, a few days before, bertungkus lumus membuat bookmarks for the rest of the Ibus and soon-to-be Ibus that will be at Sakae Sushi. And of course I had helped her with the pics she wanted to paste on each bookmark. Cute kan? I came slightly late for the dinner as I had gone to Al-Falah for solat Maghrib. I nearly choked when I saw that I had to pay $3.40 for 24min of parking!!! Takpe lah...ibadat kan?!? We played my favourite 'Bear Game' after we had belasah-ed the food. My French brother-in-law tercunggap-cunggap main game tu. Tapi good try lah...hopefully can have a better round soon! Surprisingly, the simple game of Charades which Boboy had suggested was played over many many rounds just outside Coffee Bean at Wheelock Place. Sampai nak tutup kedai pun kitorang masih main... That will definitely be one game we will play next Saturday...

Talking about next Saturday, I had already booked Tennis Court 2 from 1700-1800hrs and both Bowling lanes from 1800-1900hrs. We'll be adjourning back to my place after that for the subsequent activities. See our Facebook MCG Group for more info ok?

All of us are excited about the coming June holidays. I've told the girls to plan on what we'll be doing for the 3 weeks that I'll be on leave!!! I've heard that an overnight stay at ECP using our tent and hammock are on the cards! Maybe another visit to Pulau Ubin? Or to the Hay Diary Farm at LCK? Can show the girls a bit of the training area that their Ayah always disappears to when he doesn't come back at night! And of course the highlight would be Down Under in Melbourne! We're starting to dig out our luggages and 'winter clothes' for the occasion! Flight tix are ready, accommodation has been booked, car has been rented! Now to come up with the itinerary for our 9 days there!

But the event at hand has to be P Ramlee the Musical tonight! The wife and I had been eagerly looking forward to this! I think the hundred bucks tickets each will be worth it!

Weekly prata fix

2008-05-17T08:56:00.003+08:00

Saturdays are the only days I indulge myself in a weekly ritual of having 2 kosong and 1 egg. Used to be that it was 3 kosong and 1 egg but you know, the older one gets the lesser one needs to be sated! And looking at the queue at the 2 prata stalls nearby, it seems that most Singaporeans have their prata fix on weekends too! What's making this wait bearable is that I can blog about it while waiting. I can see people getting jittery while waiting! Jangan tension beb! Bring a book next time! My turn's coming up next... Time flies when one blogs! "Kosong 6 telur 1, man!"

Happy are the kids running towards the shoreline!

2008-05-13T19:14:00.003+08:00

And so there we were, with 4 kids on May Day. They had fun, we had fun, all of us had fun! We salute those with more than four kids!!! Click here for more pics!

Model sey...

2008-05-06T17:20:00.003+08:00

Where were you went it happened?

2008-05-01T03:16:00.003+08:00

The First Daughter came home from school the other day and told us about the Challenger explosion! Wow...the things they teach in school today...and at such a young age! She related to us what her teacher had told her - about there being a teacher on board, about people being sad when it happened, etc. I told her that I vividly remembered EXACTLY what I was doing when I first heard the news...I was in Sec 2 then and I was putting on my shoes just as I was going to school when I saw it on TV...I remembered being glued to the TV but was subsequently shooed away by Dad lest I was late for school. That event will be forever etched in my memory - the explosion that is, not the shooing part! Apparently, this is a common phenomena when events that are out of the ordinary happened. People remember things tied to that event....So...where were you and what were you doing when the following happened?

Collapse of Hotel New World - it happened in the same year as the Challenger disaster. However, I can't seem to re-collect what I was doing when it happened. But I remembered trying to follow events as best as any 14 year old at that time could do!
Hijack of SQ117 - I was just a raw recruit then and was waiting for my turn to do the SAW Technical Handling Test at the training shed and I remembered listening to the radio that one of my sergeants had brought along.
The day Princess D died - I just got married then and remembered watching the news with my newly-minted wife at her mom's place. (We haven't got our own place yet then!)
Events of Sept 11 - Believe it or not, I was on a flight to New Zealand with the wife for a holiday! We didn't know about the whole thing (for obvious reason!) until we had landed. I first heard the news from the driver who drove us to our hotel! Needless to say, we were glued to CNN for the next couple of hours.
When The Tsunami happened - It was a Sunday and we were having some family time at West Coast Park when it happened. Nary a jolt did we feel...

The sky's not the limit...165m is!

2008-05-01T02:41:00.004+08:00

And so there we were having prata at Arena after our morning 'tekan' session by our UFO (Unit Fitness Officer) - who made us do a 2km 'warm-up' run followed by an interval training session around the 400m circumference of the parade square consisting of 3 x 1min 50sec sprint followed by another 3 continuous rounds at more or less the same speed! - when Yan said that the Singapore Flyer was having a promotion that will end soon. Pay 2 adult tix and 2 kids get in for free! Without much haste, I checked the internet using my E51 and found out that today is the last day of the promotion! If there ever was a reason to go up the Singapore Flyer, this would be it! The normal admission fee for kids 3-12 years old is about $20. So, I'm saving almost $50! Almost the price of a tin of the First Daughter's Pediasure milk! I booked through the net for a 1900hrs ride and told the wife about it! What a way to start of the May Day celebrations! But as the saying goes, "Manusia yang merancang, Tuhan yang menentukan" which roughly translates to (for my non-Malay speaking 'fans'...ahem!), "Man plans but the Almighty decides". There was a debrief session in the afternoon at work and by the time the whole thing was done, I left office only at 1810hrs!!! And according to my GPS, if I had gone straight to Marina Bay from camp, I could reach it by 1835hrs! Dang! To cut the long story short, we missed the 1900hrs 'flight' and I was left wondering what I could have bought with the $59 that was the price of the 2 tix! The good thing was that we didn't tell the girls that we're gonna take the Singapore Flyer but they kept asking what was the surprise! But of course I had a contingency plan. First was to try to reason with the ticketing people and try to get a change in time. Failing that, we could by another 2 tix and try to get a discount on the pretext that we had already paid so much. Or, we suck-thumb (Note to Stephane (I'm sure Glenn knows this right Glenn!? - this is a Singapore slang meaning bo-pian!) and just buy 2 more tix full-price! Whatever the case, we were gonna take the ride! Since we were already late, I decided to go to Fuji Xerox Tower in the CBD area to collect my D70 which was ready for collection. It was so clean and fresh. And everything worked fine! By the time we reached Marina Bay, it was already about 2000hrs! The Second Daughter had taken a nap and I was having a hard time trying to convince her to walk instead of me carrying her! The wife and FD had already gone ahead to get the tix. In the end, I had to carry the younger daughter. And the wife called to say that it was no problem changing the time on our tix! Selamat duit $60! The pix will be up later...

T-shirt Designs by Muz!

2008-04-29T20:25:00.000+08:00

Following my suggestion to have a T-shirt design 'competition' for the MCG in my previous entry, our dear Cousin Muz had kindly came up with not 1, not 2 but FIVE designs! Talk about being ghairah and enthu! Bagus, bagus! Presenting (drum roll, please!)...the 5 designs!

Design 1

Design 2

Design 3

Design 4

Design 5

So folks, let us see if there are any more designs and we shall vote in the next MCG! You can even modify Muz' designs (boleh kan kan kan?)... Let's give it up for Muz! That's the spirit bro...

Monthly Cousins Gathering...

2008-04-28T00:07:00.005+08:00

Sukacita kami hendak mengumumkan kesudian kami untuk menjadi tuan/puan rumah untuk Perhimpunan Sepupu-sepipit Bulanan yang akan datang yakni pada bulan Mei. Antara acara-acara yang akan kami aturkan adalah...alah...leceh dah nak bebual Melayu panjang lebar... (lagipun Staypan - dari group Peterpan kot?!? - dan Glenn tak paham lah...)

Ok guys, we are volunteering to host the next Monthly Cousins Gathering at our humble abode. I am suggesting to do it either on 23rd or 24th...Because 16th is my exam lah...the weeks before that must revise mah...and 17 kita akan menonton persembahan di Esplanade... So, email me your preference please...

Same modus operandi...POTLUCK hor...Among other things lined-up...(Gua dah plan dah...tak akan melantak je!)...are as follows:-

We'll start at about 1900hrs with makan and some short half-hour to 45mins show (maybe Peter Russell?!?!). I realised that watching a regular movie as the first order of the evening somehow kills the atmosphere...
This will be followed by games at about 2100hrs LATEST! I remembered one of the gatherings where we started at about 2300hrs and went all the way till 0300hrs! Giler tu!
We'll play our regular games like Pictionary Mania, Taboo, Party Scrabble and my all time favourite game with nothing to prepare and that can be played ANYWHERE...The Bear Game! (Do I hear collective sighs from Rina, Naziah and Farah!??!)... I've bought some new party games too and will be springing some SURPRISE games! We'll pit the boys against the girls ok? Nothing like good ol' gender rivalry to bring up the heat!!!
Karaoke...We've got the set, the mikes and the songs...but BYOD (bring-your-own-disk) if you want!
We'll also celebrate the birthdays of those born in May...if they are there of course! Macam kelakar kalau celebrate birthday orang yang tak ada kat situ...cheh...
And of course once the crowd is there, we'll do the Group Photo thingy...macam mark attendance lah gitu...heh!

Let's hope we can get more to join us rather than just the 'regular' supporters (you know who you are!!)...ha...maybe we can make a t-shirt for the regular supporters!?!? Amacam? T-shirt design competition!!! Anyway, those who attended that day was...Faurin (of course dah...rumah diorang!), Bomars, Boya, Warnaz, Aqilah, Khairul, and the inaugural appearances of Staylie!!! Oh...ada 4 under-aged illegal 'over-stayers' in the form of Dahlia, Harith, budak bulat Adam dan budak bubbly Naila...tapi takpe...sebab itu rumah Rina, the first 2 kasi chance! Lagipun, tak nampak batang hidung diorang pun (kena stay dalam room lah tu!)...and the other 2 belum boleh jalan lagi so kira ok lah tu... Once again, one of the golden rule of our MCG is NO KIDS! (Unless the tuan rumah bo-pian tak ada alternative arrangement but this privilege only given to tuan rumah je and kids that cannot walk yet...)

So boys and girls, email me your preference...I'll contact the rest...

Another thing about Taiwan...

2008-04-28T00:03:00.004+08:00

For first-timers to Taiwan, this squatting toilet may confound them...Which way does one face? And why? Put your answers in my shoutbox. Boboy can't answer first because he SHOULD know! C'mon boys and girls...

What a whirlwind 4 days it was!

2008-04-27T21:03:00.008+08:00

It seems that what I've been missing for the past 3 weeks while overseas was almost made up for in the last four days since I came back! Let me see...Since I came back, I:-

Had pizza at, where else...Pizza Hut. With the family. New location at Lot 1. That dinner lasted 2 hours!
Had dinner at Secret Recipe with the family. At IMM. First time we've eaten at Secret Recipe at IMM.
Had dinner at Mad Jacks along Bt Timah with the family. This has become our favourite haunt whenever we feel hunger pangs between Orchard Road and home!
Had my regular 3 kosong, 1 egg (prata lah!) which I could not get in Taiwan! The only prata-like food in Taiwan was served in the ubiquitous 'Ninja' van that also served wild boar meat! Tak payah ler...
Had my regular mochacinno at McCafe at United Square.
Had our regular breakfast at McDonald's at Lot 1.
Had lunch at Sakura International Buffet with the wife's side of the family. The one near Masjid Tentera. That one I belanja the whole lot as it was my MIL's birthday. The girls gave her birthday cards, we gave her our latest family studio shot and Mars gave her a bag. It was either the Harrod's or LeSportSac one...me not sure which one!
Attended our first Monthly Cousins Gathering (in a long while!) at Faurin's with the wife. It has been a while since we've had one and you can tell from the atmosphere that IT HAS BEEN A WHILE!!! There was a whole bunch of food from 'Curry-in-a-bun' sponsored by yours truly, fried chicken, murtabak, popiah basah, pizza, fruit salad and ice-cream.
Attended a Man U vs Chelsea get-together at Nya'i Bik As house where once again there was food glorious food. Mak said that there'll be 'rojak keling' (I know that sounds so politically incorrect but that's how it's always been called!). But of course there was much much more than that - fried mushrooms, nasi lemak, fried chicken, fruit cocktail, etc...
Attended my last lecture for the semester. My very animated lecturer summarised the works of Mary Shelly, Turgenev, Byron and the Women Poets of the Romantic period. I was left in a dizzy...
Attended my first piano lesson in 2 months!!! Those fingers were sure creaky! The parents and younger students (average age about 8-10 I think!) waiting outside must have been surprised hearing such halting play from a grown man when I finally finished my lesson. Learning to play the piano at my age sure is a humbling experience!
Brought the family to feed the fish, tortoises, birds and ducks at Symphony Lake in Botanical Gardens. This was one of the list of places my 2 girls have listed down as places they WOULD like me to bring them to. It rained when we reached there and we took cover at a small shelter overlooking the lake. It was kinda nice feeding the fish and tortoise with rain pitter-pattering. The girls enjoyed themselves thoroughly...
Went swimming at the pool below with the family. It has been a while. Kakak was like fish to water. It was simply wonderful as I watched her dived deep into the deep end of the pool - the stillness and 'blue-ness' of the water surrounding her as bubble trails floated upward seemed almost poetic...Adik took a while to warm up to the pool. But once she was OK, there was no stopping her! The wife was deeply embarrassed when I came up below her and lifted her up on my shoulders! The pool echoed with her protests and my cackling laughter!
Went for a much needed spa session with the wife. We came a bit late so no hydrobath for us (crystals...we needed the crystals!) and the facial therapist girl was on off. So only massage then...As usual, the wife said I snored but this time not so loud!
Watched 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' with the girls. Made popcorn for them. It was afternoon at the movies for us! Sweet...
Sent the wife's Nokia E65 for repair (LCD screen not working). A new one would cost about $500 without plan. So at about $60 for the repair, it was worth it!
Sent my battle-scarred, well-worn, beat-up Nikon D70 for a much needed R&R&R - Repair, Restoration and Replacement! There was something wrong with ON/OFF switch and the CF-card base was faulty. Total cost was $250. There was also something wrong with the locking mechanism of the VR lens that caused it to slide down by itself if carried in a certain angle but at $180 for the repair and because it does not affect the quality of the pictures taken, I decided to give it a pass.
Collected my newly tailored No.5 uniform from Javini's. I've been chosen as the ADC to the President for the 6th year and apparently the material for the No.5 has been changed and hence the need to re-tailor.
Exchanged the spoilt Walter for the spiffy new Walter! This one was done at Times Centre near Paya Lebar. Walter is one of the main products of the Child's First Library we recently bought for our girls as an 'investment' and also in a bid to put them ahead of the rat race at an early age! (Hah!) Poor Walter could only say "Hi! My name is Walter!" and that's it! His scanner didn't work anymore and thus he had to be exchanged!
Bought a new GPS car mount for my trusty 60CSx...the old one was lost somewhere in the mountains of Southern Taiwan...dang!
Bought some 'nice' clothings for the wife online...funny how so little material can cost so much...ahem...!
Bought "My Sister' Keeper" by Jodi Picoult at Kinokuniya.
Bought the girls new shoes. In anticipation of our trip Down Under in 2 months time. So that they will have time to be 'broken' in...
Bought myself new pants from Columbia. Ever since my first pair, I've grown to love it's comfort and ease of use...pants with no need for ironing! Can be worn for trekking or shopping! Cool...
Bought myself new cardigans. To wear during cold lectures, movies and Aussieland!
Bought 'couple' watches for the wife and I. From Solvil et Titus. I just love the classic advertisements on TV. (Hey! Ads work after all!). I'm not really a watch person but the last time I bought a watch was 2 years ago and even then it was for training...so it was high time for a new timepiece for the both of us...
Bought the wife this...but a purple one, of course...

There...squeezed as much as I could in these 4 short days...Of course, it could not make up for the time I've been away from the family. Thank you dear wife for doing all that you did while I was away - keeping our girls safe, warm and happy, keeping our home safe and sound and looking after yourself well...I HEART YOU!

Things you may not know about Taiwan

2008-04-22T12:28:00.003+08:00

It's a left-hand drive country so look the correct way before you cross the street!
They're big on re-cycling. By default, they won't give you plastic bags to put your stuff in after you shop. You gotta pay for your plastic bags. Even in McDonald's, one has to separate one's trash...
You can find 7-11 stores at almost every street corner. Even in 'ulu' places...It's like the land of 7-11s...
They don't do breakfast at McDonald's :(... no hotcakes, no muffins...just the lunch menu throughout.
They don't serve chilli sauce at fast food restaurants. When one asked for chilli sauce, the closest they could muster up was chilli powder!
There's no time difference between Taiwan and Singapore.
There's a lone 'halal' stall selling kebab out of the hundreds of stalls in the night markets of Kaohsiung.
If you are hoping to have something decent to eat at Kaohsiung International Airport before your flight out...you'll be out of luck!
Even if you have the right of way, YOU DON'T! When you are walking along the streets and see the sign "Pedestrians Have the Right of Way", don't believe it! It's a trick!
Motorcycles outnumber cars 10 to 1!
Most motorcyclists wear something to cover their noses and mouths as they zoom along the polluted streets. These pieces of clothes can be quite fashionable and comes in a myriad of colours. Their effectiveness to protect against pollutants is questionable however.

Pounding the streets of Kaohsiung

2008-04-22T12:20:00.002+08:00

I'm now sitting on the junction of Jianguo 2nd Road and Fusing Road just outside a 7-11. This stretch of road in Kaohsiung is famous for its IT shops. It's a bit like Sim Lim Square and Funan Centre but the shops are not under one roof. Been walking here since 10 plus this morning with Chris and Chung Wai. Nothing much here really that you can't find back in Singapore. And I suspect the price is slightly higher too. We're going to a mall after this. Still have about a thousand plus NT to blow before the flight this evening.

The Spirit of ATEC...

2008-04-20T17:00:00.000+08:00

Apparently it is something like a tradition in my unit that a photo competition is held whenever we train overseas. And this time round it was no difference... The top 3 prizes worth a total of NT$2500 was kindly sponsored by my Chief. The theme for the competition was "Spirit of ATEC". A few of us got down to 'business' trying to capture the said spirit. I had a friendly rivalry with my Chief (who was also in the competition!) on who would win the competition. Apparently, he won it last year. Obviously, the judges won't be him lah! It was my Commander and the Dy Chief... Anyway, from what I gathered, the winning entry last year showed ATECians (people from ATEC lah!) laughing. Apparently, the judges last year decided that it aptly captured the spirit of ATEC. Hmmm...I was tempted to go along the same path but after some reflection decided to do something different. In the end, I had five entries which I considered to be quite ok. The following are 3 of the five. For security reasons (ahem...) I can't show the other two but I'll explain them shortly.

Circle of Trust

From diverse backgrounds we come together for a common goal,

with rich experiences we bear,

we share a common thread in the tapestry that is ATEC.

Always there with a helping hand...
Through the tough times we go through
We help each other discover our limits
Through the tough paces we put units through
We help them discover their boundaries...

He ain't heavy, he's my brother
Just like a flock of birds,
We tap on each other to lift ourselves up.

The 4th picture one showed 3 ATECians having a good laugh and the expressions on their faces showed pure joy. These 4 pictures shared a common thread in that they showed ATECians.

The 5th and final picture was different. It showed the unit that went through ATEC. The scene I captured showed 3 soldiers in action - one 'injured' officer was lying down, his right leg suffering 'severe bleeding' from the enemy 'artillery fire' that rained down just minutes before, his faithful signaller, lightly injured but still manning the radio and calling for help lying down just beside him and a third solider, an anti-tank gunner lugging a MATADOR running past them towards the direction of the 'enemy'. I captured the running soldier while panning my camera so that I got him clearly while the background was blurred. This was done to show the urgency of the situation. I entitled the picture “Fallen - A fallen comrade, a radioman calling for help, an anti-tank gunner rushing forward to take out the enemy – ATEC pushes units to their limits and lets them discover how tough they are...”. This was the photo I submitted for the competition.

The results were announced after we conducted our own debrief, 1 day before going for R&R. The Chairman showed all the photos that did not win and then came to the top three...Mine wasn’t one of those that was shown earlier so I knew I had a chance. I forgot what the third place photo was but the second one was similar to my “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother’ photo! I knew then that I had clinched first prize! The judges liked the senses of urgency and mission that my entry had depicted. So there, my first ever win in a photo competition, albeit a small one...

50 more days to Sundown...

2008-04-11T12:53:00.000+08:00

According to my Polar RS200 watch, it is 50 more days to the inaugural Sundown Marathon. I have been training hard with a group of umpires who have registered to run for the marathon. It'll be my first ever marathon and my aim is completion rather than competition! I've been running almost every day since I came with the advance party nearly 10 days ago. I ran 8km yesterday evening and will try to clock 12km later in the evening. The SDM (SunDown Marathon) runners went for a group run this morning, peeling off from the rest at the 2km turning point. We ran up the new road behind our camp, offering a very scenic view of the countryside and the imposing mountains to the east. We did 2mins hard and 1min slow all the way back to camp. It was to let us have a feeling of what it will feel like at the 30km mark, said our resident UFO who became our defacto 'coach'! We ended off by doing some dynamic lunges and other exercises which emphasised the thighs. By the third exercise, my legs felt like jelly! There's more, the UFO said! Let's go to the gym to trains our arms! By the end of this morning's session, my gluteaus maximus was thoroughly maxed out!!! I'm still feeling the effect in my thighs now! Oh well, more to come... Oh yah, was chased by about 4 dogs this morning as we were running thru the village! It was quite a site seeing grown men trying to out-scare the dogs! If only I had a camera with me then! But then again, I was busy running away from the dogs too! One of the 'hazards' of running here, I guess!

Lunch in Heng Chun

2008-04-11T12:26:00.002+08:00

I'm now at 32 Simply Cafe somewhere in Heng Chun Town having lunch...alone! This is the third time that I've been to this place for lunch since it's the only one that I discovered selling fries and bread! The owner recognised me and the last time I was here, he pointed to his router when he saw me taking out my LifeDrive with the keyboard! So that's how I'm 'filing' this entry now! Just finished a thick slice of garlic toast. The thickness is twice that of a normal bread! Now munching toasted cheese sandwich while drinking chocolate milkshake. Awaiting my fries! Had a busy morning of recce. Going back camp after this. Since the mainbody arrived, I've been waking up everyday at 0515hrs for morning PT! 0515hrs! Macam waktu training as an officer cadet pulak! By about 0530hrs, the sky is already getting bright. (Ah...my fries just came...) Waking up so early is no problem after a while. It's all about getting used to it. Of course, one has got to be sleeping by about 2200hrs to get the requisite 7 hours of sleep! Ah...the toasted cheese sandwich is very delicious! They've even put in some corn to make it sweet. The fries came with tomato sauce. They don't do chilli sauce here in Taiwan! When asked for chilli, they will give chilli flakes! Note to self: Stock up on McDonald's chilli sauce before coming here again! Back to waking up at 0515hrs. We will start off with some light warm-up followed by a run. Running here in the morning is wonderful. The air is fresh and crispy. We are, after all, near the sea. We ran 4km the day before and up the slopes yesterday. We will end off by doing some static exercises conducted by our resident UFO (!) or Unit Fitness Officer. We do the usual ones like push-ups, sit-ups, alternate sit-ups and leg raises, some with strange-sounding names like 'Chase the Rabbit' and 'Good Morning Darling' (which involves lying down on one's back, raising the legs about 6 inches off the ground and closing and spreading them repeatedly!!!).

For you a thousand times over...

2008-04-03T19:22:00.000+08:00

It has been a while since I’ve picked up a good read. A really good read. I’ve stopped reading novels for quite a while preferring instead to read more ‘practical’ stuff like magazines, newspapers, reports, self-help books, parenting books, books on photography, the like. I’ve always had this guilt when I read a novel thinking that I could have spent my time reading something more ‘useful’! Because once I pick up a good novel, I would not put it down until I’ve finished reading it!! Like the current one I’m reading – “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini. I bought it on a whim actually. My BH gave me a reading list she came up with and one of the books she wanted was “A Thousand Splendid Suns” by the same author. And while browsing for it, I came across his first book, “The Kite Runner”. I’ve heard about the movie and decided to have a go at the novel since I’ll be travelling a lot and could fill my time with a novel. On the way to Taiwan, the in-flight entertainment system listed “The Kite Runner” as one of the movies for viewing. I was tempted to watch it as I have already started reading the first 50 pages of the book and knew that it would be a good movie but I resisted. Watching the movie first would spoil the beauty of the discovering the written words. Would spoil how the story flows from page to page, would spoil the mental picture that unfolds as one reads the story. (WARNING! Spoiler ahead). And I did not regret the decision for the book is one of the best reads I’ve had in a long while. I cried at the part when Hassan ‘kissed the baby’s lifeless face’ after ‘Farzana gave birth to a stillborn baby girl’ and ‘buried her in the backyard, near the sweetbrier bushes’. Cried at the part when the Taliban took Hassan ‘to the street...and order him to kneel...and shot him in the back of the head’, when ‘Farzana came screaming and attacked them...shot her too.’ I always love a good cry whether watching a movie or reading a book. I forgot the last time I cried when reading a novel. When you read a novel such as “The Kite Runner” you grow close to the main characters and identify with them. You lose yourself in the novel and lose track of the time. You are torn between wanting to finish the novel to find out what happens in the end and from wanting to prolong the read so that you have something to look forward to...It’s like once you have finished the book, you leave the world that you have known, the characters that you have identified with. I’m in the last 100 pages of the book and although I want to find out what happens in the end, I also do not want it to finish too fast... Go have a read, you won’t regret it...

Welcome to Singapore, dear Naila...

2008-03-31T01:32:00.003+08:00

Hi Naila...Bonjour! Uncle Omi here. If you can read this, you should be at least 4 years old (that's the age Kak Ira & Kak Lisha can start reading!)...

Firstly, welcome to Singapore! We're so glad you are finally here! Your two cousins were so excited they couldn't keep still on the journey to the airport, although Kak Lisha was sleeping all the way! But I'm sure she must have been dreaming about not keeping still! The whole bunch of us waited for your arrival with bated breath. Your grandad and grandma came way early... So did your Nyai Bik As and Tok Kahar with their 2 daughters and future SIL. Your uncle and Aunty Yati were there too. So was your 2nd cousin Shakedekil (I like to call him that!) and his parents. And we brought along Nyai Piah. And of course the 4 of us were there... Your flight was scheduled to land at 2015hrs at Terminal 1 but it was changed to 2038hrs. So the four of us had a bit of Delifrance for dinner. Then we waited and waited and waited and when you finally came into view near belt 16 at about 2120hrs the makciks and aunties squealled with delight at your bobbing head as you hang around your mama's waist! I had the video-camera zoomed in all the way to capture the first moments you came into view! We were delighted at your ever smiling face and when your mama and papa finally collected their 60kg worth of luggage off the belt and exited the gate, you were the one that grabbed everyone's attention!!! The people around there must have thought that some VIP had just arrived! You were fussed over and passed around... I noticed that your poor papa had to take a backseat for a while! We gathered for a huge photo op before trooping into the 3 cars that brought you to your new home. Once at home, you were once again fussed over and your two cousins coo-ed and fussed over you. Your atuk 'cilub-bah' you over and over again and you were laughing away! Aunty Mars told me to take pictures of your feet and I did! And when it was past midnight and you were still wide awake, I carried you in my arms and put you to sleep!! Sweet...

Well, here are some pics to remember your first night in your new home...Enjoy!

Our first glimpse of you! With your cute bald head bobbing up and down!

The gang out in force to greet your arrival...

The star of the evening!

Leaving on a jet plane

2008-03-26T21:16:00.004+08:00

According to my trusty Garmin 60CSx, my tour bus is now hurtling down Borommaratchachonnani Road (try saying that 10 times in a row!) towards Bangkok at 80km/h and will reach Don Mueang Airport in thirty minutes time. We just left Big C, a smallish store not unlike Giant, in a district called Nakhon Pathom, about 2 hours drive from Kanchanaburi. It's been 4 long weeks and I'm finally going home! The last time I was in Thailand was in 2004, 2 days before the tsunami. I love travelling and love the fact that my work allows me to 'see' the world. And unlike 'normal' tourists, I get to see places not usually accessible by tourists and consequently are more unspoilt. Not many people have seen the sun rising over the rolling knolls of western Singapore as it burns away the morning mist. I've enjoyed many a sunrise and sunset over the Thai countryside. Coupled with another trusty piece of technology that I never leave behind in my travels, my D70, I can capture the unspoilt beauty of the Thai countryside in all its glory. I remember admiring the natural beauty of the South China sea and the Pacific Ocean as they crash against the coasts of the sometimes inhospitable areas that we train in. I remember admiring the millions of stars blanketing the night skies as if, in the words of one of my friends, someone threw diamonds over black velvet! And observing how the Thai villagers go on with their daily lives, be it harvesting sugarcane in the blazing heat of the day, groping neck deep in murky waters searching for something to supplement their livelihood or tending to their livestock, made me appreciate the kind of lives we lead in Singapore. Maybe I shall bring my girls here someday... To let them appreciate what they have and enjoy. It is said that travelling opens the mind and I totally agree. My wish is to someday backpack the world over. Armed with my 60CSx, D70 and an open mind. See you back home guys.

K-Town Capers...

2008-03-26T02:11:00.005+08:00

And so I found myself in Kanchanaburi Town or K-Town as those around here call it. And naturally I went to the famous 'Bridge over the River Kwai' to have some shots taken. The last time I was here was way back in 2000... Here are some pics as appetisers!

The actual bridge...

View from the Eastern side of the Bridge

After almost exhausting my camera's memory card, we took a short (2km!) walk to a nearby night-market. The usual one (about 4km away from the Bridge) that we go to has only food stalls but this one has mostly clothing and knick-knack stalls. But fortunately for me, it still has a stall selling 'halal' fried chicken, my favourite 'night-market' food! There are a few Muslim stalls at the other night-market selling chicken rice, fried chicken, BBQ seafood and some local delicacies. The chicken rice is quite good actually!

Me at the said fried chicken stall!

Among other delicacies is a stall selling fried insects...picture purposely blurred so as not to gross those with weak stomachs out! Incidentally, these are water beatles! Huge ones at that!

Hmmm...what stall is this?!?! Selling Lesportsac bags?!? Hmmm...

Incidentally, by this time tomorrow, I should be on a JetStar flight back to Home Sweet Home!

What could it be?

2008-03-21T01:26:00.001+08:00

It was about 0055hrs on a Thursday night. That's 55 minutes past midnight for you folks who need the 'conversion'. We had been on the move for 5 hours. We came to a sugarcane plantation and the troops were given some rest before the final push to the objective. I was in a slight stupor as I had fallen asleep for less than hour. The occasional snoring can be heard as tired bodies take a much needed rest. Sentries are posted. The full moon is at its zenith and its brightness bathes the countryside with a soft glow. A soft cool breeze sweeps the landscape, a welcome relief from the afternoon blazing sun. The chirping of crickets are interrupted by the incessant howling and barking of mongrels, agitated by the presence of so many humans so close to their territories. I had decided to find a nice spot away from the troops to rest my aching shoulders. I moved to a nearby junction and fell asleep amongst a nice warm nook. I don't know why I woke up after less than an hour of sleep but there was a sudden chill... That was when I heard screams coming from the direction of the resting troops. Followed a commotion! It was followed almost immediately by a loud gunshot from one of the rifles. My first thought was that the ‘enemy’ patrol must have chanced upon the resting troops. But the screams were unlike any that I've heard before. They certainly did not sound like men screaming. It sent a chill down my spine! I half expected the troops to run out to the junction where I was. I immediately got up and ran in, followed by other umpires who were nearby. By the time we arrived, most of the troops and umpires were already wide awake, standing around and asking what had happened. The screams had emanated from inside the bushes where some of the troops had been resting. Some said they saw something dark running around while others said the rumbling ground was caused by a human wave of troops running out after the screams. Those who were not sleeping and were directly facing the vegetation where it happened said that they saw a ‘Mexican wave’ coming at them as the troops, upon hearing the screams, got up TOGETHER and ran out TOGETHER! The rifle shot was from one of the commanders where was afraid that a wild boar was running around amongst the troops. A panicked wild boar will mow down people in its path. But we were later told by one of the RTA liaison that there are no wild boars in the area... So what could be the source of the screams? There were a few suggestions put up. It could from one of the sleeping troops having a very bad dream and people around him panicking him upon hearing those ‘blood-curdling’ screams. Or it could really be a wild boar since wild boars are known to scream in that fashion especially before being slaughtered. Or it could be...

Country road take me home!

2008-03-17T23:40:00.001+08:00

Can you beat this?!? I'm travelling on a rural Thai road with a laptop on my lap while connected to the internet trying to submit my essay which is due in 1hr 30mins!!! Yes, yes...same old story again...last minute submission...again! The slow internet connection (whaddya expect!?!?) is rather frustrating!

Anyway, had been feeling kinda sick since yesterday. Yep, Murphy appears at the most inopportune of moments! Just when one requires one's full faculties to complete one's assignment! But then again, one may question one's decision or rather indecision in putting of work that could have been completed earlier.

The searing heat has been getting to a lot of us. A few of us are already down with a semblence of URTI or Upper Respirtory Throat Infection. My bunkmate even coughed up bloody phlegm! I hope to regain my health back before the climax at the end of this week! At last I can say that I'll be going home next week, Insyallah!

Why oh why did you have to do it?!?!

2008-03-08T21:27:00.000+08:00

(Please read the previous entry for a fuller appreciation of what had happened...)

Today was the first time we hung the 'Please make up my bed' sign outside our room before we started work. I mean I saw the sign hanging on the inner handle of our door all this while but never thought that it would mean anything! I mean, this IS an army camp right? But when I went over to my friend's room next door, I saw his very nicely made up bed (he couldn't have done it himself!?! it was too straight and too neat to be his handiwork!)...Upon enquiring, I found out that he just hung the sign outside his door and voila! his room was made up and cleaned! Wow! Just like a hotel!!

Anyway, I did exactly just that and went to the Ops Room for some briefing which lasted all the way till lunch. After lunch, I walked back to my room to solat and opened the door to a clean room! The carpet was cleaned, there was fresh bedsheet expertly pulled as well as a change of pillow-case. Our muddied doormat was also changed and the small trash bin was emptied. But as I surveyed our recently cleaned room, I had a feeling of dread and took a few quick steps to open the back door that leads to the balconey and the aircon compressor...And to my horror and shock, the balconey was thoroughly and totally cleaned...remember what was behind the aircon compressor!?! Yes...along with that too!!! There was not a single sign of the pigeons, nest and eggs!!! Oh...way oh way did the cleaner had to do it?!? I was so so sad...I called Chewbacca immediately to break the news to him... He felt sad too... Kesian kan? Kalau I gembang, gerenti kat tepi River Kwai jugak meleleh air-mata! Kita ada lah tunggu-tunggu teramat excited for the eggs to hatch... Yea-lah...orang bandar, jakun sikit! But seriously, I thought the Thais were supposed to be kinder to animals right? Sedih sey... Tak ada lah countdown to the eggs hatching...Kita ada lah plan nak ambil gambar everyday to report the progress especially to my girls... Even more so when the eggs hatch... Hai... apakan daya... sekali dia kemas, semua licin lecap! Jangan-jangan telur-telur itu dia lantak tak? But upon further reflection, and when I tried to put myself in the cleaner's shoes (not literally of course lah!), I think I can understand why she did what she did... Kita orang kota kan jakun (maybe aku je!), jarang nampak sarang burung ada telur. But to the locals, this must be quite common. Furthermore, in certain places, pigeons are considered pests i.e. just like rats! So just like rats, if we find their nests, we will clear it... So upon hindsight, the cleaner may have saved us from suffering some diseases that the pigeons might be harbouring...But still...

Of cheaper internet rates, pigeons and River Kwai!

2008-03-07T22:23:00.005+08:00

Finally, I am able to connect to the internet at 'only' 1 baht per minute. The last week I had been connecting to the internet using Singtel Broadband on Mobile thru AIS GSM. I shudder to think of the cost that has been incurred but if my previous trip to Fraser's Hill (about $200+ just for internet connection thru mobile internet!!) is anything to go by, it should be about a hundred bucks! But I had to wait for the mainbody to arrive before finding out that I can actually use the Thai SIM card to connect to the internet either using just my E51 or using my laptop with the E51 as a modem. I bought the Thai SIM card for 300 baht which, using the exchange rate of 22 baht for 1 SGD, cost about SGD$13.60. So I called 1175 and after waiting patiently for the Thai part of the recording to finish, I pressed '2' for English and waited to talk to the operator. She asked for my phone model number and said that I will receive an SMS with the settings. Once I received the SMS, I just saved it and that was it! The setting was all saved for me and I could surf the net from my E51.

The Guest House that I am staying in has good amenities. In fact, if I were to compare the Army Hotel I stayed last year in Hanoi, this is much better! There's even a cleaning lady who comes everyday to clean our rooms and change bedsheets just like in a hotel room! Just hang the "Please make up my bed" sign outside the door! There's a balconey outside our room that we use to hang our laundry. When we were there the first day, we saw a pair of pigeons just outside the balconey. When we woke up the next morning, we realised that there was a nest just behind the aircon (yes...there's aircon in the Guest House! A godsend in hot Kanchanaburi!) compressor below our window! With an egg!! We were even more excited when, on the second day, the female pigeon laid another egg! I was worried that the pigeons might be too frightened to come back to its nest but no, the pair (I can't really tell which is male and which is female) continued to sit on their eggs. So I am quite careful to not to make too much noise when hanging my laundry. I found out that the gestation period for pigeons is 16 to 18 days so in another 10 days time, Chewbacca (my room-mate!) and me will be surrogate 'parents'! Here's some pics of the pigeon and its eggs... Let's hope that the eggs hatch safely. Watch this space for more updates!

One of Kanchanaburi's most famous landmark is the Bridge over the river Kwai. It is found in Kanchanaburi Town or just K-Town to the people here. In fact, just behind our Guest House runs Mae Nam Kwai Noi which joins to its more famous cousin, Mae Nam Kwai Yai. 'Mae Nam' is river while 'Noi' is small and 'Yai' is big.

It's been a while...

2008-03-01T02:02:00.014+08:00

It's been a while since we've been to Baby Kingdom and Baby Hyperstore at Shun Li Industrial Park along Kaki Bukit Ave 1. Used to be that they were our usual haunts during our pre-Kakak and Adik days! We bought loads of strollers, car seats, high chairs, training chairs, toys, baby mats, baby tubs, trainers, etc... One thing we've learnt is that it's always advisable to invest in a good item from the very beginning. Especially for a car seat.

So Naila, presenting your own little seat! You can use it from now till you are 4 years old! It's the same exact brand and model that Kak Ira & Kak Lisha have been using since they were tiny like you! It has nice padding and is oh-so-soft to the touch! And the colour matches your Atuk's new Civic! We can't wait for you to come to Singapore to try it! Less than a month more girl!

Hmmm...was just wondering...Boboy has already 'chop' the word 'maman'... Then me how? Let's see...'Cik Omi' tak nak lah... that's what the wife's side calls me... 'Man Omi'?! Macam nama Jepun pulak... 'Cik Bomi' macam kelakar gitu... As kelakar as 'Nyai Bik As'!!! Abeh camna? Suggestions anyone? It'll be a life-changing name so choose carefully hor?!

Computer History 101

2008-02-26T05:28:00.004+08:00

My previous post reminded me of my first ever 'computer' - the Oric-1! That was way back in 1984 me thinks! I think Cik Esah bought it for me... For something like $50?!? It came with a 'printer'...actually it was more like a plotter with individual print heads that one can fix when the colour runs out. For output, it was direct to the TV! And for storage, one used a regular tape recorder with normal tapes! How quaint it was... Imagine, it had a maximum of 48KB of RAM then!!!!!!!!!!! What can you do with 48KB of RAM nowadays?!?! Even this entry is bigger than 48KB of RAM! And guess what!? I STILL HAVE IT!! And guess what again?!? Last I checked (a couple of months ago), IT STILL WORKS!!! Ah...makes one feel nostalgic...

Back in secondary school, I was in the Computer Club (hey, I made President eventually!) and my first experience with computers was with the venerable Apple Computer! Talk about history repeating itself! Back then, IBMs (or PCs for those who don't know what IBMs are! Back then, the term 'PCs' was not common yet) were just starting to come into the market. I remembered learning 'LOGO' and moving the 'turtle' around the screen. That was my first foray into programming. Abah eventually bought an IBM PC XT for me. I think the brand was 'Sherry'. PCs then did not come with hardisks... It's ROM was enough to hold the OS and some programs. Removal storage came in the form of the 5 1/4" and 3.5" floppies with a max storage of 1.44MB! I remembered buying a 20MB hardisk for about $200!!! You can get a 500GB hardisk for that amount of money now!!! That's it for now...a nostalgic down computer memory! (Pun intended!)

Welcome to the Club!

2008-02-24T20:45:00.004+08:00

Our new Macbook...Present for the wife...Enuff said! ;)

2008-02-20T22:08:00.000+08:00

I've been penning poems for the longest time whenever I am in the mood. Here's my latest. Penned during my latest evaluation...somewhere in the Western part of Singapore. Maybe one day I'll compile an "Anthology of Poems by a Soldier!"...enjoy...

TIMES LIKE THESE

Times like these, I feel pensive
Times like these, I feel retrospective
The beautiful full moon high up in the clear sky stirs emotions
A strong cool breeze blows away the remains of a hot & dusty day
We do the things we do
So our children will continue to live in peace
We suffer the way we do
So our loved ones have a place called home
We ask not for glory nor medals nor adulation
We ask not for money nor riches nor recognition
All we ask is that in your prayers you give a thought
To the men & women who are willing to sacrifice their lives
For the way of life that we live
For we were soldiers once, and proud of it

THE MEN OF THE HORSESHOE

Sitting atop an Ultra on a place called Sharon
A desolate piece of ground that is almost barren
I can hear the cracking sounds of gunfire
And the urgent sounds of engines coming to life
Adrenaline pumping, voices straining
The men of the Horseshoe stand fast
Reports of contacts, quick orders given
The men of the Horseshoe is ready for a fight
Calling for fire on a fast advancing foe
The commanders of the Horseshoe lead their men into the storm

BULAN TERANG

Bulan mengambang begitu terang
Di tempat yang bernama Lim Chu Kang
Tempat berabuk asapnya tebal
Di sebabkan oleh kereta kebal!

You are what I am fighting for...

2008-02-14T16:52:00.002+08:00

Had our regular safety briefing before an exercise today. It ended with this very relevant and touching video about being and keeping safe. It's entitled "Letters from War" by Mark Schultz. I had to control myself from sniffling too much after watching it...I AM a sucker for this kind of videos! ;)

This is far all those who have to leave their families behind in the name of serving their countries whether in peace or in war. And to my wife and two princesses, you are always in my heart wherever I go. Be strong and be safe darlings...

On another note...my good friend from Staff College had started this newsletter and had been emailing to us regularly. He then started a blog to continue his efforts. Please do visit it as it has great learning value...I have already put it up as a permanent link on the right...

Four days of fun, sun and runs!

2008-02-11T01:36:00.006+08:00

I'm adding to this entry as and when I have the time...

Four days of PD with 28 close-knit relatives in an apartment meant for 8 going up using 6 cars! What more do you want?!!?

Day 3: Fun in the Sun @ Bayu Beach

The following picture pretty much summed up our experience on Bayu Beach...

Anwar being flung off the much anticipated Banana Boat...

Among other things we did was the following...it happened when the tide was low and temperatures were high! Macam dah tak ada kerja lain...

Sebelum Annaz nampen ke laut, Faurin telah mengganyah (?!) Boya teruk-teruk! Orang berbadan dua pun Faurin tak kasih chan...ish ish ish...More updates will be coming soon...watch this space!

Of mad rushes and ghost towns...

2008-02-06T13:55:00.000+08:00

I'm blogging this live from IMM, Giant and that means I've gotten back my Nokia E51 after sending it away for a few days to have the camera surgically removed!
There's a crapload of people here rushing to do their marketing for the annual Reunion Dinner as part of the Chinese New Year. I've been in this queue for the part 20mins but with my trusty E51 and Singtel Broadband on Mobile, boredom is never a problem for me! I always believe that people who are bored bring it upon themselves... This world is too amazing and wonderful to be bored! There's just so many things we can do. Celebrating Chinese New Year with my fellow comrade-in-arms be they Chinese, Indian or Malay always amazes me. Sometimes we take for granted the peace that we enjoy and think that it is a God given right. It is not and it is something that we must work hard for. I would give my life defending the way of life that we enjoy everyday...
From this afternoo till Sunday, most places will turn into ghost towns... Shops will be closed, workers will get their much needed rest.

Of Art and Speech & Drama classes...

2008-02-03T14:50:00.000+08:00

We're at UE Square now waiting for Kakak's class to finish. She won this voucher from ArtZone which entitled her to 3 free lessons. Initially, we thought of sending Adik for the classes but she made a lot of fuss during the first lesson that we decided to send the eagerly waiting Kakak (who knew that she would stand-in for Adik if Adik made a fuss!) instead! She thoroughly enjoyed the classes. Today is her last class...Let's see what she will come up with...

Adik had her first art class this morning at another place near our home and she enjoyed it but Ibu had to be her with all the way! She painted a decent looking rat since it's gonna be the Year of the Rat next week. She has a knack for colouring and painting and the teacher (Ms Shahira!!!), said that she colours well for someone her age. Let's hope she'll be more independent next lesson onwards...

I went for a preview on a Math class for Kakak this morning at 0945hrs. The concept, structure and process of the class was explained to us parents (there were only 2 of us by the way!). They follow quite closely the curriculum by MOE. My word, I didn't know that Primary 1 syllabus was like THAT! Kakak has to go through a diagnostic test to detemine her level before she starts lessons. Lessons are held individually although it's a classroom setting. There's hands-on (I think in teacher-speak it's called 'manipulatives'!) as well as exercises to go through. Let's hope she enjoys her lessons because having a strong foundation IS important in any field...

We are slowly but surely preparing Kakak and OURSELVES mentally and physically for Primary 1 next year. We have been trying to improve her Malay and she has been responding quite well but we feel that more could be done. We were looking up ACTphabets as they have Malay Speech and Drama but alas...they have since closed down! Our search continues...

Of books, music and holidays!

2008-02-01T01:41:00.000+08:00

School starts later today... Brings me back to my O-level years when analysing literature, poetry and prose was the order of the day... Should be fun! 1st TMA due on 18th Feb... There'll be 3 TMAs in total... Exams in mid-May... That's after 2 overseas exercises! Guess I'll have to link-up with friends to help me cover materials I will miss... Ah well, it'll be like my Staff College days again when waking up at 0400hrs to read up and prepare the day's lesson is the norm...

But then again, what is the ‘norm’? The norm for some people may not be the norm for others… For example, when normal people would have slept at least 24 hours over a period of 3 days, I slept all of 4 to 6 hours from Monday to Wednesday as I was on an evaluation… It used to be that I would take at most 1 day for my biological clock to get back to its normal hours of sleep but nowsadays ah…the body not as young as it used to be! I took about 3 days to recover from the last evaluation. Oh, on top of that, still got to vet reports, write papers, and train for the Sundown Marathon and not forgetting reading all those literature books!

Oh ya…finally got myself registered for this course! Have wanted to go thru formal lessons but was waiting for my school’s timetable to be out before registering. Now can practice together with the First Princess! Yay!

Ah…CNY is next week…Like all good Singaporeans, a bunch of us will be escaping the country that will turn into a virtual ghost town for a couple of days… PD here we come!!!

Pudar & Simple Plan

2008-01-26T03:17:00.000+08:00

Just came back from a late dinner at Mad Jack... Late dinner because we had to do some...ehem...'shopping'... But that's another story... ;)

Anyway, congrats to Abah on his new set of wheels! SJB ... Shah, Julie, Boboy... macam kena gitu!

Heard this song on some variety show in Suria the other day... The wonder that is the Internet, I immediately 'Youtube-ed' the song... Enjoy!

Then I came across this clip by very 'free' people with a lot of time on their hands...

On a more sober note, we were shown a video on drunk-driving as part of our monthly safety message. I've seen it before some time back but it struck a chord when I saw it again...

It's been a while...

2008-01-19T01:12:00.001+08:00

To my handful of fans out there (last count was still only on my left hand...not even both hands!), I'll TRY to update my blog more often.

It's 0112hrs on Saturday morning...as usual, the girls are at mum's. We just got back from watching 'Cloverfield'...The wifey didn't really enjoy it...Firstly because we sat in the FIRST row!! That's because I booked through the phone and no...you can't choose your seats when booking thru the phone. You're left to the mercy of the efficient computer system! Second, and this is a distinctive feature of the movie, it is shot à la 'Blair Witch Project'... The whole movie is shot using a handheld video camera with all its jerkiness and fast pans. So if you are someone who pukes after playing games like 'Counterstrike' and 'Battlefield', you will definitely NOT enjoy the movie! Me, I think it was refreshing though it wasn't as 'scary' as 'Blair Witch Project' in the sense that it didn't play with your mind the way BWP did. There were times when the camera was too 'stable' to be 'realistic' especially after being chased and mauled and ...well, I won't let the cat out of the bag! Oh...we were supposed to go for a spa at 1830hrs but I had a meeting which ended at 1915hrs so...

Just had a meet-up with my primary school friends a couple of days ago. We haven't seen each other for 20 years! FaceBook helped us find each other! Go discover what you've been missing if you're not on FaceBook...you might just find that old friend you've been looking for all these years... Through FaceBook, I stumbled upon this site, My Happy Planet. It's a site with a surprisingly simple concept. It links up people who wants to learn or improve on their language. Go check it out. It's a fun site! As usual, I'm a great fan of Malsingmaps and will check it out every now and then. I've restarted my mapping activities after a year's hiatus. Thanx to bro waypoint and his maps. Of course, MSM has forums other than just mapping and I came across the Mountain Biking group there! Maybe I'll join them for trailing one day! Still waiting to go trailing with Glenn (when he can tear himself away from Baby Noah) and Andy Sam! Check out this site...it's by one of the bikers there!

It's 135 days to the inaugural Sundown Marathon to be held on 31st May 2008! I will be running my first ever full marathon with a group of my friends from work! In addition to our normal Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays morning runs, we will be putting in more mileage in preparation for the event. Let's hope more friends join in! Especially Fauzi and Glen! Check my Fit for LIFE blog for updates on our training sessions...

Lastly, I'd like to congratulate my buddy Jefri for being appointed the Chief Dental Officer of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces! 3 crabs on you man!

My sole in pain...

2008-01-11T18:54:00.000+08:00

First 'live-blogging' using my 'oh-so-cool-with-lots-of-features' Nokia E51 and 'internet anywhere' Singtel Broadband Mobile. I am now at True Spa getting my dose of foot reflexology. If you've never gone for a foot reflexology session before, get ready for soles in pain! The guy, Thomas, who attended to me gave me a really good foot massage with all the 'tenyehing' and 'koreking' and 'drubbing'! At certain points I had to imagine being detached from my body so as to endure the pain. Kalau terpekik, paiseh sey! I had earlier gone for a short run in the day and when he massage the small muscle beside the shin bones, fuyooh...best!

Eksyen nak baca 'Tatler' konon...bila dah start,

tutup mata aje and tahan the pain!

Chinese tea and fruits were served after the 45min sesssion...

An afternoon at Naughty by Nature...

2008-01-07T00:11:00.001+08:00

And so there we were on a balmy Sunday trooping off to Naughty by Nature for our Annual Family Shoot. It was our second at Naughty by Nature and fourth since we started this 'family tradition'. We wore our first set of clothes and brought along the second set - traditionally our latest Hari Raya Idilfitri clothes. Here are some of the shots taken...

Up and about...

2007-12-30T00:53:00.000+08:00

0052hrs and still up and about?!? Yep, the family's all asleep... I've been trying to get my 'new' Lifedrive up again. Yep, got myself a refurbished one. The old one died on me a few days ago. And as Murphy always likes to pop up at the most inopportune of times, it died when I have not sync with the lappie for a few weeks! Few weeks! Duh...So all my calendar, diary, contact entries that I have entered over that period of time is gone! Takeaway from the episode...need I say more?!?

I did not get a new model of Palm or even cross over to those new fangled PDA cum phone using Microsoft's interface...I don't really like PDAs based on Microsoft's interface and I really like Palm OS' simple and easily accessible interface. Now I know how Mac users feel!

Anyway, getting back up data is always a hassle unless one backs up regularly. Which I do to the point of obsession. I have double and even triple redundancy of some of my more important data. For example, my huge digital photo collection that I started way back in 2001 and has grown to 25 GB is saved in 3 different places! One in my PC, another in a separate external hardrive and another in a 'secure' place on the internet. Talk about kiasu! Let's just say that many of the lessons concerning data was learnt the hard way. So boys and girls, ALWAYS back up your data... it's like insurance...it's a hassle and takes away resources (money for insurance and time for back-ups) but when the shit hits the fan, you'd be glad that you have done it.

Ah well, the Lifedrive's still humming away restoring my data...

In a few hours time, a lot of us will be meeting at a place that is aptly summed up in the following - "Tempat jatuh lagi dikenang, inikan pula tempat bermain..."

Can't wait to meet the whole clan there! My small suggestion for a gathering has turned out to be quite a meet-up...let's hope the weather cooperates!

Welcome to the family!

2007-12-27T00:22:00.000+08:00

We would like to welcome Baby Noah to the family! We've just received an SMS from Ijai informing us that Bulin has given birth to Noah Copsey aka Noah bin Yusoff! Congrats guys! That's one more branch for the family tree...Moga-moga emak and bebudak dalam keadaan sihat...We'll visit you guys when we get back!

Oh..."when we get back"? Yep...we're blogging live from Impiana, Hotel & Spa situated a stone's throw away (actually 5 stones throw away!) from KLCC! Here's a 'teaser' from this morning's visit to the Skybridge of the Petronas Twin Towers. I had to get up at 0700hrs this morning to be at the queue by 0730hrs to wait for the counter that dispensed the tix to be opened at 0830hrs! But the wait was worth it! Enjoy the 'teaser'...more to come when we reach home...Insyallah...

Pertunangan Jihan & Fadil

2007-12-15T10:23:00.001+08:00

Congrats to the both of them! Here's my first attempt at digital scrapbooking!

Welcome to the family Naila!

2007-12-13T23:34:00.000+08:00

Bonjour Naila! Comment vas-tu? J'espere que tu vas bien...C'est moi, Oncle Omi! Félicitations! Je suis très fier de toi! Prends soin de toi! Bisous...

And so it was at 0425hrs on 13th December 2007 (Auxerre local time) was Naila born to the Ponce family! Félicitations to both parents and their little princess! I was told by her dad that she weighs 2,890g at birth. That she's adorable, in good health like her mom. Julie entered the hospital the day before at about 1600hrs. She will continue with her usual injections and will stay in the hospital until Monday morning...

Yeay! I'm finally an "Uncle"... ;)

Here are the pics of the mom and baby...

Julie & Naila...

Hmmm...looks like who ah?

Awww...so sweet...

One more branch for the family tree!!!

Oh shit I'm a butter head...come see me eat nipples!

2007-12-12T22:35:00.000+08:00

For those who have enjoyed Girly Man (which by the way is my all time favourite!) by buffalax, here's another one...

Of Pedra Branca

2007-11-03T12:38:00.000+08:00

Next week will kick start the round of presentations by both Singapore and Malaysia on their claims to Pedra Branca. This would no doubt be of interested to both sides of the Causeway and as Singaporeans, we should be updated and aware of the interests surrounding the issue.

Of Scrabulous, sick princesses and Hari Raya

2007-11-03T11:24:00.000+08:00

Scrabulous

When I log on to the Internet nowadays, Facebook is one of the few sites that I visit regularly! Other than the usual keeping up with friends stuff and the few pokes I have to administer now and then, I am absolutely hooked on 'Scrabulous'! If you like Scrabble, then Scrabulous will be your cup of tea! Your opponents are like-minded people from ALL OVER THE WORLD! I've always liked playing word games, especially Scrabble ever since I was in primary school. When I was posted to a place tucked away in the jungles of Borneo many moons ago, I remembered playing it in the officers' mess until the wee hours of the morning! The person with the lowest score for the round would buy drinks/tidbits all round for the next game. That kept us going on and on and on like the Energizer Bunny!

Sick Princesses

It all began from a sore throat on my part followed by an occasional but nonetheless irritating cough. Soon my BH got it followed by my 2 princesses. This almost always happens after the Hari Raya food binge what with all the fried stuff and crackers and kuih-muih... The girls had it worse, especially the elder one. She's still coughing and had a high fever of 39.5 degrees celsius last week! She just came back from her Nyai's house and was vomitting the whole night. Funny how all thoughts of sleep and one own's comfort is forgotten once one's own is struck down with a sickness. I guess that is the human instinct of ensuring that one's own lineage is preserved. Get well soon Kakak, Ayah will take you swimming ok?

Hari Raya

I always love it when Hari Raya falls from Friday to Sunday! Friday because Saturday and Sunday are non-working days. Saturday because Sunday is a non-working days and we civil servants can claim 1 day off if a holiday falls on a Saturday. And Sunday because Monday will then be a public holiday! If Hari Raya falls on any other days, it will break the momentum of the celebrations somewhat. There's like a pause on visiting and everybody will take cue and continue with a vengeance during the weekend!

For the second time in a row, we video-conferenced with Juls and Muhd on a Hari Raya morning at Mak's. I had especially bought a webcam (never had one, didn't see the need to have one before) and had subscribed to Singtel's Broadband on Mobile service so I can video-conference on the go. We did the same thing at Nyai's and also video-conference with Bik June in the US. Talk about keeping the far close!

Salam Aidilfitri...

2007-10-12T06:48:00.000+08:00

Well, it's the morning after the last terawih...last terawih always make me sayu...that duo qunut was a good 15 minutes! Fortunately this year, all the imams managed to maintain their composure throughout the doa qunut...Previous years, most will break up during the doa qunut and would have to take a few moments to recompose themselves...sniffles would be heard among the jemaah...

Ah...time to do a self-reflection of what we went through during Ramadhan...A brother of mine (the only brother!), penned down his thoughts of what Ramadhan means to him. It's true that as one gets older, perspectives change. Ramadhan to me means revising all the doa for terawih (once a year what, one tends to forget right?), revising all the solat sunat tied to Ramadhan. It also means a time to clean the house. This year we switched the children's and study room. We painted 2 walls with one having stripes as requested by my BH! Nicely done dear! We also started all the major shifting and cleaning way in advance. I guess my 1 week leave at the beginning of Ramadhan helped! By the second week of Ramadhan, we were more or less ready for Raya. No more rushing around the last days to Raya. I don't see the sense in staying up late into the wee hours of the morning of Raya and then having to suffer bouts of sleepiness throughout the day. No fun at all...

Ramadhan to me is also a month of self-reflection. Of reviewing my goals, mission and vision in life. It's a time to take stock of what has happened and what is to happen. A time to better oneself as a person. The litmus test of whether a Ramadhan has been carried out 'successfully' is to see whether we have become a better person after it has passed or whether we 'lapse' back to our 'old self'...

One thing I look forward during Ramadhan is berbuka puasa. It's not so much the eating and drinking that I look forward to but the time spent with family at specific times everyday. It's important to have this time where we can sit down as a family to just enjoy each other's company and talk about the day's events.

Ramadhan is also a time for me to 'push' myself. To prove to myself that I can do all the 'normal' things that I do during other months. I did my runs just as in other months. I read more because of the 1 hour 'saved' during lunch!

So, while we are busy preparing for Hari Raya, let's just take a moment to reflect on how we have conducted ourselves during Ramadhan and doa that we will have another chance to do it again and do it better next year...Insyallah...

Oh...Selamat Hari Raya to one and all...Maaf Zahir dan Batin...

To be in his shoes...

2007-10-10T22:21:00.000+08:00

And so the first Malay has blasted into space...To be in his shoes...As the earth 'falls' away, as the stars shine brighter, as the greatness of Allah is seen from afar...to be in his shoes...

A lot has been said about Dr Sheikh Muszaphar. But my topic is about the other person...Faiz...I can just imagine what he was thinking as the Soyuz floats away from the gravitational pull of Mother Earth. I have been in his shoes...Preparing for a mission, going through all the lessons, through all the practicals, through all the 'hardships', through all the medicals with countless needles poking into you, having all your vitals checked, having your teeth x-rayed (just in case you are burned beyond recognition and all they have is your teeth...comforting thought!)...Going through all this knowing that you will NEVER have a chance to up (never mind that the Malaysian PM said that he will be the next person to go up) if all goes according to plan. I wonder if throughout his training he may have had a whisper of a thought and had hoped that the primary candidate could not make it due to whatever reason...I have been there as a 'back-up' or reserve before...ah...such is life...

Dead link...

2007-09-29T21:48:00.000+08:00

Hmmm...since the link to the Berita Harian article (from the post on 12 Sep 2007) is no longer active, I've decided to add this instead. BTW, it's Harsh and not Jarsh and Heru and not Herm!

Some sites...

2007-09-25T00:03:00.000+08:00

Occasionally, I find sites that are worth sharing...The following are two which I came across while watching Click on BBC World...

1. Girl Solo in Arabia

This is a personal blog by Carolyn Mcintyre. It is really nicely written and well worth a look, especially if you are interested in arab culture or planning to travel to the region.

The opening page is a world map illustrating Carolyn's route through the Arab countries, starting from North Africa to the Middle East to the Arabian peninsula to Asia.

You can start exploring by clicking one of the dots on the map and jumping to the city you want to read about. Often the entries are complemented by photographs not only of famous landmarks but more specific things to reflect the culture of a country, like a wedding or traditional dressing gown.

Carolyn started her journey in 2006. Her mission is to do the same journey that the famous Islamic scholar Ibn Batuta did over 680 years ago. The journals are easy to read and full of information.

It is very easy to find your way around the site which is always good. One criticism though - I don't like the way the links on the left hand side go on and on, even though there is nothing left in the main section.

2. Readymech

If you like origami, the art of paper folding, this is a site you might enjoy.

Readymech is one the projects a group of designer from Denver are running. All you do is click on one of the very colourful robots that are on there in PDF format, print it out and fold on dotted lines. You can either use glue or doublesided tape to stick the sides together.

Of course the art of origami usually is more complicated than that, and doesn't come with the dotted lines for you to fold at.

The start of a new beginning...

2007-09-12T23:00:00.000+08:00

My journey that is the 38th Command and Staff Course is over. It has been a hectic nine months of lectures, discussions, plenaries, presentations, burning the midnight oil and time away from loved ones...I have gained much and discovered insights about myself which I had not known before. From Clausewitz to Krulak, from the deserts of Iraq to the vast span of the Pacific Ocean, from case studies on the National Library to case studies on East Timor, I have certainly grown in knowledge and hopefully, wisdom. More than anything, it was a journey of discovery. A journey of pushing one's limits. I have gained many friends and have grown close to a few. I won't forget those who have helped me go the extra mile, helped me when the assignments started piling up, pushed me along when time was tight. Who could forget all the colourful characters that is the 38th CSC...

Here's an article from Berita Harian published today...

An Infantryman's Adieu

2007-09-11T22:00:00.000+08:00

This poem is dedicated to my mates in Syndicate 3...

To friendships forged
To memories cherished
To sufferings endured
To dreams fulfilled

To those who were with me right from the start
It was an honour serving together
Side by side

To those who have helped me go the extra mile
I’ll treasure it forever
Most certainly with a smile!

To those who I did not have the privilege of knowing better
I’m sure our paths will cross again
Sooner or later

As I end another chapter of my life
And start a new beginning
I know that the fire of Syndicate 3
Will keep on burning
I know that the light of Syndicate 3
Will keep on shining

As I start a new journey
And bid farewell to everybody
I’ll remember that wherever I may be
I was once & will always be
A part of Syndicate 3 – of the 38th CSC!

Last presentation of the course

2007-09-07T14:44:00.000+08:00

I'm sitting down entering this on my phone as i listen to the last presentation of the 38th Command and Staff College of which i was the first presenter! It's over... Tonight's our Graduation Ball... Next week is a whole lot activities for the end of course admin..

You are what you speaketh...

2007-09-06T02:54:00.000+08:00

The latest edition of the English@Work newsletter is here. I especially like the 'Sounding Right' segment. For past issues, click here. Read on and you might find many nuggets of information.

Frustration...

2007-09-05T06:46:00.000+08:00

Frustration is when you've spent more than 2 hours in the dead of the night looking for the 'perfect' soundtrack for a study visit video that you were asked to make and then when it was time to play it for an audience, the sound didn't come out right because the laptop playing it was not hooked up to the sound system...instead the laptop's puny speakers were magnified by using only the lectern microphone which, predictably, produced crappy sound! Aaaaaarrgghhhh!!!

Note to self: Next time, hook up the system YOURSELF instead of depending on the speaker, who's probably nervous like hell about the entire presentation...don't leave things to chance!

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

2007-09-04T11:37:00.000+08:00

A staff from the Regional Delegation of the ICRC in Kuala Lumpur came down to give us a lecture on the ICRC. He shed a lot of light on what the ICRC does. Being a neutral, independent and humanitarian organisation, they work in situations of armed conflict. Their international mandate is to promote the Laws of Armed Conflict. They are a part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (But they are NOT the Red Cross / Red Crescent Societies. These guys operate in natural disaster situations). The ICRC has 3 roles mainly in the provision of assistance and protection of conflict victims, as the guardians of international humanitarian law and the official recognition of National Societies (i.e. Red Cross / Red Crescent). These guys are all over the world whenever there is armed conflict. Among other things that struck me was what he said about the Red Cross / Red Crescent. The purpose of the symbol of the Red Cross / Red Crescent is the protection of the military's medical services during armed conflict. The symbol is then adopted by each countries' Naitonal Societies for their medical services...

The Final Inspection

2007-09-01T18:41:00.000+08:00

The soldier stood and faced God,
Which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining,
Just as brightly as his brass.

"Step forward now, you soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"

The soldier squared his shoulders and said,
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't.
Because those of us who carry guns,
Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays,
And at times my talk was tough.
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.

But, I never took a penny,
That wasn't mine to keep...
Though I worked a lot of overtime,
When the bills got just too steep.
And I never passed a cry for help,
Though at times I shook with fear.
And sometimes, God, forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place,
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around,
Except to calm their fears.

If you've a place for me here, Lord,
It needn't be so grand.
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand.

There was a silence all around the throne,
Where the saints had often trod.
As the soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.

"Step forward now, you soldier,
You've borne your burdens well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."

MAJ Harsh Vardhan Singh, Indian Army
38th Command and Staff Course
Singapore Command and Staff College

Focus on the family...

2007-08-23T02:36:00.000+08:00

It's 0236hrs on a Thursday morning and I'm already up! Why? Cause I slept at 2130hrs!!! Why? Cause Mars & me fell asleep at about the same time while putting the girls to sleep! Usually one of us would wake the other up after both the girls have gone to sleep but it seems that we KO-ed! Maybe it was because of our evening run we had earlier but I'll touch on that later. We're at the stage where we're 'training' the girls to sleep in their own room. Inadvertently, both would end up on our bed sometime in the middle of the night! Usually the younger princess would stumble into our bed and 'claim' her 'rightful' corner! Her sister, discovering that there's no one around, would follow soon after, claiming that, "There's no one with me..."! Well, for tonight, we had planned to let the girls sleep on our bed first (they always seem to fall asleep there faster!) and then carry (me lor!) them to their bed... I was woken up by Lisha's tossing and turning as she tends to have very vivid dreams coupled with the fact that she is an 'active sleeper'! I woke up with her foot in my face!!!

I would like to wish a belated "Welcome to the Club" greeting to Roy on the occasion of the birth of Emma Joy. Check out the link to his blog on the right and discover how exuberant a father he is! Reading his blog brings back sweet memories of the times when our two princesses where just born... And looking at them now, life just seemed to whizz by... That is why it is important to savour every moment with the people you love, at every stage in their lives. Every stage in a child's life brings with it different opportunities and challenges. And while many may be reluctant to go on to the next stage, life will tumble along head-on nevertheless. And I find it strange that the most important job in the world does not require 'accreditation'! One needs years of schooling to become a teacher, doctor, engineer but to be a parent, one just needs to be able to produce an offspring! Whatever happens after that is left to one's own devices. I believe that even with a basic understanding of parenting skills coupled with some knowledge about child development, one would be on one's way to be a better parent. But I believe that this is not enough in this fast-paced and ever changing world. That is why it is important for us parents to keep up with the times and be updated with current teachings about child development, parenting, etc. Parenting based on "my parents did that to me too and I seemed to turn out fine" strategy and instincts can only bring one so far. With information so readily available from so many sources, it would a shame if one does not improve oneself. Parenting is too important to be left to chance!

In that light, Mars and me are currently enrolled in a "Parenting with Confidence" workshop conducted by Focus on the Family. I like these kind of workshops. They give me an opportunity to keep up with the latest, to find out more, to discuss, to share, to get to know other parents and discover that we are not alone in facing our challenges in bringing up kids. It is also a golden opportunity for some "us" time with Mars. And for the kids to spend time with their grandparents. So it's a win-win situation for all! And it's $80 well spent methinks! For those who say that there's no time, that it's too far away and that it's too draining after a hard day's work, well, "where there's a will, there's a way" is my response... I find these workshops invigorating and inspiring... Anyway, I've added more links to Family sites that I constantly check and get updated on...

One of the goals I have set for myself as part of the workshop is to spend more quality time with my two princesses... That sounds like cliche but it's a reality we have to face in our struggle to balance work and family life. And our 'homework' is to do something that we have never done with our kids before...hmmm...what could that be? Climb trees maybe?! Play in the rain? Paint our faces? Draw together? Act their favourite fairy tale? Treasure hunt? Catch butterflies? The possibilities are endless once you put your mind to it!

Lessons ended early today (1700hrs) so on the way back I called Mars to get the kids ready for cycling! By 1800hrs we were at the basement unlocking the girls' bicycles. Our SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) in this case is that I will bring the girls cycling around our place while Mars hits the gym for a go at the threadmill. Then we will switch over. For today, from 1800hrs to 1845hrs, I managed to bring the girls for a round around our place. Then we hit the playground where I showed them the intricacies of the 'monkey swing'! Then we played hopscotch. You should see Lisha trying to balance on one leg and twisting and turning away! It was precious! And we managed to play 4 rounds of hide-and-seek! Oh, and I still got my 5km run (to psyche up for the 21km Army Half Marathon this Sunday...see you there at the startline Fauzi and Glen) at the threadmill after changing over with Mars... Next major run for me after the AHM is the Singapore Marathon on 2 December... Care to join me anyone?

Leaving on a jet plane...

2007-08-13T09:20:00.000+08:00

"All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go..."...

And so here I am in Changi Airport Terminal 2 using one of the many free internet terminals. I'm taking the 1005hrs flight from Singapore to Hanoi on SQ196. It will be the second time in 2 weeks that I'm flying, the last being exactly one week ago at exactly the same time to Jakarta and Bandung (hmmm, I'll put up the posts on those when I have the time ya?). These 2 trips are part of our study trips for the course. The other group has been to Malaysia and is already in Beijing, China now.

If I can find internet cafes in Hanoi, I'll continue my travel blog...till then au revoir to the cyberworld!

441 on Classic...

2007-08-02T00:08:00.000+08:00

I didn't wanna post it you know...but Juls did it first...so here it is! And oooh...I'm beginning to see a few familiar names up in the High Scores list especially under the Classic Map (since all of us have 'decided' to play on Classic Map so that we have a common reference point for bragging rights!)! Well done Chris and Kamel...I'll beat you guys yet!

Here's what I got with Nukes and Tazers...Tazers to slow them down and Nukes to take 'em out.

Draft is finally out...

2007-07-28T03:48:00.000+08:00

Yep...it's 0348hrs on a Saturday morning...and my draft is finally done...finished! I've just sent it to my supervisor at 0342hrs just now! Yes...yes...yes...now life can get back to normal...Let's wait and see what his comments are...

I'm Simpsonised!

2007-07-26T21:54:00.000+08:00

Contrary to what StimGam portrayed me as on the banner of his blog, I think I look more like this...right? Check out his banner for other 'characters'! Quite a good resemblence!

On the 'Onslaught' front...the 'disease' has spread far and wide! I counted at least 20 people 'trying' out the game 'in between' lectures...ehem! During lunch, many small groups were seen discussing strategies on the best 'combos' to use to defeat the 'Onslaught'! There's a talk going around that it may soon be the 'official' game of 38th CSC! Some suggested that by Monday morning, those involved are to show a screen capture of the highest score from now till then. Winner gets the 'pot'! Currently the honour goes to Bernard Ng with 200 + waves on the Classic map and counting...

And on the CRP front...I'm happy to say that I'm halfway there! 'There' being the 5000 word mark. Actually it's not so much the word count but the flow of ideas and one's own thoughts about the topic at hand. I WILL FINISH BY TOMORROW! Then it's back to 'Onslaught'!!!

An Onslaught of Essays!

2007-07-25T23:11:00.000+08:00

Oh man StimGam! Dammit...dammit...he has spread the Onslaught disease to me! It was an innocent MSN message that said "Check out this game" and I was hooked! Now Jefri knows why I was 'disengaged' from the JPP discussion!!! Hey, I was maintaing 'listerning watch' ok! Then Chris saw the game and next day he told me, "Dammit Shah...why did you introduce the game to me!?!?"...Next to be hooked was our resident fighter pilot. I guess the only time he displayed that much concentration is when he is in the cockpit of his F-16! The three of us were discussing strategies to overcome the onslaught as we made our way to a Japanese restaurant @ Jurong West Sport Complex for lunch! And when I got back to attend the country brief, I saw Simon, Robin and Choon Keong playing the game in the audit!!! Talk about spreading the disease! And all this in the middle of a hectic period when the rest (including myself of course) are rushing our Commandant's Research Paper (5000 words baby!) before flying off to Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and China around the National Day week. We don't want to be lugging our laptops overseas to do the CRP now do we?!?! Dammit...dammit StimGam...now I know why there's a tagline on the Onslaught website saying "You wanted to get anything done today?"!!! You have been warned...Once you click on the link and unless you are not human, you will be hooked!!!

July 2007 Monthly Cousins Gathering

2007-07-25T21:16:00.000+08:00

And so we trooped to Annaz's @ Woodlands last Saturday for our Monthly Cousins Gathering. There were 20 of us there! The gathering is getting bigger. We would like to welcome Faizal & Widdi to their first ever gathering! As usual, it was potluck. Our kind hosts provided the drinks (hot & cold!) and ice-cream floats. We brought along 2 pieces of pound cakes with some chips. Rina brought indo-mi goreng (the 'base' food) and pieces of chicken that was sinfully nice! Glynn brought along home-made quiche (it was delicious Glen!). There were also doughnuts and jelly. All in all, the food was much less than what was brought for the previous gathering. I guess we learnt our lesson not to bring too much food. Suffice to say, we finished them in good time. We made time to catch up and talked about what has been happening in our lives. That is the main objective of these gatherings. To get away from our kids, to chill and just to chat. While we finished our dinner and caught up with each other, I started off with our 'favourite' 'Stories' 'game'...Those not familiar were initiated to the inner-workings of the game. Essentially, each person is to come up with a sentence to continue on the sentence from the previous person. Hence, one has no idea of the bigger story but only that of the previous person. It's great fun when everybody has written their part and for the story to be read out. Nine out of ten times the story will be hilarious. Maybe I'll publish our collective 'masterpiece' here one day!

Boboy had brought along a video clip of the guys from the 'Upside Down Show'...Those guys are tireless! I got tired just from watching them! Although I can't say much of the show I did enjoy the last part just before the credits.

Then came the Game part...It always fell on me to start the games...I don't mind and in fact relish in it but it's an art to judge when the rest are ready to start playing! Usually by the time we start the games, it will be something like 2300hrs! But we started at about 2100hrs that day. We started off with Taboo...Hohum...as usual, the gender that talks the most won...again...No guessing who huh?!?! Next, I pulled a fast one on the gang by introducing a new game called Um or Uh! It's basically a game of 'public speaking' and since anecdotal evidence points to people dying rather than give a presentation, I didn't really tell anyone about the game beforehand! It was hilarious as we pick out the topics for the other team (it was guys vs gals as usual) to talk about. It was great fun seeing the gang fumble and try to 'bluff' their way through the topic at hand. 30 seconds never felt so long huh guys!?!? As it happened, my future sister-in-law picked a topic on "Sex"!!! Her parting words were "Come November, I wish to have great sex!"...Oh boy! Oh Boy indeed...Pun intended! As it turned out, the gang gamely played the game and I think everyone did well! Kudos guys! Should have more of that huh?

I wanted to play Pictionary Mania next but one thing lead to another and we ended up watching some crap show by some WWE star who went around hooking up people with a chain and hook...literally! How we ended up watching that show I don't know but it was a classic case of the 'Abilene Paradox', a concept I was introduced to in the course of my work. We played traditional Scrabble while some watched the show though...It's been a long time since I played Scrabble and it brought back memories of the times when I used to play it non-stop from 2000hrs till 0400hrs for a few weeks when I was posted to Temburong, Brunei waaaaaaay back in 1994! After winning the first game, it looks like I have not lost the 'touch'! Must play more!

Next, we watched "Music & Lyrics" while some played Carrom...By this time (it was about 2359hrs methinks), some of us had already turned to 'zombies'! It was about 0300hrs when we finally bade goodnight (good morning?!?) to our kind hosts and made our collective journey back home...We gave a ride to Muz, Faurin to Carl and Tit to Nurul...

As always, it was great fun...good food, good company...always looking forward to the next one! We're having a Simpsons Movie night sometime next week...All are supposed to wear either yellow or some Simpsons t-shirt! That should be fun! Oh ya, enjoy the first ever (at long last!) photo taken of EVERYONE who was there that night...

Keeping the Peace...

2007-07-23T18:53:00.000+08:00

While the military is traditionally the instrument of policy for governments to extend their will onto other governments, more and more it is being used for other purposes. Chief amongst them is Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) or Peace Support Operations (PSO). Singapore has contributed to a significant number of them over the years. A lot of my friends have been involved in PSOs and PKOs in countries from Africa to East Timor. I myself have not been involved in any directly but have been put on standby and gone for training for a few. The office in the UN that is responsible for these missions is the Department of Peacekeeping Operations. I would be honoured to be given a chance to don a blue beret and participate in one of these missions... A chance to help others, a chance to improve lives...for the betterment of humankind!

The ultimate symbol of sacrifice...

2007-07-13T20:42:00.002+08:00

"I dedicate my LIFE to Singapore..."

This is the phrase that EVERY recruit utters on his first day as a soldier as part of the SAF Pledge led by his Commanding Officer, this is the phrase that every officer cadet says as he stands proudly on the hollowed grounds of the SAFTI Parade Square before he is officially commissioned as an SAF Officer by the Reviewing Officer and this is the phrase that EVERY SOLDIER says every year on SAF Day on 1st July.

The military profession is unique in that it calls for unlimited liability upon its members - that when called upon, we will give up our lives for our country. I am reminded of the seriousness of what we do when we had a talk with the Head of Army Musuem a few days ago. The ID tag or "dog-tag" as it is more commonly known is given to recruits upon enlistment. It is the ONLY item that we have that is useful only upon the death of its owner. It has no other purpose other than to identify who the owner was. All other equipment given to us are gainfully used except for the ID tag which just hangs around our necks or kept safely somewhere. We do not use it to identify ourselves because we have our 11B or the military IC for it. If it is to be used, it is only used upon the death of its owner. Since there always two tags, 1 is taken by the medic and the other one attached to the owner so as to identify him...

So, there...for those who have it, think about it the next time you see your ID tags. It is the one thing that you have that you hope will not EVER be utilised...

The rat race begins...

2007-07-02T22:45:00.000+08:00

It is but a fact of life that in Singapore, parents take the education of their children seriously, very seriously. In fact so seriously that they are willing to 'sacrifice' 40 hours of their lives so that their precious ones have a fighting chance in Phase 2B and not the 'dreaded' Phase 2C! Those of you who have 'been there, done that' would know what I am talking about...Yep...My BH and I have officially become 'members' of a certain primary school's Parents' Association! "I cannot believe it....!", as a certain character in the Little Einsteins likes to intone when something truly out of the norm happens!

We received a flyer from the FD's school saying that a certain primary school was having an open house last Saturday. Although it's a year away before the FD has to register for Primary 1, hey, what the heck...it's never too early to conduct a bit of recce! So the four of us trooped down to the school on a hot sultry morning. Personally, it's been a long time since I have gone into a primary school and I was amazed at the transformation it has undergone! Suffice to say that they were a far cry from the one I used to go to... We explored some of the classrooms and stalls that were set-up by the students, teachers, staff and parent volunteers. I came away thoroughly impressed with what the school has to offer. On the way out, we passed by the registration counter and gave it only a cursory glance since it wasn't our FD's turn to register yet. Upon further enquiry however, we realised that it was the last day for parents to register to be parent volunteers to be eligible for next year's registration! A full one year before actual registration..."Oh, it's not as bad now", said the admin staff who attended to us, "Last time, it used to be 2 years! Now, as long as you have clocked 40 hours, you are eligible for Phase 2B...But it does not mean that your child will be guaranteed a place in this school! If there are more applications for Phase 2B than there are places, then we will have to ballot. Of course, parents who live within 1km of the school gets a higher priority that those who live between the 1 to 2km radius...". Thus we were 'inducted' into a group of about 60 parents who actively give their services ranging from routine weekly reading programmes, counselling to adhoc events like class outings...Hmmm...maybe I can put my photography skills to good use! Oh...of course there are other 'collateral' benefits of joining as a parent volunteer beside the main obvious one...We get to meet other 'like-minded' parents, we get to extend our circle of friends, we get to see at first hand how the school is run, we get to talk to students who are studying there to find out what the school is REALLY like and we get to be involved! In the end, I guess it is a win-win situation for all involved!

Hmmm, there is that other school open house this weekend...another 40 hours of 'volunteering' perhaps?!?!

(For those not 'inducted' to my blog, BH means Better Half, FD means First Daughter and SD, although not mentioned here, would obviously mean Second Daughter. For those not familiar with the Internet and other 'unwritten' rules on blogging, one should not give away one's names, schools, etc, etc...there ARE many weird characters floating around in cyberspace with extra time on their hands...Also, once you publish something in your blog, it NEVER gets deleted...even if you have deleted it from your site...even if your site closes down...even if your computer crashes! Because somewhere out there, there are always sites that trawls the cyberspace and records EVERYTHING that has ever been published...so for those who like to pour their hearts out in cyberspace...remember, it may come back to haunt you YEARS later! Like when your future boss googles your name to check on you...I may sound a bit like an alarmist but that's the fact guys and gals...so be careful what you publish...)

A flurry of blogs...

2007-06-14T23:19:00.001+08:00

Upon the 'request' of Moe, I've added the link to his blog and a few other blogs of my younger cousins. Funny how now you tend to know more about people from their blogs than thru the 'traditional' way of getting to know them...Anyway, I enjoy reading all your blogs guys...Brings back memories to my *ahem* younger days *ahem*... the highs and lows of a teenager's life, new discoveries, new revelations, the hollowness of separation from a loved one, the yearnings and hopes... So keep them blogs updated ok?

It's 0230hrs already...

2007-06-14T02:30:00.000+08:00

I bet at least 4 people are not getting a good night's sleep because in a couple of hours' time, they are gonna be presenting their plans to a few big guns. And it will invariably decide their fates...

Anyway, it's been a hectic 2 days of exercise so far. I bet it beat last year's record of going back at 2230hrs...huh! what's 2230hrs...that's early for us...wait till you try 0111hrs!! Anyway, the kind air boys and gals did a nice thing for us 'ground guys' yesterday and continued the tradition from previous batches. Thanx guys! And thank you to Cookie for personally cutting the chocolate and durian cakes for us...

Anyway, just happened to be browsing through a few of my regular blog sites...I'm talking about Boboy, Julie, Rina & of course my BH...Boboy would go for days without updating his site but once he updates, it would be a deluge...Rina would always have some quirky stories about her kids and Julie...well, just wish she would update hers more often...

Kinda cute reading Boboy's remarks on who to invite for his wedding...well bro, just remember that all of us have circles of friends and we tend to invite those in the inner circle first before moving 'outwards'. And surprise, surprise...marriage is about a lot of give and take...usually for the guys, it's a lot of giving!!!

Was quite impressed reading Rina's 'report' on the flash card thingy... It's not easy being a parent in a stressful environment such as Singapore. I know it's a cliche but what I have learnt so far is that parenting requires passion and commitment... The passion to always try new things and the commitment to see it through, just like what Rina has done with the flash card. We may want our kids to do many things, accomplish lots of goals but if we are not focused, all these would come to nought. It's just like what I've learnt in defence...if we try to defend everywhere, we will be weak everywhere... Goal setting and visualising one's desired outcome REALLY helps one to focus on one's goals. And remember, goals should be S.M.A.R.T i.e. specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. For example, I want to lose 3kg by 1st August 2007. It is specific, measurable (3kg as opposed to "I want to lose weight"), attainable and realistic (3kg in 3 months as opposed to 3kg in 1 week!) and timely. Most of what we fail to achieve in life is for the lack of setting a goal...