Of Rocky Town and bears!

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!

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...

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

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

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

We're going digital, sir!

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

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

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

Nokia Internet Radio

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

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

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

Enjoy...

That which is measured improves...

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

This life is temporary and we are departing...

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

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

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

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

About the first fast...

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

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

Adegan di Ya Kun Lot 1

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

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

Tea Session @ Al-Khair

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...

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...

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...

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...

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?

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

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...

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

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!"