Footprints In The Mind

Demise of Dr Goh Keng Swee

2010-05-18T18:14:00.002+08:00

I first heard of it from WV. The President's Charity event is to be postponed, so was the charity speed climb. In my mind, I was wondering just who Dr Goh was. Pardon my ignorance. As I later discovered...

Dr Goh Keng Swee, our former Deputy Prime Minister and the first Minister for Defence, passed away on14 May 2010. During his term, Dr Goh oversaw the development of defence science in Singapore and had a role in building up the Singapore Armed Forces, the Republic of Singapore Air Force and DSO National Laboratories. He also made significant contributions to Singapore's finance, education and tourism sectors throughout his long years of public service.

May he rest in peace.

The Backup Plan

2010-05-18T14:38:00.001+08:00

An online survey done on 100 singles ladies (inspired by the movie – The Back-up Plan) recently, the interesting result is as follows:

Survey details

Gender – All ladies
Sampling size – 100
Age : 21-50Insights & Findings

1. At what age will you give up finding a life partner?
10% of the ladies will give up looking for a partner at the young age of 30
20% of the ladies by 35
25% of the ladies by 40
Conclusion : 55% of all single ladies will give up looking for a life partner by age of 40

2. What is your biggest difficulty in finding a life partner?
23% of the ladies said the biggest difficulty they face in looking for a partner is “They always attract the wrong kind of men to them”
18% of the ladies – ‘The men I find suitable are mostly attached, or married or gays
17% of the ladies – “I am rather picky in finding a life partner
Conclusion : Being too busy and being shy are not longer the main reasons why single ladies cannot find a partner

3. What is your biggest Turn-off of Men?
16% - “Insensitive”
14% - Not generous
14% – over sized male ego
Conclusion : All 3 have to do with a man’s character, not is personality or habits

4. What is your Back-up Plan should you remain single all your life?
24% - engage in social work for the rest of their lives should they not find a partner·
22% - work way past retirement age
13% - just find a companion with no marriage in mind
Conclusion : Almost 50% of all single women will be able to find meaningful substitute should they remain single all their lives.

5. Positive Mindset & Outlook
45% of the ladies wanted “a positive mindset and outlook in life” as prime quality when comes to find a “father” of their child?
41% of the ladies wanted “smart and sensible”
Conclusion : A positive Mindset and life outlook are still precious qualities all women look for in a man should they really find a man to “father” their child

6. If you really want a man to father your child, what would you do?
39 % of the ladies said should they really want to be a single parent without getting married, they would find another man with the same intention.
29% of the ladies would go for artificial insemination
Conclusion : 39% of the single women who like to be a single parent would seek the help of another like minded male, either through artificial insemination or natural ***

Second best not an option (Backup Plan Pt 1) Successful single women are still not finding their Mr Right, but that doesn't mean that they will settle for Mr Backup. So at what age do single women stop looking for the ideal partner? http://www.razortv.sg/site/servlet/segment/main/news/47104.html
Make a baby on your own? (Backup Plan Pt 2) The biological clock is ticking, and single women are panicking. Some are lapping up the idea of artificial insemination, but the majority is still not buying into being a single mother. http://www.razortv.sg/site/servlet/segment/main/news/47106.html
Still waiting for Mr Right (Backup Plan Pt3) According to Singapore women, there are more wrongs than rights in Singaporean men. Is this pickiness preventing them from finding their Mr Right? http://www.razortv.sg/site/servlet/segment/main/news/47108.html

Larger than life

2010-05-18T13:51:00.002+08:00

Why volunteer? Why continue to do BOAT year after year, or rather, 2 years after 2 years. Why subject yourself to all the problems you need to solve as a facilitator, organiser with many hours of committment and weekends burnt? Only to feel used and abused? Why?

Indeed, it is much more fun to simply be organising activities for ourselves only. Less the trouble, less the red tapes, less the torment of having to handle difficult participants.One need not join a group like TPAC to enjoy trekking or getting to know new friends. But there is a catch. It can happen for only as long as you have friends and kakis, who, are single and free, like you are, with lesser committments so to speak of. Sure, friends are important. And it is for the people that we first decide to continue to stay on. Beyond that, we begin to ask ourselves, the very meaning behind our existence, as an individual. Or are we someone who wants to do something better?

It's hard to see someone else's perspective, unless you're in it yourself. I just hope that time will tell. Because it has become a fact, that people will come and people will go. That the merits of being a volunteer at TPAC outweighs the advantages of merely being an organiser for your friends. The personal development and growth, opportunities to meet people from all walks of life and the avenue to further outdoor pursuits. Trekking mountain after mountain, without a clear objective, is just going to get boring after a while. Why are you trekking so hard for?

This June, I am bringing people to Gunung Arong. I don't know about you. but I have found a place and I want to share it with more people. I want more people to discover that outdoor pursuits are not just for the gutsy and garang, but for the average person like you and I.

One needs to add meaning to life, deeper than life itself.

黄小琥 - 没那么简单

2010-05-05T14:53:00.001+08:00

一个三十几岁女人的心声，果然是不简单。

作词：姚若龙
作曲：萧煌奇

没那么简单就能找到聊得来的伴
尤其是在看过了那么多的背叛
总是不安只好强悍
谁谋杀了我的浪漫

没那么简单就能去爱别的全不看
变得实际也许好也许坏各一半
不爱孤单一久也习惯
不用担心谁也不用被谁管

感觉快乐就忙东忙西
感觉累了就放空自己
别人说的话随便听一听自己作决定
不想拥有太多情绪
一杯红酒配电影
在周末晚上关上了手机舒服窝在沙发里

相爱没有那么容易每个人有他的脾气
过了爱作梦的年纪轰轰烈烈不如平静
幸福没有那么容易才会特别让人着迷
什么都不懂的年纪
曾经最掏心所以最开心曾经

没那么简单就能去爱别的全不看
变得实际也许好也许坏各一半
不爱孤单一久也习惯
不用担心谁也不用被谁管

感觉快乐就忙东忙西
感觉累了就放空自己
别人说的话随便听一听自己作决定
不想拥有太多情绪
一杯红酒配电影
在周末晚上关上了手机舒服窝在沙发里

相爱没有那么容易每个人有他的脾气
过了爱作梦的年纪轰轰烈烈不如平静
幸福没有那么容易才会特别让人着迷
什么都不懂的年纪
曾经最掏心所以最开心曾经

相爱没有那么容易每个人有他的脾气
过了爱作梦的年纪轰轰烈烈不如平静
幸福没有那么容易才会特别让人着迷
什么都不懂的年纪
曾经最掏心所以最开心曾经
想念最伤心但却最动心的记忆

Happy Birthday To Me!

2010-05-04T16:34:00.005+08:00

As usual, every year around this time, I will be trekking in the mountains. This year was no exception. I took a day off after trekking Gunung Tapis to recuperate from the muscle soreness, which wasn't too terrible luckily. I especially loved the big bao stuck with a big candle from the TPAC people. Just love their ingenuity.

Had lunch with Sean. Caught 初恋红豆冰 and toured the new RWS in Sentosa. I have stopped "celebrating" birthdays for a long time. Its actually feels quite nice to be able to spend a day out like that. Suddenly, I felt happy. It's been a long time since I felt this way.

It's been 4 years!

2010-05-04T14:52:00.003+08:00

A few days ago, a friend asked if I blog.

Pages flipped in my memory...Yes, I do. One that is left to rot. I have moved over to Multiply, because my friends all preferred that then. But I've stopped updating that too. Now with Facebook, its just not a blog anymore.

Today, as I was reading thru the pages of the past, I thought, maybe its time to return.
Perhaps I should pen it down "before I grow old and senile".

七年之痒，屁股痒

2006-12-01T01:53:00.001+08:00

(快)七年了。做也烂了，骂也麻了，学也忘了，被欺也算了。
做也不是，不做也不行，败战一场就是了。天下老板，一个样。

朋友说，读书，毕业，做工，结婚，生子，好像是人生必经之路。她不以为然。
还有朋友说，够了，不干了。多年后，风雨不改，原地不搬，牢骚依旧。做生不如做熟嘛！那也对。也有朋友说，七年了，和约满了，快失业了，该继续吗？或许，应该改做别的。

七年之痒，屁股痒。怎么办？

The SMRT Cabby

2006-11-22T01:58:00.002+08:00

Late for work, what's new?
Took a cab, as usual.

This one was really nice. He charged me only $10 instead of what's shown on the meter, which came to be almost $12. It wasn't a lot, but it certainly made my day. :D

The Importance of Objectives

2006-11-13T01:24:00.000+08:00

A meeting without an agenda is likely gonna be a waste of your time as you go around in circles, deviate from what's important and get sidetracked once too many. I never saw the importance of objectives or why we had to set one in the first place. Weren't rules made to be broken? Fortunately (or unfortunately), I've come to recognise the beauty of the bombastic word called OBJECTIVES.

Lamenting over lunch session, children who have "When I grow up, I want to be a...". The kids who didn't dream, didn't set goals and didn't know what they wanted to do are now in a kind of a dilema. What exactly is it that I want to do? What do I want to accomplish? Many of these questions are simply put in a black box with no answers and perhaps left to fate? Do you really want to do the same old crap in brand new shit? The same old shit is probably warmer and smells nicer? That was a joke a friend cracked.

Responsibilities come with committment. What is my objective of it all? What is your objective? How will the objective be met? Have you met them? I think I should stop being soft-hearted. It is truly a case of self improvement and self discovery through experience.

La Marche de L'Empereur (Luc Jacquet)

2006-11-05T02:45:00.001+08:00

I love animals, all creatures big and small. Did anyone know that? Finally got to catch March of the Penguins. Truly, a remarkable story about a life so precious and fragile, the ardous journey of bringing just one single chick to this world.

Emperor penguins live where most other creatures flee. It takes a good 9 months to get baby penguins.And the remainder 3 Summer months are spent in the Ocean. When the sun and moon meets halfway, Penguins walk for 10 days to a safe place (w/o food) to meet and dance for each other, find a partner, mate. Keep up or be left behind and condemned. The winter months are long and harsh with blizzard storms and dark. Penguins huddle together for strength, warmth and encouragement. The male and the female have only a single goal, to defend the precious life nested under downy feathers.

3 months passes, Mum has egg under her downy feathers, getting hungrier by the day. Dad takes over the following months until Mum returns. Clumsy penguins accidentally break the egg in the process, Egg freezes. Game over.

Mum travels 10 days to where she came from, in search for food and to bring food back in time for the little one so that the famished father can relinquish his responsibility and hunt for food. Some, never make it back. A snap from the Sealion takes 2 lives, the mother and the chick, who will never be fed. If Mum didn't return in time, Chick would be abandoned.

Chick is born in Spring. They are cold and need food. Some never made it. They died from the cold and hunger. Soon, Chick is strong enough to be out from under Mum. But rejoice not, for there is Bird. Penguins seek solace in numbers but the unfortunate chick is taken away. Dad returns. It is summer. Family gathers a last time before returning back to the sea for the next 3 Summer months. Next Winter, they will return to this place again. Cycle continues.

Nature works in wonderful ways, yet at the same time, cruel. But such is the way of the world and a survival of the fittest. What is love? A love of the emperor penguins, is truly remarkable.

Why You So Stupid!

2006-10-31T23:33:00.000+08:00

That's what I feel like telling boss number 2. He who can't even print something from the network drive himself and use email in an intelligent manner. He thinks he's the king living in the palace with 1000 palace girls to serve him and run errands for him. Then he nearly made me faint this morning when he tells me this component ABC of an e-ABC system is just "data transfer" because they already have the equipment. OMG.

Wake up your idea and pull up your socks.
You are lucky you still have a job.

Culinary Wizard

2006-10-29T16:18:00.000+08:00

Chanced upon this website. Food reviews by someone from the industry. It has got to have some standard right?

My Working Style

2006-10-29T02:06:00.001+08:00

Just did the working style quiz and this is what I found. There must be something wrong :P

auditor
carpenter
coach or trainer
computer programmer
construction worker
dental or medical assistant
economist
electrical technician
engineer
farmer
firefighter
marine biologist
mechanic
military personnel
paralegal
paramedic
police officer
private investigator
repairman
securities analyst
steelworker
surveyor
technician
transportation operator

What "Toning" Really Means...

2006-10-28T02:14:00.000+08:00

I cannot but feel like an idiot each time I try to convince someone about these facts. However, this article clearly nicely sums it up. *wink* I especially like the protein one.

Got Hand, Got Leg, Got Toilet Paper

2006-10-18T01:10:00.000+08:00

I just accomplished 2 days of :nothing: in a small, tiny, enclosed space without windows at 18 degrees celcius. Frustration, disgusted and reminded of the lousy things people do. Despite 2 days of :nothing:, I actually feel happier because I do not have to see the faces of disrespect. So its actually quite :something:

I remind myself, I got hands, I got legs and recently, I remembered that I got toilet paper. Surely I don't die? Of cos I won't die. I figured out my worst scenario, and it doesn't sound very scary. Of cos I won't die.

Sesame & Almond Paste

2006-10-15T23:47:00.001+08:00

Right, another pastey dessert again. I was at Beauty World this time and finally got to eat the soft boiled eggs and bread I've been craving for so long now, for lunch. Tucked in a little corner stands a shop selling quaint desserts like fungus and papaya soup, pumpkin/yam paste and other interesting desserts. They sell pastes too! Right, naturally, my first question was, any 花生湖? No, was the answer (See, I told you!). I finally settled for Almond + Sesame Paste. Nice, also smooth but felt the texture of the peanut paste I had just a night ago was better and more fragrant. I could taste the starch in this one.

Egg Custard

2006-10-15T23:42:00.001+08:00

I finally got to make my own chawanmushi. You know, chawanmushi with wasabi tastes good. Some people say its simply weird combi. But I like it. So, who cares. The steamer was bought because of the furball I have at home. But for the first time in my life, I never felt the steamer I had at home was more useful than it looks.

Peanut Paste, My favourite!

2006-10-14T23:44:00.001+08:00

I chanced upon 美香园甜品 in Hougang Mall by accident and the mini queue caught my eye. On second look, my favourite 花生湖! Well, besides trying brownies everywhere, this is something else I try everywhere. Enough taste, silky, smooth, not overpowering and not starchy. Going for $2.50 a bowl. I like it so much, so $2.50 wouldn't be unreasonable given that, its really not easy finding this delicacy locally. Right, did you know 花生湖 is really not easy to find. These shops can be selling every 湖 there is except 花生湖. Don't believe, try looking. Their mango and pomelo dessert going for $3.50 seems to be enjoying a pretty fast turnover.

Internship

2006-10-11T01:47:00.001+08:00

I really do not think too highly of the intern sitting near me.

They sleep out in the open several times a day, blast the music (can't say this is all that bad) so the entire office shares his playlist, watch anime openly so that I can hear it as well, it was really loud. My new colleauge and I shot quizzical looks at one another and shrugged our shoulders.

Today over lunch (yes, we have lunch together), he proclaimed that he needs to sleep so he could go for track & field training later in the evening. Next, he attempted to asked my colleauge if he could go off earlier for his training which starts at 5.30 pm (Work hours end at 6 pm). So my colleauge asked him how often he needs to do this. "Actually, my track & field training is everyday." I guess he was just trying his luck for he later proposed if he could leave earlier on x & y day and make up for it on a, b, c day. In any case, he didn't get it either way because it was referred "up".

I've had interns under me before from the good to the mediocre and somewhat not-so-good ones. But this one has really pushed his luck too far. Luckily, he ain't mine. I have only one remark, young, immature and haven't seen how high the sky is. In any case, after working for close to 7 years, I haven't gotton the chance to see the other end of the rainbow either.

SCAM

2006-10-11T01:44:00.001+08:00

Imagine this, you receive a contract job offer, you jump for joy and prepare anxiously as you await that first day of work. On your first day of work, your employer tells you the "good news". We are going to convert your contract term to a permanent basis. Please sign this if you have no objections. You look at the letter. The notice period has been extended 3 times to a harrowing 3 months.

Don't you feel you have been conned? Would you take it? Btw, the above scenario actually happened.

Hydration (or the lack of)

2006-10-09T01:10:00.001+08:00

Came across this when I was reading up on hydration....

And if you are trying to lose weight, hydration is even more important. Even if you eat healthy and moderately and exercise, you will not lose weight without drinking enough water. Water is a big part of the metabolic system. It helps convert food into energy instead of fat. Without the enough water, your body will convert more food to fat than to energy. (Of course, there are dangers of overdoing water intake, called hyponetremia. But it is much more rare than dehydration is.)

See full article

WDO2006

2006-10-08T12:43:00.001+08:00

Program line up was good. The whole program begins with a 1-hour session for the newbies at 10am, followed by a 50-min belly session, a 3-hour aerobic marathon in the afternoon, a Dancesearch (reminds me of So You Think You Can Dance?), followed by a yoga session at 7pm in the evening.

It all began with a terribly slow long queue during registration, followed by a 1-hour session of Experience Fitness with 3 20-min segments worth of Latino, Kickbox and StretchFit. The queue was so slow, that at 10am, there was still a queue visibly snaking at the registration booth. Apparently, the people handling the booths are just poorly trained and couldn't care less.

BellyBlitz is a workout inspired with belly dance moves. If you're into belly dancing, this workout removes the gracious beauty of the mythical arabian dance. So was it a good workout? If you perform the isolations well enough, maybe.

Taking out the hip-hop segment was the best thing to have happened. I mean, it's just not suitable for the most of the population. So it got replaced with a cardio latino. It was fun with its cha-cha & salsa moves.

Kickbox and Hi-Lo followed. Routine was simple and easy to follow. However, I must complain about the instructor leading the exercise, not doing the exercise, really. Towards the end of the 3rd hour, I must say, he lost it. And I could tell at least 50% of the crowd had no idea what was going on as well (had a feeling the remainder of the 50% or less were "their own members/people").

Every year, 2 or more prizes will go to someone whose employer is also the organizer. I do wonder about an event that draws a 1200 participant crowd. Is it really to promote an active lifestyle amongst the ladies here or for themselves? Afterall, such nature of activities are what they do for a living. I do recall filling in lucky draw slips that disqualifies all employess and direct families from taking part. I think it ought to be the same in this case.

Till then, I'll eagerly await WDO2007.

2006-10-06T12:20:00.000+08:00

Swim With The Sharks, Then Eat Them

2006-10-06T12:15:00.000+08:00

Interesting advertisment.
So eat or swim?

Open Source

2006-10-06T11:56:00.000+08:00

The right to plagarize...Google Code Search. Yeah!

The Pink London Cab

2006-10-05T01:37:00.000+08:00

Late for work again as usual. I was just telling someone how I worked longer hours at my first job but somehow it's just not as tiring as the way I currently spend my 9 hours now. Haha, maybe I should just opt to work 16-hour days and have no time for myself huh?

Anyway, I boarded a pretty, bright, pink London Cab today, complete with a couple of pink accessories like My Melody tissue box. Quaint and retro, it certainly makes for a good wedding car, I think! HONK! HONK!

Many years ago, my cousin got married the London Cab way, but I just wasn't too excited at the cream coloured vehicle. It somehow feels different with this pink one. It looks happy and cheerful and not kuniang or girlish, given its pink theme. Anyway, I thought this picture I ripped off here didn't do too much justice to the niceness of the pink cab either. A much better job could have been done. For those who are interested, take a look at the cab with your own eyes. I'm a miser with compliments but this is worth taking a look =)

The Korean Experience

2006-10-05T01:25:00.001+08:00

It was a mistake, a grave mistake. I should have just stayed on in Canada.

Spent 3 nights in Seoul after landing Incheon and settled at Somerset Palace, a service apartment booked on corporate discount. IMO, it was booked without too much thought because "accomodation is expensive in Korea". I beg to differ. I bet you can find very decent hostels for lesser money. And I did.

This auntie rebutt, "that kind ah, very uncomfortable one, space small small...yada yada..." I didn't bother defending since they eat salt and I eat rice.

Truth be told, I felt it injustice to have to share the cost of a service apartment with living space, kitchen, washing machines, cookers and cutlery all thrown in (and not utilised), but I had no bed to call my own (shared a super single). Both aunties occupied the queen while the "family" suffered with the "alternatives".

"Accomodation in Korea is very expensive, 2 hotel rooms easily cost you $x. You might as well get a service apartment."

Well, at least I would have more than 0.5 of a super single bed, I thought. I know it can be done, I have. But that's not the point.

Accomodation aside, sightseeing was expensive, we dropped the idea of a day tour and opted for DIY. That can't be such a bad idea I thought. I was wrong again. I spent 80% of the time looking at "auntie clothing" in cramped up spaces built like a maze. First, I don't really like shopping, second, I speed shop, third, those aunties really took their BLOODY OWN SWEET TIME.

The women here are immaculate. From the young executive to the stall kepper and even the roadsweeper auntie puts on obvious makeup. It's funny how some Koreans are very tall and the older generation, obviously shorter.

Food in Korea is nice. It's kimchi world. Whatever we get back home is actually quite close to what they have. Korean food doesn't differ much. They all taste the same after some time. The aunties didn't like it the least. I fell in love with the rice cakes here.

Overall, I didn't think too much of Korea, it has never been on top of my MUST GO places even though there are the scenic spots of Winter Sonata to "die" for. Koreans are RUDE right down to the core, shoving their way pass everything to get through and having no respect for queues in their own country. I was nearly run down by an ah pek with a huge cart.

If you love K-dramas, do not visit Korea. It simply spoils the perfectly crafted image.

Read This

2006-10-04T17:27:00.000+08:00

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmua n mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it denos't mtater in waht oredr the ltetres in a wrod are, the olny iprnoatmt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the
rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt.

10 Reasons It's Hard To Lose Weight

2006-09-27T02:17:00.001+08:00

Especially for those fighting their perpetual battle against their diets.

Intermittent stair climbing improves fitness

2006-09-20T00:08:00.000+08:00

Ripped this article off the monthly reads sent out by the gym on 3rd floor.

What's Cooking?

2006-09-19T23:26:00.000+08:00

I fell in love with lemon pepper tuna last year when I visited a friend in OZ. I visited Canada recently and returned with a couple of them. You can't get this in Singapore you know? This what I had for dinner because Mom is in Malaysia and I rejected the da bao offer.

Fusilli (my fav pasta), lemon pepper tuna, omelette, thai chilli powder, basil and...garlic spread. Yes garlic spread because that's what I found in the fridge and because I was too lazy to chop my own garlic. It tasted good (surprisingly because I never liked tuna with pasta).

Strange inventions happen when you're bored :P

I'm at it again

2006-09-19T23:24:00.000+08:00

Trying to be the expert when I really am not. It only takes a real expert to tear away my external facade to find that I am really just an empty shell. So what am I really doing? Writing proposals on technologies I've never used. And reading up doesn't automatically qualify me as an expert. So what happens when we get the job, I go figure. This does not translate to getting external vendors's help, you wish. I will probably be the one wiping the backsides of many.

What am I doing next? Preparing another proposal to convince people to part with their money. It's tremendous effort to keep up with the facade that HE has created for me. (Yeah, please take a good look at yourself in the mirror) It's pretty obvious I don't see eye to eye with the style of decision making.

I am the way, come follow me. It is the style and the way. It reminds me of _someone's_ antics back in the days of BBS. "Because I say so." Don't you just feel helpless? It eats you up from inside. Slapping a 2 months on me is not going to make me any more loyal than I am now. Yes, you can surely see that I am sore over the fact that my employee number has changed.

BLUE is my middle name

2006-09-18T23:15:00.000+08:00

Just as I expected. My cubicle has grown legs and walked away on its own.

Blue is my Monday. Blue is my first day at work. Blue is the down pour. BLUE is my notice which just got extended to 2 months, no perks. Blue is my mood.

Blue + Bleu = Blue Blue

Frankly speaking, 2 months and 3 months is not so much of a difference. But from 1 month to 2, definitely is. Is it going to make me any more loyal? Jolly big fat NO.

Asked 26 floor and got a damn bloody patronising answer worse than that from a 10-year series.

Around the world in 48 hours

2006-09-18T01:46:00.000+08:00

The CA trip was on the rocks. It was. Now it's the Rockies. Dinosaurs work with many strings that does wonders. I didn't exactly travel around the world, but well, I crossed the GMT, didn't I?

I did the craziest thing of travelling without any document except the little red book and just one string of 6 characters in this heightened security climate. Problems were expected, I knew it, I just didn't think it would be quite an adventure. Packed in under 2 hours zipped to the airport with no currency, and travelled 4 cities in under 48 hours. By the end of 14 days, I had touched 6 cities.

The carrier served me well with its smooth journey and efficient logistics (isn't it expected considering the flight cost me my salary?), less the crew, which always never fail not to impress. Hey, it takes less than 3 hours to get to SFO! You wish right? But anyhow, I did get there in 3 hours. Middle of the night long transits are the worst. So I waited for about 10 hours to get onto the next flight. Thats where the adventure begins.

I forgot coocoos in an ang moh country are very confused. After taking eons to reach the front of the queue and failing to use the self serve terminal and trying very hard to tell them that I had a problem which needed attention, I was forced to queue again. They couldn't find my name in the system and sent me to an interline in the ADJACENT terminal who proclaimed that I was not on either! The result? A missed flight.

I returned with a black face, after a long transit, sleepless night, growling stomach and a missed flight. They managed to put me on a direct flight instead of a transit, that's good news, right? Right, the missed flight set me back by an hour on a direct flight. Wrong. The agent had mistakened 7pm for 7am. What I really needed was the NEXT available flight, not another 12 hours waiting time! Our flights were changed but I wasn't convinced she managed to make the correction for the checked in baggage. I asked and I checked, but there's really nothing I couldn't have done to prevent the 3 baggages which did not arrive when I did.

Anyhow, all is not lost for I received news of my belongings 24 hours later. But hey I tell you, you don't want to ever lose your luggage. Trust me.

Depression

2006-08-31T00:30:00.000+08:00

Depression kills. Negativity poisons. A 32 year old architect is said to have jumped off the building where I work at about the midnight hour of Aug 29. I mean, I've heard of people killing themselves at home, jumping off from some x storey. It could be due to various reasons. I've also heard of people dying at work and people no one knew about it. But, to jump off the building sounds serious and for sure you wonder about the reasons that forced her off the edge. What is an architect doing in the office at midnight, in this seventh month?

While many would agree its stupidity to end life for work, I hope someone would wake up their idea. But I guess, reality would be a far cry from that. As if an employee number matters.

That being said, we've been spending lunches talking about people in cubicles and the coming "restructuring" and me, still feeling sore about the dollars and sense. To say I've been poisoned is not untrue. But surely no one can poison if facts present otherwise?

Nothing has been going right. It's just not my year. My CA trip is now on the rocks after a whole series of bad encounters this year, leaving me more depressed. It's September. 3 more months to go.

Rainbow Waterfall

2006-08-25T16:56:00.000+08:00

Ever touch rainbow b4. These ladies did it! 1
Originally uploaded by luwaihong.

Tucked in the quiet little town of Sungei Lembing, there's a rainbow right at the bottom of the waterfall. It's beautiful isn't it?

My Tioman LOB

2006-08-21T01:00:00.000+08:00

We were actually far from Tioman, even though the title says Tioman LOB. A brave soul I was do an LOB with a bunch of "strangers" at ewok's invitation. I still cannot remember most of their names after 3 days of drifting on the great big ocean. The invitation wasn't that "open" to begin with, so everyone already knew everyone. I hadn't known that, I also hadn't known that we were just about the only 2 gals on board. Quite bad for a beginning huh? I'm not complaining, just not prepared. :P It was anyway, quite a new experience. I was lucky the world is just so small. I already knew one other person and met another before.

The beds were really comfortable (ok, they are not 5-star comfort) but well, they don't shake or creaklike that of bunkers and it was 一觉到天亮。My only complain remains that the ceiling was not high enough I couldn't sit up. Can't be complaining, it must be worst for the taller guys. I need to thank ewok for letting me have the upper bunk for that.

Visibility is quite bad in many places reaching only 3-5m in some places and 10m at best. But I also learnt that there are still things to see. A site we visited in the middle of the ocean had the best steals. SHARKS! Quite a cute little critter. They were all sleeping, some looking like leopards (they are leopard sharks), some like catfish. The object of my affection this time had to be the cute little moray eels. They look somewhat clownish and really adorable.

Tyre reef was a dive site strewn with nothing but huge tyres. The place was literally scattered with big and small land mines of sea urchins. We found this stupid nurse shark and puffer trying to find their way out of a net, it must have made its way in without knowing how to come out since we realised the net was opened. The dawn dive revealed the sleepy-head fishes. It was past 7am but some fishes were still sleeping when we "woke" them up.

I love the nature and the great outdoors, but I love the sea even more. Imagine waking up to hear the calls of the jack sparrows, the swallows. Imagine looking out at the sparkling waters, seeing the sun rise and set everyday, the wind blowing into your face as you fall asleep on the upper deck. I love the vast openess of the sea.

There are no photos to see this time because I've donated it to the sea. :(

Marathon

2006-08-16T23:47:00.000+08:00

Marathons are getting increasingly popular, not forgetting its getting costly too. But there's another kind of marathon I've done since my younger days more than a decade ago. Chit-chatting through the internet (no, not IRC). I managed to squeeze in a couple of them recently and in the process, got to know a friend better. I'm thankful because these ocassions do not come by often. Amidst our busy schedules, its even harder to know anyone better at all. This can only happen in the still of the night when the person is right, the time is right, the conversation is right, the mood is right and you happen to be free. Time disappears faster than you say ee-va-po-rate. Well, I'm truly a night person, what can I say? Time just vanished into the night. I cannot recall when I last had a relaxing conversation like that.

On a similar note, someone I met at Settler's, tried to be get me to talk to him, the SMS way, the least of my favourite, at a time I was trying to catch some winks on the bus before heading for a discussion. The first conversation started with the cliche a/s/l single/dating/attached equivalent of IRC. (Minus one-hundred marks) The gals need not guess what sort of answer(treatment) he got. Well, I did reply, but 4 hours later, and not the questions. That's what happens when the time is wrong, the conversation is wrong, the mood is wrong and I'm not free. :P

For Real

2006-08-14T02:54:00.000+08:00

3 people attended a content management seminar, 1 IT, 1 Secretary and the last, from the Marketing Department. On returning to the office, they were to share with their colleauges what they have learnt. Some ficticious data was required...

Secretary types
8am, followed by event name, etc.

Marketing department types
Flowery language promoting products and services.

IT types....
"test"

I burst out laughing. The above is a real scenario that happened at a friends company. It's so true.

Fun on BOSU

2006-08-14T00:18:00.000+08:00

I finally went onto the BOSU at the gym today! It was really exciting and very difficult, but being able to accomplish the exercises gives tremendous satisfaction. Switch on that CORE. Self torture, some might say. I guess it is. Some 6 years ago, I always wondered about people who could become so attached to exercising and would never in my life imagine myself to be one as well. Well, exercise generates happy hormones and does more than a bar of chocolates can benefit and comes at zero calories. It's been a long time since I seriously trained. Today, I feel GOOD!

Settling at Settler's

2006-08-13T03:09:00.000+08:00

I FINALLY got to go to Settler's. Woo Hoo! Prior to this, I actually heard and tried a couple of times but failed to get a place successfully. An event came along just as the gals were talking about it a couple of weeks back. True to my belief, I waited to register just in case someone becomes a pilot. We ought to go more often, well, if time allows.

It has been an afternoon filled with lots of fun an laughter, arranged in a style much like speed dating, except that the focus was on playing the games instead of talking to one another, amidst all the junk food, sweet drinks and shrilly shrieks. They have some 400 games imported there.

Caught the SFF. I thought it was ok. Fireworks, as romantic as they may seem, don't seem to fascinate me any more, especially with all the crowd around you. But still it is not common sight. So there is still _some_ reason to want to watch it. On hindsight, I've never seen LPS so crowded.

A stupid homosapien irritated me. With a maid and two kids in tow, she certainly thought the whole world had to give way to her on a crowded train thinking it was a first class cabin. Demanding I give way in a less than polite manner, accusing me of something untrue and finally having a problem with my sexy butt. No point wasting my time. If you have a concern with your kids facing my butt, then YOU move. Common sense tells you its going to be a crowded train if you're going to catch the fireworks in town.

Durians

2006-08-12T12:07:00.000+08:00

I've not seen whole durians sitting at home for a long time. One day, I saw a whole durian in the fridge, half and half. Of course it ended up in my stomach, for dinner. Today, I had durians again. I must say that, durians fresh out of the green thorny shells gives you much more satisfaction and definitely has more flavour. That being said, no wonder picking your own durians from the forests, and eating it there and then, gives the most satisfaction! Well, not that I have ever succeeded in it before.

Treatment for Abrasions

2006-08-09T03:49:00.000+08:00

Conventional treatment of abrasions and road rash included treating the area by cleaning the wound with mild soap and water or a mild antiseptic wash (hydrogen peroxide), and then covering the area with an antibiotic ointment and a dry dressing. New evidence shows that this treatment approach actually may cause tissue damage and increase healing time. (See Immediate Steps for Treating Abrasions). It has also been shown that the use of antiseptics, such as hydrogen peroxide "can actually cause harm to the tissue and interfer with function, which can further increase the injury and lengthen the healing process. Topical antimicrobials have been shown to be detrimental to fibroblasts and other cells needed for wound restoration." (Basler, et al, 2001)

While a severe abrasion should be seen and abraded (cleaned) by a physician, there are some things you can do to help the healing process on your own. The recommended method of treating abrasions and road rash injuries includes the follows steps. First, because abrasions can easily become infected, you should clean the area thoroughly and remove any dirt and debris. Ideally, you want to irrigate the area with nontoxic surfactant (0.9% sodium chloride or Shur-Clens) under some pressure (use a syringe if possible). The area must be completely clean. If necessary, use a clean gauze to gently scrub the area. Do not scrub vigorously, as this can cause more tissue damage.

Use a semi-permeable dressing (Tegaderm, Bioclusive or Second Skin, for instance) to cover the wound and attach the dressing to dry healthy skin with adhesive tape. The dressing should be changed every few days. Keep the wound moist until it has healed. A moist environment will promote healing through improved cell migration and gaseous exchange, ease of removal of excess exudate, protection from bacteria and other contaminants. (Basler et al, 2001).

Your tetanus status is very important to avoid infection and if you aren't certain when you had your last tetanus shot or if your last booster was more than 10 years ago, you should see a physician and get a tetanus immunization. Tetanus is an acute infectious disease in which the voluntary muscles go into spasm. It is not only caused by stepping on a rusty nail. It can also "develop in wounds in which the flesh is torn or burned." (See Adults Need Tetanus Shots, Too).

Respect

2006-08-08T01:34:00.000+08:00

Someone once told me, leaders are born, not made. But someone else also said, leaders can be groomed. The difference between the two, is intricate. Born leaders demand respect. They expect people to respect them, listen to them, do things their way. No questions asked. All based on the premise that the string of letters under their name weighs 1g more. The other kind of leader, well, somewhat earns your respect. Well, even if they are not quite successful, at least they try.

I'm sure everyone agrees that respect ought to be earned. However, I have yet to see it in the leaders who have been at their post for over 2 decades.

"Because I say so..."
"Because my name is boss."

Month of Mooncakes

2006-08-07T01:14:00.000+08:00

If there is a single thing I never got tired of eating, it must be this. I loved it as a kid and I still am the big kid. I loved the ones that came in colourful "baskets" and I laid my hands on every single colour I could. Luckily, in those days, there was only red, yellow and green. Well, actually, 1 was never enough. Even as I lay in the hospital bed during the awful dengue fever, the 2 piggies from Goodwood Park hotel my dad bought brought instant glitter. It is really nothing but flour and sugar. However, some old habits die hard. I'm really a simple girl who revels in the simplest things.

Hiking vs Chiong Sua

2006-08-04T01:37:00.000+08:00

It takes nothing but plain fitness to chiong sua. But its a different story altogether when you see an outdoor adventurer, a seasoned hiker and an experienced leader. From the ignorant, weak, less than fit lass, I have hiked and camped with different people and slowly come to appreciate all of the above. What better skill to own than self-help? What more important than safety? Perhaps pride? Perhaps ego? It's not a matter of if, it's really a matter of when.

I can't help but feel a tad sad when someone hints he is fit enough when he has yet to attempt simpler expeditions. I was probably still "drinking milk" when he was already chionging in the jungles. I have learnt tolerance and endurance. I have learnt understanding and forgiveness. I have learnt, leave it to Mother Nature.

Though it is better to be fit than not, there is really much more to hiking than the bystander can see and understand.

Backside Itchy

2006-08-02T00:54:00.000+08:00

Contract term + long 6-month trial period is double penalty.
There is no such thing called proration in DEC
Half a year passes.
There is no proration again in JUL
Contracts get nothing at the annual review.
Market is picking up.
Phone is ringing.
I speak, dollars and sense.
Time to go shopping.

MEN really CAN'T LISTEN; some WOMEN can READ MAPS

2006-08-02T00:51:00.000+08:00

A: I am keen to join your outdoor activities.
Me: Are you on the mailing list? If so, you will get updates of the coming activities which might be of interest to you. Activities are open to the public and we welcome everyone.

A: Do you have a forecast of activities for next month?
Me: There will be a trip to ABC Waterfall in September. Stay tuned. We will release the information soon.

A: September when? You know there is this XYZ. I can't go during this period.
Me: (like I care) Please look out for it in the yahoogroup. The organisers will release the details once things are finalised.

A: I have join the yahoogroup but yet to receive any outing activities..
Me: You will receive them when the organiser sends them out when they are ready.

(Puke blood) Luckily, I only have to repeat myself 3x.

Gunung Belumut, 1010m

2006-08-01T00:45:00.000+08:00

Be "Baptised by Belumut", as one of my friends would loudly exclaim. Legend has it that Belumut is "siong" for she had to suffer from the side effects of a delicious "big bao" as we were were hiking up IN THE NIGHT, with HEAVY PACKS and incessant RAIN, which ultimately left us WET and HEAVY throughout the whole trip, suffering from extreme DEPRESSION and LOW MORALE on a New Years Day when the whole world was counting down. I was there. Mention Belumut, we will all curse and swear.

For the first time, I slept on a bed before the start of a hiking trip. The verdict? I prefer the open space for I spent half the night sniffing away. For the first time, in a long time, the weather was good. For the first time, in a long time, I returned with a lighter pack. For the first time, I slept at a height of 900m. For the first time, in a long time, I had clear unobstructed view of the dark and beautiful night skies. There were so many "things" moving in the sky. It's amazing. This is really my only wish. And I was granted my wish. :)

It was a mad rush to reach the train station at 830pm after work in exchange for NOT carrying a 50+10L to work. I arrived in grandeur as I alighted from the London cab at the old Tangjong Pagar Train Station. The train was more than punctual. Started almost on time and I found myself at Kluang close to midnight. Trip leader says, we will go and look for a hotel. I thought he was kidding. Do you mean, sleep outside the hotel? I jokingly asked. We really spent the night at the 'hotel' after a more than sumptous supper.

Daybreak and simple breakfast at the KPT. We bought out return bus tickets and were well on our way to Gunung Belumut in our 3 by 3s. The hiking started at 945am, stopping along the way for lunch and to rest. Belumut starts with a relatively easy terrain which gradually became steeper and the air, more chilly.

For a height almost that of Ophir which most beginner/easy hikers take 2 days to summit (witchling, now you know why Ophir is siong), we had to summit in a day, naturally, the terrain is steep. It started to rain slightly in the early afternoon. Thankfully, the rain stopped and the sky cleared but the cold wind remained. We had our chicken rice and watercress soup dinner.

It's 9pm. The good news came, the stars are out! We decided to take an easy 5-min walk to Botak Hill, original campsite if not for the stupid rain. Along the way, we caught a glimpse of the city view illuminated by the crescent moon. What a view! We has a clear 360-degree, unobstructed view of the night sky on the highest point of Kluang. We saw SHOOTING! There's really nothing fascinating about shooting stars, but in all its rarity, its hard not to be excited. I must have made FH quite mad, cos he didn't manage to catch any of the shooting stars we gals did. Don't worry, there will always be a next time.

It's so dark we saw so much more. You would never have known there were so many moving objects in the sky. 9 people on a "romantic" night like this, imagination starts running wild as we imagined ourselves to be lying on the landing pad of some alien spaceship, imagining there were UFOs in the sky. The cold gradually became unbearable in our minimum warm clothing. We took in the last of the night sky and finished up our freshly prepared longan, luo han guo dessert and headed back.

For the amount of time we took to summit, we took about 2 hours to descend. Quickly washed up, quickly went to town and quickly wolved down our lunch at a Chinese restaurant and headed home. Lunch was a simple affair but very delicious. You can tell they take pride in their cooking, compared to Singapore (when I sometimes think I cook better).

For the Retro Fanatics

2006-07-27T01:15:00.000+08:00

Just a couple of days ago, I was sitting at a friends new place, reminiscing the good old days of how we frequent China Jump or Devil's Bar when another commented that we are just like the uncles at the coffeeshop drinking their Tiger. It was also an expensive habit in those days depite the existence of Ladies' Nights. Either you hail a cab or you get a free ride, from someone you just met. Gone are the good old days of going without sleep while preserving your sanity. I had long given up on the expensive habit. You can't replace the sleep you lose anymore. You can't work off the empty calories any more effectively. Which probably explains why I prefer breakfasts now, no matter how not a morning person I am.

I've also resigned to the fact that there isn't a single place with good retro. You only get it on radio at best. I found it on Radio 91.3 today before lunch. The music remained good through the day.

SLAs

2006-07-26T23:29:00.000+08:00

Finally, someone is talking sense.

They should have thought about it 10 years ago, my goodness. To date, my longest wait was a good 45 minutes outside PSA building. We all know how near PSA bldg is to the then WTC terminal, where the bus originates. I am not kidding. 20 minutes is bad enough. Those who have tried waiting for bus 200 will atest to that. Who cares about why the frequency is odd. I am a consumer.

Next, partial AC. Even a ratio of 2:10 still qualifies as partial AC isn't it? What happens then is that, when the morning is crowded and sweltering hot, the non AC would come, leaving you sticky and you arrive at your destination with the latest hair style in town. When the moon awakes, the night is nice and cool and the air smells a little better, the empty, freezing bus greets you, leaving you with no where to hide. If you're lucky, its one bus, otherwise, you wait thrice to take 3 buses from point A to point B.

The planners. I wonder what they have been doing for the last decade, withdrawing useful routes and coming up with an all inclusive one that ensures that you know Singapore like the back of your hand. It takes something like 15 minutes by car and one-and-a-half god damn hours by bus. I am supposed to understand that they withdrew a route because it is not profitable. It is very irritating to have a bus come every other minute when you're waiting for the one that comes once every half hourly. It sounds exaggerated but it happens.

They say, the fare hikes are much lesser than the salary increments. Has anyone proven that ALL companies received an increment? Based on the mathematical logic of car owners who are also decision makers, maybe it makes sense. This is the power of averages, percentages and statistics.

The joke of the day had to be that, on the day they announced the hike, the NEL malfunctioned. Tens and thousands of people were affected. It's quite a paradox because technology is supposed to help us be more efficient.

Pasir Panjang Ridge

2006-07-24T01:13:00.000+08:00

For a second day in a row, I awake from my slumber at the unearthly hour of 7am. I'm certainly not a morning person. But a good hearty BREAKFAST with some FRIENDS could tempt me enough. I took the NEL to HFC for the first time. It was quite fast. I would have waited for the bus if I had more time so as to continue with my slumber.

Coffee Club breakfast was not bad. I preferred Coffee Bean. Maybe I should try Starbucks (witchling's recommendation) one of these days. Let's go for breakfast again! :)

To think I studied and worked here for some 7 years without realising a wonderful place existed. We had to start from SP1 because some dratted cycling race was going on and eventually found ourselves behind Normanton Park. I had no idea that Kent Ridge was just behind Normanton. Everything in a park is man-made, from the roads to the ponds to even the plants, that were planted in neat rows and decorated the walkways.

Someone came to feed the fishes, we saw the red earred terrapins too. We found a cute little squirrel scurrying about on its tree. The guide told us that someone argued that the squirrel should rightfully be the national mascot. It wasn't long before we reached the ridge line as the beautiful breeze welcomed us. The viewing point presented a clear view of the southern islands from end to end.

I like seeing big trees. It brings me back to my childhood days as we walked through the tembusus and realised that there were many things that were not natural to Singapore. The story traces back to history when the Australian and British were in Singapore. It certainly amazed me when the Aussie Eucalyptus Tree could be found here. Many people come here. Joggers, families, pets. It goes to show how people still do appreciate the greenery.

The walk ended at the Reflections of Bukit Chandu where we found 2 people drawing their potraits. Reading about history and the WWII reminds me of my ah ma who lived to tell vivid stories of the past when I was a little girl. It is a reminder that the peace we now enjoy should never be taken for granted as our forefathers paid for it in sweat and blood.

FoF2006

2006-07-24T01:11:00.000+08:00

Some almost 10 years ago, I would have scorned at the idea of a silly treasure hunt in a suburban/city area. But as you age, it somewhat mellows.

Although I can't say I learnt a lot more about heritage because I am getting very senile, I enjoyed myself. We were all having fun. It makes things even more fun that we had a few groups of friends with us as we shared the clues and tips. 安全第一，好玩第二，赢奖第三. You had be really careful while crossing the road. I think the drivers must have been quite mad on this day, cursing and swearing.

Jalan Besar and Balestier is a very complicated area. But the event helps put everything in perspective. It showed me places I've never seen before and that it's possible to walk to Kallang even. The Tau Sar Piah at Balestier was quite yummy.

My only gripe was that the clues are just terrible. The fact that some stations actually moved about certainly pissed us off. I interogated someone at the station, "Where's the pagoda?". All I got was a "They only told me it's here." I didn't think it was a good answer at all. They were similarly interogated by several participants alike. All of us were quite sure that we had passed by before and the station wasn't there.

Well, the goodie bag was not bad actually, nothing expensive, but you could tell they had certainly put in efforts to put everything together.

The funniest moment had to be how all 3 groups of us rushed to get up on stage when the MC called for it. :P Fun comes in numbers, I think it's true.

Nice Friendship

2006-07-22T20:28:00.000+08:00

People say, the best mirror is a true friend. Indeed.

On the contrary its very much easier to just be nice to the people around you, including the best of friends. Isn't it easier to try to maintain peace, harmony, remain cordial and careful not to offend at all times? The depth of a friendship, is not measured by how nice you can be to one another, by the amount of happy times you shared and not by how much you understand of each other, through being nice.

Nice friends are everywhere, they are easy to find and easy to get along with when all is fancy and fine. Be nice, because this way, everyone will be happy.

Mirror, mirror on the wall... you realise it isn't easy pointing out flaws at all.

Like a pimple rearing its ugly head, we don't want to see them and wish they never existed. You wouldn't do that to someone you just met, would you? And if you didn't care a little more, would you have bothered? I wouldn't. It's really much easier keeping the comments to yourself and be the nice friend you always wanted to be.

Love Thy Self

2006-07-20T10:44:00.000+08:00

Self help - the best (& fastest) help you can get.

The consequence of going trekking, untrained is not new. Worse if you have no idea what to expect. It's ok to go but know humulity and leave the gungho mentality behind, or learn things the hard way. Sometimes, a "positive" attitude can do more harm than good. You want to do everything and anything that comes along, and you want to have your cake and eat it.

"Someone" will look after me, one may think. But because you didn't do something, "someone" had to do it for you. Sometimes, I think we tolerate too many bad habits that it encourages them to form. Things get taken for granted. Whatever role we play, each of us have our responsibilities and obligations to fulfill. Yes. What I mean is, the paying customer is not always right. Because, your own well-being is at risk. Someone will have to bear the risk for you if you do not. So, you had your cake and ate it. You forgot to ask how much it cost the "someone" who had to pay for you. I guess there is really no free lunch in the world.

"Someone" will look after you, only if they can look after themselves FIRST. If you don't learn to look after yourself, who will?

The Last Natural Shore on Sentosa

2006-07-18T10:56:00.000+08:00

Time and tide waits for no man. So I flew all the way there on a bloody Saturday morning when I'm supposed to be in bed. I had to be at Harbour Front at the unearthly hour of 615am. Glad I made it though. The weather was beautiful. I visited the last natural shore on Sentosa, only visible at the lowest tide.

The natural shore line made me appreciate nature even more. There were plenty of sea grasses, out of the transect line, there we were, mapping our 0% sea grasses. If there's one thing I learnt, you don't have to be a diver to see the things divers do. It also sharpened my senses to fake landscapes. Turning around, on the way back, you realise what a stark difference Siloso Beach was compared to the world I stepped out of. Immediately, the word FAKE flashed across my screen. On the way home after lunch, I noticed a patch of bird's nest fern's sitting on the ground. And immediately the word FAKE appeared again.

Oh, I saw this little pigeon. Back home, I never paid attention to them. Here, I took special notice. First, it was smaller and skinner than most of his brothers and sisters back at home, perhaps a juvenile. Secondly, the leg was a stump. Don't look down on this crippled bugger, he was chasing (bullying) this other smaller piegeon.

Read about the Sentosa Seagrass Transect 2006.
Read about the Orientation.
See the pictures.

Shape Run 2006

2006-07-16T22:52:00.000+08:00

Run already, got SHAPE. I wish. Actually, don't run also got shape, OUT OF SHAPE.

Pre-race administration sucks, typo errors, wrong emails, late delivery and empty promises. Luckily race day and the goodie bag went quite fine enough to compensate for all their earlier boo boos. If you've been to other runs and this one, you would agree with me. OK, I admit, I was really after the attractive goodie bag, all nicely catered to a lady compared to standard races and marathons, where we mostly end up with an oversized dri-fit pyjamas and vouchers we didn't need.

Short runs are fun to join and are easy to complete or train for if you have been out of shape. Still, I wish we could have something to change into.

iN2015

2006-07-14T18:02:00.000+08:00

Read iN2015. ICT masterplan for the next 10 years. It's cool and interesting. It's something we can all look forward to. 80,000 more ICT jobs in the next 10 years? We'll see huh? Maybe by then, I wouldn't be in this line as technology frees up more time for people to do "other things".

Technology, is good, is cool and it helps, only if you know how to. I'm afraid the people making the decisions are like dinosaurs, intimidated by technology. The jobs we're doing are an underated, understated, unglamourous, underpaid job. Everyone realises its importance, but no one pays enough attention. Are they really able to embrace technology affecting the way we live, work, play and learn in the next 10 years, considering that, they cannot even accept something as simple as IMs? Or the fact they want to restrict internet access (in this broadband era)? Where I work, they can't even use the email system to communicate properly! LOL. I would really love to see the day.

Had a session with the planners today and learnt quite a fair bit about city planning and the principles behind it. It's indeed like, SIMS City. The only difference is that, it feels so real.

Happiness

2006-07-13T18:08:00.000+08:00

I seek, happiness.
A small word yet big in meaning
Easy to say, difficult to achieve.

In the midst of my blurry stupor, I overheard the radio this morning say, Singapore ranks as number one again. Unfortunately, we are number one backwards when it comes to our happiness in the Asean region. So who's really number one? Emerging country Vietnam. (I was guessing it to be Thailand)

So what's the deal about being number one in everything when you are not happy? And when your quality of life is lousy? We all know, for everything you can buy, you can't buy happiness.

Walking Home

2006-07-13T02:32:00.000+08:00

Walking home on a beautiful moonlit night is such a wonder, with a quiet solitude that only on on days like these do you feel it. It is in times like this that you gaze at the wonder of the universe, of the moon so bright, beautiful and round with a magnetic effect that kept my head held up against her face.

There are many things that technology brings. Speed, convenience and all that you can think. But the beautiful sights and sounds, of a person quietly walking beside you, better yet if it was a he holding your hand in the still of the night, the air crisp, the leaves rustling in the slight breeze, sounds of a typical neighbourhood moving by, dogs barking from within their apartments, people taking their late dinners at the KPT in their workout and/or office attire, the guitar strumming and flashing lights of the TV set bouncing off the ceiling. I could name more. I saw all of that in just one night, tonight, all by myself. For all the conveniences that technology brings, it gives us none of the simplest things in life that we really ought to treasure.

Years ago, I would never have walked home even if I had the choice. Today, I realised what I've been missing.

Rhythm

2006-07-11T18:10:00.001+08:00

I did 2 sessions of Rhythm. Rhythm forms the fundamentals of Waltz. Some say its a little like Foxtrot. You simply 'draw' many 'V's as your travel in your line of dance. It's MUCH slower and its easier to think it to be easier, like I did. I wasn't quite right though the steps were so easy. Whatever that looks seemingly easy (slow) seems harder to master.

I couldn't turn without looking like rolly polly the first few times. And when you get so obsessed with the steps, you forget your beats. In this dance, you're allowed to sway unlike traditional ballroom, where you just have to be very upright, which makes it look very much like a happy, relaxed dance. Its great for couples and the perfect wedding dance to do. The music is just too romantic to resist.

A classmate was going for his Samba exams. Wow..SAMBA is HOT (like chilli, as the name implies) and very beautiful to watch. A little like Salsa, but you travel around the ballroom. It is in fact a very "showy" dance with plenty of "shine" moves. I will ask my cousin to teach me when I'm over there.

It's such a pity most guys do not appreciate dance. They ALL think its kuniang. Dance to them mostly means, shaking their bon bons at some club *bleah* trying to look stylo milo but end up looking milo dinosaur. To date, I've only met ONE "non senior citizen" guy who self proclaims his interest for dancing. As for the guys at Salsa, you really have no idea if its for the salsa or the hot babes that FIRST motivated them :P

I Can't Wait...

2006-07-09T23:25:00.000+08:00

I can't wait. So while I can't wait, I've stuck a "weather sticker" into my blog. I'm going to be there very soon! This morning, it's 7pm over there. I spotted it at a low of 16 degrees C with thunderstorms. I hate to be cold.

I can't wait. Sentosa actually has a place that has NEVER been subjected to human and urban development! And I'm going to be there next weekend. I can't wait!

Finally met the woman behind wildsingapore. She is one really warm, happy woman with a big heart. And I really respect her passion for all that she has done! I learnt a lot in the short afternoon gathering. And got caught in someone else's shot while showing my group how to use the spoilt compass (the new compass came apart). It's no surprise that MANY people do not know how to use a compass. It is another no surprise that only 2 of a group of about 60 are first aid trained. I guess we all _know_, first aid is important. But that's where it starts, and stops.

Don't Know What To Say

2006-07-09T23:10:00.000+08:00

It is on one of the rare occassions that I paid Bukit Timah Nature Reserve again. It's really not my favourite place but I went since its been quite a while. And so I dragged myself out of bed on a nice cosy morning.

A friend's secondary school kid came along with a friend of his dad whom we know (does this sound complicated?) He was a quiet little boy, very shy too. No, he is not the subject of what I'm going to say next.

I was just wondering if its really such a big deal to have attended a lot of courses that someone would brag about it as though its his own son. I'm quite sure the kid wasn't expecting it either. No doubt, he is certainly an accomplished kid. Kids nowadays are rather accomplished compared to days of our time. APC, SFA, CPR etc. Is it really so important? I mean, is there a need to make a deliberate attempt to highlight his "achievements" out of the blue? *scratch head* The way I interprete it, simply another person looking for a 3rd person to agree with him.

Eyeing my Fujitsu

2006-07-08T02:52:00.000+08:00

Everyone on top of me is my boss. I can't say its good for sure. And everyone has been eyeing my smaller-than-theirs Fujitsu, especially ever since a manager borrowed mine a couple of months ago (making me go home to retrieve it in the process).

Don't the people on top on me have their laptops? They do. They ALL do. Reason? So why the need to loan? Too slow to run what they need, they claim. Frankly, what they probably need is something for report and slide presentations which most mediocre laptops run reasonably well. Perhaps, its just not glam to sport a notebook which you can use for your gym training. Speaking of which, I haven't been too diligent in my weight training. Better start soon.

The Straits Kitchen

2006-07-08T02:47:00.000+08:00

The food was average. I wonder why the Sheikh likes this place so much. They serve pretty much your ordinary local fare. Anything you can think of from Chinese, Indian, Muslim, Peranakan, local seasonal fruits and ice cream flavours, they have it. It's really just another overpriced hawker centre in an expensive setting meant for the Sheikh to entertain his guests. I'm not saying that the food isn't good, it's good but having lived in this part of the world for most of my life, I wouldn't pay this price for something my mum would have whipped up better. Yes. I'm just so proud of my mummy's cooking :D

SCUBA stands for self contained underwater breathing appratus

2006-07-03T03:07:00.000+08:00

Another weekend in Aur is not something foreign. The water remained the same as the marine life but spotted many more things than I normally would. Graceful turtles, magical cuttles, tiny jellies, photogenic nemos, colourful nudis, strange worms, eels, fancy cucumbers, shy crabs, colourless shrimps, silvery barracudas, touch-me-not stones, defensive triggers, playful parrots etc. I return from every trip with verbal diarrhoea.

Everyone should dive once in their life. 3 more have taken the giant stride. One managed to overcome her fear of water and the other 2 beaming from cheek to cheek, gushing endlessly despite some knocks and scratches. I'm so proud of them. Each of us enjoyed ourselves in our own way with plenty of jokes and laughter, mimicking _someone's_ antics (it's contagious), and vit C.

The boat ride was terrible. I am very thankful for being fairly resistant to rocky seas. Poor Bee, my heart goes out to her but yet I can't do anything. Damn the flu. I nearly couldn't dive. Gave up my first dive. It's jellyfish season and the tiny jellies looked like a single, tiny molecule of floating debris in the sea unlike the round ones we know.

The night dive was beautiful. I remember how Yam and HoWing were shaking their heads when a silly gal like me spent "wasteful money" on a torch that cost so much more than your ordinary torch when we were at ADEX. Now they finally know why. :)

The last dive ended with the DM bringing us to 'Holland'. We had to swim back against the drift. On surfacing, had to swim back to the god-damn-far-away boat, then decided the shore was nearer. This is part and parcel of diving. This is not a swimming pool and No one gurantees calm seas and nice waters all the time. Which is why the only favour we can do for ourselves is to be prepared and sufficiently equipped. It is Mother Nature's ways of teaching us. "See, I told you diving is dangerous, I repeat, so is crossing the road."

I witness the 2 GARANG DM/Instructor from the other school on the same boat. I smirk silently and I shake my head. Was there a need of such display, I think not. Yes, you're good, you're strong and you're skillful. True skills need no display. Wait till Mother Nature teaches you what GARANG really means. When you look at a diver, don't forget to look at the teacher.

Khatib Bongsu Ramble

2006-06-27T23:25:00.000+08:00

I chanced upon this place tucked away in an ulu corner of Yishun, a place I never knew despite not being a new comer to the town, online. Armed with a lousy map which I didn't print, off I went. It was raining cats and dogs and had half the morning wasted. Still I was pretty stubborn, not wanting to give up. In return for my stubborness, I found Yishun Fish Pond at the end of the route. Yishun Fish Pond is open 24 hours, every Sunday.

Evidence of an old abandoned kampung can be easily spotted as we saw discarded tables, televisions, toilet bowls, rubber tubings and tyres amidst all the greenery. Some construction seems to be going on. Soon, this place will belong to one of the town parks in Singapore. We had kampung dogs, big and small butterflies, crikets, weird beetles and what keng calls "stupid bird" for company. We were walking along the main road that was tarred. Many smaller trails branched off like the tributaries of a river.

Take a closer look and interesting flora and fauna could be spotted. In fact, my first sighting was a rare find to me. Animals are hard to find cos they run away long before you see them. To justify my point, this waterhen hiding under the shrubs was running away from me when I went too close to it to see something else.

Wild yam, tapioca, papaya and banana trees were common sight. There were majestic bird's nest ferns, huge job's tears, indian eggplants, "yihui's earring" and many more I don't recognise. I found the mimosa here to be seriously retarded. They were larger but took ages before it started to tell you "touch-me-not". At a juncture, one would notice pick-up lorries along the way. Our noses tell us that they must be here for the durians. A little further down, you would notice the start of the mangroves on both sides of the road.

Along the way, there were cars and bicycles passing by. We knew there was bound to be "something" inside. At the end of the walk, we came to a fish pond as the road came to an end. There were many anglers here and the fishes didn't seem hard to lure. A little girl nearly fell into the pond as she was attempting to net her dad's catch.

I saw how the fish breathed its last, bleeding. I saw how the hook was mercilessly ripped off its jaw, totally devoid of feelings. For the same reason, there's no way you'll ever catch me fishing, ever.

The long way in seemed much shorter as we were making our way out. It took us only about 30 minutes. This place is worth exploring. We'll be back again.

Fuzzy Logic

2006-06-27T00:10:00.000+08:00

He: Where's your laptop?
Me: At home. (of cos its at home when I have a desktop at work)
He: You don't need it?
Me: Use it at home to work.
He: To surf internet
Me: To work.
He: If I take it back? Since you're not doing BD now.
Me: (thinks) I only support BD (it's ECA), blame it on the one who's not using his resources well.
Me: Then I have to get a new one.
He: You're working, you can afford your own machine. Should get one. A desktop is very cheap.
Me: (thinks) Buying my laptop so that I can work at home? I'm not mad yet.
Me: The one at home is not stable and my brother is using it.
He: ISO how?
Me: (thinks) Damn, its barely a week. I have 1 month to clear the NCs and Oet, bs. Its not even July yet.
He: You're supposed to get it done already.
Me: Mostly done, some of the new documents yet to distribute. Need your signature.

... and the conversation continues....

Nature Ramble II

2006-06-23T01:10:00.000+08:00

See the pictures of my interesting finds.

Next, I'm eyeing...Khatib Bongsu. I've got nothing but some maps from dunno what source, I've not been there. I hear its going to be developed soon. Who's keen?

Talking PDF

2006-06-23T01:00:00.000+08:00

Check it out! It's quite cool...

You can listen to any PDF instead of reading with Adobe Reader 7 .0 or 6.0 and the short cut is:

Ctrl+shift+b - to hear the entire Document
Ctrl+shift+v - to hear the page
Ctrl+shift+c - to resume
Ctrl+shift+e - to stop

Open any PDF File and test....amazing. :)

说感动

2006-06-18T22:21:00.000+08:00

最近读了朋友的 blog, 她说了一句话。她说，‘其实，我只追求的只是一份感动’。人家说，女人是水做的，看来他们一点也没错。

想想看，我真的好久没体会到这种感觉了。或许，也不懂‘感动’这两个字的含义是什么，也忘了。仔细想想看，我想我这一身中，好像也不曾被感动过。是我冷血无情，还是我更本就是一个铁石心肠的人。或许，其实，可能，我也没什么值得人家来感动的吧？日子久了，时间长了，我也慢慢忘记什么叫做感动了。

总觉得，这世界是不公平的。要照顾自己，就得坚强起来，靠着的是一个靠人不如靠己的道理。可是有谁会万万会想到，作个坚强的女人，一点也不容易。难道，坚强的女人有罪，坚强的女人，就不是人，无虚人的关怀，了解与感动吗？但，若要为了获得这一份小小的感动，就虚改变二十多年以来的价值观，我却做不到。女人啊，女人。。。在这新潮讽谏年代，坚强女人的一份感动，就是那么的难能可贵！

Nature Ramble (Ramble In The Woods II)

2006-06-18T20:33:00.000+08:00

Bukit Timah? Macritchie? Nah~ Those are normal and stale when you know exactly where to find what and you know exactly how to get from point A to point B.

I was inspired after my first attempt of 'Ramble In The Woods', especially when there were plenty of things to see. What fun is it to be following someone? You miss out on all the fun of discovering and exploring. Anyhow, 5 people braved themselves to come 'ho-lan' with me. My only bet was that, I had pocket tisu, who was with me on the previous ramble and ninja, who used to stay at Jalan Kayu before she married.

The sky was overcast. We were busy trying to escape from the huge water droplets as they descended from above, prata on one hand, bag in the other. We passed by the TPE, the army camp, the church and onto the cycling path we went.

The air was fresh, there were raindrops on leaves, giant snails, african tulip trees, durian trees, saw's 'sabun' trees, ninja's 'earring' trees and plantations. There were so many things here which I never noticed 3 weeks ago. I picked up a tip from photographer who told me never to take a picture against the direction of the light. He was right.

The cycling path became a deserted road led us to Seletar Airport and Seletar Country Club. We initially thought we were 'lost' and ended up taking a small detour into West Camp Road only to come back out to recognise that this was the place we were looking for. Eureka!

Seletar Airport marked the end of civilisation as we ventured into the woods. There were clearly had indications of construction work soon to commence.

It rained yesterday and again, this morning. The ground was terribly soft. The mud caught my shoe. SHIT. Out came my foot. In an attempt to step backwards to rescue my shoe, out came my other foot! ~!$#%^&*( I was still cursing and swearing when we found frog's eggs in the pool of water nearby. It was really quite cool and looked exactly like the ones you find in cheng tng, except that its bigger. Someone said (had a feeling it was pocket), lucky my shoe came out. Indeed! It was (still cursing and swearing).

We walked the entire stretch that was semi-wet, and missed our turn amidst all the excitement of finding sea snails and sea snail's eggs. It was quite a sight to behold as there were just so many of them. And so, we traced our way back to ready ourselves for the 'bashing' effort.

I was busy looking for a tree and its very distinctive bird's nest fern. It made me realise the difference between then and now, was that, then, there was an army of people walking in front of me. Now, there was no one walking in front of me to be creating the 'flat grass' trail. Suddenly pocket let out a scream. It was really quite funny, because HE sounded like a SHE.

We found the tree with bird's nest fern and spent the next 5 mins walking in grass taller than us and reached the 'wasteland' that was filled with treasures. This is where you'll see the banyan tree, more african tulips, indian eggplant, petai, many weaver bird nests, kingfishers (and several other species of birds), jacob's tears and so on. We saw the Yishun estate, Orchid Country Club and the mrt tracks from across the reservoir. We speculated on the possibility of camping at this place actually as there were so many things to see and do...like, tree climbing/abseiling.

This being a 'ho-lan' trip, I proudly declare I have reached my objective. Not that we really 'ho-lan-ed' but we have come to be able to recognise the place. The next time I'm back, we'll probably attempt to do it backwards. It sounds easy enough but if you've hiked enough, experience tells you the way back, somehow has a way of not resembling the way here.

I'll post more pictures soon!

2006-06-10T22:55:00.000+08:00

SG NDP Parade

I couldn't stop laughing at the creativity of this!

Be A Responsible Person

2006-06-10T13:43:00.000+08:00

I met a (new) diver with an obviously weaker diver for a girlfriend. I felt like telling him, if you're good, you're good. That is just so me. But I spared the ego bruise and kept quiet instead.

You don't need an anchor (steel rod he uses for an anchor while he gets his shot). Rods are a bad idea. They place the rods everywhere they will never place their fingers. His reason? Everyone is doing it. It brings me to wonder what these commercially driven schools are trying to do while earning their bucks. Getting wonderful pictures while causing marine life distress/damage is nothing to be very proud of, much less shout to the world. Its just plain selfish behaviour. Soon, there'll be nothing left to see because everything has been destroyed.

With lousy dive ethics, lousy skills & safety practises (they drank themselves so silly the night before they were still breathing alcohol during the dive), something is going to happen one day. Its not a matter of 'if', its a matter of 'when'. Just wait and see.

I have taken pictures myself and I know it is more difficult. My camera is limited yes, even when marine life is limited. I still managed to capture very good pictures.

Don't learn to run before you learn how to walk. If you cannot dive properly, forget the camera. If you cannot handle the surfs, waves, currents and the stress, forget the camera. If you cannot handle your own safety, forget the camera. Live for the next dive.

What I Didn't Say

2006-06-04T12:24:00.000+08:00

Person A: Can you sell it cheaper? Like, $90 or $100? Cos last time Sports Connection sell a brand new one for $110.

What I didn't say:
Go back in time and buy it from Sports Connection then :P
Last time, last time mata wear shorts.
Last time, last time I stay in kampung.

Ramble In The Woods

2006-06-04T12:13:00.000+08:00

It was much shorter than I expected.
Check out the pictures here.

GSS

2006-06-01T02:11:00.000+08:00

A pair of Vasque shoes, a 500g Overland sleeping bag.
2 capris, 2 tops from GG>5 & Ness, all at 50% off.
A bag from LMG.

So much for sales. You notice some places marking up their price tags while giving you the what seems like a lot of discount. Is this shrewd or dishonest?

My agenda for the rest of the year includes:

50L (or above) backpack - that stupid Macpac costs a whooping $400!
Rock shoe that I can get for hopefully $60 :P
A 2L platypus
Shoes from Asics/Mizuno (Yeah, no ticks for me. Yucks.) - My shoes wear out like nobody's business.
I am constantly reminded that I should be replacing some of my > 3 years (some 5) apparel.
A portable hd - Backup, backup, BACKUP!

Lelong

2006-05-24T00:17:00.000+08:00

Who wants my Osprey Ceres 50?

He Who Has A Student Pass

2006-05-17T01:55:00.000+08:00

2 weeks ago, I wasted a good 2 hours haggling with him (You can cancel a policy within 14 days of receiving your policy, I have yet to smell mine). I already considered myself to be kinder than my usual self. So much for coming from the top agency on top of "Always Listening, Always Understanding". He was a mule who not only did not understand, did not listen too. Allan Pease is right (Men do not listen).

It makes no sense, I explained, I justified in every way logical and mathematical. It turned on deaf ears. All he was interested in was to convince me what he is selling is good, despite the number of times I repeated my stand. I don't deny its a good plan. But I love HL milk, why insist I must like Daisy? It must be the commission.

It was not until I smacked him in the face by telling him that he should be customising the plan to my needs/preferences instead of trying to force me to be thinking like him. He finally gave up and counter proposed plan B, insisting we meet up so I could bring my other policies for him to review. He didn't get it that I was giving all sorts of excuses to prevent myself from seeing him another time.

I'll analyse it one last time. This first class hons chap, is just practising what has been taught to him, regurgitating whatever he learnt with engineering precision， its what I call, 死读书，读死书.

Today, almost a month after I first expressed my disinterest in the policy (or him), he reluctantly cancelled it. I found the perfect excuse, my policies were with my agent. With his last breath, he got referals (while scrolling through my mobile, knowing the answers myself, I blatantly asked, want financial planners?) He tried to make another appointment for introducing plan B and C to me because "I needed to think about it". If I need you, I'll look for you. Peer pressure doesn't score points with me. He said I had no empathy, sympathy, whatever. He's right, I'm cold-blooded. Dinnosaurs SHOULD be cold-blooded.

Pulau Ubin

2006-05-17T01:52:00.000+08:00

Being the only gal (again), I didn't in particular look forward to it. I wasn't that I didn't learn my lesson from diving. But it was more tiresome to wait for a gal to join me, so I could do what I wanted. Actually, there was almost another, I was hopeful but alas, the vaccancies were taken.

It has never been my favourite activity. It's quite meaningless to climb all the way up so I could get down on a descender. The thrill stales. Period. An afternoon out in the hot sun despatching people feels just so-so. No doubt, you do feel motivated when you see excited faces. You certainly need patience to coax as well. I still have much to learn.

The exciting part of it comes in the design. How a mere few ropes could be configured so its the safest and most secure way to enjoy the activity. How the same few ropes and basic techniques could be configured to save someone.

At a 3-storey height and hanging by a rope with nothing but empty space around you, you think extra long and extra hard when you want to remove anything. Let your imagination run a little wild and you start imagining yourself as a pancake with strawberry syrup on the bare ground.

It's about you, you and your equipment. A wrong step could potentially cause you your life. So, learn to save yourself, very well. Prior to this, I never thought too hard about requiring at least 2 safety backups except that it was correct and had to be done. No, its not that I didn't understand the part about "if one fails, you have another". Add fear to that equation, I finally understood the criticality.

I never thought myself to have a fear of heights but it is only human to fear height. In fact, you should start to worry if someone comes to you, wants to abseil and does not fear height. The fear of falling is more than just real.

The weekend felt like the longest weekend I've spent in a long time. It was a long day which started early in the morning and ended at 11pm on Saturday. I learnt a lot. At the end of 2 days, it certainly feels good to be back on your own bed.

I'm going back to see the "Jay-Chou-look-alike" (which I hardly think so) next weekend. Just hope I don't have to get stuck at a height of 10m again :P

I Found A Titan Triggerfish

2006-05-12T01:42:00.000+08:00

IMG_5933
Originally uploaded by LiTTle-FooT.

The Titan Triggerfish (Balistoides viridescens) is the largest of the Triggerfish species and can grow up to 75 cm in length. Their range includes reef areas in the Indo-Pacific region, including Australia, Fiji, Thailand, Indonesia and the Maldives. The fish is not a pelagic species and generally lives in the flat areas of the reef.

Titan triggerfish feed on shellfish, urchins, crustaceans and coral. They are the workers of the reef, often being busy turning over rocks, stirring up the sand and biting off pieces of branching coral. This is why one often sees other smaller fish species around it who feed from the left overs.

The fish can be very aggressive towards divers and snorkellers. Especially during reproduction season it is very territorial and will guard its nest, which it lays in a flat sandy area, vigorously against any intruders. Due to its size and strong teeth it can inflict serious injury. Bites may also be ciguatoxic.

Ms Body Perfect

2006-05-09T21:19:00.000+08:00

I'm Ms Body Perfect, like real. Not many people have that "correct" postural alignment. It affects the way you do many simple things such as walking, standing, squatting, lying etc and how it causes strain on the rest of your body unnecessarily if you don't do it right.

It was exhausting attending a workshop that teaches integrated corrective exercise. You get an insight into the locomotion of the musculoskeletal system and assessments are carried out to discover weight shift ability. Strategies are developed to address postural control and integrity. You are scrutinised for the simplest activities such as walking and the implications behind it. For each exercise, you can't do much more than 5 repetitions without losing form.

There's a story that goes about how a burly man can lift the heaviest weights in the gym but get injured picking up a piece of paper on the floor. The body is just not accustomed to such light weights it does not know how to react.

It comes as a surprise that many of us actually do not know how to recruit our muscles properly and end up using the wrong muscles for the wrong thing. We cause injury to ourselves unknowingly. The body compensates through some other means. And we all know what happens when you use something for a purpose it was not designed for.

My Love

2006-04-23T02:11:00.000+08:00

Nowadays, its more fashionable falling in love with something that's not alive. For one, it doesn't bite to love a non-living thing. With the my recent dives and a visit to ADEX (and very nearly made myself 1K poorer). I speak, eat, breathe and live diving.

It is extremely difficult for a non-diver to understand why people "risk their life" to dive. At the top of their minds, they think about how dangerous diving is. I suspect, they watched too much JAWS as a kid. Mostly I get this question (from non divers), do you see sharks? Yes I do. But what many do not know is that the majority of the ~370 shark species are found in Australian waters. And ~165 species are harmless and less than 2m long, many species are less than 1m long. The largest shark, the whale & basking shark are plankton feeders.

Then they say, but diving is very dangerous right? So is crossing the road. In fact is, driving is far more dangerous than diving is. I'm very sure more people drive. The fact is, more people die from motor vehicle accidents than scuba diving, or shark attacks. It's pretty alarming to see how the figures jump from one category to the next. These may be old figures, but there are more motor vehicles on the road today than 10 years ago and due to human threat, there are lesser sharks in the oceans today. Go figure.

From http://www.amonline.net.au/factsheets/sharks.htm

In Australia (where almost half of the world's sharks reside) between 1980-1990, these are the statistics:

Crocodile Attacks - 8 / 0.7 per year
Shark Attacks - 11 / 1 per year
Lightning Strikes - 19 / 1.7 per year
Bee Stings - 20 / 1.8 per year
Scuba Diving Accidents - 88 / 8 per year
Drownings/Submersions - 3367 / 306 per year
Motor Vehicle Accidents - 32772 / 2979 per year

Do your math. Use your own judgement. Everything is a matter of perception.

Do You Wanna Dance With Me?

2006-04-22T12:05:00.000+08:00

That was the tagline of the night. I was impressed by them in under 5 minutes. Dance is a wonderful thing, when you see the interaction, and communication without a single word uttered, you visualise a story.

It's inspiring, I'm inspired. And suddenly, you want to try to dance like them.

Why Diving Is Better Than Hiking

2006-04-18T02:02:00.000+08:00

Diving is always better than hiking.

Because there are no LEECHES and no other creepy crawlies. You don't think about falling down that slippery slope or climbing up the irritating steep cliff, leaving you breathless. You don't cringe at the thought of wet clothing. It doesn't matter if it rains because you're wet anyway. You don't stink because you haven't bathed.

Finally, you don't end a dive trip saying "I'm never gonna come back to this stupid place again.", which you sometimes do when you go hiking (when the weather is bad, the backpack is wet and heavy, the mountain is steep, the food sucks, you're tired but still need to push on), only to be back again. :P

So, I'll end it by saying...I WANNA GO DIVING AGAIN! Diving is a marvellous, out of the world experience.

Perhentian

2006-04-17T02:07:00.000+08:00

Perhentian is a little further than Redang. It's a torture to get there by by anything but flight. I took the torturous option. It was a long, aching 13-hour journey despite having your own chartered transport.

We reached the "resort" before 11am. They have silly regulations. You cannot order lunch till 12 noon. We ordered "breakfast" for lunch. You pay RM$12 for a whole set of Western breakfast, which they called The Full Monty, or you can choose to order a subset of it. There were also other options available but the Western set looked the most filling, since we haven't had anything to eat after supper the night before.

Everything has a price tag here, including water refills. Everything here is much catered to the angmohs. We were almost the only Asians at the place. The juices were lousy and 5 times the price at mainland. There was a cap of RM80 a day to utilise for our meals. We didn't finish using the RM80/day. The milk shakes are gorgeously addictive.

We didn't need much for a dive trip but the accomodation in a kampong was a little less than basic and non-airconditioned. There was an attached (unlockable cos it was spoilt) bathroom with no hot water (quite normal). I slept in a twin-share on a double bed with a fan mounted to the wall. The blanket was a thin piece of rag which we didn't use. One of the towels provided had an unwashable stain. Triple sharing means sleeping on the floor with an additional mattress. If not for plentiful huge spider webs with huge occupants, hammock-ing might have been a better option. You also need to be prepared with your insect repellants and mosquito coils. I chased a lizard out of my bag, and 2 millipedes out of the bathroom. This is a place where torches will be handy when the sun sets and when the electricity goes off at 730am (Windows had to be opened from outside). The mirror was cracked, the tap was leaking, one light by the balcony shared by 3 units was not working. There were no power points. Thankfully, when the rooms were supposed to be locked, they remained locked. I seriously think this must be about the worst among the lot on the entire stretch.

Its really nice (and a very lovely surprise) to see familiar faces at Perhentian. Somehow, you just feel happier to see people you know in a place away from home.

If you have time to spare and nua, consider Perhentian Island Resort. It's a 5-star luxurious world to completely rest and relax and nua with its own fine sandy beaches. Otherwise, Coral View Resort isn't too bad too. Both remind me of the at least 4-star resorts in Samui. Be prepared to pay for the luxury.

Well, for less than S$300 including 6 boat dives (fully rigged for you if you choose to), I have no complains.

I'm such a sporadic reader

2006-04-09T23:55:00.000+08:00

Did I ever say I loved to read? I do, but I simply cannot find enough time for it. And mostly, I'm probably more lazy.As I was walking home yesterday, the 2nd hande bookstore caught my attention. For once, it was still open as I was making my way home.

I ventured in and picked up a book by Tony Parsons. I love his books. And I have read every single book of his. They tickle and pull at your heart strings despite it being NOT about love and romance. The issues he brings up are just so real.

Stories We Could Tell. I'm sure it will be just as griping.

Jack & Jill

2006-04-09T14:21:00.000+08:00

Two individuals proceeded towards the apex of a natural geologic protuberance, the purpose of their expedition being the procurement of a sample of fluid hydride of oxygen in a large vessel, the exact size of which was unspecified. One member of the team precipitously descended, sustaining severe damage to the upper cranial portion of his anatomical structure; Subsequently the second member of th e team performed a self rotational translation oriented in the same direction taken by the first team member.

---

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after!

Weight Loss Shortcut

2006-04-09T01:20:00.000+08:00

Did you really think it was going to work? Read on.
http://exercise.about.com/od/weightloss/a/shortcuts.htm

In women who dieted, BMR was lowered up to 20%, even more in very low-calorie diets
There was an average weight gain of 0-5 kg (0-11 lbs)
The women in these studies experienced a rebound effect after going off the diets, gaining much of the weight back

In weight loss as in other areas of life, shortcuts almost always end up adding even more distance between you and your goal. Think of the hiker who, exhausted, looks up at the mountain and thinks-why am I wasting all my time on these switchbacks when I could just go straight up and get there faster? Now, think of that same hiker, halfway up the mountain only to realize that the trail is nowhere to be found and the peak is unreachable by the path he's chosen. How much time will he spend backtracking and starting all over? Or maybe he's so lost, he can't find the trail now and will have to sit and wait for someone to find him. Or, maybe he won't even make it to the top now because it's getting dark.

Dance Shoes

2006-04-07T01:57:00.000+08:00

These days, I'm an adventurer by weekend and a dancer by weekday.

Did you know there's a difference between latin shoes, standard ballroom shoes and social dancing shoes? Latin has the least coverage and protection for your feet. Conversely, standard ballroom shoes are fully clothed. Social dancing shoes are somewhere in between. Of course, when it comes to looks, the latin shoes beat all the others, hands down. Dance shoes give you just about the right grip for those smooth slippery dance floors without 'flying out of orbit' and very good arch support.

I finally got dance shoes to call my own 5 years after my first dance class.

System.out.println("INFINITE LOOP");

2006-04-05T01:23:00.000+08:00

I cannot help it if I look like Ms Tau, or if other people want to think and make it worse. It doesn't matter for they are people who know me not; they understand me not.

Let it be, so be it. If majority wins, I concede defeat.

We have our own benchmarks, expectations and value systems. It isn't fair to pass a judgement before you have come understand the person a little better. But life isn't fair. We are too easily influenced by what we thought we heard, we hear from the other sources and thus carve an incriminating evidence on our minds even before we see, hear or feel. The belief is often too easily made more concrete by looking for a 3rd party who thinks and feels the same as you do. Unity is strength. Together we stand.

The deaf frog jumped his way to the top of the well, simply because he was deaf to the negative remarks while the others all fell away on hearing them.

It takes 2 hands to clap.

The Most Expensive Race

2006-04-02T22:13:00.000+08:00

In teams of 3s, the race consists of 8 different disciplines, running/walking, navigation, cycling, ascend, abseil, tyrolean traverse, rock climbing and swimming. Sounds simple enough. We had some 5 hours to do it. But the fact was that we had to run/walk in between shuttling between the places when we had no bike. The terrain could be as bad as having to walk/jog up Mt Faber.

In between, we had to make a balloon sword, trace some words, play SUDOKO, memorise pictures. Stupid SUDOKO, we wasted so much time there and gave up in the end. Guess what, I tried the same puzzle at home and solved it in 10 minutes. Feeling quite irritated with myself at the thought of it.

My handicap has to be running. I knew it and couldn't train for it when I hadn't been sick for the last 1 month with this silly tension headache, which left me unable to decide if I had toothache or headache and all I could do was to sleep.

---
I slept AT 130am last night, trying to figure out, which bag was better. I finally decided on the one that weighed only 700g. Whether I should bring my harness along, when my group didn't have one. I was busy getting the items ready when I suddenly realised I have finished my gauze pads. At 130am, I couldn't sleep, the activity level is too high for sleep. Morning came and I felt like I barely slept deep enough. It was 6am. I had my bowl of cereal with banana and milk.

Registration started at 7am @ Padang. We witness the teams in the different categories raced by before our turn came. The women's novice team had very nice fitting pink bibs. The open category went, karabines and figure of eights clink-klanking away. Sounds quite nice actually.

We started half an hour late. 930am, we started running, the sun was blazing. It was hot. My handicap is running right? I made it and was really elated to see the bikes. It means I don't have to run any more 2 or 3 clicks. Good riddance! We went to Harbour Front by bike and had to push the bikes across the traffic lights. The slope that met us, damn bl00dy steep lor. There was zero chance anyone could have gone up by cycling, without prior momentum. Bike pushing time.

Just when you thought the worse was over, there was another slope! More bike pushing! It was the kind of pathway you find in some nature trails, but narrow and on a slope. We dropped the bikes and made our way (supposedly to navigate, but in urban Singapore parks/hills, you don't really need a compass, do you? There were signboards everywhere, or we could just follow where the people went) to Faber Point. Another damn bl00dy steep slope lor. I could almost feel the stitch and cramp come together. Thankfully, I made it there before it came. Throughout the race, the stitch came on and off, usually when I try to run (See? I told you I'm allergic.)

We had to look for letters to trace here. Its not too bad, though I think we took a little too long. It was a good time to rest and catch your breathe, rest your muscles though.

Went back down, we had to make our way to Sentosa where we played the STUPID SUDOKO. Really wasted so much time here. It was 12pm. We eventually gave up since we were all under "stress" and proceeded to the ropes section.

Alas, queues were everywhere. To get your harnesses, to attempt the ropes ascend, abseil and traverse. We waited for over an hour. This was IMO, pretty badly handled. It was time for toilet break, picnic time and even siesta time. WL eventually decided to take a nap. I ended up attempting the STUPID SUDOKO againeven though we had supposedly given up. 133, wake up!! We finally got the harnesses and were by then almost the last few remaining groups. Its not such a bad thing as the rest of the stations needed no waiting.

Seeing the enthusiam of familar faces was in fact quite comforting. Only 2 members were required to ascend. Ascending is tiring work. So the gals did the honour leaving poor WL to anchor and he had to avoid all our powerful swings or "kicks". Well, didn't want to, but you can't always control your swings when you're dangling on the rope.? My stomach growled all the way up even though I had already eaten. Abseil was breeze.

When it came to the traverse (you zip yourself on pulleys horizontally from one side to the other), the rope had slacked quite a bit, and was set up in the morning when it was LOW tide. We got wet (= extra weight) within seconds. I didn't manage to pull myself up and didn't try to, anyway. I didn't want to overpull any muscles and risk an injury. Bee wasn't that lucky. They were trying to get her in when they told her to let go, she did and I saw her literally bending over backwards! It was very very shockingly scary because you can really break your back! I felt so much pain seeing it happen. No joke. She donated her watch and compass to Sentosa.

We went back to where we left our bikes and left Sentosa for Prince Edward (I never thought it was so hard to keep a wet butt on the bike), ran, jogged, walked, crawled to the Merlion where we had to swim. I jumped in without hesitation after WL. The cool water was certainly very inviting and very salty. I thoroughly enjoyed this part of the race. We took a look at 2 pictures (in the water) and answered 2 questions at the end of the swim before getting back to the Padang for the rock wall. It was really the easiest wall I had climbed in my entire life, considering I was soaked through with wet and slippery shoes. I nearly climbed over the top, when I heard my belayer shout, 133, 133, come back down. Opps..

AT LAST, I got a T-shirt in the size I want. I kept eating and eating. It was carbs time, literally. I couldn't stop eating even though the amount wasn't really a lot still. Plain water never tasted that good after sucking on diluted salty 100+ for the last 5 hours.

---

I was pleasantly shocked I could still run towards the end. I had thought I would be walking much more. Aftermath, very high. The happy kind of high. Yes, exercise does make you high. Not even alcohol succeeds. All it does is to give me a good night's sleep. After completing the race, I was in fact bouncing around instead of lying flat or stoning away. It just goes to show how I could have put in more effort and finished with a better timing right? Anyway, to race is not to win. :P The experience would be pretty memorable and would I try again? Perhaps. When the fun and the mood and the kakis strike.

It is very important never to tell yourself you'll never make it. Think it, and you will be it. Yes, we have to learn how to listen to our body, but constantly reminding yourself of your pain and weaknesses and problems is not going to help at all. Focus. Focus on what is going to help you reach where you want to be.

I never felt the muscle ache during the race. But after the race and after eating, you slowly gain your senses and realise that pain is actually there. You realised that you are aching slightly. Your muscles are FATIGUE. I guess, apart from looking like a zebra from the slight sun burn, I'll have a "good time" tomorrow loosening the kinks in my muscles. But you know, humans are strangely sadistic, we love pain. Good pain is always good.

I will still hold on strongly to my belief, that strength training is very important. The whole world can think I'm talking nonsense for all I care. No one believes me when I say your legs can bear 7 times your body weight.

Boyfriend Rule No 1

2006-04-01T02:59:00.000+08:00

Perhaps it is genetically programmed. Bee and I have come to the conclusion that some guys are just very focused. (Don't get me wrong, being focused is a good trait.) We all got the same name...I mean, the first part. But tong ren bu tong ming, even though we need to accomplish something together. The lackadaisical attitude can be pretty unnerving. It's ok, I'll just close close one eye.

I took a course recently, and the instructor reminded me (us) of the long forgotton term called chicken wind. Try reading it out in chinese-hokkien. He said, guys are more prone to the chicken wind disease. Yes. I think its very true.

So I came to the conclusion that, boyfriend rule no 1: He cannot be nice to you only.

Afterall, its quite natural for a guy to be nice to the gal, or rather, the prey. So how do you know if his character is what, to you is bearable? Something to tell you that perhaps things might just work? Maybe you will just know that 'he is the one' by using the force. Truth be told, marraiges are one of life's biggest gambles. And to reach there by accepting someone, is also a gamble. So prince charming is really nice to you and manages to sweep you off your feet. It is really no surprise, since he has decided to charm you. He HAS to be nice to you!

So time passes. And he gets sick of you and your idiosyncrasies. He discovers that you are not such a cinderella afterall. He begins to revert to his good old habits. You see a side of him totally foreign to you. Do you then say, "You've changed."?

Then again, I'm not saying the guy who is nice to everyone should be The One.

C'est la vie.

Let's Salsa

2006-03-31T01:32:00.000+08:00

I had my favourite ngoh hiang guan qiang at Maxwell market. It's not fantastically fantastic but it certainly has plenty of awards and foodie reviews. Its something I've had since I was a kid and absolutely loved it. Eating it again brings back fond memories. Its unlike any others I've tasted.

Today marks my 3rd attempt at salsa (again, I'm beginning to feel like a failure after trying to do it so many times) after getting inspiration from the fellow salseros and salseras from BOAT. Salsa is one of my 4 greatest addiction, it is something that you simply cannot resist. You hear the music and you want to move. You see people do it, you want to do the same and you just want to move! Then reality hits. Alas, you discover you cannot move as well as you wanted to...bummer!

First class today was boring with the 123.567. I was half asleep half the time, moving with zombie moves.

Poor Jolly Shandy

2006-03-31T01:10:00.000+08:00

Last Saturday, I was out teaching Little Bee how to cycle. I still walked/jogged there despite knowing I would be late by about 10 minutes. BUT, she was VERY late! Hmph! She was one of those who apparent knew how to cycle a bit already and picked it up really fast, much faster than me some more than 10 years ago. I was far worse, no one could succeed at teaching me no matter how hard I tried and how hard they tried.

I went home, there was a worker outside my gates doing up the floor. I had to get my mum to open the door so he could place a plank across the ground to reach my house. My JS saw him and did what he normally would, BARK! The worker reminded my mum not to let him run out of the house.

Mum placed him onto the shoe rack of waist height nearby. My JS is terribly afraid of heights, so there was no way he would automatically jump off on his own. He wouldn't even jump off the sofa. I got into the house and gave him 2 pats on the head before turning around. Who knows, he tried to followed me and jumped off the rack!!

I was terrified as I saw the shoe slip off under him. Perhaps it was the shoe that slipped forcing him to jump. He ended up on the ground screaming in I don't know was pain or shock. He didn't move, but simply froze in that position, screaming. I dared not touch him, thinking he might have broken a bone or two.

Mum picked him up to cuddle and sayang. After some 10 to 15 minutes he was up and running about again. My poor JS...my heart, so pain...

Jerangkang Waterfall

2006-03-24T01:38:00.000+08:00

Jerangkang Waterfall is located somewhere near Kuantan, Malaysia. It boasts of a series of over 40+ cascades with relatively sizable pools to enjoy the dipping in, to swim and some jacuzzi, if you can just find the right spot. After that, all you have to do is to find yourself a relatively big, flat rock surface to catch your siesta. Ahh...heaven...

Despite being sick and not fully recovered, 2 weekends ago, we unloaded ourselves right there after braving thru the 8 hour journey through the night. There were police road blocks along the way. I hardly slept. When I finally slept, it was time to wake again. It was pitch dark when we arrived at 6am in the morning. The nasi lemak is not ready yet. And so we waited, each with a different stoned expression.

At 8am, the lorry (our 4WD) came to bring us to the waterfall. We packed ourselves in like sardines. Honestly, with our backpacks and all, there was no space left. This is a good time to visit Jerangkang, where the weather is hot (so we get to cool ourselves down) and water levels are lower (so we can play in the pools and the torrential falls aren't too strong). We arrived at base camp an hour later and walked in another 20 minutes to our camping grounds.

The fun began with a short hike further in. The trail started is relatively easy, even for the beginners who were with us. Our youngest member was a 6 year old girl. A majestic waterfall greeted us 2 hours later. This is our 2nd and final rest point where we had our lunch. The water was extremely cold. And as you can guess, we made our way to the jacuzzi point right under the waterfall.

We made our way back to our camp site safely after we decided we had enough of food, fun, siestas and photos. We cooked liang teh after dinner and the few remaining souls chatted the night away while the rest chose to turned in early.

There are plenty of trees here. At last, I do not have to fight for hammock space. So happily I picked my tree and set up my 'bed'. It was a good thing too, otherwise I would probably have to fight for the side sleeping space in the tent since I was still sick. Good choice to hammock really, cos I perpetually needed to clear my nose through the night.

I learnt another thing, timber hitch. An amazing knot that can hold me in my hammock! The next amazing thing I learnt was, attempting to change in my banana hammock. Haha, interesting. I never thought it was possible.

Day break came, we finished breakfast, packed and prepared for our journey back to SG. Another weekend well spent.

Give up!

2006-03-23T00:29:00.000+08:00

That boy is beyond repair! I am talking to a block of wood. The male of the species has succeeded in annoying little missy again! Little Miss Annoyed is not going to make friends with Little Miss Nice this time.

Men say, women have selective hearing. I say, this boy not only has selective hearing but selective sight too.

Sigh! Spare the rod and spoil the child. I cannot be closing one or both eyes all the time. Hey, I have a temper too. Running away from your problems, from reality, to me, only reveals the coward.

Tension headache. I have head cramps like cars have clamped wheels. The intelligent option is of course to disregard the little boy and spend my energy on something more constructive, like my jolly shandy.

No Manners

2006-03-21T17:11:00.000+08:00

Right, HE happens to be MALE again!

I was on my way back, making my way through the glass door at the next tower of the office building. The glass door has to be at least 2 cm thick! As I pushed my way through the left glass door, he had to make his way through by pushing the right glass door without waiting suficiently or following behind me.

In the process, he KNOCKED into my poor feet, TORE my shoe and still without any apology. He's not a young chap. I stared at him. He wasn't the least apologetic at all, much less to apologise. What is the world coming to? Where are your manners???! My poor shoes....TORN.

Are You Afraid Of Exercise?

2006-03-21T16:33:00.000+08:00

http://exercise.about.com/library/blfearofexercisequiz.htm

Take the quiz to find out!

Depressed

2006-03-19T00:45:00.000+08:00

Isn't it depressing to find out you have tonnes to say to someone you just met than someone you already know for quite a while? These are not the people you pass by and you say hi and bye to them. You've worked with them, argued with them, almost fought, got unhappy with them and of course laughed and joked over many things and had coffee and tea into the late nights.

I felt the impulse to dissociate myself from them. Your presence is transparent and you feel like making it come true.

On a similar note, what can be more depressing than losing your cellphone?
A hard disk crash and losing valuable data.

Lost handphone? No problem. On the contrary, I get absolute peace and solitude, living in a world of my own, uncontactable, unreachable and unable to get to anyone.