ƹdwınksȷ

Finally, my summer term is over. And my summer break is officially here!

I have been waiting so long for this good break. It has been quite a while since my mind can be put to a sleep mode for some time. But this holiday, I guess I will be quite broke. Since I am going for a short trip overseas, my fragmented holiday made it hard for me to get a job. But anyway, it's time for me to crimp and save for this trip, and for the whole summer holiday, till school starts. And this means I do not get to shop during this Great Singapore Sale. Also wanted to bring a new concept to my car, but it seems like the plan has to be postphoned, again.

Last evening, I finally met up with my buddies. It has been real long since I have a decent meet-up with my friends. And I realise my social circle is shrinking day by day. That's bad...

Holiday is here, and it will also mean I have to train up for my IPPT. Time to jog around NTU in wee hours and adopt a 8-hour sleep per day routine soon. Yes, I mean soon, probably the day after next...or after I come back from Europe.

For the time being, shall devote myself to packing and looking forward to the trip. :D

It's true that our time together has always seemed never quite enough. Time flies when we spend with the people we adore and cherish. Time flies when we enjoy ourselves or get engrossed in something. But time crawls when we are in pain, angry or sad.

Some say time is a tool; a tool to help you heal your wound, and to recover from all illness.

Some say time is a measurement; the interval between events.

Some say time is always not enough; as we rush many tasks through the day.

Some see time as money; as each second wasted is a lost to their wealth.

We often have a love-hate relationship with time. When we need it, it always disappears. When we do not need it, it stays as long as you can imagine.

Time, seems to move, but in only one direction and at no assignable rate, is paradoxical, to be sure, but no declaration of its unreality can alter the fact that we feel it. With each setting sun we see our lives shortened, see the events that we felt so lively just moments ago begun receding into a fading past, gone forever. And with each rising sun, we see hopes unfold in fulfilment or, perhaps more often, collapse with finality, to be replaced by new ones. These things are too close to us, too keenly felt, to be declared illusory.

Sadly, we can’t control time, and we can only organise ourselves according to time to achieve its maximum potential.

How I wish if I can speed up my time, while I pause others.

I finally got a new baby and it's a Recesky DIY Camera. Sadly I haven't gotten the budget to purchase a DSLR. So to satisfy my craving for unique or mysterious photos, I came across this camera selling at $33. It's for an overseas community project fund raising and since I can help the less fortunate and satisfy my own needs at the same time, why not right? As I mentioned earlier, it's a DIY camera, and that means I have to build it my own. I guessed it wasn't that bad, as I remembered I am quite good in playing LEGO when I was young.

Initially when saw the kit; I was thinking if I was being tricked by the group’s marketing. The box looked rather smaller than what I have expected which prompted me asking them, “Huh, $33 for this small box?” What I got was a standard salesman reply as I passed them the cash, “Haha, yeah.”

Well, it’s for a good cause and I shouldn’t expect anything in return. But this small little kit of plastic parts proofed me wrong in the end!

The exterior outlook of the kit.

The parts and the manual. It says it will take 1 hour to assemble all the parts. But I took double the time.

I know, I'm slow.

Starting to assemble the second part...

The shape is.... almost there.

Looking more like the end product....

And TAH DAH!  (strap not included)

And a peek into the viewfinder.

See, it did not look that bad afterall and good karma paid off. I thought the process in fixing it was rather fun, although I took double the time due to some misleading instructions in the manual. It feeds on a normal 35mm film which costs around $4.50 - $5.50, and it's much cheaper than Polaroid film. But this also means you have to send your finished film to develop, unless you have your own darkroom. I haven't gotten the chance to purchase one to test it out, so probably I will upload the photos next time!

And if you are interested to get one, please let me know. $33 dollars and selling fast!

I realised my blog is almost dead without any new entries since last December. First quarter of 2011 was practically filled with school projects and assignments, although it was supposed to be a less intensive semester compared to the last. As a matter of fact, this thought made me less hardworking and resulted in a royal flush of B grades in my final grades. There goes my scholarship and my self-promised goal of keeping my GPA at an acceptable level. But there’s always a famous saying for students, “it’s not always about the grades”. Quite true and I will try to bare that in mind.

Well, what made me posting a new post here is because I realised for almost first half of 2011, I was fully indulging in my studies, girlfriend and family, which in the end, not all of them worked out well. This results me in some serious self-reflection which I should consider what should I be really doing at this stage and what is missing. So what’s that missing X factor, I wonder…

And this pondering continued on my bed which led me to a good nap. See, evidently something is missing which made me so unproductive now. In a way, I feel I am not generating income, and I am definitely spending more (in a way) than what I earn (if there’s any). I always wanted to start something during my last school days, and I am not moving an inch towards it. My fitness test is nearing and yet I am like a lump of lard which grows every day.

As you can see, first half of my 2011 had been quite stagnant.

Real bad.

Yipee! 2010 is finally closing to an end and what should I say about this year. Well, I believe I have been through a lot this year. Or should I say that it was a year with many defining moments. In comparison, I would say 2010 was far better than 2009. I can see my life perpetually coming to a standstill in army, and blasting off like nobody's business after I ORD.

It was my first time this year that I went through a major operation for my nose (I guess this is not something I should be proud of). And after 1 year 10 months of cruel torture in service, I finally ORD in May. Before my school starts in SMU, I had a part-time job at an ice-cream cafe, which was my first job in the F&B industry. I always thought working in F&B industry is low and requires little brain cells to finish the job. As customers we only see the dining area which was nicely decorated with the service crews filled will happy smiles serving you. But what we do not see is the chaotic war-zone behind the kitchen doors. I would admit that it was this job that made me consider becoming a Chef or Pâtisserie.

This year was also the year that I have started picking up stocks. I would say I don’t fair very well in this area. Soon, school starts and I met many fun and interesting people in school. Projects, assignments and exams are packed back to back and in a blink of an eye, here we are in December having Christmas and New Year celebrations.

So what do I think of 2011? With the current euro-debt crisis, I fear more countries will join the same fate as Ireland and Greece. China is coming up with more substantial tightening rules and I think we can expect lower spending from the Chinese. Locally, I don’t think Singapore will do very badly. Our government has a positive outlook of the coming year (due to xxx). But I am not optimistic that Singapore economy will peak.  Nevertheless, all these are just speculation and speculation is the spark for the beginning of a fall. For 2011, play safe and you will be safe.

For myself, I hope I will be able to finalize my idea in midyear and plunging into full fletch by next year end. But whether this plan will be realized will depend heavily on the economy in the third and fourth quarter of 2011. I also hope I will be able expand my footmark and travel to more unvisited countries.

Happy New Year and have a good holiday!

Based on the last entry, it has been quite a while since June when I am still maintaining this journal. A quick update from then till now - I've been faithfully attending classes in my new school, and trying hard to keep up with my school work. The exam for my first semester is finally over and I hope I will be able to do average. I know it won't be as good as polytechnic, as I find myself struggling to adapt to the school culture. Of course the first semester has been hard on me – trying very hard to get back to the mood of studying after two years of brain dead in army. Now that my exams are over, I'm getting some self-improvements and skills upgrade for myself. I found out that I should be learning as much as I can and to be better equipped with more essential skills at this stage of my life. But on the other hand, my relationship with her has not been doing very well. It seemed that things have become stagnant, and sometimes I just have no idea how to improve it (bearing in mind with other commitments I have). I am trying very hard to get the best out of both worlds but it appears that my efforts are not well received. I really hope things will turn out better soon...

Barely three days of work, I have been quite drained out already.  But I enjoyed working there as I get to learn how to make ice cream and other desserts. Thought it will be a good chance to equip myself with some new skills before the school starts. Sometimes I wonder if working there is worth-while. First, the pay isn’t that fantastic. To be very honest, it’s not attractive at all. Second, it requires more long hours of physical strength than brains. Third, journey to-and-fro from work is quite inconvenient unless there is free parking on Sunday. Comparing to those part-time bank jobs which offer $14.50/hour, or just sales representative at a toy fair for $6/hour, I think mine is kind of really sucks. Oh wells, I should consider LONG TERM. Yes, LONG TERM. At least it’s flexible and I’m quite sure I will be welcomed back to work if my school schedule permits.

After calculating roughly how much I will be getting from this job, I believe from this short time, monetary benefits will be far from what I expected. I definitely need to find other avenues of cash inflows to support my university studies, and my high maintenance :P

After weeks of job hunting, I finally found one! Although the pay was not what I expect, but it beats staying at home and do nothing. I still have to thank Andrew for recommending me to this opportunity. From tomorrow onwards, I will be working at Daily Scoop located at Chip Bee Gardens, opposite Holland Village. I expected to work at Sunset Way as I can get free parking. Well, I shall treat this as a chance to be public-transport-dependent.

First time to work in F&B industry and there are a lot of queries in my mind. I hope I don’t need to identify colours that much and I won’t experience a big culture shock. I’m quite bewildered why I am so nervous about working there. Guess it’s probably a mixture of excitement and worry.

EVERYTHING will turn out to be FINE! :D

Finally came back from a long trip from Turkey. I know this isn't an immediate post but I have uploaded my photos in my Facebook. The trip was a different kind of fun. There is limited shopping and so it’s not a good destination for shopaholics. They are famous for their Evil Eye, a blue and white ornament to hang around to ward off people with evil thoughts on you. Unless you are a big fan of it, there is perpetually nothing else to buy.

Well, long bus journey is the main sting for this trip. Since our group is less than 20, we were given a mini bus which looked something like that. It's quite crammed, but seats are able to incline, so everyone has no choice but to deal with it. And imagine we travelled more than 30 000KM in this little bus. Quite surprising the tyres did not flattened though.

There are great sceneries along the way in the bus rides. They are those you hardly are able to see in SE Asia, and so you will be pretty occupied ogling at it. Otherwise, you will be falling into deep sleep with no idea where your exact location is.

The food is not that bad, but you need to accept exotic tastes which are not your typical Asian food. You may experience a little bit of overwhelming sweetness in their desserts. The Turks just have a soft spot for sweet stuff. We might not be able to take it. In general, the food is healthy and but the routine of eating and bus rides makes you fatter.

However, take note that the tap water is no potable. Which means potable water doesn’t come easily. Plus the hotels do not provide kettles. The most unnerving situation is when you have to pay for a small cup of plain water. So if you’re planning a trip there next time, REMEMBER to bring your personal kettle and be amazed how much money you can save!

The clock is ticking and less than 3 weeks, my service for the country will come to a break. These two years have been a memorable journey for me and everyone that is close to me, particularly my family members and my girlfriend. I remember the initial days when I was enlisted, I was suffering from mild depression and withdrawal symptoms. I thank god for giving me such a wonderful family and friends, whom have in any way, at any stage, given me support. I thank god for giving me a wonderful group of buddies that have together walked this journey with me. If it was not for these people who have assisted me; I would not be typing here today.

I am still able to recall the first meal I had in the army. It was chicken chop rice. I would say it was the best meal as I was having it with my family and girlfriend. (And strangely, it was really the best meal as compared to many meals served after that.  Somehow the food standard dropped adversely.) I would never forget the anxiety on their faces as we part and separated. It was all these that I realised that close relationship with your family is actually extremely important.

I have learned how to endure suffering and discomfort when something that was meant to be a necessity, becomes a total luxury. I have persevered to look forward to meeting my friends and family at the end of the week. I have experience the different problems that I encountered. I have met and see different people from all walks of life. Indeed, these two years might not be a waste as many people might have said. I belief it has given me a different perspective in life and it has definitely constantly enriching my soul.

I am happy to see myself, my buddies and my family members have bonded much more now. I am glad my family and girlfriend did not give up on me in anyway and they have walked till the end of this journey together with me.

Once again, without you people, I would not be here now.

Thank you.

And I will love you always, my Mum, Sister and my dear Sharon.

Chinese New Year is here! Finally time to don new clothes and receive red packets! These two events will be the highlight of my Chinese New Year. Hopefully this year economy has pushed higher collection... ...

It’s evident that the Chinese New Year tradition will slowly perish. Year after year lesser people turn up for reunion dinner. It is heart aching to see my grandparents asking why who-so-ever is not here and the sons and daughters have to cover up with some lame excuses. Do you think the old are stupid enough to believe the excuses? The fact is that they are just losing faith in the meaning of the Chinese New Year tradition.

The warmth of sitting together to have the dinner cannot be compared to anything. Although mine last night’s steamboat dinner is a mini-scale size, but I bet everyone there enjoyed squeezing around the marble table and have our food for few hours. Care, love and compassion are shown.

There is no doubt many young generation have forgotten the real meaning of reunion dinner and the facts of celebrating Chinese New Year. But what I am worrying the most is what happens next time when we are old. Do my children and grandchildren still visit me? If they don’t, will they at least turn up for the yearly reunion dinner to sit down and have a proper meal with me.

Questions will be raised about the upbringing of the kids since young. Do we actually instil the correct values in our children? Or tired working parents these days just give in to what the kids demand and slowly let them stray?

Everything is a cycle. Every factor affects one another. It will be never ending. Our competitive society has led the workforce to work harder and harder. How not to?

I have thought very hard that the challenges next time are not about how and what job to get. It is actually to find out ways to juggle your work and properly bring up for children. Not to neglect them, but to inspire them with the right mentality, culture, moral and values.

Let’s us stop for a while and think about what do you want it to be when you are old. Changes to got to made now.

I hate those days when the sky is gloomy and the weather changes drastically. It just made me feel very lethargic and sleepy. Staying awake most of the time is how I spent the LAST day of my leave before going back in to face the battle.

Not forgetting that I managed to sit the flyer twice in this period. One in the day and one at night. One with my family and one with her. I guessed taking it at different timings just allows you to experience a different feel. Obviously you get to see further and more in the day. But somehow it makes you feel you are overlooking a busy city, hectic and developed nation. At night, the cool weather makes you feel rather relaxed. Looking at the various city lights enables you to recollect the sweet memories you have. In short, it’s more romantic at night.

I like the way she told me about the future. The future which may be possibly be very true if we work hard for it. It sounds extremely positive and motivating. “Don’t dwell on the 15 minutes when you have 23 hours and 45 minutes to live for.”

And that says 123 days on the counter. 123 more days to ORD!

I just don’t understand why does it always have to rain after I handwashed my car? It’s quite frustrating to see my whole morning hard work gone down to waste just like that. Managed to vacuum, wash and wax the entire car. I was full of satisfaction and proud when I made the exterior sparkling shine. But the rain in the afternoon just destroys it.
In the evening, we drove down to IMM to run some errands. And for me, time to cut my hair for “camp reopen”. As the hairdresser snips my hair away, I started to dread going back. Playtime always ends so fast. My mum managed to get her shoe size extended and got a new pair of spectacles. I found out that optical shops here actually have high margins for their products. Meaning they marked up to make more profits and commission. So lesson learnt from today’s purchase, make sure you make a good bargain before getting a pair of sunglasses or spectacles next time!

And so, Year 2009 has come to an end. I should start blogging again and maintain it at least for a couple of months before this habit dies again. To mark this brand new year, I’ve specially done up a new header image, edited the layouts and changed the address of my blog. Hopefully it looks decent enough to sustain for a while.
I wonder how the New Year will be like. Looking back at my old entries, I can proudly proclaim that for most of my times in 2009, I’m rather happy. Probably it may be because I blogged about happy things only. But rather, who wants to listen to your sad stories and endless rants right? Hopefully for the New Year, only happiness will come. If you are reading this right now, may I sincerely hope you will have a blissful year ahead, and may good health and prosperity come to you!
And I thought this will be a good chance to make this announcement: My old number 9466 5858 has already been suspended. Apparently SingTel reuses old numbers, and an Indian National is using it now. So friends, if you still have this number under my name, kindly delete it, unless you want to make a new friend.

gasp. soon there will be no more fun and play. time to grow old.

With duties scheduled both Friday and Sunday, I can foresee my weekends being cut short for the next two weeks. And I will be experiencing ‘why-am-I-in-camp-for-so-long’ syndrome. I can’t deny that life now is way better than what I had in training school. The times my bunkmates and I used to go outfield almost every other day. The early mornings that we dread ourselves out of bed and fall in. The long nights that we supposed to stay awake and then failed eventually. Those times were dreadful, but unforgettable.

I always agree that one has to go through hardship to understand happiness. And to continue enjoy the happiness you gained, you must remember your hardships. Take for example if one gets sore or dejected about something, she will feel she is the worst among everyone and why has this rotten luck fallen onto her. It’s hard to console yourself in the midst of all the anguish and sadness. But after you look at the people around you, you feel it’s not that bad after all.

In life, we ‘Give’ and we ‘Take’. There’s a reason why it is being said – ‘we give and take’. Because in reality, we must give first before we take. Give your upmost sincere help to someone, and take for what you do not expect in return. Many of us know to give and take. But how many of us actually expect what we will gain in return. Or should I put it this way, how many of us actually did not expect what we will get in return.

We fight for what is supposed to be ours. We fight for land. We fight for food. We fight for love. Man and his never ending greed. The power to win. The power to rule and the authority to uphold what is held close to you. These signs have long spotted since the first man transformed out from… an ape.

Yes, we are mutated from a monkey.

Probably these instincts are being passed down from the animals. The great animals which been on Earth for centuries needed these instincts for continued existence. They had a world of which they fight for survival, battle for territories. It’s a world where there is no law, no rules and no ethics.

Now we are governed by rules, laws, regulations, ethics, moral or the “little voice” in you. It’s a ‘You name it, we have it’ world. People are educated as the government pump in millions of dollars to educate the next generation. People are talented as more gifted talents are spotted. People are more innovative as you see what your Apple can do for you.

We have moral courage; we have IQ, EQ, EP or whatever intelligence there is. We know what is right and what is wrong.

And to pass all these down to the man of this century who are highly educated and decently brought up, I think some should stop acting like a barbaric monkey.

Why? Because monkeys belong to the zoo.

the new zoo-keepers & their monkey zappers

In the light the H1N1 virus, more organisations have been prepared to take control measures. Daily temperature takings, contact tracings and quarantine are just some of the ways they used to stop the virus from spreading. It’s known that there are already at least 1 million of the H1N1 flu cases in the States. In Singapore, we just got a confirmed of 50 new cases. And this includes a new cluster of three cases at Pulau Tekong Camp, all of whom are full-time national servicemen. Great. Put everyone in captivity will now be the only feasible measure for them to stop the virus from spreading to others. Although more stringent checks have been taken place, I don’t think that will help much. In a macro point of view, Singapore has hospitals and polyclinics all over the island. These places have step up and placed stringent checks and controls on everyone. The MOH has done its part with all the investigations and contact tracing, but the flu is still spreading.

Now we look in a micro point of view that if someone in the camp got infected. Medical Centre of the camp will step up its necessary measures to have daily temperature checks. In any case if more servicemen got the virus, HQ will start contact tracing and quarantine the necessary people.

You may say that in a smaller and confined area, it’s easier to keep track and make sure necessary measures are in place for everyone. Think again.

This virus can appear as a normal flu and will last for hours before it dies. And the spreading of this viral is through air which everyone breathes in.
I would suggest Home Quarantine if this virus breaks out in other camps. The reason is simple because confinement will only jeopardize the lives of other servicemen who are playing a very vital role in defending our nation.
Furthermore, North Korea’s ship is coming and we should all be geared up appropriately.

So we should take sensible measures, before we throw down our rifle and use our sneezing power to fight enemies.