JuzRide!

Disturbed

2011-09-20T21:41:00.001+08:00

The CO planned some events, out of the ordinary, for this year's in-camp.. Some activities which I do really find worth joining.. A half day tour has been organized in the name of National Education and a Family day was planned to let our families, wives and kids know what their men of the house really do during their in-camp training.. The CO mentioned making arrangement for rides in some of the army vehicles, face painting for kids, as well as combat rations foodtasting for families..

However so far from wad I've gathered from ppl ard me, most ppl aren't interested at all, and thinks that it is a waste of time.. I was expecting one of my storeman to bring his young boy for this family day event, where his wife and kids can see the battalion in action during an actual exercise.. His response was "outfield leh!".. Fine, maybe it can be a bit dusty and hot.. The thing is that he didn't even asked if his family is interested in the 1st place!

It's tough making ur family proud of ur national contribution, without the serviceman being proud of wad he's doing in the 1st place...

Lab rat

2011-02-15T18:46:00.001+08:00

Slowly, but surely, I know that I'm walking I to the routines of a common Singaporean, or a family man if u shld say..

I need to get out of this, at least occasionally.. Get out of the daily cycle of waking, sending wife and kids to mother-in-laws', heading to work, lunch at desk/foodcourt, work, head home, get car fetch wife/kids, dinner, back home, put the kids to bed, surf net, slp..

Argh!

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Annapurna Base Camp trek (part 2)

2010-11-10T00:40:00.002+08:00

Back in Singapore.. After half a day of unpacking, washing of dirty laundry and cleaning up of the house, I've finally beginning to pick up my life from where I've left it. Fetch the kids, paid my bills and parking fines, sent the car for maintenance servicing.. Now we're on our way back home on the mrt...
I've actually been blogging along the way as I was traveling thru Nepal.. But those entries really sound more like documenting the trip than the actual blogging of my personal thoughts.. I'll considering posting those again k?

Lying on the opposite sides of the Himalayas, Nepal is to India like Tibet to China. We've got an impression that that Nepali does not get along well with the Indians.. From Lonely Planets saying they want to distinguish themselves from Delhi with a mere 15min in timezone difference, from the expression I get from a porter when I mentioned Nepali music sound Indian (oh come on Indian music is the nearest I've come across in Singapore mah)..

Other than Old Pokhara, and the stretch of Kathmandu outside Thamel tat we walked on our last day in Nepal, the places where we stayed is very much like any other tourist-overpopulated street.. Like Kuta beach in Bali, that backpacker area in HCMC, Chatuchak in BKK, the marketplace in Siem Reap... So I did rather enjoy the walk in Old Pokhara and outside Thamel.. Lets me see the real Nepal.. Nepali engaged in simple trades, at least tats from wad I saw.. Selling meat, peddling vege and fruits, goldsmiths, selling flowers, spices, dentists, selling household items.. The Nepali were in the midst of their 4-day Dewali (Deepavali) celebration, great chance to catch a glimpse of their activities..

The trek.
In summary, I enjoyed the trek very much.. It's similar to Mt. K trek, in the sense of altitude, thin air and the cold.. It's like the G.Tahan trek in terms of the length.. But this is better of the both.. Very nice scenery, very good pace.. We didn't have to start damn early and end damn late, didn't have to trek in the dark other than the 2 sunrise treks.. G.Tahan was horrible such that we stop only to eat and sleep.. In Nepal, we usually reach our destination by 3pm in the afternoon, plenty of time to change into cleaner warmer clothes and settle down, have some hot drinks, even a few games of bridge... We had plenty of rest, usually asleep by 8pm even though each day breakfast was at 630am.. 10 hrs of sleep each night!! Mt. K was tough such that we ascend so much in 2 days.. And on day 2, trek starts at bloody 2am, 4hrs to sunrise, and then ends only when u're out.. That's abt 15hrs of climbing and descending on the 2nd day!! In the ABC trek, we trekked for 4 hrs before lunch and 2-3hr after.. That's it! Even for sunrise treks we only start at 430am.. 2hrs to sunrise.. The only grouse I haf was my stamina in the cold and in thin air.. I had the same problem the 2 times I was in Mt. K.. Think when I do go for the Everest Base Camp trek I really do need to train really hard...

View from Ghandruk, our teahouse on Day 1 of the trek, Excellent View Guesthouse

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Annapurna Base Camp trek

2010-10-30T23:55:00.001+08:00

7 days in Nepal, 5 days in the trek.. At points along the trek I really feel like giving up.. I guess mayb because our 'ultimate' objective: Annapurna Base Camp, was attained on the 5th morning, of 10 days into the trek.. And a big part was from my intolerance of the cold and thin air.. And also possibly that this portion of the trek is basically a retracing of our steps to our lodge at day 2. The 'mountain sickness' wasn't as bad as the 2 times I was at Mt K. But this trek is definitely longer, comparable to G.Tahan?

We were talking abt all the things we missed from home today! KFC, butter crab, prawn paste chicken.. Quite sick of the menu from at lodges. Let's hope the scenery for the next few days can keep us going!!

Machhapuchhre, taken from Annapurna Base Camp

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passing

2010-09-20T12:52:00.003+08:00

ocaasionally when we make out way back home from dinner at my mother-in-law's, we'll bump into this old couple at our void deck, talking strolls or juz sitting around.. not too old, the auntie prob in her early-mid 60s, uncle late 70s mayb? She looked healthy, dark haired, bearing dark shades at times, we thought mayb she had some surgery done in her eyes, we don't know.. He's holding a crutch, some red patches on his face, seems a bit senile (im not being mean, just couldn't find the write words) seems like he got lots of difficulty walking.. but well she got him, and he got her... we do stop by for occasional short chats and Janielle will call them "uncle and auntie".. auntie also noted Jemaine's presence in yb's tummy then.. Jemaine did also say her hi's after she's born...

it was a while ago since we bumped into them again...
yesterday evening we saw the uncle again, but this time round instead of the auntie, there were 3 younger men with him, walking towards our block.. and on the shoulders of the 3 men each bears a small black square cloth, signifying that someone in the family has passed on...

yb was shocked for words... there was a wake going on, and yb went ahead and verified that the auntie was really that lady in the picture.... =\

later last evening, we saw that uncle again.. this time sitting at a spot where we used to see the couple sitting around.. however this time with a young man.. probably his youngest son or an older grandson.. we walked by and nodded in gesture... i asked yb what did she think he's thinking abt.. she said probably reminising the times when he was sitting there with the wife...

i think we'll drop by pay our last respect some time these 2 days... see if we can bring Janielle along...

Path less beaten

2010-07-28T00:03:00.002+08:00

Lunch with some friends today.. Chatted.. Abt my plans in the coming future, among other stuffs.. One suggested looking for collaboration between possibly SMART and GSK (can't rem if she said NUS too), does sound like a feasibly good idea, until she mention that it offers stability too..

Not that it became a bad idea, but it just caught me.. Yes having a family of my own, one of the desirable goal I should haf, is indeed being stable.. But in fact it was one of the things which I purposely put at the back of my mind.. For I know that if stability is to be a primary concern, I'll not be able to take big steps.. Selfish? Perhaps, but I've got a supportive wife.. And 2 kids who're right now too young to grumble.. It's really now or NEVER..

For someone who decided to join ODAC after 8 years of badminton / band / table-tennis... One who chose to be the pioneer bio student in NTU over NUS to study life science.. One who went to take BioSciences in the Uni without an 'A'-level in Biology.. One who went into the unknown territory of doing fyp in a commercial lab while everyone else stayed with the academia.. One who applied for an apartment while he was still spending his parents' money in his education.. One who's going to abandoned his kids to go for a 2-weeks trekking expedition in Nepal with his wife.... Mayb stability is really one of the last thing in his mind....

I think I'll still like to take a shot.

Janielle is such a brilliant poseur for the camera now!! But beware she's actually a monster disguised as a cute little angel...!!

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May/June

2010-06-17T22:40:00.001+08:00

Didn't haf the best of times in the recent weeks.. Lots of things.. Happenings and impt decisions to be made..

Firstly, friends at work are leaving, 1 haf left.. These are my closer bunch at work.. And I'll be the only one left!! So no more morning coffee, afternoon tea, lunch will not be as comfortable as it was, with friends whom I no need to purposely put up a topic with.. No more chit chats walks to mrt station.. No more evening runs, no more weekend blades with them... Anyway I think I'll survive la.. Am already channeling my time and thoughts to work more diligently..

One left for another job, another 2 leaving for PhD.. Further study has always been an option for me, however nv put in place, procrastinated, until recently which was unfortunately a bit late.. Timing was lousy.. Ppl leaving means that I will haf more difficulty doing part time MSc... But i haf a supportive boss and I'm grateful for that.. I'm currently gathering doc for application..

Another option came by, tat's to do my study overseas.. This option has NEVER cross my mind.. Being a down to earth Singaporean, taking MSc locally was the only option I considered.. It came by when the wife said she don't mind if we were to go overseas or a couple of yrs either for wok or for studies (it sparked much enthusiasm in the fren who's heading for PhD in Getmany!!).. With the kids still very small now, it's easier to uproot the family for a few years, and be back for the kids' pri sch education.. Anyway, I'm looking...

Next, having started a family early. Seriously lugging 2 kids ard is not for whims.. Not juz talking abt bringing them out, but having ur life planned and revolving ard them.. It's juz so difficult to haf a life with kids.. Esp with 2.. It's juz impossible to simply say "ok!!" when ppl asked u out even for a couple hrs for dinner or drinks.. We gotta say "sorry couldn't go" when friends planned for a night out for the 1st match of the World Cup.. So diff when we can't juz, by default, leave the children at home with the grandparents..

Tat said, NOTHIN comes close to the interaction I get with my kids! Jus ytd, I was sitting by the desk surfing ard for courses to take, when Janielle came in with a toy spoon and a bowl..

"daddy wan?"
"wads that?"
"fish"
"I dun wan"
"want huh?"
"fine, ok I wan.."
She went on the "feed" me..

Then suddenly she passed the spoon and bowl to me..

"自己吃 ok? Jan Jan go Mm Mm"
(eat it urself ok? Jan Jan go shit)

And she ran out... To her potty...

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ICT

2010-05-11T17:55:00.001+08:00

Looking fwd to my next in-camp!!

(Image from google)

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Turning 30

2010-04-16T08:45:00.001+08:00

Nope I still got a couple of years before I hit the big 3 number.. Juz a thought I had earlier today as I was commuting to work.. Wad might be going on in the mind of someone in his/her thirties...?

Any input? Anyone....?

Hello........?

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unhappiness

2010-04-15T12:36:00.003+08:00

nth went really wrong today..

but i find myself finding fault in ppl today.. i thought i was more amiable than this...

was it juz me?
need to do some soul-searching then....

on another note, i wish i could go home early, and take a nap.. before my evening routine of fetching my family starts at 7pm...

tired...

2010-04-12T08:24:00.001+08:00

So tired I could juz fall asleep ANYWHERE!

Didn't sleep well.. Dreamt that I was preparing to go for a trip on my own.. So much to prep; book tic, pack bag, make arrangement for my way there etc.. It didn't help it got broken up to 2 parts by janielle's whines at 2am...

Currently in the midst of making plans for 2 trips...

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Kuching day 6.. Last day...

2010-04-02T21:35:00.002+08:00

Last day in Kuching today, nth planned other than walking the neighbouring streets and buying some local products for the families and some friends.. Woke up late today! 0830.. Sun was up.. Actually I like it better early.. Less heat, less people.. U see ppl coming in and opening their stalls for business.. The younger ones juz heading home to slp on the public holiday..

Took a walk along the Main Bazaar.. First time we walk here thou we were actually juz staying a street back.. Mayb coz it's Good Friday in a majority Christian country, there's quite a crowd.. There's this stretch that sells souveniors and local produces aimed at tourists.. Things are more or less the same.. We ventured further across the street and we noticed more locals doing their daily morning shopping.. Ppl buying bags and bags of ikan bilis, spice powder.. Butter/magarine comes in big tins and ppl buy by the weight.. Cooking oil sold in packets.. Theres also an alley that sells food, mainly malay, macam pasar malam back at home, but in the day.. Quite a nice atmosphere la..

Kuching is like many of the towns in the west Malaysia we've visited many years back as students and very young working adults.. Those tat we juz wan a short short weekend getaway, somewhere where we could juz slp over, and spend the day exploing the streets and eating the local food.. It's easy to get ard, u could walk, take a bus, or u could flag down a cab easily.. Ppl are nice and very seldom pushy..

I think I may come back here..

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Kuching day 5!

2010-04-02T00:20:00.002+08:00

Finally things went on as planned an we managed to find 3 other travellers to make 5 of us to share that ferry to Bako National Park HQ, even before we board the bus! Weather wa great, a little bit too good in fact.. Some 30% of the trails were exposed and we were practically baked under the sun.. Other than the super duper hot weather and very long trails, and lousy timing and location for lunch (there's only 1 canteen located at the HQ in the whole park, and lunch is ready only at 1130), Bako is quite worth going.. We planned to completed 2 trails but turned back when we were 300m from the end of the 2nd one due to intolerance to the heat, our tiredness and potential shortage of water (and time too, since we've already prearranged with our boatman the pick up timing to bring us back) We spotted a couple of proboscis monkeys too! The 1st we saw in fact literally dropped in on us.. I think it was checking us out when I think it lose footing or sth, came crashing onto the ground 5m from us with a big palm leave.. Loud entrance!

Anyway now I'm really burnt.. Turning in soon.. I've been feeling very slpy since we had our dinner at a local seafood place.. Nice and cheap! Only RM65 for fish, prawn, bamboo clams, a vege and drinks!

View of our intended destination!! Before we turned back...

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Kuching Day 4

2010-03-31T23:12:00.002+08:00

Guess what.. We missed the shuttle bus again!! Actually not very sure la, the schedule written there says 720am, it was 730 when we were there.. I asked the owner of the lodge that sells tic for the shuttle, he said the earliest is 915am.. So we took the kolo mee we dabao to the waterfront and slowly enjoyed our breakfast, while time and ppl passed by...

Met a fellow traveller on that same shuttle, he was actually on his way to G.Santubong, the mountain that forms the backdrop of Sarawak Culture Village.. At the ht of 800+m, it towers over the village and steepess of close to 95deg at the steepest point! ( bearing in mind he started close to sea level and its gonna be juz a daytrip.. And the figures I estimated one la) anyway he's gonna haf his 2nd attempt at conquering the summit after falling out 120m from the summit 2yrs ago.. He said he was exhausted.. He gonna take shorter albeit steeper route this time round... So he hopped off the minivan when we were halfway there and bid us good luck.. I think he needs more luck than us!

The cultural village was indeed rather touristy, but I didn't find that it's a waste of time.. I particularly enjoyed going into the constructed traditional Rumah Malayu and Rumah Cina.. I actually felt very at home in the fake Chinese house.. Perhaps it's my subconscious doing it's magic? ( I did stayed in a house and conditions like this before.. Before my parents moved into a HDB, before I turned 3..)

Damai beach was a little bit of a disappointment.. It's really quite pretty, big waves, fine sand, clear horizon and all.. But dun think it fit swimming in la.. A little too rough for dipping.. Took a few snaps and off I ran to catch the shuttle!

Back at Kuching, we took a short ferry and ventured to the other side of the river where there is a community of Malay kumpungs.. Real kumpungs, real ppl staying there, not made for show one... But the fact tat they're there attracts kits of tourists from the other side of the river la.. So they're quite used to having tourist walking by their houses all the time.. We had our dinner there.. Sarawak laksa.. Erm.. Requires getting used to.. Ayam Penyet, same, but with diff sides and gravy..

Carebear! Stare!

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Kuching Day 3

2010-03-31T21:55:00.002+08:00

We made our way back to Kuching in the cab that we arranged the day before.. Decided to drop by a Orang Utan Rehab centre ( no they dun do drugs) but we were informed that there's nth to see coz it's passed their feeding time.. Very practical hor? So we juz return to Kuching la..

The rest of the day was spent deciding where to go the next day.. Damai? Or Bako? We let the weather forecast decide.. It's been raining almost everyday we're here! Journey to Bako involves a ferry ride which according to the guides, choppy... We checked the weather forecast, both days raining.. But thurs having a lower probability of precipitation.. So Damai tmrw!!

Of course we didn't really sit down the hike day deciding that la.. We walked the town, combed the street for local food! Had super big Pau, sio bee (siewmai), belacan beehoon (in prawn paste), coconut in sugarcane juice, chendol.. Yb found a shopping mall and needless to say, we made our way there.. Bought some clothings for jemaine and some accessories for janielle.. Ended the day with dinner in the rain at the "open air" market.. Beef noodles and fried carrot cake..
The view thru my 10x30cm "window" in my attic room...

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Kuching Day 2

2010-03-30T23:57:00.003+08:00

8:08am
Kolo mee was good.. Conveniently located juz outside the guesthouse! Intended to catch STC bus 6 to get to Kota Pedawan, after which we need to get a minivan in to the longhouse area.. Dang! Missed the bus by 15min! Need to take a cab instead..(the bus leaves at 720am if u're taking it next time!) Ok it was cheaper than wad was quoted on the website.. On the cab now.. =)

*buRp*

8:00pm
Dinner was sumptuous.. I think the serving could easily serve 4.. Well it was afterall after a long day.. Trekked a total of 4hrs up and down.. Spent abt 2hrs at the waterfall and lunch was prepared by the guide too! Chicken cooked in bamboo, served with bamboo rice and some canned sardines.. I think the bamboo chicken is juz some tourist gimmicks.. The guide brought a cooking pot to serve the chicken anyway! Wonder if it's juz the same rainy period we're having in SG, or it's really the weather of the tropical rainforest.. It juz kept raining and raining.. I did enjoy walking in the rain thou, other then my ankle being cut by the rubber mould-injected shoes they provided.. Every step was a pain, oh and my knee too, pain in each downward step I made, really old liao.. We were juz reminising tat descend I made with Yb at Mt. K, we were super fast.. When was the very last time I hiked in a heavy rain.. Maybe Aggung? With thunder and lightning all ard and trying to fetch rainwater with our opened bottled... And the last I was bitten by a leech? G.Tahan?

We got an introduction to the longhouse by this lady who was helping out in the running of the homestay, it's actually a little bit touristy to be honest.. There's actually a "showhouse" and a sugarcane crusher and a "head" house" (they were one of the headhunter tribes) that is kept there as historical artefacts.. But at least the ppl there dun put up a show la.. The Bidayuhs are already very modernized, zinc roofs, watching satellite channels, the younger ones clad in spaghetti tops and denim shorts.. But they do preserve their way of life still la.. Planting padi in the mountain, some vege.. Kept some domestic animals still.. Overall, not a bad experience staying there..

Annah Rais Longhouse (Bidayuh)

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Kuching Day 1

2010-03-28T23:31:00.003+08:00

Intended to get to Kuching main town by bus initially, the guide book says once we get out of the terminal, turn right to get to the buses.. Out of the terminal, we could see both ends of the terminal.. What bus....? Need to take a cab instead.. Not a cheap alternative, but the consolation is that we dun haf to bargain for a price since we buy coupon over a counter at the airport, and it brings us to the doorstep of our guesthouse..

The guesthouse was slightly disappointing, book says it's on the small side, but I didn't expect it to be THAT small.. The 1st room he showed us was only the size of the bed!! luckily it was offpeak and guess they got lots of spare rooms.. Gave us a room with 2 double beds instead.. At the attic i think.. Was damn hot, good thing it has a working aircon..

Walking ard the town for food and for orientation purposes, we found the place that claimed that their rooms starts from RM4.99.. Went in to take a look.. Then we realized the price actually excludes lots of things.. We need to per extra for 12hr of aircon and 24hr wifi.. Suddenly I realised how much I like this attic room.. The floor has no one else, so the shared shower area is almost exclusively ours.. The wifi is free and signal is strong.. Aircon is complimentary.. And it's only RM50 per nite.. =)

Tmr, heading to Annah Reis Longhouse.. Hopefuly things go on fine! We got some tight timing to meet, and to save some $$, we opted of the less-than-reliable bus transportation.. We still need to take a transit to a minivan after..we werenot able to book either the bus, or the van.. But, it was a fight between RM100 for cab, and roughly RM16 by bus/van... And it was partly in the name of adventure.. ;)

Ok time to turn in, 645am tmr, Kolo Mee for breakfast!!

Jalan this way tolong!

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MSc.

2010-03-26T16:44:00.001+08:00

Should I go back to school...?

I think I should.....

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evening today

2010-03-17T00:49:00.002+08:00

was on course these 3 days, surprisingly, the course ended at 4pm today.. and i got home b4 5! yb and jan were at home today coz jan wasn't feeling well, and so we left jem at my MIL's to quarantine the 2 sisters...

anyway a short run has already been scheduled, i quickly changed and start my run... weather was good, my knee wasn't in the best condition, fortunately after a while, the pain went off... an hr of good run..

yb and jan met me after my run while i was cooling off.. hung ard at the fitness corner for some evening breeze and a dinner at a nearby foodcourt after that..

the rest of the night was juz routines... but hey i enjoyed an eventful weekday evening...

i welcome an early release, any time!!

Juz like any other day

2010-03-10T09:13:00.002+08:00

530am: Jemaine was "yelping" (sorry couldn't find a better word, she's wasn't crying, more of a whining yelp).. Yb mentioned sth abt it raining, and we may need to park the car in the multistorey carpark later when we sent the kids..

615am: I was driving and I told Yb I may be drying the car when I'm back, she sniggered saying I making use of the rain to wash car ah? Partly la, but not at 7am!! More like the haze will be washed off the air by the rain and if I dun dry the car, it'll form patches of dirt when the water dries..

620am: Janielle wants milk and she wan 一起泡 neh neh.. Prepared milk with one hand and carrying on the other arm.. Settled her into her bed at my MIL's..

720am: palm pain from squeezing dry the cheap wipe cloth (note to self: time to invest in microfibre absorbant wipe cloth, but wld absorbant meant that it's even more diff to dry it?? *shrugz*) Avante's almost sparkling thou!

730am: kinda late to go back to bed.. Showered, had small breakfast, check mail.. Download news into phone for reading on the MRT later...

800am: walked to the mrt station, enjoying the fresh air.. There's been a burnt smell lingering in the air for the longest time in the dry spell.. The morning rain was a nice break..

Everything else is like any other days...

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Autorecruitment

2010-03-01T18:29:00.001+08:00

Somehow ever since I've become a dad I've been included in conversations and discussion which I'll usually think more appropriate for mums..

Today's day 1 for a new mum from her maternity leaves.. "hey chiu, I'm back!" on this msn-like thing for work... I turned to my cubicle mate and mentioned " eh XX is back leh" my cubicle mate was like "oh So fast?" well apparently she didn't msg everyone... "hey welcome back! miss work?"

I found myself standing ard a group of parents from work during the co.'s xmas dinner.. It's fine.. Until they took a turn and started talking abt breastfeeding.. I mean it's not sth which I'm unfamiliar with, but to haf a duscussion abt it with female colleagues is a little bit too much for me eh.. I'm not embarassed, but I'm conscious abt my presence there which may cause any discomfort to any of them there.. Anyway i found myself slowly inching my way out.. Not a very interesting topic for me anyway...

Today a close colleage brought her boy in for a short while, she called me on my DID, "eh come down lobby leh, someone's here..." (but I'm slightly bz leh)
"oh ok!"

Hey don't get it wrong! I'm honoured to be included in the club (i'm actually quite a senior there in fact).. I'm glad to know that ppl will think of me when they got sth to share (parenting tips, books, articles etc).. They also seek my advices and opinion at times.. I mean not all dads know abt children ok..

Oh I'm organising a mini baby day-out this weekend for a friend's nephew.. Haha.. If succesful I can extend it to more the next time..

Oh and do invite me for ur baby showers k!!

Jemaine is having a variety of facial expressions liaoz.. Hehe...

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i think i got bitten...

2010-02-19T15:12:00.003+08:00

..by the travel bug.....

have been talking of going for a short trip before yb returns to work.. which translates to late March... the plan now is Sarawak... not yet finalised.. but woot!!

and i've been reading ppl's blog on their travels.. chanced upon some albums in which ppl put up some of the photos taken which they were on trips; cambodia, tanzania (kili, serengeti, ngorongo; damn, i miss africa!), yogyakarta, mulu....

really hope my travel plan this year can come to a realisation... bearing in mind now i got problem even planning for an evening run.....

Appreciation

2010-02-08T08:20:00.001+08:00

Appreciating hot Milo in the morning,
afternoon breaktime coffee and
an occasional after work drink...

Paternity

2010-02-04T08:26:00.000+08:00

Most of the time when ppl talk abt having a child, so much emphasis wil be placed on the mum.. Yes for the many months that she's carrying the baby in her.. For the childbirth and taking care of the newborn of coz.. I think more can be done for the father of the child as well.. Not many can appreciate the stress that he's going thru having to juggle things as well..

More paternity leaves pls......?

Tired..

2010-01-31T23:02:00.002+08:00

This was my 1st weekend with 2 kids, just me and Yb handling both, without any help... Everything before dinner was fine.. Other than the fact tat I was fighting back against falling asleep behind the wheels! Blood was leaving my brain for the intestines, that's why.. Anyway being tired doesn't help at all with 2 kids who refuse to cooperate with me at all.. One too young to know anything, the other too whiny for my liking, at least tonight..

Time passes so fast these days, esp when I'm at home.. So fast that I'm missing out on "my time" (quoted a gd friend).. Not sure when can i go out with friends in a weekend morning again..

I know I can't say tat I got it worst 'cause Yb needs to face them all day long....

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2010-01-09T01:56:00.001+08:00

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Latest addition to the family!

2010-01-09T01:20:00.002+08:00

Yes Yb had been pregnant for the longest time already and finally the little one had popped out on the 21st Dec 09! Baby Jemaine is slightly over 2 weeks earlier than predicted, however still considered full term at 38 weeks..

Labour was shorter but intense compared to the 1st pregnancy according to Yb.. From the start of labour contraction to birth it took only 6 hr, last time close to 24hr.. Anyway for details on the labour, ask the mum k?

This time round the 1st month is less tiring and less complicated.. Not really because we're more experienced, but really juz we take things more easy now.. We engaged the help of a confinement nanny, costly, but at least we'll not be caught flustered with handling a newborn at the same time having to pay equal attn to the newly promoted bigger sister.. With Janielle, we were very disciplined with keeping to certain routines and practice.. But with Jemaine, Yb decided tat babies r very adaptable.. We can start the routines when she turns 1 month..

As I've said, the nanny is taking care of Jemaine's essentials now.. Feeding, washing, changing diaper, waking up for night feeds, pacifying her cries.. I kinda felt unfair to Jemaine actually.. That I'm not spending enough time with her.. But I guess tat can't be helped really, since yb's still in confinement and so I need to play the main role in taking care if Janielle.. I'll try to make it up to her when she's older bah...

Between the sisters, they're great with each other.. Ok at least janielle seems to be quite excited when she was 1st being introduced to her little sister.. Right now she's quite comfortable with having a baby ard at home.. She didn't seem to mind her presence at all, not even her sister's almost constant crying..

See? I told u Jan doesn't seem to mind meimei at all.. I cant say the same for meimei thou!!! LoL!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Mobile blogging! Rantings on-the-go!

2010-01-04T10:09:00.001+08:00

Finally downloaded the app for blogger into my phone.. Been unable to do this because i needed to set up an account wih picasaweb to do this.. Anyway, here I am again...

Juz sent Janielle to her sch tdy.. The start of new sem, we expected a lot of the new students who juz strayed today to be crying.. Jan started her childcare classes in the beginning of dec, reason being I think for Jan to be staying at home for the whole of dec is quite a torture.. She's at the stage where she's veryvery active and she absorbs like a sponge.. (ok I wanted to say sth else which is know is more absorbant than sponge, but I though I better stick to this).. So staying at home is a waste of her time too.. Besides, it frees up the adults' time... =D

Anyway... She was the only one who was crying lor.. Separation anxiety.. But it only happen when it's either me or Yb who sent her to sch, if it's my MIL, she's ok.. She'll follow the routines when she gets there as if she's there for years already... Open her mouth to check for ulcers, take her temp from her ear, sanitize her hands.. And saying goodbye to her grandma..

It's always quite strssful for me when I need to send her to sch....

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

re: man of the family

2009-11-16T11:32:00.005+08:00

somewhat a continuation to a earlier post i had
(http://juzride.blogspot.com/2009/06/man-of-family.html)

in the service yard there's only 1 single power outlet, which was meant for the washing machine.. some time ago i introduced a small fan into the service yard which can assist drying of the clothes especially in wet weather, when the clothes will be air-dried indoors.. as the power point comes with a plastic cover that closes to prevent water/rain from splashing on, it cannot take a multi-plug (plugs cannot fit in from the sides, top and bottom).. i thought i was quite smart, i found a small travel adaptor at home (i dunno where it came from) and attempted to plug it in, and behind the adaptor i will plug in the multi-plug... but when i tried to switch it on, it tripped the whole house!!! and it was 11PM at night!!

usually power will be restored if we flip back the switches at the fuse box in the house.. but it didn't work this time! damn sian already lo.. so late at night... weather so warm... got a friend (alwyn) staying over somemore.. we were thinking of possible solution when yb asked if we know anyone who can help.. then i recalled one of my army friend, GW, joked that if one day his place blackout he'll call another of ur fren, CW for emergency restore because CW works for Singapore Power (that night we had dinner he was on stand-by for any power failure in the northern region of Singapore).. yb said "call la!" i was like... huh..really meh? it's so late at night leh.... amazingly in his half-asleep stupor, CW managed to tell me i can find another main fuse box outside the house... and it worked!! woohoo!! aircon!!! actually the army is a best resource a guy can haf... i know ppl who drives the NEL mrt, i know one who got contacts to car dealers, one who works with SMRT, one who knows another fren who's a guru when it come to buying car (he helped me with my car purchase), a tour guide...

anyway... the power outlet in the service yard, the switch cannot be "unflipped"... it got stuck in position... lousy parts the HDB contractors used (i even found a loose spare wire in the hole in the wall behind that power outlet!).. managed to find a replacement from NTUC that cost me abt $6 which finally i found time (and daylight and some recollection from my secondary school science lessons on L/N/E wirings) to replace the broken one.. there! good as new! smooth switch now!

now im tempted to change all my power outlets at home... the switches sux...

oh and i threw that travel adaptor away.. the one that i dunno come from where one...

(yb was relating to her mum wad happened at home, my mother-in-law asked how come power can trip all of a sudden? she said "the scientist of the house decided to play with some innovations at 11pm at night" )

post-travel

2009-10-27T16:44:00.003+08:00

1st day at work after i come back from Cambodia.. the usual, ppl asked how was the trip, did you had fun? my replies were all the same: "ok lor"

it's not that i didn't enjoy the trip, i did, mayb not as much... somehow i seemed to enjoy some of my other trips more leh... like vietnam.. similar environment, but somehow i like it more...

was it because we were following the standard Cambodia itinerary? simply visiting the tourist spots? was it too objective-oriented? too packed?

was it that things are more expensive? we seemed to pay much more than locals do.. which is common, but it seems better in vietnam (but then again when we were in vietnam, we didn't really hang ard the tourist places much)...

or mayb because i went with the objective of taking photos? and ended up not really having a holiday there...?

may b all....

Angkow Wat at sunset (facing the sun)

next (major) trip.... OCT 2010.... =)

twilight

2009-08-05T22:15:00.001+08:00

been MONTHS (or years?) since i last run/jog.. the last time... i cant rem when.. but was that time when it caused that intolerable backache i mentioned in one of the entries... yar since then lor.. but i juz got back to running! why? coz i dunno for wad reason, dunno wad got over me, i signed up for the full 42.195km marathon this coming december... peer pressure mayb, mayb i juz wan to move on.. or mayb like wad ppl say, "to do it (at least)once in a lifetime"..

had my 2nd run 2 evenings ago, started at abt 7pm, ended at abt 8pm... these days the sun sets somewhere 730pm.. so as im doing my 2nd round, i'll be admiring the colours of the sky..and the sky will get darker and darker... juz in a matter of minutes, it's night time.. if not for the street lights lining the road, lights from the buzzling foodcourt, lights from NTUC where commuters queue for their groceries purchase, i doubt the moonlight is bright enough to lit my way home.. somehow this reminds me of the times when we were out trekking some years ago.. as the sun sets, we'll double-up our pace so that we can get to our campsite to set up our camp b4 darkness falls.. then we'll change into something more comfortable, and sit around a fire and cooking our dinner.. somehow so primitive, so simple, so sufficient... and.. im missing those times!!

man of the family

2009-06-22T13:32:00.002+08:00

been staying at the new place for slightly more than half a year now.. something which i've come to realise, even b4 we've moved in here, was that from now on it's all up to us.. i mean... when we're still at our parents' place, there always someone to wash ur clothes.. clean up the table after meals.. someone to wash the pots and pans.. the floor at home is always free of dust and stains and hair.. there is always cooled boiled water for drinking bedsheets are regularly being changed (washed and dried).. the clothes are always folded and placed back into our cupboards after they're washed... gosh the list is so long...and im not done yet!

sure we've stayed in hostel b4, washed our own clothes, changed our own bedsheet and stuffs... but we dun haf to wash the toilet! there's not many dishes to wash? there always watercooler/tap to drink from?

other than the mediocure "chores" like mopping, sweeping, washing.... i also realised that we need to learn how to fix things, yes change light bulbs, remove stains, clean the fans... me, for now, and the title holder for the best sink plunger... at home that is... i've mentioned b4 (i think) that we had problem of choke kitchen sink.. now i know how it all works.. how the plunger is bein use... hey it's not use pumping with the big muscle ok... we need to know how it plunges.. u know we need to fill the sink with water b4 we can plunge effectively? and if u've those 2-bowl sink, u need to make sure the other drainer is properly covered and kept covered b4 u can start pumping? u dunno leh~~

anyway.. the worst, for now, has come... the toilet bowl is choked!! and how do we know....? of course after we're done with the biz, we need to flush... and the water level juz got higher and higher.. damn.. at 1st , being the title-holder for sink plunger, i tried clearing it with the sink plunger.. but as u probably know, the size doesn't fit verywell.. and as i pump, with force and speed, i got splashed!! eeeww... anyway after much trying, it didn't work... so decided that we need to go out to the self-fix shop to find something that fits.. found sth like a corkscrew, except that it's 15 meter long and looks more like a coiled spring.. bought it.. but it's not useful at all! the end keep getting stuck becoz of the coil.. like it's hooked onto the edges or sth... my hand need to go underneathe the water to unhook it.. (luckily im not usually an OCD person).. and lots of times the spring juz gathered as a coiled mess in one corner instead of having the whole length into the pipe.. after some 30min of trying, we switched back to the plunger, this time round i stuck the whole plunger head into the bowl so that there's no gap at the side, being slightly smarter this time round, i had the bowl lid half closed =)... i juz kept pumping and pumping and pumping... and i tried flushing... yes it's cleared!! yeees!!!

and there u haf it, i now hold another title... the champion toilet bowl plunger!

after the whole ordeal.. yb gave a kiss on the lips and said...
"Happy Fathers' Day dear!"

occasional inspiration

2009-06-17T16:29:00.004+08:00

borrowed this book from the library "Creative Nature and Outdoor Photography".. Author's Brenda Tharp, quite a famous photographer who won awards and published in some lots well-known magazines...

from one of her interviews:
"If you're standing on the sidelines, your pictures are going to look like you stood on the sidelines. If you're walking amongst those stalls in the fish market, you're smelling the fish, and you're getting the close-up views of all these different fish, then I'm going to feel that when I look at your picture -- like I was there."

came across "Afghan Girl" in one of my reads recently (actually i cant remember from where and when did i read this), but i chanced upon it again while doing one of my surf on a local photography forum.. googled it, it brought me to this guy called Steve McCurry.. and Afghan Girl being his most famous picture he took back in 1980's and published on the Nat Geo in 1985... i went thru some of his galleries.... it really made me wonder if i could do this.. travel the world, not as a tourist, but as a photojournalist (i need to really really buck up on my writing and expression if so!).. seriously being with a family, probably it's a bit difficult, but not absolutely impossible... IF, i can let go of the stability of my home, finance (?), comfort.... AND IF they can come along with me...

anyway... just inspiring.... *daydreams..*

weekend @ work and monday off

2009-06-16T23:21:00.005+08:00

needed to come in on Sat for a study last week, hey im not complaining! got a monday off! (which i stayed at home coz it's not my forte to bring Jan out singlehandedly ) hehe... yes yes lucky it's not expected for me to work on a Sat...

and the 2 ladies in the family tagged along as well...

waiting too long for mummy

Mummy i hungry....

yes girl u want something.....?

home-cooked chicken rice (cheated, bought chix rice paste)

some cleaning up at home on my off day

looked like a housefly actually...

almost skiing... she got pulled along by the housefly!

and the housefly crashed....

Father(-in-law)'s (Birth)Day

2009-06-13T12:42:00.002+08:00

splurged and went to this quite posh restaurant, IMO, Peony Jade along Clarke Quay... Slightly costly, came up to abt $40/pax.. food was not bad, ala carte buffet... we ordered quite a variety of things la.. but later in the evening got so occupied with Jan that i juz stopped snapping...

she got tired of the baby high-chair

Some of the things we had

with Mummy (quite alike hor?)

everyone who's there

God knows where she got her genes from..

on my way home

2009-06-09T14:50:00.004+08:00

i dun usually carry my dslr with me everywhere i go, i juz happened to have it with me ytd as i was prepared to purchase a 2ndhand lens (body for lens testing), but ended up i din, well that's a whole separate story altogether. i was on the bus to my mother-in-law's place for dinner then i decided to snap along the rest of the journey there...

at the back of the bus

updates

2009-06-01T22:02:00.004+08:00

2 mths since my last entry.. so many times i wanted to post sth, anything, but sth else will come up.. like.... erm.... like...... hmmm

anyway, was away for 2-3 weeks in the last mth, overseas... taiwan with family for 10 days, and thailand for another 9 with colleagues (and wifey), for work... somehow holidays feel different now, wss it because i was travelling with my mum and my baby? was it because i was traveling with colleagues (i mean seein ur colleagues everyday during a trip, and back at work the following day feels kinda wierd) ?

anyhows, been venturing more into phototaking these days, i've cut down lots on rubbish snapping, and getting more pointers from friends and books, and online albums... i'll say im slightly more focus now? slowing knowing wad kind of lenses line-up im going towards now...(HL was saying, he didn't know what he want, so he nv buy... i also dunno wad i wan yet, so i buy everything! *faint*)

i need to get my butt out to exercise.... soon... been slacking... haven't been running since.... when huh... the last time i had that serious backache.. it still comes and go now, esp if i was out the whole day with family, means i'll be carryin Jan, or bending down and chasing while she starts her occasional run (she trips all the time!), i shld start cycling again...

my house? erm... paid in full liao... but my lightings are not completely installed yet... that's juz because we keep pushing back shopping for out bedroom foyer and dining lights... anyway finally got them! now just waiting for my contractor to fnd time to install them for me... and also to check some wirings at home... my oven trips the whole house.....

finally, janielle... she's juz turned 17 mth.. walking, toddling, running now.. blabbers a lot.. we're able to maintain a decent conversation now, juz between the 2 of us... hey i really understand her! for eg, there was once she stopped me from going out of her bedroom, by gesturing and saying "er!" and pointing to her lips... i knew she wanted a gdnight kiss! (actually i din, till i squatted down and she started leaning towards my face).. cute!

and she's feeding herself, she loves that and it keeps her at the dining table.. but that'll mean that mummy gotta lay newspaper all ard her highchair and some upscale cleaning up after..

shower b4 bed

2009-04-06T22:51:00.002+08:00

Jan seems to enjoy taking shower/ play water... actually dunno if she's ok with us washing her hair directly with the shower head or not... hehe haven't bathed her in a while...

moving along

2009-03-12T00:25:00.001+08:00

i believe each of us needs some inspiration once in a while... to move along..

Marina Barrage

2009-03-09T15:45:00.005+08:00

finally made our way to the latest icon of Singapore.. the Marina Barrage.. the last time i only ran passed it during the AHM last yr... quite nice to spend the evening there, but getting there was quite jialat.. dun like the waiting for the shuttle bus though.. VERY unsheltered, very hot in the late afternoon.. getting there is quite trouble some at the moment, even if u're driving there.. road is very narrow.. yb says she misses the old marina, whr there's nth but a big field to hang out, picnic or fly kites...

the best part abt it was probably the elevated grass landing which overlooks the city skyline, capturing a nice sunset.. oh and a nicely laid grass patches for Janielle to run ard quire safely!

for more photos go to my multiply account!

bedridden

2009-03-02T19:44:00.003+08:00

almost... feel like juz sitting/lying at home all day... very unlike of me, but been having this very disturbing backache that's been bothering me since last weekend.. i was still ok at 1st, felt like a strain in the back after a couple of runs in the evenings... sth which is quite common for me.. but it became quite unbearable these 2 days that now i squirm with every little movement...(like moving my hands across the keyboard..) Janielle's wrestling out of my arms in the public is also not helping at all...

seems like a muscle strain, according to the doc.. no pain in the spine when she pressed along my spine.. gave me some muscle relaxant and pills for inflammation and pain relief.. hopefully it goes away soon.. so much things i've been looking fwd to do ever since we're starting to settle down at our new place...

photo snooping

2009-02-13T16:15:00.003+08:00

been looking at nice photos posted by ppl all over for some time...
so awed by the colours in the pictures, the things ppl see, the moments that were being captured right there and then...

urgh... cant wait to get my 1st dSLR..!!

right now i'll juz play with my P&S and see wad it can do 1st bah...

(taken from http://www.arjunpurkayastha.com gotta give credit to this guy)

girls' nite out

2009-02-11T09:22:00.002+08:00

for yb that is... one of her ex-classmates juz came back from the states (i think) and the group of the girls went out for a dinner... so my duty? i gotta pick Janielle up from my in-laws after work, and see throu her dinner, playtime, bedtime shower, and bedtime feed.. and finally put her in bed to slp... all by myself!

i thought it was quite a handful at 1st.. it didn't make it any better that it started to rain the moment i got out from the MRT at Hougang station.. hey.. but it went well.. Jan was quite cooperative.. on the bus journey home other than wanting to press the bell (the one beside us was the only one in the whole bus that lit up and it caught her attention), she didn't cause too much trouble.. and so we got home safely (the rain stopped!)..

i managed to take my dinner (yb cooked for me!) while Jan was playing ard in the house and coming over occasionally for an extra serving of MY dinner.. i gave her some of her leftover porridge from Hg too.. i also took a quick shower while Jan was roaming ard in the living room.. had fun playing with her too! she turning very interactive... it's like she'll pick up sth from the floor, say sth to me, then crawl over and give it to me.. =) by far most of the time she was juz "da-daa-da"-ing away... sometimes we'll hear her going "da-da-da-ah"? as if she's asking a question... haha.. quite funny... she likes peekaboo too...

expected her to be slping late actually.. coz my MIL told me she slp quite a lot in the late afternoon... waking up only at 6pm.. but surprisingly by abt 930pm, i noted that she's was already sucking on her thumb and playing with her hair (i bathed her early because she poo-ed).. i tried to cuddled her to slp on the sofa and she was just lying there comfortably, eyes closed once in a while but nv fall aslp.. then suddenly she got awake again! wriggling out of me and out of sofa.. urgh! last straw... i made milk for her, prepared her bed and put her in it.. passed her milk bottle to her, off the lights and i closed the bedroom door leaving juz her inside.. when i came back for her bottle, she was fast aslp.. yay!!

so i had the rest of the night to myself... watching tv.. surfing the net... munching on CNY goodies... wahahaha.... ShuAng....

CNY post

2009-01-29T15:29:00.004+08:00

though we've been married for quite some time (ROM and our customary in 2007, our dinner in 2008), this is actually the 1st Lunar New Year tat yb and myself are spending as a married couple in Singapore, i.e. we do visiting as "adults"... i.e. we give ang paos.. sth else new is that we've got a place of our own so we're also doing some small scale decorations and buying new year goodies for our potential visitors.. didn't take any photos of our decorated place though... mayb i shld do so later tonight... if it's still neat and tidy... ok i'll update this post if i got new photos later on...

most of our goodies we got from our parents, the rest... we got then on new yr day... we went to chinatown after midnight with janielle... it's kinda crazy i know, with the baby in the crowd and all.. but jan was actually fast asleep while her daddy is so ever busy protecting her from the pushing crowd.. so it din bother her at all.. only occasional stirring but she falls back to slp without a problem... we also got ourselves some deco at low low prices! but by the time we're home, we're so beat that we can only put up the deco in the morning...

reunion dinner with my parents

janielle in her chongsam at yb's granny's (jan's greatgrandma)

she got some love-letters in her mouth

visiting my granduncle and grandauntie

last stop! our place...

house is (near) completed!

2009-01-28T09:54:00.004+08:00

why i say "near" is because there's still some issues to be settled after the CNY, when their workers come back from their CNY break... like wrong windows installed, half-choked drainage, some minor concrete works and polishing...

anyway here's the "completed" house!

actually the place looks more messy than this, these were taken like day one of our shifting in.. it's been almost a week and clutters are forming everywhere!! Plus to deco and goodies for the CNY....

randomicity

2009-01-19T14:22:00.002+08:00

renovation updates 14Jan09

2009-01-14T09:49:00.010+08:00

went down this morning to deliver some stuffs which i bought from ikea ytd evening for the contractors to install for us.. and i took some pic! it actually doesn't look like a lot of things has been done, but well... here they are!

the console is still not covered up yet, supposed to haf glass panels.. and tinted mirror near the window.. the hole is still there for the aircon...

the wardrobe in our bedroom.. janielle has a similar one in her room, but with juz 4 panels.. the 5th is actually a small make-up dresser built into the else wasted space for the lady of the house..

the table top and hob is done!

and i also realised that the lightings in the house is done too! expected, but still surprised and nice to see them for myself!

the bedroom

the mbr toilet (shower glass panel not yet installed)

passageway to the bedrooms

the kitchen again

the dining space (supposed to haf a hanging dining light which we haf not yet bought...)

i was trying various combination of the lightings in the living area

all lights up!

renovation progesses

2009-01-13T12:52:00.004+08:00

Yep our renovation started in early dec last yr... rushing to move in in time for the CNY... the false ceiling was done up in the 1st week and carpentry fabrication also very fast! till now there's some minor screw ups though (wrong window desighn installed!), dunno if it can be handed over on schedule (this weekend) anot...

these pic were taken last week... not the very updated ones thou.. the very last time we were there i forgot to take wide angle shots (to show the whole thing)!! instead i only took photos of the defects and mistakes the contractors made...

the guys on our TV wall/console (the boss is supervising)

mbr build-in wardrobe

kitchen-left

kitchen-right

half-way done tv wall/console

pray hard for me that everything will be ok and on schedule!!

She turns 1

2009-01-05T16:00:00.002+08:00

Random Picture postings...

somebody's sneaking some food...

baby courier

my mini printer repairlady

little vain pot

hoop-catcher

curious fella'

post-trip entry

2009-01-02T17:28:00.005+08:00

yes we've been to africa and back... the experience has been good... in 16D14N, we traverse across 2 cities, 3 game reserves, 3 UNESCO World Heritage locations, 2 hikes, 12 camping nites, 5 BBQ dinner and 1 nite at backpacker's hotel..

there's no regret in going there, seeing animals at their wildest, most natural behaviors and interactions.. the giraffes are strong and healthy, the warthogs are nice and dirty, the buffaloes are fierce and mighty!! it's great to know that we're in a reserve where all animals inside (with us as the exception) are free to roam abt and do wadever they wan! the dynamics, and movements and interaction are all self-driven, not some shows... and i think it's also impt at some point on the trip that i find that the whole nature experience is "real"... we were told that we cant go to one of the reserves that was in our itinerary because the drought is causing the watering hole to run dry and the dying stench is in the air... witnessed a fight between 2 buffaloes (over food i think), an injured zebra apparently attacked by a predator earlier (we saw the bleeding wound on its rear and some bite/scratch mark on its neck), a young injured warthog struggling to keep up with its siblings/cousins behind it's mum/aunt... we were almost lunch to a bird of prey! a Yellow-Billed Kite came swooping for our head and yb felt its wing tip on her arm! close one there... the guide suggested that perhaps it's nest is near so we better move on quickly...

the animal safari was the highlight of the trip, in my opinion, even before we were there.. im not too interested in the marine part, and we can get mountain "safaris" elsewhere too... and whr best to see animals other than Africa?? though however there were some points which i think can make it a even better experience.. we were in the safaris in a van, not the open-deck truck u normally see in the shows.. this makes it very limiting for us... our mobility in the vehicle and our chance of getting photos.. and we lost the whole experience of being in a safari.... it felt quite like a zoo, with the same barrier between us and the animals, but this time we're on the inside =(.. and i feel that we could've done more things there.. like night drives and stuffs... on this, perhaps the guides could've recommended or suggested to us... it's a pity... really...

marine and mountain safaris were somewhat quite disappointing though..

we'll talk abt marine 1st.. wad we're "expecting" to see in the marine part of the trip includes whales (we know already not in season), dolphins, hippos, crocs etc... wad was included in our itinerary was juz a walk along the mouth of a river...quite a nice view i muz agree... very extensive sand deposits... nice scenery... we had quite a close encounter with hippos and crocs... but that's abt it... no dolphins nth... we took the optional "whale-watching" water tour.. embarked onto a water vehicle in search for marine games... but nth spotted... not even dolphins... St.Lucia is supposed to be well-known for the UNESCO site there, some wetland reserve, but we didn't go there... god knows why... we only went to the beach... where it's free i supposed.... there's another reserve where we were originally supposed to go too, but it was brought out of the itinerary because of bad road.. we were brought instead to Durban where we stayed a night in a lodge (on beds!! yay!) and went to uShaka Marineworld... the marineworld is somewhat like our Underwater World, but so much bigger, and cheaper and more worth going.. very nice, big, unusual, pretty fishes and marine creatures.. there's even dolphins and seals shows, and water theme park entry included... so that sums up our marine safari...

we visited the Drakensberg (dragon mountain) as part of our mountain safari... yes the mountain ranges were beautiful... but the experience wasn't there... perhaps the guides were unlucky to have clients like us who've been to places... been travelling and trekking/hiking... juz the view from afar wasn't at all satisfying... not at all... i was expecting us to be up the mountains and hiking or camping in the mountains... so was rather disappointing for me... even for the other older couple that was there, they weren't very experience hikers but they've been to places like Nepal, India, Yunan, Turkey... they say the view is so-so... pretty, but so-so... i wasn't too please with the 2 hikes we went either... we din see anything... the 1st one, we din complete and turn back 3/4 way thru... reason given by the guides was the older couple might not want to get dirty... but i think more like the guides themselves wasn't interested to get dirty... the 2nd hike, we insisted that we complete it.. it was a hike at the Tugela falls...2nd highest fall in the world... we saw photos of ppl being on top where before the water falls and imagine us to be there too... when we were hiking and got to somewhere where we can see the bank close, the guide told us, "ok this is the end"... I was like... "what???" i wasn't convinced... i din wanna stop to rest a bit.. i juz rested by bag down and carry on "exploring the area"... saw some hikers further up and asked for directions, apparently we're near the end already... but i thought to myself we hadly gained any altitude, how can we be near? apparently wad happened was that... firstly, this is wad we speculated, the lady guide wasn't comfortable with crossing rocks and streams... so she rather not... that's why we were told "that's the end".. and why we know this was because after we insisted in going further, the 2 guides went ahead 1st... they were supposed to flank us back and front (that's wad they told us in earlier short hikes)... not 2 go together in front...and with the guy guide helping the lady out in front, we were left to cross the stream by ourselves... so end up i had to step in to help... i din mind helping out, haf always been doing that whenever i hike.. but wad irks us was the responsibility of the guides.. and how they told us "this is the end"... 2ndly, we've got the false impression that we'll be at the top of the Falls... if we're to get to the top, we need to take a different route, from a different campsite, a totally different start point...

there' more things, but all in all, im not very please with the trip organised by this company, so im not going to mention any names there.. im juz not going to recommend it to anyone... but taking this trip to africa as a holiday, it was good!! no regrets, gd experience, new lessons learnT.... i'll be back....!

Do visit www.juzride.multiply.com for the selected pix taken in the 2 weeks!

happy new yr!

2008-12-31T22:58:00.001+08:00

at this same time last yr, i din know how it feel like to be a dad, and she was having her 5 min interval contractions....

happy new yr ppl!!

the sty

2008-11-27T16:42:00.006+08:00

did i mention in any of the entries years ago that we're applying for a HDB apartment? we did! in yr 2005, 3 years ago... so fortunately we got it too... and guess wad... we finally collected our keys early this month (last mth le, since i kept delaying the post..)! woohoo!

anyway until now, we've gotten our renovator/interior designer(ID)/contractor, wadever u wanna call it.. applied and got approval for loan for renovation.. bought the lightings.. bought kitchen and toilet fittings... bought the essential electrical appliances.. bought the essential furnitures.. gotten contacts for window grilles and doors.. now we're just waiting for HDB to rectify the defects we spotted when we took over the unit.. once everything is cleared, we're gd to go!

it's been quite busy this couple of months anticipating the collection of the keys.. meeting up and discussing with the ID was actually very tiring, u know how it is.. price negotiation.. super difficult! ya sure u say it's the customer's rights to negotiate price/designs, they're under our payroll, we haf the final say in everything.. but u know wad they say abt nv offend the waiters/cooks of the restaurants who're going to bring u ur meals later on? i wont wan my renovation to screw up and results in delays, or they giving me substandard jobs or craftmanships.. on one hand if we be less "gey-gow" with them, later on when u need more things to be done in the process of the reno, they'll be less "gey-gow" with you... u scratch my back i scratch urs la...

anyway, here's the list poisons which we spent on.. sigh... and the list is not exhausive...

guilt

2008-11-05T17:24:00.003+08:00

cant really remember when did i last had an entry without talking abt Janielle... hehe...
some random stuffs... dun mind me if my sentences or sequence dun make sense k?

last evening a colleague left work earlier than me, a while after she left she sent me n sms, saying that she saw an accident... she didn't really see the accident, but she did see a cyclist with a bloody arm.... apparently part of the flesh got "ripped" off by a passing taxi... she was totally traumatized by the sight.. she then mentioned that only after she'd long passed the scene then she remembered she's a trained 1st aider, she shld'd helped... wad she said struck a thought in me.. ppl in general (or at least in Singapore?) holds back on lending a helping hand... ok in this case it's not just a "helping hand", u need to "get dirty" and know how to do a proper dressing and muz know what to do etc etc... i've always been a trained 1st aider too, since the uni days.. but im guilty myself of offering help like this, especially in a public place, to strangers... yes i've administered 1st aid in sch event before.. simple dressings... eye injuries... the most serious case would be the time when we went for a cycling trip to mt ophir... a companion of ours had a very bad fall and sustained a very big and deep cut in the knee..a couple of us help with his injury till he got back to singapore for proper stitching... however i did have an occasion which i was guilty till today... no harm was done though.. we were at a macdonald's and a kid was playing under a table, he hit his head on the bottom of the table and there's quite a lot of blood... also dunno if it's because i was much younger then or wad... i was very held back, i din really know wad to do... luckily another friend of ours, who's been known to be very proactive went to get some serviette from the counter and tried to stop the bleeding on his head.. all was well...

all these are juz 1st aid related... im trying to step out of my own comfort zone to help, in general, whenever i can.. to anyone in need... give me some time ya?

still on 1st aid, i think it's always better to haf to knowledge of wad to do, then to come to a situation when u really need to do something, but u dunno wad to do...

took a day off today.. trying to clear my leave actally.. so used the day to clear off some errands which i've been putting off... settled cable tv stuff at home, cleaned my bike, got its spoke fixed and i went for a short ride!! been 5 mth since i last rode!! my thighs are achy now... i feel guility for neglecting my loyal iron-mount....

the many faces of the girl

2008-10-28T20:33:00.002+08:00

i think janielle has quite a lot of facial expression for a 10 mth old...

and we went zoo on deepavali!

we're going to the zoo zoo zoo,

how about you you you,

you can come too too too,

we're going to the zoo zoo zoo!

hyperactivity

2008-09-24T09:33:00.006+08:00

it was only 2 evenings ago that we realised, from my mum-in-law, that jan is already capable of sitting up by herself.. she can even manage to stand up by supporting herself on the back of the sofa, or the side of the cot! how ill-informed we are... =\

tuesday 2am, i heard jan making some noise, presumably hungry so i got up to prepare milk for her.. to my surprise i saw her sitting up in her cot can crying! haha... i got yb's attn and she helped jan down and fed her..

630am, jan made some noise again.. but not cries this time.. i opened my eyes and to my horror jan was standing on the side of her cot, holding the railing at her shoulder height and looking at mummy and daddy snoozing! how cute huh.. haha..

i think whenever jan learns a new skill, she's be doing it over and over so much that it almost became autonomous.. like last time when she juz learnt to flip from her back to front, whenever we put her on her back (i.e. during diaper change) she'll flip to her tummy immediately! super difficult to change diapers for her! in some nights, she'll be flipped facing down and crying cause she dun yet know how to flip to her back...

so u can imagine how she's like now in the nights when we can suddenly see her on her fours and balancing with her eyes almost closed.... *shake head*

some pictures taken last nite...

*eeek.. mummy haben bathe..*

yes she's super active now... on her tummy, the fours, then butt... then on her 2's (with support from stool and daddy's thigh).... and that keep repeating... so much that she over-played last night and couldn't slp in the middle of the night...

nurturing minds

2008-09-19T09:11:00.003+08:00

was reading an ex-classmate's blog this morning while having breakfast.. she's a mother of one and was talking abt letting her boy explore his world without restrictions...

she speaks my sentiments.. i felt that my parents are typical of parents of their time.. upbringing, manners, being prim and proper is important.. and parents of then (or at least my parents) puts in more effort in bringing home the bread than to cultivate children well, usually they'll juz leave the job to schools.. but mayb that's coz my parents were not highly educated.. my dad graduated from sec sch and my mum pri.. so i guess it's different mentality altogether bah

last yr there was tis blog entry that Mr. Brown did talking abt him bringing his family out for a meal at a local coffeeshop and it was pouring.. if i rem correctly his kid is sligtly autistic and the boy was looking at the rain... and he made his way to the edge of the shelter and stuck his arms out to feel the droplets on his little hand... the 1st instinct of parents would be to to get the child back into shelter and tell him off.. but realistically speaking, there's no harm in the boy getting a feel of the rain ya? anyway that's wad the blogger did, he stopped his wife from grabbing the boy back to his seat.

new word

2008-09-19T08:56:00.003+08:00

she kept saying "daah-dah-daahh"
dunno who teach her one... cld she be trying to say "daddy"?

but she was juz repeating it over and over without even looking at me leh...

mental note: if i ever take a cab or drive to work, nv take thomson road....

her capabilities

2008-09-18T10:28:00.004+08:00

as of today, @ 8 mths and 17 days, she's capable of:

- crawling on her tummy across the room at ~0.33m/s
- running in her "vehicle" across the room at ~3.30m/s
- sitting up straight w/o tumbling over immediately
- climbing all over u when u carry her by stepping up on the layers of tummies u haf
- finishing her milk in 10min
- opening her mouth for bits of rice grains, bread, dough, kway-teow, chee cheong fun from chopsticks
- waving her arms frantically when she's excited
- entertaining herself by making red-indians' calls with the back of her hand
- making "ba-ba-ba..." sounds
- waving gdbyes
- making "mummm-mumm-mummm" cries at night
- grabbing random things off tables and running over to show us her discoveries, to our dismay usually, and usually refuses to hand them over
- sleeping thru 5-7 hr at night (if we're lucky, 8hrs, occasionally)
- making us laugh by holding her hanky in her mouth and roam abt at home in her "vehicle"

right now we're trying to increase her vocabulary... =)

monday

2008-09-15T13:43:00.002+08:00

rough day today (the blogging lasted till tuesday)... started from ytd actually... jan is starting to get more than a handful, or mayb it's juz me, i wasn't in a particularlly gd mood either...

anyway, the title is monday.

planned to come out early cause' got a study supposedly planned early in the morning.. came out early to catch the early bus then realised my ezlink was low on credit, topped it up at the mrt station, damn my card got stucked! took me 10min to get the guy from station control to retrieve it for me.. changed train at Outram and took a light nap... and... i woke up at buona vista, when the dorr closed...ended up i was only 5-10 min earlier at work...

checked my schedule on an "invitation" in co. email... darn the experiment starts at 1130am! fine i'll do other things.. kaz reminded me to start preparing the compounds at 1015am so that i'll make it in time to dose at 1130am, checking the time noting that i shld be able to do some stuffs in the next 30min so i went ahead burying myself in stacks of papers and occasional glancing at the computer screen.. Jean said sth, which i cant rem wad now, then i looked up at the time at the corner of the computer screen... f**k! it's 1044 already! urgh.... hurried along to add solvent to the compounds and attempt tp disslove them as fast as i can... shit... some of them got solubility issues.. had tham in the sonicating bath for close to 30min (it usually take 10-15min ) and there's still particle floating ard.. finally got all to dissolve and quickly made my way down to the basement where we hold the test subjects.

we've got 3 lifts which we can take to get to B1, cargo lift 1 (CL1), cargo lift 2 (CL2) and a passenger lift which can only be accessed from level 1 main lobby. 1st to go is CL1, it's the nearest to our office and it's the shortest way to get down... "Level 10 - load/unload"... shit.... ok next, CL2... great it's on the way down... i hopped on and finally got to B1.. i tapped my access pass on the door to get out of the lift lobby, no response.. i tried again, no response still.. now through the small glass panel i saw kaz, he was shaking his head and i heard him saying "it doesn't work"...urgh... im losing time!! Noted that CL1 was being used in load/unload, i made my way to level 1, to the main lobby, to take the passenger lift... when i got out at B1, same thing!! it cant recognise my card... shit.. now back to level 1, i need to go try CL1 again... "level 1" and it's going down... nvm i missed it, but it shld come up very fast, from B1... " B1.....L1.... L2.... L3......... L4 load/unload.."

!!!!!!!!!!

"...L5....L6....L7....L8...L9...L10..."

.........

anyway i finally got to B1 tog with some supplier/vendors/contractors in CL1 and my card is still not recognisable! well i kinda expected that... luckily the contractors' temp card can be used on that door...

quickly made my way to the animal unit, and in my hurry, i hit my ankle on a knee-high barrier, i dropped the bottles holding compounds... twice... and there's leaking on the 2nd time i dropped it.. luckily it's from the vehicle bottle.... i was 37min late from the scheduled time...

when i finally came out from the animal unit the door to CL1 wasn't able to recognise my card still.. i wasn't really prepared to come out the long way... i.e. the same way which goods vehicle come in.. so i jerk hard at the door handle and forced my way thru... (pls do not do this at home!! it's hard for ur arms!)

i think kaz is juz unlucky to get stucked there juz now when he wanted to come up, i brought him the bad luck...haha.. the doors rejected me all those tries i made, and he was only rejected once, it's fine when he went down in the afternoon!!

missed the lunch hour so gotta eat alone at the foodcourt juz within a stone's throw.. got another study planned in the afternoon and ended the day at 640pm.. sian...

on another note, in the morning juz before we left for work, Jan waved to us and blabbered "bab baii.." =)

'unchained'

2008-08-17T12:56:00.002+08:00

in a friend's words, im like a tiger who's been "chained" for a while.. when the chain is cut (for a weekend) i'm still hanging ard where the chain was...

haha... he wasn't talking abt me la... was talking abt us in our NSFs' days..

anyway i found myself in a(n almost) similar situation this weekend.. both the wife and kid were in KL with my in-laws for a bdae gathering for yb's granny... i wasn't able to go coz it's in the weekend of my ICT.. so.. here i m having a whole weekend all to myself!! i had no plans though.. everyone else had plans already so i juz stayed in the whole 2 days (almost) watching jap series and olympics and getting ready to book-in in the evening later on...

im married

2008-07-08T11:13:00.003+08:00

in my own word that evening, finally "gao wan liao"! (finishing messing)

what ppl normally do in 1 full day, we dragged it across a yr... yes, from Jul 2007 till Jul 2008.. our ROM, chinese customary wedding and the wedding banquet... yes it was quite a hassle going thru all those plannings... but now that it has come to an end, i think it's worth the dragging... i think we did a great job...

ROM was held at NSRCC.. the place is nice, by the seaside, we're in white, and under the tree canopy and having sea breeze in our faces.. the solemnisation table was lavishly decorated by the buddies from NTU odac.. rose petals lining our paths and all... nice...

Customary was quite a rush.. frankly speaking there's nth much to plan except getting the studio package components in place... the car, the gown, tea dress, my coat, the flowers... and getting my brother gang ready to be sabo-ed tog with me... but it was great! everyone is very on abt the whole thing.. none of them tried to run away from the pranks and stuns.. the photo/video shoot was great too... had lots of fun... but no doubt at the end of the day everyone looked so damn tired... we really appreciated their efforts... kudos!

the wedding banquet requires early preparation, from booking ppl on the date, getting their addresses, sending invites, chasing for rsvp's, seating arrangements, last minutes drawing out ect etc... but the actual event to went on better than i'd expected, no major screw-ups (except that a vid that i prepare, audio and visual weren't sync, had to use the original copy, which wasn't ideal... yan's heel broke but we managed to get a replacement in time.. the final video presentation came out with no audio but that was fixed after a long long lag with "technical difficulties", oh and ppl not turning up the very last min...) well... i certainly did enjoy myself, im sure yan did too... so far the comments from the guests are gd too... there is this friend of yan who was so touched that she almost cried talking abt it!! another said it was good coz u see ppl started standing up and moving across tables mingling after the 1st dish is out... and the food review so far is gd too... they say it's better than hotel banquets... hehe...

if i were to choose again, i'm very tempted to do everything spreaded out again!

with everything over and done, i find myself more focused at work, my brain is working again! and i love this feeling...

Next!! Cruise!!(?) NZ!!(?)

it's strange.. sometimes..

2008-07-01T16:01:00.002+08:00

sitting at work desk now... was glancing at little pictures of jan's when we went to east coast a couple of months back... hmm... im a father.... that feels strange....

ass cleaner me

2008-06-30T22:27:00.003+08:00

cleared up galgal's poop today!! twice!! 2 times in less than 15 min!! stinko!! her poop is less fluid le... very diff to wash off from her butt cheeks!

but im not complaining la... while washing her ass under the running tap she was flashing her toothless smile at my mirror reflection..... how can i resist that charming grin.... =)

SAAB City Duathlon

2008-06-12T09:06:00.006+08:00

totally wasn't prepared at all for this event... at least mentally... i've been running the distances to prepare for the long run (for my standard)... i've had truamatic experience from the last one.. din dare to take it too lightly this time round... so i faithfullly did my 5km..then 8km...then i lost count of the distance... i juz plan a route and run (mayb i shld change a nick call myself "JuzRun")... usually taking abt an hr... so i reckon the max i did was 10km? i really dunno...

event was on Sunday so Thursday/Friday shld be my final training before i rest my body... thursday felt too lazy, plus i left work late.. so i did ONE round Yishun as a final training on friday evening after work... it was going fine... i kept my pace well, and it felt like i covered more distance over a shorter time.. i enjoyed the run too... no panting, breathing well, muscles felt fine... and i was juz listening to evening radio and running... nice..

i was less than 1km from home.. had to check a blind spot before i cross a little small slip road.. it's become a habit, event if the slip road is actually an entrance to a sch with closed gate... at this moment, "POP!".. my knee gave way... dang.... i maintained my balance and had to slow down.. till i reach a traffic junction... i decided i cant run anymore... i walked home... not limping.. but i felt a sharp pain in my knee.. i wasn't worried abt the joint being swollen, it seldom did, im juz worried abt having small tears in the meniscus.. i really dunno if i can still go the the duathlon, i was hoping that it'll heal by then..

saturday evening was like any other evening.. bz with tending to the kid and other things.. mentally, it din feel like i was going for the race the next day.. it's feel like a chore to go find my hydration bag, pump my wheels, think abt wad to bring to keep myself away from hunger etc etc... but eventually i got everything i need prepared and laid out juz beside the door... regardin my knee... i was prepared to go for the run, at most i'll stop after the 1st loop of 5km lor..

woke up at darn 5am the next day.. dad called me to make sure i was up (wonder why he was so ganjiong abt the race...) he even offerd to drive the car back home so that i can mount the bike rack up juz downstairs.. i had to make 2 trips still thou... 1st was many barangs and the bike rack... second was the bike and running shoes (i had my biking shoes in the shoe bag so that the running shoes i carry on hand, i can change to running attire after i parked the car at the race venue) and the wife and kiddo...

Finally got to the race venue, parked the car and while dismounting the bikes from the rack, i was going throu in my head i haf to do... darn!! i forgot to bring socks!! was hoping to find an extra pair in the car, sometimes my dad leaves things in the car one... and dun haf.. at most run without socks lor...after i set up the bikes, i was still gg throu stuffs in my head, ok now to change into my shoes... hmm... how come i dun remember where i put my shoes.. search memory search memory.. eh? i was pushing my bike with both hands... shoes leh?? damn!! i din bring my running shoes!!

it's heaven's will... it tried so hard to stop me from running... 1st, the sprain... then the socks... then finally the last resort..the shoes... i HAD to listen to the signs i guess... i din bother rushing back to get them.. i wasn't even sure if i can run at all... i had to settle for the cycling leg, it's gonna be 40km of riding... i'll train hard and safe for next yr's!!!

comments on the event, after photos...

cant comment on the run coz i din do.. but the cycling leg was a bit confusing... 1stly was the distance.. it was supposed to be a 40km ride.. but the lap felt so damn short! the cycle computer read 8.8km after i've done 2 laps... and the marshells were shouting "5 laps and u can exit! huh???

apparently in their website, the organiser self-admitted:

Failure to anticipate the route challenges as a result of heavy construction work in the area.
Failure to anticipate over a hundred construction workers breaching our bike route on their way to work.
Ineffective marshalling
Inadequate route signage

ok...fair enough.....

2ndly i think the cycling route is kinda dangerous.. the lanes weren't super narrow... but the organisers used cones to separate the lanes and some of the cones got knocked over... i think the marshalls shld pick them up... very dangerous leh! imagine ppl were riding at 40kmph! i had to avoid one at one time and i was very close to it when i realised it was in my way...

another milestone!

2008-06-03T22:52:00.006+08:00

can't resist posting this...

Went mcdonald's for breakfast on sunday morning with yan and jan... ordered the usual... big breakfast and sausage muffin with egg... we realised that jan has been looking at us everytime we were eating, not juz that day... but knowing that she'd nv taken any food b4 (other than her milk), she doesn't really "want to eat"...but juz curious... and babies all like to put things into their mouth to lick/bite.. that inspired us to take this pic... cute eh... heheh... mayb i can sell this to macdonald's...

ytd morning jan did her 1st ever rollover from her back to her front! all by herself!!
she was practicing the day before that... quite e few times, but her head seemed too heavy for her on sunday...

monday morning she surprised us with a complete flip!!
and then she kept flipping and flipping.. and flipping... cant stay lying on her back for more than a few seconds......

she so proud leh!

kiddin'~

uploadable knowledge

2008-05-15T16:52:00.003+08:00

if only we can juz plug and play.. like lotsa mp3 players or game consoles can... juz plug in the module u wan.. and play...

been trying to learn more abt my work in the last couple of weeks... found some books and articles on it... but it's damn difficult to juz learn by urself... juz by plain reading... no one to teach, no one to ask questions.. sigh.. if only i can juz upload these info up there....

Singapore Sprint Series 2008 - Duathlon

2008-05-05T10:55:00.003+08:00

for friends who knows me... u'll know that im useless in water, the main reason why i've nv really participated in any Triathlon (relays not counted).. i think the possibilities will be endless if i can swim well... and in open waters... there's so many triathlons and ironman races in the regions, ard the world!

aiyah the next closest thing will be duathlon liaoz.. run, bike, run.. (as opp to swim, bike, run)... did my 3rd duathlon (a tiny one for the 1st, a full distance one as 2nd) last sunday at seletar / mandai area... Run 1 was 3km in the Seletar Reservior Park, it started with a downslope after flag off...n ppl were already sprinting!! and coz it's a down, i can't help but to pick up some speed as well... by the time i reach the bottom of the 500m slope, i was already breathless!! useless! anyway i din stop la...very su seh leh, to walk 500m after flag off... aiyo... the path in the park wasn't extremely easy to run, there's a few up slopes and i nv train on such high angled slopes at all... the last stretch of this leg is a 2 km flat in the open... but in the warm morning sun... personally i'll prefer a cooler weather la... anyway i took close to 17min for the 1st leg. not too bad..

biking was relatively smooth, no major screw ups or complains, im a better cyclist than a runner/jogger.. but cycling on a mtb with slicks, u cant really compete with serious roadies with aerodynamic bike frames, body frames, and even helmets (looks like a droplet of water from top view, reminded me of PUB mascots...hehe...) but i was quite surprised to find only a few rookie cyclists... most of them looked pretty serious.... i was saying to chelsea mayb this is the main difference between competitions like this and mass public events like marathons or bike rally or runway cycle... took slightly over 33min for 2nd leg..

leg 3, the last grueling run in the park... by then it was close to 10am.. the sun is high and air is humid.. the final stretch along the flat open was quite a torture... 2km under the scorching sun, many times i feel so much like stopping to walk.. but i din, i know tht if i did, i can nv start running again...took 19min for the last leg...

3km run, 15km bike, 3 km run... 1hr 13min 59s.. ok la.. acceptable... i was preparing to take 2hrs... hehe.. very forgiving hor?

i think im complaining too much... it's only a sprint distance! the real one is coming in june...

no photos as phone was deposited in the bag area and the wife was at home with the kid...

who does she look like...? Mum's ears...? Dad's nose...? who's eyes???

2008-04-22T23:10:00.002+08:00

tried it a few times and it's ways the same results! even with different photos...
mayb it's really true huh...

scattered brain..

2008-04-17T13:04:00.002+08:00

all these while, for the past few months, i think i've become very absent-minded... ask the wife... she even complained that the pregnant one has had better memory than me... it felt like things juz whizzed passed me all the time, only little gets captured in the HDD up there..

i wonder if it's the monotony of work.. true enough that im in science field, i shld be using my brain more... actually i feel that the current work requires lots of repetition, sequence following and following of procedures/protocols... having workload, "high throughput"... i dun think there's time for creativity/playing ard... so there's quite little room for creative brain functioning...

this lady from the UK came over to give a course on basic pharmacology over 2 weeks at workplace.. some of the contents were familiar, taught in sch b4, and i do remember them.. so apparently my long-term memory is still ok... then it came to some case studies, where we're shown some graphs and curve from apparently experimental data... man! my brain cant work anymore!! i can't compare graphs and speculate the differences! let alone trying to come up with reasons for the differences! imagine a few weeks ago i was still toying with the idea of studying part-time... i wonder if i can handle that at all.. mayb i shld have juz gone straight to further study after i graduated... less the brain degrading... but then again if that's the case then i dun think i'll be able to appreciate wad i study.... dunno... *shrugz*

mayb it's juz because it's juz too damn early in the morning, with the fact that i slpt at 1230am after i feed the kiddo and woke up at 550am to feed the kiddo again... (each feeding takes abt 30min.. u do the math)

yes i totally understand this...

2008-04-14T17:36:00.002+08:00

hehe... this illustration is an exaggerated expression larr... but... i totally understand the
predicament...

Janielle is a happy girl...

2008-03-27T11:30:00.008+08:00

look how bright is she smiling!! wanna know the reason...?

because she got this!!!!

from this!!

ha!! way to go girl!

the yr 2008

2008-02-29T11:26:00.003+08:00

ok it's already coming to march... why am i so slow in making my comment abt the yr, or the past yr...

Simply, the 2 months that has passed juz went by in a breeze... shortly after the arrival of janielle, and 2 weeks of leave staying at home being the full-time caregiver.. helping out with the baby and stuffs...it's been rather bz when i go back to work... even yan teased that she realised i've been working OT every since jan is borned... (a co-worker jumped to rescue explaining that i was really very bz at work...hehe..)

so far, like i said, it's been bz, both at home and work... i asked a colleague one morning, wad did she do the previous evening after she got home from work... the usual.. bathe, dinner, watch tv, read papers etc... for me? dinner... take care of jan... then slp.... haha!! but im not complaining... it's nth really exciting for lotsa ppl i guess... ppl generally din wanna be tied down by such things... they wanna go out after work..hang out with friends, dinner, drinking sessions... no one really wanna go str8 home from work to take care of babies de mah... but apparently, as new parents.. lots of us actually quite look fwd to going home early... juz to catch a glimpse of the little one being awake and not too restless... juz the time to play with them... ya they dun really play... but u can carry them..talk to them... see them responding to u.. jan smiles when i tell her things.... haha... i haf a fellow reservist mate who was saying to me abt 2 yrs back... we've got night's off that evening... so we can go out for dinner or wad... but need to be back to slp la... he drives... but he say he din wanna go back home.... coz once he's home, he won't bear to come back to the barracks once he saw his toddler son... Awwwww..... haha... new-age dad huh!

ya by the time i get home from work... it's usually close to 8pm... and jan slps at abt 10pm... i still need to haf dinner and bathe leh... i dun wanna bring those animal fur and stuffs close to the kid leh...

work wise... at this moment...im quite please with how things are progressing for me in the new team.. however i still need to be better in the analytical side of things... the mass spec and stuffs.. (i'll spare u the details la...) to be more competent... to perform....

so that's abt it.... the 2 mths of 2008... other than the Taiwan trip... it was basically baby and work..

Resolution for the yr?

mayb not resolution... i'll try my best to do these things la...

at home:

Be a gd daddy; make sure janielle grows up happy and healthy...
Be a gd hubby; thou wedded, thou the kid is born.. muz remind myself nv to take things for granted.. muz cont to go out for dates and wifey's still my best companion for movies and travel!
Be a gd son, be nice to my parents and try to provide them with wad i can... i do admit i havent been a very gd son before la... only woke up in recent yrs... (applies to treating my brother too)

at work:

Be competent in daily work; in vivo and analytical...
Be creative and more innovative; i need to do more out of my daily jobscope.. need to do things which spurs me more in reseacrh.... else i'll sink into juzdoing service in the company... like a robot.. being part of the process.... NOooooOO.....!!
Be more involved in PDWG... this newly formed group which im part of but been missing out on... mainly also because im not yet experienced and competent enough to contribute much....
Be gd to colleagues; some politics going ard... im not involved and dun wanna be involved... so i'll be gd and friendly and neutral... =) i need to be nicer to ppl la...

taiwan

2008-02-15T23:26:00.008+08:00

my very 1st time in Taiwan.. was over there over the CNY.. hehe.. ppl say we damn smart... got away during new yr but left baby behind...hehe...aiyah not on purpose one... juz that we couldn't really bring jan ard... it's damn cold there and she juz too young!!

anyway it's still winter over there.. was ard 10 degree in the Taipei city but very much colder elsewhere... it was freezing in Jiufen! we went YangMingShan too...it was 6 degrees there! cool!!

very briefly.. taiwan is a friendly place for travellers/backpackers..that is if u're chinese-speaking.. generally the ppl there dun speak very good english... but they tried hard.. once ppl know that we're from Singapore...they spoke to us in English though we keep replying in mandarin...guess they din realised that we're not very confortable with speaking in english there... anyway... ppl are generally very friendly and they're almost always glad to help and point directions to u... or give u advice on how to get to places...

we were there for 8 days... seems quite a long period hor? but we only managed to get to 2 cities properly!! only Taipei and Hualien... initially TaiTung, AliShan and even KaoShiong were in our destination list.. u see why it's not really possible....

Day1 - Taipei: Shida Night Market (we arrived late in evening so only managed to go for night market...)

Day2 - Taipei: Ximending, Shilin

Day3 - Hualien: ZhongShan Rd, ZhongZhen Rd (we arrived early afternoon, so after settling down it was already afternoon)

Day4 - Hualien: Taroko Gorge National Park, night market (forgot name le)

Day5 - Taipei: HuaXi St (aka Snake Alley)

Day6 - Taipei: Jiufen, Ruifang

Day7 - YangMingShan, Beitou (Xing Yi Rd)

Shida/Shilin/HuaXi - Night Markets
Ximending - shopping street for the trendy/younger generation (us included)
Hualien St - street stalls of eateries and provisions and fashions.. lots of variety la.. got KFC,Mac etc too
Taroko - natural gorge winding about the Central Highlands of which is mainly made of marble... marble is a major produce of Hualien and in this national park u get to see many nice nice landscapes formation, streams, rivers, cliffs.. u got the idea la...
Jiufen - a (used to be) small town set on the slope of the mountain away from the main city.. lots of ppl come here for a short getaway from taipei.. the famous st here is called JiShan St.. the popular eats will be the jelly cakes and some kueys and taro-ball... it's nice to walk along the streets!
YangMingShan - gotta love their national parks.. in fact as long as it is a national park outside singapore, likely that u wont be disappointed visiting it... i wanna go Africa's national park someday!! anyway it was flower-blooming season then.. actually it's juz starting...they were hardly blooming yet.. juz very wet and droopy..
Beitou - 2 reasons why we're here.. 1stly.. we need to go YMS vis Beitou.. 2ndly, how came we miss hotspringing in winter!! lotsa hotspring facilities here! take ur pick!

some representative shots of the trip... for more, visit my multiply albums!

Team Dinner

2008-01-24T13:48:00.000+08:00

finally we went for out belated team xmas dinner... actually it could haf been anything... dinner, lunch... range shooting, wake-boarding, shark-diving, parachuting... u name it... but the team was juz too inadventurous to try such things (6 girls!! only me and boss are the real MEN ard!!)... and we were too busy to think of exciting things to do... we almost settled for blading and happy meal!!

anyway we went Cicada... it's this restaurant at the very end of Portsdown road... yea very ULU... cant really get there unless u drive.. or take a cab... there's this one bus that goes there though... that comes in like once every 2 days or wad... i din notice....

food was good, place was great... i like the place more than the food... but it was too bad that we arrived slightly late... too late to properly enjoy the early evening sitting in the outdoor with cool breezes... one of the reasons i like early evenings... it's a great place to hang ard under the rain trees, alfrescos on couches, occasional car whizzing by (i shld haf taken a scenery shot!).. with friends of ur spouse/partner... the food's good too... i did say that right? i'll love to go there often for food if it is not that pricey... sure the price is actually alright if u think abt the places whr angmohs go to... we spent on an average of $50 per person? but it's the boss's treat.. *shrugz* Hehz!

my main course! sea bass! slow cooked... grilled to almost perfection... flaky and juicy...it's served with this creamy gravy.. like the bed of french beans too.. juz find the serving too small.. can hardly fill my stomach... good thing we did order starters and desserts.. and a couple of the girls cant finish wad they'd ordered and gave me sone... or mayb they took pity on me....

oh and Janielle slept through the night for a straight 6 hrs!! amazing!!

hmm.. hope that it's gonna be consistent like this from now...and not juz my alcoholic breath doing wonders....

diaper change

2008-01-13T15:50:00.000+08:00

do u know wad is the most frustrating thing abt changing a baby's diaper?
that baby simply loves to poo/pee on fresh clean nappy/diaper!! even b4 u can pin/stick it, u suddenly hear a splatter... gone... one diaper wasted... pee still ok...since diapers are made to hold a few pees... yan juz change 4 nappies at one go... all juz b4 she managed to pin it... why can they juz poo at one go....? urgh..!

Baby to the Dino Family

2008-01-11T16:35:00.000+08:00

yup a baby girl was born on the 1st of Jan 2008, abt 9 hrs too late to be the 1st baby of the yr, but she's already early! EDD was 9th Jan 2008.

it was amazing to see a baby popping out from a mother... i mean 2 lives from 1 leh.. the bump that was in mummy which was growing from juz a "peanut" on the ultrasound scan to something which kicks... from a bump that wriggles when mummy is eating to a crying baby in the delivery ward.. i mean yes ppl know wad happen in reproduction and birth... but being there for the whole pregnancy makes me appreciates it more... a baby can be concieved juz like that!! cool!

yes the labour pain was horrible... ya it's not me who experienced it la... but i know coz yan was taking in deep breath every few min when the contraction comes... she din slp a wink the night b4 she was admitted to the hospital.. she was screaming when the contractions were strong enough to push the baby out.. (i can do nth but offer my arm for her to hold..) shortly after, the screams of the mum was replaced by the cries of a baby in the delivery ward... it's a girl!! (actually we've long known the gender la)

Baby Janielle is well and healthy.. pink and chubby... and looks a whole lot like dad...

Happy New Year!

2008-01-11T14:17:00.000+08:00

been away (from the evolving world) for a while.. been at home being the househusband while the wife is in her confinement month... it's not really much of a confinement really... she's been walking abt in the house.. bathing (in herbal water and she smelling like a bag of herbal tea... HEHE...)... been out 3 days in this week!! haha... but with reasons la... twice was for medical follow-up of baby and for herself... once was to meet a seller of a electric breast pump..

baby janielle is doing well too.. other than the usual things like slight rashes and colic... right now she's fine... there had been worse days... the worst had been when we were still trying to get her to be breastfed.. the little one simply refused to bite on and suck.. we even consulted the lactation consultant during our visit to the hospital.. janielle literally had to be forced on the nipple and her head held there despite her crying and screaming... the milk from mummy is still on it way too... so mummy got quite worried and depressed..the nurse did managed to get jan to suck on both sides after some time and of course jan got so tired of fighting back and crying that she juz fell aslp in mummy's arms... still sucking on...

back at home everything was repeated all over.. imagine over an hour of forced feeding.. and feeding interval of 3hrs... there simply wasn't any time for us of the baby to rest at all.... imagine this to go on in the night... *sigh*.. there we decided to give it 2 nights of trying.. after which if jan still isn't able to latch-on, we'll juz bottlefeed...

we were not able to hold on for 2 nights.. mummy was tearing seeing the baby scream at her chest.. mummy was crying slightly.. "at most i'll work harder and pump more milk lor.. hor?"... we finally decided to express mummy's milk and bottlefeed the baby... afterall, wad's the difference in breastfeed and bottlefeed? bonding? we'll hold her tighter to mummy's body lor! yan left her number at the lactation consultant to be informed of anyone selling their electric breast pump... the manual one we currently haf is draining off not yan's milk, but her energy and sleep... imagine having to stay up for abt an hr to manual pump for only 15-20ml of milk... not worth it...

we managed to get one at almost 30% the original price! though the warranty is expiring, it's working well and the previous owner said that we're fast in making our decision... jan was only 7 days' old when we bought it over from her.... it took her many months to forgo breastfeeding despite many of her relatives suggesting otherwise... she succeeded thou, her baby now 9 mth is latching on... but bottlefed occasionally... she's a strong woman yan says.. having to fight back so many and holding onto her own beliefs...

anyway all is fine now... everyone in the house seems to be getting on with having the baby ard... thing i shld be able to return to work soon... let's hope the staying home for 2 weeks din rot my brain...

cant wait to bring the baby out!!

oh yar.. btw... happy new yr!
may 2008 be a great great yr for all of us!

counting down to 2008

2007-12-31T19:02:00.000+08:00

monitoring the contractions.... it's any time now....
*slight nervous*

Day Off on Xmas Eve

2007-12-24T09:26:00.000+08:00

as usual the alarm went off at 630am... but the difference is that im not reporting to work today!!
instead im up and sending yan to work.. she's got tonnes presents and chocolates to bring to work so taking the public transport isn't so convenient...

she got off the car and i was driving off.. then i saw some of the colleagues walking in... i know some of them over the yrs she's here.. so i waved to them... anyway.. somehow it feels good to see ppl all coming tog in the morning to wrok... not gloating la... juz nice to see ppl reporting to work in the morning...and making the world go round...the world moves because of ppl working... it reminds me of the times in school... sec/jc times when early in the morning u'll bump into ur classmates or ECA friends at the mrt station whr almost everyone got off frm the same train...and walking very fast to sch coz we're all running late... perhaps it's the start of the day that makes me kinda nolstalgic...

makes me feel like gg to work a teeny bit la...haha... but then... think i'll rather haf a fruitful off day today...

plans plans!!!

Singapore Marathon 2007

2007-12-05T16:20:00.000+08:00

i wanna talk abt the half marathon i juz completed over then weekend but i dunno wad to say leh.... managed to do it under 3 hr (2 hr 41min), my small small easy target la... haha... i'll try to improve on it next yr k?

i felt fine after the run surprisingly... juz the usual muscle tightness and sore joints... only when we were making our way down the unerpass then i realised i suffer more injury than mere muscle aches... my knees were busted... sharp pain came from the left joint with every descend i made.. i can almost feel the meniscus scraping off with each step... die die i thought...

hey im fine again! 2 days after the run.. im wolverine perhaps.

What does ur drawing say abt u?

2007-11-16T16:00:00.001+08:00

Your friends and associates should generally find you a dependable and trustworthy person.You are a thoughtful and cautious person. You like to think about your method, seeking to pursue your goal in the most effective way.You like following the rules and being objective. You are precise and meticulous, and like to evaluate decisions before making them.You have a sunny, cheerful disposition.

Weekend Getaway - Bintan

2007-11-16T11:39:00.000+08:00

now then can i understand why there're ppl who go Bintan for their honeymoon.. i used to think how can ppl juz settle for Bintan for their honeymoon?? anyway this wasn't our honeymoon la..

the beach din haf huge waves like Bali or endless stretch of gentle coast like Cherating.. but the one thing i like abt Bintan beach is that it isn't as crowded as the one in Bali Kuta Beach.. that one is over-crowded le.. dun like... in fact i dun remember setting foot on Kuta Beach's sand juz because i was so put off by the crowd there..

we haf the beach all to ourselves!

we checked into Mayang Sari Resort quite early that day.. we were there at 10am local time i think but were told that we might haf to wait till 12nn for a room available.. so we juz walked and lounged ard for the time being.. shortly after a while, we were delighted to know that we haf a room! that's quite fast.. so the moral of the story is to always lower ur customer's expectation.

we din think we like that idea of having lunch at the resort restaurant since we might be spending most of our time there.. plus breakfast was already included... we know of this shopping place called Pasar Oleh Oleh from some brochures there so decided to go there to take a look... at least we know that there'll be food there!

there wasn't much to shop there.. the usual things like indonesian fashions, massages, some convenient stalls.. that's it.

We decided to order a starter before our main course come since we were starving... other than the regular salad available, we saw sth interesting... "Crispy Fried Potatoes".. then it came with a small pic of strips of brown-looking things... so we ordered... guess wad came...

it's juz French Fries!! damn we feel dumb.. but it's nice and crispy anyway....!

Istimewa Special Fried Rice and Chicken Curry

somewhere near Oleh Oleh was a mangrove swamp whr they haf small boats that can bring u in for a short cruise. we decided against that idea and waited for the next bus to go back to the resort for a swim in the sea! we din bring our camera out for the swim though...

after the soak in the sea we went back wash up... and juz laze the afternoon away.... hee... nice... we hung ard in the balcony area for some drinks which we brought over ourselves from SG and juz lounge ard with an ipod...

and then it was dinner time! we've decided to go to this place called Kelong Restaurant.. it din sound like it's gg to be a cheap deal... but heck, it's been a long time we had a relaxing trip.. we were told that the bus was delayed, so the hotel staff so kindly sent us there with a buggy! it feels kinda dangerous riding that thing actually... it's whizzing quite fast and we were not even buckled...haha... but it was quite fun la.. juz too short..

behind yb was a drinking place build over water.. looks like quite a gd place for hanging out.. but too bad the both of us dun drink...

we were so delighted to know that we'll be having dinner by the sunset! how romantic is that!! but i think i spent too much time taking photo that by the time we were ordering the sun has almost set...

being undecisive abt our food, we ordered set menu, dinner for 2...things came in relatively small portions, but lotsa variety.. we've got butter prawns, squid, roasted chiken, baby kailan, shark fins soup, free flow chinese tea... and of course chilli crab!!

eating by the sea is really quite an enjoyable experience.. with the sea breeze always in my face (and on yb's hair is always in her face).. and juz sitting there eating slowly without haste... i ended up getting quite stuffed!!

dinner was followed by a peep into Nirwana Resort Hotel, a sister accomodation under the same management of Nirwana Gardens... it's the highest class under Nirwana.. it shares the same beach as Mayang Sari thou some distances away and is complete with a really fancy cafe, big big concierge lobby, a korean restaurant and swimming pools.. i reckon it has everything a country club has, less the golf courses of course.. (but many ppl go Bintan for golf also la..)

we ended the night with a short stroll along the beach, taking photos of our shadows and gazing at the thousands of stars up above... there were a few hammocks along the coast for ppl juz to laze there... the 2.5 of us shared one.. the view we had were the top of the coconuts trees and the stars in the endless night sky....

oh! and both of us spotted a same shooting star!! not enough time to make a wish thou...

Social Discrimination

2007-11-14T13:24:00.000+08:00

there's a model in development as a potential cognitive assay at my workplace called the "Social Discrimination".. this is where individual adult animals are housed in the same cage as a juvenile one.. it is almost a natural instinct for adult animals to distinguish themselves from the younger ones and remember them....

I think i know more abt tis assay today, 1st hand experience myself... was on the shuttle bus to a nearby hawker centre for lunch then i realised that there's more students on the bus than usual. how do i know that they're students? i juz know.... they look damn young can.. i reckon they're abt 16-17? very secondary school student-like... and very rowdy... i dunno if they're juz not aware of ppl ard them or juz can't be bothered... the boys were juz talking and shouting loudly...

coming back they were on the same bus.. dammit, they were juz seated behind me... the backing of my seat got shoved, he was leaning so near my head.. and on one occasion his fren had his bodyweight crushed again him and he gave a yelp!! damn!!! i almost got a headache becoz of that...

hey it's the sch holidays!! go somewhere else to play la!! u're too young to be here!! get lost!!

Day off from werk~

2007-11-10T16:01:00.000+08:00

took the fri off to extend my super long weekend! monday im off too! hehe... i've got a 5-day weekend... (and i had a 2-day work week!)

aiyah but fri was spent basically lazing ard at home.. after sending the Wifey off to work i bought breakfast and put on Jap drama to watch...haha... then for lunch i cooked instant mee and watched Evan Almight...haha.. i'd haf been an auntie if i put on some Korean drama le!!

been procrastinating my planned "bike tour" from 2pm to 3pm, then finally to 5pm... the sun is scorching hot leh.. anyway it was a good time to go for a leisure ride...

i thought this view is quite nice...

juz to show u that i was in my (t)rusty mount... i nv take bus hor... every time im on my MTB im convinvced that i absolutely LUV a MTB... very versatile, easily manovuered, i can even do some small jumps! and bes of all... no rush... it's juz not me to be always rushing... i like to take my time to ride, see flower, see grass... take some photos and occasionally unplugged my ears from my earphones to listen to the surroundings....

oh yar i caught a rainbow! it wasn't raining though... juz a huge cloud hanging between the setting sun and the rainbow...

the track looks "bent"..haha.. paranoma only gd for capturing faraway landscape...

the clouds juz look too charming...

it's getting quite late le... time to go home for dinner!!

i din know i'll be an angel....

2007-10-25T00:38:00.000+08:00

Angel

Born with everything: wealth, good looks... and a pair of wings. Sure, you have issues, but from this high up, at least the view is nice. And there's no problem a good bit of compensation can't fix. Money is still green -- no matter whose hands it's coming out of.

Which X-Men Character Are You?

randoms

2007-09-21T08:55:00.000+08:00

feeling all odds these days..
currently sitting by my work desk not doing any work-related stuffs... procrastinating..
mayb im juz tired... having a little bit of headache since i woke up in the morning.. stupid wake up call using radio alert has the song stucked in my head....

been wanting to blog on this.. juz need to get my thoughts straight...
couple of weeks ago, my mum slipped her tongue... the parents got a photo album of their wedding!! sth which i NV knew of!! then she tried to put it off by saying she's hidden it deep and high up in the storeroom... well it's nv too deep or too high for me!!! *starts digging*

oh my goodness everyone looks damn young can!! my grandma (passed away 2 yrs ago)had her whole head black!! and grinning from ear to ear at the wedding dinner! some uncles looked so fat then!! my mum is so heavily dressed up!! like those very fancy dress u see at Getais... haha...

then i wandered further to other albums... within those pictures u see all the usual retro costumes we have nowadays in our "retro parties".. the tight-fitted top and bell-bottom for the guys... the head bands and pokka-dotted dress for the girls... lots of 21st birthday celebrations and bbq they had back then...

in this particular photo... they were at one of the many bbq.. my dad is sitting on a chair leaning back, one leg over the other, holding a paper plate in one hand and a fork in another.. with my mum sitting beside too... dad was laughing and eyes almost smiling... he look damn young!! my brother later commented that he looked almost "kinnah" (like a child)... it was taken when they were in early 20s i think... when my dad was abt 22-24.. almost 30 yrs back?

this photo struck me leh... he looked so young and happy... chatting with his friends and laughing and enjoying every moment of his youth... it feels like he was full of aspiration abt life.. now he's like waking up early in the morning 3.30am everyday.. preparing to go work.. fried bee hoon.. prepare ingredient for cooking... come home in the afternoon to nap... then mayb evening go out for a while... night time go pack up stall till late late... he hardly take any breaks... now that i've started working i've been wanting to do a family abroad outing (my parents hardly travel) but he's nv free and rather not stop working for a couple of days coz he say the rent for the stall is expensive...

u wonder where has our plans and aspiration gone to....

sad huh...

18 Sep 2007

2007-09-18T16:39:00.000+08:00

nth much to blog abt really... juz writing for the sake of writing... haha...

hadn't much been up to anything recently... except a trip to Bangkok.. not realli a trip i would consider a holiday... i dun realli feel "out of the country" leh.... juz lotsa shopping in very up-to-date shopping centres... Siam Paragon, MBK, Pratunam etc etc... juz to name a few there... like wad yan said... there're Singaporeans everywhere!! we eat food courts, restaurant, cafe... only one lunch was Thai food in a street shop... one breakfast by the street.. and 2 suppers by street stalls.. hmm..ok la actually not that bad la... mayb juz too much makan in "posh posh" eataries le...

Next up!
Kelong!

4th Sept 1981

2007-09-04T15:01:00.000+08:00

it feels funny that once a year... for one day... the whole world almost seems to revolve around you.. esp for someone who, most of the time, rather have little attention from the crowd..

and i got this little surprise sitting on my desk!

hee... thank you dear... *muackz!*

Brotzeit Contemporary German Bier Bar & Restaurant @ Vivocity

this setting quite nice hor?

aiyah cldn't capture the steam..!

deed done!

desserts to end the meal....

the company.. the wifey...

Suntec Food Republic

2007-08-31T08:35:00.000+08:00

was at the Comex last nite with an objective to get a M2 card for my new phone.. it's quite funny that every yr when there's an I.T. fair like this i only buy memory cards...haha... ok only once i bought a printer... oh and some yrs ago i bought a digicam... that's abt it.... not a big spender on I.T. gadgets...

but we were looking ard.. thinking of getting a cheap cheap laptop for surfing at home.. since got wireless set up le... and not convenient for yb to be using the working desktop which is on the floor now.. but to think abt spending a thousand bucks... hmm.. sim tiah leh... anyway end up we got a 1GB m2, 1GB duo pro and a 160GB portable HDD on behalf of her colleague....

aiyah i side-tracked too much....

Dinner!!

it was a long queue for yb's wanton mee.... so took some pic to kill time...

hey it looked nicer in real life when i was queueing... perhaps i was starving...

this is too much i guess.... haha!!

the food is not bad... quite nice... a bit pricey for foodcourt standard though... but if u think u're having it in Crystal Jade (minus the crowd, minus the rubbish trolleys that keep coming by, minus the absence of waiters to refill ur drinks), it's still ok..

Wanton Mee + Char Siew Siew Yok Fan

Total damage: $10 (no drinks)

MRT @ Yishun

2007-08-29T08:59:00.000+08:00

was awaiting for the north-bound train this morning then i realised something....
at ALL cabin doors.....

yar la there's hardly anyone alighting during the peak hours along the south-bound train... but still.... not nice leh....

oh a gd thing i took these very discreetly... nv get pushed down the track...

Army Half Marathon 2007

2007-08-28T15:10:00.000+08:00

this is the very 1st time that i joined the Safra Army Half Marathon (AHM), aka Sheares' Bridge Run (SBR), and now more recently known as the Bay Run. Yar the offcial distance is 21km.. half marathon mah... but i doubt i can do that distance la... im no runner man... and haven't been training for this... only decided to do it the same week it was held... so only signed up for 12km! still!! it's the longest distance so far i've run/jog non-stop!! (i did 12km b4 actually... abt 6-7 yrs ago...when my army unit was training up for AHM 2000 i think.. i actually joined them for training with my torn ligament still un-repaired..)

i cant help but asked the wife to help me take this shot... i like the morning sky too... =)

joined by brother wyn in last min on this 12km route.. he signed up for 6km but ran 12km with me! kudos!!

one last shot b4 we go... serious abt our run u see..

oooh... wyn-ge looking for/at his sources of motivation for the run... and grinning...

the CBD skyline... im nv really a fan of urban landscape actually... but this is actually quite nice...

changes.. (warning - boring stuffs ahead)

2007-08-23T23:55:00.000+08:00

i think i embrace changes relatively well...

other than the MAJOR change in my marital status, i was juz informed yesterday that members of my team at work will be absorbed into the 3 other teams. reason being that the company is not able to find a team leader for us in the past 2 yrs.. and the contract in singapore running out in abt 3 yrs, they finally decided that it's near impossible to find a leader for a team who's role no one can define definitely...

so all 3 of us will be splitted up into the 3 teams... my allocation came as a surprise to all of us because we were informed initially that we will go into 2 of the teams... the splitting up of the team wasn't a great deal to me... at least until now im quite satisfied with the arrangement.. some details... i'll be joining the team of DMPK (Drug Metabolism and PharmacoKinetics) and be involved in some of the in vivo work.. which isn't the main part of the excitement yet... the thing im more interested in is the exposure that i think i'll be getting in the coming times.. mass spec and stuffs... be joining seminars and perhaps courses and conferences.. all the perks of having a boss to take care of u! being in the team also means that i'll haf higher chance of learning the in vitro stuffs - analytical chemistry! who knows, i might haf a chance to cross over to chemistry industry and earning big bucks!! *dreamy*

for now i'll still be doing wad i've been doing... at least till the end of the yr till another guy from the other team gets trained up to support my ex-snr scientist... so till then.. we'll see wad happens bah!!

a new life...

2007-08-14T22:34:00.000+08:00

was chatting with hp juz now and she mentioned having a fren who had countless suitors in her life finally decided to "settle down"... and her fiance, was a guy she was attached to for 2 mth... ya sure they know each other in the past... but still... 2 mth is waaay too short for a marriage...

was telling her that now that im a married man, coming together into a marriage isn't as simple as 2 ppl being compatible... i think it's more than juz loving each others' company, or being able to communicate with each other.. yb has juz moved into my house, i say that she might take some time to get used to staying here coz in any sense, it's still a different environment compared to her house.. but in actual fact i think she's adapting better than i thought.. i was the one who needed to get used to having another person TOTALLY in my life... no no im not saying that i need more space... juz that now i haf another person to take care of... someone to be responsible for...

as the Flying Dutchman puts it, "when u marry a person, u marry her/his family".. which is in a way very true.. i've yet to encounter any situation in my married life to give any anecdote... ok i'll juz talk abt the wedding itself.. there're sooo many things which we think we can do / do without... but in fact we cant.. u can say it's already such a modern age alrdy but still parents will prefer to follow certain traditions.. even if the parents r fine with certain new concepts we wan, wad might the more distant relatives think? will they be ok? will they speculate?

u may not believe it, but i think i've grown in the past 2 months.. i din know it myself.. when i was painting my room.. shopping for furniture.. having certain discussion with my in-laws.. having heated arguments.... making decisions... i think i've aged as well... now that the bz time is over... i think i wanna get back to my younger heart, with a more matured mind...

new journey begins

2007-08-06T10:45:00.000+08:00

quoted from Eunene:

"I think it's the start of an amazing journey...
probably fraught with difficulties...but yet deeply enriching and rewarding too.
No trek would be as challenging and fulfilling as this one."

post-ICT post

2007-08-03T17:41:00.000+08:00

juz out-processed (i think "processed out" is more appropriate actually)... and now nuahing and catching up on the web-surfing i've been deprived of for the last 2 weeks..

in-camp for us storemen is quite unlike wad civilian will expect of combat soldiers... some ppl (girls mainly, since guys all go NS) think that going back to the army is like hell like that... chiong suah, mud, rain, sleep while hugging ur "wives" and all.... actually it's not totally like that... mayb only infantry cammandos and guardsmen are like that bah... im from an artillery unit... so even if im a combat gunner, i dun chiong... ladies who're deeply attached or married usually feel that in-camp is damn slack one... ppl juz go there for a couple of weeks of time-off from work and do "body maintenance"... so when i groaned abt having to go for in-camp, they'll say "aiyah damn relac one mah!!"

well im speaking from the point of a service soldier (in contrast to a combat one)... service soldiers includes clerks, storemen, driver, medics, technicians... koh said sth which i totally agree with eralier today during lunch...

"i think logistics department the most boh huar one leh!! we come in earlier than ppl to prepare stores, bunk, weapons for the combat ppl.. then during exercise, they go outfield, we haf to pack their meals (near 400 of them) send rations to them.. ourselves we also gotta go outfield, set up tentages, camouflages... then after outfield we gotta receive the stores back from them.. accounting for all stores in quantity and serviceability.. then when ppl are cleaning and resting in bunks upstairs, we're still downstairs doing store maintenance and chasing ppl for missing or damaged stores.. when they are preparing to be out-processed we're still doing handing over of the bunks back to the active unit..."

im not really complaining abt our vocations la... but it's not fair to always think that we're not as impt as combat soldiers.. sometimes we need our recognition too de.. most of the time when the unit has performed well, the combat platoon will be rewarded.. this brings me to a old old story... to cut the long story short, 4-5 yrs ago we went overseas for live-firing... the unit has done well and "everyone" was treated to a sumptuous CNY Reunion Dinner... while the storemen had to serve food for near 500 ppl... then clean up... clear up... wash trays... etc etc... damn f**ked up lor... damn pissed that time... the other platoons were treated to beer at the end of it... except HQ... sigh...

watched "Troy" juz now... there was sth like
"the world only remembers the Kings, never the soldiers..."

uploaded photos!!

2007-07-23T12:03:00.000+08:00

yup!
the photos are uploaded to my Multiply acct le....
to access to them, click here!!
haf got HUNDREDS (possibly thousand) of photos with me... so it's not possible for all to be uploaded... so do enjoy the essense of them!!

2007-07-11T11:52:00.000+08:00

A friend had this blog entry made for us... really very nice of her...
Thanks Sop!! (if u rather i take it off the blog tell me ok? i'll juz save a copy in my HD.. )

QZ & YB- Celebration of the Beginning of their Lives Together
First, my sincere apologies for being away at work on the most important day of your lives. But this is an entry dedicated to the both of you- Qiuzhang & Yanbin.

On this day of 7th July 2007, my 2 dearest friends are here today to ink the beginning of their happily ever after story- A love story that will go on for a few thousand chapters with laughters, good health, peace and hope. In this confetti of joy, I wish for your entwined souls to be filled with love that will last for eternity. As this journey through forever love begins, may the path be filled with harmony and faith. I hope for your love to be tenaciously rooted to the heart in all moments as there's trust beyond eternal love. Thus, with my heartiest congratulations, may you guys live in forever marital bliss and happiness.

2007-07-09T16:05:00.000+08:00

it din felt like it happened..
time juz whizzed by almost like i'm not part of it... i sort of know it happened, but unreal... it felt somewhat like a dream last nite..
mayb coz i was too busy making sure all small details goes on smoothly

perhaps coz i wasn't sleeping well...
so it din register well...

but the ring on my left ring finger reminded me... that it indeed happened... hehz...

Thank you everyone who came and especially those who gave their all to help out... really really appreciates it very much.. really glad to have u guys as friends..

*tears in eyes; sniff sniff* ='~)

celeb face

2007-06-26T19:06:00.000+08:00

chanced upon this on a friend's blog... sitting ard in office waiting during incubation time..

i tried 2 quite different photos of myself with different expression to see if there's any correlation in the search results...

no leh... dun haf...

i only heard of Rain in this list leh.... who're the rest???

woahaha!!! me and Jay Chou 72% alike leh! i shldn't smile so much when i go out next time... show ppl si lang bin...

call me...

Jay Chiu....

*timer goes off* oh back into lab!!

solo sunday morning ride

2007-06-26T11:22:00.000+08:00

alarm went off at 630am... juz before it did, vaguely i think i heard a reminder tone for incoming sms... oh Chelsea sent an sms at 604am...
"was just informed that i need to go back office later. sorry.. ride next weekend ok? paiseh..."

"ok... see how next week bah... good nite..."
reset my alarm and head back to slp....hehe!!

woke up at 730+++ instead for my own ride.... din wanna waste the Sunday morning away.... =)

Seletar Reservior.. i like the symmetry from the water reflection....

didn't intend to take breakfast outside de coz i think breakfast alone with bike quite troublesome... need someone to take care of ur belongings while u order food... and a solo cyclist taking 1 whole table for himself din look too nice in the crowds on a sunday morning.... anyways..... was riding by along Upp Thomson Rd passing by this row of shophouses with some kopitiams... looks like ppl only drive here for breakfast, so there isn't much of a crowd.. i'm not someone who will NV eat out alone and i was hungry... so... =D

ta-daa~

total distance = 38.4km (on my cyclo.. not zun one...)

total damage = $3.50 (kopi-c ice, fried beehoon/mee with egg, chix wings and stir-fried cabbage)