Sunday, 23 August 2009

Central Library Bazaar!!!

Gossip Parlour is having a bazaar at Central Library!

Check it out at http://gossipparlour.livejournal.com/!!!

**PS: Something wrong with lappy. Cannot post the photo. =D

Sunday, 26 July 2009

15 Minutes Quick UpdateS!

Damn.. I need more time!! I guess I will be burning midnight oil pretty frequently for the next few weeks as the due date for Dissertation is drawing closer.. Hence.. I will have lesser time to update.. 15 mins and that's all.. So sit tight..

8Th July was a very pleasant day cause I had a very good evening with Lynn, Stanley and Alicia.. We went to watch Own Time Own Target.
A very nice show as it was really funny and very realistic with the usage of vulgarities as it was being used in the army.. Especially so for the character who will start every single sentence with 'CB!!'.. haha.. We had a good laugh and it is strongly recommended for others too! But a bit the late as the show has ended.. Perhaps they will re-play the show next year so make sure you get to watch it. =D

Anyway, a bit more on how I get to watch this show.. It was actually a surprise that was arranged by Lynn and Alicia to surprise me and stanley but I got Lynn to tell me who I am meeting and such and she revealed that we are meeting Alicia and Stanley. It was suppose to be a dinner and a movie but I got to guess that it was not a movie cause of the bits and pieces of information that I got from Lynn.. By the stroke of luck, I got to National Library early that day as I wanted to do some readings on my dissertation.. Normally I would have taken the lift but I took the escalator instead and as the I was going up to the reference library, the drama centre caught my eyes with the deco and the staff who were preparing for OTOT's preview. I went in, took a walk and could have possibly missed out the fact that we are watching OTOT if I did not take up a brochure on the cost and the dates. Taa-daa.. 8pm.. 8th July first show.. Lynn mentioned in a SMS that we got to be ready by 8pm cause the movie starts at 8.. It got me suspicious and I went to check the movie timings at Shaw.. There is no show at 8.. So I called Lynn..

Me: Dear Dear, I at Bugis le.. What show we watching ah?
Lynn: Dunno leh.. Got to ask Alicia..
Me: Oh.. Is it transformer?
Lynn: No la.. Not transformer.. I think it is Ice Age la.. **Stammering**
Me: oh.. Is it? But ICE Age is at 9pm leh..
Lynn: Oh.. I dunno la.. Call Alicia loh.. She book tix one..
**HAng Up..

I knew she will immediately call alicia to get her to sell the same story.. hence I immediately called Alicia..

Me: Hello.. Alicia ah.. Eh what show we watching ah?
Alicia: Dunno leh.. The name very long and complicated one..
Me: Oh.. Is it transformer or ice age?
Alicai: No la.. Not those.. I forget the name liao..
**Second Line**
Alicia: Eh wait ah.. Lynn on second line.. I call you back..
**Hang up..

Wahhahhahaa.. Why must Lynn call alicia leh when she ask me to call her? Why Lynn say Ice Age when Alicia says no? hahaha..
The mystery is solved.. The answer is OTOT!! wahahaha..

Although it was a known surprise.. It was a very very plesant surprise.. Really lovely of them and I was really touched by that.. and.. Lynn knows.. =D Thanks dear!!

That was one of the significant events that happened over the past 2 weeks..

The following week was SAF Paracounsellor Course.. I volunteered for it as I think that it is very useful in life.. Everyone at some point will need counselling or give counselling.. it is a lifelong skill and I must say that I learnt a lot over the 5 days.. It is quite a compact course but I was lucky once again to have very good chaps in my group and every discussion session was an interesting and enjoyable one.. I got to meet 2 non-saf personnel from ALPA-S. James Png and Debbie. They shared a lot of insights into a pilot's life and also the procedures to be a pilot with SIA. Blessed to have them in the course as they offered a very different perspective for the course discussion. Some notable knowledge was dealing with suicide, grief and breaking of bad news. From the course, I got to know some of the things that I did not understand in the past and this course is really beneficial and I hope that every officer will be able to go through the course in bid to understand servicemen better.

19th and 20th July was visiting to Malaysia with Lynn's parents. We went to visit Auntie's siblings who are living in Malaysia and through the trip, I got to interact more with Lynn's parents.. It was a good trip as I got quality time with Lynn and also a break away from work and from Singapore. Simple living in Malaysia but there are also issues that they faced where we Singaporeans will not be able to understand.. The grass is always greener on the other side.. =D

Now got to work for my dissertation and this Tuesday I will be meeting my prof le.. Update again..

Love,
ET

Wednesday, 8 July 2009

What's Up!

Monday was the day that I send Lynn to work at her workplace at Centris. Monday was the day that I started researching in SDE IRC for my dissertation. Monday was the day that I went to open an account with UOB Kay Hian for trading of shares.

Quite a fruitful Monday and it rolled over to Tuesday.

Tuesday started with a visit to MMI for oral surgery and the X-Ray shows that I have 3 wisdom tooth to be removed. **Xu Wen.. Don't you feel lucky?** haha.. Told the dentist that I am part of the Colours Party for NDP and he said.. 'Wa. Colours Party ah? Then U better re-schedule your surgery till after NDP. I don't think we should have an Ensign Bleeding from the mouth during rehearsals.' Hahaha.. he was quite comical as he gestured the bleeding from the mouth like vomiting from mouth.. So the oral Surgery will be delayed till after NDP.

After the visit to MMI, I went over to SDE IRC to do research on dissertation as usual. Had lunch at technoedge and then back to work. Realised that I cannot read journal articles from computer cause it is simply too irritating so I selected 5 articles to be printed. **total number of articles that need to be reviewed is around 40... fainted** Left IRC at around 3 to go back to camp and do my vacation attachment report. got stuck there till 1830 before meeting Dear Dear for dinner at clementi Black Board. And yes.. Black Board has moved to BLK 443 and the price remains the same. Food quality is still as good so please go there and try it yourself. Back home after dinner and was so tired that I went to sleep.

Wednesday and that is today! Even before half the day is gone, I have got a good deal to share!

Jetstar is having a promotion and the deal is really good! 3-day sale!! All in fare for BKK at 38 dollars, Hongkong 88 dollars and Taipei 128 dollars!! good deal! I have bought tickets online for $396 for 2 pax for HK trip from 11-14 Aug with Dear Dear and Caderam may be joining us. Nice.. So that means I will be missing first week of school.. hahaha!!!


View of Hongkong from The Peak (source: Flickr)

It is an irresistable deal and I am going overseas at the expense of some time for dissertation.. So that means that I have to work harder before and after the trip.

Going out tonight so update again when I am back..

Ciaos,
ET

Monday, 6 July 2009

NDP Combined Rehearsal 3: GOH and CP March In and March Past

I found the 2 videos that will show the standard of the GOH and Colours Party in the drills.



GOH and CP Marching In. Focus on the Fanning of the Colours!




GOH and CP Marching Past.

NDP Combined Rehearsal 3: Event and Overview

Last Saturday was NDP Combined Rehearsal 3 and for this rehearsal, friends and relatives of the working party of NDP were invited to view the parade and it was the 'first show' that was put up in front of a big crowd. One word to describe it. **WOWED!!**

As I was not able to see other chapters of the NDP celebration (there are 10 Chapters in this year's celebration and the Parade is Chapter 3), I can only comment on the parade part of it. Not being biased because I am part of the team but it was nearly a flawless exhibition by the marching contingents, Guard of Honour and Colours Party.



This video is an overview of CR3 and part of it featured the parade segment so you can witness it yourself.

There are a few more shows coming over the next few saturdays. NE Show 1,2 and 3 + NDP Parade Preview and NDP Parade (9th Aug). Stay Tuned!

Friday, 3 July 2009

FRIDAY!

Hmm.. Actually Friday has no significant meaning to me la.. It is just like another normal day cause I am clearing my off and leave now.. haha..

So what have I been doing for Thursday and Today?

I slept for 14hrs yesterday and when I woke up, it was 2pm already. I started to dl all the annual reports of REIT for my dissertation and by the time I am done with it, it was 5 plus le. Had dinner and then slacked for a while. Went for a jog with bro and then bathe before meeting Shiming and Edmund Twohill for a catch up. Interesting conversation with them and got to know a lot more about Guards Operations. Got home around 1200hrs and was still not sleepy hence I watched a documentary about the korean war on youtube. Technically, they are still at war and if you have been reading the newspaper, you will notice that the tension at the korean peninsula is pretty tense now. Slept after the documentary is over.

Woke up at 11am and started working on my dissertation. Going for a jog + catch up + dinner with sydney later at 1730hrs. After that will be working on my dissertation again. MUST finished CHAPTER 1 TODAY!

haha.. ok.. till then..
ET

Wednesday, 1 July 2009

SAF Day

Today is SAF Day. I did not set my alarm and was awaken by Jun Shi when I did not meet him at 0645 at the meeting place. I jumped out of bed and had a quick wash up, changed and ran to meet him. 0701hrs. I was 16mins late. so paiseh to keep him waiting when he was doing a favor for me by giving me a lift. Luckily, we reached camp on time at 0730hrs.

Collected the colours and left for SAFTI. Ate breakfast at the SAFTI canteen before falling in at 1015hrs. Team A to rest while Team B to go for rehearsal. I am in Team A, aka NDP Ensign while Gary is in Team B, aka SAF Day Ensign. So basically, my team either sleep, read newspaper or play PSP. I did not sleep as I was not that tired hence I took my notebook and started to think about the things that I want to do as an OC when I am back to the force for good. There are many things that can be done but it really requires a strong team to support the vision.

Lunch was KFC AGAIN. sick and tired of it but there is no choice unless we spend money at the canteen for lunch. Went to have a haircut at SAFTI Barber Shop at $3. Told the lady that I want to have the hairstyle 'mallet' and she asked 'How does that style look like?' and I described it to her. Then she said 'oh.. that is astro la.. there is another style that sounds the same but that is MARLET.' We had a short discussion what is the name but I concluded by telling her 'ok.. it doesn't matter what is the name, as long as you are able to cut the style that I had described.' Lol.. It was kind of paiseh cause she took a lot of time to cut my hair and the rest of the people in the queue were like 'sian-half' cause she took great care to style my hair. Others took at most 4 mins while mine was about 5mins. Lol.. But I must say.. the hairstyle looks good. =D

After that was some presentation ceremony and then we changed into our number 1 uniform. wanted to get something to eat so I went to the mess with Jonathan and Willip. At the mess, we talked about religion and I realised that Willip had the same religion and he is also interested in what I was practicing. We had a very interesting discussion about what is buddhism, what is the practices and even talked about christianity. We concluded that, whatever religion you practice, it is important to question the religion because questioning is not an act of doubt but an act of trying to understand more. After eating, we left for the casing and uncasing of colours. MSD inspected us and upon clearing, we left for the parade square.

The parade was almost flawless, except for some minor mis-step, and no one fainted in the parade. After the parade, the colours were posted at the dining hall and all the ensigns were told to interact with the guests. I met some of the people that I worked with before and had my dinner at the dining hall. After the dinner, the colours were retrived and we went back to camp.

Tomorrow is an off day, and so is friday. I will be starting on my dissertation tomorrow and perhaps doing some research in school on friday if there is a need to. Need a break to rest too so I will be talking my time doing my dissertation tml.

=D
Ernest