run not

had planned to run after work today but it rained when i got home. kind of unexpected since the weather seemed so good when i left the office.

sigh… i really need to get serious about training and clearing my ippt before my birthday in july else i’ll be the butt of jokes and embarrassment to fitness first gyms. haha… :)

lunch @ waan waan

met up with meiling and amy for lunch to celebrate meiling’s birthday. was at centrestage at marina square and don’t know what to eat, so decided to try the thai restaurant there.

it took some courage on our part since the restaurant was totally deserted. not a single table was occupied while the other restaurants there were busy with their weekend lunch crowd. amy was late ’cos a bird didn’t like her very much. ;)

we ordered the staples of mango salad, green curry, crispy chicken, pineapple rice and also a stir-fried kailan. the thai items were not bad but i’ve had better pineapple rice elsewhere though. the vegetable looked like what i can prepare at home.

overall, it’s quite good value if you order just from the promotional $5.80++ menu. we didn’t have any desserts as we were quite full already.

burp.

nokia care

i had sent my phone in for servicing on friday. there was something wrong with the camera function. it just couldn’t be accessed through the menu and i suspected it’s just a software problem.

when the customer service guy returned my phone today, he informed me that they had only refreshed my software. i tried out the camera function and it worked.

then i proceeded to restore my phone settings and data from my memory card. lo and behold, the camera function can’t be accessed anymore!

i showed the staff the problem and he said that it could be my card’s data being corrupted or conflicting with the software of the phone and by doing a restore, i had “brought” back the problem.

he suggested that i re-format my memory card. i looked at him as if he’s deranged. i can’t delete all my phone book entries! no way!

he offered to re-format my phone to rectify the problem and suggested that i can save the memory card data on a pc before doing a re-format and transferring the data back to the card. guess that's the only way then.

what’s the best part?

after paying $26.25 of servicing fees, i enquired what’s the warranty period for this servicing and was told that since it’s just a software upgrade, there’s no warranty.

duh!

drinks @ nydc

gordon announced that he’s changing job next month. he has a week’s break in-between and in his typical fashion, is wondering where he shall travel to for fun.

kl mentioned he has a free jetstar ticket from citibank and should be going to Bangkok with mx next month.

ky, as usual, talked about going to kl again! guess it’s his personal “visit malaysia” year for 2006. haha… :P

dinner @ sakura

today’s my mum’s birthday so we brought her to try the sakura international buffet restaurant at the omni-theatre at jurong east.

$26 for weekend dinner is quite reasonable, it’s a steal if you can gobble up loads of sashimi. :) haha… there’s salmon, tuna, swordfish, squid, hokkigai and octopus. there’s also a selection of sushi and maki too.

for seafood, there’re raw oysters, boiled shrimps and sliced abalone. i felt that the oysters were not really fresh, kind of limp with no bite. the abalone slices were thick and overly sweet. my sis remarked that the sweetness was rather fake. but i think the abalone slices are genuine, just maybe not top-grade ones that’s all.

the grilled items included 2 types of fish and a few meats. there’re satay and otak available too. the chicken satay was good.

black chicken herbal soup and drunken prawns which are cooked ala minute in claypots. my mum gave thumbs-up for the herbal soup while the drunken prawns were good enough for me to polish off the entire pot of soup myself. :)

there’re some deep-fried stuff, a small variety of hot food, 2 soups and a dismal salad selection. didn’t try any of the stuff except for the breaded shrimps which was not bad.

the desserts section consists of fruits, konnyaku jelly, gui ling gao, cakes and a large selection of at least 10 flavours of ice-cream, i think the kids there must have felt like it was heaven. haha… i tried most of the cakes, which were cut into small squares, which i’m happy to say were all yummy-licious.

almost forgot to mention the durian puffs which my sis and dad thought were good. there’s also free-flow of a selection of hot and cold beverages including juices, tea and coffee.

overall, i can’t say that the food is super good but definitely worth a try at least.

back to office

back to real life… no more waking up at 6-something in the morning for breakfasts, no more afternoon naps after lunch, no more dinner at 5-something in the evenings and suppers at 8+.

some colleagues thought i slimmed down but i think it’s just my short hair. opinions were divided whether i look younger or older with this new hairstyle.

moral of the story?

just keep your hair how ever you want it as long as you’re happy with it because everyone is going to have their own opinions and preferences.

personally, i think longer hair complements my face shape better although short hair does convey a “fresher” look.

last day of ict

woke up real early to consume breakfast. supposed to be ready for the stand-down parade at 6:30 am.

everyone’s just glad that it’s the last day of the ict today. for some of us, it might even be the last ict ever. for myself, i might get a waiver since i’ve already completed 6 high-key ones including this. keeping my fingers crossed. :)

grabbed some food and drinks after the parade. waited around to take photographs with david and the rest of the workshop guys. it’s important ’cos this will be the evidence that i was present for this ict in the event of any dispute. :P haha…

cleared out my locker. had lunch. waited to take my ippt.

we were the first batch of nsmen to use the newly installed electronic ippt stations at the stadium. all the stations worked perfectly except for the shuttle run which doesn’t start sometimes so it's back to good old manual timing.

i was ok with all the static stations except for the chin-ups. somehow, i just felt weak and couldn’t pull anymore after 3. duh! a most unpleasant surprise for myself since i had planned to clear the test during this ict. during my last practice a few weeks ago, i had done 5 or 6 chin-ups.

anyhow, i went ahead with the 2.4 km run despite knowing that i can’t clear the test because of the chin-up score. it was a rather demoralising and tough run, made worse by the hot weather.

my throat was already parched and dry before i started the run. did the 1st 2 laps with pretty decent timing in slightly over 3 minutes. i had to “force” myself to carry on, the 3rd and 4th laps were quite the killer.

a part of me just wanted to give up and quit the run since no matter how well my timing will be, i can’t pass the test while another part rallied on, wanting to press on breathlessly so as to clock a timing for the 2.4 km even under such adverse conditions.

conditions can't get more difficult than this, right?

i stopped running. had to catch my breath…

couldn’t remember if that was the 4th or 5th lap when i stopped to walk for about 10 or 20 seconds. then it took some superhuman effort to pick up the pace again and resume running.

just ran as if my life depended on it, i reached the finish line at 11:55. yes, i did it under 12 minutes!

yeah!

congrats to faith & sk

sk told me that he had good news over the weekend. faith is expecting!

congratulations!

he also mentioned that’s he totally over the moon and can’t stop himself from nagging faith about pregnancy do’s and don’t’s. haha…

yoga by josephine

decided to try out the yoga class at george street today.

at first i couldn’t get used to josephine’s accent. i was wondering what is the quail pose… only to realise that she was referring to the wheel pose when she demonstrated the asana. :P hehe…

she’s really strong and could hold the side plank for ages!

because of the small class size, we got to do some poses using the wall which was something different and i attempted some new poses.

i would rate the level of toughness of her class’s at just below serena’s. enjoyed the class and had a good workout.

drinks @ loof

and the party is down to doris, gordon and myself… since the night is still young for us, i suggested having a drink at the roof-top place at odeon towers since we haven’t been there before.

wow, the place is actually quite crowded!

the main part of loof is open air and feels like vertigo in Bangkok except for the view/height and more importantly, the strong breeze. in fact, i already started to feel hot and sticky liao...

fortunately, we managed to get a table with comfortable couches at the air-conditioned section and chilled out with a drink.

cool!

dinner @ menotti

janet had wanted to dine at ps café but it was fully booked so we settled for menotti. gordon joined us too since he was looking for people to have dinner with.

doris commented that she couldn’t recognise me in my new hairstyle. :D

had the set dinner which consisted of 4 courses at $29.90+++. i chose the caesar salad, tagliatelle with scallop and mushrooms, diplomatica and darjeeling tea.

cayden just loved the flat biscuit-like bread that came with my salad. kept his eyes on it when i waved it in front of him. :P hehe…

janelle was still rather shy around me. i failed to tempt her with her favourite strawberry from my dessert. :(

gordon and i had the same pasta but he didn’t quite like it while i found it to be not bad. at first, i had some reservations about the pasta since it’s cream sauce-based. however, the sauce turned out to be light and not overly rich at all.

after dinner, we took a walk to the esplanade and was surprised by the crowds at the riverfront. the place was just teeming with people enjoying the breeze and chatting. quite happening i would say.

janet and family decided to leave for home shortly since it’s already bedtime for cayden.

1 shot less

this ict had been rather laidback. i had time to finish “state of fear” by michael crichton in 1 week.

the main focus of the ict this week is the combat shoot. issac, chiam, sean, alvin, boon wah and me made up the team. after aggregating the day and night shoot results, we were just 1 shot less of attaining marksmanship [80%]!

each of us had helped saf saved $200. just too bad for us…

in-camp training

today’s the 1st day of my ict, had a hard time booking for a cab in the morning. took me more than 10 minutes to secure one.

for the 1st time in my life, i thought i wouldn’t make it for my ict. not because i’m late or anything but the cab driver was falling asleep at the wheel! horrors!

i was already suspicious when the cab was cruising along pie, i thought i saw his eyes shutting but i wasn’t sure since he was driving straight, still. he wasn’t straying into the next lane so i didn’t bother about him.

the ride became more exciting after the “runway” stretch, that’s quite near my camp and there’s only 1 lane on each way. the on-coming taxi’s horn brought my attention immediately back to the traffic ahead. my cab was already 3-quarter way into the opposite lane!

my sleepy driver had to swerve back into our own lane to avoid the taxi and the on-coming traffic. gosh, reporting for ict had never been so exhilarating.

this time round, i shared the bunk at 4-8 with koh hy, vincent, daniel and lam jm. that’s 1 thing about workshop platoon, it’s so big such that every time i’m back for ict, i usually bunk in with different guys. it’s always interesting to get to know new people that way.

koh, i already knew him way back during my nsf times. the other 3 guys i’m not so familiar with. one of them is a branch manager of a foreign bank, another deals with smes at a statutory board while the last is doing sales in a pharmaceutical company.

that’s ns for you, where people of vastly different backgrounds are thrown together for better or for worse. to me, it’s a great opportunity to get to know about other people’s jobs and companies. for others, it’s a chance to network.

supper @ 406c

since there wasn’t much happening at my uncle’s place, i decided to adjourn to my colleague, michelle’s place at seng kang. it seems that she and her husband are used to hosting such late gatherings.

it was already past 10 pm when i met up with serene. i had missed the stop and had to backtrack by taking the bus in the opposite direction. gosh, her estate is rather “ulu”.

had a red wine and was forced-fed fishball soup and a spring roll. her 2 daughters were still awake and i managed to carry the younger one. :)

dinner @ 863

another chinese new year gathering...

this one’s at my 6th uncle’s place [my dad’s bro] at yishun. haven’t been there for the longest time. stuffed myself ’cos there’s too much food as usual.

new hairdo

had a haircut today. it’s a real short one for my ict starting on monday.

i had it done at ben hairdressing salon in clementi. decided to try it out since i haven’t been there before. not a bad deal at $13. dramatically different such that i’m feeling rather “light-headed” ’cos much of it were chopped off.

busy

had been real busy lately… first with chinese new year and then now clearing my work and handing over some of it since i’ll be away for my ict next monday.

so there wouldn’t be any updates for a while…

lunch @ lake view

as with previous years, my 3rd auntie [my dad's sis] will host the clan for lunch and sometimes dinner as well for one sunday. more of the same chinese new year dishes. and a very “retro” dessert – honeydew sago in coconut cream.

stayed a while after lunch to catch up with my aunties. was kind of bored so decided to go shopping in town. since i had lots of time, i also went for a foot reflexology session at centrepoint.

bliss.

more hongbaos

had a jcgang gathering at janet’s place this afternoon. i’m embarrassed to say that the gang insisted on giving me hongbaos.

usually, i’m rather gracious [or thick-skinned] about receiving them from my relatives who’re my elders. however, getting them from my peers is altogether a different feeling especially when their kids are running around and addressing you as “uncle mun yue”.

makes me feel like i’m one of the kids. :P hmm… isn’t there a traditional chinese concept that you’re not an adult until you get married? well, i shall continue to enjoy myself while the good times last. haha…

however, i heard that working adults in taiwan and hong kong are expected to give out hongbaos to the young ones. one more reason to love singapore. :)

new year lunch

surprise, surprise… my manager and the team leads brought the department out for lunch today.

lunch was at roland restaurant at marine parade central. had to take a cab there with sally and serene. food was so-so only but not cheap, i heard the 2 tables cost $900+.

don’t think it’s worth it though… :P

back to work

still in lunar new year mood… :P haha…

the office is rather quiet as quite a few people are still on leave. i decided against taking leave today since i needed to clear off my work as much as possible before the end of next week. that’s because i’ll be going for my in-camp training on 13th feb.