Tsunami!

Had NDP today as usual, a usual start to a very unusual day. Started out with the normal opening of the container and removing all the needed stores for the day. Went about setting up all the points and the command post, which took a little more than an hour…after which, the person in charge of the point had to arrange all the bottles of water on the bench/table depending on what the point uses. For a visual idea, look at the previous NDP post. You will get the idea. Find the task pretty bo liao, but I got to follow orders.

Once I was done doing that, the sky began getting dark and there was a cool wind blowing. It didn’t look like it was going to rain though, the place was relatively bright still. This was when the amazing or rather scary thing started. The wind started picking up just as the place suddenly grew dim. Then as the rain began to pour, the wind picked up again. This wind got so strong till it started taking my tentage apart! The concrete blocks each weighing about 40-50kg seem to “float” and then shifted towards me. Then the canvas on the tentage gave way and blew off. All this took about 10 mins but it seemed like an hr. The longest 10 mins of my life. Later I learnt that the tentage I was in was one of the more lucky ones. There were 3 more upriver that were completely destroyed. Guess that the canvas giving way was in some way a blessing in disguise. The tentages that were destroys had the canvas intact all the way. Later surveying the damage after the rain, I felt lucky that day. The wind uprooted trees, a stone bench and took out 3 street lamps. There was a concrete block attached to what remained of a tentage, all stuck in a tree. Too bad I don’t have pictures, the policed sealed the area off.

Then later in the day, another weird thing occurred. I found a bull frog sitting on the edge of the river bank! The funny thing was that the river was saltwater while the frog is the fresh water kind found in restaurants here. Still wondering how it got there. Anyway, me being me, picked up the frog, much to the amusement of a lot of people amidst the screams from the girls who saw me doing so. Haha… Went around holding the frog in my hand, there were the curious, never seen/touched a frog before; and the plain see and scream their head off people. The rest were just too stunned to react. But I must say, suddenly being surrounded by girls is an interesting feeling, abet them more interested in the frog then me, and being much too young for my taste. Perhaps Mr. Tan might be interested? Heh heh heh… =X

For the benefit of those who cannot visualise what a frog looks like:

Ribbit!

There was this incek who asked mi to stuff the frog into his pocket, aka magician wannabe. Haha… Make a frog appear from his pocket? Haha… Anyway, had more fun going around and asking if the girls would like to find out if that frog was their prince charming. Not one took up the offer. Then there was this one who asked mi to kiss the frog, maybe it was a female frog and would become a princess? If a girl had frog origins, well then, keep away from me. I got my own tadpoles. Anyway, as for the fate of the frog, it’s sitting on some corner of the padang I think. Let the incek release it for me. I think one frog would not have been enough for me to make porridge anyway. Frog Leg Porridge. Yum…

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, save for the fireworks later in the night. Going to sleep now. Ciao.

Driving

Recently decided that, since I have so much NDP-off to clear, I might as well do something useful with the time. So after much contemplating, I have decided to take up driving. Not the golf kind of course. I find a man hitting a small white ball with a stick, then after which going to look for his ball, only to hit it again till it drops into a hole which is 5X bigger than the ball itself, seemingly displaying the pinnacle of human intelligence, sort of depressing. But back to the topic… I’m learning how to drive!

Learning with this instructor that my mom’s nephew recommended (Does that make him my cousin??). Supposed to be his friend, but the instructor can’t seem to recall who he his… hmmm… hahaha… Anyway, he is a good instructor, patience, clear, and transparent about what he says. Everything is explained clearly and concisely, complete with reasons if I’m not convinced. The first lesson went pretty well, I was actually driving the car within ½ an hr. Was a bit hesitant at first, but I managed to move off without stalling the car on the first try… Hurray! Did a short run on a curved road, stopping a few times along the way… with that, my hour long lesson ended, just when I reached the main road. It was fun, but much harder than it looks. You know how you see someone driving on e road and thinking that it looked simple enough? Well, it’s deceiving. It’s not that simple. But it’s my first lesson only. Suddenly to main road with all the traffic looks very intimidating. Till the next lesson. Ciao.

Another NDP!

Today was another NDP. Seems sad sometimes how my Saturdays are seemingly wasted away moving stores, water and food around for people. People who, by a large majority, seem to take it for granted. They expect the food and water to be there when the reach there, without taking into account the limited resources that we are working with. There is a queue that, even we have to join to obtain their rations. And there are the kiasu ones who, after giving them their requested amount of rations, tell you that it’s not enough, expecting that the food is unlimited and that if they want extras they can get it. If it’s really not enough, there are extras that we can draw on. The irritating part is that the amount requested was already more than enough, usually resulting in uneaten rations, and there they are telling me that the amount stated there is insufficient!

However, the bright side of this usually comes to light on the following Monday, when I make my way back to camp. It then seems heavenly that I got a day off to clear, making sure that I work only four days a week! Haha… A day less from squadron really can raise one’s morale. Another is the cute girls participating in the NDP. Got to know a couple of them, and they can really send rays of light into a dull situation. Will post a pic of them when, and if I get one. So if any of you gals are reading this… *hint hint* ;)

Got a few pics from handphone cameras, the quality is not too good, but it’s the best available. Unless of course someone wants to sponsor me a camera or a 2-megapixel K750i or W800i, for which I would be eternally grateful. Camera is preferred of course. Hahaha… =X

The Singapore Skyline


Water Galore!


Fireworks

BBQ!

Today! Another off day. To compensate for Sat burned, when I have to do NDP. Using this day to the fullest extent, catching up with my sec. sch gang… Not going to be much more opportunities to do so in the near future, as they are starting uni soon. Day started off with me waking up late to meet them at Kang Wei’s place where they were meeting for bball before a planned BBQ. Rushed there, going pass Bt. Panjang plaza, not realising that the meeting point had been amended to there. Well, neither did the rest of them till they reached KW’s house, with the exception of Jun Xian, Kang Wei and, Chiang Wei, the people who changed the meeting location. Hahaha… Well, after I got to KW’s house, but not before getting stuck at the gate with his weird security, we all made our way to BP plaza to meet up with Jun and CW. Once we got there, spent a short while looking for them before they appeared. Apparently, CW went to Jun’s place first and they just got there also. Outstanding! And I thought I was e latest there. Went to the NTUC there, to buy the food needed for the BBQ later that day. A debating war almost broke out with Jun wanting to go for the frozen whole chicken wings whilst CW and Yun went for the fresh chicken mid-joints. After much discussion, we finally settled with the fresh chicken due to time-constrains and ease of cooking. Also bought many other things, spending about $70++ in the end. Pretty cheap eh? Haha. All this time, poor KW was getting shot at for being a poor host. I say he did a pretty good job so far, but wasn’t so used to being the organiser for such things. We went back to KW’s place once we were done buying all the food for our “chefs” to do their work marinating the food. While they did this, the rest of us chilled in the room watching Ben play DOTA.

Once they were done, we went down to play bball. The court in the condo however, had been taken up by another grp playing soccer, so we had to venture out to a court down the road which had a wooden backboard. Very old school sia. Then a funny thing started happening. Ben started missing most of his shots, whilst I on the other hand, started scoring. Ben soon started blaming the board for missing constantly. hahaha…. We played a couple of games before heading back for the BBQ, but on the way back, we saw that the court in the condo had been vacated and we couldn’t resist another game. Ben was still missing his shots at that court, so maybe it wasn’t a problem with the board after all... =p

Took a rest, before taking a bath, after which we headed to the pit for the BBQ. The design of the pit here is better than most places, the grill at the bottom made the fire was easy to start and maintain. Although, this made the distance between the top grill and the charcoal was somewhat close. This caused the food cook, or rather burn, faster than usual. The fire was also hotter than most. We had a fiery time constantly flipping the things on the BBQ to prevent it from reducing to a lump of charcoal. But sad to say, we were not that successful, having half-burnt sausages, a few pieces of squid completed cooked to a crisp, black and crispy, the chicken wings didn’t fare that well too. Ben cooked his special, Songshan Honey Chicken Wings. Delicious!! The fillets were also marinated and cooked perfectly. Kudos to the chefs! Now I’m getting hungry again. I had to leave early because of a problem at home that I shall not mention.

Cheers!

Since I’m lazy to post all the pics here, I have added a link to my picture gallery.
Check out the link ->

The guys also gave themselves Christian names, CW becoming Eugene Ong; KW becoming Alfonso Ang; Ying Yang becoming Reggie Tan and Yun was Juggernaut Ong. Can't seem to recall Jun's christian name. Oops. Hahaha…. How they got those names are still kind of a blur to me. Anyone care to enlighten me?

I shall sign off now. I got a long day ahead of me. Ciao!

Overdue!

I've been pretty busy the past week and a half. So to make up for nt blogging here, I shall be making 2 post today. One entry for the past week or so and, another for today. Why so special? Cos today was a good day so it warrants its own entry.

Past week or so. Getting back to camp on Tues, was to walk right into a hell of sorts. Little did I know that I was walking into that very morning was to qualification by the QAC. I know I’ve been saying that I was qualifying for some time now, but it’s a multi-stage process and this was the final stage. QAC is a scary place for us, because of the fact that to be part of the QAC, the personnel there are amongst the best and most experienced in what they do. They may not have a clear idea about the specialities of my squadron, but the questions that they ask on general items are on a whole new level. I’m not talking about one level above what I know, but let’s say 20 levels above me? Sound exaggerated, but yeah… it about there. He can ask questions that everyone can give the blank look, but only because it sounds greek to us. All I can say is that my mates and I were lucky to get qualified. At least that storm is over. After clearing all the paperwork needed, I can finally say that I’m a qualified person. But suddenly it doesn’t sound as good as it once seems. Putting my signature on e dotted line suddenly seems scary and a lot of questions begin to pop into my head. Questions like what if I screw up? Or what if because of something I did or didn’t do something terrible happens? Haiz… Guess I’ve got to be on the ball from now on. Luckily for me, the next few servicing(s) that I do will be counter checked by a more senior guy before I sign, so that at least gives me a peace of mind for now.

But at least my servicing did not start for that week; this was due to the paper work problems, and that repealing incident that happened in the base. Don’t ask me for details. I’m not telling anyone anything. I had to work overtime due to that incident, going for safety briefings, talks with the management, etc. etc. Long and tiring week, but I was lucky once again, with the NDP coming to my rescue once again. Moving cartons and cartons of drinks is no less tiring, but fighting the ZZ-monster constantly in the briefings is more than I can handle. Send me for more manual labour the next time the waves of briefings come again, but touch wood that nothing happens anymore.

Starting doing servicing today, the 18th of July 2005. A stressful day. The day I sign documents. Started my 1st working day, packed to the brim. But thanks to the weather, (it rained the whole day) I ended up doing one servicing and one aircraft wash. The next day was also pretty marred by weather, but managed to do 1 servicing before the weather came in. Wed was much better, but I was swamped. The fact that the day started at 5.30am didn’t help either. But its over. =D Today was my off day. Yippee! See the next entry for details! Out!

Day Off!

Today I took one of the off that I was accumulating from NDP due to the fact that there have been complains that I have been collecting too much off. It's not like I've been allowed to take it previously. So I took today off so that Sat's NDP off doesn't continue to pile up on the off I've already collected so far.

Today went smoothly with the day begining by meet the old gin gang for a game of basketball in Jurong. Arrived about 20mins late cos I sorta overslept and woke up at 8am when I was meeting them at 9. When I got there, Jun, Yun and CW were already there, sitting at the courts patiently because none of the early birds happened to bring the ball... Hahaha... So when I showed up with a ball in hand, I got off pretty easy. Kang Wei came abt 20mins after me wif Ben 10mins later. Played till abt 12+ then all of us went to CW's house to bathe and change before going for lunch at seoul garden JP. KW didn't join us as he had to go scope out JE Mac. for his mystery shopper job. So for those of you who work at JE Mac. you have been visited! hahaha....

So the rest of us went to JP for seoul garden with Ying Yang joining us later although he didn't eat anything. He didn't have to pay either so its pretty much alright. Ying Yang aka TYY just got back from his exciting romp in Thailand last night, I'm hoping he didn't bring any "mushrooms" or any other unintended items back from there. Hahaha.... Back to the outing... When we arrived at JP we ran into Rowena there who was out shopping with her mum. Ben and CW were joking about bringing her and Florence together for the world war III showdown. Haha... Those 2 have a colourful history that I shan't mention at this time.

Spent the time at seoul garden reminiscing about the old sec sch days. haha... we had a great laugh at our sch mates and teachers like the stiff Mr. Chong, the boring Mrs. Kng, the evil teletubby Ms. Poh (Po), and many others. My past seems to have caught up with me too... with one of my antics from that time... hahaha... don't ask me what it is... I'm not telling. =p After stuffing ourselves silly (Took too much) we proceeded around JP looking at comics and cameras. CW saw the new harry potter book on pre-order sale at popular and ended up ordering. He couldn't resist the grear bargain. Will attempt to borrow it from him once he's done with it. Heehee... CW if u are reading this... Heehee... You know what I'm gonna ask soon.

Anyway the outing ended somewhere about there with us going home after that. Pretty tired. Guess I'll go laze infront of the TV a bit before I call it a day.
A rare treat: Pics from the outing courtesy of CW and his blog.

Me! Bleah!

Jun trying to be corny

Sex, Time & Power! A must read!

Talk to the hand...

Yum!

Another Week!

Back blogging again after more than a week of absence... At this current trend, I might just end up blogging once a month! Haha... Hope it doesn't come to that, but at the same time I'll have more to write that way, summing up my pretty slow life once a month is definitely much easier than every day or every other day for that matter. The week went by pretty fast as I was doing the night shift for 1/2 the week, the time seems to fly by when it starts at 12pm with me waking up and reporting to camp an hr or more later. Then a couple of hours after reporting to camp the sky begins to darken as the sun sets and the rest of the world goes to sleep while I work till abt 10+ or 11 before going home. And the cycle repeats itself. But the morning shift is better in some other ways although I have to report early to camp; at least I get to go home earlier too. It’s nice to book out with the sun still in the sky sometimes. The week was pretty much the same as any other, filled with wrong request, conflicting orders and constantly changing orders. The good part was on thurs, when the CO treated the whole squadron lunch of succulent roasted delicacies in the likes of a suckling pig, meat(char siew), chicken and duck. Needless to say, by the time I got there, it was just in time to snap up the last pathetic piece of suckling pig. And that was because I was quick, although in turn lost out for a piece of char siew. Haha… it was a good trade-off. =p Good thing that the chicken and duck was aplenty, or the NSFs would have starved to death. The reason for the sudden treat was the CO got promoted, something that happens like once in 2-3 yrs. So it looks like that’s the last one coming my way.

Fri was pretty stressful day, going to QAC (Quality Assurance Centre) for oral examination to become a qualified personnel. Managed to pass the test, but by a whisker if you ask me. Going back to the squadron afterwards, had the bad luck of running into Jack-O-Lantern, who loves eavesdropping other people’s conversation, can come and scold me for saying that doing a fireguard is easier that being a marshalled. It’s my own damn opinion, and just because he feels otherwise, doesn’t give him the right to come and scold me for saying so. Not that I was talking to him in the first place. So what if people say he’s good at what he does? It doesn’t give him the right to go around, listening to others conversations and forcing others to take his opinions. Out of all the regulars there, he’s the only overconfident son-0f-a-bitch there, not to say that he’s attitude towards my batch of NSFs has been all but lousy. But enough of him. I will grind my axe some other time.

Sat was NDP as usual, and at the same time not so usual. After distributing lunch, an Indian girl came up to me and said she recognised from a hop-nite at Ngee Ann some years back, of which I was e bouncer. I have no recollection of that, but I supposedly mistook her for a fellow bouncer although she was part of e organisers. Hmm… still don’t remember. Haha…=X Left NDP early to rush down to Audrey’s birthday party. When I got there, I was in for a surprise. The first thing when I got there was this lady, who I now have a believe was one year my senior, came up to me and asked me if I recognised her. I have a rough idea of what she used to look like, but cannot really recall ever talking the her before. Heehee… After that when I saw Aud and her rebounded hair, I was…stunned. Not because she suddenly looked stunning, but more like her new look was an acquired taste. It doesn’t make her look ugly, but I say I liked the previous hair style. (haha… In case you are reading this aud, sorry for saying it made you look like a mushroom. But that was the only thing that I could think of at such short notice). Had a good time talking with the rest of the gang, although Aud herself was running around entertaining everyone. Left with the rest of the gang at about 10+ with Kelvin driving Mali home and CW, Jun and me going to westmall to chat awhile longer before we called it a day and went home.

Since I’m on e topic of birthdays… I like to wish Audrey HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY! I know its not till Thurs but I’d like to be an early bird.

And another person who I like to wish in case I forget is Jeannie whose bdae is on Tues. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEANNIE! And no, you are not getting the cash, car and condo from me.

Its 2am now, and I am starting to get exhausted. Till the next time. Ciao.