Coming to the end of my IA

Just submitted my report for vetting by my supervisor. Its coming to the end of 22 weeks liao. Time flies pretty fast ... was busy for the past 2 weeks. Doing the report, some research but still finding time to celebrate my fren's birthday and having a evening trip to JB for Dunkin' Donuts and seafood dinner.
Had fun at my IA company, met new frens and learnt new stuff. Best part is, i got my driving license during this time, thus not so painful on the wallet in terms of cash out for driving lessons.
Another thing is me being lured into the Rubik's club as this bunch of 'bad' influence got me hooked onto the Rubik's cube. Thank goodness not that big hook yet, but still .... i got my very own Rubik's cube liao. =P

My second ultrasound experience

Visited CGH's Sports Medicine Centre today to check on my feet. I suspect that the pain in my tendons is due to my flat feet. The doc checked and yes, i have flat foot on both feet. Luckily it is not THAT serious.... BUT i seem to have symptoms of foot problems which arises due to flat foot.

The doc did a series of tests on my feet. It was rather interesting cos he knows which part of my foot hurts. Best part was when he mentioned ... 'you sprained your left ankle recently?' I was like 'Huh? that was like 5-6 weeks ago.. i thought recovered liao?' He smiled and pressed down on the spot ... ' pain right?'

So that led to my feet being ultrasound-ed. He showed me the inflammation of the tendons, and cos i have flat foot, that particular tendon will take a long time to heal. So .. no more jogging for me for the next few months. Have to go back again make my customised orthotics, which is a pair of insoles to support my arch/tendon of my feet. This should prevent other foot problems from cropping up.

If only i had the knowledge that having flat foot may lead to so much problems, i would have gone for this when i was in the Navy back then. =P

Yeah!! Me have driving license lor !!

I finally obtained my driving license today. After a 5 year wait ... 1 basic theory, 2 advance theory tests (1st one expired) and 1 practical test (4D special = 5121). It seems a long time, but stuff keeps cropping up; from being posted to Tuas Naval Base for 4 years, to the unexpected bout of cancer last year prevented me from learning to drive previously.

Well... its a nice feeling to be able to complete what i aimed for, passing a first time attempt at the practical test. That will make it less than 3 months time with a total of $1084 spent. At 26 years of age, i am the last person among my frens to get the license... hahaha..

Thus i wish myself, a safe and joyful journey everytime i drive!! =)

Hmmm .... anyone out there dares to sit in my car while i drive? =P

A more fruitful day .... keep it up!

After feeling that i am procrastinating recently, was more motivated today to clear some back log of stuff to do. Finally cleaned my marine tank and changed some water. Pity i have no digital camera with me, else can snap a picture of the tank.

Did some more of my logbook; prepared the pictures to print tomolo in office, to paste in the logbook. Cleared up my cluttered desktop and stuff.

So .. was active for about 3-4 hours liao ... time to take a breather and then sleep. Tomolo will be my final driving lesson b4 the warm up and driving test on Wed. So, lets hope i will have good driving tomolo and an excellent one for the test on Wed. =D

Flea market today!

Had a stall set up for flea market today at Pasir Ris blk 104. Some pilot project for our community. It was a family affair for us + my girlfren. =) Had brought my gramophone down for sale. It was the most eye-catching of all the stalls there.. heh heh .... and the highest asking price.. $300. There was this middle aged guy who hung around for quite some time, but in the end decided not to buy.=P Will be polishing it up for the next flea market liao .. then up the asking price to $500. heh

Not a bad day, total takings is $40 after taking $6 off for the rental. Sold books, keychains, badges, toys and soft toys. Overall a statisfying family day. Really treasure the time with family nowadays, my family had went through a lot to support, encourage and keep me alive. Being together with them brings happiness which money cant buy.

So ... hopefully the project continues, then for the next flea market, will be bringing down my working antique phone; looks like the one on the right, except that it has a black plastic head instead of a brass one. It will go for $2800. haha .. the most expensive item in the entire flea market liao.

Procrastination, my biggest enemy?

Realised today that i have been procrastinating these past few weeks. Seems like i have tons of stuff to do, mainly personal goals to attain, but too little time to settle them all.

Had been spending time with my family this long weekend, family and frens for the last long weekend .. and the previous one too!! And .. yup... that's about it. Researched some stuff, played Counter strike (stupid com cant play BF2....), settled my expenses ... but nothing on my book, my website and etc etc ...

So many frens that i wanted to meet, so many frens i miss talking to, playing with and laughing together. But it seems like i dont have enough time to do all that, there is only 24 hours and they have their own lives too!

Sometimes i wonder if i am taking on too many personal 'projects' and still want to spend lots of time with my family and frens too! Not really stressed out, but rather .... tired out.

Think i have to put prioritise my life more. 'Carpe Diam!!' they say ... 'Diam too lagi short' is what i feel. Just dont like to put some of my personal projects (book, website etc) on hold. I guess sometimes i do fear that i may not get them done, not because i dont want to, but more of ..... i may not be around to finish them.

Surprising, having faced death, it makes me alive every single moment that i live. Before that, it would be more like ... i have a life, but i dont feel alive; nor do i treasure the experience of being alive.

I want to attain my personal goals ... unfortuately, i am greedy with so many. Hopefully i will complete all of them before my time runs up and my presence extinguishes. =)

Live life to the fullest!!

A day of many 'firsts'

Today is my 17th driving lesson. Achieved several 'firsts' .. and i hope it will be the one and only experience.

Today went to circuit, on my 'S' curve, no problem. At the end of the 'S' curve, is the crank course, which is not a problem also. Until i start to turn left OUT of the crank course, in my haste, my rear left tire kissed the kerb. =P Shitz ... best thing is..... i didnt even feel it.

Then, at the vertical parking, as i was reversing, the car opposite me was doing parallel parking at the same time. Afraid that i might hit the car, i looked at the other car in front and i forgot to check behind.... 'clink!' hahahahaha!!!

Lastly, while turning right on a T junction, i misjudged the speed on an on coming car on my left and had to stop in the middle of the road..... oops .... good news is, my right is rather clear. Bad news, my instructor was pretty pissed.... "Your test is coming soon! Tester will give you immediate failure !!!" i gave a sheepish smile and nodded. =P

Well ... thats about it. Now need to focus on outstanding issues such as SC project (need to give this a nice sounding nickname), my europe trip (Only left 2 train connections to settle; all lodging done! =D), clearing up my room, cleaning my marine fish tank and PASS my driving next WED !!!

Getting sickly on a free day ...

Its a company holiday today, in lieu of voting day last Sat. Supposed to do up my logbook, final report and update my fellow team members on the solar car project. Unfortuately, feel sick today, but still managed to do up some entries in my logbook.

Had lunch at Changi Village today. My father no longer working at the fish farm liao, which is good news as his arms and legs were constantly in pain previously from labouring in the hot sun while his limbs were wet with the dirty pond water. Its about time for him to take a breather after slogging for 30 +++ years to bring up the 3 of us. In a few years time, when i start working, then its time for my parents to retire as newspaper vendors liao. Thats one of my 5 year goal. =)

Came back and got an appointment at CGH for making an orthotics for my flat foot. Which is basically an insole customised for me. With increased ankle pain and foot cramps, its time to do something about it.

Well ... lets hope tomorrow will be a wonderful day with healthy spirits! Then can quickly finish editing the meeting minutes and send it out to the SC team!!

An almost wasted Sunday ... thanks to Election 06

Election happens once every 5 years... thank goodness for that!! Due to the vote counting, the papers on Sunday started printing late, resulting in all the newspapers arriving late yesterday. Which meant that my entire family was loitering around Chai Chee pick up point from 6am(Which was already later than usual) till abt 8am.

I slept at 130 in the wee hours of the morning after watching the election results, which was a pretty bad move as i had to wake at 5+ to go and deliver newspapers. But in the end, have to spend 2 hours waiting for the papers to arrive derives me of my precious sleep.

In the end, i spent the late morning and afternoon taking a rather long but unfulfilling nap.

The good news is, my brother drove my mom and me down to ikea to buy a new sofa (the sofa-those old type with wooden frame and square foam cushions-in our living room had gave up after 30 years of butt abuse) and a wardrobe for my parents. Total cost: $1151.50 ..... which is a better investment for the family than using that to buy a new PC for my BF2.

After signing on my credit card, we left and bought dinner back home. Later on i met up with TTW and fen for a swim. Manage to complete 20 laps only ... my triceps are crying out in agony liao. Looks like i have to reduce the frequency of my swims ... maybe this wed would be the next swim, if my muscles recover by then.

My treasured fellow Naval Officers

Received a sms this evening. It was an invite to Melvin's place for a gathering for our NJOC batch. Am very glad and thankful that I am still kept within the circle despite having retired from RSN. They have supported me thru my period of illness when they found out about it too! =)

Had learnt many things from them, and also from my fellow officers onboard 88 and 93. Being the youngest, i absorbed quite a fair bit of good stuff from everyone of them.... and then modified it to my style. =P Which means i'm not original per se, but i guess everyone have to start somewhere. And i was lucky enough to have them around.

In any case, if any of you guys read this: My sincere and humble thanks to fellow officers of the 23rd NJOC (if my memory serves me correctly), 88 and 93. More so on 93, the years i have served onboard as AO and NO with a bunch of excellent officers who not only inspired me then, but still lingers till now. If i still have chance of sailing with them again, i will have jumped at the opportunity.

Unfortuately, all things have to come to an end. Where people part and fate ends. Where the wonderful times and experiences; the laughter; the bonding and friendship are etched into memory.

Fortuately, they are such wonderful people that we still keep in touch. Or rather, they still keep me informed of activities whenever possible as i guess i wont be able to go TNB Wardroom for makan or any officer makan liao. =)

Thanks once again everyone*.

*Too many names to name liao ... hahahaha ... i still very lazy =P

Voting day tomolo !!!

Hahahaha !!! Finally get to cast my vote at least ONCE in my lifetime. Didnt get to do it last year when there was a walkover, but this time .. heh heh heh.

So what's so great about voting? It makes me and hopefully just about anyone who gets to vote feel more for Singapore be it for PAP or for any other opposition party. Even those who dont get to ponder, think and criticise about policies, politics etc etc.

I guess in the grand scheme of things, elections are good in a sense as they give Singaporeans a sense of belonging to Singapore. Where everyone (those who votes may be more involved ba..) gets to have a little say in the way they want the country to be run. Democracy? To a certain extent in my view. It boils down to who will be representing me in parliament and his views, character and abilities.

Flames reaching my pants liao ....

For the past few weeks .... have quite a few tasks at hand to juggle, the most pressing one would be the backpack trip this coming Jun. And quite a bit of stuff to do in office with datelines etc etc.

Finally completed the tests, and was going to catch up on my IA logbook and maybe ponder about the IA final report. Unfortuately, more new tasks poured in and rained on my logbook day. Then realised that i need to complete and send my report for vetting by my supervisor asap cos i heading off to Europe in Jun. Any delay could be disasterous.

So ... feeling the slight pressure to complete the report asap, not to mention the logbook too. =P Looks like this weekend is gonna be a sit in front of the monitor routine. Hiaz ... speaking of sitting in front of the monitor, reminded me of my book, which is still stuck in the middle of second chapter and BF2!!!!! Thank goodness did not go out to buy the new PC on impulse. =P
Else i foresee i'll be spending the weekend blasting enemies away with M16, GPMG.. or more likely, the other way round. heh.

Ah .... Vienna .....

Ha ha ... a picture of Vienna which i took back in 2002. A modern hotel with an old catherdral as the backdrop. I can still remember that once you smell the horse dung, you will know that you are near the city centre liao. Wonder if it had changed much ... hmmm ....

Getting all excited as June approaches ... will be going to Europe for my second backpacking trip, although this time would be shorter than the previous one, but will have more company this time round.

The price of a game ....

Unfortuately, i am currently losing the battle for BF2. Both my bro's and mine PC are way too out-dated for game, sadly in terms of processor speed. Which means that to upgrade, it will cost about S$1k in total. 'Ouch' .....

Oh well .... which would mean that i will spend days thinking of, debating on and calulating whether i have enough cash and whether it is worth it to DIY a new PC for BF2. Imagine a conversation that goes-

Fren:" Yoz Seng, heard abt BF2, how much does the game cost?"
Seng:" Oh .... a good buy!! i got a discount of $4.90 for the game .......... but have to spend extra ONE thousand doolars to play it."
Fren gives stunned face and then breaks out into laughter.......

On the bright side, it will make a great conversion piece over dinner ... or at least, its a good joke(I hope) on how foolish one can get.

Meanwhile ... will be sleeping on it..... strange to think that if i was never exposed to the existance of the game, this wouldn't have happened. Now .. who's that guy who said knowledge is power? Its more like, knowledge is temptation. xP

Celebrating Mom's birthday

Very happy to be celebrating mom's birthday today. Though it is only a simple eat out dinner at Fisherman's Village, it was quite a happy event for me. Think the main reason would be that i am sitting there, enjoying the meal with my family. It was quite cooling but a slight drizzle prevented us from sitting under the stars and enjoying the salty breeze beside the sea.

What a different experience it was as compared to last year. Can't really remember much though, probably near the end of a chemotheraphy cycle ... or going chemo soon ard this time last year. Cos i did remember to ask the Doc to schedule my chemo dates after birthdays, public holis and stuff.... so that i could actually enjoy them with frens or family.

Wow!! 1 month to go before my trip to Europe, 2 more months before my 1st anniversary of being in remission. heh heh... its great to be alive!! =D

The battle for Battlefield 2

Marvel Hulk aka David intro-ed me to the first person shooter game - Battlefield 2 (BF2) last friday. Yes, apparently it has been around for quite some time. But being the slow me, i finally got to know of it last week.

In the rush of adrenalin, the 2 of us bought the game and went back home, but before we could test it, we set off to pick up his girl at the airport. By the time i got back home, it was way pass midnight and it was yet another wait for morning to come b4 trying out the game.

Unfortuately, my PC couldn't meet the spec, cant even start the game.... OMG !!! ... how utterly disappointed... tsk tsk ... went over to Mr Hulk's place to try it out instead. Woo hoo!!! the game is good, so now .. yes .. NOW ... i'm trying to set it up on my brother's PC to see if it works cos his com is a year younger than mine, lets hope it is 'advanced' enough.

In the meantime, my old and apparently ancient AMD Athon ?? has crashed, the CD-ROM drive have also died in the quest to play BF2 .... looks like i lost the battle even before it started.. sheezh