Back from Bangkok and just got my car =D

Quite happening this holiday session. Just got back from bangkok on Thurs and i just collected my car this morning. Flew off to bangkok on 24th Dec, reached there at 11pm local time.

It was fun and mainly shopping for the gals, although food was good and cheap too! =D 6 of us, 7~9 dishes of seafood (clams, raw oysters, crab, prawn, fresh fish) and stuff (veg, tom yam soup etc) and it was less than $20 per pax. =) Pictures? maybe in a while cos lazy to set up now after all the excitement of collecting my car. =P

As for the car, the freedom is rewarding. Took an hour plus to reach Sin Ming Ave by bus and after getting the car, picked up Yongxi and Roy for breakfast at Hougang, drove Roy back and bought 4D on in Sengkang and dropped yongxi and wheng back home before picking my dad up to buy lunch. Without a car, this would not have been possible and it took only 2.5 hours. =P Yup, more time to meet up with friends liao.

Rested at home and packed stuff till now. So... tired. =P Still have yet to go through a report on a naughty decanter. Work wise, going to have more time now cos i can stay later! heh. At least i can finish up stuff when i need to. No more restricted by the bus timing liao.

One huge liability coming up ..

Secured the COE for this bidding. $14001 for this round and they had managed to secure my COE although supposedly, my COE bid should be $12k. On the bright side, looks like i managed to get the car at a cheaper price, for now that is.

Checked the internet today, the price of the vios is now at $56888, so i saved $5800..in my point of view, also have $2000 paper gain on the COE price. So i guess, as long as i am comfortable with the price and the loan that i am taking, i guess its ok.

Excited that the car is coming, likely at the end of the year, so its a good start of 2008. With more time on hand, i should be able to achieve more ba. heh =P

Hmmm.. very happy to be moving forward. It applies to work too as i am taking more responsibilities as time goes by. Lucky i have a good supervisor who understands that rotating equipment actually requires a lot of experience and after 2 months at work, managed to gain a titsy bit of experience, but its a long way to go. =P At least by next year, i am not longer bounded to leave the office by 5.30 to catch the last bus.

For my department, i feel that there is a lot of freedom in what i do. As my role is to improve the reliability of the rotating equipment in the plant, the pumps and compressors, i have to understand not only the operating parameters of the plant, but also the process and the entire systems at times. When that happens, then i would be able to make recommendations for improving the reliabilty of the rotating equipment.

Guess my goal would be to improve at least one pump by Jun 08. Heh. =P

an exciting week ....

It was a quick week that passed by. Time flew and there were lots of excitement this few days.

Played mahjong on friday night, carried over to Sat morning on the 15th, which was Yongxi's birthday. I slept till late afternoon before heading to tampines mall to buy ingredients required for the ginger bread house. After which i proceeded to paya lebar MRT station to pick up tian jian, mandy and hui hsien to bring them to Tian Fu steamboat at katong area.

Thus we celebrated yongxi's 25th birthday at the steamboat, with wheng and uncle teng arriving later. Then the 7 of us went to east coast BK to chat chat till 1 plus then headed back home.

Actually went down Borneo motors last week, went again on Sunday to meet Fen and david + ah teck.. yongxi joined us later on. So.... signed for a toyota vios, the E version and thus comes to what i feel as exciting and also anxious. =P

Excited about the new car, and what i am more excited about is that i felt that i had cleared a big hurdle in regards to surviving cancer and am moving on with life. For the past 2 years, thoughts of saving up and not spending too much for that just in case scenario had actually... not surfaced this time when i was considering of buying the car. So... i got myself a respectable amount of liability and sort of will be tough on finances this year, but it will get better by next Oct, when i get my increment. Guess i have to perform a bit more so that increment is on the high end of the range. =P

And definitely looking forward to waking up later and driving to work, and also getting home earlier, giving me more time. Rough calculation of the cost of time, which is about $6~8 per hour every year. So i guess... time is really money. and i guess, it is worth paying for. =D

Anyway, looking at year end delivery if all goes well, hopefully the COE this bidding either goes above 12k or below 12k also can. Preferably with a margin of 2k+ .. =P

Well... got to go sleep now, aching muscles after more intensive badminton just now, cos less people went for the badminton, so got to play longer and less rest.

Knowing what i dunno... and dunno what i dunno..

Its officially close to 2 months since i joined seraya. Although i think, was only effectively learning for a month now, as spent a week or two getting to know the place, and get to go to the plant only after i underwent the safety course. Of which i had completed it only by 9th Nov.

Within this month, i am getting to know more of what i dunno, but still a lot of stuff.. still.. dunno what i dunno. Sounds confusing? haha. after reflecting on this for half a day, i think, still somewhat lost although i am getting to the end of the jungle, and seeing some light at the end of the exploring. =P

Would be coming up with a list of what i must do and have to confirm that with clement, the person i am taking over. =P More reading up to do and definitely have to be more familiar with NPSH calculations as i think that is one of the backbone for my role as rotating equipment engineer among other stuff. Currently reading up API 682 on shaft sealing for centrifugal pumps etc, basically on mechanical seals again, concentrating on pressurised dual seals as i have to draft a report by next week. Interesting. heh. Too bad cannot stay longer in office with the strict bus timings, hopefully can strike toto tomorrow so that i can get the car asap and can stay back longer to read up stuff (lots of good technical references on Shell servers, too bad cant access at home to read =/)

A few firsts ..

Over the weekend, with the help of yongxi and shean, we cleared wheng's sister's place and took a few hours to move stuff using yongxi's pickup. It was rain, stop, rain, stop all day long. xP

My first first was to win $340 on mahjong over 4 or 5 rounds (cant really remember =P) lasting over 8 hours. It is the first time i won so much... heh.. looks like it will be interesting to break this record. =D

Second first was to visit the second-hand/ PI car dealers at Ubi. After Shean lead us there, it seems that she knows quite a few people there! Not surprising, cos after all, she did trade in cars a few times, with this current VW beetle being her latest.

Later in the evening, drove wheng to Borneo Motors to get to know about the current price for vios E auto. Selling at $51888, looks like i will have to wait a while before getting a car. Though likely to head down for a test ride this sun. See if auto cars are ok anot. =P

Work wise, all is fine, getting more stuff to do, which is good. My office is being renovated. heh heh, should get my own desk by next week latest. =D Then can customise my very own space liao. Will have to read up on API standards for mechanical dual seals tomorrow as i have to complete the draft for a report by next week. heh. =D My first report in Seraya.

busy days

Well, busy busy? These few days, been out too much for me to have some time to blog. =P
Dinner meeting with yx and kx at vivocity, badminton at CCK badminton hall, dinner with david, going to NUH, then makan with family etc etc. Almost always on the go, and slept rather early on Wed and thurs i think. =P

Getting used to waking early already, though still somewhat tired from the train ride even though i get to sleep on the way to jurong east in the morning. Hmmmm.. calculations for cost of getting the car is being refined and yes, am still waiting for the coe and car prices to drop. Some say less cars these days due to people going for holidays, while i think it may be due to high petrol prices. maybe it will deter buyers, especially when costs of everything is going up.

Work wise, everything is going on smoothly and although no official take over procedure, clement is kind enough to load me slowly rather than telling me everything in one go. =P Looking forward to going there everyday as there are a lot of stuff to clear, the tiring part is still the travelling though. hmmmm..

Work life not that boring, currently still adjusting and luckily, it gets pretty interesting and fun at office, and mahjong + winning 11 sessions are still going strong. Now is to arrange more exercise time and to learn/develope new skills.

Clean bill of health =D

I was given a clean bill of health after going for checkup at NUH this morning. Took a blood test, 2 vials of blood and 4 tests conducted. Its been about 3 months since i last visited NUH, and the Christmas decoration are up.

Officially in remission for 2 and a half years, half way to being considered cured (requires 5 years of remission), and many more years to come for my journey on Earth. =D Very happy and grateful to be alive and i intend to live more fruitfully as time goes by.

After reading the success principles, realised that i have been already using some of them and will be implementing some of the others first. Step by step, i believe i will complete it in a few years time. I guess it is more of self development and hopefully help others in the near future. It would be a waste if i didnt learn anything from the brush with death. =P

More details of my birthday ...

Talking about surprises, it has been a long time since i had a surprise birthday celebration for me. And it happened at Shell Seraya a few days ago. It was nearing tea time when Cindy emailed me regarding the return of Clement from his chicken pox saga. And i invited her over to chat with Clement as he is in the office.

Soon, she poped by with a box, obviously a cake and yup, i got a surprise celebration. A quick call to the project people and design office and others arrived in less than 5 minutes to our hideout at the end of the building. Ony, Clara, Azizah, Tuck Wah, Francis and Swee Seng brought their smiles and humour with them to our office. =D

Chatted, sang a birthday song and yup, i got to know them much better now. =D Thank you Cindy once again. For it brought me into the Seraya family. Furthermore, today i joined the 'kopi club' officially at 4pm. Looks like i found a tea break hideout liao, and i get to meet more people. heh. =D

At night was a makan session at Sushi Teh. Well.. photos are not ready yet, so i guess will hold the information till i have them ready. =)

Btw, got a new hair style, probably upload later this week, lots of stuff to write but think.. need the sleep more. heh.

As for work wise, things are starting to warm up as i am starting to take over from my colleague and have 1.5 months to do so. A good period i would say and i would be getting my own cubicle by mid Dec. heh.

Its Dec liao, and a year older. =)

Yet again, a flurry of activities for the pass few days, thus am unable to update. And yes, my birthday had passed and am officially 28 years of age, 2.5 years of being in remission already. =D

Definitely a roller coaster ride for me as i had attended Ba gey's wake on Tues, celebrated my birthday on Wed, leslie's birthday yesterday and a wedding to go to today. I guess life goes on and as i move ahead onto my 28th years on Earth, looking forward to create changes in people's lives, positive changes of course. =D

After a long break from writing, i guess it is time to put my 100% into completing that book i had in mind. Although actually wanted to write it after completing WSC and before starting work, plans dont work out as i plan them to be but nonetheless, i will take such changes in my stride and heck, to write it during my free time.
My goal? To complete it by Feb 08 and send it for editing and stuff. =)

In 15 minutes time, will be heading out for a haircut then off i go to the wedding dinner. =D In the mean time, will be setting goals to achieve with specific dates, and i guess the first one is .. for completing that book of mine by Feb 2008.

Departures....

Recently obtained news of a departure of someone in NTU Dragonboating of 06 batch from Butler's msn nick. Visited the blog set up for people to place thoughts and memories of him just a few days ago. Although i realised that i didn't know him personally, felt a bit sad that he has passed on at a relatively young age.

Then yesterday read the news of 5 Singaporean dragonboaters who went missing after the boat capsized. Then met yongxi and got to know that we know one of them personally, as a matter of fact, yongxi just had lunch with 'ba gey' last Monday. Double confirmed that when we read the front cover of 晚報 in the late afternoon.

40 hours and still not found, i really hope that they have drifted down the river and are rescued by some fishermen or villagers downstream, but they have not contacted the authorities yet. Looking at them activating the divers, my heart sinks. Just like the RSS Courageous incident years back.

Somehow, the news of the death of someone i know doesn't seem to affect me that much already. During my close brush with death, I got to know quite a number of fellow cancer patients, survivors and volunteers. As chemo was on a fixed schedule, i get to see the same people every time i went back for treatment, then after a while, they stopped coming. So sometimes i ask the nurses if they had recovered, some yes, some no. Also know of a few who are terminally ill, and are only on painkillers and fighting on with their positive spirits.

So to date, quite a number of people i know or came in contact with had passed on, but i realised that i should concentrate on the living. To feel sadness and keep them alive in my memory (thats why i am wearing my grandmother's ring constantly, for she had given me strength to fight on even after she had passed away), but i will move on with life, to help as many people, not only cancer survivors, as possible. A sad reminder to live life to the fullest at every single moment.

I pray for a miracle that somehow, they will be found downstream, injured but alive. And to get a second chance in life.

2 days in hotel environment = fat

Thursday was my department away day, where the goals and actions for 2008 were discussed and set. Got to know more about the people within my department, what they do etc etc. Also got to know what my own deliverables would be, why 'would'? Cos i get to decide on the finer details. =)

Thus had breakfast, buffet lunch AND buffet dinner at the Royal Plaza hotel on Thursday, fantastic food and atmosphere. The chatting part was very nice too as i got to know more about my manager, Chow and project head, P.S. Learnt stuff and got stuffed over all the good food too! =p

Today was much more interesting as it was a mentor/mentee workshop, where we were introduced to the program and some broad guidelines about it. The best part was that (apart from the food), the trainer used an hour to show us a DVD on Jack Canfield's book on Success principles, to introduce us on how to be successful. =)

I found that to be very interesting and useful in personal development. Although some are known principles and many are aware, but not much people have the discipline to enforce them. To a certain extent, i realised that i have implemented some of the principles and with this book, i get a chance to know what i dont know and also to further clarify and improve on my current ones. =) Also asked about what/how should i approach in learning skills that will enable me to help and encourage cancer patients and family to fight on, be positive during the tough times. But all in all, that will be a long term goal and i hope my passion to help others will stay with me throughout my stay on planet Earth AND continue in other survivors after me (of course after i die of old age =D). Some plans in my head, will make time for it and to make it grow somehow. =)

Thus after a long lunch talking to the trainer, Mr Mak, i headed off to Kinokuniya? to look for the book, couldn't find it, thus went down to Borders to buy before heading to bugis to visit Guan Yin temple at 'four horses road' for some prayers.



Here's the picture of the book and a near 1st time at a 地湖 in mahjong.. so close. =P

Squeezed out in the last 15 mins...

Today was a race against time, starting in the early morning as I just missed the feeder bus just in front of my flat. Had to brisk walk to the next bus stop about 400m away which have more options and took a bus to a bus stop NEAR the MRT station. After which i had to again brisk walk to the station, buying my usual breakfast item: Cheese+pork floss+sausage bun, along the way.

Managed to hop on to the scheduled train, allowing me to reach Jurong East at 7.27am. Alighted from the train, rushed down to catch the company bus which leaves at 7.30 sharp. after all that rushing, i was about 30 secs early as i watched the clock turn to 7.30 the moment i sat down. =P

With one more outstanding assignment left, didn't want to leave it undone for the week, so i rushed it. Finding relevant drawings/data from the design office and printing/scanning them. My first time scanning a A0 size drawing and printing it out on A3. =) The lady at the design office was extremely helpful and the young chap too. Will need to get their names soon.. so pai say. =p

Next was compiling the data and then checking with Mr Li what else was needed. He pointed out the missing required data (luckily i only missed out 2 items) and also wanted to add in a bunch of data with some colour printing required. Thanks to the help of Cindy, managed to get them printed out in the ONLY colour printer in the building. Obtained more help from Cindy in getting files and borrowing the label printer to tag the data nicely before getting it sent out via DHL to people in KL just after 5pm. heh. Thus i learnt a lot from my friendly colleagues yet again! =D

Oh...one last thing i realised i didnt do was to put my overalls to laundry service. i think i left it on clement's chair.. cos i was rushing off to catch the 5.20pm company bus out. =P heh heh. In the end, still missed out one thing. Looks like i have to wait till Monday before getting it sent out for washing. Hope Clement dont get back before me, else so pai say. Leaving my overalls on his seat. =/

Back to the main topic...had bid for COE today, putting my reserve price at $101 and everything was going smoothly until the last 15 mins, where the bids just flooded in and whoosh! Up it went, to the upper range of my prediction of $14,000. Must be the car dealers playing cos for the goods vehicle, from $1, immediately up to $10,001. If you are a normal person, you would have had bid for less right? tsk tsk. Wait for next month... today mkt drop, oil reaching $100/barrel. Should be less people playing. =D

2 assignments completed ... =P

Completed 2 assignments today, one more to wrap up by tomorrow as I will not be in office on both Thurs and Fri. This thurs will be a department away day at some hotel along Orchard Rd and friday will be going to yet another hotel for a mentor workshop for half a day.

The away day will be goal setting for 2008, where i would probably have some targets to achieve or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) within the department. heh. Wonder what it would be and interesting to achieve those, and to also use it as my personal indicators to determine my performance.

As for the mentor workshop, hmmm... dont have much idea about it except that i now know more about my very own personal strategic style after having completed a series of questionnaire and receiving a report about my responses. Cool huh? =D Thus as of now, i scored highest in the ranges of a Logical Processor and Hypothetical Analyzer. heh. Knowing oneself is half a battle won... and i think the results of the questionnaire is rather accurate in reflecting my style. At least now i know how i think and where my focus lies. =D

And have prepared for battle tomorrow afternoon, where my treasure chest have been filled for bidding for COE IF and ONLY IF the price is about $100. hehe .. cos i plan to bid at $101, hoping that the current high oil price, high ERP rates and shaky stock markets will deter car buyers from buying, although there should be an overflow of orders from the previous COE bidding. Thus think COE about 12~14k again .. but better be ready just in case of flukes happening. =D

wedding, mahjong and winning 11 ... and my 1st paycheck from Shell

Thats how i spent this weekend.. =) The wedding lunch at a church at Fort Canning was nice, Jingling's wedding. Hitched a ride on Guifa's Jazz with Wheng and did some catching up with the successful boss, whose business had grown over the pass 4~6 years. Power. =D

After that was meeting yongxi and roy for dinner and winning 11 all the way till 11pm. Talk about fanatic. =P Chatted and relived the good old exam period during our final year where we played winning 11 every night when roy stayed over. Actually, we played winning 11 every single day when we were in hall. =P haha...

Then it was mahjong with fen, yongxi, wheng and i after the gals came back from the wedding dinner till 4 in the morning. And yx displayed his gentlemanly ways by sending fen back, much to our pleasant surprise. And we slept till 8 in the morning before heading over to Neptune Court to transport quite a bit of stuff. hmmm...

Headed back to Bedok for dessert at 85 market, where i get to meet my god-mother and say hi. =D Before back to more winning 11 with yongxi at Clearwater. Played till lunch where we had kfc with yx and his brother issac and some business talks. Watched hong kong drama serials and then napped before meeting my parents for dinner (Of course, yx and bro left for motor show after the HK serials. =P).

Since i obtained my 1st pay (strictly speaking not my 1st paycheck, but it IS a 5 year break since my last... =D), treated my family and wheng to dinner and also gave some allowance to my mom. Heh.. starting pay and i can afford to give her more than i could when i was back in the Navy... looks like having a degree does bring in more $$. So can spend more on family.. which is why i am rather hesitant on buying a car. Waiting for the lucky strike when i can win one ... =D

Well .... that's it to my packed weekend. =D A weekend well spent. Although next time will try to squeeze in some time at NUH as volunteer or at the hospice near woodbridge. Its a long time since i went there liao. hmmm.....

me .. all alone? *gasp*

The horror ... my supervisor headed back home early today as he was feeling unwell with headache. I hope that his vaccination works and he will not get infected with chicken pox. Else that will mean that i will be the ONLY rotating engineer around, with no one to get assistance from. Scary? a fair bit. Exciting? a good bit.

I would rather he be around to guide if stuff crops up, else i will be the only RE during morning meetings with ops and maintenance people. And i can ask for more assignments to handle once i finish up the two i have on hand. One was requested for yesterday and the other was tasked with today. Good 'work out' as i learnt quite a bit more on mechanical seals by doing so. The AIT with Flowserve and getting a report up on seals on site. Previous reading done in my first few days and explanation from Clement was the required basics, and i moved on to looking at failure reports and usage of different plans for different situations.

To think.. never been exposed to mechanical seals in the academic world, and it is such an important equipment for usage of pumps and motors. Maybe it is more used for this particular industry. Hmmm.. nonetheless, the working principle is rather interesting actually, although to design it is rather complex. But i supposed to help in troubleshooting and thinking of possible improvements etc etc. heh .. now only understanding and gaining knowledge and experience stage. =P

Well....looks like i will get used to the travelling soon. This is good news, the not so good news is that... i did not win the car.. YET. The free mazda 2 slipped from my fingers today, but it is not over as there will be other lucky draws and chances to get $100 COE. =P Failures are just terms for 'success that have yet to arrive'. =D

riding in silence ...

Today was my 1st day in the process area alone. As 2 of my colleagues were out of office, and will be for about 2 weeks - one in Bukom for a short assignment, the other kana chicken pox. I wonder if the vaccine i received in Army days is still valid, else i may get it too.

Anyway, was assigned to check out a pump in the process area and after wearing the required PPE or personal protective equipment, which includes a set of earplugs, i cycled into the plant. With the ear plugs on, everything was quiet, very quiet. No sound of wind, nor can i hear myself. When talking to myself, i hear my voice coming from my throat.

With a map in hand, just in case, i reached the area and it was rather big. Luckily saw a fellow worker and asked him on the pump location, of which he helpfully pointed out to me. It was the last pump at the other end of the area.. *phew*! lucky i met him, else will take a long time to locate the pump. Too lazy to proceed to another building with bigger map. =P

Anyway, looks like i will be tackling any challenges that crops up this 2 weeks as it is only me and my supervisor, the senior engineer, as the other 2 are away. Good time to learn, unfortunately, will be on my own to a large extend. But i get to learn a lot, as i had to think of what i think it is and how should i confirm stuff.. haha. Feel like an engineer? not yet, cos i had to double check my suspicions with my senior technician before informing my supervisor. Looking at drawings and at the actual pump is definitely very different. =P

Learning curve established?

Things got exciting over the past 2 days, with me attending more meetings and getting to do a preliminary root cause analysis (RCA) of a defect. Although it has already been thought through by my supervisor and seniors, i missed the meeting cos it was held when i was away on course.

The date has been set for my taking over, which will be on Jan 15. Meaning that i have approx. 2 months to take over from Clement and also to know much much more on just about anything. Exciting and i hope that i can maintain clement's high standards and push it up a notch or two in a year's time. Truth is... it will be difficult as i started from scratch BUT .. it can still be done, and hopefully with as few mistakes along the was as possible. Must treat it as in Navy, where ZERO mistake is my target ... cos mistakes can cost lives onboard ship. So.. i guess zero mistakes is being perfect, and that means i am a nobody. =P

Anyway, apparently my testing with the moisturiser is working as wheng and joanne can spot which side of my face has been 'anti-aged', and that was about 20 hours after i had applied it. So i had just applied the cream to my entire face, doing it nightly as it says 24 hours on the label and i guess my face gets to revitalise itself during the night. =)

Visiting friends day...

Popped over to Weiling's place this morning to visit her son.... and the lovely couple of course. =P Didnt get to see her son since his birth, so drove there with wheng and fen. David and cbt couldnt make it. =P

Reached at 11am, and he was such a cute little baby! 8 plus months and quite afraid of strangers. He cried when fen and wheng tried to pick him up, but to everyone's (even weiling and hubby) surprise, he was quite ok to be picked up by me! Thus as u can see from the photo, i get to be the first to take photo with him. =D



The double rainbow, unfortunately not that clear in the photo for the second one, was spotted by wheng and i as we sat in the back of yongxi's pickup on our way to wala wala for dinner with dawn, roy and later on, uncle teng and mandy. Its been a long time since i saw a rainbow.. next time will relate the story of what REALLY lies underneath a rainbow, cos i been there.. heh.

Anyway, back to today.. After 2 hours of chatting, we headed for lunch at Parkway parade area and then to David's place, a long time since i been there. Several changes with lots of new gadgets. Chatted and played nintendo wii with wheng and fen till 7pm as i have to fetch my dad from the fish farm back home before heading out for dinner with the 2 of them. All in all, a fun day where i caught up with long time no see friends.. heh. =)

Learn guitar? or piano....

Thinking of which musical instruments to learn, as i have a $300 'learning' fund which i can tap on per year from Shell. As 2007 is ending soon, i do not have much time to source for courses which i will be interested in learning, thus will be settling for learning musical instruments as i didnt have the opportunity to learn previously.

Just visited the yamaha music school and obtained the brochure for the teen/adult courses. Fortunately, the new guitar and piano courses will be starting soon, so wondering if i should try the guitar or the piano. As for having the instruments to practise, recently acquired a 2nd hand guitar to practice on and also a possibility of getting a piano too! The question is, whether my fingers have enough dexterity to be able to play any of them! Cant imagine how hard i would laugh if my fingers cramp in the midst of learning to play. =P

If i get the piano, highly likely will go for the piano course, or ask my friend if she would want to and have time to teach me as she is qualified to teach piano. =P Hmmm... not bad, 27 years and getting to nurture my musical genes, which is good as i know i cant sing to save my life. Unless my vocals can cause the villain/s to commit suicide. =P

Stardust....

Went to catch Stardust, the movie, a few days back, think on tues actually. Was meeting yongxi and kaixin for dinner and to pass back kaixin's restored hard disk and retrieved data in her portable one. Took me about 3 hours of tinkering before i managed to get her sister's data out of her virus hit hard disk and then re-formatting the latter before re-installing the OS.

The movie was unplanned but well, it was a good movie nonetheless. They felt that it was a bit lame, the puns and jokes. But it did bring good hearty laughter. =D The plot was nothing new, but the fantasy involved was remarkably good, i think. Enjoyed the fantasy part pretty well, how the story line evolved etc. I guess i am a sucker for such fantasy stuff, and nice to be absorbed into a movie and surreal surroundings and embarking onto adventures. heh.

Hiaz...my life has been an adventure so far, and miss my sailing days where i get to sail to different ports and cities. Staring into the darkness of the night when out at sea, only with the hum of the engines; whisper of the wind; display of lights by the stars; the company of the moon and the glow of the sea. Those were the days.. heh. =)

Deepavali and i'm studying.. =P

Its a holiday today, finally won some moolah from mahjong, playing since last night till early this morning. heh. Lazy day today. Going to revise on the safety supervisor course later on, after watching Heroes season 2, the first 3 episodes in the morning. =P Lobang kindly provided by yongxi.

Kind of a good break, but it was a boring course. Better pass it tomorrow. Else.. heh heh heh. 100 MCQs, 60% passing mark i think. Looking forward to next monday, where i have to continue learning more stuff about my job. Need to build my competency as fast as possible.. 1.6Gb of stuff still in my portable and i only glanced through the title. Have to choose somewhere to start soon.

COE went up for this current bid, hopefully with the high oil prices, increase in ERP and unstable market, less people will want to buy cars... so i can get a cheap COE and get a car soon. Else... have to wait liao. heh. Not really investing in stocks anymore, think is too high and dont want to get caught and make a loss. Looks like my risk appetite is rather small now, especially when i cant monitor it as often as back in NTU.

Still considering and coming up with pros and cons and whether the car is a need or a want. Looks like it will take a long time to decide, so only going in if really a good bargain. =P that is why getting my brother to bid $50 for the COE, heh heh... so if kana $50 COE, confirm will buy a toyota vios or maybe consider the Honda Civic Hybrid to save on fuel consumption.. since i would be saving $12k, thus will be spending the same amount of money, and getting a environmentally friendly car with of course, savings on fuel too! The other thing will be.. to win the Mazda 2 at the lucky draw. That will be a good way to start off too! heh heh. =P

Meanwhile, have to get back to office and check out Shell website to decide on setting up my KPIs and what i want to achieve by end of 2007, and get more familiarised with shell seraya, the people and working culture. =)

anyway, finally get to download pictures off my not that new phone, but nonetheless, it is still the first time i downloading the pictures...


For my new portable hard disk and the facial scrub and anti-aging moisturiser. And my experiment, almost a week of applying it onto one side of my face... hmmm.. how long before the other side look more haggard? =P

solar car team on the next phrase of their lives..=)

Well, finally..in less than 2 months after our solar car project was called off. The 3 of us had all found jobs in various sectors. Mine was a lengthly process which took 4 months; kaixin was offered last week, slightly below 3k at Cameron and yongxi just signed his contract today, with the highest salary among us at DSTA, yes more than me too - well done!! (kx and i piling pressure on him for makan based on this.. heh heh)

And i can also finally rest easy and happy for them for one had found what she wanted to try out, with possibility of overseas movement. The other.. well, good pay and potential move towards being a Professional Engineer. Which means that the entire solar car team had successfully transited into working life; 2 in marine industry, 2 in oil/petrochemical industry, 1 in finance, 1 in semi-conductor and 1 in defense. Why rest easy? Cos i have finally completed my responsibilities towards my team members, self-imposed responsibilities cos dont think anyone knows that i am shouldering that anyway. =P Nonetheless... very happy feeling with a tinge of disappointment, and that disappointment was out of my control although we did good. =D

Now everyone is on the next stage ... my best wishes to all, to those just started and also to those who had embarked on their careers a few months before too! =)

3 yrs down the road ...

Yesterday was my grandmother's 3rd year death anniversary. It follows the lunar calendar, nonetheless, it would be rather close to the 'western' calendar we are using. 3 years since her death would be 3 years from the day i was admitted to NUH for chemotherapy. Can still recall very vividly events which unfolded that day.

It was in the morning when we dashed down to my grandmother's place where we had a last visit to her as she was on her way to the other side. My first time with someone passing on and i remembered she responded as i called out to her. Soon it was near noon and i had to head over to NUH and wheng accompanied me as my parents (my dad being eldest son) had to take charge over the funeral. Thus my 1st experience with chemo drugs was with wheng, fen and david (who came over in the afternoon i think) and actually cant remember who came over also. =P Cos the main memory was the extreme pain all over me, especially at the arm portion where the drugs were injected. 4 hours it took, and the nurse told me cos it was my 1st time, so they went slow.... and for the rest of the chemo, it took about an hour.

Only managed to attend my grandmother's funeral once, in the afternoon when i was discharged from hospital. Weak and tired, only remember crying quite a bit, for i do miss her even though most of the time when i visit her, i would just sit in the living room, and watch tv with her. She would speak in teochew and i answer mainly in mandarin. =P Can still remember years back, when i made 'snow-skin' mooncakes for her and she ate them all, saying that she prefers my imperfect red bean moon cakes over the others. heh.. 3 yrs down the road, thinking back still makes me tear.

Sometimes i still think back, and felt that my grandma helped me in my recovery from cancer and i appreciate it very much. Life is unpredictable and that is what make me treasure everyone around me so much. From family to friends to sometimes even strangers when i feel like just helping them out when i can. That is why i want to spend more time with my parents, for they had done so much for me. =) Looking out for the next place to bring my mom to... maybe to Japan next year, then US the year after next. Maybe if with bro's sponsorship, can bring both of them overseas next year. heh.

strained right wrist and half an older face

Went for badminton today at Chua Chu Kang stadium, it was a good workout, and at least my entire body is not aching today. Unfortunately, after the 4th game, my wrist is starting to hurt and i confirmed strained it on the 5th and 6th game as they were short of a player.

After the game, decided to try the taking a bus home, thinking that it might be just faster than the train. Well, sadly, it was not. As bus 67 moved at incredible speeds at Dunearn, Bt Timah areas, i was in high spirits as the bus was moving fast, not much traffic and passengers. All the hopes ended as 67 turns into Serangoon rd, with the deepavali celebrations going on and light up, the bus slowed to a crawl. After 15 mins in that area, it sped up again until along Geylang rd where traffic slowed again. Changed bus opposite SAFRA and ended home at 1105, an hour and 45 mins after i left Chua Chu Kang interchange. Well, in theory, it should be faster by train and i will get to find out next week. =P

As for the older face thingy, bought a anti-aging moisturiser for a trial as i need to have some protection from the sun for my face too. Applied it to half my face, yes, EXACTLY half my face. So in 4 weeks time, if u see one side 'cao lao' and the other side less 'cao lao', it will mean that the product works. More updates with pictures once i get the sony erisson software to work on my Win2000 OS. =P

Pondering over idea of buying a car...

The week passed with thoughts of buying a car to make my working life a tad bit less tiring as i could then drive to work. So have been weighing the pros and cons for the past week, especially since i have more time to think about it during the breaks and lulls of the course i am attending.

An hour more sleep per working day sounds good, and so does the freedom to stay back late in office when i want or need to instead of having to catch the company shuttle bus out to Jurong East MRT at 2 scheduled times. And if i am tired, can always get some rest before driving home slightly after peak hours. Having a car also gives me ability to meet friends in a 'faster' way as compared to public transport (the last time at greenwood, i left home 1.5 hrs early and was still slightly late) and also the chance to send friends home too! =D

Although i had considered the possibility of having to buy a car when i signed up for shell as the workplace will be either at P. Bukom or Jurong island, at least i have the financial ability to buy it. But i never thought that i will be considering about it so soon, less than a month at work actually. =/

To own a car will cost about $1k per month, factoring in petrol, parking (at least it is free at seraya), insurance (should i register it under wheng as her insurance will be cheaper due to the fact that she obtained her license 8~9 years ago while mine is less than 2 years old?) and taxes. Not to mention the downpayment that i require to reduce the initial loan amount, thus currently thinking of an idea to benefit friends rather than the bank and the guy in mind would be mr cbt, although yet to ask him about it. hmmmmmm...

Anyway, the cost of getting a car will be $1000 less savings a day and the closest alternative would be to take a cab (will have to call a cab for pickup at office), which should cost about $30~35; or if i hitch a ride with any colleague (which i am still getting to know them), the taxi from their place will be less than $25 (so far, all stay in the west, from redhill to jurong or some in the north). This will allow me to take about 30 taxi trips in a month. And being the miser like me, i will most likely be taking the bus anyway. =P

Saving a thousand dollars more per month is a shit load of money and that comes with the ability to treat friends to a good meal when i feel like it (of which a few treats are coming up as soon as i get my paycheck). heh heh. And also the increase in my capacity to investment in stocks, although nowadays, i think it will way too high liao. So waiting for a market crash or a market major correction, which will give me a better window to invest, and if i can maintain my my current performance of >50% gains in investing, i would get over $30k of profits over the next five years and savings of over $100k (if all goes swee swee for everything, but as they say in stocks: past performance is not an indication of future performances - may go up to 70% gains.. heh heh heh =P). With that load of savings, i would be able to go into property as the chances of property market to ONLY go up for the stretch of the next 7 years is slim.

Everything is cyclical, and since nobody can predict the future, but i want to be prepared for it. So when the down time comes, i would (in theory) be able to get a private apt/house or HDB flat 'cheap' by then. And hopefully on my way to financial freedom (if all goes smoothly according to plan). i expect some deviation on my plans but heck, change is the only constant anyway. =P

Yesterday watched Arsenal vs Man U with yongxi and leslie at wheng's place, out 'bachelor's' corner and played winning 11 during half time break. heh heh. Not bad leh, with duty free Hoegaarden and chips. So roy! if u are reading this, will attempt to jio u again next week cos u are on duty if i calculated correctly - need your timetable dude, its going to be soccer night every sat if possible.
Current beer stock = 18 bottles of Hoegaarden, 3 cans of heineken. Peanuts = zero. Cheese balls = 9 packets.

1st day at course and rash outbreak!

Today is the first day of my Ministry of Manpower: Oil/Petrochemical Industrial Safety Supervisors Course conducted by NTUC at Redhill there. Woke up at a gloriously late time of 7.30am. heh heh. The course is from 9.30am till 4.30pm, so can wake a lot later than usual.

Reached there just in time at 9.28 as the location is very close to redhill mrt station. Surprisingly met a fellow colleague from Shell Chemicals Seraya, Katherine from maintenance, thus i didnt have to undergo the course alone. Which is a good thing as the course did get rather boring and i get to know and understand a bit more on what maintenance engineers do at seraya. Not to mention the cute picture of her baby gal is always smiling on the screen of her handphone. Oh! And also get to know that she is a professional engineer or PE and recommends that i try for that if possible after i accumulate 5 years of experience. heh heh.... maybe can incorporate into my plan...good stuff to do for semi or full retirement. =P

Too bad didnt get to go for badminton session today as i had to pay a visit to my family doctor at bedok reservoir, having hitched a ride from yongxi. Eczema was the cause and was given antibiotics, cream and anti-itch pills. Thank goodness i did not go for badminton, else will be scratching like a cat during tomorrow's session.

Learnt of a good thing today, which is.. i get to claim allowance for taking the course, so heh heh, a bit of extra income to compensate for going to the doctor's for my eczema. =P

On the serious note, really considering the option of buying a car so that i can sleep one more hour in the morning and also enable me to stay in office late and not be restricted by the bus schedule. Need to slowly move up my tempo at work and hopefully start to contribute more soon. heh.

Over one gigabyte of reading material

Back home today with the cute piece of hardware, otherwise known as portable harddisk, loaded with over 1 gig of reading material for rotating equipment(RE). Although i am not rubbing my hands, drooling with anticipation over reading such large amount of data at the moment, there is a part of me that wants to read them for i need to fill in critical gaps in my knowledge of RE.

Luckily, it does seem rather interesting in finding out the root cause for pump/compressor failures. Had my first chance of encountering a pump which was brought to the workshop and observed effects of corrosion and erosion on the impeller, diffuser and the casing itself. Thus my first 'On the Job Training' or OJT in Shell, my last being 9 years back as an AO onboard RSS Victory. heh.. brings back memories.

After which was sitting in a discussion in regards to a blower (a type of compressor) and a meeting regarding the Co-generators, of which we were given a physics/electrical lecture by the Lead electrical engineer (who is a PE). Luckily i can still recall my Electric circuits and physics module.. i think.. so understand the front part until it came to E=44.4 x f x N x flux and V=E-IZ (where I is inductance and Z is impedance).. then the subsequent complex formulae. Woot! So cheem for the electrical part. Finally understand it when he ran through that again (some other mechanical engineers also got lost) and then the impact of it on our gas turbines.

So anyway, looks like i would have some stuff to do at home for this 2 weeks as i will be on course at Redhill area, which is good as i feel rather '做 bo' for quite a while liao. So other than reading up, is to level up in my knowledge of MS Excel as i will have to tidy up the data and maybe learn some usage of macros along the way, so looks like the 'help' function is going to be my best friend again. =P

Busy weekend =)

Played approx. one and a half hours of badminton on friday night..before getting a ride to the airport by clement as he picked up his wife from the airport. It was so physically demanding, with the guys so pro in badminton. Heh. Leaving me with amazed look on my face and breathless after trying to dash, stretch and jump after their powerful shots.

Headed home and went for mahjong session at Wheng's place and slept at 3 am. =P Woke at 11 am and packet lunch home for my winning 11 appointment with yongxi. After a few games, it was the house warming event at my aunt's place, where we played mahjong again till 9pm. heh.

After late dinner, not done yet, as we (wheng, yongxi and me) headed to wheng's place for soccer watching with leslie n jean. Popcorn, beer, choya n cheeseballs were the tidbits for the night. And after watching thrashing of Middlesbrough by Man U and goal galore for Chelsea, Yongxi dropped me off at home before he went to his bro's place for the night. With all the back to back activity, yongxi and i called dawn to wish her a very happy birthday + a share in the gifts too!! =P Hope her luck will turn and all will be smooth sailing from now on!

Hiaz, adjusting back to working life again as it is a long time since i know that i have to rest on Sunday night .... since 5 years ago. heh. Gotten to know quite a few colleagues through badminton on Friday and they were a wonderful bunch, hopefully i can recover by next thursday for the next badminton session. Right now, not only my thigh muscles hurt, but it is the muscle group that goes all the way to my buttocks. My right shoulders and arm, especially my forearm... are sore too! hiaz... Too long without exercise liao.

Will have to invest in a portable harddisk by tomorrow, so that i can download some very important reading material that will aid me in my understanding of engineering applications for rotating equipment. Need to compile a list of essential formulae, unit conversion etc for quick reference, and the most important will be... where all the information are located. heh. Too lazy to head down to Sim Lim for the harddisk... hopefully Challenger will NOT be that expensive as compared to stuff in Sim Lim. else.... may be forced to head down anywayz.

Short day today.

Read, read and read..learning basic knowledge of the pumps and mechanical seals would not be enough by just reading alone. Just as i was wondering how long before i will be exposed to an actual problem, i was tasked to follow up on a compressor which had generated too high a vibration today. Or rather, tasked to investigate concurrently with more experienced engineers so that i can have on the job training.

Well, looks like its going to be more challenging very soon. =P

Anyway, heres a picture of the stuff i bought from Hong Kong for myself, not to mention a surprise find in the hotel washroom.... it is none other than.. Darlie's sister. =P




Well, need to go pack for badminton with colleagues after work tomorrow. heh.. going to get some exercise liao. =P

Where my time went ...

Well, after a few days of monitoring, just confirmed today that i spend approximately 4 hours a day travelling. At least i can catch some sleep in the morning as i can sleep on the train and on shuttle bus, which means i could recoup about an hour of sleep during the morning trip, as for the return trip, only 20 minutes of sleep during the shuttle out, as the train will be packed and finding a seat is a 1 in 4 chance so far. =P

More self study today, plus another meeting. Looks like i will be sitting in on morning meetings liao. And try to pick up stuff from there. Looked at a few pumps that are taken out for maintenance, and by doing so, i realised there are lots to read up. So.. read about 140 pages worth on pumps, the different types and stuff today. The formulae definitely looked familiar, thank goodness they are applied liao, no need for me to calculate. heh.

Well... wanted to jog a bit today, looks like too late. Maybe tomorrow... hmmmm... need to exercise a bit before the badminton game on Fri, else sat will be sore muscles throughout my body liao.

Period of self-learning

Was slightly late this morning after i missed the feeder bus to the MRT and was delayed by 10 mins which snowballed all the way as i missed the shuttle bus too! Thank goodness i caught the 715 just as it was about to leave the bus interchange.

Completed the Safety Induction Course and went for a meeting in the morning, sat in the meeting actually and listened to the updates etc. So learnt much and at the same time, realised i didnt know much too! =P

After the morning meeting, it was back to the terminal to settle administrative stuff and it was mainly online learning. Good news is, i received guidelines on my job scope, not that good news is the requirement for knowledge of Computational Fluid Dynamic analysis, and luckily, at my stage, will only require awareness of it. Lots of other stuff required too! So i guess it will take some time for self learning before i can brush up my competency in various fields from awareness to knowledge of and in the longer term - Mastery !!! =P

Well. Looking forward to exploring the plant this week and gain a better perspective of how the pumps work and relevant considerations.

As for the people in there, mainly a fun bunch with good attitudes. There will be a badminton session this Friday and will probably join in for some sweating out and much needed exercise.

Packed with activities for the past few days

Well, its a good thing, not bad. =) So packed with activities that i cant be at the com long enough to blog. heh.

Anyway, spent Thursday getting the workstation up and running as the software has to be updated (took almost an hour!) and then logging on to settle my email, personal particulars etc. Getting more settled in and toured a small part of the area, to the other buildings, but not to the plant itself as i have to undergo a safety course on Monday 1st to ensure that i know the dangers and of course, the safety precautions/practices before i am certified to go to the plant. May be getting a pager as handphones are not allowed in the plant, only intrinsically safe pagers are allowed for safety reasons.

Then it was mahjong on Thursday evening, and went to Shell house at UE square on Friday, which lasted till afternoon and i met up with Fen and Boon Tat for lunch as i was in the area. Long time since i last met up with cbt. More mahjong on friday night, and unfortunately, lost my 老大 position to cbt in snooker. Well, he deserved to win as he has be training regularly.

Yesterday was spent driving around to help my aunt 請神 to their new place and perform some rites. So toured Hougang for quite a bit, now a bit more familiar with that place liao. heh. It was then makan with my family before heading to pick Winnie up to go to Reiko's 21st birthday party at Home Team chalet at pasir ris park. Nice party, too bad winnie and i couldnt stay long as she has to rush back NTU for her FYP experiment results and for me, more packing up and only managed to catch 1st half of Aston Villa vs Man U before conking off after a long day.

Well, Queen Zee, will have more updates on the job by tomorrow ba. =P Think will take a while to settle in and probably will tag along with the technicians to take readings on the pumps and compressors on tues or wed, after i pass my safety course on Monday.

My 1st day ... and 200th post!

First day to Shell Chemicals. Rather long journey to the west, taking 78 minutes to reach Jurong East interchange. Took the 715 to Jurong Island, which took another 18 minutes, and arrived 14 minutes early at the pass office. As the pass office for employment passes only opens at 0830, i queued up as there are 6 in the queue (being the kiasu Singapore). Luckily i was kiasu.. cos just before 0830, another 10 queued up behind me. =P

Made my pass, went thru rather tight security and onto the bus to my workplace. Due to good satellite images from google maps, i knew where to go, or rather, my guess was correct. heh =)

Well, they were surprised to see me as they got the news that some new guy is coming only yesterday as the HR was on leave for the past week plus. So.. nothing was prepared for me, they were apologetic but i am totally fine. Cos i get to meet people as i hunt about for my stuff. Met almost all the department people, grabbed the last PC available, had my pass made and drew my overalls, helmet (apparently NEW design with shell logo in front as everyone also happily went to draw it), raincoat (in a cool bright yellow colour), torchlight, safety glass and safety boots. Will be tailor-making my clothes next wed and also my own prescription safety glasses. so cool!

Also learnt about organisation structure, roles and responsibilities, pumps - centrifugal, rotary, positive displacement and mechanical seals. Of which, there are so much more info to absorb so that i can troubleshoot and implement predictive maintenance? i still not sure yet, but heh.. its only the 1st day. =P

The only downside so far... is that i have to wake up at abt 0545 in the morning, so that i can make it to the 0730 shuttle bus at Jurong East Interchange...hmmm..maybe if the COE drops further, then can consider getting a car more seriously. =P For that hour plus more of sleep everyday.

The start of another adventure, hopefully, a long one. =P

Nervous? Slightly. As i sit here, yawning away at the thought of waking up at 615am in the morning to proceed to work. Seems like i had travelled back in time to my Navy days, except this time, i stop off at Jurong East instead of Lakeside MRT.

Wondering what to wear and what to bring. Probably shirt and pants, with my sling bag and some stuff inside. =P Writing pens and paper? My earphones to utilise my FM radio function on my mobile phone is a must. =) Exciting to see my work place. Looks huge when i spy on the place using google maps. Although still cannot confirm if that place is my workplace. Well. Lets hope i dont get too lost on that island. heh.

Realised that i may have to wake earlier for breakfast. hmmmm.... excited at the thought of a new adventure, new friends, new challenges. heh.

On food and dream...

Well, takes a long time to prep photos, nonetheless, had completed the food tour of Hong Kong over my 4 days there. Enjoyed all meals except for one, which i had ordered wrongly and had the healthy breakfast set of milk with oatmeal. =P

Dreamt of going to workplace last night, probably as i was thinking of how to get there and wondering what to expect. Images of the workplace i will be at in Shell in my dream is still vivid in my mind. Wonder if it will be the same as in reality. It would be a case of dejavu if it was totally the same as reality, not to mention a bit frightening. Cos i would use that power to dream of toto winning numbers. Well, what would you expect me to use that power for? =P Hmmm... on lame thoughts, if the workplace is as had dreamt of, won't it mean that it is a dream job? heh heh

Anyway, back to makan in Hong Kong...


The vegetarian food is rather delicious and of a generous helping at the temple beside the big Buddha. We had the meal after climbing up the stairs to have a closer look at the Buddha and the surrounding landscape, which is rather nice. Had roasted goose and pigeon for dinner, my 1st time eating both. Goose was very good, and the pigeon is rather unique with a 'wilder' taste than duck meat.


Ordered wrongly and was served the milk with oatmeal. Yucks... but .. oh well, it is supposed to be healthy. Lunch as good with the pork balls and especially the pork balls with fish maw fillings, though it is a bit too salty. Dinner on Saturday was with Ray and his friends, with the good recommendation of 糖朝, where we had good food and the trademark BUCKET of 豆花. Very smooch and soft, and the bucket was big enough for 13 bowls of it. Woot! After dinner with Ray and gang, went to temple street for trying out the gui lin jelly. Also a big bowl S$5 only, enough for 3. Also a must try. =P


Woke up later on the last day, so had tim sum for brunch at 小肥羊. Not bad, but nothing fantastic. The highlight of the entire trip was the tea time at 池記, where the wanton and crab porridge is a MUST try! Crab porridge came in a bucket, a smaller one, enough for 5+ bowls and costs only S$10+. The wanton was superb with fresh prawns, and it was the ordinary ones as the special wantons were sold out as they make only 20 bowls per day. Normal ones are so good, wonder how power the special made ones are. Also chanced upon an old man selling roasted chestnuts at S$2 per pound. It is not only cheap, but very well done. =D

Anticipation ....

Returned from Hong Kong last night, with another 9 bottles of Hoegarden beer added to the supply at Wheng's place for the weekly (whenever possible) soccer screening. Last heard is that Leslie would be joining us, as it is better than watching it alone at home. I guess it is a male thing. =P

Spent most of today sleeping, resting for the next adventure ahead. And as i am arranging the photos, i was searching for bus time tables for that isolated island. Luckily, with Dawn's photo-memory, she informed me that the bus on the island is 715, and with that and google, i found the bus company that gives that service.

Thus, i found out the going to work will be a long ride using public transport, just like back in Navy days where i have to wake early in the mornings to go Tuas Naval Base. I guess some things never change. =P

For Wed, it will take abt 20 mins from my place to Pasir Ris MRT, and 52 mins to Jurong East MRT and another 22 mins to Jurong Island Check point by bus 98. I cant find much information on bus 715 on the internet, guess it is a lousy bus company to NOT have a website at all. tsk tsk. So which means that i will spend approx. 94 mins to get ot the checkpoint and to the pass office to make my jurong island pass in Wed. After which is another short bus ride to Shell Chemicals in Seraya. So to make it to the pass office at 0815, it will mean that i have to leave home by 0645, to give 10 mins buffer = leave at 0635, thus wake at 0620. *sob* Lets hope the shuttle bus by Shell is available somewhere in the east, at least i can nap more on the bus. =P

Oh well, feeling rather anxious of the approaching 1st day of work, of which the HR there did say that i WILL be late on the first day (she expects it as the pass office only opens at 0830), and i hope my future colleagues will be fun people to work with. heh. =P

Hong Kong day 1 plus...

Why plus? Cos no time to upload and settle the photos for day 2. Instead, managed to get the part 2 of day one up. =P

Anyway, for day 2, it was an interesting breakfast before heading up Lautan Island to visit the Big Buddha and subsequently, vegetarian lunch at the buddist temple. It was an interesting bus ride up the hills as the cable car was under maintenance. It was breath-taking up at the buddha statue and we also came across Anita Mui's tablet, with plenty of flowers and gifts from fans.

After that, went down to the MTR station and shopped at the factory outlets, bought some good stuff at rather cheap prices. Then it is to warehouse outlets for wheng and mom to get clothes for as little as SGD 1... yes.. 1 dollar for a blouse or t-shirt. In all, the clothes/dresses/shorts total about 20 plus in quantity and average about 4 sing dollars. Woot! That is cheap, unfortunately, only ladies wear are so cheap... will add in the location next time ba. when i update with pictures. =P.

Well, back to the photos on day 1, cute translation of 'waterloo'; the ladies market; with plenty of cute stuff and 'cheap' buys but bargaining is a required skill. Lastly, me and mahjong Den. =D




So tired... and so many photos .. heh.. well, looks like i have something to do on mon and tues lor. And will need to find out more about bus service in Jurong Island so that i can take the bus to Shell Chemicals after i get my pass made at the pass office at jurong island on wed morning. In the middle of an adventure in Hong Kong, and a new adventure coming up on Wed. =P

Day 1 in Hong Kong

Flew off from Changi airport at 11 am in the morning with Cathay Pacific airlines. A rather pleasant flight with Pirates of the Carribean: World's End to entertain me. =) And soon, we landed in Hong Kong, and it was a shock for me as i fell asleep just before touch down and was rudely awoken by the jolt of the aircraft wheels touching down on the runway.

We took slightly more than half an hour to pass the immigration as the queue was VERY long, and i took a photo with my mom with the count down clock to 2008 Olympics. We took the airport transfer (which was included in the package, else rather ex.) to the hotel and along the way, get to visit HK Disneyland's .... hotels. haha.



Was at Niu Ren street and Mong Kok area for the rest of the night as it was already 6pm when we left the hotel to explore Kowloon. The dinner was ... very good actually, with pork chop bun and maggie mee. Yes. More photos when i get back. Too tired to add the night scenes and more about the food. Actually wanted to take photo of the food BEFORE we eat, but forgotten all about photo taking when it arrived. =P

Well.... all in all, Hong Kong was amazingly big! Yes... i know it is a lot bigger than Singapore, just that in HK drama serials, there are so much city scape that... hmmmm... never expect that much green hills and undeveloped hiterland around. Good good. a few photos to show the difference, maybe update when i get back. heh. And oh... visited a mahjong club along the street... didnt get in though, cos the cigarette smoke was so thick, one could probably get cancer faster than he can lose some money. =P

Weather is ok. Warm in the afternoon, a bit of smog as the sky was hazy, though dont have the burning smell, but think is smog... like what i breathed in in bangkok years back.

Other than that, wheng, my mom and i enjoyed it so far, tomorrow is off to the visit the Buddha.. er... somewhere near the airport. =D So will update again tomorrow!

Happily busy today

Well, finishing up on what i need to hand over to the next solar car team and probably claim some money back before heading back home to pack for tomorrow's trip to Hong Kong. Pretty packed schedule, and hope can get clear skies at Hong Kong so i can take some good slides. Will be bringing the FM2 over, it is nice playing with slides, now have to find time to revise a bit on it. heh.

I may get to update me blog while there as there is free internet access, just see if i have the energy to do so at the end of the day, better than waiting till i come back and would have lost some of the memories liao. =P This shows that i am getting old. heh.

Back from phuket ...

Touched down at Changi airport last night as kai xin, yong xi and i returned from the relaxing holiday at Phuket. It was a fun and exciting trip with plenty of action and not to mention, travel insurance claims. Fortunately, the claims were for minor illnesses, so not that bad.

The pictures are not with me at the moment, so cant post any of it yet. Would be interesting to do a day by day account, but rather sum it up in a post or two.

Thanks to melvin's Thai friend, Dao, who lives in Phuket, we were able to get discounts off for makan, diving and most importantly, where to get good local food. We even went to Krabi on a road trip on Sunday, where yongxi and i slept most of the time in the back of a truck, which is enclosed and air-conditioned. Thank goodness for that!

Spent most of the time on the beach, getting some sun and a bit of a tan, just a tiny bit of tan as i was using 70 spf sunblock, which is very water proof as the seawater just rolls off and the remaining water are like crystal beads on my body. Yongxi and Kaixin got noticeably tanned... although kaixin looks more like malay now. =P

Went for a dive too! A day at the dive spot and 2 dives were made. I saw, for the 1st time: giant trigger fish, moray eel, mantis shrimp, pacific lionfish, barracuda, garden eel, nudibranch, transparent cleaner shrimps and puffer, box and porcupine fish! Not to mention a very close encounter with a turtle, think leatherback, which just swam past in front of my face, so close that i could have touched it if i reached out. =D

Well, will update again with pictures once i get them! =D

Back from 93 officer makan.. =D

The last 93 officer makan was more than a year back at Greenwood Fish Market, which has fantastic food, and cosy atmosphere. Too bad it was too cosy that a group of 12 would be a bit cramped. Thus i reserved a pizza place down the street instead.

From a group of 11, 3 were unable to make it due to work, sailing and personal reasons, thus final attendees were Giam (crabbiest, as he is full col, the rest less crabby =P), Chee Lay, Francis, Henry (who actually looked like an investment banker =P), Desmond, Chee Hun, Huey Wen and obviously, me. =P Left home at 1745, thinking that it should be enough to get there on time by bus, which was good timing as there was traffic jam and i got there just on time, while chee lay was the earliest, reaching there 5 minutes before time.

Soon, the rest arrived and started chatting. Although it was met to be a simple get together, somehow it ended up with 2 news from me, which is after retiring 4 years ago, i finally graduated and also obtained offer from Shell. heh. Also did some catching up on what everyone is doing, and stuff. Everyone looked like 5~6 years back, not much changes. And it was back to old times as we revisited the fun times, high stress periods etc. Much laughter as we looked back into past events and stuff. =)

Rounded off with ice cream treat from giam, and more chatting among the 5 of us as Francis, Henry and Chee Hun had to make their way back 1st. And thus ends the 93 officers makan, as the saying goes... 天下無不散之宴席. So we went our own ways and will meet up again in a year's time, maybe earlier, during Steadfast's commissioning and when i strike toto. =D

Shedding off the secret of being offered .....

a career in Shell!

Well, it is the first of October today, and it is time when i can happily announce that i will be re-entering the work force after retiring to increase my education level 4 years ago. Why a secret, cos apparently, there is a vacancy available and i am the only one among the gouramnians team singapore who is a graduate and could start early. So as to not increase the anxiety of others, the Shell HR, Grace, informed me not to tell until Oct. Nonetheless, one smart detective among team singapore had actually sniffed out the secret before i wrote this post.. hmmmm. Smart! =P

Thinking back, it was fun while in the Navy and rather sad that i have decided to leave, and left. Miss the days back in Tuas Naval Base and shipboard life, with fun and laughter and a whole lot of stress too. Well, good news is, will be meeting up 10 fellow officers from RSS Vengeance tomorrow night for dinner. Good to have a chance of catching up. Looking forward to it.

Was supposed to sign the contract last week, but was postponed till tomorrow, but was yet again postponed to this wed cos the HR gal, Jennette had to go out field. But i'm ok. As long as they dont retract the offer. =P

Well, felt very lucky to have been offered the opportunity to work in shell after a 3 month process. Applied for it in the first week of Jun, and it was the first resume i had sent out. Received an online questionaire a fortnight later and subsequently an interview in Jul. As my time was taken up with the solar car project, it was at the back of my mind, which was nerve racking at times as it was a long 3 weeks wait before i received a response. =P And off i went to the magical land of Gourami for an intensive experience, met plenty of fun and able people and of course, enjoyed myself. =D

So, here i am, sitting i front of my computer, smiling away as i feel very thankful for being lucky enough to be offered a job at Shell. Hopefully, the people there will be fun and have a good work environment like in the navy. i guess work stress will be present, and i hope that it would be of a level which i can manage. heh. And yes, this is the reason why i am going for 2 short trips, one to phuket with the solar car team members who are still unemployed xP; the other to bring my mom for a holiday before i get all busy again. Very happy to be bringing my mom overseas again (the 1st being a backpack trip to Europe, and yes, my mom is tough though i carry the backpack while she carries the day pack =D) as she had been delivering newspapers to support the family for more than 20 years already, so want to fulfill her wishes to visit every corner of planet Earth, well, maybe i bring her to a new place every year. heh. =P Wanted to bring my dad over, but unfortunately, someone has to stay back to deliver the papers. hmmm...

2 short trips coming up. ..

Just paid for 2 trips today, one for Phuket and the other for Hong Kong. Woot! It is going to be a tight Oct, with me flying off to Phuket from 4th to 8th, for a day's dive and 3 days of lazing in the sun, snorkelling etc with Yongxi, kaixin and melvin (navy friend).

Before that, will be meeting up with officers from RSS Vengeance (93) on Tues evening(#3), and very grateful to huey wen for helping out in arranging the meet up. It has been a year since we last met, i think. From what i heard, Giam already a full COL, with the rest either 2 crabs or 1 crab, and 2 CPTs i think.. hmmm.. think they are getting crabby, that's why. Well, in theory, i would be one crab by now if i didn't retire then. heh. Time flies.

As for second trip in Oct, will be to Hong Kong with my mom and girlfriend. It will be my first time to Hong Kong, for my mom too, but Wheng would be more experienced as it would be her 3rd time. Haven't told her that we actually have 30kg worth of FREE excess baggage back..... cos it may be damaging to my bank account. Oh well, will probably tell her when i deem it is the correct time to say so. Heh. =P

Just back from Fong Seng's birthday BBQ at east coast. It has been ages since i last went there for BBQ. Last time was like, 10 years ago? hmmm... His mom cooks fantastic bee hoon, and the meat were very well marinated. So it was good food (#1), chatted and also met new friends (#2). Or rather, finally get to know the names of some MAE people. heh =D

Well, as for why the sudden flurry of trips....the reason will be out soon, cos now is still not the right time to tell. =P

Carbon fibre laying - my first time + meeting Gouramians

Met up with team Singapore Gouramians on Monday night for dinner, but only 3 of us turned up and had delicious thai food at Marina Square (Thai Express). My first time there, not crowded, nice tom yam and curry. The fried squid were fantastic too. Due to various circumstances, only Jenny, Jay and myself were there, nonetheless, it was good food and even better company. =D Chatted about school, stuff and of course, Gourami gossips and the long wait for the answer. =P Looking forward to Reiko's birthday, so we can meet up again. heh. =)

On tuesday, went down to school and we epoxied the 3rd layer of carbon fibre and also the cross-bracing test ribs for the front part. Hopefully it will provide sufficient rigidity to the top shell and thus settle the learning curve for carbon fibre laying. heh. Oh... and handed down instructions for the equipment and stuff in the wind tunnel lab, as well as explained as much as possible. Hopefully, all will go well. Time to type all available contacts and procedures to be handed down... probably tomorrow. heh.

Mid autumn festival at Chinese Gardens

Went to the Chinese gardens on Sunday evening after we realised that my dad could not get back in time for us to use the car on Sat. So spent the evening playing mahjong of which i lost $32 after 2 rounds. Thankfully, i fought back on the very last game with a 5 'fan' win and recouped $40. =D

So.. it was a trip to the gardens for a stroll and it is about a 40 minutes drive to that place at Yuen Ching road,i think. Had a wonderful evening with my mom, girlfriend, bro, sis-in-law as we strolled about, admiring the lanterns and chatting away.

We reached just after sunset and at first, the entrance fee of $12 was a bit too hefty in my view, nonetheless, it was all worth it as we were treated to a fantastic performance by a troupe from Sichuan on acrobatic acts, fire-breathing and face changing (變臉). Trying to embed it in my blog, if successful, hope all will enjoy it. Still very amazed at how he would be able to change it instantaneously and i was staring at him all the time. One minute of performance would have required 20 over years of training.

The face changing master was extraordinarily quick with the change. And after some changes on stage, he came down to the audience where he dazzled everyone by shaking hands and changing his 'face' instantaneously without warning. The following clip is while he is on stage.



After the face changing master, is the fire breathing master. Amazed that this guy can hold so much kerosene? or any other fuel inside his mouth or, i dont know where. heh. A handy man to have when having BBQ, that is for sure. the conversation would probably go like this:

me: 'hi, could u toast this mash mellow for me pls?'
fire breathing guy: 'sure! Booooooooooooooo!'
me: 'wah... think you BBQ-ed my hand too!! AAAHHHH!'

Except that the food will be spluttered with his saliva too ..... bleah! =P

Handing over, for the next lap

Would be handing over the solar car project during the next few weeks to the next team, starting tomorrow. i guess. Still have loads on my mind, and also possible design modifications or upgrades and major overhaul to our current design so that the new design will be able to conform to new rules and regulations for the South African solar car challenge.

Think handing over will be a challenge in itself as i have to ensure that it is done properly, to the best of my ability , to pass on as much knowledge as possible to the next team. Guess i will have to start typing and listing out exactly what challenges we faced and the steps we took to overcome it etc. So that hopefully the team will not have to undergo the same problems and thus will proceed with design faster and with less iterations. The tricky part is, how do i come out with that, when the design process would be different for different people? Even with only the 3 of us, yx, kx and myself, solutions that we came up with differs in concept but they all gets the job done. Should i focus instead on typing out the possible considerations that should be looked into at different phases of the project development so that the team need not back track?

i guess i would have to check in with the beloved butler on this, and to trust the next project leader on this vision and awareness of what would be required and anticipate rather than fire-fight. Especially since due to the late payment of critical parts, we were left with fire fighting with little time for anything else. And in our case, it was fighting a godzilla-sized blaze with a standard-sized SAF issued green mug in hand, and the water source is a twenty cent coin-sized puddle on the ground (of which dengue-stained mosquitoes would breed and kill the rest of the humans not burnt to toast by the fire).

So, the aim for me now is to do a proper handover and also maybe complete the battery box that could be used for the 'next generation' solar car within the next few weeks. =P

Its back to normal...=/

Settling back to normal life as the dream of Gourami starts to fade in the glare of everyday life. Slowly getting ready for the next phase in life, to start out in a new career. Having reached as far as i could for the solar car project(#1), i hope that the new solar car team will be able to build on our success so far, and proceed on to a solar car race next year.

It was a dream at first, and it is half-way to reality as we have almost all the parts here but too little time. Thus it is but a castle built in the air. But i think this castle of ours is viable as the next batch or the batch after next will be able to build the foundation under it.

Surprisingly, i did not feel as disappointed as i would expect myself to be. After all, i did put in the best of my efforts into the solar car project, and at the same time had a great work (project in this case) life balance(#2). Too bad the free trip to Australia didn't materialise, nonetheless, i had learnt quite a bit and not to mention had fun with yongxi, kaixin, butler and john during this period of time. And it would be a memory and friendship which i will treasure for life(#3).

As for today, popped over to yongxi's ktv for a look and jio him for dinner as he was helping out his parents at the ktv. Instead, we sang from 7 plus till 850 before heading out to AMK for dinner. First time at the new AMK hub, quite new (obviously), but didnt shop. Ate at the S11 kopitiam outside AMK hub instead. heh. chatted for quite a bit before heading home.

After my bro's wedding dinner...

Just had my bath. A pretty tiring day out for me, having only took an hour's nap in the afternoon. It was more of coordination during the dinner, taking notes of this and that, chatting with relatives and friends. I guess having a big family = lots of catching up, 10 aunts and an uncle from paternal side, an aunt and 4 uncles from maternal side plus many cousins and nephews and nieces too. About 11 tables for relatives and not all the kids came along.

It was a cosy and fun affair though. =) as all were family, with close friends. So it was walk, chat, organise, check the amount of wine and liquor left etc. And i was the emcee of the night.

Actually, am waiting for my hair to dry somewhat before i sleep, but i do feel that wedding dinners are a good time to get together and have some laughter. Many are asking about when will it be my turn, of which i replied rather candidly: 'not in the near future' =P

Wedding morning...

Woke up early this morning at 445am to collect the bridal car from my friend's condo, a VW beetle with a pair of cute teddy bears in front. Pictures are not up yet, but it looks very nice. Drove back home and together with my brother and gang went to pick up my sis-in-law.

After some fun and games, finally got back home at 720 for ceremonial rites. Rather tired, and before having breakfast, it was more driving to send bride maids back and stuff. just got back and its now 6 minutes past 10am. Really sleepy already, but everyone is asleep, thus i have to keep awake cos relatives will be coming soon. =P

So posting up more photos of Gourami..... to stay awake. xP

Busy preparing for my brother's wedding on Sun

Spent yesterday and looks like today helping out in wedding preparations(#1). Doing this and that, but finding time to to do up the pictures for the gourami experience.

My flat has become a busy meeting place, with relatives poping over to send their congrats etc, and sharing of stories and catching up with one another. Definitely a joyous occasion and it seems that wedding preparations do take quite a bit of effort. But i guess it would be fond memories for all involved (#2), especially for my bro and sis-in-law, in later years.

Feel older now, more so after the Gourami experience, where it would be a good guess that i am the oldest of all participants(which accounts for the slight advantage i feel that i have over others...the 4-9 extra years of experience as the youngest is only 19 or 16? hmmm). Well, i felt young again then when i was mixing with everyone there, with their fully charged energy of youth and fun. Back to reality, did discover that other than being slightly older, i do have a more conservative or traditional character. Nonetheless, very glad that the gouramians had taken me in stride and walked side by side(#3).

Its a mixture of feelings for me, all in the mix includes: the excitement of my brother's wedding, the disappointment that we probably will not make it to WSC but we will still be completing the solar car as much as possible and finally and some what occupying my mind most of the time, the wait for an answer from Shell, of which i hope will be a positive one. =P

Some more of day 1 and day 2 at Gourami!

Leached off some photos from Jay and Rachelle's picasa as i didn't have my cam all the time. Thus found the photo we took at Changi airport before the flight to Penang, the six of us, all looking fresh and ready for the challenge ahead.



A picture of me from an angle which I never saw myself from. Interestingly, would i recognise myself from that angle? hmm..

Anyway, after the 1st day's treasure hunt, it was BBQ night! And being Singaporean and within my context, i was thinking that it will be BBQing by us! A DIY process, and thus i wore pretty shabbily, expecting to get sweaty and stuff. To my pleasant surprise, there were chefs BBQing and preparing the food for us. Apparently, not only i had the idea that we will be hands-on for the BBQ, cos Reiko was also wearing shabby clothes, expecting to get dirty. We had a good laugh over that though. =D
The food was fantastic and a sample of 50% of what's available was taken by Jay. I had quite a few helpings of satay, prawns and salmon. =P

For the second day, it was the start of the Gourami proper, with briefings in the morning and start of assessments at 1430. Attached to all teams was a coach and there are several floating assessors about. All the books we would need is located at the 'library' found along the corridor and our rooms are actually quite cosy, with everything we need.

The first day was spent trying to make sense of the information on the oil/gas reservoirs, the section views and stuff. Thank goodness we have Amirool, Naza and Lai, who spent time teaching us on what they are about and how to interpret the data. Help was on hand by our coach, Ronald and the lead coach for both EP North and South, Alan.



After a day of preparing for watershed meeting on day 3 morning, we were taken to this chinese mansion for dinner and also some activities inside. Got to know of this a little late, thus chanced upon the fortune telling table where a master is using cards, palmistry and face analysis to tell ones fortune. I was the interpretor when required and also had my fortunes read, to which i felt it was rather accurate. =P

Soon it was back to hotel and this time i sat in front, thus got a shot of the babes and hunks behind. =D

To be continued.....

Need more photos for Gourami updates + Earthquake!

Today was back to work on the solar car project. But as i left for school at 740, i felt the building shaking as an earthquake hit Indonesia, and the tremors were transmitted to here. An exciting feeling actually, cos it would be my first time actually feeling it. Can even observe the neighbour's aircon unit, which is mounted to the ceiling, swaying from side to side.

Stupidly took the lift down, which was also swaying, and i realised that it might be a tad bit safer to walk down the stairs. =P Luckily all was fine (#1) and i could not feel anything once i reached the ground floor. Well... it would mean that the tremors were magnified at higher levels.

Went off to school and met kx and yx for breakfast. Couldn't find Butler and later found out he was sick and thus not around. Looks like with all the delays, the chances of making it to WSC is getting real slim now.

Played pool in the evening (#2)and it was to wheng's place to help settle my bro's wedding photo montage(#3). =P Still thinking of the fun and intense days at Gourami. An experience of a lifetime. =D

Hopefully i can get some photos from others from days 2-4, so i can have some photos together with my postings on Gourami. Nonetheless, will go ahead with posting once i have time, before i start to forget. heh.

Day 1 of Gourami.... 6/9/07

Woke up early at 5am on Thursday to iron the long-sleeve shirts i bought the NIGHT before and washed it once they were brought home. Last minute shopping at G2000 as 2 sets of formal clothes were required, and i only had one purple long-sleeve shirt which was 2+ years old liao.

Reached the airport at 615, met up with the rest (more photos with their digi cam)and it was off to Penang!



Jay, Reiko and Ling sat together while Jenny and Winnie was an aisle apart. sat one row in front and after some photo-taking, took some time off to play my childhood game... the mario bros. The flight was super fast, after we leveled off, food was served and we received the announcement that we are descending to Penang! i was only in stage 2 of the game.... The view before landing was incredible as i saw the beach race up towards us and we landed no long after passing the beach. Neat!



After taking photo at Penang airport, it was on the bus and to the hotel... or resort actually. And yes.. it was a resort alright. Lazed in the room while waiting for lunch to happen and also for the Gourami Challenge to start.

For the 1st day, it was just introduction and a game of treasure hunt for the 40 over strangers to know each other. We also got to know more about Gourami and the people in Shell. Was still wondering what to expect, but looking at the participants, it seems like its going to be a fun time!

Stay tuned for day 2! .. to be update once i arranged the photos!

Back from the Gourami Business Challenge!

From my last post, it was a busy day before i flew off to Penang, Malaysia, with not much preparation and also had no idea of what to expect there. Met up with 5 other from team singapore at the changi airport as the 7th member flew to Penang from Hong Kong.

In short, it was a fun-filled, action-packed, with tons of knowledge and stress compressed into 5 full days. I was assigned to a team of 10 (including me) to develop a business plan for the oil (Swordtail n Minnow)and gas fields (Guppy, tetra and Marlin)located in the South of the imaginary state of Gourami (see below).



We are known as EPSouth, multi-national team with wonderful people (#1)from Malaysia, China, India and of course, Singapore. Within 3 days, we came up with business plans, with calculations of Capex, no. of barrels/day, NPV, payback, VIR etc etc for the development of EPSouth. Most importantly, I made many wonderful new friends from different countries(#2). =D

With the enthusiasm of Queen Zee, the team won the Tidy room of the Week Award and everyone was presented with a card as shown. I placed it in the hands of my cute companions beside my com.



After the final presentation, it was fun and laughter at the party on the last night at Gourami (#3) before the interview on the last day and subsequently the super short flight back to Singapore. I already miss the people at Gourami liao. =P

As i sit here and ponder back, it was a surreal experience where 40 over total strangers had teamed up, faced challenges together, had fun together, ate together and came up with a 'viable' (we never did get to know the results) business plan in such a short time. Definitely wish that i had more time to know more about everybody. Nonetheless, if the people in Shell are of this range of personality and character where everyone worked hard and played hard plus most importantly, with a fun but serious work culture, i want in! =D I guess it will be up to the assessors, coaches and HR people to decide on that liao.

Will add in more details of my days in Gourami later on. Slept till 11 today.. wanted to go school for the solar car, but getting tired out liao. Need to recover some sleep as i had slept only 5~6 hours every night at Penang. =/

All things have to happen at the same time.. xP

Been very busy for the past 2 days, with the steel tubings arriving on Mon, followed by the steel plate on Tues and carbon fibre this morning (#1). It is crunch time and i have to fly off tomorrow morning to Penang for the Shell Gourami Business Challenge(#2), which is an exciting event, but unfortunately, with the materials arriving, it is an exciting time at school too.

While i am away, yongxi will step up and manage the project, hopefully, by the time i come back, he can run the show liao. It will gonna to be tight as we aim to give it a test run by 24th Sep.

Received the pre-reading materials for the challenge yesterday and it is quite comprehensive and detailed. Wonder how it would be like and the friends i will be making there, not to mention, hopefully it will be a fun time there too!(#3)Going to be myself there and just enjoy the trip, just hope that the Shell assessors will find that i have the Shell personnel 'fit'. IT will be a good chance to meet the Shell people and get a feel of how how the work environment will be like. =P

Weak, i am. Strong, i must become.

After 2 days of fever, i finally when to visit the Doctor (must have missed a few days of appples, that's why =P). From the doc, it may be possible that it started out from a viral infection aka. cold/flu, to be a bacteria infection. Was finally okay by yesterday evening. =) But still have to complete the course of antibiotics.

Things over at school is still slow, with nothing done this week as materials are not in yet. Faced with the possibility that yx will not be able to help out as much is a big blow to the project, coupled with me having to proceed for the Shell Gourami Challenge, odds are stretched rather thin, not to mention manpower. =/

Planning as much as i can now for the next few week, which are pretty crucial. But i guess by Sep 20, the answer to whether we can proceed for WSC in Australia will be pretty obvious. Nonetheless, still learnt a lot during this period of time, not to mention strengthening valuable friendships and having a good time. =D This doesn't mean that i will be giving up on the idea of going for WSC though. Will push ahead until the very last second, even extend the deadline if possible. At most, the logistics company will hate my guts.... =P