Sunday, August 24, 2008

A Good Lesson

Got this on my email from my friend, thought I share it with you.

A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold that the bird
froze and fell to the ground onto a large field.

While he was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on him.
As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, he began to realize
how warm he was.

The dung was actually thawing him out!

He laid there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.
A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate.

Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow
dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him.

*Morals of the story:
(1) Not everyone who shits on you is your enemy.

(2) Not everyone who gets you out of shit is your friend.

(3) And when you're in deep shit, it's best to keep your mouth shut!


Haha... Anyway, on my way to church, I saw a few butterflies so I stopped to take some photos.
Here they are... And yes, I stuck the camera right in front of the butterfly, haha...




Comments are most welcomed. Please put them on my tag box on the right, thanks.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Silly designs, week of break and amazing discoveries

I always wonder, who's the smart ass who designed this bus seat, with minimal sitting space. All you can do in this uncomfortable seat is to sit totally upright, with your knees wedged onto the back of the front seat, and pray that your legs don't go numb before you get off the bus.
Anyway, during this week of break for me before I start school next week, I was following Pastor William around. So the other day, we went were playing this interesting game called Chicken Cha Cha Cha. A memory game, very interesting. Finally used those brain cells that I had stored away for so long.
Then on Wednesday, for some reason, I went back home frustrated and disappointed. So much so that it affected me quite badly. Was really feeling very down. Even though I was partially to blame for the whole thing, it still affected me alot.

But however that didn't last for too long. Thankfully when I went home and switched on the computer, something surprising happened. A special someone helped lifted up my spirits. Somehow chatting with this special person made me feel so much better, so relaxed, and so at peace.
(If you're reading this, just wanna say thanks, your simple words and listening ear helped me alot. It meant alot to me.)

And so Thursday, I brought my mum, grandma and both sisters to eat Dim Sum Buffet at Excelsior Hotel. Have been wanting to bring them there for such a long time.
Mmmm... Yummy...
My sisters were hooked onto the 'Xiao Long Bao'.
And today I went for my orientation at UNLV. After a whole day of talks, ice breakers and UNLV Race which we ran around town area doing silly things, I would say I've really enjoyed myself. The feeling of going back to school is rather interesting. It's some sort of putting aside the world around me for a while, and pursuing my studies.

My Orientation Group.
Team Name: KIS (Korean, Indonesian, Singaporean)

Monday, August 18, 2008

Beginning of the End

Well, after my reservist ended, it was back to work. For about 2 weeks at least.
My last few days at Swee Lee was rather fun. Being in the 'ORD' mood seems helpful. Not much work stress to cope with seems good.

Anyway, after Pastor William's Leader's Retreat, it was smooth sailing at work. Then came Thursday when my colleague, Buck brought me and a few others for a farewell lunch. So we went to Parkway Parade and had Fish and Co. there. It was another seafood platter and we happily took a 2 hours lunch break, thanks to me, haha...

And then after that heavy lunch, was a dinner gathering with my reservist guys at Marmalade Pantry. We went there as Alvin was working there, and we paid a super-subsidized amount for a wide spread meal, thanks to him. Thanks again man.

Marmalade Pantry
Famous for their "Steak Frites With Truffle Bearnaise"
Unit B1-08 to 11
Palais Renaissance (Beside Thai Embassy)
390 Orchard Road
Singapore 238871

Leason, me and Emil.
Yong and Andrew.
Billy and Leason.
They have a really nice ambience there.
I can't figure out if this shot is better like this, or rotated clockwise. Hmm...
Anyway, we had 2 starters.
I think this is the "Warm Spinach & Roast Onion Salad With Bacon & Mozzarella".

Crab CaesarI had "The Ultimate Beef Burger", which was superb. Medium done. Humongous portions.Linguini With Crabmeat Tomato Chilli & PinenutsGrilled Pesto Chicken Wholemeal Wrap With Oven Roasted ButternutRoast Pork Loin With Sage & Thyme Caramelized Sweet Potato

Pan Roasted Chicken With Vegetables Basil & LasagneAnd so after dinner, we had dessert which was on the house too. Amazing favor.

And then after that, we walked over to Mezebar at Meritus Mandarin for some drinks.
And so that was Thursday night.

Friday came and gone like the wind. My last day at Swee Lee. And so after work, we went for a farewell dinner and small outing with my colleagues.
Dinner at East Coast Park Hawker was shoik. Stingray, oyster egg, satay, rojak, etc.

And so after dinner we went bowling at Marine Bowling. Towards the end of our 4th game, the machine screwed up, and gave us strikes as long as we threw a ball in, even if it was through the drain. Now we know, 4 strikes in a row is called a "4 Bagger". See, strikes all the way, haha...

And so Saturday came, and I went to meet up with my secondary school NCC platoon-mates.
Haven't went out with them for years, forgotten that they are forever an hour late. So I reached Plaza Singapura at 12.30pm, as told, but only met them at 1.30pm. WTH man...

Anyway, lunch at Cafe Cartel, then chill out at TCC.
Jie Yang and Zi Jian.
Kwan Lian
Matthew
And then after discussing what we are gonna do at Zi Jian's upcoming wedding, catching up and chilling, some of us went for movie at The Cathay.

We watched Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Not bad, quite entertaining.

Then came Sunday, the most happening day of the week. Sunday mornings are always started with a dose of monkeys at Barnabus club. "Baby-sitting" a bunch of P4 kids requires loads of energy man. Followed by Youth service at 1.30pm, and cell group after that til 5pm+.

This week, it's FCBC's 22nd Birthday!!! Happy birthday to us, hehe...
And so after service, Jun Liang and I went over to see Dennis and family. Sick again, so we dropped by. But before that, we had dinner at Ding Tai Fong at Tampines Mall with Ingrid and Nel. My first time eating here, haha...

Sun rays cutting through the clouds at Expo while we walked towards the MRT station from Max Pavilion.
Emmanuel tapping Jun Liang's hands, as we were too engrossed with the Table Tennis match on the TV.
Hooray!!! Singapore's Wang Yue Gu, left, Feng Tianwei, center, and Li Jia Wei.
Silver medal for Singapore for Table Tennis in the Beijing Olympics 2008.
Then later watching the following match of Korea vs Japan, noticed that Ai Fukuhara of Japan is quite cute, haha...
Got my photos from Yahoo News. There are some funny photos that I can't believe that they actually post up online. For example:


Haha, oh well... And after a tiring day today, and playing with Emmanuel, it's time to call it a day.
Time to sleep... 3am already, heng tomorrow no work, haha... Oh yes, for those who still don't know, I will be starting school at University of Nevada, Las Vegas on the 25th of August 2008. Taking Bachelor of Science in Hotel Admin. They have a local campus at National Library, level 10 and 11, so I won't be flying to US for my studies. So excited about this, haha...

Ok, sleep...


Monday, August 11, 2008

Farewell, Proposal, Reservist and Leader's Retreat

So much has happened through the weeks and I am so busy nowadays that I'll only cover the major events that happened during this period of time.

Firstly, we sent off Roger and Pamela to Australia.
And Colin proposed to Aileen on the very day too.

See how happy Aileen and Colin are?
Light refreshments after that.
We could draw on the table, so I drew. This is my dream, to one day walk down the beach with that special someone, enjoying the slow walk, the empty beach, the slow pace.
Pastor William and Chi Wern playing games on the table.
Other food that Colin ordered for us.
And so Saturday came, and it was Ps Benny Ho's seminar on "Why in the world do we work?" at TCT Auditorium. On my way to Bukit Merah, I took this picture of the tower, half painted with fresh paint.
Looking at this picture, I can't stop but think that Jackie Chan will come jumping down floor by floor.
And this is Jai, my colleague at work. We had a little photo moment after work, haha...
'Peeing' on his own car.
And they caught this colourful bird the other day, didn't have time to shoot it, turned out not focused properly, but oh well...
And the NDP Rehearsals, fly-bys by the Black Knights just above my house.
Inverted 5
This year they did the heart shape.
Flying by again. Into the clouds.
And then Reservist came. My first cycle. In Camp Training. Not much photos, as can't take inside anyway.

My Troop after we dug a Foxhole. Some of us are in it.
Troopers... Brothers...
And then came the celebrations and gatherings.

On Friday, the 1st of Aug 2008, I finally met up with my poly classmates, most whom i haven't seen since graduation. Not many turned up, but good anyways.

Charlene, me, Eugene, Bryan, Shi Jin at the back row.
Celia, Maria, Keli and Ian in front.
After dinner at Cafe Iguana, we went over to Lunar Club, this "cheena" place that has a live band for some drinks.
By the end of the day, I was rather tipsy but not drunk. Thank God for Celia's friend who offered to drive her back, and I hitched a ride back together. If not I would have probably ended up sleeping by the river, hahaha....

And on the very next day, Saturday, 2nd August 2008, I met up with my NCC gang for our annual birthday gathering. We watched the NDP preview fireworks then had dinner at Marina Square Spageddies. Following that was some desserts at TCC at Millenia Walk, then we walked over to Brewerkz at Clarke (Again...) for some drinks.

Me, Jolene, Gary, Kashing, Rong Chang, Si Ying and Satish.
And on Sunday, 3rd August 2008, it's another celebration at church.
And then Monday came. My actual birthday, 4th August. Spent the whole morning at reservist, doing planning. Then we went out for lunch and somehow I ended up at Thomson Medical Centre in the afternoon. The very place I was born 23 years ago on this very day. Hahaha...

After the whole day of planning, everyone had something on, so I was heading home already.
When suddenly, I bumped into Celia on the bus back, how coincidental, haha...
So we went to watch the Dark Knight at Bishan J8 to celebrate my birthday.
And when I reached home, my two beloved sisters and my mum prepared another cake for me.
My sister's creation, Mango and Durian cake.
Happy birthday to me... Dad's overseas, so not in picture, but nevermind, hehe....
And so my birthday marks the end of my reservist. 1st cycle down.
And it's back to work, for another 2 weeks before i take a 1 week break and start my studies at UNLV.

But before all that, during the National Day weekend, we had Leader's Retreat at Vision Farm located at Jalan Lekar. Near the Home Team Academy in Choa Chu Kang.
The road is long....
Pastor William sharing with us his message.
I will be Still, Lord. I will be Still.
And then we went over to ECP for a bbq on sunday after service.

Chi Wern and Chin Ling
Alvin and Vivien
Dennis, Dellia and Emmanuel
Happy crowdWe can't go without games. Captain's ball seems to be a favourite in this Leader's Retreat.
Waiting for the ball to come over
Now it's on the other side
And some kids on the Kangaroo Shoes by the beach.
And BBQ Food....
Sarah, Josiah, Jefferson and Chi Wern cooking.
And this is the flower that I've so long wanted to take at Expo. Most of the time I'll rush past it, but this Sunday I managed to stop and take photos of it. Hahaha....
Ok, enough of blogging already. Time to sleep, haha...
4 more days of work to go, before I get my 1 week break. Already in the ORD mood, haha...