Seng SpeakS

Jogged and playing with my Macbook Air at Raffles Place Mac

2011-09-18T14:02:00.002+08:00

Jogged 2 plus km this morning. After having woke up later than i wished to. But still went out for a jog despite being... reluctant to. Discipline is tough, and i guess my yoga master's words of wisdom does ring true: 'Don't listen to body cos it a lazy fellow'.

With the jog, i hit another low.. of 70.9kg on the weighing scale. =) Not sure if i will be able to lose the remaining 3kgs in time, but had at least lost 7 kgs since start of July. 120 days is flying past pretty fast.

Chilling out at MacDonalds at Raffles Place now. I guess i am still as stingy on myself as usual. Still finding that buying drinks here is pretty expensive. heh. In any case, any drink here (other than plain water) is extra calories which i do not need now, so i guess its a win win situation.

Planning Nov NZ trip now..Listed a few places we will be driving to on North Island. And good news is that Stacey had found her NZ Lonely PLanet which i will be borrowing from her. =)

A new laptop for me!!!

2011-09-17T01:02:00.002+08:00

Using my very own Macbook Air now.. =) Finally a laptop to myself, my very first personal laptop. =)
Had survived for 4 years without a PC, and after 3+ years using the company laptop for personal use, its time i have my own. heh.

Well, at least now i don't have to frequently clear my personal stuff to my portable hard disk as we are not supposed to have personal stuff on the company laptop. hee hee.

Not making much progress on the weight challenge. Looks like it will be a 'photo finish' as i have about 4+ weeks left to lose the remaining 4 kgs.... Lost 2 weeks due to the flu bug and APEC meetings and business lunches. =/

My 1st singing performance outside Bugis OG last night

2011-09-04T14:00:00.002+08:00

After taking singing lessons for about a year and a half later, i have finally performed a song on stage in public last night. A mid-Autumn festival event which has 1.5 hours of live singing on stage.

WeiQian led the show with 2 songs, followed by Wheng, then Jim, Chee Peng(not sure if i spelt correctly), Shufen and ShuQing, Leonard and i gotten my chance at the 7th last song of the night.

Didnt really had time to practise as much as i would wished to, but good news is, i did quite well according to friends. =P

Thus at the age of 31, i had competed in a Singing competition and also sang on stage in public. Very nervous before the performace, and had gastric after that. Amazing that there was so much stress on my body. xP

Was sick for the past week, so didnt really get to exercise at all... so maintained my weight at 91.8-92.3kg. Will try to go for a run later this evening.

Team Masterchef challenge!

2011-08-26T18:26:00.002+08:00

Went for a 'Masterchef' challenge this afternoon as a team building event.

It was pretty fun, and i got to create dessert (baked banana chocolate pastry). Quite fun and not that difficult to do. heh. Had also chance to know Audrey and Jeremy better, so that is good as well. And of course, get to build up teamwork with the team as well. heh.

Towards the end, had picked up tomato craving. So i now seen and also tried and completed a rose craved from tomatoes. Too bad i missed the carrot craving into flowers.

All in all, good fun. =)

Well, back to work.. looks like it will be a very packed weekend. xP

Weight loss challenge update

2011-08-23T22:39:00.002+08:00

Well, i am back doing the program after having taken over from Jace last Thurs. So getting a bit busier, but still manage to get out of office in time for a 5km run today.

It is the 3rd time i confirmed clocked above 5km. Only managed to hit 4 plus km on Monday. Progress is pretty good and i am quite happy about it. My lowest recorded weight was today, after the run with all that water loss, at 71.9kg (5.9kg lost!). Always nice to hit a new low. The last low was 72.5kg after jogging last Thurs i think.

Gradually losing those kgs, which is definitely great news!

Going to continue on my low calorie diet (1500-1700/day), 3 jogs a week at least and Yoga Sun Salutation every morning. Less than 8 weeks to go to lose 5 more kgs. keep it up!!

Gaining ground on my weight lost challenge.... a tad bit too slow though

2011-08-04T23:13:00.002+08:00

After having read up and followed calorie tracking and exercise regime, had loast about 2.4-2.7 kgs in Jul. It was rather slower than planned, so i thought i had hit a plateau. Until this afternoon when i re-checked the number of calories i need to reduce by to drop my weight by 1kg.

I found out it is abt 7,700 calories per KG!!!! I had previously pegged it as 3,500 calories per kg, when it actually is to one pound, not kg. My bad for going to a US website and didnt realise that the person who posted it got his units mixed up. xP

No wonder i am off my target. Well, this means that i have to move up a notch and STOP on all unnecessary calories + more exercise!

Next goal, to see the number 73.x on my digital scale before Sunday. Previous low was yesterday morning at 74.1kg. heh.

Ultimate challenge for 2011

2011-07-29T18:12:00.002+08:00

Yes, i had undertaken to join a contest and a bet to lose weight. How much? 10kgs in 120 days. Possible? Yes. On target? Not really, which is of obvious amusement of Dawn and Reina.

40 plus days had passed and i had only reduced by approximately 2 kgs. Over 70 days to go, my calorie counting and jogging sessions have yielded 2 kgs lost so far. Looks like i have to increase the frequency of jogging from 3 to 5 time a week. xP And that will be possible only if i jog in the morning rather than evening. Cos leaving early on time is a challenge in itself.

21st Oct 2011 is the deadline for the challenge, lets hope i will be 67.7kg by then.

Am pretty serious on the weight lost challenge, so much so that i went to check on the cost of a threadmill and exercise machine. Unfortunately, the simplest cost close to $1,000 !!!! OMG! so i guess i will stick to jogging and hopefully to start swimming soon.

2nd post, and a sad news...

2011-07-26T18:41:00.002+08:00

Well, went to read what i posted in 2010. It is dated 17 June, when i just joined the mogas team.

My colleague had just resigned then and moved to another company. Managed to meet her a couple of times after that. Unfortunately, that were the last couple of times i get to meet her as she passed away last Nov.

I can still remember getting that sms while i was in Perth. In Perth casino to be exact, probably playing 'Spin the wheel'. My colleague, Jace, had sms-ed me to inform me that Fiona had passed away in her sleep. She was only in her middle 20s.

It was sudden and very unexpected. Left the world behind without warning. Would it be a good way to go? After having months to ponder about this during my chemotheraphy, yes, dying in my sleep will be good. Probably painless. Just that she didnt get the time to say her goodbyes. Which is rather sad that she didnt get the chance to do so. And it is painful for the family as well.

Really led me to think back that i was in my mid 20s too when i came down with cancer. And how really lucky i am to have survived treatment.

Seize the day they say, and seize the day i will. And so should you, my dear reader(s), if any. =P

Life is short, so remember that family and friends are probably the only things you will miss/think of during those short dying moments.

1st post in 2011: Just shaved for CCF 2011!

2011-07-26T18:17:00.003+08:00

Its a long time since i last blogged. Probably written that the last time as well. Life had been exciting since then, with lots to do and no time to be online during my leisure time.

I guess main attributes to that are, one: i do not have my own PC, laptop etc. two: just so much to do, and so little time.

oh well, here i am typing away to update my life so far .. since 2009? or 2010? Gotta check my last blog entry later, after this post.

1. I have gotten married to Wheng after 14 years of steady relationship!
2. We have a place of our own now. =) And obviously in debt. =(
3. I am in remission for 5 years now.. or is it 6? hmmmm....
4. I just shaved for Children Cancer Society's Hair for hope 2011!

And yes, that is my pretty wife beside me. =P

Lots of thoughts in my head.... but as they say, there is a time for everything. So lets hope i remember to blog my thoughts next time. Maybe the pictures of my travels, but probably chucking them into Facebook would be a faster way of sharing them. kekkekeke

9 months passed ...

2010-06-17T23:21:00.003+08:00

since i last updated this blog of mine.

Time flies, realised that it is pretty difficult to find time for my personal self. Cant really be online and all when using company laptop, and not really having the excess cash to get myself a PC.

My trusty AMD 'Athon?' self built CPU is still sitting underneath the computer desk at home, still working, but the monitor had died out a year plus back. Lost quite a few parts already, just wondering when would i try to get back the stuff still on the hard disk. 4 years of my NTU life still stored quietly but not quite forgotten.

Quite a few things had changed since 9 months ago... had moved into a new desk (department) about a month back. And today, i was thrown into a new 'job' with as my colleague had suddenly tendered her resignation. It IS a big surprise! And to think i was supposed to be learning and picking up stuff from her from next Monday onwards. Looks like the going just got tough. The question is, am i tough enough to get going? =P

Well.... lets hope i can ace this job and well.... do well i guess. =)

SO many dreams to fulfill... many steps to take. i guess it will be... a step at a time. =P

F1 experience.... =)

2009-09-27T13:14:00.002+08:00

Its been a tiring month so far, challenging business environment and also standing in for fellow colleagues. Hopefully 'soon soon' all the way. =) Mid Autumn festival is approaching soon and i have yet to buy some mooncakes for my girlfriend's mom. Will need to do so soon.

Was lucky enough to win ticket to watch F1 practice session at the sky suite for corporate guests, and also to request another ticket from my colleague who was unable to attend. So lucky. =) Thus Wheng and i went to watch the F1 from the sky suite and from there, a birds' eye view of the Pit lanes and also the garages. My first experience at a F1 event, pretty bad its not the actual race as it would be more exciting.

Looking to taking a days rest sometime early Oct, so a self created 'long weekend' is in the works. Probably going to sleep through it and get to enjoy 2 x long weekend in Oct. heh heh.

Due for a move?

2009-09-12T13:15:00.002+08:00

Back from Australia quite some time ago. Not being able to blog much since then. Rather obvious on that as my last post was back in June. Much have happened since then, other than having fun during the trip.

My window is supposed to open next Jul, after 2 years in my current role. Its been a year + 2 months in my current role now and it seems that there a music chair rotation may take place soon. =P Wonder how it will be like for me.

Currently, my plan would be to store money for the 3 year plan down the road to sail around the world. So far, taking baby steps as i join in sailing on keelboats to gain whatever experience i can before moving on to bigger boats. Quite challenging to sail around the world. First off is to get the money ready, hopefully enough in 3 years time. haha.

Life has been good so far. Officially in remission for 4 years now. One more year to go before they can consider me 'cured'. Hooray! But of course, other risks are still there so lets take it one step at a time.

Today i plan to kick start a project i had in my hand for quite some time already, which is to complete my book. I think the main issue would be that i have no personal laptop/desktop, so using Wheng's ibook. But to buy one laptop just to have that personal 'space' to write, may be a bit exorbit. Have already transferred my notes on the writing pad to a soft copy, cos although i like to write using pen, i do realise that in the event i get to finish my book, i have to transfer them to soft copy. Which would be a killer.

Oh well, lets work with what i have at the moment ba. =)

Off to Asutralia soon

2009-06-13T14:12:00.002+08:00

Its 4 days to go before i fly off to Australia. Ironic as I would be landing at Melbourne, the hotspot for H1N1 virus.

Had gotten wind of the offer before the H1N1 cases reached Australian shores. It was the Emirates offer of $416 return on economy. Landing in Melbourne and flying back from Brisbane on 2 Jul 09. Going to be an exciting trip, as we will be driving from Melbourne to Brisbane, more than 2,000km of driving required. In addition to that, we will be driving up the Australian Alps, so will have a chance to try out those winding roads up and down mountains.

So far, it seems to be a budget trip, having saved quite a fair bit on air fares actually. So hopefully 'soon soon' and we remain healthy for the entire period, and we come back virus free. Already have a good supply of masks, surgical masks, and contemplating whether or not to use N95 masks.

On coming back, i will be going to get my head shaved, at the annual Hair For Hope event for Children's Cancer Foundation. Very glad to say that so far, my cooleagues and friends have donated a total of $829 to CCF, so makes it more worth while for me to get my head shaved. =) Had sent out the email that i will be donating $ for $, up to $250 and with a 'winfall' of $20 from toto, i have upped the donation to $260. See how it goes during this weekend, if i get lucky, will chip in more moolah, =)

Well.... off to making that packing list for the Australia trip liao. Hopefully will get some photos on the blog for the trip! =D

going for >Passion Run - 10km

2009-04-17T12:39:00.002+08:00

Will be signing up today for the Passion Run. Too bad i missed the early bird dateline, the price of procrastination. heh.

Since i had been walking quite a bit for the past 4 weeks, am going to start jogging for the next few Saturdays at Bedok reservior. 4.3km one round, so .. hopefully can complete 1 round tomorrow morning. Jogging of course. =)

103,365 steps last week

2009-04-16T12:28:00.002+08:00

I walked a total of 103,365 steps last week, and with 22 events completed by my team (team orange). We clinched the top prize of the STEP Challenge. =D So for our efforts, each of us received a $200 takashimaya vouchers. Time to give som boost to our economy and better still, for me to buy some new clothes. =)

Going for tennis lessons later tonight... so now break for lunch!

60 thousand steps ... and counting

2009-04-01T00:22:00.003+08:00

We have a 'step' challenge at the workplace, where people from different functions are grouped into teams to compete against each other in the average number of 'steps' each person takes. It is a 5 week competition and this is currently the 3rd week.

Nope.. its not an April's fool message. =)

So far, for the 1st week, i have taken about 40 thousand steps, and for last week, i managed 60k. Hopefully i can reach 80k this week to enjoy the second tier bonus. 1st tier bonus is at 50k.

Picking up tennis at Bedok tennis court every Thurs night and am also starting golf again. Really bad at golf after not hitting any balls for 7 years. And as the cheapo me, i have not and will not undergo $300++ of lessons to re-learn. Thank goodness there is Jesson, my colleague, who is incidentally my hall 3 hall mate in NTU year 1. Pretty small world. =P

My marathon hopes may be a bit dashed at the moment due to news from my TCM doctor. I was feeling uncomfortable when exercising, but the heart ultrasounds and stress test turned out fine. So i went to see my TCM doc. Just told him i not feeling very well, he took my pulse and asked me if i feel tired easily after sports and any breathing difficulties. I said yes, and he advised me that my 'heart' pulse is weak so there is some changes to my usual TCM herb mixture that i have to take.

So the step challenge came at a good time. For me to pace myself and slowly increase my level of workout. Although eventually may not be able to run a full marathon, maybe i can get fit enough to run a 10km this year, and see what the future may hold for me. =) No point fretting about not being able to go 42km, lets go for the small step first, the 10km this coming Standard Chartered run.. and just maybe i can reach the 21 km mark. =P

14 years later, a CCHS reunion of class 1995

2009-03-22T07:54:00.002+08:00

Went for the Chung Cheng High School (Main) class of 1995 union last evening. Our 4J class was the largest turnout =) and i got to see Mrs Lau (discipline teacher in charge), Ms See (Geography) and Ms Pang (Physics). I missed Accounts Tan as she had left by the time i got there. =P

It was fun to see some friends which i have not seen in a long long time. 14 years to be exact. 2 hours isnt much time to catch up either. At least now we have some contact details and maybe can jio jio for a cup of coffee sometime. =)

Well, am up an early today as i had just bathed after coming back from delivering of newspapers. Something which i had not really done in a while. Helping out as my mom is resting today.

As i type, can feel my attention waning as fatigue is setting in, so time to catch some ZZZzzz....

My BONUS buy ... muahahahahaha .. and some pictures.

2009-03-17T23:54:00.004+08:00

Well, surprisingly a quick decision was made to buy my luxury item for 2009 as a reward for myself. And that is the electric toothbrush in the picture above. Colgate Motion, a very affordable electric toothbrush and after trying for 2 days, it cleans better than the traditional manual toothbrushes. =D In a shorter time too! Now my teeth are squeaky clean! And yes, by rubbing my finger across my teeth, they do actually squeak. =)

This photo was taken at Andy Lau's concert back in Dec 08. 2nd Andy Lau concert which i went to, the first at KL back in 06, at Medeka Stadium. Had fun at the concert and very happy to have fulfilled Wheng's dreams. Why dreams? cos we actually get to see Andy Lau in person after following his car from the Kallang indoor stadium to his hotel and caught sight of him as he exited the car to the private lift at B3. =D

Wondering why this mask is in the picture? Make a guess of what it is used for before reading on.

Hint 1: The mask belongs to me and is molded to my face.

Hint 2: It is used to secure my head to a surface.

Before i answer, i had used this for 2 weeks? i think..hmmm.. cant really remember, think may be up to 4 weeks. Answer is: To secure a person (myself) to the surface so that i would not move. Objective: to expose the same area on my body for radiation; otherwise known as radiotherapy. Not that scary when wearing it actually. hmmmm ...

How it works is that it is combined with a backing that is also molded to my body shape as i lie down. The mask prevents the head from moving (the side is secured to the table/bed by clips) and as i am lying on the molded foam, my body is stable and i will have to put i quite a bit of strength to actually move.

Well, the reason i took photo of it is that the material had started to break down and disintegrate. Literally breaking into pieces as you can see a breakage at my left cheekbone. So.... to take photo of it as a memory and ..well, to share my knowledge with you, the reader too! =) Things you would rather read about than to experience it 1st hand or from your family and friends.

Bonus buy

2009-03-14T13:06:00.003+08:00

After being advised to moderate expectations for 2008 bonus since a few months back, i have been wondering what to buy for myself as a 'reward' while saving up the rest for a rainy day.
As i thought about it, i realised that i have quite a few items i need to look at.

1st thing is.... clothes. We have a casual wear Friday and my colleagues have realised that i have been wearing the NTU collar tee every other Friday, and after purchasing CNY clothes, I am wearing the NTU collar tee once every 4 weeks. =P As for long sleeve shirts, i am rotating among 5 of them for a 4 day office wear week. After 10 months on office wear job, i am starting to get bored with what i wear. hahaha.. something which i didnt expect to happen to me.

2nd thing is... pants and shoes, pants-wise should be okay as i upgraded to 3 pairs by CNY and still with one pair of shoes though. Wondering what is the life span of shoes as i dont want my shoes to open up crocodile style on a Monday morning, but buying another pair of shoes just in case seems expensive though. hmmmm...

Well, those mentioned above are more of needs rather than wants, and i finally found something that i WANTED to buy, a luxury item which have became very affordable recently. Or rather, i realised that they are rather affordable recently thanks to a DJ on 93.3FM. He was using a new toothbrush recently and only came to realise that it is an electric that vibrates when he accidentally pressed a button........ we, wheng and i were in the car, burst into laughter after hearing that. I was like, huh? buying something that expensive and bulky and he didnt know that it is electric?

Filled with curiosity, on Friday after lunch, i went hunting for electric toothbrushes in the cold storage and oh..... the new models are relatively cheap at $13+ for colgate (there is the sponge bob for kids, if only they have the sponge bob for adults too) to $25~40 range for Oral-B. As usual, i couldn't decide on the spot so opted for more research before buying. And yesterday night we went to NTUC at the airport and found more models of electric toothbrush and found the one which the DJ could have bought - the Oral-B Pulsar - it is the only model so far without a bulky handle and at $9+, it doesn't give the impression that it is electric, so i guess it might have fooled the DJ as it might have been a gift to him.

So in short, after one short day of 'research', i guess i would be buying the Colgate model at $13+ as a reward to myself, a bonus buy, hopefully have offer and i can get it for cheaper. =P

Wonder what to look out for next year, but i guess have to wait till next year to find out. heh heh heh.

All clear!!!

2009-03-02T23:09:00.000+08:00

Went for CT scan mid Feb and visited the doc last wed for the results. I passed!! =D All clear, and approaching my fourth year of remission. =) Blood results are good, the only thing now is for me to exercise and watch my diet. Why so? Cos apparently, i have fatty liver. Looks like fat deposits are appearing in my liver, probably means that i have been eating too well and not exercising enough.
Not sure whether exercising and looking after my diet will reverse the fatty liver thingy (which is not good, but the doc didnt say much no it), but the 2 things will be good for me anyway.
Well.. its time to sleep and get some good rest. =D

2009 ... Mid Feb already

2009-02-19T00:01:00.002+08:00

It would be a rather good guess that i have not been blogging lately. Well... obviously lots of stuff have happened over the pass few months.

Work wise, i guess i have been pretty busy and have been to Middle East for the 3rd time in my life. Met more people and get to know a few of them better. =) Job performance would be still ok as i am still around. just got to realise that others' expectations of me is pretty high and they are pretty confident that i can continue to grow and .. well... learn and excel.

Just wondering if i am getting lazy or too comfortable in my job.... hmmm.. which i feel, however unfortunately, i have not. Still too many things to learn and the more i learn, the more areas i have to look out for. In terms of both opportunity and areas to save or make more money for the company.

Better slowly up my tempo... before shit hits the fan if i sit on my own development for too long. Being in the rat race means once i stop....i fall behind. =P

Life wise.. rather good. Went to Vietnam the week before CNY. Fun and exciting, and got to climb mountains.. yes, not the puny Bukit Timah hill in Singapore, but the Sapa mountains. Exaggerating? Of course i am. =P Just took a moderate 5 hours trek with Wheng, her sister Constance and their Canadian friend Pat. It was fun, full of adventure and very very aching legs after that. And oh... it was freezing cold as temperature dropped to about 3~5 degrees C from evening to morning. burrrr...

I guess it is a good time to catch up on stuff. Especially since i probably have about 3~4 days of leave to clear before 31 March 09, so will be taking leave for me to take a time out to 'find' myself, prioritise and probably search for the answer to how the universe was born, if it born. =P The chances of me succeeding would be roughly the same as predicting the numbers for the coming toto later today (thursday). Hmmmmm... given my sucky-ness in Math, i think i prefer to predict the toto numbers correctly. =D

Till the next time, hopefully wont have to wait this long though. =)

In a Korean cafe for breakfast

2008-11-16T09:30:00.000+08:00

2 trips coming up!

2008-11-09T00:09:00.002+08:00

In a flash, one month had flashed past. And in my birthday month, i will be heading out for 2 trips, to Seoul next tuesday and to middle east on 22th Nov. Exciting? Yes. But rather unprepared is the word.

Just went to buy winter clothing today, 2 pairs of thermal wear and gloves and stuff. Quite a fair bit of stuff actually, and still lacking one Gore-tex material to wear over my suit. Good quality wind breaker will be nice cos a coat will be wasted when i am back in Singapore.

No time to plan where to sightsee or visit as i will be in Seoul during the coming weekend as i am taking the Sunday afternoon flight back. Maybe pop over to the library to borrow a couple of books on Seoul. Definitely going to the casino though. =P Hopefully it is non-smoking, but oh well... Will have to read up on this. =)

Work wise is rather fast paced, not a lot of time to rest and relax as matters crops up every other day. Either it is an expected interuption, or unforeseen opportunities which requires quick response to make the full advantage of it. Lots of stuff i wanna do to improve my efficiency and work flow, but not really have the time to do so as we are required to cross-cover for each other during leave, reservist stints and overseas trips. xP

Well, need to spend more time to fine tune my stuff so that i will have more time to start off on the aircraft design, planning and construction. Still not managing my time properly. Actually thought of taking leave to do that. hahaha.. think the impression will be that i am mad, but i guess i dont mind cos i enjoy my job, so taking time to create and fine tune a better system of work will work wonders.

Having said that, i also need more discipline on this too! Having it in my head wont really help much, will it? =P

Re-starting work in progresses

2008-10-02T19:03:00.000+08:00

Have yet to discard my habit of procrastination. Time to restart quite a few ideas of mine and I better continue my work on them soon.

While waiting for myself to settle in, of which I think I have still much much more to learn, I will need to have better time management. No excuses, but just plain lazy of me. =P definitely not enough time to do up the projects I have. So I guess it is time to free up more time. Heh heh.

Targets to reach: Book and exercise

New target to include: the flying machine project.

F1 is over, whats next?

2008-09-29T21:36:00.000+08:00

My F1 experience would usually be of the 'wait for results' mindset as I look forward to Ferrari winning as V-power will be on discount when that happens. Didn't want to spend the money for the world's first night race but got to know of a spot to hear the screaming engines and a split second look at the speeding cars.

Came across it by accident as I hitched a ride in my colleague's car back on Friday night and traffic slowed to a crawl on the shears bridge and I caught sight of the speedy cars as the loud whines of the racing machines echoes from the underneath the bridge. Thus my cheapo plan was hatched as we went to Queensway shopping centre to look for Wheng's running shoes.

While fen and david headed for the race at 545pm as they had the walkabout tickets and Yongxi went for dinner with his family, wheng and I went to Vivocity for some shopping. But I only found one item out of 3 I was looking for. Hiaz. On the way back, I took ECP on the left most lane and wheng got a chance to hear the roaring of the F1 engines and the noise from the huge crowd. That would be the first few laps, and by the time I reached home, hiaz, Ferrari had crashed out of the race. From leader to last position. Sad. No discount for V-power next week.

Now its back to normal and I guess the effects of the financial crisis in US is snowballing down to Asia. Enroute it is taking out European banks and should be soon before Asian banks also take a hit. Life is all about cycles, without world wars to destroy buildings, lives, economies. I guess business cycles become more prononuced as economy becomes more interdepentant. Would be in the down cycle soon, so I guess it is time to save up and possibly look for bargains, maybe not the time yet. With US in recession, very soon Europe and the rest of the world will follow. This will be a time for re-balancing of fortunes and possibly of World power as Russian and Chinese military might builds up.

I guess the world can't be united as one unless we face a large threat from outer space, and even if such threat arises, there won't be much we can actually do. =) maybe....

Progress

2008-09-18T21:33:00.000+08:00

3 months into the job and I find myself staying above water. Probably okay performance and looks like I will have to put in a bit more effort into doing better. Also need to start exercising again to keep healthy.

Another year is about to pass, 3rd quarter is coming to an end and trust me, 2009 will be poping by in a rather short while. I am rather caught up in a few things, maybe it is time to sit back and relax a bit as a watched pot never boils.

Time to boost up my knowledge in oil trading and operations, the contracts and what not. Looks like knowing just enough is obviously not good, but will have to spend more time reading up on it during my 'free' time as being on call 24 hrs gives me lesser free time.

Will have to manage better from today onwards. Since anytime is a good time to start, let's up one level from today onwards. =)

Echo test in Nov

2008-09-17T08:59:00.000+08:00

Went through the ECG yesterday as I went for my first appointment with the cardiologist. Was not very prepared as I had forgotten to check with her if I should continue to exercise. Hmmm. But I guess I will continue to do so anyway, just watch my level of tiredness and do exercises moderately.

Challenging to get my body into good shape. Think I am back to 76 and probably up to 78 kg liao. Jogging is definitely in the cards and also contemplating to buy a heart rate monitor watch to help me keep track of my heartbeat during exercising. It would be a 150 dollars investment, so time to do some shopping. Online shopping for information actually. Heh

Business attire, with a sports bag

2008-09-16T09:00:00.000+08:00

Standing in the train now, apparently the only free time I have recently for blogging, with a sports bag on the floor in front of me. This extends whatever little personal space I have as I lean on the glass partition beside the train door.

This sports bag brings back memories as this is probably the first bag I bought overseas, at Bangkok or Phuket, with a tick and is of the friendly version. And that was 9~10 years back. Now it still functional, zips are still in good condition, except with a tear on the top cover. For a ten dollar bag(I had bargained from about 25 if my memory serves me well), it is definitely a good buy.

The ba contains clothes in case I need to be in sports attire later for the checkup. Hope it will be done in a day, just the ultra-sound of my heart and maybe ask for the type where they hook up the ECG while I walk/jog on the treadmill. Rather interested.

Realised that I am a very curious person. Hmmmmmm just make sure I am not like the cat. Curiosity killed the cat, wonder what did the cat want to know.....

One more week

2008-09-08T20:35:00.000+08:00

Wondering how next monday's heart examination would go. Luckily not really worried about it, only about 15 percent ba. Just need to know what I can and cannot do before I continue exercising. Always know where the limits are, especially when exceeding it may cause me my life.

Hmmmm. Does this mean that I am not a risk taker? Heh heh. Unless I find an exercise that worthwhile to try that may exceed that limit, else I won't have an answer to that. I think one of the biggest challenge is always to find out just where my limit is. Good news is that I am still adapting well to my current job scope, as well as some extra from my colleague as he goes on reservist stint.

Adapting well, but still a long way to go to be a good trading operator. Almost 3 months into it and think I am average, slightly above average at best. Situational awareness not there yet, and also the tracking of tasks. There has to be a better system waiting for me to develop and hopefully be able to share that process with my team.

Oh. If you can guess where I am now, it would be where you suspecft me to be...... Standing in the last cabin of the MRT, surrounded with Baron's Strong Brew adverts. COMMANDS RESPECT .. Hmmm I wonder how? Not in my view. Heh.

Apprehension --- haircut time again =/

2008-09-06T09:56:00.000+08:00

It has been a few months since my last haircut. Should be about 2~3 months if my memory serves me well. Had reduced it to a short crop quite some time back, and then a trim till now.

3 years since I have this softer hair and looks like a short crop is out as I need to spray/gel it a lot as compared to previous spiky hair. So I guess will have to trim it for a side parting. Realised the longer the hair, the weight of the haie will enable the fringe to be combed to the side.

Well, to a large extend I don't really care about my hair as long as it doesn't cover my face and looks neat. That is, looks neat to me as I do get comments that my hair is actually 'overgrown'. Time for gardening.

Thus find myself sitting on the bench inside a Malay barber shop along Simei street, waiting for my turn as the barber snips snips at the black growth at the top of a customers head. Usual shears would not be enough as an electronic shaver joins in the relentless attack. Buzzing sound reverberates with the background music, possibly in an attempt to drown out the helpless screams of the hair.

The severed ends of the hair are now being heartlessly blown away from their friends and family, in flight for a short moment before gravity took over and they fell. Great heights they once were, down all the way to the crowded floor, where they joined the rest of the victims. As the blower whirls, the hand held mirror that hands on the wall close by shakes with the wind, gently waving goodbye to the falling hair.

Mirrors are abundant in this place, as light reflects around the darkened ceiling and yellowed walls. The light probably reflects more times than the number of times the sound bounces around, originating from the stereo speakers located at the top of the doorway.

My turn!

Meet friends evening

2008-09-05T19:48:00.000+08:00

Took bus 195 from River Valley road after work today. Ended up at Pan Pacific Hotel, thus had to walk through Marina Square and CityLink to get to the MRT. To think I thought it would be faster.

Pleasantly surprised at the few familiar faces I saw during the walk to Cityhall MRT. Qianyi from hall 3, 2 from Kaixin's clicke and my brother's JC friend, who is also my secondary classmate, jianyi's brother. Guess it was a longer trip, but definitely more worth it. =)

Already at Eunos and would be alighting soon as I am heading to Aquarius for a short session of table tennis, let's hope it would be light exercise for my heart. Light and benefitial. Definitely need to find out how to care for my heart from now on. Especially in terms of the amount of exercise it can take.

Need to plan for my trip to Middle East in Nov liao, probably Qatar, Dubai, then Abu Dhabi. Would be on my own for a day or 2, gonna be packed but exciting nonetheless.

Evening crush hour =P

2008-09-02T19:06:00.000+08:00

Well, easy guess. Waiting like a sardine to be canned at the moment. Standing in the crowd just outside of the doors of the first cabin in Cityhall MRT. 2 trains have gone and I am now right outside the door, hopefully can squeeze onto the next train that arrives. XP

Yup. Got in alright. Crushed. Sardined. Still considering on the big decision, think will leave it to fate ba. Hopefully will settle on a reasonable price.

Few activities coming up this month, bowling, badminton, soccer and paintball. Heh. Not to forget my appointment with my heart doctor. Work wise will up a bit as I will be covering for a colleague going for reservist. Too bad no reservist for me. Heh.

Life flows on. Not complaining about the crowded trains actually, cos have a chance to look out for friends, time to blog, time for self-reflection. Ironic that having some time alone to myself is when I am surrounded by so many people.

Guess my willingness to take the bus and trains and walking to destinations does mean that I am not a slave to my car. Although time is 'wasted' during travelling, but one can fully utilise this time to think, reflect and read. But too long hours spent travelling to and fro work is also not good. Guess it is still down to balance. To strike a good balance between time and wealth is a good challenge. =)

The morning crush .... oops.. rush hour

2008-09-02T09:34:00.000+08:00

Became 'sardined' for a good 20 mins just now as I took the train down to Cityhall from Pasir Ris. Pretty late liao but still quite a lot of people, wonder how bad is it during the actual rush hour. Not thinking of trying that out yet, but may not have a choice soon as I am thinking of going to work earlier. But dealing with overseas market with time differences still means that I go off work later though. Hmmmm.

Standing in the MRT train

2008-09-01T22:13:00.000+08:00

Am currently standing in the train on my way back home. Found time to blog, finally. =)

Went for my checkup last Wed, great news as I continue to be in remission. =) Will be going for a cardio check on 15th of this month so as to determine if my heart has weakened and by how much. Apparently one of my chemo drugs is cardio-toxic, and it damages the heart muscles.

This would lead to weakening of the heart muscles and thus may be the cause of my sudden tiredness after some exercise. What I could do a year ago, makes me way too tired to continue after a short while. Hmmmmmm..... Looks like using exercise to manage my weight may not be such a good idea liao.

Life moves very fast, going with the flow really gives me new challenges and may have to make a mega decision very soon. What mega decision??? Hmmmm.. Would be revealed in possibly a few days time, if I find time to blog. =P

My dad is okay liao, now back to delivering papers. Actually wanted him to go on holiday to Macau with my mom and his friends, but he refused to. Hiaz. At least he obtained quite aong period of rest to recover from the op.

Quite some time since I met some of my old friends.. A few months liao for some. Time to plan a meet up soon. Heh. Reaching Tampines already, shall stop now. Still have tons to update. =P Next time ba.

Tiring times...=\

2008-08-19T20:05:00.001+08:00

It has been a while since I last blogged. Being bogged down by work and all. Actually, quite like my current job despite only 2 months into it.

My dad went for kidney stones removal last week and was in and out CGH due to inflammation. So have to wake early at 5am and help to drive and deliver papers. So rather tired recently and also more frequent headaches. Hmmmm. Still coping and when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. =) looks like time for a break after my dad recovers. Heh heh.
Good news is dad is out of CGH and recuperating =)

Rather sad my stamina is way down, I guess being older doesn't help, possibly my body have yet to recover from chemo. Hopefully this is not what they call chemo fatigue, cos if I remember correctly, it would mean that I won't even want to get off my bed.

On this topic, thinking of buying the casio watch that can monitor my heartrate, especially after the past 2 futsal sessions in Jul where I felt so tired and exhausted after some dashing about. Felt my heart pumping so hard, just trying not to collapse on the ground. Hopefully with the heart rate monitor, I can pay attention to my heart rate and rest before over exerting myself.

Well, will have to find some time for shopping first. Heh. And more critical is that the next futsal game I can go to is probably in September after my dad recovers enough to start delivering again. So I guess I have plenty of weekends to shop around.

Trip to UAE.. part 1

2008-07-22T22:00:00.005+08:00

Lots of stuff to write, but ... lets stick with pictures and for pictures, only too some for my very first business trip. Flew to Dubai, UAE on sat afternoon 12 Jul and landed there 7 plus hours later at 1830 UAE time. UAE is 4 hours behind Singapore and thus it was 8.30pm Singapore time when i touched down at Dubai.

After landing, went out and the first thing to strike me was the simmering heat..Was wearing my suit (which has a story that calls for another blog entry.. maybe next time ba), and the heat really hit me, especially after spending over 10 hours in the aircon. About 41 degrees during that time.. and they say Singapore is hot. =P

Went to take the official airport taxi after spotting lots of touts outside the airport. And it is about 120km journey to Abu Dhabi. Literally watched sunset in the taxi.

Some shots taken in the cab... and by the time i reached the hotel and settled down, it was about midnight Singapore time.

to be continued..... =P

trading ops soon...

2008-06-24T20:11:00.002+08:00

Come tomorrow, i will be taking over the command of the spreadsheet in regards to middle east crude. That is after 1 week plus of handing over. And still lots to learn on my responsibilities. =P

Over at Shell house, i get to start later, which is good news as i sleep till later and also less ERP charges incurred. But the trade off is that i end later, leaving the office about 7-ish. My colleagues do leave later, so... looks like i will have to learn more and then determine how to balance my work and life.

Have time will take some photos of my office and surroundings. heh. Brought my mug bought from USS Gary to work. Finally it is back in action after 5 years in the cupboard. Hopefully i get to use the mug again onboard ship, or rather, my very own sailing boat in the future. =D

2 days of training on software =P

2008-06-17T23:02:00.002+08:00

Well, busy for the past 2 days at my new position. So far, so good. Mainly learning on how to use the software, touching on the basics of the basics. Tomorrow will start on picking up the real stuff, from kelvin, a wonderful guy whom i will be taking over from.

Now in a team of 6, all guys, and one of whom i already knew previously. However, we have NO idea when we met and his name is Jesson, which I do have a deep impression on but we still can't trace to when we got to know one another. Strange world...=P Goes to show that i am not the only forgetful one around. heh.

Realising that i need to buy lots of stuff, more long sleeve shirts and also pants plus i need a new pair of leather shoes. My SAF issued no. 3 shoes have hardened liao. After serving me faithfully for the past 7~8 years. At least 2 years in the navy and for all the wedding dinners, interviews etc during my uni days. heh. Lived its 'shoey' life to the max liao.

So looks like gonna have to go shopping again this coming weekend. Hiaz.. have to be weekend warrior, go forth and slug it out with the huge crowd at shopping centres.

4 more days at Seraya...

2008-06-09T17:08:00.002+08:00

Well, time flies as it is already 9th of June already. 4 more days reporting to Seraya, before I head over to Shell House next week. There are still stuff I need to do, and handover in these short 4 days. Had cleared most of the stuff, and will complete the rest by end of this week. heh. Moving on is strange as i guess i got rather attached to Seraya liao.

This would be a huge turn in the journey of my live, as it would probably signal the end of my engineering career. Using the word 'probably' as the future is rather difficult to predict and nothing is absolute in this world and anything can happen. =P Having decided taking on commercial career just 3 months ago and having succeeded on making the switch, i guess i am a bit apprehensive to how i would find my new job and whether i would succeed in it. i guess only time will tell how i would fare in the 'dog eat dog' commercial world. One thing is for sure, and that is i have less worry on my health, although i wonder if there would be an increase in the level of stress that will negate the absence of stuff which makes me uncomfortable. Good news is that stress is manageable ... =P

Preparing for a new start...

2008-05-31T12:29:00.003+08:00

Its 2 weeks more at Seraya, sad to leave actually. I guess have to prioritise things that are more important to me ba.

Went for onboarding last Wed and Thurs, a crash course on tasks of a trading operator. Learnt terminology on freight, trading, legal and definitions used in the trade. Vastly different from engineering, but should not be difficult to pick up. Still have to learn about the software to use when i officially join in on the 16th of Jun. Very nice people there, my manager and colleagues are friendly and so is the environment there. =) So far, so good.

Gonna go work on Monday with my big bag, need to clear up the table to get it ready to handover to the new guy. Then got to onboard him to Shell and Seraya too! Will be looking for thank you cards for some colleagues liao, as seraya is a good place to work and for engineering knowledge. =)

Hmmm... wonder how work will be like, since i will be having a laptop and blackberry too. The question now is whether i want to keep my personal line or not. =P

A photo taken on 1st May 08, my mom's birthday. Yup. A rare glimpse of my parents on my blog as photo taking sessions are rare. =P We had dinner at Long Beach at East Coast (beside burger King). Portions had shrunk since the last i went there...i think. xP

Basketball and injured pinky

2008-05-25T21:14:00.003+08:00

Went for basketball session this morning, is my first for 2008, and surprisingly, it may be almost a year since i last played. Very tiring and my shots are wide, positioning sucks and lay ups misses are the norm. Played 4 games, one of them full court and scored only twice, one long range and the other a lay up. =P

This is the bunch of people i play with, mainly my brother's TJC mates. Early in the morning at Bedok reservoir, not playing at CC as there are some events held there.

My injured pinky on my left hand, looks like guitar lesson on tues is out of the question. Cant even close my hand, nor move it much. The only way to know if it has recovered would be that i feel no pain when i dig my nose with it. =P Tried to do it in the washroom unconsciously, and the pain quickly reminded me that it was a bad option to use it while injured. xP

This week will be tiring as i will be trying to finish up as much as possible, though i can hand over to the new guy, but, somehow i just wanna hand over as swee swee as possible. With new things cropping up every now and then, it is a very tough challenge to do so. Furthermore, i also procrastinate a bit. heh.

Badminton tournament.

2008-05-22T21:26:00.003+08:00

Finally, time to put some photos onto my blog. Pretty empty without photos. =P

Anyway, our team dropped out of the tournament after losing our very first match =P, consolation is that we lost to the eventual winning team. So.. not that bad ba. heh. Some photos taken on the day of the finals.

This is my team, Oni, Swee Seng, Tommy, Cindy and me!

No prizes for guessing who won the championship from this photo. =P

A bit sad to be leaving Seraya, only less than 14 working days to go. Completed a few items on my hands, such as modification (and hopefully considered to be an improvement) on the bad actors list and on LRPs and hopefully can complete P6238 before i leave. Actually quite a lot of stuff which can do, but will take months to start, prepare and implement.

But will have to move on to prepare for my new role already, and will be going to Suntec tomorrow evening to buy some long sleeve shirts cos i definitely cannot go to work in Shell House with only 2 sets of long sleeve shirts. =P

Gastric problems ...

2008-05-15T13:14:00.004+08:00

Visited Dr Fong this morning as my gastric continued to give me problems for the past week. =/ Hopefully will recover soon, else going to be bloated and in discomfort for a long time.

Well, my date of transfer is fixed at 16 Jun, quite sad to leave Seraya, but at the same time relieved. So a bit tacky ba. As i learn more about rotating equipment and reliability issues, it is definitely very interesting and challenging but at the same time, realised that there is a lot more knowledge out there which I have yet to learn. Too bad have to stop at this point, but still, glad that i have done some improvements to Seraya before i am transferred out. =)

By chance, going with NTU anglers club to malaysia for fishing on 7 and 8th Jun, as i got into contact with Houyi during CCHS meet up. =) So i guess that will serve as a short break before i get busy learning new stuff as a trading operator.

Confirmation of a new beginning

2008-05-11T19:19:00.002+08:00

Well. The GTKY session was .. hmmm. didnt really know how it really went. Seems like i was being tested, and looks like i passed. =P Went home after the session with the RTLs and was pondering about how i would have answered some of the questions if i had given it more thought. It was surprising for me to open my email outlook on Friday morning, to see that my future manager had already sent me an email with the great news that i am accepted and my next posting will be as a trading operator, dealing with crude oil.

I had chosen this path and had successfully crossed the bridge. Now is what lies ahead and ... its time to buy long sleeve shirts, pants and also some reading material on trading and more info on trading operators. Gonna to spend some money liao. =/

GTKY session

2008-05-07T20:15:00.002+08:00

Hmmmm.. tomorrow's the GTKY session at Shell House. Its at 3pm, so logistics is going to be a nightmare. What logistics? u might ask. Well, i will have to head down to the sea water intake pump to have a visual inspection of the suction bowl, its impellers (it is 2 stage) and to determine if it requires to be brought to Sulzer for servicing.

That will definitely cause me to perspire a lot and ... that means i have to get changed and freshened up before I head to city for the interview. Else the RTLs will find me stinky, which is obviously not a good start. Halfway done with my K2301/K2302 and K3201 report, will have to complete P6238/P6237 as soon as possible too. Now have to juggle those 2 with coming up with the new bad actor excel format and hold a meeting next week. =P Busy busy busy, which is good as it is still in the eu-stress range. Have to also look at P6202 and possibly the status of P5502A's plan for modification in Germany. If P5502A gets the go ahead, it will be another thing to accomplish as much as possible before i leave Seraya. Well. That is if they find me okay during tomorrow's GTKY session.

Chung Cheng 4J class outing

2008-05-05T23:02:00.002+08:00

Received the pictures from Lynn this morning, or rather, she sent them on Sun, but I opened them this morning. Will transfer over .. not today. heh. Tired after some badminton after work, and .. well, i guess i will need to sleep pretty soon.

Anyway, it was the first meet up after almost 12 years since we 'graduated' from secondary school. Only kept in touch with Chris, Zhihao and Yunning the most, and sometimes Jennifer, Jiajun, Louis, Miss See. Happy to see 17 ex-classmates after such a long time. I have not much story to tell as I was very quiet and geeky during my secondary school days, surprising, but true. =P

Everyday was to go school, then go home while listening to FM93.3. Then study a bit, continue to listen to FM93.3. Still rather surprised i can get rather good results for my GCE 'O' levels with.... minimal studying.

Good to see everyone healthy and happy. Glad that I had the chance to meet everyone again, and to re-establish our friendship after so long. Appreciate the efforts of Kangning. =D Also very happily surprised that Houyi and Xiaoping are getting married. haha. To think they got together 8 years after they left CCHS(M). My best wishes for them and looking forward to their wedding, but before that, hopefully a fishing trip with Houyi and friends are in the cards.

I am so glad that I'm still alive and kicking. Well... gonna go back to work and concentrate on clearing my stuff before i move out of Seraya, although it seems that more projects are on the way. xP Do hope that i can smoothly hand over to someone, or well.... not to leave too much backlog behind if there is nobody to hand over to. Else work will definitely accumulate over time.

Weekly update liao

2008-05-03T15:05:00.003+08:00

Looks like its going to be a weekly update of my blog nowadays. =P Loads had happened this past week. An ex student of Wheng had been knocked down by a car, and was in a coma for 2 days before passing away on around midnight on Wed. We had visited her for 2 nights at the ICU in CGH, praying for her to pull through. Rather saddened by the news although I didn't know her.

Well, life goes on and yes, reminded me again on the importance of my family and friends, though i must say that i need no reminding. Celebrated mother's birthday on 1st May. Actually wanted to bring her for fishing competition, but no competition was held cos of the higher costs nowadays. Thus only went for dinner at Long Beach restaurant, where the portions seemed to have gotten smaller although the price remained the same. =P

Quite happening in the workplace. With the drive towards reliability, will be tweaking the bad actors list and some reports. Good news is that the people there are having more confidence in me as my recommendations (some with help of my senior colleagues + supervisor) are proven to be effective. Ideas are being accepted, aka less challenged, as I have a bit more experience from other similar pumps and thus can provide better justifications. Not so good news would be that I will probably be leaving Seraya by June, leaving after getting into the job and having to start all over again ... hmmmm... well. At least I am leaving Seraya wtih goodwill and had contributed to Seraya in my short stay of about 6 months now.

Wonder how the GTKY session will be on 8th May. If i get to choose between Dubai and Singapore posting, I will ask for Dubai. Since I am still 'young', think should seize the opportunity to head out and explore other countries. In theory, I would be able to put more efforts into self development over there as I will not have the chance to play mahjong, meet up with friends etc. Instead, starting would be able to concentrate on picking up whatever skills i need to do well in my new role and to make new friends and have some self development within the next 3 years. Furthermore, hopefully by the time i come back, I would have healthy savings and the property market is in the lull. =P

Changed my engine oil to full synthetic 5w-30, Pennzoil platinum, which is owned by Shell actually. Chose this over Shell Helix as Shell Helix only comes in 5w-40, which i will use only when my engine gets older. =P Hopefully my fuel efficiency will increase from the current average of 14.8km/l.

Crossroads once more?

2008-04-23T19:59:00.002+08:00

Good news is that I will be going for a GTKY (i guess this to be Get To Know You) session with 2 RTLs or regional team leads the week after next. Yes, short forms are a way of life in Shell. Seems exciting as they have deemed me to be capable of being a trading operator. Now.. about that crossroads, it will be whether i will be stationed in Singapore or with the possibility of heading out to Dubai for a good 3 years.

Rather excited about both options actually. On thinking about the pros and cons .. hmmm.
Heading to Dubai - pros would be -> very good exposure to other cultures and good experience; good money due to allowance; opportunity to explore the middle east, probably finish touring it by the end of 3 years; time for me to focus on my knowledge/career and probably learning stuff; making new friends. Cons would be -> away from family and wheng and all my friends here; no activities with my friends - 1st thing i would buy there would be a PS3 xP ..... hmmmm.

So ... if given the opportunity, i would most probably go for Dubai posting ba. hmmmm. Never expected such a possibility, but seems to be good. Well, thinking about it will give me a better idea of what i want and ... lets not think too far ahead. One more hurdle to clear. =P

De interview and .. a win =/

2008-04-21T23:04:00.002+08:00

Went for the interview today at Shell Trading. Think it went rather well, at least, not that tense and stuff. Chatted a bit and got to know about an opening at risk management analyst role. =) About an hour and a half for the interview, hmmm... still a good feel, except that will have to wait for their response and a second round if i can get through this.

Had Thai food with Wei Khai, Xinyi and frens. Couldnt remember their names.. oops. =P And went back for the test run of P6238. Good news is .. found out the root cause of poor performance, not so good news is that have to wait till next week before it can be rectified. =P

As for the badminton tournament, swee seng and i won the men's doubles, 21-18 10-21 21-16. Mostly my efforts in losing the points, and swee seng's to win them back. Luckily, swee seng was more effective in earning points than me in losing them. =P Although we won the men's doubles, the other 2 matches (singles and mixed doubles) were lost as Kewei, a national team player overcame our team manager, Ony (singles) and Cindy and Tommy (mixed). It was definitely a good experience. =D

Winds of change .. where will it blow me to?

2008-04-16T21:44:00.002+08:00

Well... it has been a while now. And yes, plenty had happened since i last blogged. Hmmm. Currently excited about the interview on next Monday for the Trading Ops position, and looks like i have to get ready my interview wear. =P Apparently there are 4 of us going for 2 available positions and I hope they would find me suitable. =)

Feeling sad that i would have to leave Seraya, wonderful bunch of people there. To think I am part of a badminton team going for competition next Monday evening. =) Leading a Rotating Equipment Reliability Team (RERT) and also lead for 2 Root Cause Analysis teams for short term and long term solutions. If not for my own fear, it is a good place to learn and develop my competency in rotating equipment.

Had been handing over information on my tasks and responsibilities to Hitesh for the past few days. Feeling sian cos have a few initiatives but will not be implementing it myself, but will let him decide on how he would want to handle them. Realised that six months is a good period where I can settle into a position and start to think of ways of improving it. Hopefully my interview for Trading Ops position will be successful else will have to think about which position I would like to try and also will depend on what is available.

As for my car, it has been leaking after heavy downpours as I park in the open carpark. Rather surprised that water actually splash onto my right foot as i accelerate out of the car park. After going down to Ubi toyota service centre, then I found out that I have to go Leng Kee Car bodycare centre for them to determine location of the leak. xP

Think will be able to go only on 28th Apr, where i can deposit the car in the morning and go for training at Macpherson area at 0930. hmmm... meanwhile, lets hope it doesn't rain that much in the afternoon. heh.

Wonder how the near future will be like?

2008-04-01T18:49:00.002+08:00

Had started the process for a big change in my life, which is, surprisingly, a career switch. After feeling uncomfortable with exposure to chemicals, even though they are safe, for some time now. I decided to apply for a transfer to a commercial role so that any unnecessary exposure to any chemicals is reduced to zero.

Left with the final (at the present moment) hurdle of clearing the company doctor, in which i will have to get the recommendation from my own doctor from NUH. Thus going to meet her tomorrow and see what her views are.

If the transfer is approved, i would probably be going into Shell Trading, under trading operations IF they accept me. =P Else.. hmmm.. probably contracts and procurement then.

If the transfer is a no go, then will have to look for another job liao. heh.

Thus... my crystal ball for the near future surely looks hazy at the moment. xP

Super rain today...

2008-03-24T21:26:00.002+08:00

Got back to main building just in time this evening, with dark clouds looming over the site casting menacing shadows across the face of earth. Having to witness the test run of the liquid ring pump(LRP) as it had failed twice before, i was approximately 5 storeys above ground where the LRP is. The test run was successful and it was the first time i attended such test run of LRP, with the suction pressure, flow and power consumption was closely monitored and vibration readings were tracked.

Anyway, just before leaving the main building, several dry lightning strikes clapped as i walked along the corridor towards the exit. Started to jog as i felt time was short and as anticipated, the sky opened up with HUGE blots of raindrops and torrent rain plummeted to the ground as i stood 10 metres away from my car underneath the shelter.

In the end, had to make do with a small umbrella and dashed to my car. The drive back was challenging too. With visibility reducing to 10 metres at times and having to drive through deep water at times. Think my undercarriage is now 'cleaned' with rain water, thank goodness the car didnt stall. =P

Oh well, it was an experience. =D And had an informative lunch today, as i learnt about what the contract and procurement people does in their daily work. heh heh. Shall keep it a secret first, see how things unfold from here.

Hiaz.... Strange how the human mind works. I realised that my anxiety and panic attacks from fear of relapse had more or less vanished, but worries still linger and i am still able to keep them under control. =D Really have to think about what i want to achieve in life, and head towards that. But actually, there are so many dreams i want to achieve, had realised several of my dreams and now still sort of in limbo. thus will have to think about what dreams i wanna fulfill and prioritise them soon. =P

heh heh ..

2008-03-20T20:56:00.003+08:00

After years of cold feet, literally cold feet as my circulation to my extremities are no that good. So during the period of flu, i got myself a pair of woollen socks. Not only that, they are toe socks. =D

They do keep my feet warm and yes, i wear them till late morning and is comfortable, not hot at all. Can still remember the salesgirl saying: They are for wearing with shoes in cold climate .. little will she ever guess it is for wearing at home IN Singapore. =P

Now brewing the chinese herbs. Have not been drinking them since the bout of flu, so starting today again.

A shocking strike, 13 wonders and a surprise coursemate!

2008-03-18T23:02:00.011+08:00

Last Friday, as i was driving back home along ECP at Keppel flyover area, on the curve towards Marina South in Lane 1 (outer most lane) when i saw an object hurling towards me from the other side of the expressway. I was travelling at about 85 km/h at that time, and the object (likely a rock) was a streak of shadow that came at me, but with a lorry on my left and wall on my right with a car behind.

I cant possibly apply emergency brake (nor do i have the reaction time to do that actually..). So just served a tiny bit to the right and "PEE_ARK!!"- a freaking loud sound thundered from my windscreen and .....

This was taken on the next day at Tampines for those not familiar with the east. another shot from the outside, 4 impact points which can be seen from the outside, 1 main and 3 minor ones. Hmmm.. i look good with most of my face covered. =P

Well.. as for the 13 wonders. Heh. Another special win this year, and this would be my 3rd time winning the 13 wonders. Rather quick as i started with 10 of the required cards and i won from Fen's discarded 東. =)

After this short recap of some highlights from the past, back to today. I have recovered 80% from flu by today, and went for the Dry Gas Seal training by JohnCrane at Tuas. Surprise surprise! Met Dawn who went for the same training. Caught up with her on latest happenings and .. heh heh.. obtained some juicy news too! =P heh. Time to go sleep... at least starting to blog more frequently liao. hope the momentum continues.

Down with flu

2008-03-17T11:34:00.002+08:00

Been down with flu since Friday evening. All because of a sudden downpour when i was out in the plant on Friday. I was observing the test run of the compressor when it started to rain. As they were starting up the compressor then, there was no point for me to cycle back for the raincoat. The belt was loose previously as it is a new belt (motor to compressor), so after tensioning, need to test run off line to confirm that all is okay.

After the compressor was started, the belt looks to be in proper tension but there was still a rattling sound. So started to diagnose by going around to determine the source of the sound, and touching the belt guard to feel for where the vibration is coming from. Apparently the belt guard was loose and had distorted over time, thus the contractors were told to mend that before the compressor can be brought online. heh. interesting.

Hiaz.. so today on MC, not good, 2 consecutive Mondays liao. Need to get my body back to healthy status ASAP, but the freaky weather is not helping, sunny then sudden downpours. =P

Wonderful time at Shell Life. =D

2008-03-10T11:27:00.005+08:00

It was a long long week at KL. Shell Life was the course i attended, and it was a full day program, so full that i had thought that it was already Thursday when it was only Tues night. Due to the phone off policy, i was not able to take photos as and when i wanted to. Thus only a few pictures were taken, all on the last day actually. However, will be getting the group photos from others. heh. =D

Learnt quite a fair bit from the course, information and learning was well paced. Good exposure for me, especially on communication skills as i picked up quite a bit of good stuff. The hotel was Crowne Plaza and the course was conducted at the lower penthouse, which is 30 floors up and comes with a swimming pool, of which the sign at the pool is of interest as you can see in the picture i took:

Interesting how the VERY first line of the rules conveys the purpose of the 'swimming' pool built at the 30th floor.... is it a Feng Shui thingy? Or just a waste of money/lack of foresight? =P

In the sun..... and about the escape.

2008-03-01T14:01:00.003+08:00

Took a few more pictures of baby vios and putting up 2. =D Sorry, just sharing my joy =P

Was chatting with Yongxi last night on the Mas Selamat escape. Looks like he had watched one too many episodes of Prison Break. =P This time, can come up with Prison Break, Singapore edition liao. Wonder why are the police not using their sniffer dogs or infra-red cameras or stuff to scan the forested areas. Wouldn't it be faster that way?

If only a reward is posted on information leading to capture of the terrorist. Then the ENTIRE nation will be on the hunt for him over the weekend. 2 million people looking for ONE person (have to exclude children, youngsters and people working during the weekend), the odds of him running away will be very slim. just $10,000 reward will do, and you can see how the entire Singapore is mobilised. Total Defense. =)

Rainy day today

2008-03-01T11:08:00.004+08:00

Came back after filling up with Shell 95 for my baby vios. =) Since the car is wet, decided to give it a wash. After polishing it for CNY, the car is rather shiny and only need to touch up once a while.

Unfortunately, have to wash once a week cos it there are always soot deposit on the car after 5 days at Jurong island. once i made the mistake of not washing it off till 2 weeks later, then kana stain on the paintwork. Lucky can still remove using Duragloss #521.

Tada! The before and after pictures, the shine is nice, maybe take a few in the sun later. =P

And yes, i like the shine. =P Silver ride cos it is the showroom car, can get some discount off. ;P yes yes.. cheapo me, lucky the colour is ok with me. And my car starts will SJB, collected on 28th Dec 07. Singapore-Johor Bahru? Or just Sin Jia Bo..... =P

Recap on spectacular moment for CNY 2008

2008-02-29T19:49:00.003+08:00

Well... a picture will tell a thousand words...

Hahahaha .. thinking of what spectacular stuff happened right? it is my FIRST flower win! 花胡!! total of 8 fan! =P After playing since sec 2 .. which is like.. many years ago, i finally did it. Having said that, would like to thank Yongxi... for he had unfortunately kana 'bao' cos he collected the very last flower. xP

Well, another picture will be my latest liability, which is also my time saving machine....

Blocked out my license plate cos... dont think it is good to post it online, nonetheless, left the centre alphanumeric there, which is a number 3. =) Will take more pictures when I remember to do so, currently already travelled 5800km in it liao. 2 months only. =P

Its been a long long time ....

2008-02-27T18:59:00.003+08:00

...since i last blogged. A month had passed. A very eventful month actually.
Chinese New Year went by in a flash, then very soon, it will be March already. Full of good news, and a bit of bad.

Bad news first: I will not be able accomplish my goal of completing my book by end Feb, given the tight schedule and mainly because of my procrastination. =P Will take it in small steps then, starting 2nd week of March, I will devote some time to writing my book and to exercise too! That leads me to my 2nd bad news ... had not been exercising much this past month. =P ..... hmmm ... not much negative news anymore, but will be taking steps to improve on my time management and go forth and do it instead of lazing around.

Basically, downside of having a car is being able to go to places in a very short time, thus ... i literally drove about to places for meet ups, makan and mahjong. =P By being away from home, my time in front of computer dropped drastically, so.. less blogging.

Good news now... starting with Fantastic news: I received my CT scan and blood tests results today. All clear!!! =D Thus almost 3 years in remission liao, and the next appointment is in Aug, so looks like i have been upgraded to review every 6 months instead of 3. Reducing both costs, pain and fear. =)

This CNY was very fruitful, being able to meet up with quite a number of friends, and had also taken the effort to thank my relatives for their support during my period of illness. =) Still have tons of people to meet and chat up, but i guess this will go into my time management schedule. Need to catch up with friends more often.

Phyllis just gotten married last Fri, and so will Weicheng and Claren this Sunday. So happy for them, and it will be fun going to their wedding dinner (had fun and laughter at Phyllis') and looking forward to it. Wishing them happiness in their marriage. =D

Will be flying off to KL for a course this Sun. A week in KL and flying back next Friday night, just in time for Wheng's birthday. heh.

So ... time flies and there are so many things that i want to do, but difficult to arrange and have everyone to meet up for gathering. Guess that is the main difference between studying and working. While studying, meeting up is easy as the time table is fixed, now, takes a bit of effort. Guess i will be asking for Chee lay's help in getting a chalet this Nov liao.

a secret project is also on my mind, definitely bigger than the solar car project, more exciting and challenging. Hopefully i can get enough support and luck for this to go through. ;P

Back home in less than an hour

2008-01-23T21:18:00.000+08:00

Got back home today in less than an hour, rather smooth traffic throughout the journey. Left office at 5:45, drove off at about 5:55 after the engine had warmed up and stuff, was pleasantly surprised to have parked my car at 6:45. =D

Read the papers and walked to the coffeeshop near my place for dinner with my parents and younger bro. So nice. Makes the cost of the car very worth it. If money can let me have time with my family, it is definitely worth spending. =D

As for work, it is getting packed as i assume the responsibility of the PODU side, things are piling up with more projects to do. At least i had completed one which i had started, and several small ones are closed too. =) My supervisor is also setting up a rather 'big' time presentation for me next month, hopefully my presentation will go well, and i have to start preparing tomorrow, cos Feb is coming and there are always things cropping up during the day. Hmmm... maybe will need to spend some time working at home or during weekends. Heh.

i guess the good news is, i am happy with the challenge. Hope i can go through this smoothly and succeed. =D Then is looking forward to the course at KL this coming March, then another course in Changi this April, which means i get to sleep in more.

Starting to get busy preparing for the Lunar New Year, had completed delivering the new year goodies (consisting of 1kg ba kua and 1 box of peanut based CNY goodies) to all my aunts and uncle. For their support during my fight with cancer and also for having completed University and started work. =D I think it is just what i can do, a small gesture of appreciation. The most common reaction to seeing me was .... 'wah! Getting married ar?' Or 'Sending out wedding invitations?' =P

All in all, a happy week so far, and time is really flying by when one enjoys it. =P Another thing is... market is crashing, and looks like there are opportunities to profit from the stock market again, except... probably wait for it to settle a bit first. ;P

Surprise surprise ...

2008-01-18T19:48:00.001+08:00

My 1st goal for 2008 was achieved today!! Much to my surprise and of course delighted to have achieved it, my first recommendation for improvement to a pump in Seraya. It is the P6234 mentioned in my previous post. With guidance from my supervisor, Mr Li, and Thomas out on site, i tested out the 3 pumps but running one at a time. Obtaining the shut off head and actual flow rates. Then with knowledge of its suction pressure, the process fluid, process flow and material of construction, Mr Li is able to guide me to possible cause of poor performance. So now waiting for them to pull out the pump P6234A to have an inspection.

Much more to do next week, but i guess it is a good start to 2008. =P

Later will be going to airport for supper and picking up fen who is flying back from Philippines. Will be heading down to Shuang Lin Temple tomorrow with my mom for prayers before heading to Wheng's place for w11 and maybe mahjong. =P Looks like i will have to wash car tomorrow morning, covered with fine ash from the chimneys at jurong island.

Now for more goals to achieve in 2008 ... cheong ar!

Many firsts... again?

2008-01-16T21:44:00.000+08:00

Taking charge of PODU (short for polyols, derivatives and utilities) side of the chemical plant since monday, more or less official. 3 days, with responsibilities made quite a bit of difference. =P

Held my first meeting on Monday, went somewhat ok. Still have things to do and catch up. Taking up a mini investigation on pump P6234A/B/C, and see how it goes. =) Definitely a good learning experience and am supported by fantastic colleagues. Moving out of my shell to explore and get in contact, something I should had done a while back, but better late than never. =P

Will have to come up with a list to prioritise as stuff to do are piling up. Feels good to be able to stay back in office. Today learnt a lot from beng lee, a technologist, in regards to process and also pertaining to P6234. =)

Arranging for a plant visit to Flowserve, a mechanical seal vendor, so that i can gain more knowledge on that. Getting new engineers to go so that we can all gain knowledge too. =)

Uploading of photos... hmm. Not on my priority list so far. =P I rather read papers and relax and practise my guitar. After my 2nd lesson yesterday, i can play 3 songs, with long breaks inbetween chords as i change my finger positions. Not to mention that my finger tips are still in pain after pressing on the strings. =P Didnt know it comes together with pain.

Find driving rather okay, but sad that my fuel consumption increased after my servicing and after i installed the window visors. From 13.6km/l to to 14.4km/l to a very good 16.8km/l and now is 13.5km/l. Will see how is the next top up as i suspect 16km/l was achieved cos i was on the highway 90% of the time, while the rest is mixed as it was over the weekend.

Aim to run into my job and be comfortable by CNY so that i can start to re-connect back to several friends which i had last contacted when i was in NTU, which was 3~4 months back, but it seemed like ages. heh.

CSI?

2008-01-10T22:43:00.000+08:00

Driving given me more freedom and time, =D Period. So started to stay back later in office, so that i can learn more stuff, do more reading up etc. Started my gears going... finally, hopefully can reach full steam in 3 months time. Have to start slowly, and maybe my goal of improving ONE pump by end of 2008 could be achieved sooner than i thought.

So many things to write... but ... where to start. hmmm... anyway, still have yet to take photo with my car, and it will be going for servicing on Sat. heh. Already done 1390km on my car, after driving for only 12 days so far. Good news is.... the fuel consumption is unbelievably good. Cos for the top up today of 25.54 litres of Shell 95, i had travelled 429km with it, giving a cool 16.79km per litre. Hopefully it gets better after servicing. =D

Drove my family down to Suntec last Sunday, amazing cos of the time saved. No need to wait for bus and train and squeeze with all the people. Parking costs $5+, but for 6 people, worth it and apparently, so is the fuel. Hope the fuel consumption continue or gets better. Heh.

Why the CSI tag? Cos learnt a new skill at work, which is to listen to pipes. Yes, literally place my ear on the pipe (pumping service water at ambient temperature, of course) and listen. Then also use hand to turn shafts, feel for vibration, heat (for products that are not that hot). Woot! so much stuff to learn, and to get experienced enough to know what i am hearing. After 2 days and about 10 over times of listening to the piping, finally can distinguish between piping with fluid flow and no flow. But for that particular pipes only, will need to see if have chance to try on other pipes. =P

Still not put up any photos... will have to do so soon, else my blog only words.. =P So sianz.

Life with a car... is definately different!

2008-01-03T20:29:00.000+08:00

My first post in 2008! And yes, the spending is worth it! Been waking up at 6.30am since 2nd Jan and pretty smooth traffic, with few spots where speeds went down to 30 plus, and i reached Seraya at 7.50am. This means about an hour of driving as i leave the car park at about 6.50 plus. =) To think i am driving at about 70~90 although there is no traffic as i am still breaking in my engine. =D

So far, 2008 is going smoothly, everything going well. New year resolutions? Quite a few, and moving on to plan for them so as to ensure their success. Work wise, starting to get heavy, which is good to a certain extent and still will have to balance that in time to come. Still have a lot of stuff i wanna do, but not much time for that. So .. the first thing i wanna achieve in 2008, is to have discipline. More discipline in myself so that i can achieve more while maintaining my health. Especially now that i can have 45 mins of more sleep and reaching home a lot earlier, or rather, able to stay back later in office and still reach home earlier. =D

Roped in for a project, will be on my own, sort of anyway, as my supervisor will be looking after me. Cos still lots of stuff i have little idea. Starting to spread my wings a bit today, and will continue to make an effort to do so and meet more people at work and build on relationships. =P

Drove down to Orchard Road today, for G schemers' high tea at Royal Plaza on Scotts Rd. My first time driving down, and had to write the route down on the post it note and stick it at the music console for me to follow. Luckily, afternoon drive down was rather smooth, and had very nice high tea with large serving of salmon sashimi and lots of other buffet stuff. =D The drive back was a bit of a jam all the way as i missed the turn to ECP and had to pass through ERP twice. Oh well..that's the price of being a noob driver in town.

Back from Bangkok and just got my car =D

2007-12-29T14:45:00.000+08:00

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 ..

2007-12-20T14:23:00.000+08:00

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 ....

2007-12-17T22:45:00.000+08:00

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..

2007-12-12T22:48:00.000+08:00

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 ..

2007-12-11T21:45:00.000+08:00

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

2007-12-08T15:54:00.000+08:00

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

2007-12-05T19:58:00.000+08:00

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 ...

2007-12-03T22:44:00.000+08:00

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. =)

2007-12-02T16:12:00.000+08:00

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....

2007-11-25T11:02:00.000+08:00

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

2007-11-24T00:11:00.000+08:00

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...

2007-11-21T20:12:00.000+08:00

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

2007-11-20T20:35:00.000+08:00

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

2007-11-18T21:58:00.000+08:00

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

2007-11-16T23:55:00.000+08:00

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 ...

2007-11-14T20:02:00.000+08:00

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?

2007-11-13T22:08:00.000+08:00

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...

2007-11-11T22:50:00.000+08:00

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....

2007-11-10T17:46:00.000+08:00

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....

2007-11-08T22:15:00.000+08:00

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

2007-11-08T12:52:00.000+08:00

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..=)

2007-11-07T17:00:00.000+08:00

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 ...

2007-11-06T23:25:00.000+08:00

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

2007-11-06T00:14:00.000+08:00

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...

2007-11-04T10:38:00.000+08:00

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!

2007-11-01T21:37:00.001+08:00

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

2007-10-30T22:35:00.000+08:00

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 =)

2007-10-28T00:30:00.000+08:00

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.

2007-10-25T20:03:00.000+08:00

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 ...

2007-10-23T21:09:00.000+08:00

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

2007-10-22T20:49:00.000+08:00

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

2007-10-21T13:14:00.000+08:00

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!

2007-10-17T20:56:00.000+08:00

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

2007-10-16T19:45:00.000+08:00

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...

2007-10-16T11:30:00.000+08:00

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