sungei sembawang

there are many things that happen around us as we live out our hectic lives. some may say that these are but the insignificant, that they are superfluous to what living is about. how can one stop and smell the roses, even when the economy and the future seems so uncertain?

and yet. i proffer that perhaps it is not so bleak. there are things in life apart from the pursuit of monies - things that happen even while shenton marches on.

just a while ago, i found myself jogging at sungei sembawang park connector. it's a quiet little stretch nestled in the heart of my estate. a little oasis of sorts, it's a place where people gather to relax and recharge as the day winds down.

as usual, i'd have done my stretching at home before i head down, so once i get there i can start with the programme. i decided to do the 3.2 today, and heading right as i hit the track, i notice that apart from the usual suspects, some more abound. i wonder for awhile, and realise that we're in the midst of the december school holidays. no wonder then, that the families are out in force..

i run further down and on my left side is sungei sembawang. she's a concrete river of sorts, and if you divide the river in a north-south fashion, the northern side (towards the chinese temple) would be the bare side. there is a palpable lack of vegetation on the river side of the running track, but the other side of the track is flanked by a couple of schools and their respective football fields. there is a man working the industrial-sized lawn mower, and i always enjoyed watching the birds swoop in on the freshly mowed grass. i imagine that the earthworms will be churned up with the rumbling - a bird sized buffet of sorts.

the southern side of the river is another story tho - the undulating track provides more variety in running, and is anything but bare. the track is flanked on the river side by rather thick foliage, while the opposing side invariably bustles with activity. one could not help but notice the cacophony of delighted shrieks from kids running around the playground, as well as the laid back chatter of families setting up their barbecue pits. just last week, i ran past 2 active barbecue pits and omg but the smell of heated charcoal does nothing to aid my cause in weight loss.

running further down the southern end of the river and under the rail track which hangs overhead, i notice a trio of kids in their early teens perhaps, setting up their fishing lines. i never knew there were fishes of interest in this river, but what do i know? spotting movement in the water, i stopped to look over the fence and lo! a school of small fish in a feeding frenzy, clustering to feed on a small piece of bread dropped by an old man. alongside the fish, i spy a couple of tortoise swimming lazily in the water.

i smile to myself and run along. sniffing the air, i decide that the smell of the river is intéressant du jour. it smells like the sea. at low tide. it is at the same time not overly revolting but not quite unpleasant as well. i think people who stay near the sea probably have an idea what i'm talking about. the last time i came across this smell was a couple of years back, when i was jogging at this very track in the wee hours, 2~3am? when the moon was low and the tide corresponding so... it's funny how smells trigger nostalgia huh? :D

further down the track and i come across a family of 3, the kid looks like he's learning to ride a bike for the first time. i say that because he almost crashed into me.. ahaha.. it didn't happen tho, and i allow myself a smirk as he blurted out "sorry!" in the sheepishest of manners.

at the end of the track there are a couple of bicycles parked beside a bench, and on the bench sat a middle aged malay couple. the man was wearing a classic yellow/green diadora soccer jersey and a sarong, while the lady was decked out in a maroon and black spotted tudung, with a long sleeved top and track pants. i run to the end of the track and turn around, back towards my starting point as i pass the couple again. i spot them sharing a packet of rice and i think to myself - singapore is not so devoid of romance afterall?

900m later and i was at the end of my run. i have to admit tho, i've just only started this jogging regiment a week ago, and i'd be glad if i can keep this up for more than 2 months. only time will tell :)

extravagance and weekend capers

ok quick update.. i spent an insane (by my standards) amount of money this month, and it's not even the end of the month yet. 4 more days to pay day.. hanging in there..

i bought:
• p2370 viz. my last post
• new > shirt, polo, jeans, flip-flops
• a book.. What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell.

the monitor is *fantabulous* and the clothes fit OKAY. the book is turning out fine so far..

over the weekend i found out that when you apply heat to raw materia, they actually change in their chemical composition and "cook". the folks were outstation at macau, and lunch had to be settled.. a quick trip to the grocers' and i whipped up a fusion japanese udon with cabonara sauce. it went quite well with a glass of viognier, might i add :D

desire

hmmm you know how there's an inkling or a tickling feeling in your chest, just below the neck and, well, not quite above the heart i guess. the feeling that says "hey, you want it". and i want it, i do.

the new samsung p2370 monitor beckons me. $295 worth of 23 inch goodness. *sigh*

i dun need it. walk away. i dun need it at all.

..and we're up to date

i went for hazel's 21st last nite at ymca, and the theme was "my secret fantasy". oh boy. i went as a naughty schoolboy and ys went as a strict teacher.. hilarity ensued ahaha..

before i over-share, i suppose i should get down to business, and recap then, on the things that happened since the start of the month...

i had the opportunity to help out with a symposium that's being organised by the company. on the 1st of october, one of the captains organizing the symposium brought me and my boss out for lunch at this australian restaurant at circular road called "moomba".. fantastic food at a decentish price.. capt even introduced us to the boss.. :)

we met up with with guy from IATA over lunch. he's gonna give a talk at the symposium and i suppose capt F wanted to give him an idea what the symposium's about. IATA dude's a pretty cool guy, and before he joined IATA, he flew the US vice president around on Air Force 2.. wow.

the 2nd was spent with ys - i picked her up from school and we went for dinner at one rochester.. we had the tomato soup, crab claw salad, pan seared seabass, accompanied by a couple glasses of voignier by langmeil.. om nom nomming that can totally be described as a gastronomic orgasm LOL.

i like that place.. ambience is nice, with the little tea lights and soft music. the carpark hosted the occasional ferrari, which did nothing to soothe my lancer's ego. oh well... cars *are* meant to be kar tak only mah.. :P

on the 3rd of october, my cousin - da ge - got himself married. i was roped in to help out as one of his brothers, and thus got to wear disposable undies superman style as well as get whipped cream licked off my face :x the solemization was a rather happening affair, and the cake was omg. it was more like an ice kachang than a cake.. umm.. decide for yourself..

the wedding banquet was held that evening at this place called "changi village hotel", and despite it's ulu locale, turned out to be a really cool place! i enjoyed standing at the balcony of the hotel room - it was jutting out of the room, so you get the ooh i'm standing on air kinda feeling.. you know what i mean :P

sunday 4th was spent sleeping in till late.. in the afternoon, i went shopping with ys's dad and mom (and ys, of coz) and then had dinner at her porpor's place.. :) met her cousins for the 1st time ahaha.. they're nice folks

monday and tuesday was sigh. i quit twitter.

wednesday i watched cloudy with a chance of meatballs with ys.. ahaha.. happening movie lei. in case anyone's wondering whether or not to catch it: catch it!!

friday, 9 oct 2009. my inaugural trip to the nite safari with the tickets courtesy of ling'er.. THANKS!!

we were all excited about the trip - ok at least I was.. ys had to psyche herself up 'cause she's been there a couple of times already ahaha.. the theme was halloween, and expectations (from me) were running high, probably on the back of my recent trips of universal studio japan as well as tokyo disneyland.

what can i say? nite safari is no universal studios/disneyland. let's just leave it as that..

and that just about brings this blog up to date.. i shall write more frequently. i suspect that i am starting to loose my grasp on my command of the language.. jeez.

the long post

okay i've been away far too long and neglected this blog for a whole season.. anyway - i'm back!

in the past 3 months, the more outstanding events were: my successful completion of my advanced training at brisbane and got my multi-engine, pressurised cabin, retractable under carriage, as well as my jet ratings.

after the brisbane phase, i've been posted back to training centre, where i'm currently helping out with various administrative matters while waiting for my 777 groundschool to commence on 23 november. that means i'll be mostly free to meet up with anyone who's interested :D

july..

after i got back from brissie, i went on an outing with ys to the singapore flyer on 8th july..

on the 25th of the same month, we went to the NDP rehearsal, courtesy of 四姨.. :)

i loved the "i want to be.." video segment, where the kid said he wants to be a 'PSP Helper' who "help people play their PSP lor!" ahaha :D

and then on the 26th, i went for the liverpool match at kallang stadium with 大哥 :)


august..

on the 2nd, i went to the istana open house with ys.. it was a crazy hot day as i can remember, but it was nice to finally take a lookie around the president's pad. interesting: citizens got in for free by showing our identity cards, while tourists had to pay an entrance fee, 100% of which went to the com chest. nice.

2nd of august marks our 9th months together too :)

25th of the month and we decided to go check out the inaugural singapore kite festival, hosted by ntuc income.. we went with haz and yh..

i remember a sky full of kites, a carpark full of cars, a macdonalds full of people, and a dead monitor lizard. i also remember a long walk, and beautiful sunset shared :)



september..

2/9 marks our 10th month together.. every now and then it'll occur to me how bad brisbane was, and i'm thankful that we survived that.. :)

we went for dinner at ma maison restaurant at central mall, and played 5 or 6 rounds of 'jan-ken-pon!' (scissors-paper-stone) with the owner before we won our japanese paper fans ahaha..

a long walk along the river down towards zouk and back, and we crossed every bridge we came across.. happy days indeed!

my birthday lunch was eaten the weekend before, at prima revolving restaurant near vivocity.. i've never been up there while it was open before, so it was quite a nice experience. the dessert was banana toffee, dipped in ice water just before service so as to add crunch to the piece.. interesting, but will *not* try again :P

birthday was spent with ys running all over.. she got robbed on monday, and tuesday the 8th was spent ferrying her to get her handphone replaced, and then off to school.. i spent sometime back at sheares with the guys and took a picture with mark, this freshman who bears a striking resemblance to me.. too weird..

after class, me and ys decided to go check out sunset way for ice cream, but we somehow managed to walk into zheng fa live seafood and had the scottish roe crabs instead :) certainly a 27th to remember..

the good news tho, is that the snatch-thief who accosted ys got caught in less than a week by the SPF.. fantastic stuff from the boys in blue.. singapore police force, the pride of the land indeed!

~~

i had my 1st jamming session with vinod and jon a couple weeks ago on the 19th at vin's place. his meinl box drum was the bomb!! i spent a little time getting used to it, but towards the end i think we got a rather decent recording :D still waiting for the recordings to be cleaned up tho.. *expectant*

and then on 21-26th, i went to japan with my sister.. you guys can check out my pics on fb.. here's one i particularly like tho!

this pic was taken from mt. hakone (tokyo-3 in evangelion), and in case you dun recognise it.. that's mt. fuji in the background :D

apparently, we were super lucky to catch mt. fuji on a really clear day.. the views were nothing short of spectacular! i'll let my pictures on fb do the talking then.. this post is pretty long already ahaha..

till next time!!

flying around in my little jet..

went for 4 flights now, and i'm left with just 4 flights and 3 sims to go (it says FIN on the 4th july.. independence day, how apt). flying the lear is much much cooler than flying a cessna, i'll tell you that. the cessna is fun to fly - more stick and rudder, so to speak, but the there's a world of "feel" in hand flying the lear too.

granted, the learning curve was virtually vertical when i started out.. it's all falling into place now. flight management certainly is a whole new ballgame as compared to tracking within the NDB approach's tolerances of 5 degrees either side. with the instrumentation on this plane, one could easily fly within 1 degree of a selected track inbound to a station!

yesterday was flight 4, and i suppose it's the most fun by far. outbound toward tamworth and cruising along at FL200, i spot traffic on the TCAS 40 miles out in the opposite direction. the computer churns the numbers and determine that the traffic is 1000 feet above us at FL210. the captain has a go at crunching the info (eavesdropping on ATC and other hints), and he declares that the cyan diamond on my TCAS is none other then company traffic heading from tamworth up north to brisbane.

i think back at the flight plan of my mates leaving at the same time as me, and vaguely remembering that they planned FL210 for brisbane off tamworth. "yup, i think it could be them" i declare. a few minutes later, TCAS says that they should pass straight over the top, off to the right hand side. i tilt my head up for a closer look. ZOOOOOM. 800knot closure and that sleek lear45 airframe 1000 feet above glides through the air and off to our rear.

i knew this plane was cool, but i didn't know it looked *this* cool!

on the way back to maroochy, we encountered some weather as well. clouds towering some 28000 feet gathered around our inbound track to the field. captain requests 10 miles to the left of track due weather, and off we go. it's like snaking a race car through orange cones. 1st left, then right. hole in the weather, in we go.. good stuff all around :D

the weather turned out to be a bit of a dog's breakfast though - clip the edges of the clouds and we were introduced to pretty severe turbulence. cabin signs on please.

i remembered yesterday vividly for another reason - at FL380, that skies are always blue on top, and clouds are always white below. the sun was shining and life was good. smooth, cold air fed the engines and they were a couple of happy campers. down into the weather and turbulence ahoy - clouds turn grey once they're above, and the sky is all obscured. the rain just makes everything gloomy..

i think there's a lesson in there somewhere. when life's seems all gloomy, the sun shines on above. it's there you know, you just can't feel it nor see it, but it's there. waiting for the clouds to clear, so that he can put some sunshine in your life again :D

almost there

been more than a month since my last update. things are going okay on the sunshine coast - the few who welcomed me when i arrived have since finished up their course and gone back to singapore.

over the last month i managed to see a little bit of the city tho, and also went down to surfer's paradise on the gold coast.. nice place ahaha.

i went for my 1st flight yesterday - a short hop up north to rockhampton airport for circuit training, and getting my 1st feel of the lear45.. such an amazing aircraft to fly. in between sims and flights i've got quite a bit of time in-between tho, and other than the time spent mugging up for the next flight, i spend some time cooking.. i baked a chocolate cake last weekend - that wasn't too shabby.. and today i made well.. i'd call it a veggie side dish ahaha. it's quite tasty so i'm pretty pleased with it.

experiments with food notwithstanding, i guess i spend my time just like how i would back home - reading, computer games and movies/videos on my trusty laptop. a certain photo bug has caught me somehow.. must be woo and his 40d.. ahhaa. maybe i'll start taking more pictures again, i dunno..

i've been away for just over 8 weeks now, and i think there are probably 5 more to go. more than 1/2 way there, but its starting to gnaw at me alot. i miss home, and i miss her. hais.. 5 more weeks to go.. hang in there!!!