THANK YOU!!!

Thanks for the Sunday row!

Thanks to all who were there to satisfy my crave for rowing on the Kallang River after almost 3 months!

Its great to see all of you once again, we have 1 big boat almost filled!

And of cos, not forgetting the almost impossible tasks of taking tonnes of pictures onboard?!

Alaric... all counting on you le..... hahaa

Its a been a great weekend for me! and wonderful one since i got back form UK..

I can't find a more apt words for it...

Simply...., F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S!

Its the holiday season ahead........

Hehehe........

回味。。。

情牵戏剧25。。。
taht's what I am watching right now...
A re-run from last week...

it's oh so damn nostalgic man!
Seeing all the dance performance showcasing some of the representative shows over the 25 years....!

Guess what.... 1984 , the first chinese drama on TV..,
雾锁南洋。
23 years ago.. I can rmbr some part of the images used in the song opening sequel ...

边缘少年
The rebellious show, almost the euaivalent of today's Lians and Bengs show.
But I think the hooligan show back then has more "Sey"
Remember 李南星 (the "ah seng")on the bike as the head of the gang?
杨莉冰 and 陈碧凤 as his 2 side-kick "ah hui"?

what "took my breathe away" was one being showcased as a representative drama for teh period.
Its the Singapore version from the Inspired Japanese Dorama, 排球女将。
飞跃巅峰！
陈莉萍 and 陈秀环 as the lead, team mates turned opponents and not forgetting all the special attacks and servings that is not possible in the real world...
闪电攻击 i think was one of them....
And currently, Media Corp is re-running 红头巾.
Another of my favourites too....
The chio 洪慧芳 and 甄慧芬 as the leads... potraying the tough life and forgetten pioneer in the Singapore Construction industry..!
And the period from the Japanese occupation til the 90s...
A wonderful entrtaining NE drama i would say...
Back to the dance performance...
So inspired ...
Modern Dance... or do these dance have a proper name that I dont know?>

Have always been interested and envious when I see all these modern/pop dance performance on TVs, MTVs, etc... The moves, full of energy and mimic that of martial arts moves... arrghh.....

I hope my bones are not too brittle yet to pick the skill up....
a 2008 resolution maybe??

Accomplish-ED

1.) Swim
Been there, done that!
Though Lazy me only woke up at 12noon, I still manage to get a good swim with the sun!
but, just 600m and i already almost breatheless... tsk* , *tsk*, *ysk*.. long way to catch up... *Sigh*

2.)Gym (a must, not a want,.)
satisfied and really felt my body really 'working out' finally! Shiok...!

3.) Take my Dad out to get a set of clothes/pants for brother's wedding in Jan..
4.) Take my mum out to get a set of clothes for my brother's wedding as well
5.)Dinner with mum and dad somehwere??
Completed!


6.)Meet up with fren(s) at night ?
tireness from the swim and gym is beginning to set in...... Can I last throught the night?
And my frens didnt really make it, so it was not materialise.. hehee.. time to rest...

Accomplish-able?

不知道我是否能够在今天(星期六)完成以下“活动”：
1.) Swim
(I need to restore my cardio that has been 'cruelly' suppressd during the winter period in London and at the same time gathered some Vit D into my deprived body ofr over 2 months...)

2.)Gym
(a must, not a want,.)

3.) Take my Dad out to get a set of clothes/pants for brother's wedding in Jan..

4.) Tak my mum out to get a set of clothes for my brother's wedding as well
(yes, its the same 'brother' no doubt,but have to bring mum and dad out in separate timings maybe... )

5.)Dinner with mum and dad somehwere??

6.)Meet up with frens at night ?

Dont seem too much to do in one day? hopefully I can get all them done....
That means i must sleep real sooon......

I......

Wooooh....!! Its Friday and the weekends!
Just got back from Liz's wedding, a JC OG fren, Uni-coursemate and now-colleague! Small world isn't it?

Within the spans of 2 months since Nov, I have 6 fren's Wedding lined up one after another.. Missed the preceding 5 of them, cos was in London then. And tonight's marked the last for this year....

Come Jan, Its my Brother's wedding ....
hmm... all my frens ard my age are all getting married....
Think that implies age is AN ISSUE to me now.... 老了，老了。。 =(

Got a "free" ITouch, which i really think i got no good use for it...
Now you can get it for free by just signing up/recontracting for broadband.
But to me, it doesn't realy appeals to me as a necessity/want, except for its amazing touch screen technology and how u can turnit around and teh pictures turned with you?
Maybe thats why I am not that dying to get my hands on a IPhone if it shall be launched exclusively to SingTel inSingapore.

I ean, What can i really do with this ITouch... I dont carry/lsiten/watch videos when I drive.
Well, maybe no in S'pore.. probably overseas? But frankly what else can it do besides providing pre-stored mp3s, pre-store pictures/vidoes?
I prefer to listen to music that you never expected, or new singles? Something that cannot be pre-stored, but easily available on the FM radio.
And viewing pictures, I have to first load them from one pheriperals to it. I would really prefer and snap and store and view all in one...
I dont need to carry my pictures around.. i rather store them safe and permanently in laptops/harddisk which are more easily retrievalble and categorise. Without the hassle to transfer here and there if i needed it for some editing purposes...

So, Maybe I will just keep this ITouch intact in its sleek and shiny box until i decided to bring it with me for long overseas trips? hmm.. or maybe i might prefer to lug a lappy, along over the 8GB memory device with only sophisticated touch-screen technology but no real added value to its functionality....

Busy....

So many things to settle after I touched down...

Gotta settle all the admin stuffs, cheques payment, last minute shopping for X'mas gifts,...

So glad to be back safe and sound...

Returning to a familar environment, home,office, and roads.

Gotten a 'surprise' pressie from the company, well, its a gift for all staffs...

I must say, the management is really generous and creative?

Its a remote control control Helicopter!

Indeed... bringing out the child in all of us...

many things ahead for the week... and most importantly, dont know why, i am craving for JapaneseFood! A cuisine I'll never be sick of...!

Gonna have a sumptuous Japanese Buffet at Vivo with Peili, which is gonna be a treat from her!! ahaha.. gonna eat to my fill!

Well, am most looking forward to this coming Sunday though... GUys/gals,it's finally time for our paddles to "出关" after months of 'hibernation'

Time for all of us to row together again.... Its really been a long time...
For some of you, I know its really really long .....

***Let's Make Waves!***

Back...!

I'm Back.....!!!

最后一夜……

再多12个小时左右，我就即将起程回返新加坡了。
已在这儿不知不觉地度过了两个月，两个寒冷的月份。
真盼望阳光普照的小岛屿。
但话说回来，现在的新加坡，倒也不是成天下着雨吗？


虽然说恨不得能极快回到我熟悉的归属地，与此同时，也还怀着一丝依依不舍的感觉。
毕竟也在这儿度过了好一段时间。
或许这就是双鱼座感性化的弱点，对许多人，事，物，都很容易产生依恋……


就在这最后‘伦敦之日’，我与当年在服兵役的队友（一直到最近的回营训练），Jiaxian 会面，吃饭聊天。
他比我早一个礼拜抵达，与女友（melissa) 两人到这儿找工作。

真令人佩服。放下新加坡的一切， 两人一块儿飘洋过海来到这儿。
或许这一呆，就可能是两年或更长的时期……


在此祝福他们倆事业顺利，极快回到新加坡, 然后能够在来年的回营训练再次一起‘冲山冲海’

Missed

It's been 2 months...
I havent seen you for 2 long months.
I'm sure you are well...
I really missed the great times we had together for the past 2 years. I cowered under you in the scorching afternoon, together through the rainy days, and the long/late nights that you have endured through with me.

I'm glad we will be re-united again in 2 days from now.. After my family, you'll be the first I will meet.
I'm gonna feel you all over again, which I have always taken for granted.
I promise we will take it slow initially, as its been 2 months since our last union.
I hope you still stay as you are before, and perform as womderful as before.

.
.

.
.

.

.

.

.

Let's roam the road once again...

.

.

.

.
.

.

.

Yeah.....!!!!

Great...! A starting point.
Don't have to wait til OSIM for my first attempt....
Now I can take this as a familiarisation/warm-up event..

Cheap, Only $15 and not too scary Dist. of 750M swim & 5KM+ run.
Gotta start somewhere man.. this will be the "somewhere"...

People, Join leh!!!

Time to say Goodbye....

*click once to activate control*
*click again to play music*
SarahBrightman - TimetoSayGoodbye

It's never easy to say Goodbye, though I longed to get back to Singapore.
Today, our project team in London had a pre-X'mas Dinner.
Started off with a drink at the pub (they ALWAYS drink before dinner, during dinner AND after dinner). I'm really not a good drinker , especially on an empty stomach... so its full stop for me after less than 2 pint of Becks' and Stella...

Didnt expect that it was also a farewell dinner thrown for me and my colleague as well.

It started to get emotional when the project head(Chris Baker) made a 'speech' to thank us.

And Ben, our best buddy throughout this 2 months, presented us a little something to remember him by.

None other than his all-time favourite football club, Tottenham Hotspur.

I remember on the first day when i sat beside him, he had this card on his table that plays the team's athem when u open up. And he would say to me, "remember this 'Tottenham Hotspur is the greatest team in the world!'"

Whenever he opens that card, he will look at me, with the cheeky smile, waiting for me to say that phrase... lol...

He's really been a great host, colleague, 'Contract" worker(he just loves to emphasis that) and fren. It's really makes working with him an enjoyable experience.

At dinner, its more drinking...Champange, White Wine, Red Wine... gosh... I avoid it by just settling for a Champange...
Guess what..., right after dinner, they hop over across the road and continued another Drinking session! Hhaaa.. that's when I really need to bid farewell for the night...
I dont wanna turn a night to remember, into a night to forget.... lol....

Well, will still continue to work with the team for a couple months when I'm back in Singapore, but its definitely gonna be different.

Walking over to desk and physical meetings will be replaced by conference call and video-conferencing.

Thanks guys, it's been a pleasure working with you all!

*a little card with well-wishes signed off by the team*

Tired....

*Darn*...
I'm almost all drained when its only Tuesday....

Why do I get tired so easily after just 2 days of work......

Just wanna sleep now.....
ZZzzzzzzzz...........

London-eye....

Spent my last sunday in London on with a sushi buffet! and a trip on London-Eye..
The most satisfying would be the sushi buffet.. thoug not a wide varity, just Salmon Sashimi, Salmon roll, Califoia roll and some other tempura, it's enuff to get me all full...
Hmm... unlike the past, now I only managed to gulp down half of what i used to be able to at buffet tables...
*sigh*..... Inevitbly, a sign of ageing,..... *darn*...

I didnt have the whole plate myself.. only slightly more than half...
A very very big X'mas tree in Trafalgar Square. A gift form the Norwegians

Didnt got on it the last time I came, so this yr, must take it. Cos u know when Sngapore flyer launches it's maiden flight, its definitely be a long queue. Therefore, I ttreat myself to a similar experience first...

After buffet is the trip up London eye! Time to board.... Going up..... Reaching the Top.... view nearing the top I'm now at the top of..... London And the view from the top. Simply, Nice!

On-board the london-eye suddenly got a business idea pop out of my mind....
We all know many, many couples will be holding their R.O.M onboard the Singapore Flyer next year, and maybe thereafter follow suit by many others...

So, if I can have embark on a wedding planner for the capsule(free-lancing of cos), assume the role of a wedding planner for these couples who wants to have R.O.M. onboard the S'pore-Flyer...
The capsule took abt 15 mins to reached its highest points...
If we could get the Solemiser in(i think i got the spelling wrong, but u know i mean the person who pronounce u man & wife one?) , and your frens and relatives, (up to 20 person) and then cater some finger food/pastries/wines/champagne on-board.

Then as the ceremony starts, the capsules rises, and when it hits the highest point, that will be when both parties exchange the rings..... Wah..... Machiam married at the 'Top of the World".
Of cos, beside these, the capsule can be decorated into any theme that the couple wishes.
Say, they wan under-the-sea theme, we can make the whole interior of the capsule to look like one, or white X'mas, or simply any theme to satisfy their craving wedding fantasy!

Then after that, as the capsule comes down, guest and couple can help themselves to the food and food and chat, etc.. rather than being rushed out of the room in the current fort canning room...

Sounds fun??
Any partners interested?
I will need a good negotiator (cos i'm not), a great 'decorator' and most importantly, a certified 'father' to solemnise the cermony who can work out of "office"?
See, Super low capital cost, just human technology'....

lol....

Imagine...

*click once to activate control*
*click again to play music*
John Lennon - Imagine

Feels : lethargic

there it goes again...
The opening music, John Lennon's Imagine.
Melody sounds kinda sad...., but the lyrics is actually very meaningful and thought-provocating...

"...Imagine there's no heaven
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today... "

"Imagine there's no countries
....Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace... "

"Imagine no possessions
...No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world... "

Well, the song is basically 'promotin' "Bagism", a term coined by John Lennon & Yoko Ono(wife of John Lennon)...

"The intent of bagism was to satirize prejudice and stereotyping. Bagism literally involved wearing a bag over one's entire body. According to John and Yoko, by living in a bag, others could not judge you by the color of your skin, the length of your hair, the clothes you wore, your age, or any other such attributes. It was presented as a form of total communication. Instead of focusing on outward appearance, the listener would hear only the bagist's message."
Interesting.. especially the bag theory.

But i guess we all fall prey to this theory.. knowingly or unconsciously, we look/peep out of the bag, before coveing oneself up again... hmmm..... -_-"
Well, well....., still, I like the melody of the song! Imagine in the middle of the night, half asleep and this tune plays by your bed-side... That's what prompted me to get hold of this song.

On a lighter note, *swings mood around*, its time to spend sometime to piece the scene of London for today...
Quite fruitful, 'cept for a disappointment.. Didnt manged to catch Dirty Dancing ..!!!

Cos its sold out, and the best part..., it cost a hefty GBP74.oo for a tic! oh my... that means about S$220. And they don't have discounted tics for this musical, reason been its always sold out for every performance, so they wouldn't hae sapre seats to go at discounted price... darn....

Thinking twice, I rather not spulrge on it... not that i'm cheapo, at least, I'm not all crazy about it... and I can catch 3 other just as nice musical with that amount.. *Bah*

Now its almost raining and drizzling the whole day, makes travelling ard on foot really a chore...
Still managed to catch some nice sights...


This lady's umbrella is really one of the largest I have seen...
She was walking infront of me, and I suddenly felt a sense of jalousy..
Cos I am rushing bdown the road w/o an umbrella, and there infront of me, she has this huge umbrella that can fit 3 person under it...




The management of the apartment puts up a christmas tree at the lobby! But hor, it looks abit "botak" towards the top... and the 'branches' all pointing upwards.... Maybe its to support the candles that sits on it.... (if u can see those sticks, which are actually candles..)

On a better night when its not rainy london, the sights can be rather nice... Reminds me of the years when Shopping centers lining Singapore orchard Road's vying for the best X'mas lights-up deco...
No more of such sights anymore... sadly....

***Sigh***

Weeeee....!

Feeling: Happy....

Becos its F-R-I-D-A-Y or maybe becos it means one week closer to coming back home..!
I guess its a bit of both.

And of cos, accomplishing something at work does adds on to the perks! not to mentioned when things are going your way during the 9 hours of desk-bound job..
haha.. one word, simple yet expressive enough.

H-A-P-P-Y.

**That helps alot in increasing the level of my "Happi-No-Meter"**

Of cos, some things can be irritating sometimes.
Ermm.... I think I would rather put this as a "Point to Note" to gals out there..?
Please take a minute to think before you take guys for granted.
Yeah, guys are meant to be the stronger sexes, and should , no doubt, act gentlemenly.
BUT, dont think that's to be taken for granted k...?

That doesn't give you the privilege to pushed ur luck too far, your jokes, and use the guy as your defensive shield or excuses (so often it becomes a habit)..?
Once or twice , and on genuine cases, its fine, we can be ur 挡箭牌. No qualms about it.
More than that, you just get the hell irritated out of him.
And DO note, not all gals are entittled to the same privileges.
Let's be honest & realistic here lah.... In this world, different people have different privileges, some more, some less and I don't see why it's not the case here...

Know your limits, recognise how far you can go with, "he can do it, let him do it, he will do it, go do it, he can handle it, etc..." Not every man is willing to do these stuffs/chores/be your traget of excuses for you. PLEASE RE-evaluate yourself first before making these comments. Again, even if its a joke/an excusue, please be more creative.
By just using the above phrases, it just tells us how limited is your line of thoughts... and it really really gets very irritating when over-done. Its not funny anymore....
And don't cower behind a guy when things hit you, and on the other hand, advocate the big phrase of "equality among sexes" when all's calm and nice. Please lah.......
(P.s., pls dont be mistaken, so far 99% of my gal-frens HADN'T fell within that category. =)*phew*)

Cool... feels great after getting it off my chest.. hahaa...

Well, looking forward to the weekends... all planned.
Last round of walking down the streets of London.
Weekends..., weekends....., weekends..... Weeekends.....
Weeeeee........k..... ends....... arrgghh.. so depressing suddenly.... lol....
no wonder they called it "Weekends". There's more than a reason to that meaning.....

Damn.....

hardly can pul myself out of bed...

And on the way to work, it was raining, the crowds, the cold weather, the strong wind.....

*Damn*, what a way to start the day..

**Bleah**

Wowww.......

I go the below linked forwarded to me.

Its one of the contestant's audition clip in "X-Factor" (The UK equivalent of 'The American Idol')

He wow-ed the audiences.
I was Wow-ed after viewing it...
Imagine, he wow-ed Simon Cowell (the judge)

What can i say....
It's really, Wowwwww............

http://www.maniacworld.com/Phone-Salesman-Amazes-Crowd.html

"there's a spark in everyone..."

Weekends... so short....

The weekends over even before I realise it...
*sigh*... why are there only 2 non-working days out of 7?
Isn't there the talk about work-life-balance?
then shouldnt it be 3.5 -3.5days of work and weekends?
Or, at least, 4-3? i.e 4 working days and 3 weekends?
I hope in the near future, someone/some organisation out there will advocate a new rule whereby calendar will mark Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays as weekends?
Maybe Pageant Queens can dropped their tagged line of "World Peace", and change it to " 1 more day of weekend" lol....

A rather short and unevenful weekend for me...
Called home on sat and spoke with my mum for awhile.
Inevitably, the topic on the recent tragedy pops up....
(in Hokkien though)
"You know abt the news right? Do you know any of them?...."
"...It was out in the front page o f the papers, a big piece of news. So pitiful... all so young..."
I didnt really said much and just replied with a mono-tone 'yah'.
the the next sentence which i kinda expected,
"You don't go rowing anymore lah when you come back. So dangerous..."

I could only reassure her by saying , "no need to worry lah, its safe in Singapore..."
Well, she knows she cant really stopped me from things i loved.
Even when i got injured in the eyes once during volleyball, she said the same thing.. But still, my passion fo rthe sports will not falter. Moreover, it means much more ot me now...

I can only re-assure her that when i row (after I returned), I will be extra careful.
I wouldnt give-up rowing, not something thats already part of my life.
I'll row as long as my body allows. Til the day I can't grab a paddle in my hand....

I thought I would spend this weekend quietly, and take a break from all the city's hustle & bustle.
Hence, I bought a train ticket and set abound to Brighton, a small town by the southern coast of UK.
Ok, my main aim is to hit the coast , and without much delay, i walked to the beach front.
It's an awesome view. Its a sea.... a "ferocious" one.
Torrential waves just hit the shoreline breaking into thick foams...
I can clearly hear the sound of waves...
It suddenly turns kinda scary witnessing and hearing it...

Then it started to get very windy and too cold. Moreover, the town is pretty small, and comprises of mainly living quarters.. so nothing really much. And i head back to London, spending the rest of the day in the comfort of my temp apartment..

Sunday,

I was supposed to be at the Stanchart Marathon run if not for this business trip..

My first attempt at half marathon after the last one almost 8 years back.

Have to missed it.

Well, at least it was paid for by the company... I hope I wont missed the chance again in 2008. Maybe a nearer target to aim for, OSIM challenge?

The sun was big and bright. But only lasted like 2 hours. By the time i stepped out of the apartment and decided to head for Hyde park, the sun starts to set... (yeah, it starts to set at 3pm...)
And by 4pm, it was almost all dark... Caught a very spectular sight and got a feel of the X'mas season in the park.
A mini carnival is going on. With ferris-wheel, rides and ice-skating rinks..

Nope not the London eye. Just a smaller version at Hyde park A "ghost house" kinda ride....
Ice-skating rink in the park. Suddenly, I missd blading down East coast park... I found another good reason to love Singapore, our little sunny island... it makes the day longer...

Well, got back early, so i started cooking. Something that can keep me really occupied during my boring life here...
Cooked my last sachet of Bak Kut Teh and stri-fried some noodles.
I realise I can cook after all.. lol (as martin yan says: " If Yan can Cook, So can you". How very true!)
Dread the thought of going to work again the next day, and continuously for the four day thereon.... system testing is really draining....
I'm counting down......
15 more days,
10 more working days....
HIghly anticipating the day I step foot onto the soil of Singapore...

家 (Home)

This feeling just get stronger...
I am missing everyone, everthing back home...
I miss home... truly..., surely...

" Whenever I am Feeling Low
I look around me and I know

There's a place that will stay within me
Whenever I may choose to go
I will always recall the city
Know every street and shore
Sail down the river which brings us life
Winding through my Singapore

This is home truly...
Where I know I must be
Where my dreams wait for me
Where the river always flow
This is home surely
Where my senses tell me
This is where I wont be alone
For this is where I know it's home
(For this is where I know I'm home) .."

“每一次我感到彷徨
不自禁就会回头望
我知道心中有个地方
一定会有一盏灯
照亮每一颗黑暗的心房

指引未来方向
沿着生命河流向前航
就能登陆理想

我的家 收藏
我的欢喜悲伤
只要点燃希望
梦就会自由飞翔

我的家 给我
一双坚定翅膀
我的梦 不论在何方
一身的爱唯有家
(世世代代 温暖的家）”

English

中文

Tribute to Stephen,Boon San, Jeremy, Reuben, Wei Cheng

Beverly Craven - Promise Me
*click one to activate control*
*click again to play*

I'm sorry if reading my blog these past days gets you all depressed.
But an avenue for me to express how I really feel. why supress your emotions?

Read the news again today.
Words from Reuben's father touched my heart and I believed, that of many others present....

"We are thankful we have him for 23 years because we have 23 years of memories
in our hearts."
"He's not in heaven yet, because if he's in heaven and if he's looking down now seeing his father crying, and his mother and grandmother so upset, he will not want to be in heaven. And heaven will not be heaven,."

And from Jeremy's brother,

'All five of you will have to take care of each other from now on, just like
what you did in life as a team.'

Being a fellow Singaporean and a paddler, I regretted I was not able to send them off on their final journey.

I hereby, pay my tribute to Stephen Loh, Boon San, Jeremy Goh, Reuben Kee and Wei Cheng, with this humble blog entry...

To their family members, friends loved ones, and all those who loves them....

Be strong, they will always live in thy memories...

*****