i miss that!!!
it's a christmas holiday and i'm here at work,running shows but it's almost over pretty soon.been swallowing festive chocolates and crackers and last nite movie marathon at home drove me rather lethargic today,already i'm preparing myself for another round tonite,can't wait!
been raining again but my God it's so warm here in the console booth!!
We never thought that we would enjoy ourselves so much,after much research on the net & assistance by fellow friends who either lived there or been there before,and also those were worried for our safety & wellbeing during our stay there,we were quite unsure and were a bit confused actually,until the plane touchdown at dawn,about 7800 miles away from home,in a foreign soil,we finally land our feet on Beijing.
The experience that we had were beyond words-totally amazing folks-and the impression that we had on China before were all wrong & negative-they are extremely nice & friendly,despite the language barrier,they were always quick to assist and show us directions with gestures and even sketches of routes on pieces of paper.for two weeks in China,our stay was colourful and wonderful with the adventures that we went through.cold,it was
-7degrees in Beijing,triple layered and armed with beanies and mittens,we were quite snuggly comfortable and warm,but when the sun disappears and the wind started blowing,the weather was evil to us,it was dark by 4.30pm and by 8pm,non 'touristy areas' will be rather deserted,but that didn't stopped us,we travelled by foot in the radius of about 5km around our hotel,which situated almost central to the attractions in Beijing,we took the train,met strangers turned friends communicating using our bad mandarin and sign languages.
we had seen the oldest mosque in Beijing,had the opportunity for a solah jumaah with the folks there,visited tiananmen square,the forbidden city,the ming tombs,the great wall of china,and several other places.the streets were quite clean,if to compare to many cities around our region,well paved and although not quite what we were looking forward to see-there were so many shopping centres-Emporio Armani,Zara,Uniqlo,Vans stores were almost everywhere.way before we arrived there,we were actually looking forward to the 'old china' but sad all were almost gone for new developments,modern businesses with the world actually drove them to scrape the old shophouses for hi tech buildings,and i must add that they are far advanced forward actually.the only remnants of maoism are the historical monuments & souvenirs.
Food-oh yes,being muslims,and especially we've grown up in a household with spices the entire life-we had a tough time finding a proper restaurant or food joint which match our taste.there are many muslim restaurants around,and street hawkers from Xinjiang who were on wheels and they were almost everywhere but just not enticing enough for us,though we did tried the grilled lamb meat and dough & it tasted a bit off for me.so the entire stay our diet we feasted on cup noodles,maggi instant noodles which we packed along,there we ate fish fillet,pancakes,tuna pizza and gobbled down crackers,chocolates & all that.
fortunately we have free internet access in the hotels that we checked into but youtube,blogs and facebook sites are all barred across the country.
someday if there's opportunity again,we'll might return there..
been hell at work lately-oh there's so many things to do,and to complicate things so many deadlines both work and my private life.i need to get away from all these-i desperately need the quiet time,away from all this rush,hush it's seems i'll never get it any sooner.
tomorrow for example,i gotta be at work by 6.45am,and God knows what time will i knock off tonite,and sunday as well-another 6.45am-and to add pressure to all this-my boss handed over to me an emcee duty for about 1500 pax,on the bigstage at the marquee-"playing some games and lucky draw.."oh my,it seems i could not run away from this,yes it's a big challenge for me-a lil confident but i lack the motivation-God,i'm so stressed out..i hope i could avoid this but situation tells that not only this sunday's event that i was given the job but the subsequent events as well-oh that's very inspiring...me as an emcee?i'm just a dj,a telematch gamemaster but to be on the bigstage,well that's another arena already..ooooh i'm so nervous right now....
help!
i'm not carried away i think-star wars fans go this link
http://specials.msn.com/A-List/Movies/Lucasfilm-denies-new-Star-Wars-trilogy.aspx?cp-documentid=26072480
and click here too.
Monday morning-with the bad haze and stomach discomfort,i continued my journey on this new day.been occupied with thousand and one things for the past week,i am so weakened both physically and mentally-but yet,even with the busy schedule i was in,i sneaked out of office to our lil workshop here,just to strip Bella's coat and gave it a new look-brand new camouflage!
it's finally done,sped down to ban hoe leong yesterday and replaced the busted left rear light,bought a new side mirror which cost me $125,but it's ok-as long as i'm happy i clapped my hands and zoomed off to work as my boss was already looking for me but i lied that i was in office.
the climb on competition which was held at pasir ris park wasn't as great as years before;the content of the goody bag were just some papers and a face lotion-the attendees weren't as packed as way before,the registration was a total screw-up.nevertheless i enjoyed the company of my wife and good friends on the beautiful sunday morning.boulders were still boulders though.
ok gotta work!
i sent Bella for servicing sometime last week,got the engine oil leakage fixed,replaced the brake lining and got me riding off from Ah Joo on the Italian badass again-wait,something don't feel good-when i reached home damn headlight went off again,and when i unscrewed the casing,meddle with the cables and tweaked the bulb it illuminated again-but days after,it went out again,so i did the same thing,removed the cover,unscrewed it all,got my fingers and nails all greasy,only to find out that the bulb actually gone-the lil filament was in pieces,but strange it still could be lighted up-got myself a bulb yesterday after the dragon boat training,and today during lunch,i rode Bella out of the carpark,and went straight to Murad's workshop-removed my tee and watch,and confidently repeat the same procedure all over again.
it took me an hour just to fix the simple task-but i however managed to get it done.
i was thinking of buying a brown color Aquila seat,with matching grip and spare tyre cover-and all of a sudden there were so many other things i wanna replace-even the license plate-oh it could be sweet!
two of my most fave but yet i don't find it appealing when they collaborated.i find it..corny..
or maybe it's beckham..
the weather was forecasted showers with thunder at several parts of the island,i bet that didn't happen at all.throughout the entire day,and that trip earlier down to Ubi to pickup the gloves and harnesses purchased for the Co,i was on my vespa and had to brave the dusts and scorching heat,damn it was hot!
i've been slamming the fridge next to my table few times now,everytime i peeked in,i helped myself to the chocolates,damn i'm feeling hungry now.
i'm waiting for my wife,she's still at her workplace while waiting for her call now.it's her dad's birthday today,and we're planning to get him a gift later this evening,and i'm planning to catch a good hearty dinner,we actually planned a nice dinner with the entire family-but since her mom is still warded,we'll just celebrate simply by getting the old man a lil something.
i'm also getting my Otterbox case for my Iphone later,and boy it cost $68.00 and i was issued a summon earlier this morning at Bedok,for failing to display a parking coupon-not negligence but 'i had a strong feeling' the attendant would skip my Bella,but hell i was wrong.and now i've to fork out $8.00..
and hey enough of that football thing already...
I'm back to work after away for 3 days,celebrating Eid with family and close relatives,visiting and enjoying the food and laughter together,it felt so short but yet felt so good after away from most of them for quite some time.
and i was away from my ebay account,until last night i decided to surf in,and i got a suprise,the sith infiltrator which i have been eyeing was there and without haste i booked the item and i was the only bidder,and this morning i was the winner and the winner hopes to collect the prize later this evening,i hope.and my wife been nagging ever since she found out but i just kept my ears shut.
it ain't easy acquiring things that i love most-those toys needs patience to land into my arms-a lotta effort and $$$ too,but it's an obsession.
i finally shaved my beard,after a month long growing and keeping,i thought it's most appropriate to keep it tidy,i think i look good,hey i feel good.
it's raining,oh finally,after days of scorching spell which befallen us,it feels cooler at least,but i hope it quit before i leave later.
my bosses were in London,and so i thought i was late for the meeting this morning,but silly me,it was postponed till they are back sometime next week,that's for not checking the email regularly,but i felt good too,as i don't have to sit another round of 2 hours meeting session,how glad!
1/2 an hour to go and most of us here who're celebrating Eid ul Fitr are given early release today.i can barely open my eyes with the intense heat from the sun,and the sunshades is my best friend right now.
there are only lil bits of minor touch ups of cleaning and tidying up needed back at home,most of the major ones already done over last few nights and that contributed to me feeling weaker in the day,barely had enough sleep but it's over soon,in hours.
the fast-inculcates and strengthens my faith to be spiritually closer to God,and the month long abstaining from food,water,sexual thoughts and desires is truly a test and to feel how the poor felt from starvation.and Ramadan is close to its end,and i hope i live longer to see the next Ramadan,Insya Allah.
And here's wishing all fellow sisters and brothers Salam Eid Mubarak!
i've been sitting here for almost an hour now,trying to rectify the recurring problem of my ageing laptop.it kept restarting and blue screen kept re-appearing.best bet it's dying pretty soon,i hope not.
not when there's plenty of stuffs i needed to be done,and i have not started any.
and i've kept myself occupied,bingeing on crackers my wife brought into the room,dousing it down with the concoction of milk and orange juice which i slowly sipped down my throat.
it's truly a lazy sunday,was pretty much tired after wiping and cleaning windows and fans in the living room last night which dragged all the way till about 3 in the wee morning,and then it started to rain,heavy rain which caused a lil discomfort and quite a struggle for me,dragging myself out of the bed this morning,oh my,i was late for work.
when we called it a day back then,i jumped onto Bella,contemplating whether to pop by china square for my star wars hunt or to return home and hit the sack instead,but when i reached down my pockets i discovered that i didn't bring along my wallet,and so i had no choice but to opt for the latter.
home and i was feeling drowsy after shower,i crashed onto the bed amidst the comfy pillows and the soft cool wind blowing onto my face,i was knocked out instantly.
startled 10 minutes before iftar,i washed myself and had a tasty meal with the family,which followed by prayers and then a short trip later to the shell station for the v power petrol promotion.
and so i thought i could do with my unfinished business now,but it seems i that i could never complete it anytime soon.bloody laptop don't u dare die on me now!!
it's been a long day at work today,half past ten and all my colleagues already left,except for myself still in this 'hotbox'-in the dj console,with the faulty air con unit and the floor fan,the heat from the amplifiers below evaporates in the still air and i'm caught here,with bad ventilation and bassy hip hop in the stale air.
less than 5% left of downloading time-and still it seems forever,i gotta do this once and for all-the clone wars episodes-during my search for the clone wars,i only managed to acquire the movie and another 4 short episodes,managed to get my hands onto episode 1 series,but it cost a burning $65!!ridiculous as i thought and i shoved it back into the rack,anger building inside of me-i could not believe they charged a dvd at that price,and i was so determined that i could get it elsewhere,and the last resort-to download it-easy!but beside the clicks away-it's the waiting game that i wish i could live without-it's been hours now,and so i thought it would be over by 10pm,but the 5% kept me waiting-restless and fidgety,i ran out of cigarettes and snacks,got bored of mixing music,and now i'm blogging my tantrums here,with big hope,that by the time i finished this,i could already upload the movie onto my harddisk,shut down the system,pack up my stuffs and call it a day..not yet!!!
i must say that it is seriously not an easy task trying to acquire the star wars figurines and vehicles,and out of desperation,we even had to order from overseas to ship in the ones that either too expensive locally,or totally unavailable at all.
And since this madness started weeks back,it already caused a big hole in our wallet,we've spent almost $1000 over from our savings,and it doesn't seems to end!
Exciting as it sounded,i hope i could at least rest,as my big wish has almost finally arrived,i'm collecting my republic gunship and clone troopers later this evening,and that's what i've really longed for,and once i get home with my gift tonight,i'm going to unsealed the pack,fix up all the parts together,arrange the troopers in the ship and they all will embark onto a new adventure in our room!wow!!
I can't stop yawning,i was sleepy,i felt tired and i can't focus,i'm in a bad shape.
It's almost a fortnight now that all Muslims across the globe observe fasting during this holy month of Ramadan,but even after so many days,my body system still not fully adapting to the routine-i feel so weak!
and lately due to me and my wife's active biddings at ebay for our insane search of star wars vehicles and figurines had actually made me travel all over singapore,meeting and dealing with strangers for the precious plastic moulded into cool lil playthings that made us drool.
And watching all the Episodes over and over again,without ever getting bored over it.the clone wars is next in our schedule,and already i have collected Asajj this morning,and will be collecting another variation,together with the demise of Grievous and a B wing fighter later at China Square,it's a wonderful sunday yeah!
and another wonderful week indeed,after 10 years of crazy times at work, i got a shock of my life when my boss gave me a tight handshake,and whispered in my ears that i've to treat her to a meal,and slipped an envelope in my hands,which i later opened up and discovered i was promoted to assistant manager-ooh!
had our breakfast at the melting pot and very soon we're checking out and heading back to singapore,the journey back home will commence in approximately 20 minutes time from now.
the thought of hopping back onto the train after train transfer just to get the airport made me sick,i really hope it's goin' to be a sweet ride,without any hiccups hopefully.
i can't wait to get back home,especially when my wife called me in furious tone,that Debbie's mirror was damaged,mishandled by the tow driver yesterday.she arranged a 3 way call with the workshop,and they apologised for the negligence and promised to get it fix once i got it back to the workshop.hmmm just when i thought it's goin' to be a perfect week.
back to work tomorrow after five days in KL,and in the morning tomorrow i've to be at PA water venture at pasir ris park for the rock climbing competition that i signed up months back.but i'm not prepared,and i have the slightest confidence i could actually i could brave the rocks,so my only intention now is to report and only collect the event tee and goody bags,at least my money won't be wasteful.
and there's plenty of unfinished business back at work,and i suspect it's gonna be a long tiring weekend.
i miss home,more importantly,i miss my wife!
am i there yet?????
its the last night here in busy Kolumpo,and right after our final seminar earlier we decided to roam the city.we went down to bukit bintang on foot,bagged myself 3 pieces of tees and when the we felt droplets of rain,me and fadli ran for shelter & ended up at some Indian coffeeshop where we had maggi goreng and teh tarek,our usual diet here since we landed here four days back.
we in our room as i type this,and we just returned from petaling street shopping,where i bargained with the lady and how i used my counter strategy saying that she should give a good price & i convinced the friendly girl that i'm a 'local folk' and she fell for it,followed by supper at bonser's,my usual hang out every single time i'm here in KL.
the convention that we attended was wonderful,and the seminars that we sat through proved fruitful and provided us with essential knowledge and tools to survive the entertainment and attractions industry.we really learned a lot from those professionals who gave tips and advice during their inspiring motivational talks.
we spent most of our free times in the hotel room,good thing we had our laptops,and more importantly the handy net modem which connect us to cyberspace,lying on the bed clad only in our boxers,lying on our separate beds,watched the tube as we swapped glances in between surfing the net,smoking lucky strikes every single time we feels like smoking.and yes we did not hung out outside unless we're hungry even though the hard rock cafe is just situated below,zouk club just somewhere around the corner and the stretch of sleazy clubs which lined along the street,5 minutes walk away.we choose to laze in our rooms instead and ignore all those.
anyway,my stuffs are strewn all over the bed now,i gotta prepare to pack my bag,we have to wake up early tomorrow for breakfast and an early checkout to catch our flight back home.man we're just starting to get comfortable here.
Goodbye KL,Hello Home!
i was overjoyed that the Spaniards won the world cup yesterday,watching the game alone,with constant sighs,stamping my feet,fisting in desperation & muttering profanities,and not until andreas iniesta rammed the wonderful goal that sent me running around the living room,i felt like i was there with them,sharing the triumphant joy.
i had only about 2 hours sleep,startled by my wife,i quickly rushed & washed myself up,went down to cover up my scooters,went up & put clothes on,had a quick breakfast and hopped onto the cab to the airport with my angel,where we met up with Fadli and after checking in,we had time for a quick snacks and laughter which then me and my wife parted ways,waving her goodbye from afar.
the flight was slightly delayed,i already felt the fatigue after the whole night staying up watching Espana monopolising the game,but i could not sleep during the entire journey.
it was only about an hours flight to KL,but just to get the passport stamped took us nearly an hour,the long queue and the panic search for my luggage;which was already on the floor when we asked the operator;i almost stop breathing.
from KLIA,we took a $35 ringgit train to KL sentral and another 10 minutes walk to hop on another train at Brickfields KL Rapid,and after about 20 minutes ride,we alighted at bukit nenas station,a short walk to Concorde hotel,and upon checking in,
we almost lost our cool when the front office dude said that they have not received payment for our room.and after sorting all that out,after about 5 hours of tiring journey,we finally got into our room.next time,i rather stick taking the coach down to KL.
and the bloody hotel does not provide free WIFI,we have to pay if we wanna tap the network,and since we took the trouble packing our laptops,and there are emails we need to attend to and the urgency to check the schedule for our courses for the next day,we walked all the way to bukit bintang and got ourselves a Digi internet bundle pack for $139 ringgit.and once we got back,we hook it up and got back into our lives.Thank God!
wish you were here.
i gotta go now...Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
the loud drums performance was the grand finale for the japan fair that i hosted today,and as i shook hands with colleagues,i was already thinking of how fun it's gonna be,to be at KL next monday onwards.
i swapped my day off to tomorrow,sunday 11th of july.
another dragon boat race at bedok reservoir,and i love to see us rowing with all our might across the finishing line,i hope we bring back home medals again.
after all the crazy weekly trainings,i'm praying hard for us to be triumphant tomorrow.
but that's not the only good reason i took a sunday off-it is also my wedding anniversary with my beloved wife,Oh yes,already a year now,and it feels like only yesterday we tied the knot;time flies!
celebrating goodness means we have to feast,and we already planned a nice dinner tomorrow evening,and if i won a medal again,it's be a double celebration,and also if Spain won the world cup champion,it will be triple celebrations.YES!
i'm flying off on monday,to the capital state of malaysia,KL.on a mission with my buddy,just the two of us-for some courses and seminars that our bosses had chose us for,and we'll be away for five days.i think it's goin' to be sweet!coz i could get the Vans sneakers that i saw months back,that will be so lovely!yeah!
ok i gotta pack my bag,goin' to be a long day tomorrow,wish me luck ok!
and to my beloved lil angel-Nur Marlia Minerva-i love you so much,and looking ahead to more happy crazy times together!Happy Anniversary Yo!
p.s-i love you more today than yesterday!
i'm feeling a lil bit under the weather.and yesterday morning was the worst.i couldn't pry open my eyelids,and during the meeting,i swore my boss gave me that occasional glances;i was caught dozing off.
went to the in-house doctor,gave me pills and a medical chit,but i stowed it away in the dark corners of my drawer and pocketed the pills instead.yes i'm feeling much better now,feels like a new man,fresh and almost healthy once again.
it all begun last saturday,we had to train in the rain,and i was already feeling feverish during the late spain vs paraguay match.
and now,i could already make plans for the upcoming matches,and to add,i have to desperately make time for my exercise regime and prepare myself for the big race this sunday at bedok reservoir.gotta work harder this time!
and looking forward to me and minerva's 1st anniversary this sunday too,oh my,feels like only yesterday we tied the knot,and look how time flies.so it's going to be rigorous rowing and quiet nice dinner with my wifey in the evening this sunday.and come the next morning,i'll be away to KL for the IAAPA convention for a week,and we'll be staying in Concorde-look how nice my bosses are!Whoa way to go gringo!and looks like its gonna be world cup finals viewing at Kolumpo!i hope i could stay sane..
Welcome aboard Roy Hodgson,hailing from his former club Fulham and signed a 3 year contract with the Reds,taking over Rafa Benitez role,and also he's the 18th manager in the club's history.
let's hope the best for Liverpool Fc!and we desperately need financing,and we badly need fresh new players,with the club status last season,rumours are also spreading that Nando,Stevie G and monster J.Mascherano are leaving,i really hope that doesn't happen.
Viva La Liverpool!
if given another opportunity to hit JB on a beautiful sunny sunday,i'll rather stick at home or do something else,just to avoid that inevitable monstrous killer traffic jam,just to leave and return the country for a bellyful of food and some groceries.yeah last sunday was madness.
been real busy at work lately,all rushing to complete the gallery exhibition by July,and so far i could confidently and safely say it's only 70% completed;we ran power and speaker cables across
ceilings and sealing and securing it safe from the naked eye,mounted and positioned big lcd screens and projectors,climbed up and down till my right knee felt hurts,so bad.
so tomorrow another day of mad rush,and my lovely wife just got me a nice pouch so i could stuff all my tools altogether in one bag instead,and not lugging 3 separate pouches on my utility belt.
and oh yes,my right knee,it needs attention actually,it felt SO damn bad earlier this morning when i woke up from my deep sleep,but the pain subsided right after my morning jog,it could be due to the rain yesterday;i was on the scooter & caught in the heavy rain,i had my jacket on but my shorts exposed my lower limbs,yeah it could be due to that,hmm maybe.or maybe not.
i was awoken suddenly by an excruciating pain in my belly this morning 5am.staggered to the toilet in the dark,had to reach out and touch the cold walls,aiding myself as i unease the root cause of the problem which forced me out of the bed.and after the dawn prayers,i hit the sack again.it all felt like a weird dream.
i'm all dress up now.i've arranged and made the bed already neat and tidy now.spread the windows wide open,letting the glorious sunshine in with Morcheeba accompanying the air,it's all so lovely now,lovely sunday morning.all ready to hit the road to JB soon for a delightful father's day brunch at a hotel there.i'm hungry...
i watched Fan Yang demonstrated his extra ordinary bubbles act;superb show.off stage he's just an ordinary man,and friendly too,his show lasted for 2 hours but i stepped out as my feet hurts standing and leaning against the wall,there were no empty seats-Full House!i got carried away for almost an hour until i decided to leave,i wish i could stay a lil longer but time doesn't permit me so,i've gotta fetch my beloved angel.
we are busy in the next tent,preparing for another event scheduled to kicked off next month,production is underway and it's quite massive,already we're calculating how much time we could complete our job and there's so many things to do,laying of cables,installing lights and soon the projector and lcd screens will fit into those wooden shelves,an interactive art gallery coming soon in the east-and it's no easy job.
i'm lacking of creativity,i think so,and i desperately need inspirations.i need to do something,oh i miss those quiet nights at the old chalet,where i could dirty my fingers with fabric ink,cutting the wax paper and transform into magical pictures transferred onto tees and stuffs,with soft music playing in the background,oh boy those were the times.
the training today was pretty good and there weren't any aches on my body,maybe just burn marks from the extreme heat but it wasn't totally hot anyway.it was all good then,and we went our separate ways,i got onto my vespa and rode home,hot shower and change into dry comfortable clothes,head down to my wife's cousin's place for her engagement gathering;had nice meal and got a bit chatty,then after all that we got back home.what a pleasant saturday.
and tomorrow i was given a day off,and we're heading down to Johor,and i've already tucked my scooters in their canvasses,we're going with the entire family in two cars!and i could rest in the backseat!
i spent a long time staring at the rows of curtains on the shelf at Giant Hypermart earlier.it's no easy job.getting the right one is real tough,especially when i'm all alone,given the honour to bring back two nice curtains for the living and the bedroom.i was told by my wife to pick a bright colour,and when i got there i was struck with choosing the perfect one,i can't!there were so many nice ones!rummaged through the shelves,standing trying to reach the top shelf and stooping down reaching for the hidden ones,and after almost 20 minutes,and a few phone calls i decided to grab two of the most,or should i say almost perfect ones for home.or if not,i'll just face the music later.
supposed to be rock climbing this evening but i my arm still hurts after last weekend's rowing,then me and my wife planned a run along east coast park stretch,but we had to cancel it all due to the urgency to fix up the curtains.needs drilling for the rail,put up the curtains that i bought today,and after clearing the mess,we plan to hit Bedok town for mattress or else my plan to watch the Spain game tomorrow will not happen!Help!
My sunday begun with a gruelling,intensifying dragon boat training,battling the currents and waves at Kallang river,i got blisters from the rough paddling and almost suffering from heat stroke due to the scorching heat,the sun was extremely burning hot and i lost lots of my energy out of it.already being severely tortured on saturday's training,with inadequate rest and the muscles still sore due to extensive & rigorous rowing over the weekend.
by noon i was at home,gearing up for work,how i wish i could take a power nap,but there wasn't enough time to do so.at work now,awaiting time to complete the day's mess.this is just another challenge,another non-quiet day for myself,and the little strength left to finish the day,oh boy,it's almost over now.
world cup season kicked off couple of days,and already we all feel the heat,one way or another.
watched the koreans vs the greeks yesterday,and i must say the asians are doing pretty well.and i'm looking forward to the upcoming spain game soon,but unsure whether i could since the game is scheduled late.
too much things so little time.
i got my runing shoes already,my lovely angelic wife bought for me,after looking and comparing prices at stores,and i got it,where else but Queensway shopping centre.too bad registration is closed for the standard chartered marathon,and now only left the 18km newton run.contemplating with 18km,but i have the burning confidence that i could finish it off quite well.
been real busy,with work and my adventurous lifestyle,i've to adjust my time for both work and play,i hope i could have time for everything else,especially spending quality time with my wife,but thank God,she's been real supportive.
Cheers for a happy sunday!
we had fun,though we were drenched in the rain midway through,in our journey back to Ebok's place for mee birthday and chicken wings,a perfect hot lunch accompanied by the hosts and bad ass cat lingering below the table,awaiting opportunity to strike for bits of flesh,but the invitation was strictly for guests only.
we rode to Bishan 2 hours later-i officially made several nominations for rightful ownership of my CPF funds,just in case if i live short enough to see this world,and following that a cool Shrek in 3D,and there weren't much folks in that theatre and hence there were hardly any unwanted noises or irritating movements-i just love that,and that movie was as fantastic;now we're looking forward to the soon to be released new Toy Story flick-To Infinity & Beyond!
i'm supposed to get myself a pair of new running trainers,but the ones that we've seen earlier were not of my choice-either too plain,uninteresting details or colour,or way too costly.i did not test on comfort-i just browsed.
but there's only one which caught my eyes,but there's no urgency,so i got plenty of time to checkout the trainers elsewhere.
and after a long time,i actually got myself sweaty again,this time me & nazir brought along our other halves,and we had a good time scaling the boulders,though it actually cost a bit-$12 per person and $5 for rental of the rockwall shoes,but nevertheless we had good time,and looking forward to the next session,which we all thought will be good if we could keep up and practice,spending good times climbing once a week or fortnightly.Climb On!
I'm not idling,it's my lunchtime.
i regret that i left my jacket back in the scoot.oh yes it's cold as ice in the office here right after the tech dudes serviced the unit.there's pretty not much things to do around here,i'm awaiting for my colleague for his return from his break,and we could ride down to town to checkout some new cool toy mixers and dj softwares for us to frolick with.and the there's this sleepy and lazy spell in the air,it's just the weather,and i bet you know it already.
yesterday was another crazy day,as mentioned before,there were so many things to do at work,but we managed to finished it up way before we targetted actually,and i did got time to slip out-hopped onto Bella and rode home,took a cab down to the workshop which cost $140 for the replacement of faulty starter and towing service,left the place and only realising there was error indication on the speedo and decided to return back to the workshop and when i requested it to be fixed,the old man smiled-"u sure Sam?"
i replied,"yes sir..hmm why?"
"it'll cost $480 for the lcd unit.."and he smiled again
"ooh..in that case,forget it.."
but Debbie could still move,only in time,until the lcd unit fail entirely,then..
It's been a very long tiring week with the sad departure of a good man,who's like a fatherly figure and close to the family,ended his months of sufferings and pain last thursday afternoon.May God bless him and he will be in our hearts,always.
and after the proper burial ceremony over,we went back for prayers among relatives and close friends,all whom said that the late old man,was a friendly nice man with good character.
my wife and her two sisters were hit most badly,as they were the closest among all with him,and so his absence hurt them the most.
i still did not have a proper good rest yet,over the weekend was busy settling stuffs back at work,with a very important big event,but so glad that it was all over now.
tomorrow,
i've have to ring up the tow truck,again.my beloved X9 aka Debbie Gibson,is at it again.been a week now it was draped over with the silver mouldy canvas at the motorcycle parking lot.God knows what is the fault-it won't even start after ignition.swapped batteries,i noticed there was lights and the horny horn was working perfectly,but it won't start,and i just hope it won't cost a bomb to get it fix at the workshop.good thing i got my Bella the Vespa.at least i could still move around although not as fast as Debbie.
things been quite crazy at work,with so many things to do this school holidays,and there's so many events & shows to run,but that's what me and the crew loves this job so much.
keep sane!
i was gasping for breath during my morning jog earlier and was looking up when suddenly two big birds swooped few metres away from me and perched onto a tree branch ahead.and yeah it really made me smile,that the mysterious bird which i saw months back and the ones that i saw today was confirm of a Hornbill breed.
big white beaks and big round eyes looking at me while i just stared at one of it for a moment and continued my run.and another that caught my attention was some bunch of mynahs chasing a small monitor lizard at the beach,some of the things that we don't see much in this urban environment.
my back hurts,but unsure whether it's due to paddling yesterday morning or during sleep.
back to work and there's so many things to do,school holidays back again and me and my colleagues are armed to face the challenges for this month.
i have officially finished watching HBO's The Pacific miniseries and it seems short,but nevertheless another interesting war flick.i just got back from the cinema counter at my workplace here,i got free tickets but sad news is that i wasn't given any options to watch any;No Free List for all shows.and so i've no reason to keep the tickets but to discard it into the bin.
i wanna watch Shrek 3!
The scorching heat burned the 9 of us but not our faiths.only us while the rest were too tired after the sundown marathon last night,and i wished i could run but i was there just to show support for my wife who ran the 10km and while waiting at the finishing line,with the gorgeous moon occasionally hiding amongst clouds in the distant horizon,i only hoped that she didn't give up midway,but upon seeing her crossing the end arch,it immediately change my negative perception on her,she's indeed made of tough material,and i'm real happy and proud that she accomplished the task that she's been talking about almost everyday since she signed up for it,and what aroused my concern,was that,she did not even train for it.nope.what a stunner!
this morning the heat pierced my flesh,but i had my hat and shades on,at least it wasn't that bad.coach stopped several guys for their wrong techniques,even the seasoned ones,and since there were only a handful of us this morning,and he didn't pick me,i must say that i'm pretty good with the strokes but i need to train up more,how i wish they could arrange another training during the weekdays.anyway they are already intensifying the practice,saturday and sundays as another couple of big races are coming up during the end of this month.and i'm still unsure whether i could
participate especially when the school holidays programmes is as thick as the yellow pages.
Good Sunday Afternoon to you!
it's a fresh new monday,with new swells & aches on several locations on my tired body.new agendas for the week flashed across my mind,and looking at it,i might have to postpone my day off to sunday again.
I got very dark,due to the prolonged activities under the sun,and yesterday i was sweating the whole day-right when i stepped out of the house to Kallang river till i got back home.and the training was getting vigourous with coach introducing new skills & techniques.
In the glorious sunday evening yesterday,me & my wife rode off to Geylang Serai shop hopped,bargained & bagged ourselves cheap yet chic rugs & we've to carry the 2 metres in length bamboo spread,balancing it as we transported it back to the apartment in Bedok.and once we reached the place,we cleaned it up & lay it onto the floor right away.it looked perfectly beautiful.
Unplanned,we immidiately performed an all out attack in the room that we will soon be nesting in,scrubbed,stroked and literally dug dirt & dusts from top to bottom,even the wardrobe was not spared.we even mopped the floor with bleach & soap & it's so strikingly glowing when it was all done.and all we need now is a queen sized bed and a curtain rail.and the rest will soon follow,which is quite disturbing to transfer all my stuffs there,especially my shoes.
it's been a long day,hmm,let me re-phrase,it's been a long tiring week.meticulous preparations and setup for the mayday fiesta,and on actual day today,we've to report as early as 7am and the entire day we had to handle and organized staffs manning the gamestalls and inflatables,and apart from handling difficult guests and the crazy heat,we had to control ourselves-we were in plain,tired.
and it's all done,we've kept all our stuffs and arranged it neatly in stores,everybody has left except for myself.
i got another day off tomorrow,and i'm will be in the Kallang river rowing with the gang as usual,and try hard to upkeep the momentum,and in the afternoon,i'd love to spend with my dear beloved wife-probably to the flea mart and a stroll at the beach.
besides the tense at work,myself and the wife actually had to spend whatever left in the quiet evenings cleaning and arranging a soon-to-be our pad in Bedok.we've concluded to move in by end of this month.but there are plenty more things to be done there than we've expected,and we just need to be a little bit more patient.
I got bad eyebags & this morning i really had to push myself out of the bed.
with all the activities and lil rest,i don't really know where to start.probably what i really need is supplement of energy bars to boost myself,but then again i'm unsure if it'll work on me,or maybe again i just need a proper rest and proper meals.
sent my wife to work and got back,park Badgal Bella on me fave spot,and i took the bus and train down to Lavender,where i hopped onto Debbie,which i left at the workshop a day earlier;they weld up the cracks on my pipe nice and smooth,and also serviced & tuned her up,now it feels as great as new.
half an hour late for work today,but i've already rang up my dear boss that i'm reporting slightly later,did some stuffs,had my lunchtime jog at the park and now i'm finally at my desk,discarding emails and typing this.
the weather,ohh my,it's beyond words.scorching hot!but darks clouds gathered in the horizon before i came in the office earlier.
busy period
been quite busy lately,we had to complete and submit our appraisals,i had to assist my fellow colleagues,and we did'nt had much time as we had to be somewhere else and rush for shows and events,i'm glad that there's nothing much this weekend and already i have permission from the boss that i could take my day off this sunday,and i could participate in the inter union dragon boat race,woohoo!
so many things,so lil time.
set the alarm clock at half past 5 but was only awoken by the wife half hour later this morning.
I had only less than 5 hours of precious sleep and it really felt odd when i staggered,in semi concious state towards the shower room.
While most were still in deep slumber,i had to sacrifice that beauty part to perform my duty at work.
the sunrise was extremely beautiful,hovering in the horizon amongst the rows of hdb apartments with its golden glow rays illuminating the darkness.
I am at my station now,as the PM giving his Mayday speech in front of hundreds anxious ministers & unionists,and it's almost over.
I just can't wait for all this to be over,it's been a tiring week.big daddy has already been discharged from hospital yesterday and i'm looking forward to visit him at home later this afternoon.and my good boss gave the thumbs up for us to take a day off tomorrow,and that's so good,
and i'm really looking forward to the rowing session tomorrow!
Happy Labour Day Folks!
i heaved a long sigh and a sense of relief after settling all the outstanding bills and fines for the month,walked away from the AXS machine,i was still in disbelief,that i wasn't given a ticket at the lagoon carpark and no summon was issued to me and it was not reflected in the system,i'm sure it must be a mistake,or maybe i should brush it aside and wait for the red letter to arrive by post.
it's been raining every single evening,always the time when i'm leaving from work,and was always held back,i could not ride in the rain,and my after work plans halted.
i switched into my gear,ready for the footy game with my mates,i even left the meeting midway,hoping that i could join the folks on time,but i was wrong when i opened the door and felt a cold wind and distant rumbling inthe heavens,goodness it was pouring very badly,and was sunny not too long ago.that's the situation we're in today.it's ok,it's just global warming,chill back bro,let's wait for the rain to stop..that's what they said..
2 summons,and probably another..
failing to display a proper parking coupon,one was negligence-i booked the season parking for both my scoots conveniently at an axs machine,but i failed to check that i actually,mistakenly booked a spot for Bella the Vespa at her former sheltered carpark at Pasir Ris.the other parking ticket that i received was,on some particular afternoon weeks back,i actually slipped a used parking coupon to save myself 65cents.yes i wasn't thinking straight i know.
it wasn't really alright as it caused quite a stir earlier this morning,i went down to the local town council for assistance but i was shocked to see the bloody long queue which snaked around the line heading towards the counter,and an additional panic when i saw on a neat,bright colored sign just before the queue lines,stating that the carpark which nests both the lovely scoots was actually out of spot-FULLY BOOKED-in bold.stunned i was contemplating whether to leave the place or join in the line of angry bunch of folks.i decided to hop in and when my turn arrived,it was about 10 minutes later,and i explained to the lady behind the counter about my sorry story.initially,she told me there,yes,there weren't any spot left,but since she checked my records and me being clumsy and dumb of wrongfully booked the wrong spot at the wrong estate altogether,she gave me a lending hand and booked both the scoots for another two months which costs me $63.00.she typed a report,photocopied the tickets and all done.she told me to write an appeal letter since my case is genuinely dumb,was that what she said?i think..
for the other ticket which i got in the north,i have paid via the cashless system and the irony was how i explained this whole sad story to my wife over dinner at the lagoon in east coast earlier this evening,when i suddenly remembered that i've forgotten to place a valid parking coupon when everybody knows that particular carpark is an inevitable hotspot-the carpark marshals actually stationed themselves there the whole time,but i could not find a ticket when we returned to the scoot-nothing,but two bikes on the right,a ticket was rolled and tucked between a bike's brake lever-but i couldn't find mine or maybe i was lucky,or maybe not,we'll find out soon.
Help me Obiwan,you're my only help...
when we were there at times square,KL,we came across an official Vans store,and i
bumped onto the pair of Vans Mountain Hi which i have been looking for all this while,but due to the fact that it was overly priced-$365 ringgit,and furthermore my wife disagreed on getting it then,i was quite reluctant actually but when i got onto my senses i finally realized that,yeah i could be dumb at times,thank God i have a companion who is always there to stop me being irrational & foolhardy.
3 days of pure gluttony,almost!
we left all the troubles and stress back home & hit the long winding road on a comfortable busride to the capital state of malaya last friday afternoon,and once we disembarked from the ride,the 'makan trip' commenced immidiately.
yes,the main strong reason which brought us back to KL was Subway for their mouthwatering sandwiches followed by Wendy's,A&w and plenty other lovely tasty delicious food along the way.
we even got time to checkout the coffin exhibition at the museum negara,and in short,we didn't really go around much but just eat,eat and eat.
the weather
KL,besides the flourishing shopping centres and the forever mad traffic congestion & the inglorious pollution,didn't really change that much,those thousands of taxis with stickers printed in bold 'meter taxi' but in actual fact that they switched off the meters and pose absolutely ridiculous fares even for short distances.but what ever it was,we actually don't give a hoot coz we already know these foul characters,we were only there to have fun.we favoured the public transport.
we'll be back,for sure.
The queue is a long winding labyrinth,a frustrating series of twists and turns,bumps and silent desperationof sighs,droplets of sweat and heat building up underneath my thin layered cotton tee branding Darth Vader image,but i'm in my best,keeping my cool.
The hospital enforces the rule of allowing only several visitors at a time and hence keeping noisy and loud crowds away.
the old man looked better,in a quick glance;healthy.the disese which befell him for months now actually drove him frail and weak.but he said he was alright,only due to the long period of time lying down on the bed,pressure from his weight caused a hairline crack on his spine.and after meticulous analysis by his doctors and specialists,thsy all said he'll be alright but he needed plenty of restbut no one mentioned when he'll be discharged from the creepy place.
i hope he'll recover soon,i know he doesn't like staying there,oh well who does?
this might be one of my worst monday ever,i could not find the strength to pry open my tired eyes this morning,and it was hell trying to move my body,and my back was still in a bad shape,even after the good wife contributed applying a however short back massage last night & a so called good-yet-somehow-seems-short sleep.
The painkiller tablet did its job,but it didn't assist in shapeshifting the groggy state i'm in right now,and paying the least attention in this meeting room,God knows what they are blabbering about and in most topics,only a tiny fraction concern my darling team,ohh get me out of here!!!!.
i'm having this excruciating pain on my back,real hurt all due to two consecutive days of dragon boat training at Kallang river.even the mefenamic acid pills that i swallowed doesn't really help but thank God i can walk iwhout the assistance of a stick,NOT!
the weather is good today,and yesterday as well,and crowds of cheerful paddlers added colour to the lovely morning;from the shack all the way to the river bank,i felt however like i'm in some foreign shores,coz largely,the crowd made of different kind of people haliling from various countries,and all looked happy and all looked real fit.
and all were there for the same intention-to row!and all we thought rowing was easy until we rocked the still waters,it was madly tiring.we rowed in unison all the way close to marina barrage and made a turn,rowed to indoor stadium and back to where we started.in between we stopped for stretching and further instructions by our coach,a former dragon boat national team player.
the river was dark and murky and God knows what lay underneath as we paddled & perfecting our breathing,movement and strokes.and most importantly we need to row as a team and all gotta be together in a single rhythm.
now i'm in pain but i felt good,i got a bit darker but that's alright and already i'm showing signs of interest in this newfound love,even the crew are friendly and i'm looking forward to the next session,oh boy i'm gonna miss next weekend's training,but there'll be more,i promise!
Come draw your curtains and checkout the big blue skies,the sun shining gloriously,it's such a perfect day for a picnic at the beach.
too bad i'm at work now and i can't escape this,i gotta attend another meeting at sengkang with some clients and thank God i don't have to ride there,i'll just hop onto the company car my colleague driving us all there.the heat,is so bright and loud,we all need shades to protect our precious eyes,my goodness it's so sunny out there.i hope tomorrow and the day after that will be like this too.i can't really stand the wet dull weather,i even had to think twice to ride on my steed.the road so dangerously wet and made it more scarier,with all the heavy vehicles speeding past with all the vapors and waters splashed onto me,i don't like that.i like it when it's sunny and i don't have to put on the warm rain jackets,pants and boots-instead of protecting me from wet it made sweat with the layers of clothings on me.
the heavy downpour yesterday was the main obvious reason why the sports council official had to stop us from playing at the pitch at Si Ling field.
but that didn't stop us,so we changed venue to Fico indoor futsal pitch,from north shifted all the way far west of the island,and i had difficulties riding on my steed in the wet weather and slippery roads.
but it was well worth the journey and time,i had fun,we all did,the match between the big three families was not only a game,but a big happy family bonding and interaction-both young and old,and seriously we all looking forward to the next session,with hope it doesn't clash with my work activities.
travelling back to pasir ris,i was drenched in cold sweat and soaked in rain splattered on me throughout the journey and midway i was stunned when i glanced at the speedometer,unrealising that i was dangerously speeding at 120km on the wet highway,so slowed down a lil and moved in a more constantly safe speed.
it was my wife's mom's birthday that we celebrated at the chalet,with tasty and mouthwatering bbq food that i devoured after hours spent kicking ball and long journey in the rain,but i didn't had that much,i was in fact burnout and aches started to develop.chatting and sharing laughter with relatives till midnight when they all decided to leave and we started packing up,clearing all the leftovers and once all done we went back to rest and sleep.wake up this morning and still feeling tired,and its raining again..
sunday lazy sunday
my heart singin' songs of praises,happiness and joy!i'm so delighted i could take a rest tomorrow,it's a Good Friday Holiday,and so far i've not think of any plans,of how to spend the precious time tomorrow,and how i wish it won't rain again tomorrow,so that i could hop onto Bella the Italian Angel and ride around on it.
i need the rest i think,and already me and my beloved wife planning to watch some comedy flicks later,probably a marathon,but i don't wanna stay up too late,i needed that rest,remember.
come this saturday there's a big match,me and me dearest cousins playing against relatives somewhere up in woodlands pitch,i don't really fancy the trip up north,yeah i do have a ride,but then,i gotta travel there all the way from work and that's not fun.but i really wanna kick some balls,and if opportunity arises,who knows if i score a goal or two,well maybe..
we just got back;i pampered myself with some nice berms and a cool belt which i got at a bargain,had a nice meal together at Adam Rd food centre-and made our way back home with suprisingly smooth traffic on the PIE highway.and thank God,we were not caught in the rain today.
and finally,after a long wait,the same folks who did Band Of Brothers & releasing
'The Pacific'on HBO very soon.
yesterday,
we had the time of our lives,with my fellow colleagues,my dear bosses included,who took time,effort to join us and also chipped in more than 3quarter of the actual day pass tickets,and honestly,we sure had a fun loving time.
although the main attraction ride-the outdoor killer roller coaster-battlestar galactica human & cyclone rides were down,but we made sure we had the money worth-we tried every single damn rides and shows and my personal faves-the Revenge of the Mummies indoor roller coaster and Shrek's interactive 4D show.
one whole day-from morning all the way till closing time,with beryani combo meal break in between,we really went all out!even the rain didn't stopped us!and we were soaked in sweat and water splashed onto us during the jurassic water ride and wet or not we still continued,plucking enough courage to brave the steel rails and adrenaline rush rides.even the innocent looking rides made my stomach curl at times.
i screamed a lot,hell lot.i screamed so much my head was throbbing,but it all went away quick,i had real good time,and i am looking forward to the next trip to Universal Studios Sentosa!
Battlestar Galactica,someday real soon i'll ride those badboys,Fo Shizzle!
