30.9.07
Cyclohunt 2007
Its been a week since Rovers Cyclohunt 2007. Hardly got time to blog about it like I promised but guessed I better do so before term starts again. (Anyway, I got my 2 star kayaking certification yeah!)
Cyclohunt involves groups in 4 night cycling around Singapore looking for checkpoints and finding items for a scavenger hunt. I was planning to join all along and once registration was open I wasted no time to get my team of 4 which include me, Edwin, Jing Hui and the ever so ONz Zhi Hui. We called ourself team JENZ (Jinghui, Edwin, N Sj, Zhi Hui).
L-R : Edwin, Jing Hui, Zhi Hui , Me
Team JENZ ready to roll out (Sorry for the lameness, just watch Transformer again today)
One of the very few photos we took along the way. (If not for it being a checkpoint task doubt we will stop to take photos also)
-Indoor stadium
-Singapore Badminton Association in Gelyang
-Enuos residential area
-Bedok Reservoir
-Tampines Mall
-Loyang Tua Pek Gong Temple
-Changi Villange
-SAF ferry terminal
In the end we came in 6th out of 24 teams. Was hoping to come in 3rd but never mind, tried our best( we really did!). It was dam* shag! Had quite a few night cycling experience before but this is easily the most shag one. At the ending point all of us almost got into cramps. (Kudos to ZH for sticking with all 3 guys all the way.)
For those considering a long night cycling route starting from ECP, can consider the one in the map. It will bring you to a lot of nice places for food as well as nice photo taking places. *Be warn though, the Changi Coast Road part is freaking long*
This is what the Mac's Bagel looks like in the display picture
This is what i got. *sigh* I'm so NOT loving it. Wonder why no one sue Mac for misleading their customers?
Got this picture while waiting for bus early Sunday morning. What a beautiful start of a beautiful day of sleeping and recovering from butt aches and sore muscles. Looking forward to next year Cyclohunt =)
SJ blogged at 23:23 0 comments
28.9.07
Mech. Eng. Outing
Finally got the photos for the outing I had last Friday with my Mech. Eng. people (courtesy of Jenny and her camera which she calls "Ca-ca"). Not bad an outing I should say, to get out there in the sun and stuff, considering that most people list engine students as indoor hardcore muggers.
Anti-Clockwise: Me,Rayner, Zollin, Shaoming, Michelle, Jenny, Jihui, Xian YiThe plan was to meet at Parkway Parade for lunch before walking over to ECP. I must admit (although its kind of make me look like mountain tortoise) that that was the first time I been to PP and thus was expecting just a small mall like Heartland Mall or Novena Square. However it turn out to be bigger than I expected. Somehow comparable to Causeway Point or the new Junction 8.
Lunch at PP KFC
At Bedok Jetty
In the words of Rayner, :"the Shuai/帅 look"
Doing a turtle post (Shall explain the origin of the turtle thing in future)
1) How to do a proper T brake without twisting my ankle/tumble
2) How to blade up a slope. (On this note I want to say that blading up a slope need a &^%$# lot of skills! The feeling sucks when you are halfway up a slope, lose your momentum and slide read:ALL the way back down.)
3) If I'm going to commit to this new sport, I might consider getting my own guards/pads. ( The ones at the rental SMELLS! and is so unhygienic.)
4) Tighten my blades properly cause if not will result in blisters.
So why not pick up blading? You get to enjoy the sea view/breeze, enjoy the "running on foot" feeling with much much less effort compare to running and get to learn something new!
p.s Going sleep, having my kayaking 2 star assessment later. Shall leave the post on Cyclohunt to later.
SJ blogged at 01:47 0 comments
26.9.07
Recess week
Been so ultra busy this few days hardly got a chance to blog. Anyway I'm having my mid semester break now and for the first time in my 1 1/2 years in NUS I'm not having any mid term test or assignment to nip me on my back. But nevertheless my recess week have proven to be just as packed. Just a short update on what is going on so far.
Mech. Eng. Outing
Kicked off my recess week with an outing with my fellow Mech. Eng. course mates. Don't know why but come this semester we are going out more often as compared to previous semesters. Good to have your guys around to make engine life more fun. Anyway went to East Coast Park to cycle and roller blade and I tried roller blade for the first time! Didn't have any experience in blading before (unless you consider ice skating) and so i was kind of nervous to start off. Don't have photos of that outing yet. So shall blog about it when I got the pictures.
Cyclohunt 2007
After the Mech Eng outing on Friday, I woke up with aches all over my body on Saturday. ( Esp. my butt. No its not because I fell on blades. Guess its just a set of muscle used in blading which i seldom use in my running.) Still aching like crazy, I met up with Edwin, Jing Hui and Zhi Hui for Rovers Cyclohunt 2007. Summary: A ^%$#@ "shiong" overnight cycling that leaves me with even more aches and sleep deficit. Wanted to blog about it tonight but then due to unforeseen circumstances (see below) shall do it the next time.
2 Star Kayaking Course
Cyclohunt stretch from Saturday to Sunday and the next thing I know I'm having my 2 star kayaking course at Kallang on Monday. Going to be a three day course on Mon/Wed/Fri.
Honestly I beginning to feel my body complaining. Just had a sleeping marathon. Slept from yesterday 2100 to this afternoon 1500. Approx 18hours. But guess what? I having headache now from all the sleeping. *grumble* Not feeling too well to do a nice and "photo-ful" entry. Shall do it tomorrow if possible.
*Going rest*
SJ blogged at 00:42 0 comments
21.9.07
Jose Mourinho
For those that are going "who the he*l is Jose Mourinho??", well he is the ex manager of Chelsea Football Club who made a dramatic exit from the team yesterday. For those who are into EPL, Mourinho will be a familiar face to you and together with me I guess many of you will feel that he is one of the better managers around in the business. As such, his departure came quite a shock to many of us.
So what is with my entry about Mourinho? I was looking surfing the web for news about his departure when I came about a photo shoot picture of Mourinho. I must say he look quite good when he smiles and so maybe after he lost his job as Chelsea he might consider taking up part time modeling ? =)
Anyway if you guys are still wondering what I am trying to do here... GOTCHA for those taking in what I have been saying in the last paragraph. The 2 guys in the picture are not the same! On the left is Jose Mourinho BUT one the right is actually Andrea Boncelli, a well known Italian tenor ( some compare him to the great Luciano Pavarotti).
Well I always thought the 2 look rather alike. So maybe instead of modeling Mourinho can try to job interview for a double up as Boncelli? Ok end of this rather ridiculous post.
*FYI, Andrea Bocelli is blind due to a football accident when he was 12. Somehow the 2 share quite a bit of similarities.
**Just a random post, no offence to either fans of Mourinho or Bocelli . Both are great and respectable man in the own field.
SJ blogged at 12:15 0 comments
19.9.07
Life
By now I think most of you would have heard about the tragic incident that took place in Phuket, Thailand a couple of days ago. Flight OG269, a Thailand based budget airline aircraft crashed while attempting to land and resulted in 89 fatalities out of the 130 people on board.
I guess to many of you, its is just a piece of news that you happen to hear/see on the media, somehow similar to the news of the earthquake that rocked Indonesia. Seriously, how many of us actually take time off the ponder about what happened and how such events is going to impact those hurt physically/mentally.
Looking at the news, I somehow wonder what are the thoughts going through the minds of those killed just moments before their death. Do they even have time to think? to have their life flash past before them ? to say goodbye to their loves one? or were they gone just as sudden as the impact of the aircraft? And how about those trapped in the flames with their fate sealed. What were they thinking about in their final moments?
I guess none of them in their wildest dream thought that such tragedy is going to befall on them. Like most of us, we often brush such news of such tragedy aside with the mentality that "its not going to happen to me". Sure enough, I bet most on board have such mentality the previous time they saw a disaster news on the media.
My point here is simple. We'll never ever know what and when things are going to happen. So instead of working our a*s off for something that's intangible ( the future ) shouldn't we appreciate our daily life as it is? Looking around me, I see people getting so stressed up by work (well I do get stress up also) and I just wonder are we going to just let the beauty of life just slip through our fingers while we get so caught up with work? How many of us actually live each day as it is instead of looking at them as buffer before endless deadlines?
If the next few moments is your last in this lifetime, what will you be thinking about ? Your tutorials? assignments? term tests? Will you able to smile and said that you have lived your fullest?
I guess many of you reading this entry now are currently tight up with work and deadlines. I just hope that my little entry here will lessen your stress and make that daunting tutorial/assignment/test ahead seems less significant. Sharing with you a beautiful song, "Angel" by Sara McLachlan, and hope each and everyone of you will be able to find your own respective angel ( may it be another person, another place, another activity ) to find comfort in.
Angel
Spend all your time waiting
for that second chance
for a break that would make it okay
there's always one reason
to feel not good enough
and it's hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction
oh beautiful release
memory seeps from my veins
let me be empty
and weightless and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight
in the arms of an angel
fly away from here
from this dark cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear
you are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
you're in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort there
so tired of the straight line
and everywhere you turn
there's vultures and thieves at your back
and the storm keeps on twisting
you keep on building the lie
that you make up for all that you lack
it don't make no difference
escaping one last time
it's easier to believe in this sweet madness oh
this glorious sadness that brings me to my knees
Spend all your time waiting
for that second chance
for a break that would make it okay
there's always one reason
to feel not good enough
and it's hard at the end of the day
I need some distraction
oh beautiful release
memory seeps from my veins
let me be empty
and weightless and maybe
I'll find some peace tonight
in the arms of an angel
fly away from here
from this dark cold hotel room
and the endlessness that you fear
you are pulled from the wreckage
of your silent reverie
you're in the arms of the angel
may you find some comfort there
so tired of the straight line
and everywhere you turn
there's vultures and thieves at your back
and the storm keeps on twisting
you keep on building the lie
that you make up for all that you lack
it don't make no difference
escaping one last time
it's easier to believe in this sweet madness oh
this glorious sadness that brings me to my knees
SJ blogged at 02:28 0 comments
14.9.07
The Running Entry
I wanted to make this entry since Monday I think but unfortunately, lab reports keep nipping my back so have to put off this entry till now. Anyway after the previous entry I have been considering about what should I write about next. So after some thinking I decided to make an entry about my latest craze: Running.
Someday I hope to do the sameI wasn't much into running till recently. Well, yes I do run in the past ( a week or 2 before NAFA / IPPT in desperation to train for 2.4) but its only recently I development a interest in running as a hobby. This subsequently lead me to sign up for this year's Army half Marathon and complete my first (definitely not last) 21km.
Spectacular sight at the starting point. But alas~ wasn't my race which flag off much much earlier
AHM 2007
Well I cant remember whether it's because I started running that made me sign up for it or because I sign up for it and hence starting running. Whatever.Anyway I ended up going for the run with Edwin whom I meet during Rovers camp.
Trying not too look shag after the 21km with Edwin. Jelly legs beyond the picture.For those that have been up to date with me will be aware that I was quite hyped up for this run(first timer for such runs) and had been doing some training for it. i was aiming to finish the race in 1:50 - 2:00 hours time and so it was a pleasant surprise when I found out that i actually completed it in 1:43. Not a big deal considering that this timing only got me about 300+ position but I still feel its a rather respectable timing considering that I wasn't a season runner yet and its my first time taking part in such runs.
The run itself was a refreshing break for me as well. Having been running around my neighborhood most of the time, I had the opportunity to do my running in the CBD area and along all the roads that I normally would have just sped past in a vehicle.
Apparently the organiser linked up with an external agency to take the photos of each runner across the finishing line. Found mine but don't think I will spend the $ to buy them online.
Finisher medal of AHM 2007
Next up for me I guess will be the New Balance Real Run 2007 in mid October. Although the registration fee is more expensive as compared to AHM, I feel that it's worth it.
1. The tee-shirt for this year NBRR is much x 100 nicer then that fugly tee I got for AHM
2. Maybe a NB shoe bag and arm pouch will be in the goodie bag. ( again, missing from AHM)
3. Interesting route: 15km or which 12km road, 1km trail, 1km sand, 1km Changi Airport / RSAF Changi East runway. (Doubt it will be the actual runway in the case of Changi International, so likely taxiway?)
4. Late flag off time 0730 vs the unholy 0530 of AHM.
5. Shuttle bus is even available from island wide MRT stations.
Fugly AHM Tee
NBRR Tee and shoe bag for this yearThis ends my entry today. Hope I didn't bore those non-runners out there. In fact I hope after reading this entry some of you might be motivated to go dig out your running shoes? Till next time, happy running!
p.s. wanted to write about running tips and gears recommendations but I shall leave it to the next post. However for those that got something to share, you can start the ball rolling by putting them as comments. Cheers!
SJ blogged at 02:12 0 comments
8.9.07
Berkelah II
Finally the blog is back to normal. (You all might not have notice, but I redid the background and so its a different sunset now) So now that everything is back to normal, i shall continue with my previous post, and taking advice from Weili I shall put less words and more pictures this time round.
Campsite & Dinner
As previously mentioned we reached the start of the trek rather late so end up didn't take much photos along the way till we reached our camp site.
Dusk approaching even before we had time to explore the campsiteAfter the tent is up, the rest started to prepare dinner while I began to search for firewood to build a fire. (The rest was like quite stun cause they seldom have a fire when they go trek) Guess it rained the day before so it kind of hard to get real good firewood and given my rusty skill, I was glad that I didn't "malu" in front of them.
Trying desperately to blow some life into the fire
Finally the fire is up ( but quite a baby. keep having to feed it with fire wood if not it keeps threatening to go off )1. Heat source for the cold night
2. A cozy corner to sit down after dinner to chit chat
3. Smoke generator to generate smoke to keep off mosquitoes
Dinner was outstanding! (Less a couple of big praying mantis that keep disturbing us and the constant creepy crawlies that found their way into our food) Lesson #1 for outdoor cooking
1. Bring a non-stick frying pan. It do wonders.
2. Bring disposable bowls. Super useful.
3. Never melt chocolate over mess tin, use a water bath instead.
4. Can satay chicken goes darn well with maggie mee.
5. Peanut soup serves as a good desert to any good dinner.
Shooting Stars
For the first time in my life I saw shooting stars! Note* its starS not star. Saw 3 that night, lucky me. But didn't really utilise it for wishing casue too excited to see it and hence kept forgetting to make the wish. Stars wasn't a plenty but the shootings stars makes up for everything.
ok...I googled this picture. Don't tell me for a moment you thought I manage to catch it on camera??Just pictures of some food we had for breakfast. (See the non-stick frying pan doing its wonders)
Pancakes with marshmallow. No its not prata. Somehow the top surface of the pancake is not even so when flipped it cooks unevenly on the underside. Any idea how to prevent that?
Cook and egg beater
Trek upIn short, not a very tough trek but can be quite an eye opener for those new into trekking. Reason being its a mixture of forest trail and rocky paths ( mostly rocky paths). So for some part of the trek you might need to carry out spider-man-alike moves. Some swear by going barefoot for the rocky parts but after I took off my sanddles, I slipped within the next 10m? So i shall swear by having footwear.
Misc photosFinally the waterfall. It was much bigger than i expected cause the last one I went at Kota Tinggi is quite disappointing. Once there nothing to do other than cam-whoring and monkeying around in the extremely cold water. (Its freaking cold! *brrr* think 20deg C ? Anyway take my word, I wasn't "gu niang" , its really cold)
Very clear water. (No don't need to guess, my legs not one of them. Too hairless to be mine haha)
Homeward bound is not without drama too! We set off late from the campsite so ended up late at the bus terminal. Well not exactly late cause on the arrival trip we waited for a good 15mins after the stipulated time before the bus uncle came strolling to the bus. BUT! this bugger of a bus uncle decide to drive off at exactly 3pm sharp! ( FYI its the last bus out of Kuantan to JB for the day. Miss that = stranded in Kuantan) Geri actually have to run after the bus and intercept it to make it stop *clap clap* Its not over. When we finally caught up with the bus we realised that one of us is missing! ( Wei Guang went to buy lunch for us but we didn't know where he went). And so started this frenzy search for him in a place where no one speaks english/chinese and hand phones do not work. Geri pulled off another stun by asking a passerby in Malay! I was like "how in the world you know Malay !". (Found out she took a Malay module in school before. Now I'm tempted to take the same module next semester) Fast forward >>> finally all board the bus and the bus uncle obviously wasn't please but "boh chap".
Travel Tip
Things to do when you are stuck in a traffic jam at the causeway ( which we did).
1.Look at the driver of the car that is behind the car you are in.
2.Try to get his attention, preferably if he is alone in the car.
3.Once you get his attention, give him the " OMG! what is behind in you back seat!" look.
4.Observe interesting results.
This concludes my coverage of my trip to Berkelah. Miss going for treks already. *sigh* have to wait for the semester to be over before I can go for another.
p.s. Thanks to people like John, Wei Chuan, Wei Guang, June for making me feel so comfortable with you guys even though I didn't know you all before the trip =)
SJ blogged at 01:22 0 comments
6.9.07
Host Down
*sigh* So much for my first blog. Haven't even been up for a week the the host that is hosting my template is down! (that explains the plain and boring black background). Anyway looks like I have to wait till the weekend to redo the template again and continue with my entry on the Berkelah trip. Trust me, it used to be more vibrant and colourful, unlike now Zzzz. (for those that have been visiting regularly, thanks for your support! the hit count has been very encouraging).
SJ blogged at 02:29 0 comments
1.9.07
Berkelah Waterfall
As promise, I will make my blog entries as interesting as possible. So what better way to start than an entry about my recent trip to Berkelah Waterfall in Pahang, Malaysia?
Entrance at the start of the trek It has been years since I went for a overseas trek/hike/cycling trip (last went in '03 to Pengarang ,Johor, for a cycling trip) and this time round this trip was really an impromptu decision by me to join a couple of friends that I made during NUS Rovers camp (shall blog about that in future) for their trip. Strictly speaking, I was more of "crash" their trip then "join" as I only know 2 out of the whole group. But anyway I never regret my decision.
A short background to Berkelah Waterfall. Situated in Pahang state of Malaysia, its a common trekking destination for many Singaporeans and their locals alike. To reach there, first of all is a good 6-7(say:looong) hours bus ride from Singapore to Kuantan, the main city of Pahang followed by a 45mins taxi ride to the start of the trekking route. Following which will be a trek of about a couple of hours across 2 main kinds of terrain (forest and rocks) before reaching the main waterfall.
Berkelah WaterfallI shall now cover some highlights of the trip.
Dunkin' Doughnuts
Being typical Singaporeans, we bring out culture to everywhere we go. And this time round, we brought our doughnuts craze right across the crossway to this Dunkin' Doughnut shop at Larkin terminal in JB. In short, we kind of "storm" that little shop for doughnuts upon reaching Larkin. (Wonder what the locals are thinking. I guess its the feeling we get when we see Caucasian going goo goo over chicken rice) But sadly, those doughnut aren't exactly worth "storming" for. Well maybe its becasue I didn't try the more exotic flavors and opted for the more common chocolate icing kind.
Long and Boring Bus Ride
6-7 hours! We talked, ate, slept, woke, talked again, slept again (didn't eat again cause we ran out of food*hungry*) and we still aren't there yet! But lucikly along the way we saw some interesting sights like cattle lining the road as we proceeded further up north to the more rural areas of the country and the bus uncle trying to over take those super long lorries on the expressway to the tune of our cover of Jay Chou's "der piao der piao..."
Abu the Taxi Uncle
Once we reach Kuantan we switch to a taxi and luckily for me I got to sit in the "legendary" taxi uncle call Abu taxi. Legendary? Well cause he is like the only taxi uncle in Kuatan that speaks English and according to Geraldine, he is like the big boss of all the taxi drivers there. Talking about status, he got the newest and biggest taxi of them all *haha*. (Well actaully its nothing impressive. Its just a new Proton, but is all about relativity. The rest of the taxis there are er... literally falling into bits. My return trip taxi got a leaking air con, faulty speedometer, sticky sofa, hole at the floor of the taxi etc.) To add to that, Abu actually keeps a visitor book! Its more of a exercise book but inside it contain all the well wishes of passengers that he have driven over his close to 20 years of driving. You have comments from tourists ranging from US to South America to Europe to New Zealand. Practically world wide! (less Antarctica, though I got the feeling if I look harder I might just find one *hur!*) Anyway, Abu was very proud of his achievements( oh he also have a website set up by one of his Singaporean friends) and I would too if I were him. To bad I didn't have a photo of him. But I manage to have a photo of something cute I found in his taxi.
A gift from his kids. What a happy man~
Taken inside Abu's taxi.Only understand the "Berkelah". Guess the rest is "That way" ?
And so we eventually we finally reach the start of the trek after close to 10 hours? (Met up at Kahtib MRT at 0730 and reach the entrance like 1730? *grumble*)
Small stream at the entrance of the trek with the backdrop of a setting sunThis post is getting quite long ( literally and in terms of me taking so much time to do it. I still new to blogging remember?) and so i have decided to leave the 2nd portion of the trip to my next entry. Lastly, a group photo of all the nice people I met in the trip.
L-R: Me, Weili, Wei Chuan, John, Geri, June
Missing: Wei Guang (who kindly stayed behind at base camp to watch over our belongings)
L-R: Me, Weili, Wei Chuan, John, Geri, June
Missing: Wei Guang (who kindly stayed behind at base camp to watch over our belongings)
SJ blogged at 20:31 0 comments
Brand New Start
As the topic of this entry suggests, its a brand new start to my own blog! For those who have been "tricked" by me into my previous "blog", I'm sure you all would have noticed a he*l lot of changes(spend about a good whole night trying to figure out basic HTML and finding host to store my pictures and sound files).
So why the sudden craze of blogging(its like so yester-year kind of stuff)? Well, I recently came across the blogs of a couple of my friends and I must say, they are rather impressive! *envy* And since I'm currently undergoing a changing phase of my life ( shall go into that in future if i feels like it) I've decided to try something new!
So what I hope my blog will be like? (notice I put "hope"? well Murphy's law exist so better don't have to high hopes to start with)
1) A place where I can post my thoughts and takes of things I say/see/hear/smell/feel.
2) Make it an interesting blog with lots of pictures and interesting entries instead of grumbling/whining ones.
3) A place to jot down my life story and to be able to retrieve back memories in years to come when things starts to fade with time.
Like i mention, I want this blog to be colourful and picture-ful. So for this entry alone I would say its a rather bad start *sigh* . Anyway, here ends the first entry to my first official blog. May I have better luck with future entries.
SJ blogged at 19:53 1 comments
