Little NIcky

After nine months, I've suddenly realised where I am.

After nine months, I've suddenly realised what it's all about.

After nine months, I've suddenly realised that this is it.

After nine months, I've suddenly remembered that Singapore is near the equator.

For the first time in nine months, I've realised that Singapore is hot! Maybe some part of it has to do with the Tom Yum fried rice I had for dinner just a few hours ago which somehow seems to be burning a sensational hole through my stomach. But still, at 11pm, if I'm feeling warm, somethings not right. That's right, it was hot today. For the first time, it was hot!

Actually, I was 'fortunate' enough to be working today because it was hot! Every time I stepped out of the room, I'd be like, "Is it hot out?" Then, after prowling for a few seconds, those thoughts would be out the door as I returned back into the air-conditioned lock-up office XP

One of the accused actually complained to me today that it was warm. Thoughtlessly, but more so uninterestedly, I simply told him to remove his shirt and take a shower. After all, what did you want me to do for you? Order some ice cream and have it delivered to you? Or better still, have the contractors to enter lock-up and have air conditioners installed for each cell. Yeah, in your dreams dude.

Anyway, having the luxury of two mega air conditioners in our small lock-up office, I really didn't think much of the accused as I remained in this wonderful office. To be honest, I can't remember anything else he asked me today because my mind would be unconsciously determined to return back to the room, just to get out of the heat of the lock-up area. But now, after thinking about how warm the day was, I kinda feel bad for the fella. hehehe

Yeah well, as many of you have noticed, I've been a bit reluctant to post. Mainly because there really isn't much to post about. My life now basically lives under the continual cycle of a four day work week, and unless you understand the working conditions, there's no point in me blogging about work here cause it's just boring. Well, to me at least. But it just goes by so quickly, I dunno where time actually goes. Well, actually, I'm lying. I do know where they go. It'd be going into work and sleep.

Seriously, that's where my time is really going nowadays. I'm working 12 hours, so that's like half the day gone. When I am home, the other 3/4 of the remaining day is usually used as sleep, so quite frankly, I have 1/4 of the remaining day to ... 'relax'.

And just the other day, after I had finished my night shift, I decided to not sleep till the evening of my first day off. So when I came back around 9:30am, I mucked around until 6pm before I crashed into bed ... not waking up till 7:30am the next morning. I can only recall 3 times when I woke up during those hours of sweet sleep. One around evening time, one in the middle of the night and another sometime after 6am because I noted how the foldable bed that Amoz sleeps on was already in the room. But the sky was still dark and that prompted me to continue my already 12 hour sleep-athon.

See how I use my time?

You can imagine the hours from 9:30am till 6pm, I was pretty much sore to the bone, yet I persisted on staying up. Just so I could 'enjoy' those 13.5hrs of slumber. Actually, this was the first time I've actually slept for more than 12 hours. Never can I recall a day where I've woken up to the realisation that I've slept for more than 12 hours. It's just never happened before. I just can't on a normal day. So for me to sleep for more than 12 hours, it just speaks volume. Moi tired.

Well, it's not like I haven't been going through any of life's lessons during this time. In fact, I've learnt a bit more of myself during my time at work too; with colleagues and all. And the one main thing I've learnt during this time is that, 'the weaknesses of who I am are what defines me'.

I am less than perfect. I am no where anywhere perfect. But for the imperfectness of who I am are what makes me wanna be a better person towards others. I know that there are times when people make mistakes, and I'll tell you there were plenty of times when I made mistakes too. Most of the time, it was due to my forgetfulness or carelessness. And from this, I've understood how to empathise with others when they make these mistakes too.

A lot of times, I try to see things according to how I want people to treat me. So I figured that if I wanted people to be nice to me, why not I be nice to them too? Cause after all, it's only nice when people are nice to you =)

So from this, I've realised that if someone were to be nearly as forgetful and/or careless as me (which would be humanly impossible), I know what it would be like if people would not be so critical towards them and just tried to help them along instead of just pin pointing the person. That's why I've figured, because of the weaknesses that I possess, it only makes me more empathic for others when they undergo any similar kind of humiliation of making mistakes. Which is where I try to help them sort it out instead of making life even more miserable for them by up-roaring the whole saga.

Yet still, I'm sure there are still plenty of areas of my life that still needs some 'straightening', but it's gonna take time and lots of humiliation like what I've been going through these past few weeks. Actually, all that's happened to me during the course of my stay at the police station has only brought me back to earth about my human status. Cause after winning a number of awards during the training days, I guess my head got pretty big and needed a bit of deflating. Guess this did the trick XP

Anywho, I shall leave it short tonight because I'm running out of things to write about and if I keep blabbing, it would be pretty much non-sense; not that everything prior to this hasn't been anything of the sort. hehe

Oh yes, and I'm still alive.

The Truman Show

Yes, I've been lazy with my blog posts.

And I do pity you guys who keep coming back here to see if I've updated but instead, get an eye-full of a picture of the Teletubbies! haha ... I pity me for coming back to see if I've updated too! Yet somehow, by some great unsolved mystery of science in our world today, I too get an eye-full of 4 different coloured Teletubbies.

Nothing's picked up as of late. Every thing's all a routine basically. The reason why I don't update so regularly is because since it's a 4 day week, every time I aim to finish the final night shift to get those 2 days off, I'm confronted with this need to sleep and by the time that's done, it's the 2nd day of my day off. Now, would I want to spend it on a day of blogging or! A day of mindless internet surfing activities such as looking up videos of Whose Line Is It Anyway? on youtube. I think I'd rather be watching Whose Line Is It Anyway?

But really, nowadays, the days are finally picking up. I always look forward to the end of the night shift. It just means I have 2 days off to R&R. By the time I realise my 2 days are done, it's back to work. Then I just work again, looking forward to another night shift, when it's time to have another 2 days of R&R. It just goes like that. So having to check when was the last time I updated my blog doesn't take long for me to realise that the last time I blogged was last week. Still, I pity those who had to look at those 4 very colourful combination of colours I had as my last blog post title poster. XD

Last Sunday, I was the maintenance officer for that day. It just meant I was the one who had to issue and disassemble the PR sets for our team and the returning team respectively. So that day, I was in-charge. I was the one with the key to the maintenance room.
However, as the maintenance officer, we aren't always in the room all the time. After issuing out and retrieving the sets, we are 'required' to aid the charge office downstairs. So that meant we had leave the room locked. This meant the key would go into our pockets. This would mean, someone like me would forget about the key.

This has happened many times before. Even when I was still in the process of learning how to do maintenance, my senior forgot to hand over the key to the taking over officer. So he had to return all the way back to the station to hand the key over to him.
But me being me. I had to be special. I had to be smart. I had to be forgetful. I had to be me.
Unlike my senior, I left the key in my locker. So when I went home that night, my friend gave me a call 2 hours after my shift asking me, "Hey, where did you put the key? Did you hang it somewhere?"

It was there that I realised that I had left the key in my uniform pocket. And that was back at the station. If only my lock were number locked, but it wasn't. It was key locked. And the only set I had were the 2 keys with me and the spare key in my uniform. And having locked the uniform in the locker, it would mean I had to go down. Argh.

So me being me, I had to pay for the consequences as I have many times before. Usually for my careless mistakes, I would find some way to rectify the situation. In this case, the only way I saw to rectify this situation would be to go all the way down in the middle of the night to the station to retrieve the key in my locker. Which I did.

If there is one thing I am grateful for, it would be the fact that home is not that far from where my station is. The fact that my other squad mate's house is literally a few minutes walk-away is irrelevant to my point. The point is, I'm grateful for the fact that I am only 30 minutes away from the station and not somewhere insane like 1.5hrs away, like my bro XP
Comparing it with the travel times back in Australia, I could travel all the way from Geelong to Melbourne and still have time to order a cup of coffee and drink it before Amoz reaches his camp. That's how insanely 'efficient' our transport system is. So really, 30 minutes for me to reach my station is great!

If I had to go to the PA, it would take me around one hour plus to reach there. Compared with my 30 minutes travel time, that's nothing, really. I'd much rather be traveling 30 minutes each day than to have to travel 1hr+ to some camp weekly. That way, if I forgot anything, the consequences of having to pay for my forgetfulness wouldn't be so bad. That's how I see it any way.

Yesterday, I was called back from my leave. They were short of manpower and needed people to work. So I got a message from my OC Ops that she wants me to come back to work and I can take leave next time. Having not much of a choice, I fork-lifted myself off my bed at 6am to shower. We've concluded that getting a message from OC Ops in the early morning can only mean one thing - disaster. It would mean that our leave has been cancelled due to some wise guys MC. So that's when I had another one of my leave cancelled. Twice it's happened already. I just hope they don't call me back again when I take my next leave..

Anyway, she mentioned in the message that I would be in lock-up - possibly one of the worst stations to be posted in during your shift. It's boring. It's tiring. And it's a lot of time wasted to just sitting there. I've attempted bringing in my Bible and a book, but after a couple of hours of reading, it hasn't been pleasant trying to fight fatigue with my head constantly looking downwards. Gravity generally pull the eyelids down.

So this time, I've decided enough is enough. I will give in to my urges to try to draw the room I'm in. Don't ask me why. I'm not much of a natural artist, but I just had this urge to wanna replicate what I saw on paper.

After 3 hours of drawing and interruptions, I managed my first drawing piece at work!

This is the general view of which I see for 12 hours! So now you guys have an idea of what I have to stare at hour after hour. I dunno if I'm breaking some sorta law by posting this. Maybe a law that conflicts with the prevention of the possibility that a terrorist would want an insight of the lock-up room of one particular police station to where hundreds of police officers work and has resulted to 'studying' my picutre so where he'd know how to not get lost if he happens to break his way into a police station ...... ok .....

Anyway, by then, the time was 12pm, and I had run out of things to draw. It was either drawing the other side of the room, drawing the lock-up hallway where we're 'supposed to' prowl every 5 minutes, or ... something I imagined in my head and just felt like drawing.

I had several attempts at the hallway before deciding I didn't like being restricted to reality. I'd much rather draw something from the imaginary than something people can judge upon in our working environment. I even got criticism for the accuracy of the first drawing! It was just a dry run and didn't care much for it. For all I care, I wanted something to do, and that was it. Stuff accuracy. Lol. So... after hours of much boredom, I came up with something like this ...

It isn't much. I didn't even know I could handle something like this till yesterday. To be honest, I've never even pictured myself as much of an artist. Don't think I have the hand for the precision cause I'd stuff up a lot of lines.

Oh, and if you're saying it's very detailed, it just tells you how much time I have at work. Sadly, after several hours, the 'can't be bothered' attitude came in and a lot of detail went out the window. hehehe, anyway, it's just one for the records I guess. I'll see what other things I'll end up discovering about myself in that room.

Showtime

It took twelve 12 hour shifts but it's finally happened.

I believe I've gotten used to it now. It took 144 hours to finally get used to the whole working for 12 hours in the day and 12 hours in the night shifts. And of course it does still seem a bit long, but it's not as bad as when I first started.

Like for all first days, the first few shifts seemed like eternity. But it wasn't as bad as when I first started working back in year 10 for work experience.

After having to work from 9 to 5, I came back each night wishing I was back at school. I still recall the first day of work experience when I wondered why the time was still 2pm and not 5pm. I thought it stayed like that for several decades till it finally ended 3 hours later.

On top of experiencing the work life, I think the massively long working hours I went through earlier this year helped ease the transition into this 12 hour working shift. The major difference between working at that admin job and at this one, is that the travelling time is a lot less consuming. Despite this 12 hour shift being 12 hours long, having to travel at least 40minutes to 1 hour every day, in one direction, can be really stressful and tiring cause you'd have to wake up early and by the time you get back, it's time to sleep.

I guess the benefits of this police shift is that I get those 2 days off which is very very helpful. Everytime I start work the first day, I focus on those 2 days off which is only a few hours away. And when it comes, it's like a high school musical where the kids all stampede out of the classroom and out onto the road at the sound of the final bell.

But I think the elements of having a really nice working environment makes it a whole lot better. There's this nice gradual age increase in my team. With me being the youngest, the next oldest NSF would be a year older, followed by another guy another year older and so on. The oldest NSF is 22 and so after that, I'd say the next police officer would be in her mid 20s? That's right. Female officers! Whoo!

"Thank you Father for making my life a nice warm loving place to live in."

Ahem.

Right, anyway. After that, you got all the senior officers who are aged between 30-50. At least with this gradual age increase, the working environment isn't such a bad place to be in. The older officers can relate to one another, and then younger ones can muck around. Then of course, because they're all so relaxed, people tend to socialise a bit more and that's why everyone is quite open to each other.

And of course with my very direct, purposeful mentality, I am able to take advantage of this and make myself right at home there. I find myself doing things as if I've been there for years. At least around the accused, I want to look like I know what I'm doing and not just stand there like a complete idiot thinking, "this isn't my job is it?"

With these fresh accused, we can make it seem like we know what we're doing. But having been there for 144 hours, I've already seen some familiar accused!

There was this one guy, I believe it was my 3rd shift, and I was asked to escort the young female officer to take the DNA from this Malay guy. Now, this Malay guy looked whacked. I think he consumed some controlled drugs, thus causing his arrest, so he was like somewhere else. There were moments when I thought he would collapse!

Anyway, just a few shifts ago, I saw this guy come back in. This time, I think it was for Fradulent Possession of Stolen Property. He has 15 pairs of shoes on him and he didn't know how to explain it. I had the honour of sorting through his 'property' to ensure everything stated is present and accounted for. I really don't know how he comes up with stuff like this.

Speaking about the accused, I just heard today that a 15 year old girl in Geelong was raped last night at around 7:40pm!

This goes out to all the young girls and even the old ones =P Please be careful! Guys in Australia can be pervs. Actually, guys in general are pervs. Sorry guys. Be careful girls. LoL

The article can be read here, so I won't go too much into the story's detail.

Shockingly, it's in the area near our old church in Geelong and if I'm not mistaken, even closer to the Toh's house! Be careful Tiffany! Make sure you're not alone when you're outside!

Actually, I don't think the area's very safe at all. A lot of weird people stay there. I don't mean to sound harsh, but that's how I see it.

There was another double rape case back in May when two 14 and 15 year old girls were raped by 5 guys. Soon after hearing about this, my caution for all girls in Geelong escalated. My mum also disallowed Chariz to go out with her friends during certain times. Being so far away, I simply frowned at the thought of girls going out alone. I don't like the idea of young girls walking outside alone in Australia anyway. It's definitely like throwing a piece of meat into a jungle. You attract all sorts of animals.

At least in Singapore, it's not so bad. You can hardly turn a corner without seeing someone but in Australia, there are plenty of secluded areas.

But of course I'm not saying that all guys are like this. It's just that group of people who 'want it easy' and would prey on young girls. Disgusting.

So this is my plea to you girls out there, especially those in Australia. Be very careful! Don't think you're some strong chick who can fight off guys cause you can't. Even if you think you're Chyna, I don't think I could win against a guy holding me at knife point, despite me thinking I'm an exact replica of Arnold Schwarzenegger. You'd be way too freaked out! I'd be way too freaked out!

At the very least, have someone follow you. Even another girl, but preferably another guy. Just make sure the guy's not a perv! haha =S

Anyway, it donned upon me just a few days ago that I failed to post up any image of me in a police uniform! hahaha, so today being a very unproductive day in itself, I've decided to be very generous and post an image of me! And on top of that! An image of me in a police uniform! To all pervs out there, remember this face! It'll be the last face you see if you wanna go for young girls!

XD lol

I had the honour of having my face in my friend's MSN display pic, so in response, I'll have the same picture with him in it posted here.

Being the only Corporal in my squad, I had the honour of taking a lot of pictures with my friends on our POP day. And yes, I have not been lying. I really am a police man XP

Our POP where we formed the letters 'POP'. Each POP, they try to do something different. I think we did this because they did something similar during our National Day Parade back on the 9th of August; except theirs was on a much larger scale with their men forming the words "NDP 07" then transforming into "NS 40" - representing the 40 years of National Service in Singapore.

These two awards were for the Best in Studies and Best in Ops fitness. I took this picture the night I received it at the Graduation dinner, so the other two awards for Best Trainee and the PNS Statute award didn't come till the POP day.

Rush Hour 2

The sad part is that I have to work 12 hour shifts.

The great part is that I get 2 days off.

The sad part is that I have to work at night.

The great part is that this is a different sort of exposure.

The sad part is that I have to work there till the 22nd of Oct.

The great part is that I'm not being confined, kinda.

The sad part is that a lot of people who can make your life a living torture roam the place like sharks.

The great part is that everyday is another day to completing NS.

The sad part is that I will have no luxury items with me during my shift.

The great part is that this is not permanent. Phew.

This is my life for the next 3 months. Fortunately, when I did some simple calculations, I'll actually only be serving 1.5 months because half the time, I'll be 'off' but it'll still be considered '3 months of National Service" =D. Iif it wasn't for these offs, I believe I would be on the verge of commanding myself to 'langkah merusuk, ke hadapan, gerak' off the roof of a 20 storey building.

I mean, really! 12 hours!? I've never even slept that long before! How am I to survive!?

My other friend who took the night shift yesterday started at 8pm. I had a moment of remembrance for him before I continued with whatever I did at 8pm. When I woke up this morning at 7:30am, I was still thinking about him and how long it has been; even with me sleeping at night, I still felt for him because he wouldn't be done for another 30 minutes.

I dunno if I should be more scared of the day shifts or the night shifts.

At first, I thought it would be better to have the night shift because there wouldn't be any big ranks walking around. But then again, I realised that I make a very bad friend to the insomniacs.

But then again, having the day shifts can be just as bad. In fact, having any 12 hour shift can be bad. It's bad enough I complained about my nine and a half hour work back in Feb when I was working as the admin. Now, I have to add another two and half hours of work? Oh no.

Anyway, there are only a few things that really comfort me in knowing that things aren't as bad as they could be.

For one, God is always with me and I'm really appreciative of that.

The other thing is that this is only temporary and I get 2 days off from work after the 2 days of day followed by night shifts. Having two days off is just awesome because it gives me time to just get away from the Police HQ and away from everything NS related. Thank God for this luxury =P

And something new that someone told me is that people 'get used to' this kinda shifts. I didn't know this and to at least know that I could get accustomed with this kinda odd timing shifts are somewhat comforting to know, because obviously having to go somewhere with total reluctance can be quite horrible to live through. So at least to know that this is something that one could get used to is great.

Anyway, with all this, my first day shift starts tomorrow at 8am. I have to report at 7am at the station all dressed and ready for the morning briefing. In Singapore, the sun doesn't rise till 7am, so I'll be, once again, watching the sun rise.

I do realise that I have been looking at this in a negative way and sure, there are a lot of things that I could look at positively .. but it's hard and I don't wanna. The thought of a 12 hour work shift scares me. I really don't know how I would survive something like that. I haven't even stayed online on MSN for that long before. And boy is that long.

On the whole, my schedule for everything will be messed up. This is because for this posting, everything is a 4 day week; two days work, two days off. This means I will miss out a lot on church for the next 3 months =( I thought it would be a lovely 5 day week, but I guess I was wrong.

Anyway, this post has been depressing enough. It'll be kinda funny if I rock up tomorrow night saying that everything was great and fun and I can't wait for the next shift! If that happens, you'll be sure to see me blogging about it!

In the mean time, I'm not happy at all. lol

Dudly Do-Right

Work is over, and now... ... ... FREEDOM!!! Whoo!!!

It's just like VCE, except better. Or worse; seeing that now I don't get any money anymore. Nevertheless, whooo!!!

It's all over, and now, I am able to take a breather before my NS. In the mean time, I will blog about some random stuff from the cruise, the days back in Singapore after the cruise and several comments about the days while I was in Singapore after the cruise. But first, I wanna blog about work.

Now that it's all finally over, I can say that I reckon I did a good job. I worked hard, I played hard. I think I deserve this break because running like a headless chicken every morning can get tiring; especially for a wee li'l boy like me who doesn't like to experience the working life just yet.
Overall, the experience has been interesting. I had a taste of the working life, and boy does it suck. I'm so glad I'm not there long term because seeing all the work that is involved and the deadlines that you have to meet, I don't think I would last very long. The amount of stress that it caused me during my time there, I don't think it was worth it. Pimples started erupting in places I didn't know they could appear as they grew to this ultra-powerful breathing volcano-sized disaster that spewed toxic venom all over my face, forcing me to take drastic measures to protect my dignity as an available man.

In all honesty, since I started working, I've never experienced such an outburst of pimples in my life. I guess it's the combination of the already humid atmosphere and the amount of stress I receive from the office that I had so many pimples displaying itself all over. Now now, I'm not saying that my face was completely red with nothing but zits everywhere. That's just too much!I'd rather wear a paper bag over my head and have holes cut out for my eyes and mouth. It wasn't too horrendous, but it was the most I've ever had at one time. Both in size and number.

Anyway, since I got such a huge number of complaints/squeaking(lol) the last time I described the beauty of having pimples, I think I shall refrain from discussing it further and return to my talk about work.

I dunno if it's legal or anything, but I took some photos of my work desk both for my memory and for this blog for all to see. Now that I'm finished working, they can't hunt me down and fire me. But then again, they do have my address and they could come and find me if they found out I posted pictures of my work desk. How would they find out? I dunno, someone reading this blog maybe? lol Uh oh. In any case, I don't care. I'm posting it. Not unless someone strongly suggests I take them down.

So, here it is. My work desk.

This photo was taken right in the corner at the entrance of the photocopy 'room' (so to speak). As you can see, my boss' computer is directly behind mine and I've left my computer screen on my blog homepage. And what a beautiful page it is.

The whole office is basically that messy and also, it is really crammed. There's hardly any room to walk and if you see someone coming your way, someone has to give way in order to cross paths.

Behind that wall next to my computer is the rest of the department. It's this large area with 15(from memory) other work desks all crammed together - so we're all one big happy family. The head of department sometimes sits behind 'the wall'.

Now you guys can understand why every time I go to work and I'm doing something other than work, I have to be very alert to quickly Alt + Tab the screen to something else that looks work related. It's annoying because since the photocopier is in the little room next to me, there are a lot of people that walk in and out of that room every few hours. There are times when people would walk in and out every few minutes. It doesn't sound too bad but it can get annoying after a while. Sometimes I'm Alt + Tabbing almost every few seconds to make it seem like I'm really busy when in fact, I wasn't. =P

Well, there you guys go. A look into my first ever full time job that I dreadfully hated. Yet, I managed to get through 2 months of it. There were so many times when I wished I could quit, but thanks to some people, I was able to pull it off and still remain sane. Seriously, I think I could be a lot worse if people didn't give me the sound advice and encouragement I got while at I was working. I could have died! jk jk.

Alright, time for something different. The cruise!

This is the second embarrassing moment when I got told off for using the camera. I don't know why I couldn't use it, but anyway, this was what happened.

During the final day of the cruise, while I was wandering around the ship to take some last round photos, I came across the casino on board the ship called, "Oasis".

I didn't have any thoughts about taking any pictures of the casino because I didn't think it was all that interesting to take pictures of the casino; just like how I don't think it'll be all that interesting if I took photos of the library on board. I mean after all, it was just a whole bunch of Jackpot machines with several tables of Blackjack, Poker and Backgammon going on.

But this time, I thought to myself, "Ahhh, I might as well. Also, with all these people coming out, I think it would look funny to see all the people who all suddenly lost all their money as we are approaching Singapore. hehe"

So I turned on the camera, and took 3 to 4 photos of the entrance.

Just as I finished snapping pictures of the entrance, I noticed that there was this guy waving at me. He was dressed in a white shirt with a dark coloured tie. As my eyes focused on the guy waving at me, I realised that he was actually a security guard.

I didn't realise that I had taken this photo of the security guard until later when we were about to have our lunch at the Pavilion. I thought it was so funny how I managed to take a picture of the guy waving me away.

Seriously, is there a problem with me taking a picture of the entrance of the casino? Even if I had zoomed my camera into the casino and had taken pictures of the stuff inside, what is the harm in that? I don't see what is the problem. It's not like I want to produce landscape photos of the casino's jackpots to have sold on the street. Who would? I don't see what is the problem. Can someone tell me? I'm confused.

Anyway, onto something completely different that happened after the cruise. This happened on a MRT train while I was on the way somewhere I can't remember where I was going. While I stood in a very crowded train, this lady, and her partner, backed up close against my arm as my hand was placed in my pocket. What surprised me about this was that her open handbag was brushing up against my forearm. I could easily see all her stuff in there. C'mon, even though Singapore is safe, it doesn't mean you should be doing things like this. Just because I don't steal doesn't mean you should leave your PSP hanging out of your backpack. Just because I don't steal doesn't mean you should have your money flashing from your pocket.

I dunno. Should I be angry at them or should I have sympathy for people who can be so stupidly stupid to have their valuables flashing at strangers on board public transportation. Either way, they suck. Have some brains and make sure it's all secure. That's why they have zips on handbags. And even if they have a zip, they should always be zipped up with the end of the zip placed somewhere they can monitor.

We were having a discussion one day at church about how mindless people can be when it comes to safety and security here in Singapore. Someone at church was commenting about how people can be so senseless as to have their front doors unlocked when they go out. Sometimes even with little children inside. They would think it's so safe around Singapore that they could do that.

I think I'm starting to feel this desire for personal safety and security now, now that I'm gonna be going into the police force soon. Maybe I should think of a corny phrase to follow like, "Play safe to be safe," or "If you can't remember if you locked your front door, go home and check."

Yeah.... I think I better not follow some corny phrases and just be myself. Less damage to me and society.

Enough of that, just one more thing before I finish.

Chariz has been asking me why I asked her to appear offline for a little while as I did this. I didn't realise this until several months ago when I thought I was seeing doubles on my MSN screen.

I'm not sure if many of you have this on your MSN list, but I'm pretty certain this is pretty rare. What you see below has not been altered. The only changes that I made was the blurring out of the other MSN contacts.

I thought it was pretty cool and had to take a picture of it. I mean how often do you have two Boazs and two Wes' (what is the plural of Wes!? =S ) on your MSN contact list? According to the other Boaz, he says he knows 2 other Boazs now. One being me, and the other another guy who he knows personally. I believe his Boaz friend is also an asian. w00t!

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed that little bit of ranting. Might be going out of Singapore on Thursday so I will hope to bring back some more photos and stories to tell. If Amoz is able to renew his passport (which expired long ago and he didn't realise about it till just today), we shall be heading off to the northern tip of Indonesia called Batam.

Armageddon

Overall, I'm hanging in there by a thread. Mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, I'm drained. I really need to leave this life-style. And I reckon the upcoming cruise is keeping me 'alive'. Plus, the thought of mum coming tomorrow is allowing me to kick whatever strength I have left to keep going.

Just remembering how I somehow managed extend my working contract really makes me so much more depressed. I'm trying my best to supress the knowledge that I will be working for another 5 days (in actual fact 5.5 days because I have to work that Saturday as well ><") by remembering that I am going on a cruise!!!

Work is really making me very depressed. Even though it's a temporary job, every aspect of the job tears me down into this mode of depression I didn't think existed. Seriously, I didn't think working could get this bad. I believe I'm taking a pretty 'heavy' working life because working 9.5hours each day is no laughing matter. It really takes a lot out of you. And then it's there that you realise that time is so very valuable. Having time to myself is so very valuable. That's one thing I miss. Having time to myself.

I know once I do my NS, there won't be time to myself anymore. But since I'm not in the Police Academy yet, I might as well enjoy whatever freedom I have while I still can.

Speaking of the Police Academy, I talked with the only friend that I know who has been to the Police Academy about what takes place in the NS training course.

Basically, he said that the training is so much more relaxing and requires a bit of using your head as well. Half the day would be committed to lectures and the other half would be the training for physical combat and other physical activities like climbing obstacles. On the whole, the training is very much more 'laid-back' than the army because in the army, most of the training involved requires soldiers to be able to fight in a war if called for at any moment. Whereas in the police force, all that is really required is that you maintain the situation in the country. Nothing too extreme, like going overseas and getting killed. =P

Another thing which really makes the whole going into the Police Academy experience a whole lot better is the chance of being able to drive. Apparently, I may have to take my highway code to get my driver's license when I turn 18. w00t!

I still remember being sad in Australia when I found out that if I went to do my NS early, I won't be able to get my driver's license when I turn 18. All that's changed now! I should be able to get my license if they allow me to take my test and start driving around. I really am looking forward to that. Except I really hope I haven't 'rusted' in my driving cause I haven't driven since November of last year. So it's been a little while. Still, I don't think it will be too bad. It's like riding a bicyle ya?

On a completely different topic, in case many of you don't know, Singapore experiences light pollution. At night, I am unable to see the stars because there is too much light in the sky at night. It's really sad for me because I really love to see the stars. Back in Geelong when I would take out the bins for recycling, I would look up and see the countless stars in the night-sky. Ok ok, I guess you could count them, but you get the point. It really is breath-taking. Just to imagine that the stars that we see today are millions of light years away is really extraordinary. As a matter of fact, we could be looking at stars that no longer exist. So very cool.

If I'm not mistaken, a part of the very famous Eagle Nebula was recently discovered to have been destroyed by a supernova which occurred around 6,000 years ago. The accuracy of these statistics may or may not be true but nonetheless, the thought of such distant space objects being destroyed despite being visible here is really fascinating, I reckon. I guess that is one of the many reasons why I had an interest in Astronomy. Another reason is the knowledge that these space objects are exponentially massive! Just thinking about the sun being a puny star compared to the other stars out there really caught my interest. And if you reckon that's cool, just think about God being even GREATER than all these massive space objects. Absolutely mind blowing!

So just to finish off, I'll post these pictures that I got from my physics teacher last year as these images compare the relative sizes of these recognizable space objects. Amazing really. Just to think that our earth seems to big already, these other objects are many many times bigger.

Enjoy! ^^

And to think that Antares is not the biggest space object in the universe. Out of all the known stars in the universe, it ranks 11th as the largest known star, under a red supergiant called VY Canis Majoris. Absolutely massive!

(courtesy of wikipedia)

You can't even seen the sun in this pic. If you want to see it, just click the link and have a look at the enlarged picture by clicking on the symbol that appears on the right bottom corner of the image.

Police Academy: What an Institution

ah ha, ah ha... great.

Today, they asked me to extend my contract for another 5 days because the lady who I'm actually covering doesn't actually come back till the 14th or 16th of March. So if I left on the 7th of March, they would need to either go without me for another few more days, or they would have to re-train another person to do my job for 5 days, which is really silly. And that is why they asked me to stay for another few more days. Actually, it was more an on-the-spot notice that you will be working for a few more days. They didn't give me much of a choice because both my 'bosses' were looking at me, as I tried to wiggle my way out of it. One gave goo-goo eyes, while the other 'intimidatingly' stared down at me. Being in such a miniature position, I didn't have much of a choice. Even when I said, "Do I really have a choice?" the head supervisor took it as a, "yup. You're staying" on my behalf, walking away before I could even inquire about a raise =P
I mean, after all, they need me. They need me to stay for another 5 days, so I thought I could take advantage of their vulnerability and get a pay increase, but obviously, he was very 'experienced' in this area. Knowing that I might ask him about the pay, he quickly walked away saying, "So I'll give you a letter of extension!" scattering away from the department.

That's the story of my life. No body knows that I'm around. No body. Not even my parents noticed me. One day I went to school, and when I came home... they'd move. -- Mr Cellophane of Chicago

Fortunately for me, my parents didn't move while I went to school. Although, I do remember being left at a store once when I was 3 or 4 and I didn't know whether I would be found because I was so scared. I kept circling the place until I started crying. The place was so big (well, I thought it was big), I don't think any of the staff noticed that I was alone circling the place. I still remember circling the shopping centre several times before I ended up sitting down on this 'platform', where they had placed all the dressed up model-statues, as I started to cry. Everything from then on was looking very blurry because my eyes were all watery. If I'm not mistaken, I sat in such a way that I was crying with my arms dangling to the side. So imagine this little kid, sitting on a very low platform, with his arms dangling to the side, crying. I think crying in such an adorable position would make everyone in the store who saw me feel really really sorry for me. hehe

Eventually, after an hour (I think. Hey! I was a kid. I didn't know how the time worked), my mum came running through the store, looking for me. Not entirely sure what happened after that. Maybe I got ice-cream.


Since everyone in my family members already know, I can post this here.
I went for my NS early enlistment registration this morning, to have some documents signed with my auntie saying that my enlistment is 'voluntary' because I'm not 18. And while I did that, they also told me that I would be enlisted into the Police Academy. That's right. The Police Academy. The scenario when I found out was something like this.
My auntie and I were seated behind this desk with this lady on the other side. She went on about how these were early enlistment documents, blah blah blah.

Then she said, "Do you know your date of enlistment?"
I replied, "Yeah, 10th April"
She scrolled down the document saying, "Yeeaa... Correct. You'll have to report to the Police Academy on that day. Ok, we'll need to--"
I interrupted her saying, "I'm sorry, what?"
"The Police Academy at Old Chua Chu Kang Rd." Ok, I was completely shocked and surprised when I heard this because I was enlisted into the police force. I didn't know what to say. I just turned to my auntie and gave her this very surprised look.
I think she said, "Oh ok, the police academy," giving the lady one of her friendly smiles. I turned back to lady and tried not to be too shocked and I guess I could say, dissapointed at the time, by the news. I tried to remain calm as possible without freaking because in all honesty, I was definitely not expecting the Police Force. I have always been told stuff about the army and how you will have to go overseas for training, and how massive everything is in the jungle. And when I say massive, I mean insects and other weird creatures which you don't ever wanna meet. Ants are the size of a standard mobile phone in Brunei. Imagine that.

As we processed the documents, I managed to grasp the fact that I will not be going into the army but rather, the Police Force. It was hard to realise that I would not be fulfilling our family's record of becoming army officers, because both my dad and brother are officers. So I was a bit sad, but still, I reckon becoming a Police Officer would be even more wonderful! I never considered becoming a police before. The only time I 'sorta' considered joining the police force when I watch simply too many CSI: Miami episodes and the thought of becoming a forensics officer came to my mind. Besides that, no, it's never occurred to me that joining the police force would be awesome.
Why awesome? That's because no one in our family, both on my dad and mum's sides, has ever become a Police before. Not in NS and not in life. So these 2 years will be a very very interesting experience because I will be the first ever. I really don't know what to expect really. Besides the general idea that I will be chasing criminals, controlling crowds/riots, driving around in a chick magnet, I don't know what to expect. Is it gonna be the same 'life-style' in the academy as compared to the army? Is it gonna be hard? Is it gonna be depressing? Am I gonna be tanned? All these will be answered in no time at all.

I guess I am a little bit disappointed also by the fact that I probably won't be handling as many rifles and other miscellaneous weapons because I will probably be limited to using the hand-gun. My auntie said that I may be handling other types of weapons that people in the army don't handle like the sniper and stuff, provided I become a sniper. Or even the SWAT team, if that falls my way.

Then comes the thought of having a badge. Wow, a badge! So much better than getting those things they get in school for recognising good works, or whatever they call it. It's not important. What's important is a police badge. Oh baby.

The Land Before Time

Whoa, that was a close one. One of my supervisors came in just a few moments ago, and I had left my monitor screen on the blog entry page. Good thing blogger’s format for blog entries look very simple and depends a lot on all the HTML coding and stuff. So it wasn’t too bad, I hope.
When he left, I heard him say to the head of department (who sits just a few steps away from me but is behind a wall), “Can I talk to you for a minute?” It was just a few moments ago!!! I can’t help but wonder if he wanted to talk about me. I hope not. Oh dear.

Anyway, they can fire me if they want. :P hahaha, ok, that’s just a bit too harsh to say, but in all honesty, with just a few days to go, firing me prematurely would do me wonders. Lol, even though it would be a terrible to have this on my job resume. Oh yes, I can see it now.
Job experiences: Fired after working as admin for 4 weeks. Reason for being terminated - blogging during office hours. That’s just great.
I told myself I wouldn’t quit this job, but getting fired would be one way in getting out early. Bleh, it’s not important. No way am I gonna get in trouble for this.
Anyway, I was reading some of my previous blog entries back from before I started work, and I came across me saying,

My point is, after this 'experience', I told myself that I didn't want to be underpaid, like that again, for my effort. If I'm gonna work, I'm gonna work hard. So they better be good when it comes to the payment because what I'm giving them is my best work.

Well, I can’t say that they are underpaying me here, but I also can’t say that they are paying me enough. For the amount of work I do, I reckon I should be paid more. Then again, I always think I should be paid more, so there isn’t really much of a difference. But I think I can strongly say that I have worked hard. I really have put my back into the work they’ve given me, even if I haven’t done it willingly, I did it anyway because I have to. Afterall, my boss is right behind me! Even if I’m not working, I try to look busy because if I don’t, it feels like my boss’s eyes are watching my every move. How do I know? Simple, I’d go to a website with a black background, and when I do, I can see her reflection on the dark background.

Usually, I feel scared because there’d be times when I would see her head pop out as she dips to the side to see what I’m doing. It's really petrifying because I'm not meant to be doing that, so to see her seeing me see something else, it's scary. It's even scarier when I see her eyes divert to the side so that she's looking at me. That even worse! It means she's trying to be subtle in her approaches to watch what I'm doing. It's not fair because I do that all the time! I mean, she's trying to be me! Sorta. I'd try to be subtle in observing the things I watch so that no one knows that I know. I prefer to remain unnoticed. ^^ hehehe, I don't know why I'm blogging that on here... =S Better stop. =P

For the first time since I started working, I, along with the entire working staff, were dismissed early at 5pm yesterday. It was awesome going back early because by the time I reached back, it was still bright outside! Unbelieveable because usually I would come back and by 7:30pm, it's getting dark already. So when I got back yesterday, it was so nice and bright. Ahhh... so very nice. I liked it back in Australia because during summer, the sun would rise before I woke up and would set around 9pm or so. The only part I don't like about that is that the sun would wake me up around 7:30am each morning. So I would wake up around there, and start my day, even though I planned to sleep in. ><"

Survivor: Borneo

Only one day left till a 4 day weekend for Chinese New Year (CNY)!!! Whooo!!

Unsurprisingly, this has kept me a bit more chirpy during the course of the past few days. Just the thought of not having to wake up at 7am and to rush around like a headless chicken as I try to get to work makes me wanna thank all the chinese for creating another new year to which we can all enjoy a holiday! Whooo!!

My chirpiness was enhanced with my new hair-cut, and as a result, I saw light in the simple things in life. Why, just today, when I was waiting for the bus, I saw this girl again. She's a little bit 'abnormal' in the sense that she has several things 'wrong' with her. I won't go into details, but the thing is, when I saw her, with her friend (who didn't seem abnormal), they were waving across the street to this other guy who seemed pretty 'unusual' as well. I don't think I can say abnormal because he was too far away to judge, but one thing's for sure, they were friends. Maybe it was because he tucked his shirt in so deep, and his pants so high, that they have this 'togetherness' which makes their relationship so much easier to empathize for one another.
What I want to highlight about this is that when I saw their 'excitement' to see each other, I couldn't help but smile and be happy for them. I smiled for two reasons, which I have just realised.

Firstly, CNY is coming, and there's no need to be so gloomy about the whole going to work thing anymore. This is the last day till my 4 day weekend comes up, and plus, this is also the last week where I will be working for a whole week. The next 3 weeks, I will be working for 2-3 days per week, because of many many delightful interruptions. Only 9.5hrs left till I finish the final day of my full working week!

Secondly, my hair cut was really cool.

And finally, they were friends. Having friends can be a really beautiful thing. I won't go into "Oh, please don't take your friends for granted" thing again. I think I've done enough of that. But just to see them getting all excited about seeing their friend(s) again, it was really nice. Even 'special' people like them have friends too. It was really lovely to see that.

hehe, and to top it all off, after they went to meet each other at the nearest traffic light, I saw another slightly 'abnormal' boy again. He was standing on the same spot the girl and her friend were initially standing on, trying to look at the 3 friends meet. He was trying to get a look at them through the crowded bus stop. I was just waiting for him to scramble across to the others and get all excited as the other 3 have done. Sadly, I don't think they were friends, so it didn't happen.
Just for the record (which I think my family will only be able to know), he looked like this boy from Primary school in Myanmar called Sebastian. Sebastian was a slightly abnormal kid as well, but I won't say too much about him. ^^


Today, my boss is on leave till who knows when. All I know (or over heard), is that she will be back next Friday. w00t! Even though she's away, I will try to get some work done, but there will be less pressure to look busy. Anyway, today will be a beautiful day. Someone also told me that a lot of people will be taking half-day leave as well. Which means the office will be very relaxing. I just hope they leave at, or after, lunch. Then I will have the freedom chat and wander around the internet world without getting too conscious of who may be wondering what I'm doing now that my boss is away. I may even leave a few minutes earlier to catch the earlier bus! ^^

Tomorrow is CNY eve, but I will not be relaxing during the first day of freedom. As a matter of fact, I will be taking the day head-on, as I try to conquer the world at the same time.
I'm gonna swim at 6am again, then after the swim, I'll have my breakie and wait till I meet my cousin and several others for street soccer. I think that will go on till lunchtime. As soon as we are done, my french cousin's husband, Florent, my cousin, Earl, and I will be going to Earl's place to play soccer on the XBox. After that, I may be meeting up with Amoz's old primary school girlfriend ( ;P ), Melissa. Not sure if it's happening or not. If it doesn't happen, more soccer! w00t!
That evening, I'll have to be back at my grandma's place for the CNY eve dinner. It's tradition that you are at your father's side of the family for CNY eve. It's ok I guess. I haven't been back for CNY in over a decade.

Oh yeah, I'll just slot this one in too. Yesterday at work, we were all given a chance to 'lucky draw' for a CNY hamper. Fortunately, even a temp like me gets a chance to draw something. I took a number, and it turned out that my number drew 2 cans of abalone. In case some of you don't know how valuable the 2 cans are, you can estimate that both cans are roughly worth $100. My grandma showed me the other week that they were selling a can of abalone for $85. That's an insane price! I wouldn't feel very happy if I was eating that can of abalone. Sure, I should be feeling bad for eating a shark's fin, but hey, it's yummy. And plus, I couldn't say that I didn't want to eat this because it's expensive. It's too delicious to resist. What's the difference with the abalone? I don't know.

Fun With Dick And Jane

13 days till the cruise. 10 more 'working' days. 3 weeks left. That's all I'm aiming for.

People are telling me to 'hang on in there'. There's only a few more days till it's all over. And that's exactly what I'm doing. It's just like doing a freestyle lap in the pool. You feel like quitting as you approach the remaining 10 metres, but you mustn't. To quit is to fail. Hold on to whatever energy you have left, and press on. At the end, the reward is satisfying.
I'm taking everything at work on the shoulder now. Only a few more days left. I'm not giving a care of how people treat me. If you wanna scold me, go right ahead. I don't mind. Just do it. All I know, is that in a few weeks time, I'm gone.

Everytime my boss wants to make a fool out of me, I just let it slide. It's not like I have to have this personal relationship with her. Sure, it's fun to work when everything is going smoothly. But when everything goes wrong, and things start to pile up, everyone is stressed. Just don't direct that stress on me.
That's the kind of policy I'm taking now at work. Do what you want. I simply don't care. All I'm looking forward to is the cruise and the day I finish working!

Oh dear. I don't know how I'm gonna fare when I actually do start working! If I work in a place where I really have no interest in, I have a feeling I'm gonna whine and complain the same way I'm doing now. Fortunately, I never do any of that on this blog. Sorta.


At the moment, there isn't anything really 'exciting' going on. Besides how I got a haircut today, everything is pretty much repetitive. It's all about how I go for toilet breaks at work every now and then. And if I'm not going to the toilet, I'll be going to the pantry to grab a cup of water just so I could go to the toilet. And it's all about me restraining myself from wanting to dump my cup of water all over the 'open' photocopier machine everytime I pass by it from the pantry. And sometimes, it's all about having the integrity to not wash my hands multiple times, just so I could use the hand-drier. It's not like it's my fault that I want the day to pass by. Everything is just so repetitively boring.
But since it's so very repetitive, I might as well tell whoever reads this how repetitive everything is, since I haven't done so in the past. This is what I do on a day to day basis each morning as I go to work.

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday
07:00 - Wake up
07:40 - Leave house
07:45 - Have breakie at hawker centre
08:00 - Hope to be at the MRT station
08:25 - Hope to be at the bus station
08:45 - Hope to be at work
09:00 - Hope to start work/Hopefully still reading internet
13:00 - Lunch
14:00 - Work
18:25 - Leave work
18:30 - Hope to be at the bus station
18:45 - Hope to be at the MRT station
19:05 - Hope to be off the train
19:10 - Hope to reach back
20:00 - Jump on the comp
22:00 - Prepare for bed
22:30 - Knocked out

Wednesday & Saturday
The only difference on Wednesday is that I go swimming in the morning. And it goes something like this.
06:00 - Wake up
06:30 - Hit the pool
07:10 - Get out of the pool
07:15 - Buy breakie (usually roti prata)
08:00 - Pray that I'm at the MRT station (extremely unlikely)
09:00 - Work
etc.

Saturday is somewhat similar. Only if I'm not working that Saturday, my schedule will be less hectic.

All this does not include me going for band practice for church, but I won't post that because it'll get way too boring. hehe


I'll retell something that happened 2 days ago. It's nothing very 'amazing'. It's just a story to fill up the blog post. Since, I have nothing else better to blog about.
The other day, I asked my friend from Australia, Andy, how to transfer songs from my iPod to my laptop. Seeing that I was travelling around with my iPod all the time, and not having a 'base' for my iPod to work with, it was really dangerous that all my songs were on this little thing travelling around in my pocket. So I managed to get the program to download my iPod songs onto my laptop. Who would have thought that my transferring the songs that day would have been a smart thing to do (seeing that I've gone without an iPod 'base' for about 2 months now, I reckon it was about time I had it in a hard-drive).
What happened was, just a few days later, my iPod battery had died out, and I had to recharge it at work. I plugged it in, and recharged it, as usual. I've done this at work 2 times already, so I wasn't expecting anything different.

Well, the obvious happened. When it finished recharging, I unplugged it (after clicking "Safely Remove USB Mass Storage Device" of course! Never pull it out without clicking it! No no no) and scrolled the iPod screen down to "Shuffle Songs". I clicked it, and nothing happened. I clicked it again, and still nothing happened.
I wondered, "Oi! Don't tell me the centre button is stuffed up! Impossible."

I scrolled back to the "Music" selection, and clicked it. It worked. I clicked it again, and went into "Artists" and it was there that I discovered that beyond that, everything was completely blank!

"Waahhh!!!!" I cried in my head, "How am I gonna survive at work for another 7.5 hours without my music!!?!" Before I knew it, it was time to go home.

The point is, I was really glad that I backed up my iPod on the computer, otherwise I will be crying myself to sleep each night, just longing to have some sorta noise as I doze off. So the moral of the story is, don't pray pray (play play) with your songs. Make sure you store it before something like this happens to you!

Just a quick note before I finish off. I was really surprised to find this article in wikipedia.org. They explain a lot about the 'Singlish' language and all the weird slangs. If you have time, just have a look, and be amused at the same time. I have no doubt that the person who provided the examples in the article has some really close connection to the Singlish world, if he is not Singlish himself. lol They are really standard examples actually. Amusing to say the least.

Titanic

Let's kick off this blog post with a bang!

I found this so amusing when I went for one of my daily toilet breaks today. I did my usual trip and when I was in the process of washing my hands, I spotted this plastic folder in one of the cubical up above swinging back and forth. Not having a clue what that folder was doing there, I observed a bit more intently. Soon, I notice this ‘mist’ emerging from the cubical. I thought someone was spraying something to deodorize the ‘strong aroma’.
“Very strange to do something like that,” I thought to myself, “Surely it’s not for that purpose.” I mean, why in the world would someone spray something and wanna have it blown away with a folder? Doesn’t make sense. Not in a cubical at least.

I prolonged my hand-washing routine just to have a longer look at the ‘mist’ rising out from the cubical. What I saw later was something I did not expect because I was in the company toilet.
I noticed a hand in the corner of the cubical wall holding a cigarette and along with it, was the folder swaying back and forth, trying to blow the smoke out of the cubical. It was so funny seeing a guy trying to smoke during office hours but can’t leave the office floor. So he resorts to smoking in the toilet cubical as he attempts to diffuse the smoke throughout the toilet. Haha I mean seriously, how often do you see people smoking in the company toilet cubical using a folder trying to blow the smoke away? Maybe it happens a lot in the working world, but it was a first and probably for some of you who are reading this.


Alrighty. Time for something different.
On the 28th February, I’m going on a cruise! I know I didn’t speak much of it in my blog because I didn’t want to talk highly of it so far away from the actual cruise itself. But now that we’re getting nearer to the departure date, I think I can start ranting a bit more on the cruise because that’s all I’m focusing on now as I try to endure the mundane life of working.
The cruise is a three day two night cruise to Malaysia. Despite heading to Malaysia, most of our trip will be spent onboard the ship so I will be roaming the ship, trying not to get into too much mischief. hehe, try.
Today at work, I decided that I would wander around the website for the cruise to have a good look at the ship’s specifics.

It’s a 13 deck ship with the most expensive room on the ship at roughly $2,500 per person. It includes an in-room Jacuzzi and a balcony. I think the fact that you either have to be ‘given’ this room as a gift from someone or that you are a stinking rich millionaire speaks enough for this room and there need not be more said about it.
We’ve gotten the cheapest room, which is just $300 per person. It’s actually a special-rate room because we booked our ticket 60 days in advance. A very standard room but it looks awesome nonetheless. Here are some pictures of the different rooms on the ship. I hope all this is legal =S If not, in a few weeks time, I don’t think this blog will exist any longer, along with the person who writes these entries.

Executive Suite with Balcony

Junior Suite with Balcony

Oceanview Stateroom with Balcony

Oceanview Stateroom with Window

Oceanview Stateroom with Porthole

Inside Stateroom

I believe this is the room that we’re gonna get; the Inside Stateroom. Despite it being the cheapest, I think it's still good because we won’t be spending most of our time in the rooms anyway. There are plenty of things to do aboard the ship so I will only be going into the rooms to sleep or to retrieve any of my stuff. In the ship, they offer a wide range of activities like The Picture House (Cinema), The Lido (showroom), Oasis (Games), Aquaswim (jet current exercise pool) (Gonna try this for sure!), The Library (books and internet) and my favourite, Mediterranean Buffet and Terrace. The word ‘buffet’ appeals to me at all times. Regardless of nationality, it usually will.
I’m gonna bring in a bit of cash to spend on myself because this will be the last time in two years that I will be able to enjoy myself so recklessly. I just hope that it won’t be too awfully expensive onboard; otherwise it won’t be all that fun anymore.


And so the countdown begins. I’ve been counting down the days till work finishes and now that the date of the cruise approaches as well, there’s even more to look forward to! People tell me that the ship will seem like it’s not moving at all because it sails pretty slowly. I guess that’s ok because I wanna spend more time exploring the ship. I just hope the countdown won’t pass by too slowly! I don’t want to explore the working world! I’d rather have it over and done with. I love being a temp.

Mulan

This was what happened during the presentation for work yesterday.

When we went for the LG presentation, I was simply accompanying my boss, but the thing is, the people at LG didn’t know that. So they all thought I’m actually ‘working’ for the company I’m in, and as a result, I benefited as much as she did!

This is what happened. They showed us around, presenting their new Home Theatre models and DVD players. That was all cool. What wasn’t cool was when their people starting asking me questions like, “So what kinda DVD player are you looking for?” Because my boss explained earlier that I was researching for a certain type of DVD Combo set for a client. (but in actual fact, I was simply taking my time, scrolling through the features, not paying attention to much detail. The only thing I remember about the Combo set is that it is a DVD Mini-Home Theatre system. Besides that, I knew nothing.) When they asked me stuff like that, I’d usually bluff my way through with either a lot of nodding accompanied with an “I understand” hum (even though it’s more an “I’m confused and I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about” ‘hum’), or, I would be looking up to my boss to cover me. Fortunately, nothing too embarrassing has occurred… yet.

Anyway, back to the story. When the presentation was over, our ‘guide’ scurried across to another part of the room and picked up a sentimental gift. Well, it was quite sentimental to me at least! He went and had brought over a complimentary DVD player for the both of us. The first thought in my head when he handed it to me was, “Is this mine!?” Like far out! You’re GIVING me a DVD player!?
As soon as I came to my senses, I remembered that in our company policy pamphlet, it said that we weren’t allowed to have the gifts given to us by our clients and must have it handed over to the company. I felt disappointed when I remembered this because in all honesty, I really wanted one. I didn’t have access to a DVD player of some sort here in Singapore, so having a DVD player would have been awesome!
As my boss and I went out, I asked her, “Are we actually allowed to keep these gifts?”
She replied, “Yeah. If you want it, you can have it.” I was so happy when I heard this. It was actually an ‘unsaid’ prayer that I had answered! Amazing! Truly God knows what we want even though we don’t ask for them! Thank you God!

My boss then told me, “Actually we’d usually get gifts like a notebook, or a pen. There was this one time when I was given a nice black coat with [name of company]’s name on it, but nothing ever this expensive before. So you are very lucky.”
It’s great to know that God pours His blessings on us, even though we don’t deserve or expect it. I think this really was the highlight of my day. In all honesty, it was a wonderful gift. I couldn’t have asked for more at the time. ^^


In other news, I have been told my enlistment date for NS. It was verbally informed over the phone so it’s not a formal indication that this is actually the exact date that I’m going in. But in any case, I am pretty sure that this is the date that I will be enlisted. My auntie called them as few days ago and found out that my enlistment date is on the 10th of April. So much for being enlisted in March, yet alone coming here to Singapore early hoping to get enlisted in January. Nevertheless, it’s all in God’s hands, and since I’m going in later than expected, I’m looking at this as positively as I can.

Firstly, I will have a bit more time as a civilian. Amoz tells me stories of how it sucks to be in the military and how your entire civilian life is basically at the mercy of the officials. This is where the cruise, the sleeping in and the spontaneous desire to eat come in. For every day when I finish working, I will cherish my freedom by doing what I see fit. This might mean me going back to my relaxing lifestyle before I started working which included me watching movies and comedy sit coms on peekvid dot com. Surely I can do that for a month or so. Easy.
Secondly, I will prepare myself for the army by training again. This probably means afternoon runs in the sun because Amoz told me that I should start training by running in the sun to get used to it for long runs in the army. I don’t think I’ve ever ran more than 4km, so doing long runs will certainly be new to me. A ‘long’ run in the army is around 7-15km, roughly. On top of which, you’ll be carrying your army backpack and rifle.
At the moment, I’m still swimming every Wednesday and Saturday mornings at 6:30am before work. I’m still doing 20 laps but I really have to push myself to do them as quickly as possible because I have to get to work! Once work is over, I think I will be able to take it a lot easier and perhaps get a few more laps in the overall 20. It’ll be nice to relax in the pool and swim underwater like a little fish again. Oh well, just a few more weeks till I can do that! XD


Chinese New Year is coming up. This means that my revenue for being unmarried will increase as the aunties all start pouring in beautiful ‘ang pow’ packets. The other beautiful thing is that I am staying with my grandma on my dad’s side, so all the aunties and uncles will come and visit her. And when they do, I will be there as they start handing out ang pow to all the unmarried nieces and nephews. I think that’s how it works. All I know is that I will be getting them. XP
It’s gotta be terrible for all the aunties and uncles though. Each year they will lose, who knows how many hundreds of dollars, just because of tradition. Some really sneaky aunties will actually leave the country just so they could escape the tradition for that period. But then, how many times can they do that in a decade?

I haven’t been back for Chinese New Year since I left Singapore at the age of 6. So after 11 years, I am back for my first Chinese New Year in over a decade. I can vaguely remember what we do in Chinese New Year. The only thing my eyes were on was the red-packets so every thing else was pretty much a blur. Terrible, I know.