Tidal Wave

Heard this radio report from an expert of tsunamis from Turkey. Though this disaster was unprecendented, the people actually had ample opportunities to escape. According to him, animals often provide a very good sign.

Take Penang for example. On a normal day, the sea will provide a yield of around 200 fishes for the fishing villages. 3 days before the tragedy, the fishermen were suddenly overwhelmed by a catch of 20 times that amount. The villagers celebrated, but sadly it would not last long.

The reason for the unusually huge yield was that fishes are extremely sensitive to ocean temperature. As the tsunami (or underwater earthquake) is building up, there will be an increase in temperature at the bottom of the ocean. Hence the fishes will start swimming up. (or maybe trying to swim away)

Other telltale signs include swarms of ants, snakes and others. It was reported that after the tsunami, there were only corpses of tourists but no carcasses of animals.

Next time if your pet cat/dog/fish/turtle/rabbit/bird starts to act in a strange manner, be wary of an earthquake (underground or otherwise)

New Campus(2 1/2 times larger)

Initially planned to have a day-off by slacking at home, after some very intensive and stressful committee planning days. Didn't realise that it was the moving ceremony on the next day until Yeofeng reminded me.

Skipped breakfast at home and went to Macs to have a cheap $2 meal. When I arrived at the new campus (actually along the way to MacRichie Reservoir), there were a huge number of RI guys standing on the grass, waiting for the trainload (literally) of RJ students to come and welcome them. Came to campus early, and felt awkward when the RI guys blew their whistles and welcomed me (I was the only guy walking along the pathway). Met Mr Eric Lee and Mr Soo, my former Sec4 and 2 teachers respectively

Our former campus really paled in comparison to the new one. Last time, Dingjie and I only took 5 min to tour around our crumbling facilities. Now, I feel exhausted by the time I reach to the other end of the campus. It must have involved a massive expenditure, with elevators, large LTs with tables that can rest your heads on and etc. Met Ms Lui and Mr Chan. Felt a bit sorry for my teachers if they forget to bring their stuffs to the classes in the future. -.-'

Met Ruth and Andrew Lam, the only two classmates I saw in the campus. The rest of my class must have been sleeping/busy/OBK. Later met some of the members from the Treetop Community and went Paradiz to play LAN.

Christmas Cards

I am touched by the many Christmas cards I have received. It warms your heart on a cold and rainy day, leaving an intangible feeling inside that lasts. In my years as a student, I have never received a single Christmas card, always watching my older sis in envy.

Shall attempt to finish the gingerbread man (hopefully my little sis hasn't touched) in the M1 box, and store the cards in my secret drawer. The cards will be preserved and protected against radicals, heat and whatnots....

Time to start writing my New Year cards. Initially underestimated the number of cards, since I thought I would receive a few only. Guess I must do some shopping then.

Sentosa

Just back from Sentosa. Spend 3 days and 2 nights there at Shangri-La Rasa, with my younger sis and my mum. We visited virtually every tourist attraction there, taking many rides on the Red, Blue and Yellow Line Buses(and the monorail too).

There were some disappointments as well. Volcanoland is officially dead in my opinion. A ghost of its lively past, pools of stagnant water were everywhere. Many interesting programmes held at Volcanoland were removed. In fact, it was so bad that we were the only tourists to arrive there.
Moral of story: Do not visit Volcanoland; its a waste of money

Food there was also daylight robbery. A plate of chicken rice can cost up to $10. I grudgingly ate every morsel of rice to ensure no wastage.

Went to the Dolphin Lagoon for the first time. Despite the sweltering heat, the pink dolphins performed their best, earning applause from us. The dolphins feel soft to the touch.

We visited many more attractions, but the details would probably bore you. Suffice to say, we returned home tired but happy.

Christmas Fun

Have been very busy for the past week. (thus the lack of posts). Decided to attend the last Sunday service of the year at the Rock. Met my caregroup and received a free orange T-shirt from them. All of us had volunteered to help out in this event called "Christmas Fun".

Went to Far East to eat their famous chicken rice (that is according to the leader, apparently to RG and RI students) I had skipped breakfast earlier, so eating 2 plates of rice was no problem.

Our group was in charge of distributing water bottles to the other volunteers. At 5pm, we had to shift the !@#@#$#$ heavy barricades from MRT to seal off Orchard Road. Received many bruises on my shin, before the leader told us to return them back as we had used the wrong ones.

By 8 pm, a huge crowd had gathered along Orchard Road. Found out later that this event is meant to entertain old folks from various homes. Probably for the first and the last time, we sat on Orchard Road and rested while watching the various items.

The show ended by 10 pm. Had to ensure that no civilian climbed over the barricades while we cleared up the mess. I was pleasantly surprised when I met Mrs Chan Sam Neo, my GP teacher together with her friends (around the same age as her), while I was doing guard duty.

Left early and sadly could not join the group for a sleepover.

Wrong Bus

Assumptions are dangerous, especially if you are rushing for time. Just came back from the Rock, 1 hr later than usual. I had thought that any bus except 403 and 359 would reach my house. Now I can add 15 to that list. (though I had myself partly to blame).

Became impatient while waiting for the bus to arrive at the interchange. Took the wrong bus and commented that it took a different route than normal. Unfortunately, two wrongs do not make a right; I further assumed that it was a loop service around Pasir Ris Town. Worried, I consulted the bus driver, who said that it was a loop service back to Pasir Ris Bus Interchange. I was relieved for the moment and went back to watching the games review on Channel 5.

Only realised something was wrong when the bus travelled on the expressway, passed Tampines MRT and SAFRA along the way. Anxiety turned to fear as I asked a lady commuter, who said that this bus goes all the way to Parkway Parade! (though later I found out that what the bus driver said was true, it was a very LONG loop service back)

Silently cursing my dumb luck, I alighted at Temasek Polytechnic. Those who stayed in Pasir Ris-Tampines area would know how far I am from the Pasir Ris bus interchange. Wow. It took me long enough to realise my mistake. Grudgingly, I swore at every taxi (empty, mine you) that passed by. Bet they must be sniggering for that poor soul stranded out there, preparing to drain his money when midnight strikes. Almost wanted to put my pre-NS training to use by running back home (I was feeling insanely pissed at that time), when I realised that the same bus on return route had arrived. I was so desperate that I ran and jumped in front of the moving bus just to stop it. (thankfully, it had just started moving, not at full speed. -.-')

Reached home tired and hungry, and vented my anger on the poor hotdog that I quickly devoured.

Unchanged

During my three days of absence from home, I realised nothing much has changed. Few blogs that I visit regularly have been updated. Meanwhile, Eddie Cai is defending the nation happily. Alvin Ong is joining him 2 days later.

In the camp, my senior told me that OCS standard is much higher than normal recruits. While muscular guys may laugh at the 20 pushups regime in BMT, 40 at OCS is no joke. You have to be ultra-athletic in there; 10 min for 2.4km is the one of the slowest timing . :S

Shall finish up on my yi tian tu long ji series.

Commitments

I happen to be caught between 3 commitments. I hate being caught in this dilemna. Why do I always get stuck between the devil and the sea? Argh. Now I have to choose which one I have to politely reject, and trust me, it ain't easy to do.

The number one wishlist that I want for my Christmas gift is a Time-turner. (from Harry Potter's world). That will be immensely helpful in relieving me of stress.

Healthily Unfit

With the realisation that NS is just a month away, I started to train myself to adapt to the tough regime. My fitness dropped drastically since I last touched any barbell, dumbell and whatever bell 1/2 a year ago. Cannot run a mile without catching my breath; I did a pathetic 4 pullups before my mind overcame my weak flesh. :(

Have to overcome my inertia, muscle fatigue and what nots. Hopefully, I can be able to breeze through comfortably in the first 3 weeks of NS. (my little sister happily reminded me that there will be no one to fight for her over internet control, but that is beside the point).

Recently upgraded my laptop, which just celebrated its birthday of 3 years. I had the hard drive replaced and the RAM upgraded to 512 MB. Not sure whether my computer has met the basic requirements of Half-Life 2.

My left shoulder aches after carrying the laptop to Sim Lim Square. Life sucks, especially if your muscles start to atrophy after 3 days. Though I do not fall sick as often as the past, I am seriously unfit. Sigh.

5th December 2004

Was spending my time reading through some interesting books. While Dingjie is planning how to stay at home, I am doing the complete opposite---how to spend my time wisely at home. Thus when Dingjie called me out for a class dinner, my spirits was lifted (were?) The dreary monotony of self-reflection is broken; I get to see familiar faces which I so cherish, again :D. After dinner, we went to take a look at the grad nite.

Everyone looks (notice I put present tense?) ravishing. Felt a bit odd taking photos among the glittering stars. Had a sad feeling that this might be the penultimate time that I might see my classmates. Only drew comfort from the fact that we probably had a better dinner at N.Y.D.C than those at the prom.

Meanwhile, Pam and Keat Loon both won the prom queen and king respectively. Who says trackers are only good at sports?=).

Don't think that I will dye my hair. The time frame is too short; around one month later, all my hair will be shaved, which makes whatever fanciful colours that I put meaningless.

Have to start pumping soon and train, to make my NS journey less ardous.

SAF Career Centre

Made a trip down to CMPB again. Managed to arrive there at 8:02 a.m. (quite punctual considering that the reporting time was 8 am). Met Zihao, Ashraf and his hockey buddy (forget his name liao), Samuel Chee, Ser Jin and Daniel Lim. Raymond came but he had forgotten to RSVP with the person-in-charge, so he made a wasted trip.

Underwent a battery of tests, each testing mental skills and reflexes. They include memorising 10 digit numbers (which I fail miserably), predicting direction, controlling joystick, arithmetics and etc. Took a longer time than average to complete my test; my reaction time is notably slower, since I slept at 5 am that day itself. (3.6 seconds isn't exactly fast). As a consolation for the test, we were given Oreo cookies and Milo packets for refreshments.

Ran all the way back from the busstop to the centre, as I had cleanly forgotten about collecting a souvenir at the counter until Ashraf reminded me. I was told that they will only reveal the results directly to you by post if you sign up to be their pilot or engineer. The officer advised me to think about spending the next 10 years as part of the Air Force, as I wanted to submit the application form on the spot. (I only wanted to know the results of the test)

Finally returned home after 7 gruelling hours outside and had a well deserved nap.