Ah Gong & Ah Ma...

Had a family dinner with my mom's side of the family tonight... Reason: coz Ah Gong sold his vegetable stall at Tekka Market back to the government & received a sum of money... The situation is that if he wants to continue on with the business, he has to pay for the increased rent due to the renovations. Plus he is getting on age & there's no one to take over the business... so the most logical decision would be to sell the stall space back to the government. =]

So with that extra cash, Ah Gong treats the whole family to dinner at a restuarant. =D What a wonderful grandfather I have...

Actually come to think of it, my grandfather has been quite lucky & living strong ever since my grandma passed away two years ago... Ah Gong is blessed with an otherwise good health, with only minor walking problems (he has to walk with the aid of a walking stick) & hearing problem. I say "blessed" because he is so much more fortunate, compared to others who suffers from Alzehimers' Disease, diabetes, cancer, & the list goes on... We must all learn to look at the sliver lining around each dark cloud, and count our blessings... =)

Sometimes, when I see my grandfather, I get reminded of my late-grandma. The one who dotes on me the most =P (I'm the favourite grandson eh... hehe)... The one who brought me up to become the person I am... Though God has taken her away from us, to be with Him, the comfort I find in all these is that she passed away in her sleep with relatively no pain or suffering, the way I wished I'll pass away during my old age in the future... =]

~.~.~

I know that my Ah Gong misses her very much, but just doesn't show it. The men of the past have a way of disguising their feelings, never showing their vulnerability. Well... Guys nowadays generally are still like that too... They don't know how to express their true feelings... especially if it reveals their weakness... Men's Pride... haiz~

Triple Happiness~!

This week has to be the happiest & most smooth-sailing week of my life~!

Some of my life's high-key events have ended with a smile on my face! =)

~.~.~

1) First of all, thanks to Ah Boon for jio'ing me along to take IPPT (Individual Physical Proficiency Test) with him, at Maju Camp on Tuesday. Well, although I am a Dragonboater, I'm not particularly confident of taking my IPPT, especially not with my SBJ (Standing Broad Jump), coz my jumping is like a switch... It goes on & off. =P

~.~.~

It was my first time taking IPPT at Maju, so I was pretty fascinated with the new electronic stations! I mean I have heard that the stations are fully automated using sensors & all. But still it was an eye opener. It really sped up the time taken t complete each station, as well as the amount of manpower needed to supervise each station. Now only one PTI (Physical Training Instructor) needs to be present to supervise the station.

~.~.~

Well, all the stations turned out to be a breeze, except when it came to SBJ... I was feeling so pressurized, coz I needed at least a 'B' at the station to claim my "prize money" of $400!

~.~.~

My first jump landed me a distance of 216... Inside my mind, I was going "Hong gan liao... there goes my $400..." *shake head* The second try I thought to myself, "Come on, Leslie, 放开来... just jump only!" POW!... my leap of faith, as my feet broke contact with the ground for mere seconds, I landed at 234~! "Swee lah!", I whispered to myself, under a breath of relief. Just enough to get myself a 'B'! Haha... I breathed in, & walked away from the station with my chest proudly raised up. Haha... Left with shuttle run now... No kick lah~

~.~.~

So, with all the static stations cleared, all that's standing between me & my $400 is the 2.4km run. My number tag was 403, and Ah Boon's one was 402. That means we were in different details. All the tag numbers ending with '1' will run first, followed by an interval of 10 seconds, all the tag numbers ending with '2' will run. Following, '3', '4' and so on...

~.~.~

Ah Boon was in Category Y which means he only needed to run a timing under 10 minutes to get a Gold & his $400. So I was telling him to go for under 9:44 minutes, so that he can pace me at the same time. That way, I know I cannot run behind him under any circumstances if I wanted to achieve my Gold. *I was still under Category X, my Gold requires me to hit a timing of 9:44 minutes & below.

~.~.~

After it was my detail's turn to go, I just ran, ran... & ran. I managed to overtake everyone else, including this Commando who happened to be in detail 1. Haha... (that made me happy... it doesn't matter whether he was really a Commando or not, coz he looked as though he belongs to it, & he was dressed in his commando PT shorts =P).

~.~.~

The 2.4km route in Maju Camp, required you to run 3 rounds (800m each) within the premises of the camp. I got my Gold with a timing of 9:38 mins, not exactly my best timing... but considering the fact that I haven't been running competitively for quite some time. I'm just happy enough to hit under 9:44mins!

~.~.~

Well, as for Ah Boon, he didn't get Gold because of his 2.4km run. I feel abit partially at fault, for misleading him =P... coz I was running just in front of him. I was first, he was second... So he thought since I was quite a fast runner, and he was just behind me, his timing shouldn't be that far off... But who knows? Sorry Boon... Did you harm instead... =(

~.~.~

"Look! Total of 24 points = Gold = $400"

~.~.~

2) The second thing worth celebrating... is my Passing of my Theory Test on Wednesday. I only read through the "The New Highway Code - Book 2 - Advanced Theory of Driving" the night before... and did all the 600 questions from the "600 Final Theory Questions & Answers" book throughtout the night & next morning! *Lack of Sleep* I didn't managed to book a slot for the computerise trial-test practice session, so I was feeling a bit worried that I might fail the test. But unfortunately, I had the 600 questions book with me. It really helped alot. I highly recommend it to anyone who is going to sit for their theory tests. A must-have!

~.~.~

I feel that the FTT (Final Theory Test) questionsa are so much simpler those those covered in BTT (Basic Theory Test). It's all about slowing down first, getting ready to stop the car if necessar... letting others go first even if you have the right-of-the-way... Basically, it's just choosing the answer that makes sense & is the safest among them all. =) I managed to finish the test in 25 minutes as compared to the 45 minutes I took for BTT.

"Hehe... I finally passed my FTT! Look out drivers, I'm coming soon!"

3) Finally the last thing to celebrate, is my Subject Registration today! Thanks to Vincent, my roomie's well thought plan... I managed to secure all the modules that I wanted! =) We had 3 totally different plans so that each module's index number won't clash with each other.

Went back to MSE Computer Lab as early as 11:30am to "chop" seats. Saw quite a few familiar faces, all "geared up for battle" as well... haha... Waited for Vincent to rush back to school from ExxonMobil at 12noon. See, what a grand event it was just to register for the subject that you wanted on STARS (Student Automated Registration System). No wonder they call it the STARS wars! haha...

We waited till 1:30pm when it was time to start registering! But as the clock reached 1:29pm, everyone started clicking on the mouse, trying to log onto the system & register their modules. haha... It was a sight to behold! One of the "K's" truly belonging to us, Singaporeans... Kiasu! haha... Okay, okay, guilty as charged, I was doing the same thing as well. Well, it was just like a scene taken from "Who wants to be a Millionaire"... Fastest Finger First~!

Sure enough, as soon as the clock turned 1:30pm... that exact click of the mouse brought you to a totally new setting! The web page will display the modules that you have chosen to uptake... but you still needed to click on another button to confirm your choice. That click of the mouse was equally important as the previous one! Vincent failed to do that, and that landed him in a bit of a fix later on... but all's well ends well. He got what he wanted, same as my timetable in the end...

Anyway, after clicking the button, some modules were registered but already some were completely taken up! No vacancies left! Lucky for me, I still had Plan 2, which I loaded up and registered again, as though it was part of my natural instinct. This time, all modules got registered less one! Immediate back-up Plan 3! WA LA... finally all modules were registered... in the nick of time too, if I might add. =]

The whole scene in the MSE lab just totally caught me by surprise. Everyone clicking their mouses at 1:29pm... There was even someone counting down the time, 10, 9, 8... 3, 2, 1. Then everyone waiting for that magical moment at 1:31pm to see whether they have been confirmed the modules they wished to take. And everyone carrying out their Plan B's when Plan A failed, Plan C when even Plan B failed. And before you know it, by 2:00pm everyone was done & out of the lab.

Can you imagine, all these fuss & big whooha for a "simple" subject registration! Haha... I'm laughing at what society has changed all of us to be...

DRAGONBOAT TRAINING CAMP

aBack from Dragonboat Training Camp after 3 days... Feeling all exhausted & burnt out, literally. I'm still feeling very hot, fired up now... Thinking of mild heat exhaustion...

~.~.~

Well, anyway, I think training camp was a success. Training was training, play-time was play-time. I'm sure to a certain extent, we've become more bonded as a team.

~.~.~

Although there was no catering for all meals. But being who we are, I will probably think we'll just complain about everything, with or without the catered meals... But thanks to our captain & vice-captains, we had fried doughsticks, "butterfly" and soyabean milk for our Sunday morning breakfast... =] though many didn't feel so well during the rowing session afterwards, with the oily & heavy breakfast... haha

~.~.~

We had our annual reviewing of past PM Cup races on the first night of book-in. Those were memorable moments that brought laughter to the team. And the BBQ on Saturday night was a real treat, after one hard day's of training! It was a good time for the team to relax and bond with Dinesh being the catalyst, as all jokes were on him. Next, we had our movie screening of the "Kung Fu Panda". We all had a hard time laughing... even though some of us had watched it before.

~.~.~

Now, although the camp was nice, I'm still glad it's over! Nothing beats sleeping on your bed instead of hard cheerleading mats with a pile of clothes as your pillow and the IVP jacket being the only thing protecting you from the coldness of the air con at night... No more walking to Hall 6 toilets from SRC for our showers... No more "Andy Tan" or Indian classical music waking you up in the wee hours of the morning before the reveille timing.

~.~.~

Time for Pictures:

"Training camp 2008..."

"Sleeping on cheerleading mats..."

"Ah Boon sleeping like a log..."

"JinHan sleeping like a pig..."

"The chefs of BBQ... Keeweeee"

"Four Freshies and One Lao Jie..."

"The Team by the pits..."

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Get ready to feel the awesomeness...

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18 Arhats~!!!

Okay... maybe there're not exactly 18 of us... But with just seven of us, we are already looking so "sey"... Imagine the awesomeness when all 18 of us gather together!!!

Come on, we are still recruiting~! =P

~.~.~

Clips from my I.A.

Chao Zhi, a new friend that I got to know during my attachment at Delphi, sent me this video he took of us during the last day. I only managed to upload it until recently. It shows just one of the many tea break sessions we share in Delphi cafeteria... It's where and when we chit chat and build up on our relations... haha =P Gonna miss those fine days...

"Part 01..."

Part 01 - It's about me "ji siao'ing" my female colleague, Yun Xuan... I'm "offering" my Subway cookie to her. But because she was the one who asked "Why I never offer it to her?" She refused to accept it. But somehow when I "offered" it to her... she pondered for a while & "her eyes betrayed her"...

"Part 02..."

Part 2 - It's about my colleague from China, Yang Hao, arriving late for the first time that day. And I'm sure most of us have heard the story of the NTU “叫我大王!!!” s*x story... So I was making fun of him, saying how he was up late last night "having fun" and how he bit his tongue in the process.

Yang Hao then kept asking about the whereabouts of another indian IA student attached to Delphi, whom did not belonged to our clinche... So being who I am, I made fun of him again, questioning him why he was being so concerned with him? Don't tell me, he's your “王后”("queen" in chinese)... since Yang Hao is the “大王”("king")

"Part 03..."

Part 3 - It's about me commenting on how the trend between Yang Hao and his "Queen" works... When Yang Hao is early, the indian colleague is late... When Yang Hao is late, the indian colleague takes MC... It's how they never appear together, but one after the other. So I questioned why they don't have the habit of waking up one another in the bed, since they are just lying side by side?

Then, the male colleague sitting next to me, Wei Jian, made a comment about how he envy them... and this scared the shit out of me, and raised a few eyebrows amongst the group... haha =P

"Part 04..."

Videos from Zili's & Wenli's Wedding...

All the videos below have been aired during the newly wed's wedding dinner... I dunno whether I should show them to the "world" on my blog, but it'll be such a waste if these video clips were only shown once on their wedding night. They're so nicely done...

So I decided to share the love with all of you... there's plenty to go around... Spread the love =P

"Our Little Zili's story... & Little Wenli's story..."

"... And this night on, their story will continue forever, together..."

"Fetching the Bride..."

When I think about their wedding, I think about how well both of them fit together, like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle... really, like a match made in heaven.

Well, I can't say that I know the couples on a very deep level, but somehow I just know that they will be one of those very old couples I see, bonded in white hair... walking side-by-side in the park... still holding their hands together... because I know Zili will make a very good husband & father, and Wenli a very good wife & mother. They love each other, respect each other, support each other and are each other's best friend & soulmate.

And when you see both of them together, you don't just see a couple... I see "True Love"... =]

~.~ God Bless Them ~.~

~Zili & Wenli in Holy Matrimony... God Bless~

"Welcome to the Blog on the Wedding of Zili & Wenli... A Match made in Heaven"

"The handsome & pretty couple..."

The team (most of it) attended Zili's wedding on Sunday (8th June 2008) @ Furama City Centre Singapore. I just wanna say that it was really kind of Zili to invite us to celebrate this joyous occasion together with him... Thank you Zili =]

~.~.~

I don't need to say too much... juz from looking at their pictures, I'm sure whoever's reading this entry can feel how much in love they are, how blissful & wonderful their marriage will be in the future... I truly, sincerely give them my heartfelt blessing. =]

~.~.~

And of course I'm sure the guys from the team had a most wonderful time at the wedding dinner. I sure did, with Zili almost sitting on me during the phototaking session on the stage, and me stepping on Zili's wife's dress... =P Sorry about that~! We took lotsa, lotsa of pictures too! Well... That's us. We never fail to have fun when we are together... =P especially my table~! haha

~.~.~

How can you expect these to fill the stomaches of a table of Dragonboaters? haha...

"Welcome to the Wedding of Jiaqi & Huiqi... the next ones in-line"

"It's not our wedding... but that doesn't mean we can't entertain ourselves... haha"

"Another Team photo on this Joyous Day with the Mr. Groom"

~.~.~

Last but not least, really wanna thank Zili & Wenli again... & hope both of you will have a everlasting & blissful marriage...

Sunday Training

Nothing much to say...

Just good old plain 4-hours of tough training... the way I like it!
Juz whack, man~! =]

NTU Dragonboat sa~!

Now, to take a good nap & wake up for Zi Li's wedding later... =]

Kung Fu Panda

"Prepare for Awesomeness"

It poured heavily most of the time throughout today's training... However, the feeling of rowing in the rain is a totally different experience - very refreshing... but we can't have it too often. Time is running out, and the winds blowing over are chilling, especially if you're like me, topless... And we might fall sick anytime, if we're not careful during this period.

Caught "Kung Fu Panda" in the evening at Lido - Shaw Centre... Must say that I enjoyed the show pretty much. All the expressive "wooh" and "aahhh" by the main character, Po the Giant Panda, who is a major kung fu fanatic as well as a top fan of the "Fearsome Five". The Five respresent the five major styles of chinese kung fu, the Tigress, the Monkey, the Crane, the Snake and the Preying Mantis... taught by their Master Shifu, a red panda. Generally, it's a light-hearted film that revolves around the idea of a typical nobody becoming a somebody.

Verdict: Catch it... juz catch it~!

Had Pepper Lunch for dinner... =P It's my first time having Pepper Lunch... I ordered salmon and chicken, and I think it tastes very nice! Pretty good restaurant-like food served in a fastfood manner...

Then had to head back home & rest... coz my eyes feel so heavy... and my body feels so tired. haha

== Shopping Spree for Zi Li's Wedding ==

"We do..."

It's my NTU Dragonboat team mate, Zili's and his wife, Wenli's wedding this coming Sunday (June 8th). =] Best part is I'M INVITED~!!! Coz all along we (some guys from the team and I) were thinking that we won't get invited to their wedding, but it turns out the whole batch was invited~!

"That's right... That's my name there on the invitation card!"

The whole process was so hilarious, coz some of us received his email asking whether we will be attending his wedding... but one or two guys in yahoo! group didn't receive it, so we were making fun of them... saying that Zi Li didn't want them to attend the wedding. =P That's how crappy & bitchy we are... hahaa.

~ . ~ . ~

Anyway, since his wedding reception is this Sunday, I thought I would get myself a new shirt juz to attend his wedding. So I grabbed my two consultants-cum-buddies and headed out for a shopping trip in town since the Great Singapore Sale (GSS) is going on. We dropped by Tangs, Paragon - Celio, Raoul, Takashimaya - Zara, Wisma Atrium - Topman, Projectshop...

Tried out plenty of shirts in various shades n stripes of pink... before we (I) finally picked something off the racks of Zara~ And the shirts from Topman are getting from bad to worse (now I see what Yi He was talking about, when he mentioned Topman shirts are going "rainbow" this season... so yar, it's ByeBye Topman, and Hello Zara~!

Ohoh!... the clothes at Celio are quite nice... and they are going quite cheap during this SALE (30% - 40%). So people if you happen to pass by Celio, walk in & check it out... =]

~ . ~ . ~

Gosh I can't wait for Zi Li's Wedding this Sunday. Then we can take lotsa of pictures with the groom and bride~! Congrats Zi Li... =]

Unforgettable Industrial Attachment Part 1

"This is my favourite group photo... of us"

Time really flies when you're having fun... or rather starting to have fun! The end of our 22 weeks Industrial Attachment has finally (inevitably) come to an end.

Though tiring it is waking up in the unearthly hours of the morning and supposingly reporting for work at 7:30am, I've grown accustomed to reporting for work only after 8:00am... and so has my supervisor =P For this matter, my supervisor has been tolerative of me... coz slowly he has grown only to call me to report at his desk at 8 plus. =]

The things I'll miss most from work... are the friendly ladies (aunties) at FA Lab, Chwee Eng, Jee Ping, Cecillia & Wai Fong... my I.A lunch & break kakis, the fun bunch of guys & girl from NTU, Wei Qi, Chin Heng, Wei Jian, Yang Hao, Chao Zhi & Yun Xuan.

They are the ones that make the long stretch of I.A. almost bearable & endurable. THANKS GUYS~! erm... & girl... That's one good point of being attached to a company full of students doing attachment, ever better if they're all from the same school. I remember the first day when we met each other, standing outside the guardhouse. All of them were dressed smartly in their shirts & pants, paired with their leather shoes. I was the only one who appeared dressed in my "Long" polo tee. haha... We quickly initated, getting to know each others' names & taking down their contact numbers. Then we headed to the reception area & waited for our supervisors to come pick us up one by one as though we were call-girls.

That very afternoon, we met each other for lunch at the company cafeteria... and that was the start of an blooming friendship between us. Ever since then, we have been meeting up for lunch, bitching about our workload, our supervisors, the aunties at the production line, the pretty 853 girl, chinese-muslim girl, CC (aka Chin Heng's rumored GF) and 美女 at the company, the food at the company cafeteria, etc. Lunch slowly grew from 45mins to 1 hour, then from purely lunch to lunch cum post lunch break, where we gathered in Chin Heng's room & chit chat before returning to our individual work-post. =P

And I will surely remember our tea breaks, that only came too late as the I.A period approached its end. But better late than never, right? Hehe... And we sure made up for lost time as we cracked the stupiest and most classic jokes during I.A. then... haha

I believe we will all miss those days... when we hang out together in Delphi. We had our first outing near the end of our attachment, but I'm sure that won't be our last... Let's keep the "Delphi Zuo Mu Quan" spirit alive~! haha =]

Let's set the next gathering in July~! yar~

I think I'll continue on my attachment another time... coz that's just so much to commemorate...

My takeaway:
I believe I'm truly blessed in my life... sure I have my ups & downs... who doesn't? But what I'm truly grateful for, are all the true friends that have appeared in my life. I haven't encountered any "friends" that have backstabbed me, or talked bad about me up till now, and I hope I never have to live to experience that day. I don't possess any special qualities, but my friends really stick with me nonetheless. And they have taught me alot about life. You guys and girls know who you are... and I'm determined to keep you people by my side till I die~

My belief is that I don't need alot and alot of friends. Those are just numbers on Friendster and Facebook. I don't care about those... What I truly care about are having true friends, who are not afraid to go that extra mile for me, who I know have my back covered at all times... =]

My fav phrase has been "True friends will tell you the painful truth, but fake friends will just lie to you for one whole life-time..."

We all need a helping hand every now and then... you and me...

"Take my hand..."

It feels really bad when you know your friends are having problems/troubles/difficulties but you dunno how to help them or offer your help to them. This kind of feeling really sucks...

It makes me think whether I've been a lousy friend when all I care about has been myself & all I can think about have been my own problems, when in fact my friends are facing problems of their own.

But even when I do know you're encountering problems, I feel useless when I can't offer you any help or advice to solve your problems or help you in any way... or worse still, you don't think of me worthy enough as a friend to share your woes or being a listening ear to your problems. I really want to help... if only you give me a chance to. Afterall, what are friends for?

Or am I juz another fair-weather friend to you?

Suddenly so many of my friends are having problems... and I dunno how I can help them. All I can say is I'll be here if ever any of you need me...

What I've learnt:
"Open up your heart... Listen with it... Look around... you will see that many others rather than yourself are having problems, troubles and difficulties too. Comparing mine with theirs, my troubles may seem so insignificant after all..."

I have moved...

Yes.. yes... I have officially moved over from LiveJournal to Blogspot~! This site has been under renovations for quite some time since last week, simply coz I can't upload my new blogskin and that got me quite pissed. >=[

Anyway, I'm in the mood to start blogging again so do visit me often and drop me tag comments every now and then. =] Let's keep well in touch... my friends. Friends from IA especially... keep in touch~!!! coz no more tea-breaks and lunch breaks...