Europe - Germany

31 August'10

Just went through something very cool! Took a train from Copenhagen and headed for Berlin. Some unexpected happened! The train came to a shoreline and it went into huge ocean liner! And with us in it! Haha! Disembarked and had breakfast on the ship during the 45mins journey across the sea. And continued on our way. Decided to get off at Hamburg for a few hours. It is the 2nd largest port after Rotterdam in Europe.

This is the absolutely delicious CurryWurst!




Hamburg is a very nice city! Full of live and very nice people! :)



01 - 02 Sept'10



Sitting at the hall of a hostel named, "The 3 Little Pigs". It is very well rated on HostelWorlds.com. I think this is a very nice place. It was previously a very old convent and now renovated to be a hostel. The winding corridors are a tad spooky. :p The facilities are good and at night the hall is filled with people from everywhere playing pool, cards, chatting, using the internet, drinking, letter writing, etc etc.

The side trip to Hamburg is quite fun. It is a thriving city, not too pack and not too "rushy". Just the way I like it. :) Spend about 5 hours there and tried my first ever german Currywurst. It was quite good. :) Walk around and get lost a bit. Haha. And off we go to Berlin!

Touch down at Berlin Haupbahnhof. Central station of Berlin. Came straight to the hostel and once we put down our things, we are out to see how does a normal "Berlin Night" is like. Came to a breath taking sight… The Brandenburg Gate. Oh my… It is absolutely fabulous… Images of rows and rows of soldiers march past the Gate came unbidden to me. I imagine how spectacular is was during the height of Hilter's reign.


Branderburg Gate

After bumming around for a while, we came back to a pub outside the hostel and had drinks and a delicious mushroom pizza. A little bad luck was that the washing machine was out of order. :(

The next morning, I could not wake the sleepy head and only managed to get out of the hostel after 10am. Went to a part of the Berlin Wall and check out a exhibition about the world period. It was mainly with regards to the Gestapo and the other military aspects of the Hilter's reign.

After a slight shower, we got mixed up with the directions and stumbled upon a chinese bistro. I had crispy duck noodle and it was surprisingly good! :)



After which we went to the Reichstag! It is very beautiful! When I did History and my Multimedia project on Germany, I told myself that Germany is one of my "must-go" destination. And just by standing my the Branderburg Gate, Reichstag and the Berlin Wall, I am so overwhelmed! :)


Reichstag



Berlin Wall

En-route to Amsterdam! Haha!

Europe Trip! Denmark! Sweden! :)

A first of many things!

First entry on my first Europe trip! :)

Took a flight to Bangkok on the 25th August'10, 2050hrs. Waited 2hrs for transit. And it was a 11 hours flight to Copenhagen, Denmark. It was 0730 in the morning. The time different is exactly 6hours.

Something very important to know, it is very difficult to get Swedish Korna and Denmark Korne. We went to both the airports' money exchange and we could not get anything, not even SGD$5 worth. So if you are going to Scandinavia countries, do be well prepared.

Took a train for 3 stops to København H Station. And went hunting for money exchange. Point to note: It cost a fee to exchange currency.

The weather was great! Cool wind and sunny day! But according to the locals, it is rainy season. :P

We decided to hang around for the rest of the day before going up to Gothenburg, Sweden. First thing that came to mind was the "Little Mermaid". It is a famous landmark of Copenhagen. Guess what? It is moved to Shanghai! oh my... It is there for the World Expo. All there was a live telecast of the Little Mermaid in Shanghai... :( What a bummer... Everyone there was quite upset... Haha.




28 August'10




Writing with a heavy heart… How can I improve my skills and thought process for playing? Just completed the Grand Prix Gothenburg'10 with a very disappointed score of 3-6.

Some background information: There were a total of 1,001 participants. It was the biggest Grand Prix in Scandinavia till date. The event ground was good. Very big and spacious. The people were generally nice, of course there were a few occasional oddballs. The side events were crazy. There were more than 40 pods of drafts and it costed 150SEK to play. That is close of SGD$25! There were other events, such as, EDH, Legacy, Seal, and all sorts of pick-ups.

The day before I played 2 rounds of grinders which costed 250SEK each. Damm expansive. :( haha.

The conduct of the GP was smooth compared to the others that I had been to. We started a little late, around 1030am and ended around 930pm. Given that it is a 9-rounds swiss, it was ok. I opened Baneslayer Angel and passed. The passing was quite well organized actually. Each player was told to put the cards, sorted by colour and in alphabetical order, into the given deckbox and the passing begins. I got a mixed pool of cards. "Frost Titan" X 1, "Grave Titan" X 1, "Steel Overseer" X 1, "Lighting Bolt" X 2, etc. I played blue/white and splashed black and red. I think it was good. And after discussion with the rest, Chapman agreed he would also played blue/white and splash the lighting bolts. My white pool was with 5 flyers, 1 blinding mage and 1 condemn.

Throughout the day, I died due to fireballs, lighting bolts and titans. And I would say that "Mind Control" and "Crystal Ball" are so sick… Most of the time I would be outdraw by "Crystal Ball". With 3 removals in hand and opponent had none, I lost.

Okok. After with Chapman, I understand that M11 or rather core sets are about having more card advantage. The pros almost always play blue. Preordain, Forsee and Augury Owl are very good cards.



29 August'10

Just done with a 75DKK lasagna dinner at the Nis Ericsson Terminal. I have concluded that Scandinavia is a very expansive place. A good point is that almost everyone speaks english and are very helpful. :)



Just completed a 9 round swiss PTQ. It was 250-strong. In Singapore, we seldom have more than 100-strong. Haha. Anyway, it was bad. The rares I had were, "Temple Bell", "Jinxed Idol", "Wild Evocation", " Reverberate" and luckily, 2 copies of "Royal Assassin". I think my build was ok. And to top it off, O had "Lighting Bolt" X 2, "Chandra's Outrage" X 1, "Assassinate" X 1, "Raise of the Grave" X 1, etc. Nonetheless, whenever I see a Titan or two, dead… Went 5-4. It was ok. I had a lot fun, as I made some friends! People from Holland, USA and Argentina. The lady from Argentina even gave out flyers to ask people to support her music! Haha! I will be a sport and help her promote. :p
www.NATUbella.com.


30 August'10

Tivoli Gardens! That is the reason that we went back to Copenhagen. It is the second oldest amusement park in Europe! :) To top it off, we decided to stay in the largest hostel in Europe, which also happen to be in Copenhagen. Just round the corner of Tivoli Gardens. Our stay was pleasant. and it was my first time sleeping in a mixed dorm!:)




Tivoli Gardens is fairly small. The rides are kind of kiddish. But it is fluffed up very nicely! :) If you are there, make sure you stay till nightfall and check out the light-ups! We did not take any rides as it was damm expansive! But we had a lot of fun though! :)





See all the photos in my flickr account! :)

瑞典这一站到此为之。丹麦，我来了！

Some thoughts from a very dark week...

Below are some thoughts from a very dark week... written on the road, on my ipod. but everything is getting better now. Just wanna post it up to remind myself...

On the bus home. Listening to Gu Ju Ji's Qing Ge Wang. Realised it had been a long time since I had penned down my thoughts. And i think i am having a very emotional period now. After all the "busy-busy" and "rush-around", finally having a breather. I guess everything is rushing back at me in a very big torrent of reflections. Looked at the mirror and did not recognize the person looking back at me...

It had been a very busy 5months. Work peaked and in 4weeks' time, the cadets of 77/09 are going to commission. When I looked back, everything seems like a blur. Since Chinese New Year, I had went to Brunei for 3 weeks and Genting/Kualur Lumpuar straight after. When Chapman asked me to go for the Japan trip, I did not know what hit me or what was going through my mind, I immediately agreed. Discussed on a Wednesday, bought tickets on Thursday and I was in the plane to Japan on Friday afternoon. It was great fun and definitely an experience etched into my memories. Just came back from Thailand, the cadets' second overseas trip. Learn a wee bit of thai.

Just ended all the high-keyed work events. Had a very bad case of emotional backlash for the past week. Outfield, admist the nature and long odd hours, can be very reflective...

A lot of thoughts went through my head... Work, career, people, what's coming up, etc... Seriously what is up ahead of me... I cannot seems see things like I thought I always could. Where is the decisivness? Where is the insight? What is the outlook nowadays? Apparently there is nothing much up ahead... Everything seems bleak... All of a sudden, feel a need to pour out everything... Looking around, i suddenly feel very lonely and afraid of what is ahead...

Just today I saw a couple of people on the train trip from Tampines to Bishan. But I did not approach and say hi... Why?I realised for the past 5 months, I had not been doing that. I think I even go to the extend of turning around and walk down the other direction. I really do not know where did the person, who was once the president of Temasek Polytechnic Students' Union, went... Where are the bubbliness and friendliness?... Sometimes I cannot believe this kind of thing is happening... But what am I talking about... 2 minutes ago, i just turned away from someone I knew on the train... I always thought this kind of thing will only happen to someone else... Ha... :(

Nowadays I realised I am really not good at whatever I am doing, no matter what it is... I cannot sing, I cannot dance, I cannot draw, I cannot write, I cannot seem to take any photos, i cannot seem to play Magic, do not even seem to have people to watch movie with, do not have savings, do not have a mind of what to do in future, blah blah blah and the list goes on and on...

Mondays to Fridays: work
Saturdays: meet up with Mad Cows
Sundays: Magic tourneys or Ah Ma's place

Impressive right? I used up everyday of my week... But why do I feel lost...? I really enjoy my magic sessions. Everyone is so cute!

I really want to talk to someone... Even up till now, i will still subconsiously pick up my mobile and dial the number and the call was never made. Sometimes I already the answer but I think I need is just a little push, a little voice of encouragement. I think we already know each other so well that I know what will be the answer, even down to how
the conversation will be like.

Why...?

Yesterday took a cab back from camp with Min Siang and Kwang Wei. Something the cab driver said stuck with me. He said (in a mix of mandrian and hokkien", "in the past, I was how impressive and fierce, now even if you spit on me, I will apologize. As a father of 4 children, and at this age, somethings just do not really matter anymore..."
I do not know what to say to that...

I know. I know. All of these are only made possible because my own actions. I just cannot find any energy to behave otherwise... I really need to get out of here... Coming will be Manila in June and should be going to europe with Chapman in August.

I want to have a time out to have a late morning coffee and just snap some pictures...

Just came out of Isetan, Lido. Mummy and Daddy brought me to shopping. Came out emptyhanded. The OT shoes are quite nice but cannot seem to buy something nowadays. Decided not to spend money. Have new resolution today: I should buy a house in 2 years' time. Hmm... Wonders...


Sent from my iPod

hmm...

Have some backdated things that I need to post... hmm...

Happy Birthday.

3hrs into my birthday. had dinner with yuting and meet up with jodin, joan, alan, justin and angel after that. Had a really long chat up and it was good. :) Had fun. spoke of the past and funny things and of course funny people. :) Jo, Cai and Eddie called and wished me and did a kind of phone prank. haha. Thank you all! :)

Wanna to rest. I was feeling very tired since my driving earlier in the evening. was quite elated cos Chong commented on my driving. and after that the first song on my ipod was my fav. "The Man That Can't Be Moved" - by The Script. :) Dunno why but now not feeling sleepy. gonna have dinner with eng meng and my family. the plan to rest at home is kind of not gonna work out as I think i need to go down to redhill to send in my Lumix for repairs (the shuttle cant close. :( argh. )

Anyway everything looks like it is gonna be fine. 2 weeks of tekong field camp coming up. :) Good Night Singapore and Thank You for all the wishes! :)

A case of bad air

There was a time when people says aLvin neO is a very busy and nosy person. Nowadays there is change to an always angry and upset person.
Ya. Do not know why i become so... hmm. really got to get a grip on myself. reflecting on myself and now, it is not because of the job. I like it. I like wearing green. I hold my values strong and dear. I serve with my heart and soul. I have this sense of satisfaction, a sense of achievement when things that I taught are understood and executed correctly.

This up and coming Saturday is my birthday. Thank you to everyone who wants to celebrate it with me. I am touched that there are still people out there who remember my birthday not because of facebook reminder. But nowadays I just want to have a rest at home and a quiet dinner with my parents. That is all I ask for. I am really quite tired of all the ra-ra-ing, big big parties, fun and games. "Dinner, cake, booze and party" package is kind of out for me alreay.

This is my birthday right? I have the choice right?

PAssion Card Anchor!

It’s been a while since I came back from Taiwan. Lotsa things have happened… Has it been only 2 months?

Work-wise, everything is still pretty much the same, just that training has intensified quite a bit… Shall not go into details. I’ve also been trying to make it for MPS. :)

That said, I am involved in this damm cool project with PA. You know the whole interest in new media these days, right? Those facebook, youtube kind of stuff… Getting youngsters like us engaged through the Internet because we are spending so much time online everyday… Well, they approached me earlier this year and taa daa, yours truly is now a *ahem* PAssion anchor guy. Haha. :P Let me tell you more about it before your thinking strays too far off.

There are some videos posted at www.passioncard.tv, all produced in-house by a team over at PA. Do give us your support! Wah, and now, they are arranging for me to try out some of the stuff they have at OBS. Exciting hor? Must check out the videos, ok!

Anyway, quite tired already. :)

Good night, Singapore!

Back Home!

yO! I am back! :) Taiwan was damm cool! Training was good. I can see that all my boys are really for ATEC. So proud of them! :) 1 bad thing about Taiwan... always spend too much... really spend until I broke. :(

I realise something. I suck at taking night shots and with people photos... :( really need to work it out. Brought 2 mags from Taiwan. learning... :p
Anyway. lots of things off my buy list. will update after this coming pay day. haha.

580EXII in July.
Lappy in Dec.
70-200 / 70-300 in 2 years.

Cheers!
Good Night Singapore! finally back on my bed. :D

8th April 2009

Need to be at the airport in roughly 10mins... just wanna say bye and take care to all you peeps out there! Luckily my house is just 7mins away. haha!

Hmm. there are a lot of thoughts running through my mind right now... really feeling the fatigue... Sigh... Guess this trip out came at the right time. Can concentrate on training and hopefully when I am back, everything will iron out, if not things may turn out to be not very important and I maybe wrong. Who knows?

Alright! Take care everyone! Do serious try to miss me.! haha. And all who knows Eng Meng, please shower some love. Although I need some too... hmm.. haha. Thanks!

Yays! Wishlist updated!

Yo! n Yays! Just minus off some things off my ever-longest-Guinness-world-recordish wishlist. :p

Got my:
1) LXG Graphic Comics. Vol 1 & 2. even the Black Dossier. :p
2) 300 Graphic Comic
3) Watchmen
4) Wrath of Mad God. third book of the dark war trilogy. Think there is a fourth installation. :(
5) Naruto: 45th.

So for Graphic Comics part... I am left with V for Vendetta. :p
I think Kino always likes it when I visits them. Haha.

Thoughts...

24th March, 2009.
0030hrs.

Time flies. Coming close to 10months since I was posted to 1GDS. Gonna ORD in May if I had not signed on. Its not so bad. Got the kind of fulfillment when leading my men.

Just went to MPS just now. A lot of new faces. Been a while since I had been there. Really should go more often. :) Lots of babes nowadays. :p Cookies sales doing well!

Since coping with the aftermath of GP Singapore. Going for PTQ this sunday, the last extended tourney in Singapore. We have a team blog! madcowthegathering.blogspot.com :) Visit it for our team exploits! or for more info on local magic scene. :)

Grand Prix Singapore'09

22nd March, 2009

End of Grand Prix Singapore 2009. End of the season in Singapore. And near to the end of the Extended Season. For 3 consecutive years, the Grand Prix in Singapore had been the Extended Format.

For me, this year I had a very good "feel" to how things will turn out to be. In the end, I had done too many mistakes to make my play justifiable. :( I must say that I really need more play.

What was really worthwhile and meaningful, was that the final formation of Mad Cow Inc. All the seven team mates had fun and gained a lot of experience. In two years time, the team would like to get at least half, if not the whole team, into Day Two of Grand Prix Singapore'11. It is definitely a year to look forward to as its my ORD year. :p

Japanese Players are really strong and most importantly, careful. To read more, please go to see the Events Coverage and my Flickr, for the photos that I took.

Gonna crash now... Very drained and feeling very brain dead. Losing stamina at such things now. haha. And I would like to catch up to everyone in the team and at least able to guide the younger member along. :)

Cheers. Good Night Singapore. :) *hugs!

A New Beginning

March 1st, 2009

This is the first post of the year 2009 for me. And as a lot of people had commented, I have to come and clean up the cobwebs here. Ya. The cobwebs rivals even the Great Shelob's Lair from LOTR. Now you know how Frodo got stuck ya? :p

Anyway, its been a long time. Been busy with my new job. Now a SAF Regular. An officer in the Singapore Armed Forces. A Platoon Commander in 1st Singapore Battalion Guards. Just came back from a family trip to Hokkaido and Shanghai for a White Christmas (See previous post). Most recent trip would be the Brunei training trip with my men. So proud of them. Could not had ask for a better group of soldiers. Going for Taiwan soon. My last leg of the race with them. Going to hand over soon. Although it is still around 2 plus month away, I am already feeling quite miserable. Just thinking of leaving put sorrow in my heart. Seen my boys turning into men. The way they went from whinny little chaps of barely 18years to strong and mature team of troopers.

Been thinking. Realised that I had given too much of my time to others instead of to people who matters and most importantly myself. As a late new year resolution, I will give more of my time to my family (go and rock climb with my brother, run with my dad etc.) , close friends ( meet up with them more, play magic, foos more), work, and time to learn my skills. I had thought of a "to-buy-list", a "to-read-list" and a "to-learn-list". :)

For now, just to share some of the "to-learn-list" (The others are a story for another time :p)

1) Class 3 license
2) Cless 2B license
3) An Instrument - Piano / Saxophone
4) Japanese
5) French
6) Better my foos skills
6) Many many more. :p

So ya! Watch out world! :)

Hokkaido & Shanghai Trip (A White Christmas)

31st December, 2008
2210hrs(GMT + 8, Beijing, Singapore time)




Less than 2hrs till a brand new year. New year, new resolution. Do I have one? I think I have quite a few. Going to have my countdown on the plane. Exciting? First time I am going into a new year on a plane, in the air.

This trip to China turned out to be quite fun. The group grew to be very fun! :) Everyone warmed up and stick together once in here. It is true that what is worth the trip are the beautiful sights in China. There are a lot of changes since the last time I was here. But is the same is the China people. The way that they conduct themselves is still the same. Loud. Rude. Dirty. Inconsiderate. Parents here let their children take a piss just by squatting in the middle of the shopping street. They will just rush to the front of the lift even though a lot of people had being queuing. They will just knocked into you in order to walk their own way, the pathway is quite big mind you. I know that they are slowly changing. Maybe in 10, 20 years I would come again.

The next time I post will be the next year already. Good to had been on this trip. Tonnes of work are waiting for me back home. Going back to camp on the 3rd. Have a live firing on the 4th. Training all the way till 9th. Sigh. Have to work on a Sunday even. Cannot even have a good rest.

Goodbye Shanghai. Farewell Year 2008! Haha! :)

27th December, 2008
1213hrs (GMT + 9, Japan time)

Gonna be leaving Chitose Airport in less than 40mins. Today is a good day. The view at breakfast is damm cool. Imagine a huge golf course filled with snow? HAHA! Just said byebye to Sayuri. See if we are able to see each other in Singapore. Anyway, think I gotta change a passport. Really do not look like mine now... 19 merry xmas msgs. My god! Haha!

Shanghai here I come!


26th December, 2008
2305hrs (GMT + 9, Japan time)

Had an uneventful Christmas. But the scenery is really very fitting. A White Christmas.
Guess what? It is -9 degree today! My god! Freezing cold. Today we went to a place call "Jigoku " - Hell Valley. It is a boiling point of the region which produced 3000L of water for the hot spring.

Question! Anyone know where was the G8 Summit held early this year? Lake Toya! It is the lake that never freezes as there is a live volcano nearby. Too bad we cannot be treated with the full scenic view of the lake as the there was a very strong snow drift.

Went play the snow mobile. The kind Jackie Chan and James Bond filmed chases on snow? :p Quite cool. Went onto a guided trail up to 1000ft above sea level. Freaking cold but the view is breath-taking.

Tonight is the last night in Hokkaido, Japan. Tomorrow I will be taking a short flight to Shanghai. There are worries that we may not be able to fly on time. That is the case today. The flights are cancelled/delayed due to the snow and strength of the wind.

Today a candid shot behind Sayuri today. Not gonna let her know until I mail her. Haha. Today's onsen is so cool! Beautiful! And it was snowing when I went for the outdoor pool. My god! Too bad I cannot bring in the camera. Hmm. Nevermind. Maybe I will give it a try tomorrow. Haha! Gonna grab some sleep now.

Good Night Japan! For the last time. For now. Haha!


24th December, 2008
2016hrs (GMT + 9, Japan time)

Catching my daily dose of Japan drama. Haha. Here for 4 days and I am hooked onto a baseball-coach-turned-high-school-teacher drama. From what I understand (Haha!), it is something like GTO - Great Teacher Onisuka. There are even some real life baseball stories after each episode. And the funny thing is that when I chance upon it, it was the first episode! :p

Today I am at a place named, Akankohan. A town which is build around a huge lake! This lake is around 4 X the size of Singapore. The little red dot indeed. :p The drama just ended. Today's travels is quite boring. Most of the time was spend traveling. There were a lot of sight-seeing though and the scenery is breath-taking! Our route even took us past an active volcano. Sayuri told us to be quiet so as to not wake the volcano. Haha! We went to 2 waterfalls, Gin Ga No Taki and Ryu Sei No Taki, side by side of each other. The "Galaxy Waterfall" and "Meteor Shower Waterfall". They are nearly frozen solid. Cool! :p Sayuri was saying we are very lucky. When we need to see the scenery, it will not be snowing, the weather will be damm good. :p Thanks!

I think my photography needs a great deal more work. I still need to try out a lot of different shots to get a right lighting. And what is irritating is that I always cannot seem to get the lighting right out in the sun. The sun always get into LCD screen. :( But I am damm impressed by my Canon 10-22mm UWA. :p

Today we had the traditional Japanese food! A huge spread! There was even live sashimi! The fish is still gulping! My god! Jiang Zhen De?! Hen Nan De Leh. Haha! Check out the photos! Hehe.

Tomorrow will be the day which we will spend the longest time on the road. We are going back down towards Sapporo. It will be around 5-6hrs of traveling. Guess I gotta go and grab some early rest today. This Christmas Eve is really quiet. :p Gonna be Christmas here in another 3hrs. :p

Good Night Japan! And Merry Christmas Santa! :p Sleeping on Tatami again. So damm cool right?! Haha!


23th December, 2008
2230hrs (GMT + 9, Japan time)

Less than 2hrs to Christmas Eve. Listening to "Chasing Pavements" by Adele. This song got into my head after I watched the animation film, "Dragon Hunters" with Yuting. I think it is a simple story with something to tell. I like it. Back to Christmas Eve, I believe it is the one of most looked-forward-to holiday across the globe, with celebrations big and small, special to everyone in their own unique way. This year is the first time I am out of Singapore for this holiday. But I guess it is not as celebrated in Hokkaido as it is in some other countries. The festive mood is... lacking I would say. :p

Going into today's travels. Right now I am in this hotel named, "Crescent" in Asahikawa. Nope. This is not the place that Asahi Beer is being brewed, which what Yuting thought when I msged her. Haha. We went to Tomita Farm, a place where they are famous for growing lavender. Since it is winter, we only had a greenhouse to view. We were told that during autumn the fields are filled with lavender. The lovely scent will be spreaded miles and miles away. Had lunch at a stop in Furano.

After which we went to Asahikawa Zoo! Yea! It had been a long time since I had been to a zoo. I must make time to go to Singapore Zoo when I get back. :p When you visit a zoo in during winter and under snowing conditions, you tend to not to see much things. :p What are special here are the Timber Wolves, which is what I really want to see now. This is because of the series I am reading now. "The Song of Ice and Fire" series by George R. R. Martin. It is really not bad. Quite good actually. Oh. And "Santa Monica" by Savage Garden is playing. Nice.

Back to the zoo. I got to see cranes, huge polar bears, penguins big and small, tiger that keeps running around its enclosure and a constantly roaring lion! :p It stopped snowing after a while. That was after I can feel my fingers. :( haha.

We went to a place which had a sakae museum and had a sampling. It was not bad. The place even had a spring for us to take water back! It is said to be so good that the locals collected it by the bottles and use to cook! True enough, we saw one after another of them coming with bigger and bigger containers to store the water! Haha.

We had our japanese take-away today from a big shopping mall, named Aeon. It has the size of about 3 X Tampines Mall. Had some sushi, tempura, bento, ramen (maggie style), chicken drumlets, bananas and strawberries! The food here is really quite expensive but everything is very fresh.

Once we are in the mountains (since yesterday night), the scenery had been breath-taking. The powdery white snow and mountain ranges that reaches up to the clouds, the dainty little houses, icy streams, very nice and courteous people. I think I will really pick up Japanese language, Ni-hon-go. Thinking of coming here to stay for awhile.

Anyway to end of the post, I would like to wish a special someone, Merry Christmas Eve and Happy Birthday. Sorry I cannot be there. Glad that my gift arrived and you like it. :) Thanks for everything. You are lovely. Always in my heart.

Good Night Japan! Till tomorrow! 1hr more here till Christmas. :)


22th December, 2008
2135hrs (GMT + 9, Japan time)

The second day of my Hokkaido Trip! And it is snowing! :p

I totally K.O.ed yesterday. Had to dragged myself to bed. It was damm tiring just getting here. We took a 5hrs flight to Shanghai for a transit. It took us another 3hrs plus to get to Chitose Airport. Finally arrived! :) When the plane landed, we were welcome by the first sign snow for the season. :) We had to take another hour's ride to reach our first destination, Sapporo. Yes. Sapporo the beer. Sapporo is the capital city of Hokkaido. The city is not filled with sky-scrappers or any tall buildings. I think it can be comparably rural to most of the China major city. And our tour guide's name is Sayuri, a Singaporean too!

Japan is divided into 4 major parts. Kyushu and the Southern Islands. Western Honshu and Shikoku. Central Honshu. Hokkaido and Northern Honshu. What is unique about Hokkaido is that it has the climate akin to Siberia and its indigenous people, the Ainu.

We went to visit a couple of famous streets and a underground mall. Mum bought a Coach, Blue Label bag. :p By the time we were out of the place, it was already dark. The sun sets at around 1530hrs! After which we went to another cool shopping street and got us our, White Lover Chocolate! Guess what?! We took off with a box load! Haha!

First meal in Hokkaido! We had BBQ and... Abalone! The abalone was supposed to be eaten raw but we being Singaporean and not Japanese, Sayuri recommended us to eat it after is it slightly grilled. It is so tender! Dad even brought back the shells as souvenir. We had to missed one of the stops as it was deemed unsafe to go up due to the snow and icy road. After checking into the hotel, we went out to have stroll and had a mini shopping spree at the 7-11 of Japan, Lawson.

Today the first place we went to was the Asahi Beer factory, had a short tour and free sampling of first beer. It is very smooth and fresh! We should have this in Singapore, instead of having it locked up at customs for 1 to 3 months. :( Next stop, White Chocolate Lover Factory cum Museum. The owner designed and build it like a children's playground. I realised the factories in Japan used a lot of stainless steel, giving them a very clean look. With that, we took our leave of Sapporo.

Otaru! Lunch was at a seafood market cum steamboat house. That kind of place catered for tourists. We were given a choice of getting our own seafood. Guess what was on the recommendation list again?! :p Crabs! Ours cost us 12,600yen! Mum, Daniel and myself tried crab sashimi! So fresh! So sweet! So succulent! :) Next stop we were taken to Otaru's most famous street! Served high tea in one of the tea house. The cups are for us to take away after our drink! Dainty little shot cups. There is a famous steam clock on the street. Just 2 in the world. One in Vancouver, Canada and the other here in Otaru, Hokkaido, Japan! It was snowing very heavily the better half of the day. We ended our day trip with a 5-flavoured ice cream! It is Melon, Strawberry, Chocolate, Lavender and Vanilla! Yummy! Took another hr's ride into the mountains and checked into the hotel. Onsen! Hahaa! Had a go before dinner and now I am going for it again! Haha!

Back! YEA! So shiok! Gonna crash now. But there is a very upsetting thing that happened... I think there is a tiny little scratch on my Oakley lens... argh! :(

24th September, 2007

2.10am

In around another 5 hours, I will be booking into SAFTI MI. For the next 9 months of my life, I will be living there. Looking forward to it. Heard so much about OCS, thought so much about it, yet in the coming 9 months I will be truly experience how is the life in OCS. My platoon, Taurus 4, had very good results in terms of posting. 17 of us are going OCS, 16 are going SISPEC, 1 is going Police, 1 is going Transport, 3 are going Unit and 2 are going Medical Corp. I sincerely hope all 40 of us will finish our NS with a smile.

Good Night Singapore. 3 weeks of confinement. See you guys after that. Cheers! and take care!

11th September, 2007

23.59pm
POP loh! Today finally marks the end of my BMTC training. Kind of emo right now. 9 weeks in Taurus Company. Kind of sad that I did not get any awards nevertheless I am looking forward to the next phase of NS. :)

Cheers! Good night Singapore!

9th August, 2007

Happy Birthday Singapore! Happy National Day! :)

Hi peeps! Had not blog in like nearly a month. Sorry man. Book out days are packed. A sudden change a schedule left me with a whole day of free time. Checked flooded mails. Read. Watched the 4 episodes of Bleach. Got in touch with rest of the world, kind of. Haha. And going to book in later, by 8pm. So sad that I cannot get to watch the NDP07. A new place and tonnes of fireworks. :(

My National Service is kind of fun. Currently in Platoon 4, Taurus Company, BMTC School 2. As those who had been through NS would know, Platoon 4 means I am staying on the 5th story. It was a killer initially. It does not hurt so much now. Haha. But I had came to appreciate the view that my bunk offered. Both the front and back windows offers a killer view to the wondrous sea. I was just admiring the orange sunset before I book out yesterday. It was breath-taking. Tekong is not so bad as the stories that are around. The stars at night as simply beautiful. You cannot get to see it anywhere on the mainland Singapore. Yes. Although most of the time we are not so free to enjoy the scenery. :p And we never get the chance to catch the sun raise. :( Field Camp is weekend. And POP is on 11th Sept. Merely 5 weeks away! :)

NDP07 is on air now. Gonna catch it now. I gotta leave house to book in in a while though. :( Might as well catch as much as I can! :p

Once again, Happy Birthday Singapore! Take care!

13th July, 2007

Friday the 13. Google or wikipedia this day. You will be surprise the amount of myths and stories about this day. For me, I am going to be enlisted in less than 12 hours. To protect and serve the nation. Haha. Cool yea? Kind of looking forward to it. To make new friends, get to know more things, move on with life. :)

Had a farewell dinner with Union peeps. 4 tables full! Haha. Thank you everyone for coming! Had tonnes of SMSes from a lot people wishing me well. Like I am never coming back. Haha. Thanks for the kind thoughts! Don't worry I will be back to bug everyone. The world is too boring without me! Haha!

Anyway! Becoming Royston is confirmed to be on screens (The Picturehouse), from 2nd of August onwards. Do support! Hopefully I can book out. :)

I had tried to upload as many photos as I could onto my Flickr account. Do browse! :) www.flickr.com/photos/alvinneowk

Good Night Singapore! And take care everyone! Will miss everything! :p

23rd June, 2007

There is a list of people who I would like to thank and express my gratitude. (Not in any order of merit. ☺)

1) My beloved TPSU ExCos:
Terence – For your unbelievable support and faith in me. I will miss your funny antics during meetings, the Indian accent, the football forever attitude, etc. :p
Yiling – Your efficiency never fails me. For being the Devil’s Advocate in the committee. And your cute language will be sorely missed. “Morning… “ Haha.
Yuting – For being there with me every single step of the way, I can imagine the struggle to keep up (both literally and not) though. ☺
Sarah – The laughter fruit of the committee. Your ability to create cheers in a snap never crease to amaze me.
Yee Ping – For always believing in me. Your support and views are always treasured.
Glenda – Thank you for all the effort and walking with me to the end.
Wei Sheng – You are one of the most reliable people I have ever met. Once you agree to help me do some thing, it will be because you are confident of it. And you are also full of lobangs! Another Lobang King. ☺
Clifton – You always have your own set of logic that baffled everyone else. It is funny and irritating at times. But you are one of the most passionate about things in Union. Thank you for all the laughter you make at your own expanse. ☺
Jodin – Our wonderful chef and all useful handyman. Your all out attitude and perceptive views are most of the time the driving force for some ideas. And it is good to have you for BBQs and steamboats! ☺
Tat Ming – Thank you for being a big brother to everyone.
Yi Jia and Soon Poh – Although you guys could not finish this long road with us, I still like to thank you both for all the effort put in and remember nothing is impossible.

All subcomms: Derek, Farhan, Fong Yong, Shaz, Eric, Glenn, Tat Yi, Geraldine, Kimberly, Jacqueline, Hakim, Kay, Yi Wen, Elene, Xui Hui, Stefinity, Adrian, Joan, John, Ben Chow, Jessie Bessie, Jing Wen, Jean, Su Fong, Alex, Zi Xin, Helia, Su Ling, Ling Wei, and many more, thank you all everything you all had done for Union.

Everything was made possible because of every single one of you.

2) Presidents of various clubs, especially Bendy and Jonathan. You two had been my main pillars of support for the past AY. The support that had been given was tremendous. I could not have asked for more.

3) SAA
Raymond – I really learn a lot from you. Thank you for the opportunities and chances you had given to me. The frequent talks we had really help me to realign my objectives and goals. Although I must admit that you are a hard boss at times, but because of that, I got learn the necessary skills and gotten the right knowledge to handle things.
Lawrenz – Boss, thank you for being the great guy you are. Sorry for the uncountable times which I had been rash and narrow-minded. And you really save my skin for those times. Enjoy your time in NUS! Although I am sure you will. ☺
Kyle – We have a similar working style, which is why I enjoyed working with you. Thank you for giving me so many opportunities.
Uncle Sam – You really had been like an uncle to me. I always go to you for advice. And somehow, somewhat, it had always helped me. Thank you for the guidance. And although we did not win Stompaids but it was great working with you.
Catherine – Another person whom I will turn to for advice. Since my Production Crew days, you had been a source of support which I had came to rely on. Although you always left the decision to us (Eng Meng and me), the mere assurance from you always make me more at ease, no matter what the decision was. Thank you for all the help and guidance.
Fayanne – You always hang out with us. Those times were fun! I know sometimes we had our differences, and not knowing how, but we always work out fine in the end. ☺
Celine – Sorry for all the times which I had to trouble you! Realised everytime you received calls and emails from me, it was always something about borrowing this, loaning that, booking some facilities. :p You had been a great help to me! Things will not be as they are today without your help! Thank you!
Hwee Hoon – Although we did not work together very much, but I can see that you are a fantastic student development officer. CSC clinching the Constituent Club of the Year is the testimonial of your efforts. Too bad I could not go on the Laos trip with you. ☹
Khartini – You are always so cheery and smiley. Thank you for helping me so much, SEAL, applications, etc. You are no longer working in SAA, I hope you will find your next place of work as happening as TP!
Yuen Hui, Terence, Cynthia, Sheena, Bee Fong, Julia, Hon Cho, Sonny, Samantha, Ser Kian, Wilson, Anne, Pang Hock and not forgetting Auntie Dot – Although I may not had work with you all as much as I would like to, I am glad that I had known you all and thank you for all the help and guidance throughout my TP life!

Others:
Eng Meng – Bro! Thank you for all the fun and laughter that you had bring me, dreams and goals that we share, almost everything I have today is all from you, no matter directly or indirectly. Brothers forever!
Sylvia – You are always so cool. Girls are damm impressed by you and guys are in awe of you. Thanks for always being there for me!
Eve – Partner! You are always so super uber nice. And your mum rocks! ☺
Huan Yang – I can foresee that you will be a very successful business woman in the future. Thank you for being the superb girl that you are. And our late night chats rocks!
Sook – Thank you for being there every time I needed a bitching partner and a listening ear. Let’s work towards our goals and see where they lead us. ☺
Angel and Wei Qi – Although both of you always laugh at me, I am cool about it. We should meet up and celebrate birthdays together again!
Hui Leng – You always will not hesitate to offer a helping hand. It means a lot to me. :)
Pamela – Our Miss Korean. You are such a nice girl. Thanks for standing by me for both the Dinner & Dance we had gone through. Meet up soon yea?
Ivan – I am really glad to have known you. You do not know how much I had learned from you. The advices that you had given are like gold to me. Thank you for the guidance.
Dr. Lim – Thank you for believing in me and giving me the chance to run for Students’ Election. Without which I will not be what I am today.
Ah Guang, Andrew, Yao Ming, Alvin Ting, Ah Tan, Victor, and many others – Thank you for making my life in TP the best years of my life! :)

And if I had missed out anyone, please forgive me because it is 2am in the morning and I have a flight at 730am later. I am going China with my family. So, I will have hundreds of photos to upload to my Flickr when I am back! :p And there are a couple of things which I want to get. See if China got them! *winks

In the meantime, good night Singapore! Everyone, please take care, don’t be naughty and be nice! ☺

P.S. This is my 100th post! :p

June 21st, 2007

This post is long overdue. But my mood is kind of bad right now. Moody. :( Nah. Somethings just happened on the wrong date and wrong time and to me. Argh. Never mind. I am not making sense.


Anyway, back to topic. If some of you had been to my Flickr account, you would have gotten some recent happenings in my life. The TP CCA Awards 2007 had just concluded. This year there are over 400 winners for the various awards. Congratulations to all the award winners. As for me, I had been awarded the "Student Leader of the Year", a higher individual award. To me, to be awarded this title, it is a kind of recognition given by the school. But when my name was announced by the emcee, the cheers and applauses was the recognition given by my fellow peers. It really mean a lot to me. It shows that everything that I had done during my time in TP, or at least for the past AY, was known and recognised.

Still feeling very sour right now. And an emo song just came in. Sigh. :(

This award would not had been possible without everyone that had helped and/ guided me in one way or another (but for a lot of you all out there, it is always in many ways). I had been told that I had improved by a great leap as compared to the previous year, when I was the Vice-President. I must admit I also realised that I had grow in some ways, understand certain things better and view many things in a different way. I attribute all these to the people who are around me.

"You are who you are, because of the people around you."

List of people who I want to thank:

Be Right back to edit this post gonna do something.

June 1st, 2007

2am

Being the first post of the month, this ought to be a happy post. Sigh. But I do not know what had gotten to me. Was playing mahjong with kenneth, zhao zhi and xq but halfway though, got into a moody state. :( Thought about some things and read some blogs, feeling even more emo.

Went to watch Pirates. It was nice. Kind of like it. Just came back from Nicholas's grandfather's wake. Had a small catch up with Nic, Randy, Alfred and Jolene. Some happenings to update everyone!

"Becoming Royston"is going to be up on The Picturehouse @ The Cathay. Premiering on the 2nd August! http://www.thepicturehouse.com.sg/coming.html and more info can be found on the BR Production Blog! I really hope for everyone's support! If the box office can hit a certain percentage every week, it will be continue for the following week! It will really mean a lot to me for the film to go on for at least 3 weeks on screen!

Anyone interested in getting a brand new Nokia N95?! Go visit http://www.moblog.com.sg/sinema/ It is that easy!

And for those who are wondering about TP CCA Awards, I have gotten the "Student Leader of the Year". It came kind of unexpected as I am a Year 4 student. But I think it is also a kind of recognition that I receive from TP for all the work that I had done for my years in TP. I would like to thank everyone as I could not have gotten this if not for all the help and guidance given by everyone, even those outside TP along the way. And Congratulations to all the Awards recipients Damm! I am sure gonna miss this part of my life. :(

The new TPSU Executive Committee for AY 07/08 has been confirmed. I would like to wish everyone in this upcoming year, no matter in ExCo or in subcomm, a good year ahead. No matter what, just remember, "Do not give up, the world will still spin, even if you do."

There are lots of other things that I would like to post up, but nah. Gotta give it a break. Check out the links part! :p

Good Night Singapore! Gonna step up on foosball training tomorrow!

May 29th, 2007

1.45am

Morning everyone! Uploading pictures now. Today had the first Foosball DYP in TP. We had 12 players. Cool right? It was fun! Everyone had the chance to experience the tournament adreline rush. Everyone's feedback was to organise more DYPs! Farhan and Alvin Lim won the DYP. We got the points system and everything from the Forum. :p Everyone is training hard. All of us hope to get better and as least be on par with the rest of the Polys. :p

Sent Sylvia off at the Airport. She is going Sweden for a month for a study trip. So envious. The furtherest I had went was only 6 hours flight away. :( Hope I can get to see the world soon. :p

Good Night Singapore. Going to finish the uploading of the photos. My photos can be found on www.flickr.com/photos/alvinneowk :p

May 26th, 2007

1.45am
Today feeling kind of sad. Long story. Anyway a lot of things happened these past few days. Had my Graduation Ceremony on Wednesday. It was ok. Finally graduated. :p The TP Students'Elections' results are out just now. Something cool. Farid and Clement come down to give us a few tips on foosball. It was a eye-opener. And was fun! :P

Do not know what to post... Kind of tired. Good Night Singapore... :p

May 22th, 2007

Just received my enlistment letter less than 5 days ago. Sigh. July 13th. The notice came so late. I had everything planned. Start work, overseas trips, go for SSEAYP07. Sigh. I am thinking of deferrement. I am alright with going into army, to serve National Service. Kind of exciting even. Get to know more people. Move onto another phase of life. SSEAYP07 is like an once in a lifetime chance. :( Hmm. going to think about it. Maybe I could just send in a letter...

Good Night Singapore. Grand Prix Singapore is coming! :p

May 13th, 2007

10.25pm
Today is Mother's Day. A BIG hand to all the mothers in the world! Thank you for everything!

Took a picture with my mum! And with my grandparents! Cool right?! Haha!

Finally feeling quite relaxed. Everything is more or less done. Elections are coming again. Nothing much I can do now. Just hope everything goes well and good luck to the future of TP student leaders. :p

Anyway, 2 things to share with everyone!
Please visit:
1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f59ATP8-jNc
This is a MV by a very talented local artist, Shirlyn Tan! "Window", her cover for her latest ablum, "Newfound Jealousy". She is also the lead singer for the local band, "The UnXpected". They play at Wala's every thursday. :p Specially recommended by me!

2) http://www.flickr.com/photos/alvinneowk
I had just decided to have a Flickr account! I am trying to upload everything onto it! So just keep a look out, as you may see yourself! :p

Good Night Singapore!

May 6th, 2007

11:15pm

Came back today from a trip on the SuperStar Virgo. It was a relaxing trip. The food was good. Damm hell of lot. Everyday was just food. :p And there was a casino. It was full of aunties and tai-tais. You cant imagine how much money is going through in there... Long time since I had such peace and quiet. I spent long hours just staring out into the open seas. I like it. Maybe I should sign up with the Navy. :p

Going to school to practice foosball tommorrow. :p Good Night Singapore!

April 30th, 2007

11:59pm
Had a very busy but unforgettable week. Met a lot of people and made a lot of friends. The Inaugural Youth Caucus 2007 was held in conjunction with the 5th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting for Youth (AMMY V). Met youths from all over ASEAN. Had fun for the past week. Really enjoyed the whole week which we discussed about issues on the ASEAN level, getting to know each other, understanding each others' culture and learning everyone's language. :) Now I know how to count in Khmer (Cambodia), Vietnamese and a bit of Philippines (still in the process of learning!). All these add up to my English, Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, Malay and Thai! So cool right? :D After the one week, got back to school and found out everything was more or less done. Glad that everything is completed. Kudos to Terence, Sarah and our beloved sub comms! Now I am going to upload all of my photos onto flickr. Too much photos already! :p

Long night ahead... Good night Singapore! :)

April 17th, 2007

12:25am

The packed calendar is three quarters gone. Just finished Dinner & Dance 2 weeks ago and freshly emerged from the end of FOC (Freshmen Orientation Camp). It is indeed one of the most sought after Orientation Programmes in the whole of Singapore. Haha! And I am proud to say that I am the Organiser of this programme. This year, we have had a total of a bit more than 1,300pax for both workshop and camp combine. Looking back at everything, it had been a good year. One event to go and off I go! :) And I have finally won. It took my 4 years but I finally won FOC. :) I had OTCs and FOWs wins but never FOC. Haha. I would like to thank all the Kaistorians for this very big farewell present. This thanks goes out to especially all my GLs who had work so hard. :) THANK YOU THANK YOU everyone! :)

Finally graduated! With my graduation ceremony on the 23rd of May. :)

Oh! To share with everyone, to my pleasant surprise, I am one of the few selected to represent Singapore' youths for the upcoming 5th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting for Youth (AMMY)! So excited about it! Going to know more friends etc! :) So I will be busy from 23rd to 29th April.

Good Night Singapore. It had been a good year. I think... :)

March 16th, 2007

9.12pm

Suddenly feeling very tired today. There are alot of things/events that are coming up. Just have a look at the calendar. On it are just school events. :( The mere thought of them made me stressed up. I have the urge to just let go of everything. All of the sudden felt that I should had agreed to go for the OCP trip. Come to think of it, maybe I am giving everyone too much trouble. Going for so many events, supporting too many people. Sigh.

Anyway, one thing to be happy about. I am finally graduating. :)

February 18th, 2007

I am here on the first day of the Lunar New Year to wish everyone a Happy Lunar New Year! Wish Propserity, Success, Health and Good Luck for all. :)

February 16th, 2007

11.51pm

Do not know why but recently had been thinking a lot. It made me feeling quite emo. I remembered some things I was telling Sook about. I feel extraordinatry sometimes, but there are times that I feel very... mortal... Kind of back to earth feeling. Do not know now to describe it. Anyway, today I try make Joan laugh. Cheer her up. I think I succeed. Kind of. Haha. And the new touch screen machine finally came in! Everyone was all over the machine. :p

Quite into old chinese emo songs recently. *grins* Like, 无可救药, 一路上有你, 吻别, 情书, 想和你去吹吹风, 你最珍贵, etc.

Going to sleep soon. Got to do some work first. Good Night Singapore! And Joan, cheer up lah! We can jio people to play Photo Hunt~

February 14th, 2007

9.33pm

Valentine's Day. Hmm. Why is it named so? Never mind. I guess will google about it soon. Or maybe later when I am home. Now sitting at school bustop. Waiting for my parents to fetch me and go for dinner together. Suddenly realised I had not spent Valentine's with anyone for very long time. Since 2003, I think. Serious. I am not kidding. It is the same as my birthday, but last year I had the special someone. I do not know why but on these two dates, I am always single. Ha! *bitter laugh* No affinity for them. It had been so long that they no longer hold any meaning. Haha. Had a long talk with Sook yesterday. The phrase of the day was, "struck by the rock!" Haha. We were saying that revelations come to person when they are least aware, like a rock. *grins* Sigh. Yea. Talk about a lot of things. Again. Union pops up. I reached the makaning place already...

10.33pm

Back. Feeling emo again. *bitter laugh* I was telling Sook that nowadays I am always quite emo. Guess it is cause I am staying in the same place for too long. I should move on. As some people say it, "Get your life back!" Sigh. And Kyle called me just now, saying that the date for the OCP will be confirmed on 27th March. So I told him, I will not be able go as I am needed for D&D. I am actually very relieve on hearing the news. I remembered telling Sook that I am leaving the decision to either the upper management and the higher power up there. Therefore, now the choice is being made for me. Furthermore, I had called up Alvin Ting and Sahfahri to ask them what would they do. *grins* Now I can sleep in peace. Reaching home soon. Going to do some packing...

Nites Singapore! :)

February 6th, 2007

Below are posts I had written but could not find them to post them:

February 1st, 2007
4.30pm
Last weekend, I went shopping again... Argh. Spent so much money. Bought 2 pairs of pants from Espirit ($99.90 each), a watch from Swatch ($159), a bag from Converse ($79.90 but I have $40 voucher :p), a new sock for my Ipod Nano (after discount = $10.80). I nearly buy a cardigan from Topman which cost $96, a jacket from Espirit costing, after discount, $99.90! And my brother bought a pair of shoes from Converse. According to her, it is a limited edition piece with only 60 authentic copies in Singapore. I sure hope she is correct, cause the shoes costed a whooping $200. Wow... And prior to all these, we went to buy clothes from Giordano and Topman, spending about $260. Argh. Both of us are feeling quite guilty now, spending so much money. Close to about $ But I still got to get a pair of shoes and maybe a new belt. All for CNY man. But I am posting this because I am feeling guilty. Argh.

February 2nd, 2007
5.02pm
Sitting at Macs White Sands now. Just received a call from Jolene. Randy and her just had a radio interview for some of the CMM students. They asked me for dinner. But I actually supposed to be having a retreat for Union right now. So I cannot go and meet them. Do no know why but it suddenly occurred to me that I am missing out a lot of time with my friends. I am always doing this, doing that and busy with something or the other. And I think Life is just like that. When you keep telling people you are not free or something along those lines, they just stop calling. Although for me, it is not as bad as it sound. But I can foresee it will become like that soon. Here I planning for something, want to do something but I do not know why people are responding to it. Is it because I am too forceful? too lax in my management style? Or it is just my wishful thinking that by going all out for something, I will something in return? I really do not know... I am really getting very tired of all this... I really have half a mind of leaving for OCP... Should I?

Anyway, the first of the people I am waiting for is here already...

February 6th, 2007
1.56am
Completed TPSU's interim retreat last weekend. I felt it more or less achieved what I hope to do. Hopefully I made my impact.

Sigh... I would like to go for OCP Laos. As the tentative dates will be from 27 March to 10 April, I most probably will miss out D&D and 2 days of FOW. I know it is very irresponsible of me even to be thinking of going off and miss these 2 very important signature projects. But I really would like to go for this trip. This is my final chance to for this kind of trip (I may not have another chance after poly). I had spoken to quite a few of my mentors, advisers and peers. It is still 50-50.

Staff from SAA:
Lawrenz: I should talk to you guys but it is up to me. But for D&D sake, he hopes I stay.
Uncle Sam: I should not go as he feels it is irresponsible for me to leave when the important events are going on.
Hui Hoon: I should learn to let go and let the rest of you learn to be independent. I cannot be always around. I am leaving school already. OCP will be a whole new experience for me, I would not be getting it anywhere else.
I will be speaking to Kyle and maybe Cat later in the morning.

Ivan (My senior manager for SIP @ TECC): There was never a simpler choice. Just for the OCP. It is something I should do for myself. It will even reflect good on my resume. To him, good leadership is when a leader can groom others to take over him/her. Then that leader will be ready for the next level. If a leader is to suddenly leave or become unavailable, and everything stop because of him/her, then that to him will be very lousy leadership. I kind of agree with him...

Jason (RPSU's president): He will go. But it will depend on the situation.

Some of my fellow ExCos: Mixed feelings.

So what should I do? Anyway, 3 more days to submit my Final Report for MP but have not done much. Argh... But less than 2 weeks to graduation! :) I suddenly had a career that I was thinking of going into... Will I make a good air steward? :p

Congratulations to the Lions! The return of the Asean Cup to Singapore soil! :)

CNY is around the corner and more than a month had passed for the year 2007, hope everything is going fine for everyone.

Good Night Singapore!

January 12th, 2007

My first of the year 2007... And I am feeling very depressed... and kind of "no steam"? I am so afraid of not being able to go all the way down to the end of the road... Although I know that I will finish it one way or the other. Somehow. But... Sigh...

Anyway, enough about me. In this new year, I hope to see a better year ahead for everyone. Good Health, Good Pay and Good Luck! :)

P.S. I think Singapore is a great country. So small, yet so big. Of course there are these and thats, which get almost everyone to be up on our feets, jumping around, complaining about this and that. But all in all, I think Singapore is a great place to be at. Of course, I am hoping to see the world someday (Hope it will be soon), but I am sure I will be back. A BIG Thank You and many many small thank you(s), to everyone who had a part to play in my life, even if you had just passed by. :)

I am feeling a little bit better after writing all these. A LITTLE. *grins*sigh* Hopes everything works out. Got to go home now. Just finished an event in school. Having a headache. I think.

Good Night Singapore. God Speed.

December 24th, 2006.

11.29pm

Having a lonely christmas eve at home now. Going to countdown to X'mas later. I realised that I almost always spend festivals at home. *wonders* Don't worry, I have got the stuff ready! Got drinks, Coke mind you (I am not of age yet. :p), half a spring chicken, and great movies to watch! Now watching Love Actually and Man of the House(2005). Channel switching man! :) Smses and calls are coming in... Even at home. Busy busy. It feels nice to alone at home and couch potato-ing. :p

So hope everyone enjoys the festive holidays! Merry X'mas and Happy New Year. Best wishes to all and most importantly, stay happy... :p

December 18th, 2006.

18.22pm

Saw her just now. I think she really still hate me... :(

Sigh. How did it come to this situation? Sigh.

Going for MPS later. Bringing Sarah and Yuting there. :p Last MPS for the year. Hope everyone is well. :p

Take care Singapore! I will try... :p

December 14th, 2006.

"My Dearest, I don't know where to begin..." I did the V/O for BR today. It was fun. I think I did not do well for it. Felt that it was quite mono. :( Hope it was ok.

This whole week I am feeling very free. Although there are things for me to do, events for me to attend, but there is a smell of freedom in the air. :) I am not like the usual self, rushing from this event to that, that event to another event. I am almost always late for something or the other. :p Went for a rare swim. Felt tired but it was refreshing. Would like very much to do it again. :)

Went for 52nd CLT POP. It really brought back memories. There are so many faces that I do not recognise now. There are people who comes up to me and say hi, I think I took them for some course or the other. :p Part of the reason for me to be there was to support Aw Shi Yuan, a cadet that I took for SSC 2005. He was the Overall Best from East District. He did not disappoint East by getting the Valedictorian for his 52nd CLT course. Also saw C.S. He was my junior batch of CLT but he was just commissioned last saturday, along with PM Lee's son. :p Time really flies.

It was drizzling. In between the performances, as usual, East was the noisiest people around. Singing the NCC song (One of the corporate songs that I really love and sing with all my heart, with all the NCC brothers, shoulders to shoulders). Towards the end, there were a couple of moments when I had flashbacks. The slow march into MPH, the donning of my rank by my parents, photo-taking, the singing of songs, etc. I can still remember the things that happened during my CLT course. :) Really unforgetable... Think I am never going to forget about all this for my life. All these really makes me keep going back for NCC. And this also apply to events and places that makes me keep going for it, no matter how long and how bitter it can be sometimes.

Good Night Singapore.

December 7th, 2006.

1.39pm

Oh No! Just look at my last entry. It dates more than 2 months ago. Very sorry. Simply could not get the chance to blog. Yes. I know. It does not take a lot to blog, but seriously for me, if it feels like a chore, I would not blog. :) Just happened that today I am not falling asleep as soon as I got home or straight after I bathed. I decided to blog and give some updates about what I happening to me now. :p

Recently, a lot events had in TP. TP RAWKS just ended with a smashing Jam & Hop. I really do hope that we made the impression on the post-O level students and make them feel that TP is the right place to be. I must admit that it was a gamble and a high-risk play to throw non-experienced GLs to handle the students. But luckily, most part of it turns out well.

Just finished doing my mails. Yes. Again. I am like forever on mails. :) Oh! Our Students' Lounge is kind of decorated for X'mas. :) And these couple of days, we are holding a "Win a PSP for just $1" Challenge. It is to win Mike, from Xtreme Entertainment, in foosball. :) OTC (Orientation Training Camp) is coming up. So excited! Everyday is like having this, having that. So tiring. :(

Oops. Feeling the ZzZz monster coming! Must hurry. :)

Some updates for BR! I am simply amazing by how far we have gone from the orginial plan of a short film. Just came back from the "2nd Asian Film Festival of 1st Films". It was held at Jubilee Hall, Raffles Hotel. I feel awed by the people there. People from all over the whole. Just look at my picture! I took a picture with Anthony Wong! He is one of my favourite actors! He is so good! Cool man! Simply tongue-tied in front of him. And for people who know me, that is a very difficult thing for me to do. :p There were interviews, there were pictures taken, the mingling with people, everything was so mind blowing as it was the first time I had to attend a film fest awards ceremony. :p

Anyway, really got to go, I having my interim project demostration later at 930am. Got to go down and set up early. So better get some sleep. And Oh Ya! I was carry Nic's PSP! I felt great! I would like to have one. So cool. So... *hint hint* Haha! Finally, something that I had not say for a long time... Good Night Singapore! :)

October 5th, 2006.

11.59pm

Had a very tiring day. Met Terence at CPF Macs at 8am in the morning. Had a 2 hours meeting with Raymond after that. Did the ITQ for the lounge photocopier. Went for Dance Ensemble's concert rehearsal. Went home and went to YEC meeting at 8pm. Today's YEC meeting lasted for 4 hours. *sad* :( Quite tired. But I am very happy just now! Verlyn made a cake for the YEC October babies! See the picture?! She made the cake! Furthermore, it was one of my favourite favours, blueberry! :) And today I got a KXM club mascot from Hadijah today! Haha! 6 members only. Now all are alumnus! *grins* Miss all the KXM club people!

Tired. Going to sleep now. Good Night Singapore!

October 1st, 2006.

1.35pm

Happy Children's Day! *grins* Yes. I did a couple of changes to my blog. After various feedback by some readers, I changed back to the original blog skin. Yes. I am going to change the tag box colour, soon I hope. :p The amazing counter also changed to unique visits only too. So tired now. Going to catch some sleep. *grins*

September 25th, 2006.

7.35pm

Currently sitting in the MOI lab. Just finished the STOMPAIDS meeting. Everyone has left. Now in here with some people I do not know. Oh. Yes. Some background information: A team of us, Abby, Hui Leng, JJ, Pei Ru and I got into a marketing competition organised my Health Promotion Board (HPB). Got shortlisted. So now we got to organise everything and try to win the prize, $10,000. :) Schedule to do a presentation tomorrow. Hope everything goes well.

Some updates! Yes. I know I know. It was more than 2 weeks since my last post. I was very very busy. Let me do some recounting (looking through my iCal). Since my last post, I had a "couple" of things on":

14 to 15, I was at Fort Canning Hill doing a Motorola Roadshow. It was quite impressive. The organisers brought in 2 units of giant air-conditioner. Cool! :)

16 to 17, I was at UOB Plaza doing a party for UOB. They had something in line with the IMF. Everyone had something to do for the IMF. The food at the UOB event was fabulous! *grins* Anyway, I bring Amanda and Tat Ming to Boi's audition on saturday morning. He is currently doing casting for his film. Titled, "Brothers", it is going to be good. *winks* I was damm tired. But I still went for a try. *grins*

18 to 21, Poly Forum 2006! Yes. Finally after months of meetings and plannings, the actual forum had arrived. Everything was great fun. All the 5 Sub Theme had wonderful ideas and plans to be carry forward. The D&D night was cool. I am sure everyone had fun. Caleb played Hard Gay, cameras flashed like the whole of Hollywood was there, Sub Theme 1 and TP people taught the whole Forum, the TP Mass Dance and the"Yum-Seng" went non-stop. *grins* Next year, it is TP's turn to host this event. I am sure it will be the best ever! :D

On the 19, "Becoming Royston" had seen it world premiere at The Cathay! It was so cool! Everything on the screen was so big! "Argh!" *grins* And the people from Singapore Dreaming was there! Thank you everyone for supporting! If not, we would not had gone so far. And yes. Tommy! So sad that you could not make it due to N.S. Do not worry. There will be more chances in the future! *winks*

On the 22, my Leave of Absence to go for the Diving Course was approved! So happy! 1 barrier down, 4 more to go! :)

23 to 24, I was playing Magic! So fun! I really enjoy every moment of it! Our whole team was there. I stay at Wen Han's, which was something that I have not being doing for the past 1 year! So sad. His place is renovated and he changed room. I really missed a lot. I want to play for life. I want to turn Pro. It is going to be a long and hard journey...

Despite all the many many things that happened, I was quite fortunate that I realise that I had been quite ignorant and bad towards my family, especially my brother. He try very hard to be like me or even excel over me. But like what I had told people a lot of times, "Everyone is different, everyone is meant for different things." Now he always keep to himself. Play WOW and watch TV at home. Recently he had a stomach problem. He was rolling around on bed. And he keep saying that, after a while it will get better. I realise I really do not know what was happening at home or what he had been doing for a long long time... This is so sad... I am going to make it up to him. I cannot promise everything is going to be perfect straight away, but I will try...

Going home. There is this guy behind me who is screaming at his brother/sister, over the phone... How ironic.

September 8th, 2006.

11.59pm

Finally sat down to blog...

Just completed SSC. Quite refreshing! "Long time did not go back already lor..." *grins* Had fun and lost my voice... And it is really satisfying to see the cadets pass out. Going for NCC Day Dinner tomorrow.

Went to watch "Singapore Dreaming" with Abby. I think it is really a powerful film. Very localised. Some comical moments, some heart-wrenching moments, some unexpected moments and some moment of truth. Touched by the film. Really nice to see local films done so nicely. Cool! *winks* And they keep promoting "Liang Teh!" "Steady lor! Thanks Eh!"*grins*

There will be a screening of the 30mins, short film version of "Becoming Royston"! It will be held at The Cathay on the 19th of September! 5.30pm! Please check out the box office soon. Or you can order your tickets with me! *winks*

Anyway, quite tired. :)

Good Night! Remember to check out "Becoming Royston" and "Singapore Dreaming".

September 3rd, 2006.

11.59pm

No. This blog is not defunct. *winks*

Had quite a weekend. Just went to HQ NCC for a briefing for the upcoming Senior Special Course, SSC. Yes, I will be away to camp, from 6 to 8 September. After which, I went to Randy's for a photo shoot. It was quite cool. Practically went through Randy's wardrobe. Seen some of the photos. Everyone look so nice! *grins*

Yesterday went to CSC's event at Siglap CC. Then went to Ngee Ann Polytechnic for Poly Forum meeting. Had to rush down to Stamford Court for a beverage survey. Followed up by a meet up with Angel and Wei Qi. Had quite a catch up. Talked quite a bit. Abby came and join us. Walked around and sat down at the Esplanade Theater-By-The-Bay area and caught EIC in action. They were quite good. But we were all quite tired, so we left after the 5th song. Abby was working for the whole day and I slept only for like 3 hours before starting my day. Cause I went to Sentosa to accompany my Spydra freshies to party, for celebration of Siyun's birthday.

Met Sylvia and Flannery for supper yesterday. Long time since we came out together. So nice. Talked a lot. Caught up with a lot of things. Flannery is going to have his POP this coming wednesday. And Sylvia is going to run for elections for her hall in NTU. Cool right? *grins*

Have you visited BR website yet? Please visit it if you have not. It had a major makeover. *grins* We even have wallpaper download now! Cool right? *winks* I have people telling me that they are seeing me on Macdonald's TV screens. And there are some SMSes saying that they like BR a lot. They would like to see it in on screens soon. Thanks for all the support! Glad you people out there like it.

Having holidays now. Thought I would be quite free (which I was, initially). But now my schedule is like filling up by the day.

Long time since I had posted a Picture of the Day. Today's Picture is so cute right? My baby niece! *grins*

Good Night Singapore!

August 21th, 2006.

1.00am

Just came back from National Day Rally. I heard I was captured on TV. *grins* Some parts of the speech was quite insightful. I thought I would have a hard time to stay awake. But everything was ok. All the topics that PM Lee touched on was more on the intangible matters, like the Singapore Heartware. Had a couple of chats with a few ministers and MPs. Most of the ministers' and MPs' first question was, "What do you think of the Rally?" or "Which topic of PM Lee's speech, touched you the most?" Quite standard. *grins*

Went to attend the International Chess: Inter-School Championships. It was held at Ngee Ann Secondary. It was quite a sight. Today was the primary school finals. There are over 180 teams! :o Cool! I want to join!

I need to shout out a regret! *sobs* Went out on Saturday. Was walking around Bugis Street. Walked past the shop which I saw the very nice "San Guo" Chinese Chess Set. They were closing down. Doing stock check. I saw a box label "Figurine Chinese Chess" in chinese. I should had asked them for it! I should had bought it. The first time I did not want to buy was because it was very expensive. I could have got discount cause they are closing down. *sobs*

Anyway going to work out tomorrow. Everyone is telling I am fat. *growls*sad*

Good Night Singapore!

August 15th, 2006.

3.13am

Just finished bathing. Watching TV. The past few days was very packed. My SIP ended on last friday. Starting to miss everyone already. :( BR concluded the shoots over the weekend. "It is a WRAP!" Glad everything is completed, but quite sad cause I am also starting to miss the whole production and everyone in BR too.

Anyway for today, everything was very packed. First, I woke up late. And I rushed to by cards for the office people. Quite upset this morning. Cause everything is back to normal. I got tens of calls and tonnes of SMSes the whole time. :( However, I did got to office alive. :p So happy to see everyone again. :) Ivan and Christopher did my appraisal with me, and I am actually quite happy with it. :) Both of them were very frank with me and I am glad that I got very good feedback from them. :)

Got to school. Went to see Lawrenz first. Sort out some stuff. Went to Sports Club AGM. SU forget to wear red. Oops. *grins* After which, we had a very long meeting to decide what projects to do and who to do. It took 4 hours. :( Not quite productive. But it was a must.

A call out to all!

BR is currently having a SMS contest out on atlife.sg. The details can be viewed at all Macs plasma screens! Cool right? *grins* The topic of the contest is to tell us what is your childhood ambition. "What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?" SMS to 78800. Keyword (DREAM) space (your name) space (your ambition & reasons). In not more than 120 characters. A Ipod Nano awaiting you each week! Still have 9 Ipods left! What are you waiting for?! Hurry Up!

Got to get some rest. This week got to rush a lot things. Finalising SU's AWP. Got to hand in SIP Report. Need to write out my Presidential Speech for AGM. etc.

Good Night Singapore. Got to get some sleep. *winks*

August 10th, 2006.

SIP Day 79:

11.59pm

Went to supper with most of the RC chairmen, Ivan, Christopher and Hadijah. At "Chicken Club." The usual. Not bad. 1 more day to the end of SIP. Going to get some farewell gifts for them . Thinking of what to get. *wonders*

Hadijah and me had so much just now! While waiting for all the people to arrive, we all stayed in the car. And all the ways that they parked their car and did not see us as they walk past was so funny! Ivan even parked beside us. So funny! *grins*

The National Day Observance Ceremony was quite a success. Verlyn was so quite good as an emcee. Quite a surprise! *grins* Everything else was alright. And I did the flag-raising! The cake was 10kg. It actually tasted nice! *grins* A lot of big cakes do not actually taste nice.

Having a very packed weekend coming up. Tomorrow, going to work in the morning. Going school during lunch to meet raymond. Go back to work and after work rush back to school to attend AGMs. Straight after that got to SU's subcomm training camp. This is Glenda's and Yee Ping's maiden project. *grins* Saturday morning got to leave for BR filming and rush back to give a talk to the subcomms. Sunday will have BR filming! It will be at the Shooting Gallery. Cool. Guess who are going to be there? *wonders* Not going to tell you! *grins*

Anyway for all those that still do not know, the 5th and last webisode up. So please do tune in to www.becomingroyston.com .

How I wish I can drive. At least i do not need to wait for transportation. You know how it is that when you are waiting for a certain bus but it does not come. Yes. It is very frustrating.

Good Night Singapore! Got to get some much needed rest. *wonders* And Picture of the Day is the nice 10kg cake that Christopher got from Prima Deli. With it is Hadijah and Jasmine (TECO new ACM). :)

August 8th, 2006.

SIP Day 77:

11.59pm

I am going to miss my days in TECO...

Actually had thought of quite a lot of things to write. But I think I have a Writer's Block now.

Anyway some updates!

NDD was quite a success. I would like to express my thanks to all the hard work that everyone had done. It was a challenge to complete such a big event. Glad I was up to the test.

Straight after the NDD, I went straight to school for TPSU Work Plan Retreat. We spend the whole night sharing ghost stories. And almost everyone was freaked out! *grins* The whole retreat was quite enriching and productive. My mummy helped to delivered 13-person worth of Macs to TP for us. We all felt kind of bad but I am so touched. I love you Mum! :) We had steam boat to wrap everything up. Cool right? *grins* Everyone had fun! It was a great bonding session. :)

Yesterday I resumed BR filming! Cool. But it was the sleepy scene! Nope! I will not disclose any information! *grins* Having a couple more days of shoots. Recently there are a couple of friends from IMD approached me to go for audition for their Project Pilot casting. Do not know if I am able to go for any. Kind of packed nowadays. Anyway webisode 5 is up! And from next week onwards, teaser trailers from BR will be out on Macdonalds Plasma TVs! Participate in the contest and stand to win a IPod Nano every week! There are even going to be wallpaper and ringtones from BR, to be downloaded!

To end everything off, National Day is coming. I do not know why. I kind of like Singapore. I think it is a great country. *wonders* I could not bare the thought of leaving here for good.

So... Good Night Singapore! I love you... *grins* :)

August 3rd, 2006.

SIP Day 74:

11.59pm

Had my first experience with a blood donation! The lime green bandage is so cool! So happy! Everytime there is a blood donation drive in TP, it always had overwhelming response!

I gave away my only NDP ticket to Christopher today. He worked so hard for NDD and had been very nice and lenient with me. Furthermore, he is intending to give his parents to watch the NDP. He is a very filial guy. I like that.

Today I am feeling much better. Kind of. I think my mood improved because I kind of gave instead of received. I like that kind of feeling. If someone can be happy because of something I had done, I am happy. People around me, parents, friends, buddies, mentors, and more, had always said that I always helped people even at my own expanse. I say yes to everyone and try to fit everything to my timetable. I try to help everyone but this will cost everyone to just have a little of what they expect of me. This will shortchange everyone who believed and had faith in me.

I will dwell on this. I think there are some things which I need to change... *wonders*

Good Night Singapore!

August 1st, 2006.

SIP Day 72:

11.47pm

Just feel that my life is in a mess right now.

To everyone out there, sorry if I was ever short-tempered and harsh on you.

Cannot remember any messier time of my life. Really feeling the drawback of having too many events or things in my life. Nearly could not hold back my emotions today. Nearly. But I held. Barely. If I had not, I do not think I would have finish my day.

Went for dinner after work today. No appetite and mood to eat, but had some gastric pains, so had to go and grab some food. I thought I would be of a older age to be sitting at a kopitiam and drinking teh all alone. Kind of sad. Felt like a lonely uncle. Kind of like the feeling which I had while watching Roystan Tan's "Sons". But in the short 30 minutes that I had alone while sitting there, I met 3 friends and had a lot of SMSes. "Sigh"

Really wish I could have 2 weeks off and get out of Singapore, to somewhere where no one knows that I am Alvin Neo. Africa sounds good. Sometimes animals are better creatures than humans are.

Thank you everyone for showing all your concerns. I am just going through a phase of growing up.

To end off, just want to share some quotes.

1) "You are what you are, because of the people around you."

2) "Life is a journey, enjoy it."

3) "Destination in life is important, process to get there even more so."

4) "With Great Powers, comes Great Responsibilities"

Changed my blog. Hope you all like it. Good Night Singapore and wish everyone to be free of worries.