These Boots Are Made For Walking

And dat's juz wad i did.

din have much to do today since i've cleared most of my stuff.
so walked for an hr on the helideck. and since i dun have shoes, i wore my safety boots instead.
nice sunshine, no rain, no clouds, slight breeze.
i couldn't say no to a chance to get out of the cold and into the warmth to get a little bit of exercise and a tan.

but the 1hr walk a little too long coz now i think my shoulders are a little burnt.
but it's still good nonetheless.

juz heard dat we're going to begin tuning the DP which is a major part of the reason why i'm out here, NOT celebrating cny as i should. so dat's good news coz the sooner things finish, the sooner i get home.

was planning to put up fotos i took during my stay here...
but the connection is a little slow and will take forever to upload so i think they'll prolly juz go up on fb.

Die! You! Die!

I have finally slain the evil beast that is the tautwire.
the bloody piece of equipment is the manifestation of evil that had been plaguing me the past few days.
and i can finally put it to rest coz i have finally fixed all the problems it can throw at me.
of coz i could not have done w/o the help of my colleagues. but wad's most impt is dat it's all fixed.
and i'm happy and the client's happy.

and so my first day of cny ends on decently good note.
the only thing dat can add to my joy rite now is to quickly finish this trial so dat i can go home.

CNYE

If memory serves me rite, this will be the 2nd time in my life (probably) dat i wun be spending cny at home. i think the first time was in 2006 when i had juz started work w fugro.

being onboard a ship going for a sea trial is actually not too bad. but only if it's out for a few days.
being onboard a ship going for a sea trial is actually not too bad. but only if u dun have lots of little niggling problems dat bug the hell out of u.
being onboard a ship going for a sea trial is actually not too bad. but only if u dun have to miss a inaugaral sec4S4 gathering.

but i am thankful dat i have onboard quite a few more colleauges than usual.
so life is never quite dull. but at the end of the day, u wish u were back at home w the ppl who matter most.

and so i wish all of u who still read this blog (i know stefette does :D) a very happy ox-y new year. and may the love and joy and of coz, the gambling luck of the season be with you.

Worst Days At Work = X + 1

Let's add another day to the count of worst days at work.

i'm not going to go all technical abt it but let's juz say a component of my system on the ship cannot be ready for the client to accept coz of a little accident partly due to my fault.

it's a real sucky feeling man...
i feel like i've let my boss down n whoever's expecting me to do a proper good job.
i juz feel like digging a hole and burying myself in there...

this is like the 2nd mis-adventure at work in a row.
on my last job to brunei, i brought the wrong software and din managed to complete the service call.
and another colleague has to go n finish it up.

ROARRR!!!! wish i can go home to my xbox n juz hide in my room n game...
or juz go out n have a few drinks to forget abt it....

this juz
SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS, SUCKS,
ASS BIG TIME!!!

Feb is all planned out.

Even before i leave for my sea trial tom and before jan is over,
i've gotten my feb weekends all planned out.

i find this highly rare and blog-worthy. wahahaha...
and so here it goes.

7 feb - 4S4 reunion (if i'm back in time)
8 feb - family dinner w aunts (incl uncles n cousin)

14 feb - nothing for now :(
15 feb - chestnuts

21 feb - nothing as well :(
22 feb - beach day @ sentosa w the churchies

27 feb - nothing too :(
28 feb - rich, good food bbq w churchies

ok... after writing it out, looks like only my sundays are full...
sat are still free...but they'll prolly b filled w the usual stuff w the churchies.
but we'll see. esp on 21 feb.

tom is the day, 9am - the time...
there goes my normal life... till i get back again.

Over The Oceans and The Seas

Since leaving the airforce, my life has inadvertably been very connected w water.
from the day i did my open water course till today, i've not looked back since.

and i'm glad everything happened.
i cant imagine myself leading a life juz sitting in the office, staring at the monitor.
and tho sometimes, unfortunate things happen, it all comes w the job.

and this cny will b the 2nd in 3 yrs where i wun get to spend it at home.
but i'm ok w it... it's juz my dad who was kinda like "what?! u're not ard for cny?!"
but i think he realizes that there is no other choice.
he prob wonders why cant i juz get a regular job like everyone else.

but like i said, i enjoy wad i'm doing and i think dat's impt.
i get time in the office, sitting in front of the monitor, going online, chatting on msn n on fb.
and i also get time out of the office (which is much more) doing REAL work at the shipyards, overseas, etc...

and so this year, REAL work is taking me out to international waters this cny.
gona b boarding tom and will b spending the next 10-15 days there.
i juz hope i can be home in time for dinner w jasmine n my most awesomely anticipated sec 4 class reunion.
dinner w jasmine can b arranged again... but the dinner meetup w the guys... i really wana go for this... *crosses fingers*

and before i leave tom, i'm gona see the doc today, coz i've been coughing fairly badly the last few days. and i suspect the generous benefactor who granted me this gift is adel.
thanks leh :S

if i'm lucky, i might get internet access onboard and den i can get online n kill time in a more sanely manner.
otherwise i hope my slightly over 100hours worth of movies n tv shows will last me.
and of coz i WILL be looking forward to the REALLY BIG FAT overtime angpow my office will bestow upon me when i get back.
kekekeke...

A Waaaaay Overdue Reunion

7 feb - the date,
7.30pm - the time,
marmalade pantry, palais renaissance - the place.

my sec 4 class reunion... after 15 long yrs...
we are finally having a reunion.
it's gona b tough trying to get everyone... but we're gona try anyway.

feeling kinda excited really... to meet up w old frens and see their now pudgy tummies.
and mayb w kids tagging along.
how time flies...
it flies so fast, it's kinda scary.
but in the meantime, i'm counting down to 7 feb, crossing my fingers i wun be out for seatrial.

OUCH!

Woke up this morning w my shoulders aching.
thankfully, the rest of my body isn't aching.

yoga kills my shoulders. but i shd say dat they're prolly not as strong as i had hoped they are.
hopefully, after a few more sessions, these aches are a thing of the past.

but we'll see...

Yummy Sports

Today's quite an interesting day...

din start off v special, coz was bumming at home the whole time till ard 4plus.
but in between, i had a little scare coz i might have needed to go to work!
but thank god, dat din happen.

so left the house at 4plus to go to horse city.
to give this yoga class a try.
it's a free trial anyway, so y not? went w ben, jacq n fel.

was not too bad.
struggled to hold some of the poses. but typically i think i did alrite.
think i'll give it a few more lessons to see how effective it is in improving my strength n fitness.
i know it's not gona improve my cardio fitness but at least i think it can help strength and tone my muscles while improving my flexibility.

and fel can do a mean King Cobra. ask me if u dun wad kind of pose dat is.

went to markie's house to shower after yoga, coz got bluffed dat they had shower facilities.
so met up w ben n jacq again at his place after shower and we headed to ghim moh for crabs!!
after the exercise n all, and w fel still having a crab craving, and w ewen unable to join us for dinner,
this was the best time to go for crab for dinner.
had 3 crabs - 1 black pepper, 1 chilli and 1 salted egg.
the salted egg was damn good. tho it is different from the one at owen seafood at turf city.
the one at owen is drier and chunkier. this one's more watery and smooth.
absolutely perfect to drizzle over your rice. *SLURP*

went prawning at bishan after dinner. another good day, catching abt 12-14 prawns.
ben had a good 1st time too, catching abt the same, if not abt 1-2 more than i.
mark did fairly well w abt 10 and peter caught the least at 7, which was better than my first time.
jacq got squirmy coz we were hooking live prawns n all. but she was sufficiently entertained by a copy of vanity fair she found.
by the end of 3 hrs, 4 of us caught a grand total of 45 prawns, 8 of which were bbq-ed on the spot to enjoy, and bringing home another 9 each.

but while we were prawning, we noticed a couple across the pond from us who were quite formidable. they were catching a prawn like every other minute. they were hauling prawns into their basket non-stop. i bet they caught their 1 week's supply of prawns in 3 hrs.
think prawning is definitely something dat can be done every now and den...

fairly enjoyable, i must say.

so now i'm home, all showered and ready for bed.
except dat my hair's still at little damp for bed.
meantime, trying to see who's interested to catch jason mraz on 5 mar 2009.
tix are 148 (Cat A) and 103 (Cat B). see sistic for seating arrangement.

gona b flying off to brunei for work tom evening. so take care everyone and dun miss me!
i'll b back on tue nite!

The 8am Rescue Plan

Woke up at an unearthly 7.30am juz so dat i can b at the branch office at 8am to get my season parking problem solved.

tot it was gona get tricky. but it turned out pretty easy. juz needed to fill in a form declaring dat i NOW know dat i get priority renewal between the 12th and 23rd of the month. but dat's not gona matter anymore coz i've applied for giro payment. so it gets renewed automatically.

and at 8am i was the 2nd person lor. dang... i should have slept in a bit more.
but i really din wana end up waiting for like 1hr plus lor.

so dat's solved. looks like 2009 isn't as bad as it looks after all.
Viva 2009!!

Sold Out ?!

How can it be sold out?!
tried to renew my season parking just now and was told dat it was sold out.
SOLD OUT!!
HOW CAN!! there's still empty lots ard the carpark!!
wah lau!! damn sianz la.

now must park DAMN FAR LA!!!
tom must go hdb liao.
8am!!! 8am!!! how to wake up so early?

ROAR!!! ROAR!!! ROAR!!!

2008 Is Soooo Yesterday

Quite literally...
2008 was so yesterday.

for as far as i can remember, in the last few yrs, this is i think the first time i'm welcoming the new year outside of someone's home.
went to the marina barrage to check out the place and find a place to camp to get a good shot of the fireworks.

arrived abt 7pm after work. met up w peter, ewen, ben n jacq. they had food n stuff on the ground floor, so we bought food and slowly made our way up to the upper floor, looking for a spot to camp on.
the barrage is indeed a nice place to chill at. it's windy, has wide open spaces tho the ground isn't flat.
wat's not to like?

as time slowly passed, we walked ard, took fotos and play "up the river, down the river".
jacq learnt it while on holiday in vietnam. i duno how to explain the game but ask me when u see me next time.
and soon, the person who introduced the game to us was languishing behind as the rest of us trailblazed past her and left her score behind.

the clock ticked closer to midnight and due to the difference in everyone's clock, some boats in the bay started blowing their horns.
and we replied w ours coz jacq bought ben a $10 bugle. kekeke...
and on the stroke of midnight, the fireworks began and the sky juz filled up w colors. so pwetty...
after the fireworks, u can see the typical human tsunami crashing out of the barrage. we hung ard a little more b4 making our way out.

was supposed to meet john, fel n mark for supper but they were stuck in traffic trying to get out of the office building.
supper was, in the end, at killiney w ewen n peter.

but on a serious note, looking back, not juz on 2008 but on the years past, i think i am blessed.
i've got frens who love and care for me, good health, a decently good paying job.
as much as i dun think i can ask for more, mayb a gf will be nice for 2009.
but we'll see wad happens come the rest of the 364 days.

and so for now.... hope ur 2008 has been fairly fulfilling and ur 2009 full of hope n joy.
viva 2009!!