Supermotard at Nursajaya

Went up to Nursajaya yest with Uncle Richard to watch the Motards at the Go-Kart track there. really fast buggers. But looks like fun. Wanna try it out one day for fun.

Enjoy the pics

One lap around Nursajaya

Sweet Home Merbok

Sadly, I'm back. would have loved to stay there a bit longer, heck I'd love to stay there period. The pictures don't really do justice to how beautiful the place really is but I thought I'd just share anyway.

Night 1/Day1

We left the house at abt 2130 on the 8th and set off for Merbok. Merbok is a small town in Kedah which is the 2nd most northernly most state in Malaysia and abt an hr's drive to the Thai border. so that meant travelling practically the whole of NSHW to get there. It took us 9 hrs and abt RM100 to get there but it was so worth it. We got there at abt 7 in the morning and immediately was just astounded by it all.

we stayed in the guest house which was this wooden house with roof made of woven palm leaves. the rooms were open so you had to sleep in tents or be eaten alive by mosquitoes at night.

and because it was open, you had spectacular views just next to you as you lay at night. the stream runs right past the guest house so you have the sound of water to send you to sleep.

These are the views out of my room.

The toilets were another interesting concept. they were all kinda Balinese style open concept bathrooms, so you could bathe under the stars at night (thank God they also had water heaters). the water ran directly from pipes placed further up the waterfall, so water isn't really an issue there not like back home where every drop of water is used. the shower area is just surrounded by trees and stuff so you really feel immersed in nature and yet comforted in the luxury of modern sanitation.
after unpacking, I took my first visit down to the "pool". Uncle Steven's (our host) house is built right next one of the many falls that the stream takes on it's way down. Nature blessed him in the sense that he has two pools that he can access. A shallower pool for the kiddies and a deeper rock pool where the water first flows down.

Here you can see the two pools, the upper one being the deep pool and the lower being the shallower one.

[Above]: The Pathway to the pools

[Above]: One of the structures on his land is this poolside deck.

The big rock in the pool is the natural springboard. You can dive into the water from there where the water is abt 12ft deep.

The kitchen area is simple but with all the necessary amenities like running water, a cooker and oven etc. Auntie Linda was cooking lunch for us all the time that we were there.

Day 2

The day began where the last one ended off, playing in the pool and having some really good times. Uncle Steven brought a few of us up to the higher parts of his land to show us the rest of the falls. It was really nature at its best. the rock formations and the jungle around us made for some spectacular sights. it's a pity that i didn't have my camera there to capture some.

We then made our way down to Sungei Petani which is the biggest town in the area. we went to this road side market kinda like the Sungei Rd market that we have here.

It was so different from what we have in S'pore. the Kuehs at the table are just left there. you eat what you want and at the end when you want to leave, you just tell the person what you ate and pay for it. it's that kampung style integrity that we really are lacking here.

Another thing was the fact that food was so cheap. a bowl of laksa for Rm1 and satay at 20sen a stick. but it was rather sobering to realise that while it was dirt cheap to us, the prices are proportionate to their incomes. it was kinda hard not to seem like snobbish out-of-towners at that point. we bought cuz it was cheap to us but to some of them, it might be a once-in-a-while kind of thing.

We then went off the see the sun set at the Fisherman's jetty.

Now seriously. Picture postcard kinda stuff. I haven't seen a sunset like that in a long time. The sun just sank before my eyes beyond the horizon and the sky when a dark pink which reflected in the clouds.

We then had dinner at this zi cha place nearby.

BEFORE

AND THE AFTERMATH

'Nuff said. it was that good.

Day 3/Night 3
Prob the worst day that we had there. worst cuz we had to leave that day. we spent it in the pool and just relaxing in the house. After a bit of Area Cleaning and tidying up, we went for dinner. From there we left on the long journey back home. 8 hrs later we were back in S'pore and turning into our driveway.

MERBOK AUG '07

Sigh. The fact that I'm writing this post means that my holiday is over and it's back to work tomorrow. shucks. that's just lame. I wanna go back there........

Flying the Flag up High

Finally had my chance to go up in the aircraft that I've been seeing and hearing for a whole year. Tein (AOSS) and I and some other pax were in the Flag flypast Chinook today for CR6 of the NDP.

We walked out to the Chinook after the crew had started up and done their preflight checks. As I approached the rear of the aircraft, I could feel the blast of the exhaust. Freaking hot sia. It was a bit like having an iron on max heat a few inches away from your face. We boarded and took our seats, buckled up and waited for the pilots to taxi the aircraft onto the runway. The inside of the aircraft is pretty bare and has not much in way of comfort but everything is meant to be functional.

When we finally took off, we started flying a sort of holding pattern waiting for the right time to enter the CBD (dun need ERP hor). Me and Tein managed to get the seat next to the open hatch where the Flag was slung, so we got a pretty good view of the proceedings. It gave you a really good feeling when you look down and see scores of people on the ground stopping whatever they are doing to look up at the flag going past. 22 people on a football pitch stopped play and look up at us flying overhead. It's a good feeling of affirmation that even the little job that I do in sqn helps this to take place. The pride of the nation flying the flag up high.

It's a pity that I was not able to get some pics for you guys but I can tell you that the view from up there is pretty awesome. People were just little dots on the ground and even the trees seemed much smaller.

Would like to thank the sqn management for the opportunity to be brought up on such an occasion, the aircrew and groundcrew for making it possible and the pilots today for bringing us back to base in one piece. lol.

Blast Imminent

Yes! have finally reached the "200 days to go" mark on my ORD countdown. time is really slowing down the nearer I get to ORD. it's strange how time flew past till the days when the number of days left started getting noticibly smaller and smaller. from that point onwards, it's been snail's pace all the way.
And to top it all off, I'm flat broke. If I were any more broke, I'd have to push my bike just to get around. lol.
Once I ORD, I have alot of plans. Get a job, get my 2A. get my KTM4 for the Tuas track. and have a break somewhere far away from it all. sighhhh.....

The Prodigality of Bong

you know. it's strange that when you have your head in the sink at some bar puking out whatever you just ate within the last two hours, you really have some deep thoughts.

I think that I have this whole Jekyll and Hyde thing going. I have this side of me that wants to be a good Catholic and Christian. And this other side that loves going bonkers and blowing chunks for the fun of it, burning up my lungs and killing my liver. Think it's rather unnerving to tell you the truth.

It's the Jekyll in me that's saving me from Mr. Hyde.

One and a Half Years on

I found an old post off my blog dtd October 21, 2005.
It had a list of the stuff that I wanted to do after my A's. 1 1/2 yrs down the road since that post, I review how much of it I can cross off my To-Do list.

things to do after As:
-get a job
did that. worked at two places before enlistment. met people that i never would have met if it hadn't been for this job. had fun at the cafe. caught up on sleep in the storeroom at ubi. learnt stuff. most imptly, got paid for it. lol

-get my bike license
accomplished that at long last.

-get my bike [the obvious next thing to do after I get my license]
got it. wasn't the one that I was initially eyeing. but it proved to be a damn good choice. check out my trailing pics for evidence.

-take up photography more seriously instead of trying to make shots off my digicam look good. hopeless task. (pending)
now this one is really something that I wanna persue further. but I haven't got the cash to get a better cam yet. in time. listing it as pending.

-do my time [BMT not jail]
have completed my BMT. now I just need to serve out the rest of my time.

-apply for WSO in the airforce
well. I got the application part down. wasn't accepted but that's alright. am now serving in the airforce though just not in the way that I initially thought I would.

-try for the airforce scholarships to local uni
nullified due to the earlier point.

-complete my bond with the airforce
see previous.

-NIE
i'm still up for this one. think i'll most likely be applying for NIE later this year or just after my ORD.

-teaching. the noble profession
almost there.

Julien Dupont

damn. makes BMX street look ordinary man.

Old Made New

Was reading today's newspaper and I noticed an article on the front page commenting on renovation Pre-war buildings (not the picture above. that's just some random building to build the mood) into new swanky clubs, art institutes, etc. While I agree that we should be doing something to keep these buildings preserved, I don't think that they should be totally transformed beyond the point of recognition.
Why can't we leave these buildings in peace! Colonial architecture is really beautiful. The little designs that decorates overhangs, the pillars, the archways. And places like Clifford Pier. The gigantic open space of the main foyer and the little details that gave it charm combined with the practicality of the pier. I'm glad that at least the Fullerton building retained it's frontage and was put to use in an innovative way. It would be a real tragedy if they had torn it down and built some uber neo-modern stylised million-dollar monument to some young punk of an architect. But I think that in doing what they did, they really set themselves apart and did the new-in-the-old thing pretty well. Kudos to the management.
I'm not saying of course that we shouldn't come up with our own styles and new trends in architecture. Just that it shouldn't be at the expense of the beautiful buildings of the past. But I really do find that sometimes these new concepts can be rather an eye-sore. For example, I saw another article recently featuring plans for a new combination condo. Combination in the sense that the front facade of the condo would be this restored colonial building, where all the condo facilities and the club house will be, with a new-age residential building behind it. Frankly... UGLY LAH!! Looked terrible. It was like a Frankenstein building. Or like some tai tai that had a boob job and a full body augmentation but the face lift from hell.
I feel that Singapore has always been obsessed with renovation, change, renewal and upgrading. We're forever building over and tearing down our past and building newer and bigger monstrosities. My only respite is that these Pre-war buildings have maintained their old charm but just been repaired to make them safe for occupation.
To me, that's the reason why so many Singaporeans don't really feel that strong a sense of patriotism to the land. I mean how many places can you look and say "This place hasn't changed since I was a kid" and reminisce about all the good times that you spent there as a child. Even in my short 20 year life, I've seen so many of the places that I used to go as a kid change. The shoe house playground in Serangoon North is now a "fitness corner", the playground at my old home in Hougang, Gardens would be unrecognisable to someone that hasn't been there for a few years and the houses around me are getting knocked down in favour of large multi-storey houses that look way too big for the land area.
It's kinda sad really. That you can't keep your childhood homes intact the way that you remember. But sometimes it really can't be helped. Singapore has that problem of limited land area. We have no where to grow outwards so we had to grow up and over the past. It's something that's unavoidable given the lack of space. I just hope that the history and legacy of Singapore's past isn't forsaken.

Tired

I have no idea why but recently I've been really tired.
and sleeping isn't really helping. i slept a whole 9 1/2 hrs last night and I still yawned thru my day at the office. ?? wth?
it's really kinda irritating. cuz it's not like I've been stressing out abt something or been doing a lot of physical activity or anything of the sort.
lack of iron? low blood count? what's wrong with me!!??!

well. it's been four days into the new month and nothing perverse has happened to me. so I guess it was just bad karma in June. *touch wood*
frankly, if you asked me to tell you which parts of my body have been hurt/injured/bleed in the past month... well.. it'll be a lot easier on my to list out where hasn't been hurt. basically it's just my head and my left upper arm. maybe that's why I've been feeling tired? loss of blood?

but anyway. let's not focus on what's happened and onto what's to come in the months ahead. healing, I hope.

Sian-sation

Terribly bored. It's a Tuesday night and there's nothing on TV, too lazy to surf the Net, tired of watching all my South Park collection again and I'm working tmr so don't really wanna go out tonight. aaaarrggghhh..