To Brunei or Not To Brunei

My boss and her husband came to my office yesterday and asked me if I want to be posted to Brunei Det as an admin staff there from 15th Nov to 14 Jan. The perks are excellent. 1.4K/Month and since I'm going to be there for only two months, I won't really be assigned that tough a job. Plus Brunei Det is rumoured to be rather "relac one corner" type. I'm seriously considering accepting the offer.

But there are some down sides. Flights back are not entitled to me as I'll be there for only a very short period of time. Military flights are FOC to SAF personnel but as it is not part of my entitlement, I cannot be guaranteed a seat on the aircraft but can only be given one if there is extra space. Thus Christmas and New Year at home is not certain. Brunei also isn't really much of a happening place. ONE shopping centre near the camp and that's abt it. Plus it'll be starting off on a totally new foot. And before I even have time to really settle down, it'll be time to come back.

Am totally caught in the middle. On one side, I have the security of the position that I where I'm not really being monitered round the clock. Friends in base and in squadron etc etc. But struggling to make ends meet.

Whereas, in Brunei, I'll definately have enough but no friends and an unknown and totally new working environment. And they say that it's a totally different working style with the SPs compared to the CH family.

I've always been slightly hesitatant to take a step into the unknown, but this time it's seriously unpredictable and I can't really make an informed choice as most of the people that I know haven't been to Brunei.

Current Affairs

Was watching News 5 @ 9 last night (for lack of anything better to watch) and was seriously amused by how news in Singapore is nothing but a joke. So I've compiled my top 3 stories of yesterday's new bulletin for your reading pleasure.

3. NHS Dental Services in Britain
The newscaster goes something like, "And the Dental services in Britain are falling into decay" (pun fully intended). The punch line wasn't exactly that funny. What was more funny was the straight face that she had on her face when she said it. I wonder if she even got it.

2. Community Chest awards
Yesterday, the Community Chest gave out a shared award for the two highest donators of the year, the CPF Fund and the PUB. Hah! What a sham.. My grandfather summed it all up. "It's like taking from the right pocket and putting it into the left pocket..... then giving yourself an award for it!"

1. Courtesy Campain
This wasn't on the TV news, rather I heard it in the morning while at the office. SBS Transit has just launched a new campain to encourage motorist to give way to buses exiting bus bays. This campain was ingeniously titled the "Give Way to Buses Exiting Bus Bays" campain. Love it how they underestimate our intelligence. No catchy slogans or jingles. Just straight up. Pfft..

I'm selling a brand new Samsung E740 Music Phone.
The box seal is broken as I have opened it up to check the contents when I collected it but other than that, the phone is totally unused.

I'm starting the bids at 350. But if you can offer me 400, it's a immediate deal.

Once again, I say... it's a totally brand new phone. all the accessories are included.
-Earphones
-512MB Micro SD card (w/ Adaptor for SD card slot)
-Samsung Studio software
-Charger
-Instructions Booklet
-USB Cable
-Carrying case for accessories

For more info, this is the official website: Samsung E740

I'll be posting pics of the actual phone soon.
Call me at 91691987 for a fast deal.Collection Area will be in Serangoon or Hougang area.

Money vs. Passion

What really matters in life. Money that comes from the job that you do or the joy and Passion that you get from doing something that you love even if you can barely make ends meet? To me, I have a kind of cliched point of view on the topic. It's a mixture of both. Cuz you can never get the best of both worlds. It is impossible to live on either extreme of the question, for me.

Money. Everyone needs it. This is fact. It's not being blasphemous and it's not being materialistic. But let's face it. What else can get you a place to sleep at night and food on the table when you wake up? It's sad that our world has come to revolve around such an abstract concept like money. The concept of images and numbers printed out on special pieces of paper making the paper into something worth more than it's material worth(as in the physical material) is rather bewildering. The reality of the situation though is that money has become a fundamental tool to achieving a "successful" life. Note that the word successful in my last sentence is in inverted commas. That is because the term successful when used to describe someones life is very broadly defined and means different things to different people. Bill Gates and Mother Theresa. Successful people in two very different ways but both highly respected and VERY successful in their lives.

I'm neither a Saint(-to-be) nor a billionaire so I set my sights slightly lower. I want to do something fulfilling in my life and yet has the earning power to keep my family as far above the poverty line as possible. I recognise the need to be a responsible person and support my future family but I cannot bring myself to take a job doing something that I don't enjoy. Or worse, a job that forces me to give up who I am and what I believe in just to bring in the big money. I refuse to accept the fact that one cannot do what one loves and earn a living at the same time.

Nightmare on Bong's Street

Had one of the worst dreams of all time last night. I dreamt I was attached to Jamie Yeo. You know. The stick insect that presents sports on ESPNStar. Yeah. It was really gross.

I was holding her hand sitting on the couch watching TV and there was nothing there. It was like holding a malnourished frozen chicken wing. You know the kind that is still slimy and the skin isn't clinging to the flesh so it's floppy and slippery... Eeew.

Anyway. Today was my 127th-day-to-ORD day. And being in 127 SQN, 127 is a special number. More than anything though, it means that I have 4mths and 1 week till ORD. Which is more special than the actual number per se.

Evidenced by my last paragraph, I am now officially rambling. Forgive me. But there really isn't much better to do tonight.

.._. .._ _._. . _.. Earth

I invite you to take a gander at the two photos of the same stretch of beach taken 3 months apart.

Before

After

Isn't it amazing what a difference a few months can do to the view. How can you talk about changing the world and making it a better place when this is happening in your own backyard. I say, do your own laundry before offering to do someone else's.

I just feel that it might be best to tackle the short term problems and help each country to clean up their act than to try taking on something that's too big for the general population to comprehend. It's like learning something new. You can't just say "I want to learn a new language" and just go out and learn it. You'll burn out of the initial enthusiasm way too soon. You've got to tackle the smaller problems baby step by baby step. Get a text book. Find a teacher or instructor. Learn chapter by chapter till you are finally fluent in a new language.

Live Earth showed image after image of places far away that were greatly in need of help but I feel that it would have been more impactful of they had shown each and every country that they visited the things that were going on in their very own country. Not to diss the Live Earth project [they've gotten enough flaming from elsewhere] but it was rather unmoving to see something happening thousands of kilometres away. YES! I agree that environmental degradation is a worldwide problem. But the effect of what's going on in Brazil's rain forests won't affect me till decades down the line. Something that is happening just 15 or so kilometres away from me is something way more tangible. I've seen, felt and smelt the problem and I wish that there was a way that we can stop what's going on. But a small group of guys can't make even a small dent on what's going on.

Deep Blue

The Rugby World Cup is finally underway. Many days of sleep deprivation lie ahead for me. The coverage is really good this year. Well. Good for rugby fans in S'pore, not so good for the eye bags that are starting to blossom under my eyes. Sigh. My hopes are with the Wallabies but the Boks seem pretty strong this year.

Anyway. I'm thinking of going for my OW diving course next year in Feb after I ORD and the diving season restarts. Think it'll be pretty cool. But of course, as any other ordinary NSF, I'm low on cash. So that means less spending on the weekends, more cookhse food and less visits to the canteen. i.e. budgeting all the way.

Of course if there are any kinds souls that are out there that would like to contribute to the "Send Bong Diving" Fund, donations are accepted in cash, cheques or money transfers. lol

I think there has been rather alot of Bong Funds that I've set up over the years [none of which have had any other source of funding other than my own wallet, by the way]. All of them accomplished their "missions" so I guess that's an achievement. Hopefully, this one will have the same outcome as the previous ones.

Worst come to worst, will ask my dad for a loan for the trip and pay him back when I get back.

Am thinking of getting a relief teaching job after I ORD to get some experience in what I hope to be my future profession [and the money to pay my dad back. See previous para]. But I guess it'll be pretty strange cuz I'll only be able to work for one term before uni starts in Aug. And in the middle of that term, I'll have going NY for my big sis' wedding. Oh yeah. Did I mention my big sis is getting married? No? well. now you know. Obviously, between the teaching gig and my sis' wedding, there isn't really much of choice. I'd die before I miss her wedding. Haha. plus the chance to go to NY is totally sweet.

Meg & Dia - Monster
Strung Out - Calling
Bedouin Soundclash - Until We Burn in the Sun (The Kids Just Want Love Song)
Gogol Bordello - 60 Revolutions

Some of the good songs from the Warped Tour 07 CD. good stuff.

Just had a good shave. my chin is all smooth now. makes me feel sexy.

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.