LiFe and ThoTs

When Things are Going Bad

2010-03-01T00:18:00.003+08:00

Songs that you remember from last time.. Help to lift the mood, make you smile, and to remind you that there is hope and someone you can depend on!

Did you ever talk to God above
Did you ever talk to God above?
Tell Him that you need a friend to love
Pray in Jesus name believing that
God answers prayer

Have you told Him all your cares and woes
Every tiny little fear He knows,
You can know He'll always hear and
He will answer prayer

You can whisper in a crowd to Him
You can cry when you're alone to Him
You don't have to pray out loud to Him
He knows your thoughts

On a lofty mountain peak He's there
In a meadow by a stream He's there
Anywhere on earth you go
He's been there from the start

Find the answer in His word its true
You'll be strong because he walks with you
By His faithfulness He'll change you too
God answers prayer.

____________________
How true the song rings... that there is always someone who can be called on... to talk to cry or even to seek guidance from...

Walking with Jesus:
walking with Jesus,
walking everyday, walking all the way
walking with Jesus
Walking with Jesus alone

Walking in the sunlight, walking in the shadow
walking everyday, walking all the way
Walking in the sunlight, walking in the shadow
walking with Jesus alone.

But why?

2010-02-12T03:45:00.003+08:00

I am carried

Day by Day and Hour by Hour
Your love for me from Heaven flows
Like streams of water in the desert
Living waters flow

You walk beside me, gently guiding
Leading me through every storm
Everlasting, never changing
Grace and Love divine

Mercy's healing grace, relieving
Every spot and every stain
Forgiven freely no more guilty
love has conquered shame

The broken mended, Night has ended
The lost and lonely lost no more
For I am carried in the arms
Of grace and love divine

I am carried in the arms of grace and love divine
I am held by hands of healing, washed by waters pure
Lifting up my heavy heart, held in grace scarred hands
I am carried in the arms of grace and love divine.

Never worthy never earning
all my works now left behind
ever onward, ever upward
You call me on to rise

Above my darkness, all my failure
Every fear and every pain
always carried, always covered
By grace and Love divine
________________________________
Grace and love divine... Thank You Lord for the things that have happened and are continuing to happen.. Your timing is... precise/timely.. for want of a better word... was it by design??

Some photos from my Dive Trip

2010-02-08T22:44:00.002+08:00

Actually.. Should have posted this a month back.
What can I say? I'm slow.. or rather.. busy out of my mind....

Or maybe as a friend said.. I'm just inefficient.. That's why although i stay late and rush around.. can never finish anything...

Anyway some description of my trip... Which was to Manado.. which if you don't know is on the province of sulawesi indonesia..

You don't touch your bags almost immediately after you touch down at airport. There is someone to meet you. You tag your bags. Then just get on the bus. They take you to Cocotinos resort. You fill up a form, have sandwiches and a nice cool drink while everything is being sent to your room... there is a basket in your room... All the stuff u need to dive dump in basket.. sit back, relac one corner... prep camera..When the time is right. just go to the boat.. quick check.. everythings already rigged up..

you go, you dive, when you're back.. they help you carry up everything and change tanks for you. They offer you a towel with your name tagged to it... You also get offered cookies, hot drinks fresh fruit..... next dive.. just repeat...

At the end of the day.. when you go back..if its a hot day, there's cool towel waiting for you as you step off the boat.. if its a stormy or rainy day as often it was for my trip, there's a hot towel waiting for you instead... now, that's what i call service. Not much to do at the resort... but relax.. relax... =) nice

Food's not bad.. although that's subjective i guess... Westeners might not take to it.. Singaporeans seem to love it... well. their loss, our gain... hope to go back one day... =)

and now.. some pics from the trip.. more marine life then anything...

From Manado Day 5

From Manado 2010 Day 2

Notice the electric bolts running through the clam's body....

From Manado 2010 Day 4

Shy little pygmy seahorse..

For more photos at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/shawnkan

Thots on a walk...

2010-02-08T22:35:00.002+08:00

A walk and talk is just the thing some people need to clear their heads for the days ahead.
A walk alone, to find peace. To talk with yourself, to talk with your God. To let go...

A broken spirit

A broken spirit and a contrite heart
You will not despise, You will not despise
You desire truth in the inward parts
A broken spirit and a contrite heart

Lord, my heart is prone to wander
Prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, Lord, take and seal it
Seal it for Your courts of love

From a friend this week:
"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication , with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of rGod which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
-Phil 4:6-7

Everything Has Its Time

2010-01-16T19:45:00.003+08:00

"To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born, And a time to die;
A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill, And a time to heal;
A time to break down, And a time to build up;
A time to weep, And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stone;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain, And a time to lose;
A time to keep, And a time to throw away;
A time to tear, And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;
A time to love, And a time to hate;
A time of war, And a time of peace."

- Ecc 3:1-8

What time is it now I wonder?
Apaprently.. I'm thinking too much....
Its dinner time...

Beautiful Saviour

2010-01-04T01:46:00.000+08:00

Somehow the following lyrics are stuck in my head...

Jesus,
Beautiful Saviour,
God of all Majesty,
Risen king,
Lamb of God,
Holy and righteous,
Blessed redeemer,
Bright morning star

All the heavens shout your praise,
All creation bow to worship You

How wonderful, how beautiful,
Name above every name, exalted high
How wonderful, how beautiful,
Jesus your name, name above every name, Jesus

I will sing forever, Jesus I love you, Jesus I love you

Testimony!

2009-12-26T01:03:00.002+08:00

Felt that since this is the season for His Birth, therefore should share a testimony to that effect.

Father was not well last week... here is the set of circumstances that are too many to be coincidental... therefore.. credit must go to the Almighty...

1) Colleague asked me to help cover evening shift for thur.. on tue.. i told him ok.. and thot nothing of it....

2) On wed... suppose to meet my fren for dinner.. he cancelled... last min.. sad.. and went home... that was when my mom just about to leave to go somewhere... called dad.. he was not well... Just nice I reach home.. can go over pick him up....

3) Got out of the house... 7pm.. not a friendly time to get a cab here in our fine country... the moment we stepped to the roadside.. there was a cab.....

4) So.. expected to jam along the way... Our side of the road was almost totally clear... Can travel at 80-90km/h almost all the way....

5) Reached there...suspected food poisoning.. so went to the pharmacy to get some medication.. the sign said parking lot full.. the barrier still opened to let me in...

6) Called my aunt... Just nice she happen to know a doctor who does house calls.....

7) Called him.. he said that out shopping with his wife.. and would come over when he was done... when he put down the phone... wife came looking for him.. said done with shopping can go home....

8) He called to say that 15 min on the way.. I told him where the office was...... he arrived smack on time... Happen to be a customer of the company... knows exactly where the office is so din get lost...

9) Vertigo problem.. he had all the right jabs and medication.... manage to get dad home late at night with no further incident...

and next morning.. can wake late.. coz afternoon shift... how much coincidence can you take before it begins to look like some other influence is behind everything?

Thank God!!

Hantu Dive

2009-12-26T00:46:00.003+08:00

Wonder if anyone actually bothers to read this blog anymore...

Some pictures from last hantu dive... or rather..
my first hantu dive..
the conditions are as bad as i thought..
but the sightings are not as bad as i thought... =)

Some nudis.
The purple one was huge... about index finger... then again.. u rem what was said in the manual about objects being nearer and bigger in the water....

Hmm might even go there again... at some point in time....

the rest are at my google site
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/shawnkan/HantuDive#

Cheers

From Hantu dive

its been a long time...

2009-12-01T23:08:00.002+08:00

slightly better mood.. so can pop one here....

long time since post..
no time... hope i haven't irritated some ppl that i hope i haven't irritated =S

just watched a play.. hmm not too bad for a local production =)

My 5th this yr.. supporting our local theatre =)

Within and Without

2009-09-21T23:34:00.002+08:00

Seems like everytime I type here there is nothing good to say.. Hopefully its always the good news before the bad..

Good news, I'm settling in ok..

Bad news... that was the only good news.... =) Seems to be so hard to find people to communicate with on a personal level, is that nature or nurture? Was it in built in me to always talk abt everything yet abt nothing, or nothing of substance? Are all my thoughts, actions and words guarded? To whom can I be truly open? Well other then God that is..

Over time, I think the pressure builds up and I flare up easily.. too easily I think at the slightest provocation or sometimes even randomly.. Things start to be a buggeration and then I just flare up.. Just finished one... Or is it the little things that irk me?

About people who hear but do not listen... They miss the crux of things. How to declare otherwise when you talk abt an issue for over 5-10 min.. and the person calls you back the next day to ask something abt it.. which was the main focus of the 5-10 min.. have you then wasted that time in your life? Or is it just one of the many things that irk me? Sigh...

Times change, people change... Does temperment change? or do people change not at all, only in that originally what you see as different is actually repressed??

Long Time no post..

2009-09-03T22:56:00.003+08:00

I guess a lot has happened since my last post and I don't feel the time or the need to post and to blog. Maybe I only come here when I am happy/very unhappy/stressed...

Oh wait.. skip the stress part.. when stress don't have time to write things here... =)

Apr to September.. A lot has happened since I guess... completed 2 major projects.. first time organising a fun run cum competition for over 2000 runners...
However, at the end of it, the only thing I have to say is, its over... hmm... not really a sense of achievement.. mayb an anti-climax? or a sense of what I could have done better in..

The other being my foray into NDP 09... my first time being involved with something so large... The Pledge Moment, 8.22pm 9 Aug... "take the Singapore Pledge together 9 of August, at 8.22pm" this was our mantra for the last week. Leading pledge mobs is a totally new experience.. have to overcome shyness and have to be thick skin... Seeing how this pledge moment thing morphed from a tiny arrow into a major project.. seeing it all culminate at 8.22pm... even hearing it mentioned in the PM's National Day Rally...

Its a totally different sense of fulfillment, of ownership, of satisfaction and of pride... still amazed that so much could be done in such a short amount of time. Thanks to the team, Hans, Chan Ming and Matthew. Thanks for the opportunity to be involved in something meaningful and which results can be seen. Although there is a tendency to look back at what could have been improved.. Heh, after all that comments I'm leading up to something....

That would be the hardest people to please can be yourself, and sometimes your parents... Which is good depending on whether you take it negatively or postitively. In a positive context, it opens the door to self reflection and striving for excellence... In a negative sense, you are always feeling lost and always that you are not yet there.... seems like no matter how hard one tries.. both the above groups can always find something better... sigh..... will postive to negative turn??

On a lighter note... Just came back from Bali, can check out my dive album at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/shawnkan
Some highlighted pics...

From Bali

Ok, I admit, I cropped some of them.. esp the pygmy seahorse =/...
Still, it was a good trip.. 1 hr foot reflexology, neck and shoulder massage.. 10 bucks... your room just outside has a swimming pool.. nice!!

Only sad thing was.. after 3 hrs and 5 dives done in 18 degree celsius waters... we only see a mola mola (sunfish) for about 10 seconds!!!!! and it was a glimpse while doing a safety stop!!! for non divers who don't know how cold 18 degrees is..... you know when you go ECP beach and sometimes you feel that the water at your feet sometimes turns cold? colder then the one on top? yeah.. that's about 26 degrees... go figure...

See... in all the good we can always find something bad.... oh nuts.. turning a bit negative here.. cheers.

Frustrations....

2009-04-04T23:00:00.001+08:00

A lot of things on my mind lately..
some of work.. some of personal life...

At work:
Sigh can't talk much about work, several frustrations.. the old and the new.. hard to share it.. coz it can't be shared.. or.. you don't know who would understand... Quite dumb in fact.. when you can't even attempt to throw a chair properly.. haha.. it got stuck in the artificial ceiling... I suppose some of the criticism is fair.. some is not.. sometimes when you want to help.. u end up making things worse.... how bad is that man.....

Personal life:
I don't know where I'm heading and I don't know how to get there.... Now that sounds like a joke someone once said.. that I shan't repeat here... No targets for this year.. windsurfing and sailing probably..

haha instr asked me whether i wanted to start on my dive instructor course... Don't think I am ready.. is it just the certification? or is it the added responsibility and the fact that you are dealing with lives. Think those who have been through army understand it more.. lives are at stake in a way.. if things are not taught properly or correctly... Do I have anything against those who chiong towards getting an instructor rating? mayb a bit, a sense of envy/jealousy i guess? I want to be there but I don't know if i can commit the time or the energy... also want to gain the experience to be able to back it up.... So yes i want to do that, envious of those who rush into in, but fully aware of my own limitations and the desire to build up a firm depth and breadth knowledge first... Does that make me any happier? No i guess...

Think should take a break from coaching kayaking.. need to build up patience first... seem to have lost some of it, no longer patiently trying to impart knowledge, think become a bit more strict and letting a bit of temper show... bad bad.... should never go together. However, a 2 star certificate means you could take a level 1 coach in future, If one fails to show confidence and proficiency would it be right to award that piece of paper? Or would not awarding it kill enthusiasm for the sport? where's the balance? Where's the balance between focussing and spending time on the weaker students and neglecting the rest of the class, or ensuring that that rest of the class learns as much as possible? Should the bare minimum be taught? Or should they be taught to challenge their limits?

In our own very busy lives, it is hard to find time to socialize and to make friends.... to really have a meal and to talk cock with one another.... more often then not.. nowadays its talk shop instead.... Seems like this period, everyone is busy busy.. and also sick to some degree.. is it a trend?

Feeling down lately... Suppose need a time of refreshing and hmm some things should reconcile with myself.. like the instructor bit.... I think I'm very competitive and comparative.. quit comparing with others.....

Manado trip

2008-12-28T21:13:00.000+08:00

Was a mixed year it was... haha the good the bad the ugly.
Lot of rants for this year...

Then again who wants to hear rants rite?
Time to look at the better times ahead...

side thought... 'I' makes better bitter.....

Just came back from Manado some time ago. Was a good break if a bit expensive. Haha would have been better if office stopped calling.. nice to feel wanted.. but i think the break was more important.
Wow, the amount of marine life there is astounding.. even though i don't know half of what I'm taking at times.. heh... Learn new things about dive computer and DCS too... The company was good as well..

Manado is in Indonesia btw, only silk air flies at present.. 3 hr plus flight.

Here's the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/shawnkan/

Here's some snaps from the trip...

From Manado Day 3

From Manado Day 4

Couple of pygmy seahorses. Quite small these.. about thumbnail or smaller size...

From Manado Day 3

Cuttlefish.. friendly, didn't run away. two of these, color changing..

From Manado Day 2

Shrimp, white.. haha good dive guide, who keep pointing out all these tiny things

From Manado Day 2

Pipefish, although I dunno what type, this guy was slightly transparent...

From Manado Day 2

Tiny coconut octopus i think, This poor guy was harassed.. think Eddy did about 60 shots of him, with dual strobes... He changed color and tried to hide in different places.. really poor thing..

From Manado Day 2

My erm.. inspirational pic i guess...=P

From Manado Day 4

Some spider err crab?? underwater..

Sigh till now my fish identification still sucks... Haha the dive boat and the resort staff were both fantastic...Over eaten i guess, too much good food and good service... Very attentive service.. Good rooms, spacious.. good setting, just seems not much to do during free time... But that's good too... so can sit around and talk cock... retain the human element...

Haha very relaxed diving, just need to dump your gear into baskets... they rig up, for you and they help to recover and re rig after each dive... Then at the end of the trip they wash for you and dry it before you fly... fabulous service. Very experienced dive guides. Good boat crew...

Haha there were scary moments, like one of the sites when the current was scary as hell and being the last person to find a rock to cling on before being swept out is not fun.....well actually it was a bit.. when you get your breathing back down....

So a bit of advertising for them.. its COCOTINOS RESORT and ODYSSEA DIVERS. Very friendly, very good. well worth the amount paid for.

Ok enough ranting and raving.. just wanna say that i want to go back there!!

On hold

2008-12-11T00:46:00.000+08:00

Blog's on hold till after trip.. realise I got nothing to say, or no time to say it.... Does it matter anyway?

What time is it?

2008-11-09T22:19:00.000+08:00

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace

-Ecclesistes 3:1-8

Stop trying to rush things ahead of their time...
Only He knows all the times, can we trust him enough to fully let all things be in His time.
There was this song:

In His time, In His time
He makes all things beautiful in His time
Lord please show me everyday as You're teaching me Your way
As You do just what You say, in Your time

In Your time, in Your time,
You make all thing beautiful in Your time.
Lord, my life to You I bring,
May each song I have to sing,
Be to You a lovely thing, in Your time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voOmWjAVqv8
___________________________________________________________________
Humility was today's cell.. I seem to still be very proud and a tendency to look down at some... y can't i put myself in their shoes and change.
Change is gradual, and must be constant, no use having sudden change only to backslide.... But there must be a first step...

No post.. no update....

2008-10-26T00:30:00.000+08:00

Not that i have nothing to post.. just that i've been too busy to post..
then again.. if i'm too busy then i have no life if i have no life therefore i have nothing to post....
hmm make sense?

nah.. i think i'm talking nonsense too...

sigh i thought it was over and can clear my off.. then suddenly..... a new rat race begins... gosh.. how fun.. when can i clear my off sia????

tired of it all.. been a moody week... y moody.. so many factors... things at my office.... other emotional baggage weighing me down.. physical sickness i guess.. and the weather.... wow... bad combi.. bad....

suppose to hand over all my burdens to the Lord.. but its hard to let some of them go... seem to like some of the chains that bind me.. then you feel sad that you are bound.. so... is ironic the word?

Are teachers supposed to write about their students? Are coaches supposed to write about their students too? or is that hurting or favoritism? hmm... that would be hurting would it not? How about i just say that it was a challenging day to say the least... and its one on one some more.. haiz.... ok shan't say more.... baaaadd..... want to rant at some other things.. but don't have the time nor the energy...

Work colleagues are ok.. some of them.. others.. dunno y they get on my nerves a bit.. then again.. bad me.. nv learn to get along....

Had dinner with an old friend... well not that old.. hmmm was a good one.. frank share of views... haha not that many ppl i wld share frankly with i guess... eh... my life... another chapter....

I'M GOING MANADO IN DECEMEBER!!! WOO HOOO!!!

haha overachieve tgts for the yr..

Now and Then...

2008-08-31T00:56:00.000+08:00

Another week!!

Just watched the show "Money No Enough 2"... And actually.. i think its a good show.... its a uniquely singaporean show... that strikes the right cords with singaporeans... am i becoming too sentimental?

Actually felt quite a bit when u see the granny in the show... esp the part abt the blood in the end... thought it was best to just get my thots off my chest... haha no one to share them with.. so might as well write it here right? Many different emotions from watching this show though....not sure how to phrase it...

Its been a tiring week through and through... glad its over.... need some rest... going to have some branded bags under my eyes sia... Yawn...

Where's the work life balance? Am i immersing myself in work because i want to avoid life? what's there to avoid? or are there some things that i refuse to face? Sigh.....

Life's Path

2008-08-24T18:13:00.000+08:00

As mentioned, the hardest thing to write about is when you're in the army.. Then you can't moan and groan about a lot of things..

Life is.. hmm.. dunno how to describe, I suppose the description is that I've been working my ass off... Think a lot of people will ask the question "govt job got work until so late one meh? Thot is regular hours?" and also "So what do you do during the job?"

The answer to both is.. alot... well at least for the army i feel.. Been so drained lately and my weekends are so burned that hmm guiltily I have missed a lot of church sessions. It looks like only starts to alleviate mid September.. haiz... need a break.. That's y I'm going redang!! From Sept 11 onwards.. A few days to leave my cares behind... and look forward to relaxing.... just diving.. the sun the sand the sea...

Side issue, here are my colleagues and bosses, our office retreat... at an undisclosed location, so ulu and yet so civilian.... was a kinda fruitful time but felt it was very rushed.. well I suppose we can't be like other companies and spend countless days retreating... =D Nice chaps.. most of the time.

Either this photo is clear or the other one...

What's the silver lining in all this work? Well... with all this hum drum about work, I don't have that much time to feel down about any err... hmm attachment or lack thereof in life =) haha joked with fren that we join sdu together after grad.. but now... heh if got time to go home i'll be happy liao.... =)

Cramped all over... Just run my very first AHM 21km... my progressive training was wonderful.. 6->15km->21km with my last 15 being like 3-4 weeks before my 21... cramped out at 16km and limped all the way back... horrible timing thus... also.. goodie bag sold out ='(
no motivation.... Lots of hundred plus, free ice cream and some munchies... it was an experience.. that said.. I don't think I'll go for stan chart one at year end.... =D

Ah before I forget.. a lot to be thankful for.. especially for God, who's given me strength to see all these events through, for an ok working relationship with my colleagues, and for helping me complete the race today...

Ok a freaking long post liao.. time to cut it short and slide out.... Ta..

Life goes on

2008-08-09T14:13:00.000+08:00

Seriously don't know what to entitle this post.. at this point i seriously don't care either. Frustration is mounting... with job with life.... sometimes i think i have a tendency not to put family first....

Is it better to do something but not cheerfully or not to do something at all?
Is cheerfulness dependent on timing?

Do humans actually need someone to share things with?
Sometimes i dunno.. just feel that we need a little sympathy towards one another...
I guess that's something girls might say... that they just need someone to listen.. I guess sometimes its the same for all. we don't need or want criticism or advice.. just for someone to listen... think most of us are not prepared for that.. in which case i'll just keep my comments to myself...

or stop complaining and get on with life.. coz life sucks and thats a fact so? or is life good and we're missing out on the things in life?

Guess its a dose of self pity... coz my next 4 weekends or so are already burnt... live firings, ahm and such.... So that's why my free time looks so precious... heh just like ns rite? the closest comment i got from a fren was.. don't sign on lor... hmm...

Other points is that it looks like i'm a Christian but still living in sin.. in a way... changing but sometimes regress... where's progress? haiz....

Gloomy mood on national day huh.... sigh.. there goes....

Will post about unit retreat in a better mood i guess.. quarrels seem more frequent.. am i going back to older days?

The Grad Pics

2008-08-03T21:21:00.000+08:00

As promised.. some of the frens who i spent nus life with..

My Parents without whose support graduating would not be possible.

Zhengxin, fellow regular fren...

The 3 frens from CPE Fujie, Gary... Err missing Aloysius..
Diana who i met at a dive trip and sok nee, fujie's gf...

Eh.. other pic.. lazy to post.. and no.. did not haf time to wear gown go esplanade etc and take pic...
haha anyway think wld look a bit foolish doing that....

Long time No Update

2008-08-02T22:17:00.000+08:00

Heh, din have time to post here recently... Realised that last time I written is a month ago... So tiring this past month has been. There has been periods of lull but it seems as though everything else is moving at a fast pace at work. So much so that I am too tired to write anything at weekends....

Job that I'm in.. can't say much about the job.. just that its been eating away my weekends so far... Haiz.. then spending rate somehow goes up too....

Just want to share a few points I guess:
1) Have commenced!! err graduated.. whatever....

Its been an experience I guess. Somehow I don't really feel that emotional about it... Haha had pictures with most of the ppl i worked with I guess.. Just a few ppl vanished too fast... Heh even though I was looking forward to take pic with them... =(

Err post pics when I'm out of here........... haha anyway.. time to move on....

2) God is Good!

Well I suppose that should be obvious.. but... heh would say give thanks to Him for helping me in IPPT.. always been weak at running, but He's helped me pass and also help me to somehow do the 15km out camp run the following day... So far His grace has been just enough at the right time in the right amount.

Halfway to finish reading through the bible....

Sipadan...

2008-07-02T11:41:00.000+08:00

Finally have time to blog about Sipadan.. might as well do it before i forget about it right?
Its a beautiful place... All divers should visit... once in a while.. Even though the trip cost is astonomical... heh... well not really.. total cost was about 1600 and that was coz i book late.... haiz... now i have a bit of problem with both budget carriers. Tiger and Airasia.
I admit that flying is a convenience.. but...heh in some case can be a hassle....

The sad saga of flying:
Airasia said they could not total our weightage going there coz we all booked at different time.. so even if travelling a in a group... Heh then we all ended up paying like $200 extra in total... On the way back.. Airasia just message us the night before.. to tell us flight delay for 3 hrs... That would have meant the gate would be closed to fly back... Tiger refused to hold the gate open a little while longer. Also they were extremely unhelpful in helping get a flight back. Airasia's only concession was to let us sit closer to the door to run off first.. Amazing race at airport.. Just made it.. whew... Sigh the customer service of both airlines have a long way to go...

Anyway pictures say a thousand words and some of the nicer pics can be found here... http://picasaweb.google.com/shawnkan

One of the bigger attractions at Barracuda Point, thousands of barracuda swimming against the current to get nutrients.. Hmm i might be wrong about the against the current part.. but.... heh.. it was scarily strong when the DM tells u to grab rock then less then 2 min later u get hit by a terribly strong current... heh.. makes it hard to snap shots.. but the sight of these really takes ur breath away...Only pity was that we din see them spiralling...

One of my prouder pictures... Sharks from up close.. true its only reef sharks.. but.. how often to u take them from less then a metre away.. Just happen to have a better view from my corner...i think... =P they were under a coral.. had to stick camera and hand in a bit...

Posing for dumb pics on Mabul.. Island was near our accomodation.. so we went there one evening.. to walk. and.. hmm idea was to shop for titbits souvenirs.. but the pricing was...*shakes head.. nvm... so we just snapped away..

This happens to be our accommodation. The SeaVentures oil rig... quite comfortable.. Haha.. diving was so relaxed there.. Just stepping on and off a platform.. Don't even have to climb ladder.. the platform goes up and down... The food was absolutely delicious.. Esp the barbecue.. Think I put on lots of weight.. The raw fish (sashimi?) was delicious.. almost nightly.. the food was all very nicely done... Eating good food, relaxing on the sun deck and watching the stars at night.....Eh...
This is the whole group... Went with mainly Ren Scuba.. heh help them advert a bit...

The SeaVentures DM was excellent... He knew exactly where most of the attractions were...Even the tiny translucent shrimp above.. abit larger then my thumbs fingernail.... he pointed out..... Most enjoyable trip so far...
A WALKING FISH!! first time i saw one before.. frogfish.. heh... quite cute.. think pity the video failed me at that point...

Obviously I'm not going to waste time sticking up all the pictures even on my online album.. Sorry.. lazy...

It was a hasty decision to go.. but one that was not regretted... Err frens that went the week after said they didn't see much... HOW CAN THAT BE??!!! eh.. hmm a bit vindicative there....=P
Pity missed the hammerheads.. Ok can stop raving now.. back to work and the real world...

Some Europe Pics

2008-06-02T01:00:00.000+08:00

Heh before i get accused of being selfish with the Europe pics... Better post some here....

Town of lucerne, nice town.. wished had one more day.. but its more of a rest stop thingy then anything....
Rhinefalls... looks powerful up close.. nuthing compared to niagara but.. still... heh... paddling through it anyone?

Cuckoo clock making in Titisee... Din know got 2 diff weights for 2 diff purposes, how the clocks have their tone... etc etc... din buy though.. too ex.. but they're all very intricately carved...

The lion at lucerne.. has a long story to it.. won't bore you all to death... heh if i typed all the history i learned on the trip.. that might happen...

And the town of lucerne stretched out beneath you.. with the Alps in the distance... Got some nicer pics i suppose but impossible to put up.. well there ends the first one and half days....

Updates

2008-06-02T00:48:00.000+08:00

Haven posted here in a looong time... suppose there's nothing nice to say.. heh.. actually been just too busy lately.. trying to do as much as possible before work starts.

Just a quick summary of the things so far...
Sch ended on 2nd may..
from then till 5th.. its been a marathon of coaching and packing hostels prepping stuff for trip etc, settling admin...

10th may, coached in morning, rushed to airport at night for flight... 13 days in europe, back on the 22nd of may. Went through switzerland (zurich, bern, lucerne, lausanne, jungfraujoch, zermatt), france, (dijon, paris) and london (windsor, stonehenge, Bath).
That's quite a lot of summary in a nutshell..

23rd may till 25th may went for tioman dive trip. Using brand new gear... a lot of adjustment to make... Got stung by sea urchin.. 36 spines... painful then... esp the whacking part and the swimming back to boat... now its just plain itchy...

27-28th may went for FMSS school camp and coaching kayaking

30th may to 1st june went to Pulau Aur for dive.... Uneventful.. but tiring... Coz i coached from 8am till 6.30pm b4 rushing for the bus to aur and everything delay so reach there 6am....

resting a bit before heading on to sipadan on 5th june....

Highs and Lows

2008-04-23T01:24:00.000+08:00

I seem to be bouncing faster then the stock market...
Coming off a high completing all major projects last week.
To buying my dive set at the dive Expo:
for those interested, its a Frog Indigo BCD(Backplate) and a Scubapro mk25/s600 with scubapro console 2
Broke after the above though.. rationale for buying it then was that since going to buy it anyway later this year.... might as well get at discount.. now have to weather the leaner months ahead
To my leave being approved yesterday

Good time of sharing at cell. Finally attend full combined cell... Don't really feel the closeness of the previous one... Where we challenge and strive to learn....

To a major low today.
I don't know why....
Envy? Guilt? Disappointment?

Emotional cocktail... Heh i think I missed the chapter on emotions in the bible study.... Y am i placing such an investment in terms on emotions on certain people and situations? Why do I keep letting myself fall back into the same sorry situation? Y am i still affected the same way? Heh its like people say fall down, pick urself up.. but i seem to be keep looking into the same hole to fall into... Furthermore its very hard to share regarding the issues... coz I feel that half the people will think that I'm an idiot.. not that i feel comfortable sharing......

Psalm 42:5 and 43:5
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for i will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God.

Remembers the song:
(Chorus)
Why are you in despair my soul,
Hope in God, Hope in God
Oh despair is a waste of your time don't you know
Put your hope in God

Don't worry about tomorrow
Just trust Him for today,
No need to beg or borrow
Coz Jesus is the way

No earthly circumstances
are ever all they seem
from sorrow he brings dances
from bondage he redeems

Why are you in despair my soul,
Hope in God, Hope in God
Oh you can't change a thing holding on so let go
Put your hope in God

Hope I am able to let go, once and for all... Its weighing me down.... urgh....

The Thankful and Relieved Post

2008-04-20T01:31:00.000+08:00

Realise that since i came back from australia lo all those months ago.. i rarely write happy stuff.. I suppose I see this as an outlet for frustrations... However now there is reason to rejoice.

I would like to thank God, my father, my mother.... no really.. these are the three ppl I would like to thank in addition to others... Parents for their support throughout the recent weeks when I have been difficult... and for all the sacrifices they made....

God has been faithful and gracious. Thank Him for the help in all the presentations, the meeting of all the deadlines so far, for sustenance, for energy, for good friends and for a loving family...

Getting kinda mushy liao..... Also frens.. sorry for those I have snapped at or been unkind too....

FYP's over.. finally... time to look ahead...

The week

2008-03-21T23:28:00.000+08:00

Its been a trying week... finally wanted to work.. but.. sick.. gout re-attack...think it was the chicken chop on monday and the beef in the chai4 fan4 at night...

Think i flunked the test on tuesday.. haiz... so many dunno how to do...
then full blown attack on that day. Couldn't sleep that night, so bad was the pain. medicine din seem to help.. missed all lesson on wed.. doc said self increase the dosage... heh on thursday.. that caused diarrhoea together with the pain.. so limp to toilet.... bleah... cancel with prof... again....

Thankfully much better after... heh my most expensive cab fare that night.... 28.80... caught in jam... still end up taking mrt to my destination..... still late.... think got something against the comfort booking service now... dinner at "miss clarity" with weizhi and xiaorui...

That's me looking sad that i can only take fish....but hey.. this week lost over 1 kg.... so...let's hope it stays off...

Turning to today... not sure the mood for today...today's the day we remember our Saviour's death on the cross. I suppose to mood is thankful and free...

*this section has been removed....

Gloomy outlook

2008-03-18T14:34:00.000+08:00

The financial markets have been gloomy so far, the weather has been gloomy... My modules look gloomy.... heh no wonder i'm gloomy now....
worse time to write this is after a test... think first time.. felt so miserable after a uni test that din stay around long after lunch wif frens.. just upped and went...

Combination of factors i suppose... My only wish is to just finish everything and get out of nus... damn frustrated with it already... however the hope of getting out diminishes.... looking at results to date... FYP lagging.. Ray tracing lagging.. DCT converter lagging... Sigh....

Feelings of melancholy to date.... Really thank the friends that have seen me through a period of low self esteem and... a bit depressed... My apologies to those i've aggravated last 2 weeks or so...

Much better.. but still on a downward slump i guess....Wonder what's the root cause.. and whether its been tackled... =)

So many places want to go after exams.... Haha scheduling.. scheduling...

Endgame...

2008-03-08T00:41:00.000+08:00

What do they say.. the end is in sight....
Dun even know why i bother to write this, this week...

Wasted week a lot... At least 1 proj done 10%....

Went for Kent Ridge Hall Production. Not too bad, think in all plays/productions there are always characters to liven it up... It did keep us chuckling... Last min Michael couldn't go...

Heh think i have to work on my ppl skills... like non existent... haiz....

IT show is on.. but no money to buy stuff.. so can only go see...
Another brooding week.... my mind sometimes still drifts to... other things.... haiz... haha well actually i dun mean haha.. but... haha....

Recall what i read in a book... If we keep searching after what we want or what we think we want... Then we'll miss out on what God has planned for us.... so leave it to Him..... well said but.. the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak....

I end with
meetings are where "you have a gathering of people who are wearing uncomfotable clothing & would rather be somewhere else. The major difference is that most funerals have a definite purpose

The bad after the good...

2008-02-26T21:58:00.001+08:00

Dun mean to write this post after the happy ones i wrote.. but... need to get it off my chest i suppose.... Very miserable as I write this... I suppose there is humor in some of the situations that i describe later....

Came back from Perak with some pain on the ball of feet at left toe. Causing me discomfort as i went through the caving portion. Went to see doc on monday. Took cab coz much too pain to stand on public transport...

NUS doc's first suspect was also my worst fears...Gout.. Both sides of my family has (dad and grandma) so.....But I didn't expect at my age.... shouldn't have feasted so much... then again.. when compared to others, the portions and things i eat all seem relatively normal... So.. why me???!!! self pity i guess.... Should have been more careful since more predisposed towards it...... Anyway other then that symptom, took a uric acid test. (LEFT arm draw blood) Level is high, (normal 7 mine's 9+).

Funny part is doc said want more tests so got blood test and a 24 hr urine test. Went back to lab, they drew blood form my (RIGHT arm). Look a bit like a druggie now.. both hand got holes... worse.... hear the nurse say "oh no, mistake".... the blood and urine sample suppose to send together and cannot keep in fridge overnight... inaccurate result.. so can i come back tomorrow for ANOTHER blood withdrawal......

Now my hand has 3 holes from blood drawing.... Toe's still pain and.. the... heh disgusting thing was the urine test meant that they had to collect every drop of pee for 24 hrs... given a large container to do so... Heh, confined to room for whole day.. as don't wanna be carrying erm... bottle of erm.. u know.. around....

Think i'm still feeling a little depressed... after yest, no mood to work after this.. wondering how it will affect my life... doesn't seem to affect my dad's tho.. although he's now very cautious about what he eats and stuff....Haiz....

To this end I would like to say a big THANK YOU to all my friends so far for the moral support you've given in the last two days. (Jinliang, Manfred, Qiyun, Chris, Amelia) To those who didn't know before this blog, not that I didn't want to say.. but... Also feel bad about burdening you with my problems.... Especially since some of you are due for good times ahead...

Oh yes, as a bit of bright spark, Engin won the canoe polo match last sat!! Go Engin!! Heh sadly wasn't around to share in their joy as was bouncing around in Perak, but well deserved I suppose after last 3 yrs of no gold... Heh told that I got medal as well for last Sun's effort.. very undeserving of me.....Heh who knows, maybe if I were on the team we wouldn't have won? =P

Perak was.. FUN!

2008-02-25T01:02:00.000+08:00

Should blog more often.
First up would like to thank those who really helped last week. I'm sorry like not really carrying my weight for the project... Thanks Khalid.

Friday was my running off day! Or more like last week I had enough on Thursday liao. Went home. Friday hectic, run for meeting, then after that meet for trip. We met at Mustafa centre. Had dinner and waited for the trip...
Here's the 2 boats we brought up.. Other one was there liao.

After a semi sleepness night on the bus... (8 hours of luxurious torture on a 27-seater) We finally reached Perak at... 5 in the morn. All we day trippers slummed in a room at Hotel Excelsior.. waiting for some shop to open for breakky... Dim sum it was for breakfast...

Transferred to lorry to bring us to the entry point for rafters.... Machiam like cattle being transported... Had to pay attention or liable to get face hit by branches... Here we are at the entry point. All of us did a confidence swim in the river first.. Heh kinda insisted on mine.. to get over my erm.. trauma from last time I did river kayaking. Yihui got a souvenir from that... Ow...

The river was great!! As in from a beginner point of view.. The only river I have to compare with is Nepal and comparatively, had more confidence running this river then that. In the sense that certain times I'm willing to take bit different paths and let ppl go further ahead rather then like err.. sticking to my guide's boat like glue...... Haha then again we were following rafts.. which went slow.. lots of play time.... Lots of boulder and rock though.. Butt pain.. and.. got one time bounced up into the middle of a drier patch and got stuck.. Had to get out of kayak and push.. Lost my paddle getting in.... had to hand paddle after it... lucky caught it just before capsize... Grade 2 rivers... they said can go to 4 in rainy season....

Very tired from it... We explored to the end, after the rafters got out... Had to rush for lunch then caving... Caving was fun.. but we were quite stoned by then liao... Haha.. first time leopard crawling in a long time.... Some of the passages are like knee height.... No cave pics.. Someone said my camera no battery liao... Which is bluff lor.. so much batt left....

Only disappointment is missed the Ipoh Hor Fun.... ='(
Next time bah!

Another long trip back.. To sleep a bit then help out with dive intro course... Dead tired after that.. Can just knock out.....

LAzy...StResSed....

2008-02-20T00:42:00.000+08:00

Conflict of interest sia...

Too lazy to blog of anything.. what's interesting about student life anyway?

Haha 4 yrs of playing Inter Fac canoe polo... Pity i don't think i will complete this year's match... sorry guys... thousand apologies.. Hope you win... The wish of all the year 4 players! Err another of those once in a lifetime chances and choices... so many to make... so little time.... Haiz....

Work been piling up... so many things due at once... gosh... i hope can finish most of it... think i'm like those wanting to get out of nus one... can't wait... heh need a break....

that's what i always say anyway...
Above was my V'day activitiy for this year... Haha so lonely... happens to be kind of accenuated every year at this time....... usually ignore it for other times.... This yr was 2 single guys....having subway.... always wished it were different every other yr.... well... no proactive.. no hope =) wanted to treat Chris some more b4 he fly back to aussie land... just happen to be broke tho.. nearly he treat me... pride wun accept that tho.. Holland V is crowded sia... and heh saw old friends.... Hopefully.. ming nian hui gen hao..... think my chinese is too poor to try this sort of thing....

This is my post vday pic... haha actually had Cold Rock on vday too... heh my second in 2 days... Shit sia.. din know can mix 2 flavour for the small cup too... so darn expensive sia..... haiz..... haha... need to save for the lean months ahead.... Some frens... sometimes can get along sometimes get on nerve.. haha... well good and the bad... mayb its for me to learn patience....

Ah well back to work.. Proj 1 due 2359 today.... Test tmr... proj 2 starting.. FYP untouched... LAb 3 and 4 from other mod untouched.... Msia trip Friday, Packing prep and transport... Meeting with BB ppl, my DM course halfway... ARGH... all clashing together...

Time Marches On...

2008-01-31T22:29:00.000+08:00

So, what does the title have to do with the post? Absolutely nothing I hope...
Good friends are hard to find, how often have we heard that?
One would have to be very fortunate indeed to find one that not only you can communicate freely with, but shares the same common interests...Really thankful for those that I have found...

Haha slight poke here.. but only wish that they wld complete what they started.. sometimes a bit hard to get that to happen heh...

Singapore nowadays.. With everything going up in price... its no wonder that ppl are looking around for bargains.. and if they can avoid paying all the better... How to explain that sometimes.. no choice... you have to pay the price? Even though it puts ppl off but I mean its a bit hard to survive on charity and the person on the other end has to eat as well...I suppose brings me back to asking what is the value we place on certain things, how interested and enthusiastic are we about it? What is the price we are willing to pay and the ends we are willing to go to get something done?

Haha sometimes it irks me to see something half completed (funny how that does not apply to my FYP...) Probably same thing when I see something half complete by my friends (no one in particular, don't be offended) Is this our society nowadays that we turn back when we hit a rough stretch? Or are we afraid to try coz we are afraid to fail or that we would not be able to complete the journey before us?

".....The spirit is willing, but the body is weak" - Matthew 26:41

Quoted in part, but oh how true....

Heh a bit hard to find kakis for a lot of stuff to do.....
_______________________________________________________
One of the hardest things to do is to let go.
As we go through life, we keep picking up baggage along the way.. Some we drop.. or the baggage claim gets lost =) (hopefully)
other times.. we just keep accumulating, until later on in life, we're all weighed down.... stuck in place and unable to inch forward because of all the weights we are carrying.

The past hurts, the grievances, the disappointments, the missed opportunities, the rejections, the things we should have done, the hates, the spite.... Probably if you got $10 for each one u're carrying, you'd probably be a rich person by now....

Hopefully we learn and are able to dump off more then we pick up.. Else every interaction and every situation thereafter will be incomplete and we would not experience the fullness of it... Should have more lessons on how to dump baggage instead of all the money management etc courses they have now... heh...

Just thinking about it as I go for this sem of NUS.. how much weight I carried through all these years... The scabs that start to bleed as soon as you pick at them... Look forward to a new beginning... Haha oh yah got other baggage from other places... but....well...

The song "Count Your Blessings" might be darn old.. but heh.. it still rings true...

Time to move on and look at the good instead...

First week of school

2008-01-21T21:47:00.000+08:00

School's started.. the rat race has begun and already we feel left behind...

Last time i'm going thru this i guess...

Y have i never gotten a 3 day week i wonder.... heh.. good to see old faces... looking even older after stressing thru fyp...

Saturday Sunday was nuts....

Slept late on Fri.. about 4am.. woke up 9-ish saturday, rush to lecture.. finish lecture... late... coz the lecturer dunno how manage time....1240..

Rush Kallang, paddle from 2-5pm... my brother's course.. go to make sure he can make it... Rush from Kallang to home. Change, rush from home to east coast by 7.45....

Dinner.. nite cycle... eastern park connectors again... quite a relax route... less siong then other places... not that much sight see during the nite tho...

Finish 4am, reach home, be in church by 8..... everything over finally... 2pm... zzzz

Kinda fun.... Except for one or 2 things that mar the event...

Might as well get it off my chest here and forever hold my peace right?

Party A initiated today night cycle. Then suppose to meet at east coast at 9pm b4 the shop close. Short story is A called bout 7.40pm say "can dun go?" How to describe the feeling at that point in time? Anger, hurt, disappointment, sadness.. giving way to resignation....

What was a bad situation was made worse with several other factors... prob shan't include them here....coz that would display too much of the depth of the.... "betrayal" is the word i suppose....

Makes me remember why effort is put in keeping promises or agreements.... Money, Effort, Time and Trust was put in... I suppose the hardest to recover is time.. but the greatest lost is trust....

So many more things to say... but for now... we then realise our standing in your eyes...

No point being bitter i guess... The thing I always worry about is loss of emotion... after going through enough roller coasters of it.. one may one day just shrug and then be indifferent to the things happening around there...

I pray that that will not happen... Forgive and forget rite?

On a happier note something i saw in a t-shirt that's meaningful...

1 Cross + 3 Nails = 4Given

Food for thought

2008-01-10T21:32:00.000+08:00

The will of God will never lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you.

Thinking Back

2008-01-07T19:05:00.000+08:00

A new yr!
What's new this year(some things never change):
1) New rat race
2) New hopes and dreams
3) New friends
4) New struggles/disappointments

What's old:
1) Old outlook...
2) Old scabs
3) Old likes/dislikes

Ok after writing the above, I'm all ready to rant about the new year!

After such a long break, I really really do not feel willing and able to get back into the spirit of work and study... Slow start.... Haha already received one new disappointment this year... Err kinda personal so shan't list it here... but i guess that one was to be expected one... Starting to dislike pasir ris park....

Realise that everytime after i take a hard bump on the long road of life... There's always a "self torture" period. Appears that this year's one is a bit healthier than last time.... Haha... Still the road to recovery is a long and ardous one... Its so easy to fall back into the hole or to dig a bigger whole.. harder to dust yourself off and move on.....This hole looks mighty familiar to the one of a few years back tho... don't I ever learn?? The hardest person to forgive is sometimes yourself... Hindsight is a sucky thing...

Ok do I sound rambling? Actually, that's cause I am. Opened this window just to ramble....

Plus point!! The park connectors are open and connected! I absolutely LOVE the changi coastal stretch... Its long and quiet.... Can go as fast as you want... Err pity no quiet enough spots to scream your lungs out.... but.. *shrugz you can't have everything.... Lots of places to sit down, reflect.... and hmm make peace with God and yourself..... and with the world, and whoever else...
Be prepared though, it does get a little cold at places... and its long... no toilet break, drink point etc....

Topic change, our church does not seem to be growing... True, many new people have joined in over the last 3 years, however, think equally many have left.... Kinda sad really.. some are friends and over time... you kinda lose contact.... drift apart... hopefully still keep in contact with some.... But i agree somewhat that if you really feel like you don't fit in, sometimes its better to move, so your growth wun be stagnated...

Seem to have changed in last year... not as cheerful, as lame, as crappy and carefree... more serious, morbid, obsessed?, brooding..... Seem to have a lot of pent up frustration... Hopefully this years reverses that... Feel better going back to old self... Hate the new me...

New year resolution:
1) *********
2) *********
3) Back to the old me, toned down a bit, more outgoing
4) Closer walk with God, more faithful QT
5) Try to keep the resolutions for once....

An incredibly long rambling piece of writing for me.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you
Matthew 7:7

With regards on what to seek:
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

So maybe all along I've been seeking and asking the wrong things. =)

End of year...

2007-12-29T23:03:00.000+08:00

well not quite the end of year but close to it....

haha dun feel like reflecting on the past year....

just got back from Phuket... fun.. but expensive.... heh it was a ... hard to describe the trip.. since i dun feel particularly close to anyone there....

the first 2 dive sites were clear.. but no fish.. last was not so clear.. but wow.... heh...
Mostly pics from the last site... a short erm... view of the trip... sorry some pics got cropped off.. that's laziness for u... =)

haiz.... haven done much work.... this season... think my thoughts are all over the place...

Long time no See

2007-11-05T01:14:00.001+08:00

Sigh why does this blog even exist since i got no time to post....

Updates(if anyone interested at all):
1)Acer
Settled with them, with somewhat less enthusiasm... not entirely happy with the settlement, in fact 80% less happy then i should be... But its too draining... emotionally, physically, mentally... Don't have time to see the conclusion of this.. so.. settle..

2) Theft at hostels..
For those planning to stay at hostels, this could be a real issue... My yoghurt and drinks got stolen again.. Great way to end off a week... Brother lost his soccer shoes too i think....

3) Apologies to my project mates.
sorry to those in the project that i'm not really pulling my weight... Don't really know what to do... hopefully can put in at the presentation and the final portions....

4) Exams:
Time has come again... haiz... stupid FYP... hate it... just got it to work, now working with the last piece of programming board and JTAG cable in Singapore. If it goes I'm screwed....working CAREFULLY....

Hmm now a bit confused.... Got this feeling of loneliness... Heh... Beware those reading here..... Wonder whether the term despo applies.. haha hope not.... think that feeling along with melancholy is periodic... now just happens to be one of the down periods again.. shit man.. y is it always at year end??!!

Draw encouragement from Matthew 11:28-30"
"Come to Me all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke on you and learn of Me, for I am meel and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest to you souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light"

My rant against corporations

2007-10-11T11:28:00.000+08:00

Dunno how much of these issues I can post...
Damn pissed off with larger corporations at the moment.
Seems like they are not really customer oriented anyway...

Top of my list is my dear laptop manufacturer.
Acer:
Brief Version: Laptop screen cracked, sent for repair. They claim Negligence. Stupid me signed the piece of paper to get the repairs started coz I needed it urgently. The darn screen was ok when we loaded in the presentation. Cracked after closing the lid and reopening... Shit... Got charged $292 for the replacement. Why is it my fault for using the product the way it is supposed to be used?

Anyway their customer service took a week to respond. The promised reassesment never materialized... Ended up dragging myself down to CASE and now SCT to resolve the issue... waiting for a hearing now... growl... NEVER EVER BUYING ACER AGAIN.

Morals of the story:
1) Never buy ACER!!
2) Always check what you are signing.

Microsoft:
If Linux wasn't just as problematic I would avoid this company as well.... Emailed them regarding my Office woes... they email back saying that mine's an oem product,pls refer back to manufacturer... manufacturer "acer" says is a microsoft product defect.. wait for patch..

Make some more noise.. microsoft says send to them the serial number of product... then... still waiting for last 3 weeks for response.....

I don't think microsoft really cares if u said you won't buy their product again......

Moral of the story:
Suck thumb... some things you just gotta live with...

Actually this main purpose was to rant at ACER. Kinda promised myself that if they refuse to acknowledge... Sigh wasting my time... unfortunately my pride honour erm pocket and their reputation is at stake... so now some higher authority has to decide who's wrong and right... Nervous about the actual day itself... first time for me.... other guy looks like he's done this before....

Once in a while....

2007-09-26T22:44:00.000+08:00

Haha..think can call this the once in a while post... Sigh nothing much to report.. No pics to put... coz haven been doing much....

Recent weeks have been murderous.. the school workload... the things on my mind... I really wish to forget, to let go of certain things. Yet still they remain... drifting memories like cobwebs stubbornly clinging.. occassionally brushing against you to remind you of their presence...

Ok perhaps cobwebs is a wrong desciptor... implies something unwanted... well in a sense yes... in a sense u do want it to remain.. Guess weeds is a wrong desciption too...

Guess I'm sputtering nonsense... Thanks once again to my frens whom I constantly lament to... Always seem to write whenever I get the melancholic feeling and not the happy feel.. I wonder why.... Hopefully it will be soon, that I can really move on..

Time to put my nose back to the grindstone...

Tioman!! =)

2007-08-08T00:42:00.000+08:00

My annual trip to Tioman!! Finally.. this yr this is my first dive.. leg itchy sia.... Haha pity that the time we went not fantastic... lots and lots of rain.. A bit expensive i feel.. but what the heck... might b the only time i get this yr...

First time staying at Genting Village... Also don't think i dived at Lebas and Murah b4.....

Our chalets at Genting

Plenty of Stingrays this time around. Saw about 3 or 4 of them..

We only had a few meals that we ate at the dining hall.. the rest we went to whack at the village... Behold the Ramly burger there and the prata bomb... The richness oozing out with each bite...... yum....

For more pictures, can always hop on to my album at http://community.webshots.com/user/shawnkan missing it already.... Tioman that is..

Bahasa Indo

2007-08-06T00:28:00.000+08:00

Very very lazy to post stuff.....
Here goes...
So far so good this special sem.. up to my nose in work.... now on hol for 2 weeks.
Took Bahasa Indonesia... the project was fun...

Pic of us all dressed up for presentation......

Practise was hard for this.... and painful...
Anyway the course was totally intense..... 2 hrs daily.... for 6 weeks....
Glad its over...

My killer weekend...

2007-07-05T00:07:00.000+08:00

Hey this blog almost a yr old.... hmm looks like i no post that much.... haha also when i post nothing much to say.....

Last weekend was killer... Thur had 4-5 hr sleep.. then fri night became the safety driver for fren's night cycling group.... din sleep.. got lost around the great world area so many times... really hate that area..... sigh properly learnt to reattach a front tyre.... always had a misconception about alignment....

then slept 1 hr when over... then went for NUS lifesaving invitationals... Suppose to be photographer.... ended up pass on to Lichee.. then go and do saikang... ie.... setting up competition lanes..... sigh... all went for dinner after.... Mr Sim treat. NUS won men's women's and overall.. not bad... but if u see all the time and effort they put in.. if they dun win.. something wrong sia.... after that went had ice cream and durian with Juan Meng and Bobby

Photos up after a while... but went home totally knock out for long time...

Another Nepal Post

2007-06-24T00:53:00.000+08:00

Some stitched pictures from the trip

Nepal Trip

2007-06-18T23:55:00.000+08:00

Whew just found time to write this post.
This has been a rather interesting and exciting trip.

The first observation was that Nepal would b a dangerous place to drive. The seond being that this could well be the land of a thousand horns... Every 3 seconds u hear someone tapping the horn.

The scnenery here is not too nice when you get out of town, but in Thamel its kinda cluttered.

Click on the images to go to the main photo site i use.

We had lunch on top of this restaraunt... u have to climb almost 9 floors for the view, which is great incidentally..

Once out, the white water is... scary.. without meaning to offend the girls... my balls dropped... The 1st day was spent aclimatising etc to the conditions and skills practise

nice pool for doing that

our accomodations

kitten in the tree, noisy fellow...

puppy was quieter and cuter

Anyway day 2 we went grade 2 which me and yixiong though boring kinda... until started to do a few tricks like what they call whippie...

Actually manage to do the above.. more from luck i think... then capsize a few times.. rolling is damn hard in these waters.

Day 2 he took us to a grade 4 course with some grade 3s.... balls really drop and shrank. Capsized in grade 4 but no incident, safely made it through. Capsized just b4 a grade 3 course and had to eject b4 it...

TRAUMATISED. Was whipping down damn fast. Hit a rock on hip. Then guide was telling me to swim right, turn around to see why and see a sunken tree in my path. Plowed into the tree, got sucked into a whirlpool at the end... lifejack like no work... ended up clawing to the surface. Now i know how injured, weak, non-swimmer feels like.. only wanted air.. Damn painful and damned panic at the end... sigh... Boat drifted far down and needed help limping to it. Bailed again later on when arm strained and slipped a little.... injured arm injured leg, slipped and fell when i reached back camp.

It was a nice trip.. but glad it was over... in a sense... Need some time to get over it before doing again. Think coz of the water i drank. Came back with fever, flu, stomach problems aches... haiz... still in recovery... bleah....

From back to front.

2007-05-29T22:27:00.000+08:00

Will mention the just passed period first.. Coz got supporting photos...
This was bintan.. Shiok place... Except for bloody sandflies... Sun, sand see and food... what more can you ask for. Pity it rained the second day so no able to snorkel.. anyway the near reef not much to see.
Fully expense paid somemore... sui4! Had to rush back though coz we did not want to take the last ferry, so we stood there waiting and praying.. sorry to abandon the Legs and Paddles people this yr.. but err.... the terms here were better.... heh....

Sigh after that is back to hectic stressful Singapore. Meng said he could feel the stress just stepping off the ferry....

The end is in sight...

2007-04-27T10:52:00.000+08:00

One more paper!! Thus ends this semester of pain... And it has been a tiresome sem... well expected i guess...

Upcoming paper worse one so far... a day before the exam.. went online to search through tutorial solutions and such to look at when... found out that the lecturer removed EVERYTHING from his website... the site is still there, music still playing, things still scrolling, but when click the links for the lectures, tutorials or tutorial solutions.. u just get the message "file not found"... PANIC!! Thank God for frens who have some of the missing stuff.... else would haf died a few times by now.
Bad day tho.. printer refuse to cooperate, hot water dispenser at our level got damaged(dunno which idiot), nose acting up.... but... it's all gonna b over soon!!

After exam plans:
1) Go Nepal
2) Work - 2) was dependent on 1) sacrificing 1 special sem to go nepal....
3) Canoe - itching to get into the water again. just to get it out of my system
4) Catch up with frens - been neglecting quite a few recently...
5) Operation "Bust a Gut" - stalled weight loss plan...
6) Get out - hate being cooped up all day..

Ok enough about boring ppl to death.. will post pics of things done not said...

To those who still have papers, a big JIA YOU!!! to those who already finished.. WAIT FOR ME.....!!

Reflections...

2007-04-09T00:06:00.000+08:00

Hmm.. a week of reflections over the past... Probably means i have too much free time...

Just put up a new msn nick for a while... then started getting comments that it was out of nature, coz it was actually about something happy.... is that the impression i leave? that i'm moody and always down??

Another fren also messaged me saying that i sound sarcastic.. is that another defensive measure, or a wall which i use to help to distance and seperate myself? i don't mean to be.. but somehow somewhere.. mayb i am...

Feel really lost now, between who i am, who i want to be and the way people see me as... Think i'm keeping too much bottled inside.. but where to let it out? who to share it with, and how much? ironically, the best ppl to talk about it with are the ones that i can't talk abt to... what a crappy way to live...

starting to love walks alone... about 30 min to an hour.. talk to myself, talk to God, the only time i allow myself to come clean over everything.. Too much introspection bad also... Haha like today.. coming out of it worse off.. well mayb has something to do with what someone said...as above... think i take feedback comments too hard... then i start thinking where or why....

"Lot of things are easy to take up, difficult to put down"
"Easier said then done"

ok.. a little better after getting this out of my system!

God is Good

2007-03-28T18:01:00.000+08:00

Thank God!! finished one major project and presentation. The gruelling yr 3 proj for electrical students... took up a major amount of time...

this post is about the project and also a testimony...

We started out way back in the beginning for this.. lost people.. then 2 major datelines for presentation.. and now the final... final house caused us 3 or 4 sleepless nights.

note the photo timing... very early project meetings had we

then after a while the project begins to take shape. lot of tempers lost, and frustrations being brought to bear for unworking parts....

In fact, we broke a chip on the morning of the presentation and the whole thing refused to work for a night... we were panicked and desperate. only 3 groups out of the 6 in the room managed to present on that day. trying not to lose marks coz of it... the timing already went past 3.30pm. by 5 the lab would have closed....

Went out for a walk and pray.... Did u know that toilets can make for very good quiet places to pray sometimes?? anyway.. prayed long and hard... Thank God!!

When I went back into the room, the group seemed very excited, it seems that suddenly they had found the problem and gotten it to work!! Big sigh of relief.

We had our presentation a few minutes before the deadline, and although it wasn't perfect, given the limited time, 10 over minutes, that we had to prepare... And a few things failed to work as planned, really really thank God that most of it was able to work and that we were still able to present on that day itself.

The worrisome period before the presentation; house of horrors, sphagetti of wires...

Completed product: the tired but jubilant looking group

Another closer view at the finished product

Some of the other works. Those who managed to present on time that is...

Another Long time has Passed....

2007-03-15T23:03:00.000+08:00

Another looong time has passed since posting.. feel very lazy to post nowadays.. especially so much hassle with the new blogger... Also where to find time? so many proj due.. so little time...

not much updates this month, just being swamped with too many due dates... trying to find someone to go Redang diving... Apr28 after anyone??

Oh yeah.. Engin won 2nd in this yr's IFG canoe polo... Playing with medicine fac ironically is... murder... One first, 3rd and now 2nd.. better stop playing next yr.. else 4th....

Went IT fair last week and.. of this year's one... I'd say unless you're really really desperate to get something... don't go there.... Crowd's a killer... went on friday.. then thinking i would b back sat.. never bought anything... went on sat... jammed from coming out of the tunnel onwards..

If the show planners ever read this:
PLEASE DO NOT PICK A VENUE WHERE THERE IS A BOTTLENECK OF ONLY 2 ENTRANCE AND EXIT FOR PEDESTRIAN....
most ppl squeeze through either the city link tunnel or through marina....

Current hostel roomlooks like a disaster.... hate proj....

Hmm been feeling a rather down mood these few days.. not sure why... Well.. actually have a fairly good idea why... just not too appropriate to write it down...

Just to say thanks to my friends who have been there... even though kachow u guys a lot... To those that haven't or can't be bothered, thanks also for the lessons learnt....

We learn lessons the easy way and the hard way... the easy way is gentler.. and we should be thankful for it.. the hard way leaves a deeper impression.....

You know, ppl always say when you fall down, pick youself up and carry on, learn about the hole so you don't fall into it again? Which is the more important part? Learning to pick yourself up, or learning not to fall into holes? What about those who purposely walk down the same road, even though they know that a hole awaits?

Ok mayb i should stop writing now.. this is a thoroughly morbid post......

Catching up on....

2007-02-13T20:37:00.000+08:00

Everything i guess...

Happy Vday to all!!! Hope ya all have fun with your friends and loved ones!!

Junming came back for a while in Jan.. so we had gathering at settlers cafe. Janan was late as usual... =) Some other group was.... very much distracting... Still its a welcome peace amidst a bz time....

Last few weeks no time or energy to post.. been rushing rushing rushing for so may things.. Falling behind in my walk with God... Never been to church some weeks...

National Kayak Marathon, Canoe Coaching, Coach attachments, lifesaving lesson, projects, projects more projects.... All a mess....

Gonna crash soon after this post... Been a murderous week....

Fuxian went off to aussie to study vet last sun... Sigh not gonna see him for 5 years. gonna miss him. Hope he has fun there.
Bye Fax!! See ya around soon!!

Heh frens all seem to be moving on... This vday already starting to seem lonely.... again... =/
Well time to nap.. can't remember what else i can't remember....

By demand post...Ubin

2007-01-06T02:12:00.000+08:00

Writing about ubin trip... by demand... from err.. someone.... (That's the only thing i can do.. can't expand on rest of entries.. too much time...)

Anyway went to ubin on new year's eve eve.. ie 30Dec... suppose to quite many ppl go one.. then as usual lah... plan plan... then ppl cannot make it... in the end.. left with 3 musketeers only....

This was taken off the new boardwalk they building at chek jawa..... suppose to be close for renovation.. we err.. went in by the side... Weilun, Amelia, Moi...

On top of the highest hill on ubin.... snapping few photos...

after the climb... some coconut juice at the stall below... for letting us park our bikes there...

ok lah overall enjoyable trip... only 3 ppl but hmm small grp easier move around... enjoyed self.. haven cycle in like... 6 plus month? so heh...

First of the New Year!!

2007-01-03T22:36:00.000+08:00

Happy new year to all!! Hope its a good start....

Long time no post.. update... B'day this year was a splash... haha spent it on mc... and err trying to settle lot of stuff... post SEP admin as well....

After that to phuket!! over xmas... diving!!! it was SHIOK.... very clear water....

Saw plenty of stuff... notably the leopard shark that let us pet it... think the shark oso sian.. 3 ppl going around it taking photo.. and all 9 trying to give it a stroke... err pet i mean.... not the stroke that goes with high blood pressure...

Sorry ah.. terribly lazy to post full size pic.. if u wan see some of them pls go to my photo page... look at the sidebar for link. Got over 400 pic.. only put 30... anyway the shark would b rich if it charged 50cent for each pic taken.. it feels like sandpaper btw.. the coarse grade...

beautiful sunsets abound

scorpion/stonefish abound too... shouldn't touch anything...

lotsa shrimp too..... erm bigger stuff... i lazy to post lar... seriously.... haf to wait for it to upload somemore... heh one day after retirement mayb.....

Counted down for the new yr in church!! Nice service.. lots of testimony from ppl about what God has done for them over the year. Would like to say that He's really helped me a lot as well.. what with exchange and all....

Enjoyed the hols.. time to settle down and work.. haiz....

First Week

2006-12-17T01:27:00.000+08:00

Another non picture post.... Hmm feeling a bit cranky.. Came back on fri, went for run, then on course for next 2 days... First Aid....

Mon went back to work...

Tue take MC for stupid persistent flu... Koga came down to Singapore. Had dinner with him and the rest at Crystal Jade in Taka... Slept practically whole day to try recover.... Koga said lot of walking.. and also lot of eating here....

Wed take ippt... Stupid flu... anyway.. just pass by 2 second for running... think that's it for this year. better try harder next year.. after full recovery...

Thursday.... Sigh family left me behind.. went on tour... Europe..... Internet finally working again....

Fri.... Office Xmas party... Catch up with some fren/s... and ahem... dunno whether getting good or bad advice from him sia....

Boring week right? Tired of it liao....

The Great Aussie Tour..

2006-12-17T01:14:00.000+08:00

Erm brief post... I lazy to put picture lah... Ok went on this great aussie tour....

Cairns -> Sydney -> Melbourne -> Tassie

It was fun.. though can be a little stressful... Well sometimes coz of the ppl that travel with.

ok a little abt each of the places

Cairns:
Great Barrier Reef was nice... but not spectacularly so.. Think we were suay.. coz of weather.. Went out was quite choppy.. then din go to any of the nicer sites coz of wind.
Vis oso so so only... Got my own video tho.. and also a cd identifying diff fishes...
Haha got one time navigate wrongly landed like 400m from boat.... swam halfway back then ask for pickup coz shack....
Kuranda is damn boring.. if u not the type to appreciate scenery and nice quaint towns... can give it a miss...

Sydney:
So much to do here so little time. Lot of walking in this city.. esp along George Street to go to the harbour bridge and opera house.
Hunter Valley is excellent for wine lovers! Blue Mountains.. Suay coz got forest fire.. so hazy... Sydney tower view is so so.. Don't miss the Krispy Kreme doughnuts when you're there!

Melbourne:
Compared with Sydney there's not much to see here. Thankful that haf my uncle took us to Great Ocean Road. Not much of the 12 apostles left... Din go for Yarra Valley.. but think not much point after going Hunter Valley in Sydney. More of a cultural tour here....

Tasmania:
What can I say... Fantastic place.. accomodation so so lah... shared a room... at backpackers... A lot of walking climbing etc... but due to the fact got older folks.. not that adventurous tour... Went Cradle Mountain, Cadbury Chocolate Factory, Wineglass Bay, Port Arthur. Very knowledgeable guide... too bad we not really in a position to appreciate...

End of adventure liao... time to go back to singapore....

Photos to follow... When got time that is....

The End....

2006-11-18T08:01:00.000+08:00

Exchange is coming to an end... Haha will probably miss the people i meet here... Though its tough to say sometimes whether we will even remember most of them after a month... That said.. each has had an impact on my life no matter how minor....

Today... I'm leaving on a jet plane.. Don't know when i'l... Err... anyway i know i'll be back in brisbane on 6th dec.... Going on for tour... Cairns, Sydney, Melbourne, Tasmania.... If anything drop me an sms or an email.. I'll get back to you as soon as i find an internet terminal....

Sigh its a happy/sad thing to be leaving.... Happy that its closer to going back... Sad that.. The fun has to end... Ok haf to stop rambling on... Room's a mess and I have to check out in an hour...

To those that actually read the blog... hmm might still continue it in Singpoare... if i haf the time... time is not on my side..... =/

Oh yeah word of advice to would-be travellers... Do buy ur travel insurance B4 u travel... After that its damn hard to find a provider...

Growl....

2006-11-02T01:25:00.000+08:00

Its mid week for SWOTVAC.... someone said it stood for "study without tests vacation" or some crap lidat..... anyway to nus students its known as study week... to ntu students... prob something foreign to u.....

Dunno y i find time to blog... but heh prob be my first post to moan abt something... Just got a call from home saying that IRAS sent me a letter saying they din receive my form... in APR.... wow.. that's... blardy long time to process a form... its also a blardy time to send the letter.... what the heck am i suppose to do in the middle of exam study week 6130km away??!!! As they say... suck it up.... Oh it comes with a fine attached... Rem ppl.. file everything nicely next time... print everything... and send ur important stuff by REGISTERED MAIL.

That said on the plus side... finished watching one season of "evangelion"... Don't understand the end part and all things towards the end... that said... its a bloody anime... as in.. lot of blood... hmm where did i find time to watch.. i wonder....

Oh yeah, the library here is excellent.... can borrow 21 books for up to 28 days... can renew online... oh and their novels are all up to date.. as in... release this month, next month have liao... not like back home..... ok i can stop grouching i suppose..... back to mug!!

Dinner Treat...

2006-10-29T09:46:00.000+08:00

Long story for this dinner treat.... To cut the long story short... Lent this person a handphone when hers damage... She want to treat dinner... Feel a bit awkward so tried to invite larger group... Lot of energy wasted.. no result.. in the end just went for dinner...

Haha it was a kinda good bad day for dinner coz the night before had quite a bit of drinking and no one slept the whole night... Anyway.. She wanted to try turkish food.. and so happen that night got belly dancing....

Divergence:
Stupid belly dancing... suay ah... We inside the belly dancing outside.. After paying the bill and going outside.. the belly dancer went inside... sheesh.....

Anyway things completed that day!!
-Had a treat (usually awkward when being treated by lady)
-Stock up on noodles
-Nothing else... kinda pathetic rite....

Anyway the portions were huge... can feed 3 ppl or so...
Dunno whether she's exasperated with me whole evening... Was being a bit mean at times.... =)

Also had this very smart person... Asked for packet to "da bao". The styrofoam packet came with the plastic bag inside... Said people were being intelligent. Assuming that the plasticky looking thing was meant to line the inside of the packet... started putting the food inside.. only halfway through realising that the plastic bag was meant for putting the container into... and not the food onto.... =P

2nd Last Post B4 exams

2006-10-29T09:27:00.000+08:00

Tag Board's up... pls tag...

Prob my 2nd last post b4 i disappear into a maelstrom of revisions and books.....
We had our final get together/drinking session/ card session/ party on the friday before study week... nothing too fanciful.... Had quite a bit of fun.... Err actually... being Singaporeans... when you have 4 or more singaporeans gather together what more can u do... play cards....

XiaoRui actually put in quite a bit of effort for this "party"... Printing out invitation la... and also folding paper cranes.... Even tho she got this assignment due the next day... crazy lah... Oh and this usually extremely thrifty person offered to "chia" $50 worth of titbits for the party.... KAoz...

Anyway some advertising... Out Sponsors:
Xiaorui -> Titbits + ice cream
Weizhi -> Pizza x2
Alchohol -> Us guys....

ok enuff words.. pictures say a thousand words rite?

Vodka and Jim Bean (Cheap here $60 for both)

One guy + 2 bottles + 2 girls!!

Piano Recital.. From a grade 8 player

Pizza Treat

2 seh looking ppl... one knock out....

So happy together...

For more photos pls go visit photo album on the right hand column... or click on the smaller photos

Target Shooting

2006-10-26T14:35:00.000+08:00

Went target shooting on last sat....
Something you don't really see in singapore...
Had great fun... if not only the long travel....

Types of weapons:
rifles: rimfire and larger calibre one... think one is 5.56mm other is dunno...
pistol: .357 special and ruger semi-auto
shotgun

What I learnt:
Singapore girls can really shoot... for shot gun one of them there shot 3 out of 5 targets.... dun mess with them....

Pistol shooting

Shotgun.... Damn hard to aim.. coz a bit of agaration (guesstimate) in it...
After 11 shots... finally manage to hit 2 of the flying clay targets...

Oh and the "advice" that think about something u dislike when you are shooting and ur aim will improve?? Well.. Bullshit....

Overall not a bad weekend

Tribute to a Friend

2006-10-26T14:04:00.000+08:00

When i came for this exchange, I signed up for the UQ canoe club, there i met this fantastic and outgoing individual by the name of Simon Vos. He taught me quite a bit during the 2 short trips I went with him.

Picture from http://www.pbase.com/simon_vos

He was very friendly and always willing to share, both in terms of experience, knowledge and... even the extra food he brought along for the trips. He never put people down and always encouraged..

Sadly, he passed away while kayaking in NSW on 14th Oct 2006, having been sucked into a vortex at the end of the rapids.

This post is in remembrance of someone I'm happy to have met and am sorry not to know better.

2 Lessons:
1) No matter how good we are, we are all still mortal... and as they say... shit does happen...

2) Always live life to the fullest so you can have no regrets when you go.

Thanks Simon

Mooncake Festival

2006-10-17T17:47:00.000+08:00

Usually don't celebrate this festival formally... well not since a kid anyway... but heh Yikai and his fren opened an invitation to celebrate the festival with them.. so why not? His fren is.. hmm someone who he might be interested in?

Here's thanks to them that we manage to have a really delicious dinner...
Can i ramble a bit more?
Hmm unusual this year is that surprisingly, Singapore side din really celebrate this yr coz of the haze.... i was told cannot see the moon... aw....... lemme rub it in a bit.... the moon was very clear here in the first part of the nite!!

Anyway dinner was good.... Curry was a bit mild.. but stomach wasn't good so... the mapo tofu was enjoyable... prepared by wan ping.. hah think yikai can retract that statement about singapore girls not being able to cook....

Anyway being singaporeans.. we do what lot of singaporeans do when they gather in a group and have nothing else to do... basically.. play cards.. tok cock.. no sing song tho.... and hmm play some dumb games.... ie: how many maa maa jump over the fence......

Some ppl just too tired out to play:

And hmm the finale... Light lanterns... watch moon... something i never done since err... well.. u get the point....

by

Ok from left to right... Me, Junming, Xiaorui, Weizhi, Wen Bing,Wan Ping, Yikai
Looks like some cult rite?
Paiseh pics a bit blur... yar.. for more pics go to my album... for the pics not on album... too bad.

Belated Posts... Dive

2006-10-17T17:19:00.000+08:00

Ok i admit.. very lazy to write.... Went diving after the moreton island trip... off at flinder's reef... Wah the prices here are killer sia... well somehow got lucky.. manage to see things like whales while on the trip which helps err defray costs.....

Our boat... luxurious looking rite? well at least err better then tioman side =)

The bonus during this trip to see whale jumping..... pity din get the twin shot

Plenty of rays on this trip... the darker blue one u see is actually huge..... can't get something to compare with but believe me....

Oh yeah saw some sardines too!!

Rest of the pics... err turtles... etc.. have to go to my album to see as the darn blogger not working well
http://community.webshots.com/user/shawnkan

First time in a long time i got sea sick a bit on this trip.. pui... but the fresh fruits after the dive was.... oh so good.. we nearly finished up most of it...

Moreton Island

2006-10-02T20:25:00.000+08:00

I've learnt to try to break down the posts so it ain't too draggy.... To those who are reading.. sorry not many pics and also not much in depth.... been bz....

Moreton was.. GREAT!!!... For the uninitiated, moreton's the largest sand island in the world... of the coast of queensland.... it is a pretty large coast =P anyway.. Had a 2 day moreton adventure!! Haha.. only marred by the fact that i get severe motion sickness in vehicles.. bleah... First day when we got to the sand boarding place i nearly wanted to throw my guts out.....

Suppose to start with snorkelling.. but our bags all on the other vehicle... so we tried to chase up to them... pretty hard when the island only has a one lane road that requires a 4WD.... reminds u of tekong/thailand..... anyway coz of thatwe started with sandboarding... it was.. wah.... shiok.. except for the mouthful of sand occassionally at the end...

Yep after that had this great sandwich for lunch... tho i scared to eat coz my stomach already like gone missing... but it was so good that... oops... heh... had surfing lessons after lunch and then some games.... sand castle building.... anyway yay.. got manage my first stand on a surfboard.... not as easy as it looks... tho not that difficult either

Sorry ah photos very small.... click for bigger... at webshots...

After that back to our tents... it was a cold and rainy night.. brr... and we forgot to zip up tent that well.. had a minor fish pond there.... still... knock out.. too tired.... oh wait.. we brought bit of alcohol... warm beer..... =/
played cards till 1130.. the others in the group knocked out at 930pm... when u turn off the lights it was so dark that... could barely see ur hands....reminds me of thailand again...

Next day was more tours, to place like champagne pools.. more surfing...... some swimming...

Yep then lunch, snorkel at the tangalooma wrecks... and back on the ferry to home... sheesh.. should have done on first day.. coz last day rushing for time so snorkel was cut short.. anyway was a bad time coz vis was bad... current was over powering.... fish was not tht plentiful... yikai hit wreck and got cut.... sigh should have kicked slower... or at least let xiao rui kick more.. heh....

Wun scare u guys with the fish pictures... think will post the diving ones in next post....

Time Flew... Lazy me

2006-10-02T20:00:00.000+08:00

Lazy me, i'm much too lazy to go update this blog.. letting it fester after a while... quick news flash on last few weeks up till Gold coast Weekend.

Went to Yum Cha on Sat, 2 weeks ago!! First proper dim sum i had here.. at Sunnybank and it was GOOOOOOOOODDD!! even comparing with back home... heh...

Haha the lunch bill ended up to $20 bucks a person... After that went instant noodle shopping... think have enuff to fight the next war if need b... not....

One week after that fateful day... its off to Gold Coast.... Two groups of us went... pretty large groups.... Stayed at this place called "Sleeping Inn". Not bad for $25 a night. Double deck beds, clean toilet, pool, HOT TUB?!!! What more can u expect??!!

The beach was ok lah.. the waves were nice... if you caught them properly... haha manage to do a superman act in one as it was pushing you along... heh... well the rest mostly scared to go into the water.... Xiaorui especially... go Gold Coast never go beach...... Daniel lost his glasses in the waves... nearly lost mine even with the spectacle band... luckily it floats....

Heh food there was excellent... Tho EXPENSIVE..... haiz.. when will i go back to my singpaorean food..... Heh i din wanna club at night.. so Junming, Xiaorui and me played 3 man dai di.... sheesh.... oh and had a few drinks...

Yup ok quite an enjoyable trip... but after all that swimming and walking against the waves... Oh wait forgot to mention.... Sheesh got scolded by the lifeguard there on second day...
Coz went swimming... then XR they all drifted out of the flags zone... Think the siren sounded but can't really hear the announcement.... Tried to ask them to come over and back into the flag zone... but in the end they got pushed by wave back to shore... lifeguard was there with torp tube... then when i got over... he said angrily... "When i give the message, you come over to ME.. not U!!" Was darn pissed off over this... Same intention of getting people to be safe.. different instructions.... and we din hear ur durn message...... Pride wounded.... make me think twice bout helping ppl in future.....

Yeah but anyway bone tired by the time we got back.. Concussed.... Zzzzzzzzzz

7-Up

2006-09-14T23:17:00.000+08:00

Week 7's update...
went horse riding at nerang this weekend...
not much to write about this week... short post.. pretty much boring coz i'm starting to rush assignments and study for test....
Just blew $283 on the darn dive housing that i lost... sigh.. hope its worth it!!

Hmm really not much this week.. the only grouse is that.. AUSTRALIAN MADE PAPER IS AS THIN AS....TOILET PAPER? so used to nice thick foolscap paper at home... sheesh.... haiz.. wish i brought another booklet... underestimated usage....

The trip to nerang was long due to some darn rail problem that require bus transfer...
but wow... the view there is shiok.. so's the air..... the ride was pretty much enjoyable.. its just that the horse follows the one in front.. well unless its like mine.. which has certain characteristics it shares with its rider... for example.. his name is "Bourbon".. nice alcoholic name....
And it keeps stopping by the side for snacks... despite several kicks to the stomach... sheesh... but it was rather fun... especially when it starts trotting.. have to fight a bit to stay in the seat.. and back starts to hurt after a while......

Had billy tea and damper bread too... shiok!

Acceptable week... except that never run this week.. so feel fat.....

more photos on webshots http://community.webshots.com/user/shawnkan

Time is running fast away....

2006-09-14T22:50:00.000+08:00

Whoops 2 weeks since last post... I'm most definitely getting lazy.... also coz there's nothing to post and also hmm.. coz i'm in one of those down down moods now...

What's there to say.... hmm...

Had this thing called river fest 2 weeks back.. suppose to be a weeklong festival... but i suppose the highlight for us is this event called "river fire". Nicely put, basically its another fireworks show.. Difference.. its fired from barges... along the whole length of the river, from bridges and from buildings... heck of a lot of fireworks!! u see something different at each point u stand.

Oh yes, highlight of the highlight, would be at the beginning and the end... U know that Singapore has the national day fly past right? well.. The fly past here is hundreds of times better... There was some aerobatics show we missed earlier in the day.. but at the beginning and the end of "river fire" there was a sort of twin jet fly past...
DIFFERENCE:
1) the jets go from the start and approach u on afterburner... its night so u see 2 balls of flame coming to u....
2) its plenty low... i'd say just above 30 or so metres.... just overhead... trying to post a video here if i can... but.... heh just have to take my word for it that its good.

Sheesh so crowded that... those fireworks turn out to be some of the worse pics i ever took.. argh....

Fives....

2006-08-29T21:48:00.000+08:00

can i not blog? want to really write down my thots and stuff but feel so lazy and tend to procrastinate everytime i do it...

Anyway.. this week was a... hmm dunno how to describe....

Beginning of the week feeling the muscle ache after the "intro to whitewater" session last sun... sheesh.. really din feel like doing anything... So.. hmm good week for study and some catch up... Although the nature of study is such.. just when u get near to where the lecture is... it just moves forward another jump... irritating....

Shacked out all the way till wed... Stupid teva sandals gave way at the sole... sent for repair... Sigh.. need to control spending a bit... although.. hmm.. think long term for some stuff.... grr... ok not making sense...

Went for run on thur.. just coz xiao rui ran 7 plus km.. felt that i had to at least match it.... hmm.. bad idea... stupid shoes... gained 2 blisters.... haiz..... but ok timing better then last time a bit.
Never puncture blister halfway then go beach... mine had sand packed into the tiny slit i made.. and then it became swollen....

Sat went for Byron Bay camp... Wah... compared to Singapore camp sites... its 5 star luxury...
Each got our own tent... got this common facility area... with fridge, hotwater dispenser, microwave and an electric bbq grill... WTH.... all at $11 a night.... shocking.... BrokenHead for those who wanna camp there.. got cabins as well if you don't like tent....

The views from there not bad too... went there for kayak surfing lesson... WOW!!! din know how much fun it could be.. when you catch the wave right that is... not when you cap.... 2 to 3 foot waves....

Something they have here while kayaking that you don't have back home.. Dolphins and whales.... On sat saw this school of 12(martin counted) dolphins.... its like.. 20 metre from my kayak... din get much closer coz i was preparing to run... coz i saw a fin and my first thought was... shark.... not that i'll get far.. coz he's in a sea kayak and i'm in a whitewater boat....

Then when we parked the car on sunday, immediately saw some whale or whales in the distance... well not really distance.. coz like 400 plus metre from shore only.... but by time kayak ready to go.. they have left the bay... sheesh...

Went paddling around a bit... sea kayak really tracks much better... but hmm still like the whitewater for surfing better.... easier to roll if capsize too.... wow the swells out to sea are big.... if u're in a wave trough.... can't see land... can't see frens... bit frightening... then u reach a crest.. and then u see how high the next trough is.... heh...

Anyway had a great weekend... water was nice and cold... =P anyway shoulder strained again.. felt it click a bit while swimming... bleah... blardy... hope it gets better soon.... Time to face the new week ahead...

more photos at my webshots page

One month down....

2006-08-21T17:49:00.000+08:00

Wow what a month its been... Heh just got comment that no much of a blog... more of a journal... Probably right.. the thots that i have, I mainly keep to myself... that's what the diary is for right?

Anyway its been a smashing week.. so smashing i can't rem what happened.... heh...

Oh yes now i rem... Wed was this Race Day holiday.. unfortunately have no interest in horse races.. so went to ekka instead... which is this big funfair carnival thingy... where farmers etc bring their stuff into the city...

The entry was rather expensive... and each game cost $5.. sigh... overspent.. Ok the horses and the cows and the pigs and goats and the chickens and birds and dogs were cute... but.. think the biggest kudos goes to the performances at the end!!! So darn exciting!! Motocross Freestyle... the tricks the guys do after leaving the ramp.. spinning the bike etc.... Drift driving... precision and stunt driving... handstand on horseback..... human cannonball... The fireworks that i din catch at national day this year.... Wow!!! Glad i went.... =)

Oh and picked up a show bag of chocs... =/ growing fat...

by shawnkan

Din take that much photos... more videos..... so can't post that much..

Sat went with CCCB unicell ppl to the Sunshine Coast... Wow.. the views there are... Bagus!! Had this nice stretchin view of the Glasshouse Mountains... The scenery along the drive was so... aw... too bad was a little motion sick in cars.. so had to sleep through it for the effects not to show.... After that went to Montville.. This quaint little town... Selling a lot of handicrafts and other interesting stuff.. like this cuckoo clock shop...aw....

The only regret was missed the ginger factory... The group i was in missed the turn off... the detour and u-turn would take too long.. so decided to go lunch... Xiaorui and Janan went there coz their group din get lost... haiz... want my ginger ice cream....

Anyway after that went to Alexandra Headland for a few more scenic shots... before heading to strawberry farm to pick strawberries... yum!!! Very sweet.. we picked plenty.... Yup then headed back to rest.. Whew...

Sunday went for intro to white water kayaking... Was at Wivenhoe Dam... The bakery there was nice... The water was super COLD!!!! freeze like nuts... the new rash guard fits wonderfully... Learnt a bit about ferry glide... hand signals... tried on that one single jet of water... whew... not as easy as just riding the flow sia.... the jet was fun....got one rock at the bottom after drop the step will hit the rock and bounce up.... Capsized quite a bit... Hope can try more of it.... If it weren't so cold that is... The water rushing down looks deceptively simple from the photo... well for my skill level that is.....

Singapore canoe system a bit mixed... lot of blockages... here is much easier to learn and progress and just HAVE FUN!! Its like... they learn how to enjoy the whitewater before learning more technical skills like how to roll.. i got mine reversed... Oh well.. Ended the day with lot of muscles aching.. haven paddled in too long a time....

Wanna go next week to the surf and kayak thingy... but... haiz... need to start catchin up on work.. things are piling........ Well see how...

NOTE: For more photos... Please visit albums at http://community.webshots.com/user/shawnkan
For photos that are not there... well.. shrugz.. wait till i get back.. too many to post.. have to be selective....

And then there was 4....

2006-08-13T20:27:00.000+08:00

Finally reached the end of the week here. Quite an eventful one... Mon and tue pretty uneventful days... Celebrated Shanten's B'day on tue. Cake from college, the asians went out to the oval at 10pm, with the moon high in the sky and the sky filled with star... and the crazily cold temp........ and cut cake blow candle... heh
Wed was the celebration and long discussion....

Thur had this thing called a twilight concert. According to those staying here this yr one was better then last yr. Last yr was just like show case of "talent". This year the only performers were like hired... Magician who goes from table to table doing tricks, juggler, charlie chaplin look-alike act alike as waiter... But darn!! it was a dress up occassion... really really hate to dress up... especially wearing a tie sia... crapz... anyway the food was good, so was the entertainment...

Celebrated Sherlene's Birthday after the concert. And... sigh kena security complain again... too much noise... think the guard is sick of going that block every week... Anyway adjourned to Nat's room. No one was abt that nite luckily.. the whole level went clubbing... on thur.... Anyway.. Played "mystery number" forfeit being eat wasabi coated biscuits.... managed to land myself the "bonus" biscuit.. with the most wasabi on it... ok lah... just burning sensation on throat.. Xiao rui suay.. kena 5 times. Then had a bit of drinking.. Another bottle of Crouchen Riesling... and Kahlua... Yikai said that the drink i mixed for him kept him puking all night..

Friday.. zuo bo... tried 2 new drinks... run again.. watch movie...

Saturday!! Went Harbour Town, its this factory outlet place... Where they sell out of season or rejected goods... their rejects really have nothing wrong with them.. Anyway... now have great respect for ladies... They manage to shop 6 hrs and not be worn out... some skipping lunch to complete it... They guys finished going through most of it in an hr and half... Haiz not into those "branded" stuff so i din buy much.. To those interested... Nike and Addidas shoes going for $50 as well...... too bad no Asics.. else i straight away buy... I bought mainly swim wear... saw some interesting t-shirts from Jay Jay's... 2 of my more fav ones....

Bought rashguard... $39... the $25 from billabong din fit me... they only had L... but anyway this one was very very comfortable...

This is the shop all guys should visit... Err if its too small can click on it to go to my webshots album where got other photos..

Anway it was a great day... ended in having superb chinese food at Fortitude Valley..... Heh shld see the ladies and all their shopping bags.. Will post the pic when i find it...

Went running again.. this week not bad.. went 4 times.... today was longest distance... 8km... but ow... the blister on foot burst during the run.. and another one grew under it.. Bleah darn NB shoes.... Think i'm trying to do 7 or 8km at least twice a week... but no discipline... before that all 5kms....

To end off... Been a rather good week.. But some how lost my motivation to study somewhere...
Sigh wish i could study harder...

Wk4 midweek post

2006-08-09T23:50:00.000+08:00

Happy Birthday Singapore!! Here in aussie had a minor celebration of sorts with the singapore students...

Rather awkward affair... as got like a few varying groups... This was not what prompted this post... which normally i'd write on a weekend... but still once i'm at it.. let me theorize a bit...

In a group setting, when its all singaporean guys, most prob conversation starts with NS then moves on the uni... When its a mixed group of guys and girls... NS not mentioned... instead hot topic will start with studies, relationships and then places to go..... True?

Ok now what prompted this post was after... Manage to get some.. ahem.. alcohol... i know drinking bad for health... anyway... went over to fren's room and had long conversation about many many things... Relationships mainly taking the bulk of time of the discussion...

Have come to realise that my life has been constrained by a lot of what-ifs... what a miserable way to live life.. as i listen to them talk.. i feel a bit out... like i don't belong there.. well 2 things that i'd like to share is "no use thinking so far about the future, its something we can't control" and "if something good has to end, try to let it end on a good note"

The worse feeling that one can feel is regret... Should try not to continually think about the what-if in future... else only regret lies ahead...

Ok enough about sounding morbid... tutorial still tmr.. time to go love my bed a bit more.. its feeling lonely.... =P

Hope ya all had a smashing, memorable National Day!

And then there was 3....

2006-08-06T17:20:00.000+08:00

Kinda uninteresting week... What to do? Lesson has started.. Spent most of my time either in hostel or in school...

Friday finally arrives!! Went to look for a stupid charger for my NEC phone.. NEC here couldn't help me... worse... no bus worth talking about. Ended up with a long long walk... from west end ferry terminal, to city, to botanic gardens to Chinatown (Fortitude Valley).. Legs felt like dropping to find a seat after... But heh saw a few interesting shops along the way... and....Yay!!! got my chrysanthemum tea!! oh and chu qian yi ding cup noodles!!! din expect to find it here... Heh but in the end.. prob end up trading it... If it weren't a girl i prob wun trade... anyway can go again buy.. so ex here...

Oh yesh, thanks to my parents for shipping my text books over!! =) oh and to Sean for helping me to go check it out!! =) end up saving about $100 dollars... books here are way expensive... Lagging behind already in 2nd week of school... =(

Social drinking and game... sheesh only australia would produce a board game for drinking... The group tried to coax out more abt me... guess i tend to keep a lot bottled up so far.. info and such... the wine (Crouchen Riesling) was superb.. heh din get much info i think... anyway security guard popped by again to say we were noisy.. seems to be a weekly thing... =/

Went climbing up the Mount Coot-tha on Sat which we missed climbing down... nuts rite?? will send photos when i find them. Very pleasant walk actually... Yeah then another walk down... not as steep as last week's.. but scnenic.. and hey!! saw 2 kookabarra's... rem the song?
"Kookabarra sits on the old gum tree.... merry merry king of the bush is he..."
Oops ok anyway.. they weren't laughing....

Also went to this thing called Soiree.. something organised by international students.. allow u to try different foods and performances from different cultures and countries.. and err also... beer... (Tiger for Singapore). Went to clubbing with them after.. but denied entry coz was wearing joggers.. should have picked the other shoes.. Also took a look at casino.. they said was smaller then genting... but sheesh its a bad way to waste money...

Casino..

Church this week was ok... not many ppl.. went church hopping... its a quieter service then last week.. message was on "Compassion". slept like a pig for the rest of the afternoon.

Ok enough of this week... Starting to ramble already... time to work...

Oh yeah Justin, if you're reading this... do get better soon... and next time.. pls tell..

Week two!!

2006-07-31T20:31:00.000+08:00

Week two just over!! what's there to say? hmm got quite a bit of words.
Ok lah the lectures here.. some are pretty boring... isn't it the same everywhere? some are hilarious... others are just... kinda prepostorous.....

Tried another type of beer while here. Stella Artois.... Crown Lager and XXXX Gold. Ok i know i sound like borderline alcoholic... but *shurgz... since here must try mah. Port is pretty nice by the way.. the Jacob's Creek sparkling wine taste's off...

Ok weekend, Saturday!! Went to the Botanic Gardens at mount coot-tha. Followed by a trip up mount coot-tha itself!! the view there was... WOW!! breathtaking... it just stretches for miles and miles since the area is pretty flat... the nite view was sparkling....

Heh had this pretty ambitious plan to walk down the lookout at night. The first trail we tried was pretty steep... The girls were slipping a lot... in the end decided to backtrack. went to recce the second with Yikai.. it looked very doable... but heh think after the first experience the rest didn't dare... So they... tried to call cab.. but all lines engaged... when they finally got 1... it had to make 3 trips to pick everyone.... and hai the cab fare here jump like ur heartbeat.. much more expensive then singapore.

On Sunday, went with some singapore gals to LonePines Koala Sanctuary... Pay money hug koala... feed kangaroos, see dingo, sheep dog herding presentation, baby sheep bottle feeding.... Some colourful birds, some other animals and such... pretty great day!!
Oh finally attended church here. Hope Brisbane Church. Pretty much like City Harvest in terms of size and service. Yup there ends week two.

Photos when i get it working.... but most of them i post probably at http://community.webshots.com/user/shawnkan

First week of School

2006-07-28T00:08:00.000+08:00

Sigh school has started. Thank God its been a pretty slack week. only lectures and hmm different from the way things are done back home.

Arrived on 16th jul 7am via perth. 10 hr transit.... moral of the story? book tickets early.

Stayed at Southbank. Thanks to dad for staying first few days and helping to set up things. Moved over to Union College, University of Queensland on Wed.

Is this starting to sound militaristic?

Haven been to much places, more like tentatively exploring by myself at first. Toowong, Indropooliy, Brisbane City, Taking the city cat ferry, hmm will prob post pictures as soon as I know how to...

Thot the weather was cold when i first got here. But after 2 runs in shorts... Now things feel hot. Hostel pretty nicely equipped, was stunned initially when I was told that the toilet facilities on each level were shared... Expected it to be run like in Singapore where guys and gals are segregated levels. Food's great though... hope haven put on too much weight... Else prob will never manage to find a significant other... hmm though that's next to failing ippt.... ok rambling already.

Everything here's Ex compared to back home.. Wun take it for granted again and will just quietly accept the next fee hike that's foisted on us. Taxi meter here jumps like my breathing rate... once every 10 seconds or so....

More updates and pics and other stuff.. as soon as i get it all figured out... one day.

Internet got limit on campus.. haiz miss NUS