Have a new distraction recently - Team Fortress 2 - a really cute game (it's like Counter-Strike but much cuter with various items) introduced by XL and the best part is that it's free to play! Considering that, it's really a v good game and I realise that the offers on Steam (esp the Xmas deals so far) are really v good and MUCH cheaper than buying from the shops here!
Anyway, nothing much recently other than enjoying myself playing com and chilling at home. Met up with Jon, DS and Roy to play mahjong on Wed and after going up the 1st round, the 2nd round was terribly bad with v bad luck. You know it when you keep picking up bad cards like the 2nd last or last card of a wind or dragon and when you're calling 3 cards to game and pick up a card to throw for a "men-qing" (that's a ping-hu with nothing on the table) [not as bad as the time when I almost tian-hu then threw 3 kah-loongs to lose lol]. People zi-mo 4/5 tai when I never throw anything to them so it's just suay lor but oh well, that's mahjong and puts and end to my winning streak, just when I thought I was bouncing back on a string of big wins haha. But it was really fun and enjoyed the crapping when we were playing - a lot of dirty jokes and trash talk =P Dinner at Eastpoint Paradise Inn and the food is quite tasty, one of the reasons I enjoy eating food at the various Paradise Inn outlets - so far all have served good quality food at reasonable prices. =)
Met up with the MJ Bros for a massage at Chinatown on Thu at this shop called Teo Chew Meng Reflexology Centre and it was pretty good. For Singapore, the prices are probably on the cheaper side ($20 for 45 min of foot + shoulder massage - mainly foot) and the aunties there quite friendly and seem quite pro lol. They will tell you what problems you might have as they press your feet and mine asked if I'd been drinking a lot of soya bean (true, a small pack everyday) and cold water (not water itself, but other beverages) and drinking water too fast (maybe true)... The most painful part for all of us was when they press the region between the toes and the toe joints cos those are the least meaty parts so it's super pain! But ok lah, I felt good after the massage I think it's worth it =) Went for dinner at the nearby market at People's Park Complex and the guo1 tie1 from Tian Jin Fong Kee is really good! After that we went to HS's place to play a new game he bought called San1 Guo2 Sha1, basically a game based on Romance of the Three Kingdoms but the ideas are the same as a game I played before called Bang! It's just that they used the story to link to the cards but concept wise it's the same. Quite enjoyable first game but second game was a drag (and quite silly because I died abruptly after being struck by lightning, crap! =P) because it took ages to finish after the game was left with 3 so probably need to tweak that. It's a good game though at a price of $24.9, especially for fans of ROTK. =)
Met up with LJ (for gym) and XL (to see MY off to Canada) recently and they had some dental tips - (1) Floss everyday - something that people rarely do but it is v effective in preventing problems. Both of them do it regularly and even spend half an hour daily so it must be v important! (2) Do NOT brush your teeth immediately after you have eaten. Wait at least 30 min because your body produces lactic acid to break down the food (that includes drinks and sugary stuff such as sweets are the biggest culprits if you don't take care of your teeth properly) and this will soften the enamel which you will remove if you brush your teeth too soon. Your saliva will help to remineralise the teeth over time hence you should wait at least 30-40 min before brushing. Great tip I think! I used to think it's good to eat breakfast then brush so that can remove the food immediately but looks like it's not a good idea! (3) Brush your teeth in the correct manner so that the food from the small holes around your tooth (not visible to our naked eye) can be removed. This means to angle your toothbrush at 45 degrees to the base of your teeth (not a flat up and down kind of movement).
Time to review the many eateries that I've been to from July onwards! It's been really long though so I can't remember every dish but vaguely recall the better ones... (1) Bali Thai (at ION Orchard) - food's quite tasty at a decent price but the wait was v long (on a weekday dinner). The dish I like most is their chicken wings! (2) 3-Inch Sin (at Cluny Court - beside Serene Centre) Went there for dessert after Kuriya Dining and the molten chocolate cakes were AWESOME! I'm not a fan of chocolate but I loved eating it so that says much about it! (3) Lawry's (at Mandarin Gallery) - went there for high tea with my HJM from MJC after the mid-year exams, LOL. It was quite nice and a real "attas" ambience there. Food was decent but maybe pricey (attas food) but if you're a tai-tai that's not a problem. A nice place I'd say. (4) Marutama Ramen (at United Square) - I rem the first time I went to Marutama was at Liang Court with quite a few of my MJC friends a few years back and it was quite tasty though pricey. This time it seemed just ok and still quite pricey so not a fan of this - perhaps standards have dropped with the franchising? (5) Santoro (at Amara Hotel) - considering we spent about $80 per pax but I can't recall any dish that probably means it's decent but not outstanding to me at least... (6) Otto Ristorante (at Maxwell Road, Red Dot Traffic Building) - v nice place, nice ambience and I loved eating there, even though I'm not a big fan of Italian food. I think I had the degustation menu (nowadays I tend to spoil myself occasionally if it's about $100 or so - I've not earned enough to go for those $300+++ types yet =P) cos I remembered having a lot of dishes there and the one I remembered most was the amberjack because it was the first time I ate it and it was really tasty. I remembered they had a vegetarian set also so veggie lovers can try this place too! =) (7) South Coast (at MBS) - an Australian eatery I think and this was part of a dating event thing that I attended lol and the food was just ok to me and so were the people (most of them were much older than me lol). This really is NOT my kind of thing but I just accompanied a friend to look look see see. Can't hurt I guess but ya, I rather not go for such things again... (8) Novena Peranakan Cuisine (opposite Novena Square) - food was not bad but I remembered there were ants in the drink so that is a big no-no for me, never going back again. (9) Western Bar (at Jalan Gelenggang) - Quite a nice place but not easily accessibly via public transport. White truffle mushroom soup was the outstanding choice but the rest of the food was just ok. The boss was quite nice though cos the salad given didn't match the description in the menu so when we explained he offered us something else at no charge! (10) Honeymoon Dessert (at Bugis Junction) - my first visit was with some of the MJC (and ex-MJC) friends and the dessert there is quite tasty. Go for the "ren2 qi4" ones as shown in the menu and you can't go wrong! (11) Prive Cafe (at Keppel Bay) - nice ambience but can be v dark outside lol but also v inaccessible without public transport. Food there is decent and it's just a quite place near the waters if you like those kind of setting. (12) Tajimaya (at Vivocity) - v popular place and rightly so because the wagyu there is fantastic! It's a place I would want to go back to eat! (13) Ice Edge Cafe (at Kovan) - decent place for ice-cream but didn't excite me haha (14) Novus (at National Museum) - nice ambience but having spent about $100+ per pax I can't remember clearly what we ate. I think I had cod fish and some zucchini soup there but didn't recall v much, not a good sign I guess haha. The service was decent and they did have signs which explain the dish you are eating so that's quite cool. (15) Verve Pizza Bar (at Marina Bay City Gallery, around MBS) - ok place, food was just ok. The other thing I can recall was the waiter was v friendly and helpful haha... (16) Tampopo (at Liang Court) - quite a large variety of food and went for their ramen which was ok. The thing I like most is the milk pudding which is a must try! (17) Seafood Paradise (at Defu Lane) - have been hearing about the crabs at Defu Lane for a v long time and it didn't disappoint (though they only had the small ones) but quite inaccessible again.
(18) Joel Robuchon (at RWS) - By far, THE BEST restaurant I've ever been! It's soooooo good it deserves a paragraph of its own LOL. Really, eating at Joel Robuchon wasn't just a meal, it was a LIFE-CHANGING EXPERIENCE. From the moment you enter, it's like wow - super posh! Beautiful and grand decor, from the lights to the table setting which have a grand black and gold colour combi, this was fine dining at its finest. It really made us feel under-dressed for the place so if you ever go there, please dress to the occasion! Why is it an experience? Because I saw and experienced more things than I ever did eating there. (a) They have separate menus for guys and ladies - the guys one have prices and the ladies one don't LOL. That's in line I guess with the French culture where the gentleman pays for everything. (b) There's a trolley for bread, another for cheese, and yet another for desserts - free flow! It's like OMG! The bread trolley was like wow - every single thing you've ever seen and more! From the basics like croissants (and there are many varieties) to basil and saffron flavoured bread, it'll bring tears of joy to bread lovers! Then there's the guy who comes around with butter flown in from France which is kept in a bell jar and he'll cut the butter for you on the spot before serving you. How cool is that??? I'm not a cheese fan so I didn't try but they also had huge varieties from the soft to hard so cheese lovers will enjoy that, together with the fruits that you can choose from. The dessert trolley was another wow - again almost everything you can think of, from macaroons, fruit tarts, opera cake - everything looked and tasted great! (c) The food was exquisite and some of the designs were simply intricate - like the dish where the chef dotted the entire plate with some greenish sauce and the dots were symmetrically placed and each dot was well done - something which looks so simple but yet requires much skill to make it so visually appealing! I had my wagyu, which was very nicely done (medium rare actually, something which I don't normally try in normal restaurants cos it can be v bloody) but it is the foie gras that was mind-blowing! Anyone who eats foie gras knows that moment when you bite into the foie gras and the oil oozes out to give you a truly o* feeling in your mouth. Hence the texture of the foie gras is important because if it's a little too hard then the kou3 gan3 will be lost. What distinguished the foie gras from anything else I've eaten is that it was sooooo smooth and soft inside that when you bite into it, it just melts into your mouth and gives me a high I've never had before. You know those food shows where the celebrities will give you this face and say it's soooo good? I'm sure you'll be like this too if you eat this! The only bad thing about eating this is that all other foie gras I eat since there just pales in comparison to it LOL. Summary: At about $200++ per pax it's the most expensive place that I've eaten at so far but NO REGRETS. Remember: It's NOT just a meal, it's an EXPERIENCE!
(19) Mozza Pizzeria (at MBS) - a popular place it seems and food was quite ok but seemed pricey to me and I don't think I'll ever like the salty meat kind of dishes that many Italian restaurants serve haha. (20) High Society (at MBS) - had stacks of macaroons, many funky flavours as we celebrated Shan's Birthday together and I realise macaroons really aren't my kind of dessert. It's too sweet for me! (21) Cherry Garden (at Mandarin Oriental) - went there for dim sum lunch and it's very tasty! Can see why they are so highly rated! Maybe a little pricey but for hotel food and the standard they have I think it's ok. (22) Urban Spoon (at Jalan Kayu) - food was sucky and really NOT worth the money. That was the worst $40 I spent on food! (23) Todai (at MBS) - as I'm listing out I just realise I seem to be eating a lot at MBS haha. Anyway, the buffet spread there was ok but for $50++ it was kinda difficult for me to eat my money's worth. It's good, but not good enough for me =) (24) Prime Cut (at Kovan) - ok heartland type of food at ok prices, nothing special to me... (25) Itacho Sushi (at Plaza Singapura) - v good place and they have a lot of good daily deals. The fresh scallops were the outstanding pick and highly recommended! (26) Tatsuya (at Goodwood Park Hotel) - outstanding sashimi! Fresh-flown from the famous Tsukiji Market! The $100 platter for 2 is definitely worth it cos there's a good variety and most importantly they taste really good and fresh! Will go back definitely! (27) Shin-Sapporo Ramen (at Century Square) - decent place, nothing much else... (28) Momoya (at Picardy Garden) - nice place for Jap buffet but quite inaccessible. (29) Ikkousha (at Iluma) - the place where there are many ramen stalls and we went for the one which seemed most popular and it was quite ok but seemed to be slightly more ex. Come to think of it, I really need to pay attention and find out which is the best place for ramen! (30) Nara (at Goldhill Centre near United Square) - decent Jap food at reasonable prices. (31) Royal China (at Raffles Hotel) - went for dim sum lunch with my HJM from MJC and the food there is quite good at decent price! Wouldn't mind going back again. (32) Keyaki (at Pan Pacific Hotel) - a real disappointment considering this was I think the first place that I ate during my journey of fine dining. Went for the omakase and had like 10+ dishes but none of them left me wanting for more and the worse part was that there was a bone in the salmon sashimi - something I've never had in years of eating sashimi even in crappy food places and nobody else seems to have experienced that before. The worst thing? Having to pay $150 for the meal - THAT is a waste of money! Not going back there again! (33) Peach Garden (opposite Novena Square) - decent dim sum at reasonable price. The XO carrot cake was quite good! =) (34) L'Angolo Ristaurante Italiano (at Maxwell Road, Maxwell Chambers) - nice place for Italian food at a price though. The cod fish was quite well done and other dishes were decent though I can't recall much... (35) Jones the Grocer (at Dempsey Hill) - had the wagyu beef burger and it was quite nice. Nice place to chill but Dempsey Hill isn't a very accessible place. Mandarin Gallery would be much better and there's another branch there. (36) Megumi (at East Coast) - nice place for Jap food and went there to celebrate Jana's birthday. Liked the fried rice but foie gras was just ok =D
Ok, finally done with the reviews - phew! Been absent from blogging too long already and still need to update my thoughts and reflections for the year before 2012 starts soon! For now, it's time to play! Just bought L4D and L4D2 online and downloaded liao so gonna start killing zombies! =D
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Done with Skyrim - FINALLY! MJC Prom Night; MJ Bros Games Gathering; CT's Death; SRPQ Outing; Pool with Army Kakis; IGC Outing; Futsal @ The Hangar
FINALLY, after about 170 hours of Skyrim I have finally completed possibly the biggest RPG ever! =D Having spent such a huge amount of time playing this game - I don't think I want to spend another few hours typing a detailed review of the game haha. So shall just try to keep this simple...
Pros: (1) Value for money - $65 for 170 hours is as good as it gets. (2) Fantastic graphics and sound - really HUGE world with beautiful scenery and intricate designs of buildings for each of the major cities. Characters and monsters look great! Sound effects and music were well done and contributed to a very enjoyable experience. (3) Huge array of things to do - smithing, enchanting, training, fighting, dungeon exploring, quests - THAT's why it took so long to complete (my quest log was practically bursting from about 10 hours into the game to nearing the end of the game) (4) Great storyline - the story of the Dragonborn was interesting (shan't reveal more to avoid spoilers) and so were the respective ones involving the war of Skyrim, Thieves' Guild, Companions, and Dark Brotherhood and some of the powers gained made it more interesting. (5) Fuss-free gaming - I liked the fact that the game was generally quite smooth - from the installation to the gameplay - something I don't take for granted after some bad experiences with other games (Bioshock and Deadspace). Nothing irritates you more than getting your hands on a much anticipated game and being unable to play it properly!
Cons: (1) Toooo long (lol) - Hard to please eh? This is ironic since I talked about value for money earlier but the game did get kinda draggy towards the later half of the game and I just wanted to finish it asap. (2) Quests were not well organized - While it's nice and important to have many things to do in an RPG, the problem was there were too many and I spent a lot of time to keep track cos I couldn't even remember what the point of the quest was and who it came from until I make the quest active and find the location on the map to jog my memory. Considering there are many other games which keep a good catalogue of the quests and gave descriptions so that you remember what is happening, I felt that this was a big drawback of the gaem. (3) Battles too easy - Fighting was fun at the start when it was still fairly challenging but once my mage got stronger and I got dual-casting and impact, it was just too imba as I spammed firebolts from range. Might be better if you played a melee character. (4) Lack of affection for the characters and sub-plot - Despite the length of the game, the great storyline, and the fact that you can have followers, there is virtually inexistent interaction between your character and your follower (if you choose to have one). This is in comparison to Dragon Age: Origins (DAO) whereby I would normally travel with 3 other companions and would have to find some of these companions myself through certain encounters. These companions could have interesting conversations leading to their personal quests and romance options and you even have to pay attention to what they say so that you know what they like and know the appropriate gifts to make them like you more. Also, the decisions you make with the 4 sub-plots as mentioned above in the Pros point (4) have no impact on the main storyline and you could even get through the game without them (if you don't want to have the particular achievement). This again loses out to DAO big-time, which brilliantly tied in everything as part of the bigger picture and the decisions you make have significance on the game and the ending. (5) Achievements - Somehow I think the game-makers don't realise how important achievements are to RPG players. Generally I think we are quite OCD people with the aim of getting any achievement (within reasonable means at least) and for a game which lasts 100++ hours, it is surprising there are only 50 achievements. As I played the game, I could certainly think of much more things they could give credit to! (6) Bugs - rare for a game to not have them, esp one as big as Skyrim but there was one which threatened to ruin the game near the end which I thankfully avoided due to an earlier saved game so my warning if you want to play this game is to be careful if you kill any soldiers.
Conclusion: 9/10 - Huge, worth buying but if you've not played DAO, play that instead cos that is the bomb. Finally I can go back to life on planet Earth =P
Moving on to the other things in my title...
(1) MJC Prom Night (7th Dec) - Held at Mandarin Orchard Hotel (incidentally where I had MY prom 13 years ago lol) and things went smoothly. Quite standard dressing from the guys (almost all in suits and tie) and for the girls, one of my friends observed that most wore quite tight-fitting dresses, which seemed to be the trend. I saw one dressed like for a wedding and I heard there was someone dressed as Snow White but I didn't get to see that haha. Only the Council TAs and the Photography Club teacher were around though, unlike previous years, and we could only surmise that this was a reflection of the relationship between the teachers and this cohort, something that I will elaborate upon when I do my reflection of my teaching experience for the year and cohort later this week. In fact, there was also not much photo taking this time round, unlike my previous 2 proms from past batches, and very little interaction with the students. Anyway, this time we were quite laxed though, and found time during the Prom to go to Bar on 5 (conveniently located just below the ballroom) for some drinks and to catch up on recent happenings, holiday plans, and future developments. I'm sure we will all miss the times that we've spent together as Council TAs after all the events and camps that we have been doing but we will still keep in contact after we move on. =)
Other than that, the trip to the prom itself was fairly interesting as the cab driver was v chatty but could converse quite well in English and seemed quite up-to-date with all the recent happenings and he talked to me about being a teacher and also about youngsters who seem to be lacking in values nowadays and cited to me an incident about some drunk youths who threw up in the car but refused to pay up. Funny thing was he said that karma was at work and they got what they deserved because after he cleaned up the car he found a phone which probably belonged to one of them and promptly sold it for $500 and joked that he was thankful to have a holiday after that cos he could stay at home for the next 2-3 days. Can't really say that he was wrong there and they deserve it for affecting his livelihood...
(2) MJ Bros Games Gathering (9th Dec) - met up with some of my MJ Bros for lunch around Boon Keng and then to one of their place to play board games (more like cards actually cos all our games involves cards only). We played some of the ones we've played recently, such as Loco (self-made because the game is apparently sooooo old that it's out of print lol, but it's really simple and fun!), Take 6 (my friend bought Take 5 actually but the rules were so complicated I just taught them to play Take 6 using the same cards) and the classic Citadels. Lost by 1 point after 6 rounds of Loco, tragically, then won Take 6 after 4 rounds including an epic comeback (3 of us were laughing and cheering everytime we managed to sabo the leading player until I came back from a 46 point deficit to win by about 20 points, quite unbelievable indeed), and won Citadel in a truly epic ending. I had a card in play called the "Ball Room" where after I called out each player to take their turn they must say "Thanks Your Excellency" or else forfeit their turn. After I built my final district thus making the current round the last round, my bro got too excited to finish building his final distract also and thus got caught by us (this after another person got caught by me in the previous round) and that cost him the game and we all had a good laugh after that. Perhaps it was karma also lol since I was assassinated twice by him in the game. Quite a few of them have flown off though so it'll be next year before I meet up with them for more of such entertainment!
(3) CT's Death (10th Dec) - on a more sombre note, my CT from AJC passed away on Thu and I went to pay my last respects at the Singapore Casket on Sat. I had actually arranged with some of my other ex-classmates to go there but on the day itself, some of them couldn't make it last minute and in the end I ended up going alone. Not too sure how important some of the things they had to take care of are, but I thought it would be important to pay my last respects even though I wasn't exactly close to her and didn't keep in contact with her after A Levels, apart from seeing her at one or two of my friends' weddings. It also makes me wonder when my time comes, who will actually take time off to see me for the last time... Anyway, it was surreal to see her lying in the coffin and it was a long time since I last saw someone in a coffin (can't even remember when that was, maybe as a child). At the point of time I was thinking back about how she was like last time, getting flashbacks of her teaching and stuff. I learned about what had happened from her cousin, who was the one who did all the funeral arrangements and contacting as many people as possible about my CT's death. She was suffering from cancer from about end of 2009 after she decided to not undergo a major operation on some growth in her throat (or somewhere around there) even though doctors said there was a 25% chance that it might be malignant. Unfortunately, it did turn malignant and she went on radiotherapy and then chemotherapy and it subsided in March 2010 but then she had a relapse I think around end of last year and decided not to have treatment because it was too painful. We actually planned to visit her about 3 months ago but my friend who was coordinating said that she was in too much pain and thus she suggested we visit her later on when things were better and in fact we were just planning to make that visit 2 weeks ago when news of her death arrived so I felt I had to go down after all that delay. Seems like I was part of her first batch and I felt a bit bad that I wasn't a good student (at least not for Biology, my most hated subject) but I guess it's all in the past now. The whole incident has given me a lot of food for thought in recent months about how much to give in teaching and how important good health is and to not neglect it in the midst of the busyness of my work. Also, her cousin said that at least she led a colourful life, going skydiving, horse riding and stuff and in death she wore her favourite Vietnamese dress and boots and accessories. Also gave me more food for thought about doing the stuff I have not done yet and there are many things I want to do over the next few years as I take a break from teaching. I've given too much of my life these 6 years to teaching and it's time for me to find some time of my own... More about my thoughts later this week...
(4) SRPQ Outing (12th Dec) - Back to happier stuff, went out with the SRPQ (minus MY cos apparently she was sick though the other girls joked that she pang-seh us) to play. Met AQ at Stadium MRT to bring her over to Singapore Swimming Club (cos XL's tuition kid is a member there), which was quite a walk from the station and she kept saying that we were lost though I assured her I knew we were on the right track haha. Eventually got there and we played about 1.5 hours of badminton, a good workout after about a year's break since playing with the SC. XL was coaching haha and apparently he played for his primary school and the girls damn funny lah cos after a while they change their aim to hitting my face so sometimes during the rallies they will aim but I changed my stance to one where my racket is always covering my face lol. Anyway, badminton is definitely not my strength but still decent enough for some proper rallies lah. After that we went for 1.5 hours of bowling and played 3 games each in total. It's been soooooo long since I last bowled and the first game was so sucky (even though all sucked in the first one). At least after a long while I finally started to find my ground and improved in the next 2 games, esp after switching to a 14-pound ball (never used that in the past), to win by a big margin but nothing to be proud of lah haha. Throughout the whole game, XL and his student kept laughing and mocking each other and it was quite entertaining at first but after a while, it was a bit irritating haha. I definitely cannot teach young kids - too immature!
(5) Pool with Army Kakis (13th Dec) - met up with my 10SIB army kakis for our usual dinner and pool at Katong Shopping Centre. PT is back for good after his studies in Australia are done and will take the rest of his law modules in NUS. Eric is in charge of some research projects with MINDEF and busy with his new-born kid. WC has switched from his design field to working at the People's Association at Geylang Serai CC, haha a very huge change in work. MZ is still the same. As usual, they like to ka chiow me cos most of us were late and someone joked that the last one to reach should pay for pool and we were updating our statuses over Whatsapp and towards the end, Eric said that PT hasn't reached yet and that I might still beat him to it if I ran from the bus stop. I guessed as much they were fooling with me cos PT was around Katong Mall a long time ago and even with a traffic jam it wouldn't take him so long but nevertheless I played along and msg them that I was running but in the end I strolled in and unsurprisingly the four of them were huddled over Eric's phone to see my replies and having a good laugh hahaha. Anyway, pool was terrible and I never felt right the entire night hitting the shots. The moment I got onto the table, the posture and positioning seemed all wrong and I had so little confidence in myself that I used the stand even when I didn't have to and deserved to lose my relegation match where I missed a sitter for the black ball using the stand. Ah well, I better try to practice soon and make sure I get back at them! =P
(6) IGC Outing (14th Dec) - Went out with 11 of the guys from 06 and 07 batch, including some of the semi-IGC people haha. Went to Chin Chin Eating House at Purvis Street for dinner, which is mainly a place for Hainanese food I think (or at least that's their speciality) and they had quite decent "zi char" food at reasonable prices. Not blown away (I rarely am nowadays, probably been eating tooooo much good food hehe) but it was ok. Haven't met up with many of them for years, particularly those in the 07 batch, so it was good to find out how they are doing. Ended up at Bugis Junction's Honeymoon Desserts, which is quite a good place for dessert and then ended playing bridge with Jon, DS, and LJ, reliving the good old days of our time in IGC haha. Those were the days when we used to hang out for dinner after IGC meetings on Wed, playing at BK or Mac's at White Sands and even outside the MRT (for god knows what reason lol). The intellectual stimulation is always something I have missed but it's a lot of work to play at a high level and something which many can't appreciate. I'm happy to hear about the gold and silver medals that Singapore won at the Sea Games recently though and hopefully that will encourage more people to play contract bridge rather than some crappy floating bridge that youngsters normally play. =D Need to find the time to meet up again to play bridge and board games!
(7) Futsal @ The Hangar (20th Dec) - Went to a really ulu place at Punggol Marina Country Club and good thing I got a lift from my army buddy after we went for dinner at Old Airport Road Food Centre. Had 17 people, mainly from my army buddy's clique of secondary school friends and it was a good kickabout considering I haven't played much in recent years cos I kept getting major injuries so I was happy just to have a few decent games and keep myself relatively free from major injuries (got a couple of bruises and seems like I strained my right hamstring/gluteal but better than the sprained ankles that I had from previous times). Surprisingly my best performances came when I was goalkeeping and my passing was better there. Pretty pissed off with myself when I went upfront cos some of the attacking moves broke down after some uncharacteristic bad passing and missed a few chances. Trying to arrange with some of the boys to play soon and am looking forward to it. Would be a good way to kick off 2012!
So far it's been a fruitful holidays and I shall try to meet up with more of the other people whom I've not seen for some time. Will try to post daily from now on now that I'm done with Skyrim lol...
Pros: (1) Value for money - $65 for 170 hours is as good as it gets. (2) Fantastic graphics and sound - really HUGE world with beautiful scenery and intricate designs of buildings for each of the major cities. Characters and monsters look great! Sound effects and music were well done and contributed to a very enjoyable experience. (3) Huge array of things to do - smithing, enchanting, training, fighting, dungeon exploring, quests - THAT's why it took so long to complete (my quest log was practically bursting from about 10 hours into the game to nearing the end of the game) (4) Great storyline - the story of the Dragonborn was interesting (shan't reveal more to avoid spoilers) and so were the respective ones involving the war of Skyrim, Thieves' Guild, Companions, and Dark Brotherhood and some of the powers gained made it more interesting. (5) Fuss-free gaming - I liked the fact that the game was generally quite smooth - from the installation to the gameplay - something I don't take for granted after some bad experiences with other games (Bioshock and Deadspace). Nothing irritates you more than getting your hands on a much anticipated game and being unable to play it properly!
Cons: (1) Toooo long (lol) - Hard to please eh? This is ironic since I talked about value for money earlier but the game did get kinda draggy towards the later half of the game and I just wanted to finish it asap. (2) Quests were not well organized - While it's nice and important to have many things to do in an RPG, the problem was there were too many and I spent a lot of time to keep track cos I couldn't even remember what the point of the quest was and who it came from until I make the quest active and find the location on the map to jog my memory. Considering there are many other games which keep a good catalogue of the quests and gave descriptions so that you remember what is happening, I felt that this was a big drawback of the gaem. (3) Battles too easy - Fighting was fun at the start when it was still fairly challenging but once my mage got stronger and I got dual-casting and impact, it was just too imba as I spammed firebolts from range. Might be better if you played a melee character. (4) Lack of affection for the characters and sub-plot - Despite the length of the game, the great storyline, and the fact that you can have followers, there is virtually inexistent interaction between your character and your follower (if you choose to have one). This is in comparison to Dragon Age: Origins (DAO) whereby I would normally travel with 3 other companions and would have to find some of these companions myself through certain encounters. These companions could have interesting conversations leading to their personal quests and romance options and you even have to pay attention to what they say so that you know what they like and know the appropriate gifts to make them like you more. Also, the decisions you make with the 4 sub-plots as mentioned above in the Pros point (4) have no impact on the main storyline and you could even get through the game without them (if you don't want to have the particular achievement). This again loses out to DAO big-time, which brilliantly tied in everything as part of the bigger picture and the decisions you make have significance on the game and the ending. (5) Achievements - Somehow I think the game-makers don't realise how important achievements are to RPG players. Generally I think we are quite OCD people with the aim of getting any achievement (within reasonable means at least) and for a game which lasts 100++ hours, it is surprising there are only 50 achievements. As I played the game, I could certainly think of much more things they could give credit to! (6) Bugs - rare for a game to not have them, esp one as big as Skyrim but there was one which threatened to ruin the game near the end which I thankfully avoided due to an earlier saved game so my warning if you want to play this game is to be careful if you kill any soldiers.
Conclusion: 9/10 - Huge, worth buying but if you've not played DAO, play that instead cos that is the bomb. Finally I can go back to life on planet Earth =P
Moving on to the other things in my title...
(1) MJC Prom Night (7th Dec) - Held at Mandarin Orchard Hotel (incidentally where I had MY prom 13 years ago lol) and things went smoothly. Quite standard dressing from the guys (almost all in suits and tie) and for the girls, one of my friends observed that most wore quite tight-fitting dresses, which seemed to be the trend. I saw one dressed like for a wedding and I heard there was someone dressed as Snow White but I didn't get to see that haha. Only the Council TAs and the Photography Club teacher were around though, unlike previous years, and we could only surmise that this was a reflection of the relationship between the teachers and this cohort, something that I will elaborate upon when I do my reflection of my teaching experience for the year and cohort later this week. In fact, there was also not much photo taking this time round, unlike my previous 2 proms from past batches, and very little interaction with the students. Anyway, this time we were quite laxed though, and found time during the Prom to go to Bar on 5 (conveniently located just below the ballroom) for some drinks and to catch up on recent happenings, holiday plans, and future developments. I'm sure we will all miss the times that we've spent together as Council TAs after all the events and camps that we have been doing but we will still keep in contact after we move on. =)
Other than that, the trip to the prom itself was fairly interesting as the cab driver was v chatty but could converse quite well in English and seemed quite up-to-date with all the recent happenings and he talked to me about being a teacher and also about youngsters who seem to be lacking in values nowadays and cited to me an incident about some drunk youths who threw up in the car but refused to pay up. Funny thing was he said that karma was at work and they got what they deserved because after he cleaned up the car he found a phone which probably belonged to one of them and promptly sold it for $500 and joked that he was thankful to have a holiday after that cos he could stay at home for the next 2-3 days. Can't really say that he was wrong there and they deserve it for affecting his livelihood...
(2) MJ Bros Games Gathering (9th Dec) - met up with some of my MJ Bros for lunch around Boon Keng and then to one of their place to play board games (more like cards actually cos all our games involves cards only). We played some of the ones we've played recently, such as Loco (self-made because the game is apparently sooooo old that it's out of print lol, but it's really simple and fun!), Take 6 (my friend bought Take 5 actually but the rules were so complicated I just taught them to play Take 6 using the same cards) and the classic Citadels. Lost by 1 point after 6 rounds of Loco, tragically, then won Take 6 after 4 rounds including an epic comeback (3 of us were laughing and cheering everytime we managed to sabo the leading player until I came back from a 46 point deficit to win by about 20 points, quite unbelievable indeed), and won Citadel in a truly epic ending. I had a card in play called the "Ball Room" where after I called out each player to take their turn they must say "Thanks Your Excellency" or else forfeit their turn. After I built my final district thus making the current round the last round, my bro got too excited to finish building his final distract also and thus got caught by us (this after another person got caught by me in the previous round) and that cost him the game and we all had a good laugh after that. Perhaps it was karma also lol since I was assassinated twice by him in the game. Quite a few of them have flown off though so it'll be next year before I meet up with them for more of such entertainment!
(3) CT's Death (10th Dec) - on a more sombre note, my CT from AJC passed away on Thu and I went to pay my last respects at the Singapore Casket on Sat. I had actually arranged with some of my other ex-classmates to go there but on the day itself, some of them couldn't make it last minute and in the end I ended up going alone. Not too sure how important some of the things they had to take care of are, but I thought it would be important to pay my last respects even though I wasn't exactly close to her and didn't keep in contact with her after A Levels, apart from seeing her at one or two of my friends' weddings. It also makes me wonder when my time comes, who will actually take time off to see me for the last time... Anyway, it was surreal to see her lying in the coffin and it was a long time since I last saw someone in a coffin (can't even remember when that was, maybe as a child). At the point of time I was thinking back about how she was like last time, getting flashbacks of her teaching and stuff. I learned about what had happened from her cousin, who was the one who did all the funeral arrangements and contacting as many people as possible about my CT's death. She was suffering from cancer from about end of 2009 after she decided to not undergo a major operation on some growth in her throat (or somewhere around there) even though doctors said there was a 25% chance that it might be malignant. Unfortunately, it did turn malignant and she went on radiotherapy and then chemotherapy and it subsided in March 2010 but then she had a relapse I think around end of last year and decided not to have treatment because it was too painful. We actually planned to visit her about 3 months ago but my friend who was coordinating said that she was in too much pain and thus she suggested we visit her later on when things were better and in fact we were just planning to make that visit 2 weeks ago when news of her death arrived so I felt I had to go down after all that delay. Seems like I was part of her first batch and I felt a bit bad that I wasn't a good student (at least not for Biology, my most hated subject) but I guess it's all in the past now. The whole incident has given me a lot of food for thought in recent months about how much to give in teaching and how important good health is and to not neglect it in the midst of the busyness of my work. Also, her cousin said that at least she led a colourful life, going skydiving, horse riding and stuff and in death she wore her favourite Vietnamese dress and boots and accessories. Also gave me more food for thought about doing the stuff I have not done yet and there are many things I want to do over the next few years as I take a break from teaching. I've given too much of my life these 6 years to teaching and it's time for me to find some time of my own... More about my thoughts later this week...
(4) SRPQ Outing (12th Dec) - Back to happier stuff, went out with the SRPQ (minus MY cos apparently she was sick though the other girls joked that she pang-seh us) to play. Met AQ at Stadium MRT to bring her over to Singapore Swimming Club (cos XL's tuition kid is a member there), which was quite a walk from the station and she kept saying that we were lost though I assured her I knew we were on the right track haha. Eventually got there and we played about 1.5 hours of badminton, a good workout after about a year's break since playing with the SC. XL was coaching haha and apparently he played for his primary school and the girls damn funny lah cos after a while they change their aim to hitting my face so sometimes during the rallies they will aim but I changed my stance to one where my racket is always covering my face lol. Anyway, badminton is definitely not my strength but still decent enough for some proper rallies lah. After that we went for 1.5 hours of bowling and played 3 games each in total. It's been soooooo long since I last bowled and the first game was so sucky (even though all sucked in the first one). At least after a long while I finally started to find my ground and improved in the next 2 games, esp after switching to a 14-pound ball (never used that in the past), to win by a big margin but nothing to be proud of lah haha. Throughout the whole game, XL and his student kept laughing and mocking each other and it was quite entertaining at first but after a while, it was a bit irritating haha. I definitely cannot teach young kids - too immature!
(5) Pool with Army Kakis (13th Dec) - met up with my 10SIB army kakis for our usual dinner and pool at Katong Shopping Centre. PT is back for good after his studies in Australia are done and will take the rest of his law modules in NUS. Eric is in charge of some research projects with MINDEF and busy with his new-born kid. WC has switched from his design field to working at the People's Association at Geylang Serai CC, haha a very huge change in work. MZ is still the same. As usual, they like to ka chiow me cos most of us were late and someone joked that the last one to reach should pay for pool and we were updating our statuses over Whatsapp and towards the end, Eric said that PT hasn't reached yet and that I might still beat him to it if I ran from the bus stop. I guessed as much they were fooling with me cos PT was around Katong Mall a long time ago and even with a traffic jam it wouldn't take him so long but nevertheless I played along and msg them that I was running but in the end I strolled in and unsurprisingly the four of them were huddled over Eric's phone to see my replies and having a good laugh hahaha. Anyway, pool was terrible and I never felt right the entire night hitting the shots. The moment I got onto the table, the posture and positioning seemed all wrong and I had so little confidence in myself that I used the stand even when I didn't have to and deserved to lose my relegation match where I missed a sitter for the black ball using the stand. Ah well, I better try to practice soon and make sure I get back at them! =P
(6) IGC Outing (14th Dec) - Went out with 11 of the guys from 06 and 07 batch, including some of the semi-IGC people haha. Went to Chin Chin Eating House at Purvis Street for dinner, which is mainly a place for Hainanese food I think (or at least that's their speciality) and they had quite decent "zi char" food at reasonable prices. Not blown away (I rarely am nowadays, probably been eating tooooo much good food hehe) but it was ok. Haven't met up with many of them for years, particularly those in the 07 batch, so it was good to find out how they are doing. Ended up at Bugis Junction's Honeymoon Desserts, which is quite a good place for dessert and then ended playing bridge with Jon, DS, and LJ, reliving the good old days of our time in IGC haha. Those were the days when we used to hang out for dinner after IGC meetings on Wed, playing at BK or Mac's at White Sands and even outside the MRT (for god knows what reason lol). The intellectual stimulation is always something I have missed but it's a lot of work to play at a high level and something which many can't appreciate. I'm happy to hear about the gold and silver medals that Singapore won at the Sea Games recently though and hopefully that will encourage more people to play contract bridge rather than some crappy floating bridge that youngsters normally play. =D Need to find the time to meet up again to play bridge and board games!
(7) Futsal @ The Hangar (20th Dec) - Went to a really ulu place at Punggol Marina Country Club and good thing I got a lift from my army buddy after we went for dinner at Old Airport Road Food Centre. Had 17 people, mainly from my army buddy's clique of secondary school friends and it was a good kickabout considering I haven't played much in recent years cos I kept getting major injuries so I was happy just to have a few decent games and keep myself relatively free from major injuries (got a couple of bruises and seems like I strained my right hamstring/gluteal but better than the sprained ankles that I had from previous times). Surprisingly my best performances came when I was goalkeeping and my passing was better there. Pretty pissed off with myself when I went upfront cos some of the attacking moves broke down after some uncharacteristic bad passing and missed a few chances. Trying to arrange with some of the boys to play soon and am looking forward to it. Would be a good way to kick off 2012!
So far it's been a fruitful holidays and I shall try to meet up with more of the other people whom I've not seen for some time. Will try to post daily from now on now that I'm done with Skyrim lol...
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Skyrim; Unique Names in the Army; SRPQ @ Penang Place; Easing back into things...
Delayed my update no thanks to my latest distraction - "Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim" - which I went to buy right after my ICT ended on Fri. Apparently it is very popular and the guys I've spoken to have heard good things about it. Anyway, so far it does look like it's a HUGE game - been playing for like 50 hours over the past few days (or at least that's what the record says) and I don't think I'm even 20% done with the game cos there are like soooooo many places to travel to and things to do. When I'm finally done with the game, I'll do my review of it heh. =p
Anyway, just recalled some funny stuff in the army, namely unique names cos I saw on the uniform names such as Roshe (reminds me of Roshan in Dota) and Maison (reminds me of Ma Maison restaurant), and somebody with the surname "Tuang" (LOL it's so striking that sure kenna arrow so that he can't tuang hahaha). I remember when I was serving as an NSF there was somebody named Goose... Then some of my army acquaintances said that they say other strange names, and I think the one that takes the cake is Concept. LOLOL, like seriously?! If I ever had a student with that name you can only imagine the kind of crap that can take place in class... e.g. Concept is absent - "Oh, so today we have NO CONCEPT?" Concept answers a question wrongly - "Oh, looks like you have WRONG CONCEPT?" Hahahaha. Sounds like there won't be a reservist for me next year but there's a big one in 2013 so we'll see what happens then!
Met up with the SRPQ (i.e. XL, ZY, MY, AQ) on Mon at the Penang Place. But before that, I was busy rushing all over to settle some stuff in school and then some last-minute shopping heh for birthday pressies... Went to Plaza Singapura and good thing was I managed to find everything I needed there for the presents for the 4 of them as well as an ice-cream cake - challenging though! But they seemed to like it based on their expression and response (some more so than others haha) so at least the effort, thought and time was worth it even though it was quite last minute! Good thing I do things fast... =P
Anyway, great to have caught up with them after so long! It's like the last time we met was in Jul I think to celebrate AQ and my birthday and before that was last year already! So XL and ZY are going on strong and they are a really compatible couple and they went on a trip around Singapore and had a picnic at Botanical Gardens - so sweet! They are going to Vietnam soon for 10 days and it's pretty interesting that there are so many things to do there cos I never heard of anyone going for holiday there for such a long time. Had a good chat with XL about com games also lolol and we shared about the upcoming games and great games from the past (Skyrim, Dragon Age Origins, Mass Effect, Team Fortress 2, Diablo 3) and I think the girls were quite baffled by our guy talk lol. =p Then XL had a call from his tuition kid who was trying to change timing and he was v stern to him and ZY was joking that he's having an affair - so funny the way she put it! MY going to Canada very soon for her minor on environmental chemistry and AQ is taking a break from band and they were talking about some of the chem profs in NUS and asked about my time in NUS cos they are going to their honours year soon - how time flies!
Btw, food at Penang Place was pretty decent and if there are any concerns about eating there it is (1) venue - fusionopolis is probably kinda far for most people but at least it has a mrt on circle line right beside it so that helps (2) value for money - $24.9++ for dinner (Mon to Thu) - which doesn't sound v ex but looking at the variety of food, it's probably kinda hard to eat your money's worth cos most of the stuff should be quite cheap (for those who have been to Penang before, their specialty is the large variety of cheap hawker food so what do you expect?). But having said that, if you have a hankering for Penang food, that's a decent place to go to cos at least the food is quite tasty so ok lah =)
Went jogging with Jon ytd and then gym with him and Liju and we were crapping about "talented" people cos I was telling them that we should train our abs to be like this China Got Talent guy where he held a pole and lifted himself to a horizontal position which requires god-like abs to do that and would be hell to train for it but it's damn impressive! Then they talked about this woman from another country where her "talent" was to crush watermelons and beer cans with her boobs. LOLOL, yes, seriously! I just saw the video that they posted and it was damn sick... The power of silicon hahahaha. (google "watermelon smash talent" if interested to find the youtube video). Our conversations drifted all over and included a discussion of Schroedinger's Cat and jokes about being dead and undead and being in 2 different states at the same time and also our tagline of the day was "easing back into things" cos we kept finding excuses to slack (but it's still a tough workout) since we are just starting to gym again after a break due to Jon's exams (and I had OGL camp and reservist so I also took a break haha). Went to HDB hub for lunch at the food court there and I had some really good curry chicken (from Bishan apparently) and the rojak was also damn solid so highly recommended! =D
Prom night tonight so going out later to dye my hair again (cut off all the brown bits for reservist) and also to style... Looking forward to it!
Anyway, just recalled some funny stuff in the army, namely unique names cos I saw on the uniform names such as Roshe (reminds me of Roshan in Dota) and Maison (reminds me of Ma Maison restaurant), and somebody with the surname "Tuang" (LOL it's so striking that sure kenna arrow so that he can't tuang hahaha). I remember when I was serving as an NSF there was somebody named Goose... Then some of my army acquaintances said that they say other strange names, and I think the one that takes the cake is Concept. LOLOL, like seriously?! If I ever had a student with that name you can only imagine the kind of crap that can take place in class... e.g. Concept is absent - "Oh, so today we have NO CONCEPT?" Concept answers a question wrongly - "Oh, looks like you have WRONG CONCEPT?" Hahahaha. Sounds like there won't be a reservist for me next year but there's a big one in 2013 so we'll see what happens then!
Met up with the SRPQ (i.e. XL, ZY, MY, AQ) on Mon at the Penang Place. But before that, I was busy rushing all over to settle some stuff in school and then some last-minute shopping heh for birthday pressies... Went to Plaza Singapura and good thing was I managed to find everything I needed there for the presents for the 4 of them as well as an ice-cream cake - challenging though! But they seemed to like it based on their expression and response (some more so than others haha) so at least the effort, thought and time was worth it even though it was quite last minute! Good thing I do things fast... =P
Anyway, great to have caught up with them after so long! It's like the last time we met was in Jul I think to celebrate AQ and my birthday and before that was last year already! So XL and ZY are going on strong and they are a really compatible couple and they went on a trip around Singapore and had a picnic at Botanical Gardens - so sweet! They are going to Vietnam soon for 10 days and it's pretty interesting that there are so many things to do there cos I never heard of anyone going for holiday there for such a long time. Had a good chat with XL about com games also lolol and we shared about the upcoming games and great games from the past (Skyrim, Dragon Age Origins, Mass Effect, Team Fortress 2, Diablo 3) and I think the girls were quite baffled by our guy talk lol. =p Then XL had a call from his tuition kid who was trying to change timing and he was v stern to him and ZY was joking that he's having an affair - so funny the way she put it! MY going to Canada very soon for her minor on environmental chemistry and AQ is taking a break from band and they were talking about some of the chem profs in NUS and asked about my time in NUS cos they are going to their honours year soon - how time flies!
Btw, food at Penang Place was pretty decent and if there are any concerns about eating there it is (1) venue - fusionopolis is probably kinda far for most people but at least it has a mrt on circle line right beside it so that helps (2) value for money - $24.9++ for dinner (Mon to Thu) - which doesn't sound v ex but looking at the variety of food, it's probably kinda hard to eat your money's worth cos most of the stuff should be quite cheap (for those who have been to Penang before, their specialty is the large variety of cheap hawker food so what do you expect?). But having said that, if you have a hankering for Penang food, that's a decent place to go to cos at least the food is quite tasty so ok lah =)
Went jogging with Jon ytd and then gym with him and Liju and we were crapping about "talented" people cos I was telling them that we should train our abs to be like this China Got Talent guy where he held a pole and lifted himself to a horizontal position which requires god-like abs to do that and would be hell to train for it but it's damn impressive! Then they talked about this woman from another country where her "talent" was to crush watermelons and beer cans with her boobs. LOLOL, yes, seriously! I just saw the video that they posted and it was damn sick... The power of silicon hahahaha. (google "watermelon smash talent" if interested to find the youtube video). Our conversations drifted all over and included a discussion of Schroedinger's Cat and jokes about being dead and undead and being in 2 different states at the same time and also our tagline of the day was "easing back into things" cos we kept finding excuses to slack (but it's still a tough workout) since we are just starting to gym again after a break due to Jon's exams (and I had OGL camp and reservist so I also took a break haha). Went to HDB hub for lunch at the food court there and I had some really good curry chicken (from Bishan apparently) and the rojak was also damn solid so highly recommended! =D
Prom night tonight so going out later to dye my hair again (cut off all the brown bits for reservist) and also to style... Looking forward to it!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
ICT
With the end of the A Levels on Tue, it is about time that I get back to updating on my life and recall the various moments of interest in my life!
For a starter, I'm almost at the end of my 4th high-key ICT (from 22nd Nov to 2nd Dec) which passed by relatively quickly except for this Mon to Wed where we had our brigade exercise and time passed excruciatingly slowly... But I'm blessed cos I wasn't given a specific role (was a spare) so I kept a low profile and even though it rained everyday I was either in shelter in the 5-tonner or in buildings so I didn't get wet which was our main concern haha. We went to ITI (at Jurong Camp 2) on first day for a short while before going to Tanjong Gul Camp which is probably one of the most ulu places in Singapore and were there for a day before we relocated again finally to Murai Urban Training Facility (never knew there was such a place) and that was a really good place to be located in cos we manned comms in an air-con room and could sleep in air-con comfort (though it was too cold at times esp at night) and I managed to dodge arrows accidentally, including one where I was eating prata so another person from the spare team was chosen to replace someone who was in a team located in a very hot location. Someone even joked that I was blessed after observing the various people and said he would stick to me cos I'm a lucky talisman. =P Indeed, so far, my four ICTs have been relatively relaxed, especially in comparison to the infantry people who had to "chiong sua" and we were all thankful to be signallers. Hope this will continue in the future!
Anyway, realised I really don't like combat rations now, even though the menu has certainly improved and there is quite a variety of meals (known as entrees lol, though nothing like the good food I've been eating over the year), including Peranakan, Vietnamese and Burmese lol. I had teriyaki chicken pasta and claypot rice with yam and chicken which were fairly decent I suppose compared to the past haha. Did a little bit of reading during the exercise cos some brought books and I read something about "Practising the Power of Now", which was fairly interesting and it was about meditation and spiritual enlightenment although parts were pretty abstract and I thought it was quite true that often the problems we face are self-created due to our imaginary fear of the future and the burdens of the past when we should instead focus on the joy of the present. Shall share some tips in my next post =)
The first week passed by quickly cos the lessons were generally relaxed as usual and we escaped from the route march cos it was raining so that was good! Cohesion Day last Friday was fun though (and it was short so that was even better) as we played water games and I realised it's been a really long time since I swam and it's something I enjoy though I need to quickly get into shape soon haha cos otherwise paiseh. =P IPPT on Sat sucked and I expected it after barely running during the last 10 months and also was tired and not in the right frame of mind. I'll be back with a vengeance though, just realised I missed out on silver by 4 seconds in Jan so I wanna go back and not just clear it but do it in style =p
That's all for now - can't wait for the holidays to start once my ICT ends tmr and it's time for some gaming with Skyrim, Dota 2, Diablo 3, Mass Effect 3, and a whole lot of other big games coming out this holidays and the next few months and also it's really time to catch up on the many people that I've not seen for months and take stock of what happened this year and looking forward to 2012. It's time for a shake-up to my life! =)
For a starter, I'm almost at the end of my 4th high-key ICT (from 22nd Nov to 2nd Dec) which passed by relatively quickly except for this Mon to Wed where we had our brigade exercise and time passed excruciatingly slowly... But I'm blessed cos I wasn't given a specific role (was a spare) so I kept a low profile and even though it rained everyday I was either in shelter in the 5-tonner or in buildings so I didn't get wet which was our main concern haha. We went to ITI (at Jurong Camp 2) on first day for a short while before going to Tanjong Gul Camp which is probably one of the most ulu places in Singapore and were there for a day before we relocated again finally to Murai Urban Training Facility (never knew there was such a place) and that was a really good place to be located in cos we manned comms in an air-con room and could sleep in air-con comfort (though it was too cold at times esp at night) and I managed to dodge arrows accidentally, including one where I was eating prata so another person from the spare team was chosen to replace someone who was in a team located in a very hot location. Someone even joked that I was blessed after observing the various people and said he would stick to me cos I'm a lucky talisman. =P Indeed, so far, my four ICTs have been relatively relaxed, especially in comparison to the infantry people who had to "chiong sua" and we were all thankful to be signallers. Hope this will continue in the future!
Anyway, realised I really don't like combat rations now, even though the menu has certainly improved and there is quite a variety of meals (known as entrees lol, though nothing like the good food I've been eating over the year), including Peranakan, Vietnamese and Burmese lol. I had teriyaki chicken pasta and claypot rice with yam and chicken which were fairly decent I suppose compared to the past haha. Did a little bit of reading during the exercise cos some brought books and I read something about "Practising the Power of Now", which was fairly interesting and it was about meditation and spiritual enlightenment although parts were pretty abstract and I thought it was quite true that often the problems we face are self-created due to our imaginary fear of the future and the burdens of the past when we should instead focus on the joy of the present. Shall share some tips in my next post =)
The first week passed by quickly cos the lessons were generally relaxed as usual and we escaped from the route march cos it was raining so that was good! Cohesion Day last Friday was fun though (and it was short so that was even better) as we played water games and I realised it's been a really long time since I swam and it's something I enjoy though I need to quickly get into shape soon haha cos otherwise paiseh. =P IPPT on Sat sucked and I expected it after barely running during the last 10 months and also was tired and not in the right frame of mind. I'll be back with a vengeance though, just realised I missed out on silver by 4 seconds in Jan so I wanna go back and not just clear it but do it in style =p
That's all for now - can't wait for the holidays to start once my ICT ends tmr and it's time for some gaming with Skyrim, Dota 2, Diablo 3, Mass Effect 3, and a whole lot of other big games coming out this holidays and the next few months and also it's really time to catch up on the many people that I've not seen for months and take stock of what happened this year and looking forward to 2012. It's time for a shake-up to my life! =)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)