Freshmen Teambuilding Camp (FTB Camp)

Freshmen Teambuilding Camp (FTB Camp)

Finally Its over!

Yes, all of my 4 camps that i have signed up. Just came back from my FTB camp. This was the only compulsory camp of all of the camps that were available in school.

Before this, I have heard from Terence, Jin jie and many others that FTB is not something that i should look forward to. So i was hoping that things would turn out a better experience for me. Luckily, it did. I had a memorable camp for my FTB.


Day 1 :
Well, the day did not start on a high note. It rained heavily in the early morning and it cast a mind that the camp might be ruined by the weather. Anyway, things got better when I reached at school. We were given a briefing about the camp and I got to talk to some of my group mates before we reached the campsite. Campsite was located at Outward Bound Singapore (East Coast).

As usual, we started off for some Ice-breaking games. To my surprise, this group of people that i was with consists a few very hyper ppl. That made the start of the camp a good one and everyone had hoped that we would bond and work together well for the activities that was awaiting us.

To add to it, we had a very nice facilitator who carried out her role as a faci and as a friend very well. She had managed to bring across aim and viewpoint to us, balancing a hard task of disciplining us and bonding with us.

After lunch, the activities started.

1) Over the Hoops :
This station was considered easy. We had to be tied on our ankles together. There were 5 hoops on the ground and we had to cross over all hoops without touching the side of the hoops. For this activity, I must say that we made a decent start. There was a nice balance of brainstorming, accomodating and executing among us. Though it took us a couple of tries, we finally made it with a above average timing.

2) Foot Antenna:
Next was to build a foot Antenna / Tower. Out feet had to touch each other from heel to heel and we had to build a tower as high as possible. This was not an easy task given the fact that the team only got to know each other. Planning took a long time as we ponder which way was the best way to do it. In the end, we managed to pull of a result of 2.45 metres. Here, I started to see the enthusiasm within the team. The girls were actively involved, and were willing to risk and adapt to what was needed of them to accomplish the task. Guys were there to support and provide the strength needed.

3) Tunnelling :
Here, we had to go through a tunnel, totally dark-pitched. We only had 3 small lights that had to be shared among the 7 guys. What we had to do was to find picture moulds and shade it on a piece of paper for the points. It was definitely one cool activity as I was the one to lead the pack. Though humid and stuffy, we had a lot of fun climbing and crawling aound our way. Along it, we had some laughs too!

4) Night Games :
For night games, we had to play 6 stations. Some of them were normal fun-playing games while others needed good listening, observing, following skills. One memorable game was that our grp had to be splitted into 3 teams. One team had to make a pose, the second team had to descibe the posture to the third team. The third team, blinded, would have to based on their listening skills act out the pose.

For the sleeping area, we were assigned to tents. Unfortunately, our tent were in the middle of the pack, so it was the coolest of place to sleep in. Luckily, for the first night, it got cooler in the middle of the night. Those who could not stand the heat went around the campsite to find suitable place to sleep instead.


Day 2 :
Games today were much more challenging than the ones from the previous day.

1) Tranfering of Marbles :
Here, our task was to transfer a marble using plastic tubes up to a hanging pail which was two odd metres high. Well, it took us a long of time in planning, simulation, and execution. But through this activity, we had developed a "never give up" mentality in us. Despite all the failed attempts, we just kept on going, repeating the process upteen times. Towards the end, when we managed to accomplish the task, our timing was considerably good.

2) Spiderweb :
This activity was tough on the guys' knees and arms. Here we had to start the game from inside. From there, without touching the web, we had to escape out. Similiarly, we spent quite some time planning. I initiated with a brief plan for everyone to follow and as the team start to simulate the steps, adjustments were made in order for everyone to come out accordingly. In the end, though we didnt managed to complete it, still the fighting spirit was in us. We just kept on going and going and going even though we had already exceeded the timing allocated for the activity.

3) Rafting :
However, the toughest one was up next. By mid-afternoon, we had to do rafting. First, we had to build a raft on our own and then with it, row it out to the sea for a certain distance. A few of us knew how to tie, so they were the ones who led the tieing while the others including me help out in whatever way we could. We managed to be the first team to complete the tieing and our raft was very solid.
Things became worse when we were out to sea. The strong, windy condition had made our next part of our tasks a very difficult one. From shore, we had to row out to the sea. Our target was about 50-80 metres away. Our rowing was not our strengths. Time and time again, we were being rushed backwards by the strong currents. We simply could not finish the task within the stipulated timing (30 mins). However, those who were on the raft including me just kept on going and going. Once, we were just about 5 metres from the mark. Losing the momentum and with the currents, we were pushed backwards all the way back to the starting line. In the end, we spent 30 mins just rowing and rowing without a decent progress.
Still, this persistence and determination won the station master over. We simply went through an endurance test instead of the relay test. Definitely, the toughest activity throughout the whole camp.


At night, we were all into the relaxed mood as it was performing time! The whole camp was split into 5 different sections (Spartians, Retros, Cyborgs, Pirates, Cavemen). Each section had to come out with a cheer and a role play. I was in the Spartian section. Fierce we were, strong we were.

For the play, I was involved in the play where i had to dress and act like a caveman. So candidly, I simply jumped around in caveman-like attire, with a strnage caveman language. Friends whom I knew before this camp must have been quite surprise to see me do those stuffs. hahaha... In the end, though our section did not win the performance or cheer, I had a great time, watching and involving. Before the night was over, we had a short mambo session.


Day 3 :
This day was the last day of camp and all of the groups had to complete the Final Challenge. Here, every group had to go through 8 stations across a distance of about 3km. Timing would be recorded and the average timing in the respective section will use to determine which was the best section from the camp.

To me, this was a kinda examination for the team, testing us on what we have learnt throughout the camp. Here are some of the memorable stations :

1) Caterpillar walking :
Coming to this station, I thought it was easy to accomplish. We had to be tied together using Masking tape and together as if like a caterpillar, we had to walk a stipulated distance. However, this is the one of only failed task. How so, the masking tape were tied in a way that it snap or was simply not sticky enough for our soles to bare. Valuable time was wasted here and it kinda lowered the morale, given the fact the it was only our 2nd station.

2) Legs rotating pail of water.
Here, we had to lift up, rotate a pail 360" using only our legs. Here, it simply required full coordination from the whole team and we completed the 2 rounds with ease. It was simply a simplfied version of how a team should plan, simulate, execute. The only shack thing from this station was that I volunteered to be the one to fill up pail of water for the facilitator where the toilet was about 150 metres away from the station. Totally Shack!!!

3) Water-Filling Barrel
This station was the last station for the Final Challenge, yet it was toughest of all. A ball was inside a big barrel which was filled with holes. The main aim was simply to fill it up with water and force the ball out of the barrel.
Quickly, girls were down to the barrels to block the holes, while the guys were off running to collect the water from the sea (which was about 20 metres away up slope). Things went on smoothly early on where managed to fill up the barrel with water at a very fast pace. However, things got a little cocked up when we could not splash the ball out of the barrel. We tried different methods. From multiple splashing, to simply just filling it up with water, we had difficulty completing it. By this time, the guys were getting lathegic and the pace got a little slower. To my amazement, Ling yi and Sihui started to help us with the filling of water. Things resumed pace soon and we managed to force the ball out successfully. Without any further thought, we ran with our might to the finishing line.

Though completed, we as well as the other groups within section stayed around the area and continue to cheer the other Spartian group from the latter details. The Spartian race showed tremendous spirit. We simply cheered all the way for all of the teams, offering advises on how to complete the Barrel task. After the last group, the whole lot of us ran havoc at the sea, posing pictures, throwing people around and shouting like crazy warriors.

Things got to a much slower pace after the Final Challenge. We were given ample time to bathe, eat, pack up. The next few hours were bascially doing a final debriefing, chit-chatting.

As the results were out, Spartians indeed won the Final Challenge!!! On the individual group basis, based on the results, we were not the top 3 groups because the winning team had Power cards (one is to deduct time while the other is to skip a station). However, if purely based on our real timing without any power cards, my group came out tops within the section. We had really accomplish what we had set out to do. Learn, Fail, Grow and Win as a Group, As One!

The next meetup will most probably be the Convocation and the Freshmen Bash. Till then, let's hope that each of the team members will bring the experience and use it wisely in our respective future work...

Rearrangement of room

Rearrangement of room


Above is the picture of my rearranged room. Its not clear from this angle on the whole room, but for my mum who knows how it was before that, im sure she will have a lot of comments to make once she comes to Bedok...

Pictures from the Car Trip

Pictures from the Car Trip

These were some pictures i took when we were at Fort Canning.

Car Rental Trip

Car Rental Trip

This time we got a car through my grand-aunt who has contact in this area.

Day 1 :
I went to collect the car early in the morning from the company that was located in Kembangan. Drove all the way to NUS to pick up Tengfu who had a meeting. I was there early, driving ard the campus aimlessly... haha... It was only after half an hour of touring ard the sch that i managed to get Tengfu to direct me to his place.

Anyway, rental car has always its interesting stories to tell. The first was when Tengfu took over the wheel to drive us back to the East side. Our next itenary was to head to my Sengkang home to help me with the moving of stuff to Bedok. He was just turning out from the carpark when he or rather WE nearly got knocked by a campus bus. It was damn freaking close. Luckily, after that towards Sengkang it was smooth. We stopped over at Upper Seragoon to eat some Teochew porridge first before heading to my house.

Once at my house, mum, Tengfu and I had to move all the boxes over. I even managed to squeeze in the book shelf over. Too bad, one thing i missed out was my feather pillow. Sucks...
So quickly it was off to Bedok.

Ok to those who didnt know why the hell am i moving... Here's a brief explanation...
The house in Bedok is my grandma's house. I have stayed there during my Secondary to Poly days. It was because of army that i moved back to stay with my family. Now that school is starting, plus the fact that my grandma isnt the person she was a couple of years ago (now a maid is taking care of her alone at home), I thought it was best that i could do is to move back to stay with her.

Oh well, after moving house, we headed to this very old historical coffee house which was situated at 204 East Coast Road. The menu is similar to Ya Kun just that it is only a one store business. I needed to get something from IKEA so right after the simple tea and coffee, we headed to the Tampines outlet.

At Ikea, it was fun shopping. They had this clearance sale and I managed to buy a couple of items at only $10. I got some cupboard file holder, a waste paper basket, CD rack, Book holder, and also a clothes rack. hehe.. totally cool!

For dinner, we headed to Chomp Chomp. Tengfu havent been there before. I wasnt quite sure of the route, so it took us sometime to get there. Now, here's the next incident. We had a hard time finding a carpark. At one junction, I was kinda stuck and had to U-turn back to the main area to find a lot. However, to do that, i had to do a 3-point turn. Because of that my front part of the car went over the kerb 2 times and had a huge knocking sound. Luckily, all was still ok on the outside when we checked it afterward. In the end, we had to park the car some 200 metres away from the food centre.

At the centre itself, it took us another 20 odd mins to get our seats. Tf gave me the choice of food. In the end, we ordered Hao Jian, Hokkien, Rojak, Chwee Kuay, fried tofu and Wanton, and not forgetting the HUGE sugarcane with lemon. Freakingly full!!!!

Next, Tf planned to just tour around Orchard area just for the fun of it. So there was where we went right after that. It was pretty funny yet scary in some sense. Tf is not sure about the area even though Singaporeans ought to know the Orchard area well. He made some errors in some turns and had to U-turn back a couple of times. Though there were some scary moments, all was still safe in the end.

We tried to head Holland V for a drink but parking was tough and we ended up back in Rocher to eat Tau Huay.

Day 2 :
The car was with me after the night before. I went to pick Tengfu for breakfast. We wanted to eat the bread and coffee at Chin Mei Chin, but because of the huge crowd, we ate prata at a nearby coffee house instead.

Tf suggested to go to Fort Canning so we headed there right after breakfast. There i took some interesting pictures. We even went into the National Museum but we could not go into the tour cos we did not pay for it.

I had to meet with my poly mates as it was a meetup for Say Wai's birthday. During this time, Tf went to meet with Aaron for lunch. When tengfu came back to fetch me, he had a bad news. He kena summon during lunch when Aaron brought him back to eat Teochew Porridge, the same place I brought him to the previous day. All it took was just half hour of makan to incur that cost... Sucks right..

Anyway, up next, we went to IMM and Mustafa Centre. For dinner, he suggested Indian food since we were in Little India. So, we decided on one place near the area. We didnt know what we were ordering, so we just picked whatever we thought should be ok.

We headed back to Holland V, and this time we managed to find a parking lot. There, we sat at Coffee Club for a chat. We spoke nearly 2 hours man.. About work, future, girls, and studies...

Though the trip was a kinda last min thingy, still it had its interesting incident to tell about... Would not know when the next one will be especially Tf have to fly to Sweden next year for his overseas exchange...

Pictures from Sports Camp

Pictures from Sports Camp


We were totally wet and slimy i must say after the race through the balloon castle that was right behind us. Wet and Wild !!!

The picture taken after a pool race we did. It was freakingly tired. But hey, Fun it was. And Ziyou had to wear the mixture of clothing for the photo.. haha

Our finishing Line during Amazing Race. We ended up in Yishun stadium where we caught up some S-League action between Korean Super Reds and Tampines Rovers.

ELW Group Picture

ELW Group Picture

Oh yes.. and this was the picture that the whole grp in ELW took on the last day. Totally wacky and fun grp!!

ELW - English Language Workshop

ELW - English Language Workshop

Well, it was something that i did not look forward to among all the pre-school term activities, I had to attend a 5 day workshop where all I have to learn is the basics of English.

Being in poly, many of the ppl like me had to attend the course. For my class, all of us were from poly. I didnt taught of the situation before the start of the course... Guess i was busy with my Red Cross Camp.

Anyway, on the first day of the workshop, little did I imagine that the week were to be quite fun at times. How so? I guess the main reasons were that the tutor was good and the company of the classmates who were in the same situation as me.

The tutor was cute i must say. Though not strict, she is cautious in her teaching, trying to ensure that our English do not stray. Some of her actions or behaviour were funny. So i cant help it but to say that she's cute.

Once a simple introduction was made from the whole class, we realised that all of us were actually from Polytechnic. Shockingly, it was the first time in any group of class, there were no single JC student. That had gave me a sense of belonging especially after we interact through activities and conversations during mealtimes. We had lots of fun playing games that were introduced by the JC ppl during our respective camps prior to the workshop. Though the theorical part of the lesson can be boring at times, I felt very nice to have attended the workshop. I really do hope that I can continue to work with some of them in the near future, be it project or assignments.

Now that the workshop is over, everyone's a little afraid of the results of our Enlish grade. Given the chance, I sure do hope to get to know some of them more.

Journey in Red Cross 2007

Journey in Red Cross 2007

All right... finally found some time to type about the Red Cross.

Like in my previous post, it wasnt the most fun of the 3 camps that i have went so far, but in terms of meaningfulness, it definitely is the one to go to. Bondue and Sports were all about making friends, trying out new stuffs, and having loads of fun, but Red Cross have this added "feature" that made the camp meaningful.

Day 1 :
As with the other camps, we had to meet up at school, do some ice breaker games. The first main activity of the day was to HSA or rather Health Science Authority. There, we attend a talk and tour to get to know more about Red Cross and the process of donating blood in Singapore.

Up next, was a trip to the Red Cross Home for the Disabled (RCHN). There, we got to see the condition of the patients and the living environment. For me, it was the first time coming into contact with such patients. There consists of patients from a tender age of 3 years to 50-odd year old patients. Being disabled, they were much different from us normal human being in terms of physical and mental abilities. I cant say that it was shocking to me, but i must admit that i did not know how and what to do when i went around with the tour.

At the school, we were given time to discuss what we should do for the Home. For my grp, we were assigned to decorate some of the rooms to make it brighter and nicer. Within an hour of discussion, we managed to come up with a basic concept of designs for the rooms.

Near evening time, we had a tour awaiting for us. It was called the Myth Buster. This tour was led by a man called Charles. What we did was that we had visited a couple of places where Myths were rumoured around Singaporeans. He brought us to these places to help tell us the real stories behind the different sites. Overall, it was a knowledgable experience. We get to travel to places like Old Punggol road, Grange Road, Hillview Ave...

At night, we went off for supper! We went to Timbre, a nearby open pub which serves some excellent pizzas. Our groups have the luxury of having three year 4 students. They have given us some useful advise about school life as well as places like timbre to chill out.


Day 2 :
The whole day were in school basically spending most of the time prepareing the decoration for the rooms back in RCHD.

In the late afternoon, we attended a short lesson about basic First Aid. For me, it was more of a refresher lesson though i managed to pick up some useful medical knowledge from the trainer.

Later in the evening, we were given some interesting intellectual games to play that needs teamwork. Though i played before, it was still something that is still as new to me. We were given materials which were basic tools used to build a structure to store an egg in it. The test was to drop the structure from 5th storey down to 3rd storey. Our initial structure was able to withstand the drop and we managed to gain full points. But little did we know that we had to put in another egg after that with what's remaining of our stucture. Too bad, it was just not strong enough. The organising committee added some interesting feature in the game. They acted like medical staff or fire brigade rescuers to save the egg from the drop.

Late at night , it was more supper at Rocher and Timbre for a drink. Some of us managed to talk after that. In the end, most of us slept at around 5am.

Day 3 :
Most of us were shack with the lack of sleep we had from the previous long night. Anyway, we head off to RCHD for the main event we had planned throughout the camp.

Once there, each of the group started off with our task. We spent time pasting our artpieces on the walls while communicating with some of the patients at the same time whereever possible. We had the chance to talk to some of the patients, feed them during their meal time and simply just try to make their day.

One patient which took the hearts from many of us was this little boy who was about 2-3 years old. On the outside, he looks normal to me. I was puzzled on what kind of disability he had. A few of us simply stood beside him for a period of time. Seeing him stuggling with phaglem, coughing makes us feel so sad. For such a young child to be going through this, we as normal people could never imagine how to be like him. He did not have much reaction to what we do. This has definitely got to be one of my most memorable incident i had during my camp.

Overall Feeling about Red Cross Camp

Overall Feeling about Red Cross Camp

Red Cross camp was my 3rd camp before my school starts. Compared to the previous 2 camps, it was a lot more relaxed in terms of physical activity. It compensates with much emotional and mental activity. As this was a community service project, it serve a different purpose to those participants.

I will pen it down in details once i find the time. Today (the next day of camp) I had to attend English Language Course which lasts the whole week. Plus, i have to train for my IPPT that commences next week and meetups with my 2 camps group mates at the end of the week. Not forgetting I have to move house back to Bedok, my time is packed for this week man!!!

Red Cross Camp tml

Red Cross Camp tml

Tomorrow's my 3rd camp before school starts. This time its Red Cross Camp. It should be something different from the previous 2 since this is more of community service based.

I have received a brief itenery for the camp. There would be some community service being done during this time, get to visit the Blood Bank. So i am looking forward for a different experience this time. Will record it once im back.

Sports Camp

Sports Camp

My 2nd camp - Sports Camp "Smashin '07"

This was my 2nd out of 4 camps. I was looking forward to have a great time and i wasn't disappointed.

Day 1.
We had to reach early as usual. I was a little shack since i slept quite the previous night. I still managed to be the first to reach for my group. Once everyone's here, it was the usual ice-breaking session to get to know the ppl in the group. The grp was smaller as compared to Bondue. We had only 8 ppl in it (4 guys + 4 gals).

After lunch, it was the first highlight of the camp, Amazing Race. This race was even better than Bondue. Some of the interesting events that happened in Amazing Race : -

1) After our first station, our next stop was at Sports Hall. It was not the best of start i must say. There, we had to compete against another team in Akido, boxing, and Muay Thai. Though it was the simpler version of the real game, our group's physique could not match the other grp. Guys in the Akido event was simpler out-muscled and thrown ard like barble dolls. I can still remember how i flew off. haha... But after that, was pretty smooth sailing....

2) Next station was to Kallang to play soft ball and dragon boat. On the way to the dragon boat's station, Jasper, our faci managed to hitch a ride. Never did we know that it was the first of many hitch rides that we got. For dragon boat, we had the chance to taste how tough the sport is and how much coordination is needed for the whole team to forward together fast. We had to ride to the shore, solve a puzzle and ride back. Tiring it was, i felt it help bond the team together to work even harder for our next few stations.

3) Next was off to Sentosa. On the way, Meiqian, our PR girl managed to hitch our next ride. the kind uncle was waiting for a grp of primary school kids and he kindly fetch us to the nearest stations, saving us time and effort walking.

4) To go to sentosa, we took the new Monorail, considering it was the first time i took it, it was a new experience for me. There, we had to play touch rugby which was tough considering the fact that there was so many rules to remember and none of us played before. Anyway, the next station was another highlight event. We had the chance to take a new ride, Ludge. It was a ride where we had to sit a "open" cable car up a hill. Once reached, we would ride downhill back to the starting with a kinda manual cart. It was awesome, when the vehicle pick up speed. I managed to do some drifting on my own around some of the bendings. Totally Cool!!!

5) We knew that we were among the leading pack when we had to proceed to Potong Pasir. There, we got the chance to try out archery. I was the first to shoot the targets ( which were actually balloons). Each of us had 3 tries. With me complaining that i did not have my specs on, I surprised everyone by hitting all of my tries. WoW!!! I did not expect that myself. Was pretty cool experience. However, we had to do a forfeit at that station. We were made to pick up items from a box, inside filled with worms/maggots. Though it sounds yucky, it was still ok.

6) From the next clue, we had to head to Yishun Stadium. From Potong Pasir, it was pretty inconvient, and the thought of hitching another ride came to mind. We were waiting at the bus stop when Meiqian took the chance to approach a indian guy who was waiting at the side of the road. After some negotiating by her and the gals, the driver who incidently was from Salvation Army agreed to drive us there. Initially, they only agree to bring us to Ang Mo Kio station. However, in the end, there were so kind enough to fetch us all the way to the stadium. We were so touched by their actions.

7) Upon reaching Yishun, we realised that we were the first to reach... YES ... FIRST!!! We were totally excited. Hurriedly, we took our victorious picture and went off to hide. We didnt want to let others know that they were not the first.. haha...

8) Next was a little surprising for me, we were told that we would be watching a soccer match later after dinner at the stadium itself. It was between Tampines Rovers v Korean Super Reds... Unbelievable.. First half was kinda quiet.... No goals, all groups were tired. I guess most of us cant wait for the match to be over... At half time, the organisers came with a brillliant idea. Bettings started going out. It was for timing for the amazing race. With each correct guess, teams could get their timing to be cut short. Now, that got everyone's excited about the 2nd half game.
2nd half was noisy. We were practically shouting all the way for every call, every foul and goal. This is also the first time where i heard so many cheering when yellow card was awarded. ( one of it was to guess the no. of yellow cards awarded... )

Tired as we were, back in school after bathing, we still managed to play some games in the room and catch some supper at Kopitam before we turn in.... ( next day we had to wake up at 645am!)


Day 2.
Day 2 was equally amazing. First half of the day we were at the pool games. We had to compete in 4 different stations. Among the members, i was the only non-swimmer. However, i tried to particpate in as many activities as i could. It was tiring but fun as we had the chance to pose some funny pictures, jump around the pool. Unfortunately for me, i got knocked in my knee when we played captain ball. We were in the low pool so i hit myself during one of my jumps to protect the ball. Weather was cold too. There wasnt any sun as the whole morning was threathen by rain. Luckily, the event went on as usual smoothly.

In the afternoon, we were trying out some sports clinic namely frisbie, handball and floorball. There, we had a great time trying out all the sports. I managed to score some goals too... haha... But then again, i had to hurt myself. This time, it was on my finger where i sprained it.

Dinner time was fantastic. We had buffet.. Loads of food man! In the end, perhaps we took a bit too much, there were leftovers. We manged to used it though as punishment for a game. It was a game where one person had to say 3 facts about himself, of which 1 of it was actually a lie. The rest of us would have to guess, and those who fail would have to clear some food. A good game to me as it help us to get to know each other in a different way.

After dinner, it was stage games at SOA conference hall. Games were different from Bondue but were equally entertaining. All of us managed to laughed our stomachs out for every game. Good news were followed after that. That night we had the luxury to sleep longer. Our wake up timing was 1030am for the 3rd day. Still, before we turn in, we took a trip down to Rocher Road for Tau Huay- beancurd. The gals were talking about it since day 1.

Day 3.
Unlike Bondue, Day 3 had another round of games. This time was telematch that was held at various places around the campus. Each of us had to go through five stations. Intellectual ones like the guessing game where members had to act/pose for a guesser to guess. Wet ones like passing of water bombs to fill up a pail right at the end. Physical ones like Dodgeball. Dirty ones like Rolling tyres where participants were dirtied with flour. Soapy ones where we had to run soapy balloon obstacle castle. One thing im very proud to say is that we won 4 out of 5 events, with the fifth coming a close 2nd.

At the end, during prize presentation, out group came in 2nd for both amazing race and for the telematch. Amazing!!! That would be our uses for our group's outing in the near future. Oh.. i got to mention this too. Because the camp had a theme based on superheros/cartoon characters, all the facilitators had to dress up a character at the end. All costomes were so funny. Some memorables ones were Austin Powers whose costomes are so real, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles whose spinning actions were very funny! Little pony who managed to shout out some stuffs from its ass, and not forgetting our very own transformers who tranform from garang kuni's cardboards to a cupboard robot!!!

This camp is definitely one of my best camp yet... Looking forward to meet the guys and gals again soon!

Bondue Group Picture

Bondue Group Picture

This is the final grp picture before we went home after camp. Just tot of putting my views on each of my group mates. Hmm... let me start from the facilitators...

Jit : He is one cool guy. Very smart guy. He controlled the grp well, giving some good, lame jokes at times. I always find it amusing when he and Iris fight it out with their war of words.

Iris : One who is the more detailed of the 2. They have the Yin and Yang balance i must say. Always thinking of something to keep us occupied with games or chats. A very good facilitator.
Casey : Or rather Weihao. That was supposedly his real name. But in order to let us remember him better, he used Casey. One who looks serious upon first impression, but after many interactions, he is just one crappy guy who likes to share his fun and experiences. However, a little overdoing it when it comes to alcohol consumption. Control it bro...

Yee Huat : Had a nickname of Edwin given by Casey. Apparently, according to Casey, he has a very close resemblance of his friend whose name is Edwin. Anyway, he is a very dramatic person i must say. Big Actions along with this big eyes and smile, he is one that have many the girls laugh on many occasions.

John : A very guai boy comparing to all 4 guys. Can be seen from our small session of truth for truth. Still, an intelligent guy who shows his ability during our Polar Bear games.

Group 6 members - Bondue Camp

Group 6 members - Bondue Camp

Dawn : The one who came late on the first day of camp. Oh well, another smart girl who is taking double degree. One who almost choke herself in one of the game where we got ourselves all dirty from the crawling and rolling in the mud. Still, she was gamed enough in most of the games.

Jessica : As her face will tell you. Definitely a quiet looking girl who doesnt talk much, yet with such high intelligence. Would remember her words when she defends herself in Polar Bear... " Im ... Im... just a villager" and how she managed to fake everyone when she was the Polar Bear. Thumbs up girl!!!

Hilda : Hope i didnt get this wrong this time. This is the girl who support the same football club as me, LIVERPOOL FC. Yeh. We could catch a match together one of these days man. Looking forward to the new season with Torres around. Anyway, I would remembered her by her reactions to situations. She would pull that awkward looking expression when it comes to her turn or when questions stunned her out, and she would say that '' Im tramatised by that... " She share some of her short working experience in the bank and how bad her superior was to her while i share mine too... Girl, there's lots to learn when it comes to the real world. SMU is the place to learn from it.

Tiffany : One of the girls that i started conversation. First impression was that she was a sporty person. Indeed she was given her background of touch rugby. Remembered her blurrness on the first day where she accumulated the most forfeits. Was kinda reserved initially, but as time goes by, she began to open herself and starting to have fun, showing some of craziness during out journey in the amazing race (singing, shouting,brisk walking awkwardly.. haha.. i remember that). One memorable event would definitely be the qn game where she was nearly sabotaged by Jit with his qns of " Where is Mark (her bro)". it was until i used it back onto Jit that reversed the situation. Extremely funny during that game.

Shanru : Another smart guy who is going for double degree. Same as hilda, her reaction to situations tickles me. She would always have the "shocked, tramatic expression" on her face when she was sabotaged. Would remembered her when she managed to hide her identity as Polar bear for a few games during Fright Night, and it all happen when i was just beside her... Gosh. Oh, she was also the one who was beside me when we had to play the grape passing game. Though awkward moments, we still managed to play it out "safely". hahah...

Michelle : The first girl that i talk to in this camp. How so? Because she did not know which group she was in except knowing that Iris was the faci. Luckily, i was just beside her at the that time. That's how we started talking. A girl who is always trying her best to get to know everyone. Though sweet looking, she is into physical activities as she trains in running and attempt to join rock climbing. Ren Bu Ke Mao Xiang wor... dont worry about the fall with your bum during the prize presentation.. i will forget it soon... keke.. Hope to see ya during Sports Camp and chat up more...

That's all for my description. This is the start of the SMU life. A good start and i hope it stays that way. Networking is impt as many seniors have mentioned. So guys and gals... Do hope to enjoy more fun and work together in the near future... !!!!!!!!!

First of 4 SMU Camps - Bondue Camp

First of 4 SMU Camps - Bondue Camp

Just got back from Bondue camp today. Had a tiring time but yet fun and refreshing... Im finally back to school life!!!

Day 1 :
we had to reach early in the morning. Upon first meeting, we managed to make a simple intro to each other. The early part of the morning was occupied with ice breaker games... tiu tiu tiu, yee-yorh, superheros, hai dai... ... The intial period was a little awkward for some of us i guess... our facilitator keep commenting that we split lines among ourselves and that we should bond all together. well, i guess 3 girls and another 2 girls were friends before that so time was needed for us to bond. The next activity was the start of it...

After lunch, it was teambondin games, we had to go through 6 stations situated all across the areas. There were games we had to really get dirty, physical, or touchy... .hehe...
1) Crawl-crawl/roll-roll : This was our first station. We had to crawl and roll across a muddy patch, wear a t-shirt and to crawl back. All of us had to go through once... it is very rare but encouraging that the girls are willing to get dirty and rough it out too... Thumbs Up Girls!!!
2) Passing Grapes : This station was simple but yet so challenging. How so... All we had to do is to pass grapes from one person to another all the way. Yet, it is so challenging because we had pass the grapes through our mouths. My first reaction was "cannot be... they cant possibly let us do that..." haha... in the end, it wasnt a joke after all. It was kinda awkward because kudos to the girls, they were still sporty enough to go through it...
3) Dunking Heads : This was one of the last station. Here we had to do a relay collecting marbles which were hidden in a pail mixed with some shitty shit ( food like kuay teow, nasi lemak, raw eggs, etc) We had to dunk our head before finding a marble. At this station, our facis were so sporty to join in the fun to gain more points for the team. Double Thumbs Up!!!

After dinner, we made our way to Changi Chalet for "Fright Night" We were to stay there for a night. Here, we had a journey tour in OCH (Old Changi Hospital), where our faci had planted and made scary stuffs to frighten us. We had to wait for our turn to go in. In the meantime, we stay in the chalet playing Polar Bear. It was a game where it needs a lot of thinking, analysing, accusing... haha.. it was fun... helping us to bond. I must say that all of the group members are smart ppl... In each of the seperate incident, I could see why they are deservedly SMU students.

Fright Night was not too bad. We had to walk through a desinated route that was planned by the facilitators. We had to walk from station to station. In each station, a pair have to go inside the station and complete a specific task. The place is indeed scary. It was complete darkness (if without the light sticks) filled with broken planks, doors, uneven stairs, not to mention the many paint marking left by ppl who were here before. One regretful thing about it is that i and john did not managed to enter any of the station. They were only 4, so we were left out.

Day 2:
Morning was to make the trip back to campus. It was pretty relaxed till the day's challenge, Amazing Race.

It started off with a challenge against with another team. We had to win it in order to be able to move off first. The game we had to play was attacking touch dodgeball. Teams were split into 2 - attackers and defenders. The team to win is to be able to "kill" off the opposing defenders the fastest time. I was inside the defenders side. Keez... did a lot of running and dodging, lasting myself for pretty long. Anyway, tactics were crucial for this challenge. Our attackers were very smart to be able to comb the opposing defenders into a very constricted space. Winning the challenge we could set off first.

The whole afternoon was walking from station to station, place to place from fort canning hill to raffles to clarke quay. It was a relaxed one as we didnt run and hunger ourselves like what other team had done. Some of the memorable games we had to overcome :
1) Overflowing of ping pong ball : This game was at Clarke Quay at the fountain area. Here we had to tie cups onto our forehead, fill in water from the fountain, and try to let the ping pong ball in the pail to over flow out. All of our clothes were wet after this challenge. For me, My front side of pants were drenched shit... haha..
2) Sales Ice cream : At Raffles Place, right in the middle of UOB centre, Caltex Centre, we had to help ice cream auntie to sell ice cream. I must say auntie is very lucky that day. Sales was fantastic whenever groups were there selling. I was glad that many of the customers were so supportive.

At night we had a games cum stage performance. We gathered at the conference hall playing group games. I managed to participate the musical chairs, but i only managed till 2nd round. It was rough and tough with 30 odd ppl participating. Other games were dancing competition, beer drinking competition.

The night wasnt over after that. Alcohol was free flowing, unlimited. Groups continued their various individual games in many places around the campus. One game that was extremely funny. It was called Question game where we had to ask question to one another continously. Receipants cannot answer, instead they should ask question to another person. The high point of the game was this person where he is very slow to react. What was bad for him was that i would always point ask him questions. Simple qn, funny qn, rediculous qn... all he could not react in time. Everyone had more of their share of the laughs. I even feel bad about it.

I slept around 5 am.

Day 3 : It was a simple. Breakfast, packing, prize presentation and it was off to home.

Sat / Sun part time

Sat / Sun part time

Just this last sat and sunday, i was at Courts Megastore doing a part time job. Courts had this carnival going on for the Tampines Retail Park grand opening. Anyway, I managed to get this job through the papers. After briefed by the agency girl, I had to work from 7am to 10pm on sat and 9am to 10pm on sunday. I was taken aback at first, but still accepted it since it was just for 2 days.

In the end, i was being assigned to the Whizkids counter, the children corner. Luckily for me since i get to mingle with the kids... I wouldn't want to be flyer boys... which 2 of them got it...

However, most of the time I had to smell all the smelly smelly footwears. WHY? cos one of the job scope was to collect their shoes , put it in ziplock bags and into the shelves and vice versa when they get out. Gosh... In total, I should have done about 300-400 pairs over the 2 days. Really fainted... However, that was still bearable since the people i handle are mainly kids..

What got me pissed off is the events manager (or whatever his position is)... All the part timers were splited up into groups. The group I was in was under him. What he did (or rather not did) makes me think how he can be a events manager. First thing he did not do right... he did not talk down our hp numbers... Yes, he did give us his contact, but what the use, if he dont know who the hell are we? Second, he obviously have a very poor memory and i think he lacks organising skills.

Before we were assigned to our various stations to work, the first thing we had to do was to clear away the barricades and set up tables for the event. From there, I could sense his disorganisation. When setting up the tables, he doesnt seems to have a proper layout on how the tables should be. From the way he directed us, it seems decision on the spot. As such, instructions were super not clear, we had to reshuffle again and again a few times. Never mind, that was small matter. Whats next really got me angry. ...

We were told of the reporting of timing to work by the agency that on sunday to start at 9am. Since they had the practice of taking attendance half hour early, i had to reach 830am. As always, being early i got there by 820am. Soon after, the attendance taker told me to my surprise that my group could report an hour later on sunday. Blur... he said that i should have been told... But hell no... I knew nothing of it. It was until almost at the end of the day that i heard from the others that the events manager left me out. In addition, the others also complained that he just cant seem to remember who is who in his group. ***shaking head***

At the end, 2 of the group members helped me to get him to sign the time sheet, because once again, he forgotten me again... OH MY GOD... though i didnt scold him or whatsoever, I did mention to him on how he forgotten about me... and he just seem so cool over it... KAOS... and the timing still set at 930am when job started.. no sorry no nothing.... unbelievable...

Found a Part time Job

Found a Part time Job

Guess i cant really stick at home doing nothing. well, managed to find one part time job this weekend at Courts Megastore. Said that there will be a carnival happening there.

Anyway, the working hours is damn siong... sat will be from 7am to 10pm... while sun from 9am to 10pm... yes... u didnt see wrongly.. its so many hours... so little sleep man... but just for that 2 days.. i just took it... anyway place is not that far from home...

Hope after that, the employment agency girl can offer me with others...

End of Mount E Tour

End of Mount E Tour

haha... cute.. End of Mount E tour.. yes.. after 8 months or so at Mount E... finally come to an end. I must say I had a nice farewell. Though it was not spectacular, it was nice to know that I will be missed by some ... Received a nice gift from them too... A bear hugging a nice Parker Pen, and a Buffel Wallet. The gift was nicely wrapped up and my bro even suspect that it was personally wrapped by one of them. Anyway, did not had to chance to ask. Very touched indeed.

Oh well, i did my part as well. I thought that i should do something too. What i did was I bought a couple of small wooden pieces... painted them with all the names and made it like an mini bookmark or ornament. During the last day, i managed to secretly placed them in the hands of the respective Executives for them to distribute to the rest of the guys. Hope they like it though.. Wasnt something expensive, just my simple appreciation for them. Too bad, i forgot to take the pictures of it. This is my only regret...

Part Time Job

Part time job

hmmm.. now that my full time job is coming to an end.. now im contemplating on part time jobs.. there's still 2 months to go before the school formally start. Though there's school activities in between, there are still days unoccupied, and im one that cant just stick around doing nothing for the remaining days.

These days i have been looking around to see if there's any part time job that suits. One of it is a work at A&E dept at the hospital. I heard that they always lack of part time staff.. hmmm.. still thinking whether or not to ask the nurse manger there...

Time clicking away... 3 days more before last day at admissions...

Check Up

Check Up

As mentioned, had to go for the checkup stipulated by SMU. Had to do it at a Raffles Medical Clinic. Strange feeling in a sense that im a parkway staff but im doing check up at Raffles..

anyway, it was supposed to be a simple checkup ... with the staff taking those usual parameters like height, weight, urine test, eye test... but this checkup had X-ray as part of the package.

Becaused of the X-ray, the total time i spent there was 2.5 hours. That's very long for just a simple checkup. I cant believe it, there's only one X ray theatre, and there's like a long queue of ppl who have to do it. Gosh... dont know is it working in Mount E too long expectation high liao..

One Week Left!!!

Half a year have gone just like that.... and it felt that Chinese New year was just over not long ago.. haha... finally my time is coming up... one more week and im gone from Mount E... Sat 16th will be my last day there...

this few days, my colleagues been asking me when is my last day and how they would miss me when im gone... so nice to hear that they would miss me... at least i know that i did spent my time well here..

Speaking of which, im not the only one going off.. another 2 colleagues in the back office have tendered too. Because of a change in the work system, they decided to resign. One of them served his last day today. Turnover is really high here...

Oh well.. Tml still have to go for a medical checkup at Raffles medical clinic. Gosh, still have to go through this... and its 830am appointment. .. Ah!!! so early.. just when i tot i could wake up late...

Happy Happy!!!

Happy sia... tonight got a nicey nicey compliments by my friend who said my designs are nice... Every positive comments will only motivate to make more nicer ones... Yeh!!!!!

Here's the link... dtz-world.blogspot.com

highest level of Calmness

highest level of Calmness

Those who is working in the service industry, be it as a promoter, customer services officer or even corporate workers serving his clients, Im sure all would agree that customers do give us a hell of a time at times... that we feel like shouting them back for their unreasonable demands or comments..

My time in Mount E have been pleasant accept for situations when such customers come and spoil my day... My initial months with such customers, i failed terribly i must say... trembling when i cannot handle them... but good that i have met those kind of ppl... just make me even "stronger" in a sense... nowadays when i faced such ppl whether is it arogant or demanding, inside me, i can sense more calmness in my behaviour... no more panicking, no more " how ah? how ah?"

Today i had to face another such customer... though they are quite nice ppl ... their insistent can be quite bothersome... All they know was that they only wanted Single room for the patient... same prob Mount E face almost everyday... they would rather not proceed with treatment ... which i find it totally unbelievable... just bcos they do not get the room that they would like..

what i dont understand is .... why cant the patients or family members understand when we explain to them that its subject to availability... i can understand if they think that they are in a hotel.. but as a reality... Its a hospital... and rooms cannot be booked in advance... oh gosh.. this is a never ending problem that my poor Sister Png and Thilaga have to face...

Anyway, today when things got quite nasty when the patient who have a very hot temper starting to scold me and my customer officer... lucky his wife managed to get him to sit aside...
that point of time, i realised that i was kinda calm.. wasnt really affected much by his shouting... pretty amazed by how i was able to do that...

Anyway, in the end, their persistence got them the precious single... but had to delay the patient's treatment...

I really must think of some useful suggestions for Business Office to improve the bed system... its in a total mess i must say....

Time for Resignation

Time for Resignation

Counting on, it have been almost 7 months here in Mount E already... my longest record with a company. By now, i believe everyone in the office knows that Im leaving in a month time. Today i hand in my resignation letter to my executive. Well, she wanted me to hand in in advance.

It was my first ever time writing a resignation letter, so i was kinda puzzled on how to go about doing it. I even asked her if i could notify verbally... well, her reply was a definite no.

She had requested me to hand in early, citing reason so that they can start to hire new staff for training. Oh well, so I prepare it and submit it today. Counting the days left in Mount E, i guess i still have about a month left before i formally go...

A Night In Mount E...

A Night In Mount E...

Oh.. didnt know that its been about 9 days since i last type anything here...
oh well, tonight is another night shift for me. Counting, this is my 5th time...

Looking back, I have already been here for about half a year already. This is the longest time i have served a company so far consecutively... And to think in 2 months time, off i will go to embark my next life journey...

Same old phrase, time really pass by very fast. I recently heard that once a person get past his/her 20 year old mark. Time would somehow past by very fast. In a blink of an eye, he/she would turn 30 just like that. By then, i believe, many would think back and see what have they really did for the past decade.. and do they need to do anything more or less in their lives...

This suddenly came to mind. I have been waiting for about 3 weeks for my results in the LKC interview. Two nights ago, i have heard from one friend that he got it and he received the call one week after the interview. That is very fast compared to the 2 weeks that the prof was saying it would take. Anyway, from him, I find out that at least 3 have got the scholarship. Places have already been taken up, and now all i can hope is that my chance is still there for the taking.. well at least , one of the other scholarship if i fail in this.. .. Just have to wait and see...

To be Angry or sad???

To feel Angry or to Sad?

Another irony situation.... Angry... when i and my colleagues faced nasty, demanding customers who insists on having their way.... Today, we had one patient who had to come in for a few hours for a blood transfusion. The patient husband came to do admission early, so as to ease the patient's waiting time. However, again, this is another customer who wants Single and insists on a private room. GOsh.. initially he was served by one other staff, who have told him that there's no guarantee that there will be single room though patient will only come in a few hours later. Everything said was not of any use. All he wanted is Single.. single .. single... nothing but a private room... When it was assigned a 2 beded for him, he refused to accept it. By then, i had to handle him as my staff was on lunch. that really boiled me up no matter how i tell him that its totally full. Frustrated... but luckily, my staff came back and i let him handle, which is more appropriate. In the end, we had to convert a 2beded into a single... Darn man... Little did i expect, that i would be the one to serve them again when the patient is to be discharge later in the evening... Some signatures had to be taken from the patient and my billing staff told me to help him before he went off duty. Gosh... not much of a choice, I had to bring the documents up to the ward. Entering the room, when i saw the patient lying in the bed.. weak and pale... skinny as if lack of food. That moment, my heart gave in... seeing her condition, I felt sad for her.. as well as her husband.. it had to be a tough time for both going thru this kinda situation. At times thinking back, sometime i feel patients or family members are demanding, because of the situation they are in that caused them to react this way. This husband no matter how nasty he is... at least he's a good husband ... being able to stand hand in hand with her to fight against the illness... This is really what one says... having both sides of a story... For that, i respect him....

3rd round Interview

3rd round Interview

I never know an interview would be like that.. but it really happened. SMU is indeed different. The interview is not like those typically one to one interview where questions are asked so directly.

this is indeed so different.. and the prof after the interview still mention not to let it out on how the interview is being held including in the net or blog. he said a similar incident happened before in previous year.

So i better nt let anything out first.. till everything is over..

Now.. its when will get the final call to say if im accept.. or waiting list.. or accepted for other scholarship... or i dont get anything at all...

GOD knows man....

First Unsuccessful Deal

First Unsuccessful Deal

Yes, after months of selling some stuff through internet. This is the first time my meetup with a seller goes unsuccessful.

I tried to sell one of my top that I recently bought... just wasn't comfortable with the shirt, so placed it in Yahoo, hoping to sell it off.
To my surprise, replies were pretty fast. A few enquiries came in. As usual, I would give pirority to the one that replied back to me the fastest. Today, managed to meet him up. But the meeting is not without any hiccups. The "buyer" kept changing the time to meet. It was only 2 hours before that it was confirmed.

Anyway, upon meeting, there's this kind odd behaviour in him that gives me the feeling that this would be my first failed deal. First, i showed him the shirt and his first reaction was not that good. He was saying "huh.. why is it green?" This im very surprised man... think it was pretty obvious when i posted it in the net. Next, he said to try it out in toilet. Of course, i was fine with that... So off to toilet.... But looking at his size, Im very negetive about it. He was a little plump for me to fit in the top. Gosh.. but just as i was waiting outside the toilet, I happen to meet one of my relative....

Back to the deal, I was standing outside talking to my relative, when he came out showing me that face saying that " its no deal "... He hesitate of any reply... It was me that said "dont think it fits right..." Then... All he could do is lower his head, pass me back the shirt and just simply walk off... Haiz...

Plan to Not to plan

Plan to Not to plan

One of those contradicting decisions to make... I have always been a plan person. Well, in a sense that i have always plan my timing on many of my daily life. As simple as what to wear for the whole week in poly, to planning when to stay in sengkang or bedok, to planning what to eat for whole. Long term since young have been what to study, and the route to university.

Some people find me strange or crazy i guess. Since graduating from secondary school, i have already planned my life till university. How so???

Before my O level, i as the same as any other student had to think about whether to go to JC or poly. While some naturally think that they ought to go JC, for me, I had to ponder which path to go for myself is the best one. My result in Sec 3 was a pretty decent one. Hopes was pinned on me by my family to head to JC and then to university. Much thinking was on my mind during that period of time.

Initially stage, I was thinking of only heading to a good JC like Temasek JC. To me, it was either that or not straight to Poly. It was only after time that i finally made my decision. When i made my decision known to my mum, she was all so puzzled about it. I had wanted to go to poly, no matter what my result was. I had decided that studying practical skills and knowledge was the best for me instead of the normal academic subjects in JC.

For my mum, naturally she was worried about my chances of entering university in the future. While that was a little concern for me, it didnt really bother me to a large extent. It was as if I had the confidence. When it was time to decide what to study in poly, i even made a preplanned decision to study accounting and finance in poly first, then after which i will further myself in business. Of course, when i was just 16 years, the future is still a question mark.. but that was on my mind on how my studies path would be.

Luckily, as it turn out, i did not disapooint. My grades in poly was up to mark, and i managed to particpate several school activities to be able myself to be considered as a participative student. My resume in poly was quite packed i would say. In the end, I finally enrolled myself to SMU.

But coming to this step, more things come to mind. ... that is... What's next???
Of course, most will say ... work of course...

well.. yes indeed, working in the society...but to me, how to go about continuing my path.
Questions coming out was like to take scholarship which are bonded? fully paid by dad's CPF then find job in the future? or to just go all out to start some business that i have always bope to start? Of course, these things i have bring up to my mum... all she says was just to take a step at a time... and not to worry too much. But i think it is in my nature that i am one that always plan proper.

So the question is still... What's next??? May god show me the path.... ....

Bloated Kid

Bloated Kid

Yes... A bloated kid... There i was, at hospital doing my night shift. Time went by fast i must say when I'm doing night shift even though its a whole 11 hours. It was dawn, and some patients began to come in for their admission.

One of the admission was for a kid from Indonesia. The one who came to do the admission was a lady agent. She was here to do the admission first before the patient and family comes in. I thought it was those normal work that agents does to ease the family's workload.

The bed for the kid had some delay, and she had to wait for it to be ready. Soon, she began to worry a little. What happens later is another 1st incident i have seen since joining Mount E. Because there was only one staff to send patients up to their ward. Seeing that the kid have not reached, i called my staff to send another one as it was a caesarian case. Little did i know the next moment, that the agent was shouting... "Faster, faster... he's running away!!!"

This got me all puzzled... "who's running away" ... What happen was that the kid was afraid of going to the ward, going for operation which was about 2 hours away. Upon knowing that he was to operate later, he simply ran away, causing much worry to family, the agent as well as me...

The kid had a kidney problem. It wasn't functioning well till a stage wherer his stomach is being bloated up just like a pregnant girl. Without a proper kidney, one's body could not simply seperate our water content in the body. I heard from the agent that doctors in Indonesia simply told them not to bother at all, even when his body was showing signs that he is not well at all. Lucky thing was that the kid does not feel any pain at all. However, that caused him to be able to run away too...

Gosh... So as i and the agent was standing at the lift lobby, still a little stunned about what had happened, the father went to try to get the kid back. It took quite a while, when i suggested that i sent up the admission documents up to the ward, while the agent try to get the anestastist (Ma zui Shi) for some sedation. For me, I had to rush back to my counter, as my other night shift colleague was alone.

After that, i continued my work and went home as usual. The next shift when i was back at that same night, I checked to see whether the kid managed to be admitted. To my relief, he was in hospital, and the surgery went through too.

2 days later, at one of the lift lobby, i happen to come across the kid's father. Surprisely, he managed to recognise me. He didnt know english. So our conversation was a little mixed up with our own language. I made some signs asking how is the kid... while his reply in malay was a postitive one and i know that kid should be alright after all.

Though the whole incident, i was not part of it in a great extent, in terms of chasing the kid back to hospital or involving the surgery in the OT, it gave me one of most unforgetable incident to take away when i leave Mount E.

300

300

Today was able to claim some 1.5 hours off and managed to leave hospital at ard 2.30 pm.. been such a long time since i managed to finish work so early. Before that, at lunch time, i was looking at new paper when i saw the timing of the movie 300 at 4.05pm.. i was pondering whether to catch it after work.

It was until after work at 2.30 when i check on the timing again, that i found out that at 2.50pm, there's a show at Lido.. So i thought why nt... So off i go, for a another solo movie show. Some friends who have heard me saying that sometimes i see movie myself think im crazy.. haha... to me... who cares...

So just nice as timing permits, bought the tickets, enter to the cinema on time for the show. I didnt know much about what the movie about, except that its some battle fighting show. Overall, after watching, I cant really rate it as a fantastic movie. But it does show some teaching points to me...

1) The fight for one's freedom.
2) Nt to bow and give up to his enemy.
3) The power of word of mouth
4) etc...

Morning Shift

Morning Shift

I can't believe it... after about 2 weeks of afternoon, this week was morning shift for me. Now, with that, i needed quite an adjustment to adjust back my timing to waking up early at 5am. Well, at least i wasn't late for work.
However, once i have reached, i could see a group of customers there awaiting for their turn to get their admission done. Great! what a way to start off man. It didnt make things well that my feel was a strained by yesterday's game of soccer. I had to move around limping a little. For the whole morning, there wasn't much break in between, so it was basically work, work and work...
It even come to a stage when the queue when 11, i was so confused by all the work from all direction that i managed to stared blank for a moment. I think that had caught the attention of my shifu, the colleague who taught me the ropes. She was like "Wey, got 11 queue lei... " My reply was only "ya ya ya.." i think around with a blur look on my face.. Then work continues...
Back at grandma place, i was so tired that i sleep through the evening without eating my dinner. Gosh.. hope it doesnt carry this on such that i will nt be able to sleep tonight man...

Will there be any Reply???

Will there be any Reply???

It has been a few weeks since the interview at SMU regarding the scholarship? Till now, there is still no notice at all whether is through phone or email? Suddenly makes me wonder if I had make the cut or have been dropped out of the race... But i suppose, even if I have been rejected, surely there would at least notice to me right???

This can frustrating... Knowing that you are quite near to the incentive it provides, but yet its so time consuming as the delays are so long such that one really wonders their chances of going through.. Hai...

If Im really dropped out of it, i guess i can say sayonara to any form of financial support for my first year, and i would have to really ponder the possibility of taking up an external scholarship... ... May GOD bless me in this...

Cut Hair???

Cut Hair???

Hmm... since Ord, i have been growing back my hair. Finally after months after that, my hair is back to what i have always been having before army.

But now, as its getting longer and thicker, im pondering whether to cut it ultra short, or to just trim a little... i dont think my hair can last till that long in my work place. Everyday i have to face customers. With long hair, i guess its just a matter of time, someone will start complaining about it...

Plan cut it this coming saturday ba..

Calming Myself Down

Calming Myself Down

Calming Down... This has been what i have been doing today whole day long during work... Like the saying goes, once it does not go your way.. Nothing will ever go your way...

I just got back from break and immediately my colleague called me in for a case where a patient just went off discharged without paying. The executive was asking why i did not collect any deposit and that the address he gave was very vague, and the numbers was invalid. I was like shocked to know that the patient went off just like that. Being the person who help did the admission, i was kinda guilty about it. Up next, was another where i got the name wrongly and another where i wrote the bed number wrongly, causing some mixed up with the patients and the rooms they ought to be in. During that period of time, it seems everyone is looking for me for something that I might have done wrong... That kinda sucks man..

Admission work kept continuing one after another, without stop. I only managed to get a small break only after 2 plus hours since coming back from break... Unbelievable...

All this while, during lapse where I was only with myself, all i could do was to just breathe deeply and calming myself down, trying to keep myself intact and be of the best i can be in front of every new customer.. This is certainly one hell of a training to have if its used to test one's patience.

2nd Round Interview

2nd Round Interview

I had my 2nd round scholarship interview 23rd feb.... again this time at SMU... It was planned to last a whole afternn..

Once at there... same thing.. an all boys session.. as the army guys go thru this interview first... the number who went there were ard 50-70... this is definitely hard competition...with so many ppl vying for the main prize... i really wonder what are my chances are in getting the scholarship....

i mean this scholarship covers practically everything... from tuition fee.. to laptop grant, to book allowance.. to overseas trip allowance.. and a whole lot of activities that the scholars will be exposed to... the network that one can achieved.... a very tempting prospect indeed...

well.... the interview was nt really interview after all.. again... SMU did it differently... instead of the formal panel interview..... this time... we were seperated into different groups... and made to do assignements within our groups....

we had to come out a product for our "client"... which can satisfy him. within my group... there are definitely different kinds of leadership shown by some of the guys...to shine within the group already is hard enough... nt to mention among 50 odd guys...

Now, i have to await for any sort of reply from them saying that Im into the 3rd round... well.. hopefully I will.. and what i heard for the 3rd round is even more tougher and stranger... for an interview to go through... to spot able scholars for the program.. heard that it will be a meeting session where all are free to roam around and chat with professors or CEOs... just crazy man...

Green is more Beautiful than Blue

Green is more Beautiful than Blue

This is an interesting sentence that I came across recently.

I was being shortlisted by SMU to qualify for the insituation's most pretisgous scholarship, LKC Scholarship (Lee Kong Chian). That day was a session for the male candidates.

I was kinda puzzled why I was being shortlisted as the scholarship is only given to those under the double degree program. Anyway, later I found out that there was something in my resume that impressed them such that i'm worth a shot for the scholarship. What I understand is that I will give it a shot for it, and if I were to be accepted right at the end, I would have to opt for a second degree.

During that session, I got a further insight on what the scholarship offers. The perks is tempting in a sense that it covers almost every cost incurred during the years in school plus its bond-free. If I'm really selected to be one of the scholars, then I could take my mind off the cost of the fees.

Anyway, back to the sentence that i came across. We had to write a short essay that day. It happens that "Green is more beautiful than Blue" is one of the questions. After a brief thought, i decided to write on it.

Wonder what others wrote about the sentence....

Language Barrier

Language Barrier

Had an interesting incident today at work. There came a old, french couple, accompanied by a concierge. From him, it happen that both elders could not speak a single word of English at all. Guess Im kinda lucky to kena them... keke...

Anyway, I was a little lost, not really knowing what to do. The first thing I thought of is to get help from the International Desk. Who is to know that none knows french at all. The only way was to call the French Embassy.

I managed to get a lady who was very kind enough to help me with the interpretation. Some of the messages were able to pass from me to her to the wife of the patient. After which, some tests had to be done on him. Further complications came in when the lab staff could not read the wordings of the doctor's letter and when I thought of sending them up to the ward first to rest, the wife refuses. Gosh... didnt know that just a few simple messages could not be brought across because of the language barrier. Timing just wasn't that right as the Embassy was on a lunch break and could not contacted half hour later. In the end, the couple had to wait at the lobby for some tme before the proper channel of communication can be reached.

I managed to call back to the lady at the Embassy. It was only after the cal that they are willing to head up to the ward. Goodness me!!!

Maybe its time to learn some simple french eh... ....

Baby Face

Baby Face

Today at work, twice, customers directly commented to me that I look young. Though that is not the first time I have come across this, still I feel kinda embarressed.

On both occasions, I asked the same question.... "hmmm... so how old do you think i really am?"

One replied Im not even 20yrs.... Hell shit!!!! Do i really look so boyish???
while the other came close at 23 years....

Of course i had a nice laugh with them...
Come to think of it... is looking young and boyish a good thing or bad?
Another thing to ponder eh... ...

Confirmation... ...

Confirmation... ...

As the usual saying goes, time indeed flies... Just like that, 3 months have since passed since the day i start work at Mount E. That also marks the end of my 3 months probation. Upon confirmation, I received a decent rating by my executive.

Words have been passing around the place that I will be furthering my studies. In any way, they are not expecting me to stay long. Just hope whatever time I have left in my days in Mount E would be a pleasant one...

Surprises At Work

Surprises At Work

Working close to 3 months... I have come to know the different characteristics from different colleagues. One thing is for sure, the turnover rate is high.

I was off for 3 days. Today back at work. The first surpise was to hear that one colleague has just resigned, with notice of just 24 hours. *blink *blink... wow.. that is indeed fast and sudden. While that is a surprise for me, my AM who has already hand in her resignation, is close to serving her 3 month notice. Tml will be her last day. During lunch time, I had to go to Taka to find a suitable farewell card. It will be circulated among the colleagues to write their wishes for her.

And it doesnt end there. Just as I was about to leave office today, I was just casually chatting with one of the cashier. Then out of nowhere, she said that she also is planning to resign too. She claimed that she can't take in the stress.... *Blam!!! Three knockout punch man... keke...

This shows something.... That is to think about.,... Is the working environment that stressful such that people come and go so fast? or is it something is missing in the mangement and leadership that should be exsisted in the company... Who would think that such an established medical facility, with a its own training centre, which can claimed as the most expensive hospital in Singapore be having such "scams" or rather incidents that people do not know of...

Well, does it just happen in one place, or does it happen everywhere whether is it big, or small companies.... if that's the case, really... does working for people... for companies... really worth the time and effort.... In return, do we get what we deserved in terms of remuneration, recognition, rewards... Indeed, something to ponder.... ....

A night over at Terence's Place

A night over at Terence's Place

Yesterday, midway into my work, I received a msg from Aaron to meet up. He and Terence wanted to go to Funan to look for some IT gadgets. I was thinking that its fine to meet, so as to discuss with them programs about New Year Eve.
After work, as planned, I met them at Funan. To my little surprise, Jin Jie was there too. Anyway, we walked a little as they looked a mini SD card. Jin Jie arranged to meet Yu Zhen too for dinner as she was giving up a tuition child to Jin Jie. She is also one of the example how time flies and how guys lack behind on the girls. She had already starting work in an audit company after just completing her ACCA.
We had our dinner at a a food court, having a nice chat. After which, we head back to Orchard (Oh My GOd!!!) where they want to go to Popular, while Aaron want to look for his gf's present. At the book store, it was then i realised that there is a big range of assessment books these days. Stacks and shelves of books are all over the place, no wonder JJ needed Yu Zhen's help in choosing assessment books.
Shortly after buying the books, Yu Zhen headed home first, while we continued shop a bit. We were sitting at Yoshinoya for a drink when suddenly this idea of staying over at Terence's place came about. So I head straight to his place while Aaron and JJ went home first before coming over.
Once again, it was just like Secondary school days when we often stayed over at each other's place. I had the chance to watch The Curse of the Golden Flower using Terence's computer. Other than that, we played our usual Winning Eleven... keke....
I and Aaron went to sleep early around 4am while the other two continued their battle. Upon morning did i realise that they actually played till 7am... Crazy guys... they had just slept for only 4 hours.
It was nice that Terence's mum got us Nasi Lemak for i and JJ. However, my sore throat didn't allow me to finished it. Darn, again ulcer at a corner of my throat....
Today afternoon, I and Terence went ahead with the plan of watching Death Note II. The sequel was even better than the first. Though it was almost 2 plus hours, it didn't seem that long at all. By the time it was over, it was already evening time. Off i went back here to my grandma's house....
OH OH.. In the end, there was no progress in the programs discussions lor... Jin Jie, that guy, he had already agreed to meet up his 3C/4C class for the countdown and didnt let us know here... while Aaron also could not confirm whether he is meeting or not... typical indecisive him.. Upon this.. complete sianness for me and terence. So we decided to leave the plan aside... unless there's some last min decision...

Christmas Day

Christmas Day

It was 2006 Christmas Eve. The year has been filled with different events. Going through different phrases, facing all sorts of happenings has made me mature a bit.
Coming to the end of the year, Christmas was finally here. The plan for the day was to have a Christmas dinner with the guys. It also marked the day when Terence comes back home to Singapore from Cambodia. He was there for about 20 odd days for his school community project.
However, as it turns out, only Jin Jie and Tengfu could meet for the dinner first. Terence and Aaron had family dinner before hand.
As such, the three of us met up first instead. The initial plan was to have a meal at Clarke Quay. There was a Spanish restaurant that I had aimed to go for. We nearly went there for it on Aaron's birthday dinner. I met Jin Jie first as Tengfu was late. Upon finding out that there will be only 3 persons, he suggested to change venue instead. In the end, we went to Wheelock Place, Big O. We were there for a couple of hours, having each a main course and desert.
It was close to 9pm when we left the restaurant. Aaron was on his way when he suggested to go to a club at Somerset. On our way there from Wheelock, we had to make a big roundabout. The main street was filled with all sorts of people. All wanted to gather around, in hope to soak in the atmosphere. The night was simply crazy, people were practically squeezing their way through. Movement was extremely slow. After much effort, we finally met up Aaron, heading to the club opposite Specialist.
There were a few clubs. In the end, we chose Club Rouge. Guess the timing was still early, when we entered. It was absolutely quiet. It seemed that the stuff themselves have only started work too. We got our drinks and sat at a corner.
We simply spent the time chatting while awaiting for Terence to arrive. By the time he reached, it was about 11pm. By then, the crowd began to creep in. As the time drew near to midnight countdown, the music and crowd began to heat up. Minutes before midnight, I and Aaron began to go a little crazy. We started to play around with the party pops that was given to us.
Right after countdown, we began to really loosen up, fooling around. There were dancers who went up to the respective platforms to perform. One of them even danced right in front of us. I and Jin Jie simply took out hp and videoed her dance. keke...
Then they decided to head to Boat Quay to have some prata, while POOR me, i had to head back to hospital. I had planned to sleep over the night so that i could resume my work on Christmas straight away in the morning.
About 20 minutes before leaving, I and Aaron decided to pull them all to the dance floor, dancing around... WOW.. guess this is the first time that we, together, let loose in a club. However, it seems Jin Jie is really not the ones who clubs. He went out soon after claiming to pick up a phone call. He didnt came back, instead waiting for us to come our after our short dance.
As we arranged to meet outside, there were still a hug crowd roaming along the street. Many were armed with their weapon for the night, spray foams. They were spraying around, be it friends or even strangers. As we were waiting for Jin Jie to come meet us, Aaron saw a group of males "attacked" a girl with the spray. Blinding her eye with the ambush, one of the guys simply took the chance to grab one of her breast.... On my God...!!!
After seperating with them, while on my way to hospital, I was also attacked by the spray too. Darn!!! One of my eye kena hurt from it ....
I could only entered through one of the entrance. Upon reaching hospital, one of the security guards still questioned about my arrival. Luckily, after claiming that I'm one of the staff, he let me in without any further questions.
Sleeping over in the office was quite a torture. The air-con was cold and the positioning was definitely not one of the best one. I had to change a few position before settling myself on the 4 chairs that i combined. All the while, my head was spinning from the drinks that i had at the club.
Once dawn, I had to grab myself up, change accordingly and took over work from the night shift stuff.

Misunderstanding... How does it occur???

Misunderstanding... How does it occur???

Hmmm, this suddenly came to my thought. Everyone would definitely come to quite a number of misunderstanding with others, whether is it minor or major in their life.

Some may think just make sure that proper communication exist... that should help reduce misunderstanding from occuring. But how often that even two mature adults come to communicate, misunderstanding still occur.

Read in some books, they said that when people talk to each other, sometimes, listening is non-existent at all. Now, Listening and hearing has a difference. Listening is to hear and understand what message the other party is trying to convey. But then again, if u were to argue, one's understanding of a certain message may differ a lot from another. hmmm... maybe this is one cause of many unwanted misunderstandings. Or worse!!! At times misunderstanding occur when no communication was made at all. Any one party may not want to make the effort to communicate, or to clarify a certain message or meaning.

Consequences... is that things will definitely not go according to plan or some unhappy event may happen because of it. And when things went overboard, fingers will be pointing across each other, each individual arrowing mistakes or faults by the other party. But how often does one really does think it through that maybe it is themself that is to blame that caused the misunderstanding in the first place.

Guess when it comes to human involvement in any activity, there's bound to be misunderstandings to happen once in a while. That's where, human error comes in... So probably this is one area where prevention is unachievable, while knowing how to cure is crucial to keep the relationship going.

Shack Out Work Day...

Shack Out Work Day...

Today was pretty shacked out... As normal, it was 7am for work. But the previous night, i went with the guys for Aaron's birthday dinner.

Yesterday, after work, went to meet Aaron first since JJ and Tengfu were busy with stuff at school, while Terence was already in Cambodia for his community project. From 6pm, we practically walk the whole suntec/marina area, in search for a place to eat later. Aaron, in his usually self, would give loads of suggestions along the way. This la, that la... but still to no decision. Eventually, we decided to meal at Clarke Quay instead. So off we went to the riverside. There, still we spent quite some time, looking around. After much contemplating, we chose a Indian Cusine restaurant, Ivory.

It was a choice i wasnt that comfortable with initially, in fear that all the food that are too spicy for me. We arrived up to the 2nd level of the restaurant to find that its a pretty classy place to be in. There, was a long table filled with working adults, comprising mainly with Caucasians. Think they were having company dinner.

Being the first time at an Indian restaurant, we were puzzled about what to order. In the mist of it, a waiter approached me with a strong Indian accent. I could barely understand what was it that he was trying to ask. I only did manage to hear words of "cold water" between his words... keke.. then i said " of course, water for all!!"

Aaron, then asked another for recommendations on what to order. After some discussion and advise, we finally ordered some curry, fish along with rice and neaan(like prata). More than what we expected, it was a fantastic meal we had. Except for the fish, all the others had excellent taste. Jin jie had a very positive comments for the meats... Given his requirement for excellent food, this shows it is indeed highly recommended... Too bad Terence was not there to taste it.. He would hav LOVE it....

After that meal, we went to eat ice-cream. We, each ordered different types. For me, i chose to create my own. I mixed with cookies and cream, with lemon and mango, along with almond bits with aloe vera. Pretty interesting mix eh... ...

anyway, we just ate and talk, chat through the session, again touching on life, studies, career. Loads of debates were present, everyone making their point felt.

Time went by fast, as we left the place at 11plus. That's when i only got home ard 12am.. making me shacked today... with the lack of sleep...

Present Searching... ...

Present Searching... ...

Today off day... So went to get Aaron's present. Went out alone, could not get Tengfu to meet together. Our timing are all clashed, such that we can't meet to get it. No choice lor, alone get it.

I decided to head to Suntec area to search for it. Days before, Terence was suggesting to get bermudas. So today, I went searching for it.

Find ah Find ah... finally found one suitable nike bermudas. But i left it on hold first as i went to catch a movie... again alone... keke... this time went to catch Andy's Lau show, Battle of Wits-Mo Gong... Pretty cool show, where the two sides battle in out in the game of warfare. Better than expected....

Right after the show, went to get the bermudas that i aimed for. Who is to know that there is no size suitable... Aiyo... by that time, it was already quite late liao.... Shack man... That was when i am contemplating whether to get it today or get it within the next few days instead... In any case, i just walked along back to City Hall, thinking along the way. Luckily, I tried to look for more options at Raffles Place Shopping Centre. That was where i realise that there's another Nike Shop. I went to take a look. haha... there is size at the outlet. YEAH!!! After some thought and asking Tengfu, finally got the bermudas... keke...

As of now, while typing, Aaron actually called to ask if tomorrow can meet or not... Luckily, i got the stuff.. if not, must last minute get the present sure jia lat... keke...

Wooo... Been quite some time...

Wooo... Been quite some time...

Wow... Been some time since I last wrote anything here in this blog...
Hmmm, so what have i been doing this period?

As of now, I'm into my job for already 5 weeks. Currently, Im right out at the Admission Counter, admitting patients daily into the hospital. It took me quite some time to pick up the ropes. Freaking loads of data, documents and information had to be absorbed during my "training" period. My teacher was very fast in her teaching and expects me to understand right the first time she tells me for any info. Now, that is extremely difficult. As much as i try to learn as fast as i could, there are still times when i could only remember some info. Then as impatient as she is, she will show her unhappines of me not remembering her words.... This happens continuously throughout my training.

For me, i think if this happens to any other person, he/she will sure not like my this teacher. Given her impatience and straighforward nature, i believe she would have already offended a couple of people throughout her traning phrase. Hmmm... for me, I see something in her that is so alike me.. The way that she taught me mirrors the way i teach my brother. The Impatience, the fierceness... So alike... So i guess besides learning the things that work is needed, I also been able to observe the way she teaches, showing me how i usually teach my bro. I guess i was trying to pick out the weakness of the way she and I teaches when we are imptient. But as hard as i try.. guess whenever i teaches my bro, the sense of impatience still gets to me...

Luckily, she finds me clever and a fast learner, and she easy forgive and forgets, i still am able to get along with her. And she has been very helpful whenever anyone needs to to clarify any aspects...

So been at the counter close to about 3-4 weeks, now, Im able to "open" a counter and handle customer on my own. Still, there are still loads to learn and understand....

Christmas Carnival

Christmas Carnival

hmmm... just thought of posting it here.. maybe i may find interested personnel here..
To those who is reading this... ...

Christmas is around the corner!!!
Time for the festive season
Time also for earning opportunity as well!!!

North-East Location will be having a festive carnival... It also comprises of :
- Amusement park
- Food Stalls
- Non-food Stalls
- Events Activities
- Media Attention

Keen to set up your own flea business come this Dec?
Sell items ranging from food / non-food items....

If you always wanted to do biz
If you have the passion and drive
If you have the products or service available
If you have a bit of capital to spare...

Come on.. Time's running out....
Places are occupying fast... Hurry!!!

u Can email me for details at demon_t6@hotmail.com...
Oh. Dont forget to spread this msg around to your friends too.. who knows ..
this may be the start they are looking for...