朽木百哉のブォグ

Another day spend indoors as the afternoon wad welcomed by a thorough shower that cooled the entire place down - for a long time, I haven't experienced some real, cooling wind that comes through my window.

I've managed to do a quite a fair bit of the photos taken at our Batam weekend trip; no doubt time was limited, we had enjoyed ourselves in the comfy hotel, completed with a sumptuous breakfast on the last day of stay. Such trips are definitely worth going for.

Hope I can get some decent sleep tonight at a decent hour.

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This number is calling me again. At the next call, I shall see who it really is.

Finally arrived at 933 Restaurant for lunch. This trip's schedule is different from what we came the last time; city tour and massage all done on different days, but this time, all done within the same day.

Batam is as hot as usual, so I'll be tanner by the time I get back.
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It's the 2nd and final day of our stay at Batam. What a grand hotel we had been welcomed by the grand sight of Harmoni One Hotel. Due to fatigue, we did not go out to capture the spectacular night view of the hotel's exterior.

A very filling breakfast before we returned to the room to rest before checking out later. We don't have enough time to do some shopping around the area as we were already tired from all the waiting at the local checkpoint here. Furthermore, the bus leaves at 12pm local time, so we have well 3 hours before taking the boat ride back.

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They never stop calling! Just who is this who has been calling me so frequently?

1426hrs
1457hrs
1529hrs
1559hrs

After some search, this is the source of the call:

Price Solutions Pte Ltd
CPF Tampines Building #07-09, 1 Tampines Central 5 (S)529508

According to some JD I've researched, they claimed the following:

"Price Solutions is a fully-owned Standard Chartered Group Company that provides exclusive services to the Bank and is responsible for all direct sales activities. We have a meritocratic culture where each individual employee is valued and respected for who they are as a person and for what they bring to the organization."

It seemed that the number of complaints are escalating on how these sales people do their cold calling, and when the person returns call after missing it, the line is always engaged.

I'm not sure what are the guidelines (stringent if any?) the telemarketing industry has, but this has to be made known to the general public.

I came across this very interesting job posting, most likely, by an insurance agent who claimed to have made a good mark via insurance sales:

Company
The Advertiser
Industry
Banking / Finance / Insurance / Investment / Securities
Job Functions
Operations
Job Type
Permanent / Full Time
Date Posted
6 May 2011


Job Description:
TOP INSURANCE MANAGER looking for Apprentice. Earned $1M in 3.5 years. Call xxxx-xxxx.

As catchy as it may sound, one would set to think that if he had claimed himself to be the next Donald Trump??

The gatekeeper of job sites should also scrutinize on such posting which does not point accurately to the exact role for an insurance agent / financial consultant.

Made my own lunch today; 2 simple dishes and they are more fulfilling as it's a self-made meal. Something that will keep one alive - being able to cook.

Now, I'm not a guy who doesn't walk into the kitchen, make dishes and all, but when the time comes like such, my cooking skills can be called upon. Not that I make fantastic dishes like those chefs in hotels or top restaurants, but something that's sufficient to sustain oneself.

The hunt for new battlegrounds continue. Have been receiving numerous calls from an unknown number, which I suspect is from a telemarketer. Are they in dire states to secure a sale?

Time to cast out more exposure; hopefully, some good news soon so I can be back on track from this hiatus.

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Once again, this number has been calling me with due persistence:

1118hrs
1151hrs
1223hrs
1254hrs

Lunch at nearly 3pm. This is the beginning of a health freak's diet.

I have decided to cease all avenues of deadly carbohydrates in my objective of weight loss, coupled with more frequent exercises.

The dinner was done with minimal carbohydrates; just 1/2 fist of rice with the dishes that mum had cooked earlier.
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Returned the call and it turned out to be Kelly Services. I've not been effectively placed by them so they'll be in my "drop list".

Below is an extract of what I had tried to post on the website I had just posted here.

"I find your posts really useful. Hope this serves as a good wake up call for those rogue recruitment firms out there.

Hopefully, it will not come to a stage where the government requires those working in recruitment firms to be certified (like CEHA for realty agents) due to the numerous complaints filed by consumers (candidates in this case).

Personally, I don't have a very good opinion of being haggled by some recruiters who are out, plainly to "sell" the job without finding out on the candidates - simply pushing the "job" perks with telesales scripts which are totally unprofessional.

Something the Singapore government needs to look at."

Seriously, this is a growing concern for jobseekers who are sincerely out there to look for a better offer, but the market has been seriously tainted by these rogues.

The following website will be more harsh in the choice of words used, but I think it also speaks out on how job seekers feel:

http://www.zimbio.com/Singapore/articles/16/Job+Scam+Singapore+esp+Recruit+Express

From what I gathered, the office nos starting with "6732" can well be from RE.

Just came across this website which I think will be good for most who are job seekers.

http://www.sandboxadvisors.com/insights/transition-job-search-strategy/recruitment-employment-agency/

A note for most who may not be aware; stick to a few trusted recruiters whom have served you well.

This number has been calling me as follow:

1023hrs
1053hrs
1124hrs
1232hrs

I saw myself in canteen-like place where bumped into Shariffah, Eireen, Wanna and a few of my ex colleagues.

They were holding on to some brightly coloured, crayon like things which are edible, supposedly "crayon fries". Is that a new fad?

Later, there was an assembly or the sort; I had just returned from a good run with Xiaochun and Alfred (BMT platoonmates) around a place which looks like Bedok North park, the track that was behind my old house. I had forgotten to bring my iPhone and activate Runkeeper to keep track of my fitness...what a waste. The landmark appeared different as I saw some tracks which were covered in granite. Runtime: 26mins and distance was 5km or more.

Anyway, when I was at the assembly, it was like a school environment setting. Later on, I went to a first level bathing amenity which was just beside my room. Saw my coursemat, Encik Wong, who was also there, and wanted to take over that bathroom although I had told him about the fault of the unclean water and the sort. He didn't mind actually.

I was called to see the "headmaster" after awhile when I was waiting for the bathroom to be ready. Afterall, assembly had ended (no anthem as they were experiencing some technical difficulties) and I had just finished a run. The headmaster turned out to be my ex OIC, Lee Kwong Nam, a retired SWO who headed SOA back then. He asked me why I didn't attend the morning assembly and I was actually unwell, and did turn up for the event. He then wanted to impose "corporal punishment" to me along with 2 other guys who were waiting with me outside the bathroom on level one just now.

He gave a solution to terminate my contract, with me having to pay back the CPF contributed to my account, and part of the drawn salary. I told him that I was going to ORD in a couple of months. So later he came up with a solution for my "PT", including some women's exercise programs. It seemed strange that he was quite smiley throughout the conversation. So I highlighted to him that some of the lessons he had put me in were of totally non-relevance to my gender.

Later on, I told Wanna about this and she found it ridiculous too. She mentioned that Derrick (an RP who went out of course due to his swimming-triggered dual shoulder dislocation) had the same fate.

Later on, I met Sharrifah and gang again in a school setting which reminded me of my primary school days; the cylindrical wall for flight staircase, play area, eco garden; those were the days.

I had been awoken when I heard my iPhone drop into the cavity beside my bed. 8am.

This number started calling me after office hours. Could it be another telemarketer? Ignored.

1712hrs
1750hrs

It's the second day where time is in abundance for what I wanted to do during the normal working hours had not been possible.

I had obtained a few more reading materials to my interest; so I can set aside some good time to read them altogether.

Afternoon visit was to artboxfoto shop but they had ran out of what I wanted. So, to make my $1 1/2 hour parking worthwhile, I decided to visit Orient Photo, and there, I got what I needed. This will solve a main issue for dearie and I, as we will be able to take photos of us together without another photographer.

It's almost dinner time and I had already done my workout; hope she doesn't have to work late so as to have more time to rest and relax.

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Got a missed call from this no, and later I found out they are some telemarketing firm whom got my no from an unknown source.

After some research, found out they are DI Infinity @ The Regency, level 3. For anyone who has read, beware of their call.

It was a search and rescue mission as we raided an underground tunnel where a crook, who resembled Hong Peixing, a local celebrity who had acted in related roles in local TV serials.

The tunnels were pretty winding like a maze and we had to split up to corner him. Green, wet and cold, it was more like a limestone cave than any other kind of simple hideout.

We finally managed to capture him in a corner as he was taking a female as hostage, as someone of importance.

I've spent much time indoors at dearie's place since much has been covered for my photography research last night.

Scouted MS Colour but they hold a pretty limited range of tripods.

Tomorrow's will be dearie's final paper and the tension will be over soon. At least, life will be back to normal without all those restrictions to where we can go where we want without such a heavy mental restrain.

Looking forward to the time we can spend together after exams!
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This no called me on a weekend!

Are they really that hardworking, or "hardup for cash"?

BGC Group, a recruiter. Since when did they work on weekends?

Talking about this game, it has sure been one good year since I had been actively playing after embarking on my shutter journey. I'm still in constant touch with Rian, Songjie, Andy, Philip, just to name a few. Had missed their last gathering as I had a family event over the weekend and the date was confirmed pretty late.

While MMORPG is a good thing to pass time, I had tuned down on it on a big scale since I want to concentrate on my main stream of interest.

The fellowship shall continue, just that we will not be gaming together.

I saw myself in a colonial neighbourhood where my family was; they were there to see a doctor as my brother and sis in law were there to bring their baby, who had vomitted and been feverish the previous night.

When asked, he told me that it could be something not right with the milk powder, so I advised him to keep close tabs on his baby's temperature. He asked if I could help him take care of his elder daughter, so that their trip will be more managable...so I popped him the question if she will be likes me and will let me take care of her.

The group of people there were huge.

Next scene showed us walking through that neighbourhood, past some racks of rare stones; they were all soaked in some liquid and had different shapes and forms from the clear glass where I could see them; a label read that the stones are left there chemically to develop, in the liquid called "Magnesiumvite", which contains 5% "cyprohydrodgen" - not to be opened. I saw dearie's dad with me and noticed that his hair is somewhat different; a little shorter than usual and I asked if her mum cut for him; he just laughed and said no, so I asked about the haircut fee. He replied $980. For a moment I thought I've heard wrongly and he affirmed that it's correct.

Kent was also at the scene but he looked much thinner. I suddenly saw myself in this barracks which is far away from home; somewhat like my NS camp, but the barracks was much older; like those days when the first camoflauge SAF uniform was in use; windows had thin wiregrills which were painted over and over again, wooden doors, walls and the infamous stackable green bed where we sleep on a big piece of sponge as mattress. A female officer came in and had to turn on the light as one of the NCO was showing her a list of some engineering stuff (she was like the Engineering Officer), but too little light was available for reading. However, she did apologised to the people


The most interesting scene had arrived. I was Nero, fighting a legion of vampires. They were all released in blood-thirsty form, and in the centre of that enclosure was a meter which shows the exposure and type of disease that will be spreaded once hit. I had been running, jumping, dodging around while having a good time of slashing on these blood-thirsty vampires who vanished in a whiff of black smoke after being eradicated. At one point, the Gamemaster gave me a tip on how to harness external powers while replenishing my HP through all these attacks; I barely caught what he said and continued the slashing and various movements...the moves are getting tiring.

6:30am and I had awoken.

The slumber was about 5 hours; certainly a deep sleep after the stout had taken effect. Mind was clear when it all started...but it was already past 1am after finishing that can.

I guess it's inevitable that I am destined to wake up early no matter what time I effectively turned in the night before. I had awoken at the usual early hours; thought of catching a shoot of sunrise, but after hearing the thunder, it's confirmed that this plan had to be put off.

Hope dearie's resting well from her revision now, so as to be adequately prepared. Last news from her was that she had 18 chapters to go, but less than 1/2 had been covered.

A shower had just passed - probably a shower of blessings in celebration for my big break?

The day had already started for me. While most people who needn't work on a Saturday, are stll in their slumberlands, it's good time for me to make good use of my time. The mind had already opened up like a web with a network of things that I have to do.

Just need a good focus so I clear all these things effectively.

The day has come to an end at my current battleground. As much as I would like to stay, situations as such had given me the inparident move out.

My colleagues gave me a farewell card; something simple, yet touching, as sincerity is etched on each well-wish sentence written by everyone on the floor. I'll definitely miss everyone there.

Emotional attachments are things that keep people where they are, no matter how tough the going gets. How true can this be!

This chapter of my life is over for now while unfolding the next.

At moments like this, it's a good time to retreat into my personal space to clear my mind, while so many things are still concurrently running through my mind. Pauline will be succeeding my seat; a pity that when we just got to know that we share a common shutter passion, it's time for me to go.

Dearie had been very understanding and is willing to lend me a listening ear. It's already apppreciated at the point she has offered to hear me out; but nothing too much to handle that I can't keep them within myself. She has a final paper this coming Monday, so let's give her a good time of revision concentration.

When I left my office, I suddenly had an unbelieving feeling that this day had come. Anyhow, the time spent there had not been a waste as I had managed to learn what a claims handler does, giving me the relevant experience for my next step.

So this weekend will be spent mostly with my digital sniper, for some landscape shoots to sharpen skills there.
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A recruitment firm whose name can't be understood over the phone. Seemed like Monster is giving too much exposure, attracting pests.

I've reached the last day at last. Not a long wait, though it's something that I had been looking forward to.

Have been thinking through last night, if this is the big break for me to embark on a photography career? Although insurance is something which I had been accustomed to doing in based on experience, what keeps me going for real, with an undying passion is photography.

I had skimmed through some photography job listing online and they haven't been very specific in terms of remuneration offered. Furthermore, I've not done any as a full time profession; so that's one big question mark about getting employed as compared to freelancing.

Checkpoint.
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Not another lonely lunch today as I expected; managed to arrange for a lunch with a colleague as the rest aren't around today.

Tomorrow's farewell lunch will be with my department people. Guess after everything is handed over, I won't be seeing them for awhile.

Before coming down, there are hearsays about how things might be at the place I've explored yesterday. Let hearsays be hearsays.

Right now, what matters most is settling in to my next pavement.
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wow...what a timing to call me.

Seems like they're trying to get me to talk to them. Let's see whose this calling at such an hour.

Tomorrow is the final day. I foresee that this departure is going to be a quiet one, my usual style as I don't drag in the limelight wherever I go.

Have been feeling like a transparent sheet over a few events that took place recently. Though trifle, it does spell out to a certain extent about how I 'rate' in that person's eyes. Anyhow, all the best to those who have came onboard.

Having done some exploration yesterday, that was a good step I had taken on. Let this momentum carry on so I can have an array of options when that 'selection time' comes.

Dearie's having her final paper soon; so I won't be seeing her for awhile till the weekend. While there are available time slots for me to do outdoor shoots, I have changed my preference to specialise in portraits.
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It's the final Monday at this place where I'll call it history in a week's time.

Weather had been exceptionally warm; I still perspired considerably last nigh, but had managed to wake up early, though not as early as planned, for my workout.

Yestersday was a good practise as I took some outdoor shots for dearie, but photo previews had to be done on a later date as I've exhausted the batteries pretty timely.

I had contemplated about 'declaring' my own holiday today, but had given it a pass as I still have some undone things at office desk.

No doubt it's a pre-holiday work day, train's still pretty crowded. Maybe most people who are on leave are also along with the regular commuters' not as many leave takers this time as compared to the previous long weekends.
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A 9-hour uninterrupted slumber last night. It's one of those occasional deep sleep I have not got for awhile.

Final week is approaching. Finally dearie and I have a chance to catch a movie after more than 6 months since we last hit the cinemas. Tonight, we have a date with Donnie Yen at his latest show, The Lost Bladesman.

I have been looking through some degree programs offered by a few institutes for distant learning; many of them are competitively placed on the course price and completion time. While completion time is a consideration, the quality of the awarding university does also play an important part in deciding whom I'll further study with. Wan had given me his opinion that all distant learning programs are similar, unless we are from the local university.

More homework to be done on this.
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Once again, I appeared in a war-torn zone; a building that had been heavily-shelled by air raids, with makeshift camps builtt around the aream. Clusters of people were gathering around campfires they have set up with whatever they could find to keep themselves warm.

Atmosphere felt like it was in World War II. I had my company of trusty brothers moving around the area; no signs of enemy troops, but I had conversed with one of them; Chye Ban, who also belonged to my unit in reality. The details of conversation were unclear, but it definitely tells us that the earlier preparations during ICT had came in useful for a time like this.

Our mission was to safeguard this area after an attack by the enemy (not sure which country it was). It was already night time when I was in this scene.

Next scene switched me to a restaurant near Forum the shopping mall, a coffee house just opposite; was it Starbucks? I saw Jean Danker joining us for a coffee session. That scene was like a post-shoot gathering with fellow photographers just after our model shoot. Jean had her usual bright smile, carrying the same cheerful aura as how she sounded on air.

The fellowship was really good - something which doesn't happen often in real life has taken place here; being able to be out with a group of like-minded enthusiasts made me felt happier than I was in my current day job.

By 'the virtue of the law of nature' I had awoken at 6:45am - a truly refreshing slumber!
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Didn't manage to wake up for my usual workout today as I had only managed to sleep past 1am this morning; the night's pretty warm as usual that I woke up in perspiration.

I had wished I was in a cold country, so I don't have to 'suffer' the heat of this season in Singapore. While I may enjoy perspiring at the right time with the desired activities, by nature, I dislike the idea of 'unplanned perspiration'.

Today's the 2nd paper for dearie. She had planned to wake up at 5am for revision; hope she managed so, as she's not an early riser like me. Most important thing for her now is to revise smart so she can be ready for her paper later.

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It's about 4 hours past my run which ran up to about 5.3km via Runkeeper. It sure looks like an interesting app so I decided to try it out; but seems to have some problems keeping track, so I had to manually correct the route I took after the run.

Great app to give me a gauge of where I stand with my current fitness level. But once you start running, you get the hang of it; it's really fun!

Had watched the final media conference of our minister George Yeo, who will officially be stepping down as minister after the election and Aljunied had fallen under the winning votes to the opposition.

While one many think if the younger candidates will make the cut, I guess the best thing is to "wait and see" what the current victor can offer to do for the heartlanders. To have one's voice to be heard in Parliament vs the capability of the "taken over forces", this 5 years will be their test of time. If they uplive to the votees, another chance to make that a decade.

Just some passing thoughts after watching the media conference.

This no called me a few times and the person finally "revealed" their identity by emailing me.

Heidi Seet from CandidateAsia. Dearie had shared some unpleasant experiences she had with her back then.

Another to be given the pass.

I had a decent workout yesterday. Except for the temperature, the rest of the slumber had been pretty deep; a glimpse of some dreams but I had not been able to grasp them properly.

7 absolute days and still counting down. What makes this morning interesting is the massively packed platform till there were hardly any standing space left. Could this be due to the weather, the train schedule or something left unresolved by the government?
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Dearie's 1st paper today. Hope her preparations had been complete so she can handle the papers without any trouble.

All the best to her exams later at 1430hrs.

加油，我的天使！
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Another solar slumber last night.

No doubt I had the fan on, the air that had passed through was estimated no less than 31 degrees. Seems pretty unusual at the temperature for the past few days; no doubt we are in the tropic zone, but it feels like the climate has taken it's swing to the 'highest possible temperature'.

Oh well, speaking about the weather - it had just turned into a very torrental shower.

Today's back to Sardine Day as most workers are back to work from the long weekend; so much so that the platform is densely packed. Has the government resolved this issue about the public transportation?
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Lunch hour.

I've cleared the work for the morning and my mind is "free to roam" till the next load comes in.

Come next Monday will be my final Day 1 of a working week. There isn't much memories for me to keep from this place; only those photographs I've done for company events, as well as the friendship shared with a few. The bitterness of things had far been gone, so right now, I just want to look at moving ahead.

At this moment of time, things are still pretty low-profiled as I see no need to make the departure a "publicised" one. Afterall, everyone's in Singapore and for those that we will stay in touch, we are not too far away.

It's the 2nd last Monday that I'll be taking this journey to my current battlefield.

A little later than usual, but the number of commuters is significantly lesser; probably just because I had boarded after the peak season, or most working class people are on leave today due to Polling Day last Saturday.

Weather is not that sunny, but unusually stuffy especially in the morning. Aircon here in the train does help to keep comfort intact. I have been thinking about the self-bait actions that had been done over the week; not enough exposure to get me set on path to my next destination.

Dearie's having her exams the next 3 consecutive days; hope she had done adequate preparations so she'll be readily equipped to answer those exam questions.

Feeling a little sleepy now; probably due to the very full breakfast of rice and chicken and the thermally-uncomfortable slumber last night; and I had missed my workout this morning again. Hope to clearout quickly today and be able to get home early to finish my workout, marking a closure to the day's mandatory events.
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Dinner done at Dian Xiao Er in Tampines One; they only served Mother's Day menu, specially for the occasion.

The food was served pretty fast, but not as tasty as what we ordered the last time round at Changi Airport. Almost everyone's there except for dearie's cousin Alex and Fang.

No doubt the food isn't fantastic, it does build up to a certain amount to be quite filling. That will be enough food intake for the evening; and we went to KOI to get some tea; long queue and pretty fast service.

Weather had been pretty warm even after sundown, such that I was still perspiring under the fan-turned-radiator in my room. Oh well, what a thermal Mother's Day 2011.

An intense election has ended; the telecast of the results lasted past 1am this morning and fortunately, I managed to catch the news about the victory of our district.

Quite sad to learn that George Yeo is not able to carry on in Aljunied GRC as it had been victored over by WP.

Finally, the most tensioning event of the country is over. What lies ahead will be the results in the upcoming 1/2 decade ahead.

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A Saturday spent mostly indoors as I watched a tutorial by Bryan Peterson.

Prior to this, I had been playing a new MMORPG, King of Kings III, which has a pretty decent graphic setting. The only thing about the irregular screen flickering could be a sign of the graphic card being on the midrange of optimum requirements.

Tried playing the game on my Lenovo Y310, but graphic requirements are way below the system requirements, to the extend that the game lags horrandously. Either it's time to gave more mobile hardware power, or I should just keep the game played at home.

Maybe the best option is still playing it at home as it's not practical to have so much mobile power, since I'm not going that hardcore.

3rd last Friday done.

As usual, mail came in at 5pm and I cleared it with lightning speed. It won't be long before I will not be doing these low-priority duties anymore.

Heading to dearie's place - the best company I could have to wrap up a week no matter how grim things may be.

Her papers will be commencing early next week, so hopefully she had prepared well by then.

I certainly look forward to the fortnight's Friday, as that will be the day I bid this place farewell. So in the meantime, self-bait, hoping that there won't be any gaps to disrupt the momentum. Humans can be strange at times; when we're stretched out hard at work, we desire a holiday; but when we are leaving a place, we desire no disruption in such a situation.

Things should be fine in the week ahead. I'll be accelerating my self-bait.
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Climbing up the stairs at my old home in Bedok North, this place now looks quite different, especially on the stairway. Hand railings are no longer in place, and staircase has been changed to a 'shuriken design' - to access a certain set of levels, you need to step on the square platform, which measures about 1.2', and a small outstep before you can see that level.

I climbed up along with a few good companies, and met Jeffrey, one of the specialist in my last unit prior to my ORD in 2005. He lives there with his family.

Outside, the place appeared to be a hilly terrain, with brown-coloured houses lining the contour, each with its own slab of parking lots. Looks more like European architecture than locals. I had later put up at a 'hotel', which was dimly lit, and seemingly had many 'hidden' compartments within the room.

The put up seem to suggest this was somewhere outside my home country. Since I am away from home, I've self-filmed myself giving a narrative view of my travel experience and sent it to dearie back home.

For a moment, I thought I had accidentally given my number to my ex, and had saw myself running away from her outside Pasir Ris Secondary School, evading her view while I ran from corners to corners of the perimeter fences. There was a 'review' scene where I saw how I could hide inside the shrubs that line the school permimeter, and reappear, fully disguised that she could not recognise me even when I'm standing beside her.

Back home and aired video to show dearie. She commented that my English is good as it had the BBC grade of pronounciation.

I had no idea where that place was; somewhat gave me a feeling of still being in home country, but yet so far. Could it be in another dimension where no man had travelled to, or simply requires 'special access' to get there?

This leaves me thinking...

7:19am. Time to get to work.

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Lunch is almost over, and this time I had a fuller meal due to the lighter breakfast this morning. 2 meat and 2 veg in my regular mixed vegetable rice.

Weather had suddenly turned cloudier so it's better to move out from my usual spot; lunching out under the trees in Hong Lim Complex. Solitary lunch had been something which I've already got used to after lunching with them over the 1st 5 months here. Since things had moved downhill till I hit the base, I decided to adapt the "SWS" (Social Withdrawal Symptom) till I set into my new battlefield.

Just had a quick thinkthrough about the struggles I had to "chase" credit cards. At this juncture, I had already been "chased" by credit card issuers for application; and learnt that there's even a card from Maybank that application is by invitation only.

Oh well, maybe this is a special card catered only to a type of client the company will want to handle.

That reminds me of Ferrari Enzo, a model of the super car manufacturer which is purchase by invitation only. Could they be adopting the same concept?

This reminds me of those telemarketing calls where they will try to push all the way through their conversation to get us to buy something.

Ignored.

A deep slumber last night, after a stout, except for being awaken in the middle of the night by the numbed forearms caused by the non-oscillated fan, which I've resolved before going back to sleep.

Thinking back through the years, I recall myself being a noob drinker; a couple of drinks and I get rashes all over. I shared this with my friends and they told me that I have to drink more till it doesn't appear anymore; initially I was fearful that I'm allergic to alcohol or something, as those rashes really felt uncomfortable.

Back to current time. No more rashes and with tolerance level of no lower than 40% alcohol, the 6.8% in the stout doesn't have any drastic effects on me; the only thing that is uncomfortable is the gassiness that may hinder a consumer to drink more. But I'm still a far cry from Songjie who had been intensively trained to be a good drinker during his days as a naval specialist with RSN.

Well, about last night, just one can will do, but it's definitely a healthier choice as compared to oridinary beer.

Another 1/2 hour more before the lunch hour comes to a closure.

The morning had been quiet so far as a colleague, nicknamed "Bread Girl" is not in today. She might be on sick or annual leave. Good for her that she's picking up and learning well.

Managed to know another fellow photographe through BBM; he has a simple, yet organised website.

I've yet to break the news to anyone else here other than those who existently are already aware, of my "counting down" status. It's nothing glorious, so might as well keep it low.

Hope dearie's revision is going on as what she planned. This block leave will be good for her to have full concentration on preparations. She shared with me about her colleague, YX's pet's passing on, which reminded me of my 2 rabbits whom had cross the Rainbow Bridge. I remember how I contained myself in my room to weep after I had to take the painstaking decision to send Sunshine to SPCA after being advised by the vet, that he may die on the operating table from his bad foot. Jack had passed on later due to old age as he could not even walk to relieve himself.

My emotional attachments for animals are something which I can't deny. Seeing a stray on the road minding its own business will also somehow make me want to play with it, caress or just have its company. Since my parent's home prohibits me from adopting strays, the best thing I could do was to caress them whenever I pass by the "regulars", namely Ah Huay, Fatty Cat and Black Jr near my block. Not forgetting Almond who resides in Chai Chee; dearie's favourite to date!

Rainy season.

Drizzling sound of rain falling off tall roofs.

The sight of those old zinc roof houses of my granny's place greeted me. Roofs appeared to be taller, more solid and walls seemed to be a hybrid mof wood and bricks. The whole place resembled more of a longhouse than a village house.

I also saw my boss' daughter, who was there. We chatted a little and was finding our way to shelter as there was a sudden downpour that "afternoon". Somehow, we came to this place in a group. Inside the house, it was barely illuminate by the traditional oil lamps, which can hardly be seen nowadays. People, including travellers like us, were seated on the wooden floor, in the orangy-themed house which seemed to be the best refuge in the vicinity.

No spooky matters here, but later on, when we moved out, the place had turned into a bigger scale of villages; and not a sign of wet soil, darkened wood or any signs of moistures on the surroundings. Groups parted in their own ways to continue the journey. For a moment of time, I felt like I was venturing through an abandoned village - soemthing which never fail to thrill me whenever I'm out for shoots.

As I walked through the wooden platforms of the longhouses, one can spot ajar doors with little or no human activity. The environment was dead quiet like a graveyard.

In order for me to get of of this place, I have to reach the other end of the village, which does not seem a short-distanced walk as no further details were visible; from the visual judgement, the distance appeared no less than 400m away.

7:15am Time to get up after a multitude of dreams. This being the clearest, has been recorded.

Came across this news about the accident on 01/05/11 that killed a passenger, a biking enthusiast who got killed when hitching a ride from his friend's lorry. The culprit driver behaved rowdily even when visibly under alcohol intoxication.

Further search revealed he came from a well-to-do background, and some forumeers who claimed to know him had passed some remarks about his personality; which was on the unpleasant side.

No news about the verdict yet, but clearly he was already under a chargeable traffic offence of drink driving. Even his girlfriend passenger is intoxicated. Hopefully, justice can be done for this case, unlike Cleopetra who got away with a fine even for hitting a cyclist on the road, and yet not being arrested on the night itself, where there's a likelihood that she drove under the same situation.

Sometimes I wonder if the family of this culprit driver had neglected proper upbringing, causing him to become a society nuisance?

There are certainly a number of questions on the handling of offenders. Will they be given a lighter penalty based on the social status of their family / relatives?
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A quiet evening as most have left earlier from office today, leaving me being the only person left. Anyhow I'm already making ny way home after the rain had ceased outside.

Time to prepare the next shot this evening as the countdown days tick by.

Hope dearie's revision had been going smooth so far since she has commenced a block leave from last Friday.

At times, I thought it'll be good to take a break from work, but being workaholic by nature, this idea had been given a pass. It's better to continue while keeping the 'going to work' momentum going.

Let's hope for the best during this week, as today's the first time my phone had been quiet.

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Just 13 more absolute days to go before moving on. 2 shots had been fired on Sat while preparing more shots. Hopefully, I hit Bull's Eye and be able to transit smoothly into the next battlefield.

Lunch done alone as usual; it was already past 1 and yet eating house I usually patron is quite populated, as compared to last Thursday where most working areas are less populated; many would've already planned for a long weekend way ahead and have already covered it with their leave.

No overseas trip over the weekend as it was quite eventful; family lunch on Sat and spent most of the other days keeping dearie company while she does her revision; and the final wrap up event fot the long weekend, bringing sister to eat and getting her gift.

3 more hours and I'll be out of this place.

First scene was at a white-sanded beach. It looked like a summer holiday or the sort, and I was playing with something like a handglider sort of stuff. An unwelcomed, Joshua, who was notorious in the local flatland scene, was here to 'join'. Ahead of me was a tentage and my brother along with sis-in-law is relaxing under.m Joshua had been the most barbaric as he was talking so loudly and disturbing the peace.

I had warned him twice till I raised my voice before he started to move away. When he was getting off the sand, he started to dust it off and hitting my sis-in-law.

I apologised to her for his behaviour and related an incident where I filmed him playing flatland at Citylink, which was uploaded and he was unhappy about it.

Another scene showed an event which appeared to be some memorial service for Mother's Day, where the aura was a little sorrowful. It was held at a cathedral which also had a history of centuries of ages. I had not participated in queueing up to do offerings at the altar, so I had left after the sermon and hymns were over.

7:20am. That was only a 20-min snooze and already seen such a series of dreams.

The place resembled a colosselum where Romans and Greek contest in the most honourable sports event of Olympics. However, it's modern world and people are seen gathering in groups, commuting to various places by foot, or simply sitting at the stairs on solitary basis.

I saw my current manager who had a different hairstyle, and as usual, with his friendly persona; just a casual greet and then I saw him talking to another colleague; well, just one of those usual scenes where I see him having whispery conversation and myself excluded from it. He was passing his Blackberry to our other colleague and talking something about an email received recently.

Next scene showed me at a grass patch, some military training and I was doing a headcount of my men who have been assembled. We walked in an orderly group and I chatted with my QM, passing some joking remarks about calling us back for ICT and yet to see any perks in it.

Switched - I was in the washroom - it looked a little like those 3rd world country types - dirt-brushed walls, old wash basins and the like. My brother was there and had asked me if I've seen ION; a substance which sounded futuristic and was supposed to be used for healing. It's of high secrecy by nature. Later, I was shown to a cubicle and saw the fluid; it's like mercury, with rainbow-coloured reflections while carrying a nice aura. He used it to heal his wounded wrist.

Suddenly, there was commotion and he took refuge. I pretended to be using the urinal and shouted 'just peeing', and 2 Africans came in and placed. 3-4 year old child on the wash basin and left. A wailing mother came in soon after and managed to 'recover' her abucted child.

7am. Back to reality.

We met for lunch at Ajisen after my sis finished work, and ordered 3 set meals. Mine was spicy miso ramen, and being salty by nature, the overall soup was ultra salty along with the ramen, so I left the soup pretty much alone.

Post lunch, we had dessert at Hagen Daaz, however, there was quite a big crowd and crew was shorthanded, so we had to wait for awhile. Sis had a Brownie Dream while dearie and I shared a Flower Blossom...hope I got those names right? For the price charged, those ice-creams are really of premium grade; personally I'm not really an ice cream person, but we thought it'll be a good place to bring my sis to after her work; or at least, a belated birthday celebration for her.

She got the shoes she wanted and decided to settle it as her birthday present; Rikkamura will be impractical.