朽木百哉のブォグ

Done my first run this evening on the huaraches which has been owned for a couple of weeks.

The feel of the run was totally different as one can feel the ground considering the sole thickness is only 6mm.  Minimal power loss; except for the shoes which require tweaking to rid of those blisters and abrasions.

The run took me less than an hour and after the run, I still feel pretty energised after the run.

Hope the blisters get well soon so I can be on the track again with these huaraches.

Insanity start for rhe week as I could only depart tehe battlebox almost an hour later than the usual planned time.  That left me very limited time in the evening to wrap up on the revision.

The only 'fortunate' thing is some peace throughout the day.  Maybe everyone's too occupied hence there was the no noise period.

Anyway the necessary revision was still done as the second last wave before the paper tomorrow.

Back to the reality of battlebox where I have to play the prediction game witht the SAM site again.

The weekend was wonderfully wrapped up as I was able to spend the day with my loved ones before the battle week commences.  Except for the discomfort of the sunburn, all was great.

Due the exams tomorrow, I have been on a 'cease fire' phase for personal photography matters till I've cleared these papers.  It can be such a torn situation as I have to fulfill this part of the papers while getting the other part done out and going effectively on the right track.  Anyhow, I have to manage it.

Coming to think about the inflexibility of the manangement after I got one of the papers really irked me,  as that deemed I have been making losses since I acquired some of the papers.  The next question would be how long can I endure here before I take the escape pod...

2 more weeks for a longer break again; I hope I would have only one paper left by then to clear so I can concentrate on this without a worry for the next.

Recovery day.

Spent most of the time indoor doing up post for the recent trip and the time to keep dearie company.  All of them enjoyed savouring some of the catch which I brought for them that was obtained yesterday from the deep seas.

The evening came and I found myself falling asleep for an hour before preparing myself to head home for the evening.

Little did I expect this to be a boat trip till I learnt it from Kevin after the impromptu outing on Friday.

The set off was pretty early as we have to reach Desaru by 8am as the chartered boat leaves at 8:30am.  Rise and shine at 3:41am and by the time I reached Rickson's place, it was about 4:45am and we managed to get some food and baits from the nearby market at Kevin's place.

Customs was cleared by 7am and we reached Desaru via the new expressway, E22 by 8am.  Quite a fast journey considering also the higher speed limits and fewer traffic while we made our way there.

The place was set just by the beach - a typical village by the sea type of residency.  Cats and dogs could be seen running around the village where boats are parked on the trailer beside houses.  We boarded the boat around 8:30am and set off in the faraway sea where we can no longer see land.  Kevin's intent was to have a look at the lighthouse but it was already destroyed by a shipwreck some time ago.  As the water was also too choppy, we decided to head to another location.

We settled beside a large vessel, named "Ocean Nymph" which the dock was really high up and we could not see any human activity.  The catch was pretty good here with my trusty tambang hooks.

By the time we were done, it was already almost 4pm and we reached the coast line by about 5pm.  Washup done and we made our way for dinner at Jusco Tebrau City before heading back home.

As I have not been here for awhile, it took me awhile to get back to the right road to head back to Singapore.  Traffic was really congested for a Saturday evening too.

Crash and burn for the night after unpacking, cleaning of the car and washing up of the sea-water soiled equipments.

This call came to me several times but I have been able to ascertain who it is as it definitely isn't a local number.

Runs are probably one of the best things to do in aiding my entrance into slumber; and I'm glad I has that yesterday night.  Though it took awhile to get in, it's definitely worth it.

A morning with some quietness awaits as I took an earlier schedule to reach battlebox; a good time for me to clear up wothout disturbance.  Though I see several familiar faces on this earlier bus schedule, none has recognised me in view of the transformed appearance.  Also, there was no necessity for this recognition.

Just one more day to hit the end of the week and I can have an extra day to catch up on that revision.

Just caught the 2004 show 'The Aviator' starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes who was a legend in the aviation history of America.

His obsession in his passion for aviation has certainly brought him far and made history.  This continue to set my mind aligned back to where my utmost passion lies and how far it will take me to where I want to be.

I have to grub through my books for the paper next week but at the back of my mind, it still works actively on what I have been working on to keep things going.  One thing I should be true to myself  is that I am never happy doing what I 'can' do versus what I really like to do and excelling in it.

It's really encouraging to have close people to keep encouraging me on with those papers.  I don't know when I will clear them all but for now, I have to keep trying, till I clear them or till I find a better, landing pad where mind can be alleviated of unnecessary mental distress.

The mind will continue staying strong.

A liking for dilapidated buildings sure has its way to the dreamland.

I saw myself talking to some people who work and manage the estate of Bedok Methodist Church which now is, perched atop of a gentle sloping hill instead of levelled land where it factually is situated.

There are some major facelifting works ongoing, so scaffoldings could be seen everywhere.  Aged windows with rusted panes, some with missing glass are seen randomly strewn across several parts of the whole compound where various buildings stood.  What amazes me is the glory it holds even in its current state before human activity is resumed.

The caretaker told me that the good thing about this place and not having to worry so much about it is that there is 24 hour security taking care of it; so unwanted outsider cannot have access to the building.

As I dwell at its 'damaged glory', soon I found myself waking up.  It's time to get ready to enter battlebox.

One of the mornigs where I set off much earlier than usual to 'keep the momentum going' as I want to leave on the dot this evening and also have more time out of the SAM site's arc of fire.

It's the consecutive 4th day of heavy shelling from the SAM site.  So much so that the dinner has been digested much faster than expected.

I had entered this place which appeared to be some military or national defence agency building, where there was a shop at the first level named 'Laamart'.  It took me awhile to get to the ground floor as a lady who seemed to be manning the shop was going down but had quite some stuff to wheel down in a trolley.

At the ground floor, a factory-like place that was sheltered greeted me and at some places where it was barriered up, noises could be heard while some merceneries patrolled along that border that was made up of broken pillars and walls.  An operative order soon was issued  and the rebels (behind the border) were taken out quickly.  We moved in and searched their remains for important information and one of my comrades found a die-cast ancient gun pistol in the possessions of one of the dead rebels.

Next scene showed another part of this sheltered area where it looks more like a equipped workshop; we expected more rebels to come in to reinforce the initial group we took out, so I took the lead and signalled to the rest to get into position for this trike-like vehicle which had just drove in.

All locked and loaded while getting ready for the driver to exit the vehicle; but there was no driver;  instead, mounted right in the centre of the cockpit was a minigun, which fired off through the gaps on the sides and rear of the vehicle.  Quickly I got my comrades to take cover and it was a near-miss for me as I hopped over the bath on one of the shots.  Later it took form a transformed into it's 'offensive mode' and the red-glowed eyes and metal-skull look was seen - so it's another variation of the Terminator models which now disguises itself as a vehicle.

Switchscene to seeing myself  as a passenger that went pass the shop 'Laamart' just like how I moved around Penang several months back.

Eyes opened to the sound of thumping door.  It's already 7:15am.

I saw myself in this scene which appeared to be a revisit to an old camp of my last posting during my tour of duty.  The only difference is that the walls are greenish and everyone had seemed to just returned from a naval operation as they are all wet with sea water.

Some familiar faces werew seen such as my men from the existing NS unit.  At one scene I was talking to an old schoolmate who was from Hong Kong, about getting a sight of him when driving towards Woodlands while he was on an overhead bridge with a friend.

Now I appear in my old home in Bedok North's room and was talking to dearie about my posting to some very out-of-the-way naval camp which was built like a kelong style but it's several hours' boat ride from civilisation; and I will only be back on weekends due to the fact of locality which doesn't permit nights' off.

Eyes opened at 6:58am and I realised I have been sleeping in an oven-like room.

Atlanta.

It'a a midweek fiersome battle which I had lasted till the time the battlestation had to be locked up.  No matter how busy I am, the Angel's Pulse always reminds me of my regular phrase 'I'll be home for dinner'.

Quite a drizzly evening and having departed the battlestationed with lots of things on my mind; I have to find an avenue to relax but it's still better to hang on till the end of the battling week.  The intent of not staying back was the need to strike the equilibrium into balance.  More pressure can be felt as the new colleague who is fully qualified had came onboard while I still have to drill on those papers till I clear them.

Soon it was time for me to make my way back; the internet at angel's place had this strange behaviour that it starts malfunctioning at 11pm daily for the next few hours.  And being a weekday now, it's even more time so for me to get packing.

Angel's wrath could be felt when I was going off.

This call rang and I suspected this being a scam call hence gave it the heck.

Suspected this as another scam call which came right after the earlier call.

Got a missed call from this number but when I call back, no one answered it.

Got this call early in the morning but who could be calling me at this early hour?  Searched around but nothing could be found.

A day has passed and certainly more peaceful without the presence of a metrological station;  but the morning was already an 'introduction' due to IT failure.  The 'reactor engineer' had to fix the problem.

Heading home now; the mind is constantly reminded of the Labour Day eve which was a frantic rush, and certainly the night before was not pleasant either.  Though the matter is over, a marred heart has been set in place for the situation that had an unnecessary tension.

I wouldn't want to be bothered by these.  Those dreaded papers are already enough to make rock my mind considerably and I don't want these petty issues to disturb me.

More learning awaits me.

The break for the middle of the week was certainly well-spent as I was able to catch up with some backlogs.

A break on such a schedule can be quite good as it allows one to recollect and refresh for the rest of the week.  Now I am back to the shirt and pants life since that vacation is over; but the mind remains very much at the lesson I back there through my macbook from someone who feeds his family with his camera.  I have to go back and learn more from him.