Christmas 2005 is Over!

Hm...seems weird, christmas is over. Times flies. We had a few gatherings at Kok Sung's friend's place and my friend's place. The rest of the 3 day break, I spent it sleeping and eating. Work doesn't seem to leave me, I had also completed a draft of a technical report. This photo is taken from my bedroom. Mt Faber consists of 2 communication towers, one of them is not used and is thus decorated with lightings. More information of the lightings at Mt Faber could be found on http://www.mountfaber.com.sg/xmas.htm. Eh....my camera skills is not good at all!! haha

Family Gathering..

The evening starts with my cousin Shiran coming as early as 530pm, I saw my BIG present and is excited about it. The relatives from my side streamed in between 630 to 7pm. Fortunately for us, the wind at my house was good, and my grandma actually felt COLD with the "air-con" on. It was enjoyable sticking those numbers on the presents for the gift exchange, wishing all were mine!!!! The christmas tree couldn't stop singing as I tapped my feet on the floor. Thanks to my babysitter, conversations among my relatives were good. Relatives from KS's side came much later, but glad there was more than enough food and all were here! We have presents from all the adults (the older generation:P). The party was simple with gift exchange and log cakes. I am glad everybody seems happy and had a present to take home towards the end of the night! Wishing all a Blessed New Year ahead and God bless!

Hm....didn't find anything fancy during the weekend. Since the Hello Kitty marshmallows are so cheap, thought I should share the joy of eating stuff of Hello Kitty with my family members this coming Saturday hahaha

My New Stool at Home

Hey! Care to take a seat on this polyethlene chair, that goes pop when you seat on it! Bought is at IKEA at $39

The Difference

See the difference? "Natural" light is still the best to see lightings at nite. The picture on the right was taken with the flash. It looks terrible less the light bulbs and my christmas tree is without lightings!!:(

Oh yes, don't forget your tripod!! for night lights.

Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind, literally. Tell you the truth, the teacher had actually went through similar questions during classes, sigh......that's the only thing I am very sure of. The rest of the details, I have no idea. Nevertheless, I am glad I had picked up the courage to attempt the papers given the undesirable circumstances.....Bravo:P.

Some Comfort!

Then I came home, and took this picture as it joins my collection. Hm....another paper on Saturday, hopefully I won't be collecting another "Death Paper".......grr...but seems very possible again. My parents must have been glad I am not wasting their $$$$

"Death Paper"

Had my first exam paper since 5 years ago. Weeks of missed lectures, and undone assignments make the consequence seems so predictable. I came out after an hour for a 2.5 hours papers. My mind is clear that it has nothing to contribute to this easy paper......

Sigh, the past few months after I came back from UK, was bad. Something just feel so wrong, maybe too many changes at one go? New bosses, new environment, playing with figures to suit our needs (not amounting to cheating, real figures!!) Nevertheless looking forward to life in base or even onboard ship! Hm......suppose to be studying for exams but feel so unfocussed, just wanna sit in front of the computer, read magazines and surf net.

We are made up of Memories

I was rather upset that my grandpa gave a set of photos to one of his grandchild. Most probably it's because he had shared these photos with me when I was younger, and love to see them at their original place. Nevertheless, still happy to have their most recent photos!

The Most Wondeful Beginning...

I have always love to attend weddings, especially watching the happy couple. Last Sunday, I attended my first wedding at Botanic gardens. Hereby wishing the couple a blissful marriage throughout their lifetime. How I love those big orchids!

A good place for magazines

Bought this dustbin from CK Tang. It has three purposes. Firstly, to look like a "retro" dustbin. Secondly, to provide a proper seat in the balcony and thirdly, for storage of my magazines.

With the Divers, Missing Diving

Have been training with the divers today and for the next two weeks. Need to concentrate, but can't help but miss leisure diving..sigh..this is a photo of me and Kok Sung in Sipadan Island. My last dive trip. Maybe we should go for a short trip to Aur afterall

Settled Down?

Don't know what's wrong with me. Can't seem to settle down to start studying for my masters' lessons. Maybe still recovering from Jet Lag? It is only 450am now but I am already wide awake. Tired. Work yesterday was quite discouraging, besides consolidating the usage of paper and toner cartridges, there is nothing much I am doing. Sigh, rather discouraging. The rest of the day was spent replying to emails and settling some administrative stuff. Nevertheless life still goes on, and there is a long way ahead. Just hope that things will work out fine afterall. Attached is a picture taken of the Mississipi River from the airplane. Just cheers me up, a beautiful sight.

Hattiesburg: Hurrican Katrina

I had just come back with a "good" experience in New Orleans....

That's Hurricane Katrina. Being sheltered from all natural disasters in SIngapore, now I truly understand the meaning of HOWLING wind. 4 days without power and freshwater supply, and still got to work on a diesel engine. A dip in the hotel swimming pool was haven, not forgetting the water that turns milky after that....

And collecting water for sanitation purpose reminded me of those olden days of buckets of water from a well. Long queues at the petrol kiosk, also meant fights, frustration and anxiety. These includes queues for drinking water and food supply. The phone network is totally down i.e. no other forms of communication, including land lines. Fallen trees, torn off roof, broken glasses, signboards...are common sights.Curfews were in place to prevent ppl from looting and creating trouble.

Glad to be home after a good 2 weeks. Will remember those days of instant noodles barbecue, late nite chatting as going back to a hotel room in complete darkness was too boring. Nevertheless, it has been a fruitful trip as I had now a hurricane experience in my life.

The conditions in Hattiesburg are nothing compared to New Orleans, glad our first stop is not at New Orleans (suppose to be there after one week). Thank God.

Brownies and Cakes!!

My cousin came over to my house for brownie baking. It was the first time I am using oven, rather excited. Spent about S$30 for the ingredients. The whole preparation took less than an hour, manual mixing butter, cocoa, eggs, flour, salt, sugar and walnuts. After 40 minutes of baking at 162 degrees celcius, the brownies turn out delicious Yummy! A pity there are too little to be distributed among family members......Okay I must admit the brownies taste like cakes instead. (not enough butter I guess!)

To be on the way home is "torturing", but the beautiful view from the window seat just takes your breath away!

Back in Singapore!

At last! I am back!!! Meeting my loved ones, looking at hamster, my beautiful home and surfing net using broadband!! Perrrrfect..Tomorrow there'll be a family gathering, hope we can catch the fireworks!

Splitting Headache, Anxiety going back Home

Tried to sleep 2 hours ago, couldn't. Finally decided to open my luggage again to take my panadol...what a splitting headache. I wonder why? Going to sleep again once I finished this entry.

Got my certificate and end of training report. Happy to be doing all these in an overseas establishment. It had been a great exposure afterall. Although I have caused some stress on my husband with my constant anxiety in school, I am glad he had stood by me all these times! Okay getting headache again. Pray that I will be all well again tomorrow on my flight back to Singapore!!

Last Day Finally

Seating in my No.5, I am once again early for the event. Today we are having our certificate presentation. Hm...actually, I think it is just a formality, especially when foreign navy is involved. Oops I forgot my camera too...guess it is no big deal afterall. Tomorrow at this time I would have been happily on my way back home. Grrr.....time really passes by slowly.

Thinking back, I will most probably miss the Kiwis and their sense of humour. Some of them were unpredictable! Hm...nothing much to say about this course, cause everything had been said and things look good in the end, yeah God was good to all of us.

Looking forward to a new start at work (not too sure of the prospects cause I still do not think SAF is about career at all) hm....no matter how the organization fares..there is always a requirement of uniform personnel...I won't be too upbeat of the prospects but I am sure I won't be useless too.hahaha..okay most probably log my last few entries in the next 24 hours...

Reading Blogs

After my course, I have about 1 week free...being a poor Singaporean in this expensive place, I have decided to spend most of my time on the internet. This time I really spend a few hours a day reading ppl's blog yeah..especially those from Singapore!! wahaha didn't know we have such talent out there!

The one that impressed me most is still PostaSecret, some of them, don't even know whether to believe anot..cause they all seemed to be just the sadistic side of human beings...then I read mrbrown for about 0.5 hours, still don't understand the significance of his sneakers. Then I came across the famous ones xialanxue and furongjiejie...wahaha talking about free expression, never felt so gross out by such character like furongjiejie, hope I never meet her....Xiaxue's blog not exactly friendly to ppl with a dial up access..didn't manage to load hers..let me get away from this backward place with only dial up access! Rockson is another funny wan, great storyteller, although I must admit I need to pick up more hokkien to understand his jokes (as if I am bother).

All these..regardless how boring (like mine), how vulgar and distasteful..I think it is the freedom of having a place to pen down our thoughts and the other side of us..maybe some are smarter (like xiaxue) making herself into a celebrity. As for me, I am truly satisfied with just penning my thoughts. Who knows..maybe God spends time reading everybody's blogs too hahaha... I definitely hope He does read mine:)

Blue Sky and the Vast Land

Church in the castle area

My Last Destination

Porchester Castle

My last destination here. It was a beautiful afternoon with blue sky and strong sunshine. I bought a day pass at GBP4, took a bus from camp to Porchester changing at Fareham. The place is terrific with its green fields. I was told during the weekend many ppl will be playing soccer. Today I had seen only a few families with their small kids and pets! Met a nice fluffy dog called Robby. Its owner is very friendly, she talked to me about bombs, 3G phones, racism, china etc...haha quite an interesting lady. This caslte is rather small and is in ruins. I didn't bother to go into the castle itself........

Getting Together

Yay! 3 Days Left! Can't wait for Saturday to come. Think Kok Sung may be the only one excited about me going home, hee. I am very happy to be going home, people don't understand why, but I know I won't enjoy any other places cause my heart had already flown home. Maybe it's age, maybe I am boring...hm... Nevertheless, just want to be back in Singapore right now! ha.

wah after 4days of break, the class come together again. Interesting to listen to their travel stories, of course that's only the Kiwis. Tom and Benjir didn't go anywhere special like me:P. Brendon went to Dublin..he actually missed his flight and had to pay EUR60 to get onto the next flight! Scott had a joyride around Oxfordshire as he knows a friend around the area..apparently he played cricket with a New Zealand Team! Accordingy to him, he played rather well considering the fact that he last played the game 10 years ago.

As for me, you know I have no stories to tell for travelling already...Did nothing much today except attending classes in the afternoon. Well at least I had my first teabreak in the dining hall today.....Tom was quite nice when he offer to give me the crust of the bread..actually I was just teasing him..he is really a gentleman:). That's all for today....

All my parcels sent!

The grey clouds loom the whole sky....I wanted to send my last parcel, it was 10kg. After having a dilemma of taking taxi or walking with the load, I decided to carry the 10kg parcel to the mail room at the end of Cambridge Road. The 10 mins walk out of camp seemed like an eternity, but my arms did not give way, can't be that weak rite?? haha...Wrapping my heavy parcel with my raincoat, I feel like a potential danger when ppl keep looking at this box covered by raincoat....Reaching the mailroom after half an hour..I was relieved. The man looked at me bewildered, and told me that they don't send mails and parcels at this branch..It is only for the mailman to collect their mails to be distributed. So sad! after all the effort.

After wandering about 5 mins with the box, trying to look for a nearest postal service, I gave up. I took a bus to high street Post Office. Sitting down at Burger King, things were quiet and I did enjoy the food I was having in peace. Rested well, my arms were strained, red impressions still can be seen on my wrists....tired.

Guess the Picture

1-Merlion
2-Roller Blading
3-Linux Penquin
4-Hawaiian Pizza
5-Boiling Water
6-London: Trafalgar Square and Nelson's Column
7-Hamster (the rings represent its mouthful of food!)
8-IPPT
9-New Forest:Beaulieu
10-Melbourne: Puffing Billy
11-Victoria: Geelong
12-Singapore:Sentosa
13-Melbourne Central Shopping Mall :Coop's Shot Tower
14-Blue Mountains Katoomba: Three Sisters
15-Telok Blangah Crescent: Our Home
16-Sabah: Sipadan Island

Next Week, This Time

It is already 7pm here, 5 more days left! Next week, this time I will be with Kok Sung and all the familiar environment sleeping on my most comfy bedsheets that mum bought for us. Oh the boaster too! Coolz...miss my boaster which is still the only "pillow" that offers good height for my head as I sleep. Dislike the feather pillow here, almost as flat as the bed itself.

Did nothing much today hm...let me see, read The New Scientist and parts of the newspaper. Nothing special, just the daily news on bombers and natural calamities.....the world is ending..definitely. Played a game with Kok Sung using "whiteboard" feature in msn. Rather fun, like guessing the places that we have been to as a couple!

Called my mum yesterday and she said her leg condition is improving...good to hear that..sigh she won't be home when I go home on Sunday, gonna miss her. and yes Kok Sung! I'll be home soon!

I feel so Bad

Just agreed on a committment without reading the email in details..Sigh, I feel so bad cause I committed without consulting my husband! Sigh, how careless can I be. I hope he will forgive me and I pray that the opportunity will be given to sombody else....

I know this exposure will be excellent but if it is to affect my relationship..I will be really sad..and I won't do it.

Weekend?

Hi! Finished my thank you cards today! The weather starts to get nicer today..feels great. Nothing to do til Thursday...how I wish I could have flown home today! No plans for tomorrow, maybe I will go jogging tomorrow, Hm...how to pass IPPT?? Ops! Quite frightening haha...okay will go jogging everyday starting from tomorrow...hm...

Feeling Relax

Glad I'll be packing home next week at this time. Listening to Sammi Cheng's music, feeling at home. Looking forward to laksa, mee siam and chicken rice as well as my mee bok!!! Yummy! I don't hate the food here, in fact their mushroom and vegetables are terrific!

I can't help but say this again..feel so relieved to have a good pass for this course. I had done badly for a few tests, most probably because I did not truly understand the subject and only study the tip:P. Nevertheless I am very grateful.

I have nothing to do til next Friday..How I wish I could be home this Saturday! Nowhere to go heh, actually no money to spend liaoz..just paid GBP78 to air frieght my notes back. Have to even draw cash for that. Okay, will find something entertaining to do.

Did it!

Miraculously, I scrap pass with a First Class Pass!!!I feel so grateful to God...Think he had shown that seek Him first, all things will fall in place!

Very sad. But I will keep the faith..

Sigh, at last I have the courage to call up the course officer for my results. Sigh, it is a disaster, unless God wills it a miracle..or else I will never get my first class pass. I am really sad. No words can describe how I feel. Although I must say I have done my best, and there should be no excuses, why I never get First Class Pass. Nevertheless I still have God and my family members. I miss them a lot and look forward to going home. I miss Kok Sung alot too. These months must have been terrible for him too. Glad I am going home. Thank you for all the blessings.

The zebra crossing made famous by The Beatles!

Ay, shouldn't I be studying??

Hm...finished what I had planned out to do for the day. Although I am hoping I can push myself a little further, and revise abit of the Hull Test. Wonder if I can catch up with the grading..Sigh. Will definitely start some work tomorrow...

Presentation on Monday and the Last Test in HMS SULTAN on Wed

Do you hear that 14 days left! before I leave this wonderful place..But Home Sweet Home is what I look forward to! Don't really know what to say now, but just want to blog for the sake of blogging.....

Okay first of all, glad I did well for the Fuels exams, wah..didn't know that it is possible to get above 90marks. Just like to thank God that it is His will. As I was explaining in my previous blog, I do not need to top the class (actually this is impossible already), but to maintain a First Class pass overall, so that at least it will look good when the certificate is back in the management hands. I was relieved after finishing the Electrical Paper. I find electrical and electronics difficult, really hope to improve when I take my masters on these subjects. Looking forward to my masters classes. Hope that I will be able to take the tiring hours to do tutorials.

Tomorrow, need to do a few things, check out postal service, shop for thank you cards, more shopping for gifts and finally to find out about the rest of the guided walk around Gosport.

Feeling rather sleepy now, think I will go to bed sleepy.......

A few things on my mind

I was rather sad that KS removed the websites. I enjoyed visiting it especially looking over and over again at the hamsters. Sigh, guess he is angry with me for removing my own website:( .

Got our results back for the previous tests including Duty Watch. Very happy that I did well for Gas Turbine Test and Duty Watch. Have also found out that with my grades, it is possible to achieve First Class Pass if I get more than 75% for the remaining 3 tests.......This is because our project had pulled our grades real low..........Really hope that everything will work out fine in the end. Electrics seem unachieveable for more than 75% mark...Pray hard....

One more week of agony and a Monday

18 more dayS! Duty watch is finally over, all over. It had been the most interesting activity in HMS Sultan for me. Need to stay focus for the tests to come. Tried to study last nite, but was falling asleep, at 8pm I decided to go and sleep. This morning, manage to skim through all the long questions..Sigh, electrical revision is too much to study for 3 days. (in between there's another test:( )Totally unprepared. Today will try to finish revision for Fuels & Lubricants, hopefully it is not too difficult. All memory work, felt so helpless. I don't think I have done well for this course, hope that I am not the last afterall. Felt so bad, and a letdown of the organization. But I have definitely done my best, not like a robot but as an individual human being. I am no scholar afterall, just an average student. I believe my midshipman and NLOC results were not fantastic too......so they shouldn't be expecting too much right? Nevertheless, the course is coming to an end, I am glad to be going home.

3 more weeks!

Glad the weeks have been passing by so quickly. Can't wait to get home to be with family and friends again, can't wait to speak my own language, eat my favourite food......this trip had made me realise I really love Singapore alot. Maybe it is because of the ppl, but I definitely will not consider leaving Singapore now. I miss all the happenings in there, the weather, the malls, the man-made tourists' attraction........

Mid-Week!

Yay! I am so happy. In fact, feeling alittle guilty cause I have yet to start work on my HPAC! Feeling really tired emotionally and physically...sigh can't imagine SSD close up everyday, so siong.....Okay got to go back to the HPAC and auxillaries...

Why is it Me?

As I had mentioned before, this morning was the first time we did our duty watch. The whole team was delayed because of me. I was really upset. Sigh, why was I so slow? There were no obstacles at all. I am utterly disappointed with myself. How I wish I could be home now with family and friends.
Recieved my results for the last two tests, did pretty badly, bottomed for one of them. My sadness goes beyond the word itself, it is indescribable. I really hate academic work, I just hope
everything to end soon. I did not expect the course to be like this, I have mixture of feelings about this course now. I think it had also put a strain on my marriage. This is all because of me, I feel so inefficient and incapable. Definitely all things will improve with practice, I have done my best. Guess I just don't have the calibre to compare with others.
Feeling rather exhausted now, can't wait for everything to end, I just want to go back to Singapore.

Another 10 mins

Another 10 mins, I will be going down for breakfast at 6am. Today is the first day of Duty Watch, abit aprehensive as I have mentioned before but I hope this week pass by quickly especially my turn as MEOOW1. Just wished to get through everything and be back home. All the best for the team today!!

Need to Sleep Early!

I didn't really have a fruitful day. However, I did went through all the systems and marked down my doubts. I have to operate GT tomorrow, hope I will be fine, feeling abit excited but apprehensive..Hopefully all things turn out well. Goodnight!

A handphone hanging piece (handmade from Korea) from a friend broken into pieces.

Yay! All things end well

Last week had been quite a "hell" week mainly due to family matters. Thank God that all are back to normal and I am forgiven. Progress for the weekend was slow but steady. Managed to finish what I have set out to do, I am happy and glad that the week ended well. Wrote a few emails to "longtime no see" friends, hope they will reply soon. Kok Sung kept me company as usual, keeps talking about his linux hee, his latest is the yellow Gnome desktop. Not too bad, as the toolbar has a fadeoff effect. I still prefer the original Mac PopUp icons.

I should be meeting up with KH next weekend, looking forward to another theatre show and hopefully a Shakespeares theatres show too! The course is ending, and I am very excited to be on my way home!!

The day had ended

I was actually writing this blog halfway when my computer shuts itself off due to overtemperature. This is because I am lying on the bed with my laptop, the blanket had blocked up its ventilation

I was saying that time flies, it was 68 days when I first started this blog! and now it is alreay 28 days left! I really can't wait for the days here to end, not that I am suffering here or lonely. I just miss Singapore and especially my husband. Manage to do some work in the end, although it is little, considering I have the whole day of doing it. They are having Summer Ball now, none of my coursemates went..so no point for me to join the Summer Ball too. And of course my strategy works, not bringing any decent wear for a ball...haha. Sleepy, hope tomorrow can be a fruitful day. Miss everybody at home!!!

It is already 430pm

It is confirmed my inertia is more than 8x..sigh..these books had been lying in front of me since 7am in the morning!! And I still have not touched abit on it:( chatted with KS and surfed net..just came back from the provision shop, bought some factory made crossiant (taste horrible) and fruitcake. It is really a sad thing that their bakery is not everywhere.....unlike Singapore housing estates. The nearest bakery I have here is at least 30 mins walk from my camp. So troublesome. Okay will try to do some work while drinking my coffee!!

Everyone's Away

Okay, got all my books necessary for the day....but that inertia of starting is really, most probably higher than the 8x starting current for AC Motor. The past week was only fulfilling on three days..cause the first 3 days was before a test. The last two days was busy but inefficient as I was struggling with the 3-D drawings...Sigh... The Kiwis had gone for their U2 concert, they must be having a lovely time, not too sure about Tom, but most probably he will just go bar for a drink and stay back in his cabin for the weekend. He is rather hardworking and efficient. I try to be hardworking, but always end up building castles in the air.....nevertheless I will do my best and be disciplined. I was so silly the other day writing a letter to my auntie, "accusing" her of trying to shift responsibilities to father and I. Sigh..as my cousin had said, I am really mean.
I have got news(rumours whatever) that I will be posted onboard ship afterall....Find it challenging and exciting but apprehensive of the future that lies ahead. If the first female MEO can do it, why can't I? Winnie was right, a leader got to be confident in order to lead the engine department. Frankly speaking, I see MEO vocation as a responsibility funciton..i.e if any happens, there's only one person to answer for, MEO. But as a professional engineering department, teamwork is still the utmost important, cause each of us has a specific area whereby we are master of the system. Even chief engineers may not be fully knowledgeable in the systems which the lads are working on it everyday. Memory slips..of course their vast experiences will still be invaluable and impressive. Lots of things to learn from them.
This weekend, hope to chat with Kok Sung, read my books and do some preparations for the duty watch...Didn't manage to do any last week..Sigh..luckily there's still Monday to catch up with. Okay, I will try to be happier and put my faith in GOd for the rest of the course. Will do my best, just wish to be home safe and sound, most importantly happy. Everyone's Away cause nobody's online to keep me company:-)

Things should be fine

After the whole episode of just a mere S$4k, I have finally felt that I get my points through. Glad that Shiran, was back at home trying to get the "illegal" loan back. Sigh, no money how to help ppl...I can only help within my means, and do my part for the contribution. I am still stuck with the 3K loan..Sigh..I find it such a waste of money.

Going to start my day in the office at least for an hour and then the duty watch after teabreak before coming back to my cabin. Hope to start studying soon (although always can't do that) tonite cause not much time next week due to project submission. And there'll be 3 tests consecutively on the following week. By the way, steering test turns out to be fine..just hope that I won't do too badly..getting really pessismistic nowadays..Sigh...

Hey my new duvet and Bedsheets!! BLUE!!

Good Beginning

Not too bad! Had a good day, fulfilled all tasks that I had wanted to do. Besides the usual workday, I am truly satisfied with everything! I had even managed to do revision for my test, which is really precious:P.Wrote emails and even update my webpage with a new song and quote. Feeling rather sleepy, the bed is superb today!!! They just changed to a duvet with blue bedsheets! Love blue! Tha Okay think I will go and sleep very sleepy..

Six Questions

Suddenly feel that I have changed quite abit to my old self since I am here. Must be missing Kok Sung, that's the reason. He had made me a more confident person, able to recognise and work on my weekness and improve on my strong points. He is truely God's given gift to me. I shouldn't work back but look forward.

Did nothing much again, but at least manage 6 questions from the notes. Definitely not sufficient. Had been chatting with my sis and cousin about sinchong. Hopefully my parents turn out well and May God bless them with a blissful marriage. I wonder if my mum had been listening to the CD I had bought her, hope she will find faith in Christ. I should attempt to bring her to church one of these days...afterall, even her parents had turned to Christ. There is so much love in christianity, I can't see why ppl can believe other Gods....Nevertheless we shall all continue to pray! I had talked to an old man doing his watering of flowers, very nice flowers indeed..he said,"it is more fruitful planting flowers than drinking in the bar"...Hm...maybe being on the binge is just the youngsters style. I am glad I did not join them.

Kok Sung's webpage is great! He had got almost all the typical functions of a website working in his website, mine is still the primitive ones haha..Dial up is not exactly a great tool to learn online. Okay, I will try to get more work done, it is going to be a busy week ahead.

Feeling Too Hungry to Sleep

Actually it is too early to sleep, only 9pm. I have decided to go running tomorrow. Went through my trip report, heart stopped for a second when I realised I need to fill in the results page. Sigh, miss Singapore so badly, wish I could fly back now. Wishing for the days I could see my house and my husband, my parents and my grandfather. Miss them all. and yes my hamsters too! Heard they don't take other food besides their branded feed and fruits. Hm..at least they are having their favourites in Singapore. I couldn't even afford my regular favourites in UK. Everything are expensive. I need to save up to pay for my school fees and lumpsum payment of my flat as well as my LASIK treatment. Need at least 10K for everything. The course allowance not enough to cover my trip here, mostly because I do not go down for dinners. I have been spending my own money, stretching abit of those to provide some entertainment for myself. Sigh, how I wish to be back home lying on my bed with my beautiful covers. Miss my home.

PS:Taken two biscuits, hopefully sleep by 930pm.

I wish him well

Kok Sung had been really nice to me since he left UK back to Singapore. He had been staying up late just to chat with me after my classes. Really glad to have married him, I find that he is a blessing from God. Think I will write an email to my mum to give him tonic drinks to stay "cool" throughout these late nights. He had been very ill, and the last thing I want to see is for him to suffer again. I wish I will be more considerate and let him sleep early......

Just Another Weekend

Yay!! 5 more weeks to go! Okay wrap up for the weeks to come. I must have mentioned it before, there'll be one test next week and a Big one that last for the whole of the following week (Duty Watch). Nothing much to revise til we get our tips cause there's nothing much in the book too! Read the formal instructions of the Duty watch but nothing much I can do without the machineries in my room..haha.. In between the weeks, need to prepare for Project Submission. Grr..everything can't be done til I get to the office.

Not much accomplished, just more website browsing and blogging! Count my cash in hand, not enough thus decided to stay in cabin. Time flies and it is already 5pm. I had taken all my meals consisting biscuits, maggi, cheese, bread, coffee and tea.

I have been thinking of LASIK for a long time. Over the weekend I had booked for an appointment with a Doctor in SNEC. Hopefully all will work out fine and I pray that I can get almost perfect eyesight at the end of the day. Going to look at my trip report and start collecting information on the paper. So many things on my mind. Need to sort them out!

Third Blog and the last for the Day

Okay, it is my third. Feeling depress today, in the end, Kok Sung accompanied me online til 2am on his side. I am feeling much better now. It is only 8 pm, and I am feeling all the symptoms of sleepiness. Tomorrow will strive to do something productive with KS.....Have a great weekend! 35 more days to go!!!Yay!

Nice to hear from my Mum

I am kind of touched when my mum called. It has been nearly 1.5 months since I last called back home. Although I miss home, but I didn't want to call back, no particular reason. Happy to hear from her, I guess Mum is really the Best in the world, always bring comfort. (well at least for most of them). The inertia to go back to the books is really huge, still could not bring myself to study. Most probably because I am anxious to get back to life back in Singapore. Will life be the same? I don't know, as long as I have a home to go back. I will be happy enough. At least there'll be a broadband waiting for me. and yes the TV set too.

Classes today were terrible, nothing get into my head. Tom is good, he was still listening and absorbing, so was Scott, maybe that explains why the both of them always do so well. They are focus in what they are doing. PT today was OTOT, I did a 1.6km jog on the treadmill, cause I did not want to set up the badminton court.

Planned to do abit of work today, but til now at 4pm, I have still achieved nothing.

Feeling Better?

Another two sessions of Physical Training (PT), and the day will end. Still feeling the inertia, really don't want to do anything after the working hours. Maybe Raymond is right afterall, on course (studying) is actually worse than working. This is because after work, you can do other things. This course had been good but it comes with many things too. Mainly the fact that I miss the familiar grounds too, and the company of my own kind of ppl. Yesterday the Canadians had their Canada Day. Must be quite a bash, invited, but I didn't go. Just wanna have my own time after work.

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How I am feeling Today..

Lethargic is how I am feeling now, after stopping work since last Thursday, I find it hard to maintain the minimal momentum remaining from that last day..... Another 37 days, I should be free from here. Missed Singapore alot. Of course it had been fun here too and there're wonderful experiences. In fact this blog will be more boring if not for the little adventures I had here. Furthermore..the purpose of my course is to acquire marine engineering knowledge and be more competent as NEO. Life back in Singapore would have been routine. Sometimes I wonder why..and the reason I could provide for myself of losing all the passion for stayin overseas must have been age and priorities. Unlike my younger days when I felt all ready to go for overseas adventures, I have since grown to be attached to my partner and family members and will always look forward to going back home after my trip oversesas (even when my partner is with me). Maybe 8 months period is really long. I miss my swimming, diving, cycling, asian food (I don't cook well, anyway cooking facilities not available here), sports climbing (learned but no opportunities to take it up actively), jogging up Mt Faber, SAFRA, playing pool, church services, city lights, fresh air of greenery, my kitchen, my studyroom....the list goes on. Eh, not forgetting my life here is rather coolz too, meeting foreign navies' personnel, having a meal with our partner, the Malaysian and Pakistanis, cheonging with the ang mohs, having lessons with them, talked to very experienced sailors, watching theatre shows in London, shopping at modest Fareham Shopping Centre, vibrant active sea sports life by the locals, travelling in national express, saying Good Morning everyday, working my 72 muscles to smile numerous times daily....OKay, life's not that bad..besides all the tests and assessments:P

This is the nice doctor that takes me in her car for the fleet review! Oh yes, that's a sumptous dinner at New Bengal restaurant.

Eh, a failed attempt to put the "Son et Lumiere" in photo memory..all the ships of the international fleet lighted up and horned througout the southsea! It was a wonderful feeling!!

Spectacular FireWorks Display!! It is really towards the end, cause we could only see the "high" fireworks from where we were.

2nd Evening 28th June 05, waiting for the Air Display. Look at the choppy sea and the clouds..But "every dark cloud has a silver lining"...

1st Evening looking out to the International Fleet on the 27th June 05.

Wait for me!

Hi, back again. Today is the Fleet Review. I am rather lucky, cause joined another working personnel in HMS Sultan to see the event. She got a car, which made the travelling very convenient and comfortable. There are many ships seen on the Lee-On-Solent. It consists of 167 ships from RN(Royal Navy),foreign navies and merchant navies. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4627453.stm. In 15 minutes time, I should be going out to catch the fireworks at 10pm. Have not been doing work since 4 days ago, hope to do some quality studying in the next few days. Will update again with pictures!

Bright and Sunny

Breakfast on the first day of the week, is quiet. Many of us are free for today. This is because many are also going to be on duty for the Fleet Review Rehearsal. Surprised to see the Canadians. I quite like them, at least with those that I talked to..I can feel they are genuinely talking to you, not entertaining small talks or whatever..very sincere ppl. They have a good sense of humour too! 1st July is their Canada Day, they were telling me that it is just another day of partying! Then I shared with them how Singaporeans get ready our National Day Celebration half a year ahead! They, themselves had organised a celebration this week at Icarus Bar. I went back to office to work this morning, Tom was there too. He is a responsible guy, hardworking and an all rounder! So unlike the other British ppl that my friends told me about.

Hope to get some work done, to make up for lost time over the weekend!:P

Fareham Country Market - They are selling muffins, fruit cakes, jam, biscuits, honey, and some handicraft.

Done Nothing...but spent $$$

I woke up at 6am..what a gloomy Saturday morning, my body was giving all the excuses for me to lie on the bed. At last, I brushed my teeth, put my clothes in the wash and start working...Hm..not on my books, but on my laptop, online. My hobby is to surf net and upload photos! Breakfast was great, ate cereals, sausage, scrambled eggs and brown toast. And this weekend I had alot of company at the breakfast table. Apparently, not all Canadians are out for the weekend.
After breakfast, keep thinking about Porchester Castle. In fact have been talking about it since I came back here from my Easter break..... In the end I decided to catch the 915am bus to Fareham, on my way to the Castle. Alighting from the bus stop, totally attracted by the shopping malls...was walking around til I miss the bus going to Porchester Castle. My body complained again, gave me a splitting headache and send me back to the cabin after 3 hours of shopping....Not too bad, bought a short skirt at GBP10! (believe it will be S$10 back home haha). I had also bought some groceries, treating myself to nice canned sardines for my snacking.
Back in my cabin, I continued my exploration online, played some games, chatted with my friends and monitored my files upload to the remote server at home. Ironed my clothes, walk around in the cabin, did some dips and standing broad jump, worried about my results and IPPT.....Time flies and it is already 7 pm now..I STILL have not done anything productive!! Then again, don't I deserve a break from books of all kind?

Worried for my Test Results, Happy that it is the weekend again!!!

Yes, I am worried for my results especially if it bottomed the class. Nevertheless I had done my best (must admit, I dislike studying, and had to be disciplined to focus on my studies.....tried hard in maintaining my attention span).
The week ended with enjoyable games of badminton with my coursemates! Whoa! Tom is good at badminton, even knows the rules at his fingertips! He is really an all rounder. I mustn't tell my Dad about my ignorance in badminton, would have embarrass him thoroughly haha...Nevetherless, the badminton session was good and I am glad I went for PT (Physical Training) in the end..
Not too sure what to do for the weekend. Hope to go to Porchester Castle if the weather is as good as the last few days. If not, I guess some shopping at Fareham will be lovely too. It is now raining cats and dogs, the best time to sleep and surf net in the cabin!

Nightmares and Fears

Life is good here, at least this is what you would have gathered from all my previous blogs. All the little happenings and happier times are usually over the few weekends. Just want to share that most of the time, I am struggling with fear of not doing well, and have to "answer" to my bosses back at home. I woke up this morning in cold sweat cause I just had a dream of not being able to complete my test as I didn't know how to do it. Then the instructor told me cruelly that the rest had done extremely well, and I will be the last in the class....Sigh..This is not the first time I had dreamt that. I should not blame the management from having too high expectations from me, I myself would like to do well too. However, each time I have a test, there's always something that I do not know either because I did not study enough or had misinterpreted the question. I am starting to worry about being the last in the class, it would be such an embarrassment. 8 months had been long and torturous, struggling with my own faith in the midst of all my nightmares and fears. 44 days left, how I wish it can just pass by in a flash, and I'll be back in familiar Singapore. Could I just put everything as God's will? If I were a bird, I would have fly home.

They are under the HoT SuN

Here I am, taking lunch in my cabin..not that I am anti-social, or throwing taxpayers' money for the meals provided..BUT the Ang Mohs are crazy over the clear sky and 27 degrees celcius hot sun...the whole lunch venue had been shifted to the garden, well it is quite a coolz idea without enough shelter from the HoT SuN..But I am going to be smart and stay coolz under the heat. Somebody please give them good advice on survival under the heat.....

We had our first brief on Duty Watch, quite excited and looking forward to the different roles that we are playing. They are MEOOW1, Stoker, and lads flashing up the freshwater pump, Diesel engine, Tyne GTRB, centrifuge, lubrication oil system and the steering system. Basically we will be working as a team to get the "ship", HMS Sultan, ready for sea. It is pretty realistic as these machineries are for real......and we will be mainly assessed on our ability of command and control, and fault finding as a MEOOW1. I personally find it tough and challenging especially on building up the teamwork cause my group differs in our priorities and of course, I am not exactly good in all practical stuff...need more practice. I will be running along on my own to sort things out before facing the challenge!!

45 days back to Singapore! Wait for me!!!

Yup this is London again...met up with a friend as I was feeling homesick..Top row from the left you will find "Phantex" Moonwalk to create awareness for breast cancer. I have also cropped out a small picture of ppl dressed in self-decorated bras (but the pictures are not clear...hee). Interestingly, as I was walking towards Princess Diana's Memorial Fountain, I saw people swimming in the lake! Watched Mary Poppins at Prince Edward Theatre, impressive quite worth our GBP49 stall front seats. On its right, you see vendors and artists opening their stalls for the morning..The Beatles picture was vandalised...taken in the hostel, don't think the backpackers like them very much. Famous Harrods "destroyed" in my photography skills. Picaddilly Market at the bottom left, bought 6 key chains there for GBP5. The pic at the bottom right, pretty right? Found along Piccadilly Road

Test is Over, More to Come.....But it is the Weekend!

Another week gone!! 50 days left. Had my structures test this morning, grr..misunderstood the instructor's instruction, did exactly what he didn't want! The highlight of this week's lessons is actually the dockyard visit. The Dock is big about 200metres long, a ship T23 (Royal Navy's Frigate) was docked. Quite a good exposure to see how docking was done with all the huge dock block, breast shores, transom, and stem shore, agouti structure etc. The Kiwis are going for their Field Gun Compeition at HMS Collingwood this weekend, http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/static/pages/content.php3?page=8858, should be very interesting to watch but I won't be going..just wanna be in my cabin, surfing the internet.

This season, lots of things happening around here, most probably catch a few events over the weeks, it is all part of Sea Britain 2005 http://www.trafalgar200.com/programme.html. Summer is beautiful here. That's why Singapore is nice, summer throughout the year. I am going central London again this weekend, meeting up with a friend and hope to catch Mary Poppins show www.marypoppinsthemusical.com! Yeah need to visit the Abbey Road Zebra Crossing.....the famous picture of The Beatles and the Zebra Crossing.....

My beautiful art pieces:
Top - product from using milling, lathing and drilling machines. It has no meaningful use intended.
Bottom - A crude attempt of spelling out my name using the gas cutting.
Nevertheless these are the machinery exposure we have, rather interesting although I doubt I will ever use it at my workplace....

Fire! Fire!

Okay, tell you the truth...I tried very hard to keep away from the internet...and I was successful for the past 2 hours, really concentrating on my work til the alarm rings ONCE Again..this is the 4th time it had happened since I was here in January! And to top up the wonderful experience, the rescue team announced,"We had reset our alarm panel, without noting which detector was activated..could any of you who suspects that you had set the alarm ringing.....tell us, so that we could start checking your room first?", complete SILENCE...he continued "Great, just got to wait longer...". Standing out there with the evening wind blowing..I thank God it is springtime and not winter....

Reflections

Sometimes when you're feeling important,

Sometimes when you're egos in bloom,

Sometimes when you take it for granted

You're the best qualified in the room;

Sometimes when you feel that you're going

Would leave an unfillable hole,

Just follow these simple instructions

And see how humble your soul.

Take a bucket and fill it with water,

Put your hand in it upto the wrist.

Pull it out... and the hole that remains

Is a measure of how you'll be missed.

You can splash all you wish when you enter

You may stir up the water galore,

But stop and you'll find that in no time

It looks quite the same as before.

The moral in this quaint example

Is to do just the best you can-

Be proud of yourself,

But remember,

There is NO indispensable man.

-extracted from HMS Sultan PIPELINE Magazine

Stratford-Upon-Avon: Okay, yes these pictures are still too squarish, must clarify that it is due to my limited skills in the software, nothing to do with my creativity which is great! haha. On the right hand column, from the top, it is Shakespeares's wife's residence followed by his birthplace. I was standing at the side of the pond waiting for the gate to open for the boat to go through...apparently the boat will "lock" itself in a confined area, and slowly wait for the water to rise up.This system is to maintain the pond level to the desirable level. We ate at this Barnaby's Fish Restaurant, cheap and good!

'Travel Blog'

Yeah, I must admit I am a rather lazy person, was actually planning to log down my blogs for the travellling, but always not discipline to do it. To make it up, I will include a few sentences of things that I particularly remembered of the trips at the bottom of my pictures.

This week the big group of 24 Canadians joined establishment. I have since talked to a few of them. They seem very friendly and fun to be with. Heard so many stories of them during our classes. I had two of my tests yesterday. As usual, I was careless...missed out a few things. Sigh...Nevertheless I want to choose to be optimistic and continue to have faith in what God's plan has for me. Another 15 months to go and I will be back in Singapore. Really miss Singapore alot.

Warwick - If you are able to see clearly, the picture with both of us in it, there is a garden behind us. It is a pretty sight with all the flowers blooming. The exhibitions are terrific especially the King's Maker which tells the story of a town preparing for battle. At the bottom right hand corner, the oldest hospital I had ever seen built since 18th century:P. Oh yes I like the banner that says,"Death of Glory", wonder how many military personnel can swear by that at this modern times.

Windsor Castle & Legoland- Windsor Castle is a pretty sight. To top it up, we were transferred to a HOTEL instead of a normal Bed&Breakfast cause the latter had one of the main pipes burst. Didn't go in to Legoland, but we have fun taking pictures along the road sides..the Lego builds up from alphabet A to Z!

Central London and me. I was so happy and excited to meet Kok Sung! Although I have been to London, nothing beats the company of a different person. Our stay at Piccadilily Backpackers Hotel is my most memorable; perfect location with great facilities. If you could look at the picture with my food. The store at the background is "Singapore Sam". You bet I love my noodles very much! (found at Victoria Coach Station). I also watched my first theatre show "Chitty Chitty Bang! Bang!", what a wonderful experience of the theatre setting. If only I am an artist..........

A Few Favourite Pictures

Hi! Back again! it had been one week since I had last updated the blog. Been rather busy last week with travelling and project submission for CDR (Critical Design Review). I was both excited and glad that Kok Sung came over last weekend. He has been such a wonderful company! We went to a few places over last long weekend. These are central London, Windsor, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Southampton city, Beaulieu, Winchester and Bognor Regis.Each has its own interesting places and history to tell. I have yet to add the links to these places, do visit my blog for the travel links. Just sent Kok Sung off this morning, rather sad as I settle down again into my routine life in training school.

Need to revise for my coming tests on this coming Thursday. Hope there are not too much bad news on my progress for the rest of the training!

Swans on a Diving mission!

Beaulieu Motor Musuem : Mr Bean's Car

Looking at his own reflection: "Boy! I AM a handsome dog!"

Bognor Regis - A game of Bowling Green