Seletar here i come~~

From Kranji reservoir a few months back, i went on to explore MacRitchie resvr few weeks ago, followed by the Upper and Lower Pierce Reservoirs 2 weeks ago. Today, I decided to make my way to visit the last 2 largest reservoirs found in Singapore Central Catchment area - Upper and Lower Seletar Reservoir.

The places i visited today:
1) Neo Tew Ave 3 (the other side of Kranji reservoir)
2) Kranji forests (where the major water pipe lines are)
3) Lim Chu Kang jetty
4) Lower Seletar reservoir/jetty
5) Upper Seletar reservoir


Started my day at Neo Tew ave 3 which is abt 20 min car ride deeper down from NTU. There was a gantry which stopped us from driving deeper, so we have to start walking.



Along the way there, we saw some huge water pipelines which carry water from the Kranji reservoir to the mainland.


Finally we reached the waters. Look at the clouds and sky! The clouds are so damm beautiful and the sky looks much 'cleaner' and 'healthier' compared with the skies we have in the urban cities. The kranji water side is so peaceful tat we cant find a single soul there.


We turned back and climbed up the giant pipelines which brought us deep into the forested grounds - not v easy to keep balanced though.


Very nice and peaceful scenery by my side as i walked along the giant piplines, accompanied by endless greeneries and bird chirpings. We also found a tree with at least 30 over nests built on it. My fren taught me how to differentiate betw nests that are meant for shelters and those meant for laying eggs and nuturing the offsprings.

And we ended our pipeline walk emerging out from a chicken farm, where the owner asked us what we wanted. V paisehly, we told her we wanna get out from the farm to our car, and she led us to the gate :D Our next destination was the Lim Chu Kang jetty which has a metal gate that only allows authorised fisherman to enter. My fren and I managed to sneak in successfully, but we found ourselves kena 'lock out' from outside - means we were stranded on the jetty and couldnt get back to mainland. Luckily, a fisherman came by and 'release' us from outside.


Lower Seletar Reservoir and the Seletar reservoir Jetty. Nothing magnificent, but simply a carefree and lazy place to chill out. So relaxing manz...


Final destination at Upper Seletar Reservoir. This rocket-look-a-like structure is the viewing tower. I think that it has a pretty modern look, considering the fact that it was built in the 1970s.


Views from the tower at different directions.


And i ended my day with a pair of torn sandles. Both pieces give way at the same time, with the side straps torn and soles coming off. Fortunately the design came with some strings which i use to tie them temporarily but firmly to my feet.

Nice places... i wanna visit them again.

National Library

In case you are wondering why I took pictures of these 2 carpark signboards, well, they are actually placed back to back (ie. mounted on the same pole). If you look carefully (sorry u have to squint ur eyes a little), the first one states the parking rate as "50cents per 1/2hr" in the evening, while the second one states 'free parking"!!! And these parking lots are merely separated by a small road divider.

I was v lucky to get a lot on the other side of the divider which states free parking. In fact, i knew this 'lobang' long ago but nv expect myself to be so heng yday. I was on my way to visit the newly opened National Library.

My first impression of the National Library wasnt good. Firstly, i dun really like reading books. Secondly, i find the place too crowded with ppl, esp kids, on the first 2 storeys. But as i made my way up, i began to appreciate the building more.



Well, i know there s nothing special abt the above pics, i jus took them out of fun from the highest storey. There were a few exhibits on the growth of Singapore too, which are very interesting. I was most fascinated by the photographs of old singapore, comparing the past and present of diff places like CityHall, Orchard etc. "Oh, this bare land was once where Suntec is sitting now?".

Overall, the new National Library is quite nice, esp the upper storeys. Can even see the NDP rehearsal from the large glass panels. Cool.. i may visit it more often in the near future.

学不会

你若是读不懂华文，那我非常抱歉。 或则你认为我的笔伐很烂，而切错别字非常地多，那我也很遗憾的想对你说，不好意识，我还是要用华文写完这一篇网上日记。大概是觉得用华文比较容易表达自己的内心。

总觉得我们始终‘ 学不会’ 。 说真的，也不知道是自己不肯学，还是真的学不会。 从前所犯过的错误，却一直不断地继续重返。哎哟。。。难道自己不会觉得厌倦吗？ 就算是自己不累，我们身旁的亲人朋友们也一定多少会对我们产生一些的反感及无奈。

从蹈覆辙。。。执迷不悟。。。那不是我们吗？ 明知故犯。。。咎由自取。。。 再来一个作贱自己。 唉。。。我自己就是个名副其实的'好例子’。 总是改不掉自己的坏习惯。

最可悲的是，当别人谴责我的时候， 我还生他们的气呢！真是要不得。。。再说下去令我不禁地感到惭愧。。。 应该好好自我检讨和反省一番。

Work , still abt work..

I am feeling quite perplexed now, over my work. I knew it! I shldnt have checked my work mails at home but i felt so tempted to. In the end, i saw some exchanges of emails between 2 parties in disagreement, and i am supposed to be the bridge between them to settle the issue. Argh, i am quite lost in how to deal with this 'special case' cos i cant simply follow the usual guidelines. I know where both parties are coming from, but i cant just sit on the fence.

The best is to consult my boss on the issue. Luckily he is back from China. Lets pray hard i can see him on monday morning. Sighz, tats the problem of being new to an organisation. I duno the processes well, and even if there isnt any existing process, i also lack the experience to come out with a good decision, less say how to deal with the diff parties.

And worst of all, I discover one super great weakeness i have, but unknown to me in the past, after i come to work at HP. I have super lousy listening skills - and i dun mean it in terms of attentiveness, but the ability to comprehen what the other party is saying. When i was talking to the ang mos, i blamed them on their strong american accent. When i conversed with Koreans and Japs, i complained abt their poor english. And when i communicate with the China ppl in MANDARIN, i found that i also have difficulties understanding them!!!! Arghh... am i really so weak in talking over the phones??? I really lost my confidence.

On the lighter note, i had a pretty interesting encounter during lunch time yday. When i first came to work abt 2 months back, i chose a seat next to this gentleman (someone i duno, and not from my dept). My new colleagues joined me shortly and the meal went on as usual. After that gentleman left, my colleagues began to ask me if that gentleman who has just left is my brother, cos we look v much alike. They thot i sat next to him on purpose, thinking he is my brother. I nv get to see that guy's face cos he left before my colleagues told me abt it.

Yday during lunch, they saw him again. I take a good look at this guy and i was caught in a little surprise. No... its not becos i think i look like him, but i find this gentleman very good looking and suave. Wahaha. . if only i really look like him manz. .

Can We Just Hug?

I really love reading blogs, esp those that were written right from the bottom of the heart. Definitely not those who blabbers a lot (something like mine), reporting mundane daily stuffs and posting self pics etc, HAHAHA.

I shall not state names, but i really really do enjoy reading some of your blog(s). Somehow, I feel that I can just relate to the writings, those sentences that were injected with real experiences and words that were tainted with true feelings.

I feel that blogs serve the best purpose when one is feeling down or melancholic. Esp when u feel v much like sharing your thoughts and yet u dun wanna find someone to speak to - blog is your best companion. Well, it does sound a v sad thing, that the society has now degenerated to this extent.

A NUSBSA snr was complaining that he doesn receive updates on NUSBS activities, cos the SMSes he sent out receive little or no reply from the existing members. When i told him that 'many' are online every evening on MSN, and he could have easily keep in touch with them via MSN, he responded by saying he 'doesn like' and he 'isnt into' MSN. Well, what can I say? Sometimes we have to keep up with times to get moving with life. And its jus a matter of where we draw the line between what are the things we 'need' and 'want'. But the position of this line can be so personal that it can nv come to a compromise.

I find the following quote pretty interesting, and somehow, i do feel that at times:

"Can we just hug? It doesn't have to mean anything."~Adapted from a line from 'Six Feet Under' (Stolen from Lemon cow's blog).

Battlezone @ Work

Learnt from the news that hooking onto other ppl's wireless network is an offence, known as 'Internet Hijack', even if the other party did not set on a password. I think i better stop doing that, but somehow, my IPAQ is set to auto connect to any available network by itself.

I like the first pic v much and it really appears v nice on my IPAQ as the wallpaper. The pic was taken by my nokia6230 at MacRitchie Reservoir. I may like my IPAQ, but i really love my 6230 much x 3 more. Its a magnificent piece of metal with all the wonderful and quality functions packed together. The next wallpaper is taken from the internet, which is often used as my wallpaper for my desktop and hp. My fave Buddha wallpaper.

This aftn, i described to my ex colleague on MSN tat my daily job is like fighting a war. In other words, entering my office in the morning is jus like entering a battlezone. Upon opening my email box, i will receive plenty of arrows shot over from the prev nite. Similarly, i will be shooting many arrows back to others. It will be endless shooting of emails over here and there, from Party A to Party B all the way to Party X, Y, Z...... During lunch time, the fights will cease, and resume at around 2pm.

The system works exactly like chain mails, except that you get to read how ppl defend themselves and throw the ball to the next party, instead of jus simple forwardings. Ehemz! I may be new to my current work, but definitely not new to siamming arrows. Sometimes i am really impressed by my own 'taichi' skills, haha, although i know its not really desirable.

Some of us may think : Argh, i dun like this and that, i dun like how this system works etc. But do we have the choice? If we always choose to do the things we like to do, and avoid the things we dun like to do, then our life wud be too 'ideal'. We might jus end up becoming very vulnerable to blows and challenges when things do not go according to our wishes and expectations.

Short short entry

Nowadays i have the habit of checking work emails from home... oh nooo........... I shldnt have brought work back home to do, but i have no choice. I am dealing with ppl from all over the world. My sleeping hrs = to their working hrs vice versa.

My mailbox can get filled up with 200++ mails per day, which is quite little compared to some snrs which can choked up to 600++ per day. I told myself not to check the mails at home, but v often i am too eager to check for replies or updates on certain urgent issues. As a result, i check them, and end up getting myself more busy and stress, with even more NEW issues. Arghh..

But i dun regret coming to HP. Life is a lot busier, but the lifestyle i get is more nourishing and nearer to what i want. Had a pretty long jog with a few colleagues at ECP jus now after work. The feeling of jogging by the sea is really great. Although we ran more than 5km, the distance seemed much shorter as compared with running on the tracks. But the sucky thingie is i got my breathing patterns all mixed up. Nose-in-mouth-out, mouth-in-mouth-out or nose-in-nose-out... Edward, care to give advice?

Wayfarers ....

I am now listening to the buddhist hymms by wayfarers. Whenever i feel gloomy and down, i wud listen to their songs, and somehow i wud feel even more gloomy, but the peace will come along.

I first heard the hymm "The Blessed Refuge" on the CNS2002 website. The chairperson of the camp is my old time fren, James. I know James cos we always took the same bus to sch early in the morning during our sec sch days, but we seldom spoke. We went to the same JC and ended up joining the same ECA. We din keep in contact during army, but met each other only when i came to NTUBS activities. Its such a coincidence that both of us have landed in the same ECA again, except for the fact tat he was in NTUBS while me in NUSBS.

O Suffering World is also one of my fave piece from the wayfarers. Yeah, the world is really full of sufferings. I remembered i once cried over my family matters during my jc days, and i was glad to have my gf then by my side. Now, i am feeling the similar exasperation + job stress, and i have no more gf to turn to to 'cry' my heart out. But tats not the 'function' of a gf, and i shldn possess someone jus becos i need her. When love becomes a 'need' in our life, we are just courting trouble.

Back to my job, its really tough and stressful. But i have been constantly told by my colleagues that the experiences gained will be rewarding. I dun hate my job, i dun have the sian feeling over it, i jus hope i could have been more knowledgeable, experienced, wise and 'zai' to perform my job well. Indeed, academic results have nothing much to do with project/issues management and ppl handling skills. I may have gotten a decent honours class, but i stand no where when it comes to surviving well in the society.

Blue blue bloo..

NOooo... those pics above were not taken today but last yr. But the photo taking session today brought me back to my PC folders and i began to browse thru the graduation photos i took last yr. I found these 2 pics particularly interesting and decided to upload them onto my blog this evening. I have yet received the pics we took today though.

The session today was pretty tiring, although the no. of pics we took were much less than last yr. I remembered the turnouts last yr was almost the same, but the session seemed to go on more smoothly, with every fresh grad having a 'Personal Assistant' to help carry their barang barangs, haha. This yr, many snrs and undergrads turned up, but the unfortunate fact is that many of the fresh grads themselves did not turn up. Its kinda disappointing cos the rest of us came all the way to sch just for them ... awwww....

Nvtheless, it was quite a fun day catching up with old frens from nusbs. It was rather puzzling to see that the ppl were more engrossed in chattings and catching ups, rather then taking pictures, haha. Many pics of diff combinations were taken, and I feel tat every picture has its own meaning, and adds on to our memories.

Next yr, when both my smallbros graduates i will bring along my gown along to take pic with them. (The 2 of u better make sure a session is arranged).



Parked my partner next to another partner. The other partner is milestone blue in colour, the original colour i wanted to buy initially. But i later changed my mind to black, and subsequently to red, and finally to blue. Milestone blue is cool, but i still prefer my blue manz.

Only a Buddhist Externally

I feel that i am only a buddhist 'externally'. In other words, there isnt much practising in progress. By attending some Dharma talks, reading v limited Dharma books, going for some regular meditation sittings, mixing around with buddhist friends etc, i am ONLY trying to make myself more 'buddhist'. But the heart remains the same.

I attended the NUSBSA comm meeting just now. It reminded me of my NUSBS comm days when we had 'endless' meeting sessions, which can drag from early morning to late evenings. Somehow, i kinda miss those feelings, where we could easily divert our topics from the agenda, only to realise we have digress too far. But i glad the meeting just now was pretty efficient and concise. We even have time to attend Ven Kai Zhao's Dharma talk this evening, and met up with my 'familiar' faces again ie. Sumantri, David, Teddy, Kin Song and many many more...

Learnt from Yuhan that Keepang has gone to Malaysia for a few weeks of short term ordination course. Sadhu to both brother and sister! Somehow, i feel that the life of a monk is not simply just meditating in the Dharma hall, reading sutras or discussing the Dharma ONLY. It tends to become pretty much like ascetism. But I have read and seen from some slide shows on how short term ordination course is conducted over at Ven Kaizhao's sch. I am really impressed.

But whats the use of talking so much? The NUSBSA comm was asking me for opinion what fresh grads like me are looking for and wanted most. My answer is definitely not 'Buddhism'. Most of us now shld be most concerned with our CAREER and making enough MONEY to feed our family and ourselves. Only a few lucky ones have strong financial support from their parents and elder siblings. Somehow, organising and attending buddhist activites do not become our priority in life - and thats very sad. Similarly, a few lucky ones (or diligent ones) are able to strike the balance, but its really v hard in Singapore.

Suddenly dun feel like writing cos my MSN keep flashing - trying to ignore them. Tmr will be meeting my jnrs to take grad photos. I hesitated for a while whether i shld bring my gown along. Afterall, i have already bought the gown so i shldnt waste it, and this batch of jnrs are my direct jnrs, so the feeling isnt too 'far' away. But my final decision is NOT to wear gown tmr, cos it will be very mafan, hot and stuffy.

I love Christians

Sound a bit contradicting and sensitive? Well, i realised my closest friends (as in frens outside BS) are mostly christians.

The v first closest friend i got in NUS is Adrian, who was of the same age and same course as my own real brother. In fact, my frens then know him more as my 'brother' than my own brother. He is a v caring and patient person, who has led (and still leading) many christian cell grps. He tried to preach to me a few times, but failed.

One of my closer gal friends, Jane, is also a Christian. I dun wanna write too much here cos i know she is reading my blog, hiak hiak hiakz. She doesn preach to me.

At present, 2 of my closest colleagues, BB and Tenry, are very staunch christians too. The former has been a leader himself in his church, teaching sunday classes, while the latter is super siao on in cell grps, mass prayers and stuffs like that. Both of them are my lunch and jogging kakis. While they are very active in their religious circles, they dun preach to me.

Finally, the last guy i wish to mention is Barry, a NUS course mate cum regular supper buddy. The pic was taken 1 hr ago at his house carpark, while he was excitedly playing MSN with my IPAQ. He couldnt believe that surfing the net and MSN is possible at his void deck/car park, wahahaha. Oh ya, he is a Christian too.

My present work place is dominated by Christians (abt 7 0%). But majority are really nice ppl. I think by attending their weekly sunday church service really help them in working well on their 'Morality' aspect.

Cruel

Life can be so cruel.

Some, if not most, must have heard of this very famous (or rather infamous) blogger X i a x u e. She has thousands of ppl reading her blog entries everyday, which comprised many photographs and interesting write ups. She also won some blogging award or whatever and appeared on the press a few times. However, I do find her very arrogant and her writings were very offensive at times. While she has many fans, there are also quite a handful of ppl who openly hates her.

I visited her blog this evening to find out tat her blog has been hacked. To make things worse, her email has been hacked too, with all her emails and blog entries gone. While i am never a fan of her, i do feel the pain for her. All her painstaking efforts done on her blog for the past 3 yrs were gone. Her personal/business emails were also gone. I remembered i nearly hit the roof when i have to reformat my PC. All my nus relevant docs and emails were gone. I cant imagine how she must have felt.

But in buddhism, we believe in karma. So perhaps tats the price to pay for offending ppl. There is this old folk's saying " zhuo ren aga aga jiu ho". Many old folk's sayings are really worth considering and be taken seriously.

Well, i am getting more appreciative of my IPAQ. Its something in between a hp and a notebook. Can be pretty useful to bring outdoors (with wLAN) to surf net, check mails etc.

New Entry to my family of gadget

As a notebook cum PDA engineer, i am expected to be very proficient in my company's product. As such, I decided to draw out an IPAQ out to study and play around with it.

Quite cool, I can surf web, email, MSN and even blog using this IPAQ. With the 'additional' wireless lan available at my home, this palmtop really comes in handy. I could surf the web at the same time watching tv in the living room. I can also lie down on my bed reading blogs while msning at the same time.

Although its a multi-functional haldheld device, the camera prowess is quite a disappointment. I think i am a bit 'slow' into getting in touch with the latest technology, and tats why i am still pretty blur and foreign to the PDA.

wLAN available in my room

My fren brought his laptop to my home last nite to learn some stuffs. To our surprise, his MSN popped out (indicating online) even though we din connect his laptop to my home LAN cable. We later found out that he has been 'accidentally' connected to some wireless LAN around my neighbourhood.

This evening, I decided to bring home my in-built wireless notebook to try out if it works too. Hey presto, it works! And to my surprise, there were abt 6-7 wireless LAN networks that are available in my room.

Well stealing is an offence. But i am doing it out of fun, rather than trying to take advantage of others, keke. Anyway, i have my own lan cables available at home, see no point in stealing ppl's networks. But really cool manz.

Pierce Resevoirs

After the interesting trekking i had yday, i decided to make my way back to visit the pair of Pierce Reservoirs today. While the Lower Pierce park is very accessible to the public, the Upper Pierce park is located right in the middle of the Central Catchment Area. I drove along the narrow and curvy Upper Thomson Road, piercing through the jungle, before finally reaching my destination after 10min from the main road.

While the Lower Pierce Park is beautiful, the Upper Pierce Park is splendid and magnificent. And there is this large patch of grass slope (see pic) that tempts ppl to lie down, relax while enjoying the scenery.

As a Singaporean, I feel quite ashamed to be oblivious of these wonderful places that are located right on my homeland. Fortunately i managed to 'discover' them now. They are really v good hideouts.

Saw a few anglers (right spelling?) by the bank fishing. Witnessed a scene whereby an indian retreive a big and fat catch that has unfortunately been hooked onto his fishing rod. The poor fish was struggling and jumping around, but despite its effort, it couldnt escape from its wretched life. I wonder what will the karma of these anglers be. I was reminded by a story: During Buddha's time, he sometimes feel headaches during meditation, even at his old age. This was a result of his old karma many lives before. During that life, he was a kid 'happily' enjoying hitting the heads of some fishes with a stone. And this karma was ripened even after he gained enlightenment (pls correct me if i am wrong).

On the other hand, i am very glad to see many young parents bringing their kids to the reservoir parks to enjoy the lazy sunday weekend. Engaging children in healthy outdoor activities is indeed much better than bringing them to town for shoppings, movies, or even watching tv or playing computer games at home. I could see many young children happily running around the grass patches, some fascinated by the turtles in the waters, some happily kite flying etc. Good choice u parents have made!

Superb Day

It was a superb and fufilling day for me. I spent my morning and early aftn half on trekking, and my evening on a wedding dinner.

Our trekking started off in the heavy rain. The 12 of us were wearing our poncho as we marched along the main road towards the 'entrance' of the catchment area, much to the puzzlement and amusement of the on-lookers and passer-bys.

I learnt from the organiser of this trekking that the Nature Society of Singapore wishes to keep all places of nature protected. As they do not want the public to visit and disturb these places, they have requested that all available maps, GPS plotted or not, to be taken down from the web. Hence, i wun be putting up any maps tat indicate the path/route we took today, although i am very tempted to do so.

Anyway, its quite coincidental that majority of the trekkers today are somehow related to NUS. There was this pair of twin sisters who work in NUS (one from HR, the other is a research assistant). There is also a NUS lecturer from HK. And the organiser of this trek was from NUS too... and of cos so am i. Generally, the trekking today was fairly easy but interesting. Initially, the rain did dampen our mood a little, but soon, we found it very interesting and fun to trek in our poncho in the rain. After the rain stopped, we took off our poncho, and found the jungle atmospheric conditions very cool and nice. It was just like an outdoor air-conditioned env. There were also many interesting sights of wild plants, insects and fishes.

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This evening, i attended the wedding dinner of my new colleague from HP. It took us a few days before we realised tat we used to know each other 9 yrs ago in our jc. She was a pretty 'hot' and popular gal then with several guys chasing her at the same. My sec sch friend finally won her heart, but she got transferred out to another jc after the first 3mths though.

The bridegroom today is also my friend, but not the same sec sch fren i mentioned earlier. He happened to be my bunk mate in the army, and i din even know they were together for the past 6-7 yrs. Its such a small world....... Met up with many familiar faces at the wedding dinner too. Ppl from my work place + ppl from my jc + army. It was as if a gathering for us at tonite's wedding dinner.

Pierce-ing through the Nature Reserves

I will be waking up early in the morning tmr around 6 plus, to prepare for my nature expedition. My colleague and I will be 'Pierce-ing' through the Central Catchment Nature Reserves of Singapore, along the Upper and Lower Pierce reservoirs.

By taking a look at the Singapore Map, one could only find 2 visible greenery patch on the entire island. One would be the Live Firing area at Tuas, while the 2nd one would be the Central Catchment Nature Reserves of Singapore, separating Thomson/AMK area from the Bk Panjang/Batok area --- Separating the Eastern/Central side of Singapore from the Western/Central side of Singapore. Thats why ppl who wish to travel from AMK to Bk Batok has to make a BIG detour from either the northern or southern part of singapore, when the direction physical distance between them is many times shorter.

When I was younger, I used to take a fancy on the Pierce reservoirs when looking at the map. But i have never been there in my life and it didn occur to me tat i will be visiting them one day. It sounds kinda silly, but tmr morning, i will park my car at Thomson, and take a cab down to Diary Farm road, and start my trekking from there all the way to Thomson road, so that i can collect my car and drive home directly after the trekking.

Pray hard tmr doesn rain, and no mishap happens.

I sux in friendships

I am feeling pretty light this evening, quite contrary to last evening. Tats becos the 'Tripitaka' of my workplace didnt chant much today and thus the Sun WuKong need not suffer from severe headaches.

Presently, majority of the Singaporeans are focussing on the NKF issue. I didnt know if i did the right thing, but i did encourage my colleagues to cancel their monthly contribution to NKF, and change it to other charity organisation. The NKF issue remined me of the law of karma. Whatever ball you threw out will eventually come and hit you back.

Read a fren's blog which is pretty melanocholic. Somehow, I could emphatise my friend in certain aspects, esp on the 'loss' of friendship. I used to be a proud guy. I thought i have found myself a very close friend whom we can understand each other left right upside down in almost all aspects. I even secretly laughed at others who have yet found themselves a 'good and close' friend whom they can call their own. Sometime later, i get aquainted with another friend and I thought i was so fortunate to have found a 2nd friend that i can regard as my 'soul mate'.

While i was feeling on top of the world, i lost both of them overnight, for whatever reasons, i dun really know till today. The feeling was sucky and terrible. You felt you were being robbed, being ripped and plundered. You were basically left with nothing by your soul.

I know it may sound silly, but somehow, the prev encounters have made me feel more skeptical in life, less trusting to ppl, and given me an 'in-built' fear of getting too close to ppl. It also reminded me of impermanance. The pains may be gone, but the scars will remain.

But life moves on. Its kinda tired to start all over again. Working in the new env has given me plenty of chances to befriend new ppl (yeah i do enjoy), but i really dun wish to get too close to anyone, be it guys or gals. I wish to be alone, independent and carefree.

Can u pls shut up?

I nv regard myself as a quiet person. I can be quite talkative at times, but still, i really cant stand noisy ppl. Its such an irony tat i used to complain abt having a personal office, lonely and boring. Now, i am working in an open concept office, with colleagues around me. But i simply cant stand the incessant complaints from this guy.

Firstly, he likes to announce to the entire world for the slightest achievement he made. Secondly, he like to repeatedly 'clarify' to the whole world tat he is MERELY helping me in my work cos i am new here, and he isnt supposed to do it. Thirdly, he kept setting deadlines for me to fufil, when he is NOT even my boss. I got this impression tat he is jus in a hurry to push and hand over everything to me. Damm...

Ppl who have worked with me wud know tat i NEVER like to push away responsibilities or work to others. In my philosophy, i ONLY like to help and KPO others' work, definitely not the other way round. But sometimes even if u wanna go into the war, u must get your ammunition ready with u. Right now, i dun even have sufficient ammunition with me and i am expected (by this guy) to enter the war. Tough luck, my manager is away for a 3-week overseas assignment.

Arguging, quarrelling and scolding ppl is my JOB back in CDGE, as i did those almost everyday. Really din wanna use my 'skill' at my new work place, but no choice, i somehow did it today as i need to defend and protect myself from getting deeper into the pit.

Really wish to find someone to thrash my feelings out this evening. Picked up the mic to sing at home, but duno why singing failed to work for me tonite. Fortunately a snr colleague came online on MSN and i spare no time into removing the sorrows off my chest to him. Thanks goodness.... he, jus like the other colleagues of mine, are able to understand my plight perfectly. I need not say more, they know the situation much better than me cos they have been working with him longer.

Brought my ear piece, metta chant, heart sutra and wayfarers song to work and listen, jus to avoid hearing his voice. Can u plsss shut up?

Abstain from bad-mouthing ppl

"Abstain from bad-mouthing ppl" is my msn nick for today, which sparked the interest of quite a number of frens on my msn list. The nick was put up to remind myself not to bad-mouth behind ppl, esp in my present working environment where many ppl are sitting around my side in the office.

MSN chat:

Weng says: so what's ur bad mouthing count for today? *GRIN*

Om says: 2

Om says: but on same person

Weng says: oh ok, so the count is still one, was going to say that ur reminder not really working


Well, i dun really know if my reminder works, apparently it didnt. But perhaps if i didnt put up this reminder, the count wud be 5 or 8 or even 10 over? Hahaa... Whatever the case, I am trying my best to curb myself from speaking ill of someone. Not tat i dun bad-mouth ppl in the past, in fact i did a lot, and tats precisely why i feel i shld stop it now.

Help! Really hope to learn from some frens who are very cool in their body and speech, even though they are not Buddhists.

THe reaL WorLD

I didnt feel like blogging tonite until i read a fren's fren's blog... somehow giving me the little motivation to write.

My day started off well in the morning, and it became even better later in the aftn. Unfortunately, my evening turned out to be a horrid after my Dept Manager ( an authoratative lady) summoned me to her desk regarding some issues i was in charged off. Apparently, my 'newbie' title has been strucked off by her as she no longer regards me as a every-thing-also-duno new guy. She demanded a very last minute report from me, and i was momentarily frantic....

And it didnt help when my team mate at work tried to push more issues for me to handle. I tried to curb my own emotion, esp under the strong influences of several colleagues who didnt have v good impression of him and sometimes spoke ill of him. I guess keeping quiet (and inevitably showing the black face) is so far my natural reaction towards him. I hope there will nv be a day tat i will throw my temper at him - peace

This evening while i was driving, I received a thank you SMS from one of the meditation workshop participants, who was v touched by the effort and hardwork NUSBSA has put up. I was reminded of last evening, when almost every of the participants put his/her palms together and thank us for organising the workshop, while they took their exit from the meditation hall.

But the contrast is felt. The buddhist community is sometimes just too 'nice', 'ideal' and 'perfect' to be true. The ugly fact is tat the outside world (working society) is the exact opposite. But tats the real world, isnt it?

Meditation Workshop has Ended

The Meditation Workshop has finally ended. A very short and chop event, easy to organise, easy to execute, but very meaningful and beneficial to the participants. I feel so joyful that these ppl have come forward and made the effort to apply for the workshop to learn Meditation - a very important and essential practice taught by the Buddha some 2500 yrs ago.



The falling out rate of the workshop on the second day is less than 10% - fallen out by mostly youngsters. Nevertheless, the rest remained very patient, serious and ethusiastic in learning meditation from the venerables. Sadhu!



Do you believe the gal i circled out is Foo Yeeling? Yes, she is now having a crop of long black hair - an image that you nv see her in during her NUS days. Stylo, wild and refreshing.

I feel pretty satisfied with my own effort to organise the Meditation Workshop from scratch. Its the first time i am organising an event for the public, and was quite overwhelmed by the positive responses. Perhaps its a 'Meditation' event that I am organising, thats why i feel even more happy with it. But most sincerely i wish to thanks the NUSBSA snrs who are around for guidiance and helping me out in the 2-day event. They are indeed very efficient and fast workers, with superb organising skills and experiences. Get to learn quite a bit from them.

And guess what i am thinking now? Arghh back to work tmr morning........grrr

CEP + Meditation Workshop

CEP

Seen in the pic is Joniiii Wilsanto (dressed in yellow) making his speech. Do u manage to spot slacker puay hong, happening reilly and attentive pearlyn as well? If so, it proves my nokia6230 is capable of taking pretty decent pics.

Last evening was the only slot i could afford to make my appearance at CEP. Perhaps some existing (older) members may feel "walaos, this old guy grad so liao still come back for wat"... haha. Whatever the case, I am jus back to show my support, gratitude and appreciation for the painstaking effort put in by my jnrs to organise this major NUSBS event. Also perhaps, the return and presence of a snr may also help to reinforce the idea on our freshmen tat NUSBS is indeed a closely knitted and worth-joining family.


NUSBSA Meditation Workshop


Meditation cushions and towels neatly placed on the carpet pieces @ Cheng Beng Buddhist Society.


Students listening to Ven Ji Chi attentively during the workshop.


Colourful & fanciful water bottles infront of pieces of art work by children from the sunday class.

The meditation workshop has not yet ended. There wasnt any major hiccups today, hopefully tmr will be just as smooth. Looking at the large number of turnouts today, i recalled the entire process i ve been thru when organising this workshop.

1) discussing the concept of the workshop
2) hunting for a suitable place to conduct the workshop
3) publicity (design of website, posters, application forms and email)
4) registration of participants (formulating namelist + collecting registration fees)
5) setting up logistic for the workshop
6) getting helpers
7) execution of the workshop

Upon reflection, it wasnt exactly that tough to organise the workshop. In fact, its a v simple mini project, and the only problem lies in finding an available location. One more busy day tmr!

Birthday Suffering

Received a total of 15 bday wishing SMSes today, slightly less compared to the previous yr of 23 (i think). Still, i am thankful to all my frens who have spent the effort to punch in their keypads sending me well wishes - considering i am not someone who wud really do likewise for my frens (at least not v often).

Surprise SMSes from some frens like: Justin, Jingxian, Desmond, my own brother.
Surprise-oh-not-really-so SMSes from: Alice, ex-manager, ex-colleague
Suprise NO SMS from Zeathereal, OWY (but he's asking me out for dinner).

Also got a surprise call from Sohan... tat bombastic guy.

Got a double surprise when a friend called my hp at around 830pm, asking me to go down my house to meet her, and was greeted by a birthday cake she bought. Frankly speaking i wasnt feeling happy. I immediately recognise it as another challenge and hurdle for me to clear. I dun want ppl to spent or waste too much time on me.

I was chatting with kinsong this aftn on msn that my bday reminds me of even more suffering in life. I recalled how my mum painstakingly arranged cake cutting sessions for me every yr when i was a kid. She even bought 2 cakes for 2 the different classes i attended during my 4-yr-old bday (one at PAP and one at a private sch). That shows how much my mum loves me, and how much she has tried to make her precious son happy. I may be happy then (i really duno) but upon recalling back now, i feel sad over what she has done. Dun ask me why, i jus feel tat growing up itself is intense suffering. The answer shld be hovering around 'attachment'.

Our parents are gradually aging each yr. They r no longer the middle-aged and healthy adults we used to perceive them to be. They r entering their greying years. I really hope i can take v good care of them.

__||_||_||__

I cant imagine I am already 26. I remembered vividly that the youngest age I could remember of myself was at 4. I was then a very chirpy kid, who always like to pull out the weighing machine from beneath the wardrobe and weigh myself. The weight coincidentally read 44LBs. I remembered my childhood full of giggles and laughters. These were also shown in my childhood photos.

But i din know why i grew up as a melancholic person. Perhaps tats too strong a word to use, but my face and definitely do not emit happiness. Or put it simply, ppl around me wud not feel liveliness or happiness, even though i do smile a lot.

I used to scan many of my bday pics and put them up on my website. I have photos of myself with my birthday cakes at 1 yr old, 2 yr old, 3 yr old, 4 yr old, 5 yr old and 6 yr old. I actually dun remember i celebrated my bday every yr with a birthday cake when i was young, until i saw the pictures. The most grand birthday celebration was my 6th bday. It was held at my dad's newly owned warehouse, and many guests (abt 80) were invited. They include my neighbours, relatives, tuition teacher (and her students), parents' friends and of cos most imptly, my dad's business partners (perhaps tat was his main purpose?). And u can imagine the amt of bday presents i got for that yr... and those presents were really not simple ones, but v big and expensive items.

There is this old folk saying that if one has too grand a birthday celebration when young, he wud be left with nothing to eat when he grows up. Haha, seems quite true... after my 6th bday, i dun recall anymore bday cake other than my 21st bday. But bday presents continued to pour in though...

Also, my dad used to bring me to Mandarin Hotel Chatterbox restaurant to eat the 'special' chicken rice every birthday when i was a young teenager. Remembered the price was raised from $14++ to $18++ to $21++ which was my last update in 1995. Haha... i guess the price shld be $28++ now?

Anyway, i may be talking a lot abt birthday in this entry but birthday doesn mean a lot to me, really. Tats why i often forget abt my fren's bday also, and i wud not bother to celebrate or buy them presents. Still, i m grateful for the early well wishes (SMS) by Ruslee, Kin song and Justin (NTUBS ex VP).

Correlation

Last week, a young guy called me on my hp, addressing me by my chinese name. He has called to register for the meditation workshop for 3 pax. I politely told him that he has to be placed on the waiting list, and requested for his contact and name. He introduced himself by the name of 'Jia Qi', and we have a brief chat on the workshop before hanging up the call.

2 nites ago, I was re-arranging my name list for the meditation workshop when i found out i could afford to squeeze in a few more ppl from the waiting list. The name 'Jia Qi' suddenly struck me, and I decided to call him. It was only during this 2nd phone call then i realise he is a fren I know from NTUBS! Diaoz...... tats becos we always address each other by our english names, tats why didnt realise we actually know each other, hahaha.

Had a very full dinner with sumantri at Suntec International Buffet. Its a place that we always talked abt whenever we walked past it. Both of us knew the food there smell nice only but actually doesn taste good (cos we hav ever eaten before), but still, we jus feel like spending slightly more on food as a form of 'celebration'. He looked very glum today, and i thot i looked worse. Weekday evenings.. simply no mood.

I had a very strong unpleasant feeling on last thurs evening tat something bad is going to happen. I feared tat it may be work related but everything at work turned out fine. It was only when i went home i realised my prediction didnt fail me. Something terrible happened at home.. .argg.. i really have enough of this. Why dun u let me have the power to predict good things instead... so far, there hasnt been any exception. My ESP has so far been 100% accurate.

I saw '2 of them', one yday and one just now. One of them, orangy-brown faced, dashed off the corner of the wall before i could get a good glipse, while the other blackish one simply 'fly' off and disappear within fraction of seconds after i notice it. Hopefully its jus pyschological effect, but apparently not.Stress and morale hold strong correlation.

Heart of the Concrete Jungle

Pictures here!



With the help of some kind souls who have estimatedly drawn out the paths to Syonan Jinja on a map and posted it online, I managed to complete my mission yday. For my own remembrance's sake, I decided to produce one myself, marking out the painstaking route i took yday.

As seen on the map, MacRitchie Reservoir is surrounded by v thick untouched rainforest, which serve as the water catchment area for the reservoir. The northern banks of the reservoir is almost entirely inaccessible, densely covered by trees and undergrowths. On the other hand, the southern banks comprise of boardwalks and walk-ways where many ppl can easily access to. As the bridge linking from the southern bank to the northern bank (where the shrine once stood) was blown off, we have to bash through the heart of the rainforest from the north of the reservoir.

From MacRitchie Fitness Park, we started off easily using the existing trail (frequent by joggers and strollers). It took us less than an hr before we hit the point where we decided to bash deep into the forested ground (see below).




Following a very faint trail, we digged southward into the rainforest. The path became narrower, occasionally blocked off by some fallen trees. However, the path was still manageable, considering all 3 of us hav been through the SAF trainings. Bashing isnt anything new thing to us. Within an hr, we hit the waters, followed the bank earnestly and finally hit the shrine! On arrival to the shrine, I felt an immediate chill gushing down my spine. It may be just pyschological effects, but i ever read tat the shrine ruins was infested by countless of spirits from WWII - souls of POWs who were tortured and died during construction of the shrine or souls of jap soldiers who still loyally guard their holy shrine till today.

After exploring the shrine for less than an hr, we proceeded on to search for the spot where the bridge once stood. We figured out a cemented platform by the water edge to be the starting pt of the bridge. We then decided to leave the place and return to the civilian world. We tried to take a short cut to the gold link, but in vain. We were only separated from the opposite bank by less than 10metres, while most other places were covered by swamps. We have no choice, but to bash back into the forests to hit the Sime Track.

There was no obvious or easily visible path for us to take this time. We did see some plastic bags tied onto the trees as markings done by previous explorers, but they kinda 'disappeared' halfway, and we have to 'open up' our own new path. Fortunately with the help of a map and compass, we tried our best to hit the desired direction. We crossed a few streams, stepped on muddy paths and even back-tracked a few times. Just as we were delighted to find our path back, our happiness was shortlived as we soon found ourselves hitting a dead end, comprising of a huge and tall pile of branches, leaves and fallen trunks ahead of us. Our path has been blocked! Damm...

My fren (who was a scout by vocation in the army) figured out that the dead falls must be a recent one, judging from the colour of the leaves which were still green and fresh. The falling of the huge tree must have triggered a 'chain collision', causing the surrounding trees to fall as well. I tried my luck by making a detour by the left of the fall, but got myself stuck in branches, scratched by sharp torns and twigs. My fren tried to open a path on the right, and phew, we succeeded!!! But v soon, we hit another pile of fallen trunks :( and we repeated the process.

After a struggle of abt 2hrs, we finally made our way out of the jungle trail. I ve read from online tat ppl took as long as 4-5hrs, so we were considered v lucky. All 3 of us were reminded of our army no.4 (the green army uniform), which was made of very tough yet comfortable material. If only we were in our no.4 and army boots, the bashing wud be many times easier. We would also be more daring and bold to bash through the woods, without fear of getting our limbs scratched (just like what i am having now).

Last evening, I SMSed my colleague to thank him for fufilling my wish. I hav always wanted to visit the shrine ruin, ever since i learnt abt it from the documentary shown on tv 10 yrs ago. I dun wish to sound like an adventurer (its jus a singapore rainforest anyway!), but its definitely an experience for me - bashing in t-shirt, bermudas and running shoes. Some have suggested tat i visit more challenging jungles overseas, but i m not exactly interested. I guess the appeal comes from the fact a lost shrine, untouched for 60 years, buried deep in the tropical rainforest, actually exists in the heart of the concrete jungle called Singapore.

Disclaimer: The maps i used above were modified from an original source which i retreived from online. If i have infringed your copyrights, pls notify me so that i will remove them.

Syonan Jinja

- Buried in the dense jungle of the MacRitchie Catchment Area are the ruins of Syonan Jinja, a Japanese Shinto Shrine dating back to World War II. Built to commemorate Japanese soldiers who died fighting in the invasion of Singapore, Syonan Jinja was the location of many Japanese religious and cultural ceremonies.

A Shinto ceremony took place here every New Year's Day for the few years that the shrine existed. This was marked by the sounding of the temple bell, the arrival of devotees and the presence of a Shinto priest presiding over rituals.

Syonan Jinja was destroyed when the Japanese Occupation ended in 1945. Crumbling granite steps that once led to the shrine are visible, as well as the stone fountain. Today, remnants of the shrine are covered by jungle vegetation. As it is no longer accessible, Syonan Jinja is best seen through old photographs and drawings by the Japanese military as well as the POWs who helped build the shrine -

The above write-up is part of an article on Syonan Jinja which i found online. From what I know, the place was well-hidden and unknown for decades until a team went over to explore for the TCS discovery show 'Hey Singapore' in the late mid 90s. By right, the shrine was easily accessible via a bridge (blown up by the jap themselves) crossing over from the southern banks of MacRitchie reservoir. As the bridge is no longer around, we have to access it from nothern part of the reservoir, bashing through a v thick and dense forest.

I hv read some online postings by ppl on how tough the journey to the shrine was. Some gave up halfway. My team decided to try our luck today, as we started off from the MacRitchie Nature Trail (30min) followed by the Terentang Trail (20min), before we bashed into the densely vegetated grounds.


Mid way through our bashing, we found a concrete structure, believed to be a water tank left behind by the Jap. The tank looks v deep, and i darent go explore further.


After abt an hr of bashing (there was a not-so-obvious path actually), we finally found the entrance to the shrine! And yeah, i got pretty conceited tat we found it without much effort.


A long flight of steps leading the highest part of the hill, where the temple once stood.


Never ending steps???


A granite water trough, believed to be either part of a drinking fountain, or a holy water storage for worshippers to clean their hands.


From the entrance of the shrine, I looked over the waters to the golf course, where a bridge once stood. If only the bridge still exist, we wudn need all the bashings from the other dirn :(


Refusing to back track to the Terentang Trail, we decided to return back by finding a short-cut. But shucks, we were jus abt 5m away from the opposite bank (where the golf course and main roads were), but we could not cross over the waters for fear of uncertainty.


No choice, we have to bash thru the forested grounds again by heading northwards. Here's when the challenge came, we got lost in the super dense vegetation. There was no clear path to take, and I decided to bash (forgetting i wasnt in my SAF uniform). Suffered multiple cuts by twigs and thorns...


One of my colleagues was too tired to move on, with all the fallen trunks blocking our paths. Finally found our way out after a long 2hrs ++

We continued our journey to Bk Timah reserves and did some hiking there. And we finally returned back to the civilian world by climbing over the expressways near Beauty World. What a long walk we had today (estimated 15km & 5.5hrs).

The journey to the Shrine was quite easy (less than 1 hr of bashing), but the return route was terrible, with many fallen trunks and thick undergrowths + no clear & distinct path to take (took us more than 2 hrs). I would like to show my deepest respect for all the POWs who had been tortured and forced to build the shrine. Reading from the diary of some WWII soldiers, it was definitely an ordeal. Expecting more solid photos from my colleagues.

I am glad i have finally stepped onto the most holy ground of the japs in sg, a place which fascinated me a lot since it was shown in Hey! Singapore 10 yrs ago. But i dun think i will ever try going in again, its too tedious.