The Story of the mother and her car...

John who is 20 years of age needs a vehicle to head downtown for shopping purpose. John who is still a student obviously do not own a vehicle so he ask his mum to lend him the family Toyota Corolla. Mum decided to lend him the car but instructed him to have the vehicle back by 10pm. John assured his mum he will be back before 10. So John now has the vehicle and drove out of the apartment at 6pm.

At 9pm, Mum was a bit agitated why John had not come home yet. She kept saying to herself, "John might be late for home today".

At 9.20pm, Mum was getting impatience why John and the family Toyota Corolla have not come home yet. She is now seen pacing back and forth at the Balcony.

At 9.45pm, Mum is clearly angry and she was very sure John is breaking the promise of 10pm home coming. She is already cursing and swearing.

Finally at 9.55pm, Mum had already prepared a mental script of lecturing to John for coming home late. She is now a volcano ready to explode.

9.59pm she heard a screeching sound at the car park and the next moment John appeared with shopping bags. John exclaimed, "Mum I am back home on time as promise!". Do you know what is mum response even though John came home on time?

1) Why are you speeding!!!
2) You nearly cause an accident!!!
3) I waited a long time!!!
4) Can't you be back earlier??!!!

You see, from the time John drove out till he came home...what goes on in Mum's mind was negative conclusion and more negative conclusion. She already had an initial mental model of John coming back late and reinforcing the mental model was the recurring affirmation that John will be late. Finally it all exploded in a barrage of scolding at the conclusion of the story. Even if John came home before 10pm, mum came out with all sorts of excuse to lecture his son and vent her anger.

In life, when met with challenge or embarking on a plan of achievement, never begin with a negative assumption that its not gonna work, it will fail , I might give up or it will just fall apart. When you initiate that thought, it will snowball easily and everything will fail in the end. When you start with a negative mental model about a person or object and don't open your mind to look at everything as a whole but kept reinforcing that mental model by picking up more flaws while ignoring the good aspect, a person or an object will be unfairly judged.

Heading to Japan next Friday!!!!

Hooray! After almost 2 months of work back here in Singapore, its finally time to take my leave and head out for an oversea trip! Yes, my last oversea trip was Japan and I'm going Japan again from 8th to 12th August and thats next week! Can't get enough of that country especially all the Anime toys and Sashimi. This time, I will be revisiting a few places I have been too but did not explore throughly and also visit a Palace. Time to plan the Japan itinerary again. One of the places I really like to head back to again will be the Sushi Restaurant at Tsukiji Fish Market thanks to the friendly chef and wonderful food he and his wife prepared for me the last time. Ueno Park will be revisited again as I did not have enough time to explore it the last time. Finally, on the first day of arrival, I will be heading to Disneyland! Whheeeee...

Ok did I mention that I got a free air ticket and accommodation at a 4 star hotel this time round?

Bang and the Gas mask drop from the top, what to do??

Recently a BOEING 747 operated by Qantas Airline suffered a mid air explosion which torn away part of the right leading wing fillet. The airplane managed to land safely thanks to the pilot handling of the emergency and the inherent structural strength of the aircraft that prevent it from breaking apart.

Apparently a oxygen tank is missing after investigator inspect the gaping hole in the aircraft. Well the most important thing here to remember is not about the hole, missing oxygen tank or the explosion but the fact that every one is back on land safely.

So suppose (touch wood) you are flying on an airplane and the body of the plane suddenly got punctured. This will cause depressurizations of the cabin which means things will be suck out of the aircraft, living or non-living.

The first thing to do is to immediately fasten your seat belt. Hmm...didn't we always hear the inflight announcement to fasten the seat belt all the time but most of us don't besides landing and taking off times? Creature comfort I guess. Either you fasten seat belt all the time to in case of such contigency or you must posses quick hands before you get suck out of the aircraft, free falling to death.

The next thing is to don the oxygen mask that which right now should be hanging in front of you. It might sound heroic or brave to wear for the kid or old granny beside you first but most likely you will pass out after helping the kid. 5 minutes later, you will be brain dead if no one don the mask for you. At high altitude, air is thin and so is oxygen and a terrorized mind cause rapid heartbeat which consume more than the air could supply. ALWAYS WEAR THE MASK FOR YOURSELF BEFORE HELPING OTHERS WITH IT. Doing the other way round just give more trouble to the already chaotic flight cabin. Take care of yourself so you can take care of others.

If the oxygen mask fail to drop in front of you like what happen on certain passenger seats on this stricken Qantas plane. Hold you breath and share the oxygen mask with the person beside you.

Guan Di a.k.a Guan Yu Birthday

Today is the 24th of the Sixth month of the Chinese Lunar Calender. In the Taoism, its the birthday of the God Guan Di （关帝）or Guan Yu (关羽）as when he was popularly known as in the Romance Of Three Kingdom novel. As a general during China turbulent Three Kingdom Era, Guan Yu was a famous military general of the Shu army under the leadership of Liu Bei. He is well know for his loyalty to his sworn brother and lord Liu Bei and righteous action both on and off the battlefield. Below is an extract from Wikipedia.com on the worship of Guan Di in Taosim,

"Guan Yu is revered as Saintly Emperor Guan (simplified Chinese: 关圣帝君; traditional Chinese: 關聖帝君; pinyin: Gūanshèngdìjūn) and a leading subduer of demons in Taoism. Taoist worship of Guan Yu began during the Song Dynasty. Legend has it that during the second decade of the 12th century, the saltwater lake in the present day Xiezhou County (解州鎮) gradually ceased to yield salt. Emperor Huizong then summoned Celestial Master Zhang Jixian (張繼先), thirtieth descendant of Celestial Master Zhang Daoling, to investigate the cause. The emperor was told that the disruption was the work of Chi You, a deity of war. The Master then recruited the help of Guan Yu, who did battle with Chi You over the lake and triumphed, whereupon the lake resumed salt production. Emperor Huizong then bestowed upon Guan Yu the title of Immortal of Chongning (崇寧真君), formally introducing the latter as a deity into Taoism.

In early Ming Dynasty, the forty-second Celestial Master Zhang Zhengchang (張正常) recorded the incident in his book Lineage of the Han Celestial Masters (漢天師世家), the first Taoist classic to affirm the legend. Today Taoism practices are predominant in Guan Yu worship. Many temples dedicated to Guan Yu, including the Emperor Guan Temple in Xiezhou County, show heavy Taoist influence. Every year, on the twenty fourth day of the sixth month on the lunar calendar (legendary birthday of Guan Yu, Emperor Guan was actually born on the twenty second day of the sixth month of the year 160), a street parade in the honor of Emperor Guan would also be held."

At the age of 17 my parents brought me to Yuan Long Temple, a temple devoted to Guan Di. I went through a religious ritual to bestow upon me a "God-Son" status from Guan Di. It was an elaborated ritual involving a Taoist medium (someone who willingly let God control their body, mind, action and speech) waving a black "Ba Gua 八卦" flag over my head and lots of chanting and praying. To be frank, at that point of time I have no idea what I am into but I trusted my parents that everything they did for me, in a religion point of me is for my good. This ritual is like a Baptism in Christianity. Since than, every year on the 24th June of Chinese Lunar Calender, I will always accompany my parents to Yuan Long Temple to pay respect to Guan Di. Before I head to US and during my home trip over the 2 years, I will visit this temple to thank Guan Di for the protection when working overseas.

I am not someone who totally believe in God or stuff. But tell myself, would I rather stop believing Guan Di exist and leave everything to science or should I choose to believe Guan Di existence as a deity who render protection and safety to devotees? In life, there are many things that cannot be explain by existing science but that doesn't mean its not true. Given the choices, I would go for believing in God Guan Di as a guardian angel who protect against the unknown and unexplained but also exercise wisdom in decision or judgment to minimize the unknown and unexplained risk in life. Its like doing the best you can and leave the rest to God.

Well, enough of my Theory of religion and life. So today as usual like the past years of my life since 17. I went down with my parents to Yuan Long Temple to pay respect to Guan Di on his birthday. A relatively quiet temple on most other day, today is filled with fellow devotees, lots of smoke from the joss stick and voices here and there. Its a great atmosphere with so many people going in and coming out of the temple.


3 different Fruits and 5 of each is always the standard offering to Guan Di in Taosim. We set the fruits on a plate supplied by the temple stuff on the main alter and make our way to get the Incense paper and joss stick...


It cost merely 2 dollars for the basic incense paper and joss stick from this corner of the Temple, enough for a simple prayer session. Of course for the elaborated one, it will cost a bit more but nothing much to burn the pocket. All money goes to maintenance of the temple day to day operation.


For occasion like today, the temple management did a great service of offering lunch F.O.C for visiting devotees. Its simple lunch of economic fried Bee Hoon and Curry vegetable prepared on the spot but more importantly is the "Care For Devotee" action that it symbolize. It was service with a smile by the food caterer and at one point of the lunch, one of the temple stuff even offer to hold the drink dispenser button even though I said I can handle it myself.


Lots and lots of people, what you see here is just a fraction of visitors taking a break and having their lunch. For respect reason, I did not take picture of the temple interior where some religion ceremony is being carried out. There is lots of people in there too.


To be honest, I have no idea what those lights and flags are for despite my parents been devoted Taoist all their life and have been practicing various aspect of it at home especially during the Heaven Jade Emperor Birthday. Maybe the lights stand for life when purchased for prayer and flags belongs to some heaven general?

Taoism is a colorful religion, so colorful that I am only starting to learn about it...

Boxes arrive from USA, set up Wii

After a short wait of almost 2 months, my 26 boxes from USA is finally delivered to my door step , in my house in Singapore. I felt overwhelmed by all the boxes stacked up in the balcony, I have no idea where to start. Its just too much stuff to handle at once. So it will be 1 boxes per day and after getting out stuff that I brought on behalf of my sis and friends, I decided to unpack the most precious thing amount all the boxes, my Nintendo Wii.

Dad was the first person I got to experience the entertainment value of this very unique video game console and after a few rounds of tennis and bowling, I almost believe that my dad had become a kid. Never in my life did I see him behave so excitingly when playing video game till today. Well to be frank, he never played video game in his life and this is the first time he did. Can you believe it? I got home from work at 12am to setup the Nintendo Wii in my living room, on my 42" plasma TV and we both played till 2am. What a great way of building good father and son relationship but I hope we did not wake the neighbors up with our cheering and jeering. Next person I will encourage to play the video games on Nintendo Wii will be mum and sis. I guess it will be good exercise for them. This is yet another good excuse to stay at home during the weekend, get a couple of friends over for a long night of gaming, drinks and finally out for supper at 848.

Tomorrow will be setting up my desktop PC....

Oh by the way, its Monday again and work is much slower pace compare to last week. I think I am in a great mood today first thanks to a better working relationship with Ghost today and next the Wii gaming session and sharing experience with dad. I hope everyday is as jolly as today. Life will be even more jollier if I found out where Mas Selamat, the fugitive terrorist is hiding since there is a price tag of $1 million dollar for leads to his whereabout. Wonder how many local Bounty Hunter will emerge victorious.

Revoltech Series: EVA-01 from Neon Genesis Evangelion

Shinji facing off with Angel at Toky0-3

The ERP system soon and in the future

Just got this e-mail from a friend and thought I should share it with fellow Singaporean motorist out there and also to show the world how our government will be able to make "Every Road Pay" in a decade time. Sometime I don't understand, if the motorist don't mind or get bothered by the traffic jam, why make motorist pay for the use of certain road or express way in an effort to cut down on congestion? Culling congestion on one road means traffic buildup on another. Its a zero sum game when it come to traffic diversion but not so zero sum for the motorist who pay just to get to work in the morning and Gahmen who get paid.






In the Gahmen shoes, reducing the price of COE and Road tax give the citizen an impression of affordable cars but still remain the most expensive vehicle ownership in the world. Whats lost in the left pocket can be easily earn back to the right pocket and with extra profit through the use of ERP gantry around the island.

Went to CAAS to apply for exam...

Today, I took advantage of the spare time I had on MC and head down to Changi Airport Terminal 2 where CAAS Office is located. I am looking for the Airworthiness/ Flight Operation Division (A/FO Division) to submit my SAR66 examination application form. After walking from one end of Terminal 2 to the other end, taking an incorrect lift and visiting the old CAAS reception desk which was close, I was finally directed to the reception located right in front of Coffee Bean. I have always assume that the entrance to the Airworthiness/Flight Operation Division should be through a corporate style glass door like this...

Alas when I step out of the lift on the 4th floor the lady at the reception told me I should head back to the 2nd floor, out of the glass door and turn right for LIFT No.20 again located in front of Coffee Bean, a Lift located in an unassuming spot in terminal 2 right beside this CAAS glass enclosed corridor.

An empty lobby with just walls and 1 signboard. If not one tell me this lift leads to A/FO Divison, I would never expect it to bring me any place useful. Took the lift to 4th floor and greeted by this signboard telling me I am at the right place, finally.


"Multi-Storey Carpark 2B". I had parked my vehicle at Carpark 2A, walked for almost 10 minutes and only to learn that the closes carpark is 2B. What a good way to exercise. Spend another few minutes walking through the snaky path and found A/FO Divison.


Walked in the office and submitted my exam application form. The receptionist, a Malay lady look through my application form and ask me if I should actually be applying for B1.3 exam instead of A3 since I am qualified thanks to RSAF for B1.3 (Engineer Paper) and taking the A3 (Technician paper) will be an underestimation. She even mention that it will be so "malu" to fail the A3 paper while failing the B1.3 (Engineer Paper) is pretty ok. I guess the rationale here is failing a technician paper means you are qualified to be technician and thats pretty sad since I am an Air Force senior tech for 5 years. On the other hand, failing the Engineer Paper only imply that you have not met the requirement as an Engineer but is still assume to be a competent technician and thats pretty ok since I am not an Engineering Officer in Air force.

Nice receptionist she is, although she was pretty stern in the beginning when I interrupted the paperwork process by asking her question which she coldly rejected saying she got all the time in the world for me after she finish the paperwork. Later she explain that she have to handle money and paperwork related to my application and gladly answered all my query when she could take the focus off the money matter.

So I switched and decided to tackle B1.3 paper instead. Paid S$153 for 9 exam papers set for first 3 weeks of October with the entitlement to defer any of the exam papers if I am not ready for it or I am not able to take leave from my work. 9 paper sound very ambitious in my opinion but its a good pressure to make me spend the free time off work to study for the different modules. Since I can defer when I am not ready, there is nothing to be worried about.

Just a quick summary of how to get to A/FO Divison at CAAS.

1) Drive and park at Carpark 2B.
2) If you park at 4th floor, just walk across the short covered bridge to A/FO Division.
3) If you park at 1st floor, take Lift 20 to the 4th floor.

If I have knew the direction before hand, my terminal 2 parking fee would have been 80 cents instead of $1.90. Parking rates at Terminal 2 is 3.57 cents per minute.

The Estate Law of Singapore Part 1.

Question: John age 30 and Amy age 25 are husband and wife. Very loving couple indeed because one day they decided to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary in Venice. Of they flew from Changi Airport to Venice. However the airplane crash landed somewhere over Asia due to engine malfunction. No one survived the crash. John had 1 million dollar in his Singapore bank account, 300,000 sum assured upon death from his insurance account, a Condo in his name but not Amy's and finally a Volvo S80. He and Amy died without any Children but both their parents are their only surviving kin. He got no will. In this instances, by law and by right who should get all this assets?

Answer: The law assume John died first before Amy even if the plane exploded in a ball of fiery. So automatically upon Jon death, all the assets goes to Amy, his wife. Again the law assume Amy died a few moments later. Now since all the assets was Amy a few moment ago, the assets now goes to Amy next of kin, her parents. So in the above scenario where both of them died in an airplane crash. John parents get nothing while Amy parents get EVERYTHING. Thats the Estate Law of Singapore Part 1.

The National Day Parade 2008 - National Education Show

Not the actual day of 8th August and thus not the National Day Parade 2008. However the taste, smell, texture and ingredients are exactly the same except for a change of name and the fact that most of the spectators are primary school students! Their mind are young like dry sponge and a National Education is super absorbent to them as far as molding the mind of love and loyalty to country is concern (or maybe a stench of propaganda?). Adults like us are too concern with raising cost of living and excessive erection of ERP gantry. So its just another meaningful activity to fill me up for the weekend.

Anyway, the highlight of NDP2008 must go to the RSAF Black Knights aerobatic team. I think this years aerobatic is the best so far I seen. The most dazzling display goes to 2 F-16 Fighter Jets making a heart shape in the sky. Next, seeing the Chinook flying our huge national flag with 3 Apache escort in the midst of our National Anthem is always a grand and impressive sight. I felt a really strong connection to the Chinook for every single minute its airborne bring a sense of satisfaction to the servicing me and my fellow colleague done to this stallion of the sky. Alway glad to see the final result of all our sweats, brawls and brains. Finally, during the NDP-08, a short video segment pay tribute to the "man-in-blue" who maintain the machines of the sky. This is good man...otherwise the public always have the wrong impression that all our flying machine are maintenance free and Air Force is all about Pilots like Top Gun.

I was hopping to see a mobile column display of our Army boy equipment, but I guess the venue is too small for those vehicle to enter. Nothing too disappointing compared to a malfunction of a single fire work that night, instead of 5 burst from each tower on stage, 1 of it failed to launch. I knew it because the mid section of the music comes with 5 cymbal beats the 4th beats came without the fire work. The other misfortune goes to 5 Victorian Style pillar display, 4 raises while 1 did not and when the 4 raised pillar descend, 1 was stuck. I'm sure this will not happen on the actual NDP 2008 for its not a good to have only 4 launch of the tower's firework instead of 5, or 4 pillar raising or descending while 1 did not, this means one of our Country Defenses failed. Very bad omen. Anyway right below is my photo blog of the NDP2008- National Education Show.

"My first experience watching the National Day parade, not as a marching contigent but as a spectator.This is the second year in a row the National Parade was held at the Marina Bayfront performing platform. Oh by the way, its the National Day Parade - National Education Show thus this pictures are not taken on National Day itself which is 9th of August every year since1965. Call it a full scale rehearsal or preview, its one of the few oppurtunity the NDP 08 organizing committee can get the feel of the parade itself and to resolve area of conflict before the big day itself."

A Jig saw puzzle.

I'm a piece of Jig Saw puzzle. I have to learn how to fit in well with my fellow colleagues here back in Singapore. I was once an almost perfect fitting jig saw puzzle in my previous posting but coming back, it took sometime to reshape myself and fit right into the picture. With so many different shape to accommodates or match, it sure took a while. There is the peer shape, the enemy shape, the boss shape, the incompetent shape, the inexperience shape, the "God" shape, the "Ghost" shape, the silence worker shape..... sometime trying to fit in well makes me out of shape.

Be fluid, the shapeless, be water my friend.

There was a saying that holds very true in every essence of the working environment; "When in Rome, be like the Romans". It just a totally different culture in a different place. Somehow, certain people I view as threat have gradually become harmless, certain culture I felt as shock has become just another parcel of the career. Just like Shinji, Rei and Asuka tried to achieve synchronization with the EVAs in Neon Genesis Evangelion, I have been trying my best to and I reckon its about 75% now.

Today is Friday. Thank God Its Friday again. Always looking forward to the weekend. By the way, I just received 2 NDP (National Day Parade) Preview ticket for this Saturday. I suspect it got something to do with my status right now that I got 2 free tickets without even asking for it. Silently like to thank whoever had supported me in the past for making me who I am now. Invited a girl to join me in but she will be occupied with her brother birthday so I turn to my sis who is pretty excited to go after her lesson. This is going to be the first time I watch the NDP from the spectator view point. I was once part of the marching contigent...

Felt like slacking sometime...

Sell Cheap Stuff

Soon the 26 boxes of stuff I had shipped out of United States will be arriving at my door step. My prediction is between mid to the end of July. Good thing my apartment comes with a big living room/ hall to stack up those boxes otherwise my whole family will hardly have anywhere to walk around until I took out all the items from the box and place them out.

I definitely don't have a big bed room for everything and lying around my apartment are things of the past thats no longer in use. Throwing them away to make room for new stuff is such a waste so I created an online shop just to sell it off at a cheap price.

SELLCHEAPSTUFF.BLOGSPOT.COM

As time goes by, I will be putting up more item on Sales. Some of them old junk lying around my apartment and some item I got from the States that I not longer uses or its just too "odd one out" to be in the apartment. Please show you support and get something from me! My lost is your gain ;) Thanks.

Wheel in the sky keep on rolling.

I have been to a few big cities around the world. Toronto in Canada, Dallas and Las Vegas USA Tokyo Japan, Taipei Taiwan, KL Malaysia. Whats common among this big cities are the skyscraper or tower that serve as a observatory that look down towards the concrete jungle of the developed cities and far towards the infinite skyline drawn by the tall buildings. CN Tower, Tokyo Tower, Stratosphere, Taipei 101, Empire State building, Petronas Tower...just to name a few of this tall tall buildings.

Singapore finally have something sort of a towering observatory to call our own... The SINGAPORE FLYERS. Its a giant ferries wheel towering over Marina Bay area, amid a very slow moving one. 0.02 RPM or 1 round every 45 minutes. Today I and my sis head off in the afternoon for a ride on the Singapore Flyers thanks to complimentary flight tickets from her company. I'm pretty embarrassed to say that after living in this country almost my entire life, I haven't even been to the highest point to admire the results of Singaporean 43 years contribution to nation building. So this is a great opportunity (free somemore!!!) to fulfill this void as a Singaporean. I have a fun time identifying landmarks and building with my sis on the way up to the peak and on the way down. Since the F1 race will be in town this September, the Singapore Flyer will be an excellent platform to catch the atmosphere of the race from the top. Maybe next time, I might consider a having a dinner date on the Singapore Flyer.

Singapore Food: Hokkien Mee

This is a plate of Hokkien Mee. Hokkien = A Chinese dialect group originated from the province of Fujian, China. Mee= The Malay word for noodles. So Hokkien Mee is a dish commonly found in Singapore's hawker center, food courts and sometime even restaurants. Its a stir fried mixture of yellow noodles, white noodles, prawn, small pieces of pork, bean sprout and squid. Finally the dish is serve to customer with a single lime and sambal chilli for a final DIY flavoring. Typical cost of a single serving is from $2.50 to $3.50 after inflation.

A question from my junior...

Today I was ask by my 'OJT' (On Job Trainee) junior what did a learn, discover or got enlighten from my 2 years tour on duty in USA. I was a bit lost for answer at that moment and could on tell him that I gain more experience from my career in the Empire, get to build better rapport with people in my job field, learn the politics of work in the Empire... When I'm in uniform, my brain usually suffer tunnel vision.

Of from work and back in my civilian clothings now. Just a minute ago, I recalled what he ask me and thought of this few answers...

1) I discover the wonders of wearing boxers instead of undies.
2) I found out that I love to travel on a backpack and stay in Hostel with strangers.
3) I prefer the Big Nature to the Big Cities.
4) I love the rear wheel drive Mazda Miata
5) I learn to cook
6) I learn to fold my own clothings (its a shame to say this but my mum and dad do it for me)
7) I realize that to enjoy work, you first have to learn to work with difficult people.
8) I realize I love aviation related work and this could be my career field for life.
9) I had set a goal to save enough money to travel from Singapore to the tip of Europe on a little bike.
10) Finally... I suffered from Miss USA syndrome.

Revoltech Series: Saber from Fate/Stay Night

SABER

Scheduled and Unscheduled SAR66 examination

For my friends in the Empire interested to apply for SAR66 examination, this will be useful information for you...

Dear Sir/Madam,
All applications submitted for the April and October exams will be classified as scheduled exams. Un-scheduled exams are those that are conducted under special requests from organisations that need to qualify certifying staff urgently. In order to be considered for such un-scheduled exams, the employer has to justify the need (with a supporting letter)for the candidate to take the special exams. For the general population, including those from the RSAF, as long as a person has a minimum of 2 years of experience in aircraft maintenance, he or she may apply to sit for the scheduled exams. Normally no supporting document is necessary unless called for, but your Unit would have to support your application by stamping and signing at the back of the application form.


Thank you,

Warmest regards,
CAAS Administrator

This is a computer generated message.  Please do not reply.

"This is a computer generated message".... This is a surprise technology improvement from CAAS, there are Artificial Intelligence System responding to my query instead of a human being representative. Guess they are working in fields other than aviation.

This Friday is our Empire Annual Staff Conference/Carnival which starts at 12.45pm. I don't have to go for work in the morning but neither am I coming home early since it all ends after 8pm in the evening. Why should I complain since its free food,fun, comfortable seats while listening to speeches after speeches, watching presentation after presentation. Will be making use of the free morning to register for the examination at CAAS office Changi Airport Terminal 2.