3 cheers for singnet!!

woke up this morning feeling not too bad. saw a letter from singnet on the dinning table. cannot be the bill, cos i just paid not long.. after opening it i saw...


haha.. must be my reward for paying my bills on time.. :)

went to comfort for my e-trial test today. i had originally booked 4 sessions one short. then on hindsight, i shifted 2 other sessions 2 days b4 my BTT. was rather relaxed today, cos i knew i had unlimited no of tests. can keep doing and doing. for the results, i was averaging 92, 94, 96, 98% with only one test coming in at 86%.

i dun think this test can do much except that i not totally forget the materials for the BTT. going to popular later to get a 300 photo capacity photo album to keep my prints. was planning to buy b4 i went to comfort. but i had a 20% discount popular voucher at home and i also din want to lug the album around.

end of an era..

had the farewell lunch for AVIT yesterday. i guess i should feel sad.. but i wasn't. i'm just happy that i have served to the best of my abilities and i have learnt a few interesting tricks. mr hisham ordered 4 large canadian pizzas. i had 2 slices, with the rest of the members sharing the balance.

the yr 2s prepared this card for me.. so sweet!


very creative. lol..

just hope that the current batch of yr 2s as well as the new yr 1s will do a good job..

on another note, i had my second lesson today! from 6.50 -- 8.30pm. it was pouring cats and dogs when i was walking to the bus stop. my whole body was drenched even though i got umbrella. then when i wait at the bus stop for 87, the rain stop. @#$!@#$#@

reached comfort at 6.40pm lidat. so i went to check which car was assigned to me. car no 183. the instructor is very much different from the previous lesson one. he is more fatherly lidat. had quite abit of problems with my clutch control. couldn't really feel the bitting point and as a result the car always jerk when i move off from start. learnt how to change gears also. from gear 1 to 2. much easier to change gears when the car is moving, cos is easier to feel the bitting point. so i clutch in, release the oil and shift to gear 2. after that release the clutch to bitting point and step oil. so is a smooth transfer of power. :)

it got really bad at one point. i was supposed to turn left at a traffic junction. when i release the clutch, the car jerk like fuck. so i tried again, and again. jerk like 4 times lidat. very violent. #@$!#@#$@^% so instructor asked wads wrong. i want to go toilet!! haha.. faster park the car and cheong in. after i come out, feel so much better. the driving also better. the car din jerk much this time round. and i managed to pass this part of the module. the moving off become very smooth. i step a bit of oil, den release a bit of clutch and when i feel the clutch vibrating through my left feet, i step more oil and slowly release the clutch fully. rather looking forward to this sat's lesson.

ALL AHOY! NAVY OPEN HOUSE 2007

this post is turning into something very long.. so this one is for the performances and * attractions.

duck tours!! the navy has 6 on duty for tours. average waiting time was 86 mins!!




entering the water..



we are in the water!! well, not really. but technically yea..


dance by the SAF music and drama company.


i'll say their dances are very energetic and hip.


naval divers performing the divers' beat.



the navy divers carrying rubber boats weighing 100kg with 8 men to a boat.


so heavy somemore run. these men are damn tough.


doing PT on the burning hot tarmac..







there's one man standing on the boat cowboy style while the rest run back where they came from..

next up is the anti ordinance/terrorists exercise.

'terrorists' / intruders preparing their bomb.


2 of them were killed while the last one was arrested by the base security personnel.


the unexploded bomb..


the remote control explosive disposal unit.. can be piloted up to a distance of 100m.


detonating the bomb..


explosive ordinance disposal technician (EOD) checking to make sure the bomb is really denotated.


the banner says it all.

so after the NDU demo, me and ronald sat there for abt 20 mins waiting for Fiona Xie to make her appearance.


fiona xie!! this was taken from the seats. 5X optical zoom.


at first there was only 1 guy taking photos of fiona xie close up... then..


a crowd gathering in front of the stage. mostly males of course. so i decided to move closer also, after all, wad's there to lose?


i'll say this is a rather 'seducive' look...


close up.. her dressing is rather conservative, given her image on tv.


another pic..


end of song.. she sung "la la" by Ashley Simpson.




there was this guy using a PSP mounted camera to take pics. ronald was very envious.


there were 2 types of naval canon on display. i'll guess this is the older one.



the larger more modern gun. this is similar to the gun found on the US Arleigh Burke class destroyers.



WWII era canon.. there are 2 pairs flanking the flag pole facing out to sea.

ALL AHOY! NAVY OPEN HOUSE 2007

US! now for the photos of me and ronald.


yours sincerely. i'll say its not too well taken. the ensign kena block by another flag.


ronald's pic is better. taken by me of course. :)


mess is very nice but small..


face getting oily..


cute right? i mean the cartoon..


on board RSS FORMIDABLE.


me too!


in front of PERSISTANCE

ALL AHOY! NAVY OPEN HOUSE 2007

the ships of the navy open house 2007.

had arranged to meet ronald at bedok interchange at 8.30, have breakfast then make our way to expo. somehow there was a comm breakdown and i ended up waiting there while ronald was at expo. so i had wan ton mee and packed fried noodles for wee wee.

got alot of people going to expo for this event, despite the early hour; abt 10+am only. after reaching expo, i walk like mad lidat. cos ronald say got alot of people. so i panic also. den reach there, we were ushered into hall one where we had the security scans and den queue for the buses.


as you can see, its blur. too long no take pics le.


the amt of people in front of us.. insane. many foreign workers and nationals too. not to mention the young, very young and old.


ronald eating his breakfast. i'm quite amazed. how can one hold the paper packet in one hand and eat?


the sight that greeted us.. this view reminds me of the US Navy's ships tied to the berth. very smart.


the mine counter-measure vessels.


various activities... like the mini bungee cord..


76mm Oto Melara naval canon.


RSS VALOUR, Missile Corvette Hull no. 89.


main mast of the corvette. i think its very nicely angled.


look at the number of shore power cables... also, on the right you can see the harpoon launcher. Valour has 2 harpoon launchers. can also see the triple torpedo launcher.


2 old county class LSTs which were bought from the USA. dunno they berth there for wad. can also see the small boat and banana boat in the foreground.


the Formidable class frigates. our navy's pride and joy. the flagship, RSS FORMIDABLE.


Hull no 69, RSS Intrepid. saw Hull no 70 and 71 too. they were berthed further offshore.




the RSN ensign. flying proud and free.


the main mast of the frigate. designed to reduce radar cross section.


helo hanger.. very big and spacious.




big assed potoons to prevent the ship from hitting the docks when she rises and falls due to the tide.


navy guy with M-16 rifle. every ship has an armed sentry.


anchor door can be closed after the anchor is kept. this stealth design is really all encampassing..


RSS KALLANG. looks very menacing bow on..


100 tonnes bollard...


wireless router!! lol.. can play cs condition zero on the ship wide lan.


the bridge of RSS KALLANG.



the view out of the bridge over looking the bow.


officers' quarters.


battleship row. RSN style.


RSS CHIEFTAIN. one of the 4 Challenger ex-sjoormen class submarines. too bad no visitors were allowed aboard.

saw some ships departing the berths. i guess they are bringing the visitors for joy rides..





one of the minesweepers backing astern..

LST row. lol.. the 4 ENDURANCE class amphibious transport docks.


the HUGE bow doors..


super big hinges.


insanely huge hydraulic piston.


RSS PERSISTANCE. last saw her during the NDP 2005 celebrations at marina bay.




the Republic of Singapore Navy ensign.