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.

Driving!!!

sch was rather smooth and routine today... physics as usual was boring.. ended up me, shawn and ronald were taking turns keeping each other awake..

after that, shawn accompanied me to comfort driving centre at Ubi. went there to register as a school student as i heard that i could learn to drive on the circuit without a PDL. had to pay quite abit as a registration fee.. had to change me BTT date as it clashed with the mid-year exams.

turns out that there's an early slot on 22nd june at 9.15am.. i think comfort got keep slots for their own people one... those who take private have to wait damn long... like me. but no longer. :) ran into daryl... he passed his btt and applied for his PDL le.. tmw is his first lesson..


the folder that comfort gave.. thought it wad.. like got alot of secret manuals lidat..


turns out is the BTT and FTT books.. -.- i got le lor. now got 2 sets.. who wants? can sell you..


they gave me an optical mouse too! damn cute... takes the shape of a car..



in the dark.. got headlights one!! haha..



den got this record book that need to bring to everything lesson.. charts your progress..


every student is issued with this card.. the pic looks damn toot la.. wanted to retake. but the girl printed it already.. #@$@!@#$

the girl who was doing my reg mentioned that today got slot at 6.50 pm. so i called mother and she said can. so i took it and had to wait roughly an hour. did my maths while waiting. so when time up i went to the car park and enter the car. the instructor was some 40+ yr old uncle. not bad la. quite funny. learned how to keep the car center, how to engage gear 1 and move off, engage reverse gear and how to stop without stalling the car.

initially could not really feel the accelerator. so had to step on it a while and match the engine revs to the techno to get a feel... then had to engage the clutch and gear one. stalled the car a few times as i forgot to clutch in when the car is stopping. the car also stalled when i forgot to accelerate after releasing the clutch.

so after roughly correcting these mistakes, the instructor allowed me to drive around the circuit for 1/2 hr. got a shitload of cars and my speed was no more than 30km/h. but it felt damn fast la.. den i stalled the car twice when i forgot to clutch in while coming to a stop. :P throughout the 100 mins, the instructor keep saying if want to learn, must put in the best and learn properly.. true la. pay so much $$.

he said that i was a fast learner but need to work on clutch and accelerator co-ordination. he also advised that i get my PDL b4 signing up for more lessons as the circuit is very restricted and cannot do much. if got PDL can go out of circuit and learn how to change gears, lane keeping etc.

well.. it was a fun experience for me. can't say i wasn't scared. but heh, i'm finally learning how to drive. i think i'll hold back on further lessons till i pass my BTT. den i'll go for 3 lessons per week..

tmw got physics mock... haven study yet.. shit..

Scammer...

i've just received an email from some guy claiming to be from Angola. aiya... wad for i type so much...?



sounds like fun to me... i'll bait him some..

just replied to him..

Gp...

had GP paper 1 and 2 today... i think its some MI culture or wad. GP paper is ALWAYS on a friday and the whole school would have it together. For the past 3 yrs, it has proven to be true. last time we had to stay till 5.30 pm to finish the paper as we would have lessons in the morning. this yr i think cos got sports day dats why got no lessons in the morning.

don't think i will do too well in the GP exam. will be so jia lat as to fail but wont get too fantastic results too. btw, i got 32/50 for my last essay. school ended at 12pm today. so we had lunch in school. then we went to jurong west regional library to while the time away... shawn was doing his maths while i was reading my books with alternate trips to the loo. drank too much water. after that we had dinner and went back to school. the stadium was a bee-hive of activity. everyone was just so psyched up... we were supposed to split into our various houses. but in 05S5 tradition, we stayed together in 1 corner of the stadium watching the races and events.

it got quite boring after a while and we left at 9+pm. so now here i am typing something for the blog..


shawn told me about this.. it seems that microsoft has bought over firefox!!! EEK!! could this mean the end to freeware?














NOT!!! :)


check out the system requirements.. -.-


which browser would tot super fast download speeds for porn as part of its feature? its a fake... some bugger came up with the spoof website.. but its damn good la.. the flash animations work and the links all work (most of it anyway..)

was reading a book today entitled: "OUSTED". this book was on the run up leading to the merger and separation of Singapore from Malaysia.. apparently what we studied in social studies in sec sch does not cover these areas.. only the really rudimentary.. anyway, it gave me new insight as to what really set the 2 leaders apart. Tunku Abdul Rahman and Lee Kuan Yew. the way they were brought up and initiated into politics was vastly different and i believe this has resulted in the difference in the way they perceived the entire affair. i'll end here. dun want to launch into a tirade..

LKY said: "For me, it is a moment of anguish. All my life, my whole adult life, I have believed in merger and unity of the two territories."

i dont think that he would find anything to be anguish about now should he look back... we are doing so much better on ourselves.. i think things would have been worse if we had been under KL.

"Whereas it is the inalienable right of a people to be free and independent, I, Lee Kuan Yew, prime minister of Singapore, do hereby proclaim and declare on behalf of the people and the government of Singapore that as from today, the ninth day of August in the year one thousand nine hundred and sixty-five, Singapore shall be forever a sovereign, democratic and independent nation, founded upon the principles of liberty and justice and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of her people in a more just and equal society." - Lee Kuan Yew, 9 August 1965, 10am, radio broadcast.

Forever and independent nation.. this word has profound implications.. would i be willing to go to war to defend Singapore? i believe yes. everything that i own is here. everyone that i know is here. if i dun defend it when the time comes, den it will all be gone.

lol. sound so serious.. ah well. when and should the time come, we shall know.. pretty late already.. i shall retire to my bed.. :)