Cherchez La Vérité

Late nite ice-cream session with the PUNJ guys. Elliot, Marilyn, Sarah, Eugene, Mark, Audrey, Leytton and company... They're really nice pple to hang out with. Thanks for asking me out Ellie. = )

posted by gabriel @ 1:04:00 AM |

If there's something I've taken for granted for these 2 years in Army, it's the generous cash allowance I get every month (well, generous in my opinion anyway). I've suddenly realised that come uni, I probably can't spend the way I'm spending now, not unless I find some alternative source of income.

And so I've been trying to rack my brains as to the choices available to me right now, and how I'm gonna make the best of the 4 month break before I hit the books. Here's some ideas I've been thinking of...

1. Relief Teaching @ Henry Park, my alma mater. $60 bucks an hour, before CPF deduction. I really like teaching kids, and I'm quite sure I can be the disciplinarian when I have to be. WHIP! Probably good practice for family life in future. Ha. JOIN ME ERIC?

Oh Henry Park... We salute to thee...We'll UNITE into a FAMILY! We'll study in RACIAL HARMONY! Primary School song lyrics are very poetic eh. I can't believe I still remember the tune.

2. Tour guide. Gotta take a 2 month tourism and language course with STB before you actually take tour groups though. So that's the constraint. But think of all them Japanese babes you'll come in contact with!

3. Set up Shilin Snacks Franchise. I have no doubt that if you set one up now, sure can make money! Do you see how many pple queue up at the Plaza Sing outlet for the "Ji Pa"? Unfortunately my pockets aren't that deep to set one up. = ( Maybe should rope dad in.

4. Give Tuition classes. For "Hao Gong Ming" and "Health Education" maybe? Do they still teach that in primary school? But seriously speaking, it may not be a good idea for me cos' I dunno if I can see the student through the year till his exams. Quite irresponsible if I were to leave the guy half way.

5. Last resort. Wear trash bag and beg in Orchard. The underpass between Orchard MRT and Lido has a tremendous volume of human traffic everyday. It takes just 40 people to give me a buck to meet my quota for the day. Hmmm that doesn't sound too bad...

SO that's 5 possibilities. Well Ok exclude No. 5. Anybody else got any ideas? No I refuse to do Multi Level Marketing! It's probably 2nd last on the list above begging.

posted by gabriel @ 3:29:00 PM |

Really thankful for the peeps and PUNJ.

It's very encouraging to go there every Saturday and see everybody so eager to learn. It's just a lot more interesting as compared to where I've been before.

I was sharing with Don and Yong Guang about how it's very easy to get tempted in the Army, esp. when it comes to having lustful thoughts. There's always a copy of Maxim or FHM lying around in some corner of the office. It sure doesnt help that you see lingerie ads at bus stops, slimming ads on the frickkin MRT and practically every magazine proclaiming that their latest issue is their "SEX ISSUE".

Sex sells and the media constantly bombards us with titillating images. It really is difficult to focus. The best solution Don and Yong Guang suggested is to keep the mind occupied with other things whenever you think such thoughts. It can be something as simple as reading a book, or going out for a round of pool with ya mates, etc. For me I guess it would be hopping on my bike and cycling arnd the neighbourhood, or running or just reading by the pool.

Troubled times.

posted by gabriel @ 11:19:00 PM |

Pardon me while I ramble.

Had bible study with chris today. We said we would be accountable to each other, and remind each other to do our bible readings everyday. I've been doing it on and off all this while, depending on my level of tiredness. Quite ashamed of it. If I can't even do it now, when I'm like how slack in Army, how can I do it in Uni?

I thought Sky Captain was very impressive! Easily the best visuals I've seen in any film for a while. The plot and the acting was so-so. Can't blame Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow though. How da heck do you act like a 40-foot robot is trying to crush you when all you see is blue screen?

Thanks for the company Tiff, Eric. And Tiff, pink just isn't my colour la! No matter what Kyan on Queer Eye says! But thanks for your fashion suggestions at Topshop yesterday. Haha. Oh will get the Queer Eye CD from you soon!

Actually thinking about getting a moto license. Motorbikes are definately a more cost effective way of getting arnd S'pore, esp with the insanely high prices of cars we have here.

The new Motorola RAZR V3 looks sweet. It's as thin and light as...my wallet. = (

Feeling excited. The week is just filled with so much promise!

posted by gabriel @ 10:35:00 PM |

Finally convinced myself that I really should start picking up golf.

Went to the driving range @ Green Fairways with Dad last night to whack a few balls. Golf really is a, as my Dad would say, "a paradoxical sport". The more you try to hit the ball, the more likely the ball's flight won't be as steady as you want it. I found myself getting more distance during the times where I was relaxed and using less energy. The momentum of the club is enough to drive the ball a few hundred metres.

It's definately different from other sports I guess. A lot more mental. And well... I still have problems recognizing golf as a sport honestly. Trying to get a ball the size of a ping pong ball into a 3-inch wide hole 300 metres away from you seems quite retarded and at first. But I guess it's no more retarded than 22 men on a pitch chasing down a ball to get it into a goalmouth. That's how some ladies view soccer yeah.

Well, I can see myself playing golf in my 40s and beyond, when my body's starting to detiorate. I think the only reason I should pick it up now is really to prepare for entertaining clients when I enter the working world. Why can't deals be struck at LAN shops or on a soccer pitch instead of a golf course? Haha. I'm just rambling...

Anyways, hope to get my handicap before going into uni! Eat your heart out Tiger!

posted by gabriel @ 10:18:00 AM |

DIVING WAS AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWEEEEE-SOME!

Oh my goodness...all of you have to go some day! Will put up some pictures soon. Didn't bring my digital though! Cos Dad left it in his office. So I used good ol' film.

We dived off Pulau Aur, abt a 65km North East of Mersing (a small town on the east coast of Johor). It's a 4 hour ferry ride there, or 2 hours by speedboat (which makes you seasick a lot faster), keep in mind that this comes after a 3 hour bus ride from Singapore, taking into the account delays at customs, pit stops, etc.

Anyway we stayed at "Atlantis Bay" (woo! ahh!) which was basically a few wooden houses built on stilts and on the beach. Food was surprisingly good! It really was like a scene taken out of "The Beach" ! So here we were on an island so ulu that there was no network coverage, and out of no where we got wooden huts sprouting on the beaches... well ok there was satellite tv, so i guess it's not THAT ulu.

We had a total of 6 dives, the most eventful happening on Saturday afternoon/evening. We went down 14m for about 45 mins. When we surfaced at 7 pm, it was pitch black...AND THE DAMN BOAT WAS GONE! Haha... like that movie "Open Water". Good thing we were in a big group, abt 14 pple, so we were just bobbing up and down in the ocean, which was getting very choppy by then. The boat came to pick us up within the next 30 mins. But man, if I was alone in that situation, I would have just died.

Besides the diving, the real highlight of the trip for me was meeting all sorts of different pple... There was Jackie, the Ex Commando; Rama, who works arnd South East Asia working on oil rigs; Doug and Karen, a loving couple in their 50s from South Africa, though Doug was originally Scotish; Cheryl, NUS grad now financial planner; and Mimin, from the Philippines working in Deutche Bank Singapore as a IT Consultant. Just a few pple i met during the trip.

It was just nice that everyone was just so friendly and open to each other...not cliquish at all. And in my conversations with them, I really get to know a lot more about their expereinces staying in different countries, their cultures, etc. Doug was telling me about this ultra-marathon in South Africa- The Comrades' Marathon. 90km of madness. The guy completed it in 4 hours! WHAT THE!

Typing this post from office can you believe. It's back to work immediately for me...gotta be MC for Commander's Parade again later. Ah well. The weekend was really a good break for me...so i guess i can't complain!

posted by gabriel @ 1:32:00 AM |

Diving in 3 days! Very excited.

Although there's quite a lot of material to read before embarking on Friday, it's easy to digest if you have the interest I guess!

posted by gabriel @ 9:31:00 PM |

My understudies are in. Went to visit Jeremy on Friday. He's well, though he's wearing a leg brace which gives his leg superhuman powers (haha). Had worship pratice this morning. PUNJ in e afternoon. Hearty supper with Corinne at Fong Seng. The past 3 days summed up in one paragraph.

posted by gabriel @ 1:25:00 AM |

Was gonna have dinner at the Kopitiam opposite church when I met Kien Seng. So I sat down and had dinner with him. He was a former Econs lecturer at VJ, and now he's doing a theology course in S'pore Bible College.

Was just relating to him how I thought I would know what I want to do with my future by now, but in reality, I'm still quite uncertain. He then shared with me a verse, saying that in emergencies, people dial 999, but for Christians, we can also rely on Jeremiah 33:3. (It's a good way to remember a verse ain't it?)

Jeremiah 33:3--- 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'

I guess I just have to be patient and wait for that answer. Or maybe I'm not listening hard enough. Hmm.

posted by gabriel @ 11:37:00 PM |