Dailies - 140808 Our family friend was sentenced to jail (not sure how many months) and 6 strokes of the cane, after being convicted of hiring illegal immigrants. Michelle and I have known him since we were very young. He's a really nice guy and it's sad having to see him go through this. I hope he will be spared the cane because he is diabetic. Collision Report - 140808 Time : 1130 H Venue : Slope on the bicycle path, just in front of East Coast Lagoon Injury sustained : Minor abrasions on the right knee. Activity being carried out Daily morning skate Injuries caused by Some fucking huge debris hiding beneath the fallen leaves. My wheels went over it, threw me off balance and I flew to the ground. Immediate action taken Silently cringed in pain for 5 seconds. Picked myself up, put on a brave front (smiling even), pretended nothing happened and continued skating. I left the blood dripping down my shins to show everyone that I am a brave newbie. Hahahaha! I am lucky because : I fell at the top of the slope, where it was almost flat and I didn't roll down. And I fell forwards, letting my wrist guards absorb the impact. I am unlucky because : I was skating with my hands behind my back. Both hands came up just in time to prevent my face from hitting the ground. Lesson learnt : None. Perhaps trade in my shades for x-ray goggles? Pictures Kids Gone Wild I just came home from visiting my student at the hospital. Either sick and tired of life or seeking attention, she decided to flush 40 pills down her throat in full view of her cousin (who is also my student). She got sent to KK Hospital last night. A lot of irreversible damage has been done to her liver and she will regret it later on in life. When I saw her today she seemed fine. Cheerful in fact. I didn't ask her why she did that because my only obligation was to visit her. I am fed up with the fact that I have only taught her only 5 times in so many months. Her dance practice takes priority over tuition sessions and I am even more annoyed with last minute cancellations. Her homework is never done and she's failing miserably in all her subjects. I don't think I want to tutor her anymore. Michelle's 19th Birthday Post coming up. Watch the video : Michelle's 19th Birthday - Blowing Out The Cake Michelle's 19th Birthday (video) Related to : Michelle's 19th Birthday My sister, Michelle blowing out the cake on her 19th birthday. Celebration held at a room in InterContinental Hotel Singapore. Martini Party - 090808 We celebrated National Day with a martini party at Jessie's place. The Martinis-of-Honor contingent stood at attention, as the Chivas Regal bottle walked around to inspect the glasses. The parade finale item will be the aerobatic display lasting 6 minutes by the Bombay Sapphire to showcase its grace and precision within the confines of Marina Bay. Pang, Me, Jessie and Bernadette Dailies - 080808 End of exams! Another 2 weeks of rest before university life officially starts. Dad withdrew $500 from an ATM machine, and everything came out in $10 notes! He was more amused than pissed, and went around showing everyone the huge wad of red notes in his wallet. Paintings On The Human Hand Dailies - 050808 3 days left before accounting exam. I absolutely have no interest in accounting. The only so-called study notes I have here with me are past year papers, together with the answers. And I'm doing an awful lot of reverse engineering here. Working backwards, trying to find out where the hell the numbers are coming from! A pass for this last paper is all I'm hoping for. I don't mind paying someone to help me take the exam... The Ravaging Effects of Alcohol After 6 beers After 2 glasses of wine After 2 bottles of wine - shared of course After too many margaritas After 3 Kamikazes After 7 rum & cokes After 1 large purple haze After 3 martinis After 1 bottle of tequila Bont Jet Silver Edition I was doing maintenance on my pair of boots, when I noticed many scratches and bumps on it. I had a few rough falls in those boots. I spotted a silver marker lying around on my table... Fuck it. The boot looks trashed up anyway... why not write my name on it? So I wrote SUKIANTO on the base. Looks a bit plain to me. Why don't add some shapes to it? It went on and on. Eventually I ended up with a really messy looking Bont Jet Silver Edition boot. Before Original Bont Jet After Bont Jet Silver Edition Humpty Dumpty Sat On A Wall GIRO Indicator Helmet Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the King's horses and all the King's men, Couldn't put Humpty together again. I spent the last week skating without a helmet and had a few brushes with ignorant cyclists. One just dashed out across the zebra crossing, hit the road, headed towards me in the wrong direction. I ended up eating grass. Others just simply decide to make a U-turn without checking if there's anyone coming from behind. I realized that I could either end up dead or a vegetable for life if I smashed head-first into such cyclists. So I decided to play safe and fork out $79 for a proper helmet. The GIRO Indicator fits well and I feel secure in it. Hopefully it'll save my life one day. Reserved Apparently Ken from Skateline Paya Lebar outlet wanted Jessie to buy the Bont Jet so much that he pasted this long before we arrived. Tag 2007 A bike messenger chases a skater through the streets of London. Included in the official selection of the Bicycle Film Festival, Filmed by Bike and the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival. By William Prouty. The camera work is simply awesome! Dailies - 300708 The QuitKeeper sits in the system tray. It tells me : I have quit for 1 Week, 3 Days, 1 hour and 45 minutes (10 days). I have saved $47.54 by not smoking 80 cigarettes. I have saved 6 hours and 40 minutes of my life. My Quit Date: 7/20/2008 10:00 PM Habit triggers just keep on coming. I walk past the places I used to smoke, and I spend the next 10 minutes thinking about smoking. I walk past many places like this and eventually, I end up spending a LOT of time thinking about smoking. In fact, I haven't found a way to relax for the past 10 days. I'm feeling all tensed up. I've even dreamed of smoking 4 times, within these 9 nights. I really need a break. I'm feeling fucking annoyed that so many things have changed. I now sit in my car and stare at the fucking dashboard, while waiting for the engine to warm up. Previously, I would smoke in the car. I'm fucking pissed with myself for making the decision to quit. YES! I fucking miss the cigarettes. And I'm even more pissed that I can't give up since I'm already 10 days into quitting. For the past ten days I have been venting my anger on everyone around me. And I'm feeling a thousand times more depressed than my first 72 hours experiencing the physical withdrawal. For the first time in my life, I'm starting to think that I really need psychiatric help. Dailies - 290708 Iced Gems Biscuits While Michelle and I were very young, we would always eat biscuits like these. We would first eat the brown part, leaving behind an entire plate full of colorful clumps of icings. Same goes for Oreos, leaving behind only stacks of white cream. Then we would take our time and enjoy the so-called nice portions which were left. We were just saving the best for last! Modern Toilet Eatery Dailies - 270708 Mum shared her experience, over dinner, about the paranormal activity going on in hospitals. The first one was about a nurse who had an affair with a doctor. She got pregnant, then dumped. So she went to the level above the doctor's quarters and lept to her death. Mum was having her lunch at the staff canteen when she heard a loud thud (as if somebody just dropped a sack of rice). After her death, the ghost of the nurse still continued making her rounds, tending to the patients at night. The patients didn't freak out, because they didn't know what happened. One of the nurses actually bumped into the ghost during her duty. The second one was about elderly patients who complained about hearing children running around and playing in the middle of the night. Plenty of complaints about this one, even though the nurses can't hear or even see the so-called children. The third one was more disturbing. An elderly patient passed away due to cancer. The family accused the hospital of negligence. They dressed the body up in red, hoping that the ghost of the old lady would come back and take revenge. Well, she did come back. One of the nurses spotted her, crouching behind a resuscitation trolley, dressed in a red sweater and staring directly at her. Mum didn't tell us what happened next. So we asked Mum if she had ever seen a ghost. Not yet. Hopefully not, she replied. [ Update : 290708 ] Henry has something to share : LoL, working in the hospital that day, then overheard the nurses saying the nite before, the paralysed patient sit up and saying don't pull him up, he wanna rest, but the nurses went over, and saw no one there, and he was sitting up, kinda freaky, then after that, the whole nite the old man was talking to that person, till round 5 am. LoL it happen when i was working, kinda cool. oh and also, ward nurses believe everytime a black butterfly/moth fly into the ward, one patient is going to die, and they will prepare the things. and it really happen. witness 2 patient died when the day before black butterfly/moth flew in. like ur mom, i hope i don see one. Dailies - 260708 I know I haven't been blogging since Monday and I'll be right back with the backdated posts. I just feel weird. Normally before I create an entry, I'll have a cigarette. I spend 6 minutes puffing away and thinking about what to write. Now that I don't have the cigarettes anymore, I feel so fucking slow. It took me 7 minutes to write this entry. This is so fucking ridiculous. Argh! 28 Month Anniversary 28 month anniversary at Tapas Wine Bistro Jessie pulled off another surprise dinner. She lured me to Holland Village, claiming to be interested in trying out Monster Mash. She then dragged me into Tapas Wine Bistro, wished me a happy anniversary, and gave her name to the waiter. Kenneth had already reserved a table for us, and he was nice enough to throw in two complimentary glasses of wine! While we were having dinner, Jessie whipped out two movie tickets for Dark Knight at GV Grand, 9 p.m. I didn't know she planned this far! And I realized there was a card sitting on my computer table when I reached home... Card from Jessie. Happy 28 month anniversary to you, my lovely girl! Dailies - 200708 I've been alcohol-free for a month now. Time to start kicking the last demon in the butt... SMOKING! This time no nicotine gum, patch or any of that bullshit. Just drinking cranberry juice throughout the day, every 3 hours. to keep my blood sugar from plummeting. Go read the follow articles if you're quitting as well... 1) Minimizing common side effects : http://www.whyquit.com/joel/Joel_03_21_blood_sugar.html 2) Quitting by gradual withdrawal (tells you why it will never work) : http://www.whyquit.com/joel/Joel_01_13_gradual_withdrawal.html If I can make it for the first 72 hours, my body will completely rid itself of nicotine and things will only get better from then on. Dailies - 190708 Saw the aftermath of a fatal accident outside Tiong Bahru Road. A champagne-colored Nissan parked at the side of the road with its hazard lights on. Police were there controlling traffic and there was a blue tent near the traffic lights. A group of curious onlookers gathered on the side of the road where the tent was. Hope the body beneath the tent doesn't belong to somebody I know. [ Update : 210708 ] Straits Times Article - 210708 First Time At Hyper Skate Shop Jessie and I met up with Jun Wee (aka Acros in InlineKaki forums), for an evening skate. He gave us plenty of tips, guided us along, and patiently waited for us as we made our way from Carpark B1 to the heart of East Coast Park. He brought us to Hyper Skate Shop (right next to 7-11) where the members always met up. There we met... 1. Rick (aka CrazyGoose) 2. Edmund (aka Frozenstein) 3. Benny, and others... I'm really bad at recalling names, but I clearly remembered their faces. They were all very nice people. And there are tons of people we haven't met yet, but we will... soon! Those guys were really humble, very friendly and they gave us really good and honest advice. And we had a good time laughing as well. I'm now wobbling on my right skate due to very weak ankles, and the only prescription they gave was to skate more. Jun Wee told me to try bending low, reducing the number of strokes and balance on one feet at a time. The guys invited us to skate with them on Sunday. I'm not sure whether Jessie and I are able to catch up with our poor form. We don't really want to hinder them, so probably we'll meet them after they're done. Jessie improved a lot today. Today I noticed her shifting her weight around the legs. Good job. And her ass is firming up a lot as well after these weeks of skating. Even better job! I guess a perfect form just takes time, and tons of practice! Once Bernadette completes her assignments this week, the three of us are going to start clocking some serious mileage. Thunderstorm Picture Discussion The Primary 2 kid and I were having picture discussion. Me : Is it alright to swim in the sea during a thunderstorm? Boy : No! You will get electrocuted! Me : What else would happen? *I expected him to talk about high waves and strong currents* Boy : The fish would go crazy! Me : Why is that so? Boy : All the wild fish will swim away so that they will not get electrocuted by the lightning. And they will swim so fast and bang into you. Me : So what happens next? Boy : You will injured and die. Interesting! One Rochester - 120708 One Rochester Pang, Bernadette, Jessie and I chilled out at One Rochester. It's basically a huge bungalow converted into a gastro-bar (a pub that sells food). We managed to get a table, tucked away in a corner of the garden. Pang and I were sweating away because there wasn't much wind there, but the girls were surprisingly alright. Probably something to do with the thick makeup? It's so comfortable here. Pang just love to touch people at the wrong areas. Me and Pang Jessie and I Jessie bought a new camera, so the two girls started cam whoring. They never run out of poses. A pint of beer costs $15. I bought a Rainforest mocktail for $14 (ouch! that's pricey for a mocktail). This day marked 3 weeks of alcohol-free life for me. Cheers! I was probably stunned by the flash. Address No 1 Rochester Park Singapore 139212 http://www.onerochester.com Photo Album : http://www.flickr.com/photos/sukianto/sets/72157606174636988/ My very first pair of inline speed skates Bont Jet - My first pair of inline speed skates So I switched from recreational skates to a pair of entry level race boots, the Bont Jet (4X100mm). Just like trading in an old car for a brand new Ferrari. I had to re-learn most of the things I used to do on a recreational skate, since the frames were much longer now and there was no more cuff support. I stumbled around for the first half hour like a total idiot. What happened afterward could only be described as... highly addictive. The sudden increase in speed. The wind blowing past my face. As I pushed harder and harder with each stride, I was excited, yet extremely fearful of falling. Because of improper technique, I could only go that fast. The new skates opened new doors to learning. With the increased flexibility, I can now experiment with new stuff such as skating on the outside edges without any restrictions, bending low and extending my pushing leg as far out as I can. I hope to be able to ... 1. Learn the double-push (probably after many many months of speed skating). This is the double-push : 2. Improve on my stride and balance with drills. 3. Get a Bont custom boot one day! (That's only when I'm financially capable and experienced enough) I never knew speed could be so addictive! Dailies - 100708 - Upgraded to Movabletype 4.12 Not without some hiccups. Apparently the Time/HiRes.pm gave me lots of problems I couldn't even login into my dashboard. Then Time::HiRes:: loadable object screwed up again. If you're having problems as well, I suggest you visit : http://forums.sixapart.com/index.php?showtopic=66047. 1) Downloaded the Time-HiRes package, extracted, renamed the folder to Time and uploaded it into extlib/Time . After which the loadable object problem came up... 2) Removed all instances of Time::HiRes:: from /mt/lib/MT/Util/ReqTimer.pm leaving all the references to time(). Problem solved. - Added Sham's blog to the Links section. Hair for Hope 08 Because as much as I value my hair, I value life. In support of the children who lose their hair in their fight for life/health, I'll lose mine too. - Shelly I'm dedicating this post to Shelly and her family. It was remarkable enough that Shelly went bald, losing all those years of precious hair, in the name of charity. It was even more amazing that the entire family followed suit. Read her post here : http://shellylives.wordpress.com/2008/07/06/hairless/ Jessie and I were so touched by what they did that we decided to donate! Go read the post, go watch the video, and tell me if you feel the same way too! Dailies - 080708 Two weeks ago... Dad was away on a week long business trip, and Mum played host to two of her friends from Sydney. They had just completed a tour round Europe, and their final stopover was in Singapore. So they stayed over for a period of four days. Mum slept in Michelle's room, leaving the master bedroom to the both of them. One of them, Selina, her childhood friend, worked as a midwife and lawyer back in Sydney. I was trying desperately to finish my Financial Accounting project, while the three of them were relaxing on the sofa, watching TV. Then mum came into my room. Mum : My junior nurses asked me to join them at Clinic? Is that place very nice? Me : Expensive. And I think you've seen enough of operating tables and wheelchairs. Mum : Ok. I told them I won't be free till later on. Me : Will they be at Clinic the whole night? I can drop you later. Mum : They will be at... *checks her handphone*... Ohh-Bar or something? Me : I'll drop you there. It's at Mohammed Sultan. I think I know where. Mum : Is the place very noisy? Me : I have only been to Dbl-O. I think O-Bar is a winebar or something, right next to Dbl-O. Quiet chill-out place just like Indochine. *shit, I was totally wrong* Mum : Good, I don't want to go somewhere rowdy and noisy. I'll let them know that we'll be there at 11 p.m. So the three of them got dressed, thinking there was a dress code or something. And I drove them down. I haven't been to that Mohammed Sultan stretch for a long long time and I was surprised to find the street mostly empty on a Wednesday night. We stopped outside Dbl-O. All the young punks with skinny jeans were crowding around the entrance, smoking away. Mum and her friends refused to get out of the car. Mum : Oh no. I don't dare to get out of the car. All the gangsters outside! This place is so rowdy. Me : I think O-bar should be a quieter place. Why don't you get your friend to come out and bring you all in? Mum : Ok, I'll call her. *moments later, one of her junior nurses appeared, frantically waving at the car* Mum : There she is! We better go. I went home, continued to work on my project. At 2 a.m in the morning, the three of them came back. I could hear them giggling from far away. Mum was holding a half-finished bottle of Jim Beam. The three were slightly high I could tell... and smell. Mum : Boy! You bluffed me. That place is so noisy! All teenagers around! We were so embarrassed! We were like the oldest people there! Me : Oh, I thought it was a wine bar or something... nevermind. Wow, you all finished half the bottle! Mum : We went for the free-flow first, then I didn't want them to queue up to get the drinks, so I asked them if they wanted a bottle instead. I gave them a treat since they were really nice people! Me : Then what about the Jim Beam? Why didn't you give it to them? Mum : They don't want it. Tell you what, I'll give you a treat tonight. Go keep the bottle in your room. Me : Erm... *recalls the horrible tragedy when I was drunk*... I don't want it. I'll go put it in the kitchen. Selina : Christopher! Me : Yes? Selina : Do you know what your mum did? Me : No. Selina : She boogied on the dance floor. Me : What! She's 55 this year! Selina : Exactly, we all dragged her to the dance floor, and got her to dance! Me : Did she enjoy it? Selina : Absolutely! She had lots of fun! I haven't seen her like this since we were teenagers! Your mum was always going to clubs and discos, sneaking out of the house at night. We called for a cab just now, and do you know what the taxi driver said to us? Me : No, go on. Selina : That place is for teenagers! And I said to him... we're still young... at heart! *the three of them started laughing* I just can't imagine my 55-year-old Mum gyrating away on the dance floor! Dailies - 070708 Dad : Coming to showroom? We are all at this... erm... Dakota showroom. You coming? Me : Can't. I'm going to East Coast. Dad : Nevermind. Half an hour later, I received a phone call from Dad, saying that he had bought a 3-bedroom unit on the 17th floor, Block 5. The 5% down payment already handed to the agent. And I didn't even know what Dakota Residences looked like until I saw the catalog at home. The condo will be completed before 2011. And you would say... Wow, that's great. No, sorry, I think that's fucked up decision making. At least for Changi Rise, he asked everyone what their opinion was. We made trips many different showrooms during the weekends. We did a lot of comparison, lots and lots of catalogs sitting around on my dining table. We sat down, discussed about what we liked, and didn't like. But this time round, according to Michelle who tagged along, they viewed the show room, then decided to buy it on the spot! Even she was surprised how fast the decision was made. Let me tell you why I think this is a stupid decision... The proposed plan is this : 1) We're currently staying in Spottiswoode Apt. We have to move out by December this year, due to en-bloc. 2) Changi Rise is being rented out, tenant will leave in early December, so that we have enough time to renovate the house and move in. A lot of money is spent on renovation this time. Then they decide to buy Dakota, and move in when it's done in 2011. Since we're only living there for a few years, then renting it out subsequently, why the fuck bother renovate Changi Rise?! We don't grow money on fucking trees and I pray that the old man didn't just make a shitty decision. [Update : 080708] Courtesy of Dad Transition To Speed Skating I asked my sis, Michelle to help me get this book from Kino : Speed on Skates - Barry Publow I tried the drills with my current pair of K2 Velocity (4 X 78mm - HAHAHAHA), and there were no balance issues. Then I started to wonder how those drills would feel like on a pair of decent race skates. Being high up above on 4 X 100mm wheels, low cut boots without any ankle support. Yes... different. I spent the last few days reading through skate reviews. I visited a skate shop, and the guys there kept on recommending customs. I'm new to the sport, I don't need customs... yet! All I need is a pair of stock skates! So I went back online again, and the people there were talking about Bont. Their cheapest entry level race skate was the Bont Jet. Reviews were good, pictures were good. And I made up my mind... Bont Jet - Entry level race skate SGD 719. Carbon composite Base. Microfiber liner. Microadjustable buckle. Hand made 1 piece all carbon. Super Mold Technology. EVA innersole. Heat moldable tongue. TPU toe protector. Lace cover. Aluminium S-frame. Bont ABEC 7 racing bearing. 100mm Hyper Stripe Wheels 85A. I can't wait till next Friday! [Update 6pm] Woohoo! Paya Lebar's Skateline has the size 8 boot I need. So I booked an appointment with them on Friday at 2pm, for the fitting and heat-molding (if necessary)!