Friday was quite a special day. After some hesitation, I finally decided to go into the office in shorts. When I saw Alvin wearing more causal than me, I knew I was safe. Afni made some cupcakes for everyone. Most people were in high spirit.
I went to Pui Kuan straight away for the amendment of the poster once again and around an hour later, just before everyone was moving off, she told me there was another amendment.
Things almost turned sour when Weitat dragged the time. He was helping Madam Seet with her work and at the point of time when we were moving out, he was not down at the car park yet. Jingkun was frustrated for the sudden delay because it was already planned since so early. I felt it was ridiculous as well but I remained silent since it was pointless to say anything or to change his decision like always. We decided to go ahead with the game without him but he turned up to ease our disappointments.
Joy sped off in her Suzuki, sending the four “hunks” she claimed to Hort Park. We were quite lost at first but we eventually got ourselves registered at the car park and took a picture to start off. Our initial plan was to stroll off fast but the teams in front were running and thus, we followed.
Jingkun was deadbeat somehow at the start at Forest Walk unexpectedly. My right knee started to ache soon as well. Weitat and I tried to take the gradual slope up to realise taking the stairs could be much faster. We reached the Hilltop and finally climbed up to the usual Henderson Waves.
Next, we tried to fool the rest of the teams into wrong direction but it somehow did not work. The journey towards the Cable Car station marked my greatest mistake as I led the team to take the stairs up. It was the normal route for trekking but the other teams took the road instead and made a faster and less effort trip.
The finish dash down the stairs towards the Harbourfront MRT station allowed me to lead all the way, except that we were all lost at the entrance since it was the last station and yet nobody was around to receive us. Jonathan and Joy were doing their shopping and had to rush over.
I was told of reporting near the food centre and quickly rushed over to get the puzzle from Sharon. It was a magic cubic and Jonathan quickly torn it apart to cheat. The next puzzle was a list of location for us to decode and we simply continued solving them by the crowded covered path besides the food centre. Some people were doing surveys near us and we borrowed a pen from a sweet girl but she was gone when we were about to take off. The pen was from City Harvest.
We went to Yuan Ching, Bukit Timah, Adam Road and finally Clementi to take pictures with the stalls. Our greatest defeat was at the traffic jams and we did make some minor mistakes in turning, but overall, Joy was reckless enough to help us speed up a lot. The final mistake was that we should have asked Joy to wait for us near the main road instead of the car park because it took us quite long to get out afterwards.
It was a very enjoyable day even though we could only emerge as the fifth team out of twelve of them. We had nasi lemak from Adam Road for our lunch at the school canteen. Later on, it was announced at the prize presentation that they had extended it to five teams instead of three, and we were glad to receive the twenty bucks NTUC voucher.
I took a lift from Bernard and then Weiming accompanied me until Commonwealth MRT station.
My elder brother and I were engrossed in the 倚天屠龙记 on channel 8 every weekday at eleven PM and thus, we watched it online after midnight and dozed off together.
I dropped by CCAB (Co-curricular Activities Branch) a visit on Monday with my gang. It had been nearly a year since I last watched a volleyball tournament match.
The CTSS boys fought bravely against their opponents even though their setter was hospitalized and they were playing with an untrained setter. Victory was pretty near in the last set until the referees cracked it up.
Even if the entire net and the two poles were pulled down, the first referee would not have noticed it at all.
The opponent's spiker pulled the net so hard while spiking right in front of the first referee whose sight was perpendicular to the top of the net and the old man did not spot anything. It was around three metres away and short-sightedness was never an excuse.
Apart from this, he was a great dice player that he would only catch "double" fault when the offender made loud contact sound while setting. His eyes were probably staring at girls.
This issue of having lousy referees for the sport is a great issue. Blowing of whistle wrongly would definitely turn the game over by dampening the morale of the winning team if the standard of both teams are of slight margin.
If I were to become a referee, I would not have done a good job as well since I’m lacking of concentration. However, since I know I do not have the ability yet to do it, I would not even try it even if I were offered a huge sum of salary.
Given a job and you know you do not have the capability, it is better that you do nothing than you blast it badly, even though you suck for accepting it in the first place.
If you do not have a big head, why do you want to wear such a big helmet?
Having many lousy referees in Singapore has killed enthusiasts.
I always hate it when work or studies affect my personal life.
It’s ridiculous to send me over to the client’s office to do editing of website. I find it a disgrace especially when the clients try to make it sound like it’s our fault.
What’s Web Support? It’s supporting clients through means of the World Wide Web and not door-to-door visit. Some people think they have some filthy money and can abuse the staffs; but they are too stingy to even offer some incentives.
You all caused the back injury of mine to worsen and thus did not perform as good as expected during the match. You all suck.
We lost once again but performance was much better. Wilson impressed everyone but he was having cold feet I supposed. If only we had another Wilson, opponents would feel more threatened; we simply could not do without at least two forceful spikers.
I couldn’t get back to the level like in the past.
The greatest problem was that Hougang Sports Hall was very stuffy and it was not long before I started to feel dehydrated. The feverish brain was too strong for my perseverance and I had to rest for long before the actual match started with my legs wobbling. I felt weak but I wasn’t tired.
At least I did better than forecasted.
The mild headache accompanied till for more than a day and I regretted not drinking enough water before the match.
I could not get to sleep for the work load but finally gave up after 3am. After waking up at 6.30am, I resumed my work when Ying Ying messaged me that she was sick, which got me quite panic since it was impossible to find a replacement at such hour.
I took train to Harbourfront and that was a wrong choice for I had to walk longer distance and it simply took me more time. I was late and Tze Khit was already waiting there. Mingfa, Weitat and Wilson had arrived at Seah Lm food centre and I was right that Wilson was late and therefore he changed his mind and drove his car down.
I had my breakfast there, taking a plate of wantan noodle. Adrian and his girlfriend joined us, followed by Ying Ying. Since Wilson was in my team, Mingfa told us to move off first while he, Weitat, Adrian and girlfriend would go in by bus. We reached there soon and got registered, and then found ourselves a pavilion. Mingfa and his gang joined us soon.
The briefing for the game was conducted by a coach cum referee from VAS by the surname of Lim. I was very stunned by the way he spoke like as if everyone owed him money. I recapped how Amen talked to me over the phone, telling me he hoped everything would go smoothly and yet the organisation allowed such rude person to oversee the entire event.
Anyway, one of the rules was that no one was supposed to take off his or her clothes during game play, which was totally ridiculous and insane since it was at a beach. It could be possible that someone had big tummy and did not want others to outshine him too much that he rather made everyone suffer from having ugly tan lines. The reason was that the referees had to differentiate each of us by our shirts, which was a laughing stock for the referees and scorers were sounded like idiots; perhaps, the person who set the rules, most probably Lim, had colour-blind with ultra short-sightedness that he thought every contestant was wearing exactly the same short.
It was one of the few beach volleyball competitions which we did not receive any shirt; some people could have purposely not bring extra clothes for they thought they would be given the singlet. Since they did not want to give away any shirt, they should not demand everyone to wear shirt at beach. Since that someone was already so insane, his condition might be worsened and the next year’s tournament might require every contestant to wear long sleeve shirts.
We lost the first game to a usual beach bum. He was friendly and had very good skill, but there were times when he dropped balls and the newbie non-certified referee did not penalise him. Eventually we lost the first game to his team.
There were numerous Q&A sessions. A group of Malays camped near there to snatch opportunities for free sandals and holidays resorts. We had our second game, which was a walkover. After that, Wilson, Mingfa, Weitat, Adrian and his girlfriend went to 7-11 store at the Beach Car Park with me to get some drinks. Each team could actually receive four cans of drinks from the organisers but when I went over, the auntie sounded so rude like as if I had gone there to collect from her before. It was the organisation’s fault for not giving off any coupon for the collection.
There was one hot girl with great figure sharing the same pavilion with us. I did not know that Jenrine’s friends knew her and I started joking about her loudly when she was playing her game. I was so embarrassed and hoped her friends would not know that I was talking about her.
We won the third game eventually and started waiting for news. I was dehydrated but did not dare to go to the 7-11 store for it was quite far away and the next game might start anytime. There was no announcement from the organisation and I was so not impressed by their attitude. The score board was not updated and when Mingfa talked to Lim about it, he did not show any shame and barked back instead.
“You still have to wait anyway.”
This irresponsible excuse from a high paid organiser employed by the NTUC took me aback. It was his duty to make sure his subordinate or colleagues to update the score board and not allowing some score sheets to be hidden for more than hour without transferring the results to the board, which he failed badly. Since it was his fault, he could have just apologised or at least, put in some words which any low educated parents would have taught their children. Even if I were given the chance to take his place, I might not do a better job, but at least I would be brave and honest enough to admit my mistake. He was simply a disgrace to his company and the organisation.
The thirst set me to a slower pace. Everyone was exhausted and we did very badly. The opponents showed their hypocrisy at the start of the game, which quite disgusted me in the end.
Ying Ying left immediately after the game and I walked her to the toilet near Beach Car Park. After which, I went to the 7-11 store in the hope to drench my thirst but all the drinks were not cold and I decided I would throw $1.50 worth of coins into the vending machine than to get more expensive and yet not cold drinks there.
When I got back to the pavilion, everyone was not around and a Malay guy came over to borrow ball from me. I was reluctant to lend him for various reasons and that I decided to stay around there in case he might try his luck on all of our unattended belongings.
Mingfa lost his fourth game to the same group of people who had beaten us. I got furious when I heard that the immature referee had announced their winning but changed her mind when the opponents, who were actually her friends, protested. This group of opponents were labelled as those cunning players since long ago but they were at hi-bye terms and everyone was very disturbed by their lack of sportsmanship.
This event was better than the previous Rip Curl’s disgraceful failure, but the person overseeing everything had spoilt everyone’s day. I had only seen an experienced referee, Brian, whereas the rest of the seemed very young and inexperienced, who had caused angers to many participants. Strong teams lost the games partially or fully due to the referees.
Weitat left on his own right after bathing. Adrian and his girlfriend seemed to have other plans as well. The remaining four of us took Wilson’s car to Vivo City and had our dinner at Food Republic. I took fish and chips at $5.80, which was not very worthwhile, but still better than the western food stall at Holland Village. After that, we went to the basement’s Kopitiam to have dessert. We did not have problems with the weird cleaners this time but the stall auntie tried to short-change Mingfa and faked innocence.
Since Tze Khit’s presence was rare, I accompanied him by taking train instead of bus. We had great chat during my short journey and he examined my injuries.
After reaching home, I realised I had missed the beginning part of the “Initial D” movie. While watching the show at channel U, I was distracted by my work. Right after the show, I dozed off on my brother’s room.
I hurried with my work to cover up for the previous days’ lack of update. Yuqing approached me to do a survey for him. Finally I went off at 3am.
I set my alarm at 6.15am but as usual, I lazed around and only until Mingfa called me, I came to conscious. My mum was lazy to make the half boiled eggs for me and she chose to do the milo with biscuit, which caused me to empty my stomach inside the toilet like usual.
I managed to catch the bus as I dashed across the road and Junrong was inside. We met up with Jinyang soon and Kachua joined us. Mingen called me to order food even though he was driving and I had to take the bus in. while I was waiting for the carrot cake, I got to chat with Kunhan. I was surprised when Ying Ying came over to join us and I was very touched for it took a lot of courage to join me and a group of people whom she had not met before when she could actually go in with Jenrine.
We took the bus to the Beach Car Park and went down to meet up with Mingfa and Wilson. As we strolled towards Siloso beach, Jinyang went to the toilet. We got to the exact location for the competition soon and started registering.
The sleepy Wilson who simply ignored the prank on him
Babe
Kok Chiang who slept throughout the day in his "cool" position
Jevin Ou
Meh Meh sheep
It was a very sunny day and my stomach had done bad service to me by giving me a mild gastric problem while waiting very long for the first game. The court we were called for was different from the scheduled one, which showed how unorganised they were. At the beginning of the game, I blocked off an opponent’s spike and they started spiking from away the net. Soon, we were losing them many points. There was once when one of them spiked and hit Ying Ying on her face, we were furious but could not do anything. We picked up point bit by bit but they reached twenty-one earlier than us.
A sudden depression filled my mind. It could be due to the fact that we should actually win the game or because of the injury on my star player or perhaps, more than these. I was nowhere near to prove myself. The sand kept me accompanied as I sat alone at a corner.
I finally got to feel a greater pain as the gastric problem smiled at me. Instead of the food, which had not arrived, Junrong and Kachua exchanged the coupons for ice-cream, which eventually worsened my pain.
Mingfa eventually won his first game; it was a good decision to put the better players inside his team. We played the second match against Albert’s team and everyone played badly, which gave us no chance of winning. My gastric pain was at its worst and turned pale.
After the game which had confirmed our withdrawal of the tournament, I went straight to toilet. Soon, I got better but it was too late for there was no more game anymore, which was stupid that we had to pay $70 for just simply two instead of the usual three games.
Lunch was fried mee hoon with an egg and chicken wing. Nothing free was good. Under the hot sun, it was stupid to have an egg cooked with chilli; whereas the mee hoon was not fantastic and the chicken wing looked old.
Sweet Jessie and I
Jessie and Kok Chiang
Charlene and Tiffany with Tiffany's stupid dog
Xiao Yuan and Kok Chiang
Again with a better position for better lighting
Their stupid dogs refused to take proper photo
I got to play with Shunliang until Mingfa’s second match started, I went over to witness how they won the opponents. After waiting for very long, we started finding empty courts to play among ourselves, but we got chased off soon and finally gave up. It took hours for their next match and I joined in a boring game at one of the free courts with Mingen, Andy, Justine and others. I got to sabotage Guoxiong in front of Yali, which was obvious that I was joking.
Darkness arrived and suddenly, I was told that Mingfa had ended his fourth match, defeated by the police. It was in fact meaningless to play for it was dark and there was only a spotlight. Many teams had complained about it. I laughed at the organisation for they announced earlier on that it was the first time ever in Singapore that so many teams had participle in a beach volleyball tournament; it was a disaster. They should have sought advice from me beforehand and I would advise them, “If you don’t have a big head, don’t wear a big helmet.” They had so many available courts but so many of them were empty which caused the delay that every team had to wait hours for each game. It was a failure and a laughing stock of the year and history of Singapore’s beach volleyball competition. I should not mention about the cock eyes and unprofessional referees.
After having my bath, I sat under one of the big sheltered area with Junrong and started dozing off. By the time Mingfa waked us up, we realised Wilson had already driven Yingyi, Anqi and Fiona out and these three ladies were not going to dine with us. In the end, Mingfa, Junrong and I had to take bus out of Sentosa.
We were deciding to go to Harbourfront Centre’s foodcourt but eventually changed the location to Vivocity where Wilson met up with us for dinner. I took fish and chips as usual. We were at the foodcourt at the basement and beside Banquet. Soon I realised the cleaners there were similar to Banquet’s. Shunliang was dining there with Justine and he came over to chat with us.
I took bus 80 home and started working. I was just in time to catch “The Eyes 2”, which was a good movie.
I slept at 5am this day and waked up at 10.30am. Unfortunately, soon after going back to sleep, I was waked up by Kaven. My brain cells were on strike at the moment and when he was asking for his new house’s address, I did not know where to find it. It was after we put down the long distance call (he was at either Thailand or Korea), I found the address in my phone’s inbox and forwarded to him.
At 3pm, I finally waked up again. I was bended on settling the Rip Curl competition stuff by this day. In my mind, I was quite worried that I could not make it on the day of competition myself due to my work as property agent.
Since the date and time for Block 219 Ang Mo Kio was not confirmed, I tried to call Penis Seah to confirm it. This time, he finally picked up the phone but started to accuse me that I should know the date. He was an experienced agent and should know that JTC’s resale flats were different from the usual open market’s resale flat; it was such a shame of him to deny everything and refuse to simply state the date and time. He had cheated half of my commission and yet he did not have a little guilt. This type of crooks was still in the market, which made me very disappointed in this line.
I made a call to Ying Ying before leaving the house as to confirm her name and shirt size. Since she was working in Singtel, I started crapping with her about signing up a new at first and she got so confused. After putting down the phone, Jenrine called me and only then I realised Ying Ying did not know that was from me.
I went to Vivocity once again. I went directly to the Rip Curl shop and the staff thought I was going to submit the registration form immediately but I told her to get me another three of them. I started filling up for the two teams. The cute girl was around but I realised her makeup was thick. As I was rushing to settle everything, Weitat called me to inform me that he was taking the train and could not wait for me. Therefore, I dropped the idea of following him to Jurong West to watch his inter constituency match.
Before leaving the shop, the cute girl was back to the counter and we exchanged smiles. I went to the Sky Garden to take a little walk by myself. The shops were all up and what impressed most was the “Planet Fitness” fitness centre, which was facing the sea.
I did not stay for very long for I knew I had many tasks to accomplish. I took a long rest at home but the backache refused to go away; it appeared out of nowhere since weeks ago.
Jianhao did many checking on me to call up the potential tenant for the Redhill rental but I could not locate the owners. Later on was all my usual updating of websites.
Finally I got down to the beach again ever since I went for my calf operation.
This time was for the Surf and Sweat beach volleyball competition at the Tanjong Beach. I did some coordinating and gathering of the team members after Anqi listed me out some names. The day before, I called and messaged Anqi but there was no response. It was during evening, she told me of the timing and I started to message everyone immediately. Hours later, I called each individual and realised Robin was not going down. It was very disheartening for he did not even bother to inform me earlier, not even to reply to my message.
On the early morning, I reached there early but sad to realise it was the same situation like before – everyone was late. We were supposed to meet at 7am and when I called Anqi, she claimed 7.15am instead but obviously she could not even make it at 7.30am. Wilson drove Weitat over and I hopped onto his sport car for the first time.
We were so early, considered we were actually right on time. Everyone probably knew how late the actual event would commence and thus took their sweet time. Anqi took a cab in and followed by her ex team-mate, Fiona. Later, Jiayan, Weichong, Kian Yong and Yingyi arrived.
The first game was alright and of course we won but the next two games were huge disappointments. My back could no longer take it just before the first match ended and I believed I had contributed a lot to our lost.
Weitat's stare
Anqi and Wilson
Weichong's back set to opponent's court. It was the second ball and back set should be allowed but the ignorant referees spoiled everything. They even claimed that different courts had different rules. This event was so unorganised as usually rules should be briefed before the matches start.
The chiobu flying
The handsome's digging
His turn to fly
Weichong posing for the camera when his team was one point to losing
The two babes
Weichong and Kian Yong
Guoxiong demonstrated how to hurt his back
The couple from caught from far
My gay partner - Shunliang
Pigson
Anqi
Guoxiong, the champion cum buaya of the day
After the games, we stayed on to watch other matches and as well as to wait for the Surf Babe competition, which Yingyi was asked to participle in. the long wait continued and Wilson took his leave later. We got to play volleyball outside the courts at first and later, inside the court while the competition was at a pause.
The most beautiful babe of the day standing on the stage in front of the blind referees
Caught intimate
Shuai Ge
My da jie Peixian and my team-mate for the day, Fiona
The Surf Babe competition was terrible. Out of the other three competitors, none was pretty. However, Yingyi did not win the competition with her stylishness and attraction looks. The judges seriously had problems with their eyes and perhaps were either biased or jealous.
Guoxiong’s team got champion as expected but his prize was an ugly bag from the sponsor of the event. Overall, the ugly singlet and all the items inside the goodies bags were not really interesting.
We continued to play in the court after everything was over. Mingfa and Mingen came in to visit us. After all the jumping, my left ankle did not pose any problem but instead, my right ankle was unexpectedly giving some loose feeling.
Anyway, Guoxiong had asked me to join him in the beach volleyball training for he claimed it did not require too much of height. He even offered to partner me but obviously I was not the cut for it. With my terrible height and injuries, I would probably not produce any good result.
It was a fast cleaning up at the public showering area and changing of clothes inside the disgusting temporary toilet. Then, Mingen drove Mingen, Weitat and I out of the island. We went to Mingen’s work place, the power station at the end of the bridge for dinner. We met up with a few of his friends and took the expensive food. The Nasi Brani was not nice.
After that, Weitat and I walked to Vivo City and walked around to find his stuff. I was behaving like a zombie. We met Junqing who was working at the G2000 shop.
Sweet Micarrot has joined the Queen of Queens 2006 competition. Please vote for her at http://www.bluincmedia.com/queens06/vote.htm. She is the first participant “Q1: Mikeller Ho”.
Apart from voting, you can look at other babes in the website.
It was for the sake of the photo competition, I spent lots of time thinking of description for my photos. It was about “Garden City” and the criteria were not that clear.
Gilbert and I were part of the pioneers to hit it hot with submission of photos. However, he had underestimated talent of Singaporeans that he uploaded many photos at one go.
As days went by, more experts uploaded their work and we saw to our disappointments. The free camera and Ipod Nano seemed to be further away each time I stepped into the forum.
Our plan to go out for photo-taking together was delayed by my leg’s condition and the haze, and finally, his beginning of job. Soon, he had seemed to drift away from our childish hope.
For me, I persisted on but not with enough effort. I met out with Xiangxin for a Botanical Gardens trip one fine day. Although I was lack of sleep and was off performed, the trip gave me new experience, apart from the mosquito bites.
Even though almost all the photos taken were not up to my standard, I did not forsake them. Together with the older photos I had taken during various outings, I battled to think of good description which would outwit others’ in order to cover up for the lack of skill.
More people began to impress me and one of them was Mr. Wilson Low. His photos were very lively and interesting.
There were of course some photos which were less fascinating and of course a few, which I had to think they were out of topic. The descriptions of the five categories were not enough for people to stay within the theme, but made the competition more interesting. Perhaps, I was too newbie to understand.
As I began to drop the dream of getting anything for the competition, there were other things for me to continue – the possibility of display of my work, the contribution to help promote Singapore as the Garden City and maybe guidance from others.
Through this competition, I realised most people went to the Botanical Gardens despite various photos were taken and submitted. My focus was then more into the urbanised places to impose the idea of living in the greenery, such as our HDB flats.
Since I did not wish my ideas to be stolen for they were ingredients to my speciality, I hesitated to upload the photos on much earlier dates. There were naturally times when I was tempted and uploaded some of the work. Partly, I was worried that others might submit photos of the same ideas or objects before me, which had happened numerous times.
In the end, I uploaded most of my photos on the last second day since I did not like last minute work, which might result in congestion of the website’s bandwidth.
At the very last day, as expected, everyone started to flood the site. I was quite regretful of not submitting my photos on that night itself.
My fondest memory in the park - This include for example, pictures taken during your birthday celebration in the park , or can even be a picture of a bench where you and dad sat when you were growing up.
Memorable Portrait
The most natural portrait is taken unaware, or at least, with a little surprise. The sunny weather has brought old friends together when growing up has distanced everyone.
- Not pinning to win anything with this; just hoping to bring back memories of the olden days.
Cycling on the Plants
How cool if I were to be able to do that too!
The outing at Botanical Gardens brings back memories of my primary school days during the excursion trips.
Monkey Business
Monkeys are smart animals actually; at least they know how to bounce ball to smash things.
My trip to the Singapore Zoological Gardens was a splendid one. It was a day well-spent with my good friend who had just started working there.
- This is interesting
Smiles of the Cyclists
East Coast Park encompass plenty of my fondest memories; the cycling trip with some of my best army friends and volleyball mate. It was unexpected that they could enjoy each other company that much, considering it’s their first meeting; everything turned out well, as if the wonderful day was tailor-made for us.
- I love all the smiles and Sam's dao face - Thanks to Jenrice and Peh
Lost
This photo features the discussion of my friends over the navigation of the place.
The trekking trip at Dragon’s Trail Sentosa was a fulfilling outing; we got to see insects and plants which were not found in other places.
This trip enlightens us that Singapore is not only about tall and gorgeous buildings, but also tiny creatures which are hidden in less urbanised areas.
My favourite park or green spot - This include pictures of parks, open fields or even roads lined with lush and mature trees for example.
Feeding the Swan
A closed up experience with the swan delights me. The Botanical Gardens is definitely one of my favourite parks.
- I could have taken better shot of this
The Falling Plants
One of my favourite spots in Botanical Gardens is the stretch of plants growing towards the track. They are amazingly interesting.
- The effect turned out quite good by tuning the camera sideway
Upside-Down
It is amazing to watch monkeys hanging themselves upside-down with their tails on the branches to eat. Singapore Zoological Gardens is one of my favourite places since young.
The Girl and the Grassland
This photo, taken at Botanical Gardens, shows a weary little girl after playing with her family. The big piece of grassland near the Symphonic Stage is an ideal place for family gatherings.
- I was surprised to catch this sharply as I was zooming from far without using stand
Glorious Sunset
After each great day of fun at Siloso beach Sentosa, we always camp at the Beach Car Park to wait for the rest of our playmates to finish their bath.
The sunset at Sentosa’s Beach Car Park paints the sky with terrific colours. The clouds distort the shape of the sun, not trying to ruin the evening, but instead, add excitements. The objects at the far end seem like illusion, rounding up the picture of warm. Sunset reminds us that it is the end of the tiring day and soon, the beginning of a great new day.
- I love the sunset
Beautiful Forest
The beautiful Duxton Plain Park is the place where many residents gather to have their morning and evening exercises.
The huge trees by the sides of the park enclose the area with their branches and leaves, making it look like a forest. I suppose many people who pass by the park will not look up to realise the place is so beautifully decorated with the trees which have been shading people for so many years.
- Quite interesting
My favourite activity in the park - This include any activities that you enjoy participating in, or watching. Some of these activities could include exercising, cable-ski or simply relaxing under the tree for example.
Final shoot-out
Playing with the water never fails to bring childhood memories back.
I need Suntan Lotion
Suntanning is always my favourite activity, whether I am the one doing it or just watching “someone” else does it.
Sam Hits the Headline
At the guardhouse of the Changi Safra Resort during a cycling trip at East Coast Park, Bryan helped Sam to dress up his wound. The few of us were up to mischief and grabbed each other’s handle when the two bicycles were side by side. Bryan and I had a fall just minutes ago; whereas this time Bryan was safe again but Sam was not as lucky.
By the Seaside
The sea activities at East Coast Park gave me the feeling of freedom; indeed in the early morning, I was feeling more relaxed than ever.
Beautiful Sunset
I love playing volleyball at Siloso beach Sentosa. The coconut trees planted around cool the beach down and piece up the greatest picture of mankind. All the beach volleyball lovers are reluctant to leave for the sunset so gorgeous.
- Another nice sunset
My favourite corner in the park - This could include pictures of playgrounds, your favourite picnic spot or even favourite restaurant/ food outlet within the park!
Family ties
Having picnic by the side of the pond is a great family outing; it is no doubt one of the greatest ways to strength family ties in this busy city.
- I quite like this shot
The Botanical Gardens Fall
A mesmerising sight which drew all my attention away from all the other beautiful flora. Miniature yet complete. Insignificant yet attractive. Rare beauty.
- Description contributed by Peh
Of Health and Greenery
One of my favourite corners in the park is the fitness corner. The government has spent a lot of money to educate and make it possible for all citizens to maintain their fitness.
Garden City is not only about greenery but also the health of the citizens.
Open Category - You can also send in photographs of greenery, flora and fauna that is unique to Singapore, and helped differentiate us from the other gardens in the world!
The inhabitant in the greenery and its nest
My first trekking trip to Sentosa brought me closer to the nature.
- One of my favourites
Vanda Miss Joaquim
The gorgeous National Flower of Singapore, named after Agnes Joaquim.
Beautiful Cactuses
The yellowish thorns of the cactuses excited me; the feeling they give me is not the sharpness and pains but peace.
- My favourite too!
My Regular Visitor – The Bird
Growing plants at the corridor brings our urbanised city closer to the nature. The birds visit me often even though I am staying in a high storey HDB flat; I hear beautiful voices daily.
- That was the nearest I could get to him; quite an unique one.
Chocolate Pocky Discovery
I have finally found the Pocky source in Singapore.
I’m kidding of course. They are trunks of plants found in Botanical Gardens.
Magnificent Tree
This magnificent tree with “thorns” on its trunk catches my attention; it somehow gives me huge inspiration in my life. My admiration for trees has grown ever since.
- One of my favourites
Beautiful roots
During my trekking trip at Sentosa, these striking roots caught my attention. I was captivated by their beautiful colours.
- This is quite cool.
Spiked Green Sausages
The soft looking cactuses resemble sausages, but please hold your temptation because they are full of spikes.
Be Early
The worms eat the leaf and the early birds get the worms. That’s why the Chinese say “早起的鸟儿有虫吃”.
- Credit goes to Marlboro.
National Day Fireworks
This is a photo of the gorgeous moment of excited Singaporeans taking photos of the fireworks near Esplande during National Day 2006 to celebrate the country’s independence; everyone was overwhelmed by the spirit of the great festival.
- My favourite fireworks photo.
The Fish Kiss
The hungry fishes inside the highly overpopulated pond at Singapore Botanical Gardens struggle to survive each day.
This picture shows two fishes feeding themselves in the filthy water, appears like kissing.
Looking at the fishes gives one a calm feeling.
- Quite unique but might be out of topic.
The Haze and Sunset
This is the picture of a sunset during the haze period in which the sunlight was blocked. The sky was supposed to be yellowish orange at this hour. The fires in our neighbouring countries are the threat to our Garden City.
The Swan Dance
The swan, filled with gratified, danced for the visitors after his breakfast. This was the first time I had an encounter with the swans, and they presented me with good shows.
- The swans did not do it facing me after camping there for quite long!
Garden City Begins with Each of Us
Growing plants at the corridors are hobbies of many Singaporeans. The citizens answer to the call of the government since so many years ago to make Singapore a Garden City.
- This is an unique idea but... others have copied it.
Preserved Tree
This is a picture of a very remarkable old tree.
If you think such trees can only be found in places like Botanical Gardens or less urbanised places, you are wrong.
This tree is located in Duxton Plain Park located at Yan Kit Road, near the Tanjong Pagar Community Centre.
- This matches the topic description well.
Building Merged with Nature
We are living in an urbanised city but we are still close to the nature. This is a photo of the magnificent view of Parkway Centre.
As the deadline of the photo competition is approaching, I am trying hard to describe and upload the photos. I will update and give a full account of it after everything is settled.
There were a few times I filled all the 5 categories with my not-so-well-taken photos.
I suppose I will be free to update about my birthday earliest by tomorrow. Sorry to keep you waiting.
Yesterday marked the end of the two-day competition organised by Sunsetbay itself. Forty bucks per team of five including a reserve player and each team required a girl to be in court at all times.
My team consisted of Anqi, Kok Chiang, Weitat and Kachua (last minute replacement of Mingfa). Kachua was actually the initial player I had invited but he thought he was not free at first. I did not pin any high hope since Tze Khit refused to play.
On the first day, we were supposed to meet at 8.30am for breakfast. Poor Kok Chiang reached earlier and since I knew it was a usual practice for everyone to be late, I settled for 9am instead. Anqi was extremely late, which was very much expected, to think that she was the one who asked us to go early to warm up.
"Team Neo" the name was come up by Andy Khoo. I never expected us to be so unlucky to be seeded in with Huiyong’s team inclusive of Kunhan; before registration, I was told that they were not joining. The other teams in the same grouping were regulars of the beach and were quite strong.
I really hoped we could play better but it was impossible when everyone had rusted so much. Other than Weitat, everyone had not touched "real" volleyball for so long. I played the setter role in place of Mingfa, whereas, we had only a spiker each time; Weitat and Anqi were playing defensive and Kachua swapped with Kok Chiang over matches.
The carrying of heavy loads in camp on last Thursday had weakened my back so much that I failed to coordinate my body well; Kachua was almost a stranger to volleyball that his stamina was never as good as in the past and definitely; Kok Chiang could never be as firm as in the past; Anqi involved too much in her social life and lost touch with volleyball since a year ago whereas Weitat was somehow cursed.
Overall, Kachua was our only scorer, but he was never a deadly threat to opponents other than weakening them with his soft spiking; perhaps, we needed two Kachua in order to terrorize them totally, or maybe I could grow ten more centimetres that I could block the attacks well. At least, we did quite well in some games and almost freaked the opponents out.
We were slackers actually.
So, we watched some teams played with lousy opponents and then got into more rounds, while we shook our heads to curse luck and crapped about everything we could see. Somehow, Weitat and Anqi had the most number of lame jokes.
Shauna's presence on the first day was the biggest gift I could receive. She gladly helped me to take photos when we were in the court. There were basically three girls I was looking at – the sweet setter previously from St.hildas, the cool angmohish girl (maybe ex PHS) and the most attractive girl with superb figure and cute looks from some angles.
Boobs were never the highest priority that I would look at a girl, but they were definitely very high value added. This girl was the rarest one you could see in Singapore as her waist was not big like those booby girls out there who would definitely grow fat in years to come. To others, they would only stare at her boobs; but for me, even her asset was not big I would still admire her for she really looked good in some angles.
Last night, I came close to a fatal car accident. It was at a roundabout near Clementi where the driver failed to stop before entering with the incoming cars on the right. Being sloppy at the late hour, not noticing anything when I was dead beat, as well as being uncomfortably squeezed in the back seats, Tze Khit's voice brought me to attention and I noticed our car get into the middle of two cars which were at great speeds. That was how lucky we were, because if the first car had travelled slower or the second car had travelled faster, we would be hit; that would be the end of lives for three yandaos, two chiobus and a freak (Weitat).
It was the day for Beach Fiesta 06'. Huiqin had registered two teams for us. Freak and Kamikaze were the team names, which the rest of us got to know only on the day itself. We met up at Seah Lm food centre, Harbourfront as usual. Kailin and I were the early birds, followed by Wilson who drove Mingfa along. The rest were all latecomers. We set off in two cars, comfortably into Sentosa, towards the beach carpark.
The sound system terribly sucked and it was then I started to appreciate the systems in my camp, which I had been handling. There was a beach hunks and babes competition, with the females having thick make-up, which was such a big turn-off; none was impressive except for the air they carried.
To begin off the game, there was a cock up made by Huiqin who forgot to add my name into the list and thus we were missing a shirt. As I anticipated, we should have put in six names instead of four or five since the amount paid was the same, that we could get extra shirts.
Having each game with a set of fifteen points to determine winner was absurd, but we were very confident to get into the next round, until we started to merry around and lose points ourselves when playing with a lousy team. Tze Khit would have bashed them up with his spiking if we were playing on a concrete court. However, the ex PHS team managed to thrash them down to one point (a serving mistake) and then we beat the winner; judged by point system, both able teams got into the next round.
However, we did not manage to survive through the next round to the semi-final. The opponents managed to scare Hengyung, the referee, to give us a demoralising judgement at the crucial time last few points. Our ex Clementi Town, Chung Cheng High Main and Nanyang Girls' High star players were already rusty, whereas Desert Penguin and the injured shortie could not do anything as well. In fact, I did not play except for one and a half game, and luckily for that, I had less pains for the rest of the day.
The day was actually quite boring. The sun was spanking each of us so hard that we could not really think. It was also making my eyes more uncomfortable and the tears were continuously filling up my eyes. There was no eye-candy except for one of the organisers having a unique face though not pretty. One of them looked like Evania but I was too lazy and tired to try my luck. Pauline brought her two dogs down and they caught so much attention as usual. Mocha, the older dog, repeatedly barked at the huge regular black dog who did not give a damn to him and kept so quiet throughout; Hebe joined in too and her size was more than ten times smaller.
We ended the day early at five plus, showering at the open area as all the toilets were packed. We gathered at Harbourfront Centre while Wilson sent Pauline and her babies home after we alighted from his car. I had the Taiwan Shilin chicken cutlet, which I felt could have tasted better. We bought a watch for Yang Teck for his twenty-first birthday, before Tze Khit, Mingfa, Meijun, Weitat and I squeezed into Kailin's car to set off for West Coast Park.
It was the first time I visited there before it was re-constructed. However, the construction was still going on somehow I supposed, with the fencing up of the most inner parts. The MacDonald’s' was nearby to provide food and air-con. The playgrounds were such big attractions that there were so many people around even at late hours. It could be so much better if there was a bicycle shop and of course, would be the best and certainly better than East Coast Park if there was a beach. Despite these, it was a good idea to organise an outing at the West Coast Park one day.
I got to see Yang Teck and his twin brother at the same time, together with their elder brother. They were all tall and huge. There was a big crowd with all their friends and relatives. It was the first time I had my fill in a Barbecue session, when I normally hardly had a few slips of food.
While sending us to the MRT station, the accident incident happened. Tze Khit and I had some chats about my injuries on the train and I reached home around eleven.
I was lying on my mattress while watching television show, knowing I was tired enough to doze off but I was too tired and had to obligate my disabled body.
My mum woke me up for my phone ringing thrice. At first I felt frustrated but later I realised it was our usual trend when the phone rang and it was a good practise for in case of emergency call.
Mingfa wanted to ask if I were going down to the beach again for refereeing in the Surf and Sweat competition; I would have to but Jianhao had told me that the NTU team didn't have enough budget for that, and so, the current referees had to work extra hard and I no longer had excuse to go down to look at babes. Two missed calls were from Siew Chin who wanted to check if I were going down to the beach as well, but to play volleyball; there wouldn't be any court left since the competition was up.
As my younger brother was still talking on the phone, I had no choice but to use my mobile phone to call them back. Actually, I couldn't be bothered much about my phone bill anymore; yes my mum was paying for it all along and I always made it a point not to overuse the free talk-time and SMS, until the *** started to screw it up.
They just treated it as if they were paying for my bill. The endless calls from both known and unknown numbers, to seek help or just to check my location, didn't fail to heat the temperature of my phone up.
I wasn't guilty of anything but was terribly upset, for my purest reputation of being a sensible and responsible phone user being tarnished, and no matter I could keep my clean sheet record of not overusing it. I couldn't help but to feel the helplessness to life again, that no matter how hard I tried, it would screw up if it really wanted to screw up.
I was late again. Being informed only during Kailin's birthday party about the Surf and Sweat beach volleyball competition, the registration was over already.
Kachua, Anqi and Guoxin were interested in getting the shirts only, but I wanted more than that; having failed to participle in the *** inter-formation game, I wanted something competitive to house my drive. With Tze Khit's ally, the prospect was unlimited.
I called Gim Young and he told me that he'd get his friend to put us into the waiting list, in case any team dropped out, we'd get in. However, Jianhao called me yesterday to ask me help him be a referee for the game and he said the waiting list had around ten teams, therefore it was hopeless.
I agreed to him then since I didn't tried before though I'd be a cock up one and referees were the usual target of furious loser competitors.
Playing volleyball in the same team with old men who couldn't dig, set, spike and didn't even know the three-touch system was far too a terrible nightmare, until they started to nag around and underestimate your skill and professional in the game, you ought to point a gun at their heads to shut them up.
I didn't expect we could come up with two teams, more unexpectedly; some of them could play well. I was seeded into the first team where the experts were in, but since Kian wee and Kenneth were in the second team, I accompanied them.
It was a meaningless game though I wanted so badly to play with Kian Wee. The floor was so slippery and I couldn't even stand firmly to dig the ball well. However, I didn't even have many chances to get to touch the ball; needless to say, I didn't get to spike even once.
I was pulled over by Clement to his team in the next game. By then, I had already suffered from a blister on my left thumb and my energy had been exhausted by the resistance of the sliding. My momentum was lost and there wasn't even slight mood for serious volleyball.
When the match started, I was astonished to witness how each of them played, so superbly, especially for Clement with his unbeatable spiking and leadership. I didn't get many chances to touch the ball as well; however, we still managed to win quite easily.
After which, I was asked to play for the first team again, which was a wrong choice. It was a terrible game and then one of the elderly players remembered me and forbid me from playing in the semi-final, which they won the first set and ridiculously lost the other two. They were so close to victory and if only I was inside, it would be a piece of cake to deal with so many amateurs.
Though I had my place in the formation team, by courtesy of Clement who helped me in regardless of my nope display of skill (rusted one), I still felt it was a lousy day for I couldn't do the team proud.
I'm stepping out of my life as the inter-signals volleyball game approaches. I don't know if it'd do me good or bad, but it seems that I'm heading towards a no-return route.
I met 2WO Soh this morning and he called 007 in front of me to seek permission for Kian Wee (Jianwei) and I to take part in the game on this coming Friday. There wasn't any problem except for Kian Wee might have exams to settle on that day, which he managed to push all his appointments to other days.
Suddenly, I received a phone call from Shep, who was so in doubt of my physical condition to take part in the game. It wasn't out of my anticipation that she would enquire me about it, but at least not so soon.
I was caught in the midst of my dazing mood, too shocked to answer her; anyway I doubted she would be able to understand my situation and condition. If only Staff Quek was around I could explain to him or if Chen De was very determined to help me speak up, since he was experiencing injuries too. Anyway, I told her I'd approach the MO for certification that I was fit to play the game, just like how Mani had done; moreover he was a Pes E personnel.
This is the tight problem I'm facing before achieving my dreamed NS life. Since I'm still injured and currently still undergoing physiotherapy, it doesn't seem logical for me to play the game.
I'm in doubt of my own condition as well, but I strongly believe and confirm that my health would improve if I ever get out of the camp; I'll be able to recuperate much faster without all the craps, certainly. I'll get the aching and pains after the game, but they aren't tortures that I've never endured before.
I went to the MO with confidence that he would grant me my wish; he was the one who didn't want to excuse me from Range, IPPT, Guard duty and whatever more torturing physical activities, thus he had no reason to excuse me from the volleyball game. However, he refused to write anything for me because my Pes status was supposed to be fit for everything, so the rest was up to 007.
This day, I've waited for so long, seems too alluring. I'm yelling, hopping and dashing towards it, resembling an innocent child who's facing his new toy, willingly to give up anything for it.
