Finally the day is here for HQMC external LIFE event (LIFE- basically some sort of physical activities that most camps will have regularly to promote health). Usually it will be conducted in camp like before or after office hours and usually it will be run/games/body workout, and the organising committee is rotated among different branches. anyway, my boss decides to have something different when it is our branch to organise- to conduct one outside camp (which means more work for his subordinates...or rather me to be specific, cos my friends in the branch are either clearing leave or not around, and it so happens that my postulated leave is AFTER the event) Anyway, it is still quite fun and interesting coordinating such a event; the only problem is that it takes up some of my already-busy schedule.
In fact the preparation phase took around one month. We have to decide where to bring the whole clan, plan for the programme, etc. We eventually settle for HSBC tree-top walk, simply becos it is near our camp, and we have never held an event there before. We finally propose it to be held on 24 August am, which happens to be my last day of work before my 2-week leave for NZ trip.
Much to the contrary, it is enjoyable planning for this tree-top walk, which i have learnt quite a lot from it. Recee (i did it twice!) and planting the marshals, arranging for drinks and food, planning for the games, admin stuff like attendance, safety cover etc. My worst fear is actually the rain, cos there isn't any shelter there!
Unfortunately, my worst fear came true! it rained half-way through the journey and well... most of us got drenched. We have to cancel the last item last minute and dismiss those team who have returned first in full strength (must leave no man behind!) Sorry guys and gals if u happen to read this, esp to those who needs to travel in wet clothings.
Special thanks to people who have helped me to make this possible; i definitely can't do it alone. Especially to: Ms Tan and her 2 helpers (glenn and zaimao), Staff Tan and the 6 MRF helpers, people who have helped us in one way or another along the way, National Parks Board for allowing, and all the participants from HQMC. It may not be the most ideal, but this is probably my pre-ORD gift to the organisation heh =p
my understudy came this morning! yup the end is finally near and the cycle revolves. it reminds me of how i first reported to work on the first day, 28 feb 2006 to be exact- entering an office of unfamiliarity, trying my very best to grasp new knowledge, overcoming the steep learning curve, swearing how sucky a staff officer's job can be, trying hard to keep awake when my upperstudy handed over stuff to me...
and now here i am, becoming the upperstudy, saying almost exactly what my upperstudy has told me previously to my understudy, saying how fast this 1.5 years will pass, how to work smart...
did most of my HOTOing (handing-over-taking-over) today and i have yet to finish. it's only when i penned down everything that i have been doing and need to pass over did i realise that.. hmm actually i have been doing quite a lot of stuff in contrast to the popular belief otherwise. in fact, i have to pass my current workscope to three different people: my actual understudy to handle my main job; one to handle the bio projects; the other one to take over the reorganisation portfolio.
somehow for the past 6 months, it seems to be the busiest period of my time here, mainly because of frequent change of top management, immediate superiors, new ideas and beliefs that different people hold and entrust u to fulfill. in fact, till this day i am still having on-going work to be done (things which i want to finish during my residual time left). perhaps jarrod is right, i shouldn't be taking anymore new roles/tasks now.
anyway, days to ORD - 2mths 4days (haven't accounted for 29 days of leave and 36 days of off-in-lieu and the weekends). so theorectically, i shouldn't be around anymore. but of course, it doesn't really work that way. i have told myself that i need to ensure that my understudies need to be at least comfortable working alone before i can officially retire. but i am sure justin will settle well in due course, esp with nice people around.
hmmm as i am typing this, i am starting to miss my times spent here oredi, the times with fellow friends in block 701.. but having said that, life still has to move on, isn't it?
the NZ trip is drawing near and i realise that i still have a lot of things yet to prepare and buy (which include a series of winter wear). According to the WWW, the temperature is around 2 to 10 deg! Here's the list of things to do/prepare:
1) Parka/jacket 2) Long john 3) Windstopper pants 4) Beanie 5) Scarf 6) Gloves 7) Change currency 8) Toiletries (shampoo/body foam/shaver/toothbrush and paste/facial foam/etc) and disposables 9) lip balm and moisturizer 10) Guide book 11) Map 12) Apply insurance 13) plan itinerary 14) buy extra camera battery and memory card 15) watch 16) contact lens solution 17) adaptor for plugs 18) medicine 19) packing! (to bring my favorite CDs to accompany my driving haha, tripod)
* i managed to buy 1,3,4,5,6 today and spend quite a lot!! i also change my currency today, but i think i lugi (cos i din really go and compare prices..) i bought the moisturiser, the disposables and the adaptor yesterday at vivo with greg (although i think i can get all these at Lot one too =p). i got lip balm at home; i bought the lonely planet guide book 2 weeks ago and haven't been reading it actually. We have been planning the itinerary all along; and i have applied the travel insurance on national day.
i tried searching for my extra camera battery but unfortunately in vain. is it out of production? cos my camera is quite old oredi i must admit- IXUS 400. even the memory card (i am using Compact Flash) is like obselete oredi (everyone is using SD cards and mini-SD cards now!!). see how, maybe i will drop by sim lim square one of these days; or borrow another camera.
i am thinking of buying a digital sports watch to wear, something real cheap eg 20-30 bucks with water resistance. the one i am wearing has its straps about-to-be-broken... and i need to buy the portable travel contact lens solution too. not to forget, need to go to medical centre tmr to get some travel medicine.
think i better print out the list. anything i missed out?
* on a separate note, we booked our annual family tour today to Hong Kong in end-sep and yupzz there goes another big sum of money =p
Attended the national education course from 16-17 Aug at SPRING Singapore, unfortunately i have to go back to camp on the first day to do my call which i am unable to swap successfully. partly my fault cos i forgot to block off the dates initially.
the NE course was quite interesting in terms of the topics discussed and presented by various speakers, but i guess i shouldn't divulge the contents too much. it does brought my attention to certain issues which.. well.. i am not too bothered with initially. quite an eye-opener. Apparently all officers are supposed to attend this course; for the NSFs it would be sometime b4 ORD, like our case.
i am quite impressed with some of the 18-19 y/o LTA/2LT who are quite eloquent in their presentation! ocs indeed taught them well eh..
of cos, NE course aside, i have to mention that i have finally revisited the lor mee stall at bukit merah central food centre (which is a stone throw away from SPRING) after so many years!! i used to stay in bukit merah-henderson region so it really brings back some of those childhood memories that i have and cherish.
as mentioned earlier, i took leave during this national day period, and a group of us - 7 to be exact made a trip down to JB for seafood, slacking, playing and having fun. it is one of those HQMC Staff Officers' Cohesion Event of the month hahah, though not all are SOs.. this will be somewhat narrative, so it may sound quite boring.
We met at Raffles hospital at 7am on 10 august and took a private cab straight to JB and directly to the hotel; checked in and it was still rather early. went out for breakfast - ate wanton mee and the auntie actually forgot that we have paid her earlier!!! walked around and returned back to hotel to play. then went out for lunch at city square - ate the Muslim fish head curry and stuff which was not too bad. then walked around and went back to hotel to play. used the gym, sauna and some of us went for the massage. then the finale was to have some seafood dinner at 大马花园 - ate until very full!! we have cereal prawns, stingrays, crayfish, hotplate tofu, veg, lala and crabs! then we went back to hotel to play and sleep.
A good way to slack off your long weekends and enjoy some serious companions eh =) thanks to SWO greg for leading the tour..
full of events these days, hence my backlog in updating my blog, but i will backdate the entry for future easy reference heh =)
another year has passed and yup both the nation and myself have aged by one more year. i was looking at my past year entries cos i really can't recall what happened exactly one year ago! i only remembered that initially i have to do NDP cover but subsequently my friend did for me cos it was my birthday. After reading, i realised that i am supposed to block off the week and apply for leave! well... i did for half the week- applied for leave from 9 to 12 aug, so effectively i worked from Monday to Wednesday.
Wasn't really looking forward to my birthday cos i don't like the idea of getting older. hmmm.. spent the morning and afternoon with my family. watched this documentary on penguins. met up with my friends for dinner at my secret garden @ middle road. thanks don for the organisation! the ambience was nice (but probably more appropriate for pah-tors heh).. food wise, quite pricey i must say. thanks to all who turned up.. buddy, don, xj, theo, greg, cy, cj, em...; sorry that u have to miss your ndp bcos of this.
Birthday wish- every year's gonna be the same, and i won't divulge here else it won't come true. and of cos, happy birthday singapore!
attended yet another wedding dinner on 5 august- congrats to terence and michele! 6 aug- the day when our research assistant ORDed. wish u all the best!
1) you have done 2 DB checks. DB refers to detention barracks, which is located in a rather secluded corner in the Northwest part of singapore, which is also within 5 mins from my home.
- yup i have done my 2nd one 1 week ago
2) you have attended the NE course. NE refers to national education, and it is a 2-day course.
- mine is scheduled to be on 16 august
3) you have attended the e-prep seminar. This is actually meant for all personnel going to ORD soon, so as to prepare them/us in the workfield after NS. Well not particularly relevant to us, since most of us know what to do after NS, or rather, we are bonded to MOH.
- i have attended mine on 31 july.
4) your bosses keep asking "when r u going to ORD?". And u know that they want to suck the most out of you while u are still around.
5) you start to log in to the intranet so very often to check the number of days of leave you still have, and apply accordingly. And you start to sum up how many days of accumulated offs that u are entitled to.
- i still have 11 days left, of which 5 of them i already know when i need to apply. As for the other 6 days, well probably one day a week haha. - offs wise, i probably have a month worth heh.
6) you find out how much credits you have left in your account and start to plan what you can buy from e-mart. the usual stuff would be trackshoes, gortex boots, gortex raincoat, some fanciful items etc.
- i still have 151 credits left, equivalent to 151 dollars!
7) you finish doing your last essential duties, i.e. your overnight call (DMSO call for me) and your RT cover, which should be one month before you officially ORD.
- my final call is on 25 August. my final RT cover is on 20 August.
8) you know your understudy is coming!
- it will be 20 August and from the 64th MOCC batch.
holidae.
singapore.
lefty left-brainer.
leo.
9 Aug.
selective procrastinator.
paladin by day and nite.
Chatters
Wishlist
tag watch
learn cooking
play a new musical instrument
lasik op
new hobby
clear exit
Fav food
chilli crab
fried kway teow
fried carrot cake @ upp bt timah, bt merah, bt merah view, clementi
fried dang hoon
pig kidney/liver/small intestine/large intestine/organ soup/pig blood
kway chap from sembawang hills
hainan chicken rice with gien3
century egg porridge
fried oyster
BBQ stingray
clams and lala
chicken soup and all sorts of soups my mum cooks
fried fishballs
fish soup from han jee @ amoy
fried chicken wings
salmon belly sashimi
hairy gourd
lotus root
szechuan veg
prawn mee esp from old airport rd, zion rd, adam rd, sembawang hills and hong lim
chwee kueh from tiong bahru, jurong west, clementi, queens st
kueh tutu
coffee/bread toast/egg from sembawang hills, ah kun
prawn cracker
strawberry sundae @ macs
hotcakes @ macs
rum and raisin
duck's tongue
indocafe coffee
water chestnut juice
sugar cane juice
marigold lemon barley
holidae.
