Emo
I feel emo recently, particularly rebellious. It was as though I hadn't been rebellious during my teens, which was the case, and I am living it out now.
CNY should be a time of joy, but it is completely different for my folks' case. They are bad-tempered over the spring-cleaning, burning the midnight oil to tidy things, nagging continuously. It has been the same every year, but I feel the heat of the nagging because brother has moved out. Actually brother adds to the nagging, but somehow I feel particularly bad now because I am alone in all this, and always keeping quiet.
My friends' house haven't been very very tidy when I visit. I feel more at ease knowing that my visiting did not trouble someone to do household chores. And I feel more at home with some clutter - why stand on ceremony when we are friends? My folks love to apologise for the mess of the home, a behaviour that I have never seen among my friends' parents. Ironically, the apology makes one realise that the house is indeed messy, no matter how neat it is. To me, it is a peculiar behaviour, and a cognitive error known as mind-reading - assuming what others are judge them from the state of the house. A home is one's own home. Visitors should not determine whether one should do household chores.
My resentment stems from many other reasons. I am frustrated because the folks aren't taking care of their health, which I feel is a selfish behaviour. For example, suppers, over-eating, snacking on peanuts, refusing to review their insurance policies, trying to escape from the reality that they are no longer young, their health is deteriorating and doing nothing about it.
And I haven't felt like this when I was in army. I thought the relationship was better when I see them only on weekend, because I was able to appreciate what them better. And I think they must be feeling - why the heck is my son getting more and more insensible when it should be the reverse? (Ok, that is mind-reading on my part!)
Nonetheless they are my parents and I love them. But there are too many conflicting emotions, making me the emo person I am now.
Malaysia Family Trip 6-11 December
Two cars set off at 8am Friday 6 December morning, the start of a long weekend holiday with Hari Raya Haji falling on Monday. It took 4 hours to get from home to JB immigration via Second Link. We ended up skipping Malacca. The first two rest stop were so crowded that we have to go to the third one for lunch. By then it was 3pm and we were starving. The nieces weren't crying, surprisingly. It was no wonder when I saw their ammunition of tibits.
The third rest stop was Ayer Keroh - the one with an overhead bridge mall across the North-South highway. We ate at A&W restaurant and half-way, there was a black out. The electricity resumed in a few minutes. What a M****sia Truly Asia Experience.
We reached Port Dickson in the evening and had dinner at a 'tai pai tong'. I can't use the utensils before cleaning them again with wet tissue. The nieces didn't complain about the poor hygiene standards. The elder one was too tired; the younger one was too excited on her first overseas trip.
Fortunately that night, I wasn't awaken in the night by the "orchestra" in the same room as me - my parents being the musicians and their slightly obstructed windpipes being the instrument.
The next morning I had a free breakfast, thanks to the chaotic situation at the hotel restaurant, which had seating both inside and outside the restaurant. The wasn't really good, and the pool next to the restaurant had more people than water in it. The younger niece threw a tantrum because we didn't allow her to go there. It was slightly resolved when we took a walk along the beach, not very beautiful though...
We left Port Dickson, and drove to our 1400sq-ft KL serviced apartment, where all families will stay under one roof, but different bedrooms lah. Had late lunch at KLCC food court, ordered a variety of food. Bought some stuff, and took the monorail to Bt Bintang for roadside claypot rice. Wet tissues... check, sanitizer... check, go toilet at a shopping centre before proceeding... check.
Went back hotel, then me and bro-in-law went downstairs to get Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. On the way up, the elevator gave us a scary moment.
We pressed our desired floor - 23rd floor. The door closed. We felt the lift ascend, but the display shows the floor descending to B1. And suddenly, the display jumped to 24, increasing rapidly to 27! I thought I was in a nightmare where the lift will just shoot out of the building and explode. Then nightmare number two happened - the lift door opened. I held my breath and hoped the elevator doors did not open to 14th floor lobby, like it does in Chinese thrillers, with flashing lights. Fortunately, we were at level 23, and we rushed into the hotel room.
My night wasn't good. I had to sleep on an uncomfy sofa, and it almost make me vomit. The next day at One Utama wasn't good. The road to One Utama was jammed, the shopping centre was crowded because it was Hari Raya holiday. I felt like puking, took some medicine, and felt drowsy. The confusing floorplan of the shopping centre made things worse. After lunch I took an one hour nap on a sofa at a public resting area sponsored by Maybank. Things were better after a nap. Me, bro and sis-in-law ate at a Chocolate Bar, a first for me. The chocs cost the same as it would in Singapore, but they were sinfully delicious. I bought a CD at MPH, had dinner at the shopping centre. The shopping centre was empty after 7pm because the locals returned home for dinner, supposedly. Economy is bad...
This time Father gave me the king-size bed, while he took the sofa. So I shared the bed with Mother and the two nieces. Mother was telling the nieces bedtime stories... and those nieces were making a funny story out of it! They refused to sleep and kicked me etc. The next morning, I realised the bed had one more occupant - my father. Imagine 3 adults and two kids squeezing on a king-size bed!
We left KL for Fraser's. There's nothing to do at Fraser's Richmond Bungalow, so bro-in-law decided to play cards at night. This was when the devil's horns grew from the younger niece's head. First she plucked the hair on my hand, then she pulled the string on my hoodie. Last but not least, she brought out her bag of smelly undies and put them in front of me! I asked her to go away, which made her cry, really sadly. But I was happy because usually, she pretends to cry and gets all the attention. But I still lost money from that inauspicious bag of........
As usual, we visited Fraser's waterfall, went town, playground.
Then spent the day rotting away at the Bungalow. The Nieces were playing the customer-and-waitress game in my room. The younger niece started ordering normal food at first, then she started ordering more and more absurd "food" - like a rabbit (ok... still edible), then Santa Claus (Erm, I know Christmas was near the corner but...), and eventually iron and plastic (yes that will keep you quiet too while I take my afternoon nap, thank you)
After much rotting, we went back Singapore liao... to continue slogging before we can afford to go overseas and rot, buy clothes, eat again...
Things to do - this holiday!
FORECAST OF EVENTS and PROGRESS FOR DECEMBER 2008
1. Retirement of Term 1 materials
DONE! (a) Materials from AS, Stats and BGS will be sorted and kept aside.
DONE! (b) Notwithstanding a 'fail' grade, CT materials will be recycled.
c) MFE book and notes will remain on the shelf for future reference.
d) BGS textbk (SOLD), AS textbk (SOLD) and
e) Mgt Comm Textbooks NOT YET sold.
2. Procurement of Term 2 materials
a) New files will be opened for the filing of Term 2 materials
b) Need to procure LTB (buying from Serene) and TWC (buying from CW) textbooks.
3. Procurement of Clothes
a) Wardrobe will be strengthened, with Raymond's help, to match up with the swanky dress code in SMU.
b) Proposed addition of 01 x slim fit jeans, 01 x long sleeve business shirt, at least 03 x nice shirts.
c) Other reserved additions, subject to monetary constraints, include 01 x business pants, 01 x business belt, 01 x jeans.
> Done! Addition of 01 x slim fit jeans, 01 x straight fit jeans. 02 x nice T-shirts, 01 x pull-over, 01 x industrie formal-casual shirt.
4. Activities
a) 01 x makan session with Chief, Alwyn, Raymong, Marzuki, S1.
b) 01 x Procurement Trip (Shopping) with Raymond
c) 01 x Science Centre Trip to see "The Science of Illumination" exhibition - anyone out there interested??
d) 01 x K-box session - either with FTB friends or army friends
e) 01 x movie (it has been a long time!!)
f) Finish reading "For One More Day" by Mitch Albom
g) Expected cost.. erms.. should not hit 4-digit.
5. Action-After-Review for 2008 and Goal-setting for 2009
a) To review what can be done to make university life less stressful, more enjoyable, more efficient, more social time.
b) Other life matters
SMU CCA Day
I am really spoilt for choice! Joined PAW, Run Team, tri-touch connexion, Akido. Now I am enticed to join Voix and MIC too.
Busy like hell before school starts... - Sandcastle Building
In SMU, school starts before academic lessons begin. I was really busy after I've changed my strategy - I'd want to clear at least two-thirds, if not all of the compulsory 80 hours of community involvement before school starts. So I emailed Project Summer on Sands (SOS) on 11 July, in the midst of my Summer Term, to ask if a last-minute insertion was possible.
The following Saturday 19 July, I met my SOS group at Bedok Interchange. Thanks to Iris, I was 20 minutes late. To my embarrassment, a group of ladies were waiting for me. I realise to my horror later that I was the only guy in the group. We took 197 instead of 401 to the destination. But thankfully I was late, for if I hadn't been, I'd not have known that I could walk over to Castle Beach from Siglap. 19 Aug was my first sandcastle building training, so was it for the majority of my group members. The weather turned stormy before we started, and we had to seek shelter in tents on the beach. I was wet and cold. The next day, we had the same training, but the weather was good.
In my opinion, manual labour beats selling flags. I did one full day of 'sales' at Marine Parade on 21 July. Initially there were two full days of sales but the second day was cancelled and replaced by a beneficiary visit. For someone who hates streets-sales, doesn't believe in flag selling and hates rejections, the donation has to come from himself. Fortunately, the facilitator for sales that day didn't believe in flag selling so we weren't pressured to sell.
22 July - Beneficiary visit to Chong Zheng Primary School. Our mission was to befriend a primary school student in En Community Service's after-school care and try to probe, as much as possible, about their family situation. I was assigned to Kervin, a cute primary 4 boy who has a strong interest in insects and drawing. He has another friend who shares the similar interest in the after-school care too, so together his friend's befriender also, we were running around with them around the school field and eco-garden to look at insects. We also played soccer. My school-mate wasn't really tactful in eliciting info from her student, so she got a scolding from the student for probing. "Can you stop asking about my family?!" he shouted. Thanks to regular sharing by papa and mama about their counselling sessions at CDAC, I was able to befriend Kervin, then find out about his family situation.
For the next three days, we had 'full day' sandcastle building, although the sessions were in two parts - from 9am to 12noon, and 4pm to 7pm. For the first day, my group headed to Changi Airport for lunch and the clean toilets. On the second day, we stayed behind to guard the bags. I had Roxy Laksa at East Coast Lagoon Food Centre. Also found a travel buddy :). On the third day, I had half a day training as there was OCS briefing and econs pre-camp dinner (at New York New York).
The actual event was on Saturday 26 July. Guest of Honour was Mr Teo Ser Luck. The sandcastles were magnificent. Children from the beneficiaries came and played on the beach. After the event, the barricades were removed and our sandcastles stand in the path of destruction, be it nature or man-made. Kind of sad when the event was over...
The DTL2 alignment is out! I am disappointed with the alignment however due to the following reasons:
1) The line misses the high demand areas like Hillview, Hume Park and Hinhede. The Hillview Station is actually outside Hillview. Are Hillview, Hume Park and Hinhede residents expected to take a feeder bus to Hillview and Beauty World Stations?
2) The line is quite redundant to Bt Panjang residents too, if it is estimated to take 45 minutes to travel to the city centre by DTL2 - approximately the same journey time by Svc 190 or 700 during off-peak hours. DTL2 will definitely be faster than buses during peak hours, but to build a MRT line just to save travel time during peak hours?
3) If Svc 190 is to be withdrawn, how is BPLRT to handle the loads of CCK residents heading to DTL2 Bt Panjang station for a train to city? A MRT station between CCK and Bt Panjang would have been more feasible.
Conclusion: I wonder if DTL2 is going to be a white elephant. The only substantial demand I can see so far, is only from Bt Panjang. Not taking construction costs and future returns into consideration, I welcome the initiative to make public transport a choice mode.
----
Here are the stations that I had predicted before the alignment was announced and how it differs from the actual alignment (in brackets):
Bt Panjang, Cashew, Hillview, Hume Park (not built), Hinhede (not built), Beauty World, (Blackmore), Sixth Avenue, (Duchess), Botanical Gardens, (Stevens), Newton, (Rochor)
DTL2 Bus Route Rationalisation (My prediction only)
Svc 67: Will be cutback to terminate at Suntec City instead of plying Serangoon Rd, Sims Ave, New Upp Changi Rd and Bedok Reservoir Rd.
Svc 190: Will be amended to ply via Yew Tee and KJE instead of Bt Panjang Rd.
Svc 171: Will be cutback from Marina Centre to terminate Bukit Panjang Interchange instead of plying Orchard, Scotts Rd, Bukit Timah Rd and Upper Bukit Timah Rd.
Svc 700/700A: Will be withdrawn
Svc 960: Will be withdrawn
Svc 963: Will be withdrawn
Svc 970: Will be withdrawn
The entrance of the Land Transport Gallery.
I never had high expectation of Land Transport Gallery because our transport history is almost unheard of. It is an irony that bus fans in Singapore who wish to purchase books about Singapore buses have to buy them from bus merchandise shops in Hong Kong. We hear about building conservation, but what about transport conservation?
Our Journey begins here!
Replica of the Mosquito Bus interior
The Land Transport Gallery is set up in a chronological format, namely Journeys, Memories, Formative Years, Land Transport Today, Challenge Theatre, Vision and Aspirations. At the beginning of the Journey, a "train" picked us up from a "platform", and the glazed platform doors open to the Memories gallery. The interior of mosquito bus, taxis are replicated. There are also models of traffic policemen.
Model of the first MRT prototype
The Formative Years would probably tick more with people about my age. Ticket punches, old Transitlink guides, bus tickets, an array of vehicle registration plates are showcased. On display is a model of the first MRT prototype which we have never seen before!
Land Transport Today gallery explains the 'why' and 'how' of what we see today. To quote an example, you might have wondered why the need for two consecutive interchanges at City Hall and Raffles Place. This is so that East-West and North-South lines can be arranged in such a way that transfer of trains at City Hall and Raffles Place Interchanges can be seamless. In other words, passengers need only to cross the platform for transfer without having to travel to another platform above or below. In the gallery, a tunnel boring machine is also displayed.
The game in the Challenge Theatre was interactive. In the game we are transport planners making a decision between two choices. Our decisions were consolidated and shown. The consequences to each decision were shown. However, many of us believed that the programme was pre-programmed. It was a consensus among the bus fans to choose "introduce more direct bus services" than to "expand rail network", but the results show otherwise...
Vision and Aspirations showcases possible technologies we might use in the future, for example, a very advanced Iris. Inspiring.
'Tunnel TV' Replica. You can't see anything when stationary.
A replica of 'Tunnel TV' greeted us at the end of our tour. If you haven't seen Tunnel TV, it is a new advertisement channel developed by SMRT for commuters onboard a moving train to see advertisements along the tunnel. For the 'Tunnel TV' exhibit in LTA, you can only see the advertisement if you walk. If you stand still, all you can see is a row of black screen.
Yup, and I enjoyed the tour!
