randomness

monday soccer days are great...every tuesday i go to work and get ready to zone out in the latter half of the day for good reasons. I don't even have to run too much to train for ippt anymore! hooray! the dslr has been good and the reading heavy. credit card bill also heavy cos amazon sapo all on photography books. farks. ah well, all in the name of good pictures when out for trips. speaking of which, my butt is itching for more. I so want to do the laos and cambodia. i wonder when they would ever allow us to ride into china. it'll be absolutely wonderful to ride into Lhasa. I dare say tibet is my spiritual home..well..dat is until i visit bhutan...all this is making me feel godly, but im not about to turn vegan, so please call me when ur out for meats and wines. have been researching for wildlife conservation programs these days. wondering hard how to make WEA work and wat sort of programs we can organise to make kruzers more aware of their surroundings. gotta think fast cos it's gonna be time for studies again....this portion's really draggy..can't wait to get to writing the thesis and get it over and done with. still...wondering when i can blast out for a ride again. need the wind in the face.........

camera blues....

i got my first dslr!

supposed to be studying....ohhh...wat the heck...

singaporean forumer = idiot

It is shocking to know someone got shot at in the "safe" streets of Singapore. (in the MRT station, to be exact) Being curious, I searched asiaone for what is the first operational shooting in 6 years.. but I got pissed at the comments made in its forums on the police force.

Singaporeans are a big bunch of complainers and whiners. Many people i know are like this: give u little pay, complain, give you more pay, you say they're gonna tax you more. (DUH?)

BUT dissing people who have been serving and protecting YOU smells badly like biting the hand that feeds you. the recruitment ads that the armed and police forces put out may be exaggerated, but respect should be given where it's due.

While the shooting does seem like an excessive use of force, some of the crap these farkers put out really takes the cake. "he should have aimed his hand or leg", "don't the police learn close combat?", "if police don't charge at him, how will a person charge at the police?"

i mean, wat the fark? have u shot a pistol? do you know how accurate the weapon is? do you think u can aim at his arm or leg, with one eye squinting at a man running at you with a knife in his hand? do you expect him to shoot the knife off his hand? do you think he can have a nice little close combat with him with a pistol in your hand and a knife coming at you? the last question really takes the cake - that idiot actually expects the police to run away from the suspect, so that he won't feel the need to charge at the police?! he goes into an MRT station with a knife having just killed someone, do you think the police should let him go home and take a shower first?

i would really dread to see such a man in blue. selfish, self-centred and being all self-righteous. he doesn't have the slightest idea of what a law enforcement officer goes through before he shoots a round.

Granted that deriding such a person may give me great pleasure, but he has a point in when he says that the man may be unstable. the man could be mentally deranged, drugged out (thus impervious to pain), or depressed enough to cause him to stab someone.

now, we can't possibly know and the police officer who pulled the trigger may live in regret even.

having gone through taser training recently, i think it's time every police officer be issued with a taser (non-lethal) and a pistol (lethal). we wouldn't have to go through this sort of drama again and could probably save the life of the assailant and bringing him before justice.

with all the flak that the spf gets recently with the escapee and this shooting, it's easy for singaporeans to be cynical. that's wat we do best. but please, when you whine and complain, put yourselves in their shoes.

Consider this: imagine you're the home affairs minister, wat would u have done to catch the escapee? and if you were the officer at the MRT scene, with your gun the only weapon you have against someone who has just killed and charging at you, what would you have done?

Singapore Airshow 2008!

the most exciting thing to hit town this week is the Singapore Airshow!

I didn't have much interest in aviation seriously and my work doesn't deal with it. Tuesday was the first time I actually saw an airshow and i absolutely loved it!

so much so that I went back on thurs with my camera! I didn't walk around the exhibits much on tues as it was inconvenient but boy did I walked till my heels ache yesterday.

reaching just minutes before the show started and standing in the afternoon sun from 1230 to 1330hrs, i snapped away almost 2 batteries worth of pictures and gained a burnt skin. The quick and fast jets like the F16 and F18 Super Hornets were really hard to catch, while it's almost impossible to catch the black knights soloists cross each other unless u can multiple shots like an SLR.

(Again, click on the pics to catch a clearer, bigger pic. These small pics allow for faster loading of the page so...)

The Changi Exhibition Centre - A purpose built exhibition Centre

The vast grounds of CEC

Look closely - The Black Knights appear!

Off in a delta formation

Black Knights in a swan formation

each plane did it's own barrel roll, resulting in a beautiful interlinked smoke trail

the black knight mirror

the alpha pass - a slow speed maneuvre that can be very dangerous

a closer look at the F16 alpha pass

the finale - curtain

only managed to capture 2 planes..no time to zoom out yet!!

F/A 18 Super Hornet - US piloted

Alenia Aermacchi - an advanced fighter trainer

Can't capture good pics of the F16 and Korea Aerospace Industries T50 Golden Eagle - too fast!
So we have the grand dame A380 to wow the spectators

best show of the whole lot - Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Roulettes

in a graceful delta

pilatus PC9 - RSAF acquired these classic lookers for basic trainers

I don't know the name of this move but it requires good timing and solid command from the leader

was there on monday and it was the only act then that had voice commands from the leader broadcasted to the audience below - absolutely loved it and lets the audience appreciate the timings and trainings to achieve this. Subsequently, the Black Knights did the same thing on Thurs...sometimes, imitation is the best form of flattery.

Catch the roulettes on http://www.defence.gov.au/Raaf/roulettes/team.htm

The leader fly past

another formation

roulettes mirror

i think this is called the vulcan roll. impeccable timing from the leader to pull this off

the finale and a burnt me....

An hour in the sun was worth it for me as I eagerly snapped photos of the performing planes. but the best thing today was that one of the roulette members (roulette 4) emailed me via flickr to ask to use my pics for their team's photo dvd collection! really made my day to have such an honour...:)

it was also quite an honour to be next to MM Lee when he was making his rounds! his security perimeter is bigger than some HDB flats!

cool looking space age helmets

Chinooks in the static display

A380 opens its doors

ferrari private jet!

you won't see this in F1 though!

Been a really cool week, rubbing shoulders with people like the PM, Saudi crown prince, ministers from all over the place and looking at the cutting age planes. My only regret: no money to buy the ferrari jet.....

fab feb

I wouldn't say the lunar new year flashed by. more like the drudgery of visiting slows things down a little.

reunion dinner was at east coast seafood centre and THAT was a rush. we expected this but telling us that they will serve us on time when all have not arrived was not pleasant, to say the least. a few beers was all it took to get the heat out though. heh.

it was also good that CNY falls so perfectly that we have sat and sun to play around with. parents went to genting so me and dear took the opportunity to ride to malacca for beers, cendol and food. The budget hotel we stayed wasn't fantastic but i'm glad we found another cool looking budget hotel this time round. Will definitely be staying that the next time round. (click on the pics to get them bigger)

a packed jonker street for the new year!

crazy queue for cendol at that "famous" stall

jonker was ridiculously packed - the riceball place also jammed with pple and the pasar malam pple put out their stalls earlier than usual, causing even more jam, so.....

out to paradise seafood for westerns and more hoegaarden and....


Franziskaner wheat beer!!

the setting is set...


for my bratwurst!

Valentine's was a little different this year. got some flowers last year and they cost a bomb, all because of some very efficient marketing of this "special day". So I did the next best thing: boycott!! and went to search the internet on how to make paper roses..hahah..cheapskate!

the kawasaki rose in my hands - i intended to make it into a bouquet, but I dun have paper to wrap the bottom around in...so....

found a heart shaped box that dear gave me some time back...and with the help of some floral foam..voila!

view from the top

all I spent on was the pink paper. my mum had floral arrangement foam, I use my mum's wire hangars for the stems (all cut up of course), red ribbon from ikea for wrapping the stems and a heart shaped box I received from dear a few years back! and I still have spare hangars....

magnificento!

memories

just read my post back in 2005.

the one where I wrote abt benny, who died on 25th Mar 2005. Again, tears welled up and disappeared.

It would be much better if these guys were here with us...

one loss is one too many..

As my circle of friends widen, so do some who will leave us permanently. A rider whom I grew to listen and respect, not only for his rides, but for his very tenacity in life. Despite the pain, he still rides when the chemo doesn't hurt and I harboured hopes he can fully recover. But it was not to be......mine and Kruzer's memoriam for him:

In Memoriam:
Bahati Bin HJ Md Noor
"Bat"
(1956-2008)

A zest for living must include a willingness to die - R.A. Heinlein

There was never a person I’ve seen who loves his riding more. Even in the last weeks of his fragile life, my brief conversation with Bat was only filled with his metal machines and how one should treat them. With love and respect.

A Kruzer to his very end, Bat had left behind his beloved family and hordes of Kruzer who still have yet to imbue with his enthusiasm. For those who have known him, they remember an approachable, fatherly figure who dispenses motorcycle advice with a feverish panache.

Despite the pain his treatment administered, he persevered and manages to meet up with the Kruzer fraternity when he feels fit to do so. In defiance of his crumbling body, he also inhales the fresh winds that only riding at night can provide.

Bat’s zest for living, and indeed for his rides, has never faded even in his last breath. I’m pretty sure that Bat has lived the life he had most wanted and would gladly do it again in a painless world.

Rest in Peace.

just like what i want it to be..

shaking the dust off and picking up the pen again. it was pretty revulsive when there was pressure to write but also the latent laziness to overcome.

many had come to pass in the lost blog time but immense satisfaction with my life was gained. was it an new perspective in life or just the fact i want to enjoy the nows without regrets?

im meeting frens more often and talking more. and it feels better. frens i haven't seen in ages but still somehow managed to find. the power of facebook perhaps. :)

perspective also changes when i was travelling. Nov was great. backpacking in northern thai with my trusty old bike. and knowing what's it feels like to live a life without stress..now there is a nirvana we (me and dear) would like to reach sooner rather than later.

the best things in life are really free. frens, love and the big wide world...


Khun Yeam - Bua Tong Flower Festival, Mae Hong Son, Nov 2007

sci fi high...

after seeing what i can do, im must confess. I'm a major fantasy geek. like milllions of geeks around the world, i shamelessly read on and on and got immense satisfaction at the ending of a literary classic, not quite yet like the class of lord of the rings. but it'll do...until the next comes about....

too much free time

Your Birthdate: April 10

Independent and dominant, you tend to be the alpha dog in most situations. You're very confident, and hardly anything ever shakes you. Mundane tasks tend to drain you - you prefer to be making great plans. You are quite original. When people don't "get" you, it bothers you a lot. Your strength: Your ability to gain respect Your weakness: Caring too much what others think Your power color: Orange-red Your power symbol: Letter X Your power month: October

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

one year later, i start by posting these sorta things....haha

a catch up

It's been such a long time since i written in this one... but must admit i tend to neglect this one as i procrastinate on the development of the other. got inspired to write here after seeing frerin's post after 3 months...heh

life on the civil service is really not too bad. have met up so many old friends in the sector that it really feels nostalgic at times. And i do feel really on towards meeting them and re-aquainting. probably i feel more attached to frens these days. been meeting with pple from various times in my life and it does feel good keeping up with them. i have to thank dear for showing me how its done. army pals for meetups, uni mates blading in east coast, colleagues for drinks, riders for usual talk cock, bbq and planning for the next BIG one, and even a long time insurance agent. Sometimes, i feel like an insurance agent, but with no hidden agenda of course. hai...wat to do....pple will be suspicious of me especially now that i changed jobs.

been feeling good too cos our rides and club are being recognized by the bike community. watch out for the latest chini ride write up in a local bike publication! my first ever published article....kekek (gotta discount the research paper I 'co-wrote' ...the targetted audience were fuddy duddys academic pple)

a childhood buddy of mine got married recently too and inevitably, the same question volleyed my way.

I smile and say...i haven had enuff fun yet..................

19th of April blues

it's been a farking month! nothin much xcept been crooning to rod stewart and jamie cullum almost very single day. i swore i would not be like my dad....but rod stewart changed that stupid statistic.

til another day when im not so sleepy.....

The Tao of Kenny

this is something i wanna do for some time already...me farking writing a blog during my office hours...muahhahahaa... it's not that i dun have work to do...but it's a freaking saturday for god's sake. and while girls get alternate saturdays off, guys slog for every saturday they can remember since they joined this company. have been so busy that i dun have time to meet pple i wanna meet for some time..esp boo and gang. paiseh paiseh..hoping to go ntu again... so many pple in my cohort have jumped to other industries and jobs that im was really beginning to wonder if our course in NUS was of any use at all. after reflecting, i decided "yeah..it wasn't really useful." im getting so lame in my writing. or is it the little sneaky thrill i get from doing something illegal in the company that makes me write like a descriptive essay? nah, downloading anime after office hours takes the cake over here. im glad no one else in my company reads this junk more than u do. back to the topic. now, wat sort of tao does kenny the wanker has? i dont proclaim to be the next confucius, but im close. afterall, tao's my middle name and it's heaven sent sign for me to play uncle ubi (i cant think i anything close to auntie agony). i have noticed many pple being philosopical lately or at least i am. particularly on the idea of the life that one would like to have. the type of movie that describes ur life , the movies i've watched like V for Vendetta and Munich (which happens to talk abt the lifes they die die want even if it would haunt them), my brother's poster in his bedroom that asks u to choose between 'living in ur coshy little apartment, watching telly, living with brats for kids and dying in an old age home' or 'life' and also stumbling on a blog entry of an old friend in NUS talking abt the sad lifes of pple who think they are happy.

this sort of question, im sure, has been bugging pple our age since the wheel was invented (seriously, i dun know). and im also quite certain many pple got it figured out or at least think they got it figured out. now the hard part comes, doing it.

if u ever thot travel is ur cup of tea and wish to tell ur kids about your travels and perils, simply live ur life ard it.

dont get a job that would hinder u from acheving those goals or sign silly bonds to a job u never liked.

dont get jealous or envious of others because u prob can live a life like theirs if u really wanted to.

if u think that making money is all u ever wanted to do, just do it. dont let negative comments like "eh..u no life la..making this type of money" or "why work so hard? ur money also cannot go to hell with u" get u down. Ur living life as u deem happy to so live by them, and not let other pple's principles of life rule u.

at the same time, some knowingly want to live a poorer man's life and if it makes them happy, dun let ur principles of making money as a way of life disturb them. they can see happiness in ways u prob cant.

last but not least, watever u do, do without regrets. sounds cliche yeah...but many pple i know dont follow it. and they get cynical, they get envious, even putting others down for perceived weaknesses in their lifes...u get my drift.

if ur truly living the life u want and being so damn happy, you would not be probably casting envious glances at friends or acquaintances. u wouldn't also mind if others put u down for the life u choose to live.

think abt it. life is abt ruling yourself and doing it. i cannot agree with nike more....

administrator at work

it's been some time and i've been busy with wat else, work....but i also took some time off to create another blog for the motorcycling touring committee who might wanna read the trips and thrills of my journeys....a motorcycle diary if u will...

i'll link it up on the side bar.. www.vanwarides.blogspot.com

this will enable this blog to remain clutter free from all the trips reports that i do write for the klub. somehow, i can't find inspiration to write on microsoft word whereas it's a totally different expereience over here at the blogger's posting template.

been pretty philosophical lately after reading the forgotten realms trilogy on drizzt do-urden, a dark elf whose society operates on evilness. just bought another trilogy on drizzt and reading the first few pages while taking a dump, i think it will be quite addictive so dun really expect me to write in here for a coupla days..

til then....

about gays

just back from another ride to fraser's..this time..an extremely cold one with heavy rains....thankfully, the skies cleared and the roads dried before we headed back down and had quite a bit of fun and a scare...

oh well, i had just watched the movie abt gay cowboys yesterday and while i cringed at some scenes, it's just a love story of romeo and juliet themes, albeit a pretty controversial one. somehow, i would preferred the theme to remain underground and become a joke instead of it becoming mainstream.

even if the show is for adults above 21, im pretty sure many are of the mentality of 12. take for example, a moron beside me. incidentally, he came with a guy. he speaks in such an irritating know all sort of way, commenting even on the silliest thing like a pink panther ad asking bigger morons to turn off their phones and munching rudely away as if he and his partner are the only occupants in the cinema. really, he seems like the 12 to 16 year kids i see these days with the sort of rude, arrogant attitudes they take with pple in general. smart alecky and attention seeking...

anyway, i deviate..the homosexual thing is becoming so mainstream that i fear the younger set are doing it for the fun of it. take a walk along town and it becomes so apparent....it used to be underground...and i do sympathise with pple with true sexual confusion. but the more exuberant seems to be campaigning it with other intentions...to be accepted.

freedom of rights? more of a pathetic attempt to ride on the major social acceptance of democracy. im not against homosexuality....only against the actions and campaigns to make it legal. a democracy must be guided by morality. to accept homosexuality would mean murdering someone because of perceived injustice can also be moral. i believe in this innate guiding light in everyone of us when we are brought into this world. the guiding light we call morals. although moral education didn't teach us that guys must screw girls so that the country can re-populate, we all know somewhere in us that this is what is natural. i mean..how do monkeys (or other animals for that matter) know which monkeys to fark to procreate and ensure their future existence? surely not the males..

den again, im pretty tolerable abt these things (dear tries to get me irritated with gay themes just to see me uncomfortable) but am totally against it going mainstream. my reason is simple: do not let the young, impressionable and the weak in the heads be confused further. the situation the two cowboys get themselves into is frankly, trying to get out of the loneliness they endured. of course, it doesn't help that one of them is sexually confused.

but wat of impressionable young kids in the cities? everyday, they see examples in their classmates, older siblings and friends....and worse, media examples....den wat?

i fear for the kids in the future. having heard so many stories of rude, yaya kids acting all high and mighty with their malaysian cousins during chinese new year makes me very pissed and worried at the same time. i would have smacked the hell out of the kids if they were mine. the hands would have already been full with teaching proper manners...wat more of kids having homosexual tendencies because it's the rage.

pple should make their own decisions and as jake said "it's only between the two of us and nobody else". the society shd be more tolerable towards it but the line must be drawn when it comes to accepting it.

ennis: "im no queer."
jake: "me neither."

it is sad to see these two victims of circumstances. while romeo and juliet were separated by mafia rivalry, these two are separated by society's refusal for tolerance, let alone acceptance. im treading on touchy stuff indeed and although im uncomfortable with it, i think this is for the sake of future generations that it should remain underground as it is and kept a lid on. the world cannot do without controls.

and although it may seem far fetched, widespread acceptance of it probably leads to one conclusion.

humanity's worst enemy is itself.

Route without Horizons - Titi!!!

Happy Chinese New Year to all!

again, another mind numbing exercise to meet all related to u...if not watching chinese reruns on tv, den it's eating,eating and more eating.... it helps that i have got a good book. a trilogy in fact, and finished in good time too....b4 i go on..i think i better finish my 3rd day...i dun wanna lose the memories to the merciless course of time. on to Route Without Horizons - Titi!!!

.
.
.
.

woke up to aches from the past two days but the natural airconditioning of the highlands more than compensated the whining muscles. i had always wanted to get up early at frasers and take a walk in the numerous trails around the hill.. but as always the tiredness ensures a longer time under the blankets.

the name of the hill takes after an european journeyman who apparently either lost his way or decided to lead a hermitic life on this quaint little protrusion north of KL, the capital of malaysia. how selfish he must be to keep this place his own...expectedly, the layout and designs of the cottages and stores in the middle of the hill oozes a rural style of architectural more at home in europe than south east asia. heck, there's even a mini clock tower with a roundabout smack in the centre of town. i wonder if witches were ever burned there..keke..

View from our room (time to invest in a panoramic lens)

dear's company has a corporate bungalow available for booking, so we decided to check the place out as we might even decide to return to the free accomodation, especially if the place proves cosy and scenic enuff. after the hotel breakfast, which was admittedly disappointing compared to what we had b4, we headed back to pack up our belongings and leave the apartments on our way to look for the place. ah siong had just woken up and breakfast was essential, so he headed straight to the town for it while we milled around looking for the bungalow. and boy, it didn't disappoint. there are like 5 to 6 huge rooms and large communal halls for gatherings and longing around. with a garden and private carpark, this place would be high on our future trips here.

with siong full and satisfied, we headed back down fraser's and i thoroughly enjoyed the ride being the lead and an unobscured road ahead. i hadnt ridden far out for a long time and my skills on the bike was rusting in singapore. thankfully, all the twisties slowly brought out the
confidence in tackling those treacherous falls. even dear felt the difference with my riding as the days pass.

after an hour of sweltering heat, i was panting like a dog in the shell station. the cool morning and hot weather played punk with my immune system and nose, making me feel feverish as the unforgiving sun pelted its golden arrows into my eyes. i also blamed my stupidity at taking an extremely cold shower in the morning. half an hour later on the roads, there was a sign which seemed a godsend. 'genting highlands - 26km'

even dear was getting hot and flustered at the beaming sunshine and imagine our absolute delight when isaac signalled his intent to go up the 'hill'. 20 kms of winding roads and the air had noticeably became more cool. suddenly, the sun didn't bite anymore. onward we push until finally, we were approximately 1000m above sea level, if my memory serves me correctly. it is much cooler in genting, given that we had just experienced an unusually warm spell in fraser. (it wasn't as cold as the last few times we've been there.)

we stopped at the starbucks at the first world hotel and munched into our tea. starbucks is famous for standardising their prices all over the region but it just seemed so bloody expensive to spend 25 ringgit just for tea per person! anyway, we were glad of the cool air and the much needed break and i settled into my first step into genting since i was 7 years old.

Starbucks for tea

huge contrast to the heat down below

my parents are habitual visitors to this place and have often told me of the wonderous changes that have taken place. theme parks and the basic developments of infrastructure have indeed transformed the place into a gambling haven. along the way up, it was heartening to see many locals benefitted from the overwhelming number of tourists into the area and the development it brings. however, all these developments can be attributed to a single chinese man who single handedly built up this empire of gambing dens. the rich only get the richer...

the scale of development (only one rich chinese man has such clout to improve the infrastructure)

having fun

down genting

on with the journey back, we headed along the kerak highway and i planned to deviate into the western regions of negri sembilan. if only to extend our riding hours and also to meander through one of the most talked about roads, the Titi range. just as we were about the enter, we headed into a scenic spot with the whole of KL at our feet. 5 min past when the imtimidating rainclouds burst through. the weather had been extremely kind to us, allowing us the opportunity to take excellent pictures and travel in safe weather. the rain in the early hours of evening was indeed well timed.

the smog and one more reason to get a panoramic lens

the sweeps in Titi are large and well banked. control of the bike is easy and the lanes are slightly larger, giving a certain sense of safety in our lane. lining the sweeps and contours are the high trees and huge columns of earth to our right and deadly falls to our left. i had read abt this british traveller who fell off a cliff while travelling in india. amazingly, he survived but with a couple of broken bones. with that in mind, i had no intention of going over.

soaking in the atmosphere in titi

wat a panoramic might do to this pic

i wasn't peeing

as the day darkens and the rainclouds gaining up on us again, we sped off trying to reach the NS highway before the conditions became real bad. As it is, the rain came pouring after last light, and my hellas were put to good use. tired and hungry, we made a detour to malacca for a western meal by the sea. the new year was approaching and i wondered where i would be and what i would be doing when it really comes....


as it is, prove that my new year was spent signing for petrol in pagoh R&R....a weird way to spend the new year but a mighty great way to end the last one....one ride i would certainly look forward to for years to come....