Sunday, October 29, 2006
I don't have time to write an entry due this extremely hectic week, but I'd like to reccomend this show to others, it has a very good plot! Worthy of a 4-star, but I'll give it 3.5/5 due to certain imperfections..
Watch it if you can!
DEATHNOTE
Shinigami, the God of Death, dropped a notebook in the human world where a weary genius picked it up. "The human whose name is written in this note shall die", it said. This was the notebook of death that determined people's death.
Light Yagami, an extremely bright elite university student was the one to possess this ultimate tool that should remain only in the hands of God. Light decides to create an ideal world and begins to hold the scales to judge the criminals in his discretion.
Meanwhile, ICPO (International Criminal Police Organization) has placed a mysterious detective called "L" in the Japanese police force to investigate the series of criminal dying suddenly. "L", having solved many unresolved cases in the world, begins to tighten the investigative screws over these cases. But Light cleverly manipulates the notebook of death to toss and shake off the investigation. The future of mankind is at the mercy of this crucial and fierce battle of the two brains.
2:06 AM
Monday, October 23, 2006
Today I went to Vivocity! Okay, let me talk more about that place, the opening of Vivocity on 7th October has brought about much excitement amongst the local population, why? After a long lull period of new shopping complexes in stagnation, there is finally a new place to go to. Singapore is a small country, pretty much rather boring and most if not all of the general population have been to every hype-shopping centre there is to go to. As a result, Singapore has become rather boring. Almost every other shopping centre has to go through a revamp in one way or another to entice shoppers to return. Sentosa, Paragon, Wisma Atria etc. In other words, Singapore has become rather boring without its own theme parks or places of geographical interests due to land-space constraints.
With every new shopping centre that is opened to the public brings about much chatter. Vivocity is no different, it's opening unveils Singapore's newest and largest shopping complex with over 1million square feet (larger than the Suntec City, currently the largest-shopping complex in Singapore, and boasting over 450 shops, (Takashimaya has only 300). It is situated beside the Harbour Front World Trade Centre and promises a fresh new theme to shopping.
My first impression of the place that of a futuristic future. There were THRONGS of people! It's like a scene out of "minority report" in a not too distant future where cities are suffering from overpopulation and everyone is crammed up in a shopping centre. But nevertheless, the place had a very nice and spacious ambience that is comparable to Malaysia's JUSCO Tebrau City.
Vivocity has a very spacious and brightly-lit interior, the first floor boasts all sorts of imported foreign fashion boutiques offering all manner of luxurious apparel and clothing, something like Paragon. The 2nd floor has a mixture of tech shops amongst others and the much-touted GV VIVOCITY. Which is GV's newest and biggest Cineplex in Singapore with 15 screens spanning 2 floors, it's larger than GV Grand (Great world City), tickets are at the usual price, but for the GV GOLD it's $30 per ticket, and you're pampered with a private lounge and plush electronic recliner seats comparable to First Class airline seats. The place is extremely luxurious with it's own lounging area while you wait for your movie to start.
You are also offered high-class food and beverage (including a top wine list) and a private dining room and every seat is equipped with call buttons for faster and more of concierge-style service, all for $25. Wth? Haha, that's if you can afford it. Just imagine $9.50 for an "economy-class" seat and $30 for the Gold Class Seat (First Class). It's madness, but hey, you've got 2 other new cinemas to choose from! GV Vivocity also boasts the Europa and GVmax class. All giving Cathay Cineleisure a run for it's money. Now the competition between the Cinema-providers have really heated up! Who will be the next best Cinema? Cathay Cineleisure EZmax? Or GV Vivocity?
Besides the shops, I noted many interesting marketing gimmicks, which includes the promoters on Segways, a group of promoters dressed in bright costumes toting a portable speaker playing pro-shopping broadcasts and music and prancing around the shopping centre grounds and last but not least, "traffic-policemen" or should I say "Vivo-men" on pedestals in green uniform with a helmet "directing" traffic, or more like advertisements for selected shops with their make-shift makers lettered "shop! Shop!", I must say it's a very eye-catching advertising gimmick and they have to act like robots moving about entertaining the crowd, always under the limelight and many patrons came forward to take photos with these mascots! Haha.
The one thing many of my friends complained about is that many shops are not open, but I find it a very good marketing ploy, the move that Vivocity has employed is to stagger the opening of the shops so that people will continue to visit Vivocity periodically to ensure that the shopping centre is not a mere facade with temporal hype about it's unveiling.
Vivocity also boasts a new open-roof concept with the 3rd floor dedicated to a open-spaced amphitheatre, aesthetically pleasing water displays that allows the public to waddle about in a pool of knee-deep water and just enjoy the scenery that Harbour Front has. This open-air concept is not new, but it's nice to see a refreshing change. The shopping complex also has 3 Culture-oriented food cuisine concept food courts which comprises of the Chinese-oriented Food Republic, Halal Banquet and the famous Kopitiam. When I went to eat at Food Republic, attention to detail was so intricate that I felt I had stepped into another time zone! I felt as if I had stepped into a late Ming Dynasty, complete with traditional Chinese furniture, stall-signs and paper lanterns. One gripe, the food is extremely expensive, $5.40 for a simple bowl of Ban Mian. I guess you just have to pay for the ambience.
Vivocity actually makes the whole IR-theme much clearer, with open sea-view concepts, family-oriented playgrounds, professional-audience fashion boutiques, fast-food restaurants coupled with specialty Chinese cuisines, Entertainment such as the GV Cineplex and Ezone arcade, there's something for everyone at Vivocity. 2009 will be a year to look forward to when the Marina Bay Sands and Sentosa Integrated Resorts open. I will talk more about why the IR resorts are so important and vital to singapore's economy in the next entry or so. But for Singaporeans, if you liked Vivocity, you'll love the new IRs!
12:53 AM
Sunday, October 22, 2006
I booked out at 7.30am with Kenneth, finally finished my CDO duty and went home to rest up and change. It's going to be a long weekend! Whoot! Today is Deepavali, then the sat & sun weekend, plus Tuesday's public holiday, which is Hari Raya Puasa. 4-days of leave! The week had been relatively bearable, but undoubtedly in the army you are bound to face some crap when the shit hits the fan from time to time and OCS is no exception.
Still I am not really in the mood to talk about OCS life, basically it's not easy, and probably some people are breezing through it, whilst others find it tough. I am still surviving, sometimes it can be fun, and sometimes it's just a serious mental strain upon us.
The training is not particularly physically strenuous, because almost everyone is fit, at least a IPPT silver or above, in OCS physical fitness is the minimum criteria and because of that, they only maintain your physical fitness, with a 5-km run every other day, power-runs, sbo-runs, SOCs and all that. But the real challenge in OCS is not physical fitness, but rather mental fitness, everyday is an challenge on your mental capability.
But one thing remains the same throughout my NS life so far, everywhere there'll always be someone who is super-enthusiastic, or "garang" as it is more affectionately known in NS. There will also always be a joker, an asshole (someone who just pisses others off with a stuck-up attitude but never gets into trouble), an loser (always late, always screwing things up, always getting into trouble and doing stupid things that makes you cringe). That guy is also the guy who is probably the "sabo-king" who gets everyone else into trouble because of something stupid or dumb that he did or said to the instructors. Then there is also someone weird, (anti-social outcast by the rest), there is "Mr-popular", who seems to be friends with everyone, there is "Mr-fit", probably the guy who can run 2.4km in 8 minutes and pull 20 pull-ups. In summary, in NS, you just meet all kinds of people, both positive and negative. That's just life.
The week hasn't been easy, we had our first exam, I barely passed by the skin of my teeth, and probably had a brush with trouble for the first time causing me to get "one-extra" as punishment, I got it very lightly, had I been in Alpha, I'll probably have signed 7-extra. But I am really glad to escape all that nonsense now that I am in the Air-Force.
Let me illiterate the punishment jargon in OCS for those who are not in-terms with NS-speak.
Previously as a recruit or private, a basic punishment for minor offences are push-ups, but in OCS, that doesn't apply anymore, "Signing-extra" is the basic form of punishment, which is basically doing more duties than assigned, which could range from anything of a CDO-duty, Guard-duty, (these are 12-hour duties), confinement, or fatigue work (area-cleaning). Depending on the Warrant-Officer or Sergeant-Major, the duties could be staggered or at one shot. E.g I sign 7-extra. Means I have to do extra duties for 7 days consecutively, that usually means one weekend is burnt.
The next more serious will be "RCP" or (Restriction of Cadet's Privileges), usually comes in 7, 14 and 21 days and with an Observation-Report (OR). This happens when you mis-fire a round, 7-days for a blank and 14-days for a life-round. In RCP, you'll have to report for RP (Regimental Parade), basically when everyone is eating their meals or resting, you have to report to the guard room with FBO (Full Battle Order) and march up and down the parade square as punishment. That is really terrible.
2 ORs and you will get a Cadet Record Of Warning (CROW). 2 CROWs will send you out of OCS. That means if you get RCP twice, you'll be eligible to get OOC (Officially Out of Course). Which brings me to the last and most serious offence which can get you charged or CM-ed "Getting-Charged" or Court-Martial. These are usually insubordination, AWOL (Away without official Leave), taking drugs, malingering, theft and more commonly cheating, or misconduct of ethics etc.
It's really easy to get into trouble in OCS. So far I've signed one-extra for a really stupid reason, and hopefully I can avoid such instances again in the near future. When the shit hits the fan, everyone gets it. I am thankful that I have gotten into Air-Wing, where at least you don't get into trouble for the tiniest of "humanity". If I had still be in Alpha, I'd probably be de-humanized by now. Seriously, I mean I can take the tough training, I can take the lack of sleep, I can take the unlimited runs or the strength training and the exams and the studying. But what I really really hate is the Stand-bys or inspections, I cringe everytime there's a stand-by field-pack or stand-by area and that usually takes hours, and you usually get into trouble no matter how clean you have cleaned your bunk or how perfect you have packed your field-pack.
Later at night I went to Vivocity...
8:36 PM
Friday, October 06, 2006
I've finally booked out of SAFTI MI (OCS) for the first time after my 3 week confinement period. But I must say, no matter how tired I feel, it’s an Honor to be in OCS, the top 10% of the intake cohort. All I can write now is a short summary about my 3 weeks in OCS.
The life is very different in OCS, the first 2 weeks was extremely hectic and the curriculum schedule full packed, time was a luxury and even though everything was rushed, we all had relatively high morale.
Unlike in BMT, where you will definitely have one or two reluctant and uncooperative individuals, everyone in OCS will sing during a march but it's true that tough training bonds people. The tougher the training, the stronger the bonds built within individuals because there is a common enemy. In OCS, you can never survive alone, you'll always need your buddy or your sections mates. If you attempt to do anything solo, you are going to have a very unpleasant and unhappy experience and you won't last long on your own steam.
The schedule for the day is fairly typical, there's physical training everyday, PT and runs in the morning, followed by either lectures on leadership modules, inspirational modules or weapons or technical training. I believe OCS is going to be the fittest time of my life. The first fittest peak of my life was in sec 3, NPCC NCO just after OBS. The second fittest peak was during yr2 Poly, during the TKD IVP04/05 tournament. The 3rd fittest peak was just after BMT.
The first 2 weeks were the Common-Leadership Module, where basically we have lectures, then get whacked or (tekan), we had little sleep or breather time in the first 2 weeks and practically spent every day fighting the "Z-monster".
As I begin on my OCS training in SAFTI, I would like to mention an important date during the course of my training, if all goes well, I will commission as an officer of the SAF on 9th June 2007, it's ironic to think that on the 9th of June 1990, then-PM Lee Kwan Yew chaired the SAFTI ground breaking ceremony. And 17 years later, I will commission as an officer.
OCS training lasts for 9 months, it's also the gestation period of a human being, a very symbolic representation! The next commission is in December, followed by another one in March then June, which will be me. The 65/06 OCS batch. Meanwhile, the latest update is that now I've been posted to the Air force, Airwing, training to be an Air Defense Artillery (ADA) Officer.
I am going to spend 7 weeks in OCS for my service term, then will be moving on to Air Force School, in Paya Lebar Airbase to do my professional term, I'll be promoted to senior cadet then. Oh well, a long journey lies ahead.
The Air Force. Above All.
8:41 PM
