Collage for Ashley

Amazing BS gathering + Peirce again

NUSBS gathering, not for my BSFOC2000 clique, but various Dhamra leaders/committee members during the 1998-2001 era.

Being the most junior amongst all, i am truely glad to see all these seniors whom were already around in NUSBS when i first joined them in yr 2000. I have not met most of them since their graduated 6-8yrs ago. Peifen and Shiongwei have done a great job in gathering back these 'old' folks!

As OCC mentioned, most of their looks have not changed much. I couldnt agree more. The effect of Dharma cultivation?


Arhh....another relaxing day spent at the Peirce Reservoir, enjoying the tranquility, calmness and peace magnificently blended in with litters of sounds made by surrounding insects and creatures. Cool~

View from Swissotel

Nice Break

I had a nice break today, soaking in a roof-top pool at one of singapore's top notch hotel, at the same time enjoying the scenic view.

I guess sometimes i really need to spend some money to relax and reward myself... shiok.

All wired up

All wired up for the ktv session

In love with the Cabriolet

I am a great fan of fanciful cars. Sometimes, i really wonder why am i not as excellent a worker as i was a student. I don't seem to excel well in my career. Probably what i am earning now is considered average (or slightly above), but still a far cry from friends who are doing superbly well.

Perhaps its time to develop the fullest potential in me..... using fanciful cars as the motivation. lol.

Belated Celebration with Lena & Felise

29th Birthday

Yeah, it was my bday yesterday, my last year in my 20s. Thanks to my colleagues for making the effort to get the birthday cake. Sincerely touched and thankful to all my friends who remembered my birthday and sent me the well wishes: riki, jeff, weiyang, jennifer, leepeng, julian, jason, kenneth, kenny, jane, fungling, lena, zeathereal ... and last but not least, my parents for their love and care and concerns shown to me over the past 29yrs + 10mths. May i continue to practise the Dharma diligently for the new year.

Southern Ridges Walk - 9km

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Decided to try the Southern Ridges walk which is reported to be 9km long. Places we passed by:

1) Vivocity - starting point
2) Murang Trail - leading to Mt Faber (lots to stairs to climb)
3) Henderson Waves - a new interesting bridge made of wooden planks (worth visiting)
4) Hilltop walk - an old park which has lost its appeal. The walls and flights of steps have turned from white to blackish, the grass patch which was once filled with nicely grown flowers are now left with withered plants
5) Forest walk - my fave 2.1km stretch, very interesting (worth visiting)
6) Alexandra Arc - next to my former work place HP, okay la, not very interesting but its a new bridge
7) Flora walk (HortPark) - its a v nice place with horticulture, but erm, i cant appreciate (may not visit again)
8) Kent Ridge Trail (with Canopy Walk) - been many times, so no longer find it interesting
9) Science Park Trail - i wonder why is this urbanized stretch considered part of the southern ridge walk? just because they want to link HortPark to West coast park? very forceful la......
10) Heritage Trail - this is none other than our Old Kent Ridge road, where u can find PGP, K.Edward7 Hall and the various research institutes behind sci fac (waste my time cos been there so many times)
11) Mac Donalds - Decided to end my walk at NUS Mac which offer a much lower price than outside.
12) Clementi Woods - I didnt walk there because i dunt find it interesting
13) West Coast Park - I didnt go there because i dunt find it interesting either

Conclusion: If you want to walk the Southern Ridges, i suggest you start off from Vivocity -> Mt Faber -> Henderson Waves -> Skip Hilltop Walk -> Go direct to Forest Walk -> Alexandra Arc -> HortPark -> Go Home. If you havent been to Kent Ridge Trail and Canopy walk, you may give it a try, but falling out from there is difficult. Good Luck!

Back to camp

It has been more than a year since i last worn my green uniform. This can be evidently proven by the fact that Ashley has grown so much over the past 1 year. Today was actually just a mob-briefing, but definitely a significant one because i get to see many of my ex-camp mates, some of whom i havent met for more than 8 years (since the day i ORDed and stepped out of the camp). I am pleasantly surprised that it didnt take much effort for most of us to break the ice that have formed over the past 8 yrs, as we began to communicate like what we did during our good old days in camp. As we indulge ourselves further in the tok cok session, all the army languages, secret codewords, nicknames and interesting topics began to flow back in steadily. Most of us were only in our late teens or early 20s then.

Thanks to the many nights we had spent together watching tv, playing daidi, bridge and eating supper together in our bunks during our active days. Those were one of the most memorable and enjoyable moments i had in life, when life was pretty carefree and relaxing. Its kinda interesting to see how much each of us have grown up over the years. Most of us have put on weights, and no longer wear the youthful looks we once had. Practically, all have become uncles already, haha.

On the sad side, i learnt that one of my camp mate has been sent to jail for 23 years for sexual offences. Another close camp mate (who was my permanent driver) was also jailed for similar sexual offences. By the time they are released from the prisons, they should be already in their late 40s. Sighz...... what a huge waste of their precious youth and a major part of their life.