From bad... to worth it

With age, comes its habits. I seem to becoming more the ah pek these days - took the papers down to the nearby Malay coffee shop to read it over some teh and my lunch. This is probably just the beginning haha...

The rest of the day was pretty much uneventful... so much so that I was beginning to lose my sanity. This had to stop. It's an off day for heaven's sake. Dvd's? Nah. Fringe? Not today. Games? Enough. Plane-watching? Hmmm... why not? With T1 and T2's viewing gallery closed for upgrading and T3's C.M.I. status, there was only one place left: Changi beach. I grabbed the camera and keys and drove out.

On the ECP, I saw planes landing and that meant one thing: they were coming in from the 20 approach and not the 02 approach which meant no landings from Changi beach :( I decided to carry on to Changi beach in hopes that the wind would change direction (fat chance...) or I could try my luck with watching planes taking off. I soon reached the beach and to my dismay, planes were taking off much too early to even get any joy in watching them (with the exception of hearing them roar above). Instead, I found myself taking snaps of peaceful scenes at the beach...

After a nice short stroll up and down the beach, I decided to fulfil my original mission. I remembered spotting a potential plane-watching area on the other side of Changi Airport near the Changi Business Park and decided to give that a shot. I drove all the way back along the 5km coastal road (boy, does that road bring back memories...), back onto the ECP and exited at the PIE and into the business park. After much trial and error, I found the perfect spot: Changi Business Park Central 2. At the end of this road lay a circular loop in the middle of an open field which offered an unobstructed view of the flight path of landing planes. Perfect. Overjoyed, I took up position in the shade of the trees and anticipated each plane as they approached 20L. To make things even better, the afternoon sun added a nice 'shine' onto the plane's fuselages as they came in and the clear blue sky provided a clean background.

The snapfest continued till I tried taking a video which caused the battery icon in my camera to go from 2-bars to 1-bar blinking and red. Outstanding. Just when the fun was already in the works. Anyway, I made well with whatever juice I had left in the cam batts and managed to take a video and as many shots as I could before they died on me. Satisfied with today's 'catch', I drove back surprised at how the rest of the day turned out. From bad... to worth it :)

+LEVEL UP: New plane-watching site gained!!!+

Woman

Woman was created from the rib

of man

not from his head

to top him

neither from his feet

to be walked upon.

She was made

from his side

to be his equal;

from beneath his arm

to be protected by him;

from very near his heart

to be loved by him.

Monday

What an eventful off-day! I grabbed some post-lunch Lee Kee pisang goreng on the way to my dental appointment at NDC. Teeth and gums status report: Healthy. Good Job. After that, I initially wanted to settle down at a coffee joint with my book and a nice cup of tea but ended up going to Changi Airport instead for some strolling and plane-watching.

The viewing galleries at Terminal 1 and 2 were under renovation so I settled for the one at Terminal 3 (can't wait till the T1 Viewing Gallery reopens and hopefully they don't screw it up like what they did with T2 and 3). Pretty much a quiet afternoon with just a few landings so I headed over to Popeye's for my dinner. To my surprise, I met some friends, who had just returned from a holiday, eating there. No more lonely dinner haha. We parted after dinner and I took a bus down to...

...for a nice swim. NTU Swimathon is coming up so better train lest ye fail thy team mates. You ever get that feeling of unlimited energy whenever you go for a run or swim? The feeling that even though you just ran/swam, you still feel refreshed and not tired at all and can actually continue? Well, I got Da Feeling today and ended up swimming non-stop for an hour after my warm-up laps. Other than eating or sleeping, the next best feeling is the one you get while exercising.

Following the swim, I headed to Bedok Interchange to check out the pasar malam there and to grab some post-swim munchies. I was craving for tutu cake but alas, it was not meant to be so I settled for some ice jelly cocktail from Hollywood at the Bedok Interchange hawker centre. I shared a table with this nice couple and they happened to ask if I had tried the ice jelly cocktail from 'Uncle', another dessert stall a few stalls down. I told them I hadn't and they gave me their opinion of Uncle's and Hollywood's and what ensued thereafter was a hearty discussion of good eating places in the east and some casual chit-chat. (I must remember: Uncle's ice jelly cocktail, rojak at Bedok Interchange and Dunman hawker centre, Cheng Tng at Bedok Camp hawker centre and the restaurant in Siglap beside NTUC and Denise wine place...)

It was a joy talking to them and after dessert, I took the scenic route home by walking back through the neighbourhood whilst listening to Maksim and gazing up at Orion's Belt (I must make it a point to remember where his head and sword are... and where that damn scorpion he is chasing is...)

Hello 2010!

First post for the New Year! As always, a year passes and a new one comes in - one that will hopefully be better than the previous.

Looking back at 2009, it was a year of change for me: My graduation from the university and my phase shift into the working world. Economy-wise, things were not so good so I couldn't secure a job in a field of my choice... and I'm still waiting for that something big ;) Hopefully, 2010 brings about positive change that will keep things favourable for me and my plans. My wait is coming to an end; I just hope it doesn't get any longer. I'm confident that I'll get there, the only question is, when? Optimism, optimism, optimism!

Celebration-wise, it was a quiet transition to the New Year for me. I stayed at home and watched the last 5 minutes of the countdown on Channel 5. Utterly disappointing. There was this Taiwanese hip-hop band performing various songs of no relation to the new year which made it all seem like the new year was some shallow-minded party bash. Oh wait, it always is.

Towards midnight, hosts Gurmit Singh and Michelle Chia conducted the usual countdown, screams and shouts of "ARE YOU READY!!!!!" Everything happened pretty fast and uneventfully and at the stroke of midnight, we were treated to 8 minutes of fireworks over the Singapore skyline. Very nice yes, but there was something missing. Instead of playing the traditional Auld Lang Syne, some dramatic orchestral piece fused with Chinese elements was played. Why the Chinese themes? Yes, Chinese New Year is up next but what's the hurry? Disappointing with a capital D.

I watched the full 8 minutes of eye candy and was waiting for any instance where they would start playing Auld Lang Syne but to my shock, they didn't at all. After the fireworks, it was back to the Taiwanese hip-hop band for more... yep, you guessed it- PARTY~ This is why I prefer Christmas to New Year's. There is more meaning in celebrating the former rather than the latter because I get no meaning - or feeling - at all from the latter here. Maybe I just celebrated it in the wrong country.

Anyway, here's to a great new year ahead! 2010 HOO-AH!!!