runway 13

That's Rwy 13 approach of Kai Tak International Airport, Hong Kong.
Still one of the most challenging approaches in the civilian aviation world, though Kai Tak has been replaced by Chek Lap Kok International Airport.

Remember the good old times when the 747 flew over the high-rise buildings in Kowloon Peninsula, the wing tips could almost touch the laundries on the bamboo sticks. How would you feel growing up in a place where you can see different airliners from different countries flying above your head? Oh well maybe we can see RSAF aircrafts all the time.

Oh luckily HKG is not in I'm An Air Traffic Controller, a very nice Game Boy Advance game that tests your reaction and decision making skill. Try screwing up Air Force One's take off time...

climbing world cup 2006

Gentlemen, chalk your fingers and get ready for some gravity-defying actions at the UIAA Climbing World Cup 2006!

Date: 5&6 August
Time: 9am to 6pm
Venue: Singapore Expo Hall 5A

Trust me, your palms will get wet when you see hot girls climbing above you.

hardcore drinker

There's something strange
in the neighbourhood
Who you gonna call?
GHOSTBUSTERS!!

Last week I saw the Starbucks canister at Marina Square but didn't get the chance to get close. Yesterday I got a free cup of vanilla coffee at Orchard.

Now, where can I buy that backpack?

azuki coffee cooler

Went to TCC for a coffee break with my father and my mother's good friend who came to Singapore to attend my brother's convocation. I had an Azuki Coffee Cooler which was quite special. The red beans blended in quite nicely with the coffee. (to be honest I was attracted by its name)

My mother's friend was saying when the coffee bean harvest is overwhelmingly good, the coffee growers have to destroy the extra beans so as not to spoil market. I was thinking, if your harvest is good, it is natural to happily sell more than normal times. How many would be thoughtful enough to think of the big picture? (I have heard of vineyard losing money because of good harvest)

How interesting, one can lose more when he wants to gain more.

report sick

Received my reservist letter a few months ago. Actually it was medical review notified via reservist letter.

So yesterday I rushed from NTU to MMI at DSO@Kent Ridge, which is within NUS. Did 2 x-ray on my right foot. Then went in to see the doctor, who is a complete jerk.

Doc: Your x-ray doesn't show a fracture, so I'm going to upgrade you to PES B.
Chow: According to the specialist from Tan Tock Seng Hospital, x-ray can only show normal fracture, not stress fracture. You need bone scan to see stress fracture.
Doc: ...

Doc: it cannot be 3 years and it hasn't healed.
Chow: the specialist said stress fracture won't heal as good as a normal fracture.
Doc: then what did your specialist say?
Chow: told me to rest and let it heal.
Doc: if you jump and play basketball every 5 minutes, of course it won't heal.
Chow: if I don't walk for 3 years, maybe it will heal.
Doc: ...

Doc: so do you have a bone scan?
Chow: recently don't have.
Doc: why not?
Chow: so expensive.
Doc: you mean money cannot earn back ah?
Chow: you pay me is it?

I've never liked the SAF Medical Corps. The medics are ok, cos they are just NSF. The baddies are the medical officers. What the hell, the first thing that comes to their mind when serviceman see them is the serviceman is trying to fake. Hello? Are they real doctors or what? Has the army uniform taken their sanity away? And the one that I saw yesterday, why I feel like I know more than he, a doctor, does? Oh, maybe he specialises in dealing with impotence. His own? Then he's a lousy one I guess.

I'm not blaming the army for my injury, but at least they should understand that there IS an injury on my bloody right foot. I've lost so much, my love for trekking, running, marathon, and my dream. For goodness sake I wanted to sign on as Guards officer and now you think I chao keng! How do you feel when your dream is taken away then someone comes stepping on you.

Now, should I run and jump until a giant crack can be clearly be seen on the x-ray? Or should I turn to my dear Member of Parliament Mister Lee?

convo meal

Today is my brother's convocation.

Saw a lot of funny things, such as people taking photo with inverted cert folder, people walking up the stage with their handbag, people wearing sports shoes, people wearing short sleeves, people's hat dropping... But they have cert, I don't. Oh, and lotsa audience who didn't know what is silent mode.

Behind the smiling face of mine, can't help feeling a bit pathetic of myself. Although my brother and I are from different university, we are in the same course. Somehow subconsciously I'm always trying to following his footstep, reluctant to explore new ground. (just like climbing, always push others to test out the route first). But actually he asked me for help in school work more than I asked him.

Can I last till my convocation comes?

IM -- instant mute

I don't like to chat. My MSN messenger is always either in "Appear Offline" or "Busy". "Appear Offline" cos I don't intend to be online. "Busy" cos I don't want to be disturbed by the message alert or the occasional nudge from a bored person, yet still able to be contacted in case of important messages (such as "climbing this sat?")

Don't really see the point of purely staring at the chat window for a few hours and doing nothing else except breathing and typing away, when I can do other stuffs with my computer such as reading forums, reviews, etc. Of course some people enjoy every nanoseconds on the webcam.

And, not forgeting the stifling effect of instant messengers on communication. By right it should ease inter-personal communication, but technically you are talking to your IM, your IM talks to your friend's IM, his/her IM talks to him/her. Arial fonts can't really tell much about the mood. That's why people behave quite differently online and in real life. Take for example Mildred, we hardly said hi when we saw each other in office, but when online, she's like totally different, calling me stupid and idiot when I refused to gossip, showing me the middle finger... (don't worried, she's attached, i'm safe)

I'm the opposite, more sane online.

good bye compressors

Razman: So when does your contract end?
Chow: Today.
Razman:(stunned) Serious ah?

Today is the first day of the Chinese 7th month, also the last day of my temp assignment at Sanden.

The industrial attachment kid was saying, the roasted pig and stuff for the prayer were as though for my departure. Feel a bit bad to leave the company at the time when everyone is most busy preparing for the audit (and prayer). But even if I stay longer, there isn't much I can do, I think, since I've done everything nicely. So nice that the other sections have to catch up. *Proud*

Hmm, so what have I done over this 7 weeks and 2 days? Today I was transferring my folders (and destroying evidence simultaneously) and found out I had 900+ files in my folders. The most crazy one of course was making webpages using Microsoft Notepad and Microsoft Paint.

Really touched by the blessings from everyone, welcoming me to go back and work next time. Wish I had the chance (and courage) to know more people from the company, although today I did take the advantage of being my last day to behave more crazily~

Now I miss the blue.

quote of the day

By this week ah? Cannot lah, my temp staff resigning tomorrow leh...
Steven, my boss.

And now I know how sugarcane feels like: squeezed until no more juice can come out.

Had lunch with my boss and his boss at Upper Thomson. On his car the CD player was playing 王杰's 一场游戏一场梦. (click HERE to listen)

"不要谈什么分离
我不会因为这样而哭泣..."

How appropriate.

dear pudding

Dear chocolate pudding,

I told a lie yesterday.

It happened 3 years ago.
I still can't get over with it.
I probably won't get over with it forever.

hansaplast climbing tape

Come to think of it, it has been a long time since I last used climbing tape for my fingers. If minus those usual scratches, it has also been a long time since I bleed while climbing.

And now my white climbing shoe has blood stain.
(*climbing is safe!)

unpaid overtime

My boss' boss wanted to treat me dinner tonight, but he hadn't notified his wife -_-" so the dinner was cancelled last minute. In place of it, my 2 bosses treated me to drink coffee at the place near Amoy Quee Camp.

During this few hours of me sniffing in second-hand smoke and sipping ice lemon tea, a lot of stories were told. Actually there were 6 people applying for my current temp position, in which I was only my supervisors' second choice. Their first choice was an ORD personel whose resume was full of skills. Then among the other applicants there were pretty girls as well, but Ong said he scared he raises his voice then she would cry. I was my boss' boss' first choice (that overrules everything) cos I am engineering related. (ermm, really?) In fact I didn't even submit my resume, let alone photo. Actually my job agent crapped out a resume and sent to my company.

Another interesting story-- the industrial attachment guy. I thought I am the only one who thinks he is slack, actually it seems like everyone thinks so. It stunned me enough to see him reading newspaper during work hour, now I know he slept in office, slept in toilet, demanded from my boss' boss why he has to wear uniform, etc etc.

Will I leave a legacy behind? Well, that's not included in the contract, but I didn't sign anything, did I?

quote of the day

If an african talks to me
I also know how to nod.
little hang to nikki
Nicole is a Hongkonger while her boyfriend is a Singaporean.
Communication breakdown? What communication?

crap of the day

Cinna: What is my name? Whither am I going? Where do I dwell? Am I a married man or a bachelor? Then, to answer every man directly and briefly, wisely and truly: wisely I say, I am a bachelor.
2nd Pleb: That's as much as to say they are fools that marry. You'll bear me a bang for that, I fear..
-William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act three Scene 3

I try to be very sensible, but I really want to say this: most of the females I've met are unreasonable.

Why is it that females always allow themselves to behave a certain way, but forbid males to behave likewise? Why do they have the right to malign males? Why do they have the right to deny males' rights? Why shouldn't males argue with females? Why must males give in?

My alma mater used to have connection with Malayan Communist Party, but that doesn't make me a MCP. And I said most of those I've met, which means majority of the females on this planet should be harmless.

I wonder how amoeba lives its genderless life.
(and if you are a female reading this blog, don't assume I'm talking about you. But you are always welcomed to admit.)

political bak ku teh

Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald "Bowtie" Tsang was in Singapore earlier this week on an unofficial visit. Eager to follow Ma Ying-Jiu's footstep, Donald Tsang was planning to try out the bak ku teh from Ng Ah Sio, but to his disappointment (though he denied it, obviously) Ah Sio refused to open late for him. Another bak ku teh store Ah Hwa, on the other hand, purposely opened late for Mr Tsang. This sparked a quite heated reaction from the Hong Kong media (what do you expect...)

What I can see from the incident:

Bowtie

• Big F, thinks the earth should stop rotating to synchronise with his dead wristwatch. You want to eat then come earlier lah.
• Unpopular. Chris Patten beats him flat anytime with the egg tart and herbal tea.

Ah Sio

• Has backbone. Doesn't give a damn whether it is Donald Tsang or Donald Duck.
• Business too good, doesn't need extra advertisement
• bad host?
• inflexible?
• no overtime

Ah Hwa

• Smart. Free advertisement. One photo beats those "certificates" from Channel U.
• Good host

Hong Kong news media

• (stir stir stir...)

who can keep a secret

Who can keep a secret?

First, you thought you could trust the person to keep the secret for you. Then he/she spilled the bean. Next he/she would say you didn't explicitly tell him/her not to tell anyone else. And slowly, you lost trust in people around you, and you always keep to yourself.

Come to think of it, you have yourself to be blamed, cos you didn't keep your own secret.

you've got mail

Yeah, I just received a mail from Canada!

Actually it's a catalogue from a Canadian outdoor equipment store. I have this unusual hobby of collecting outdoor equipment catalogues, so every year I would order new ones. What interest me is the amount of nice photos inside, nice quotes, and most important of all, new outdoor equipment.

Any new toys?

Check out this Frontiersman Bear Bell, it is supposed to keep grizzly bear away while you are trekking. Interesting huh?
(and Black Diamond's new ATC-Guide is out)

pinch of chalk

Another nice Saturday climbing at SAFRA Yishun. 4 of us, Alex, Junjie, Seong Per and me. We saw Angie's younger sister Ann, who doesn't really look like Angie. Are all younger siblings taller than the elder? No, Alex is shorter than his elder brother.

Getting quite irritated with overhangs, especially when the routes call for high-step or heel-hook. Can't I just flag? And I killed everyone by suggesting a killer warm-up route.

My climbing is getting from bad to worse, relying too much on arm power. Could feel the pumpedness when I struggled to pull open my drawer. Hmm, must improve on techniques. Graceful ballet moves maybe?

Lesson for life: Don't let go too soon, but don't hang for too long.

mtr auntie

After the famous Bus Uncle, Hong Kong has another super hero... MTR Auntie!! (MTR stands for Mass Transit Railway)

I admit I have the bad habit of digging my nose, but this auntie, she did it for 3 minutes!

"Did you ever know that you're my hero,
and everything I would like to be..."

drunken master jackie chan

Today Alex was talking about Jackie Chan getting high at 李宗盛's concert, and now I have really found the clip. The audience was really booing Jackie Chan, telling him to get off the stage.

If you understand Cantonese, watch out for vulgarities (from 李宗盛?)

quotes from workplace

Sharon: (asking for documents) 现在我要追你呢.
Steven: hoho, 你追我的话我会很荣幸!

Ong: Chow, 你姓什麽?
Chow: 我姓Chow lor.
Ong: 我是问你信什麽religion!

ipc summer summit

After dunno how long, the 3 powers of the world met again at the India-Pakistan-China Summer Summit.

India was busy testing their new missile, Pakistan busy dodging, and China, well, wrong season to hibernate huh. But nevertheless the 3 leaders of the world had dinner together at Junction 8 last night. I enjoyed this meal more than the previous evening's one, cos this political gathering was really down to earth, we had dinner at Food Junction, entertainment at Best Denki (free movie and game), and dessert from McDonald's. All the usual nonsense about Ameet's right hand, Rizwan's face, and other high quality craps. And other than adult animations, Ameet watches School Rumble too, so all the while the 2 of us were talking about the episodes. "Dua!"

Sigh. Now the 3 of us are in different departments.

play ball

This game is getting so ugly. Someone please organise a table soccer World Cup instead.

When I was with HP they really have table soccer tournament, and every lunchtime there's always a match going on. Actually you can still push the stick to attack your opponent...

upgraded

Since my horrible experience with Nescafe powder, I've upgraded to the Saeco espresso machine in the meeting room beside my company's director's office.

Is it supposed to be nicer than Nescafe? Feels more professional though...
But I can't afford an espresso machine myself, for sure. So might as well drink to my heart's content~ Contract ending soon somemore...

L(ose) V(isacard)

Next time when you want to show people your RMB 25 Yuan = S$5 LV wallet, just be sure not to drop your cards.

Had dinner with Edwin last night, who recently went to Shenzhen. He just lost his ATM card. Did he write his PIN on the back?

(if you can't see, do click on the image for a larger version of this funny pic.)

quote of the day

Andrew: "Nokia is 'people connecting people'"
Raymond: "You know what it means? It means f*ck. People connecting people mah. See? Nokia is so vulgar."
Andrew: "... I know you don't like Nokia lah..."

in case of emergency, break glass

Have you seen those doors with security system, which you have to tap card from outside, and press the fat button from inside in order to open the door?

So last Saturday, a staff from my company somehow entered this protected room, but couldn't figure out a way to come out. There is no phone in the room cos it's a storeroom, and the guy didn't carry a phone with him, and no one was in sight outside the room. That guy paniced and broke the glass to escape.

All he had to do was to press that fat button beside the door to open it...

dear anonymous

Dear mister Anonymous, IP Address 68.145.54.XXX, from Calgary, Canada,

Thank you for your support for this blog. I refer to your comment on my entry which is ameet dated 22 Nov 2005.

Is this some kind of a racist/prejudiced blog you got going on here? I'm a Sikh, and the turban is
religious to Sikhs, and I found your stupid blog pretty rude.
(Anonymous, 7/11/2006 06:52:22 AM)

You dumb chink. Pesky little asian rats, go away and live with your fellow macaques in the bush.

Got rice, bit#h???

ROFL.
(Anonymous, 7/11/2006 07:34:41 AM)

It is indeed encouraging for us to know that our valued readers do comment on 7 months old entries, more so to see repeated comments within a period of an hour. The main character of the entry, Mr Ameet Singh, has commented that the entry was "good humour". Surely you do share the same view as Mr Ameet to come up with such meaningful feedbacks such as "pretty" and enjoying a laugh with "ROFL".

We would like to invite you to sign up for a blogger account so that we can better serve our valued readers instead of addressing you as anonymous. An alternative would be to choose the other option when leaving a comment, so that you can leave your name and link.

If you need any assistance, please contact our customer service hotline 65-99938164. Once again, we thank you for your support for this blog.

Siu Hang
Head of Department
Department of Crappy Engineering.
(this is a computer generated document. No signature is required)

the serenity prayer

God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make all things right,
if I surrender to His will.
That I may be reasonably happy in this life,
and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.
Amen.

climb of the cheater-bug

Another climbing day yesterday at Yishun. This time we had Ah Bok and his friend. I've only met Bok once or twice more than a year ago, but I still remember him (while he doesn't remember me, bleh)

Didn't climb much though, only did lane 4 halfway, then felt sian cos the holds were all tiny, then went to do lane 6 grey, which was quite fun. Grey routes have lots of grey areas, such as white tiles that look grey, or any othre tiles covered with chalk. But it was fun to have people shouting behind me telling me which was the next tile, and Bernard giving tips on the next move. Panel 3 was disgusting, had to do a heel hook. I don't feel comfortable raising my foot above my shoulder level, but it sure looked breathtaking from behind. It took my breath too.

And when you are tired, you anyhow climb. Didn't bother about the colours anymore, and I received lots of complaints of cheating from behind =P The worst was when you stepped on a wrong foothold that you couldn't see. When I finished my climb and Junjie attempted the same route, Kai Sing came over and asked "so, did he cheat, like you?" My bad.

Funny things happened, Ah Bok was belaying his friend then he slipped, (doing those funny jumps when taking in rope) when his friend was all well on the wall. Then Angie used the words "sucks" and "repellent" to describe that Henry-fella. And Jason the "noisy person" didn't join us...

dinner with ambassador

Do you know that other than the Indian ambassador and Pakistani ambassador, I have 2 other ambassador friends --- God's ambassadors.

Last night I had dinner with HJ at a little cafe at Liang Seah Street. Didn't know that street is so vibrant in the evening. We even saw Tiong Chuan eating Katong Laksa with his friend...

Seemed like we were the cafe's first customers of the evening. The funny thing was the ceiling was leaking water from broken sprinkler pipe, yet the cafe didn't have containers to catch the water. The food was nice, but I believe it's the people that matter more than the food.

Somehow dining with HJ is like dining with Alex, just that HJ is a better listener while Alex needs a listener. Oh both are Christian by the way, spiritually they are closer to God than I do, but physically the tip of my head is closer to heaven than both of them. In between bites of the fusion food we talked about his trip to China, about Christianity, about study, about society, about my problem. I surprised myself when I talked freely about why I blah blah blah... and HJ accepted my rationale. Phew.

Both of us studied SC1101E Making Sense of Society in semester 1, so our conversation had terms like "state violence", "cult theory", "ethnocentrism". So if you are looking for a meaningful module that you can apply in real life, consider SC1101E!

herbal-cino

I thought I've mastered the "1-2-3" rule of making a nice cup of Nescafe, then I screwed it up on Wednesday.

I was in the pantry making myself a cup of coffee, then a colleague started chatting with me and in one swift motion, I poured out half a cup of coffee powder -_-" So going by the ratio of 1:2:3 of 1 spoon of coffee powder is to 2 spoons of sugar is to 3 spoons of creamer, I think my cup would've overflowed before I added the hot water...

Not wanting to waste food, nor doing the unhygenic act of pouring the powder back into the jar, I went ahead to add in the water. I took a sip, and for a moment I thought the caffeine could keep me awake for the whole World Cup tournament from start to end, qualifiers inclusive. It was hell lot more bitter than Chinese herbal tea.

Back to my seat, I couldn't take it anymore, so secretly I brought the cup to the toilet and poured it down the toilet bowl. Eek, the colour was like someone didn't flush after diahorrea.

I didn't dare touch coffee for the next few days.

song of the day

7月7日晴 - 许慧欣
click HERE to listen

说了再见是否就能不再想念
说了抱歉是否就能理解一切
眼泪代替你亲吻我的脸
我的世界忽然漫天白雪
拇指之间还残留你的昨天
一片一片怎么听见完全

七月七日晴
忽然下起了大雪
不敢睁开眼希望是我的幻觉
我站在地球边眼睁睁看着雪
覆盖你来的那条街

七月七日晴
黑夜忽然变白天
我失去知觉看着相爱的极限
我望着地平线天空无际无边
听不见你导演
拇指之间还残留你的昨天
一片一片怎么听见完全

七月七日晴
忽然下起了大雪
不敢睁开眼希望是我的幻觉
我站在地球边眼睁睁看着雪
覆盖你来的那条街

七月七日晴
黑夜忽然变白天
我失去知觉看着相爱的极限
我望着地平线天空无际无边
听不见你导演

quote of the day

On the window of a brothel:
"trespassers will be prostituted"
Ameet's MSN

This blog is getting less and less suitable for kids.

same name, different game

How many of us really talk about the game itself?

It is like, when I want to talk to people about the gameplay, the tactics, the skills, or even the players' look, then people have to talk purely about odds and money. What let half ball, what eat ball, what home away away home. It is very sad you know? Want to bet money, go and catch a few crickets lah. Spiders will do too.

Maybe at this moment, someone is complaining about this freak who doesn't talk about betting.

fido woofcup grr'many 2006

Although personally I don't like the idea of keeping pet dogs, (especially with all those irritating crazy dogs in my neighbourhood) but I still find this set of dog jerseys very cute~!

With Koolfit fabric, think your doggies can last the full 90 minutes on the field.
(disclaimer: I'm not going to be held responsible for any injuries (ie. slide-tackle from another dog) sustained by your dogs while wearing this jersey. No stretcher party provided.)

kids

Speechless.

morning horror

I was having some peaceful moment by myself this morning when something horrible happened.

"CRACK!"

My toilet seat cracked. At 65kg, am I that heavy?

quote of the day

Junjie: "You got see fat people climb meh?"
Alex and I turned and looked at Bernard, sitting just beside us.
Junjie: "OK I take back my words."

Nowadays I got to be very sensitive. When Bernard is around, I can't call Alex bui bui... -_-"
Oh but Bernard is a very nice guy.

(run out of title for climbing day)

Another nice climbing day at Yishun with Alex, Jason, Bernard, Angie and Junjie. Has been a really really long time since I last saw Junjie, and now he has graduated. =) Almost all of us did 3 climbs today, and for me I did lane 5 (blue?), lead-climbed lane 6 white (or red?) and then finally lane 4 blue. Yeah yeah I was stuck at 4 blue long ago, but the tiles had been changed quite a bit ever since I last touched that lane, now all big jugs. And it was almost as long since I last lead-climbed. Chalk helps to solve rustiness.

I realised actually Jason hasn't changed, it is me who has changed. He still talks nastily, but I seem to be able to take it (or ignore it) quite well. He still keeps saying if Chow can do it so can he. Hello that line is not for him to say. Self encouragement or self comforting? Anyway today did a dyno and fell, and also screamed a bit when I did the finishing move, feel like I did put in effort today. (as if all the while I didn't)

Actually climbing itself is just one of the activities. I think most important is to meet up with friends, and we chat too~ For example Junjie shared about his trip to Vietnam, then Angie and I talked about World Cup. Hey she's the first person who actually talks about the match and not the odds, not like most people nowadays.

Oh, and I saw some cool climbing videos on Marcin's ipod video~

the five people you meet in heaven

Finished reading this book The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, the same author who wrote Tuesday with Morrie.

This book is about a guy Eddie, who was the maintenance man at an amusement park. One day he was trying to save a little girl from a falling cart, and he got himself killed, then he went to heaven... There he met 5 people, the blue man whom he indirectly killed, captain who died for him, the lady whose husband built the amusement park for her, his wife who got sick after trying to look for him, and the girl whom he killed during the war. So actually everyone Eddie met was connected to him in one way or another, and each meeting sort of brought out the truth to him.

I dunno how heaven's like, dunno whether it works that way, but the one described my Mitch Albom isn't that bad afterall. One story, when looked from different angle, can mean different things, and every story is connected to one another. Reminds me of Chaos Theory. Oh well, can people really accept truth in the face?