Into The Jungles Tomorrow

Back to the army grind.

Will be staying in camp all the way till Thursday.

:(

Hope Manchester United wins tonight!

Defending The Little Red Dot

On reservist for the next two and a half weeks.

Quite xiong as we are with one of our subsidiary battalions acting as facilitators/assessors for their turning operational high key ICT.

I have to complain about the camp we're stuck in. Of all places we're housed in the one and only 1950s-styled camp still standing today. The bunks are the old-school locker-beside-bed, 40-man barracks with no air-con (ok I wasn't expecting that), no attached bathroom (not that either), no mosquito netting (yeah not expecting this too) and one door on either side, dormitory-style. Even my life in BMT was vividly better than this. Only the mattresses have been upgraded from sponge 3inchers, to ooh-la-la low-grade King Koil. Still better than nothing.

My biggest beef is with the toilets which are situated 100m away in a separate block. 20 blocks of bunks around camp and only one huge-ass toilet in timbuktoo, past the wide gravel pathway, past the large grass patch, past the cookhouse, across two drains. There. Right there. What the hell, they expect us to walk 100m just to floss?

And we're cut out from alot of communication with the outside world. No newspapers, no TV. Luckily I have my trusty old-school non-camera Blackberry to tide me through. But even still, some places have no wireless signal at all. Sad.

But aside from all these grouses, things are not that bad lah. Good time catching up with old friends as well as making new friends. Free food and lodging. Sharing and updating of our lives and army jokes. What more can we ask for?

Heading to New Zealand in July. Whoa. Fierce.

Southlinks

Had the company Texas Scramble at Southlinks in Batam yesterday.

For starters, I must make it a point to have more sleep before such a game in future. Friday night was with the wifey at Kbox till like 1+am, sleeping around 2am. Then woke up at 6am to drive down to Harbourfront. Extremely tiring.

Southlinks has always been one of the best courses in Batam/Bintan, and it was great to receive such good service again (albeit having to pay more) after last Monday's Austin Hills in Johor. The fairways are so much better maintained, and the greens are far faster and nicer.

We ended up shooting a 13 over 85. After factoring handicap, our score was 7 under 65, whch was just 4 strokes away from the winners. I didn't have the best of games but I was responsible for the only wild cheer of the team in the 13th hole when I sank a 15ft putt from the edge of the green to save par. Excellent stuff indeed.

Still need more practice though. I think my problem is consistency.
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Ever had a pleasant surprise, so pleasant that it is beyond your wildest imagination? It feels crazily good I tell ya! :)

Pupilized

Just watched local production, The Pupil starring Adrian Pang and Lim Kay Tong. Its really surprisingly quite good!

Feeling better now. Fever and flu relegating to a phlegmy cough thats all.

Heading to Batam to play at Southlinks on Saturday. Damn excited!

Today I had an interesting lunch with an old, humble couple at One Degree 15 Marina. Had a sumptuous buffet that included Alaskan crab, durian paste and really good wine. But the fun part was that we could relax and almost chat like friends, talking about the markets and investment opportunities for over 3 hours...

I wonder if I'll be that contented with life when I grow old?

Flu

Down with flu. Xianz.

Maybe the sudden flurry of extreme exercise over the last few days have taken its toll.

Had the company New Year party at the Royal Plaza @ Scotts last Friday. Was fun and the hat theme was somewhat interesting. Best part was that we hired quite a few models from a modeling agency as waitresses and entertainers! Whoot! Was fun lah :)

Playing golf tomorrow at Austin Hills, Johor.

The Long Day Is Over (Almost)

Sigh.

The first week of the new year and it feels like a drag already. Can't believe its only Tuesday. Feels more like Thursday already. Maybe its the long day in office. Looking forward to soccer tomorrow.

I need a beer...

Resolutions 2010

Been struggling to come up with any resos this new year. I guess they're vaguely the same as those from the years past. But lets see what I can come up with as I type...

1) Persue A Healthier Lifestyle
This one gets lumped together after several years of a combination of passes and failures. Predominantly, I'll be aiming for still lower alcohol intake(its quite low already), and trying to exercise more(preferably at least twice a week. Also will need to watch my diet, even though I think its pretty ok right now. At the bare minimum, I should maintain my current level of health come end of the year.

2) Save More Cash
I've always been a spender more than a saver. And 2009 showed how bad things could be when I spent too much. So this year I aim to save up more of whatever I earn. And keep these funds idle in the bank(instead of trading it all away :P).

3) Earn More From Investments
This was a spectacular failure last year. And given how bad it was, I don't think I can do much worse in 2010. Will focus more on value investing than speculating. More investible funds will go to equities rather than FX. Plus will take a longer term view of all investments.

4) Spend More Effort Keeping In Touch With Old Friends
This one is relatively fresh. Egged on by jibes from the wifey that I've got no friends(funnily enough, I do like to spend time alone quite abit) and some realisation that I'm not growing younger anymore, this will be the year to focus more on rekindling old friendships than forming new ones. Chinese New Year will be a start for organizing gatherings and get-togethers :) So if you're reading this, help support me by making time to turn up if I jio you!

5) Spend More Time At Home
There's always room for improvement in this department. Though things have improved alot already, but I'll probably focus on going back to my mom's more often, spending more time with wifey and making our home an even nicer place to live in(its actually really lovely already!). The latest pix of my home shows just how bare the house is. Maybe its time to get a few little renovations done here and there.

Ok thats my resolutions for 2010. Lets hope I have more passes than failures!