Random musings

This is a sunny day. Surely, the sun shines as it never shines. Compared to yesterday, the sun is certainly out in its full glory. The heat hangs in the atmosphere, thick as pea-souper, just that it's invisible. Walking along the street is a chore. Some people like the heat, but I prefer to stay frosty in the confines of my room.

Inside, it's cool. Cold, if you are not the icy kind. It's a comfortable kind of cold if you ask me.

The Spotify radio is playing tunes from a playlist called 'Life Sucks'. Life sucks at times, but not now. Now I'm just chilling in the cool air-conditioned air of a HDB room. Safe from the heat, protected from the sun. Closing my eyes, the songs about heartbreak and misery floats in the air. I'm content. Life sucks, but not now. For that hour before the sun sets, I'm just content.

Beautiful sky

The sky always looks beautiful from a certain angle.

Posting from Blogo

It's been a long time since I've posted on this blog. Blogpress doesn't even work anymore so i can't use it on the iPad Pro. So basically I'm trying out this app called Blogo to see how well it works.

Nothing much to see here. Move along.

Photos from Xi'an trip in 2014

SOC in LEGO-A pictorial essay that brings back memories...

This has got to be the best thing I saw at The Little Red Brick SG50 Edition exhibition.

Seeing the LEGO recreation of the Standard Obstacle Course (SOC) brings back memories of my NS days. This is the course I did back in the days... before they changed it to whatever modern trappings you have today.

For me, whenever the SOC is mentioned, there's this fear that sets in me. If you are one of those ultra-fit fellows, then the SOC is probably nothing to you. But for me, it's a challenge.

After running for a short distance... I can't remember what's the distance, you come face to face with the first obstacle. It's like this humongous flat piece of thing that is smack in front of you. You have to gather all your will to jump and step on the wall to push yourself over. I've seen some folks running into the wall, and not being able to clear it... totally a morale destroyer. But once you get past this, it's not so bad... in hindsight.

Next up, the Parallel Bars. This is not too bad. Just have to lock your elbows and shimmy across. Easy peasy...

...until you get to the Monkey Swing. It's actually not that difficult to do, considering you'd have done this when you were a kid at some playground. However, you are now wearing a helmet, carrying your M-16 (yeah... we are old-school soldiers), and wearing your Standard Battle Order (SBO). All that weight means that you can't really monkey your way across.

After that, you get to the Low Rope. I don't know why it's called the Low Rope when it's not that low. Going up the rope requires some technique. It's all about looping the rope the right way with your boots. when you reach the top, you slap the bar and shout out the name of your Company, which during my BMT is "Echo".

Then comes the Horizontal Beam. This is easy. Except that you have to high-port your rifle while running across. This thing swings around a bit... but as long as you keep your balance, you'll make it across without eating dirt.

The Gate is next. I found this quite fun to do. You grab the bars, tumble yourself over the 'gate', and you're done. If you've never fallen head-over-heels with someone in your short lifespan of 18 years, you'd have literally done it here with the Gate. Probably need to do a little re-adjustment of your helmet and webbing after this, as they will most probably be out of place after your clear this. Oh... and don't drop your rifle while doing this.

When you get to this next obstacle, you'll be panting and sweating and wondering what the hell you are doing all these for. When you ascend the Balancing Log, many thoughts will be running through your head, least of all that you're doing these to defend your father, mother, girlfriend, pet goldfish, etc. Again, balance is key here. Just keep going, banish whatever thoughts you have, and just quickly run across.

I've no idea why this next one is called Jacob's Ladder. Biblical reference? Not sure. Not that you'll care when you see the steps looming in front of you. It's all about conquering your fear of heights. And yes, it's still about balance. Don't drop into the spaces between the logs when you're at it. It's going to be painful for your nether regions.

We're close to the end of this torturous endeavor. The last obstacle is The Ramp. It's just a simple ramp that you have to charge up, and then jump down. The going up is the easy part. The coming down requires a leap and carefully landing on your two feet. Many folks will complain that they got their bad ankles or knees from their less than feline-like landing.

It's still not the end though. You now have to run with your SBO all 800m (?) to the finishing point, where you'd be given a timing. Whether you can book out for the weekend, or have to sign for extra duty depends very much on the timing you achieve.

Taipei 2013

Taipei 2013, a set on Flickr.

Had a great, relaxing trip to Taipei... my third time there and still so much to explore. Especially a great place for riding. Wish I had my D8 with me to ride there!

Review: The Song of Achilles

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A beautiful written tale that has almost everything. War, romance, violence, revenge, betrayal, friendship... you name it. It's Iliad told from the point of view of a minor character Patroclus, and it explores the love between him and the famous hero Achilles. As it's written from Patroclus' POV, there's a sense of intimacy and perhaps a sort of starry-eyed love, which is not quite what one would normally expect of a story about the Trojan War. Despite the gay angle, there's still enough blood and gore to satisfy anyone game for a heroic tragedy.

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Ready Player One playlist

I enjoyed Ernest Cline's Ready Player One a lot. And I mean, a whole lot. Here's a Youtube playlist of the various music referenced in the book. A perfect soundtrack for the book.

Making a choice

As cooling off day moves into polling day, I sit here thinking about many things.

I think about what will happen on the 8th of May. I think about the high possibility of a 87-0. I think about the milestone that will be, if the groundswell of support for the opposition parties is transformed into actual voices in parliament.

I look at the polling card with my name and address. I imagine how this piece of pulp will be exchanged for a piece of paper where I can exercise my right. The mark that I will be making will mean something, even if the outcome does not go according to my heart's desire.

The last ten days were enlightening. They were inspiring. They made speeches that were from the heart. Even for the weakest of the lot, their hearts were in the right place. It seems that many have found the courage. And hopefully more are inspired.

I have thought hard. I have done some soul searching. And before the end of the day, I will know what I need to do. I will not be afraid.

I will vote for the future that I want.

iPad 2 in the wild

- Posted using Mobypicture.com

Using BlogPress

Bought BlogPress when it went on sale some months back. Only got to test it now. I suppose the blog is not a favored method of posting and sitting down to write something is more cumbersome than using Facebook or Twitter.

Anyway, here goes a test post. Probably too long for a test anyway.

Farewell to an old friend

30 years. Other than my own family members, I’ve not known anybody for such a long time. That means a lot. A whole lot.

Frankly, I don’t remember exactly when you came into my life. I only remember that acquiring you was probably not easy. At that time, I don’t think my folks were really able to purchase you, unless they made some sacrifices. It was probably the selflessness of parent’s love for their child, for wanting something better for their child, that led to you coming into the household.

Of course, my folks were not equipped with the skills to choose you. I remembered a trip to a music instrument shop (City Music, in fact) with my piano teacher. It was my teacher who picked you. Strangely, I’ve never been able to remember your name. In fact, throughout the 30+ years together, I’ve never really remembered it, even though it’s starring at me every time I sat down to practice.

You’re not one of those popular models. Not a Yamaha or a Kawai. You are a Tchaika. I’ve always known that you were born in Russia, but it was only now that I found that your name meant ‘seagull’. I’ll never know which part of Russia you were from. But regardless of where you were from, you were good enough for me.

The wee lad that I was saw playing you as a novelty. Sometimes even a chore. I had to practice at least for an hour every day. Perhaps longer if exams were coming. Some of the most terrible memories were when I was scolded for not practising, and as a result my piano teacher will call up my folks, and disciplinary action followed. But with all the distractions that were around for a child, sometimes spending time playing with toys were more important than spending time with you.

I guess the love for music came slowly. You were there with me all those times as I grew. From Grade 1 to Grade 8, to when I took up MEP (Music Elective Programme), to playing in the school’s band, to playing in church, to performing with friends on stage in JC, to jamming in a band with friends, to writing my own tunes. Even though you may not be the one I performed on, you were what I came back to. You were the base which I returned to. A rock, for practising, for experimenting.

I remembered when I moved out, and wanted to bring you with me. Mum was really emotional seeing you leave. Now that I’ve to part with you, I now know how Mum felt.

I look at you now, covered in scars and damage from years of use. I saw the paint job on the sides, there because Dad had to do some DIY salvage job on you due to wood rot. I saw the blutack stain on the inside of the cover, which was where I stuck a handwritten scales and arpeggios chart to help me practice. With recent years of inactivity, your keys are also now in an unusable condition. I can’t really sit down and properly play a piece because some of your keys will get stuck.

As I had to move on with my life, I guess I’ve also to say goodbye to you. Where I’m going, I don’t really have the space for you. For me to grow and get back to playing, I’ve decided to replace you with a digital counterpart. I know that it’ll not be as good as you are, but life’s like that. Sometimes you can’t always have what you want, and you just have to make do with what life throws at you. I’m sorry that I have to give you away.

I’m giving you away to my godsister and hopefully she is able to at least restore you to a playable condition. And perhaps bring joy and music to someone else.

Farewell, my old friend.

Remember the good ole Palm days

Remember the good ole Palm days
Originally uploaded by Gremlink.

Review: World War Z

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book takes an interesting approach to tell the story of the Zombie War. It uses interviews with multiple characters to paint a picture of the history of how mankind fought and survived the zombie attacks. In many ways, this approach is a success because it allows the reader to see the war as a global event, and the many sacrifices made for mankind to survive. The unusual approach to storytelling is a thumbs up in my book.



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Review: Bitter seeds

Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


When I found out that this book pits British warlocks against Nazi superhumans in a WW2 tale, I had expected a more action-packed war story. But this was quite unexpected. The story was absorbing and did not cast anyone in a heroic light. What was most compelling to me was the idea that the sacrifice the warlocks had to give to achieve their aims. And for the superhumans on the German side, they're not folks that you really want to be, even with their superpowers. The story ends on a cliffhanger and I am certainly eager to find out what happens in the next installment.

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Digitised all these into PDFs

Digitised all these into PDFs
Originally uploaded by Gremlink.

Setlist for the Belle & Sebastian gig in SG

Setlist for the Belle & Sebastian gig in SG
Originally uploaded by Gremlink.

This has probably got to be the best gig I've been to this year. Beats Slash hands down, sorry.

Review: The Windup Girl

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Took me a little while to get into, but once you get past the rather unusual alternate universe, the story takes over. What I like about it is the South East Asian ecological dystopian future setting. Coming from this part of the world, I find the setting to be futuristic, yet immediately identifiable. There's also a military coup which makes the story quite intriguing, especially when you consider Thailand's history. The wind-up girl as a work of genetic tech is interesting. A worthy Nebula winner and a totally absorbing book.

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Not a bonfire

Not a bonfire
Originally uploaded by Gremlink.

Pocket Expresso, complete with drinking straw

Pocket Expresso, complete with drinking straw
Originally uploaded by Gremlink.