The Letter After "E"

I thought of this while conversing with Mich online tonight...

"F" is the letter after "E".

That's why Fat is spelt with an "F";
After you E-A-T, you get F-A-T.

...have you ever noticed it?

Courtesy

There's much talk about the atrocious service quality by salepeople, but does anyone remember the Courtesy Campaign... remember the phrase "Courtesy Begins With Me"?

Are you courteous?
If you are discourteous, or have doubts about your level of courtesy, do you really expect others to be courteous towards you?

If you aren't already genuinely courteous (sarcastic courtesy doesn't count), why not try being courteous towards everyone for one week...
see what difference it makes to your world;
see what difference it makes to those around you.

Maybe after that one week you will realise life's better with a smile;
maybe not.

Side note:
Remember the Courtesy Lion mascot?

Feeling Frustrated and Cheated

Do you know anyone who would need broadband?

Dank's got a Singnet broadband account that he needs to transfer away urgently; do you, or know anyone who does, need broadband access? All initial costs (router/modem, registration) have already been paid for and Dank will pay for the transfer of the subscription to the person's name at no extra charge.

Subscriber would only have to pay $58 for monthly subscription: he gets to keep the equipment (router/modem) and continue with the Singnet Broadband 1500kbps Unlimited subscription for the remainder 22 months of contract.

If Dank cannot find someone to transfer the account/subscription to, he must pay a penalty of $800 for the early termination of the contract. Help ask around for Dank? Thanx.

Late Nights

Late nights have been a thing of the past since work started. Work takes up 10hrs (0730H-1730H) of my every weekday, with late nights on weekends few and far between. The fear of oversleeping the following Monday also inhibits the desire to stay up late on a Fryday/Saturday night. Also the occasional stay-over while on duty adds to the fatigue. Is that what work does to you: give you permanent eyebags and sap your life away? Does it sap your life too?
Note: I love my job

Last night i was up till 5am, something i haven't done in a long time. I spent the late night online; surfing friends' blogs, reading news online, updating my blog, sorting through my photos on Flickr. It was a refreshing late night up alone in front of my laptop...

My Flickr Pro Account
As i was going through my photos i realised Flickr only kept the latest 200 photos! I must admit i got sucked into their money-making marketing net: i signed up for a 2-year Flickr Pro account which cost me USD$47.99! With my new Flickr Pro account i'm allowed as many Photo Sets i desire, 2GB of uploads a month, and i get to store all my photos online in their original size; i guess i'm stuck with Flickr for life.
Since i've paid for it, i'd better make the best of it and promote it...
Visit my Flickr Pro photo site now!

...there was more i wanted to express as i was thinking about submitting a post this afternoon, but they elude me at this moment. I'll get them penned as soon as the thoughts return and i'm able to get to my laptop...

The Weekend Getaway

A 4hr bus ride from Kembangan (ApacheDiver clubhouse) to a hotel in Mersing where we stayed the night, 7am hotel breakfast, 3min mini-van ride to the jetty, and a 1hr20min speedboat ride to Tioman later, we were checking into the Paya Beach Resort... and ready to go dive dive dive!

Jennifer demands that her name be mentioned first.
So here's a photo of her... Jennifer. Happy JeN?



After 49hrs away from Singapore:
six dives (five day, one night) experienced,
many friends made
(Dawn, Jaslin, Peggy, Adam, Jeff, Roy, William, Zhiming),
countless fishes seen,
no corals killed/broken (by myself),
four warships sighted anchored off Ringgis,
hoardes of photos taken above and under water,
one blackout on Tioman island,
and $310 spent... one great weekend getaway!

Convocation Dinner

Dank graduated in May 2005 with an Honours degree in Computer Science (Electronic Commerce), from the National University of Singapore (NUS). Through his second till final year he resided in Raffles Hall, thus was invited back for a Convocation Dinner.

He's got nothing really much to say except that he made good friends there, enjoyed his stay thoroughly, welcomed the convenience of living on campus, fulfilled his RH Fish Tank dream (link here), and will always remember his time there...



...click to view more of his Convocation Dinner photos.

Lifesaving

There's a little-known sport: Lifesaving.
Lifesaving is a useful skill to have especially in this island country where there is plenty of sea, reservoirs and swimming pools; you never know when you'll need to jump in and save someone.

Dank's Lifesaving History
Dank attained his basic lifesaving qualification (Bronze Medallion) during his first year in university, and has since gotten higher awards (Bronze Cross, Award of Merit and Distinction Award) and participated in Inter-Varsity/Polytechnic and National Lifesaving Competitions with the NUS University Lifeguard Corps (NUS ULC).

Lifesaving as a Sport
Lifesaving Competitions consists of two groups of events: Open Water and Still Water.
Open Water - Beach events; running on the beach, and canoeing, surfboarding, towing and swimming in the sea.
Still Water - Pool events; rope throw, and towing and swimming events in the pool.

(L) Beach Flag; (R) Surf Board Race

(L) Torpedo Tube Rescue; (R) Manikin Tow

(L) Torpedo Tube Rescue Medley; (R) Rope Throw Rescue

Enjoying some post-competition fun in the pool...

The University Lifeguard Corps (NUS ULC)


Dank hopes you have learnt a thing or two about Lifesaving...
Be a lifesaver, sign up for a lifesaving course now!

Weekend Dive!

Dank is going on a weekend dive trip to Tioman!

Upcoming Dive Trip in brief:
Last minute notice;
spur of the moment decision;
hurried approval of leave;
frantic finding of a stand-in;
desperate search for passport;
excited preparation to go...

When? 16 Sep 7pm - 18 Sep 10pm
Where? Pulau Tioman, Malaysia
Organiser? Apache Diver (not sure how good/bad they are)
...photos will be published here in a week or two...

A little frustration
He penned a post on "Lifesaving" yesterday but Blogger decided to fail when Dank pressed "Publish Post". Dank will re-write it again soon so that you may be informed of Lifesaving: a useful life skill; a sport he took up during his university days; a great way to lose some fats and get a great tan; his current hobby.

Did You Know...

...that if you wanted to know about the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), Wikipedia has quite a description:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Singapore_Navy

...that the Navy League of Australia published a very flattering article of the RSN a few years ago:
http://navyleag.customer.netspace.net.au/fc_07ros.htm

...Dank only knew/read them today; he would like you to be enlightened too.

Address Change.

Dank has moved his place of residence, again.

We discovered that the landlady was renting out the place illegally.
We had to move.
We started to look for alternative rental residence.
Dank moved his stuff out last night (Fryday, for 5 hours).
He is no longer staying there (click to see details of the place).

He's still alive and kicking; invite him to dinner someday?

It's About Time...

It's about time I show you some photos:

Surabaya, Indonesia
L: The moon on a dark cloudless night
R: Morning Civil Twilight; just before the sun rises


L: 1min after Sunrise
R: 2min after Sunrise


L: Colleagues and I at Desperado in Surabaya, Indonesia
R: Smoking volcano island in the background



Darwin, Australia
L: A pod of dolphins in the bay just swimming around
R: Some of them jumped out of the water, playing


L: Mitchell Street, the single most happening street in Darwin
R: Meleleuca on Mitchell - an upscale backpacker's lodge


L: Yummy (and relatively cheap) Fish'n'Chips
R: There was a bar trivia as we ate; no we didn't win anything


L: Mandy - Chirpy, friendly waitress at Fox'n'Fiddle
R: The Wine Maker at the Kakadu Mango Winery


L: Wine tasting at the Kakadu Mango Winery
R: Audience at The Vic captivated by the stage games


L: Games at The Vic... really entertaining
R: Win prizes, have loads of fun, and more!


L: This guy I met outside the toilet of The Vic, name unknown
R: This bartender I met at The Vic, Dina


L: Darwin's biggest club, Discovery, along Mitchell Street
R: George, Matt, Dank, Alex, Joey, Mandy, Amanda at Uno


L: Alligator in a tank at Surf'n'Turf
R: Delicious food at reasonable prices


L: Having a walk in the park...
R: ...along the cliff overlooking the sea



Kakadu National Park
L: Tombstones in the field?
R: Termite Mounds... and these are termites


L: Doctor Adrian and myself
R: Stream from a spring


L: Tolmer Falls in Kakadu National Park
R: Wangi Falls in Kakadu National Park


L: Hand-drawn map of Kakadu National Park



In Bali
L: "No Swimming" sign warns of the huge waves pounding the beach
R: Kuta Beach - Clear, clean water rippling over soft, fine sand


L: Taking a stroll along the beach
R: Myself, Adrian, Melvyn, HeenChoong


L: Sunbathers, Swimmers, Surfers... and a local selling her wares
R: Inside an alley lies McWilliam's, just 2km from McDonald's


L: 2 boys in orange at play around the Bali Bombing Memorial
R: Padi fields along the road en route


L: 850m above sea level, and a 3142m volcano lurking behind
R: Lake Batur at the foot of Mt Batur and its three volcanos


L: We had lunch at the restaurant with a gorgeous view
R: At the restaurant, with three volcanos behind me


L: Little monyet ("monkey" in Bahasa Indonesia)
R: A family of monkeys cuddled up and asleep


That's all folks. For more photos, visit my Flickr site.