Bon Voyage Yeeling!

Yeeling's off to Arizona, company-assigned training for 365days...
not to mention sightseeing to NewYork and diving at the Galapagos Isles among other pleasures. Wonderful eh?

I invited her out to a Bon Voyage dinner tonight and she made time for me despite her busy packing and preparation.

Her top so polka-dotty...!

All the best and have fun Yeeling!

Oh yes...
Happy Halloween and Happy Deepavali to all!

Big Investment

I bought a big-ticket item today and i hope it's a good investment..

Those who know what it is, you know what it is.
If you don't know what it is, you may ask; i may tell.

...you will know sooner or later.

Happy 21st Kristin!

Thanx for inviting me to your 21st birthday celebration!

Although i didn't know anyone else there (LifeSci, VJ, TKG, relatives), i enjoyed sharing the occasion with you... and the food of course!


Happy 21st Birthday Kristin!

Life Purpose

Who am i; what are my core values:
What is my identity?
...is my life frivolous and haphazard?

Why do i do this, or that:
Does my life have purpose?
...do i even have one?

What do i want to achieve in life:
Do i have a vision?
...is my vision volatile?

How will i fulfil my vision:
Have i planned my strategy?
...are my plans short term?

Which tactics bring me closer to my plan:
Are my decisions in sync with the overall scheme of my life?
...are my decisions only for the moment?

Spend some time to think, to stop and stare...
Are you all ready for life?

Seeing Things

"We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are"
- Anais Nin (US Author and Diarist)

Do you see things as you are?

Passed!

This day another license i passed!

This license a practical and useful one indeed; not that the previous certifications were impractical or unuseful.

5 months of perserverence,
through 15 individual lessons in 16 attempts,
2 tests passed on the first attempt each,
almost $600 in registration, lesson and test fees;
One satisfied me...

Now the certification that eludes me is the Pilot's Wings.
This i know is almost impossible.

My New Toy!

Super-thin, Super-lightweight 1GB Thumb Drive
...so thin and so light you wouldn't even feel it!
(Imitating you-know-what)

It's called the Intelligent-Stick (I-Stick), by Aigo.
Supposedly waterproof, shockproof, and static-resistant, it is so tiny it fits into my wallet with ease! I would more likely lose/misplace it compared to a normal (thicker, bulkier, heavier, etc) thumb drive; but my I-Stick is truly a slender beauty!




The only qualm i have is the bundled partition/encryption software... it enables me to keep my private partition secure, but it easily allows anyone to format the whole thing (including my private/secure files). I've worked around the problem by using other encryption software.

Despite the software inadequacy i am thoroughly satisfied with my new prized possession!

teamNUS Sports Awards

...to recognise students' sporting achievements and contributions during the past academic year. This year the Awards Presentation Ceremony was held on 21st October 2005, and the NUS Lifeguard Corps (NUSULC) turned up to support their fellow award recieving lifesavers, as well as to enjoy the buffet spread.

L: Only a fraction of the food; R: NUS Lifeguard Corps


Rookie Award, Lifesaving: Rebuan Lim
"Applicable to a first-year student who has shown tremendous potential in a particular sport. The player should also have achieved the following:
a) Represented the university and brought honour and glory;
b) Displayed good sportsmanship, conduct and team spirit;
c) His role and presence have impact on team’s performance."

Most Valuable Player, Lifesaving: Gary Su
"Every sports team shall nominate one Most Valuable Player.The player should have achieved the following:
a) Represented the university and brought honour and glory;
b) Displayed good sportsmanship, conduct and team spirit;
c) His role and presence have impact on team’s performance."

L: RookieAward, Rebuan Lim; R: MVP, Gary Su


Honorary Award, Lifesaving: Dank -sMiLe-
"Applicable to final-year students who have been actively involved in sports for at least 3 years and displayed good sportsmanship and conduct."

L: HonoraryAward, Dank; R: His Medal


Congratulations also to Victoria, deserving earner of the NUS President Sports Award 2005; highest accolades in NUS sporting for the year!

Jennifer's 21st

This entry is (belatedly) dedicated to Jennifer Lam on her 21st birthday.

Thanx to Jennifer for inviting Dank to her 21st birthday (retro) party; he really enjoyed the food! Haha. But seriously, it was great he was able to celebrate your most important birthday with you and your friends (and all that alcohol you made him drink).

He hopes you will enjoy reading and finding out about all the beautiful fishes/corals of the underwater world, and that it will inspire you to many more dives and greater depths!

L: The Birthday Girl; R : Sinfully Delicious Cake

L: Food; R: The Diving Buddies

Happy 21st Birthday Jennifer!

Photo w/ Lynn Chan

Host of a Concert
...i was asked to host the annual Raffles Hall musical production, Eyeshadow, tonight, and i did. It went mostly well, except for the fact that i missed out three names from the curtain's call list.

To you who i missed out:
i would like to apologise for overlooking your name, it was not intentional; no excuses from me.


Recall "Very Posh & High-Tech Fish Tank"
Remember that entry of exclamation in response to Bohemia Bunny's (by Lynn Chan) comment on the Raffles Hall Fish Tank? Guess what... today, out of the blue, she asked to take a photo with me! It was outside the theatre and she was waiting to pounce with her camera. I found out at that moment that she's a friend of a friend (TK) and that's how she was introduced to me.
Lynn "Hi"
Dank "Err.. hi?"
TK "She is the who wrote 'Very Posh & High-Tech Fish Tank'"
Dank "Oh yeah..."
-Dank poses for a photo with Lynn-
Dank "Ermm.. I'm Daniel, Daniel Kwok. Your name is....?"
Lynn "Lynn"
Dank "Right! Lynn Chan! Pleased to meet you!"
(as accurately as can be remembered)

Awkward situation, that, but an honour to have been asked for a photo. Thank you Lynn.

Of Steak Sandwiches with Martinis

Fancy a handful of (delicious and free) Steak Sandwiches?

"What?!
DELICIOUS and FREE Steak Sandwiches,
here in Singapore?"
Yes.

I had three of them sandwiches (each a succulent Steak Slice sandwiched between two flavourful buns) yesterday at the Oriental Hotel next to Marina Square. They were simply lovely! Add to them the two glasses of tasteful Martinis and great company... a perfect teatime experience!

"Where?"
Morton's, The Steakhouse
4th floor of the Oriental Hotel
...that's where.

Happy Hour at Morton's every weekday from 5-7pm, serving delicious Steak Sandwiches every (roughly) 20minutes. Go early to grab a seat and enjoy your teatime!

Don't believe the quality of the Steak?
Why not visit Morton's Website to read about them yourself?
Better still... Invite me along the next time you're planning to go,
i'll guarantee you'll enjoy it! If you don't, i'll pay for it.

Quidam... and Halloween

Cirque Du Soleil's Quidam
(what is Quidam?)
Good or Bad? Boring or Just a fad?
Uplifting or Sad? Exciting or Expensive a tad?
Two Words: Fabulously Entertaining


Dying for a Halloween party?
Some friends of Dank are organising this Halloween party to raise funds for Women Make a Difference (charity), and then some...

Virtual Insanity

30th October 2005, Sunday
The Night Before Halloween
Cocco Latte, 1930H, $15/pax
(incl. 1 standard drink)

Is Dank going? He's not sure yet

Nicole's Birthday

Went to Crazy Elephant at Clarke Quay last night for some good music but there wasn't any space inside (should've known)... so it was decided for us to head to the Cuppage S-11 where there was space to just sit, drink and simply make lots of noise.


More information/stories to follow...

Passed, but...

The pre-requisite for the official/actual test is the school evaluation;
Dank has passed it.

The actual test can be taken anytime but it is only conducted on Mondays and Wednesdays 8am till 12noon; Dank is not allowed to take leave for the next 4 months.

How?

Leave, Day 2

Woke up to see that the two Betta Simplex committed suicide; they were on the floor, dead. Then another surprise was in store: KokTiong's long-awaited plants finally arrived which meant that it was time to set up his fish tank. In the late afternoon we scoured Serangoon for a particular shop which supposedly stocked wild Bettas (to find less jump-prone Bettas)... but we couldn't find it even after 2hours of driving round and visiting 7 fish shops. In the end i bought a small cup of Mini-sized Nanas then rescaped the Nano Tank and added in 4 Cherry Shrimps; it looks MUCH better now!


At night i went for dinner with my colleagues at San Marco at the Lighthouse on the 8th floor of the Fullerton Hotel. Up market restaurant overlooking the Marina Bay Basin, can only accomodate a maximum of 50 people and reservation is required; a once in a lifetime dining experience at that venue.
We were: 8 colleagues
We ate: Foie Gras, Escargot, Lobster, Piglet, Veal and Lamb.
We drank: A bottle of Pinot Noir and 7 ($8) bottles of distilled water.
We paid: $915, thankfully it was a treat by 4 at the table.

Thereafter we proceeded to Bakerzin at One Fullerton for some desserts (costing a colleague $140 as a promotion treat).

Wonderful fish tank, dinner, supper and company...
Another great no-work day.

Leave, Day 1

I took two days of leave, on Tuesday and Wednesday, to relax and catch up with some NUS friends i haven't seen in awhile.

Spent the morning changing the filter of my favourite Fish Tank, then to Ikea for some Swedish Meatballs, collected the window-replaced vehicle, went to the library to read a book (and say hi to Jennifer), went to the Communal Hall to play a few rounds of Bridge with Raffles Hall friends, played soccer with another group of Raffles Hall friends, went fish shopping, and set up my old-new nano tank...


Event-filled day well spent... totally worth the day of leave.

Tomorrow's day of leave awaits...

What a Smashing __ Time

Figuratively? Literally? Both!

Most of my RH friends hadn't been to Wala-Wala before, so i decided to open their eyes to a nice place with nice music... and we had a SMASHING good time! I enjoyed myself with Grand Cru, Forbidden Fruit, Boddington's, Kilkenny, great Unexpected music, and great company! Was looking out for the bloggers, only to find out that they were at Bintan for the weekend; hope you had fun!
Company included: Clare, Nicole, Yuan, Elgin, Kek, Prem, Sid, SiewTeng, WeeKiat and I. Billy & Julia joined later.
Click for more photos...

Plea: owe money, please pay up!

From the third floor, looking at the car, i said "What's that green patch next to the car? Your window glass shards?". Little did i know that the window was indeed SMASHED. We called the cops, made a report, then unexpectedly the culprit's supervisor drove up to us and said "my worker did that". What did he do?
"He started the grass cutter at the grass patch next to the car and immediately a stone was slingshot by the grass cutter blade; it flew and smashed the window". Now a new window awaits...

Dank...

...is as important as you want him to be;
...is the third person because you are more important than he;
...avails himself to you if he can, whenever he can;
...loves fast food and consumes thrice-weekly McD/BK meals.

Just a simple 4-line peek into the life of Dank.