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Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Fight another day.

My service term is due on the 6th May, which is exactly 12 days from now. The IPPT cat test will be taken into consideration for entry into service term. Meanwhile, it's time to train up. I'm preparing to go for a 3Km run and a swim after that. I'm actually quite excited and I really hope my body is able to adapt to the trainings smooth and fast.

End of Lobo life man.
Yea! For now.

Fight another day.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Bali exploration from 14th April to 17th April 2013.

with my darl. :D

Ultimo Italian Restaurant at Seminyak.
The Cream of mushroom soup was served with chunks of mushroom chunks. Filletto Al Pepe is a dish served with salad and panna potato. Although the medium rare tenderloin was slightly towards the salty side, the tenderness of the piece and panna potato totally made up for it. The Seafood Risotto was pretty amazing. If one has prefers an oriental taste to their Italian mains, seafood risotto is the dish to order. It's like 'seafood pasta rice'. Lastly, the dessert for the night was Panna Cotta. Thick smooth 'pudding' paired with sour raspberry sauce.

Scooter rides in Bali.
We've rode the Bali roads for two days. The scooter rental costs 110K IDR for two days. We rode for a total of two days with 5 bottles of petrol that costs 27K IDR. The petrol is sufficient for trips within Seminyak, a trip to Kuta, and a trip to Sanur. The traffic conditions in Bali can be described as orderly madness. The locals seemed to ride on instincts and they are really friendly and helpful. We can't count the number of time we've asked for directions. Sometimes stopping by beside the road and approaching a shop staff, or, just by simply turning our heads to the people beside us (on scooters). They were accurate with their directions most of the time. There were two situations when the locals guided us on their bikes. The last one was particularly memorable. We didn't take Jalan sunset (a main 'highway') to reach Seminyak. Instead, we weaved on small roads. A left turn, another left turn, magic! Uma Karan was right beside us on our left.

Sunrise in Seminyak and Sanur.
We saw our first Sunrise in Bali at Seminyak. Uma Karan to be exact. As we were about to scoot off to Seminyak, we stopped by the front of the pool to take a short glance. The pool reflected the purplish pink skies on it's surface. Beautiful indeed. It's a short ride (approximately 10 minutes), from Uma Karan to Seminyak beach.

We decide to venture to Sanur next. It's the eastern part of Bali and supposedly one of the best place to watch the sunrise. Sitting at the Breakwaters at Jalan Matahari Terbit, we watched as the glow of the sun unfold.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Poke my thoughts.

This question is thought provoking.

'When the button is pressed, will you have stay and fight on?'.

I've just finished a two day 'values' workshop. To be honest, I have no idea what the exact name of the workshop was. I started an Air Imagery Course on the 25th April and I'm back at AFTC for two days to attend this workshop. And tomorrow, I'll be going back to where I should be till the 8th April. The course is really intensive and interesting.

Indeed, there were lectures, videos shown, sharing sessions and activities throughout the whole event. And out of all the activities that were organized, the part that I enjoyed the most was the sharing or real time operation stories by the two veterans of their own field on day 1 of the workshop. It engaged my thoughts and made me reflect.

Let me share with you my answer to that question. For now, I'll try not to answer hypothetical questions. I'll be working on my profession, making sure I am trained enough to have the operational capability as a future leader. This should be the priority. Values, just like passion, are big words. And I believe, the most reliable answer to the question will be revealed when the 'button is pressed'.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Oh, right.

Attended NTU's 25th Anniversary dinner yesterday. Other than being with the AUG gang, and seeing the always so welcoming Shifu, I felt detached most of the time. Largely due to the fact that there are simply so many juniors I, we, haven't before. But one thing for sure, the tenacious feeling for the sport I love so much was undeniable.

I need to radar for new dresses.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Happy aches.

'Call me crazy, but I love suffering the day after my workout'
From Fitness Inspirations page.

>300 repetitions of abdominal exercises and my abs ache now. I've focused on my arms and quadriceps too. I've had a protein loaded breakfast which includes fishball noodles soup, two egg whites and a packet of Vitasoy. I'll be hitting the gym again in the afternoon later, for health, for a beachbody, and a project ;)

Heat acclimatisation program will start the coming Monday. An air imagery course will start on the 25th March 2013. Activities are planned up.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Stella's dash.

It all started when Captain. G dropped by the TMS classroom to look for helpers to help him with the planning of the Singapore Armed Forces Sports Association (SAFSA) track and field event. My colleagues and I helped with the selection and communication with the runners. Then Captain. G told me that he needed players to help gain participation points for RSAF. Initially I hesitated because I was unsure of what are the standards like at the SAFSA level. But nonetheless, I promised him that I'll take part in the 100m Women's open. Only. Why? Because it's my pet event for my secondary school sports day and I'm more confident in my sprinting abilities) I was signed up for the 4x100m (women's and mixed), without my prior consent. But I agreed anyway.

I feel excitement when running.

Today, I reported at the stadium shortly after breakfast. I had macadamia nuts, a berroca drink and a milo drink. That's all about it. My quads still felt overstretched at that point of time. I was in heat 2, lane 3 for the women's open 100m race. I qualified with 14.51q. I peeped at my results. I was 0.01 seconds faster than the first runner up. I finished the finals with 14.37 seconds. A 0.03 seconds of winning margin. I ran as fast as I could. And after the race, I received heartfelt congratulations from the spectators and the participants.

4x100m women's was an interesting one. My hunch tell me that we'd get to top three. After deciding with my colleague, we concluded that my start up was fast, plus I need fresh legs for the final 100m, thus I volunteered to be the first runner. We were good. And totally out of my own expectations.

4x100 mixed. The team consist of three men and one woman. And the only woman is required to run the last 100m. The gun went off. I assessed the situation awhile. I waited for my third runner. And when our third runner was coming over at me with the baton, I grabbed it, turn and just told myself to run my might. We were initially on the second last/ last placing. There were already runners ahead of me. But I dashed through, overtook, and we made it to the second. It's an exhilarating feeling. I've fought my way through to gain points, to test my limits and get out unharmed (Oh my quads. Phew!).

I was presented the Women's Open best performance trophy. The prize presenter whom said to me 'who else can it be?'. I smiled and take it as a form of recognition. In my secondary school days, I always wanted to get the individual female trophy. I brushed through the award a few times, so close, yet I didn't get it. But today, it's all in all a pleasant surprise.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

A review on the tripadvisor for Bintan Sayang.

Private. Kampong style vibe. Value for money.
 My partner and I were there on the 16/02/2012 to 17/02/2012 for a 2d1n weekend getaway.

We signed up for the couple package at 208SGD nett which is inclusive of land transfers, city tour (Uban) and an hour of massage each and food (lunch, dinner and breakfast). The return ferry trips were at 67SGD each.

I'd say that we were very surprised by the quality and quantity of the lunch and dinner (included) provided at the restarant. For lunch, we went with the default menu which is a 6 course meal with hot plate tofu, stir fried chicken, sambal kangkong, fried sotong, butter prawns and gonggong (a type of shellfish). For beverage, we went with the local coconut.

For dinner, we chose our own dishes. And we had a Teochew style steamed garoupa and hotplate beef. 

The seafood's fresh and good. And is easily one of the highlight of our stay.

The sea villa is the best accomodation they have. The room is spacious, warm and cozy. There are two rooms in each villa and they have a private balcony for each villa And since we have no neighbours, we had the whole balcony to ourselves.

We didn't went for the city tour and neither have we tried the massage (good according to the previous reviews). Private, kampong vibe, value for money, good seafood, efficient service. The whole place doesn't shout luxury, but it's comfortable enough. *Note that the restaurants and the reception do accept SGD. But note that if one chooses to embark on the city tour, the vendors from the small town accepts Rupiah.

We will recommend Bintan Sayang's Sea villa for a weekend getaway. 


The consensus of Tofu and me!