[the cotton tree]
who thought cotton grew on trees? well now i know that they do... just a stone's throw away from my office gate in camp, there lies a big old tree... and i just noticed today after fellow storemen alwyn and qm that the tree is actually blooming with cotton!!

apparently, the green pod when ripe will shed its shell and bingo, you get plenty of raw smooth untreated cotton...

so i took some cotton seeds and decided to plant them outside my office... maybe when i come back for reservist, i would see another big cotton tree...

quite interesting.... we have mango trees, rambutan trees and even cucumber shrubs....

[the cobra strikes]
baby cobra was enjoying his suntan when spotted by drivers chee sim and zheng whye.... and as usual, it's always me, having failed to catch the tree snake during it's appearance, vowed to catch the baby cobra this time...

swiftly, another driver wong grabbed the broom and dust pan and in a matter of minutes, the slithery creature was in dustpan in my hands!!!

then from the dustpan, we transferred the snake to a white pail... and the next thing we knew, it was the talk of the town... people gathered, people screamed, people peeped at the slithery snake...

and after the exibition ended, it was sent to the guard room to exile... and did i mention that we named the snake jonathan... haha...

what an eventful first day as 3SG... i even have an army email account now!!!

[it's payday]
went back to sp to collect my pay today and got to see the new digital slr that they bought.... hmmm... maybe i shall try my hand at photography... anyways, kindof slept the whole day after coming home....

tomorrow will be my first day of my 3SG tour... finally... hope i can still maintain my positive outlook and be nice to everyone....

[love and like]
In front of the person you love, your heart beats faster
But in front of the person you like, you get happy.
In front of the person you love, winter seems like spring
But in front of the person you like, winter is just beautiful winter.

If you look into the eyes of the one you love, you blush
But if you look into the eyes of the one you like, you smile.
In front of the person you love, you can't say everything on your mind
But in front of the person you like, you can.

In front of the person you love, you tend to get shy
But in front of the person you like, you can show your own self.
The person you love comes into your mind every 2 minutes.
You can't look straight into the eyes of the one you love
But you can always smile into the eyes of the one you like.

When the one you love is crying, you cry with them
But when the one you like is crying, you end up comforting.
The feeling of love starts from the eye
And the feeling of like starts from the ear.
So if you stop liking a person you used to like,
All you need to do is cover your ears.
But if you try to close your eyes
Love turns into a teardrop and remains in your heart forever after.

- extracted from huei-tai's blog

[of photos and camera phones]
hmmm.... just woke up after doing my mass media research project till midnight yesterday....

also went to check out new camera phones... feel like getting one soon cause my camp allows camera phones to be brought in if you have applied for the letter of authorisation...

here's a photo taken in the tech store with driver jonathan ng.... now isn't that cool?

[the hunt is on]
yup... they announced it just early this month... perfect10 is hunting for new djs... and of course, since my ex-editor thinks i don't have the looks to appear in any fullstop ads and model for other publications, i'll try my shot at this dj hunt.... simply because i have been on 'live' radio before... wish me luck!

[10 reasons why i want a press pass]
1> it makes you feel outstanding and special
2> it gives some form of identity, bonding
3> not that i love to look like a dog, but some neck accessory looks kindof cool
4> it projects a professional image of SP
5> it shows the world that we are press people
6> it makes people around treat us better lest we write nasty things about them
7> it makes my editor's task of strangling me easier
8> it makes people notice you
9> i displays my difficult to pronounce name
10> it saves me the trouble of trying to spell my name to people again and again

[willy willy quite contrary]
when the organisers of this year's mmsp told me there were no celebs turning up i was really dissappointed... you could hardly imagine my surprise when i met willy lau, the star from light years and his fellow co-star yutaki... even almost-out-of-limelight wallace ang was there as a judge... surprise surprise....

perhaps being the shy guy that he is, yutaki, was evading the camera and attempts to score an interview with him proved futile.... however, willy was frank and friendly when we shot him with questions.... he even talked about the many pretty gals in sp!

when asked for his wishes for sp students in the new academic year, he said: "every semester is a new beginning so i hope everyone would work hard and play even harder."

[wise man sayings]
life is only travelled once.... today's moment becomes tomorrow's memory... enjoy every moment good or bad , because the gift of life is life itself!

[from print to screen]
seems like i have been venturing into broadcast journalism for the last few projects.... perhaps it's because i'd love to try out new stuff....

[wise man says]
the biggest mistake is to repeat your own mistakes.....

[the dj]
seems like the posts here are getting way too wordy... so here's a picture... i am actually having my breakfast and typing now.... with a cup of aromatic coffee on my desk!!

and if your really wanna know what actually goes on behind the scenes of live radio... check this out!

[good week, bad week]
really don't know what to say about the past week.....

i guess the word bad can really sum it up... rewind to tuesday, my oc just asked me to sign one extra....

and as usual, it's for some stupid reason... well, that's how it works in the army...

scenario:
you are the roll-call spec... responsible for asking your men to fall in for attendance taking.... the routine order (ro) states that you are supposed to fall in the men by 0715... your upper study, a 3SG, shouts for fall in at 0710.... he marks the attendance, i count the strength... strength tallys...

in between, there are still guys sweeping the floor, throwing rubbish, and others attending a briefing on camera phones... they hold up everything...

then slightly after 0730 (the time to report strength), you report the strength and ask the men to warm-up for pt...

as you walk past... you see your oc...

oc says:"Ephraim... you're the roll-call spec?"

i say: "yes.."

he says: "you go and sign three (extras).."

that's it.... some stupid reason... men don't fall in on time, specs sign...

okay... now that's a lesson learnt....

so i go to look for my csm and i sign one... no questions asked... we discussed and my sgt decided to sign two...

[crash]
something really unfortunate happened in camp today and that has left one of my left fingers in pain....

it all started with one of those crappy stuff as usual.... and all bad things seem to happen this week....

something simple like cycling back to my battalion block turned out to be a tragic and hilarious incident for me and jonathan ng, one of the drivers in my camp...

it's all my fault... in a stroke of a genius, i decided to him that we should race to the batallion block just like any other day.... and gamely we did it as usual...

little did he not know, the brakes on the bike were not functional (think he was engrossed and forgot) and he sped too fast.... the bike swerved off the road and landed in a small valley....

hot on his heels was yours truly and i swerved in the same path rammed into his bike, over the valley and was left in a heap of a mess....

then when we both regained our composure... we had a big laugh at ourselves!! sibei funny lor...

anyway, we continued our journey like nothing happened and fixed our bikes in some secluded area later.... can't help laughing when i think about it now man....

just hope both our fingers heal fast... haha...

[President goes on a walk through SP’s history]
President S R Nathan officially launched SP’s 50th Anniversary Celebrations on the 13 of February.

When asked how he felt about visiting SP again two years since his first visit in 2002, President Nathan said: “I’m very pleased to be here to commemorate your 50th anniversary especially in this auditorium and plaza. I think the whole philosophy of Singapore Polytechnic of encouraging young minds to dare to do things was evident at today’s gathering. The various performances and lighting up all reflects very well on the school. I was also impressed by the mix of students from Myanmar, Vietnam and various places mixing with us. That will enrich our Singapore students and also enable others to understand us better.”

It was indeed a night to remember for a long time to come. Just look at the number of cameras capturing his every move!!!

[infernal affairs]
sigh... what does one do when he's ill and needs to stay at home? watch vcd and drink coffee lor....

well... at least that's what i did....

just visited mediacorp last week and will be visiting sph this week man! so so fun....