[About this blog] Inspired by local soccer player Mike Lim during my rookie reporter days at Singapore Polytechnic, I set up this blog in August 2002. I feel that blogging is a novel platform to document interesting facets of my life and my thoughts on certain issues. [Email blogger] ephraim@singnet.com.sg

Wednesday, June 30, 2004

[blackout]
imagine that it's a nice cool night at home and you are chilling out to music and chatting on the net when...

boom!!

in a matter of nanoseconds, your room is turned into a silent hole...

now instead of panicking, crazy me peeped out of the windows to see what had happened... and true enough, it turned out to be what i expected and was so intense... apparently, it not only affected my block and the blocks around me... even hougang was in toal darkness!!

and guess what i did next?

i called the Streats hotline and told them about the blackout...

and the rest they say is history...

Sunday, June 27, 2004

[ubin legend]
woke up way too early and got to changi so fast... even though i missed a bus, i still managed to get there way ahead of anthony, alvin and brandem...

ubin is a nice place in terms of the scenery and the people there...



and apart from the scenery, there are many fruit trees around... so much so that i even managed to find a durian!! other than that, we were pretty much enjoying the coconuts...



but perhaps the most difficult task of the day was to locate different access points to the quarry...

and boy, was the scenery breathtaking and it nearly swept me off my feet... good thing i kept them firmly rooted to the ground...



but the rest decided to take the plunge...



and on our way back something unfortunate happened and i had to hitch a ride back to the jetty... go figure...

Saturday, June 26, 2004

[just another day]
just back from my uncle's house somewhere along bukit timah.... and checked out his new bmw too... nice grey car... not really a lot of happening stuff today...

just that i went for a meeting with my editor this morning... and some stories of mine have been scrapped... but it's okay... also pitched some story ideas to him and were kindof well received...

also, today was special as it was my first time at crystal jade... though people have been saying that the food there is great, i did not try it till today...

gotta sleep early and will have to stop here... i shall be going to pulau ubin tomorrow!!!

Friday, June 25, 2004

[limited edition]
life is pretty smooth going these days... especially since you are no longer kept in suspense about what grades you scored for your modules... it's like getting butterflies in your stomach and the thought of failing it makes you an insomniac...

thank goodness they replied... that meaning i did not fail!!

but just to divert your attention, let me first talk about the campaign that involves m&m chocolates.. apparently something big is coming... and to herald that change, they decided to play a little chess with us...

see, they made all the m&m chocolate pieces black and white and in a limited packaging and quantity too... interesting...



and... oh yeah... just for the record, i got two b...

[artiste]
parade is finally over... after almost five rehearsals!! just like what they say... ten minutes of fame on stage takes ten years of building up...

and what i was really happy was that our incoming co actually told my chief clerk's assistant this: "Wah... You all actually hire glenn ong to host your parade ah?"

when she told him that i, an nsf, was one of the emcees, he said: "Hmmm... Good voice quality. Should use him for other events too."

and the next thing you know... you'll be in for something big...

now that is what i call a BIG break!!

Tuesday, June 22, 2004

[good news and some bad news too]
the good news is that i will be hosting one of 39sce's largest parades... me and fellow emcee robin are going to make it kindof like a mini ndp in the unit man...

however, that means i'll have to skip part of my lesson on thursday and the parade will go way way past 1900 hrs!!!

Sunday, June 20, 2004

[going japanese]
just a message was all it took to go for a sushi buffet... but the sad thing was that the buffet was available on weekdays... anyway heck... jeremy, brandem and i went for the ala carte instead and it was quite a steal as there was some promotion going on...



the bill added to around 34 bucks and we were all full just like happy kings...



and jeremy said the waiter that served us looked like jay chou!!! i'm puzzled... anyway it was all thanks the waiter that i can post this photo on my blog...

Saturday, June 19, 2004

[pull factor]
they came.. they tugged... and some even pulled with all their might and were left to roll onto the ground...

and in some cases, the opponent was too strong... even with proper tugs in co-ordination ns coy team could not even establish foothold over their opponents... and eventually they were dragged all the way past the winning point...



and while the ns coy did fare badly, shouts of jubilee could be heard from the hq team as they blazed their way for a pull of a lifetime...



and boy their faces were red hot...

Friday, June 18, 2004

[man woman, woman man]
the differences between men and women...

women will sometimes admit to making a mistake, but they will usually try to make it look like it was the man's fault... the last man who admitted that he was wrong was General George Custer...

a man has six items in his bathroom: a toothbrush, toothpaste, shaving cream, a razor, a bar of soap and a towel... the average number of items in a typical woman's bathroom is 237... and the man would not even identify most of them...

if a woman finds herself in unfamiliar surroundings, she would stop at a garage and ask for directions... men will never stop and ask for directions...

men are vain: they will check themselves out in a mirror... women are ridiculous: they will check their reflections in any shiny surface, mirrors, spoons, shop windows and toasters etc..

when a woman goes to work she will slip on casual shoes... she will carry her dress shoes in a plastic bag... when she goes to work she will put on her dress shoes... five minutes later, she will kick them off because her feet are under the desk... a man will wear one pair of shoes for the entire day..

Tuesday, June 15, 2004

[a dare and a change]
first the daring news... i called the saf hotline to seek some advice on not allowing the whole hq company to have dinner because our standby bed dragged till about eight at night...

but no big fuss about that... anyway.. all is well now...

and just today, our co called for a "press conference" announcing some really great changes in the army... and i have a new ord date!!!

the change means that all NSmen = me - with or without A-level, diploma or higher qualifications - will now serve 24 months, or two years!!!

the cutback in length of NS will be done in a graduated fashion for different batches of NSmen....

those who have just enlisted or will enlist between June and November for 2 1/2 years will get a four-month cut (shiok sia!!)

those who are now doing their 2 1/2 years of full-time service will get up to a two-month cut = me...

haha... looks like i am going to ord this year... hmmm... then what will i do after ns??

Sunday, June 13, 2004

[ktv siao]
kindof missed my lesson on friday night all because of our dear oc... when i reached my school, the lesson was already half gone!! after that got a surprise call to go ktv with my oeti friends... went somewhere near maxwell food centre....

Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough

I don't want to lose you, I don't want to use you
just to have somebody by my side.

I don't want to hate you,
I don't want to take you, I don't want to be the one to cry.

That don't really matter to anyone anymore.

Like a fool I keep losing my place
I keep seeing you walk through that door.

And there's a danger in loving somebody too much,
and it's sad when you know it's your heart you can't trust.

There's a reason why people don't stay where they are.

Baby, sometimes, love just ain't enough.

I could never change you, I don't want to blame you.

Baby, you don't have to take the fall.

Yes, I may have hurt you, but I did not desert you.

Maybe I just want to have it all.

It makes a sound like thunder, it makes me feel like rain.

Like a fool who will never see the truth,

I keep thinking something's gonna change.

And there's no way home, when it's late at night and you're all alone.

Are there things that you wanted to say?

Do you feel me beside you in your bed,
there beside you, where I used to lay?

And there's a danger in loving somebody too much,
and it's sad when you know it's your heart they can't touch.

There's a reason why people don't stay who they are.

Baby, sometimes, love just ain't enough.

Baby, sometimes, love... just ain't enough.

Oh, Oh, Oh, No.

Friday, June 11, 2004

[a surprise and an eye-opener]
when i went for the annual fullstop reporters training session, the last thing on my mind was to meet my print media lecturer... and surprise of all surprises i did not only meet him... he conducted the session as well!!!



was kindof amused by the large office of khl printing and their powerful presses... one thing to note: workers at the printing press get their hands on the news the fastest man!!!

Tuesday, June 08, 2004

[street fest]
sunday was a day for rest and also popped down by the singapore street fest... was like so scary man, the whole event... many dark clothed people dressed like demons, vampires all grossly made up... with dark rings, white faces all complete with a funny stench... wierd cosplay...

however, in the midst of loud music and photo taking, a band of soliders streamed along orchard road... cool man as they marched to the music in number one!!!

Sunday, June 06, 2004

[conference and the whole glam thing]
went for an 800 dollar conference at the grand copthorne hotel on friday... also rubbed shoulders with media bigwigs like colonel bernard toh, director of mindef's public affairs.... you see his name appear in the straits times forum and it was a pleasure meeting him... haha...



food was great... especially the chocolate cheese cake... i chomped down three slices man!! but the best thing was to meet up with part of the team of reporters after a long lull period... and of course, met fullstop's third editor...



surely it was tiring and had to go for my print media lesson after the conference... but heck, it was fun...



and coming up next is another large scale training session cum visit to khl printing on thursday... looks like its gonna be a busy week ahead....

Saturday, June 05, 2004

[zzz]
sianz... in camp now.. nothing to do... sigh...

Wednesday, June 02, 2004

[resting in progress]
what a boring day... slept almost the whole day and did some project research in the afternoon.... read up on the geneva convention and kindof browsed through some articles about the abuse of iraq prisoners of war...

i should be going on a one day crisis communications course if my leave is approved this friday... it's gonna be at the grand copthorne hotel... and once again meals are provided...