[the fruits of labour]
sweet i must say... why? cause i got my results today... and i got my first A!!! yeah.... cheers...

super happy man... after a long day at work doing paperwork i finally come home and then get my long awaited results... it was very scary... thought i couldn't pass... but yes, i did it!!! now, i'd only have to do my graduation project that is due on saturday...

[ahm day]
slept at armceg last night... and yes, i saw the drivers' new bunk... a bit like a prison for mental patients... a lot of cages around the building with only one exit - a gate...

drivers are naughty people and cheeky too... they kept on disturbing 3sg tan when he was trying to sleep... and i too was awakened by all that noise.... and i didn't manage to get a good night's rest...

although jon threw me a blanket while i was half asleep (thanks bro) he also splashed water on my face... haha...

at least i still managed to complete the ahm today in 2hrs and 30mins.... and that means i get one day off.... heard that other units have five to seven days off...



i also told co about the diesel incident and he would get to the bottom of it... haha.... lets see what happens.... going for lunch soon.... my legs super tired man...

blog out...

[exposed]
when the cbre defence group was launched by defence minister dr tony tan, the new paper published this article on 19 jan 2003. titled 'ready for dirty bombs' it mentioned chemical weapons. A deadly anthrax scare. A car filled with explosives. Should these dangers arise here, Singapore can count on a highly-skilled team to tackle them.

The Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Explosive (CBRE) Defence Group. Made up of the Explosives Ordnance Disposal unit, the Chemical and Biological Defence unit and the Medical Response Force, it was unveiled by Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Tony Tan last night.

CBRE was formed to enhance SAF's counter-terrorist capabilities to address the threat of global terrorism.

Said Dr Tan: 'While explosives continue to be the most common tool used by terrorists, the trend towards employing chemical and biological agents, and radiological 'dirty bombs' to strike terror is growing.

'The SAF must be equipped and ready to respond to these new threats.'

An incident response exercise called the Ex Diamond Shield was displayed last night - where the new group was activated to respond to a scenario which comprised an explosive device and a chemical device.

Also on display was a wide variety of tools and equipment never before revealed to the public. This includes:
The GID-3 detector: It detects and identifies chemical agents and will sound an alarm

Chemical agent monitor: It has the ability to detect vapour agents transmitted through the air like anthrax

Personnel inflatable decontamination shelter: A shelter which delivers a high pressure water stream to quickly decontaminate people who may have been exposed to toxic agents.

so the public actually knows of the existence of these equipment.... speechless? then go update yourself by reading the papers... so they say 'knowledge is really power'....

[stupidity]
hmmm... wonder why? let me tell you...

there is this cbrdcc officer who mistook diesel for petrol and pumped it into the tank of the pet... amazingly, he unknowingly did that even after being told that the pet runs on petrol!!! is p-e-t-r-o-l so difficult to differentiate from d-i-e-s-e-l??

my task is to find the root cause of the problem now... was it that the officer was negligient? he didin't bother to check? just assumed that it was petrol?

was it that no one was there to supervise? did the instructor emphasise clearly? or did he not follow the lesson plan?

as if that was not enough, the following week a 3sg made the same mistake.... he poured diesel into the petrol engine of the dss!!! imagine what would have happened if the engine was started? an explosion? a death? an injury?

best of all, they managed to cover it all up... but too bad i found out!!!

now... who will go onto the chopping board? our co? (think the commando dunking incident)

i remember in one of co's email... he mentioned that he would punish any commander or man who failed to take responsibility of his equipment...

like in the recent case of the missing bayonet in the armskote... co placed a great emphasis on damaged equipment and missing equipment.... and just like what is in the specialist creed... a specialist of the saf must not only excel in his specialist field but also must take care of his equipment and his men...

what more an officer...

guess what co will do when he hears about it? i think he will freak out!!! we shall see....

[washed out]
just like what murphy's law states... what can go wrong will go wrong and sure something did go wrong at the psd visit...

sad to say, prior to the arrival of the permanent secretary of defence, all the equipment were personally give attention and certified fit for use...

but then the crunch came when he arrived... and the decofog could not start... refer to today's home section page H4 for a photo of the decofog...



even the mpds, c8dads and mps appeared on the newspaper before... and the mopp4 too!!! and the mask and, and, the paul boyle suit that we no longer use....

sometimes i really wonder whether we just like the indian contractors that just wash the floor? or like the pest control people.... cause even the hcwp and generators that we use are used by them... so just as 3sg abc says cbrd people are just high paid people of the saf cleaning company...

so why are they paid so much just to operate equipment that are used by low class contractors? go figure... and yes, you are entitled to your own opinion....

to 2lt xyz - i have removed all the pictures of the classified equipment... hope you are satisfied now... anyway, i only have 32 more working days in 39sce!!! ord loh....

[gate 65]
watched the terminal today... and the show emphasised only one word... wait...

repeat after me, w-a-i-t...

and before i even managed to catch the show, brian kept me waiting liao... however, after waiting i still managed to enjoy the show...

well i must say that the airport set built in a warehouse was pretty impressive... but what touched hearts most would probably be the romantic love scenes in the show...

other than that, tom hanks character's pitiful looks scores once again with the audience just like his previous shows...

amid love and friendship, the story builds up and charts viktor narvoski's adventure and mis-adventures living at gate 65 of the jfk international airport... the story finally culminates when viktor is eventually allowed to enter new york after the war is over...

he finally fulfils the promise to his dead father and the intriguing mystery of him carrying an empty can is finally revealed...

[camera's dead]
after almost serving me for close to eleven months, my canon ixus II conked out yesterday...

i shall have to bring in to its creators today and have it fixed... so meanwhile, pictures of what i do in the next few weeks will be a no-no...

anyway, i still got to finish my project so i guess these remaining weeks of september will not be so full of activity as before....

but rest assured, i'll still try to post some old pics...

here's the view from the canon showroom at harbourfront, the place i'll be sending my camera to..



the cable cars look super cool don't they?

[initial success]
more to come after a successful rehearsal today... guess it was pretty twang for some...



at hanger 65 in seletar camp on this thursday morning, it's just nice to have a shower... at the decon shower system set up for the psd visit rehearsal...



and you also get to see funny monsters like these and tellytubbies (not shown) too...



it's all part and parcel of what cbrd and eod people do... or rather cbre...



and boy, they do it fast too.... by 10am, we are all ready to pack up and go home.... yeah!!

[swim fan]
back from swimming at daniel's place again...

and since i'm tired out, i'll just let the pictures do the talking...





blog's out... camp's in...

[rehearsals again]
haha... while the rest of the company is clearing off today and tomorrow, i'm busy with rehearsals again...

say a-g-a-i-n.... yup... that's it... again...

this time, i'm not in the limelight but behind the scenes... well, it's okay... sometimes it's good to let others shine too... must be humble...

so the story goes... it's the permanent secretary of defence's visit on 21 september in my camp and alpha coy is busy rehearsing to make the display of our cbre capabilities perfect... for the past two days they have been rehearsing and rehearsing... gosh... and today and tomorrow too...

so why am i there since it concerns alpha? since i was not involved on standby at the army open house, i decided to volunteer for this display...

now, say v-o-l-u-n-t-e-e-r... that's it... volunteer.... haha...

and my job there is to make sure that all the equipment they use are in tip top condition... and if there is any breakdown on any equipment, i will open my ammo box and replace the spoilt parts to get it working again...

quite cool lah... for this i don't waste my off days and i also get to leave camp early too!!! alpha oc said that the signallers (who are involved because of the sound system) and i can leave early.... and that was like around 3pm!!! he rocks man!!!

[zooming breakfast]
had a fast and furious breakfast, a race against time at mc cafe at shaw towers this morning... kindof rushed to town after going to church for my brother's baptism today....



and it was a zooming treat as racy sports cars greeted me as i made my way to the cafe...



actually the mc cafe at shaw is quite a cool place to just relax and chill out as i found out today.. and, yes, the friendly staff there actually blast my kindof music!!!

go there and you will find out what kind of music rocks my radio....

anyway, wow, today i did a lot of travelling.... from orchard... to bukit timah for lunch... to bishan... to rivervale... and finally to my aunt's place at nobhill...

and while i was at junction 8, i kindof had a glimpse of jeff chang... and of course i did not miss sharon au and calvin soh at the filming of an episode of barter trade too.... super crowded sia...



as i was rushing for time, i didn't get a chance to say hi to sharon... haha... what a pity...

[chill out day]
after blogging on drivers and signallers, it's probably time to talk about my department... the cd maintenance platoon...



and yesterday, the whole department took a day off to chill out at chevrons...



the main activity was lan gaming... and after that, xiongzhong and i went to the jackpot room... and i realised one thing... i could actually sign guests in... haha.... cool man....



straight after trying his luck at the jackpot room, we decided to roam around the nooks and crannies of the building...



and we found a great place with a picturesque view to take a nice photo of ourselves and sneakily photographed the rest at the pool downstairs... after that cheap thrill, we headed upstairs and had a western food break at the bowling alley...

the rest of the guys were all over the building - some busy bowling with my boss, others swimming, playing pool or trying out their luck at the jackpot room...

then at close to six at night, we headed over to lawrence's don don in clementi for dinner.... and sure did have fun celebrating lihao's birthday as he demonstrated how to eat wasabi in bulk...

[email day]
spent the whole half of yesterday replying my emails... and sending nominations for people for WITs conversion course.... and a lot of other stuff...

of course all work and no play makes ephraim a dull boy... so i pop out of my boss' work cubical where i was using the computer and talk cock before going back in to do some more work...

and it was signaller day yesterday.... haha....


signallers jing guo, glen and dovin....

however, although it was a half day off for me, i still stayed in the office till nine plus completing some servicibility report together with signaller cum logistics officer personal assistant edwin...

reached home only at ten!!!! sigh.... but never mind, i will start clearing leave and off in three weeks time which is two weeks ahead of my planning due to the extra off days awarded for my contribution towards oc evening...

[drivers day out]
as scheduled, i am on off today!!! but only half day... and so here i am, blogging before i go to camp...

today will probably be my last day posting pictures of me in camp as my loa for camera expires tomorrow... and tomorrow, my department will be on off!!! we will probably be at chevrons bowling...

and so back to the topic... yesterday was not as stressful as tuesday... only got one big arrow... WITs...

so i had some spare time although i still worked through lunch checking mails, sending quotations, repairing stuff and doing paper work....

but i took a break and went to the mess to have my breakfast... along with drivers too... so i asked them to sit at the same table as me (commanders mess mah, men cannot sit unless given permission)

and so they did...

kian wee kept on asking to take his photo and asked me what was different about him that day... stupid me didn't even notice... it's actually the removal of his braces... no wonder he kept on giving me a big smile wider than usual...



then chi xiang the jc calibre but went to poly driver sat on my left with raymond poh...



and finally the 'cutest guy in hq' (that's what he always calls himself) caught on camera...



then at log office during lunch, 'fit' lennon was showing off to me his chin ups....

[arrow response]
stress at work has made me want to go for another long deserved break... so to beat stress, i decided to go for a night swim after daniel's suggestion...

so after having my hair cut to prepare for tomorrow's muster parade, i went to daniel's house, which is just opposite mine, stripped down to my surf shorts and took a plunge into the icy cool pool...



and after playing and fooling around in the pool, we headed for a few rounds in the sauna... super de-stressed now...



maybe i shall take off on thursday to do my project and visit the library...

[the sun, the sand and the sea]
long day today... however, i'm still not that tired to skip blogging altogether...

you should have guessed from the title that i went to the beach today... and halfway through, rain poured down... so to keep ourselves occupied, xinlong decided to whip out his new minolta camera for a few shots...



however, after the slight drizzle, the sun came up again at sentosa...

so the gang of five, jeremy, zhihao, xinlong, sebastian and me played volleyball along the coast...


sebastian concentrating there...


zhihao gets a good shot..


sunshine boy xinlong and me posing for a "fhm" cover shoot... haha...

but, no matter how many sunshine boys were present, the drizzle still came back... and after about four hours at the beach we decided to call it quits as our stomaches were already growling... and along the way, i managed to get jeremy to snap a photo of me on the beach...



so we packed up and look for another friend brandem... but as he was so engrossed in his game, we decided to top up our growling stomaches with food...



so we left the island for plaza singapura... and after much discussion we decided to head for pastamania for dinner...



and topped it up with a giant earthquake!!!



and that was how my first trip to sentosa beach turned out to be...

[army open house]
how to make a not so interesting open house that you are forced to attend a memorable one? go with your best pals lor...

this year's army open house is no different from the previous years... with displays, celebs and freebies... perhaps the live firing part is new...

anyway, i was treated to a preview of the army open house before it opens its doors to the public later today...

caught the saf band with their familiar tunes and marching formations at the parade square...



the cbre displays from 36 and 39sce... really 'cool' ipe, lds, encapsulated and eod suits....



and posed with the chinook helecopter (you know the one that flies the singapore flag on national day)...



but... the fun part was shooting blanks with the sar21 at the urban warfare zone... cause the last time i actually held a rifle with rounds was actually in 2003 and that was the m16... so i was quite game when the drivers persuaded me to join them at the shooting arena...



and of course.... i met fiona xie!!! she's so damn chio man.... and sexy in her bareback army green blouse and jungle cap... and she was shooting some video for the army open house...



she didn't mind posing with an army 3SG.... so....

[bunk it on]
as soon as i vacated my bunk yesterday, the 'commando' contractors spared no effort in destroying my bunk in the shortest possile time...

now you see it quite intact....



and then the partitions and doors are gone...



and there goes my bunk... should be in pieces by now...

[last night]
it seemed so sudden but last night was the last time i had the chance to sleep in my bunk... just this morning, my oc told my cq that our bunks would be combined and torn down to make way for a laundry point...

and just after lunch i was told to vacate it... looks like i would be staying out for a very long time as upgrading of our unit's bunks will last till year end...



at least i took a good look at my bunk for the last time...

[accidental tourist]
supposed to go to the mdis library to do some research and look for a particular graduation project as reference... but...

since it's my first time going there from home on public transport, i lost my way... i kindof missed the stop... and, as usual, my instinct was not 100% foolproof...

and so i landed at the most unexpected place...

the airport...



well, i could have stopped somewhere along the expressway.... but that would have meant a late lunch... and i didn't want that to happen considering the fact that i did not eat a lot for breakfast... and so, the only choice was to drop by the airport before going to the mdis library...

[oc evening report]
finally, the oc evening is over and i have the time now to file this report...

lots of pics to post man...

0946 - sound system is set up and running...



followed by rehearsal 1...

1046 - rehearsal 1 commences



then, projectors and laptop are brought in...

setup and testing of projectors... video clip is tested for the first time in the mph...

1315 - long awaited lunch

1356 - oc evening background slide is created...



1424 - rehearsal 2 commences...



through the rehearsals, actual music and sequencing is obtained... video is not played entirely..

1502 - chairs roll in...

1522 - tables for the food come in too...



then the setup is completed by 1700... and i go for a shower...

1715 - actual show to begin in 15 mins...

1730 - show begins!!



then.... unexpectedly there was a trip in one of the extension cables... and it affected the mood a bit... however, the comments that poured in after the show were positive... most importantly, my oc was kindof happy lah....