[new year resolutions]
when you wish upon a star, your dreams come true...

ok so it's gonna be 2006 soon...

and my long term wish for 2006 is to get my driver's license so i can drive my friends around!!!

other resolutions include keeping to a training schedule of swimming and jogging and going to the gym at least once a week...

and to start training for dragonboat for my csc team.... and hopefully win something...

join young pap after the general elections...

get started with university...

go for commonwealth games in march...

write more stories for the straits times and other magazines...

see the awaited launch of my first co-authoured book...

and the list goes on....

and on....

so many things to look forward to....

[appreciation]
as promised, here are the pics...

here's the special print-out for guest judges at mmsp 05/06...



and the token of appreciation...

it is so nice to be appreciated sometimes, for your efforts...

[party on]
first it was my staff christmas party on friday... and i planned it until every single detail and even did the cooking... the whole office had beef, turkey, pie and a log cake...

and after that, i jet-setted to sp to judge the mr and miss singapore polytechnic 05/06.... this year, it was tough to determine the female winner - there was no obvious choice unlike last year.... there was intense competition between the male contestants.... and it was tough to decide the winner...

this being my fourth year at the annual mmsp, i personally feel that the pagent is refreshed.... firstly, they threw in the quarter and semi-finals... and they had two question and answer sessions.... the talent segment that was introduced last year was omiited from this year's...

ten years it has been... the mmsp pagent... and this is the third year that it was held in the sp convention centre... i still remember my first mmsp that was held at the glass house at far east square... the main difference is that there were no seats and it was a stand-up affair...

and this year, i found out that it is pretty tough being a good judge... the running time of each segment is too short for you to observe a contestant to give a fair judging... but it is pretty easy to just 'hantam' a number and put it down... so it really depends what kind of judge you are.... for me, i felt kindof stressed - after all, i just had a long day at work...

what really rocked was that there was a token of appreciation presented to every judge this year... so it is a blessing in disguise that i was not judging last year... and it even has my name on it!! pictures of that soon....

then today, i was at my adviser's house hours ago... and now at my uncle's house partying away....

i guess it would be good to head down to the gym to trim off the weight that i put on...

[kenji interview]
just when i felt i needed more stories, one popped up...

in fact, it will be happening in just a few hours...

i'll be interviewing kenji wu ke qun and i'm still doing research in the wee hours of the morning... now how's that for professionalism...

anyway, back to research...

[kayaking]
i tried kayaking during my induction last month... and it was pretty fun....

because the sea sports clubs are under people's association, it was free entry!!!

so it started with the selection of bouyancy vests and paddle... then our group pushed the trailers that transport the kayaks out... following that, we did land drills on how to paddle forward and backwards...

and then, it was time to hit the water... that was followed by the bouyancy test to test if our life vests work... so all of us hold hands and float in the water... wee...



the launching part was slightly tricky... first, your partner fills the first seat while you hold the kayak and paddles with both hands....

then you pass the paddles to the person in front and climb into the back seat... you have to move your legs in double quick time to the side and sit down so that the kayak does not overturn....



once both people are comfy inside the kayak, you start paddleing away from the shore... and you are on you way out in the deep blue sea....

[work and bonus]
'tis the season to be jolly...

and i was preparing for my office's christmas party...

so i was running around ordering food... turkey, lamb and beef... and settling the accounts before year end... not much in the office... in fact, i will be out of office next week except on sunday and monday...

life's been pretty good... one overseas trip a month...

and next month, i wanna go to hong kong!!!

and because it's gonna be christmas soon, here's a photo to leave you in the mood...



and also, this month is time to celebrate because public servants like us get 13-month too... so cool... of course civil servants get more...

well, that's another story altogether...

[the big e]
weeks ago, my mum popped an interesting question out of the blue...

she asked me in mandarin about the elections.... i was stunned...

it was something along the lines of "elections when ah?"...

i told her that i don't know anything about it...

then i cheekily asked her how she know the elections were near, considering that she never does read between the lines of our local newspapers....

from there, i found out that the opposition parties have been making their rounds and gathering support in chinatown, jurong and even ang mo kio... she then asked: "i thought you knew?"

clueless, i shrugged it off... nope...

from the news analysis, it may happen anytime within the next few months....

but the actual date still leaves room for thought...

however, i'm sure once the date is set, we'll all know it at the same time...

[goodbye manila]
it's the last day of my sea games trip today... and since bowling, table tennis and bodybuilding are in the late morning and afternoon, we head for shopping today...

though i slept at four and woke up at seven today, i still have the energy...

last night, i went with the others to a few nightspots in manila... one is as happening as boat quay...



they have live bands, drinks and cool spots facing the sea...



and this morning was spent at a mall called sm in makati city... really, i don't know what sm stands for but the two letters were on the signage of the entrance at the facade of the building...

on the streets, you also see jeepneys which are like the tuk-tuks in thailand... however, these jeepneys each have their own routes and a ride on one costs as little as 7.50 pesos.... (30 pesos is around S$1)...



and after shopping for food, the volunteer leaders and supporters check-out and head for the airport...



and we fly back on sq 73...

[what a load of gold]
i sang the national anthem three times today...

and that means, singapore won three gold medals...

and yes, today was a slightly different game and a shorter ride to the games venue... swimming took two hours while this only close to 25 minutes....

the team singapore supporters and i went to catch table tennis qualifying rounds as early as eight in the morning... and we headed to the ninoy acquino stadium in manila...



thereafter, it was lunch at a nearby shopping complex... and then a short trip to catch the pre-judging rounds for bodybuilding...



as three out of four of the volunteer leaders wanted to catch swimming that night, i was the only one left to bring the group of 10 for the bodybulding rounds at gsis, pasay city... and it was an uphill task...

first thing to do is to make sure all the people you are leading are onboard... and then, off we go... at the venue, i have to get ready the money for the tickets and follow the liason officer to purchase them... finally, end of part one...

i also had to take some shots of the bodybuilders using a videocam for the team singpore staff... then the whole competition ended abruptly two hours ahead of schedule.... so i pack my stuff, count the people, and call the liason officer on my cellphone... i also manage to catch several bodybuilders after their rounds... when the bus arrives and all are onboard, my task is fulfilled...

then we head back to catch the semi-finals and the finals of the team events in table tennis...



and it was gold, gold and more gold.... the gold medal is pretty heavy....

[supporting swimming]
it is day one of my trip to the sea games in manila...

and just as predicted, our team singapore supporter group hit the swimming arena today...

we touched down at two today and checked into our hotel rooms soon after. so it was a two hour drive to the games venue, a certain swimming arena at trace college in los banos, laguna...



at the close of the session, which ended around nine at night, singapore won two gold medals and a bronze...

the feeling at a 'live' game atmosphere is fantastic. once you see others cheering, you will start cheering together in unison. and if a gold is won, you feel proud when you sing the national anthem with gusto...