Nostalgia

Suddenly feel so nostalgic, of the life i was experiencing before i became a working adult person. I could still remember the pre-exams days in Uni, trying to catch up with one term's worth of school work in 2-3 weeks, staying till 9pm+ to even 2-3am to mug in school (only when the panic button was pressed and exams were coming), having an enjoying smoke break behind Lecture Theatre 6 with one or two of my buddies. And also days spent in lecture theatres sitting at the last row of LT 7 doing stuff like sleeping/eating breakfast/talking/reading newspaper/more talking, basically everything except trying to get what the hell the lecturer is talking about.

Flash back further, i could remember the mornings during recess and after school in JC, playing street soccer on the basketball court, playin LAN games such as Quake en masse in the classrooms' computers ,skipping morning lessons to enjoy breakfast, how cold the main lecture theatre was during the first lecture of the day, been late for morning assembly, oversleeping on the bus to school etc. Strangely, i don't recall what i studied then, perhaps mainly due to the fact for the first time of my life then, i was actually struggling with school work. That period of time i realised (finally) that i'm not a genius nor am i someone who is hardworking.

Perhaps the best time in school was the time i spent in secondary school? It was always special for anyone during those teenage years; when boys discover girls are not irritating creatures at all; when perhaps for the first time of my life then, i had some accomplishments, some sports and games that i liked; people that i liked and disliked; crushes n relationships;class excursions and outings giving a kind of togetherness or maybe called 'class spirit'?; and oh yes, the dreaded public spanking speaking sessions.

Haizz, school life is good. I miss it.

Swan bells

Swan Bells are a set of eighteen bells hanging in a specially built 82.5m - high tower in Perth, and the site is one of the major tourist attractions here. Built and opened in December 2000 at a staggering cost of $5.5 million to commerate the new millenium, the tower was opened with free admission initally. However with its annual losses as high as $450,000 in 2004-2005, the attraction started charging admission tickets at $6 for an adult ticket. Luckily on every first Tuesday of the month, admission is free. Of course such a chance is not to be wasted right?

some people say the tower looks like a spaceship....



... i think it looks more like a syringe



this part of the tower i think is just for decorative purpose

Of the 18 bells, 12 of them are historic bells from St Martin-in-the-Fields church in London, and dates back to the 14th century. They were recasted in the 16th and 17th century, and recently in 1988. Full bell ringing occurs only on Monday - Tuesday & Thursday from 12:00pm-1:00pm and on weekends from 12:00pm-1:00pm. Unfortunately (or fortunately for my eardrums), i did not get to see/hear the bells rang when i got there.

The one good thing about visiting this tower, especially since it's a free visit, is the unobstructed view of the Swan river and some parts of Perth City. But if you are on holiday here and is tight on budget, and i mean really tight to the extent 6 bucks will probably disrupt your travel plans, i strongly urge you not to go. The nearby Kings Park has a much better view of Perth City and Swan River, and its free all year round.

trying hard to see beyond the windows

the hill on the top right of the picture is Kings Park


view of the swan river


Perth City CBD


Soon Ho, David, Junming and me with Toh being the photographer

The Swan Bells may be a popular tourist attraction, but at the time it was built, the government and the then Premier of Western Australia, Richard Court, received a fair amount of criticism from the locals, who felt it was a wasteful expenditure. Some locals even called the project "Dick's Erection" (Dick is the pet form of the name Richard). Hmm i leave it up to your own imagination.

if one palm tree is lined on each side of the tower, it may really look like one....

Of all things Red

Boring football post....

Liverpool FC is the new FA Cup champions of 2005-2006 after another gruelling encounter that ended 3-3, going on to penalties. Just what is wrong with this club, can't they for once win a Cup final 1-0 instead of driving me crazy, pulling out my hair for the 2nd year in a row!? hahaa... At this rate, i'll either become bald or die from a heart attack.

The match itself began pretty much like the UEFA Champions League Final last year, ie Liverpool trailing at the break. Not for the first time, did they have to fight back to win this tie. Kudos to West Ham though, if i am a neutral supporter, i would have backed West Ham to win. In a way, they deserved to win this tie but luck was perhaps with liverpool this day. I'm thrilled they won nonetheless. I think i shouted the loudest in the auditorium where we watched the match, whenever they scored. Only this time round, i didnt wake up the entire family like last year or jumped like mad in front of my dad. Shit, if only i had watched this match at home. I would have love to see the expression on my dad's face seeing his son celebrating the victory as if it was purely mine.

Liverpool!!

Cottesloe Beach in Perth

Cottesloe beach which is north of Fremantle, is one of the best beaches to visit in Perth. It's a very popular beach for locals and tourists alike. It's easy to see why, with its sparkling smooth sand (the kind that when you step on it, it's cool and soothing), crystal clear water, the great view of the sea and the babes, and nice grassy patches for a nice lazy read/sunbath.

On one particular sunday, about 8-10 of us went to Cottesloe beach to chill out, suntan and play some beach volleyball. It was perhaps the biggest outing we've had here so far, not counting any dinner outings. Oh i must mention that I'm the proud owner of the beach volleyball, which i was 'forced' into buying for winning in mahjong(then). By the way, the beach volleyball still sits on top of my cupboard, having not seen the sand since that fateful sunday.

It's at Cottesloe beach that i got my first taste of the Indian Ocean, and it was really really cold, even for a hot day in summer. Now that autumn is already here, I've not been to any of the beaches in perth since. Cottesloe beach is more of a "To see and to be seen" beach, with plenty of hunks and babes. There are shophouses and pubs right opposite the beach, and on weekend noons, the pubs there are as equally packed. Other beaches in the area are more renowned for surfing, which a couple of my friends tried too.



I've always wanted to go other beaches here (ie the nude beach), but from what my friend told me, there really isnt anything there. One thing about ang-mohs is that they really don't give a heck about nudity. Even in Cottesloe beach, I was told by a friend that he had seen girls who had taken off their tops to sun tan the bikini line on their backs. And when they were done, they just nonchalantly got up, and put on their tops as if it was perfectly normal. Had this happened in Singapore on one of our beaches, I can guess there would already be videos or photos circulating around the internet with tag lines such as "Tammy ECP" or "Tammy Sentosa" etc. The younger generation here in perth are not so conservative in general. In another instance, my roommate was flashed by a school girl while he was driving around here. Luckily he kept his eyes long enough on the road to carry on driving safely.

Seagull taking a walk on the sand




nice 'view'


Indiana Teahouse



someone told me i looked like a vietnamese ganglord with my aviator shades

do i look like a celebrity?

Came across this site several weeks back. It allows users to upload a photo of themselves, and to scan for possible celebrity matches. Kind of bo liao fun if you can call it.


I tried my first photo with my blogger display picture, and the results were was thus:






Chester Bennington

This guy is from the punk band Linkin Park and was the closest match at 63%. The next closest one was







Meryl Streep


Looks like this is a sign i need to lose those facial fats...









Eddie Murphy


Eddie Murphy was next. So far no 'Brat Pig' or Tom Cruise yet...hmmm



Next....







Jim Carrey

Great..First a punk rocker, then next a fat old woman, followed by a crazy doctor who talks to animals and now this wacko. How nice.


Not satisfied that i don't look like Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt Of course i don't look like that in real life with specs on, so i decided to try again with another photo.

hamsem......

I was confident this time there'll be no stupid celebrities with specs or weirdoes for sure. And what i got was a 60% match .....

Victoria Adams aka Posh Spice





ARGH!!!! I better stop....

never hated the morning more

As the season starts to gradually change from summer to autumn, the most marked difference one can feel is when waking up early in the morning around 8am. Though not freezing cold, my body hasnt fully adapted to the ambient temperature of around 14 degrees, especially not when getting out from my warm cozy bed.

This past week (and also for the last week), i've been almost waking up around 8-9am (shock!), mostly due to flights being planned in the morning. More often than not, i had to really drag myself out of bed, for if i dont, i run the risk of going late for my flight, and that will really give me a headache to think of an excuse for being late for my training.

Comparing my sleep/wake cycle to the rest of my coursemates, where i often wake up with not a minute to spare before i'm late, i really fear the day that i will run the risk of oversleeping. The feeling is kind of like when you have a major exam in the morning next day, and the night you go to bed, you will feel uneasy/nervous that you will screw up the whole thing by oversleeping. And this 2 weeks, each training is just like a major test/exam and i often found myself waking up several times in the middle of the night just to check the time.

And it's not like I dont set my alarm. In fact i usually will set 2 alarms, but over the years (of sleep-wake 'exercises' honed to perfection during my uni days) i have developed a pretty bad habit (or should i say skill?) of being able to adjust the time to say 5-10 minutes later when the alarm goes off, even in my concussed state. Only on a few occasions as a student in the university, i would badly mixed up the time like setting a totally irrelevant time like 8pm, and thus end up blatantly sleeping in bed, and missing my lectures. Strangly i dont use the snooze function in my mobile phone's alarm clock though. I think it's a bit unreliable. What an irony. Maybe i should consider getting one of the top 10 most annoying alarm clocks



.

I sure hope most of my flights from now on will be in the late morning, or afternoon. I cant imagine if i do make it all the way through the training, having to wake up at anytime from 2am to 6am for flights will probably kill me little by little. And it's true pilots usually suffer from insomnia, due to early waking and transistion from different time zones which badly disrupts the body's circadian rhythm. It really cant be helped at all though. I just hope that by then, i have developed the mental strength to pull myself out of bed promptly when the alarm sounds.