the suite life..

life can be..

bitter..
disappointing..
funny..
hopeful..

but ultimately..
it is sweet..

like finally..

finally..

high school weddin'..

i had the honour and privilege attendin' many of my good ol' friends' weddings in the past but aidil's luckier coz i have a blog now and i can write an account about it..

aidil's a high school friend of mine.. a great buddy of 15 years now..

so me and a few of the guys from school crashed his solemnization ceremony on sat nite.. i thought it was very grand.. the hall was bustlin' with guests from both sides.. and the thing is i already knew some of aidil's relatives (nephews.. cousins.. not so sure about the ties but they are indeed relatives) coz they are staffs from forum outlet.. a small world.. or to be more accurate.. a small country..

the solemnization went smoothly.. aidil as composed and cool as ever.. me and the guys had a great laugh.. talked about silly moments in the past.. and what the future holds for each and everyone of us.. especially the ones that are not married yet..

haha.. i should advocate some of their attitudes.. 28..29..30.. these are just numbers..

sunday was the weddin' presentation ceremony and thank goodness the weather was alright.. well it had occasional rains and it was a coolin' day.. the whole event was simply stunnin' and majestic..

*

and today also met hafiz.. another good brother.. who's also aidil's younger cousin (or is it nephew?).. one of the guys who used to work at forum.. now servin' the nation but finishin' soon too.. boy how fast time flies.. and mind you.. this guy's a superb soccer player..

it was through him that i learnt he was aidil's relative.. the revelation occured during a conversation we had years ago.. on bus 190.. goin' back to cck from work.. the first of many bus rides together until i got transferred to suntec.. and he eventually left forum for n.s.. such a great guy.. great company..

(below) the last group photo of the day.. such a rare feat for us to take a pic together now.. savour the moment..

congrats to aidil and haliana.. may you guys have a blissful life as newly weds..

Selamat Pengantin Baru..

back from the dead..

it's a norm for me to feel dead after reservist duties every year.. and this year's no different.. it's training week again at work.. but before i bitch about it.. i made a return back to the place once i called my second home.. jp..


by chance.. took a look at the mall directory.. and they hadn't removed toys 'r' us from it.. still printed there..

#02-45 Toys 'R' Us moving out soon

well.. it's been months we had left the forsaken place.. john little is occupyin' the unit now.. and i hadn't brave myself to go there.. when i heard our old tower is now their changin' room.. my heart soaked in despair.. too many memories.. too many recollections.. one day i'll come.. but not that nite at jp.. cos was feelin' sucky.. about work.. trainin'.. and a certain someone..

so trainin' week sucked big time.. not blamin' on the appallin' attendance on some of the days.. or the post-reservist blues.. or the graffiti i found on the trainin' room whiteboard on two mornin' occasions.. which i found to be amusin' though.. thanks alot m.k (a typical pro-wrestlin' cheap shot vignette.. trying to get my attention.. and then booked me in a match card.. haha).. but at least u remembered me (unlike somebody else).. then again i ain't pointin' fingers but i guessed my heart and soul weren't in it that much..


The first one wrote:

Amen = Has Been
(He was once famous..)
*Then he had too much to eat.....
HAVE A NICE DAY!!!!!


The second one wrote:

err.. well you can read it yourself.. but you know that ain't true rite?..







and thank god friday today was a bit better cos we had a carseat and stroller trainin' at balestier road conducted by vendor.. so it was different.. and i thought a change was healthy.. went together as a group.. more like a school excursion.. haha..

after the trainin'.. dragged myself back to office.. hopin' that i get a call.. maybe we could do our weekly chillin' or somethin'.. but it was not meant to be.. then again i was lookin' forward to the weekend as an ol' brother of mine from my sec sch days is gettin' hitched.. and it'll be some sort of a high school reunion.. and the ol' man gave me time off on mon cos (unfortunately) i'll be involved in the warehouse sales at utd square next week.. ironically i don't mind cos at least i can do something different for a change.. and it's not like it's my first time doin' a sales of a paramount scale.. i'm immune to it already..

so since no call.. it's back to the drawing board again for me.. walkin' all alone to the train station as always.. no company.. with the sunset shinin' proudly givin' life and energy to the fragilities on god's green earth.. it missed a spot..

we did it (almost)..

so fittin' that the guys nicknamed me diego..

"we did it.. we did it.. we did it.. yeah".. (well.. almost)..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFuHdAs7LOg

haha.. funny song..

and a happy birthday wish shout out to wan pendek.. (steiner).. (big poppa tumm).. (bubblator).. (the pengster).. (teletubby).. dun worry.. i will be there with you in 4 months' time..

conscience..

someone compared me to nicotine..
it's bad for the health..
but people still crave for it..
thanks for the compliment..

but i know i'm not doin' brother any proud..
sometimes it's funny..
when someone who's way younger than you..
is able to talk some sense into you..

i can feel his disappointment..
and i'm sorry..

back to basics..

it's reservist week and it's back to jurong police station for me.. the one-week itenary would be shooting.. ippt.. unarmed tactics & t-baton training..

we reported at the learnin' resource centre on monday mornin' and i was thrilled.. cos the place used to be my playground.. with the manpower office right beside the centre.. that corner of the station building was like castle greyskull for me and the guys back then.. boy the memories kept comin' back when i entered the centre.. when i got there and as expected the centre was not properly taken care of.. mind-bogglin' games like labyrinth.. alcatraz etc had missing pieces.. some of the armchairs were broken.. the comfortable yellow sofa had stains on it (i believe i might be responsible for that in '02.. haha).. and the self-help books on the shelves were as good as paperweights collectin' dust.. and speakin' of the shelves.. there were a number of ring files on them.. and i smiled in disbelief..

back in '02/ early '03 during the later part of my n.s tenure.. the division was totally engaged in achievin' a 'people developer standard' accolade awarded by spring singapore or we simply call it as p.d.s.. and keepin' it short basically if awarded.. the division would be recognized as a peoples' organization that has a flawless human resource management and a structured training system in place (on paper of cos)..

so commander created a secretariat to handle this project and i was the first n.s guy selected to be in the team.. the secretariat was headed by a p.d manager who was also the c.o of wlds npc.. mr. adrian quek.. who was actually a freakin' nice boss and although occasionally arrogant and demandin'.. he appreciated his n.s guys' hard work and commitment.. and acknowledged them.. at first i thought he was the arsehole but the real arsehole was actually the p.d secretary.. whom i had the dishonour and displeasure to work with for a whole year and the arse's a regular.. me and the guys would nickname arse as 'he who shall not be named'.. haha.. so this p.d sec guy and myself were given the challengin' responsibility to drive and disseminate p.d.s across the division and achievin' it in the span of a year.. god i have so many stories abt this arse but maybe i'll blog them in later posts or something..

and what comes with a project this massive?.. paperwork.. lots and lots of paperwork.. hundreds of drafts.. countless minutes.. refined processes.. heavy documentation.. endless vettin'.. before we could get the end-products.. and there they are.. those ring files.. they are the p.d.s biblical files.. still sittin' on the shelves in the centre.. exactly where i had left them 6 years ago.. they were my babies.. i (actually a couple of others too except for arse) practically bled.. sweat and almost died creatin' and documentin' them.. but i had no regrets.. the p.d.s journey was actually the best days of my n.s life..

went for shooting test and got marksman.. scored 96.. i couldn't believe it either.. my best score to date.. $200 in the bag already..

but failed ippt.. that i can believe.. haha.. and u better believe when i say i saw a couple of ex-tru guys trainin' in camp at h.t.a.. especially rayhan who was havin' his marchin' drill.. haha.. left right left! left right left!.. luckily he wasn't carryin' a revolver at that time or he might just shoot me when i was smilin' at him cheekily..

and like any other reservist cycles i had before.. it was like a holiday camp.. for two days we had a 3-hr lunch break.. cool rite?.. and what can a group of nearly-30 year olds do at noon?.. we went to the arcade of cos.. at gek poh in jurong west..we served the net and i was ecstatic when they still had the very first version of virtua striker.. with each token still cost 50 cents.. i was again addicted with the game i practically hogged to play in '98.. '99.. '00..

that's the thing about reservist cycles like this.. it's great to be back in familiar and uncomplicated territory.. why life can't be this simple anymore?.. for me just the basics would do..

return to innocence?..

this escapade..

what do i want to achieve from all this?

it's bound to end sooner or later..

but when?

blame my inner demons..

should have unleashed them years back..

fortunate enough that i could get a second spell now..

the only difference i'm not goin' to waste it this time..

no longer that innocent and naive boy i used to be..

and i'm not plannin' to return back there yet..

b.j anyone?..

the problem solver..

it's afirah's 8th birthday today.. and that would make me 20 something pretty soon.. we had a little celebration for her at home.. i bought her a black tee which she really wanted badly from kiddy palace.. she's wearin' it in the pix below.. the front prints read "midnight disco queen".. i'm still clueless why she chose that.. well it's her birthday so it was forgivable.. haha.. i still remember how tiny she was when she came into our lives.. i was just startin' my national service that time.. love her loads..

after the small house party.. met naz and decided to go to the esplanade and chill.. there was an event held at the padang.. scores of foreigners thronged there as if it was a public holiday back home.. they were drunk.. covered in mud.. singin' and dancin'..

it was a beautiful sunday.. the waters were calm.. the breeze blew gently on the skin.. the sun shinin' endlessly on the skyscrapers.. but unfortunately they can't solve any of your problems.. if only.. reality check..


i will always remember what my ex-boss used to say and it's still cemented in my cranium till this very day.. it's always wiser to be a problem preventer..


and i'm just a problem solver.. not the best one though.. but i'll try.. and ironically sometimes i don't have solutions for my own problems..

well for me and naz.. haha.. no need to argue.. we had a great time..

let's hope everythin' will be fine..

and now.. i'm left with another problem..

islam the great..

went friday prayers (in ages) at al-khair mosque this week.. and since it was a ph..
i would expect the mosque to be be bustlin' and full with people.. but i didn't foresee that it would spill onto the roads.. thank god it was a slip road.. not a major one.. devotees were practically standin' outside the mosque couldn't get in.. for a moment i thought we were havin' a hari raya prayer today.. my prayer spot wasn't that great either.. i managed to squeeze into a bit of space beside the million pairs of shoewear.. there were people prayin' on the grass.. at the abolution area.. on the parapet.. on the stairs and it was about to rain.. when it struck me how great this religion is.. no matter what the odds are.. rain or shine.. space constraint or not.. we still pray together.. and i could sense that the sight of us was empowerin' and would send shivers down the spines of those passers-by.. it was beautiful..

it was another long weekend and since me and honey promised a week of abstinence.. haha.. decided to join the guys from suntec for some fico soccer action.. brought younger bro along too.. the good thing about him is he can get along with anyone.. so i wasn't worried..

show offs.. haha..

losin' team?..

oh my!.. matchin' tag team wrestlin' pants!..

had dinner with famm at lot 1 in the evenin'.. but joined the guys at bt timah for supper later that nite.. well the usual suspects.. and nothin' beats candid shots..

worried looks..

for bucky.. man utd just won and still leads the league table..

for me.. a brader in trouble.. looks like i won't be sleepin' well tonite..