23rd Singapore Open Senior Amateur Championship. Oct 3 - 5 2012 @ NSRCC Changi - Round 1 Scorecard

Recently I took part in the 23rd Singapore Open Senior Amateur Championship held at NSRCC Changi's Army and Navy Course. No, I wasn't really excited about it and was actually felt quite confident about my chances in qualifying for the final round on 5 Oct'12. I also look to it as any other social game that I used to play on weekends. I took 2 days morning leave for the first 2 rounds on 3 & 4 Oct'12. My tee time on 3 Oct'12 for the Round 1 was at 7.48am. I arrived at the clubhouse about 45 minutes early to avoid any traffic congestion. After registering for the tournament, I was given a score card with my name printed on it along with a course layout and the rules and regulations of the tournament. The score card highlighted Navy Course, which means we are to tee off from Navy Course. My buggy mate (Paul) came to load the his bag and told me he will be at the putting green. When the time came for our flight to move off there was a bit of confusion where Paul was. I told the starter that he's at the putting green. Our other flight mates (Kong and Edward) set off for the tee box first while I waited for Paul to turn up. Moments later he showed up. We set off for Navy Course and Paul said we should be starting at Army Course. I showed him the highlighted Navy Course. When we reached Navy Course our flight mates were not there. We then turn around the buggy for Army Course. Sure enough our other flight mates were there waiting with the starter saying we are late. My reply was there was a confusion and showed him my score card which highlighted Navy Course, which would mean we are to tee off from Navy Course. He then realised the mistake was not due to us but administration. Man, the day sure is going to be slow seeing that two flights in front of us were waiting to tee off. We waited approximately 15 minutes before it's our turn. Prior to hitting the first shot I was quite frankly at ease and do not feel any pressure. First to tee off was Paul being the lowest handicapper at 4,5. Nest in line was Kong (Hcp 8.5) followed by Edward (Hcp 12). I am the last with Hcp 15. We played off from Blue Tee and I have not played from Blue for many many years, at least 5 years, if I remembered correctly. An alien must have possessed me during Round 1. Below are the Hole by Hole, shot by shot scoring of how I performed on this fateful day. Round 1 Army Course Hole 1 Par 5: Shot 1 ball on fairway. Shot 2 duffed it. Shot 3 under club. Shot 4 duffed again. Shot 5 overshot the green. Shot 6 ball on green. 2 putts for 8. Hole 2 Par 4: Shot 1 ball on fairway. Shot 2 duffed and short of green. Shot 3 ball on left fringe. Shot 4 putted and ball kissed hole to miss par. Shot 5 ball in hole. Hole 3 Par 3: Shot #1 ball on green. Elated. 2 putts for par, Thought I am getting into the game. Par for hole. Hole 4 Par 5: Shot 1 ball on fairway. Shot 2 ball on left side of fairway. Shot 3 duffed the ball. Shot 4 top the ball and ball went 40' past the pin. Shot 5 putted too hard downhill and ball went past flag to the front fringe. Shot 6 putted from fringe and ball went in. Cheers all round from flight mates. Bogey 6 for hole. Hole 5 Par 4: Shot 1 ball on fairway. Shot 2 ball short of green. Shot 3 ball on green. 2 putted for bogey. Shot 5 for bogey. Hole 6 Par 4: Shot 1 ball went into bunker. Shot 2 ball went right and into plants. 5 minutes search. Found ball unplayable. Took penalty drop. Shot 4 ball on green. 2 putted for double. Shot 6 for double bogey. Hole 7 Par 3: Shot 1 ball on green. Horrors! 4 putted for double bogey. Shot 5. Damned. Hole 8 Par 4: Shot 1 skulled the ball. Shot 2 duffed and ball went into water hazard on right. Took penalty drop. Shot 4 ball on fairway. Shot 5 ball overshot green and went down slope behind the green. Shot 6 ball on green. 2 putted for Big par, Shot 8. Hole 9 Par 4: Shot 1 ball on fairway. Shot 2 duffed ball into front water. Shot 4 ball on green. 2 putted for double bogey. Shot 6 for double bogey. Navy Course Hole 10 Par 4: Shot 1 ball in left bunker. Shot 2 ball near right bunker of green. Shot 3 ball on green. 2 putted for bogey. Shot 5 for bogey. Hole 11 Par 4: Shot 1 ball on fairway. Shot 2 duffed ball. Shot 3 duffed again. Damned. Shot 4 ball on green. 3 putted for triple. Shot 7 for triple bogey. Hole 12 Par 3: Shot 1 ball in right bunker. Shot 2 didn't take enough sand and skulled ball. Flew past hole and landed about 36' away. 3 putted for double bogey, Damned. Shot 5 for double. Hole 13 Par 4: Shot 1 ball on fairway. Shot 2 ball went in front water hazard. Took penalty. Shot 4 duffed ball and landed short of green. Shot 5 ball on green. 2 putted for triple. Damned. Shot 7 for triple bogey. Hole 14 Par 5: Shot 1 ball in fairway left bunker. Shot 2 ball on fairway. Shot 3 ball in fairway bunker, again. Damned. Shot 4 ball in bunker yet again. Shot 5 ball on green. 2 putted for double bogey. Shot 7 for double bogey. Hole 15 Par 3: Shot 1 ball 55 m short of green. Shot 2 ball on green. 2 putted for bogey. Shot 4 for bogey. Hole 16 Par 4: Shot 1 ball on right fairway. Shot 2 ball went into the plants (Not considered flower bed). Lost ball. Return to where I last played. Shot 4 ball overshot the green and went again to the plants on right side and behind green. Not wanting to look for ball I declared ball lost, Shot 6 ball in bunker. Shot 7 ball on green. Ball found by flight mate behind the green flower bed but too late. Already declared lost ball, 3 putted for 10. Damned, damned. Shot 10 for 6 over par, Hole 17 Par 4: Shot 1 ball sailed into right of fairway and into same plants. Played a provisional ball in case I have to drive back again like previous hole. Shot 3 Found ball in left fairway bunker. Shot 4 hooked ball to left of green and found ball under the shrubs. Shot 5 used putter to hit ball out to buggy track to take free lift. Shot 6 take free lift and proceed to duffed the ball. Ball hit slope and rolled down to buggy track again. Free lift again. Shot 7 ball on green. By then already very very upset with alien for possessing my body and affected my game. 3 putts for another 10. Damned, damned, damned, Mother, Father nearly came out but I kept them in my heart without uttering a word, God it's just so difficult to bottle them up. But I kept my sanity and moved on. Shot another 10 for 6 over par. Hole 18 Par 5: Shot 1 ball on buggy track on right. Took free lift and stupidly dropped ball on slope making next shot difficult. Shot 2 hooked ball to left of fairway and between the trees lining between Army Hole 7 Par 3 and this hole. Shot 3 chipped ball to fairway. Shot 4 sliced and duffed ball into front right of water hazard. Took penalty drop. Shot 5 ball on green. 2 putted for double bogey. Shot 7 for double bogey. End of game and alien quickly depart from my body and all sanity returned to me and left me awake in this nightmare. So sorry I disappoint many bro for not bringing honour to our forum. But I came back in one piece and will be back for more punishments. My adventures in Round 2 will continue tomorrow.

Golf, Golf, Golf and more Golf - My first hand experience

Golf is a strange game. How was I ever involved in this crazy game? Let me tell you, it start with my younger brother back in 1993. I just find it amusing when he does his practice swing with an imaginary club that I sometimes bust out laughing though I was unable to fathom why. I told myself I would be seen as crazy if I pick up this game. We bought Pulai Springs as an investment in 1994. One year into it and paying foolish monthly subscriptions as described by my old friend, I decided to pick up this game. I was brought to the range at NSRCC in September 1995 and was given a 7 iron to hit a few balls. I have no idea how to hold the club correctly let alone hitting it but I managed to contact it quite a number of times. I was using the baseball grip, which is quite easy, come to think of it. I guess my natural ball sense ability took over and I managed to hit the balls much to the surprise of my old friend, albeit some inaccuracy. Thanks to my racket games like Squash, Tennis, and Badminton. I started buying golf books to learn more about the game for improvement to my game and subsequently bought a few VCDs (No DVD then) looking for tips in how to properly play this game. After a few months of regular games with my old friend and his friends, I grew more confident and was slowly addicted to the game. I got my PC from Pulai Springs (my home club) in October 1995 and finally got my Handicap in December 1995. And like they say, the rest is history. More about my golfing exploits in the near future.

True Encounters of Singapore Ghost Stories Part 1 - Yio Chu Kang Road Incident

I was posted to Seletar Air Base in July 1974 after completing my Basic Military Training in Changi. Now what am I trying to recall... Let me see. Yes. We (my old friend ET and I got to know each other in April 1974 at Maju Camp) were on our way back to camp after watching the 9.30pm movie "Devil Woman" (Famous movie at that time) and we watched it during the Hungry Ghost Festival to make it more scary and exciting. We were riding our motorbikes along Yio Chu Kang Road back to camp just before the old Woodbridge Hospital (In case any one of you don't know what Woodbridge Hospital houses, yes, the hospital houses Mental Patients. It has now shifted and is known as IMH).

I was riding my Honda CB175 (Reg: AJ5755)with my good friend on his Yamaha 100cc (Reg: AN1512) following behind. Anyone interested in 4D are free to place their bets. You are guaranteed to lose the bet anyway because I have never strike these numbers. But to be kind to me, please contribute 20% of your winnings to me for giving you these numbers. Very soon, I will copyright it, just like the movie "Where got Ghost?" About 1 km before reaching Woodbridge Hospital, some sand got into my left eye. At that time it was close to midnight and the road was supposedly quite deserted. We are suppose to reach camp by 23:59. That is a common term in the army. I rubbed my eye with my left hand (of course you use the left hand dummy. You can't rub it with your right hand, comfortably) unaware of what was about to happen. Suddenly, I felt a very cold hand clamped around my forearm near the wrist and guide it to my motorbike's handle that I have momentarily release to rub my eye. At that moment, I got the shock of my life as I opened my eye and came face to face with an oncoming car overtaking another car with total disregard that he is driving in my lane. My quick reaction by swerving to the left to avoid a frontal collision have saved an otherwise fatal accident. Thanks to the invisible hand, I am still alive today.

Shivering from that incident, we proceeded straight to the traffic junction of Yio Chu Kang Road and Jalan Kayu. We are based in Seletar Airbase. As we stopped at the traffic lights, ET stopped beside me and asked me what the hell am I doing dreaming away when there's an oncoming car driving straight into your path and I was apparently doing nothing to avoid a collision. At that moment, goose pimples appear and I told my friend I will relate the whole story to him when we reached our barracks. Not only did the goose pimples appear, they appear every time I tell this story. I showed the goose pimples to my younger daughter as I told her the story yesterday night. (hey, I have already told you the story in the 2nd paragraph but I will be kind and repeat it again and inject something new).

After parking our motorbikes, we went straight to our barracks. Ok, I will start with the part when I started rubbing my left eye when some sand got in. It was precisely at that very moment when the car in the opposite direction driving at quite a fast speed and was trying to overtake another car. The eerie part is the ice cold hand that grab my forearm near the wrist. Now where did that cold forearm come from that saved my life. It was then that I remember it was probably my father. You see, I kept a Black & White photo of him with me for many many years in my wallet as a remembrance. And I can only make an educated guess that it was my father who save his son's life by guiding my hand to the motorbike's handle.

When I went home the next day, I related this story to my mother. She agreed that probably my father saved me at that moment and I must offer my prayers to him burn incense and thank him for saving my life. Mother told me the praying has to be done at that place where the incident happened to which I responded by saying if he is around us, he would be around anywhere. So we did the next best thing, pray at home where we have an altar.

Well, more stories next time when I can find the time provided I am not lazy writing.

Walking In The Rain

It's been a long while since I last blog on 11 August 2008 and I can't wait to follow up with the next one. So here goes.

24 August 2008. I remembered that date. It was a Sunday afternoon after having a lunch of Hakka Tea Rice at a nearby coffeeshop with my wife at about 1pm. I had planned to go for a brisk walk. My walks on a Sunday usually last at least 2 hours and above. The distance would generally be between 10 to 15km, sometimes more, exceeding 20km. But on this special day, that is the 24 August 2008, I am writing something that I have not done for something like 40+ years. Yeah, come to think of it, it's a long time coming.

As we finished the lunch, I accompanied my wife to our block, handed her my hp and bidded her "bye bye, I am going for my long walk". I had with me a few dollars worth of coins, an EZ-link card and a bottle of water. Why do you think I bring this Easilink card along? It will come in handy when the need arises. Why do I bring the coins you may ask? Er, I am not exactly sure but I am sure it will do me some good too or help in one way or another.

Okay, my intended route would be to start from behind Church of St. Mary along Bt. Batok East Avenue 6, towards Old Jurong Road, turn right at junction of Upper Bt. Timah Road, Upper Bt. Timah Road, straight pass the junction of Bt. Timah Road and Clementi Road, pass Ngee Ann Polytechnic towards Holland Road junction, turn right into the Ulu Pandan Park Connector which comprises of passing through, er, under Clementi Avenue 6, under Commonwealth Avenue West, straight down towards Faber Gardens, towards AYE, cross the now disused railway track over the Pandan River, towards IBP, cross the road of Boon Lay Way, cross the road of Toh Guan Road East, over PIE, towards Bt. Batok Industrial Park, then pass Keming Primary School and home. My guess of the distance would be about 13 to 14 km.

The weather was somewhat unpredictable. I have been fooled a number of times into giving up the walks by the weather thinking it would rain which eventually did not. This time I am determined to sit, er, see it through, regardless of the weather outcome. Well, it is a bit windy with slight overcast and it was a good day for a walk. At least it not too hot considering that it's about 1.15pm in the afternoon.

The walk was quite enjoyable, though, with less than moderate vehicular traffic along the roads. How do I measure the distance? Well, generally, my pace is about 50mins/5km. So technically speaking, I will cover 1km/10mins. That should be a good gauge for the distance covered.

As I walked down Old Jurong Road, heaven seems to be playing the mind game with me again. These words seem to be playing in my mind. "You should give up the walk. Go accompany your wife at home." No, this time round I am determined to go ahead with the walk and not be fooled again by the weather. Usually, I can see monkeys in Bt Batok Nature Park, just before the junction of Old Jurong Road and Upper Bt Timah Road. No, no monkeys around today. I press on until I reached the junction of Hindhede Road (Bt. Timah Hill) and saw some people coming out from the road. Some are from the church while the others have probably just completed their hike in Bt Timah Hill. They don't seem bothered by the overcast sky. Well, why should they in any case since they have different objectives from me? Well, neither do I. Hee! Hee!. The only thing I dislike about walking the roads are there are traffic lights that I had to stop, look left, look right, look left again before I cross. Sometimes, I jaywalked (not a good idea though). (I am trying to change that lazy mentality, no not really lazy but impatient. If I am lazy, I wouldn't be doing this walk, right? However, if there is an overhead bridge, I will use it to cross over the other side of the road.) Meaning, I cross the road even when the Red man is still watching me. I disregard the angry look of the Red man when I crossed the roads. It's as if he's telling me that I should show some respect for him. Hah! There are no vehicles and you expect me to behave like a goon. Well, I read somewhere in a magazine some time ago in USA that Jacky Chan (I am sure there are many other like him) will wait for the Red man to turn Green before he crosses a road. Yes, even when the street is deserted. But then again he is Jacky Chan, I am "me" and that's the difference.

Now where was I? Oh yes, I passed Hindhede Road. You know, deep inside Hindhede Road, there used to be a granite quarry. It brought back fond memories during my younger days. I spent quite a number of years visiting that place back in 1976 and became a regular when I owned my first Mini Cooper in January 1977 and continue to do until around 1985. There was an old mechanic friend of my late mother whom I had known since 1964 or 1965 where he was a vehicle mechanic working for his brother who so happen to own the Mobil petrol station (next to the road called Pasir Panjang Hill, I think) along Pasir Panjang Road before the famous Haw Par Villa. Can't really recall the year but should be around that time. Ok ok ok, I will not talk about my passion for cars in this blog. This will be revealed in my subsequent postings of how I came to own the #16 car (I mean my 16th car not 16 cars) in my current possession, that is when I can find the time to write again. I must really push myself real hard before the weather changes its mood. I should know myself.

As I make my way up the inclined road towards the exit of PIE, some of our very distant relatives from millions of years ago were monkeying around, foraging the litter bins at the linkway and bus stop. I didn't have my hp with me (I handed it to my wife as if expecting the rain to come) for this occasion and could not take any pictures. I managed though to take one on top of the linkway during my other Sunday walks.

Now as I was walking towards the pedestrian light along Dunearn Road outside the previous Yeo Hiap Seng Factory, the sky started to turn unfriendly. The mean-looking clouds casting their displeasure from above. By now I should be walking about 20% of the intended distance. I pressed the pedestrian light button while waiting impatiently for it to turn green. Haiz... Couldn't wait. Since there are no vehicles coming down from the slope on my right I hasten my pace (Hey, this road is extremely wide and the Green Man do not wait for you, you know) and ran to the other pedestrian lights and waited for the traffic lights to change before crossing towards MacDonald's. I sensed the Red Man anger when I dashed across the crossing.

Traffic at that moment is light. Anyway, it's the least of my concern. Weather was cool and slightly windy, and it helps so the walk isn't that tiring. Tiring? No! Not at all. Actually, I was beginning to enjoy it. The road ascended towards Ngee Ann Polytechnic and down again passing a nursery. That's when the sky turn really gloomy. I can see that heaven is showing his displeasure at me for, probably not paying due respect at the initial warning by whipping a few lightning lashes across the greying sky followed by thunderous boom. Yeah, it was scary but not enough to discourage me into turn back.

I pressed on and reached the nursery as it start to drizzle a bit. I was in two minds by now. Should I continue with the journey or should I swallow my somewhat injured pride, cross the road and take TIBS bus service 61 home? Then again, it's only a small drizzle. It will past pretty soon and the weather will be fine and sunny again. That is a real Sagittarian thinking. Always optimistic. Yes, I managed to convince myself to press on. And I am so proud of the fact that I managed to convince myself and nobody could have done a better job at that than myself. And soon I reached the bus stop no. 74 opposite Clementi's Sunset Way. By then, I was already more than 75% wet. Okay! Since I am already 75% wet, I might as well get 100% wet. No, it's more that 100%. It's 110% wet. Now, why would I say 110%. Because when your whole body is thoroughly wet it's 100%. But when you are drenching wet with excess water dripping like mad it's 110%. So there.

There must have been many strange looks and stares from the motorists. "What the heck is that silly guy doing walking in the rain?" Hey, I miss walking in the rain since childhood ok and this is one way to relive it. And I thoroughly enjoyed it. I stood waiting for the traffic light's green man to wave me at the junction of Clementi Road and Holland Road. The green man beckoned and I cross quickly, sheepishly looking down at the road as I walked briskly knowing the many eyes form the motorists staring at me.

So I reached the Ulu Pandan PCN (Park Connector). The track is practically deserted. Of course it is deserted. Who in the world would want to come out and exercise in freaking weather? There's only one person that I know would do it and it can be none other but me. I continued with my walk, but Heavens seemed to demonstrate His unhappiness, striking the sky with flashes of lightning and booming thunders. It soon dawned on me that this is going to be very very risky and somewhat foolish if I continued walking in this inclement weather. But I have to continue until I find shelter. I can't just stop walking without looking for a shelter. And the shelter is quite a distance. No actually, it's only about 400m away. I then saw an overhead pedestrian bridge linking Clementi Housing Estate to Sunset Estate.

At that moment, Mother Nature beckons. And when Mother Nature beckons, you had better respond, appropriately and without questions. I reached the overhead bridge but found no consolation. This is not the spot that I wanted to communicate with Mother Nature. There would be prying eyes from people using the overhead bridge linking Clementi Housings to Sunset Estate. Remember, this is suppose to be my private moment with Mother Nature and I am sure she would want me to keep it that way. I risked heaven's displeasure and continue until I reached another overhead bridge about 450m down but it's not an overhead bridge. It's a flyover bridging Clementi Avenue 6. Looking around to ensure there were no prying eyes, I start to communicate with Mother Nature. Short, fast and much to my relief. The communication process lasted the full 45 secs and it was simply very enjoyable. My body shivered and I ended the small talk with Her. All of us have responded to Mother Nature before though in a magnitude of ways. We men, I belief communicated with Her more often than women do in her playground. You guys know what I meant do you? Let's put it this way, it's more convenient for men to communicate with her than for women. Period.

Following the completed communication process (The Communication Process from what I learnt is when one party sends a signal to another party and that the receiver receives it and respond correctly) with Mother Nature, I look for an exit to escape Heaven's unhappiness. The next point of exit is another flyover linking Commonwealth Avenue West. That is another, perhaps 400m away. I plodded (Appropriately termed as my shoes were filled with so much water that I could probably keep some guppies in it.) on in the heavy rain while the lightning continue with it's flashes in the sky. By now, I am feeling more threatened for my safety than I had earlier felt at the start of the walk. About 4 minutes later I reached the spot for my escape plan from the rain.

Looking at the slope beneath the viaduct of Commonwealth Avenue West, I made my way up the slope. Not a soul in sight. I took the right side of the viaduct and soon reach the top and main road. Man, they said "When it pours it pours" and it was pouring like nobody's business. By now I have lost my enthusiasm in the walk and simply want to get out of the rain. It's too dangerous to enjoy the rain with the lightning flashing across the sky. I don't mind the thunder. It seem's like "Stick and Stones may hurt my bones but words will never hurt me". Yes, thunder is nothing and all the noise from the thunder it won't hurt either. Lightning is another thing altogether, you know what I mean?

I reached the bus stop just before the traffic light junction of Commonwealth Avenue West/Boon Lay Way and Toh Tuck Avenue. The next thing that I wanted to do was to remove my "T" shirt and dry myself up. Now why would I do that? Don't forget I was drenched to the skin. There are 2 bus services that I can take to go home. TIBS Service 963 and 106. First to come off were my shoes and socks then my T. No, I didn't remove my bermudas.

Gave the socks a hard twist and out came about 20ml of water. When I gave the T a hard twist, how much water do you think will drip off the clothes? If my estimate is correct, it should be about 0.8 litre. Mind you it's not sweat (If it's sweat I would be most happy) but rain water. You don't think it's a lot of water right, do you? As I twisted the T-shirt, I kept a lookout for any of the 2 approaching bus. I quickly put on my socks and T before wearing my wet running shoes. Man, it really isn't as comfortable as when the attires were thoroughly wet. Mainly because my semi-naked body have been exposed to the wind and this makes wearing the damp T-shirt and socks uncomfortable. And I am beginning to feel the cold. But what to do?

Just then, bus service 106 approached from afar. It's a long twin cabin type. I hailed the bus with my outstretched arms and started thinking; "Will the bus driver stop for me?" By now you should know why I brought the EZ-link card along. Like many people used to say and continue to say into th future, "You have to be prepared for a rainy day". A very appropriate saying I think.

The bus isn't crowded. Only about 20 or so commuters in it. I can see I am the centre of attraction at that moment. Many eyes were on me. Hey, you have never seen a wet man in a bus before? I got caught in the rain ok. But sheepishly, I moved to the centre of the bus where the link and pivot was. I couldn't bring myself to sit on the seats and wet it. Not a nice thing to do. So there I stood. It's only a few bus stops away. Let me see, we have one at the Ulu Pandan Incinerator, one opposite the SMRT Sub-Depot, one just before the traffic junction of Bt. Batok East Avenue 3 and Bt Batok East St. 25, one opposite Yusof Ishak Secondary School, one just after the Caltex petrol station and the next one is the destination. So all in, I am only 6bus stops away. After just one bus stop from where I boarded the bus, the strange eyes returned to normalcy. Thank goodness for that.

My stop next. I press the bell at we reached the traffic junction of Bt Batok East Ave 3 and Ave 6 to indicate my desire to alight. Got off the bus and used the overhead bridge to cross to the other side.

There is a bakery and I intend to buy some bread home. The bread were good. Soft and tasty. Took 2 loaves. One a sugar sprinkled twisted loaf and another a plain pandan bread comprising 6 square pieces. As I was about to dig out the coins I had in my pocket to pay for the bread, I overheard one of the bakery aunty complaining about her wet shoes. Yes, I know the aunty as I am a regular customer. "Aiyo aunty, you only got your shoes wet and still complain, look at me, I am wet from the very top to the bottom, including my underwear." We all had a good laugh.

I quickly make my way home. You can imagine what my wife said when she saw me drenched to the skin. "Huh! Heavy rain and you still walk in the rain. You are really mad and had me worried with the lightning and thunder out there. A warm shower sort of made me feel sleepy and I did take the afternoon nap but not before I have my teabreak of the bread I just bought.

Actually, I thoroughly enjoyed it (the walk in the rain) very much. Have not played in the rain since childhood way back in the 1960's.

Note: The pictures that I posted were taken a few weeks after the "Walk In The Rain". I do not have my hp with me during that walk remember?

Cheers!

The Day Has Come - My Trusty CRV Won't Start

Three or four weeks ago, I have been preparing for this day. To compound it, I did not drive it over the last weekend on Saturday and Sunday.

Yep, this morning I was on my way down to work from home with wife to the MSCP (Multi-Storey Car Park). I parked the car next to the RC column on the driver side. Carrying some foodstuffs intended for my Parents-in-laws from the Hungry Ghost Festival brought back by me and wife, I activated the remote control on the car key to open the door. I have to enter from the front passenger side as I parked it close to the RC column. Once I moved to the driver's seat, my wife followed and board the car. I inserted the key into the ignition and gave it a crank. My God! The engine turned ever so slowly and immediately told wife that the day of reckoning had arrived.

I tried again to turn the key to start the engine but it got worse until the engine refused to turn. Ok, that's it. I am starting to perspire. And got wife to ask if she have Orix Ashokan's hp. No, she didn't have it with her and have to call her office to find out. I finally got his number from wife's boss' wife. (Quite confusing do you find it) ;-)

I called Ashokan and asked if he still remember me.
"I am Puan."
"Yes sir, after hearing your voice, I remember you. How can I help you sir?"
"Alamak, same problem as the last time I called you back in November 2005." "Car can't start again. I think battery is flat already."
"Is it your Cefiro sir?"
"No lah! Cefiro is history."
"You changed car already sir?"
"Yes, changed to SUV. Now already 2 years plus."
"What car is it sir? RAV4?"
"No, Honda CRV."

He next asked for my location and hp number. I gave him the information and asked him how long will it take for his mechanic to arrive. You see, this workshop is just 1km from my home. The service provided by Orix is reasonably good. The only reason why I did not go back to them (Orix) for car servicing is purely because my car is still under the 3 years warranty and I do not want anything untoward to happen to it should I send it for servicing to an unauthorised workshop (Orix is not authorised by Kah Motor who is the agent for Honda Cars). By the way, Orix is a subsidiary of Tan Chong Motors of whom is the authorised agent for Nissan Cars.

"Sir, the mechanic just arrived. Can you wait for about 10 minutes? Which floor is your car parked?"
"No problem. It's parked at the upper level. Car park only have 2 levels."

True to his words, the van came in 10 minutes. I waved to the mechanic and pointed to him where my car was.

"I thought it's RAV4?"
"No, it's a CRV. I told Ashokan it's a CRV when he asked if it's a RAV4. Never mind then. Important thing is the battery you brought is suitable for my car."
"Ya, it's suitable."
"How much is the battery by the way?"
"I won't be charging you for before or after working hours (He got to be joking, I called him after 8.30am) and no transportation fees. Normally, there would be a surcharge for such service." (I must be eternally grateful to him for that and I am beginning to suspect that this is not an honest guy but what to do?)
"Ya, thanks for coming and also for not charging me the extras. I have known Ashokan for many years already so I can trust him on the recommendations. And what is the battery cost again?"
Doing a somewhat puzzling calculation, he put forth a figure I find a bit on the high side.
"Er, $149.80 GST absorbed (included he meant but absorbed seems like a discount. Anyway, if GST is absorbed, how come there is this odd $9.80. I gave him the benefit of the most doubts.)
"Eh, battery prices went up quite a lot already?"
"Ya, by about 20-30% but what to do we cannot anyhow charge higher price because of competition."
"Last time when I change my Cefiro's battery in 2005, it costs me about $105.00" (That battery is definitely much bigger than this puny one. And with 30% increase it should be about $136.50 for the big one not this smaller one but never mind. He did his best and was here right on time and within 10 minutes.)

The battery he brought along seems a bit smaller than the one in my car. So naturally I asked him if this battery is suitable for my car.

"No problem. It's the correct one, except that the connecting terminals are a bit smaller than normal."
"You need an adapter to make it thicker so that the terminals can be tightened, right?"
"Yes, wah! you know a bit about cars do you?"
"A little bit but not too much because I have seen these stuffs before in tyre shops. Can you also check if the battery is no longer charging or is it still ok?" (Don't have the heart to tell him I know more than a bit about cars as I have driving for more than 32 years now and if I had been riding, it would have been 34 years. Sometimes in life we have to act stupid so people are more willing to help you. It boosts their ego and pride when you compliment them and they in turn will offer a better service.)

He went about doing his stuffs. He placed the new battery on the floor nearest my car bonnet. Using the jump start cable, he asked me to start the car. I got into the car, cranked the engine and it immediately jump to life. Disconnecting the battery terminals, he told me that Live first followed by the Negative.

"Other mechanics would simply change the battery without going through the hassle I just did." (Had me wondering what hassle was he talking about? To me it's just a routine and he made it seems like a big deal.) "You see, other mechanics would not bother to jump start the car and would simply disconnect the faulty battery and replace the new one and all your electronics like radio and clock would have to be re-adjusted because after disconnecting the battery, there is no backup power to save the programmed radio channels and the clock."
"Orh, thank you for the trouble."
"This way, all your programmed radio channels and clock will still be as per originally installed."
"Could you check if the faulty is indeed faulty and how do you know if it is faulty?"

He whipped out a volt meter and connect the clip to the old battery and showed me how the meter works.

"You see the Green and Yellow bar on the meter. When I connect the clip to the faulty battery, it will stop at the Green bar but once I activate this button (which is to simulate the switching on of the electrical gadgets, the needle will drop to the Red bar indicating that it is not charging." (Hey, this battery wasn't even connected to the car, so how can it charge. But never mind, the battery is already more than 2 years old and is due for replacement.)
"You know, my previous record of using a battery was 4 years before it's replaced. That was in the mid to late 1970's to early 1980's. And I did not use battery water but rather rain water to top up." (Yes, I shocked him with that statement but it's nothing but the truth) "I only use rain water that did not come into contact with any metal and collected with plastic pail."

So the job is completed and I paid him the $150.00 in cash. He issued an official receipt with no revenue stamp and told me that this receipt will act as an official warranty for 6 months.

"If the battery is faulty after 6 months but within 1 year, the replacement cost would be 50% what I had paid. Please don't lose the receipt. Do you need an original receipt as in Invoice?"
"It's ok. I can live with this receipt."

He left in a jiffy. As for me, I got an errand to run. Send the Hungry Ghost prayer's stuff to my in-laws in Jurong East on my way to office.

Just as I moved off, I was winding up the electric window on the driver's side, I found that the window would not automatically wind up all the way. I have to hold on to the button to activate it. Ditto for winding down. I fiddled around with the A/C button and the automatic winding up and down button is working again. Phew! Next thing I knew was all the pre-programmed channels in the radio was lost and I have to start all over again. I managed to adjust the time but could not do the same for the radio channels. Now what was it that this mechanic said? That all the pre-programmed channels would remain intact. Maybe it was because I switch off the radio when I failed to get the car started and he didn't realise it and I forgot about it. Oh well.

Dreams - Escape from The Phillipines

This dream appeared on 7 August 2008 close to 5.30am.

I was walking along a somewhat dark and narrow lane somewhere in The Phillipines at night (Have no idea what the time was) when I came across a woman (seems to be about age 30) standing by the roadside at the cross junction looking a bit lost. As I approached her, I found her to be distressed and asked her what the problem was and if she needed any help. She didn't say anything except used my shoulder to cry on. The next thing I knew I was accompanying her home just to be sure she is safe. Now why would I want to do that. I don't even know her, she is not even related to me in any way. Probably it's just my nature of trying to protect the weaker sex and trying to do my part to help her in any way that I can.

Upon reaching her village, I was confronted by a 40+ years old man and was accused of taking sexual advantage of the woman. What? I don't even know her, I met her at the roadside of the junction, saw her in distress, offered my help, sent her home, and now I am accused of taking sexual advantage of her. What was about to happen next was unimaginable. He threatened to kill me unless I have sex with that woman just to prove that I had taken sexual advantage of her. Hey, it didn't sound logical. I didn't touch her, have no sexual desire on her, and now I am asked to perform a sex on her. Oh, come on. This is obviously a crazy country. However, under the death threat, I have no option but to comply.

Just as the woman stripped herself naked and exposed her vagina and I was about to proceed with performing the sexual intercourse when the face of the woman started to switch between the man who accused me of taking sexual advantage and the woman. Now that's starting to appear like BLACK MAGIC. I was terrified and wanted out of this village. As they were somewhat in a trance, I quickly make my escape and ran like there's no tomorrow.

Panting to catch my breath, I reached the waterfront of an unknown place. There were many boulders, each spaced about 2 metres apart in the sea. Without second thoughts, I leaped and jumped from boulders to boulders and managed to reach a high wall. In a fantasy dream, things happen pretty quickly. The wall was about 30 metres high. The wind was strong along the seaside. Black soots can be seen swirling round whenever the wind blows. Where the soot came from I am not sure. Black magic perhaps. There were boulders of varying sizes that reaches up to the top of the wall. I made my way up cautiously, with each step I took I look downed and man, it was pretty dangerous. One slip and I am a dead man in the sea.

I finally reached the top of the wall gasping for breath. I look down from the wall and there were people, civilised people in uniformed. The jump down from the wall is about 3 metres. That's not a problem, I can do it. I jumped and landed on the deck. Yes, you did not read it wrongly, it was a deck, a metal deck.

The next thing I knew, I saw policemen walking around the deck. I approached one of the police officer and asked where we were. He told me I am now on board a Hoovercraft and they are from the Singapore Marine Police and in Singapore. How did this happen? I thought I was in The Phillipines. I mean, you mean, you won't belief it do you? Well, neither did I. Officer, you mean I jumped from boulders to boulders all the way from The Phillipines to the Singapore shoreline. WOW!

I related my story to the officer and how I escape from the village in The Phillipines. He assured that I am now safely on home soil and in safe hands. The hoovercraft started and move towards inland.

Phew! That was close, even though it was only a dream. Talk about silly fantasy dreams. Now what was this dream try to tell me.

According to my dream book:
1) To escape from some danger implies a speedy recovery from what will threaten to
be a serious illness.
2) To dream of police is good luck.
3) To stop and ask a police officer for directions portends a visit to wealthy
friends.

Come to think of it, it may hold some truth in the first interpretation. Three or four days ago, my left arm and head were numb and had that on/off tingling feeling. I am not sure why but after this dream, the symtoms mysteriously disappeared. I told my wife about the dream but not the numbness and tingling feeling I experienced 3 or 4 days ago. Touch wood.

I am also unsure about the good luck part but I sure hope it's true.

Dreams - It's My Mother Again

It never cease to amaze me. Every year, without fail on nearing the month of the Hungry Ghost Festival, my mother would appear in my dreams. And I am the only one in the family who dream of my mother the most and can only make an educated guess that it's all because I spent the most time with her when she was around, from childhood (age 8 or 9 to 41) to the day she passed away. This year she appeared twice so far. I can't remember what was the first dream. Maybe because it's not that lucid but the dream on 31 July 2008 was a little lasting and I will try to recall to the best of my ability.

Now what was I doing lying in a 6'x3'x2' deep trench wrapped in blanket under the shelter of an attap hut. Shocking as it was, I do find comfort in the fact that as I woke up from my sleep (dream sleep not the real sleep), my mother was sitting right beside me (She passed away in 16 July 1996, I think) as if protecting me from the snake and making sure that it do not advance towards me. In a state of daze from waking up, the next thing I knew I came face to face with it, and a bright blue one at that. This snake just had its fill of a meal judging from the look of its bulging body. Maybe a small animal like a chicken or something that size. Surprisingly, I was not afraid and stared at the snake right in its face. Then I picked a small stick from the ground and broke it to about 5" length. I took the stick and usng my outstretched right leg to shield my face in case it decided to launch an attack at me. However, I do know for a fact that a well fed snake would be too lazy to even move a muscle to crawl away from its enemy or humans. I next thrust the stick up its upper jaws then the lower jaws (do snakes have jaws anyway, never mind). Now why would I want to do that. Nothing better to do, I guess. Just plain curious. Yes, you guessed it, I am trying to find out what was the meal it just ate. With its mouth now wide open (5"), I peer down its throat to catch a glimpse of its victim. Nope, can't see a thing and decided to let it go on its way.

I turned around and saw my 3rd sister walking towards us. Now just outside the hut was a somewhat dead tree that had 2' sunken earth around it. As 3rd sister was walking towards the tree, there were large bees flying around the tree. Well, bees were not that dangerous I guess. What I noticed were large hornets buzzing around at the base of the tree's sunken earth. I immediately signalled to 3rd sister and asked her to move away from the tree because of the potential danger from the hornets.

The next thing I knew, I woke up from my sleep to answer nature's call.