23rd Singapore Open Senior Amateur Championship - Round 2

Round 2 was played off a combination of both White and Blue Tees. This day the alien have been kept at bay and I became myself again and played like myself. Loads of excuses but still we never run of our excuses when we have a bad day. Ask John Daly last week after his shot 63 only to shoot 86 the next day. So if pros can do it, what can't I? Navy Course Hole 1 Par 4 Shot 1 ball on fairway. Shot 2 ball again near right bunker of green. A magnet seems to have been placed at that spot. Shot 3 ball on green. Shot 4 ball kissed the lip of the hole to miss par. Shot 5 for bogey. Hole 2 Par 4 Shot 1 ball on left of buggy track. Shot 2 ball short of green. Shot 3 chipped to green. 2 putted for bogey. Shot 5 for bogey. Hole 3 Par 3 Shot 1 ball on right side of fairway. Shot 2 chipped near to pin. Putted in for Par. Yay! Shot 3 for par. Hole 4 Par 4 Shot 1 ball on fairway. Shot 2 ball overshot green to right. Shot 3 chipped ball to about 12'. Shot 4 putted and missed to right. Shot 5 putted in for bogey. Improvement of 2 shots over Round 1. Hole 5 Par 5 Shot 1 pulled shot to left bunker. Shot 2 tried to be smart and used 5w to hit from bunker and topped ball but it's ok as it's on left fairway. Shot 3 beautiful shot that I thought was towards right side of left bunker 100m from hole. Then found ball in bunker, again. Damned. Shot 4 ball again in bunker fronting the green yet again. In this hole alone, my ball visited every conceivable bunkers it finds. Double damned. Make it triple. Shot 5 ball on green. 2 putted for double bogey. Shot 7 for double bogey. Hole 6 Par 3 Shot 1 ball about 20 m short of green. Shot 2 ball on green. Ho hum. 2 putted for bogey. Shot 4 for bogey. Hole 7 Par 4 Shot 1 ball on fairway centre. Shot 2 ball short of green. Shot 3 ball on green. 2 putted for bogey. Big improvement of 5 shots over Round 1. Shot 5 for bogey. Hole 8 Par 4 Shot 1 ball in left rough. Shot 2 ball short of green. Shot 3 ball on green. 2 putted for bogey. Another improvement of 5 shots over Round 1. Shot 5 for bogey. Hole 9 Par 5 Shot 1 ball in rough of left bunker. Shot 2 hit the equator of the ball but it's still safe on fairway. Shot 3 laid up before water hazard. Shot 4 ball went back left of green. Shot 5 ball on green. 2 putted for double bogey, again. Shot 7 for double bogey. Army Course Hole 1 Par 5 Shot 1 ball on fairway. Shot 2 duffed it, again. Shot 3 ball short of green. Shot 4 ball on green. 1 putted for Par. An improvement of 3 shots over Round 1. Shot 5 for par. Hole 2 Par 4 Shot 1 ball on fairway. Shot 2 ball on left of green. Shot 3 ball on green. 2 putted for bogey. Shot 5 for bogey. Hole 3 Par 3 Shot 1 ball on green. Elated. 3 putted for bogey. Damned. Shot 4 for bogey. Hole 4 Par 5 Shot 1 ball on fairway. Shot 2 ball on left side of fairway, again. Shot 3 ball short of green. Shot 4 ball on green. 3 putted for double. Damned. Shot 7 for double bogey. Hole 5 Par 4 Shot 1 ball on fairway. Shot 2 ball short of green on left. Shot 3 ball on green. 2 putted for bogey. This hole is Index 2 so I am a happy man. Shot 5 for bogey. Hole 6 Par 4 Shot 1 ball on fairway. Shot 2 ball went right of green. Shot 3 ball on green. 2 putted for bogey. Shot 5 for bogey. Hole 7 Par 3 Shot 1 ball in bunker protecting the green. Shot 2 hit an amazing shot. Ball nearly went into hole and slide just 6" of hole. 1 putted for Par. Huge relieve over Round 1. Shot 3 for par. Hole 8 Par 4 Shot 1 duffed the ball. Shot 2 duffed once again but ball now on fairway. Shot 3 laid up before water hazard in front. Shot 4 topped ball into water hazard in front. Took penalty drop. Shot 6 ball on fairway. Shot 7 ball on green. 2 putted for triple birdie. Damned, worst than Round 1. Shot 9 for 5 over or quintuple. Is the alien returning to possess me? Hole 9 Par 4 Shot 1 ball on fairway. Shot 2 ball short of green. Shot 3 hit ball on equator but on green about 26' away. 2 putted for bogey. Shot 5 for bogey. End of game and managed to keep alien at bay. But it's not enough to see me through Round 3, the final round. And I lied right at the bottom of the table. First time in all the tournaments I took part in that I am in this position. I hope I will not repeat it again in the upcoming tournament at OCC from 21 to 23 Nov'12, the Singapore National Senior Amateur Championship.

THE 1st SINGAPORE NATIONAL SENIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP - Round 1 Scorecard

THE 1st SINGAPORE NATIONAL SENIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP After waiting for about 2 months for the day to beckon, it has finally arrived today. This is the first time I am taking part in a tournament of this intensity. Well not really, I think. The 23rd Singapore Open Senior Amateur Championship is more intense, and I was possessed by an alien on the first day. Weather wise, I can't complain. It's simply nothing we can complain about. Not sure if Silver and Old Man Golfer (OMG aka Edmond) bothered to do what I am about to do, that is post their hole by hole scores to bore you people out there. I believe their scores make a more interesting read compared to mine. But it's ok, so here goes. Arrive OCC clubhouse at 6.55am for registration. Collected my score card and a free magazine from Singapore Senior Golfers Association. Sorry, no goodies bag for amateur tournaments. Dilly-dallied in the changing room waiting for tee off time to beckon. 7.20am came out from changing room and took a spare score card along from the bag drop area. And guess what, Silver is there and so is OMG and his friend. Yeah, I knew Silver would be there because I tipped him off to register since he has already come of age but not OMG. So it's a surprise to see him and his friend. How he came to know this tournament I let him tell you people lah. Ok, time's up and I get to drive the buggy alone. Special privilege for being the highest handicapper among the 3 golfers in my flight. Yes, that's right, there are only 3 balls per flight for this tournament. Guess this is to speed up play too, like the PGA (tio bo har) or probably the registration is not full booked. We set off for Dendro course. There on the fairway about 220m from the tee box (White Tee) there is bitch (a big brown stray dog). Please be patient, I like to tell stories first while waiting to tee off and sometimes stray when writing my hole-by-hole adventures. Bear with me first hor, please. I asked the Marshal whose dog is that on the centre of the Dendro Hole 1 fairway about 220m from the tee box. The Marshall said it's a stray and said initially, this dog have 4 other siblings. Let me see, 4 siblings + 1 brown dog = 5. Yes, total is five. Now am I a good mathematician. Don't test my mathematics ok, I very good one ok. I got Phd in Mathematics hor. The Marshal continued. One by one this dogs siblings began to disappear when they were just puppies. I think the puppies are cute, not that this one is not. But it has grown to be quite big. The Marshal said this dog is the peaceful type and would not bother golfers. Now, I can rest assured it won't attack me. Man, I could write a book just describing the dog. But time's up for us to tee off. 7.38am. Have to be careful, Silver is watching over my shoulders in case I wrote something incorrect. The Marshal called out. First to tee off, Mr. Francis Chia Kok Hui follow by Mr. Chong Cheong Heng and TDO (Kidding, he didn't know TDO existed). Ok, now I serious liao. I don't care about what and how these 2 better golfers played because it's quite boring. I am more exciting, looking at my final score in Round 1. DENDRO Hole 1 – 476m Par 5 Index 4 Shot 1 - Ball on left of fairway. Got the best view to the green but can regular OTG is another matter. My standard of OTG means 3 on not 2 like the pros and some people here. On reaching my ball, saw man's best friend lying and basking in the bunker. It's a brown bitch (female dog hor not obscenity ok). I whistled to it to get it's attention while waiting for my turn. She ignored me. Oh well. Shot 2 - Took 3w and gave it a whack. Ball traveled to the right of the fairway with about 145m to go. It wasn't a good shot but I am happy. Shot 3 - Took 6i and whacked the ball and duffed it slightly. Ball landed short of green. Haiz! Shot 4 - Chipped with 9i and ball ran 18' past the hole. Shot 5 - Putted downhill and ball came to rest 1' next to hole. Shot 6 - Putted in. How can I miss a 1' putt right? Bogey for me. Hole 2 – 304m Par 4 Index 14 Shot 1 - Ball on right fairway near 100m marker. Happy man. Shot 2 - Ball on green with 8i. ya la ya la. Some people use only SW or PW but I old man liao. Excuse me please. Ball ran past hole about 16' Shot 3 - Another downhill putt. How come always downhill putt one har? And green is bery fast wor. Ball lying about 8" next to hole. Shot 4 - Par. Got my first par. Quickly write down score in case I forgot. Hole 3 – 451m Par 5 Index 2 Shot 1 - Ball right in middle of fairway. Now that's what I call golf. I am beginning to enjoy it because it's longest drive in my flight. Never mind it’s not a long drive but I beat both my flight mates who are rank higher. :-) Shot 2 - With about 240m to reached green I took out 3w hoping to get it as close to the green as possible. Katuput! Ball traveled only 80m with my 3w. Damned! Duffed the ball. I am now left with still a still make-able 3 OTG 165m uphill shot. Shot 3 – Using 5w, the ball flew to where I want it not to go, left of green but past the bunkers guarding it. Found the ball lying on the rough but with reasonable lie. Shot 4 – I was still thinking of Par for the hole. Using Pw, I hit the equator of ball and it careened past the hole by about 19’. Now facing a slightly uphill lie, I have to make the putt for Par. Shot 5 – Putted the ball slightly to right of hole a bit too hard and it again went past the hole by about 4’. Shot 6 – Putted in for bogey. Hole 4 – 149m Par 3 Index 16 Shot 1 – With 6i in hand, I send the ball along with divot at the tee box even though it was teed up to just before the green, 25m before the flag. Geez! How can I duffed with the ball teed up. Shot 2 – Using 9i for chip and run, the ball stopped 9’ on the right of hole. Shot 3 – Putted and ball passed hole to left and lie 2.5’ away. Shot 4 – Tapped in for bogey. Uneventful hole. Hole 5 – 335m Par 4 Index 10 Shot 1 – Driver in hand, I send it to left of fairway or so I though and it had to end up in the bunker. Damned! Shot 2 – Seeing the reasonable lie though it was slightly in some inconsiderate golfer’s shoe print, with 150m to green I thought 5w could put the ball OTG. Instead I fluffed it to the left of the rough. I could still put it OTG in 3 and get away with at most a bogey as it’s only 90m. Shot 3 – Nine iron should do the OTG trick. Ball fell short and ended up in bunker before green on the left. The adventure now begins. Shot 4 – With Sw, I didn’t take enough sand and ball went straight past the flag and to the bunker on the right of green. Shot 5 – Again with Sw, this time the ball came out but I caught it too heavy and it landed on the fairway before the fringe with 30’ to hole. Shot 6 – I am not going to take anymore chance with my poor chipping skill and downhill green, I chose to putt instead, just to play safe. Ball went 4’ pass the hole on the right. Shot 7 – Putted in for triple bogey. First blemish on score card. Hole 6 – 414m Par 5 Index 6 Shot 1 – I want to put the adventure of the previous hole behind. Was holding driver in hand until I saw my flight mates using 3w and realized there’s water just at the 210m mark. With strong tail wind I decided to switch to 3w. Heng ah! Didn’t use driver. If not driver will send my ball to the watery grave. Whacked the ball and felt good until it started to curl slight to left but passed the bunkers on left. On reaching where I thought my ball was, I could not find it. Then I looked down to the left, and that idiot ball seems to be telling me, “Sir, I’m in the bunker hor”. Felt foolish and thought this would also be an adventure hole for me, once again. Shot 2 – I care not two hoots and used my 5w. Stance was tough with ball on uphill slope of sand. And the sand is so damned soft it’s difficult to plant my feet firmly in it. But that I did and proceed to give it a good wallop. Ball happily sailed over the watery grave as if waving to the water as it landed on the other side of the fairway. Phew! Shot 3 – With 110m, 8i for me to bring the ball OTG. That I did with finesse though the result could have been better. But WTH, only 15’ on the right of hole. Easy par at most. Birdie would be a bonus. Shot 4 – Putted ball 1’ to right of hole. Shot 5 – Par and gave myself a slap on the back. Sandy Par. Hole 7 – 314m Par 4 Index 8 Shot 1 – Drove ball to right of fairway to avoid the bunker on the left waiting to catch those uneducated balls. Ball instead kicked left as fairway was sloping to left. Drove buggy forward and found ball happily staring at bunker from the fairway 6 feet away. Should be an easy 8i from 110m. Shot 2 – The 8i sent the ball to the right of green and into bunker. “He who laugh first laugh last” the bunker seems to be saying. It’s ok, at most I get away with a bogey. Shot 3 – Sw didn’t get the ball out of bunker. Now this is serious. Shot 4 – Ball OTG, only just with 17’ to hole. I must make this putt. Shot 5 – Make the putt I did not and it went pass the hole by 2.5’. Shot 6 – Tap in for double bogey/ Cry! Hole 8– 142m Par 4 Index 18 Shot 1 – The distance is misleading and don’t look to be 142m. I opted for 7i. I normally would use 6i for this distance. Ball OTG. Yea! And nearest to pin in my flight though it’s 12’ away from hole on the left. Shot 2 – Slight downhill putt and ball kissed the edge of hole and went by 2’. Missed birdie. Shot 3 – Tapped in Par. Hole 9 – 267m Par 4 Index 12 Shot 1 – Easy hole, I thought. Driver in hand, sent the ball to just right of fairway rough. Shot 2 – Uphill and 80m to green with ball in rough, I want to charge with 8i. That I did and it landed beautifully on right of green. Shot 3 – Makeable putt from 14’ but missed it to 2’ right of hole. Shot 4 – Tapped in Par. Score for 1st Nine – 45 Not much of an adventure for 1st Nine, but I am beginning to feel hungry. Only had 2 slices of bread and that’s not enough for a big man like me. I consider myself big, never mind my weight but watch my tummy. It’s undesirable for many. VANDA [u]Hole 10 – 335m Par 4 Index 14[/u] Shot 1 – Driver sent the ball 220m to the left fairway. Shot 2 – With 115m to green, used 8i but duffed it. Don’t tell or remind me of the alien please. I have only 30m to flag. Shot 3 – Chipped to green with 15’ to hole. Shot 4 – Putted ball past the hole leaving a 3’ putt. This is a knee-jerker putt. Shot 5 – Put ball in hole for bogey. [u]Hole 11 – 146m Par 3 Index 16[/u] Shot 1 – The look of the flag does not justify the 146m. I would normally use a 6i if the distance is correct. With tail wind, I took the chance and use 7i instead. Ball landed on back left of green with a 15’ putt. Shot 2 – Slight downhill putt, aimed for the right lip of hole. Ball just kissed the lip the lip and ended up 6” past the hole. Cheeky ball. Shot 3 – Tapped in for Par. [u]Hole 12 – 343m Par 4 Index 12[/u] Shot 1 – Driver sent ball to left rough with 165m to hole. Nice view of the reservoir on the left from where my ball lies. Shot 2 – Uses 5w and duffed the ball sending it to the 90m mark. Shot 3 – Pitched ball with 9i only for it to land on left fringe. Shot 4 – Putted from fringe and ball went 18” right of hole. Shot 5 – Tapped in for bogey. [u]Hole 13 – 133m Par 3 Index 18[/u] Shot 1 – With 7i, ball landed 15m short of green. How come ah? Shot 2 – Chipped and skulled the ball and it careened 25’ past the hole. What kind of a golfer am I? Can’t even do a simple chip! Shot 3 – Downhill putt. Looks straight to me. Ball went for hole only for it to tease me by suddenly turning left of hole just as it was 3” from hole and ended up 6’ behind. If only I had putted a bit harder. If only. Life is full of “If onlys”. Shot 4 – Tapped in for bogey. [u]Hole 14 – 364m Par 4 Index 4[/u] Shot 1 – Driver for me and ball landed on right fairway with 155m to flag. Decent shot. Shot 2 – 5w seems a good idea to get it OTG. Alamak! Teochew ball and it hit one of the trees on the left before the bunker. Didn’t know where it landed. Parked buggy and walked back about 25m to look for it. Found ball resting beneath the tree. Heng ah! No obstruction to backswing. Shot 3 – With 25m to flag, it should be an easy chip. Used Pw and place ball closer to right leg to de-loft the clubface as there’s a low hanging tree branch just 15’ in front of ball. Dang! Duffed the shot and it landed 8’short of green. Shot 4 – Played safe and putted from outside green since my chipping is jokingly terrible. Ball went left and 6’ short of hole. Shot 5 – It’s either make or screw it for me. Slight break to left, putted it 2’ right of hole. Screwed! Shot 6 – Tapped in double bogey for hole. Not a happy man. [u]Hole 15 – 414m Par 5 Index 6[/u] Shot 1 – Driver no go. With tail wind and too short landing area, 3w is a safer bet and 3w it shall be. Gave the ball a good whack and a teochew man came screaming out of the ball and ball flew to the left and ended in the watery grave. Shot 3 – Dropped ball about 20’ behind the water. With 5w, sent the ball on its way across the watery grave that just gobbled my 1st ball. It landed left of fairway with 115m to pin. Shot 4 – Head wind and 115m to pin, hmm, 8i should do the trick. Katupooi! Duffed once again and idiot ball went left and landed in the bunker fronting the green. Shot 5 – Sw to get the ball out and hope to get it near the pin and get away with bogey. Instead, took too much sand and ball didn’t clear the bunker and rolled back into sand, again. Better lie this time. Shot 6 – Managed to get ball on green as it rolled past the flag 25’ away. Haiz! Another downhill putt. Shot 7 - Putted ball close to hole 3” to the right. But close does not mean it’s in the hole. Shot 8 – Tapped in triple bogey. Wanted to kick myself in the arse but refrained as it would dirty my pants. [u]Hole 16 – 328m Par 4 Index 8[/u] Shot 1 – Driver sent the ball to the left and into the bunker. OMG! What is happening to me? Shot 2 – With 140m to green, used 5i to hopefully get it OTG. I now have to depend on hope and I can no longer depend on my erratic skill. Saw 3 electrical workers 40m to the left of the bunker. Strange how the mind play tricks, I saw, I hit and ball went left towards the workers but not before hitting the tree and ricochet to the right rough. Shot 3 – Took shot with 9i, taking into consideration the rough, I became the tournament’s top player and topped the ball so badly it careened past the green and into the back of the green’s downhill slope. All dreams of making the cut came crashing down on me as I knew there is water behind the green. Shot 5 – Could not locate my ball and dropped ball after asking flight mates if it’s the right procedure to drop the ball at point of entry. But slope is too severe to drop the ball. I therefore placed the ball on the slope and chipped with 9i. Ball landed on green, only just, and lie something like 30’ away from pin. Shot 6 – Slight uphill and putted ball to right, 2’ away from hole. Shot 7 – Tapped in triple bogey. Started mental planning for what to take for lunch. Forget the game. Won’t make it this time round again. So don’t think too much. Just enjoy the 2 days of social golfing, though not much talking was done with my flight mates. [u]Hole 17 – 294m Par 4 Index 10[/u] Shot 1 – Driver sent ball right to the middle of fairway. Longest drive among the 3 of us. Actually, the lower handicapper was further but his ball is in the rough so tak kira (not counted). Shot 2 – Only 85m to green. Kiasu a bit because of strong headwind, used 9i to get ball OTG. It went past the pin stopping 15’ away. Happy man! Shot 3 – Easy, slight downhill putt for birdie. Tweet! Tweet! And it flew away 5” to the left of hole. Shot 4 – Tapped in Par. Sweet return to golf. [u]Hole 18 – 404m Par 5 Index 2[/u] Shot 1 – Driver sent ball to right and into bunker. Shot 2 – With 210m to hole, tried using 5w to get ball out of bunker and as near as possible to the green. Played too much sand and ball travel 50m out of sand in leisurely pace. It’s ok, still possible to get it OTG in 3. Shot 3 – Uphill green and 160m to it, 5w should do the trick. Katupooi! Again! And ball nearly went into flower bed on the right. Shot 4 – Left with 85m to go, I opted for 9i, never mind if it’s over-clubbed. My iron skill is like trash anyway. Got ball on the green and 16’ past the flag. Shot 5 – Par chance coming up. Slight downhill putt to right. Let it go and it went right alright 1’ but not into the hole. Shot 6 – Tapped in for bogey. Summary: Ho-hum day. Have to work harder tomorrow. Scorecard: 93 Fairways hit: 7 of 14 Putting: 32 Lost balls: 1 Note: Round 2 of my story will continue at my leisurely time when I can find it.

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.

My Dream Bike - If Looks Can Kill

I have this posted in Vox some 9 months ago, and would like to post it here on this blog for more people to see this handsome machine.

My dream bike, it will remain a dream. The Yamaha Vmax.

If looks can kill, this is the one. By the time it hits the road, I would probably be near 55. It would be too heavy for me to handle. My guess is it probably weigh something like 400kgs. I drop hints to dear wife about getting one of these mean machines, albeit a used one. The straight faced answer is, NO! Haiz....

At the moment, there is no technical data on this handsome killer machine. If it stops at any traffic lights, I think many big bike would quiver and shake with fear of being eaten alive (not literally though). I have not done any reading from the internet on the older version but do belief that this monster can probably do the century sprint in less than 3.5 secs.

I saw one on the road some 3 to 4 months ago but the condition is quite dismal I must say and the colour is Black (I don't like Black Bikes because they don't stand out. Prefer Yellow though). Saw it being advertised for sale some 10 months ago but the machine has been about 15 years now. But let me tell you, this old thing looks just as mean. The one shown above is a prototype in a 2005 exhibition in Tokyo that has not gone into the final design and engineering stage. Yamaha is looking for more feedbacks from the public to further improve it's current looks and performance. Three years have passed. I am not sure if it has gone into production.

Wow! I have already fallen in love with the one above at first sight, and Yamaha is still not satisfied with the looks. Well, like I said, I will not be able to ride it and can only drool over it. Maybe in the foreseeable future, dear wife may change her mind, maybe...

DREAMS - Fantasy or Danger

Do you belief in dreams, fantasy dreams? Well, this morning I had an unbelievable dream. I dreamt of not 1 but 2 people who were already dead. One is my mother and the other my old neighbourhood friend. Ok, before I go on about this dead people stuffs, let me try to recall as much as I can about this special dream.

Ever since childhood, I have been wishing and fantasying about being able to fly. That I did in the dream this morning. In the dream, I belief I am in my early 20's. I started with flying slowly around slowly in my old estate at Margaret Drive (I dreamt about this old place many times before, fond childhood memories) just outside Block 11, hovering at probably 4th or 5th storey. I was enjoying the light floating feeling. All I need to do was simply move my arms as if I am swimming and I will float along. No I can't do high speed flying or diving. Have not mastered the skill of an eagle or hawk chasing its prey yet. Then 2 boys saw me hovering outside their flat and asked if I was doing a magic performance, like David Copperfield. Ha! ha! ha! That was cool. Me David Copperfield.:-) Told them no, I am flying and floating for real. They were amazed (so am I) as I continued my way to my block at Block 10. I flew to the roof and walk around a bit and found a golfing glove. (I mean a glove not a pair because golfers use only 1 glove on the left hand for right handed golfers and right for left handed golfers). Strange right, well, wait until you pick up the game and you will find stranger things happening.

Anyway, back to my dream. I picked up the glove, it was quite new. How on earth did it ended up on the roof? Are there others like me who can fly? Probably a bird (crow maybe) stole it from a golfer but never mind that. I flew down to Block 11 and met a few old neighbourhood friends and chitchat with them. Told them I could fly and hover like a bird. They wouldn't belief and asked me to do a demo. Ok guys, stand back please and I proceeded to show-off a bit. I flap my arms and voila, I am hovering in a stationery gravity defying position. My friends watched with disbelief. How did I do it? Told them I am just as puzzled how I acquired this ability. Then I told one of them to pass the golfing to Hock Seng (he passed away some time in the late 80's or early 90's at age about 30+ I was told, exactly which year I am not sure and hey he don't golf so why am I asking one of my friends to pass it to him). Well, strange things always happen in dreams anyway. No explanations needed. After that I walk home to Block 10 #02-263.

As I reached the staircase at the letter box, the floor was wet as my 1st storey neighbour was washing it. It was full of soap bubbles and very slippery. To avoid getting my feet wet, I wave my arms and hover towards the letter box and open it to retrieve some letters. My neighbour watched in amazement but did not asked how I do it. I then hovered up to flat at 2nd storey. As I opened the door, my mother (she passed on in 1996, my father passed on in 1964 and I am now an orphan, sob! sob!) was standing inside doing some household chores with my eldest sister. Mother is still driving a lorry judging from the plank (for people to sit on in the lorry) placed outside the rear door. Hey, there are 2 doors leading to my flat, I didn't know that. One is the main entrance and the other from the back, I realised. I told my mother that I can now fly for no apparent reason and the reply was "don't be silly, how can you fly?" From that reply, I demostrated to her my hovering ability. And boy was she surprised.

And then, I awoke from my fantasy dream. This dream seems so real and vivid to the point of being dangerous. Why did I say dangerous you may ask? Can you imagine, I sat on the bed wondering if I can really fly. You know, crazy thoughts ran through my head and something inside me telling me to try leaping from my 14th storey flat and fly for real. Now I was seriously fighting this urge to jump and that it seems utterly ridiculous that people can fly just by flapping the arms, particularly me. It is disturbing, very disturbing and it took me quite a while to realise this fantasy dream can turn out to be a nightmare, knowing very well I managed to ward off the urge (or evil within you may say) to fly from my flat. Whew! Very close call, indeed!

The Victim - Road To Recovery

Looking back, it's been close to 6 weeks since I was nearly assassinated. I am making recovery but real slow. What puzzles me was how come my wound took so long to heal. Worry! Worry! Worry!. Wife start to show concern and began nagging me to see doctor again. The photo will send a reminder to me that all is not well.

So, off to the doctor (Dr. Choo) I went on 12 December 2007. And my birthday at that. I reached the clinic at about 4.35pm as this hour has the least crowd. So, I am the only patient there. Registered and in less than 3 minutes my name was called. This doctor has been my good friend ever since I visited him around March 2004. He will without fail always asked about how my 2 daughters are doing. He even has this conversation recorded in my patient card, just so that he can remember where and what we last spoke. "So, what bring you here today?" "Two problems" "Tell me"

"How come my left leg's wound since I last visited you on 2 Nov'07 has not healed?" "What did you do to your leg?" "Huh! I am asking you how come and you asked me what did I do to my leg?" "Ok, what did you use to clean your wound?" "As you recommended, Dettol." "Did you mixed it with water before use?" "Of course" "What is the proportion?" "Erh, 1:3 or 1:4" "You siow ah, that is too strong. No wonder there's so much rashes on your skin. Minimum ratio should be 1:10" (I just checked the recommendation for nursing wound on Dettol, it says 1:20. So doctor is also wrong but I am more wrong lor.) "But how come my wound stopped closing up and it's very itchy around the edges, at the calf and oozing transparent fluid? Is it because I have diabetes?" "How did you clean your wound?" "I use cotton dipped in Dettol and somewhat scrub the edges and centre portion where the dead skin is. Meaning, I cleaned away the dead skin literally." "Wah! Who recommended you to clean that way?" "Erh, Dr. Puan." He paused for a while as if to search for the Dr. Puan and finally realise that I was joking with him and remarked, "So you are your own doctor. You are not supposed to remove the dead skin." It is there to protect the wound. If you cleaned it away, your wound will open up again. What is there to protect it? Aiyo, you ah! I will give you some cleaning lotion to clean the wound. Remember, no scrubbing, just dab. Dilute it to 1:9 ratio ok" "Orh"


"What's your next problem?" "Erh, how come my wrist for nothing can sprain? I didn't even carry anything heavy. Look at the size of it." "You still climbing scaffold and roofs in Sentosa?" Wah! good memory. Actually, this was also recorded in my patient's card. "Got lah! But nowadays, a bit grounded so stay in office most of the time. But it only happened yesterday 11 Dec'07". "And you sit in the office armchair most of the time." "Yah, but what has that got to do with it?" "Hellooo! You are no longer young you know. Already 52. So when we reached this age, many funny things can happen when you least expect it during the younger days. And sometimes when you get up from your chair, you place your palm on the armrest and lift your body up, that's where you sprain your wrist because it's at a difficult bent position. Be careful next time when getting up from your office chair." "Anything to apply on the swell?" "No need to apply anything lah! Just rest your wrist a few days and it should be back to normal. You need MC?" "No need. Still under probation. If I take the MC it would be considered No-Pay-Leave. Further, I also have to bear the medical fees myself hor." "Ok, I will still give you the MC. If need to use it then use it. I will prescribe you the cleaning lotion, cream for the wound and tablets for the itch. Take care ok. Don't like to see you visiting me even though I got business." "Ok, thanks Doctor." I went out of the room and waited to collect the medicine. The fee: $26. Very reasonable fee, I must say.

The Victim - Making Progress

So, it's the 25th day of my injury after the attack from the Silent Assassin. Let's see how I am faring.




It's not as gory as the 1st day. I am going about things as normally as I can though I still can't bend my left knee at more than 80deg. Try to bend further and the wound would open up and the pain is quite unbearable. Unbearable in my standard is probably extremely unbearable to some people. You see, my threshold to pain is quite high. To reach 90% recovery will probably require another 4 weeks or so, according to the unlicenced Dr. Puan (me). However, I am grateful to HDB that I can still do my private business despite the apparent temporary handicap. Why, you asked? Now let's say if the current toilets are still based on the squat type in the old days and you get what I mean.

I can now wash my car on Sundays but have to wear long pants to prevent the car shampoo from getting into contact with the open wound. It's still difficult though to climb my car to wash the roof. Can't reach it without standing on top of the rear tyres. I have to be extra cautious and conscious when getting down to the floor and not forget that my left knee can't bend more than 80deg. So when getting down, I must always remember to lower my left leg first. Failing that would mean unimaginable disaster. Because if my right leg is lowered to the floor first it would be too late to withdraw it as the pain on the left knee would be so unbearable that I may possibly let go of the grip and fall to the floor and result in a more serious injury. Touch wood, touch wood, touch wood... pwee, pwee, pwee...

On the work front, I am able to go about things normally as my current work do not require me to do much physical movements like climbing scaffolds and roofs though last Thursday (15 Nov'07) morning was a challenge. I had an appointment with a contractor (he is now my good friend from the time I know him in 1999 when working for my previous company. I am talking about you, PK if you are reading my blog) to check on my company's factory roof leaks at Tuas Ave 2. I have to climb up with them to check the leak (not necessary to do so but out of a sense of responsibility) and that is a major problem. I let the 3 of them climb first and follow later. One step at a time. Meaning, right leg up first and left leg follow but stepping on where the right leg rests and repeat with right leg and the sequence follows the rest of the way up. It's real dangerous seeing the strain and pain on the left knee. Climbing down is the reverse sequence. Left leg down first then the right. I tried to be smart seeing how slow it was to do the way I did so I do it the way normal people does. Left right left and I broke into a cold sweat because of the excruciating pain. I quickly reverted to the safe way.

Meanwhile, me and my big mouth. I suggested to my old friend (Lau) and ex-boss (Goh) (both are my ex-bosses) to have a round of golf next Saturday (1 Dec'07) afternoon in JB during lunch on 22 Nov'07. Both have no problem. Now it's for me to arrange and look for another good friend (he's also my good friend by the way) of my ex-boss to make it foursome. I am now considering if I should go ahead with the game and should I disappoint my good friends. I hope ego don't have the better of me. Actually, I should forget about ego. There's really nothing to lose face because I am my best judge. Health or face? We shall see by Tuesday (27 Nov'07) for my ultimate decision.

Cheers.

The Silent Assasin

I woke up at 5.30am for my regular jog. After stretching for about 5 minutes, I took the lift down and walk along the linkway from Blk 286 towards Bt Batok East Ave 6. It was probably about 5.45am as I reached the pavement. I was hesitant and wasn't sure if I should do the routine 5km run towards Bt Timah Rd. It was getting real windy and the sky was somewhat darkening.

I opted for a shorter route (about 3.5km I guess) to avoid getting caught in the rain and jog the other way round towards Bt Batok East Ave 3 towards the direction of the PIE and turn right into Bt Batok Street 23. It was an enjoyable morning jog. The weather was cool and windy. As I approached the workers dormitory opposite Vicom Inspection Centre, many Bangladeshi workers were already lining the road for the bus and trucks to pick them. A few were smoking away while waiting for the bus/truck. I thought, how can they afford to smoke? A packet of cigarettes costs about $10 to $11. Their daily wage probably about $22/day without OT. But never mind, MYOB I thought to myself.

As I reached Bt Batok Industrial Park, I looked up to the Heaven and it seemed somewhat uncompromising. Still I continue my jog and soon reached the main road of Bt Batok Ave 6. I turned left and continue down the pavement towards the direction of the swimming pool. I thought to myself, "Shall I jog further down to make it 5km instead of the targetted 3.5km. The sky seems to be clearing up." "Ok, I will jog further down toward the MRT viaduct, turn right towards Bt Batok Ave 1 and right again towards Bt Batok Central, straight down towards Bt Batok Ave 2 and stop at where I usually stop, outside Bt Batok Nature Reserve." That should do. Bt then I have reached the bus stop where I usually let my wife off for work.

THE SILENT ASSASSIN
As I passed the bus stop (at time it was about 5.55am), about 25 metres away, there was this lamp post on my right that stood quietly watching over me and the road with its light on. No sooner as I passed it I tripped over something. OMG, I lost complete balance as I fell forward, struggling with my now jellied legs to mainain my balance. I soon realised that I trip over the tree root that was hiding right smack under the shadow of the lamp post. Hopeless, I knew I can't balance myself safely and let fate took over. My mind flashed with fleeting thoughts over what would happen to me. How serious would the injury be? All this in a matter of micro seconds. Didn't know our mind can think faster than the action.

THE WEAPON
Then it happened. Plomped! So Humpty Dumpty had a Great Fall. A fall from grace as I landed on my left knee, quite heavily. Fortunately, I was holding the water bottle with my right hand when I landed. The wrapper on the bottle was torned and my palm was also bruised but was cushioned by the bottle. Yes, I was lucky. I couldn't move my leg as I sat on grass verge for something like 5 minutes. I scoured the pavement for that weapon and saw it (the root) protruding about 6cm from the ground.

THE VICTIM
I gazed at the injury as I struggle to my feet. I have a problem standing up because it's hurting on my left knee. I stood still for about 2 minutes before I made my way back home, painfully. There's nobody around to assist me. The street is quite deserted. I hobbled across the road and walked slowly home, about 1.2km away. Yes, it was starting to bleed a little. I could not hasten my pace as it was simply too stressful on my left leg. I passed Kemin Primary School and the gate was just opened by the guard.

I hobbled but I did not wobble. Phew! If I did, it would be disastrous. I bought the newspaper and breakfast (noodle with toufu as usual) on the way home. I tried to walk as normally as I could and looked around, it seems no one noticed my injury. Bt then, blood was slowly trickling down my shin. Whew! Would be embarassing if somebody noticed. I just don't feel comfortable with people started to show their concern and asking funny questions. How come, why, when. I can understand their concern and appreciate it. Now, all I need is a nice shower, rest and have my breakfast.

I reached home and quietly went to the bedroom to collect my clothings for the shower. Wife is still sleeping and am unaware of what happened. I turned on the heater as I don't want to get a shock because of the cold weather and the wound. As I stepped into the bathroom, I was prepared for the worst. Excruciating pain as the water flowed from my head to the wound. Yes it was real bad and painful. It was like being bitten by hundreds of red ants. Fortunately, the warm water somewhat seem to calm the nerves and relief the pain a bit.

As soon as I finished my shower, I sat on the small pink stool my elder daughter brought back from her hall and started reading the newspaper. Ten minutes later, my wife woked and make her way to the kitchen to have a glass of water. Soon after, I told her I want to show her something, and pointed to my injured knee. On second thought I shouldn't have shown her. She almost burst into tears. Aiyo, it's only a bruise and nothing to be so unduly worried, I told her. She fussed about it and mentioned I shouldn't have jog along that pavement. But nevertheless, what has happened has happened.

Clearly, I am not too concerned with the injury, just that it would be quite awkward as I just started work in this new company on 16 Oct'07 and have to take medical leave (No Pay OK, under probation). I bandaged the badly bruised leg and report to work. No, I did not tell anyone in office. Hush! Hush!

The next day, I went to see my regular doctor. Took one look at it and said it's not a problem. Should heal in 2 to 3 weeks and charged me only $15. No, I don't need the MC, no medicine or lotion. Great! Looks like I have to go back to swimming again after a long absence.

We shall see.

It's now into the 11th day of my accident. The wound is healing up nicely. Meanwhile, the photos of The Silent Assasin, The Weapon and The Victim is posted to remind of the pain and caution to be taken in future. Look out for The Silent Assasin.

Cheers.

Dilemma of Cab Driving - In the News

As an ex-taxi driver who is now back in emloyment, I am truly saddened by the many complaints against taxi drivers in general. Branding all taxi drivers as cheats is unfair. Never mind the armchair critics or the general public's complaints. It is better to live with those who encourages rather than those who critise with offering a solution you will be a happier person. Though taxi drivers in the public's view are now among the lowest rank in society and Singapore's public enemy #1 (according to the number of complaints, negative feedbacks and hate campaigns posted over the internets, the important thing is you do not cheat or behave like those black sheep. Like someone who mentioned on 22 Oct'07 ST Forum that 4 out of 10 cab drivers are inconsiderate. We now have 18,400 inconsiderate taxi drivers on the road (OMG). Many road users forgot that cab drivers spend the most time on the roads, between 8 to 10 hours and sometimes more and it can be really tiring. It's not an excuse but I would like to challenge those who complained so much to drive his car for between 8 to 10 hours a day, everyday and judge for yourself how you will behave after 1 week of driving. Someone said that when the government is at fault, we complained about it in the coffeeshops, when taxi drivers are at fault, it apprears in newspapers, internet, radio (today's 93.8 feedback talk show), and even tv. Why? Because not many cab drivers are able to respond or defend these complaints and also because they are probably not as educated as those who complained about it to the press or post it on the internet. But nowadays, many taxi drivers are quite computer literate and internet savvy.If you have the opportunity, I would think that it's better for you to find employment. It's not glamorous profession and no appreciation from the general public. The income is not that great compared to those who can afford taking a cab. I drove taxi not by choice previously but out of necessity to support the family. So, as long as you enjoy cab driving, as long as you make an honest living, don't worry too much about the negative feedbacks, complaints and critisms. Armchairs critics enjoy watching the show after posting their negative response. Let them be if they enjoy every moment of it. Because pretty soon, the public will get to know who they are when they log on the internet. I am pretty much worried about the karma, for those black sheep.
Cheers and best wishes.

A Hell Ride from Changi Airport

It really has been a long time (6 months) since I last posted on this blog and here goes the story. This time it's not from me as a taxi driver but rather as a passenger.

On 6 July 2007, I was back from a company business trip from Shanghai. My wife and I boarded a CityCab Taxi bearing registration no: SHB2117D at Changi Airport Terminal 2 at 22:37hrs. As I got into the taxi, I told the driver I wanted to go to Bukit Batok East Ave 3. He was driving along the extreme right lane #1 and about 1km before the exit to PIE I asked him; "Uncle, which road are you using to go to Bt Batok?" His reply; "Which road you want take?" "PIE, it's nearer." "Go straight by ECP also can" was his reply. He must be joking, I thought to myself. From ECP via AYE via Clementi Ave 6. Traffic at that time was moderate. Hey, I was a taxi driver with CityCab and Comfort too, just that I didn't tell him.

I thought taxi drivers are supposed to ask the passenger/s the preferred route. Never mind, I thought to myself, small matter. But no, this is just the beginning of our nightmare ride.

As we neared exit #1 to PIE about 100m away, he is still on ECP lane #1. Suddenly, he swerved sharply to PIE exit #1 and continued driving in a dangerous manner at speeds of up to 130km/h. He tailgated almost all the cars that were in front of him, weaving in and out and overtook on the left on many occasions disregarding the safety of the passengers and other road users.

Upon reaching Eunos exit #9, he was on the outer lane when he suddenly swerved to extreme inner lane of the PIE and continued his dangerous driving along the extreme inside lane, overtaking vehicles both from inside and outside and weaving in and out once until we reached Paya Lebar exit #11. He was on the extreme inner lane once again overtaking other vehicles. Now these lanes are meant for vehicle exiting to Paya Lebar only. He then made a sharp turn to the inner most lane of PIE and drove along the corrugated road markings to get back to the PIE.

At this moment, my wife held on to my hands tightly, shaking with fear for our safety throughout the journey. He continued his crazed driving, tailgating vehicles, driving in a dangerous manner without regards to the passengers in the taxi and other road users, and again weaving in and out, speeding excessively well above the legal speed limit.

When we passed Eng Neo Avenue exit #22, I told him to exit by the Clementi Road/Bukit Timah Road exit 26A, drive towards Upper Bukit Timah Road and turn left to Old Jurong Road opposite the Fire Station. I further told him to turn right at the traffic light after the Shell Petrol station and then left again at the traffic light leading to Bt. Batok Ave 4. Thereafter, I showed him the direction to my block at 287 Bukit Batok East Avenue 3. For every turns and traffic lights, we went through sudden twisting turns, braking and over-steers like a roller coaster. It was a horrific experience for my wife but I remained calm.

As we reached our destination at 23:02hrs, my wife got out of the taxi and stood there frozen. I asked her what happened. She told me she got cramps and was shaking with fear from the entire experience.

Now I am not sure what this taxi driver was unhappy with, but from the way he's driving, he is not only putting his passengers' life at risk but also that of other road users.

I personally have heard so much about black sheep drivers but this one takes the cake and score full points for tarnishing the image of other good taxi drivers in Singapore. While there are definitely black sheep in every industries, I never, for once imagined I would get to experience one real dangerous mad cap of a driver.

I have lodge a complaint with CityCab regarding this incident and was assure that firm action would be taken against this taxi driver. But I do know a fact that most of time taxi companies will only call the taxi driver personally and told them that a complaint have been lodged and would generally advise the driver to be more careful in future. Hey, taxi companies can't afford to offend the taxi drivers too much. They need revenue too from renting out the taxi. And is good profit. If not, why else would there be so many taxis on Singapore roads. In terms of taxis on our population, we are probably the highest in the world on per population ratio. We have something like 23,000 taxis serving a population of only 4 million.

I look forward to more posting if I see anything interesting to write.

Cheers.