Christmas 2010

This Christmas, we are spending it with a friend and his family in the United States, so it will be filled with Christmas carols, a real Christmas tree, decorations, turkey, cold (and maybe snow) plus church. Standby for photos post-trip!

Amazon Kindle 3

After hearing about the Amazon Kindle 3 from my colleague, and reading about it on the Internet, I decided that it was the e-book reader for me, and went ahead to get one for myself.

My interest with e-book readers came about because I am going to have to move soon, and having a lot of books is bogging me down. Yet I cannot bear to part with my books. So I have decided that the best way is to keep my books in digital format, while keeping the paper versions of those books that I really want to keep.

So now, I am trying to find digital versions of books that I have, so that I can part with the paper versions...

By the way, for those interested to get themselves the Kindle in Singapore, please read the following:
Jeff's Blog on Amazon Kindle 3
A forum for e-book readers in general
I would advice using Borderlinx... I used VPOST and regretted it. It took almost 11 days from the time I ordered my Kindle before it finally arrived in Singapore... and that was after choosing 2-day delivery from Amazon. Amazon delivered as promised, the choke point was VPOST.

Do note that Amazon Kindle content is not supported in Singapore, so do follow the instructions in Jeff's Blog above. There are two versions, the WiFi only version, and the version that has both WiFi and 3G. If you are a frequent traveller, I would suggest getting the 3G version, else the WiFi version would suffice.

以德服人 Part 2

The other day, someone was saying that Japanese warriors (武士) are formidable because they are always ready to die. And Japanese martial arts are simple and effective, not flashy. When a Japanese warrior draws his sword, he draws it to kill.

Someone rebutted that it is not that Chinese warriors draw their sword without aiming to kill. When a Chinese warrior draws his sword, he draws it to kill too. It is just that he does not draw his sword easily.

I think it is not about race. Whether Japanese or Chinese, the wisdom behind this is the same.
仁者，不以力制人，以德服人。
A person must have compassion for his fellow men, and when he does, it is no longer about how well he fights, because he aims not to use his martial skills, instead relying on his heart to reach out to the people around him. He gains respect not by the number of people he defeats, but by the number of lives he touches with his sincerity.

The old martial artist sitting in the background may not be able to move as fast as when he was young. But he doesn't need to. Because he no longer relies on his hands and legs to defeat his opponents. The strength of his character is his true weapon.

Parting with Dungeons and Dragons

Updated on 2 Dec 2010 at 2330H:

Due to the need to clear out my old stuff in preparation for a move in the near future, I intend to part with some of my Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D) Second Edition (2nd Ed), and Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) Third Edition (3rd Ed) stuff like rulebooks and supplements. Most of them are in near mint condition, except for the core rulebooks (Players Handbook and Dungeon Master Guide) for 2nd Ed. Do drop me a mail or leave a comment here for me to contact you if you are interested and we can then negotiate a price and a method of delivery. Most convenient if you live in Singapore.

The books available:
AD&D 2nd Ed:
Players Handbook
Dungeon Master's Guide
Monstrous Manual
Legends and Lore
The Complete Ninja's Handbook
The Complete Psionics' Handbook
The Complete Thief's Handbook
The Complete Wizard's Handbook
The Complete Priest's Handbook
The Complete Book of Elves
Arms and Equipment
Player Option: Skills and Powers
Player Option: Combat and Tactics
DM Option: High-Level Campaigns
Faiths and Avatars
Heroes' Lorebook
D&D 3rd Ed:
Players Handbook
Dungeon Master's Guide
Manual of the Planes
Monster Manual
Oriental Adventures
Sword and Fist
Masters of the Wild

Follow your heart

There are times when no matter how hard we think, how much logic we apply, we come up against a dead end, and we cannot decide on which option to choose.

In those cases, follow your heart. Because when you follow your heart, you remain true to yourself.

以德服人

仁者，不以力制人，以德服人。

That was something that rang in my heart when I heard it.

We should not use fear (the threat of using force) to get people to do things. We should show them that it is because we care for them, which is why we are asking them to do those things. Sometimes, we take the easy way out because fear can be a big motivating factor, but we must always remember that fear only works when the threat is there, but if you gain a person's respect, he will continue to do what you ask even when you are no longer around.

Flowers フラワーズ

A very touching movie, showcasing the lives of women in Japan over the last century.

From the era when marriage was dictated by parents, to the era when women faced prejudice at work, to the modern day when single mothers are accepted as part of society. Six women leading six lives.

Some of the touching scenes:
- When Wabisuke told Rin at their wedding ceremony that he will take care of her. (This was an arranged marriage, and Rin was very apprehensive about her future husband.)
- When Sato told her husband that she wants to show the unborn child in her the world. (Her doctor has advised against her giving birth to the unborn child since it will likely endanger her own life.)

Official site
Wikipedia entry

It is incredible to find six famous actresses to act in a single movie, in which there is no single leading actress, but all six of them are leading actresses in their own right.

Halloween 2010!

It's Halloween again!

Trick or treat!

The haze is back

The haze is back,
Car stains are black,
Cut me some slack,
Good air we lack.

It is here again... the haze... basically, thick smoke from the fires in Sumatra blown here causing poor air quality.

Mother

This is a very touching Japanese drama... it is not the kind that causes you to cry... it takes small pokes at your feelings, wearing it down with small touching scenes until you find yourself weeping away...

What's so special about the drama? It is actually about the love between a mother and child. A mother's love for her child, and the child's love for the mother. Unconditional love... that can be betrayed by an abusive mother. Yet the child continues to bear the abuse because she has no one to turn to... until her teacher takes it upon herself to be her substitute mother (by faking her death and "kidnapping" her).

The touching scenes are all about a child's love for her mother and about a mother's love for her child. About what a mother would do to protect her child, to care for her child. The conflict between caring and disciplining. And a young mother's conflict within herself after the death of her husband... bringing up a child alone has its price... is the young mother willing to pay that price?

The official site
Wikipedia site (in Japanese)

LASIK

Wonder what LASIK is all about? Read about it here at Wikipedia.

Thanks to Shinagawa LASIK Centre, I can now see without glasses.

On trust

We speak our minds when we trust the person we are speaking to. We trust that he or she would take us seriously, we trust that he/she is interested in what we have to say, or what we have to ask.

But we cannot demand trust. We can only earn it. Just as others have to earn our trust, we have to earn the trust of others. It takes time and is never an easy task. But the reward is earning someone whom we can share our thoughts with.

Road hazard!

I nearly got into a car accident today... I almost ran into this:

Just as I was turning into the expressway, this huge water monitor lizard was on the ramp...

Goodbye Mrs Lee

Farewell Mrs Lee. You will always be remembered as the woman who made the man who he is.

Visit to Marina Bay Sands

We visited Marina Bay Sands, mainly to go up to the Skypark... and were not that impressed.

First, the place is big, and very confusing. Carparks were at one part of the building (where the casino is) but the Skypark is located with the hotel in another building. The signs pointing to the hotel were confusing to say the least. Following the signs took up one big round without bringing us anywhere near the hotel. In the end, after asking around a few of the staff, we finally managed to get to the hotel...

Only to have to go down to the ticket counter, and being told that prams/strollers were not allowed, and that I had to make my way up again to deposit mine at the bell desk. The bell desk wasn't that apparent as well... I had to ask around to find it. All that walking, just to get to the Skypark...

The view up there was great, though. The pool is for hotel guest only, so don't count on being able to use the pool just because you paid S$20 to get up there. In the end, unless you love seeing things from high buildings, it probably isn't worth your money to go up there.

Another year again

 

Yet another year, yet another candle.

This year, I got a present.

This is what it says:
黄岳春景千里晖
德义为怀如鹏飞
顺风翱翔天地阔
名扬气勇五车随

Mid Autumn Festival 中秋节

It is the Mid Autumn Festival again, the 15th day of the 8th month in the lunar calendar. A time when the moon is supposedly the fullest. A time of being together with loved ones. And not forgetting, a time to enjoy delicacies like mooncakes...

Wanted to spend today with the kid walking around with a lantern, but work calls... guess I will have to do that another day, when the moon is not as round...

Finding time

We are all busy. And we all have only 24 hours a day. And within that 24 hours, there is so much to accomplish.

We have work to do. We need to eat meals. There are the sanitary needs that takes time too. And everyone needs rest, in fact, quite a lot of it. After all, each of us spends 6 to 8 hours (maybe less, maybe more) sleeping each day. And then you want to spend time with your loved ones, with your friends. Couple that with time for yourself, either pursuing your own hobbies, or just sitting there not thinking of anything, and we see that 24 hours a day seems too little.

But if it is important to you, you need to find time for it. If you believe in doing something, don't leave it hanging, find the time to do it. With only 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the key is to prioritise. What is important to you? Allocate time for that.

We are sometimes amazed at how a person can do well in his career, have a happy family and yet find time to pursue his hobbies. The answer? These are the things important to him, and thus he makes the effort to find time for them.

So work out your priorities, make the effort to find time, and you will find that 24 hours can be spent in meaningful ways.

Finding excuses

I think it is natural of us to want to avoid admitting to our failures. And that is why it takes courage to admit defeat. People have a tendency to find excuses for themselves when things go wrong and results that they wanted to achieve are not attained. My new boss hates such people, calling them "sea lawyers".

We all need to guard ourselves from falling into this trap. Once you start finding an excuse for yourself, you will continue to find excuses for yourself. If you cannot admit to who you are, how can you move on and learn? How can you improve? Only when you know your own shortcomings will you be able to improve.

A journey of self-discovery

Sometimes, it is good to take a journey on your own, to discover yourself again. After all, when things happen so fast in life, it is easy to get caught up in things, to end up going with the flow and in the process, losing oneself. Who am I? What do I want? What do I like/dislike? What do I value?

I know I like something because I tried it. I know I dislike something because I tried it. I know that sometimes, even when I dislike something, I will still do it because I see the need for it. In the process of doing things on the journey of self-discovery, you learn a lot more about yourself than you would otherwise.

The journey need not be a physical one. It can be just a conscious effort for one to actively ask himself, what is it that I want? What is it that I like/dislike? Even in our everyday life, if we actively ask ourselves these questions in our daily actions, it serves as a journey of self-discovery too.

Strength and weakness

Could our strength actually be a manifestation of our weakness? The stronger we appear to be, the weaker we actually are? That the strength we demonstrate is actually a cover to shield the weakness beneath, to prevent being exposed for who we really are?

Songs close to heart

I remember the time when someone sent me the lyrics to this song. It was endearing and touching at that time, a song with lyrics that could so reflect a person's thoughts. So close to heart.

I remember this song, which I love so much. Who would have guessed back then that the lyrics would again be so reflective of what the future holds?

Driving on the right side of the road

Driving in a different country, on a different side of the road, can do wonders to how you treat driving. Now, I don't even remember which is the correct side to get into a car... What used to be effortless (walk to car, get in, start engine) now becomes a positive mental exercise to walk to the correct side to get into the driver's seat.

Learning languages

How does one pick up a new language?

Attending a class is one way.

But that teaches you the basics. After that, it is still a lot of hard work in practising. Without practice, you cannot pick up a new skill, and language is a skill.

So how to practise?

Read it. Write it. Get a book in the language you are trying to learn and read it. Children's books are good because they are short and easy and finishing one gives you a sense of achievement and motivates you to finish another book. Write your diary in the new language, it forces you to review the grammar rules you have learnt in class, and makes you flip through that dictionary that you bought.

Listen to it. Watch a movie in the new language. Better still if it is a DVD, watch it once without the subtitles to see how much you understand. Then watch it again with the subtitles to see if you have gotten it correct. Watch it again without the subtitles to see if you understand more of what they are actually saying. Watch the same thing 3 times. Now, a full-length movie may be too long... so sitcoms work too!

Speak it. This is more difficult... you will need someone to help you, a fellow classmate works just fine. Otherwise, use the new language whenever an occasion presents itself.

Remember, the more you practise, the better you get.

Move as a team

Why do we succeed when we move as a team and fail when we don't?

I was thinking about this when I thought about how an army unit moves in its final charge. The final charge is a dangerous event, since it exposes the whole unit to enemy fire. Yet it is effective. When the order to charge is given, people leave cover and move as a whole front towards the enemy. The enemy now has a choice. Try and shoot one of them (and thus expose himself to being shot by many when he tries to take that shot) or stay low and stay under cover. By presenting many targets to the enemy, he ends up not being able to take that shot. If the order to charge is given and yet only a few heed that order, the enemy is free to shoot these few, knowing that he will only be shot at by a few as he takes his shots.

So when you move as a team, you can overcome great odds. When you try to succeed as individuals, you expose yourself to greater danger.

哭沙 by 黄莺莺

哭沙

你是我最苦涩的等待
让我欢喜又害怕未来
你最爱说你是一颗尘埃
偶而会恶作剧的飘进我眼里
宁愿我哭泣不让我爱你
你就真的像尘埃消失在风里
你是我最痛苦的决择
为何你从不放弃飘泊
海对你是那么难分难舍
你总是带回满口袋的砂给我
难得来看我却又离开我
让那手中泻落的砂像泪水流
风吹来的砂落在悲伤的眼里
谁都看出我在等你
风吹来的砂堆集在心里
是谁也擦不去的痕迹
风吹来的砂穿过所有的记忆
谁都知道我在想你
风吹来的砂冥冥在哭泣
难道早就预言了分离
你是我最痛苦的决择
为何你从不放弃飘泊
海对你是那么难分难舍
你总是带回满口袋的砂给我
难得来看我却又离开我
让那手中泻落的砂像泪水流
风吹来的砂落在悲伤的眼里
谁都看出我在等你
风吹来的砂堆集在心里
是谁也擦不去的痕迹
风吹来的砂穿过所有的记忆
谁都知道我在想你
风吹来的砂冥冥在哭泣
难道早就预言了分离
风吹来的砂冥冥在哭泣
难道早就预言了分离

An old song that I really like... never knew that I would have so much to do with the feelings in the lyrics back then. Maybe we are all influenced in small ways by the little things in life.

Leadership through the ages

将者，智信仁勇严。
A general (a leader of men) should have knowledge, integrity, compassion, courage and discipline.

I am always amazed by this simple phrase by Sun-tzu. It was written more than 2000 years ago, yet it continues to be applicable today. In a simple phrase, it encapsulates what a leader should be, the qualities that allows a person to assume a leadership position and effectively lead people. Five words that survived the test of time, that spans cultures and continues to ring true even in this modern age so different from the circumstances when it was written.

A leader needs to know his stuff. Else he cannot lead his charges. How to lead, when he doesn't know what to do? He needs integrity, to keep to his word, so that people know that he means what he says. He is thus sincere yet strict. He must have compassion, for it is people he is leading and not machines. He needs to be able to feel what they feel so that his people feels understood. He must be courageous, else no one will follow him into danger. He must be willing to stand up for what is correct, and not take the short cut to avoid trouble. He must hold himself to high standards in order to inspire others to those same standards, and to do so he needs to have discipline.

A leader leads by the example he sets, and it is not in doing the things that he tells others to do, but in the things that he himself does.

All in the genes

Research has shown that infidelity is hereditary. That must be the best excuse for playing the field. If I cheat on my partner, it is not because I want to cheat, but because it is hardwired into me from the genes passed down from my father, my grandfather and those before him.

In a way, it sounds correct... after all, men who can afford several partners (in the past) must be capable providers, and thus it makes sense to pass those genes down to future generations. But in the present time and age, with lawsuits and alimony, it only makes sense to stick to one partner. Having more than one partner gets you into trouble with lawsuits and ends up incurring huge costs (lawyers, alimony) and if evolution has any sense, it will be better to pass on the genes of those who stick to one.

Exercise RIMPAC 2010

Exercise RIMPAC 2010 is currently taking place in the waters of Hawaii. It is the world's largest maritime exercise, taking place once every two years.

And Singapore is represented in the exercise as well!

Official RIMPAC page
Singapore's RIMPAC page
RIMPAC 2010 Facebook page
RIMPAC 2010 Flickr album

What a shot!

What a shot! RSS SUPREME fired off an Aster missile during Ex RIMPAC 2010. History in the making! Making Singapore proud!

Many choices

Yet another post on choice.

When you have more choices, the harder is it to choose. Choice can seem so good but, sometimes it can be so evil, forcing you to choose from options all valuable. Yet you can only choose one and forgo the rest. How do we go about choosing in such a situation? What should we forgo? How to make the choice? Decision-making then becomes a pain, since the criteria for deciding must now be decided upon first even before the final decision is made.

Choice forces us to think, to re-examine what we value, to rank/prioritise what we value, since now, we can't have them all. Choice is a mean of self-understanding. Every time we make a choice, we understand that much more about ourselves.

Along the path of self-discovery, what must we forgo?

Thanks and looking forward to more

Thanks for 6 years and looking forward to more years ahead!

The gift of choice

I think the greatest gift a parent can give to a child is the gift of choice. To allow the child to choose what he or she wants. For example, by providing an environment in which the child can pick up a variety of skills, so that in the future, he can choose a profession to enter, rather than being limited in his career choices because of the lack of his abilities. Like exposing him to various circles of people, so that he can choose the people he wants to hang out with.

The power to choose is great. It is what free will is all about. And with great power comes great responsibility. A parent must thus also impart this sense of responsibility in the child when giving him the gift of choice. Otherwise, it is just irresponsible parenting.

Guam 2010

Ever been to Guam? I was there for a few days.

Take a look at the streets here... full of expensive boutiques.

June is not the busy period since it is outside summer vacation... but still, there were many tourists around, most of them from Japan and Korea.

An overview of Tumon Bay, one of the popular tourist beaches at Guam.

Look at the nice sand at Tumon Beach!

And here's the late afternoon sun, hanging over the Pacific Ocean as it slowly sinks down to the horizon.

Homesick... Not!

Have you ever been away from home for long? Do you feel homesick?

I wonder why people feel homesick. It is usually something quite foreign to me. Maybe because I am used to being away from home. And having a wife who can take care of herself and the family helps. I know things back home are in good hands and thus I am not worried. It frees me to go and focus on the job at hand, and to enjoy whatever little free time is left (after all that work).

Yes, of course I miss the family and friends, but I have also accepted the fact that I am away from home, and rather than dwell in misery, I choose to enjoy life instead, to live to the fullest. Dwell not in what you have lost, but bask in the enjoyment of what you can achieve. After all, the separation is but temporary, and absence does make the heart grow fonder.

More sunrise sunset

Rising sun over the Pacific Ocean... really like the Japanese ensign.

Sun setting over Akashi Bridge in the Japanese Inland Sea.

Sun setting over Selat Makassar.

Life at MOCS

Here's a glimpse of life at MOCS, where I was about 7 to 8 years ago.

Pictures of my bed. It is kept in this condition every day. 7 days a week, for about 16 to 18 hours a day (the time in which I am not sleeping on it...)

That's life at MOCS. Discipline, attention to details, being neat and tidy at all times.

Sunrise sunset

I love to take photos of sunrise and sunset at sea. So here's sharing some of them.

Rising sun outside Suva, Fiji.

Setting sun, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean.

Setting sun in the Pacific, somewhere near Midway Island, just before a memorial service.

Hawaii 2003

Some photos of Hawaii (Oahu) when I was there in May 2003.

Pictures of Hanauma Bay, where you can snorkel. Really good place to snorkel, since it is not as crowded as Waikiki Beach.

Talking about Waikiki Beach, here is how it looked like.

And this is how clear and blue the water is... not like what we have in Singapore!

Fedora 13

Fedora 13 is out! And I have managed to install it on my laptop.

The upgrade killed the previous installation of Fedora 12... so I had to do a clean install. But good thing the settings could be preserved by copying back my home directory.

Navy Open House 2010

Have you been there yet?

We managed to squeeze in a visit under the hot weather to see what the open house is all about. The weather was hot hot hot, but good thing the display tents are air-conditioned.

At the open house, you will find ships on display, which you can actually go onboard and walk around to see the inside (and not just look from outside). In fact, one of the frigates, RSS STEADFAST, offers guided tours (but you must ballot for it). Talk about balloting, you can ballot for rides onboard navy ships too. The missile corvettes, patrol vessels and mine countermeasure vessels offers a short cruise outside of Changi Naval Base, tickets available via balloting at the information booth. So if you have never sailed onboard a navy ship, this is the chance to do so!

The display tents showcase what the navy does on a day-to-day basis (naval operations), the people in the navy, and the navy's capabilities (aka ships and other assets like maritime patrol aircraft and unmanned surface vehicles).

Here's our budding next generation USV controller.

And here he is again, learning how to be the officer of the watch of a LST.

Trying to get the Blackberry Bold 9700

It's amazing how difficult it can be to get a phone from Singtel. You would expect that this big telco in Singapore would have gotten its act together to make sure it maintains its market share given the competition, yet that doesn't seem to be the case. Not that the service is bad, but maybe it is the way they conduct business.

I was trying to get a Blackberry Bold 9700 over the weekend. Visited the nearest shop on Saturday, and after waiting an hour at the counter, was finally told by the staff that they are out of stock. I was referred to another shop, which supposedly (according to the staff) has stock available. But it was already late so I decided to go on Sunday instead.

Before going down on Sunday, I decided to give Singtel a call to confirm that they did have stock at this other shop. The staff on the helpline wasn't able to help me with this... she said she will call me back, but she didn't (until today). I called again, this time, I was told that the phone is out of stock.

I emailed them to ask when new stock is coming in, and as of now, still have yet to get an answer. It is amazing that such a big telco doesn't have a proper inventory system that keeps track of what it has in stock and when new stock is arriving.

Farewell, Dr Goh Keng Swee

One of Singapore's founding fathers, Dr Goh Keng Swee, passed away today. Farewell, Dr Goh. Your legacy in Singapore lives on, though.

Happy Mothers' Day

To all mothers, wishing you a happy Mothers' Day.

You can't take a break from being a mother, but at least you can feel appreciated.

Japan's Children's Day

5 May is Japan's Children's Day. It is also known as Boys' Day, since it is the day for boys and their koinobori. One carp is flown for every boy in the household... though nowadays, with smaller families, people don't really follow this rule and just fly as many carps as they want.

Signaling your intentions

I think it is important to signal your intentions, so as not to waste other people's time. When your intentions are unclear, people have to wait for you to take action before they can respond. It is, in effect, telling people that their time is not important, that they can and should wait for you.

I think everyone's time is important. Thus, we should not be selfish. We should signal our intentions so that people don't need to wait for us before they can act.

An example. If you have the option to go straight or turn left when at a T-junction, and there is a car on your left waiting to exit into the main road. If you intend to turn left, signal your intention by using the signal lights. That way, the car on the left trying to exit into the main road knows that you are not going straight, and that he is free to exit into the main road as you will not get into an accident with him. By not signaling your intention, he ends up waiting because he is not sure if you will go straight or turn left.

So respect the time of others, signal your intentions.

Warmer and warmer

It is a vicious cycle.

We have lived for thousands of years without air conditioning. This invention allowed us to change the temperature of the environment to make it cooler than it actually is. We have grown so used to it... yet, what does it really do? All it does is make the controlled environment cooler. The environment outside that controlled environment grows warmer instead (if you don't believe me, just stand beside the air conditioner's compressors when they are running).

As we try to make things cool for us, we make the outside hotter. And as the outside grows hotter, we long more for a cooler environment. We head for environments that are artificially cooled... not realising that these are the places that add to the hot environment outside.

Do we continue to go down this spiral? Or is there a way out?

Foreign talents

Read an article on The Straits Times yesterday on the spouses of expatriates in Singapore. Those who subscribe to the online version can read it.

It reminded me of my neighbours. The wife was sent by her company to Singapore, and the husband decided to close down his restaurant in Japan and followed her here. But he is not wasting time here. He went ahead and found a job at a Japanese restaurant as a chef. I guess being a chef is a bonus for job mobility, since you can probably find a job anywhere in the world cooking meals for others. For those whose talents/qualifications are not so mobile, I wonder what the job market has for them?

Visit to NEWater plant in Bedok

We visited the NEWater plant in Bedok today as part of an initiative to bring about awareness of things uniquely Singapore.

NEWater is about recycling used/waste water into water that can be used again, either in the industries or even for subsequent drinking. The waste water is first processed to rid it of big particles and other unwanted elements somewhere else. Then it is sent for ultrafiltration to remove the larger remaining particles. Reverse osmosis is then used to extract the water out, and then it is sent for sterilisation using ultraviolet light.

Recycling our waste water reminds me of the stillsuits in Dune, in which the body's water is recovered and made ready to drink again. Frank Herbert, author of the series, really had good ideas on how to recover precious water from the environment. Another example is the windtrap, which tries to recover water from the air. Science fiction may one day become fact, though it may still be years before we see them.

Busy busy busy

So much to do, yet so little time...

Sometimes, life just throws everything at you at one go. Now I know how a clown feels juggling many many balls... you have to try to watch all of them, keep enough attention on each just long enough to keep it from dropping, yet not long enough that you ignore the rest.

Farewell, fair winds and following seas

Today, we bid farewell to someone who was with the organisation for 30 years, contributing in his own ways to improve the organisation and bringing about transformation to the way we work. Thank you sir, for all your service these years, we will carry on the fine tradition from here onwards!

San Diego Apr 10

I was at San Diego for a week on work, but also managed to squeeze in some time for sightseeing. The main attraction was USS Midway (more on that later) but I managed to meet up with an old friend, so a Mexican dinner.

Ever had a fried ice cream? I had one. It was ice cream wrapped in egg and cereal, deep fried for 2 minutes.

On to USS Midway. I had the fortune of having a tour guide that served 4 tours totaling 8 years onboard (yes, that's my old friend) so he was able to not just bring me around the aircraft carrier but threw in stories that no one else knew about. Like the CO was not relieved of duty after the carrier was hit by a merchant hit. How his stateroom has a carpet and a TV. Sneaking up on the Soviet coast during the Cold War.

Here's a view of San Diego from the island of the carrier.

A view of the flight deck, with an assortment of aircraft that served the US Navy.

The enormous laundry... imagine washing clothes for 5000 people.

The galley where food is served, and the all too familiar metal trays.

The forecastle where the anchor is.

Plus the "toothpick" used to turn/untwist the anchor cable.

Casualty power cables...

Sliding stairs. The sides of the stairs can be folded down to form a slide, very useful when you need to slide things up and down the stairs, such as a stretcher with a casualty onboard.

A wonderful tour, an eye-opener, and all because I had a great tour guide.