Flight Home

It was drizzling in Singapore at about 8am yesterday morning. I enjoy the feeling of the dark and cool weather but at the same time, I was getting drowsy. I did not sleep the night before. This is because I played DoTA with my friends till early dawn. After that, I left at 6am to catch the first bus 200 out to Buona Vista MRT station. I carried my luggage up PGP road. The walk made me sweat profusely. KN who went with me was also sweating. We were very eager to get on the bus as soon as possible because we expect the bus to be air-conditioned and cool. To our dismay, the first bus that came was non-ac. We waited patiently till we can enjoy the ac from the MRT. It is interesting to note that they are quite a number of people on the MRT despite it being 615am in the morning. Most of the people are from the older generation but there are also white collar workers who got off at Tanjong Pagar, Raffles Place and City Hall. It makes me wonder what they are doing that early in the morning. On the other hand, maybe they are meeting clients for breakfast? Or maybe an online conference with their counterparts who live in another time zone?

Anyway, I’m feeling very pleased with myself to have chosen Singapore Airlines to fly home this time. My flight was serviced by a Boeing 777-200 aeroplane. This is the long range aircraft. I’m not sure why they are using this type of plane for a short 2hour flight. The only reason I could think of is that they are using it to fly the huge number of passengers from Brunei who are visiting Singapore for the Great Singapore Sales and other events. The plane is the largest plane that I sat in. In the past, whenever I fly into Changi Airport from Brunei, I would feel sad to compare the size of the plane that I was in with the other planes parked there. A small Airbus versus Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet or Boeing 777s – there is no way to compare the size. Finally, my dream of sitting on a large plane has come true! =P In addition, every seat has its individual LCD TV and entertainment system.

On my previous flight back home to Brunei, I was cheated. Although I bought a Singapore Airlines ticket, the service was operated by Silk Air using a small Airbus plane. At that time when I went into Changi Airport, I was very surprised to see why they gave me a Silk Air boarding pass. I didn’t think much of it until I went to the gate. As there were so many planes parked at Changi Airport, I walked slowly to my departure gate while admiring the beauty of those planes. (I love aeroplanes! In the past, I collected plenty of pictures of aeroplanes especially fighter jets). The planes parked were all huge (mostly Boeing 777s or 747s). I was thinking: “Wow! Do I get to sit in one of them?” However, upon reaching my departure gate, I was so shocked to see the size of my plane. It was dwarfed by all the other planes. You can’t imagine how happy I was to fly in a 777. When I got off at Brunei airport, I walked proudly out of the plane because all the Royal Brunei Airlines planes were dwarfed by the Boeing 777-200. It was at least 1/3 bigger than the biggest RBA plane around (a 767, I think). :D

Ok, back to what happened during my flight. It was a rainy weather but not pouring heavily. The rain was just drizzling lightly but visibility was still low. Therefore, most of the runways were closed. At Terminal 2, there was only one runway opened for all flights departing from there. All the planes had to queue up in a line to take off. I was very happy that I had chosen the window seat earlier. The view from the window seat of the planes taking off was magnificent. First, the plane would be parked there waiting to be cleared by the control tower. Once cleared, the thrusters from the wings will start. The sight of the water from the ground being blown back, displaying the monstrous power strong enough to lift the heavy bird. On a side note, I visited the Royal Brunei Airlines hangar before and learnt from the engineer that the force of one thruster is sufficient to blow a person *100 meters away. (*I could have remembered the value wrongly as this was more than 5years ago) There were about four or five planes in front of the plane I was in. I enjoyed seeing each and every one of them taking off. I think I can sit there all day. =P

After they had all taken off, it was my plane’s turn. As the plane slowly accelerates, the rain drops on the side window can be seen to trickle slowly. Then, the plane increases its acceleration more such that the force of the plane can be felt. The experience is something that I always look forward to. I love the experience of the force exerted on me and the speed of the plane. It satisfied my need for speed although I would have loved it if the force was greater. This I think can only be satisfied by a fighter jet. When I was young, I dislike flying. I had a fear that the plane might drop from the sky. Every flight, I would be holding very hard to the armrest and ‘biao leng han’. Minor turbulence or adjustment of the plane’s altitude would cause my heart to sink and grab the armrest harder. Once, I grabbed it so hard that I pulled the adjustable armrest up. It is then I realize that it wasn’t that safe to hold it tight as well. Nonetheless, I still held on to it to provide myself comfort. It was only 3 years ago, when I flew to Singapore, I realize that the fear is no longer there. I don’t know how and why it disappeared. I loved to fly in an aeroplane ever since.

Back to the description – During the acceleration, the rain drops trickled past the window so quickly that the window was dried quickly. As the plane lifts off, I was able to see the wings cut through the mist. I am unable to describe my feelings of awe and the view of this event well. I can only say that it was an event that I enjoy. Once in the air, we were above the dark clouds, there wasn’t any new or exciting to see. This is when I start trying out the in-flight entertainment. ‘I very the sakai’. First thing I tried, was the radio. There is nothing special about this because it is available in most planes. After that, I tried the video game! I was gaming for about 10minutes playing the classical SNES game – Blackthorne. I completed the game before. I got bored after a while because the game would pause whenever an announcement was made. Then I tried out the movie channels. To my delight, it was showing Hitch!

Although I watched it before, I didn’t mind watching it again. There were other movies available such as Robots but I preferred Hitch. It was heart touching and hilarious to watch Hitch again – Alex Hitchin’s role in trying to set up the slob but genuine good guy Albert Brenneman with the beautiful and rich Alegra Cole. Alex Hitchin, the date doctor creates opportunities for the ‘poor’ guys who can’t seem to get anywhere near the girl of their dreams.
“1 dance, 1 date and 1 kiss is all you get. This 1 chance to make it ‘Happily Ever After’ or wake up feeling regret for the rest of your life because she’s with the wrong man”
“At any day, any woman can be swept off her feet with the right broom”

By the way, I didn’t sleep on the plane despite planning to, neither did I sleep the whole day. I conked out at 8pm last night and officially went to bed at 9pm. I was just relaxing in my brother’s room then accidentally doze off on his bed. He chased me back to my room at 9pm. This morning, I was forced to wake up at 7am because I had to meet my relatives for breakfast. I think, if my mom didn’t drag me out of bed, I would have slept till 10 or 11am. I actually conked out again at about 5pm earlier this evening and had a good 2hours of sleep before taking a shower and eating dinner. I think I’ll go to sleep early again tonight. It seems to be a policy for me – “Come back to Brunei to sleep”

‘Cool’ Birthday Experience

First of all, I would like to thank my friends who organized my birthday celebration two nights ago. The experience was chilling especially when I entered the airconditioned r2 tv room after the fountain event. To tell the truth, I was surprised. I didn’t think much of what happened when KY switched off the lights in the TV room. I was concentrating fully on the game and didn’t give a second thought on what had happened. KY came over and said “Wah, zhe yang juan xin da game ah?” Even with those words, I didn’t pay much attention to him either and continued. It was only when the people behind started to sing “Happy Birthday”, I realize that they were throwing a celebration for me. Hahaha…. Good one. This is really a big surprise.

My experience in throwing birthday parties – First time, can catch people by surprise. After that, no more surprise liao. For my birthday celebration – last year was the ULTIMATE. Really original idea – Triple celebration, none of us three knew what really happened. Wah lao… I would like to congratulate whoever it was to get me DoTAing because I would be caught by surprise by the event. (My weak point – concentrate on game too much. =P) When they asked me if I was surprised, I answered “Partially”. As I was usually the one who organizes the birthday parties so I roughly know when and where it would take place. I had a feeling about it earlier in the day but totally forgot about it when we were DOTA-ing so much.

During the speech request, I said my speech topic would be “为什么你们不可以丢我下水” and NOT “为什么你们不丢我下水”. I was already preparing a wonderful speech on all the reasons why you should not throw me in. BUT! All of you have filtered out what you want to hear. Poor me. Poor my ‘bad attitude’ when I said those words. I was just trying to act cool. Of course, maybe it was also partially due to my poor command in Mandarin where I was corrected later – “为什么你们不应该丢我下水”. This would be less confusing. Basic Chinese 4 for me next semester! ….. Wait… I’ve graduated. No more Basic Chinese modules for me. Honestly, after 1 semester of not studying Basic Chinese, I can observe that my Mandarin is no longer as good. I can’t speak as fluently and I’ve forgotten a lot of characters. I guess I’ll have to practise often to keep it smooth just like English. Before coming to NUS, I can safely declare my English is good. Now, I don’t take care in using the correct grammar as long as the message is conveyed correctly to another person. On the other hand, I can say that I speak Singlish very well (which is nothing to be proud of, because I’m not Singaporean). I spiak very the good Singlish lah. If u all nid tuition for Singlish, I can b ur cher – Best in S’pore, JB and some say Batam. Dun play play orh. I also realize that I think more in Chinese rather than in English. In the past, I only think in English because I studied in a mission school.

Thank you all for the celebration. My birthday is actually on the 21st of June. My family celebrates it on the 11th day of the 5th Lunar Month which is why I have to be home before 17th June (which corresponds to 11/5 of the Lunar Calendar this year). Thanks for the wonderful sausage pig BUT NOT for the embarrassing pose. Wah lao eh you guys. I’ll get you guys for that!!! Grrr!! Have a good holiday everyone.

My First AIESEC Welcome Reception

I had previously written a very long post relating to this event. Unfortunately when I tried to save the post, I lost the entire post. :( ... Now no mood to type a long and detailed post liao.

Anyway, last Saturday, I went to the airport to receive my first trainee at 1020am. She took a flight from India by Malaysian Airlines. First off, I brought her to Potong Pasir. As this was my first experience, I forgot a lot of necessary steps to take. For example - I should've asked if she needed to change money, call home, etc. I just hastily asked her to follow me to a cab.

Afternoon, went to Suntec City, helped her get phone cards. Let her call home. I made a mistake of thinking that she would enjoy shopping. I forgot that her needs is to get all the necessities first. I was feeling guilty as I was walking around Suntec for a while before I realise our initial goal was to get her a phone card. After that, I brought her to Orchard at her request. She seemed bored because there were so many people and the weather was very hot.

Finally, brought her back to Potong Pasir. Night time, brought her to a party organized by an AIESEC alumnus. Very wonderful experience. I met a lot of interesting people - a very beautiful Egyptian trainee who can belly dance, a very charismatic Thai trainee who lifted the mood of the event, a very rude Indian who grew up in Canada, an American teenager who jumped off the balcony - fortunately landed on a ledge - he left everyone in shock - very bad joke. End of the party, I made new friends and contacts for job hunt. Bwahaha... I didn't realise the potential and importance of networking until now when I'm desperately searching for a job.

This post is so lousy. I'm just typing out points. I wish I had the passion and motivation to type the same post as I had before.

Updates

I'm not very sure what I've done the past week. I finally did send out my resume and cover letters which seems to be abit late. For this, I comfort myself with the saying that goes "Better late than never". I know I'm cheating myself but it at least covers my guilt for delaying the job search. I should have just checked out all the MOE Tuition grant stuff earlier. It is sad that I can't go on a traineeship.

Anyway, for the past week, I managed to get the information I was looking for regarding student's pass, employment pass and society stuff. I'm going home next Wednesday. Hopefully I don't get any job interviews for the 2 weeks that I'll be home else I might turn the interviewers off. Holidays getting too long liao. Most of my computing friends already have jobs. It's giving me some pressure to get a job quick.

Coaching for the future

Yesterday I attended another seminar organised by AIESEC. It is part of the AIESEC-Differworld series which I've been attending for the past few months. This time, the speaker, Mr. Manoj Sharma facilitated the session. He is a very charismatic speaker who has plenty of experience with the corporate world. However, one friend commented that it is people like him we have to becareful. They have the ability to use words to blur the line between fact and fiction. It can be used either to influence people to be better or worse. Anyway, he's quite a nice guy. The coolest thing about him is the way he treats us students as equals. After every session, there is always a feedback form for the participants to voice out opinions and sharing points of each session. He takes into careful consideration the feedback we gave and improves himself every session.

The session yesterday was on "Coaching". Difference between coaching and training? Well, his definition is quite straight forward but many of us couldn't think of the exact definition when he asked us. Organisations in the 80s focused on developing managers. Later, in the 1990s, more focus was placed on having leaders in the organisation. These days, coaching skills need to be develop in addition to the management and leadership skills. An organisation with a high staff turnover rate would not be able to make much money even if they can save on the pay increments and bonuses of long-term staff. Understanding the relationship deeper, new staff require training and familiarisation with the organisation before they are able to be at their peak productive level.

The main learning point from the seminar was again - Communication. There is so much to learn from him about how to speak/talk. We talk to people - our family, our friends, etc. We all know how important communication is among people to develop relationships and improve understanding between people. However, most of us would just anyhow talk - with or without purpose. With purpose but without a clear purpose. Talk all the time and never giving people the opportunity to talk. Passive listening such that the mind wanders off from the conversation. Some of the above list occurs once in a while for us. The two important points for communication is

1.Active Listening
2.Intentional Speaking

It isn't easy to do either. Imagine trying to give full attention to someone talking and not daydream. Being aware of yourself and your mind's situation. Intentional speaking is the most difficult for me. I usually find myself having an intention to say something but I couldn't say it out. Thoughts like - "Will they accept my idea?", "Oh no, if I say this, I might be the odd one out. People will laugh at me.", etc. Due to this, the first few words will come out from my mouth softly and then turn to mumbling. Is this some sort of speech deficiency? Maybe :P but actually it is more of myself not being confident enough to convey my intention. However, if the intention is clear at the beginning, even if mumbling, the message will still be clear. This is true if the listener is actively listening. So, another thing about going to this seminar is that it builds up confidence. My resolution is to have confidence in whatever I say. It may not be accepted by others but at least my voice is heard. Let others correct me rather than wait for the general consensus. I asked Mr. Manoj on why people like me tend to be this way. The reasoning is that I am quite"B&W" with issues. However, in this world we live in, there is no clear cut distinction between black and white. Instead, so many issues fall in the grey area. 'Do not be afraid to be wrong because there is no right or wrong' (Hehehe.. say all these, but I doubt I'll change much unless I keep myself aware of these 'concepts' when I engage people over a period of time)

I've always kept this motto close to heart - "if it is to be, it is up to me". The first time I heard this was when I realised my ability to pursue my dream of coming to S'pore to study. Preservering through the hardships of A levels and achieving the 'impossible'. Nothing is impossible if one dares to dream.

Hmm... I seem to have written an academic article here. Disclaimer: This article is written based on what I heard and my personal feelings after listening to the seminar. Any copyright infringement or harm inflicted is not intended.

Slow day... reminds me of Sundays!

Today was a very slow day. It started off with me going about my early morning 'rituals'. I went down to R2 tv room as usual and went about continuing all the adminstrative stuff I have to do for BINGO's bank account and also my personal cover letter. Lunch was wonderful thanks to JH. After lunch, watched an incomplete HK movie.

The feeling of the hot weather and watching this HK movie gave me the feeling that today is a Sunday (although today is a Friday). Every Sunday when I was in Brunei, my family and I would visit our relatives. We would have lunch together with them and then watch the HK movies shown on TV2 at 2pm. After that, my parents would chit-chat with my uncles and aunts. My cousins and I would then be around them, fooling around, making plenty of noise because we didn't really understand what the grown-ups were talking about. Sometimes we would be scolded and asked to go play elsewhere. So, usually end up playing at my uncle's farm behind the house. I had lots of fun at the farm especially when I was a little boy. There were so many 'toys'; which in fact are farming tools (well, I was an imaginative kid). There were also farm animals such as chickens, ducks and pigs (before the nation-wide ban). Sometimes for fun, I would scare the chickens silly by creeping up to them then shout out loud. This may be fun to me BUT my grandmother thinks otherwise. I got scolded by her when she found out what I did. Reasoning was because the chickens wouldn't lay eggs well. Anyway, after another national rule for 'halalness' in Brunei, my uncle stopped rearing chickens and ducks because of the need to prepare them confirming to the Islamic rules. It is not easy to sell non-halal chickens/ducks.

Anyway, back to today... actually there's nothing much to blog about for today. It's just a very hot day with me doing nothing productive.... almost nothing. I finished my cover letter!! :P An achievement? Nah.. my classmates already have jobs and I just completed my unsent cover letter and resume. I admit I'm a slacker. -_-

Exam results

OMG!!!!! I'm SUPER SHOCKED! I'm disappointed and I'm super happy. The subjects which I expect to get A or A-, I got a B+ and B respectively. The subject which I expected to get a C+ after the traumatic project which barely made the grade, I got an A-.... I'm laughing like mad in the tv room now. At least for the other remaining 2 modules, not much surprise. Kind of expected the grade. My CAP went up though. Wahahaha... But then again, doesn't make a difference.

I've finally made up my mind. I will postpone my traineeship till dunno when. Now, looking for a full-time job in an IT field here in Singapore. Anyone got recommendations or contacts? =P