After waiting for months which seems like years, Final Fantasy XII is finally released. However, think it'll only be in local stores by tomorrow. Wanted to get the Collector's Edition, but it seems that it may take a longer period for it to be shipped in. Rumour has it that it's only exclusively sold in limited stores in the US. Hmm...shall just wait and see...

This afternoon went for lunch with yx and quek at bugis. Then we walked to SLS to buy my mouse...computer mouse that is. Later went to search for FF XII, but most of the shops there doesn't sell PS2 games. Think they're promoting more on XBox 360 and PSP.

After the futile search, we went to guan yin miao to pray. Later, we walked around bugis junction for awhile then went back home, while I went to Hougang library and borrowed a book to read in the station during my boring free time. =p

Yesterday was my first time turning out as a Section Commander. However, I didn't have any fire fighters under me; under CPL, so nothing much also. The one and only call yesterday wasn't that serious to use CPL, so our assistance is not required.

First time slept at the watchroom. It was quite comfy at first, but it turned out to be damn cold in the middle of the night. So I went straight up to the fire fighter's dormitory instead. =p

Finally received my warrant card this morning, but still ought to receive my account ID and password. All I can say is the camera man who took our NS photos really sucks! =x

Caught the movie - Death Note with zy, les, lim and low at the cathay at 1 35pm. (cause it's cheaper when there's no SAFRA members around! =p) Think the revenue cathay is earning is getting less, that's why they are increasing the advertisments for another 10 minutes after the actual screening time.

Death note has a witty and complicated plot. It's like a sci-fi/fantasy police investigation; tracking down the unknown murderer who kills without having contact with the victims. It's a battle between the whiz-kids. Well, can there really be a crime-free world? Doubt so. Everyone are born criminals. (but defer in degrees that is.) It is only due to some unforseen circumstances that we'll unleash the bad inside us... ...that's in the name of getting a better future or not to get ill-treated. Wonder who will survive this cat-and-mouse game? As always, the movie is different from the manga/anime. So we wouldn't really know how the movie plot will go... ... I rate it 9/10.

Went to walk around town area afterthat. The place had somehow changed quite abit. But the shoppers' traffic is still as high as usual.

Just came back from duty today. Didn't had much sleep cause of the 2am special service - oil spillage call. Felt soooo sleepy... ...Zzz zzz... ...

Went to have lunch at KFC with zc and low; then met up with zy, les and john to catch The Prestige at TM. At first wasn't very keen in watching it, cause of the many opposing points about the movie. However, it was still not too bad. The twist at the ending was quite nicely done. The main theme of this movie was about not being overly ambitious. Setting goals are good. However, when these ambitions turn into obessions it may lead to some unforeseen circumstances. In the end, it's yourself that need to face the music. This flick makes you think about your own life while putting in this situation. Keeps you thinking... ...The flow could be neater while the OST could be better. I rate it 8.5/10.

It also teaches us the SOP as well as discloses some of the simple tricks of magic which fooled many till this day... ...

Every great magic trick consists of three acts.
The first act is called 'The Pledge'; The magician shows you something ordinary, but of course... it probably isn't.
The second act is called 'The Turn'; The magician makes his ordinary some thing do something extradordinary. Now you're looking for the secret, but you won't find it.
That's why there's a third act called 'The Prestige'; This is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance. And you see something shocking you've never seen before.

Long journey back home~

People may say "Nothing is impossible" is not possible. (pun not intended! lol) Once you knew of someone who could recite the first 100 000 digits of 'pi', you may want to believe the above statment...maybe a little. It's super incredible to have such a super memory. His brain's 'wrinkles' must be as much as (or even more) than the number of digits he can recite.

How much I can recite?... ...3.14159265... ...WHATEVER~

The super memory man

Just heard about a place in japan where it's a famous tourist attraction and filming scene as well as famous for their most frequent sucide cases. lol There's a rocky cliff next to the sea and the interesting thing was that there's also a telephone booth close to it. You may say that there's nothing interesting about having a public telephone booth around that area but there are coins, cigarettes and even a praying altar right inside the booth! They said that all that was for the sucider to make a call to their loved ones and and maybe change their mind in ending their lives. If not then have their last puff of cigarette and say their last prayer before they commit it. What if there's no more supply? Don't worry as the locals there will be the one replenishing the supplies. Interesting... ...What if people try to abuse it? lol

Today went out with hk, pw, sf, yx, zy, les, low and john to celebrate sf's birthday. But it didn't really turn out as a celebration; just a mini gathering that's all. lol Had our lunch at changing appetites.

Due to an impromptu programe schedule, the rest went home instead to prepare for exams or book in while me, les, low and john went to walk around abit. Low had dessert, and john and I shared dim sum at the food court. Later, left low and I roaming around suntec in search for his 'Full House' drama series DVDs. (Watch out for those CD shops which sells low quality discs! =x)

Went home and bought chocolate waffle. lolx Alot of things I want to eat!! Sigh...

Till next PH!~ =p

Had lunch with yx at vivocity's food republic. Their prices was exorbitant. Bought a bah chor mee at a shocking price of $5!! Saw the adjacent stall selling laksa at $6.90! The rent must be really H-I-G-H!!~ While yx bought cai fan at a relatively lower(but still considered high nonetheless >_<) price of $4. The economy is progressing, the cost of living and taxes are on the rise, but why doesn't our salary increase accordingly? After lunch, we both ordered fried sweet potatoes and goreng pisang; and the tag states '0/70/09'....are they trying to write the price or the expiry date? lolx There's even tag stating '$0.70/$0.90'...does it means that we can choose the price ourselves? (but in the end we got the price of $0.90! lol) Met john afterward to watch You, Me and Dupree. It was a much better comedy; at least better than the meaningless and stupid humour Scary Movie 4. It's NC-16 cause of some sexual humour in it. lol Think Owen Wilson might be on par with Jim Carrey as a comedian actor. Although the humour might be abit far-fetched, it's still acceptable. The flick had a theme which is to find the -NESS in you. Simply put it as the power of your inner-self. lol (for example, if your name is X, then it's called X-ness...quite lame actually =p) The rest of the movie was showing the relationship of the newly-wed couple after their best man came into their lives straight afterthat. I rate it 8/10.

After watching the comedy, we walked around the shops. Had our dinner at Carl's Jr.. Think it's the Top 1 fast food restaurant which you do not want to go for a meal. Yx and john had a bigger burger than mine with beef cheese fries and large drink, and it cost $1 less than my smaller burger with small normal fries and small drink! What is the world coming to?!! Why am I the one who's always get cheated in this kind of things?! (Can refer to previous posts for similar anecdotes lol xD)

Saturday's shift was the best as there isn't any drills for the whole morning till the next day. Expect the 1 hour morning drill at 7am the next day. This is because the station is open to public on Saturdays.

Went for 2 turn outs but both of them were false alarm with good intent. On the way back from my 2nd turn out, we saw a dying dog lying on the road... ...DISEMBOWELED!! My Sir initially wanted us to put it to the side but upon seeing that sight, we couldn't do anything but to call the SPCA for their assistance. Sad... ...

This morning, all the newbies of Alexandra Fire Station Rota 2 was being 'warmly welcomed' by the rest of the Rota 2. We were told that it was their tradition for the new-comers to shout out their I/C, rank and name then make a pose before jumping down into the well, which is about 7m in depth. They even prepared a dead fish and threatened us to pick it up with our mouth!! =x

What a welcoming ceremony~ =p

Went back to NY for the openhouse today. Quite afew changes have been done since the day I graduated. The tiles art on the wall of the grandstand, new ccas such as the japanese club, new batch of teachers, new education system and subjects syllabus for the j1's... ...and even down the the frivolous stuffs like the new digital clocks attached to the wall of the hall for examination purpose i supose.

The environment have also changed as well. New study table set around the school, installation of lockers near LT instead of canteen, more tables being placed in the canteen; and looks like they've been using the locker area (the now empty space) to be another group teaching area... ...inclusive of a whiteboard.

Now, the school finally open a few air con classrooms for the students to study till 9pm. For my batch, we can only chop tables outside LT4 and had to study under insufficient lights in the night sometimes.

The school seems to be a little more vibrant. Perhaps it's because of the introduction of a more lively and younger generation of teachers.

Heard that the principal wanted all of the j2 CTs to donate something to the school before they leave. Some donated trees, swing and even suggested to build stairs joining the grandstand to the tennis court! lol

Sigh...the yesterdays had really turned into history.

Today just came back from my first 24-hour shift duty. Didn't sleep well cause was anticipating the fire call alarm wailing through the PA system. >_< Think will become a full-blown panda when I ORD! haha

Nothing much happened, at least for me. Actually was suppose to have a turn out in the afternoon but when we were about to prepare to drive out of the station, the call was cancelled. =p Did all the drills and this morning drill drag for 1 more hour!! Cause the OC wasn't happy with the results, so we had to do until everything went smoothly. Sigh...Will every drill be like that for the rest of the duties??

The people from Rota 2 are relatively friendly but were all smokers, so it was quite difficult to sit in together and talk cock especially when everyone is in the locker room as I didn't like the smell in a 'smoke-logged' environment. Had to think of ways how to not breathe in too much of it... ...

But nonetheless, they are still quite fun to work with. When it's time for serious work, they did it with intent; when it's time to play and have fun they're really out to create havoc! The first time for Roll Call, they thought that my name wasn't really easy to remember so they gave me a new nickname - ALEX. =p

When I walked into the station, I was filled with awe while overlooking the interior of it. It was just a year old. Everything was new and the facilities were much more. Maybe it's because Alexandra is the 1st Div. HQ.

However, the day didn't start out very well. It's kind of like a mini-21st ERS gathering when all of the 1st Div. 21st ERS came to report there. Everyone waited and waited until the cows come home~lol We were idling from 8am to 12 30pm. Practically doing nothing; just waiting for our personal items to be sorted out. After coming back from lunch at 1 45pm, then only did we collect our personal items and do some counter-checking. It lasted until 3 45pm where everyone else from the other station waited to be sent to their respective stations. For wayne, nas and me, we went to the administrative office for further notice. They took our picture and gave our postings. Nas and I are in Rota 2 while wayne is in Rota 1(which is having their shift today). So nas and I are able to go back home after around 4 plus pm, when there's nothing much left for us to do.

Will be reporting back to Alex. on Wednesday...the starting of the first battle...

Block leave is coming to an end. Tomorrow marks the start of a new challenging chapter for many of my fellow 21st ERS who are going to station. Prepared to face smoke and fires? Confined spaces and darkness? Life and death? Shrugs. But one is for sure is that we're going to get through them no matter what happens. Good luck guys! And good luck for me in Alexandra~ =p

"They say fire symbolises purity. Every fire we went through purified our friendship"
"The wind of change fanned our flames of friendship."
"Men are born. Leaders are made."
"Show us the worst and we'll show you our best."

Finally doing something for today. Went out for lunch with gerwyn and jun jie at thai express at ps. Then met marcus afterthat to buy the tickets for World Trade Center. However, the rest of the people couldn't make it. So marcus went back and I waited for zy's reply. In the end, zy and I went to watch the movie. lol

WTC is a typical disaster show whereby everything was in their normal state until a disaster came by and lots of people in distress. The story continues with how they got rescued and all that stuffs. It was a very emo show; more emo than poseidon. haha Wonder how many people would risk their own lives in order to save others in a life-threatening situation? This movie somewhat gave me the extra inspiration, motivation and not forgetting the pride as being a frontline rescuer. I rate it 8/10.

Jio-ed low and john for dinner at my er shu's stall. (Promised him that I'll go back after I pass out from ERSC =p) John and I first walked around in search for my watch. (For station use) We were "seduced" by the 'kong bah bao' stall (didn't really remember the stall name XD) and we each bought 1; I got the teriyaki chicken while john got the black pepper chicken. Then we head back to the interchange to meet up with low and took a bus there. Coincidentally, saw jj who was ordering his dinner as well. So, we ordered sweet and sour pork, salad you tiao, sambal kang kong, BBQ stingray, seafood soup and a scary scene of 6 plates of rice!! lolx My er shu came by and chit-chat abit and added a lobster in the list. =p We ate until damn full lah! haha Thanks er shu for the treat!!=)

Side-tracking abit, today's haze was utterly unbearable. The highest PSI was a whoopping 150!! Heard that their government had sent immediate fire rescue team to the numerous hotspots, which adds up to hundreds of them. However, most of the people didn't caught on sight of any fire fighters around to put off the evil-doings to an end. Perhaps the haze caused the visibility to be so low that nobody could be seen! =p Sigh...having abit of a respiratory problems here and there... ...

1 more day to rest before the start of my rescue journey~

News courtesy of CNA... ...

Indonesia dousing fires causing haze: forestry official
Posted: 06 October 2006 1745 hrs

JAKARTA: Hundreds of firefighters in Indonesian Borneo, aided by police and volunteers, were dousing illegal forest fires causing acrid haze blanketing western parts of the island, officials said.

The billowing, polluting smoke from the fires, ignited annually to clear land, has already forced schools to shut, disrupted regional travel and drifted thousands of kilometres across the Pacific.

Forestry ministry spokesman Masyud, who uses one name, said at least 200 firefighters were trying to contain fires around the West Kalimantan provincial capital, Pontianak.

"They are working round the clock," Masyud told AFP, adding that they were being assisted by "hundreds of local policemen and civilian volunteers."

He insisted that most of the fires -- often lit by Indonesians in rural areas to prepare land for the planting season -- were raging outside state-controlled forests.

"Fires within the state-owned forest areas are less worse compared to ground fires outside those areas. The problem is classic, and that is, the people's long-standing culture of slash-and-burn before planting season," he said.

"We are absolutely doing our best to tackle this issue," he added.

Satellite images taken over Indonesian Borneo on Wednesday showed that the number of hotspots -- large areas with high temperatures indicating fires --
stood at 713.

In Pontianak, visibility was a lowly 100 meters (109 yards) early Friday and just 500 metres by midday, said Sutowo Aji, an official with the meteorological agency at Pontianak's Supadio airport.

He said the smoke had delayed at least two flights early in the morning.

The haze also stung residents' eyes and caused breathing problems, said Habiri, an official with Pontianak's forestry agency.

"This is a thick smoke. There has been hardly any sunshine since this morning," said Habiri.

The annual burning causes a haze that typically smothers parts of Malaysia,
Singapore and Thailand along with Indonesia itself.

The Indonesian government has outlawed land-clearing by fire but weak
enforcement means the ban is largely ignored.

The haze sure is acrid. Whether they are uneducated or non-environmentally friendly, the nomads had made a regional phenomenon. All beacause of their tradition of "slash and burn before the planting season". This excuse is inadmissible as such event has been present a long time ago."We are absolutely doing our best to tackle this issue" as said by a representative of their government. However, it's the same impuissant government that made the tackling futile. Well, everyone should know how their law enforcers work. All we can do is to suffer from their negligence... ...and I can sense that the cycle will repeats itself yet again!

Woke up early in morning to prepare myself for run with francis (nope, I do not have split personality...it's another guy =p) at MacRitchie at 10am. We took the path I usually took for my Maris X-country. Was kind of shag knowing that I've just ran 4km yesterday and to run another 5km or so this morning. =p After the run, we walked the trail abit then returned home.

Took a nap after lunch...just woke up haha. Another lazy day eh...

Got called up by chng to go beach road to buy stuffs for station. However, I only met with chan, yeo, francis and glen. Chng pang seh ar! lolx Anyway, we went around the area to recce; see whatever we need. I only bought a Sergeant rank. Actually wanted to buy the handphone pouch, but then shall wait till I go station then see what's the 'market' there. =p

Went to Penisular plaza to accompany francis to look for his rapelling stuffs he gian-ed alot. lol Guess how much is a 60m rope? It cost an exorbitant price of 265$$!! Ki siao liao lah! Compiling all the other stuffs like carabiners, figure of 8, stopping device etc...it can go up beyond 500$!!

Later went to KFC at funan cause yeo hadn't ate his lunch yet. (although we ate before walking around beach road) We walked to Central Fire Station to buy some shirts.

We thought of going back home afterthat but we felt quite sian at home already, so yeo, francis and me continue our walk to marina square. Nothing much appealing; maybe because we don't have enough cash we us also. =p Walked back to raffles city to have a cup of coffee at starbucks. Talk cock abit here and there, then headed back home.

Now have to plan for tomorrow's schedule. If not it would be another boring day... ...

It's the starting of the week where everyone (well...almost!) is getting all the Monday blues when it comes to work. But for now, I will cherish my 1 week block leave; if not I won't be able to enjoy anymore leave this year. >_<

Anyhow, I'm quite bored at home. Nothing much to do; just waiting for someone to jio me out. lolx Shall continue with my NFS. cya~