Earlier this month, a full time national serviceman from the army died during training. Subsequently on facebook I caught a post about a girl making a comment that Singaporeans are too weak. While I do not know both the deceased serviceman and the girl who made the comment, but I have some sort of a related encounter myself. Some time back I attended a call-up. It was short …

The other evening I was at a gathering with fellow mechanical engineers at the club. Over dinner we chatted and shared our experience at work. One engineer, who works at the polytechnic, shared a scene at the school's workshop. A student was asking the workshop assistant where he could find a spanner. So the assistant pointed towards the rack and told the student to grab it …

During my holiday in Sydney, we used the CityRail extensively and I would say it has left me quite an impression. People living in efficiency-demanding Singapore should be familiar with hi-tech unmanned rolling stocks or the shiny platform screen doors. But in Sydney we saw some old trains and even older stations. There were station masters blowing the whistle to signal for …

Ok I just got tagged by uglyfatchick. It has been a very long time since I last did stuff like this and all. For the fun of it, might as well ask myself these questions as well. 1. What's your dream home like? Well-lit, cosy, naturally ventilated, maybe a bit zen-like? Or perhaps a cafe, bookshelves, coffee table, food for thoughts, etc. Regardless, a dream home should have …

Come to the last day of our Sydney trip. Was deciding if I should do a Bondi Beach or Taronga Zoo, and we went to the zoo in the end. It didn't feel right not to see a koala if you go to Australia. We had breakfast at the Museum of Sydney. Since we didn't have much chance to eat really good stuff during this trip, so I thought maybe should at least spend some AUD on a good …

If you think Sydney is just a city of skyscrapers, then you are missing out the goodies in the wilderness. On day 3 we went to the Blue Mountains, a region some 1 hour's coach journey away. Initially I was considering riding the CityRail to Katoomba and explore Blue Mountains on our own, but that could be a bit tricky if I wanted to check out the nearby Jenolan Caves too. So …

We took an overnight flight to Sydney. So when we reached Kingsford Smith Airport, coupled with the timezone difference, it was just past 7am. Good timing to start the day. It was a Saturday, so probably the only chance to catch the weekend markets. Our first stop was Sydney Sustainable Markets at Taylor Square. There are a few farmer's markets in Sydney and I was deciding …

As a commuter I always think that SMRT runs buses better than SBS Transit. The reverse is true for trains. 2 train disruptions within a few days. I narrowly escaped the North South Line episode (darn, I have never walked in the tunnel before!) cos I was on the North East Line which is operated by _the_ other transport company. But I was stucked on the earlier Circle Line …

According to unconfirmed source, the platform of Bishan MRT Station does not have the markings for people to queue up or to stand behind. But yet commuters were seen queueing up orderly before boarding. I don't believe it. I was standing behind the red line waiting for the next train. A man came to this screen door and stood on the other side, obviously stepping in front of …

A Boeing 767 plane from Polish airline LOT landed on its belly on 1 Nov after the landing gears failed to lower. No one was injured in this belly landing. In fact it looked quite smooth, thanks to the skill of the crew and the close coordination and preparation from the ground, including the foam sprayed on the runway beforehand. With all the gloomy feelings around, such …