New pet acquired on 30/12/06

Yesterday after work,since it was a saturday,me and my family went to Bukit Panjang shopping centre and there,we caught sight of a pet shop there. As my mother had promised my brother a hamster,we decided to head on there after dinner to pick up the hamster. While at the pet shop, i was looking at the hamsters and was tempted into getting one for myself. My brother settled on a sapphire hamster,similar to my xiao3 bu4 dian3 which had passed away while i settled for a roborovski hamster.My brother went on to name the sapphire xiao3 bu4 dian3 again as according to him,he wanted that hamster to be forever. As for me,i have yet to name my hamster pending an observation on it's character. There are no pictures as of now but when i get them,i will post them.

Class gathering on 28/12/06

On the 28th of Dec,my old primary school class of 6.6(1998) and 5.6(1997) had a gathering. Originally i was sceptical about the number of people who would turn up. Thinking that there would only be 5-6 of us but when i arrived at the meeting venue--minds cafe, i was suprised to find 12 people sitting at the table. In the end,the final tally of the number of people who came for the gathering stood at 15 people. That to me was a very commendable,especially since so many of us had not met one another for the past 8 years ever since we graduated from pri sch. But i must say that it was really a great feeling to meet everyone,to be able to catch up with my long lost friends.We talked,laughed and played the mind games that they had over at the cafe. Originally,i had intended to leave at 9.15pm the latest since i had work the next day but by the time we all parted,it was already 11.15pm. But well you can't blame me since there was really so much to catch up about and since chances like this doesn't come by that easily. I was really happy i could make it and it was really great that the others could turn up. Unfortunately though the organisers of the gathering zimin and peiyi could not turn up and several others were not informed. I do hope that we could have another gathering real soon,with more people and more importantly,more time at our disposal. Haha.Below are pictures taken that day. We all look almost the same,only that we are bigger version of our old selves=).

16th - 25th Dec 2006

My family at King's Park with the city area in the background

As most of you probably know,i was away in Perth Australia over the past few days on holiday with my family and relatives.This entire trip was self planned and everything was free and easy,without the help of any tour agency.There was no tour bus to drive us around and there were no meals provided. We had to do everything by ourselves,from planning the itenary to getting around and even settling our own meals. During this trip,i also gained some experience and some thoughts also came along the way. On the whole,the trip was pretty enjoyable but there were some hiccups along the way which ranged from flight delays to late delivery of our rental vehicles. We also made some mistakes in planning the itenary. We misjudged the distance we had to travel to for some destinations and ended up having to leave some of them out and on the other hand,places which we could have ommitted we ended up visiting just because there was so much publicity about them.In the end,we were pretty disappointed with some of the things we saw which included the size of the supposed "factories".Well,enough said,the following is a brief summary of what took place during the past 10days and 9 nights. Enjoy=)

Day1(16th Dec)

Flight from Singapore to Perth via Qantas flight QF72. Flight left the berth on schedule but take off was delayed for about 1/2 hr or more as one of the 2 runways for changi airport was closed for maintenance and there were many other planes before us taxi-ing on the remaining runway waiting to take off.Upon arrival at perth,we checked into our apartment and by the time we had settled down,it was already 4plus perth time(3plus Singapore time) and their shops closed at 5pm. Did some grocery shopping at the local supermarket before purchasing our dinner and heading back to the apartment for the night.

Day 2(17th Dec)

After having breakfast comprising of self prepared bread and tea,we left the apartment at about 10am perth time and did some city exploring. Visited the Perth mint where we witnessed the gold pouring demonstration.Thereafter,we went to the central shopping district to do some shopping and got myself a t-shirt.had lunch there as well and the meal for my family came to 40plus Australian dollars again. Thereafter,we took a stroll down to the swan river area to visit the swan bells while the adults made some enquiries at the ferry agency on possible ferry rides to rottnest island that was located off fremantle. Thereafter we made our way back to the apartment and dinner was instant noodles with chicken slices in a bid by all families to cut costs. That day,we travelled around by taking the free bus service around the city and what irked me was the way some of them rushed to get off the bus despite the presence of elderly.They really shoved around as though in a rush for limited edition hello kitties.At the supermarket,they were also rushing to pay for their groceries and get out as there was this lady who used her supermarket trolley to bang my leg twice before saying excuse me.What a culture shock.

Perth Mint

Mum and I outside the Perth Post Office

Day 3(18th Dec)

The greatest hiccup in the trip occured that day. Our checkout time from the apartment was by 10am perth time and it was arranged with the vehicle rental company for our 2 rented vehicles to arrive around 10am so that we could begin our drive to our next destination. Turned out that the agency experienced some problems and in the end,by the time we received both vehicles,it was a already 3pm perth time. A delay of 5 hrs! This was unplanned for and we were now worried about being able to reach our next lodging area before sun down. Turned out our fears came true. Although the sun sets only around 8plus perth time,by the time we reached our lodging for the night which was a farm stay located in bridgetown,some 297km away,it was already 10plus perth time.That meant that we were driving on roads which we were unfamiliar with and in complete darkness(their roads do not have street lights you see) for about 2 hrs.During that period of time,it was really a nail biting experience as not only were we lost a couple of times,we were also facing the risk of colliding with kangaroos which were known to come out during dusk and at night.But thank God,we reached there safe and sound.That day,before we collected our rented vehicles,we were waiting at the lobby of the apartment and there was this man who seemed rather sick. Both his wife and daughter were there with him and apparently,they had already called for an ambulance to send him to the hospital. After more than 1/2 hr,the ambulance still did not arrive and at this point of time,the man who was seated in a sofa fainted and he collapsed onto the carpet floor. All of us got a shock and rushed over to see if he was alright. The wife was crying away as the apartment staff tried to get the ambulance to come faster. About 10minutes passed and the ambulance finally arrived.I do not know if it was the same case all the time but from what i observed,both crews in the ambulance did not seem to be in a rush at all. They did not seem to worry that the man was rather ill. During one point of time,one of the crew whom i believe was the driver went back outside to park the ambulance at the entrance. That was when i saw the most unbelieveable,he actually had time to put on his sunglasses before making his way back in. That entire scene made me realise how fortunate i was to be living in Singapore where our emergency services respond so quickly. It got me thinking about how the welfare of the Australian people and for a moment i pondered to myself that the people there seemed to rush when they shouldn't and they took their time when they had to hurry,what a contradiction.

Day 4(19th Dec)

The morning was spent at the farm,feeding the animals while the children played miniature golf as well. After lunch,we drove down towards pemberton but stopped short of reaching it as it was going to rain. Along the way we visited the Goldfields orchard,the manjimup Timber museum as well as Diamond tree fire lookout tower which was actually a tree by itself with a tower constructed at the top.I took the chance to scale to the top of it and boy was the view fantastic.There after,we did a little shoppping in manjimup town before heading back to the farm for the night.

Amongst the rows of fruit trees at Golfields Orchard

"Top of the world" after scaling the Diamond Tree fire lookout tower

Day 5(20th Dec)

We woke up early and after breakfast,we left the farm at about 9am perth time for the 190km journey down to margaret river. Along the way,we stopped by Busselton for our lunch and we had originally intended to visit the Busselton jetty underwater observatory which was some 2km from the shore,at the end of the jetty. But unfortunately we had to give it a miss as we were hard pressed for time and the schedule for the next commentary was an hour away. Thereafter,we headed to margaret river where the margaret river chocolate factory as well as fudge factory were widely advertised about.But when we arrived at these 2 locations,we were very disappointed as they weren't the size which we had expected them to be. The chocolate factory was the size of a bungalow while the fudge factory was actually just a shop.Thereafter,we headed back to the farm for the night.

Busselton Jetty in the background

Day 6(21st Dec)

We had to check out by 10am that day and thereafter,we started our trip back to Perth,yet another 297km away.Along the way,we stopped by Mandurah which was reputed to be a seafood town and there,we had a meal of fish and chips which came up to a whopping 50 plus australian dollars.After our lunch,we continued on our journey all the way back to perth and when we arrived,it was about 3pm perth time. After checking into our apartment,the children went for a swim,the women folk went across the street for some shopping while i took a rest in the apartment and watched TV,haha.

Day 7(22nd Dec)

After breakfast comprising of bread and bacon for the 6th straight day,we left for the town of Fremantle and while there,we visited the old Fremantle prison as well as the maritime museum. The tour of the old prison though expensive was well worth the money as we got a tour of the entire prison complex from the cookhouse to the cells and even to the gallows. Along the way we got an insight into the life of a prisoner and were educated about things we never knew about which took place beyond the prison walls.But before our tour begin,we had the chance to meet our first racist a**hole. As my dad was the driver for one of the rented vehicles and he was not very familiar with the carpark layout,he had parked his vehicle slightly out of the carpark lot thus obstructing traffic a little although there was still enough space for vehicles to pass through. Then came along this ang mor in his car and after passing through the narrow gap and parking his car,he walked by my dad's vehicle with him still inside and commented out loud "if you cannot park your vehicle then how how you got your license." I mean,although my dad's vehicle did obstruct traffic a little,he did not block it completely and at that point of time,he was already shifting his vehicle out of the way and parking it properly. So whats the big fuss about? This is a place we are foreign to and the least that a local person can do is to show some form of patience and understanding rather than just blast others like that.But this incident aside,the day went on well and we had lunch of fish and chips as Fremantle was reputed to have one of the best fish and chips in Australia if not the world.After that,we went back to Perth where we visited the local "chinatown" located in northbridge and after a meal of chinese food,we headed over to King's park and caught a breathtaking view of the city area at sunset.After sundown,we returned back to the apartment for the night.

Inside the Fremantle Market

Outside the Fremantle Market

Dad with me at the Fremantle Fisherman's Wharf

Sunset atop King's Park with the city area in the background

Day 8(23rd Dec)

After breakfast comprising of the usual bread with bacon,we left our apartments and headed towards caversham wildlife park in our rented vehicles. While there,we got to see the Australian native animals and were given a chance to come into close contact with the kangaroo,koala bear as well as wombat,cool! Thereafter,we travelled on to AQWA,the Australian version of the underwater world. The only difference being that AQWA showcased marine animals that were once again native to Australia.After that,we headed back to our apartment for the night.

In the Kangaroo Enclosure

At the Camel rides area

Mum,Bro and me outside the Caversham Wildlife Park

Day 9(24th Dec)

The day was more relaxed with less travelling as compared to any of the other days. After breakfast,we headed for a local warehouse located slightly out of town where we could pick up things at retail price. Thereafter,we headed back to the apartment for the rest of the day. Back at the apartment,i spent the day watching TV while the womenfolk went across the street to do some shopping. Dinner was pizzahut which we bought earlier in the day and while waiting for midnight to come,me and my cousins played blackjack.

Day 10(25th Dec)

We had to check out by 10am in the morning and our flight was not until 4.30pm perth time. Going by the 2hrs in advace check in time which was required,we still had till 2.30pm to keep ourselves occupied. Since it was christmas day,we had it figured out that all the shops were closed.We then settled upon going back to King's Park once again so that the young ones could have some place to have some fun while the grownups including myself could enjoy the scenery. At about 12.30pm,we decided to search for a fastfood joint thinking that it would be just like in Singapore,staying open despite the holidays but we were suprised to find that even fastfood chains like Mcdonalds were totally shut. In the end,we decided to try out luck and headed over to the airport inhopes that we would find food there and true enough,there was indeed food to be eaten. Everything then went smooothly until boarding time. We were informed at the last minute that our flight would be delayed,this time round because the plane had just landed and needed to be restocked and refuelled for our flight. After a wait of about half an hour,we boarded our plane and headed back to Singapore.

Outside Perth international Airport

Summary

On the whole,i felt that the trip was pretty fun minus the hiccups that occurred along the way. Throughout the entire trip involving the rented vehicles,i was the navigator for both cars. Basically i was the one who identified the routes to take and instructed my dad on how to get to our destination while the vehicle behind driven by my uncle would just follow. It was a little stressful since the maps we had with us were rather inadequate and in come cases,the maps were even outdated so we were thrown offtrack at certain points of the journey. On the whole,our experience with Australins were also very pleasant as they were always ready to give us directions with a smile on their face. They were all pretty friendly except for the bad experiences we had with some of that. Sadly though we did not get to visit some of the intended places because of distance misjudgement but to sum it all up,we all enjoyed the trip but only lamented the fact that things there were too expensive and we could not afford to buy more souveniers.

The Breakup

Was in Perth Australia with my family and relatives from the 16th of dec till 25th of dec on holdiay and while there,i got the chance to watch many movies,one of them i feel deserves a mention----The Breakup.

The show is basically about a couple who had some disagreements during a point in the relationship and it was about the man not showing his appreciation for the lady when she needed it.The man basically took the lady for granted and felt that she was being overboard to request that he helped her with the dishes and spent some time going places with her.In the end,a breakup was initiated but both parties refused to back down and reconciliate. Instead,they went to great lengths to spite one another and that included bringing home other men and women as well as doing things that they would normally not have done when they were still together.As part of the breakup plan,the house that they had co-owned was put up for sale and eventually sold with 2 weeks grace given for them to move out.When the relationship seemed totally lost,a ray of hope seemed to appear when the man finally came to his senses and prepared a meal for the lady for the first time. But he was disappointed and got the wrong idea when he saw her returning home with another man who was only there to see an art piece which the girl had in the house.Thereafter,the girl also took a shot at trying to patch things up by inviting the guy to watch a concert with her and the guy agreed to go after checking if it was really just the 2 of them only.Sadly though,the guy never turned up for the concert and when confronted about the matter,he replied that something else cropped up and he never knew how significant the concert was to the lady. In the end,the day to move out of the house really came and that spelt the end of the relationship for the 2 of them.Both of them then went about leading their own seperate lives--the lady going on a long trip while the guy persuing an occupation he really loved.The show then concluded with a coincidental meeting between the 2 of them one day and for a moment,it left me thinking that this would mean that they would have another chance to start afresh and get back together again but then again,there was a twist in the story and both of them never patched up. That was how the movie ended and i guess i could draw some similarity from it when i look back upon my past relationship.I too had a breakup partially because i never understood my girlfriend enough and took her for granted then.Thereafter,i tried to do somethings to show as if i was really fine about the whole matter but in reality,i was still pinning hopes about a patch up and finally like the show,the patch up never ever occured and both of us went on with our own lives. What a show that depicted the exact same things that happened in my life.

Whew!

Haha,i did the entire token feeding by myself today...Take note,it was the entire token feeding!!...None of it was covered by anyone else and i did every single one of the presentations,every single one of the trails. Well it is a pretty good first time for me although i had did a few of the trails by myself the last time. Got some feedback from the keepers and although they were mostly positive,i still had to work on my presentation style which sounded a little monotonous to them.There were also some mistakes along the way which had to be ironed out and i was still not smooth for the elephant's bath presentation. Overall i was pretty satisfied with my performance but i will definately work hard to improve upon it. Today there were some technical glitches as well and for the primate's kingdom segment,the speakers were not working so i had to project my voice to make myself audible to the crowd. But suprisingly,i felt that i did much better this time round as compared to the other time when the speakers were working.Perhaps it was because of more experience or maybe because by relying on my voice alone,i gained more confidence and was able to interact better with the crowd. But it was a great day nonetheless,more to come in future eh?

So what about it?

Today while doing bird phtography,i saw this indian family walking towards me. As with any other person that aproaches the phtography area,i would ask if they wanted to have a picture with the macaws for a small contribution of $5 per person. Just then,i noticed that the children in the group were all eager to have their pictures taken so i asked how many of them wanted to take the picture with the intention of giving them a discount if there was a substential number of them. This was the same treatment for any other individual or group and when one of them said that 10 of them wanted to take the picture,i thought for a moment before settling on a $20 contribution from them instead of the actual $50 which they were supposed to give. But what came after that was a shock to me. The leading man of the group whom i believed was the father actually said the following...." $20 ?!?! Do you know who i am ?? How long have you been working here??" i then replied that i did not know him and i have only been working for about a month to 2 months and this was what he said " I know your zoo's curator,do you have a walkie talkie? call him over for me." I told him that i did not have a walkie talkie and just gave him a smile.. The group then started to leave the area and move on along the path and a lady in the group whom i believed was his wife then said "you work for only one month no wonder you don't know him..he was the one who fixed the sound system for the giraffes......the curator knows him." The group then moved on. I was amazed at this treatment but i kept my composure throughout and the entire time,i was polite and had a smile on my face. But after they left,i was wondering in my heart why they did that for. Did they kick up such a big fuss because i gave them a discount when it was supposed to be $50 actually or was it because i did not let them take pictures for free despite the man knowing the zoo's curator. Whatever it was,i felt that it was not a big deal even if he knew the zoo's curator. I wouldn't care less even if he was the curator's brother and that was no way to actually throw his weight around.I am the person in charge of the photo area and whether i give discounts or not is up to my decision. The discounts are meant to make the phtography affordable so more people can have it and more funds can be raised. Although i did not go with the protocol of $5 per person,i did not do anything wrong as well. The birds were out to raise funds and no matter what,they would be there the entire day..so might as well charge less to attract more people to come forward than to charge more and turn everyone away. Even if you were the director's brother,i would still charge you no matter what. Infact,i would expect you to volunteer to pay more since you should be aware of the operations of the zoo. Yet another new observation on yet another day at work.

Which is more important?

Hmmm,while working at the zoo,a question arose inside of me. Which exactly is more important--the welfare of the animals, the happiness of the public or the security of one's A**? For me,if i were to rank,i would go with welfare of animals first,followed by happiness of the public and finally the security of my A**. Why i ranked them in this order is because i felt that since it being a zoo,the primary objective is to raise awareness of the animals that make their home there and how to better raise awareness than through exhibiting healthy,lively animals.Secondly of course the visitors are important as they are what makes the zoo function. Without them,who would view these animals? Without them,who are our intended audience for raising awareness to? So definately,their happiness is important but it is secondary to the welfare of the animals.We cannot force the animal to do something just to ensure that the visitor is happy. Instead it is the other way round--that it is what the animal does naturally that makes the visitors happy. And finally,we come to the security of our A**. This is because if the first 2 conditions are never met,we would either end up with animals in poor condition or end up inviting lots of complaints from unhappy visitors. These 2 factors are good enough for us to get into lots of trouble with the management and hence have our A** whooped. Unfortunately though,there are those who do not have their priorities arranged this way. They chose to arrange it the other way around. With the security of their A** being of utmost priority,followed by the happiness of visitors and finally,the welfare of the animals. It is really sad that they chose to see things this way--to neglect the well being of the animals just so that visitors will be happy and so that they would appear as ideal workers infront of the management heads.Perhaps even some of the management staff have the same wrong priorities set but if it was me in the top ranks,i'd say ignore all the protocols. We are working in the zoo and if the animals are not happy,then might as well call it a circus. I am not keen to see workers who would demonstrate to me how rigid about rules they can be,instead,i would like to see workers who truly have a passion for the job--to really love animals and let the rest of the factors just fall in place nicely by themselves.

The kind of people there are out there(2)...

While doing bird photography,i noticed that the kind of people there are out there is really more than meets the eye. There are some people who would really gladly pay the required $5 per person surcharge to have their photographs taken,there are some who would try to bargain with you even before you quote them a price and in some cases,there are those who would simply act blur and take photographs first before asking if it was necessary to pay before apologising that they would not pay because they had taken the photographs "unknowingly".It was interesting to see how people actually reacted to the $5 surcharge. Generally,people would leave once they find out about the cost.But a few gracious ones who understand that the money goes to the wildlife conservation fund would actually be willing to have their photographs taken. Even amongst those who would willingly pay the fee,there exists 2 types of people. The ones who would just snap a few shots and then move on while on the other hand,there are those who try to snap as many shots as they can to make the cost "worth it". Lol.But the other day,there was this caucasian who after paying the fee and having a few shots taken,he went a step further and actually slot a $2 note into my pocket,with the intention of tipping me. Of course i did not take it but instead removed the note from my pocket and placed it into the donation box in his view while telling him that all proceeds were meant for the birds.But well,at least he knew what he was doing and where his money was going. But sadly though,there are those who ignore the fact that the birds and me are out there to raise funds for the animals. All they care about is that they want to have their pictures taken. Some have even waved me off and continued taking photographs despite me telling them that they had to pay to take photographs with the birds.These kind of people i have no way to handle..Refuse them too strongly and i myself may get complaints instead..So in the end,all i could do was to smile,let them take the pictures,pretend to not see anything but yet learn something about their character.This job is indeed interesting..Wahaha.

A figment of the past....

Went to compass point with my family yesterday,then i decided to go to sembawang to see if there was any CD worth buying. In the end,i settled for Michael Learns To Rock 15th Anniversary ultimate collection. This album really compiles all their greatest hits into 2 CDs. Not bad..At the same time,i recalled how someone used to love this band as much as i did..Wahaha. Dun worry,i am fine,just some recollections=).

The kind of people there are out there...

First up,heres a picture of me at work,in the background are the 3 macaws that i look after throughout the day=)

Today i came across 2 situations that allowed me to see the different aspects of the human heart. Firstly,for the incident that happened in the morning,i admit it was my fault...Basically what happened was i had locked all my belongings including my keys inside my locker and thankfully another person working in the zoo but in another department had the spare key to the lock. So i had arranged to meet up with him outside the elephants of asia exhibit to obtain the spare key from him so that i could open up my locker. Well the problem does not lie with this friend of mine...But rather,after taking the key from him,i had wanted to make my way back to my department. As i was on my way back along the road,i came across 2 elephants and their 2 keepers who were on their way to the elephants bath location. As the elephants were only occupying half of the road and one of the keepers had saw me and i was rushing for time,i assumed that it was alright for me to walk past them since my presence had been acknowledged and the road still had space for me to travel on. But the thing was after i passed them,the other keeper who had been blocked by his elephant earlier saw me and he shouted out " boy,you cannot see elephant issit?!" I turned around,apologised to him and continued to walk as i was really running late and that was then when he shouted again "boy,elephant you can walk like that issit?!" Though i cannot remember his exact words,i think it was something like that. I do admit that it was my fault for not consulting with them if i could walk by but then again,i had assumed that since the first keeper did not stop me even when he saw that i was walking towards them,it was alright. But that was not all,,at the end of the whole day,i saw the same keepers at the elephant rides area again and they were just sitting around,waiting to see if any tourists came by wanting to have a ride on the elephants. I saw that the keeper who shouted at me was there and he was looking in my direction.I was not sure if he was looking at me but i just stuck up my hand and waved at him to acknowledge his presence in a bid to greet him but the next thing he did made me question if he did it on purpose or not....he actually looked away!. For a moment i felt disgusted...In my heart i was wondering if he did it on purpose because of the early morning incident or because he really did not see me. I hope it is the latter but if it is really for the first reason then it really tells alot about his character....I mean,what do you expect?He is aware that i am new and i already made it a point to apologise for my mistakes but if you are someone with so much grudge in your heart then how do you expect people to work with you in future? In my heart i was wondering,if it was a tourist or someone he was on good terms with who did that,would he still react like that. I wouldn't want to guess so much but my gut feeling was he would have just let it pass...To me,i felt that it was right that he shouted at me at that instant when i walked past because of my safety but i do not feel that it is right that you actually keep it in mind for so long.

Secondly,while i was at the bird photography area today,i was discussing with one of my colleagues about how i felt improvements could have been made to some of the management policies. Apparently at the bird photography area,we are supposed to keep it squeky clean. After the birds have had their meals,we are supposed to sweep up all the leftover foods from the floor. This i understood because all the bits of uneaten apple and other foods looked really unsightly. But the thing was,some of the management staff were so particular to the extent that they had to even question the reason for having a spray meant for the birds out at the photography area.The spray is used to help the birds drink as well as cool off on very hot days like today so me and my colleague just left it at the photgraphy area since we were constantly using it. But after being questioned about why the spray was out in the open,i was telling my colleague how i felt about the matter.I was saying that i understood that it was neccessary to keep the photography area clean but i felt that it need not have to be done to the extent that even things used for the welfare of the birds had to be kept out of sight unless in use at that point of time.My colleague then rebuked me and kept trying to reason about the management's stand,sounding so defensive about the management. Perhaps my colleague really did feel that way but if it wasn't the case and all that my colleague was trying to do was to protect personal interests and not wanting to sound as if disagreeing with the policies of the management,then i feel that my colleague really has no guts to stand up for whats right but instead choose to go with the flow for "safety sake".

Lol,in just one day i express so much of my feelings...But frankly speaking,working in an environment like this really allowed me to see alot--to see the good the bad and the ugly.Maybe it is just me and my PMS or perhaps my observations are truly right,that people are indeed like that...If thats the case,then it is really sad don't you agree?

My prayers..

My prayers go out to the following people....

Yesterday,on my way to meet JJ,i met 2 crazy people. One was an old woman estimated to be in her 70s. On the train,she was talking to herself and at one particular underground station,when the train door opened,she actually tried to spit into the gap between the train and the platform but apparently she missed and her spit ended up on the train's floor,just next to the door.She then tried to spread the spit out in a bid to make it disappear but it was kinda unsuccessful. Although it was disgusting and unhygenic,the feeling of disgust in me soon faded away and was taken over by pity instead.I pitied her state of not having her senses.Later,on the NEL,i met a man who was talking out loudly to some commuters in the train. At first i thought they were acquainted but when i noticed that the people he was talking to were ignoring him,i realised that he was actually someone of an unsound mind.The man was estimated to be in his 50s and all throughout the trip,he was conversing in hokkien and from what i could make out of it,he was talking about some medical conditions and how to prevent it etc. Once again,i pitied the state he was in.My prayer goes out to the both of them any other person who is in the same situation. May they find happiness despite their condition=).

But an important prayer of mine goes out to my uncle.He was warded in SGH 2 days ago for observation apparently after complaining of breathlessness and having a swollen leg.Currently he is still in the hospital undergoing bloodtests on a daily basis. As of the latest update,we fear that it might be some complications with his kidneys. My perth trip with my relatives is just about a week away and my uncle as well as his family are part of the group. I really pray for God to watch over my uncle and his entire family. Let this all just be a harmless scare and nothing else. Let nothing happen to him or his family. Give all of them the strength to tide through this phase and emerge from it unscathed.I pray for God's blessings and healings to be upon them. Let everything be fine not only for this trip but for the future as well.

With that i conclude my prayers and in Jesus name i pray,amen=)

First day!

Wahaha,today is the first day that i did token feeding(presentation) on my own.Although i did not do the presentation for orang utans and the morning elephant bath,the bulk of the trail was covered by me and me alone. For a start,i felt that it was bad,especially when i kept pausing and forgetting my scripts on some trails. I then had to struggle to recall the scripts or find words or sentences to replace those that i had forgetten. But it was hard and to me,it sounded horrendous. I'm sure that if i were a member of public listening to myself present,i would know instantly that i am nervous. Haha. But then again,i am glad that i had taken this step,the very first on my road to becoming a full fledged token feeder.Although for the next few days i will be doing bird photography,i'm sure that some time next week,i would be rostered to do token feeding on my own once again. And if i am not wrong,by then,i will not get any help for my orang utans or elephant bath.So all the best to myself,got to make use of the next few days to really brush up on my scripts to avoid repeating the same mistakes as today.Today i also got to meet up with JJ after work. It has been a week plus since i last saw him and we basically had dinner together followed by an hour of lan games. Though time was not at our disposal,it was nice to meet up especially since both of us are currently working.Ok,enough said..More updates in time to come=)

Not my day..

Ah,today is really not my day.For a start,i was the bird man today so i reported for work at around 8.30am as usual to give myself some spare time before i officially start work at 9am.I went about doing the usual stuff,changing into my uniform,getting the necessary equipment and preparing the food for the macaws.Due to the number of things i had to do,i suddenly realised that i was a little behind time with some things still not done. One of them was to put a container of water into the bird's den.I had already prepared everything and was holding the container of water in my hand. All that was left to do was to place it in the den which was locked. I didn't have the keys and since one of the full time staff had it,i decided to approach her for help. I asked if she could help me put the water in to the den since she had the key,was in the area and because i was in a rush. At first,she asked me why and i just told her that i was rushing and the next thing she replied me really took me aback. She actually said "why should i?". I do not know if she meant it but judging by her tone and expression,i took it for real.That was strike one for me....
After that,i headed off to night safari as part of the routine,to pick up the birds and weigh them.As i was weighing one of them,i was bitten,not once,not twice, but 3 times! Can you believe it? That bird was really aggresive and after biting my hand,it did not want to let go,i had to shake it off. Now i have a small exposed wound on my right palm and other than that,the bitten areas are a little swollen and sore.That was strike 2.....
After i had set up the bird photography booth,i had wanted to retrieve the brooms which were locked up. Despite several tries,the lock refused to budge and i nearly yanked the whole thing off,lol. But thank god in the end it did open...
So that ladies and gentlemen was 3 strikes for me today but i refuse to be knocked out.The rest of the day went on pretty well until towards closing time when it started to rain cats and dogs. I was caught in the rain and became severely drenched but it was alright,kinda refreshing afterall. Today was a little different as well. Different in a sense that i met marianne from AHS guides while working. She was there with a group of friends and i was in the midst of talking to some tourists when i heard my name being called out. I then looked up and was suprised to see marianne. So she is the first person whom i know who has seen me at work,lol..more to come? wahaha.
Today is also the last day of work for one of the token feeders,Elizabeth. Although i didn't really get to know her,she is very nice and i really benefitted from her guidance and care. just like today,she was the one who helped me to dress my wound. But don't go thinking anyhow,she is already attached and she is also older than me..wahaha. Received a poster from her which she also gave to everyone else and heres a shot of it,thanks man jie jie=).

By the book or bend the rules?

I encountered a scenario today as well as 2 days ago which left me thinking if it is better to just go by the book when doing things or trying to bend the rules whenever possible. I felt that although going by the book would mean that we would end up doing things the ideal and most foolproof way,bending the rules on the other hand would mean that in the process,someone will be able to benefit from it--in terms of happiness or any other thing that may result from going the unconventional way.For me,i guess i am a mixture of both.But i'd prefer to go with the bending of rules option.I see bending the rules as a way of making oneself as well as others happy. Rigidity will give people the impression that you are unapproachable and someone who would never compromise. Although bending the rules will leave us exposed to scrutiny,i believe that it is this same concept that will help make someone's day.