They Died for All Free Man

As I rode into the compound of the Kranji War Cemetary with Love Machine, I knew that I was stepping on a holy ground. Only heroes lie and nobody else. I felt honoured to be visiting them but felt out of place at the same time. What greeted me was the dome that was fusion of a submarine with the wings of a fighter plane. For those who have been there before, you'll know what I mean. I greeted the holy ground in silence as I took my first step onto the turf.

I first visited the graves of the Late Mr Yusuf Ishak and Benjamin Sheares as they lay undisturbed on opposite grounds on this HUGE patch of turf.

I stood in front of the memorial gate and made my way up the steps. Peace was all I found. I was alone among the 200,000 soldiers, air force fighters, navy man and medics who perished in the war. The feelin was peaceful. They are the ones who gave me that peace that we all enjoy today as I walked among the graves with their names written on the marble tombstones. The Chinese, Gurkhas, Malay Regiments, Indian soldiers, Punjab Regiments and the Australians and British were among those whose names were written forever on the marble walls which stood more than 6 meters high. I can't repeat the word enough. Peace. My mind was clear and a sense of pride settled in. Weird. I am still on reservist and I just prayed in silence to have just a slice of the bravery of these people whom I call heroes.

I looked towards the top of the hill and I saw the skyline. That was the only time where my view was not obstructed by buildings. Just me on a hill with clear land. It was perfect. For those avid photographers, you don't know what you've been missing.

I sat on the bench in between the two walls with the names of the Gurkhas and Punjabi soldiers. Closed my eyes and absorbed my surroundings. The birds and little insects tickled my thoughts and I smiled knowing that these heroes will always be accompanied by these beautiful creatures. This is not the place to feel sad but leaning more towards feeling proud and grateful to have brave fighters that used to live among us. And may we be like them in spirit in whatever we do. A lot of learning lessons to be learnt. It just depends on how willing are you in the first place just by being there. It's no longer a field trip like we used to have in secondary school, it's more of a thank you visit that comes from the heart.

My salute to these heroes.

Ja

Invisible People

Green City. One of the cleanest in Asia. Are you sure?

Walk around and notice the cleaners that made this possible. Smile at them the next time you see them. The very least just appreciate their hardwork in your heart if you can't bring yourself to smile at them for these, are the Invisible People. We owe it to them for making Singapore what it is today. A clean city. Indonesia and Malaysia could be as clean as Singapore also but the rate of littering is much faster than the rate of cleaning up, plus, there aint much cleaners in both countries to begin with. The mess just keeps on piling up even before they could even begin cleaning.

The frail figures of the old nyonyas and makciks doesn't help them much in doing the dirty jobs for us; cleaning the toilet bowls and clearing up the litters that we leave behind. The next time you wanna throw your litter away, please think twice and put them in appropriate place ya. Thankz.

I just pity these old people for doing these jobs. Can't say much about the options that they have but on our part, the very least we can do is to keep public facilities that we use as clean as possible. This means, aim properly, don't nozzle around like as if its your own home or something. If you hate to see your toilet and room getting dirty and being assigned to clean them up, then betta make sure that you don't mess up the public facilities because the cleaners will be feeling they way you are feeling right now. Shitty.

Ja, missing everybody and leaving nobody behind. Msg me once in a while people. :)

Aviators

Made an unscheduled trip to Kuala Lumpur. I needed to ease my mind. Travellin has always been therapeutic for me. But then, as on every unscheduled trip, unexpected things happened.

.went down to Larkin to only find that the price had been jacked up to 45 ringgit from the usual 20. tried to find a money changer to change currency but it was closed... wow... how bad could it be. i had to pay in Sing currencies. Lost a lil but i didnt care. left at 1am.

.reached Puduraya at 6am. still no currencies except for 4 ringgit. Went to the mama shop to get ourselves some breakfast. had to put the 4 ringgit on the table to PRETEND that we had money but in actual fact, we were prepared to wait till 9am for the money changer to open next door. Till then, we just waited and ordered anything that we wanted to eat and chatted.

.i was still sleepy from work da other day. didnt help much that the table was my mattress. i was really amazed at these people who lives far but went down to Puduraya to catch their very early morning bus.

.9am. changed money and went to Central Market with a full stomach. That was where i bought some great handicrafts and cheap prices. But it was closed. Went out. Walked ALL THE WAY to KLCC. The building was just too huge to miss. So we just followed the building from afar. 45 mins... 45 mins... I need a second hand kneecap after that. any can recommend any shop?

.ate again. at KLCC. Popiah, chocolate milkshake. Indulge. Strawberry dipped in Choco. Indulge.

.OH. Had a pleasant surprise. When the door of the elevator opened, i was greeted by a crowded elevator with PINK tudungs. LOL. The first drink that came to mind was bandung. I think they were having an excursion. Wait a minute. Excursion at KLCC? hmm...

Shall continue again....

Ja. Missin all the people who love me.

The Face that sets your head and MiNd at pEace

During recording today, i was rudely shocked by my Royale guitarists' abrupt jump from their seats and they were jumping around screaming like monkeys. And as i tried my best to figure out what was happening, my eyes caught the attention of a little cockroach that was sitting on my friend's back while he was trying to run away from it.

It flew around the blue room and everybody started screaming. I can't deny that i was a lil worried about that little critter flying and landing on me. Landed on his towel. Lol. Curses! I tried to take the cockroach out but at the moment of mischievousness, I took the towel and swung it around and the cockroach started to fly around again. I ran for cover under the sheets while the other two screamed again. hehehe... But it really amuses me that after all the National Service trainings that everybody has gone through, it just takes one itsy bitsy cockroach to seperate the troopers from their formation. I can just imagine them squirming and running around in chaos. Nevertheless, they took their creative minds to the limit on how to capture the pest safely. I just took the short cut and took a cup and covered it before throwing it away. Cockroach, it can be your friend, it can be your enemy, it just depends on how you view it.

The night ended on a few rounds of Hangman, a game long forgotten and replaced by Xbox and Playstation 2. Had fun but was just too tired to think too much. Look at the time now! ...... Take care peeps. This week hasnt been a good one for me. Hopefully it dies down.

Ja

Thank you, So Long and Goodbye

Thank you, so long, goodbye

Ja

On the Bridge we stand, and stand proud did we

This week has been a great week, well, almost. Went down to catch a lousy movie, so lousy that I slept, literally. Don't watch it, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". Then, went down to the Esplanade and nearly caught Amit, a darbuka percusionist, in action with a Spanish girl. Sat at Harry's and had an orange milkshake. Forgot the name man. But it was nice though... Couldn't get to listen to the jazz player that night. Oh well. Better things did happened.

Took some photos at the Anderson Bridge near Clarke Quay. The weather was perfect with the breeze just whispering through the hair. Sat by the river and made a short song.

If I had a nose like yours
If I had those eyes like yours
I'd be more than glad to show the world

If I had a smile like yours
If I had a voice like yours
I'd be more than glad to share your joys

About all of the things I've seen before
That makes me want you more
Cause baby I just wanna be like you

Ja

I miss my long hair... If not for reservist...

Braids and more braids.

Short, corn rows and VERY LONG hair.

Some short and spiky hair.

The different hairstyles that I've had for the past few years. There's more in the album but here's just a glimpse of it.

Love Machines

Last view of my beloved Love Machine. Cherish the old one cause she's gonna be another person's bike soon. Gonna miss you dear... -hugz-

Full Face

AZ 9126 M meetz AW 7050 B

Number plates people! Ole skool number plates! Look out for these plates on the roads.

Side View

Front View

Ole Skool

My Babies

Record Breaking Feat

Me and my buddies went down to Masjid Darul Makmur to support the people who were trying to set a record for the longest rojak eating event. It was a nice day to spend your Saturday. The weather was scorching that day but my stomach was happy nevertheless with all da rojak that I could eat with just 1 dollar. We helped the guy next to us to finish his plate too. LOL. These are just some pictures that illustrated da day.

Ja

Sleepers

Went down to see my uncle at the Community Club just now. I've been missing him so bad that I dreamt of him. I guess it was time for me to visit him. And so i took a leisure ride with my vespa to Fuchun CC and to my surprise, he was conducting a small drama with kids. Before i could even warm my seat, he called me from afar and told me to become extra. Extra? LOL. The setting was more of a kampung feel. And so today, i became

1. The fisherman
2. The rowdy chap-teh kid
3. The dancer
4. The riot starter (I love this one, hehe...)
5. The silat player
6. The guy who carried the chairs (i had to double up as logistics man...)

A lot of work in one day man. The best thing is, the play is this Sunday for the official opening of the Taman Warisan at the National Heritage Centre. It was a memorable evening nevertheless. Had fun playing those kampung roles.

Ja

Missing

I'm juz gonna blabber about what is on top of my mind without thinking much. This my my verbal diarrhoea. No sound effect included. Imagine it yourself.

1. I know I need to run. I wonder if i can hit my old personal best
2. Blue is cooling and yellow is crazy. I'm wearing a blue CJC t-shirt. I only remember "Glorious kingdom" from their school anthem. I was there for the 1st 3 mths. The teacher hated me and requested me to leave the school. WTH?
3. Why am I not sleepy? I wanna sleep. I have many things to do tomorrow. Check my IU, send my Vespa for repairs, pay for lappie, have a coffee and go to maulud, insyaallah. God help me...
4. I like Ovaltine now. Milo is good. Horlicks? Shrugs. They don't make me drool
5. Missing somebody now
6. Trying to get inspirations to write, "Missing You". Any ideas to share people?
7. This singtel paperbag is empty. I should throw it away. I'm lazy. Peel me from this seat.
8. I'm imagining a HUMONGOUS white spatula peeling me away from my seat, being thrown into a batter, put into pink oven and turning me into a hazelnut cookie with the initial JA using choco chips
9. This water bottle is half full and half empty. Wow... amazing...
10. I need to plug my mouth now. Don't think this verbal diarrhoea will ever end.

-gloog- (the sound effect of me plugging my verbal diarrhoea with MnMs)

Ja