'Killer litter' in action

Drive safe and stay alive

The past 2 days or so have seen the newspapers reporting about a family involved in a high-speed fatal crash of which only the 2mth old infant survived. The rest in the car perished. Pictures showed the wreckage and experts speculate that at impact the vehicle was travelling above 100kmh. It is indeed saddening to read the details of the newspaper article but the basic message of driving safe should never be ignored. Even when travelling at speeds below the speed limit, it may be wise to judge to road conditions before deciding whether it is safe to drive at the limit.

Went back to my former college

I went back to ACJC earlier today for the Fun-O-Rama. I do not even know which one is it now. If I do not recall wrongly, the one that my JC2 class took part many moons ago was either the 11th or 12th. And I recall the last time I had ever stepped into AC was in 1998 during the Fun-O-Rama then. Since then, the college building has had a makeover and it just seems so different though the main building was retained during its massive renovation. I walked through the stalls hoping to get some idea so that when LPS has the open house I can adopt some ideas from there. Indeed, the sense of nostalgia could be felt when I explored various parts of the campus. "Smiley" is no longer around where it used to be. The HOD room on the second floor has disappeared. Canteen stalls layout has changed. The LTs look so different. I actually pictured the old building and the various rooms and facilities as I walked around the campus. One thing for sure. I have aged and so have some of the staff during my time who are still around. The current batch of JC1s are about half my age, the college clock still does not work but there is one thing that still remains. The ACSian spirit has been, is still and will always be there. Any old boy/girl who walks into the gates of ACJC will inevitably feel a great sense of nostalgia.

Singapore Bay Run

Used to be known as the Sheares Bridge Run/Army Half Marathon, it is back once again. Needless to say, yours truly has signed up and the route this year really looks good! Below is an extract from the website:

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21km Army Half Marathon

The route starts from the Esplanade Drive and heads to Collyer Quay, Marina Boulevard, ECP, Benjamin Sheares Bridge, Fort Road, East Coast Park Service Road, Marina East Garden, Marina Barrage, Central Boulevard, Collyer Quay, St Andrews and ends of at Padang

10 km SAFRA Singapore Bay Run

The route starts from Esplanade Drive and heads to Collyer Quay, Marina Boulevard, ECP, Benjamin Sheares Bridge, Rochor Exit, Fountain of Wealth, Temasek Avenue, Republic Boulevard, Raffles Avenue, Connaught Drive, St Andrews Road and ends at the Padang.

6km SAFRA Singapore Bay Run

The route starts from Esplanade Drive and heads to Collyer Quay, Marina Boulevard, ECP, Sheares Bridge, Rochor Exit, Fountain of Wealth, Temasek Avenue, Republic Boulevard, Raffles Avenue, Connaught Drive, St Andrew’s Road and ends at the Padang.

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Did you notice the words in bold? That is the new portion in the 21km route. I am excited how it will look like. Another plus point is the slighter flag-off time which is 0630hrs. It was usually an hour earlier but I guess public feedback was that 0630 would be more favourable. Plus, the other two routes will not be able to run the whole Sheares Bridge compared to the 12k runners who managed to last year. So for those who really want to experience the chance of running on one of the country's expressways, train and go for the 21km half marathon!

IDT resumes tomorrow

After a break of about 2 weeks, IDT will resume tomorrow. It is exciting to meet up with the rest of the DG members once again and I am looking forward to their sharing on how each of our respective Easter outreach events went. Hearing wonderful testimonies on how God has worked and touched lifes is always so uplifting and it reminds us once again how great a God we worship.

F1 news

Read in the papers today that that Spanish double world champion is thinking of leaving the French team he is currently driving for and is looking at going over to Ferrari. I seriously hope that he will not go over. ALso, I hope that Ferrari will not want to accept a sore loser. Just because the French team is not doing well for now does not mean he has to leave. Basically, this Spanish bull should just disapper from F1 completely.

Not feeling well again

Just recovered and when I came home today, I was not feeling very well. Felt as if I was running a temperature and my tummy did not feel good. Hardly ate anything for dinner as I still felt rather bloated. Hope that I will be fine tomorrow as I really do not wish to have to stay at home.

A cool morning, warm & humid afternoon, wet evening

Got up at 4am this morning and hit the road. It was a cool morning and I managed to clock in at least 75 mins before freshening up and heading to school. I seriously enjoy dawn runs as it makes me feel so freah the whole day. However, by late afternoon I will begin to feel the fatigue setting in. That is not an issue but I just feel so satisfied knowing that I have put in some serious training for the Sundown Marathon which is just 10weeks away.

The afternoon was really warm and humid. This was especially so when I left school and going into the car was a real tough task as the interior was like an oven. This is despite having the windows tinted. But then again, I chose the colour and it had to be black. So, I deserved it!

Just as we came back after picking Esther, it poured cats and dogs. Accompanied by gusty winds, the whole corridor was soaking wet and even the front door has slight seepage. Purchasing dinner took ages as I dared not walk my usual pace since friction was greatly reduced. Managed to complete marking the second draft of one of the earlier essays and I aim to complete most of my markings before thursday since a couple of us are intending to visit the P5s who will be away at Camp Christine. I am sure they will have a whale of a time.

It should have been a Ferrari 1-2 but never mind...

If Australia was a nightmare for Ferrari, Malaysia was a dream. Kimi Raikkonen toyed initially with polesitting team mate Felipe Massa, took the lead after their first pit stops, and sauntered into the distance to a victory that puts him back into contention for a second world title.

Massa blotted his copybook by spinning out of an easy second place on the 31st lap, leaving Robert Kubica to take an excellent runner-up result for BMW Sauber. In the closing laps, though 22 seconds adrift, the Pole set a similar pace to Raikkonen.

Heikki Kovalainen was McLaren’s leading runner in a distant third place, a similar distance in arrears.For Lewis Hamilton, it was a race spent playing catch-up. He made a great start to jump from ninth up to fifth place behind the Ferraris, Kubica and similarly fast-starting Mark Webber in the Red Bull. But then a problem with the right-front wheel during his first pit stop dropped him down to 11th place, and he lost time hand over fist in the traffic.That enabled Jarno Trulli to come through to a good fourth place for Toyota, with Hamilton dogging his wheel tracks after a great recovery drive. The truth, however, was that this time out Ferrari were stronger, and the pace of BMW Sauber will have both top teams keeping a close eye on the white and blue cars.

Nick Heidfeld set fastest lap in the closing stages as he thirsted after Hamilton, while Webber was able to hold off a challenging Fernando Alonso in the Renault as they wrapped up the final points.David Coulthard had a relatively quiet race to ninth in the second Red Bull ahead of fellow Briton, Jenson Button, who survived a late off-track moment in his Honda to lead home Renault’s Nelson Piquet, the Brazilian rookie recording his first Grand Prix finish.

Giancarlo Fisichella was 12th for Force India, a lap down, taking the place after Honda’s Rubens Barrichello had to serve a drive-through penalty for pit lane speeding.The final finishers were Nico Rosberg, who had a most unhappy time in his Williams, the Super Aguris of Anthony Davidson and Takuma Sato, and Kazuki Nakajima who, like Rosberg, could not generate decent tyre temperatures in his Williams FW30.

Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Bourdais was the first retirement, falling off on the opening lap. Rosberg clobbered Timo Glock then, too, necessitating a pit stop for a new nose cone. The Williams continued, the Toyota was through for the day. Adrian Sutil suffered a mechanical problem that stopped his Force India out on the track, while Sebastian Vettel suffered either engine or transmission failure that brought him to a smoky halt.

The result leaves Hamilton still leading the world championship for drivers with 14 points, ahead of Raikkonen and Heidfeld on 11 apiece. In the constructors’ chase, McLaren lead with 24, ahead of BMW Sauber on 19 and Ferrari on 11.

The tables seemed to have turned....

It is an all Ferrari front row for the Sepang Malaysian GP tomorrow. In contrast, both Mclarens were dropped from P3 & P4 by five places each for impeding rival cars. Hopefully, the Toyota of Trulli and BMW's Heidfeld will give the red cars a run when the 5 red lights go out tomorrow....

9th anniversary

This Easter marks my 9th year in the faith. It was during Easter 99 when I decided to dedicate my life to the Lord Jesus Christ during an Easter outreach. That happened during my varsity days in Australia. I learnt a lot over the past years and when our DG watched the video clip last night, it struck a chord within my heart on the issue of forgiveness. Indeed, it is very difficult to let go of past hatred, injustice and wrongful accusations rained upon you. It is even more heart breaking when the person involved is someone close. However, if God can forgive us for the most unthinkable sins we committed in words, thoughts and deeds, what are the kind of injustice, hatred and other things against us compared to that Great Sacrifice?

2 observations cleared today

Managed to ask my SCM to sit in together with my NSC and cleared 2 out of 10 obversations at one sitting. Probably I will clear another 1 or 2 more next week depending on whether I can squeeze them in. Hopefully I can be able to clear another 2 so that means just 6 more to go.

Healthy Lifestyle Day

It was pouring when the event was about to begin. Bus loads of staff from other schools island-wide made their way to the CCA branch at Evans Rd despite the heavy downpour. Met Winnie, Annisa and some other coursemates who were also there. To participate or just to be present? Well, yours truly with some other fellow colleagues decided to leave as the skies continued to open up. We reckoned that it would be pointless to simply remain there and idle. Observation by my supervisor tomorrow before the long weekend. At least I can get two out of the way.

Was on MC the past 2 days

I was down with a bad flu that led to me losing my voice. Stayed home for two days and I have downed numerous amounts of fluids which obviously helped a lot. The cough is still lingering but at least I can go back and have my normal lessons tomorrow. Cant post much as I need to do some planning.

Esther turns 1 today.....and it happens to be my 600th post

Esther turns 1 today. It seemed as if she was just born not long ago. In retrospect, we give thanks to the Lord for watching over her and also guiding us as first-time parents. The journey was not easy but it is fulfilling nonetheless. As Esther grows, we pray that she will grow to love the Lord and also to be a blessing to others just as she has been for the past twelve months. Angela and I thank God for giving us this privilege to be Esther's parents.

Results of the season opening Aus GP

Article from the F1 website. Good job by Mclaren. Hopefully they will maintain this. In fact, I am hoping to see some others like BMW Sauber or Williams-Toyota winning a race or two instead of always seeing the scarlets or the silver arrows. Just do not wish that Spaniad driving that French car win at all as he is such a sore loser.

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Hamilton victorious in action-packed Albert Park race

Lewis Hamilton’s win for McLaren at the Australian Grand Prix almost went unnoticed in Albert Park this afternoon - and that tells you just what sort of race it was. The 23 year-old Briton dominated an event characterised by safety car interventions following a series of dramatic incidents that all happened behind him.

Hamilton would build a lead, lose it behind the safety car, build it again, lose it again. You get the picture. But if he was impressive here a year ago, he was even better on Sunday, never losing his composure as he took the lead of the world championship with almost insouciant ease.

If it was a great day for McLaren, it was a disaster for Ferrari. Felipe Massa spun on the first lap and was then involved in an incident with Red Bull’s David Coulthard before retiring, and Kimi Raikkonen, having benefited from the second safety car intervention, slid off the road trying to pass McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen and undid all that work. Then his Ferrari let him down when he was running seventh with three laps to go.

Indeed, McLaren should have had a one-two, but a third safety car intervention following a heavy accident for Toyota’s Timo Glock badly hurt Kovalainen’s chances as he had to pit when everyone had closed up. He dropped way back, was passed by Raikkonen, repassed him, then found himself overtaken by Renault’s Fernando Alonso as the Spaniard overtook both of his rivals in a wonderful move.

After fighting back, Kovalainen repassed the Renault with two laps to go, only to have his car falter momentarily as they crossed the line for the 57th time. As he wiped oil off his visor he accidentally triggered the pit-lane speed limiter and a relieved Alonso pounced to head his former team mate home in fourth place.

Ahead of them, Nick Heidfeld brought his BMW Sauber home an excellent second, chased by Nico Rosberg, whose Toyota-engined Williams was the fastest car on the track in the closing stages. It was the young German’s first podium.

The race began with drama as an incident in the first corner involved Honda’s Jenson Button, Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella, Red Bull’s Mark Webber, Super Aguri’s Anthony Davidson and Toro Rosso’s Sebastian Vettel, and led directly or indirectly to their retirements. Jarno Trulli looked set for good points until his Toyota let him down, and Nelson Piquet’s debut for Renault was little short of disastrous as he trailed at the back and failed to make it home. Sebastien Bourdais and his Toro Rosso crew made a great call on strategy and were running fourth, ahead of Alonso and Kovalainen with three laps to go, but were stymied by engine failure. Force India’s Adrian Sutil and Super Aguri’s Takuma Sato similarly failed to make the finish.

“The team did a fantastic job as always, and the car was phenomenal, a complete dream to drive compared to last year,” a delighted Hamilton said. “They pulled me in early on both stops and that kept us out of trouble. Physically the race was a breeze, and great preparation for Malaysia, so bring it on, I’m really looking forward to it.”

Aus GP Qualifying

It seems that the Mclarens and BMWs are the ones to beat, for now. Only Massa's Ferrari is in front of Heidfeld's BMW due to Raikkonen's Ferrari in P16 due to some fuel pump problems. However, knowing how this flying Finn will pull wonders as he did in the 2005 season, tomorrow's race will certainly be exciting.

Test drove the new Altis

Sent my car for routine servicing earlier today. Damage was $355 which was lower than I expected. Initially, I was concerned if the brake pads need replacement and that will mean a further damage of $200 inclusive of labour. Thankfully, that only needs to be done at the next service. I called my friend and he quoted me $120 for the same job but much better brake pads so I will probably go to him to get that done.

While waiting for my car to be ready, I went to look for my sales advisor who sold me this car and asked him about the newly launched Altis. Without any delay he brought me for a test drive. At first impressions, I found that the engine sound was much sweeter compared to mine and the initial accleration is much quicker. The gear change too is more responsive to changing speeds and road gradient. What really impressed me is the steering feel. It is feather light at parking speeds but once on the move it gets a little heavier giving more driver feedback. So does that tempt me to consider a change at this moment? Nah. Too costly plus the fact that my car is only 2 years old. It will be too expensive to do a changeover now. However, if I was still driving my old civic now, I will go for the 1.8L.

weird weather

It has been overcast with heavy showers over the past few days. Somehow or rather it reminds me of the exceptionally wet month of Dec 06 when it rained for so many days and some low-lying areas were flooded. Even the past few nights, it was quite chilly and we even slept without the fan. Besides, my running schedule has also been disrupted! So much for having the holidays when I planned to do some serious running. Guess I have to do my pre dawn running when school starts but will only restrict it to twice weekly. It will be a short week 1!

Sequel to the wheels of the bus....

New Toyota Altis & New Honda Accord

Went to view these 2 newly launched models just before lunch. Dropped Angela and her colleague at Orchard as I had a lunch appointment with a former colleague. Seeing that it was still a little early, I decided to go window shopping. The Altis is huge. Besides, the interior dashboard layout is a marked improvement from mine. What really impressed me is that they have decided to do away with the rear 'hump' and have a flat floor just like the Vios and Camry. However, the same cannot be said of the Accord which has the 'hump' and the overall exterior looks of the Honda is a real letdown. It looks so dated and clumsy. The interior is huge and the dashboard is great though the price tag is quite hefty at 98k for the base model. Very overpriced I must confess. Did not manage to test drive them but if you were to ask me what do I think of both cars, for now, I recommend that the Altis is still at its launch phase so the price is still quite high. Wait for it to fall to the low 60s is even below that. It will then be worthwhile to consider. The Accord? Too pricey and ugly. Nice interior though but the high price tag puts potential buyers off. Go for the Camry instead.

The wheels of the bus go round & round.....

CG gathering

We had an informal gathering at one of our members' place as it was their firstborn son's first month. While I was carrying Joshua, it reminded me when Esther was just 6 wks old! However, 1 thing about Joshua is that when he cries, it is not the kind of high pitched soprano like Esther but more of a bass. In fact, I find Joshua's cries more soothing rather than disturbing! Needless to say, Esther had a great time when so many of our CG members carried, entertained and played with her leaving us some opportunity to carry Joshua. Did Esther feel jealous seeing her parents carrying another infant? Well not really.

Results for the IDT mid term checkup

I scored 73% which is not bad considering the fact that I only look through the material 3 hrs before the actual test. However, I just wonder because it took me only 3 days to know the names of 70 students (32 in P2 and 38 in P4) including where they sit but having been a believer for so many years, I still recall certain verses wrongly. Maybe I ought to put on sackcloth, go fast and pray.

IDT mid term checkup

I still have not finished revising through all the memory verses and the terminlogy taught. I just wonder how I am going to pull through this.....

Hols are here

The 1 week break starts this weekend. It will be a time of planning ahead for my sup's visit and also searching for more lesson ideas. I do not really like using this particular maths text as it just pales in comparison with 2 others. I hope my coursemates will be able to find time so that we can all have our karaoke session which was postponed. Hey pple, let our vocal chords loose....

Esther walked her 1st step earlier

Went to my in-law's place for dinner and Esther will have her usual crawling session all over the house. Needless to say, she has been cruising for a while and all she needs is just a little chair or those cylindrical foot stools for her to walk assisted. She was very attracted to the remote controls on the coffee table so she tried to walk over. Well, she managed to do so unassisted. In fact, she could stand on her own without any support for quite a while. A little while later, I tried to distract her with the remote control and again, she walked those few steps. Looks like we will be busier from now. But then again, it's nice to see her progress. As I mentioned before, no matter how tired we are after a day's work, when we pick her from Just Kids, we feel energized once again.

Observations after the hols...

Boss just emailed me and he will do his 1st observation during the 1st wk or term 2. In fact, I am planning to have my SCM and CT to sit in if possible so that I can cover at one shot without having to make so many other arangements. That was what I did last year when I did a 3-in-1. So that means I can already clear 3 out of the 10 that is prescribed. So now it is time for me to polish up some things and think of something extra. Let the creative ideas flow...

Lesson on blogging

I am now in the computer lab with P4A. They are having a lesson on blogging and I decided to take this opportunity to post something on my blog. I am very sure that these bunch will pick it up rreally fast. Oops, got to vacate this terminal...be back later.

AGM

I dread such events. Especially the bean counters who will ask how every cent is being spent. Hey, if you are so uptight about it, then go and help them do the budget statement alright? Stop wasting precious time because more constructive issues can be discussed.

Fruitful day

I managed to complete my english lesson plans for the week ahead and I am left with the maths ones to go. Hopefully I can complete them tonight so that tomorrow I need not worry about having to get it done. Moreover, I managed to put in some mileage into my shoes earlier despite the very slight drizzle which stopped minutes after I started running. The whole of tomorrow might be occupied due to church commitments plus the AGM later in the afternoon. We will probably leave a little earlier once the important bits are done. So for now, it is back to maths....