A visit to Bosch Roadshow at Chevron House

I do not have any advertising banners on my blog. My purpose of blogging is to help me remember some of the events in my journey of life. I was somehow in a mailing group of omy.sg and they have been sending me invitations to certain events and promotions. I thought to myself that I should at least try to attend one of these events and here I go..my 1st event..Bosch Automotive Check-In Week Roadshow.

In conjunction with Bosch Car Service week, Bosch Automotive and omy.sg came together to work on a project known as  Bosch Automotive Check-In Week for the duration of 28th May- 2nd June 2012.


Now, mention Bosch and the 1st thing that came to my mind would be a series of electric drills and other similar looking tools. Never did it cross my mind that Bosch actually have a range of products for cars too!

Windscreen Wipers blades, car batteries, spark plugs, oil and air filters and even braking systems are some of the products. When I used to sent my Toyota Vios for servicing at the dealership, I did not even know how an oil filter or a spark plug looked like! All I got was a list telling me that this was changed, that was changed.. It was only recently then I got to learn from my mechanic what some of these items looked like.
The mascot for Bosch is Uncle Bob. You can see him on Bosch Automotive Facebook page.
In fact, they were giving away lots of Uncle Bob figurine at the roadshow earlier..

I was given one of the figurine to bring home, but it did not manage to reach home with me. I was taking the MRT home when a little girl approximately 2 years of age were throwing tantrums and crying at the top of her voice. There was nothing her mum could do to pacify her. I looked into my goodie bag..well..I cannot be giving the toddler an oil filter right? 


There goes my Uncle Bob figurine..I had wanted to keep him for my daughter. Amazingly, the moment the little girl received Uncle Bob..she stopped crying and completely calmed down.
Everybody in that train carriage, including her mum, looked at me with grateful eyes and I felt like a hero at that moment..I wonder if they still have some more of these Uncle Bob somewhere ;)

SAF Commando Club movie outing: Act of Valor

Just came back from an outing with members of the SAF Commando Club. 
We coordinated to watch a movie(see trailer below) together on our Facebook Group and have decided on tonight Saturday 10th March 2012 at Ang Mo Kio Hub with one of our member arranging for us to watch the movie at $7 with a free drink and pop-corn thrown in! I would like to express my gratitude to all the people who made this possible and hope that we'll have more to come..be it events or members.

We took a group photo after the movie..! 

The deal we had was to flash our red beret to get free pop-corn and drinks..mine is on the shirt..

The fire-power in the movie is very impressive to me, especially when the 2 boats came in to the rescue at the extraction point(see approx 2.30 in the trailer below)..that is what I call 'suppressive fire'. 


It reminds me of the fact that although I had a few years of active service and reservist under my belt, I had never gotten to fire my rounds like this before..counting 'twenty-one..one-two' when firing isn't that fun nor thrilling at all. I don't think we were even issued that many rounds for live-firing.


 I have only thrown one live hand grenade in my whole life so far..under very controlled conditions..I cannot imagine how 'garang' I am going to be in war as I didn't strap a few hand grenades on myself before like what they shown in movies. I only took out my grenade very carefully from a canister when I reached my throwing bay..


Every time I read about government increasing our defense budget spending, I cannot help but ask myself: Are our army boys going to get more realistic training with this increase or the last few? Will they get to throw more than one hand grenade in their lifetime? Will they get to fire more live ammunition rather then 'universal rounds'(it means just use your mouth and echo 'bam..bam..bam..' while u pretend to shoot).


Or are all these increased spending money going into the likes of some kind of related contractors for engineering or logistics or food? When I sat in the cookhouse as a reservist having my meal, I used to wonder why the budget for breakfast, lunch and dinner and night snack are not cheaper since this is a bulk contract. Why are 'Bangalas'(foriegners) allowed into our secretive camp to wash our plates and trays under the Singapore Food Industries contract? Will our national security be compromised? 


In times of war, will the uncles and aunties currently employed by these food contractors come back to camp or go out field with us to cook for us? Will the staff of e-mart continue to stand by our troops to issue uniforms,boots, socks etc in times of war..? What happened to the chefs that used to pile rice on my tray and gave me wire-like bee hoon? There are some things that simply cannot be outsourced..there are some problems that money cannot solve..Are my concerns valid? Or this should be the problem for top-level Generals in the SAF? Or should we just be at peace assuming that our country will never go to war..as long as certain organizations keep raking in the money and the top-level keep drawing the top pay..Peace!


Maybe I should not watch too many war movies...behind all these stylo-milo action mamas..there is a lot of logistics behind it..if the logistics fail to work..then there'll be no stylo-milo..


Last but not least..special thanks to the big commando in the sky and our fallen comrades for watching over us! You are not forgotten!

A place for our senior folks please..

My Teochew grandparents were a great part of my life. They took care of me when both my parents were at work and they spent the most time with me outside of school. I can speak Teochew because of them.
One of the ritual I had to perform at their funeral.. Use a pair of chopsticks and place some rice and tofu on their lips and say in Teochew: 你养我大，我养你老 ..it means something like 'you watched me grow up and I watched you grow old(and pass away)'.


At that very moment, many images of my interactions with them actually flashed by in a split second and I suddenly realized again that they are gone forever. You can never imagine the sense of loss I felt.
The only consolation I had was that we did not have to send them away to a home as we had enough manpower in the extended family to care for them.


Of course, the family structure in our society have changed since then and faced with a rapidly greying population and full time working family, sometimes entrusting the care of senior folks to professional caregivers seem to be the only choice that some families have.


Recent news report I read about 53 out of 60 households from Block 861 in Woodlands St 83 petitioning against the setting up of an eldercare centre at the void deck.. Another report 2 days back regarding residents in Toh Yi objecting  to plans for studio apartments for old folks in their vicinity..It makes me wonder why has our society evolved to this stage? Senior folks used to be the most respectable group in my granparents' era, so where have all these respect gone to? Is this going to happen all over Singapore as more and more elder facilities are required?

I went on a visit to Lions Home for the Elders organized by WPYW ExCo during the Chinese New Year period. We try as much as possible to donate to their wish list with our limited resources. I got the feeling that having such a facility that provides a great service for families with such a need.

While we were giving out oranges, ang pows, and wishing the residents Happy Chinese New Year, one of the bed-ridden resident held on to my team mates' hands and sobbed uncontrollably.. I think he is unable to speak. My heart was in pain to see this and I could not even speak. 

Such eldercare facilities take care of our old folks. I cannot believe that our society today is protesting against such facilities in their vicinity. 


Everyone of us will grow old one day. Some of us may have people around us that takes good care of us..some of us may have kids who may send us to an old folks' home..some worse off, may not have anyone to take care of them at all.


Singapore is a small country and we definitely have scared resources in terms of land use..However, the biggest place that you can ever give to our senior folks is right here in your hearts.

My best buddy in Thailand

I just received news this morning that P' Aey was hospitalized due to 'narrow blood vessels' and after further clarifications and even giving him a call, I guess he must have gotten a stroke as he cannot speak clearly.

This comes as a shock to me as we are not so far apart in terms of age and also serve as another wake up call for me as we are not so far off in terms of lifestyle too..

I hope he can recover soon while I reconsider my 'quit drinking' new year resolution.

Happy New Year to all my friends!

Happy Deepavali !

Photosource: Link
Wishing All Hindu Friends and family Happy Deepavali with blessings of...

Lakshmi: Divine Energy
Vishnu: Happiness
Kubera: Wealth
Indra: Opulence
Gajendra: Carries the wealth
Deepavali ki Shubhkamnayein
(दीपावली की शुभकामनाएं)

October is the time for Oktoberfest..

Oktoberfest is a 16–18 day beer festival held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, running from late September to the first weekend in October.
Only beer which is brewed within the city limits of Munich is allowed to be served in this festival. Upon passing this criterion, a beer is designated Oktoberfest Beer. Oktoberfest Beer is a registered Trademark by the Club of Munich Brewers.
Well..I attended an 'Oktoberfest' in Singapore yesterday with 2 friends..

One of my main disappointment is that the beer comes in wussy plastic cups of suppossedly 330 & 500ml capacity instead of the Maß (a 1 liter mug) at the actual Oktoberfest..

My opinion that beer served in plastic cups is such a turn-off and rob this particular Oktoberfest of its festive spirits. I see it as another excuse to get it's patrons drunk..Luckily, none of my friends end up as "Bierleichen" (Beer Corpses).
Don't you think that it really feels different drinking beer from a proper mug as compared to a plastic cup? Look at the picture below..it's supposed to be that kind of mugs.

I did not touch a single drop of beer at all yesterday.

Who will clean up these areas???

I was walking around Aljunied GRC this afternoon and came across a dirty location seemingly not swept for a period of time and weeds were growing out of the cracks in between the bricks on the ground...

I was about to call up Aljunied-Hougang Town Council when I realized that this may be one of the 26 locations taken away from the Town Council in the recent saga..

Well then, I duno who to call now..who is in charge of cleaning up all these places??