Gundam Fiesta @ Compass Point 2010

Today was a great start to my second last Semester Vacation in a Polytechnic.

In the morning, I left home at 9.45am on board SMRT Service 106 for Dover MRT Station to have my passport photograph taken for a job during the F1 week. However as there was no photo booth there, I was forced to take a train to Commonwealth or I'll risk being late to meet my friends at Orchard station at 11am. I had my photograph taken, and boarded SBS Service 111 headed for Orchard MRT Station, arriving at 10.55am. I met Zhi Chyim and Eugene at 11.05, and we walked to our destination to submit our photographs, before walking to the bus stop opposite Far East Plaza at 11.25 to take SMRT Service 171 back to King Albert Park. At 11.55am, I boarded SMRT Service 77 home, while they transferred to school on SBS Service 74.

I spent 105 minutes at home, playing on my laptop and packing for a set of long bus rides in the afternoon. First, I would be heading for Compass Point at Sengkang, to take some photographs at the second Singapore Gundam Fiesta. I would then take a bus either to Bedok or Tampines from there(I was so engrossed in my game I forgot to check if any bus could take me straight to Tampines or a bus interchange nearby, and of course, I did not check if any bus services could take me closer to home from Tampines). Of course, if there's a shortage of time, I would have to travel by the Mass Rapid Transit train(which would be a minus for me as I only have a concession pass for travel by bus).

I checked the bus arrival at my bus stop. SMRT Services 189 and 106 were arriving at 1.46pm and 1.42pm respectively, and again at 1.55pm. I left home at 1.45pm, and boarded 189 which arrived at 1.55pm. I reached Clementi MRT Station at 2pm, arriving at the Temporary Bus Interchange(probably my first Regional Bus Station) 7 minutes later. I boarded SBS Service 156 bound for Sengkang Bus Interchange(my first long distance bus ride for the day, with an estimated travel time of 60minutes) at 2.14pm. The first part of the journey felt rather fine, as I was travelling on familiar soil. However, some time after passing through Bishan, I started to feel as though I was travelling in a foreign land. The change was subtle, yet I had mixed feelings. Although in my mind I knew that I was still in Singapore, my heart told me otherwise, that I was in some foreign land, though it wasn't as strong as a year ago when I visited Sengkang for the first time.

Shortly before I arrived at Sengkang Bus Interchange at 3.26pm(4 minutes ahead of schedule;total time of travel: 100minutes; distance travelled: 28.4km), the high LRT lines came into view. I felt as though I was in a commercial plane which was descending onto the runway. Upon alighting, I went to search for the board with the bus service information. There was only 1 bus service linking Sengkang to Bedok Bus Interchange. That was the closest I could get to Tampines. Oh well, depending on how things go, I might be forced to take a train from Bedok Station to Tampines Station.

I started off with a walk around Compass Point. As it was past 2.30pm, most students would have been dismissed from school on the first day, so it might get crowded. First thing I saw was the Gundam Fiesta. From the main entrance, I felt a little disappointed, as it looked exactly the same as last year's from that perspective. I decided not to worry so much and leave that for later. The first floor still felt like the current Jurong Point, connected to the Bus Interchange and Train Station. The rest of the floors felt like a "rounded" West Mall, minus the cinema. At the top floor, I looked down. Hey! The set up's different! There's much to say here, but I'll let the pictures do the talking. The link would be up as soon as I upload my photographs on Facebook. As I walked around, I planned my photo opportunities. Though I had slightly more than an hour to spare, I had barely ample time to take photographs of the whole exhibition(though the area covered was small, but the exhibits were greater in number this year with a whole lot of limited edition model kits on display). I guess it was a blessing in disguise for me not to have located the kit lens and was kind of forced to leave home with the 50mm prime lens that afternoon, for I was able to take lots of great close-up portraits of the humanoid models. I would say that this year's fiesta was planned in a similar manner compared to the previous year, and the organisers have gone two or three up to add on more new, and limited edition models, as well as the palm of a life-sized, 18-metre tall Gundam model that took 6 months to put together in Japan. For once, maybe I had missed it last year, I understood the different grades of the model kits, which are categorised into the High Grade, Master Grade and Perfect Grade.

I left for Bedok on board SBS Service 87 at 4.34pm(4 minutes behind schedule). I did not feel anything during the journey. It felt as though I was travelling on familiar soil, even though I had never been to a few places along the way. I arrived at Bedok at 5.10pm(6 minutes behind schedule; total travel time of 100 + 36 = 136 minutes; distance travelled: 28.4km + 13.6km = 42.0km). As I had only 20 minutes of travel time left(a result of my poor route planning), I had to spend a little more to travel the last leg of my journey for the day by train, from Bedok Station to Tampines Station, a total of 3 train stops. I did not notice Danial and Zarifah opposite me until Danial came over and gave me the bubbly 'poke'. They came from the city after catching Resident Evil, in 3D. We all met up with the rest of the Toastmasters group at 5.35pm(5 minutes behind schedule; total travel time of 100 + 36 + 15 minutes = 151minutes). We planned a couple of stuff from 6 till 8.30pm, before going to a food court for dinner.

At 9.55pm, I boarded SMRT Service 67 bound for Choa Chu Kang, toward my Former Primary School after King Albert Park, on my return leg of the trip. I had an unexpected, but enjoyable conversation via the Short Messaging System which helped keep me awake and relaxed on the way home. Before Entering Upper Bukit Timah, the moon tonight was one big, beautiful orange crescent! If only I was daring enough to take out my camera to take a shot of the sight. I arrived at the bus stop at 11.05pm(total travel time of 70 minutes). 15 minutes later, I boarded SMRT Service 77 bound for Bukit Batok, and headed home, stepping into my room at 11.28pm(total travel time of 70 + 23 = 93 minutes).

My travel history for the day:

106 > train > 111 > Orchard Road > 171 > 77 > Home > 189 > 156 > Compass Point > 87 > train > Tampines Mall > 67 > 77 > Home

Though for a moment I forgot the significance of confiding and having a conversation, I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent. I wouldn't mind sacrificing time for others, but I would mind if others had to sacrifice part of their time for me.

National Day Weekend

Happy 45 birthday!

The recent weekend was kind of special. On Friday, I went to purchase some gear for taking the fireworks over the 2 weekends. On Saturday, went to the flyer with my relatives. In fact, it was our first time. Brought all my gear, hoping to see things I had never seen before. Indeed there was, and we saw students arriving at the F1 pit building, and on the way down 20 minutes later, we saw them making their way to the floating platform. That evening we went to Long Beach for a seafood dinner. Enjoyed it alot, and I tasted prawns for the first time(as I was afraid of the taste of the prawns since young). A prawn surprisingly tastes similar to the crab.

On Sunday, we had a gathering at my uncle's place for lunch. Quite a pleasant drive there, and that was the first time I parked the car perfectly in 1 reverse attempt, and at a car park my dad had never driven to! Went to Clementi to buy dinner and snacks for a soccer match later that evening. We had instant noodles for dinner. The next day, well, easy going morning, but as the time got later, things just kept getting better.

Woke up at 9.20am, surprised that my dad had not gone to work. 30 minutes later, I realised it was the nation's birthday. Lunch was simple, took a family photo after aeons before going to Hort Park(wrong timing) in smart casual attire, which was a wrong decision under hot and humid weather conditions. Went home, changed and went to Commonwealth where we took a train to City Hall to meet my aunt and uncle. Adjourned to the Singapore Recreation Club(SRC), but we had to make a couple of detours along the way. Kind of impressed with the two guys in charge of an exit at City Link. We managed to enter after leaving city link from an alternative exit at 7.20pm after the floats cleared the waiting area and the barricades were temporarily opened. Watched part of the parade live, watched how my dad offered advice to another member who was impressed we knew about the 1/3 rule of photography and videography. During the finale, it was as though I was watching a scene from the Gundam Seed Anime being played in front of me. The red fireworks that swept across the sky from the left to the right of the skyline at the start, was like the thousands of nuclear warheads being intercepted in the anime series.

During that time, I was someone who looked like her (except she was taller and whose voice had a higher pitch) sitting beside me, using a phone of a similar model but of a different colour, taking shots of the pyrotechnics with her family. Had the urge to help her like my father did, but decided not to, since it might spoil the experience for them. Moreover, a voice was telling me to continue waiting patiently, to walk on.

Today was spent on watching the encore telecast on the internet, chatting with a friend whose face I have never seen, who I have never met. My marathon training began today, with the 8-kilometre route. The timing wasn't up to my personal standard, but it was fine, since I had just recovered from a flu and minor knee injuries. Tomorrow, is the day I begin on my intensive revision for the final exams.

Meeting somewhere between December and February. The decision which might make or break it, just like the mere 5 minutes I experienced at Bedok Bus Interchange more than 2 years back.

SG "Tour"- DAY 4(Sengkang)

Woke up this morning at 10.30am, and I thought. Since yesterday I did not have the chance to go to Sengkang the day before, why not go today? Maybe not. I felt sleepy, and my muscles were aching from the tiring ride the previous day. Drank some milo mum made early that morning, and out of curioisity, I flipped through the issue of My Paper that was left on the table. An article caught my eye. There's a GUNDAM Fiesta going on at Compass Point, and today's the first day! Perfect timing. I told Mum I was going to leave for Compass Point at 12 and would only be back at 7. She asked the usual,"Why not ask some of your friends along? Aren't they having their holidays as well?"

Simply, I said as we left for the bus stop,"I don't think my friends would want to walk with me under the hot sun taking pictures of HDB flats, though they might be interested in the first GUNDAM fiesta in the country." Mum was meeting Dad to go buy stuff and have lunch that afternoon.

Boarded 189 and left for Clementi. Transferred to service 156 to Sengkang, on a journey which lasted more than 2 hours. A bus is the way to go if you wanted a slower and more relaxed pace in travelling. The bus wasn't crowded at all throughout the trip. Reached Sengkang Interchange at 2pm, and it felt almost as though I had arrived at another country. Alright, first stop, Compass Point. There it was, just the way I had imagined the scale of the fiesta to be as I read through the advertisement earlier that morning. Relatively small, with numerous exhibits of the various designs of GUNDAM model kits on show.

I left on a short tour around the shopping mall, before going on to the Interchange complex which contained the Bus interhcange, LRT station and Sengkang MRT Station. Deja vu. I dreamt about this place a couple of months back. It was a dream where I was at a theme park in Genting with some friends, and the shopping complex had the same decordations found on the wall of the interior of Compass Point, on the fourth floor. A ship, a lady and a pirate if I could remember correctly. Compass Point definitely has almost every shop you could find at West Mall, except it was missing a cinema. However, the shopping mall was more lively and had more space than West Mall, though it only had 4 floors compared to the 5 that West Mall has.

As for the interchange complex, it was from another dream. I can't say for sure if that dream truly was deja vu, but the only things that were exactly the same was the LRT train, the interior design of the place, and the staff on duty at the basement, who surprisingly also wore the same lime green unifroms that only the SBS service staff wore.The staff on duty at the MRT platform wore the maroon uniforms put on by SMRT service staff. I did not realise it until I saw the lift and escalators that linked the LRT platform a couple of floors up and the MRT platform in the basement. In that dream, I was on the way from after making a visit to school on Teachers' Day, alone. In that dream, it started with me alighting from a bus and meeting other friends in school. The MRT Station, surprisingly had a basement for an LRT platform, and a platform a floor above.

I did not go down to look at the MRT platform, but I went up onto the LRT platform. It's different from the one at Bukit Pangjang. And there they were, 2 service staff in their bright, lime green uniforms chatting to each other. Similar to that dream, I missed 2 trains before boarding a train, finally. Went on Route C(or was it route B?) along the compassvale side of the route, before alighting and boarded another train for route B(or was it route C?). I kind of got myself confused with the simple network of the LRT system there, for it is in the shape of the figure 8. However, the 4 routes were rather confusing. For example, would the train I board go on route A, before continuing on route D when it arrived at the Sengkang LRT Station again? And the directions of the route change at 3pm, which were rather interesting. You don't see the trains change directions along any other LRT or MRT line in Singapore (I'll find out if it's the same for Punggol next Wednesday when I try out the line) at 3pm.

I alighted at Fernvale, and started taking photographs once again. By then, school students were already dismissed from school, so it was kind of a great, last minute plan, where I did not have to squeeze onto a over crowded LRT train. There's something about the train itself. Not only was it different than the trains you would see on the Chua Chu Kang LRT line, the trains were also faster, although you had to wait between 2 to 5 minutes for a train to arrive. Compared to the Chua Chu Kang LRT where you would see trains passing by almost every 2 to 3 minutes, I saw a train pass by on the Sengkang LRT line roughly every 3 to 5 minutes, maybe more.

2.50pm, all the way till 4pm. As expected, I did not get lost though it was my first time there, thanks to the LRT line. I did not expect that I would complete walking the full route within 2 hours! One thing that I could observe about my "tour" so far. The archietecture and design of the HBD flats there are definitely more attractive and they sure look more modern than the HDB flats in the western parts of Singapore, in places such as Jurong and Bukit Panjang. Some of the flats even looked like condos without the fences and swimming pools! Perhaps, the flats at Punggol would look similar, or even better?

Took a break at 4, before returning to Compass Point for the Fiesta. It was real crowded by the time I got back, though the queues at the cashier wasn't as long as I had expected. Bought a little gift for my brother who would be turning 16 the coming month, before boarding 156 and headed back to Clementi Interchange where I boarded 106 back home. Arrived at my doorstep at 7.15pm.

Here's some of the photographs taken this afternoon:

Oh, and if you would like to see more, Here's the links to the 4th day of the "tour" and the GUNDAM Fiesta @ Compass Point.

"sg tour"-DAY 4(part 1)

"sg tour"-DAY 4(part 2)

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=32772&id=1040930846&saved#/album.php?aid=32772&id=1040930846

Marina Square,again

Today the same few of us,Wei Wen, Joycelyn,Lim,Sean and I went back to Marina Square for a nice and appetising dinner at Long John Silvers. Tonight was perhaps one of those times that I took longer than usual to finish my food ya,since I had just undergone dental surgery a couple of days back.

Well,before that, went over to Bedok to meet a friend for a short moment before heading down to White Sands at Pasir Ris to stock up on some basic stationery for the new life in two weeks time.It was already 4.20pm when I received Joyce's message saying that the time was indeed confirmed as 4.45pm today. I immediately rushed back by train to City Hall Station in 40 minutes,reaching there at 5pm, and met her and Wei Wen near New York New York.. So we headed for MPH where we met up with Lim and adjourned to Long John Silvers at Marina for dinner. Sean came soon after, meant as a surprise for Joyce and Wei Wen.

Once we were done, we went to Famous Amos to get Joyce's cookies for her school visit tomorrow,before parting ways to head home.Met one of Joyce's friends on the way home,and Lim helped form the new bonds with a fellow freshman from Ngee Ann.So,for now, it seems like I cant complete a model given to me by Thadd,Vera,Wei Wen and Valerie as a birthday gift and another model given to me about a year ago by a friend.So, hopefully I can stay up late into the night tomorrow till sunrise.

So,guess it's just going to be at least the same few of us for the next few outings yea?Well, at least I know, that I have made many great friends back in MI, and even though those days are over, we're still together as a small flame of the torch that would never die out under harsh conditions...

[Blog Update]
-Re-linked Chong Siang(CS LEO)

Completion of Gundam GN-002 Dynames

Well, I got this as a birthday gift from Sean and Cherie last Tuesday, and it was a new model from a new series, Gundam 00. Seems like Ban Dai has improved the details of its 1/100 scale models,adding new features and materials to the models. This sure was one of the toughest models I have come across.

Name: GN-002 Dynames

Details:
Actual Height:18.2m
Actual Weight:59.1 tonnes

Model Details:
1/100 Scale Model
Time taken:6 hours 30 minutes

Anyway,although I just realised that the legs have been joint in the wrong position, here are the pictures:


Just completed


"Docked" state



The Head



"Launched" state



GN Full Shield fully extended



Upper torso




Primary Weapon: GN Sniper Rifle(wielded)

Secondary Weapon: GN Beam Pistol
wielded

Casing and pistol(view 1, casing opened)

View 2,casing opened

View 3,casing closed



Melee Weapon:GN Beam Saber
Wielded

Un-activated and activated modes

Holder and un-activated saber

Rear Thruster(s):

Poses,views and details:

New Chapters

Well,this post is for Tuesday,25 March.

Sean,Cherie,Thaddd,Vera,Fiona,Lim,Priscilla,Wei Wen and I met up at City Hall Mrt Station, before walking over to Marina Square for dinner.Before that, Thadd,Sean and Cherie gave Priscilla and I a nice surprise.Gifts for our birthdays(least expected that)! Thanks you guys!Well, it was quite a long walk, but soon we settled for dinner at Swensen's.Ordered lots of dishes, and Lim gave us yet another good surprise.How could a double birthday celebration do without a cake?

Then on the way back home at around 9pm,we discovered 4 new chapters in the lives of 4 friends who were ahead of us.Well, seems like a great start for them ya?So, that should mark 6 new chapters in the month of March, with many more new challenges ahead waiting to be overcomed.

Well then, since there's nothing much to say,I'll just compose another poem:

The tide was coming in,
But the moon never showed its light.
Where was the moonlight,
The light that has always guided our ship?

The Desert heat was closing in,
But the Sun kept showing its fury.
Where was the calmness in its glory,
The warmth that has always reassured us of our destination?

The darkness was setting in,
But the lamp's flame showed its determination.
Where was our trust in its resolution,
The perserverence that always seen us through time?

Trials

THE school holidays has finally hit the last weekday. Puting many things aside, seems like many events unfold during this one week of intense revision period and other things.

First, Monday was sort of like off to school for a course. Polytechnic life, the student is free to come and go as and when he or she wants to go. I came just to experience polytechnic life as well as to gain new insight into a course that I had never heard of(that's what made this trip interesting).Singapore Polytechnic that was, and I went with Randall and Attiqah on board course H(I think it's more to design). There were practically no examinations for the 4 Diploma courses offered here, though there is one, which is like an audition. Not to forget,heading out to Jurong Entertainment Centre with Chong Siang,Suzane and Wei Fan for dinner, before setting my eyes on two more ptential models(the Eternal and the Minerva from the gundam seed series,an anime)

This week seemed to be an odd-numbered-day orientated one, since the major events occured only on Monday,Wednesday and of course,today.Tuesday,nothing, just some intense Mathematics,Humanities and Science revision,same for Thursday.

Wednesday. This day shall be ranked number two in the things that passed time most quickly.
Went back to school to ask Mr Liew some questions on Mathematics, as well as did Social Studies and Physics revision in school. There were only eight of us there,Andy,Gabriel,Fong Yong,Banu,Carina,Jun Jie,Steven and I that morning, although someone said that most of the class,if not, the whole class was coming.Since I did not have many questions to ask, I practically did more questions which were challenging all the way till 12 plus in the afternoon. By the way,we started at 9.30 that morning. Went for lunch near the school, and found out that Mr Liew sure deserved the Most Energetic Teacher Award during the Teachers' Day Celebrations. We talked about almost anything while waiting for me to finish my noodles(extra spicy,should have resisted the temptation).Come to think of it, you don't have to spend six or even nine hours a day on revision, since all you need is to understand and remember what you had revised for that day. Surprisingly,I completed my revision for the day within five hours.Wow.

Alright,now on to today. I tried this out for today exclusively,but not for the fun of doing it though. First, play some computer games shortly after you awake early(and I mean early) at around 4am perhaps? After that, grab a textbook and some notes(especially for science) and just do the memorising. You will find that you can actually remember most of the facts very quickly. However, don't try it for mathematics, in the sense that you do a full mathematics paper(I practically failed as I did it half awake). It was almost 6am when I did that. After that, get some sleep before you start revision again at 10am. Now that's really extreme.Sadly, Dad found out about it(maybe becasue I forgot to keep the notes after finishing the revision?) and got away with advice(I don'thave to use it at all). And as for the reward, I could head out again on another lone trip to Suntec City for the Cyber Games Convention.I din't go,unfortunately. First it was going to rain, next,my mother told me there would be more chances of going out with friends after the examinations, so why bother to go there alone for now?I prefer to visit exhibitions alone,especially when there's a crowd there(no need to worry about losing sight of friends and family and you tend to squeeze through the crowds more easily). Nevermind, one hour might not be enough for this, so, why not go again with my whole family tomorrow,when things would be more fun with them around.I had planned to go at 3.30pm, but I calculated that I would not have enough time to complete walking around the whole thing in one hour,since you could play some computer games there as well,since I had to be back by 6 for dinner and more revision.

Anyway,this holiday sure has been a fruitful one for me,given the circumstances that I was ale to experience both the bright and dark sides of polytechnic and junior college life before I made my final decision(confirmation and determination of where to go) this week.So,three more days it is to the prelims, wishing all taking examinations all the best as usual!

Conflicts

The events that occured today all revolved around this word, "conflict". The first incident occured as early as this morning, as I was struggling to wake up. Now,being a "fine" Tuesday morning, the journey to school was short, and yet filled with many incidents. A female student and another teenage girl having a conflict at an escalator landing, followed by two paramedics leaving the Clementi MRT station shortly after 6.30am. No wonder those flashing lights were turned on at the opposite site of the road.

Now, in school, I had some sort of an emotional conflict?Should I tellthe others that the classroom can be opened, or should I not, since it was almost seven in the morning, and that meant only twenty minutes before school actualy started for the day. Never mind, just walk on, and there they were, at the staircase opposite the admin block. At first, I thought, should I go over?Unfortunately, I was spotted. Am I such an ominus person(as Im someone who seemed to be the least interesting)? nevermind, let's just head over to the canteen, have a little chat with Gabriel before heading over to them later on. Went there, took a short break, saw Ms Lim with Zing Zai heading to the office to get the keys to the classroom.Headed up the stairs. Where have they gone? 3N2 classroom. Andy,Steven,Banu and the both of them, as well, were in there(See that, I still can't make up my mind whether or not to list their names down!!!). Helped Andy with his revision, since, if I was unable to get those acts in, might as well help those who were still willing to take the risk and make full use of the last minute revision.

After assembly, the whole class was wondering which way to take, since we were the first to head to the hall. Once there, examination started, I could not make up my mind about which essay question on conflicts would help me sustain a 2 this time round? Guess, after that futile attempt,that grade would only be wandering in my dreams. English Language Paper 1. My favourite. Did the question on "Singaporeans today are more demanding and impatient becuase they are more educated. Do you agree?"This one was much betterthan the two essays I did earlier this morning. I finished it in twenty minutes,inclusive of planing time. Guess what?I broke my record for writing a discussive essay(previous best:30minutes, inclusive of planing time, as well as using only a piece of paper to write a single essay for the first time), Here,I had a battle of words to propose about the ideas for the letter writing, with the main attraction being my one hour of pondering over the format to use for the proposal. In all, I used up an hour and twenty minutes to complete this section. The remaining 5 minutes? I did a mindmap about the title,"Freedom". If you had watched the anime series, Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny, you will know what is the freedom Gundam. Well, you guessed it, I wrote out a plan about the description of the Freedom, as well as the conflicts it and its pilot went through.Surprisingly, I took only 2 minutes and a half to come up with the plan, but, I sort of erased the plan in case someone found out about that.

Anyway, after that, headed home, had a mental conflict this time, Should I even touch the computer? That was my undoing tonight, for I had wasted 3 hours' worth of revising for the coming examinations, which I have completed only 90 or so percent. Seems like its time to stope here, as I have brainwashed everything that had happened to day right here... Seems like I won't have to worry about today until the results are released next week or the week after...


Until today, I have never known the true meaning of stress, not even last year, when I fumbled while at the frontline of the uniformed group. Till today,I only know that I had met my worse enemy, fear, and stress has yet to make its first appearance. ..