Iceland - a peculiar travel destination

Traveling in Iceland is quite unique.

Firstly, weather in this country is ridiculously super minded. Check the forecast and u can see all kinds of description. In my short stay here I've encountered so many different type of weather conditions.

Fog

Snowstorm

Rainstorm

Bright sun

Gentle snow

Sand storm

Prolonged rain

Strong winds

Because of this unique weather behavior, gave rise to this interesting quotation on many souvenirs here. 

"If you don't like the weather here, just wait 5mins"

The ficklemindedness of the weather also means that any trip here should be planned with more spare days to cater for sub-optimal weather conditions. Especially if your itinerary includes northern light hunting or ice caving. These are 2 activities that require a specific SET of weather conditions to carry out. 

Secondly is the Icelandic currency, kronas. Iceland is a place where you can survive without a single cent. 

We spend almost 2 weeks here and have not a single cent of local currency. Everything can be paid for using the credit card. 

From paying for hotels, tours, car rentals to small purchases like a coke or a snickers bar, credit card is excepted. For certain unique items like taking the bus or paying for petrol, you can buy and top up a stored value card with credit card. Voila!! No cash required at all!!!

Downside of using the card for everything is that u really need to make a mental note of your expenditure. Otherwise, you can easily go broke. By the time u get the monthly bill, it's too late.

Third, food in Iceland is simple. Fish n lamb are the main staple. White fish like cod, halibut are common. Exotic choices like whale (minke), fermented shark, dried haddock are also available. But it seems these exotic choices are now more for tourists than locals.

Local lobsters are actually langoustines which are pretty much larger prawns with lobster-like shells. Quite tasty of done well. Lobster soup is also popular. I've had several versions of this dish. All yummy!!

Lamb had always been my personal favourite. Aside for the usual grilled option, locals also like to use it in soup, commonly just called meat soup. Typical meat soup is like an oily version of minestrone without tomatoes and with chunks of lamb. It's really good for the subzero temperatures.

Water, locals will tell you that Iceland water comes from the glaciers and is the cleanest tap water u can find in the world. For the cold tap water, yes it is. But watch out for the hot water from the taps, it has a strong sulphur taste and smell as it was heated by geothermal steam. For the uninitiated, it's going to be like rotten eggs. Effervescent vitamin C tabs or tea bags would be useful to cover the taste.

Finally, driving in Iceland is a breeze. Traffic is typically light. Considering its enormous land area and ridiculously small population, I've hardly seen a traffic jam, even though most adults here have a car or jeep. Motorcycles are few and far between.

There's only 1 major road that connects the entire country, highway 1. Even though it's a highway and majority of its speed limit is 90km/h, much of it outside the capital is only 2-lane, 2-way. In Singapore these roads will be considered  local accesses. It's not easy to get lost, given the lack of official roads, but if you ever go onto the dirt tracks, memorise your way back.

You will not see much traffic along highway 1, but don't be deceived by the route. The weather poses a huge threat. I had drove in thick fog where I could not see anything more than 20m away. Heavy snow and rain. Strong winds cause the biggest worry. There are occasions where I had to steer with a 5-10degree offset just to keep the car straight.

It is also very important to note that the direction which u stop the car becomes important under strong wind conditions. I almost had my car door ripped off by the wind had we not hold on to the door handle. Recommendation is to stop the car facing the wind. It's better to have a tougher time opening the door than to drive without a door. 

You have been warned!!

The sparse population also mean that petrol stations do not come as frequently as in Singapore. You have to plan your journey with a petrol station or 2 in mind. I faced the situation where the kiosk just did not work at one station and I had to backtrack to another kiosk to get petrol. I was running on reserves on that journey. Lucky I didn't need a tow in the end.

Paying for petrol is also peculiar. In the daytime it's usually fine if the station is manned. Just go to the counter and pay as per normal with your credit card. 

Difficulty comes when at night or at stations which are self-service, of which many are. A pin is required with your credit card. Iceland cards have a 4-digit pin. Singapore cards typically have 5 or 6digit pins. My experience with 2 brands are as follows.

Shell, self service kiosk only allowed me to key in 4 digits of pin. I tried first 4 digits of my UOB card and it was rejected. I tried the same with my Standard Chartered card and it worked.

N1, the biggest network of stations in Iceland. It accepted my UOB card with 6 digit pin and also my Standard Chartered card with a 5 digit pin. There's also the avenue to buy a prepaid card at manned stations for use at N1 self service stations. 

I would recommend N1 from my own experience.

There are only 2 types of fuel at most stations, 95 or diesel. Some have biodiesel. So no headaches for choice.

Iceland Day 8, Monday, March 17

Today we are leaving Skalafell, it's our last chance for ice caving. Our host at the guest house, Thorstein, arranged for us to meet the ice cave guide, Oskar directly at the glacier lagoon, which was near the cave.

It was great for Thorstein to do what he did. Oskar was actually fully booked, but he did Thorstein a favour and squeezed a slot in for us. 

Apparently the weather this morning gives us a good chance of visiting the cave. Finally!! 

The drive to the cave was quite an adventure itself. The jeep had to go over some unearthly terrain to reach the cave. See this video i took of the off road journey. http://youtu.be/CbbzbNLNsC4

The cave is really spectacular. It's like a cave carved out of blue crystal. The walls of the cave are very smooth and clear. The place is huge! Oskar told us that this was one of the largest cave he had found in recent years. It's relatively less cold in the caves as wind did not penetrate much. It was really comfortable in there.

Pictures just don't do justice to this place. This short video may do slightly better. http://youtu.be/mmROeL2Fns8

After the cave was to be a grueling 5hr drive back to Reykjavik. Driving in Iceland is nice. Traffic is light. I'll talk more about driving in another post.

We were actually rushing back to Reykjavik to catch a northern lights tour. This is the one purpose of our trip here to Iceland. It is also the main reason why we had to extend our stay here.

Today's weather gives us a slight chance of seeing the lights finally. We've been studying the weather patterns, cloud, moon, solar activity, etc. tonight shall be the night.

Before that we had to stop somewhere for dinner. Lobsters at Stokkseyri, supposedly the best in Iceland. We had to try it. It was a little detour we had to make but it was worth it!

These langoustines are so tender and juicy. We finished almost a kilogram worth of it.

Dessert was really interesting as well, meringue with snickers. 

It felt like a light dessert but I'm sure that's part of the deceiving nature of this sinful item. Yummy!!

When we finally reached Reykjavik, we were joined with 4 others to go on this northern light hunt. We were fortunate to have them with us. They were very chatty and we benefitted with the wealth of information they shared all the way. 

Well, the important question is probably, did we see the lights. I'm glad to say that was an astounding YES! The lights came on for us twice in the freezing cold.

To get a good spot, we drove up into the hills and the temperature was -11C. We could only last a few minutes outside the jeep. 

This was the first wave. Quite faint to the naked eye. Need the help of camera manipulation to make the green glows clearer. This first was lasted only lest than 10mins and it went all dark. 

We though that was it. As the solar activity was dying down. The suddenly there was a spike in the activity and the glows came on all around us.

It was clear even to the naked eye. It was awesome. This time it lasted slightly longer. It was amazing seeing the dance of the aurora live. It was freezing cold, but the adrenaline was pumping. 

By the time the lights faded off theoon has rise. Into mid sky and lit up the place. Clouds are also covering overhead. It was the last show on the night.

This is the best day of our entire trip. This day made the entire trip worth it!!

Iceland Day 7, Sunday, March 16

It's a lazy Sunday. 

We were supposed to ice caving at noon. Apparently aside from having heavy rain, which will flood the caves, warm sunshine is not recommended as well.

The warm sun will melt the glacier excessively and will also flood the caves. Ice caving, like watching the northern lights, requires very particular weather conditions. And today was not that weather.

The weather was generally fine for outdoors. The sun was nice and bright, a great relief from the chilling winds. We decided to chill instead. Have been doing quite a bit of driving the past days. 

So it's time to just enjoy the cabin.

Iceland Day 6, Saturday, March 15

Woke up really early after an early night. We woke up to a pleasant view. It was snowing. It was gentle, romantic snow and not the rough howling snow storm we had earlier in the week. 

It was really pretty. I think yanli was so excited as it was her first time seeing falling snow. She wanted to build her own snow man. And there it was.

Not bad for a first attempt. 

We had managed to book a glacier walk for the day. We were kindda afraid that the snow would cause it to be cancelled. Fortunately, we could still go ahead as there's no strong winds in the mountains.

Walking on the glacier required crampons . It's our first time using them. Putting them on is not difficult, but gloves and thick clothing really tend to get in the way. 

Walking on the glacier was quite nerve wreaking for me. Probably, too much disaster movies make me cranky. I always feared that the ice would suddenly give way and we'll start falling into the crevasses. I think our guide, Dana, was great. Looking out for us all the time and I felt safe with her. 

I couldn't say the same for this bunch of youngsters from China, behaving like spoilt brats, especially when they can't really understand English and the guides' instructions. They were way more nerve wreaking than the glacier itself! 

The tour was a good experience for first timers like us. We hope that this would be useful for our ice caving tomorrow. If it happens that is. It's just so unpredictable in this season.

Iceland Day 5 - Friday, March 14

What was supposed to be our last day in Iceland, became a day of eureka. 

After weather washing out all our nights and possibility of seeing the northern lights, we were about to leave here with an unfulfilled dream. A wave of madness rushed into us and we had an eureka moment.

We will extend our stay in Iceland. We have travelled so far. We will only be doing ourselves a huge disservice I we allowed ourselves to leave. Hence, we plucked up out courage and made the calls.

We will be staying until Thursday, 19 March. If we are that unlucky to not see it  even till then. It's fated. But at least we have now given ourselves a fighting chance. 

Almost the entire day was spent making arrangements and cancelling arrangements. I'm sure our bill for this trip is going to sky rocket. But once again, it's a holiday budget, not a budget holiday. We went for it!!

Iceland Day 4 - Thursday, March 13

We are waiting for our guide for ice caving to contact us but he seems quite slow in responding to emails. Torsteinn, the owner of our guesthouse shared that the caves are likely to be flooded due to the rain the day before. Afternoon may be possible. 

So while waiting for news, we decided to have a short road trip first. But before that we had to have some fun with Hackla, the resident sheep dog. All the sheep are indoors, so she's free to play around with us.

We are driving to the east towards Hofn, a fishing town. It's somewhat a capital for the area. Hope to find some activities there. 

On the way there, we made a detour and drove towards a glacier, Fláajökull. Our first photo with a glacier.

Hofn, was a nice place. We could see a few glaciers across the lagoon from the port area. 

But it seems that most of the places of interest here are catered for the summer crowd. We kindda came here for lobsters cos it's in abundance here. It took a while for us to find one that's open  in this season. 

It's not cheap, in fact, it's really expensive. We are on a holiday budget, not budget holiday. So yeah..

After lunch was a long drive to the west. We received no news for ice caving and so it's off to another sight here in Iceland. Jökulsárlón, is a huge glacier lagoon.

It's a good place to see the icebergs, which broke off from the glacier, Breiõamerkurjöll.

We tried to look out for the lights again but the sky just didn't look optimistic.

Iceland Day 3

Weather for northern lights were once again poor. Temperatures were freezing again. 

That's it for Reykjavik, it's now time to head on to Skalafell to experience the glaciers. 

We had planned to set off earlier today, but we could only start our journey at about noon. Not a good idea when you have to cover 500++km. 

Well, we had to make the most out of our journey here, so we plan for a few stops to look at some sights too.

First stop, Seljalandfoss, a nice waterfall where we could walk behind it. It's was a fantastic idea and very cool to see it from a different perspective, but it's super cold!

Next was another waterfall, Skogarfoss, this is a pretty one which you can really get up close. It's was just too cold and we just looked at it from afar. The splattering water from the falls makes it even colder! 

This makes almost a third of the journey and it was already getting late. But we had one more stop to make, Vik, to get more warm accessories. :)

This brand is quite affordable. 

As we continued our drive to Skalafell, the sky got dark and fog set in. It was not an easy drive for newbies to the country like us. Furthermore highway 1 here, is really nothing more than a 10m wide Tarmac for both directions, most of it at least. 

There are also many small bridges to cross which are only single laned, so u will have to give way if there's another vehicle approaching in the opposite direction. 

There are few street lamps here. Those only exists where there are towns or cluster of houses, majority of the road is just lined with reflectors. 

Large container trucks are quite common, but every time I had to pass one, it's unnerving. They bring along huge turbulence. Our car is 4WD, and quite sturdy, but still felt the jerks when they pass. This is our ride.

By the time we reached our accommodation, it's already late at night. 

Iceland Day 2

Start to day 2 was considerably better. We were able to embark on our golden circle tour. 

The golden circle tour is a basic 3 point tours that covers a few of the popular points of interests, gulfoss, geysir & thingvellir.

Gulfoss, also known and golden falls of fall of gold is one of the prettiest waterfall in Iceland. It's a 2 step waterfall cutting through the valley. I don't remember the name of the valley nor the source of the water. Haha!!

Geysir is supposedly the birthplace of the word itself. The roots of the naming of all geysers in the world. "Gey" refers to the term "gush". According to the guide, Icelanders were never very creative or romantic in their naming conventions. Thus this phenomenon which has water/steam gushing out, they named it geysir or in plain English terms, gusher!!

Thingvellir is a national park. What's peculiar is this is where the Eurasian tectonic plate meets the Atlantic plate. The 2 plates here are divergent therefore technically the place is going to get bigger and bigger. You actually dive down  into to the submerged rifts and touch both plates. But that's not for me. 

We are glad to be able to complete this day tour as it soon began to rain again. Once again the possibility of seeing the aurora washed out.

Iceland Day 1

Not the ideal day for sight seeing.

Snowing and heavy winds almost the entire day. Both day and night tours are cancelled due to weather. Good thing we get to join the next day for free. Fingers and toes all crossed, hoping for fine weather.

With our tours cancelled, we were able to sleep in till almost noon. Despite the weather, we decided to brave it and explore the area. It turned out to be a rather outrageous idea. Cos almost no one was walking ard but us. 

The winds were very strong, certain points we had to lean forward abt 45degrees to be able to walk ahead. Our first stop was a place which sells lobster soup. The perfect dish for the cold weather. Also on the menu was minke whale. We had a portion of that too. Whale tastes like lean beef!! Who would have guessed?

We were alrdy quite full but since our next stop was the best hotdog in town. We had to try one no matter what. Eating a hotdog in the swirling snow and howling wind is quite a mean feat. I have to say the hotdog looked simple but it was very good.

We took another perilous walk to the concert hall which was built out into the water. Wind were super strong. We are just glad to rush into the building for refuge. The building was really quite cool from the inside. 

Long stairs surround the sides and the ceilings are filled with mirrors at different angles. 

Our next leg was the craziest one. Considering the cold and the wind, we decided to walk along the coast to a monument to snap some photos. 

It's just a Viking-like vessel. It's freezing!!

I hope the weather on Tuesday would clear up.

Chelsea vs Tottenham

Watching the English Premier League live is such an awesome experience.

The scale of it feels pretty much like our national celebration. But this occurs almost every other week. Attendance yesterday was close to 50,000 at Stamford Bridge. The entire place and the roads are filled with fans in blue. There were a few thousand away fans, even though were a minority, their voices were never drown out.

Cheers, jeers were plenty. From the first minute to the last second, the chanting never ends. The taunting kept coming fast and furious. Even the young kids are involved in a supposedly adult kind of language and actions. Not very advisable, but such is the football culture. 

The excitement is heartstopping. Every time the ball approaches the goal on either end, we all rise in unison to make sure we do not miss the moment of scoring. Many times we end up with the 'awww's rather that the 'yeah's. You simply cannot keep still during the game. You'll stand and sit repeatedly for hundreds of times. It's actually a workout.

This match offered view a good return for the viewers. I don't support any particular team. I watch for the excitement and adrenaline of the action. There were 4 goals in this match. Unfortunately they all happened on the far end of my seat. My seats were actually quite great, close to the pitch.

Watching the game at home has the added advantage of a commentator. At the stadium you are your own commentator and you draw your own conclusions of every incident. That's a huge fun in itself. 

Stamford Bridge seems to be a rather small stadium. It feels very different when viewed on TV. The pitch seems much smaller in life. But the players look gigantic. It seems TV dramatises the view and the experience. But watching it live is just so much better. Totally felt like you are part of the action.

The only down side is the price. Tickets cost at least £50, which is pretty much the cost of a concert ticket in Singapore. I seriously wonder how they can afford watching it week in week out. 

It's a wonderful experience. Football fans out there, this is a must try. 

Exciting Times

Tonight marks the beginning of 

a few weeks which are going to be really exciting for me. In many ways, every one of these weeks could be potentially game changing for me.

I'm now on the way to Dubai. It's just for transit but this flight has been pretty cool so far. Emirates Airbus A380 is really spacious even for our economy seats. There's wifi onboard as well, not free though.

It's our first time going to London. Although it's just going to be a short stopover, it's going to be quite eventful. Going to meet up with my cousin, some friends. We are also going to catch Chelsea vs Tottenham at Stamford Bridge as well! First time watching a premier league match live.

Next will be about a week in Iceland hunting for the fabled northern lights or the aurora borealis. Would be nice if the weather holds out and the sun also does its part to pump up the light display! Also hope my humble Canon G15 is able to capture the sights in its beauty. 

This is really a much needed break. Especially for my dear wife. She has been working really hard recently as she's heavily involved in a major event in May. She is stressed with her work, but I know she's good at what she does. I hope she'll be able to enjoy herself these few days, relax and recharge.

Returning to Singapore after this trip should be interesting for me as well. We are awaiting the news for changes in our department. There could be good news and perhaps better news. Either way, it should help me make my short term future clearer and allow me to chart my path further down the road. Hopefully things would be good and great.

Shortly after returning home, I'll be serving the nation again. I've been called up once again to serve in my sky blue uniform. However this time it seems that I'll have a job scope for me. Perhaps this time round I would be able to contribute more meaningfully to operations. Hopefully this would kick start my purpose as an NSmen. 

Just as I thought my eventful ride would end there, last week I got the news that I would be able to join a Singapore delegation to Tokyo for an event. That is really an exciting chance for me to expose myself to transportation in Japan. First time trip to Tokyo as well. 

Woohoo!!!

Cohesion

This is a term used is in our military. I believe it's existence started less then a decade ago. I don't recall this term being used during my time as an active personnel. I believe we simply called it welfare event back then.

Today we had a cohesion event for 207 at AFM Officer's mess. A day where active and NSmen come together for some time. 

Initially I was somewhat concerned if I knew anyone at the event. I was relieved to walk into the mess and immediately saw familiar faces. There quite a few familiar faces, it almost brought me back to a decade ago when I was on service.

After some chatting around and catching up. I realised once again how completely I had tried to let go of this past. I saw that many of them who had left the service still retained contact with a few. This probably allowed them to get updated more with the ongoings in the service. On the other hand I had pretty not been in any active contact with anyone aside from reading updates in Facebook. 

Nonetheless it was good to see familiar faces and catch up. If only reservist periods could have such familiarity. Once again I would like to exclaim that the service have evolved so much that it's such a huge cultural shock for me.

Looking back at 2013, and forward into 2014

2013 has been an interesting year. 

This is the first year in my life as a married man. Married life so far has been kind to us. We do not need to worry about household expenses or chores yet. We were well taken care off this entire year. I'm deeply thankful that we only need to bother about our own stuff in my small room. It's a small little training before assuming greater responsibilities. Being married also means that much of this post would be about us rather than me. :)

I'm glad that mum have been doing well with her condition. She is very strong minded and just pulls herself through the treatment and the after effects of radiation. It's not easy during our weekly dinner to find a place that suits her current palate, but I'm always glad when it does. Just want her to be able to enjoy the simple stuff. :)

This year, we have travelled long and far. Greece and Turkey for our honeymoon was a once in a lifetime experience. I've always been somewhat a fan of Greek mythology, and being able to immerse in the stories told by our guide, that was awesome! Being able to enjoy our honeymoon at Santorini was a dreamy experience. The entire place just oozes romantic vibes, our honeymoon suite was also ridiculously huge. Not forgetting the luxurious sea-facing jacuzzi. :)

Turkey opened us to the Ottoman Empire. Cappadocia would definitely be the highlight of this leg. We were fortunate to have a great pilot who gave us a breathtaking flight over the valley. We also visited the underground cities in cappadocia, showing us a different lifestyle in times of conflict. It's hard to imagine the difficulties living underground. At the same time, it's cool to see the contraptions that make life easier. Istanbul on the other hand is more luxurious, and about beautiful mosques and shopping. We are lucky that we left the city before riots broke out exactly where we were shopping at. :)

Sydney in May was also a first time experience for us. We took a very relaxed pace for this trip and it was indeed relaxing. Strolls in Sydney, buying groceries and doing our own cooking. Walking around the bay, lazing around. Blue mountains was our highlight for this trip. We loved our cosy holiday house, which came with a fire place. It was one of the best feelings to cook our dinner and enjoy the warmth of the fire place in the cold weather. We managed to roast marshmallows too! :)

Work has pretty much taken a back seat in this year. Going on long vacations for honeymoon and Sydney have given me an enjoyable break from work. While I got promoted this year, it was somewhat less meaningful when a whole bunch of others were promoted along with me as a result of a review in company policy. While I am happy for the many others who were promoted, I can't help but wonder whether my additional years in service have gone unrecognised. 

In the later half of the year, I was transferred to take care of a different geographical area. Different areas provides different challenges. I was used to handling matters coming at me thick and fast. Now it's a different ball game, I'm given the opportunity to go in depth to every case. I'm thankful for the opportunities to exercise my engineering judgment. I'm also given the chance to create traffic schemes from scratch. This is a great way to understand our workflow's intricacies and improve the work we are doing. :)

In this new year, there will be many more challenges, new experiences to savour and new places to visit.

In 2014, 

new flat in Sengkang,

more overseas holidays,

work on furthering my studies,

weight n fitness management,

Most important of all...

Stay Calm & Be Happy

About Time

I have not blogged about a movie for quite some time. Now I'm going to write about one I've just watched recently.

ABOUT TIME

This was supposed to be pretty much a love story which involves a time traveller. I kind of expected the story to be a bit like "The time traveller's wife" an unfortunate but sweet story of a time traveler and his wife. This story is slightly different. But before I start on the movie proper, I think it's an interesting point to note that both these 2 movies had the same lead actress, Rachel McAdams. Coincidental? Or does she have a knack for playing the role of a time traveler's wife?

"About time" begins somewhat like the "40yr old virgin" where the lead guy somehow can't get the girl. So in this comedic romance manner the first half of the movie was all about him coming to terms with his ability which only manifest after coming of age. There several scenes which tugs on my heart strings and really made an impression.

Second part of the movie is about life. I would say the gist of it is "life goes on even for time travellers. So live your life. Appreciate everything as it happens, and living once is enough." 

It's also about relations in a family. Between parents and kids, brother and sister. It's really positive and inspiring.

I also like the fact that the movie made a good attempt to simplify time travel. And does not try to explain too much about all

the space-time-continuum mambo jambo.

My recommendation is this:

Watch the movie and enjoy the urge to want to time travel. At the same time learn to appreciate all the little good things around you. 

Wedding Day Videos

It's almost a year since 12 12 12.

Here I am finally posting my wedding day videos.

Highlights for the morning


Long video of morning events.


Long video of evening events

Sky Blue Shepherd No More

After my last stint back in sky blue, I'm back again after just 3 months. I have been conditioning my mind and telling myself its great to be back in. I'll be able to do controlling again, something that I once wanted to do as a career. 

Somehow things just don't always turn out as you expect them to. Receiving no news about my medical review in July was apparently not good news. 

My first day back was spent trying to track down my report. And when we finally did, the news I've gotten is simply a bubble buster. 

"Fit but not recommended for direct control duties"

I'm struggling now trying to describe how that felt. Once again, it's been so long since I felt like this. Perhaps it's easier to describe what happened before. 

I was once an enthusiastic young officer serving his 2yrs of compulsory national service. During this period, I have gotten myself trained with the skills for air traffic control. Now I know my personality belongs to the group who likes to do things we are good at. 

Hence the natural thing for me to do back then was to apply to become a regular in the force. Most procedures quickly fell into place. My superiors were also glad with my decision and I even managed to secure a scholarship along with the contract. I start to feel awesome with my decision.

Drama came when I was required to go through the standard medical checkup. Questions started arising about my physical health. In a nutshell, an honest tick in the "headache" column of a health survey a few years back had done me a very bad deal.  

The questions raises got the medical board kicking up a fuss and not willing to clear my case. I had to go for several expensive checks to ascertain my condition. End of the day, all checks showed favourable results but the fear of making a wrong decision caused the medical board to reject my application for regular service. Despite the fact that while serving in national service, I'm doing the exact same thing as a regular.

I tried to appeal my case and it went all the way up to the chief of the medical board but to no avail. 

With that decision fixed, I had resign to my fate that regular service is not something meant to be for me. There goes a steady job, salary, paid degree, early marriage plans, career progression. 

Losing all that possibility was really hard to take. Especially for a young officer, who had the aspirations for an exciting future in the force. I got into some form of depression after that. i began to lose interest and felt that fate is out to get me. 

It took me a few years to forget about that episode and working all over again. I've moved on since then and found something I like to do and which I'm good at.

This episode now seems all too familiar. I had bored the hope that I could do some controlling again. Unfortunately it's not meant to be again.

This time it would be different. I have less at stake. Good to have but without it, I'll trod on.

Honeymoons - Part 1

I've been married for more than eight months. We have already been on a few trips. Yet I've never had the time to reflect on these journeys. I've had short periods of breaks but there's always something else more important which has to be done.

After the big day, we went for a short trip to Thailand. The objective of this trip was really simple. We were crazy busy for the past few months, it was time to just let go and relax. Aside from our usual destination, Bangkok, we decided to experience Hua Hin as well. Hua Hin is the summer getaway location  for the royal family for ages.

Our itineraries there are quite simple too. Eat, shop, relax. We stayed at our usual hotel chain, Amari. Amari Watergate had been the hotel we stayed in Bangkok for almost every trip in the past few years. Service has always been friendly and welcoming, we also had our room upgraded to a suite because it was our honeymoon. We also made a trip to Chinatown to splurge on some Chinese delicacies. Thanks to lower cost of living and a strong exchange rate, we could eat quite lavishly. To top off every evening, we would go for Thai massage at Healthland Spa. It's a place with good service, nice environment, service staff speaks reasonably good english and most of all, the price is great!

Hua Hin is much more laid back when compared to Bangkok. Once again we stayed with Amari. This hotel is a new development at Hua Hin. Therefore we had everything spanking new in addition to the usually great Amari service. Hua Hin is not a place which excites but it gives you all the peace and quiet you need to detach from the real world. That was precisely what we did those few days.

THAILAND PHOTOS

This trip to Thailand was just a prelude to our main honeymoon trip. It's a much needed rest ever since getting busy for our wedding.

The main course for our honeymoon is Greece and Turkey in May. Aside from deciding on the location and the dates, my dear wife had settled the itinerary singlehandedly to the minute details. I'm really grateful that she did it all because I was so overwhelmed with work.

We started off our journey in Greece at Athens. It's not a direct journey there. We first landed in Istanbul and took another flight to Athens. The first impression Athens gave us was a dilapidated city. Everything was closed and shops and shutters were all sprayed with graffiti. It was only when we checked in that we were told that it's actually a week long holiday for the orthodox Easter.

On one hand we were glad to be there on a joyous occasion, but it also meant that almost all the shops and attractions were closed for the period. That forced us to adjust our itinerary and we could only visit few sites and do window shopping. The biggest let down was not being able to visit the Acropolis of Athens. While not being able to visit the Acropolis, we are able to enjoy a fantastic view of it every day directly from our room. The night view is quite spectacular too. In fact all that made us want to visit Acropolis even more.

ATHENS PHOTOS

After Athens we embarked on a few days of guided tour to immerse ourselves into the mythical Greek history. Majority of our group were Caucasians, we are the only Chinese in the group. There's another Indian lady and her partner and that's all for Asians in a group of over twenty.


Our guide was this plump guy called amelios, he was very knowledgeable an organizes his commentary very well. He brought us through a journey through time and space. We were very grateful to have him as our guide. He drew a very complete picture of greek history from the mythology to mycenaean to roman times. A short 4 days 3 nights tour took us to several of the notable historical sites.

Notably, we passed by this place known as Corinth Canal. It's designed and constructed by the same team who did the Suez Canal. In fact, it was this project that brought that team to prominence and got them the Suez Canal job. It's basically a very narrow and deep waterway carved through the rocks. It's quite an awesome sight.

Epidaurus was the first site we visited, the highlight there was this amphitheatre which was very well preserved. The acoustics effects are still intact and the guide could show us how well a single voice is projected across to every single audience.

The second day we visited Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Olympics. The place was pretty much ruined and empty, but thanks to the guide. He painted a lively picture of how athletes who are pretty much tribute (similar to the hunger games) in those days lived, competed and fought at Olympia. Olympia itself was pretty much a tribute to Zeus.

The next day we were at Delphi, a place with loads of cats. I also liked the place because of it's richness in mythology. It is the sanctuary of the Sun God Apollo, and it was the place where Apollo's most treasured oracles had lived. Many had visited Delphi just to have their futures told. The landscape around Delphi itself already provides somewhat a mystical feel to the place. It's a city perched on the slope and overseeing beautiful scenery. There's also this super cool aqueduct, which leads all the way back to Athens. It's still operational and works purely on gravity.

The final day was meant to be the best part of this tour, but unfortunately, we had a change of guide. And this new guide was LOUSY! On one hand it was really irritating because she had to give the commentary in English and in French, which meant she had limited time to give information. On the other hand, she was totally not interested. Her method of giving commentary is just striking off a checklist. There's no storyline and no link. Just piecemeal and jumbled information. Quite disappointed that because of her, we did not learn much about Meteora and Thermopiles.

Based on my own research, Meteora was a secluded place in the mountains where monks practiced a monastic form on christianity. Their church are all built on steep cliffs and they are all marvels on engineering and most of them are very inaccessible when they were built.

Thermopiles was simpler to understand. It was the site where the famous 300 Spartans had fought the Persians. Yup, there's place where Gerard Butler's 300 made famous.

On this tour we saw our first oranges on trees, figs on trees and most important of all. We had our first taste of Moussaka. Moussaka is something like a shepherd's pie with egg plant, it's very very nice!!!

4D3N PHOTOS

Our next leg of our journey in Greece is pretty much the go to destination in Greece, Santorini. Santorini is a remains of a volcanic crater. The volcano is only dormant though, not extinct yet. Vast majority of the buildings on the island are painted white. Only a small portion is painted with blue. Postcards around the world tend to only capture the white and blue parts. Talk about misrepresentation.

Nonetheless, being there instantly makes you feel more romantic somehow. We booked a suite there and most of their hotels there comes with a jacuzzi or some sort. Being on honeymoon usually gives you some perks. Our hotel upgraded us to a honeymoon suite, which is basically a HUGE room with a HUGE jacuzzi on our balcony. The wind on the island is always strong and it's very cold when the sun is down, but that's also the best time to soak in the jacuzzi. It was a luxury that would remain in our minds for a long long time.

Santorini is not a big island so we rented a car and drove around. I really liked the car we had, it's a smart car. It's basically a tiny little 2 seater by Mercedes. I think Singapore should really bring in these cars.

SANTORINI PHOTOS

Our last leg in Greece is the island of Rhodes. This is where the Colossus of Rhodes once stood. The Colossus was one of the wonders of the ancient world. What I liked most about the place was actually our hotel. It was filled with cats! We had a very friendly and welcoming host as well. We were basically living within the walls of the old castle. The old castle was a stronghold where the christian crusaders held off attacks from the turkish forces.

We also took a short cruise around the city. The highlight of the cruise was actually a segment of highspeed travelling. That part came very suddenly and kind of caught us off guard. Exhilarating!  

RHODES PHOTOS

OTHER GREECE PHOTOS

In the next part, we'll move on to the Turkey and more recently our trip to Australia.

Limits tested

I would say I'm pretty tolerant and quite patient when it comes to dealing with people. The least I can say is that I'm way more tolerant than I was few yrs ago. I would probably have made lots of noise and kick up a big fuss had I not controlled myself.

Dear sales people out there, if you are not eloquent. Then jolly well brush up on your product knowledge. It's not enough to know what's in the product but not know what it does. If u hard sell me with no content, u get on my nerves.

I was shopping at guardian for glucosamine and I let my guard down. I allowed myself to get so pissed off that really felt like going berserk. I'm not talking just berserk. I'm talking wolverine-berserker-barrage-style berserk. This auntie who was restocking her products started to try to introduce her brand to me. I'll summarise her pitch a few main points.

1. Her brand is good because hundreds of customers tell her so everyday when she's restocking

2. Her products are always out of stock cos ppl buy in bulk

3. Hers has shark cartilage and some green mussel extract. Her "customers" tell her it's good.

4. Hers works in 5 days, after that no need to take so much.

Here's the winner

4. Her bottles say "dietary supplement" majority of other brands don't say that. And that implies that other brands are actually bad for your stomach and will eventually lead to heart attack. 

My conclusion which I did not share with her is as follows,

You poor sad auntie. For more than 20 years u have been trying to sell a single product without knowing its properties. You only rely on phantom word of mouth to pressure shoppers to make rash decisions to meet ur sales quota. You have missed a precious chance for me to share with you what you are actually selling. I could have given you a little more general knowledge to enrich your starved mind. For that, I pity your potential customers an the "hundreds" of lost sheep that tell u everyday that your product is amazing. But then I realise, I don't have to worry. You are just a restocker who knows nuts.

And I have now learnt another lesson after this article. Some ppl are just not worth it.

Back in Sky Blue

Almost 10 yrs since I last donned the sky blue uniform. The familiar place I used to worked once upon a time has changed drastically. 

On the outside, it's still the ugly camo green paint over the building. Inside is where it's no longer familiar. Gone were the dark rooms with freezing cold air cons. It's now bright with multiple projections. 

People have moved, places changed. Procedures revamped and I'm obsolete. 

When getting my new set of uniform, even the badge that once symbolises the skills which I'm trained in has changed. I struggled whether to get the new badge to wear. Perhaps it's fate telling me what to do when I found that the new badge is not available. I should not wear this new badge cos it means nothing to me.

It been so long ago, I've forgotten why and how I left the service. But now I'm reminded. Will it be a new beginning or will it be a new nightmare?

Role Models

In the course of leadership training session. This topic was discussed.

The typical impression of a role model is one who possesses qualities we admire and would like to emulate.

Some people have role models who have significantly impact and guided their lives. Others have role models that changed their course in life.

For me, I constantly have individuals appearing in my life showing how not to live, how not to behave. I fear making the same mistakes made by these people.that probably has also infused in me the fear of making mistakes.

While I constantly tell myself that mistakes which are not deadly are fine. Learn from the mistake of others and our own. I often fall into the trap of the constant fear of mistakes.

I am not perfect. I see and I learn. We need to recognise and appreciate the rights and the wrongs.