CK's Graduation Ceremony (NS) 2018

Time flies. In a blink of the eyes, CK's two year National Service as a signaller in combat engineering unit is coming to an end soon.
Attended his Graduation Ceremony held in Jurong Camp 1 today.
We had been to Pasir Laba camp for umpteen times, but never entered Jurong Camp before. The nearest we had reached was dropping CK off at the front gate.

Walking to the parade square after parking our car.

Cook House @ Canteen

Parade Square

The ceremony started punctually at 9.30 am. 

Marching in...

Standing in attention...

The entire ceremony ended earlier than expected. Some photo shots at the end of the ceremony.

Parade Square

There was a post-ceremony reception (buffet lunch) and photo taking session (at photo booth). 

CK's 2 years journey in National Service officially ends in first week of Feb. He will be moving on into university life mid Feb 2018! Wishing him all the best in his next adventure!

Teenager (Deliveroo rider) on trial for causing death to elderly pedestrian

It pained my heart to read of news report of a Deliveroo rider, just 19 years of age, being put on trial in court for causing death to an elderly pedestrian (73 years of age). He had beaten the red traffic light (he thought the traffic light was green as his view was blocked by bus when he turned his bicycle at traffic light junction), and accidentally crashed into the pedestrian. To make things worse, his bicycle brakes were faulty (both front and rear) and he didn't repair them.

Yes, it is not right to be hasty when riding bicycle on the road; and a life lost is one too many.

But, looking from another angle - he is probably just a hard working teenager trying to earn some extra pocket money for himself. Not many teenagers bother about the brakes in their bicycles; in particular when you have to use the hard earned money for the repair.  He is not a juvenile deliquant, terrorising the neighbourhood.

I am sure this incident will leave an indelible scar in his mind, and he has learnt his lesson. I sincerely hope he will given a lighter sentence for his careless deed. Let him move on in his life...

Paint peeling off from ceiling

Some of the paint on ceiling in the master bedroom / bathroom and kitchen of our HDB apartment had peeled off.

After procrastinating for several months (our previous tenants had vacated the building since May), I finally started "repair work" in early Dec - first by scraping off the old layers of cracked paint, then applying layers of sealant over 2 weekends, and put a final touch with a coating of white paint today!
Of course, these were completed with the help of my 2 boys!

Hopefully, the paint will last longer this time.

"Winter" in Singapore

Thanks to the onslaught of moonsoon rain over the past week, Singapore has experienced one of the coldest temperature over the years.
With drizzling rain and blowing wind, it feels rather chilly at home. The recorded temperature is about 22'C, but it felt like 18-20'C; for a moment, I had a sudden flashback of past winter/autumn experience in Birmingham, Alabama.
And showering under hot water has never felt better! Only if there were onsen around....

Grand Lucky Draw Prize: Alaska Southbound Cruise

Had a wonderful surprise call from Harbourfront Office while I was seeing a patient in the clinic yesterday. The lady on the phone informed me that I had won the Grand Prize for the Harbourfront Centre Christmas Lucky Draw - Southboud Cruise (Alaska) tickets for 2!

CY came back to Singapore for Christmas/New Year break. Our entire family went for buffet Dim Sum lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Harbourfront on 26-12-2017, together with my mother-in-law, brother-in-law and nephew/nieces. After lunch, we went down to recce the Rockport stall in Harbourfront Centre. I bought a pair of shoes for myself, and another pair for my nephew (JS). I approached the customer service, hoping to redeem parking coupon for the day with the receipts from restaurant/Rockport shop. Instead, I was told that parking redemption is only available during weekdays; but I could participate in a lucky draw with my Rockport receipt. I happily registered for the lucky draw, without knowing what were the prizes. I had never won any lucky draws from shopping centres before, and thought nothing of it.

Fortunately I still kept the hard copy of the lucky draw receipt!

And Alaska, here I come....in May 2018!