weekend again and time for reservist

The past week had been quite peaceful with minimum events or incidents.

We finally signed the employment contract with my company and discovered they actually promoted us to tech 3 already. My pay is upped a little again and its to a satisfactory level i have been expecting.

To add to this, my leader has assigned me to help him with some admin work since i am PC literate. All this has proved to be a recognition of my hard work and effort in the company. Hopefully I get upgraded at the end of the year again.

On Friday night, Grayson aka Fatboy and I went to our usual place to have kopi. To our surprise, Bjorn came by after his flight landed with Joey. We had a short chat before leaving for home to rest.

Saturday was a busy day. I had to pick up stuff for the upcoming in camp training and there were lots of things I needed to buy. After that, I went to Bjorn's place to help him send his XR to to bikewerks for servicing. I also picked up the stuff that I asked him to buy for me in US.

For S$260, I can get a black & decker RTX rotary tool and heat gun locally. For the same price, I got the RTX tool, dremel flexshaft, 200pc attachment kit, two craftsman T-shirts and two pairs of Levi's jeans from US. What a steal! Thanks Bjorn!

Attended my uncle's birthday dinner at Spring court restaurant in the evening. Many people attended the dinner and it was quite a joyous event. I chatted with my cousin who was in the air force as a technician before about careers and stuff in aviation. The dinner was good and very filling.

One reason why I never liked to attend family gatherings is because I will feel left out all the time. I never hung out with the rest since I was the youngest in my generation and the gap was pretty huge. The next generation youngin's who are running around don't know who I am and I do not know them too. I foresee once the previous generation has passed on, we will no longer keep in touch or even regard each other as family.

As for the reservist next week, I am looking forward to it. Its been 2 years since I last saw the guys and it'll be fun to get together again. I am also glad to get away from work once in a while to get a breather.

Once i get back from reservist, its time to put the new tools to good use. Plans to customise my computer casing and new bike modding ideas that were shelved will begin. Gonna dedicate a corner of my room to put a work table for working on the projects.

One of my goals in life: To live life consciously.

outing

Went for my first Malaysia trip to Kulai on the Beemer yesterday. Meet up with eugene and co at Jalan Ahmad Ibrahim shell station at 9pm. Proceeded to GP petrol kiosk after the guys had arrived.

The money changer had closed by the time we went in and we had to change money at the petrol kiosk. After I finishing pumping petrol, I went to pay for it while the bike was parked on side stand. When I came out, i found the bike leaking petrol from a drain tube on the right side of the bike. It seems that either we don't pump the fuel to the brim or parking it on side stand after pumping a full tank. Many things to learn on a big bike.

All were on sports bike except for the Beemer and a GSR400. I realised the open face helmet I wearing is not adequate for anything more than 120km/h when we made our way to Kulai. Everyone was doing like 200km/h onwards and it was pitch dark on the NSH. The only things I saw was the tail lights ahead and the reflective road markers on the road side.

The beemer managed 180km/h without any stress on 5th gear at 6500rpm constantly. Afraid to stress the machine too much, I dropped to 160km/h all the way to our destination and back. The heavily scratched and vibrating helmet visor, pitch dark road and being constantly on high speed is no joke.

I lowered myself below the windshield to minimize the wind blast on my helmet visor just to barely make out the traffic ahead. The blown bulbs in the speedo meter also meant I cannot gauge my speed unless we reach stretches of road where there is street lamps. All I could do was to keep the RPM below the red zone with the tachometer.

The bike proved itself to be a great touring bike. Comfy for long rides, superb road holding capability and high speed stability is a plus point. I was able to adjust my helmet and visor, tucking in my shirt as it rode up my body while doing 180km/h with only one hand on the handle bars without any sense of danger. The only thing I didn't like was the top speed. Doing 180km/h max was a little bit too slow for a 1100cc machine with such riding capability.

After a good dinner, we headed back to SG. Upon reaching GP petrol kiosk, I discovered oil on my left boot. I looked over the engine and found the source to be a leaking cylinder gasket from the left cylinder. Not good news but luckily, at normal speed riding, its not leaking. The oil level was good and there was no danger of the engine blowing up.

Total damage for the trip: S$50.

This includes:

Full tank for the beemer: RM$50

Food and drinks: RM$24

cigarettes: RM$16
Toll fees (to and fro): RM$2.60

For S$50, I can only get a full tank of Octane 98 petrol locally. You do the math.

As usual, we "punch card" at Yishun dam for a chatting session. This time, everyone was tired out and left early. Kai met us at the dam around 2am. Eugene, kai and me then proceeded to sembawang macdonalds after we felt some rain drops.

Upon leaving the dam, we were hit by rain. It was not heavy, but enough to make you wet. We hung out at the macdonalds till 6am to wait for the rain to stop. The rain was hitting down hard and we were glad to be sheltered. We left when it began to drizzle very faintly. Put on the Dririder Jacket in the beemer and Kai commented the jacket was very form fitting for me. Seems like I was destined to be a adventure touring person, with touring jackets and touring bikes fitting my size and my kind of attitude towards riding.

The jacket was fitted with waterproof linen, so I didn't get wet in the heavy rain that came down on us once we left mac except from waist down. The jacket also keep me warm throughout the ride home while eugene was freezing his ass off. The only thing I didn't like was the jacket only came with soft armour. It was pretty decent for a mesh jacket though.

The Nike socks got wet again. They always seems to attract water where ever they went. From the time I wore them to work, I always get caught in the rain most of the time when they are on. Talk about being cursed.

At GP petronas before leaving for Kulai

After kulai trip, before heading back to SG

weekend

Having a sore eye is not a good way to start the weekend. Decided to do a half day on saturday due to it. Seems to be getting better though.

Watched kungfu panda and incredible hulk. Both are very good movie. Kungfu panda was hilarious with their antics and Incredible hulk is not so cartoony anymore.

On saturday, I went to meet eugene and co at tanjong rhu for a lepak session at night. After that, we went to Yishun dam to lepak also. They were all on sports bike and I was the only touring bike there. Nice people and it felt good to be hanging out with bikers again. Finished up with a macdonald breakfast and reached home at 7am.

On sunday, I woke up around 2 plus pm due to a sms from eugene. He wanted to come over to do suspension sag settings. He came over with Kai and we finished the job real quickly. Then it was time to wash the BMW.

Washing the rims took quite a while. luckily, eugene and kai were around to keep me company till it was done. Went home to shower, then proceeded to meet his cousin at ang mo kio for dinner. After that, all went home to sleep since everyone was working morning the next day.

It had been a fun weekend for me. Its been so long since I actually hang with others. Especially people who ride bikes and appreciate riding. Thanks to eugene for letting me hang out with him. Looking forward to more such sessions in future.

finally

Finally, the tests are over. I think I did quite alright for someone who attends classes every alternate week only. Maths was the only one I barely scrape thru. The school holidays are here but we are going to attend extra maths lessons since I think we are still quite weak at it. Next term starts in three weeks time.

Changed my mind about riding the GS to work after one day. The traffic jam outside my work place was so fantastic I reached home at 6pm instead of the usual 535pm since the bike is so big and cannot squeeze traffic. But the look on my colleagues' faces who were asking about owner of the BMW was priceless. It was worth the jam for that day.

At work, I have been having bad days all week long. Keep having an recurring issue on the same job and the politics involved here is deadly. Somehow, I managed to get back on friendly terms with those involved today. The new problem is the leadman from the other shift. Since he was caught in the war between me and my colleague, I become his new target.

He spotted something which I shouldn't have done and told my senior tech straight away. I can see the disappointed look on my senior's face when he asked me about it.

I was disappointed with myself when I realised it. I was probably blinded by the fact that we had little time left and the frustration of doing the same job for 3 days in a row, not to mention the shitty stuff in between.

Starting next week, I'll be direct staff under the company. Lots of benefits to learn and use. All this waiting was not in vain.

Time to get my act together and improve myself more, both skills and interpersonal relationship wise.

Respect is not given, but earned.

Stressed

Posting this now as a stress reliever. Next week is the hell week as there will be tests for the modules I am taking from monday to wednesday. Haven't been able to keep up much since I only attend classes every alternate week. Need to buck up fast.

Bjorn is leaving his BMW r1100gs in my care as he will be visiting his folks in USA for a few weeks. The bike is heavy as hell but the ride proves itself to be worth the weight. Had an aching back when I woke up in the morning after one night of riding. Time to get back into fitness.

Met Bjorn and friends for a supper session last night. After which I proceeded to yishun dam to meet eugene and his friends who were there. We left ard 5am in the morning to go home. For the record, the lady who was with them was cute.

Now the bmw boxes are in my room adding reflective stickers and patching up the heavily scratched areas with putty before repraying. Gonna ride the bike without them for a week while work is in progress.

Hopefully by the time Bjorn comes back, the bike will still be in one piece. LOL.

Lots of projects running through my mind now for the bike. Everything is done with the intention of the being rider friendly, cosmetically asthetic yet feel quite personal to the rider. Progress is captured and logs written for memories during the process.

Apart from those u see in the pics below, the key hole is also done with same stickers to allow rider to find the slot without fumbling for it in the dark. All designs are self cut.

*Bjorn, hope U like the new look of your boxes.

The date stamp in the 2nd pic is wrong. Forgot to change it before taking.

some other stuff for the record

After an angry post, its time for some light hearted stuff.

Saw my engineer taking a break at the pantry outside the toilets. She saw me and gave me an awkward smile (at least it felt to me). The best part was I tried to smile back but somehow it didn't happen and I went on to the watercooler to have a drink. I thought of starting up a conversation but didn't want to bother her while she is taking a break. (For the record, I think she's HOT!)

After work, I popped by changi village to pick up some food to eat. I usually park my bike at the large vehicle park as there will always be parking lots available and not far from the stall.

When I came back, there were two shemales by my bike, one using my rear top box as a makeshift table to put on makeup. I was like, "WTF!" in my mind. Proceeded to my bike as calmly as possible. The first thing that came to my mind when I got close to my bike was "this is HOT for a shemale".

She asked me if this was my bike and apologised for using my box to put her stuff. We chatted for a while when I was putting the food in my box and taking out my helmet at the same time. It was quite fun to talk to her. She even suggested me to take her for a ride to the beach since I got a spare helmet. I just smiled and proceeded to start my bike to go home.

I used to be quite afraid of them when I was young. Now when I think back, they are also quite fun to be around with and they are quite a polite bunch considering the situation they are in.

For the record, I am not gay or watsoever. I love women and will do so for eternity. But I wouldn't mind having friends who are otherwise, since I am "hao you man tian xia".

angry.....

Somehow, I needed to vent my frustrations. At work, it seems like I am getting slack since there is not much work to do. So I am taking my own pace in doing my work and slacked a bit with the guys. Its tough to be working under pressure all the time and going to work is becoming a chore when you work OT all the time.

Yesterday, my supervisor did something which I think was uncalled for. It seems like he is thinking I am getting more and more slack as time goes by.

Nearing the knock off timing, he would go around to check on the progress of the jobs to write some instructions for the morning shift when they take over the next day. When he came over to ask for the progress, he did not addressed me by my name or my nick as usual. He called me "eh, kornet" (which means cock in malay) with a sacastic look. I was caught by surprise. I dunno if it was for fun or it is his way of showing discontent with my attitude at work recently, but it felt so wrong at that moment.

If u are not happy with me or the way I do things, tell me straight. don't beat around the bush, talk about me behind my back or call me names. If u wanna mark me, so be it. I can always go to other places to work. I don't work in places which restrict your abilities due to personal issues. Who wants to work in a place where u can never go far even if u try hard?

Although most of the time, I turn a deaf ear to all the bullshit, it does not mean I do not care or do not know. I just don't wanna look like a fool arguing with an idiot.

latest hoot!

It never fails to amaze me what petrol kiosk are selling nowadays. bought a siemens A160 DECT cordless phone from a Mobil kiosk outside Bjorn's place at 130am. At $55, its a steal. Even the staff told me they bought one to use in the store too.

Was at the kiosk near my place when I decided to get one but they were out of stock and had to leave my contact number there. So I popped by the one outside Bjorn's place since it was not too far away. With luck, they were down to 3 sets left, so I bought it. Not to mention the good service attitude displayed by the staff.

Now in the midst of charging the phone to full, so tomorrow can try out the clarity and battery life. My mum will be delighted to see the phone on the table in the morning.