Sisters Island

Steaks and Marks now famous Lap Cheong(smoked sausage) with shrooms and baby spuds. try it at home. (look for our sisters island recipe book coming out soon, :)

Sisters Island. Its my haven from the stress of reality(mainly work). From the moment i get off the boat at the jetty I feel the stress just lift off and i can relax. From that first step the mainland becomes just a vision of beauty to be admired when chanced upon during my wandering. This year we went twice, once each in May and June and both times were wonderful.( If you click on Russels link you will see more pictures from both trips.) This time though due to many many factors we really didnt know if we were going to go till probably the afternoon before and even then we spent only 30 short but happy hours away . These days our goal is to do as little as possible, mind you where as food used to be an after thought these days its the primary function for most of the gang. Steaks, pork chops, crab, tom yum noodles these were just a few of the many culinary delights prepared by our chefs. With Mark playing the role of Gordon Ramsay, the rest of us were reduced to mere kitchen helpers, although i will say sherwin and i did pretty good with the fire on day 1.

As always a great trip and a fine send off for Mark( he left for a 4 month trip to east timor to do social work, we can all be very proud of him). Joining us for the first time were, my father in law, Ben and the one that excited me the most, my nephew Philip (though it seems all the gang refer to him as baba). When we woke up on saturday with the sun twinkling through the leaves, my nephew turned to me and said "Uncle Edward, I want to come back here again" to me finer words have not been spoken on the island.
(Shout out to the moo who braved traffic and Caitlin in the car to pick us up many thanks! sorry about the smell :{)




Its 10 years since we first went to Sisters Island. 20yrs since i first started taking my altar boys camping on Pulau Ubin and 25 years since my brother took me camping at east coast for the night. I cant wait till i can take Caitlin. I dont know how many nights i have spent camping, i dont know how many people i have brought along and i dont know when we are going next but bloody ell it gets better everytime.

The above picture is of Gerald, who does not like his picture taken. He is off to Cambodia for a couple of weeks of adventure and photography! Be safe ju or if you prefer Raj and dont forget to come back!

June 2005 - June 2009 4 years of blogging

How quick it has been, 4 years of blogging. Life, death adventure and boredom all reflected in 48months of random input. Lately i haven't been doing as much blogging as i used to, its not cause there is nothing to post, I've just been lazy. Since Vietnam i really haven't gone shooting, and my trigger finger is itching. Its been quick, 4 years gone by in a flash. The blog restarts today.

Rodents.

So we got two hamsters, blame it on Leni. :) Above is fatty Ratu and below is speed demon Angie. They are femals, names are girl names but i just cant stop refering to them as boys.

Somedays you just want to fast forward your life.

Sunday 19:45hrs and its just hit me, its Monday tomorrow. I don't normally suffer from Monday blues or as we used to call them in the army book in blues but today it has suddenly come home to me. After the hectic work of last week and the long meeting yesterday, that feeling I had of for want of a better word, euphoria has dissipated into the Sunday night sky and I am left with the very energy sapping knowledge that I got to do it all over again this week.

As a person who is 1/3 and optimist I know this feeling will pass, the part of me that is 1/3 pessimistic tells me that surely there is no way out of this dark state. The last bit of me the 1/3 realist? well that bit says it doesn't matter if I am optimistic or pessimistic all that matters is that i get the job done. Such a bleak outlook eh for a Sunday night? after a really good day as well maybe its the weather, maybe its the sad family history that has past this week that forces me to look in these dark and depressing corners of my mind. Whatever it is lets hope it fades away with rising of the sun.

Life goes on
though never the same
sunshiny days
and some heavy with rain.
In the east the sun still rises
in the west it still sets.
Pain is still pain.
Regrets still regrets.
Life goes on
though never the same.


i havent forgotten. I carry the pain with me on a daily basis.

Reworking.

random

just some random stuff

planets

Subtle difference in the shade of the birds...i couldnt chooose

:)

trees and flight.

The above is for a newly minted pilot.

As you can see trees are my current theme. i like the second one with its crushed look.

return of the...

Copper Tree

Flare

Batik Splat.
Now i havent done any wallpapers in a long long time. So if you dont like them...too bad lol/

Caitlin

My daughter turned 3 on the 23rd of May and we had a week of festivities for her, with little trips, gifts galore, lots of swimming with family and friends all of which culminated in a party for her. This year we booked a chalet at the Safra Golf Club, and Caitlin being a big girl was allowed to sleep over, much to her enjoyment. I would like to thank family and friends who came together to give her a really great time as well as really great gifts. From the great pics taken by Sherwin you will notice that she spent of alot of time in the water! I would like to quote Caitlins birthday speech "Thank you everbody for coming to my party".

Freedom of the moment.

I was wondering why I like cycling or rather trail cycling. I think its that element of freedom and i don't mean the hands extended wind in your hair type freedom ,i am talking about the freedom that comes when you are so focused on something that everything else fades away and for that moment there is just you and the trail. Its very much like photography, your so focused on your subject that all else fades away at least for awhile. I am not saying i have the weight of the world on my shoulders but the satisfaction from coming away from the trail successfully and being so focused simply because it is dangerous is very gratifying. Its a form of escapism i guess like people who drink to drown out their humdrum or dramatic lives. People who hide in movies or people who live withing the covers of books.
Look for the "freedom moments"in your life i am sure they are there.

i am a simple man with simple wants.
the desire to be happy and for the people around me to be happy
that is my goal, i work to that goal every day.
nothing has changed.i keep climbming that mountain and if need be
i will carry you with me. and i have. it matters not to me if you can return
the favour. it never has, my goal is not yours. the journey has always
meant more to me than the destination, but more importantly
is that we are on the road together. i dont care for money.
i dont care for things that come with money. i care for my wife, my child, my mother,
my brother, my sisters, all my nieces and nephews,my family, my pepper and my friends.
My frienship is for life, all i ask is that you dont treat it cheaply.
when you reach that river that you need help crossing i will be there.
if there is one thing that comes from all this, thats that i never pretended to be more then i am.
life is about choice. the lives we live are dictated by the choices we make. sometimes
the choices are made for us. and sometimes the direction is not good but with good people in my life i am made stronger. I offer a prayer for those that wish me well, for those that need it and for those that surround me with friendship on this very difficult day.

a 7 nation army couldnt hold me back.

What a day! I took leave today with every intent of spending the morning with Caitlin who has not been well lately, fever spiking up to 39.5 last night (finally broke this morning big PHEW!) Unfortunately things did not go as planned with my sis getting into a car accident! i spent the day thanking GOD that she and Michael were alright! anyway with half a day spent helping to sort that out, the morning was gone! Caitlin and i spent a couple of hours playing with TLOML and then i was off to ride the trail with Sherwin. It was raining and i was thinking twice about going riding but TLOML said ""just go man and stop being a wuss! so off we went. Great ride today weather was awesome low humidity, clear crisp air, mud all over! AWESOME. After our ride we swung by the bike shop to meet law with every intent of going back to the trail after dark. ALAS Tloml called, Caitlin couldnt stop coughing so off i rode to meet them at the doctors(while my two intrepid friends went back to the trail) another Shout Out to the big man in the sky and Caitlin was much better after going to the doctors! Anyway friends being friends the guys rode back to my place with dinner and a couple of hours of chit chat, washing bikes and a good cuban cigar. what a day full of highs and some very dramatic lows. Just thank god everyone is home safe and sound. Forgive the weird writting i havent blogged in a while.

You ride with me, you better have a helmet. MY kaki coloured dirt lid.This is the exit of the jungle, the arrow point to the darkness is where i usually start smiling.
A very happy man.
100plus..nectar of the cycling gods
Above-Sherwins Ride a Jamis X trail which i would have bought if i saw it first lolWhat Mountain bike should look like. mud covered.(check out my "cool"water bottle)

Chillin at the bike shop

Blue room Hq, check out miss K'po smiling for the camera.

sigh

Its been a busy time, my mum had a birthday and it was a really nice party. It was nice having my brother and his family in town as well. I had a birthday.it came and it went, it means nothing to me anymore its just a day same as any other. Everyone makes an effort and thats real nice but its still painful to think about my father which i cant help but do. This year the 26th was especially hard having to work and it was a tough day as well but such is life eh it just goes on. We went to sisters island for a couple of days over the last weekend and it was great and all but still the faces not there seemed to be on my mind more then anything else. Its been 10yrs since we started going to sisters island and 20 yrs since i started going camping and even there things have changed.
sometimes swimming against the current to keep everyone happy is rather hard and all you want is to get picked up and put in a boat. thats all i got today.

Ola

So much to post, so little time. for now a picture of black betty at the tampines mtb trail.

A Princess and a Frog

:)

Rest in Peace. Hello the gold fish.

Hello the goldfish died today. it is very upsetting. i had a great day and came home to find her pump off and hello floating belly up. Everynight as i wait for pepper to eat her dinner i would feed Hello and have a bit of a chat with her. alas it has ended.

Flip Flop and Fly.

So it seems stamina is not my strong point.
Law and I cycled to the tampines trail early this moring, by the time we got there i was tired! this was to the disappointment of law who thought we would run the full 10clicks of the track. I tired myself out even more on the stunt track before we even went up any hills and i have to say some of these hills are pretty damn HIGH! I confess to pushing the bike up most of them. We did what i would call the mid-range section, i have attached a video below of the area (its not my vid i pinched it of you tube). Coming down 1 of the slopes I caught the front wheel on a rock and flew arse of head...i have to admit i giggled pretty much for the next 5 mins. I am too old and too out of shape to be flying around on hills with no helmet so alas until further purchase there will be no downhill biking for a while. We ended the morning nicely cycling through some nice trails we even crossed paths with a tiny little snake. So all in all a very enjoyable ride!

By the way, i have named the bike Black Betty after the song.

saddle up.

Its been a long time since i said those words in relation to cycling.
My first bicycles when i was a kid growing up in opera estate were all hand me downs, with 4 older siblings there was never a shortage of wheels. Some of my earliest memories are of our family going cycling and me being "tompang'd"by my mum. My neighbour Khoon Wee(Ah wee to friends) thought me to cycle without training wheels oh so many years ago, we used to sneak out of the zone we were confined to by our parents and explore the broader confines of our district at least until my other neighbour saw us wandering far afield from home and decided to highlight this fact to my father. Thus ended long distant riding.

By the time we moved to tampines i was once again without wheels and surrounded by friends who had the top of the line bikes, those days were what i like to call the glory days of the BMX.
I dont remember asking my dad for a bicycle, i suppose my mum must have mentioned it to him but one day we drove to Changi Village where i got my very own, and my very first bicycle. I was 14yrs old and it was an Oyama a brand slightly above plastic roller skates but it was mine and i loved that bike. At least $300 bucks less then any of the bikes that surround me that little filly held her own, i hardly had brakes as i never had the money to buy the rubber pads(this seemed to be a prenial problem for me). Punctured tire? it was almost always a home patch job(my father taught me), the thing is its not like we were poor but i just never had the guts to ask for things like this and i think the old man knew it. The Oyama took me and my gang many a mile, one of our fav things was to cycle to changi beach have a bit of a swim get back on the bikes soaking wet and cycle home, that lil bit of fun carried on when our BMX's were retired and Mountain Bikes came to the forefront. My first and till now only Mountain was a no brand monster that was almost 19inchs high, it weighed 3 1/4s of a ton (it cost me nothing but that is another story) and it had this awesome blue and grey paint job that was done by our resident bike expert/spray master Daniel. That bike, man it had some awesome parts, everytime one of the guys did an upgrade on their bikes the old parts would somehow find their way to my bike. Some of the off road stuff we did in those days i would not even think about attempting now. Put through the wringer, that bike died a glorius death when it snapped in two.

GT Avalanche 09 3.0
Now 17yrs later i got myself another pair of wheels. Its all lawrence's
fault. He "presuaded"me to get a bike as he was getting a pricey set of wheels and wanted kaki on the roads. Being a good friend i couldnt leave him i nthe lurch could i? ahem
Techonolgy has left me behind, lefty forks, disc brakes, carbon fiber parts and fully suspended bikes, these were not even dreamt of in my day. I settled on a Hardtail (see the lingo has changed too) with a basic setup,which means mechanical disc brakes and front suspension. i mean no point spending if i aint riding right?

The thing about buyin this bike is this, for the first time in my life i could walk into a bike shop and afford just about everything there, if you have never had that feeling there are no words i can express to tell you how that feels. Within 15minutes of getting my bike it had mud on it, and i had a smile on my face. Will i cycle alot? i dont know, do i have the guts to ride like we used to ? i doubt it very much. Am i smiling as i write this long winded post. HELL YEAH.

sidebar-work has been rough, so if you find any typos and stuff just keep it to yourself or i may just climb the clock tower and we wouldnt want that would we.

untitled.

"Jesus has a very special love for you. As for me, the silence and the emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not hear,". Mother Teresa.

Queen-Under Pressure.

Mm ba ba de
Um bum ba de
Um bu bu bum da de
Pressure pushing down on me
Pressing down on you no man ask for
Under pressure - that burns a building down
Splits a family in two
Puts people on streets
Um ba ba be
Um ba ba be
De day da
Ee day da - that's o.k.
It's the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Watching some good friends
Screaming 'Let me out'
Pray tomorrow - gets me higher
Pressure on people - people on streets
Day day de mm hm
Da da da ba ba
O.k.
Chippin' around - kick my brains around the floor
These are the days it never rains but it pours
Ee do ba be
Ee da ba ba ba
Um bo bo
Be lap
People on streets - ee da de da de
People on streets - ee da de da de da de da
It's the terror of knowing
What this world is about
Watching some good friends
Screaming 'Let me out'
Pray tomorrow - gets me higher high high
Pressure on people - people on streets
Turned away from it all like a blind man
Sat on a fence but it don't work
Keep coming up with love
but it's so slashed and torn
Why - why - why ?
Love love love love love
Insanity laughs under pressure we're cracking
Can't we give ourselves one more chance
Why can't we give love that one more chance
Why can't we give love give love give love give love
give love give love give love give love give love
'Cause love's such an old fashioned word
And love dares you to care for
The people on the edge of the night
And loves dares you to change our way of
Caring about ourselves
This is our last dance
This is our last dance
This is ourselves
Under pressure
Under pressure
Pressure

Ants.

Please click on the pic to see larger version. the pics are cropped and resized for posting purposes.

Four-clawed Gecko Gehyra mutilata

Four-clawed Gecko Gehyra mutilata

"Hello"the goldfish

...

laughter is fleeting,
sorrow seems forever

Caitlin And I

Caitlin and I were fooling around with the computer today and took tons of pictures with the webcam. These are just a few . Note that my shirt is inside out. The song was picked by Caitlin. It has no relevance to my life at all. For starters it is Caitlin who walks to fast for all of us.