of aches and pains

My body is in the shit. I think this is the worse condition my body is in. As I previously mentioned, my right knee is busted. Although I have been able to live with it for around a year now (maybe even more) it seems to be getting worse.

I’ve recently been having lower back pains, particularly on my right hand side. My right shoulder is also feeling a bit stiff and numb, but I think (hope) this isn’t related to the aches and pains in my lower body. My butt, especially the right cheek, feels as if it is always flexing (yes, the butt is a muscle… remember gluteus maximus?) and I have to consciously relax it at times. Then there’s my knee, which feels funny as if it can snap anytime. My ankle also seems to be taking a beating, since it is taking some of the load off my knee.

So basically it’s the right side of my body that’s in the shit-hole. Everything feels stiff and overworked. This is why I feel tired most of the time, even after 8 hours of sleep. My mobility is hindered a bit. My stability, especially felt when doing precise motor movements (like taking a picture, holding something steady for long periods of time) is also being affected. And anything that would place most of my joints with more than my body weight needs extra effort and energy, which I am already lacking.

I sometimes think that I go into a trance when walking long distances or standing for some time without rest (ie, sitting or lying down). I really need to see a doctor soon, and that time will be probably mid-next week.

For now I am a casualty of war (I recently found out that a casualty of war means anybody sidelined and not be able to go to the front lines, either via death or injuries).

it was not my time

My friends and I had another round of poker last night at my house. We had an initial buy-in of 250 pesos (some were not too keen on losing too much money hehehe). It has been quite some time since I have played poker so I was a bit rusty and the guys I was playing with had more playing time. I knew I was the under dog so I decided to play hard ball as soon as I got a relatively decent hand. I went all in... but came up empty. Darnit!

It was still too early in the game (and the night) so I decided to buy myself in again. I was now down by 500 pesos. This round was going better, I was able to get the money back. But alas, lady luck left my side and I ended up losing it all. Jonas on the other hand seemed to be on a roll, starting from nearly down and out to getting most of the winnings!

We decided to have another round, a new buy-in. 750 pesos.

It was a great round with the chip lead passing all around the table. Novis beat me in a great round of betting. Jonas, the lucky bastard, again had a roller coaster ride in terms of chips. He ended up being the sole winner of the night... 1,500 bucks! With Novis coming in second with a break even night. Sheryl, David and Dale each lost 250 pesos. And as for me, the "house" lost big time.

But only in monetary terms. We had a great night of poker and catching up with friends. We are already looking forward to having more dinners, poker nights and getting pissed-out drunk drinking session.

It was nice to be back. A bonus was that Jonas brought along a weapons-mounted night vision scope! Hehehe

NVG sample

veteran

My grandfather died last night.

He was the only grandfather I ever knew (both my dad’s parents died before I was born I never got to meet them), yet I don’t really know much about him as a person. We have shared a few words whenever I visit them in the province or they drop by Manila for a few days. I know he was a veteran of the Second World War and he knows that I am fascinated with the military and guns so we do have something in common to talk about.

He has taken me to some live firing exercises, shot a few rounds together and talked about gun safety, responsible gun ownership and shared a few shooting advices. My brother even showed him a few of the airsoft guns we use.

I haven’t asked him much about the war and his involvement in it. I believe it is a bit inappropriate to ask if he has any confirmed kills even if, or maybe especially because he was a soldier (or freedom fighter?). Although in some of his stories you could read between the lines, but I didn’t want to push it out of respect.

That’s it though… may he rest in peace.

back!

Finally, I am back home indefinitely after all the drama with regards to my visa in Singapore. Someone will be replacing me in the project after a week so I won’t be leaving the country anytime soon (I think).

Anyway, funny thing is that I was almost left behind by the plane. I was already in the airport with my baggage checked in well before my flight departure time (something like 3 hours). So I decided to roam around the airport and grab a couple of Corona’s at the bar, I also made a few phone calls since I hade a little less than 50 SGD worth of calls on my prepaid card. Then I decided to buy a few items in the duty free shops since I had some local currency left, by this time I had 45 mins left before my flight thinking I still had time on my hands.

After a few minutes of roaming around, I looked at one of the flight information screens I saw that my flight indicated a status of “Gate Closing”! I nearly panicked! I had 30 mins left till flight time and they were closing the gates! I was quite a long way from my gate so I ran pushing my baggage cart hoping, wishing I wouldn’t get left behind. Mind you I already had a couple of beers and was starting to feel its effects as I ran down the corridors. Needles to say I made it to my flight.

David was supposed to pick me up, but we had a bit of a misunderstanding about the time so I was left waiting for him for around an hour. It was alright though, I was just glad to be back and see good old friends again. We went off to meet up with Dale and Yeng in Eastwood and we had a round of drinks on me. We swapped some stories, had a good laugh and called in a night. Got home half an hour after midnight.

All in all, it was a very good day.

shell shock

I am going crazy right now.

There a lot of things going on in my mind. From small, mundane things that can be left behind, to things's I put on hold for a bit of time now. Plus the everyday things that pop-up randomly.

Maybe I'm just feeling apprehesive of all the things I can, will and should do starting next week. I need to do something to calm me down... and unfortunately thinking about what that should be adds to the stuff that makes me crazy. Ironic eh?

champion's drive

Kimi Raikkonen won yesterday’s Japanese Grand Prix, and he did this from the back of the grid.

After losing the driver’s championship to rival Fernando Alonso after last week’s Brazilian Grand Prix, he didn’t look set to even step on the podium much less win yesterday’s race. During a practice session, he blows an engine getting him a 10 grid-slot penalty. This means that even if he gets pole position, he will be demoted to 11th spot, and this is the best he can hope for. Mother nature however, had other plans. During the second half of qualifying the rain fell on the circuit ruining everyone’s times, Kimi fell to 17th on the grid.

Throughout the race he was quietly making his way up the grid, most of the attention was on Alonso who was also having a great run up the grid (he started 16th). Somehow, when it was needed most, he put in a string of fast laps to overtake Alonso in the pits. He did it again on his second pit stop to leapfrog a couple of front-runners! By this time he was looking good for a podium finish. Then he got to it, third, then second, he was now just 5 seconds off Fisichella on first place with 10 laps left in the race. 5 seconds is a lap time in Formula 1, but after a lap he cut it down by a little over a second! Mathematically he could reach Fisichella to battle for first by the last couple of laps. Fisichella got bundled on one of the backmarkers giving Kimi a few extra seconds and there it was, the battle for victory with 2 laps to go. Kimi tried on the first corner, but Fisichella held on to the lead. Kimi towed behind for the rest of the lap, then tried again on the first corner. This time he got it! Taking the lead on the last lap and holding on to it to win the Japanese GP!

Too bad Montoya (his teammate) crashed out on the first lap, thus McLaren loses their lead in the constructor’s championship. But it was a great race nontheless. He hails this to be his best race/win ever as he worked real hard for it, the makings of a true champion. Despite losing the driver's championship twice in 3 years, many hail him to be a multiple champion someday. With performances like these, I'm pretty sure he will be.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to watch all this! I had to make due with the live timing at Formula1.com

escape & evasion

I am now back in Singapore.

The 5-hour bus ride to Kuala Lumpur was uneventful save for the awful traffic once we got near the city proper. It was a sight to see the Petronas Towers at night, it was an almost surreal view from the bus window. I arrived at the hotel at around 8 pm, did some housekeeping stuff, checked some emails and updated friends who were online as to the current situation. I decided to grab a couple of beers and act tourist-like for my duration in KL. Surprisingly the band performing at the hotel’s bar were Filipinos and I had a bit of a chat with them.

first glimpse


I was still apprehensive going back to Singapore so soon, and a few people in Manila suggested trying to stay at least one more day. I was having thoughts of being detained in immigration prison and heavily interrogated before being hauled by armed guards to the airport for immediate deportation or being denied entry to Singapore leaving me in limbo, stuck nowhere.

So I made some arrangements for another day’s stay, grabbed something to eat and went out to do some tourist stuff. Just went to the Petronas Towers and took a few pictures, I decided to put off going up the bridge so that I would have something to do later in the evening or the following day. Turned out to be a big mistake.

Petronas Towers


As soon as I came back to the hotel, I received a call to stick with the original plan and head back to Singapore in the afternoon. I just missed out on going up the Petronas Towers and getting to see a bit more of KL. So I packed my bag, rested as much as I could, given the circumstances, and proceeded to board the bus at 3:30pm.

heading back to Singapore


5 hours later at the end of the Malaysian immigration stop, I was really feeling nervous as we only needed to cross a bridge for the Singapore immigration stop, which holds the key to my very immediate future.

Goodbye Malaysia


Surprisingly (and luckily) I had no trouble with the immigration officer. I was promptly stamped with a 14-day pass. He was actually a bit concerned for me as I would need to go through the hassle of going to their main office if I wanted to extend my stay longer. He seemed to have the impression of me being a tourist (which was the supposed plan), which could’ve been brought about by the fact that the address I will be staying at was a residential address and not a hotel.

The next plan of action is to leave Singapore at the end of next week, which is a bit disappointing. This whole event was a bit of a hassle, yet also a welcome experience at the same time.

deportation procedures

My social visit pass expires today. My employment pass has not yet been approved. So now, I need to do a visa run to Malaysia to “extend” my stay here in Singapore for 2 more weeks.

I still have no idea how to get to Malaysia, how long I’m going to stay there and where. I was told by a friend of mine to stay there at least 24 hrs so as not to rouse suspicion from the Singapore immigration.

Some people would think that I get to have a free paid vacation to Malaysia under company expense. Maybe so, but with all the unknowns it’s a bit nerve-wracking. Well maybe we can term it as an adventure, but with some of the bad luck I am having with international travel I might have a bit too much of an adventure.

Wish me luck, I will be behind enemy lines in less than 12 hours.