Be without fear in the face of your enemies. Be brave and upright that god may love thee. Speak the truth, even if it leads to your death. Safeguard the helpless, that is my oath.

My oh my , how time flies. Just last week, my class have graduated. I got to wait till next year though, coz my final report’s got problems, So i must wait till next year, It’s ok, i’m patient.

It’s been 2 mth into my 1st job, i’ve enjoyed it before, will enjoy it even more when i feel more in control of what i’m doing. Right now it still feels like I’m settling in, but i am settling in and would go from strength to strength, at least i hope so. Funny, five years ago i could have never imagined myself doing what I’m doing right now. It’s seems impossible for most of us to stick through to what we wanted to do when we were young. You always end up doing something totally unexpected. Look at ur job now, is it the same as what u expected u would do five or even three years ago? Back in my secondary school days i’ve always fancied myself as a journalist, fighting the good cause, uncover government conspiricies. Got the influence from my aunt, who was a war zone reporter for CCTV. The image of her on TV with tanks passing through the background in war zone Pakistan was my inspiration back then. But of coz, an under performing O’levels result sort of derailed my plan. Though, till this day, i could not understand why i can sign up for mass communication course because i failed math. And then i thought the hotel industry is an interesting sector to venture into, so i signed up for Shatec. But untill i got into RaXXXX hotel as a trainee, i always thought I’d be doing F&B. Coz till that point of time, all I’m being exposed to was F&B. I actually liked it a lot, still do. But when i moved to rooms division a new world sort of opened up. And i really liked what i saw, wanted to be part of it so here i am, doing my first job as a butler. Now u don’t know what that is right? I can’t explain either, coz the job scope is so wide only the word ‘everything’ seemed possible. But trust me, it’s a cool job, in a few years time it could be a integral part of any hotel. So I’m glad that i hopped on the bandwagon early.

Come to think of it, life can take u to amazing places, unforeseen places. I could not imagine where i would be ten years down the road, where would life take me next? No point to speculate, I’ll just enjoy all that i have right now and see where it takes me in a few year’s time. That’s the fun part of it isen’t it.

This is got to be the best show I’ve watched in a long time, maybe even ever. Not since ‘ Lost ‘ have i seen a story this engaging . I had 2 off days this week with a lot of things planed, but once i started i couldn’t stop. So i ended up spending the entire 2 days glued to my TV, following the thrill ride of Michael Scofield through season 1. I bought season 2 already, and i have every intention of loosing precious sleep over this. You see, the story is so brilliant, that it pulls you in and grips you like a vice. The action, the drama plus A LOT of political conspiracy and you got one hell of a show. No wonder it now stands shoulder to shoulder with the other 2 of the most popular serials in America(’ heroes ‘ and  ‘Lost’) . Go watch this show, you won’t be disappointed.
Speaking of which, I’m going to have my own breakthrough tomorrow . I will be running the bar in Bar&Billiard Room on my own for one day . God… My bar captain really give me face ah… Yeah I’ve been doing bar training for a month now, but, there’s always a senior bartender there so there’s always a insurance, a lifeline to fall back on in case something goes wrong. But since both of them are ether off or on leave so i kinda got dragged onto the front line at the last minute.. Shit, nervous..nervous.. Now I’m on my own.. Since starting my attachment at the bar, i came to realize that a bartender’s job is not just to shake a few drinks every now and then, there are a million things to take care of. Normally there’s always my senior bar captain to remind me of those things i forgot to do or to rescue me when there’s an order of a particularly difficult cocktail ( like ‘ Raffles Revelry ‘, now who the fu*k invented this cocktail ! 13 ingredients? You might as well dump the entire bar into the shaker..) . Now all i got is my one month of training to fall back on .
Hmm.. must have faith.. cannot screw up tomorrow.. cannot screw up..

I couldn’t believe my eyes when i stepped into Bar&Billiard Room and checked our reservations. Twelve, that’s all. So for the first time in two month I’d had an easy day at BBR. Normally lunch would be like a war because we’d get more than one hundred people, and, that’s the best part, four staffs running the show. Kinda make me miss those Shatec days, twenty people running a little outlet probably smaller than Raffles’ toilet. Now that my bar tender days are over, i run my guts out everyday on the floor with a manager breathing down my neck.

Speaking of manager, i got this little funny french guy here at BBR who, unfortunately, happens to be the restaurant manager. Now he’s a good man, brilliant at management, especially financial accounts. Every single day he sits down with us, first thing he says would always be - yesterday our revenue was how much how much, we are how much how much away to meet budget and therefore, today we must do how much how much… I’m perfectly fine with all that, but wait till service starts, and this little Frenchman gets all jumpy. We all strive for service excellence, but his is, kiss ass kind of service. And he makes a big fuss over small matters, one guest complaint, a minor one over a tainted spoon, his wire will simply snap. Some times it’s even amusing to see him react - God !! We got a guest complain !! Our days are numbered !! Soon all of Raffles will close down and we are all gonna Hara Kiri( Japanese ritual suicide) in front of the people of Singapore to redeem our sins !! Think he would probably do that if guest asked him to, no wonder the french couldn’t save their own economy… I’d be out of here if not for my tattoos…

Speaking of tattoos, i didn’t imagine, in my wildest dreams, that my tattoos will cause such complication to my hotel career. HR have to reschedule my training program now, moon cake sale cannot do, must stay in BBR,normal housekeeping cannot go, must go resident service. Now I’m a sinner at HR, got to work extra hard to prove that I’m a good kid. Those few of you must be reading this with a big ‘ I told you so" lol. Well put also put already, i never regret my own decisions. Stay in BBR is not all bad, at least got fantastic food…

Speaking of fantastic food, i think now my diet too good already. Since we are serving buffet, i can practically eat all i can after that. I’ve been feeding on lobster pancakes, and stuffs like that for over a month. This could seriously endanger my gym program… That’s not good… nothing can disrupt my gym program !

Anyway Vernon, Kenny and i are doing just fine at Raffles hotel. Vernon’s asking for a transfer to BBR next month so thing should improve.

All the best for everyone, we will learn in this one year more than we ever had at school…

I woke up this morning with a little emptiness . Yesterday was my last day of school, yes this is the end of my study life, i don’t have to go to school anymore. When i was sitting at the briefing room, i couldn’t believe that this is it, this is the end. Two years ago we were in the same room for our orientation, now we are graduating. The past two years seemed so long yet so short. So much had happened. Now we are out in a new world, into the industry, where I’m sure the vultures are already circling around us. Real politics awaits us out there, and I’m not quite sure if I’m ready to play the game. Going our to hotels is not our target, surviving in it is. Two years we’ve left behind, but many more years is to come.

And then i realized that this is not the end, it is just the beginning.

The new schedule for the new school term is just perfect, class end at 12 plus almost everyday, the latest day being Monday at 4pm. So, i got the entire afternoon for gym sessions. Last term was hell for me, school ends at 5pm or 6pm almost everyday. It was almost impossible for me to follow a training program, i find it difficult to start school at 9am, continue all the way to 6pm, and the take 1&1/2 hour train ride to the gym and start pumping 20kg weights at almost 8.30 at night. Thus you can imagine my delight when i saw this term’s time table, now is the perfect time to restart my training program! I’ve gained quite a few pounds during these month, it will be tough to get into shape, but a more vigorous training program can save anything, even my lumps of fats dragging me into oblivion. Hopefully I’d be able to follow it this time, but since I’ve written it here later no result then pai sei liao… Haix never mind lor… Extra motivation…

PS. Congratulations here for my friend Samuel Goh Nai De for making it into NUS. You always amused me with 2 things, one is your uncanny ability to get distinctions in exams, another being your distinctive lack of common sense in everyday life. But since this is your moment of glory i shall just congratulate you for this… Should i say… Hard fought achievement and wish you all the best for the future.   

I’ve been crazy following Miami ink, the latest virtual reality show on discovery travel & living. unlike other reality shows, nobody get eliminated each show. The show is about the daily happenings in a tattoo parlor called Miami Ink and most importantly about the works done by a group of amazing artists. Season one of the show was already finished and season two is now airing at 11pm(but check TV listings just to make sure). Just to see the tattoos  they’d done is already worth the time watching, plus you get to see Kate Von D, the hottest tattoo girl on earth. I got to say it’s the most refreshing idea since the virtual reality show format took off with survivor. Now they are all over television, with recycled ideas. Survivor is now on god knows how many seasons, i watched America’s next top model the other day and felt it’s crap. Ya and amazing race, the race runs forever. These used to be very popular and highly original shows , now ran into mediocrity  by too many sequels.The viewers need to see news things. Fortunately there’s still shows like Miami Ink and Hell’s Kitchen(basically survivor in the F&B line where the winner gets his own restaurant). Maybe next we can have something in sports, like a EPL football club or something, that’d be a great show to watch.

Almost every time, the few days after exam was always accompanied by a sense of emptiness. It’s because during exam time there’s a sense of urgency, a target, a goal to achieve. But when the target is no longer there, I’ve always felt more lost than relieved.
Not this time, I’ve set myself another goal long before exam started. I am to begin intensive training during the holiday week. For the amount of junk food i eat i have to go to gym 3 times a week just to stay in shape and reasonable  fitness. But, i haven’t gone to the gym for the past 2 month, for some reason or another and I’ve put on weight… So now it’s time to hit the gym and get back in shape. Besides, my passion for basketball is coming back since I’ve been playing quite often for the past week. And it’s only when you play competitively then you realize that you are getting rusty. Some of the things you could do before but can’t do now because your body’s letting you down. Perhaps now it’s the time to pump more weights and play more ball games…
So the training has started for 3 days already, and so far I’ve kept to my training schedule. The aim is to loose weight, improve stamina and build muscle. Hope i can maintain my effort this time, may the force be with me…

I finished reading Band Of Brothers recently. I bought the book for quite some time, one year ago to be exact. I should have read it sooner, it’s the best war book I’ve ever read, period. The story revolves around easy company of the American  airborne  division, from  the training camp of Toccoa in  Georgia  to  Normandy  on D-day  and  all the way to Hitler’s eagle’s nest. Very entertaining, in depth history, inspiring at the same time. Strongly recommended for history and war enthusiasts.

And then there’s Broke back Mountain. No i haven’t become gay… Just curious about it and man…it’s graphic, even brutal at times… Not everyone can watch it i admit… Recommended for gays, or those planning to become one…         

Today is a special day . I went to get my tattoo done at Visual Orgasm , inside Parklane Mall . I’ve been thinking about a tattoo for quite sometime and after months of consideration and scouting for the design , i finally got the conviction to get it done .

Before i continue , meet Leslie first , he is the one responsible for my faith today . Yes , that’s the words I’m going to put - F A I T H .

The outline part went pleasantly well , it’s less painful than i thought . I was right at home until the shading part . The pain , though not excruciating , did make me sweat a little bit…Hmm…OK quite a bit… Can’t imaging what my friend ZH must have felt , he put a entire skull head on his chest..-_-" But thanks god everything went smoothly and it was completed in 2 hours .

And this is the finished product . Well , it will stay with me for the rest of my life now .

I’m having my 3rd lesson of the day… Feeling drowsy… My eyelids weighed like a ton… The teacher’s rumbling on and on in that same , dreamy voice… The subject is hospitality sales… Have no idea what that is yet… Is she even speaking English ? The sky’s getting dark , looks like it’s going to rain…

Great…

When it rains… It pours…

Can’t believe I’m writing this in class… I’d usually read a book or something to pass time… In my bag is a book called ‘ The Last Templar ‘ , a Da Vinci Code rip-off which I’ve been reading for some time… I only read on my way to and back from school these days… Because it’s long enough already… Moved to Pasir Ris two weeks ago , now every trip to school is a patience testing one and half hour… Not complaining though , I’m in good company here , at least i have time to read my book now…

Heard a depressing story from a friend last week… Hell… Now it’s affecting my mood as well… I always believed about the better things in life… But the truth can be quite different… When reality hits , it usually hits hard… Anyway he’s been very upset over it… All of us tried to convince him to be rational , but that’s easier said than done and i know he couldn’t do that… But at the same time i know that he is now walking a tougher and potentially more painful path… couldn’t ask him to stop… So I’ll just tell him to do what he thinks is the right thing to do and i as a friend will support him to whatever end…

At least he got the courage to fight for what he thinks is worth fighting for… The result does not matter , but he’ll regret later if he doesn’t fight the fight…

On a brighter note , Zoukout is coming on 9th Dec . Who want to go ? Tickets on sale liao . Buy in advance cheaper . Think $28 . Anyone ?