Beard Papa Cream Puffs

You guys must check out this cream puff from Beard Papa at the basement of Seiyu Department StoreFood Hall. There are other outlets in SG too. Please check out the other locations from the website - http://www.beardpapa.com.sg

3 reasons why you must try this cream puff
- 100% man-made puff they put in the filling for u on the spot.
- All the ingredients are of finest grade quality and are imported from Japan.
- The crust is soft yet crispy and the filling inside simply melts in your mouth to give u a very rich and satisfying taste!

First attempt at channel editing on PS7

First attempt using PS7 to create the dynamic landscape above. Pic was taken at the Millenium Bridge, Gateshed Newcastle.

First attempt at editing potraits using KevSoft Skin, Digitial Fill Flash, Soft Focus and Viginette. Hehe this was an old pic of my friend Elena which I took during our short weekend trip to Tyneside, Newcastle.

My new camera !!

Just bought a camera a few weeks back. Quickly tested it out in different modes and most of them are very satsifying! Vibrant color reproduction and a 6X optical zoom perfect for telephoto shots. Introducing the Canon Powershot A710 IS (Yes Is stands for image stablization finally an IS for the Canon A-series)Below are some of the sample shots that i took.

1cm Macro shot of our anniversary ring!!! Super cool...one of my fave shots.

Esplanade landscape. Night shot 6s exposure.
Merlion along Singapore River. Night shot with 5s exposure. Not bad ^^

Shinning Golden Piggie. My Sweet Bank not coin bank XD. Indoor shot.

Strawberries bowl. Hmm..look very yummy use a red filter.

Hibiscus plant in my house. Telephoto shot.

Mortuary Visit

Hmmm today is an interesting day went to the mortuary at Health Science Authority (HSA) at SGH. We were greeted by a very solemn and grave atmosphere; kins of the deceased were spotted weeping and some giving consolation despite tears welling up in their eyes. Of course I also see some divisional investigators queue up, pending status of coroner's inquiry whether to do an autposy to those who died of unnatural death. It was still drizzling lightly and i started to get qualms about this visit.

Shortly after some briefing, we were brought into the viewing gallery. 5 bodies were lined up on those stainless steel trolleys. It was quite a disturbing sight. We were told that one of the body belonged to a 70+ old lady who died in a traffic accident. We were also told that the mortuarists (people who cut up the dead bodies or whatever you call them to be) are the best in the world. During the tsunami incident in Thailand, our mortuarists were dispatched to do autopsy examination on some of the dead bodies. It was said that by the time our mortuarists finished cutting up the 4th body, the US experts are still doing their first while the Aust counterparts ar still contemplating which part to start the incision. LOL. The most funny thing is that these so called experts asked our mortuarists which Uni they graduated from b'cause they were so amazed up their skills and technique of cutting. Quite surprisingly most of our mortuarists barely completed their primary school education, let alone to say university studies. The experts were taken back. @@ LOL.

Anyway hats off to these unsung warriors. Not many could stand the stench and the mental pressure to work in this environment. Certainly not me!! So off they went to "disect" the dead bodies. First they did and incision from the ear to the other ear across the back of the head, then the skin of the head was peeled off (quite amazingly seemed like a rubber mask) Then an electric rotor blade was used to cut open the skull and the brain was taken out. The body was then cut up from the thoat all the way to the pelvic bone. Internal organs were extracted after the rib cage was cut away. (Ok at this point i was feeling abit dizzy and looked away)

Then after that individual organs were examined for signs of clotting, bruising on the exterior before they were sliced up thinly to scrutinise the interior. After recording down all the signs, the parts were disposed off. It was more like a biological lesson where the pathologist was explaining every part of the human body to us from the function of the organ to the interior composition. It was not as gross as i thought. Someone reminded me that treat them as dead objects and don't keep thinking them as human bodies. That somehow did the trick..i did not feel as grosteque as the moment i stepped into the viewing gallery. The glass viewing gallery did so much to prevent us in direct contact with the stench and i think i really appreciate it alot with the air-con ventilation. I can't imagine myself stepping inside of the examination room with the protective overall and the facial mask...i think they can't do much to "stop" the stench from reaching my nostrils.

Anyway after the mortuary visit, went over to the HSA forensics lab. Now this is much more interesting. It is almost similar to those forensics lab seen in CSI. Pretty cool the forensics lab consists of the DNA testing lab, the document tracing lab (trace to determine whether 2 signatures are similar) and criministics lab (evidence reconstruction). Each played major roles in reconstructing the crime scenes in major incidents such as arson, murder and rape.

It was really an eye-opening experience for me, almost came close to a hair raising one. Plenty of thoughts for me to bring back....quite disturbing as well.

Squad Photo Taking

Last Fri, we took thee squad photo in front of the HTA Blk 1 quite a nice backdrop. Finally going to graduate as senior police officer after almost 10 months of training in TRACOM. Looking foward to 15 May 07 where we will end this course with a high note by having a dining in dinner at Senior Police Officer's Mess (SPOM) at Old PA. Hee the photo below is shrinked but u can click on it to get a larger view. Try locating me XD

More pics from Nepal

Nepal pics

1. Mt Macchapucchre also known as the fishtail mountain. One of the finest sights in the Annapurna range of Nepal.




















2. Group photo taken on the way to Ghandruk from Chomrong.
Back row: Encik Yazid, Sin Choon, Kok Seong, Songen, Myself, Chun Shou, Zainal Sup
Front row: Kee Pang, Yuxiang, Raymond

















3. Landscape shot of myelf against the cool Annapurna Range in Landruk.

















4. Sitting on top of the resting place with the prayer flags flapping in the background.
















5. Crossing the suspension bridge....very jerky XD (Me and Songen on the bridge)

Leadership training 26 Feb to 16 Mar

I remembered the days we were to wake up early in the morning at 6.15am and fall in, in front of the parade sq facing the leadership training wing. My mind was filled with lots of uncertainties and doubts as to what kind of training will we be going through today. For me gone were the days of my physical prime, I just wished I could survive through whatever training they are going to throw at me.

Training was tough besides from the normal running with our 15kg backpacks, we did logs PT, obstacle course, situational tests, and casualty evacuation exercises. All this training seemed to be selection course for the STAR team or the commandoes but they are really important for senior police officers like us. It is to train up our mental and physical resilience in face of difficult crisis Singapore may face.

We were drilled with procedures to do operation orders and planning and how to do quick Appreciation of Situation AOS, and were assessed through various exercises in different types of terrain such as arresting II in Mandai jungle, arresting drug syndicate at Changi Creek, etc. It is a very different type of experience althought the mental and physical fatigue resembled the times i went through in the army when we were to "chiong sua" (charge up mountain). But i appreciated the training objectives in the end.

The finale was marked with a 19 day field mission to the land of the lost - Nepal. This place is so dilapidated that it is so hard to find even a public phone in the mountains. Satellite phone calls are charged at USD 5 per minute but i managed to bargain to USD 5 for 5 min. The lost contact with civilization was really too hard for me to bear. I missed my family and my dearest Trini so much.

Apart from the vast mountain and beautiful scenery that was posed to us, the terrain really sucked. Imagine walking on tight edges with no support, rocky paths lined with cow dung and loose soil filled with pot-holes! They did no help to my poor aching ankles and height phobia. Few sustained injuries along the way but im impressed by the way the squad came about to overcome these mishaps.

The end of the field mission saw us did a 2 day white water rafting along Kathmandu. It was fun! But the thrill factor was kinda let down, it was more of a disneyland adventure boat ride rather than a thrilling raft on rapids. Worse still, i fell sick due to the lousy "waterproof" rainjackets that they provide. I think it was more of water resistant than waterproof.

Anyway glad to be home finally on 16 Mar. Back to civilization at last!

Looking back, it has almost been a month back. I really would like to thank the Guchees (Nepalese Gurkha trainers) - Tucci sup, Surin sup, MK sup and Zainal sup for all the efforts they put into making this training a success. Last but not least there was this one man whom i really respect from the bottom of my heart. He is none other than Col Bruce Nivens. His words his mental and physical strength dispite his age of 70+ really touched me. Below are his 2 quotes that i remembered deeply.

"Treat all men as your spiritual equals"
"Leadership is about commanding affection and communicating energy"

I hope i can be a successful leader too.