'~WoNdErFuL 2 ThOuSaNd 6..

Thursday, November 10, 2005
NS Check-Up..

Today, I took a day off work..Despite not bearing to..Due to the amounts of work waiting for me in the lab...Sigh, still have to take cos NS more impt..

Appointment is at 9am..CMPB..
So I thot I can reach earlier if I take train at 7:55am..
Reach the Redhill MRT station at about 8:10am..
Took the bus 145 to CMPB bus-stop..
Then realized I have to cross the bridge..
Walk about half a loop to the front of the door to get into the CMPB building..
What the heck??! The tall wall fence surounding the CMPB, DSTA N DTT buildings together..Thanks ah, Make me walk all the way to the front..

Fortunately I still reach a tad earlier than 9am..
Though the info counter staff is polite, the other counter staff is not at all..NOT AT ALL...
Anyway, the procedure is to collect a pink form from the info counter staff, take photo, then submit the pink form n ur health survey to the unfriendly staff at the other counter..
Thereafter, u wait for them to call out ur name..

As I was going alone..
I am a bit scare n my group of about 8ppl were unfamiliar to each other..

There are a total of 6 stations in all..
I first went for hearing test, then dental check-up, eye test(colourblindness, myopic-ness) then lab test (blood group n urine test), x-ray (lung x-ray, presumeably check for lung disease such as lung cancer) then physical examination..

Hearing Test: Sit in a ultra quiet room...Put the headphones on n listen carefully for different frequencies of monotones..All sounding like mosquito buzzing in various frequencies...then depending on which ear u heard the sound/noise, raise up the corresponding hand..Eg: If u hear the sound in ur left ear, raise ur left hand..

Dental Check-up: A dentist will check ur teeth and after the check-up, u may go to the next station..Strangely though, when she was checking me, she say something like 825U..(dun understand what she saying) then later she tell me to go into this room whereby they took an x-ray of my teeth..Great, what's wrong with my teeth now?? Can ya tell me??

Eye-test: Read aloud a few numbers from the pattern-ed colour dotted..Cover left eye n read the row third from the bottom, change to right eye..Ok, pass me ur specs..Ok, next station please...

Lab Test: Test ur urine using Bayer Test strips..To check for diabetes etc..Then test blood group by pricking ur middle finger cos its the finger u are most unlikely to use it..n perhaps have the most blood flow??

X-Ray: Remove ur shirt and line up in a row, waiting for entry into the x-ray room..Once inside..Position ur torso against the x-ray machine..
When everything is ok, take a deep breathe n hold it..n the x-ray is taken..

Physical examination:
Got 4 sections: Height n weight, blood pressure, hear beat n physical examination..

Height n weight:
Take off shoes n go the weight & height unit to take ur height n weight..Advanced-Tech it is, it can calculate the BMI..n mine (BMI: 17.5) is way below healthy standards..Wahaha..Just knew it..

Blood Pressure:
Roll up sleeves and put ur right arm into the machine such thet it squeezes ur biceps muscles..Then press the button to begin..It works just like a normal low tech blood pressure mercury based equipment..

After that, go take a key n sign n deposit ur belongings (include shoes) into the locker n LOCK ur locker..Take out ur medical reports if any..Opps, forget to mention, take off ur shirt n pants (long), or strip to ur underwear n store inside the SMALL locker..

Heart Beat:
Lie on a bed and they attach a funny sort of equipment on ur torso and add clips to ur leg muscles..Relax n breathe in and out as per normal for the reading to be accurate..

Physical Examination:
Take a queue number and wait for ur turn..
When it is ur turn, take ur file n medical records (if any)..and proceed to the examination room..

The person inside, supposed should be a guy usually..
would be asking u questions like any tatoos, smoking habbits n homosexaulity..Besides these, he would look thru ur health survey n check them with u..Thereafter, he would tell u to go to a spot in the same room n bend down to touch ur toes..Then he would tell u to strip naked n cover ur mouth n make a coughing sound..After that, u're done..Dress up n leave that room..
Ironically, it is also the room that determines if u're a pest A or B or others (A-F)...Pest as in similar to grade A or B..

After finishing, unlock ur belongings n dress-up n return the key..
Then, give the file to the staff there..They'll call ur name shortly..
After ur name is called, they will tell u if u're a pest A or B or others (A-F)..Then u're required to go to a computer room to start a about 2hr long test..BE WARNED: If is both tiring to the eyes n brain..

The questions asked in the test range from following long-winded n sometimes confusing instructions to simple algebra and arithmetic problems (yea right?!) to number sequence to logical patterns to physics to object rotation, etc..All of which is time-based..N problem is the time given is usually not enuff to do the questions posted..How nice..!

After the test, u are again required to take a about 1 hour long MCQ test..
Now, ur hands starts to get tired too..The circles to be shaded are so many..about 18 pages..The questions are based mainly on NS, SAF, ur viewpoints, ur family n friends viewpoints on NS n SAF, ur strengths n shortcomings..After the completion of the surey, U may go =) Yes, FINALLY!!! The whole ordeal took about 4 hours or so..Believe me, u feel a bit tired after the day's events..

=WiN=

WiNter's FirsT Snowflake.. @ 10:00:00 PM

Movie: Oliver Twist

This adaption of the book by Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist, follows the story written by Charles Dickens.

It tells the tale of a young orphan who was being abused in the workhouse and was sent to work in another place, a funeral parlor..and how he later escape to London and got involved with a gang of pickpockets. He escaped from them when he realize they are a bad company. However, they still managed to catch him...and continued to make him do all sorts of bad things. Good will always triumph over evil.

The boy who played Oliver Twist is so adorable n has a very melancholic face. He played the character very well. The setting is just like the story depicted. Nice movie. I would give 4 out of 5 stars!

=WiN=

WiNter's FirsT Snowflake.. @ 9:50:00 PM

Sunday, November 06, 2005
Sunday (06 Nov 05)

Sundays are usually the days when I read The Sunday Times n The New Paper fully..As in Most parts of the newspaper..

Perhaps I really am too emotional already..
The news that Paris is having riots now really caught me by surprise..
Isn't it supposed to be a romantic n peaceful city??
It used to give me this kind of feeling..
To tell the truth, I really can't stand watching anything that is not world peace..like wars, riots n natural disasters..
I just hope that Paris and the other parts of the world can learn to live in harmony and understanding..

=WiN=

WiNter's FirsT Snowflake.. @ 10:15:00 AM

SighZ!

I have not blogged for about two weeks already..
But I still kinda enjoy what I'm doing now..
That is blogging..LoL..

This week has been pretty good n terrible..
Good as in I have extra days off work due to holidays..
But terrible as in I know I have a pile of work to finish as soon as I get back to work..Terrible as it may sounds, but I'm actually glad that at times, my mentor (Jin) and colleagues (Patricial, Prathsha, etc) help me do some of my work..Thanks lotz ppl..

Recently got abit stressed n upset..
Supposed to do proposal n hand up on friday (04 Nov 05)..
But I don't feel like doing proposal on holidays..
So only finish it on thurs...
But supervisor not at work on Friday..
So I called my LO abt it..
Guess he may have a bit of bad day then..
So got a bit of scolding from him..
I understand, it's my fault anyway..
Anyway, I hope to sent the proposal to him asap..
Dun want to make him upset further becos of our proposal..

Wish everyone will have a better week ahead!
Cya @ TP on Sat (12 Nov 05) then..Take CareZ..

=WiN=

WiNter's FirsT Snowflake.. @ 10:07:00 AM

Friday, November 04, 2005
November's Chopin

I brought November's Chopin 十一月的萧邦(Jay Chou's latest album)

Sadly, It seems abit sad now..
The songs in the album are mostly related to fall n winter season..
Of coz these are the romantic songs, which is the main reason why I brought it..It makes me sad just by listening to the song lyrics..The music adds to the element of sadness...

I wonder why, but usually, it is not so sad one..
Like 晴天..so nice n not very sad one..
The 1st hit from the album: 夜曲 is about a song written for a dead girlfriend who he loves deeply..Though I couldn't catch most of the part he singing, the lyrics is ever so beautifully written..

The other song：一路向北,
is also another sad song from the movie Initial D...

They say the song is not sad unless you are sad..
So am I really just too emotional, or am I really sad right now??
Not sure which is the one I am feeling now..
But my current fav song is track 3: 发如雪 and track 6: 枫..
No idea why, but the music n lyrics really complement each other n brings out the feelings..Track 6 is the really sad song that can make me really sad..

I would give this album a 4 out of 5 stars..
For it really is a nice album n YY would really like it..
Perhaps it's her influence on me that cause me to feel like this..
But no matter what, this is really a very nice album, especially the sad romantic songs...

=WiN=

WiNter's FirsT Snowflake.. @ 10:23:00 PM