Carebear matters...

For a close friend of mine by Yours Sincerely, but too bad this friend hasn't had the time to collect this "refugee" bear

I wonder what do I get in return? Lolx... *Ahem

In Possesion of Brunei Passport

I apologize for not blogging for quite some time due to a combination of sheer laziness and a busy schedule.

I left Singapore for Brunei about a week ago, shortly after the launching of the new Brunei biometric passport has been made official in the local papers. Having been bestowed Brunei citizenship by His Majesty The Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam three months ago, I decided to exercise my right to apply for a Brunei national passport.

The Brunei national biometric passport is a red little booklet for international traveling. The biometric passport costs $60, and encompasses a whole new set of security features - laser printing, a biometric chip, different watermarks etc.

The new passport is aligned with international standards set by International Civil Aviation Organization(ICAO) and its biometric chip contains permanent information of the holder's 10 fingerprints and biometric facts such as facial image and so on to verify that the examined passport is genuine and owned by the rightful person.

More interestingly, the authorities have revamped the design of the passport pages. It now contains some famous sceneries from around the capital, e.g. Istana Nurul Iman and the famous Kampong Ayer.

The whole project costs the government $7.1 million. One of the main reasons is to allow Brunei travellers to visit nations such as the United States, which has enforced the use of the new passport, in conjunction with its Visa Waiver Travel programme. This means that I can now enter North America without a visa.

The new passport also promised to cut down on entry processing time at immigration checkpoints. Brunei passport holders no longer have their passport stamped when entering or exiting Brunei Darussalam since the middle of April.

Recently, I felt extremely proud to be holding a Brunei passport. Brunei is one of the three countries to enjoy visa-free entry in China (PRC) for 15 days. Due to the upcoming Olympics, Singapore passport holders now have to apply for a Chinese visa starting from July, whereas Brunei passport holders can continue to enjoy the visa-free privilege.

In conjunction with this, I managed to made a small busines by selling crackers from Brunei - a local delicacy to my dear colleagues. It was the first time I'd seen Brunei crackers so ppopular outisde the country. At least I can make some extra money for this month, haha..

Finally I am stateless no more.....

Officially A Brunei Citizen

I can now proudly proclaim myself a Bruneian, having just received my coveted citizenship merely less than two weeks ago. Been so busy and internet has been down and down.
Returned to Brunei to attend the Citizenship Presentation Ceremony .

The ceremony was divided into two sessions: morning and afternoon. The morning session is essentially a taklimat, orientating us mostly on Brunei Nationality laws and some other civil departments, whereas the afternoon session saw the presenting of our citizen certificates, or sijil kerakyatan.

Participants have to attend the ceremony in Brunei's national costume - Baju Cara Melayu, and I had to be there complete with a songkok and sinjang. We recited some pledges and sang the national anthem.

This was what I wore to the ceremony

The ceremony saw the inauguration of 304 new Brunei citizens, with only a handful of guys, the rest being ladies.

Nevertheless, I have not applied for Brunei national passport . The authorities will be rolling out biometric passports next month, allowing Bruneians to enjoy visa-free entry into the US under VWP (Visa Waiver Program). If I am not wrong, the biometric passport is valid for 10 years!! The Certificate of Identity, meanwhile, is still valid for travel until the possession a national passport.

For those applying for Brunei citizenship, be patient! Good things are worth waiting for, considering that Brunei citizenship does not entail much liabilities. The overall process seems to have sped up, and once you possess the citizenship, you shall be a proud citizen of a welfare state with NO taxes, haha...

I am going away.....

I had been substantially busy for the past two weeks and hence was unable to blog as frequently as I would like to.

Chinese New Year is just around the corner, and I sure am looking forward to it. This Chinese New Year is relatively special, for apart from being reunited with my family, my coveted Brunei citizenship has finally been approved and I will be certified on the third day of CNY. Double blessings indeed.

Life's pretty mundane recently, but things should be picking up once January's over. Went over to a friend's house with a bunch of friends the other day, and honestly speaking, I haven't been in close contact with any pet dogs for many years. The cute dog sure revives my joyous dog-loving sentiments.

Nice model by the window... Used to have one


Playing UNO stacko... Omg


Spot the dog...


Payday... We all waiting for payday


My friend playing with the dog..

Next few months should be rather exciting... There will be gatherings, plenty of birthdays (time for me to return favors), Singapore Airshow 2008, return of a friend etc... Further down the road, probably there will be some overseas trip planned with friends... Anyway, till then, work continues as I continue looking forward to payday each month...

NTU Recollections 1 - For Old Times' sake

Not very long ago, I had had to drop by NTU for both official and unofficial matters. For old times' sake and in honor of a promise to a friend, I had finally completed this post.

It was still the vacation period when I returned. The journey into NTU was horrendous, with bus frequencies as long as 20 minutes or even longer. Upon settling whatever I wanted to settle, I wandered around NTU for a little while.

Although not enthusiastically fond of the university, eventually vivid memories of the 3 years of undergraduate life returned to "haunt" me. Having visited the Student Services services center earlier on, I immediately faced my school building - the building where all our labs are situated.

I entered North Spine by walking through the SCE General Office. Ahhh, the long silent corridors.... I remembered we had been here to find our mentors, chased out of professor's room for asking "stupid" questions, appeal for results etc. The long silent lanes remains, echoing our expired memories....

The North Spine

The fountains... I reckon, are the most beautiful part of NTU, providing NTU with a soul... From my school we can oversee the fountain garden area, and of course I remembered we did took some photos beside the fountain. I miss the fountain!!

Food.... Food in NTU, especially at the school canteens, are infamous for their "excellently affordable cuisine"... For us, in some way or another, our 3 years of undergraduate lives revolves around canteen A... It is a rendezvous point, a place for heated discussions and debates, for lunch, for killing time and even for making new friends!! Life would not be complete without canteen A...

OCBC Bank right in front on Canteen A

On the way to canteen A, I caught hold of this compact SUV, parking right in front of LT2A. I always find compact SUVs very enticing.

LT2A is our favorite lecture theater. It's big, it's bright, comfortable seats, large screen and its dedicated toilet with many cubicles.

Another canteen we occasionally went to is the Quad, located at the School of Biological Sciences. The price was slightly higher, and it started out as a very promising canteen, nice ambiance, uniquely see through tables with no room for legs and best of all they had nice tempuras. Recent visits had been disappointing due to the sharp decline in quality... It's a no wonder crowds seemed to have reduced to a trickle...

Not forgetting the library... It is one of our favorite libraries due to its sheer number of computers available... The library hasn't change much, parts like USB hubs, audio jacks which were spoilt 3 years ago ARE still spoilt!!!

SCE has its own computer room which surprisingly not many students knew about. A friend of mine brought me there once, and for a short time, it served as our studying base and private internet zone when we brought our laptops to school.

Other parts of NTU:

7-Eleven at North Spine


CITS (Center for IT Services) - they have since renovated

Hall 16 Condo Style Hostel


Hall 13 - on the way to Hall 14


Hall 14 mini store and Canteen 14...


Scenic landscape at NIE block, opposite Hall 16


Newly built and open School of Mathematics and Physical Sciences


The sentimental bus stop for 179 service

Looking back, I am relieved that I had some happy moments then, and I have benefited from the institution in one way or another. It is really an eye opener. There were some regrets, but at least I got to know 3 good friends, whom I still keep in touch with. Ironically none of them were from my original class group, and left me wondering if it could be a blessing in disguise.

2008 - Another New Year To Grow Old In

I would like to wish all readers and fellow bloggers a HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008. Due to technical issues with my wireless network, I am unable to come online as frequently as I would like to.

The year 2007 ended smoothly though. Met up with a big group of friends for a simple prata dinner, and we get to play with my friend's golden retriever!! Thereafter we head over to my friend's three-storey house and patiently wait for the year to end.

Guess what we end up doing - playing mahjong! Anyway at the turn of the year, I managed to win a neat amount, haha...

Mahjong turned into manicure session,zzz

2007 has been a rather blissful year. It was neither exciting nor insipid. For the whole year I was positively occupied, and I met a couple of good friends. I would say that 2007 had set the stage for an exciting 2008.

Received a new year card from a friend, and within the card contains the following picture:

I had forgotten all about this picture and event. It was taken around pre-Christmas, and it brought back some memories I ought to cherish.

Applied for Singapore Permanent Residency today. I had to make the trip to ICA twice as my company has filled in a wrong data and I did not bring my birth certificate, a letter of certification from NTU and my NP diploma along. At end of the day, my saving grace was my issued diploma from NP as I should apply for permanent residency only after my degree has been conferred, and not while it is pending.

Managed to obtain my temporary Employment Pass, but it has a validity of only 3 months, which is until the outcome of the PR application. What a relief as my student pass is expiring on Monday. I am advised not to travel within this period though, and this poses a source of headache.

Nevertheless I believe there will be a way out, as always... 路是人走出来的....

Last Days of 2007

Had a good time enjoying myself since I left my attachment organization. We had an unintended gathering at Marche,Vivocity some time before Christmas.

Our small group of 5 had originally intended to catch a movie - The Golden Compass, but however our little group swelled into 12 when we met up with another group in the vicinity. We had such a great time in Marche, and it had been a while since I'd been in any gatherings.

Christmas is just over, and I received an Adidas cap from a friend. I've always wanted a cap, and now I have a near-complete set of Adidas accessories. My next target - An Adidas shoe.

After being unemployed for almost two weeks and near to exhausting whatever financial reserves I possess, I have managed to land myself a job back in Tanjong Pagar area. I really have to thank my friend for introducing this job to me and thank God that I have managed to secure the offer.

While signing the offer of employment, another company I'd interviewed in the past week called. They meant to summon me for another round of interview, but upon telling them I'd secured a job offer, they offered me the post immediately through the phone. I politely decline them after prompt considerations.

The offer was more than expected. I feel lucky to be have this group of friends, for they are like god-sent angels, encouraging me, helping to tide through financial difficulties. A number of them introduced jobs to me, and for this I'm thankful.

I still remember the other day, a friend called me in the morning on the way to an interview and gave me all kinds of possible interview tips, placating my overwhelming sense of anxiety.

One bonus - our lunch kakis is expanding, since another friend will soon be working in the same area as well. Anyway I'll have to work hard from now on. May God bless all those who has the will to succeed...