Finally, after 1 month, tonight marked the last day of terawih prayers. What a month of Ramadan it was. Of all the 30 days of Terawih, I missed 2 days. Before I went for my terawih, I had my break fast at Geylang Serai with Dennis. For your information, it's been 4 years since I last stepped into that place and everything looks so different now. Well, today is going to be a short post as I am too tired to write. Till next time ya..

Lake Toba (Indonesian: Danau Toba) is a lake and supervolcano, 100 km long and 30 km wide, and 505 m. (1,666 ft.) at its deepest point, in the middle of the northern part of the Indonesian island of Sumatra with a surface elevation of about 900 m (3,000 feet), stretching from 2.88° N 98.52° E to 2.35° N 99.1° E. It is the largest volcanic lake in the world. It is so big that even the whole of Singapore can fit in.

Most of the people who live around Lake Toba are ethnically Bataks. Traditional Batak houses are noted for their distinctive roofs (which curve upwards at each end, as a boat's hull does) and their colourful decor.


I visited Parapat where Lake Toba is situated from 15 -16 June 2008 as part of my 1 week stay in Indonesia from 14-19 June 2008. I had some friends in Medan who brought me to Lake Toba. It was a 4-hour journey from Medan by car. No words can describe my feelings when I saw Lake Toba for the first time. When I first saw it, I ponder to myself ," Am I in Indonesia or in Europe?". The peacefulness, serenity and tranquility of the lake really took my breath away. The hotel that I accommodated in was Patra Jasa and I was lucky enough to have a room that was directly facing the beautiful lake which I couldn't stop admiring. Shortly after settling down at the hotel, we went for a boat tour within lake. The vastness of the lake made me realise that we were so small. We visited Samosir Island, which is located in the middle of the lake, to observe the culture of the ethnic Bataks. It was a wonderful experience for me to learn about their culture.

After nearly 2 hours of boat tour, we went back to the hotel to wind down and take beautiful pictures of the lake and the sunset. At night, we were treated with clear skies where milky way and majority of the constellations were visible and temperature was very cold. Although our stay was short, we enjoyed it thoroughly as we were treated by the beauty that the nature has got to offer. Overall, it was an excellent experience and I am hoping to go there again because for these kind of places, going once ain't enough. I would like to express my most sincere gratitude to Dennis and family, Indah & Sulastri for making my stay in Indonesia a very meaningful one. Now, I will let my photos do the talking.





The vastness of Lake Toba.










Sunset at Lake Toba.





My lovely friends. Thank you all for making my stay in Indonesia a memorable one. :)

Woah! How time flies! In 3 more days, I will be celebrating Hari Raya Aidilfitri. I'm very much looking forward to it but at the time, feeling sad as the holy month of Ramadan is coming to an end.

What is "Hari Raya"?

The most significant celebration for Muslims, it signifies the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. The celebration is determined by sighting of the new moon on the day, before the next month on the Muslim calendar, Syawal. The words ‘Hari Raya’ mean 'day of celebration.'

Ramadan

Ramadan is the name of the one-month fasting period when Muslims fast from dawn till sunset. During the period of fasting, apart from eating and drinking, Muslims are also forbidden from smoking and having sexual relations. Only the sick are excused from fasting during this month. Muslims are expected to avoid lying, breaking promise or cheating during the month of Ramadan. It is to remind them of the plight of the poor and to cleanse themselves by exercising abstinence and self-control. Even the young are taught to fast.


The Celebration

Muslims starts the day by wearing new clothes and congregating in the mosques early in the morning to perform Hari Raya Puasa prayers followed by visiting the graves of the departed. The young will ask for forgiveness from their elders and have open house for relatives and friends to come to their house. Plenty of traditional Malay delicacies are served during this festive season. Houses are thoroughly cleaned and decorated, and lighting of oil lamps welcomes the angels which are believed to be visiting the earth during the seven days preceding the festival. The celebration lasts for a month but most of the celebration is concentrated in the first three days. Visiting Muslim homes on Hari Raya Puasa, you can expect to taste a wide variety of delicious spicy dishes. Some favorite dishes that can be found in Muslims homes on this special occasion are ketupat, lontong, nasi padang and beef rendang. The Muslims also give packets of money to kids when they go visiting. The packets are usually green in colour and children often look forward to getting these money tokens on Hari Raya Puasa. Overall, Hari Raya Puasa is a joyous occasion for Muslims.


Hari Raya Songs

Of all the Hari Raya songs that I've listened to, I find that I like "Cahaya Aidilfitri" the most. Ok, here's the lyrics :

Bila tiba hari raya
Semua insan bergembira
Tetapi bagiku hanya kesedihan
Yang menyelubungi hidup

Ayah dan juga ibuku
Telah pergi selamanya
Terbiarlah aku ibarat musafir
Yang haus di padang pasir

( chorus )
Siapakah yang sudi
Menghulurkan simpati
Kepada nasibku ini
Agar dapat kurasa
Nikmat di hari raya
Seperti insan yang lain

Ku meminta dan berdoa
Kepada Yang Maha Esa
Tabahkan hati berilah pedoman
Cahaya Di Aidil Fitri

( repeat from chorus )

I would like to wish all of my Muslim friends Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri & Ma'af Zahir dan Batin. Amin.

Hi all! I just reached home from an outing with a group of friends. Got know to know a few new friends and guess what? My social circle is expanding again..LOL... Anyway, a pleasure meeting you all. I made my way to Bugis from school at around 4:50pm and reached there approximately 20 minutes later. Sorry Lona, for being late. Wasnt intentional. When everyone had arrived, we made our way to Ayam Penyet House which was situated at Fu Yuan building. Along the way, we took some photos. When we reached the restaurant, we sat down and had our ice-breaking session to get to know each other better. Close to 'azan', we began ordering our food and drinks. We are a bunch of photo freaks - took lots of photos before and after our meals in the restaurant. After having our meals and settling our bills, we walked to Arab Street as it's just a stone throw away.

We first went to Sultan Mosque to pray before we walked along Arab Street to take more and more photos. We cracked jokes and produced tonnes of laughter along the way. It was another great night outing for me. Ok, now I will my photos do all the talking..





A partial group shot outside Bugis Junction..





Group photo in the restaurant.





Group photo outside Sultan Mosque.






We're united as one.




For more photos, visit my facebook.. It's goodbye for now..Adios y buenas noche...

Since young, I've always been interested in learning more about the history World War II - How it started? What were the reasons that triggered World War II? To date, I've watched many documentaries about World War II ranging from the Battle of Europe to the Battle of the Pacific. Of all the Battle that occured, the battle that caught my attention is the Battle of Iwo Jima.


The Battle of Iwo Jima took place in February 1945. The capture of Iwo Jima was part of a three-point plan the Americans had for winning the war in the Far East.

By 1944, America and her allies in the Pacific War had the ascendancy. In the west, the Japanese were being turned back in Burma and island hopping had isolated Japanese forces in the eastern sector. Combined with the attacks on Iwo Jima, was America’s desire to finally destroy Japan’s merchant fleet so that the Japanese mainland could not be supplied from the food-rich sectors of South East Asia which Japan still had control over. Linked to this, was the destruction of Japan’s remaining industrial base by the bombing of it by the American airforce.

Iwo Jima is a very small Pacific island – just over 4.5 miles long and 2.5 miles wide which lies at the foot of the Bonin chain of islands, south of the main Japanese island of Honshu.

Despite its size, Iwo Jima was considered to have great tactical importance. There were two airfields on the island – under Japan’s control; they could be used by Japanese fighter planes to attack American bombers on their flights to Japan. Under American control, the airfields could be used as emergency landing bases for damaged airplanes in the bombing raids. They could also be used for American fighter planes to escort the bombers, as they needed smaller runways for take-off.

Knowing that the island was of such importance, the Japanese were determined to keep control of it. There were about 22,000 soldiers under the command of Lieutenant-General Kuribayashi. These men had had the time to build strong defensive positions throughout the island but especially in the north. Kuribayashi knew that his options for launching attacks were extremely limited because of the small size of the island. In fact, his options to do anything other than defend ferociously were extremely limited.

America had vast reserves at their disposal. Iwo Jima was ‘softened up’ by bombing raids for more than two months before the actual amphibious assault. For three days prior to the attack, six American battleships had launched a continuous barrage on the island. Within the region, the Americans were led by Admiral Raymond Spruance – though the overall commander of the campaign was Admiral Chester Nimitz. The landing forces were under the command of Lieutenant-General Holland ‘Howling Mad’ Smith. The bulk of the amphibious attack was done by Marines.

The first day of the landings was February 19th, 1945. The Marines took heavy casualties, as the American bombings had not been effective. What it had done was to churn up the beaches and the immediate hinterland and had given the Japanese far more opportunities to find hiding-holes for snipers. It also meant that American movement inland was hindered as the area had been so heavily bombed. A few well placed Japanese snipers could hold up an American advance for hours.

However, the Americans had cut the island in two by the end of the first day – despite taking over 2,400 casualties. On Day 2, the Marines attacked Mount Suribachi. Here they found fanatical Japanese defence and Suribachi was taken on February 23rd after three days of fighting.

Iwo Jima proved a difficult and bloody target to take – frequently the Americans only advanced at several hundred metres per day. By March 11th, the Japanese were trapped in an area around Kitano Point, the island’s most northerly extremity. By March 16th, the island was declared secure and all resistance had ceased by March 26th.

The tiny island had taken America over one month to take. The Marines lost 6,891 men killed and 18,070 wounded. Out of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers on the island, only 212 were taken prisoners. What the battle did show the Americans was how far the Japanese would go to defend their country – a decision that was to influence the use of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_iwo_jima.htm

Tadamichi Kuribayashi was born in Nagano prefecture, Japan to a samurai; in fact, he was the fifth generation of the Kuribayashi family that served six emperors as samurai. Canadian-educated, he was assigned to be a deputy military attaché in Washington DC starting in 1928, traveling extensively. When the Pacific War was able to begin, he was a known opponent of provoking United States into war; "[t]he United States is the last country in the world Japan should fight", he wrote his wife once. He was largely ignored by the decision makers.

In May 1944, the tall and husky Japanese general (he was five feet nine inches, above average for Japanese men at the time) was handpicked by Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Hideki Tojo to defend the island of Iwo Jima. Veteran of thirty years with recent field experience in Manchuria and China, he was given the honor to personally meet Hirohito in Jun 1944 on the night before he flew to Iwo Jima. The meeting was an honor rare even for samurai, and he was told by Hirohito that the American "barbarians" must be stopped.

Kuribayashi did not share the optimism some of his peers had, but he performed his duties. He closely studied the island's terrain and decided that he would not fight on the island. He was going to fight from inside the island. Under his instructions, 21,000 men were hidden in 13,000 yards of tunnels. On Mount Suribachi alone there were 1,000 cave entrances and pill boxes. He gave the following orders to his men.

"We are here to defend this island to the limit of our strength. We must devote ourselves to that task entirely. Each of your shots must kill many Americans. We cannot allow ourselves to be captured by the enemy. If our positions are overrun, we will take bombs and grenades and throw ourselves under the tanks to destroy them. We will infiltrate enemy's lines to exterminate him. No man must die until he has killed at least ten Americans. We will harass the enemy with guerilla actions until the last of us has perished. Long live the Emperor!" Knowing the American forces could not be defeated, he could only hope to inflict a casualty rate so high that the Americans would turn back. Among his numerous letters to his family during WW2 was the note "[y]ou must not expect my survival" that illustrated his unfaltering loyalty despite of certain doom that he knew he could not escape, as according to Bushido code.

On 22 mar, Kuribayashi radioed "[w]e are still fighting.... The strength under my command is now about four hundred. Tanks are attacking us. The enemy suggested we surrender through loudspeaker, but our officers and men just laughed and paid no attention." On the next day, he sent Chichi Jima this final message, to be relayed on to Tokyo: "All officers of Chichi Jima, goodbye from Iwo". He reportedly committed ritual suicide, but his body was never found.

"Of all our adversaries in the Pacific, Kuribayashi was the most redoubtable", said United States Marine Corps General Holland Smith.

http://ww2db.com/person_bio.php?person_id=21

There has been so much report over the past few days pertaining to the tainted dairy products. Yesterday, I happened to received a few text messages from my friends and unknown numbers regarding the specific products that were affected. I breathed a sigh of relief as I have not been consuming those products mentioned in the text for more than 6 months. Now, there is a major recall exercise of the affected products around Singapore.

Now I begin to ponder.. Are the food that I've been consuming all these while really safe? Am I eating what the stuff really is or is it something else? Now, I will let my imagination run wild..

Ok...Here are the pictures that I took from yesterday's outing using my handphone. As for the group photo, I've to wait for it to be sent to me before I post it here. In the mean time, enjoy..

This was taken in the restaurant itself. Take a look at the second sign. No food and drinks allowed?LOL..



Some random pictures...









Well, forgive me if you find my pictures boring because there was nothing much to shoot and we were too occupied with having so much fun..:P

I just came back from outing with the lads from SPP. Well, it was an enjoyable outing of breaking fast and with endless laughter. We had our break fast at Ayam Penyet Ria at Lucky Plaza after which we headed to Al-Falah mosque which is situated near Paragon. We had our Isyak prayers but didn't stay for Terawih prayers. I feel kind of sad to miss it because it was my first time missing it ever since the month of Ramadan commenced. Oh well.... After our Isyak prayers, we went to Arab Street to have some drinks before we went separate ways. Although the outing was a short one and we didn't take many photos, we certainly enjoyed each other's companion and how I wish that time could stop so that we can have more time to enjoy. But oh well....Time waits for no man and things have to come to an end. Well, I am too tired to upload the photos now and I will post them soon. I am looking forward to our next SPP outing which is the chalet and our self-organised "Jalan Raya" outing.

Whenever we hear this word, Tsunami, many of us would recall that fateful day on 26 December 2004 where it unleashed it's fury caused by the sudden movement of Indian Australian plate tectonics near Sumatra. The effect was so catastrophic that more than 200,000 lives were lost and billions of dollars in damages were reported. Aceh was the worst hit due to it's close proximity to the epicentre and it was reduced to rubbles in a matter of seconds. It is one of the deadliest natural disaster in history.

We were lucky to be spared from the mother nature's awesome fury almost 4 years ago but are we completely safe? Are we completely immuned? Most of us Singaporeans would take things for granted as we don't experience major disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, blizzards that other countries are experiencing and it's probably due to our geographical location. Occasionally, we felt tremors from the Indonesian earthquakes but nevertheless, we should all be prepared.

What got me interested in tsunami is the article that I came across at the yahoo search engine. Below is the article that I've extracted from the yahoo search engine:

Channel NewsAsia - Sunday, September 21
SINGAPORE — Singapore is not completely immune from a tsunami and should prepare for the possibility, an expert on coastal areas warned Friday.
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The island—state can be hit by a tsunami generated from three locations and the waves could damage key coastal infrastructure without being too high, said Professor Wong Poh Poh of the National University of Singapore geography department.
"It’s not that we are totally immune. No, we are not immune," Wong said.
He was speaking at a news conference to launch a report, by the aid and development organisation World Vision, on the impact of climate change on poor people.
To cause damage, waves hitting Singapore need not be as huge as the ones that devastated Indonesia’s Aceh in December 2004, killing 168,000 people, Wong said.
Aceh was struck by a wave about 10 metres (33 feet) high.

"We don’t need 10 metres. The problem with Singapore is... we have a lot of infrastructure on the coast. All you need is a very low wave to just come in and hit certain areas," he said.

"Changi Airport will be very vulnerable," he said, adding the man—made island of Jurong which houses a sprawling petrochemical complex is also at risk, and urged the government to commission a study on tsunamis. — AFP/vm





Tsunami strikes Ao Nang, Thailand.





A town near the coast of Sumatra lies in ruin on January 2, 2005. This picture was taken by a United States military helicopter crew from the USS Abraham Lincoln that was conducting humanitarian operations.





The photos and article serve as a reminder that we are not that far from the pacific ring of fire and anything could happen to us.

Well....Well.... My day started with me going back to school for the pathetic FYP at around 0900 which I ended up going home at around 1500. So much of the "holidays" that I am enjoying at this moment. I reached home at around 1630 and rested for a short while before going for my routine jog. Running during the fasting month has really helped me to shed those extra mass successful although I felt very thirsty after which. I ain't complaining because it's a small price to pay..LOL...Ok.. I am going to pause my thoughts here as I am heading to the mosque for my Ramadan prayers... Till then, it's goodbye for now...

It's amazing how fast I can recover from yesterday's setback. It wouldn't be possible without the support of my peers. LOVE YOU ALL! To forget about what happened, I've been watching a lot of Just For Laughs clips on youtube. As you know that laughter is the best medicine, so yeah! These are favourite Just For Laughs clips. Enjoy.

Ever heard of this idiom " You reap what you sow"?? I don't quite agree with this idiom after getting back my results early in the morning. After much of "sowing" during the last semester, there isn't much "reaping" in my results. How pathetic despite putting my best effort and burning tonnes of midnight oil for all of my modules. Enough said... Now, for my final semester, I'm hoping for the score that I desire.

While waiting for the results to be released via Ichat, I'm killing time by watching a movie. I feel that there is no point sleeping as I won't be able to sleep until I know the outcome of my results. It's crunch time...

Oh my god! Time is really flying at the speed of sound and tomorrow is the release of my exams results. Kind of having a very mixed feelings right now. Excited, petrified and so on. I've done my best and had put in more than 100% effort and I hope I will be duly rewarded with good grades. Stay tuned.

Like I've mentioned before, travelling is part of my hobby. Speaking of which, it has been nearly 3 months since I went overseas which was a back to back trip to Malaysia and Indonesia. That was my first back to back trip using my own money to pay for all my expenses( air ticket, accommodations and other necessities). Life is short, that is why I desire to see and walk on every corner of the globe. The 2 videos that I am going to show you really inspires me to travel even more and work hard to achieve my desires. I really aspire to become like the guy in the 2 videos. Whether you have watched the videos before or not, I hope you would enjoy them..

Hi everyone! I am not sure whether anyone will be reading my post but never mind, I'll just post it anyway. I 'm now in school doing my part of FYP since 1000 hours and it has been a tedious affair. I've done pages of calculations to determine the chain speed, tension, rate torque of motors, working torque, chain tensions from starting and stalling torques and the list goes on. The worse part is that I ain't certain whether my final calculations are correct or wrong as I've been calculating the properties based on very limited information and details. Up till now, I have to confess that I'm completely oblivious and I can only ballpark.

My mind keeps on pondering about FYP : whether the final outcome will be successful,etc. Hopefully, my group's FYP will turn out to be triumphant as after months of hardwork, brainstorming, etc, we don't want our effort to go down the drain. This is my only wish but till now, I can only contemplate.

Ok, enough of talking about FYP. I am very much looking forward to graduation in 6 months' time as it would be the closing chapter of my life in Polytechnic and I will spending a lot of my time travelling. There are a lot of places that I would want to go to and the confirmed destination that I will be heading to is Medan, North Sumatra. I like this place very much because the people are very warm and friendly and not forgetting the breathtaking sceneries the place has got to offer. Another likely destination is either Maldives or Palau for scuba diving, provided I could save enough money for it. I've not been diving for 1.5 years due to hectic school schedule and I really miss the feeling of hovering in a zero-gravity deep blue environment where I'm surrounded by schools of fishes and picturesque corals. If I have the means now, I really wish to rig up and dive and be encircled with the enchanting beauty of the underwater world.

Hi! Came back from the mosque about 1 hour ago. I've been attending the Ramadan night prayers, also known as "Terawih", ever since the holy month of Ramadan commenced and I hope not to miss any of the prayers till the end of Ramadan. Time really flies, as tonight is already the 15th of Ramadan and another 15 more days, comes 1st of Syawal. In another words, Hari Raya puasa for all muslims around the world. Really looking forward to it.

Tomorrow will be another dreadful day as I will be heading to school for FYP. For this whole month of September, it's suppose to be a holiday but I've been in school for the last 2 weeks of September doing my FYP. How contradicting.

It's been 3 years since I cancelled my previous blog account and I've not been blogging ever since. The reason that got me back into blogging is I really miss blogging itself. So many things had happened to me over the past 3 years. I discovered an interest in scuba diving, learning foreign languages and so on. That's it for now and I will blog again soon. Watch this space...