Laos Recce Trip (18-25 Dec 2011)

Laos Recce 18-25
Day 1 (18 Dec)
Day 2 (19 Dec)
Day 3 AM (20 Dec)
Day 3 PM (20 Dec)
Day 4 (21 Dec)
Day 5 (22 Dec)
Day 6 (23 Dec)
Day 7 (24 Dec)
Day 8 (25 Dec)

Batam (26 Oct, Deepavali)

Click here for the album.

Benny's Wedding at Raffles Marina (15 Oct)

ECE YEP March '12

The SoE-ECE division is organising 3 YEP trips to Laos(Vientiane), Vietnam(Hue) and China(Yunnan) during the March '12 vacation. Miss Auyong and I will be leading the Laos YEP.  For more information see:
China YEP
Laos YEP
Vietnam YEP
Application form

Eureka 2011

ECE ran an event called Eureka 2011 on 25 Oct 2011, Tuesday.  We invited some secondary school students to our campus for some fun competition.  I was very impressed by a group of girls from SCGS.  They were obviously very intelligent. I was manning a Jeopardy (Trivia game quiz) booth as part of the fringe events.
When this group of 6 girls came to my booth, I divided them into 2 groups, 3 against 3, to play the game.  The leader of one of the groups was very interesting.  I don't know her name, let's called her Mary.  She was able to come up with very good distractor to confuse her competitors.
Let me give you an example.  It was her competitors' turn to answer and their question was to identify a device and it was a Linksys wireless router.
Mary's opponent said, "Linksys."
I said, "No, that is the company."
She said. "I know. I know."
I could see her thoughts converging and the answer is going to come up anytime.  But just before the connection could be made.  Mary prompted, "Modem".
Her competitor retorted, "No, it is not modem."  She went on repeating it a few times.  I could see the agony on her face as she was thrown off balanced by Mary.
In the end, Mary won comfortably.  I was so impressed by her that I offered to let her choose any of the NP souvenirs.  Then came surprise number two.  She scanned the collection of colorful highlighters, CD albums and shoe bags; shook her head and said, " I have no need for any of them."  She started to suggest to her friend, "You play squash, you might need a shoe bag."
I am very impressed with this little girl because she is way ahead of me in coming up with good distractors ( a skill I needed to come up with good MCQ) and her maturity: she goes for needs not wants.

YEP Leadership Training II at Pulau Ubin, 1-2 Oct 2011

Other than sandflies, sitting and sleeping on wooden floor, I love the Pulau Ubin experience.  It was so intense that I am still thinking about it long after the trip.

YEP Leadership Training at Civil Service College, 24-25 Sep 2011

Malacca 2011

Baba House: never choose to stay in windowless unit. It is like sleeping in an air-con store room. I made the mistake and have to endure breathing in my own exhausted air. In the end, we did not enjoy the trip as much as we should.

8 Sept 2011, Malacca

Runners' Relay 2011

On 29 July 2011, we were on unfamiliar territory.  We finished sixth out of twelve staff teams in the Runners' Relay.  As far as I could remember this was our worst performance in the race history.  From the start, we were plagued by older runners not willing to run for one reason or another and young ones not stepping forward.  We have more female than male runners. On the actual race day, we could only find exactly six men, anything less we could not even field a team!

Granted that as we aged, speed started to desert us and we shy away from competition of the physical kind.  But when you trained for speed you would re-discover the joy of having a youthful spring in your feet.  With that, you could climb mountains, hike to the end of the world, and run the Marathon and all those things that you had wanted to do before you called it quit.

Looking forward, I invite all of you to come down to the NP track and field every Wednesday, 5 pm.  You will run 2.4 km at your own pace.  Hopefully, the presence of the other runners will spur you to better timing and a fitter you.  Yes, we will train starting from now and for every week.

I hope to see the day where people will fight for a place to be in team 1 for ECE.  The ECE Road Warriors will then rise again like the phoenix out of the ashes.

Cisco Networking Academy Activities

24 Jun (Fri) Cisco Instructor Re-tooling Singapore Polytechnic T932

12 Aug (Fri) Cisco Academy Council Meeting ITE College Wst

Climbing Mt Kinabalu 16 June '11

Mt K Summit Trail

Day 0. Preparation at Mt K Nature Park
15th June ’11, Wednesday, 3:30 pm, raining, wet and miserable
Venue: Rock Hostel
There was an electric water heater at Rock Hostel, so we could have boiled as much water as we needed. However, being kiasu, we bought too much water on the way here and they have to be stored away in the Nature Park HQ. We packed our stuff into A, B and C.
‘A’ for stuff that we carry ourselves
‘B’ for stuff that porters carry for us
‘C’ for stuff that were to be locked away at the Nature Park HQ

High spirit at Timpohon Gate.

Day 1. Climb: Going to the mid-point
16th June ’11, Thursday, 9 am, Timpohon Gate (1866m) --> Laban Rata --> Lagadan (3272m)
Distance to cover: 6 km
Altitude gain: 1406 m
This is my third climb up Mount Kinabalu. The weather was perfect for climbing during my first climb. The only extra-ordinary thing was the very strong cold wind near the summit. For the first time in my life, I felt cold and hot simultaneously. Hot on the side that the sun was blazing on while cold on the other side the wind was blowing at. In my second climb, there was a constant drizzle on the way from Lagadan Hut to the summit and back. This time, it rained the moment we stepped out of Timpohon Gate at 9:02 am.

Drenched to the core.

We ate and drank to reduce our load.

Wei Dong spotted his mother.

We ate and drank one shelter before our lunch point which was at Layang Layang, not because we were hungry or thirsty but to reduce our load. I told my daughter that I would wait for her at every shelter. Unfortunately, it was too cold to wait at the last two shelters before Laban Rata. Wei Kang and I reached the restaurant at 1:56 pm. To my surprise, we were the first among the 18 climbers to reach the rendezvous point.

Happy reunion at Laban Rata

Later, Auyong LS accompanied Wen Hsi into Laban Rata. Wei Dong followed soon after. As I was getting worried about Jia Le, I put on my gears to go and fetch her. Just as I stepped out of the hut, I saw, to my great relief, You Tong bringing Jia Le in. Soon the rest started streaming in. Everyone was in the restaurant by 4 pm.

We paid the porters at Laban Rata and they carried the stuff and locked them up in my dormitory at Lagadan Hut. We ate buffet dinner the moment it started serving at 4:30 pm for we wanted to go to our hut to rest as soon as possible. The rain subsided a bit after 5 pm and the guides led us to Lagadan Hut which is 200m farther up from Laban Rata. Supper which consisted of fried noodle would be served at the next morning at 2:00 am but we were unwilling to go down 200 m and then come up again for the summit. The guides were kind enough to bring bread in lieu of the supper from the restaurant to us.

At Lagadan, I inserted the batteries to the headlights only to find one faulty set among the six that I have. It was not a major problem as I could always borrow a headlight from other climbers who were not climbing the summit. It turned out that I don’t even have to do that as my daughter opted out.

13 brave souls took on the summit.

Day 2 Climb: Scaling the summit
17 June ‘11, Friday, 2:20 am, Lagadan Hut (3272m) --> Low’s Peak (4095m)
13 out of the 18 climbers took the challenge to scale the summit. The 13 climbers were divided into 3 teams; a guide would look after each team. My two sons, Auyong LS and I were led by mountain guide, Jacob. I was a bit concern for my younger son as he seemed to be a bit off. I chatted up with him. His reply: “I did not hike for 5 hours to sleep here.”

Good weather in the beginning
(L-R Siew Hoon & Siew Geck).

The mission is simple: To reach the summit by 6 am to catch the sunrise.
Distance to cover: 2.7 km
Altitude gain: 823m
The weather was fine for the first half kilometer but it started to rain after that. Fortunately, it was not the pouring type, we could still press on. I brought along the thermal flask from NP D&D 2010 and I was very appreciative of the warm water in such freezing condition. The condensation on my glasses was so bad that I could see better without the glasses. Around the half mark, I kept my glasses away.

After Sayat Sayat Hut, the terrain was mainly bare slippery rocks. I started slipping despite having expensive waterproof Columbia hiking boots. It seemed that a kind of stubbed shoes which cost 7 to 9 ringgit a pair, the local fondly called Kampong Adidas gripped better than most branded shoes. Under our headlights, we could see only black and white. Given a choice, always stepped on the white because white meant dry while black meant the surface was wet with water. Being wet was not a problem, what we feared was the slippery moss that grew on the rocks.

Poncho was not effective at Mount Kinabalu. It was supposed to cover everything including the backpack. However, the wind here was so strong that half the time the poncho was flying in the mid-air obstructing one’s vision and allowing rainwater to get into your body. It got worse when we have to climb on all fours because we would step on the poncho more often than not. Raincoat is better as it fit the body more closely. The only catch is that we need to bring along a rain cover for the backpack.

In spite of the adverse conditions, we did better than our guide’s expectation. We were 10 m away from the summit at 5:33 am when unexpected delays started popping up, one after another. I literally kick-started the series of events. My headlights have 3 elastic bands that strapped it to my head and the right band snapped suddenly. I halted the team so that they would wait for me while I fixed the problem. My fingers were so stiff then that I could not fix the problem. Finally, out of desperation, I used the 2 of remaining bands to hold the headlights. It suited me fine so I waved the team to move on. Next my eldest son complaint that his shoe laces came off, we stopped for him. Under the freezing condition, tying the shoe laces is quite a challenge. We waited quite a while for him. I only knew much later that he did not manage to tie his shoe laces, he merely tucked them away.

When he was done, Auyong LS asked me to adjust her hood which I did, and then her shoe laces also came loose. She took off her gloves to tie her shoe laces only to find problem putting the gloves on again. When we were all ready for our final charge, I could feel a surge of adrenaline rushing through my body. I climbed like Spiderman (no rope) to the summit and reached it before 5:45 am.

At the summit, the weather cleared up a little bit, I saw the sun glowed for 1 or 2 seconds and then covered by dark cloud. We took some pictures hastily and descend on another path parallel to the climbers who are making their way up. Even though we could not see the sun, the sky has brightened up so much that we do not need the headlights anymore. Along the way down, Wei Dong spotted his mother from afar and encouraged her to press on. Without my glasses, I could not see my own wife. Anyway, I blindly shouted some encouragements across.

The reward for coming back early is a buffet breakfast at Laban Rata but I chose to stay back at Lagadan Hut to collect all the room keys and handed over the ‘B’ stuff to the porters. The first group of climbers led by Auyong LS proceeded the descend at about 8:15 am. By the time I finished my breakfast, it was already 10:30 am. The sky began to clear up and the sight was magnificent – cloud hovering below us, farther away, we could see tea plantations, farm and different shades of green and blue.

Wei Dong, Wei Kang, Chee Kin & Auyong LS at the summit at 5:45 am

My wife (top) and her sister at the summit at 6:44 am.

Team 3 at 4008 m, time unknown.

Just as I was enjoying myself, I suddenly realized that the lunch coupon was still with me. The first group of climbers would need it if they were to have lunch at Balsam Restaurant. I tried in vain to call and SMS Auyong LS. I tried to catch up with her. It was a mistake as I could not make it and I left my wife behind.

First group to descend.

Leung NB, the hero, bringing  the ladies back.

Siew Hoon & Siew Geck struggling to come down the bus.

At the Balsam restaurant, we had anxious moments as we heard that the last group of climbers has 3 injured persons including my wife. Leung NB was the hero of the day. He helped Lian Huay, Mooi Ping and my wife while the 3 mountain guides help Peck Seng who has more serious problems. It was already 6:25 pm when they reached the Timpohon Gate.

We tipped the guides and porters for their good work and for their overtime. We even gave the guides the lunches that we packed for the climbers since we are going to have dinner soon at Sabah Tea Gardens.

Reflections
This was the first time that I organized a holiday trip with people outside my family. The reward of having friends on a trip is that even the side tours were more enjoyable because of the company. I have organized trips for students before. It was a lot simpler then as they followed a standard program as I told them that they either followed my entire program or none at all. Here we have people coming in earlier, some halfway, some wanted to do only certain things; the combinations were mind boggling.
A lot of things have changed since the last time I climbed the mountain. I never engaged porters in my previous climbs. This time, all the meals were catered for in the 3D2N climbing package. Previously, they only catered the dinner and breakfast at Laban Rata and the portions were so small that we have to top up ourselves. The food this time was good and served in buffet style but it also meant that it would be out of reach for most school expeditions because of the inflated cost.

A friend asked me, “So what pushed you on to the summit when it was dark, cold and wet?”
It was my goal to see the sunrise that drove me on. For Wei Kang, he did not want to turn back alone.

The only reason why I would climb the mountain again is to company my daughter up to the summit if she so decide.

Once a reporter asked a mountaineer who has just scaled Mount Everest, “How do you feel now that you have conquered Mount Everest?”
“I did not conquer Mount Everest. The mountain cannot be conquered. What I conquered is the limitations that are within me.”
Mount Everest is twice as high as Mount Kinabalu but the lesson is the same. I will not let age be my limiting factor; I will want to realize my fullest potential.

Back in Singapore, the first contrasting impression is the general cleanliness of the city. Comparatively, Singapore is amazing clean, even in remote corners of the street. Malaysia has abundantly more resources than Singapore yet we are able to achieve more. What counts is not that we have the best of things but instead we make the best use of whatever things we have.

Cost breakdown:

Climbing fee: RM980/pax for 3 day 2 night + food, meals, guide & transport
RM40/pax/nite x 5 = RM200 at City Park Lodge
Sabah Tea = RM195/pax
Mari Mari + Klias River = RM260/pax

Sundown Marathon 2011, May 28 -- My first Marathon

I thank God for the fine weather that enabled me to fulfill one of my lifelong dreams – to run a Marathon. I wanted the experience: the pain, the training and to inspire my children and students. My Qigong lessons at NP gave me the confidence to take up the challenge. Through it, I knew how to train myself without getting unnecessary injuries.
Before the race, the longest distance that I have ever run continuously was 20.2 km which took me 2 hours and 13 minutes. The Marathon distance of 42.195 km is more than twice my own personal record. I was banking on the support from the race organizers to realize my dream.

The full Marathon flag off was scheduled at 10pm and I left my house at Clementi at 7pm. Under normal circumstances, the trip will take no more than 2 hours and I would have an hour to catch up with my friends and students. I stood for more than an hour in our notoriously overcrowded MRT. But the worst was yet to come. The shuttle service from Singapore Expo to the race site at Changi Exhibition Center was jammed packed too. Nobody minded as the ferry was moving at a brisk pace until it got caught in the earlier races which caused the traffic to come to a standstill.
I stood in the bus for close to 2 hours and naturally I was late for the start of the race. I was frustrated that the organizers did not learn from last year experience which was widely reported. I dropped off my bag, a quick warm-up and off I went. As far as individual race timing is concerned, it should not be a problem as everyone has his own start time registered electronically.
Lesson 1: Must be at the race site before the start of the very first race. The 10 km race started at 6pm. How to?

Soon I caught up with the slower runners. I made the first mistake: I should have skipped the first hydration point as this stop caused me to be bunched up with a huge crowd moving at a snail pace. At 7 km, I tried to snake my way out. The maneuverer was too much for my knees, I could feel cramp coming to my left calf. Fortunately, the next hydration point was just around the corner, I took the opportunity to queue up for my drink and to rest. As I wanted to rest more than I was thirst, I queued up patiently for my drink. I could see that this hydration station like the one before it, was not able to cope with the runners’ demand especially for the 100+ drink. The scene was not a pretty sight to witness – temper flared, some even banged table.

I drank 100+ for the salt. 100+ is a gassy drink which caused me to burp and I need more time for my stomach to settle in so I avoided it.
Lesson 2: Bring you own salt tablet and skip the 100+.

There are many overtaking along the way. Whenever, somebody tried to overtake me, I would tell myself to relax and let him overtake, this will prevent a vicious competition that will hurt both runners. Similarly, when I want to overtake someone, I will also relax, if my slower pace is still faster than the other runner, I will overtake.

I was in this 'slow and long distance' mode so I felt good for most of the time until at the 36 km mark. I began to feel the strain. Despite putting in a lot of effort, I was not progressing as much as I thought. I was crawling until the last 2 km when I caught my wind. But that stretch was also one of the most poorly lit areas. We were literally running in the dark. As I crossed the finishing line, the giant clock stood at 5:56. I will need to go to the website to get the final corrected timing.

I must thank Jun Wei for inspiring me to take up this challenge. He reasoned that we are given about 9 hours to complete the run. On the average, we need only clock 5km/hr. With that, I started training in early January 2011. Before 2011, I used to run about 2km everyday quite regularly. My legs almost cramped when I pushed myself to do 5km on my first training. I was tempted to give up at various points in the process but thank God I pulled through.

My wife and I saw her NIE lecturer running the Marathon. Age is not the only wow factor for him, he is legally blind! And he finished the race.

I heard a saying that goes like this: "There is no greater sorrow than regret".
Yes, no regrets for me.
Updated timing: 5 hr 44 min
Close to 10000 ran the full Marathon.
7637 completed the race and I was the 2812th finisher.

Freeware from NP-NSS

IP2URL
As part of NSS outreach program, we have developed a program to allow parents to find out which websites their children visited. I have uploaded the program to my Dropbox public folder:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11410327/IP2URL.zip
or http://tinyurl.com/3ggw6om
Unzip the downloaded file and you will find 4 files. The main program is called IP2URL.exe which needs Internet connection to work. If you need help, there is a readme document.

Survey Processor
Whenever we conduct surveys using paper and pencil, the thing we dread most is processing the completed survey forms. The process is tedious and error prone.
Survey Processor is a software tool that facilitates the data entry process and keeps the score.  It allows the user to save his work so that he can continue with it at a later time.  The user can choose to analyse the results graphically by charting.  For reporting purposes, he can transfer the results to other applications via clipboard.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11410327/Survey_Processor.zip

IP2URL and Survey Processor are freeware, please feel free to distribute it.

NP-ECE Graduation 2011 -- 25 May

Cheng Chwee, Hao-ge, Low Chee Kin , Cheng Han Chua , Jason Toh Kah Chee , Lin Xin, Ler Ze Chen , Jingwen Chen @NSS Iconic Lab

ECE Book Prize Presentation, 11 May 2011

Very Funny Opposition Posters

http://www.sammyboy.com/showthread.php?90520-rise-of-nicole-seah

Cisco Academy Conference (Singapore)

Dinner at La Cantina @ Changi Village Hotel, 7 April 2011

Interesting Links

wolfram alpha
qwiki
5 loaves and 2 fishes by Corrine May.
http://www.jrsbible.info/bible.htm (Bible in a page)
Google Tan Sri (Dr) Francis Yeoh of YTL

Inculcate the love of teaching/learning:
http://adsoftheworld.com/media/ambient/the_akanksha_foundation_classroom_mumbai

Investment:

http://dividendsrichwarrior.blogspot.sg/

Habits of Mind

Click here for more photos.

NP D&D 18 Feb at Carlton Hotel

Cisco Academy Council CNY Lunch at Seafood Paradise @ Singapore Flyer -- 18 Feb

Qigong CNY Lunch at NP Alumni ClubHouse -- 15 Feb