my penny's worth..

24th july, 57/04 OCC commissioning parade dinner..

i was hosting my understudy's table, entertaining the volleys of questions that the newly commissioned officers and their parents have.. hey.. i enjoy enlightening them with regards to their queries.. they all seem like nice people.. 1st dish was some lobster salad.. i had a little.. everyone had their helping before i had mine (its only polite since i'm the host).. we had some small talk.. the 2nd dish soon arrived.. sharks' fin soup.. i held my breath for a second.. just as the waitress began dishing out the soup, i requested that she serves one bowl less.. she raised her eyebrow, looked intently at me and said,

'sure one bowl less?'
'yes.'

everyone at the table glanced at me for a second.. i thought out as loudly as i can,

'what?.. what did i do wrong?'..

the waitress was done.. she said out loud,

'9 bowls'..

raised her eyebrow at me again and left.. forgive me if i am taking this wrongly but she seems almost offended and disgusted by my request.. sharks' fin soup tastes great! no, let me rephrase that.. the STOCK that was used to make sharks' fin soup tastes great!.. but hey.. if any black tip reef shark or its cousins are in that bowl, i ain't eating it.. one of the parents asked me..

'you don't eat sharks' fin soup?'
'no, i don't'
'for environmental reasons?'
'yes.. i feel that the harvesting of sharks' fin is inhumane..'

thankfully, he nods and turned to his bowl of cartilage and carnage..
many people would ask/challenge me,

'if you think harvesting of sharks' fin is cruel, what about poutry, beef and other meats?'

i would more often then not get pissed by that unfair remark but still, i'd always try to keep my cool and educate these misinformed people about the difference..
sharks' fin..
harvested by fishermen all over the world.. what they do is that they capture these animals live, slice off their fins, and toss their bodies (still alive mine you!) back into the ocean.. without their fins, sharks can't swim.. their ravaged bodies sink to the bottom of the ocean.. sharks need to swim to push water through their gills so that they can breathe.. these 'de-finned' sharks suffer an agonising death as they fall to the sea floor, scrapeing the bottom as the current lifts and drops them.. now imagine this, happening to hundreds, or even thousands of sharks at a single site.. causing a massive pile up of carcasses.. definitely and environmental disaster, not to mention the total tip of the food chain and eco system.. as we all know the effects of removing an animal from the food chain, less sharks = diminished marine biodiversity = loss of probable cures for countless human diseases, which together could spell disaster for all of mankind!
slaughtering of chickens, pigs and other 'usual' animals is indeed cruel but neccessary.. humans need meat in out diet to live healthy.. these animals are slaughtered the quickest possible way to minimise suffering from pain.. (believe me, i've seen how its done..) and besides, they are far from being endangered.. UNLIKE THE SHARKS!!

at the end of the day, i just want to know that i am doing my part (no matter how limited it may be) to help save these magnificent animals and our precious oceans.. same goes for all endangered species all over the world.. ever 1 more person i educate brings us that much closer to saving our world and ultimately ourselves.. spread the word.. remember, when the buying stops, the killing can too..

chiyu

bad week man.. wed - thurs i was on mc.. dun ask why.. right.. you just did.. its my eye k? when i woke up tuesday morning, after the whole monday outfield, my lower left eyelid was a lil puffy.. hurts to the touch.. wednesday morning i woke up.. poof.. chi the goldfish.. saw a doc.. he says its some infection.. gave me a long lesson on the eyelid.. haha.. full recovery in 1 week.. don't be surprised if it gets worst these few days.. darn.. was supposed to go to bintan with casey.. but thanks to the 'goldfish syndrome', i'm stuck at home.. well.. i've decided to not whine and rant on my blog (unless its worth it).. gonna turn this into something more professional.. lets see what comes out of this.. oh ya.. confirmed, pulau aur for advanced course on the 19th to 21st of aug.. here we go!

chiyu

tiring tiring week.. sat- headed back to camp to help out with commissioning parade preparations.. went home in the afternoon.. XZ came over to the vet at my place to get her mini schnauzer, Sasha, her first vaccination.. Sasha's simply adorable.. a miniature schnauzer.. wow.. that's like me top choice if i were to keep a dog.. met her again in the evening to watch the island.. haha.. its pretty ok.. provided you don't ruin it by smearing it with all the, "ya right.. as if they...." or the "its logically impossible to..."s... had dinner at this italian restuarant at holland v.. we were just walking down the street when the manager of the place screamed after XZ.. (she used to work there during her holiday).. was a little on the pricey side but i'd still think its money well spent.. haha.. food's not bad.. i enjoy the italian soda lots.. so much so that i ordered 2... haha.. anyways... sunday- commissioning parade.. spent the whole day in camp.. hosted my understudy's table.. kinda weird sitting with the cadets and their parents.. (not like its my first time anyways..) the event ended earlier then i expected though.. which is a good thing.. spent my entire monday with 6SIR.. we were at the live firing area behind NIE (the place where we do section live firing).. left there on the rover way past 1am.. on our way out, we almost ran over a pangolin! i was so excited when i spotted it in the middle of the road.. this is one of the rarest animals in singapore! BUY 4D!! the animal was a pretty good sized one, slightly larger than a cat.. the animal lumbered into the brush by the side.. wow!

chiyu

weekend burnt.. saturday gotta help out with some prep.. sunday full day commissioning parade.. monday full day attached to 6SIR for combat shoot.. bleah.. lucky there's saturday evening's programme.. hehe.. oh ya.. anyone with scubapro jet fins lobang? and.. i'm planning for my advanced open water course at pulau Aur, departing either 2nd or 3rd weekend of aug.. anyone interested? $399.. includes the works.. free torch for night dive.. might need to rent dive computer.. bring your own slate and surface marker bouy.. need slate and SMB? lemme know.. i get for you.. $40.. can you hear the open sea calling?!

chiyu

tiring day.. hated the morning.. as my alarm clock rang at 0600hrs this morning, i could still hear the rain drops outside my window.. it was cooling.. but i had to rise.. i cursed and swore under my breath all the way to the washroom.. felt a little better after washing up.. but nonetheless, i was in a terrible mood.. its a rainy day! why do i have to get up?! urgh.. was so tempted to take the day off and fall back into slumberland.. but i can't.. its just too irresponsible.. i dragged my arse to work.. on a perfectly rainy morning.. darn it.. -_-" work was boring as usual.. went to the stadium to do interval training with a couple of the guys.. we did it at a crazy pace.. felt totally spent after the interval training.. we were constantly clocking between 1:25 to 1:35 for each of the laps.. did only about 6 or 7 laps before we agreed that our pace was to quick and have to call it a day.. realised that there was a cohesion run at 5pm.. just a simple 5km run.. but i was already dead-beat.. i was the only one from the interval training group to have to go for the 5km since it was something like an instructors and officers only affair.. the 5km seemed like eternity.. we had a hearty buffet meal at the mess at the end of the run though... which kinda makes up for the pain.. haha.. well.. its time i get off my arse and get back to keeping fit again.. wish me luck.. oh ya.. most prob going for my advanced open water course on 13aug *fingers crossed*.. need to get my pair of fins first.. i've got my eyes on the scubapro jetfins.. nice reliable black set of fins... any one have lobang? the best offer i have is $140.. any lower guys? lemme know ok? haha..

chiyu

not too good a week i suppose.. first, my pay.. about $700 was deducted coz of my no1 and no2 uniforms which i had decided to keep for memory's sake.. its been 6 months.. now they decide to deduct.. haha.. next, i realised i lost my basketball.. left it at my sec sch after e past vs present games.. darn it.. that ball was e my favourite.. came home earlier today.. was at mindef for a meeting.. can't say much about the place here just in case some msd guy snoops around here and decides to charge me for leaking offical secrets or something.. all i can say is, it sure is sterilized.. haha.. 57/04 acpc on friday.. another dining in.. which means i have to wear my no2 again.. don't really like wearing bow ties though.. bleah.. oh ya.. got a haircut in camp.. now i look like a cadet again.. so short.. haha.. oh well.. tomorrow's gonna be a better day.. (i hope!)

chiyu

A couple more photos..

This was taken from the dining hall.. blue waters, cloudless sky..

Note the fish, not the hairy leg.. that's a remora.. usually found attached to sharks, manta rays and othe big marine animals..

Gorgonian fan coral..

No idea what species of fish are.. small blue schooling fish, hovering over some young staghorn corals.. cool...


2 urchins under the piece of coral, a couple of fishes on the right.. some sort of lancer i guess.. observe the single little blue dot on it... if u can see it of course.. haha...

Some pics as promised..

One of the hawkbeak turtle that we saw...

Anemonefish (Clownfish) in the sea anemone.

Me bobbing on the surface.

All's fine under the waves..


The 3 of us bobbing in the middle of the ocean.. with tioman island as a backdrop..

gotta be in camp by 6am tml.. another platoon assault course.. when's pay day coming!! getting broke... haha.. gonna go for advance open water course before e end of this dive season.. fingers crossed.. went for branch chalet at changi on friday-sat.. quite fun.. haha.. met so many pple.. nothing much to write.. was a good weekend..

chiyu