3rd Day in Vancouver: Early Morning "Call"

It was 4.30am... My sleep was suddenly interrupted by a "familiar" alarm. The fire alarm had gone off in my hotel!!! I was totally thrown off guard as I slept at about 2am. My colleagues and I quickly took our personal belongings and make our way to the ground floor. I was so anxious to get to safety that I wore my colleague's leather shoes by mistake :-P This is the first time we experienced a fire alarm in a hotel.

The fire engines came about 15 min later and verified that the fire alarm was falsely triggered by some faulty mechanism. Some of the hotel guests were clearly angry over the false alarm. Many beautiful dreams were interrupted, ha.

We decided not to get back to sleep but prepared ourselves for the day conference. The conference starts at Sheraton Wall Centre, 8am daily and is a short distance walk from our hotel. I have started to enjoy the sandwiches at Subway as we took our breakfast there daily. There are quite a number of Subway branches at downtown Vancouver.

Today is the 2nd day of Int'l System Safety conference (ISSC 08) and it started with a "opening ceremony". This annual conference is organised by Int'l System Safety Society which comprises of System Safety professionals, who come together for an exchange of ideas, knowledge and experiences. We were sent by our company to learn about this discipline from int'l practitioners. 5 full days of programmes; packed from 8am to 5pm.


Nevertheless, still able to squeeze in some time to experience downtown Vancouver slowly :-)

Finally! Arrival @ Vancouver

I have arrived @ Vancouver! Waited 6 hours @ Portland Int'l Airport & finally took the plane from Horizon Air (on the picture below). The weather was turning bad as you can see and the ride was real bumpy! Will never take a light aircraft again.

Upon touch-down, we quickly travel to our hotel and settle in. It was a simple and comfortable place, right at the heart of downtown Vancouver.

Went for our dinner after settling in quickly and managed to take a 2 hours walk at downtown Vancouver. Nice and cosy temperature @ 14 Degree Celsius. The sky was still quite bright until about 8pm.

We came across an interesting shop (see below) that sells Apples & Mash Mellows, dipped in chocolate & with a variety of toppings! Yumpy! One bite will definitely give me enough Calories for one whole day! Better watch my waistline :-P

Heading for Vancouver

Just touched down at Portland International Airport (now 10am, Sun morning) - after 16 hours of flight from Singapore via Narita Airport, Japan. Quite tired now... Didn't really sleep during the journey. Now, waiting for the next flight to Vancouver in 4 hours time (1 hour flight).

Will be at Vancouver for a week till 29 Aug, for a conference. This is my first trip to the States and Canada. Hope that this will be a fruitful trip :-)

Taking a good rest now....

Passed IPPT!

Went for my IPPT test yesterday morning. Been training for the last couple of months but still wasn't very confident of passing. Nevertheless, decided to go for it... But, Praise the Lord! I passed it! Nearly obtained sufficient points for a silver ($100) :-P

One lesson I found to be true for this episode, mental preparation must be done in tandem with physical preparation. Although I have been training physically for the last few months, my confidence level was lagging behind as chin-up is my weakest station. Thankful for the word of God during the cell group meeting that encouraged me to look to God; to know that I can do all things in Him; to know that He empowers me (2 Cor 9:8, Eph. 3:20). The word came to me at the right moment. So, I envisioned my IPPT victory that morning; I participated with all my strength and mind; and I got it!

Combating Rising Utility Bills!

Just received my latest utility bills recently & was shocked to see about 25% increase compared to my monthly average! For those of you who are still unaware, the Singapore Power has recently revised upward the utility rates again in view of the rising oil price. With the steep oil price affecting transportation and utility costs which are part of our daily essentials, My family & I have adjusted our lifestyle in a couple of ways to combat the rising expenses.

For transportation, we have cut down drastically on cabs and have learnt to plan our time better in order to leverage on the public buses. I find the IRIS system provided by SBS useful as you can sms to get an estimation of your bus arrival time. Furthermore, I do planning for my work, read or listen to sermons on my ipod during my bus journey so that the traveling time can be made more useful and purposeful.

As for utility usage, I have gained a habit to shut down power for appliances after use. Especially when I leave for work in early morning, power to all unused appliances are shut off. Studies have shown that we can save quite substantially just by shutting off standby power to our TV, radio, internet, computers etc. I have also became more conscious when I replace my light bulbs at home by purchasing energy efficient fluorescent bulbs.

Just today, Aileen & I decided to pop by Metro to buy a Thermos kettle to replace our current electric airpot. Decided to go for the switch after reading an article in the newspapers that one can save up to $20 monthly just by changing to a Thermos kettle (if you usually keep your electric airpot on for 24 hours daily). Will keep all posted whether this is true :-)


The current rising cost of energy does make people more conscious of their energy usage and adjust their lifestyles to curb wastage. Seems like a good thing too as we must learn not to take things for granted...

Champion of England & Europe!!!

Manchester United is the
CHAMPION OF ENGLAND & EUROPE for 2007/08!

• Cristiano Ronaldo - Top scorer in England & Europe (42 goals!!!) Surely Player of the Year!

• Edwin Van Der Sar - Save of the Season to give Man Utd the Champions League title!

• Tevez, Owen, Nani & Anderson - Good new inclusions into the squad this season. Received their England & Champions League medals on the first season! Very fortunate!

• Rooney & Tevez - potent & classy striker partnership! Work tirelessly all season!

• Last but not least, Sir Alex - Best manager this season!!!
  

18 May - Jo's 4th Birthday!

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY, PRINCESS JOANN!!!