Doha 2019

View from the Hotel 

The trip to Doha in February 2019 was to visit our customer. As a perfunctory way of saying 'thank you' , we have to be physically present to assure customers that the support from our company is on-going and we are ever ready to provide our staff and technical expertise.   

The trip from Singapore to Doha by Qatar airways takes about 7 and 1/2 hours direct. There are several other airlines offering this route but there normally will need to be a stopover at either Dubai (Emirates) or Muscat (Oman). This last trip was the direct flight and I normally try to sleep on the flight, (although the departure is normally at some ungodly hour like 2.10 am in the morning) so that I can arrive refreshed the following day. My optimism normally will be dashed and I arrive quite jetlagged (red eye) and needing of some refreshment and sleep. 

As this was a routine courtesy visit to the customer ASpire, my local agent cum partner company picked me up at around 5.30 am. Doha is a modern city and their neighbours are Saudi Arabia and Jordan. 

At Souq Waqif 

My meeting was scheduled the following day, so the first day was rather leisurely and I was basically checking and replying to emails from customers, vendors and staff. The second morning my partner met me and we did the perfunctory visit to customer to discuss any particular issues on the equipment (fortunately all was good) and subsequent followup visits or support in terms of spare parts etc.

That afternoon, I was free to roam the city, so I took a cab to the Corniche or Souq Waqif. A Souq is another name for market, or bazaar. In the old days all the vendors would assemble at the market and the daily life would centre around the Souq. Qatar has the world's highest per capita GDP and there are only 0.5 million Qataris and another 2.5 million foreign inhabitants, expatriates and workers from all over the world.  

Artist at Work 

This Souq is more like a tourist centre, housing hotels, numerous shops selling anything from pet birds, spices, restaurants, cafes and artists. It is well worth spending half a day at this iconic Souq.

  

At the entrance of the Souq

Qatar is fast aspiring to be the sporting centre for the Middle East and that is why the Aspire group of companies is employing many researchers for sports science and sport rehabilitation and their Aspire Hospital is the only FIFA approved Hospital for top football players from South America and Europe. Their facilities are truly impressive, and their bid for the FIFA World Cup 2020 was successful, so the entire city is vibrant with many worksites and construction taking place. 

Villas at Ring Road 

As it is beside the Sahara Desert, the weather in Doha fluctuates widely from day to night. In the spring time when I went, it was a cool 20 to 23 deg C. At night, that temperature drops rapidly to the mid teens.  

I once went in July and the temperature was 45 C and sometimes even 50 C. The scorching weather made many construction companies issue a stop work order from 12 to 3 pm during the summer.   

The third day I spent checking out the longest shopping centre I have ever come across, called the Villagio and it is next to the iconic Torch Hotel. A picture of the exquisite section of the Villagio shopping centre is shown below. There are many international brand of shops and restaurants there such as P.F. Chang, Paul's, Ladurie, LV, Chanel, Boss, Zegna and Hermes just to name a few.  

This year (2020), even in the midst of the worldwide pandemic crisis impacting practically every country, my company has put up a bid to set a beachhead in Doha for purposes of marketing our brand of equipment and test services. 

While we await some good news, I pray that this is indeed the correct move in this most perilous of times. 

Fortune favours the brave. I certainly hope so in my case. 

Athletic Chamber Equipment at Aspire Hospital 

Eat Hummus as a Healthy Snack

Eaten as a Starter before the main course meal of meat in many restaurants in Middle East 

The dish at the center of the picture above is Hummus. Made of Chick Pea, Tahini (ground sesame seeds),olive oil, some lemon, garlic and onion and then put in a processor, the product is  a fine paste and sourey to taste. It taste delicious and should be kept in the refrigerator between each snack. You should be able to buy them from your supermarket, most probably at the dairy produce section. 

It is best eaten as a snack before each meal, usually as a dip, with Naan (oven leavened bread), or crackers.

I did some research and found that each 100 g of Hummus comprises of :

> Calories : 166 

> Fat : 9.6 g 

> Protein : 7.9 g 

> Carbohydrates : 14.3 g

> Fiber : 6.0 g

> Manganese : 39% of RDI (recommended daily intake)

> Copper : 26% of RDI

> Folate  : 21% of RDI

> Magnesium : 18% of RDI

> Phosphorus : 18% of RDI

> Iron : 14 % of RDI

> Zinc : 12% of RDI

> Thiamin : 12% of RDI

> Vitamin B6 : 10% of RDI

> Potassium : 7% of RDI

I never knew we needed so much 'metal' elements as our recommended daily intake ! 

Eaten as a snack or as a meal, together with fruits, it is packed with plant based protein and has a lot of fibre.

One good aspect which has come out from the 1 - 3 month lockdown at home, that is I have started to eat as healthy as I can, fruits and hummus with biscuit as a snack instead of other much more sinful (and heaty most definitely) potato chips, nachos and chocolate !

Carpe Diem. 

St Paul de Vence 4th December 2018

The video above shows the entrance to this small and beautiful village. The slopes leading up to the church at the top have many small artisan and boutique shops on both sides. There are also cosy cafes, bookshops and art galleries. 

A great way to spend 1 full day just soaking in the medieval atmosphere.

Would I come back here for a repeat visit ? Most certainly ! 

Capture the Joie de Vrie in the narrow alleys of St Paul de Vence 

Beautiful Village in the Hills of Vence near Nice ; St Paul de Vence

Cote D'Azur Map with Vence to the NW of Nice 

This is another lovely memory of our 13 day trip to the Cote Azur, Nice, Antibes, Cannes, St Paul de Vence and then on to Italy, Florence and finally Turin before heading back to Nice and onward to Singapore. We left Singapore on 2nd December and returned on 13th December. 

We visited St Paul de Vence on the 3rd day of our trip where we had based ourselves in Nice. The main city of the Cote d'Azur. Taking a tip from the tour guide on the 2nd day, we took the bus from the main city square for approximately EUR 2 and after 30 minutes reached the small village perched on the hilltop. 

Bus with departure times from Nice and to /from St Paul 

It was practically empty the day we visited it, and headed to the Touriste Bureau for directions. Below is the clock tower and the narrow alleyways show how life was like living in close quarters (some 2 meters at best) to the opposite house. December is low season and with few tourists, we had the town most to ourselves. 

Bell Tower of Church at Town Centre 

Beautiful late autumn leaves 

The town is small, perhaps with 100 inhabitants, and many are arts and craft people, I recall buying 2 fabulously good pieces of 3D art from a German couple called Filo and Tess. Their shop is called Atelier Filo Tess. 

Atelier Filo-Tess

8 Monte de la Castro

06570 

St Paul de Vence.

Here below is one of the 2 pieces of 3 D artwork which i bought from them. They are very warm and hospitable people from my short interaction time with them. 

At the top of the village stands the church and now converted to a museum. Inside are displays of some Freemason artist and it was an oasis of calm.  The hand and the dove symbolises peace and love, and unlike many of the churches and cathedrals we visited in the past years, was absent of anything symbolising the Roman Catholic faith so prevalent of Europe in the last 600 years. 

Artwork inside the church at St Paul de Vence.

We also ventured inside the castle of St Paul de Vence to see the history of this small village. Apparently it was fortified to protect against any attacks by the neighbouring county ruled by the Grimaldis, if my history serves me correctly.

St Paul de Vence exactly on the Map 

View of St Paul de Vence Fortifications 

Nov 1981 to May 1983 - Armoured Artillery

Our Reservist Training in Taiwan circa Nov 1992.

I recall I was posted together with quite a number of NCO colleagues to C Company in 46th Singapore Armoured Regiment, in Sungei Gedong. We were the Artillery Battery Unit which was to provide artillery support fire to the entire company. 

Captain Tan was our Battery Commander and we also had 2 artillery support officers, Lta Chan CY and Lta William Wong.

It was finally the time when we had our trainees fresh from school. We had to train them for a period of 12 weeks for them to graduate to be Mortar Men. Our unit was the Self Propelled (on M113 Armoured Personnel Carrier) 120 mm Mortar Battery. Indeed a mouthful.

The new boys were a torrid bunch. They were mainly Chinese by ethnicity and most had primary education, or at best Secondary 2 education. Some were gang members, and some had been to jail before. They were not an easy bunch. 

We the NCOs who were supposedly educated (most of us were going to University) had to shape up this motely bunch of stragglers to be listening to our commands and obeying every word. In addition, when we went out to field exercise, we were going to be sharing the same vehicle out in the jungles.

I had the toughest of mental and physical challenges during my NCO training, and I was determined to give them the toughest physical and mental challenge they ever had, just as I was treated.

How wrong it turned out to be. My batch of 4 soldiers (see the first post) decided after one torrid training to 'pakang' or rebel against my tough as nails training. I had a talking to by my officer, and after some soul searching, I changed my man management style and decided I should adopt the team player cum leader role rather than the strict stand aside role, as we were supposed to be a detachment of 5 soldiers working together as a unit and subsequently as a mortar self propelled unit in part of a battery supporting the company.

We had tremendous camaderie after that, we went through a lot of exercises, and I am proud to say that our coordination as a team to camouflage and get ready for the Fire Mission set my detachment apart from the rest of the unit.

Some time later in 1982, our detachment was crowned the Best Detachment out of 6 for overall competence in commander role, camouflaging and fire mission readiness.

My team of 4, Loh Swee Chuah (driver), Yeo Ah Seng (Layer), Goh Gek Piaow (No. 4) and Tan Beng Chong (No.3 ), I have the greatest respect for and the fondest memories of.

Tan Beng Chong in particular, I recall, became a father at 19 years of age. I was honored to attend his wedding and to call him a true friend. 

I hope I can meet them again soon.   

Section Leader Course and Artilerry NCO course ; Brutally tough

A rare smile during training 

After the first 12 weeks BMT course, we were given a passing out parade, where our parents were invited. It wasn't anything special, and I believe both my Mum and Dad came to witness it. The BMT was a real change from the civillian me to the soldier me. The first 2 weeks of BMT we had 'confinement' where we had to stay in our bunks or confined on Saturdays and Sundays instead of having the privilege of 'booking out' of camp which most soldiers or NSMen get to do. 

During our time (early 1980s till 2000s) we had the 44 hour work week, so we had training for the full 5 and a half days, Saturday being a half day. In fact it was more than 44 hours a week, as most evenings we had night training. The schedule for every company was rotated so every company did something different during the same time of the day, so that the camp's resources were used effectively.

Soon after BMT, I was posted to SISL or Special Infantry Section Leader's course at Pasir Laba camp in Jurong for 12 weeks (if I recall correctly). Somehow during the callup for the various companies, my name was missed out and I ended up in Lima company.

Again the training was psychologically tough, and we had many practices, such as Standard Obstacle Course, the Physical Fitness Test,Rifle Ranges, camoflaging, marching drills, bayonet fighting, FIBUA, FIFO everything which the combat soldier was trained to do. 

At the end of the course, I was posted to the very tough Artillery NCO course. This was 12 weeks of brutal training where, the first part was to toughen us up with the basic Arty drills, to boost up our physical fitness. I had slimmed down even more, another 10 pounds, or so, and could easily do 8 to 12 chin-ups by that time.

The 12 weeks course was split into 2 segments, the first 4 weeks were spent at Kangaw camp, and the remaining 8 weeks were at the 21 SA in Mandai camp.The date was around end June 1981 till early October 1981. 

I will not go into details but it was the toughest mental and physical challenge I have and ever had to go through. I was just 18. 

We finished the toughest training all in one piece. Some of our trainees did not complete, I believe about a quarter (perhaps 4 to 5) could not complete the course due to injury or just mentally too tough to handle. 

By the end of October  1981 I was a newly minted Artillery NCO. 

   

My National Service Days 1981 - 1983 ; Basic Military Training ; Chin Up Torture

My Detachment No. 4 ; Callsign 34 F4 

L to R : LCP Goh Gek Piao, LCP Loh Hwee Chuah, Me, LCP Tan Beng Chong, LCP Yeo Ah Seng

I was enlisted to serve in our National Service (NS) from 26th December 1980 till our Run Out Date (ROD) of somewhere in May 1983. 

I had just turned 18 years, and 1 month, and was called up. Lucky me. No deferrments, no medical boards where the less than healthy 18 year old boys were checked for physical impairments or congenital defects. A good friend I know Au Mun Heng and my cousin Rick Phoon were totally exempted from NS as they had heart 'murmur' or one aortic valve did not close properly.

Me ? I was 'only' severely myopic and apart from that, I was classified as PES 'A' which was fit enough for combat duty. Suffice to say, the 2 and a half years were one of the defining moments of my life, and I served out the service as a 3rd Sergeant. My last posting during 'active' days was in the 46th Singapore Armoured Regiment then located in Sungei Gedong Camp all the way South East of the island some 45 minutes by car.

The first 12 weeks were called Basic Military Training (BMT) for us new recruits. We all had the 'botak' hair cut, the automatic shaver cutting off our wavy locks or Bangs. The Bald Look made every recruit look the same. Like tortoises staring out of our thick glasses. The rationale for shaving the hair off our heads (at least for the 12 weeks) was that we would be wearing a helmet and be rigorously exercising in the hot sun some 8 - 10 hours a day. Our heads would heat up like  hot potatoes :). Every night, in the camp, before we had 'Lights Out' we would have a Water Parade where all of us recruits (40 to a platoon) had to drink 1 full plastic cup (some 300 ml) of water.

The logic was to cool our bodies down, and prevent 'heat stroke'. I still practice drinking 2 cups of water at the start of each day. I also squeeze half a lemon into the cup, as this apparently cleanses the liver and detoxifies the body. 

My son Andrew's enlistment first day at Pulau Tekong 10 weeks BMT on 4th October 2017

The 12 weeks BMT  training was held at Terror Camp in Sembawang, I have driven past it of late, and it is now a vehicle camp for supporting the brigade. The 12 weeks were physically tough. I had great stamina to run, but my arms were weak like a girl's (no disrespect to those fierce MMA fighters), so the greatest challenge I had before each meal was to summon the strength to do as many chin-ups as possible. That was the precondition each and every recruit had to perform, do as many chinups as you can before you can go to the cookhouse to eat your breakfast, lunch or dinner. The absolute minimum was 1.

Chin-ups are essentially stomach core and whole body exercises whereby you pull yourself from a hanging position under the bar till your chin literally crosses above the bar.

At the start of my BMT, I couldn't even do a single chin-up. Yes, I started at 0. By the end of the 12 weeks, I had lost weight (over 20 pounds, I am serious) and gained muscle that I could muster 6 chin-ups relatively easily.

The motivation to do chin-ups were like this. Chin Ups were conducted by the NCOs before each meal, you had to do at least 1 ; so if you didn't you would hang there and the whole platoon would look at you like you were the worst idiot who held up the remaining 39 for their breakfast, lunch or dinner. So I learnt pretty quickly not to 'sabotage' the entire platoon and trained so very hard, with my mates help by pushing my backside up and slowly I got the hang or the coordination right. 

You start by using your upper arms, the biceps, and then your core muscles will tighten to jerk you upwards. You then glide over the chin-up bar. That is counted as 1 chin up.

In my case, I was a clumsy recruit, so the first one, I always 'cheated' by jumping up from the side base, and getting over the first chinup. The eagle eyed NCO or corporal would pull me down and shout 'No count' recruit.    

So I would then hang forlornly under the bar, like some pathetic puppy denied his biscuit, look up at the bar as the goal and will my puny arms and flabby stomach to get over the bar.

It was horrendous, the first few weeks, when I managed to clear one, I was allowed to go to the cookhouse for my meal, and we all had like only 10 minutes to collect the messplate from the rack, queue up for our food, wolf it down, drink some tea or milo, wash the messplate and show it to the Duty NCO for cleanliness inspection and then assemble back at the barracks all in 10 minutes.

I recall throwing up most of the meals I ate in those days. The strenuous chinup had me out of breath and with absolutely no appetite. Eating the cookhouse food those days was like eating something inedible and shoving it down your throat. Then slurping some black tea or milo and then rushing back to the barracks for some serious training either in the parade square or in the jungles adjoining to the camp. So, the combination of throwing up, and profuse sweating from those 12 weeks resulted in my losing 10 kg or over 20 pounds.  

To be honest, after those 12 weeks, I looked pretty good. 

I was a rather plump teenage kid. The Army changed me to a man.