Almost an Emergency

I decided to stay home on the eve of the public holiday and I'm glad I did.

The apartment one level below mine almost burned due to an unattended incense.

Around 10.30pm
At first I thought it was my unit that was on the brink of danger. The reason is that there was a thin layer of smoke that welcomed me at the living and dining room minutes after I had turned on the centralised aircon. I thought it was a case of the aircon overheating which was quite unusual but I turned it off immediately anyway and opened the kitchen door. It was from the laundry area that I saw some mean on the opposite site, one floor lower looking somewhere which turned out to be the unit below mine.

I hurried down to their area and saw the tenant whom I had met previously. It was there I saw some cloud of smoke coming out and minutes after some members of the Singapore Civil Defense Unit came to the scene to help out.

Property security and Singapore Police then attempted to inform nearby tenants to get ready to evacuate as per standard operating procedure. I didn't know what to get but in the end I thew the following into one of my weekend bags:

- passport
- portable hard drives (which contain photos taken over the past two years)
- MP3 player (yes, it took me hours to rip my CDs and label them accordingly)
- digicam
- some reading materials (in case I could not go back to my unit for a few hours)

I would have brought my office bag with me but glad I left it in the office (secured of course).

Turned out that we didn't need to evacuate at all. The property manager and the official property electrician went around to check if the tenants were ok and to suggest not to turn on the centralised aircon as some smoke would still go through the vent and the unit will smell like smoke.

11.15pm
Situation back to normal. I finally got to watch my recorded programs over the past week and munch on some snacks. I should re-think of my "evacuation item" list next time.

Sing a New Song

Apart from the shower and at KBox/Partyworld, people will now hear me singing in church.

This is probably one of the most exciting things I've done to be more active in the parish. I've been an altar boy before but never been part of a singing group.

For about two weeks, I tried to decide whether to join or not since I just don't want to join and disappear without a trace. I feel it is something I can truly commit to even if I anticipate skipping a few Sundays either due to essential business travel or "essential" personal holiday.

Joining my church's choir was easier than I had expected. I asked one of the choir heads if the choir were open for membership and he simply said, "Yeah. We usually rehearse after the mass for half an hour. Why don't you join us for the mass now?" Sometimes, life does not need to be complicated.

And the rest is history.

The choir members are warm and welcoming ; I'm sure I will get to know them better. Quite a good mix of single and married people either in their mid-20's or early 30's.

File photo from one of my several KTV sessions (this one was in May 2007)