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Ad of Canon EOS cameras...

Found these clip in one of the forums.

Canon EOS 40D (Ken Watanabe version)

Canon EOS 50D (Ken Watanabe version)

Canon EOS 5D MkII

Canon EOS 7D

My Wisdom (teeth) removed...

They were like my nemesis... giving me suffering and pain every now and then. And every time I decided to confront them, they just went away, which is why they have been haunting me for a long while now. It was until the recent week that I decided to end it once and for all, as they again gave me their best shot at pain. In fact, I dealt with TWO of the problem. Yes-serri! Two of them...

I was talking about my wisdom tooth. I had been troubled by them for years and never had the courage to confront them - by extracting them out. Heard about horrific stories from friends and peers on the aftermath. Some says that there might be side-effects, some says the process was pretty painful, bla bla bla...

Well, I am personally afraid of visiting the dentist, thanks to my traumatic experience when I was in primary school. You see, we had these dental nurses (and fierce ones too!) stationed at our school to perform routine dental checks on all the students, who being kids, has no idea on dental hygiene, even though we do brush our teeth every morning. So overtime, we developed cavities in our tooth and require filling. I can still remember the screeching sound of the drill used to bore the cavity. The pain felt when the drill attacked the cavity, touching nerves in the gum (mind you, no anesthetics used then!). Even now, that thought still sends chill down my spine.

So, after many years, I'm still apprehensive about going to the dentist. But as a grown-up, I do have to confront my inner demon at some point of time in my life. So I decided to give it a shot, and visited my neighborhood dentist, got an appointment in the afternoon. I was pretty nervous when I sat at the clinic, waiting for my turn to go in.

Then, my name was called. "Mr. Lim, it's your turn to see the doctor." the nurse with an arty-farty pair of spectacles called out. As I approached the small room, there behind the "what-I-called-a-hot-seat" or "what-is-commonly-known-as-dentist-chair", was a young dentist, smiling and greeting me. "Hi Mr. Lim, take a seat. What can do for you today?" he said. After taking the "hot-seat", I went on telling him my problem and he listened intently. Then he suggested to do some checks on the teeth, and also take some X-rays.

During the check, he kept chatting with me, telling me what he was doing at the moment, what he's gonna do after that, all with the intent of making me less nervous. Well, I must say, it was pretty effective. I was a little more relaxed than before. Then he told me that I have 3 wisdom teeth, all developing cavities due to the way they are grown (cos food gets trapped inside and it's pretty difficult to clean them with normal brushing) - 1 on the left side and 2 on the right. All 3 of them needs to be removed so as not to cause problems to the rest of the teeth in future. But, he suggested to remove 2 right ones as they were causing pain which I was experiencing then. The one on the left could be removed later. This way, I would be able to eat and drink using the left side while the right recovers after the procedure. I obliged and he went ahead with the procedure.

First was a series of 3 doses of anesthetics to the affected areas in the mouth. Then, he went on to attempt to extract the lower right tooth, with more anesthetics along the way whenever I indicated feeling pain. It took him quite an amount of time, having to saw through the tooth (as it was badly decayed and fragile). But he finally took it out, still chatting with me along the way, and my only way of responding is by hand signal (thumbs up for ok, palms up for pain, etc). It was a moment of relief for me, as the sound of the drill intimidates me (though I am so heavily sedated that I could not feel any pain). He then quickly sewed the wound up with his skillful pair of hands (of course, the nurse helped).

After a short break, he went on with the upper one, which is more challenging as he puts it, cos of the way it was grown. Nevertheless, he tried, and it took longer than the first one, still with sawing, more anesthetics along the way. When it's done, both of us were relieved. For me, it's the ordeal of having to keep my mouth opened while he worked. For him, to be able to completely remove the tooth at one go. The whole process took about slightly more than an hour or so (less the waiting time for the anesthetics to kick in during the 3 doses), but all was well. It also changed my perspective about visiting the dentist.

I got my wife to wait for me at the clinic as my right face was totally numb, and I could not speak properly (I was occasionally drooling with traces of blood from wound, had to keep wiping with tissue paper). The bill all came up to be about two thousand odd dollars! I kinda expected this as the dentist has previously briefed me before proceeding with the procedure. Fortunately, I was able to claim partial of the cost from CPF Medisave.

I also requested to keep the 2 teeth as souvenir. :)

My 2 "wisdom" teeth - lower tooth (right) and upper tooth (left)

Establishing Customer Relationship - Skill Upgrading Training.

Attended this 3 day course organized by Singapore Quality Centre, on "Establishing Customer Relations" course, as part of skills retraining effort under the SPURS program.

A very enjoyable course, focusing on topics on how to establish customer relationship and building on from there.

The course encourage participation from the attendees through games and role-playing activities, apart from the theory lessons conducted in between.

Brought along my trusted camera with a prime lens attached and attempted to capture some of the fun moments during class.

I truly enjoyed the company of all those who has attended. Hope to keep in touch with all of them... Cheers!

Melaka, Melaka...

Sunday, 6 Dec 2009...

After a gruelling 21.1km run at the Standard Chartered Marathon 2009, I managed to finish the half marathon despite cramps and a really bad stomach (mmm... could either be the expired Power Gel that I had in the morning, or the deadly concoction of banana and water during the race...).

Anyway, I survived the ordeal (sorry for the toilet user at the F1 pit, I couldn't help it but to deposit at there!!). Having checked in at the company's cheer point to lend some support for the full marathon runners, I slipped away and rushed home. Why? I had another 200km to conquer! A drive up north to Malacca, historic state of Halal-land, for a quick 3D2N getaway with my dear wife...

After a long 4 and 1/2 hours drive along the NS Highway via 2nd linkway, we finally arrived at Malacca (thanks to the Garmin GPS which navigated from Sing, but most useful after passing toll plaza! haha!). Made our way to our destinated hotel, Hotel Puri along Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, a peranakan styled hotel. After a short rest, we ventured out way to the famous Jonker Walk, a weekend night market street, just behind our hotel.

A quick dinner at a peranakan restaurant, Nancy's Kitchen - we had Sambal Kangkong, Rendang Chicken (it's reallly good!) and Sek Bak (pork cooked in dark sauce) - we took a stroll along Jonker Walk. Street was full of people, both local and foreigners.


Stroll also took us down to the Melaka River side, watching people taking River Cruise and viewing the "Eye on Malaysia" from far. Brightly-lit trishaws sounded horns and zoomed along the alleys, bringing life into the town at night.

11月29日－家郁大喜之日

11月29日， 农历10月初3。。。

杨家办喜事啦！杨家之子，我小舅子 － 杨家郁，在这一天成家啦！长大成人，娶媳妇啦！恭喜老爷，贺喜夫人！我也尽本分接重任，当起摄影师，负责把当天的情景，一举一动都拍摄下来，弄成幻灯影像留念。

以下就是当天娶新娘与当晚喜宴地留影。。。

Video on canon 7D

Canon 7D - TV cameraman Matt Jasper unboxes and rigs up his new 7D from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

FireWorkz to dazzle the night!

Fireworks of the National Day 2009 show!

My work of comic artz - Comiz Strip of Singapore Apps Conference 2009... 我的精心漫画杰作（公司搞笑版）。。。

All in the name of fun...













Hope you have enjoyed the excerpt...

My mini gallery

乐乐的ABC

我的西藏天路旅

It's been quite a while since I updated here...

Lots and lots of things happened during this period... some good, some bad... some unexpected too...

Anyway, I am just back from a great break from a great place, a place which I think one should be at least once in a lifetime - Tibet (西藏). Great place for scenery, good weather during summer (cool @ 17~25 deg C)... breath-taking...

Spent about 12 days there, not on back-packing though, but on a package tour. Good to get a glimpse of what Tibet is all about, and the next time I will definitely be on a back-packing route there. Got to know a lot of interesting facts about Tibetan way of life, culture, beliefs, etc.

Also, fate has brought an additional 13 more people into my social circle - got to know 13 more friends of the tour group I'm in. Though most of them are uncles and aunties (all but 3, 2 of who is slightly older than me, but still considered a youngster and 1 young girl), but they brought with them lots of fun and laughter for the trip.

What's thrilling for me is how big the place is, one can see the land and sky meet at the horizon, as far as the eyes can see... magnificent!

Took a lot of photos, and had a hard time choosing which to show. But still managed to do that:




Still more beautiful sceneries in Flickr site.

Having some fun with shooting...

I am at it again, having fun looking at things in a different perspective...

长江7号？啊七化成苹果？不会吧？！


小菊花


Well chilled wine for the evening


Light of Life

Birds and creatures from Sungei Boluh...

Have not been to a mangrove before, what's more, just got my hands on a set of very expensive, very heavy lens. So I thought I could go and take some shots with it.

The moment i got there, I was greeted with a sense of serene and tranquility, after which you start to be greeted by the "ushers" - the mosquitoes. Yes, starving, blood-thirsty buggers, who could sacrifice their own lives just for a taste of human blood. Imagine how desperate they are, since they don't get much fresh human blood around everyday to feed their population...

Oh well, I was prepared, as I whipped out my army-standard-issued insect repellant, and Viola! works like magic. The "ushers" "knew" to leave me alone for my walk... heh heh.

So here's what I got:

Bamboos


Herons resting (they are usually found near dusk, around 4 or 5pm, resting)


A pair of Kingfishers by the trees. Very beautiful colors.


Heron and a pair of Storks by the river bed, feeding.


Mud-skipper

Sunset @ Pasir Ris

Caught this moment while leaving IKEA...

e乐大赏@Marina Bay Floating Platform

第一届亚周音乐娱乐盛事， 独e无二：e乐大赏！聚集了海内外巨星。


我有幸索到票，能与一群好友参与了这个在滨海弯浮动舞台举办的盛事，一场看巨星，听好歌，完全娱乐的concert! 有本地的歌手，如孙燕姿，何维建，JJ林俊杰，石欣卉等等，海外艺人“小猪”罗志祥，陈绮贞，Energy等等。还有我欣赏的Olivia Ong!

与此同时，我也过了过拿我的DSLR拍摄照片的隐。哈哈哈，真是过瘾啊！在此上载了一些拍的照片分享分享。









For more of the photos, please visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bubba_gump_dinner/

天有不測之風云

長言到：天有不測之風云。。。

Cats...

The MOM song!!!

This is amazing!!! Wonder how many moms can do that?

新山柔佛古廟遊神2009

I'm still around!!!

It's been a almost a month since I wrote again. Not really sure why I could not find the motivation to surf to this page and write something. Maybe it's the fact that I'm too busy with work that I've not given myself time to stop and think about life. Or maybe it's because life itself has not given me any inspiration lately to write about...

Anyway, CNY came and went... The financial crisis is here to stay for at least a while... companies are cutting cost (and work-force)... I could say that I am counting my blessings each and everyday that I am still around and kicking... But it's depressing to flip the papers every now and then to read about the economic situation deteriorating... hearing sad news of people being retrenched here and there...

Our company had just handed another batch of staff their "pink-slips" and the golden hand-shake. The mood is so gloomy once this happens. But I think the company is already doing the best of what it could to buffer the impact. It could have been worst than now.

My perspective of life now have to adjust from before. It's really time to slow down and start thinking of how to move ahead... I haven't been thinking about this for a very long time. Each time during the performance review, I'm being asked the same question: "Have you thought of what you're gonna do next?". And every time i would just shrug it off. I could not afford to do this now. I have to think...

I love "Hip Siong too!!!

Was messing around with my camera again.

Remembering what my good o'bro-in-law explained the concept of "Depth of Focus", decided to put the theory into good practice and try it myself.

Saw a basket of fruits, started playing with some of the functions, like color emphasis and color swap functions... fun...:)

Then to the "Depth of Focus" practice. Took some green apples to try and try... and finally got what I was hoping to achieve - getting focus on apples at different distances and focus level... cool!

Focus on front Apple              Focus on middle apple            

   

Focus on rear apple

Quite a fun lesson...

赤壁2之决战天下

看了“我报”举办的首映会，满足了追看下文的好奇心。 看完了以后，脑海里还浮现了赤壁（一）的剧情，完全能把第一和第二集的故事凑在一块。真的是一部值得看的影片！

关于赤壁：

赤壁之戰是歷史上最著名以寡擊眾的戰爭之一。戰爭發生於西元208年（漢獻帝建安十三年），曹操率領水陸大軍，號稱百萬，發起荊州戰役，然後討伐孫權。孫權和劉備組成聯軍，由周瑜指揮，在長江赤壁(今湖北赤壁市西北，一說今嘉魚東北)一帶大破曹軍，從此奠定了三國鼎立格局。赤壁之戰是第一次在長江流域進行的大規模江河作戰，也是孫、曹、劉各家都派出主力參加的唯一的戰事。

　　赤壁遺址位於赤壁市西北36公里的長江南岸，隔江與烏林相望。赤壁是著名的古戰場，東漢建安十三年(208年)，劉備與孫權聯合，大破曹操於此，這就是歷史上有名的赤壁之戰。由蒲圻市出發，乘汽車可直達赤壁遺址，交通極為方便。赤壁遺址是由3座小山組成，即赤壁山、南屏山和金鸞山。這3座小山起伏相連蒼翠如海，再加上亭臺樓閣錯落地隱現於其間，景色益顯秀美。其主要景點有赤壁摩崖、拜風台、鳳雛庵和翼江亭等。這些景點相距不遠，且有小徑相連，極易尋覓。

　　赤壁山的西南臨江處，岩壁長達300餘米，怪石嶙峋，洶湧的江水直撲斷崖，卷起千堆雪，聲如巨雷。文人騷客來此憑弔者，自古不絕，留下眾多古蹟。據說赤壁火攻時，周瑜站在岩石高處指揮，忽見沖天火光把斷崖照耀得通紅一片，不覺豪興大發，當場寫下這兩個楷書大字，令人刻石紀念。此傳說雖不可靠，但揭露了「赤壁」命名的由來。赤壁二字旁，還有諸葛亮、劉備、關羽和張飛的畫像石刻，畫像與書法交相輝映，可謂書畫並茂。

　　南屏山頂的拜風台，傳為諸葛亮祭東風時的七星台遺址，後殿中的諸葛亮、劉備、關羽、張飛坐像，極其傳神，頗引人注目。金鸞山腰的鳳雛庵，相傳龐統曾隱居於此。原庵早廢，今庵乃清道光二十六年(1846年)重建，青磚黑瓦，古樸典雅。庵內主室所供奉的龐統塑像，莊嚴剛毅，有凜然不可侵犯的氣概。庵四面蒼苔布綠，曲徑藏幽，古樹垂蔭，百鳥飛鳴，真有“鳥鳴山更幽”的意境。

　　赤壁山頂的翼江亭，傳為諸葛亮、周瑜在赤壁之戰時觀望曹營的遺址。亭乃後人所建，碧瓦飛簷，六角攢尖，與傳為黃蓋獻苦肉計的遺址，即中峰望亭遙遙相望，交互映襯。此亭四周山花爛漫，芳草萋萋，景色十分迷人。在亭中俯瞰長江，可令人故國神遊，想見當年赤壁鏖金兵時“檣櫓灰飛煙滅”的情景。

赤壁之战-故事大纲：

三國是中國史上最精彩的時代，多少英雄豪傑、謀臣略士都出現在這段時間，而決定三分天下最關鍵的戰役──赤壁之戰，發生於西元208年，距今恰好是1,800年整。國際大導演吳宇森所拍攝的電影【赤壁】將於7月10日上映，在尚未看電影之前讓我們將時光倒流，回顧當時情形，重新審視這場戰役的過程。

前言：
　　西元208年元月，曹操經過八年的經營，剷除了最強大的袁紹軍團，基本上已將黃河南北兩岸納入勢力範圍，並在鄴城（今河南省臨漳縣）挖了一個人工湖，名為玄武湖，積極訓練水軍，顯示其南下征服荊州（今湖北、湖南省及河南一部份）劉表及江東(今江蘇、浙江及安徽)孫權之野心。而在七年前被曹操追到無路可退的劉備，接受荊州刺史劉表的保護，駐軍新野（今河南省新野縣），重新招兵買馬進行整編及訓練部隊，並積極延攬人才。最大收穫就是在一年前三顧茅廬請到了年僅28歲的「臥龍先生」諸葛亮。但由於劉備的動作過大也使得劉表產生了戒心，遂將劉備從新野調離到自己首府襄陽對岸的樊城(襄陽和樊城是雙子城，中隔漢水相望，就是現在湖北襄樊市)，一方面監視另方面也可做為北方的屏障。208年春天，孫權在得到被劉表大將黃祖所冷落的猛將甘寧後，便利用甘寧對黃祖部隊的熟悉，發動奇襲，黃祖兵敗被殺，孫權亦報了早年其父孫堅被殺之仇，但也削弱了劉表對抗曹軍的實力。就在曹操積極備戰南下的同時，為了鞏固其權力，撤除了三公的職位，另立丞相（首相），並要挾漢獻帝任命曹操為丞相，實現了表面上一人之下，實為萬人之上的政治實體。為了讓輿論心服口服，設計了莫須有的罪名給當時最有聲望的前北海（今山東省）太守孔融，除了因為孔融常依仗自己的聲名侮辱曹操外，曹操亦想藉此除掉孔融以達到殺雞儆猴的目的。

曹操南征：

　　208年6月，曹操的情報部門得知劉表突然患了重病，隨時有生命危險，曹操認為機不可失，遂緊急召開軍事會議，會議中決定即刻整軍南下，但由於北方防務尚未完全掌握，在出征名單中並未把大部份謀臣猛將帶齊，但所動用的兵力，卻是歷來最多的一次，其兵力編制如下：總司令：曹操；參謀長：賈詡；參謀：田疇、婁圭；前鋒部隊：張遼、徐晃，率嫡系部隊 15,000人；主攻部隊：曹仁，率嫡系部隊 20,000人；精銳部隊：曹純，率直屬騎兵（虎豹騎）5,000人；曹洪軍團、程昱軍團、樂進軍團共率領袁紹降軍 130,000人；後勤司令：夏侯淵；補給司令：滿寵。曹操的虎豹騎（精銳騎兵）相當於現在的特種作戰部隊，分為虎營及豹營，是從全軍中精挑細選出來的，每人都能在部隊中擔任現今連長的職務，平常時期擔任曹操的護衛親軍，而戰時則作為一支最具速度及攻擊力的精銳部隊使用，虎豹騎的統領傳統都是由曹氏家族中的將領擔任。208年7月底在殺掉孔融後曹操大軍兵分二路南下。8月初劉表病逝，次子劉琮在蔡瑁、蒯越及張允的擁立之下，勉強奪得政權。事實上曹操在經營北方時為了防止南方劉表的威脅，早已對這些劉表的將臣施以小惠，並暗示若劉表能臣服，這些人都將享受榮華富貴，所以劉表一死，蔡瑁等人就勸說劉琮歸降曹操，9月曹操大軍到了新野，劉琮的降書也已到達。

長阪坡之役：

　　此時劉備正在樊城備戰，正等待與劉琮商討作戰計劃，完全不知劉琮已歸降曹操，三催四請的到對岸襄陽請劉琮下達作戰指令，劉琮不得已才派部將告知已無條件投降，劉備大怒但也無可奈何。面對曹操大軍，手上僅萬餘兵力，實在無法抵擋，只好南撤，目標為江陵（今湖北省江陵縣），理由是江陵藏有大量的軍事物資以及良好的防禦工事。劉備在倉促中，率領部隊渡過漢水，一路往南移，而沿途百姓由於景仰劉備的才德，紛紛加入劉備的隊伍逃難，追隨的民眾達十餘萬人，行動緩慢，每天只能前進十餘里（約5公里）。就在同時曹操的先鋒部隊張遼及徐晃軍團也已越過新野，僅剩四天路程就可抵達襄陽。孫權在得知曹軍南下、劉表病逝、劉備南遷等消息後，知道曹操將不費一兵一卒就拿到荊州，情勢頓時對江東極為不利，為了知道劉備的態度及其兵力狀況，趕緊派魯肅直赴前線瞭解情況。劉備由於捨不得拋棄百姓而自己趕路，只好命關羽先行帶領水軍到江陵佈防，並派急使去夏口（今湖北武漢）找劉琮的哥哥劉琦請他派兵支援，會師江陵。曹操得知劉備南撤，並判斷其目標肯定是存有大量糧秣武器的江陵，唯恐劉備先行佔領，遂親自率領曹純的5,000虎豹騎日夜急行軍，僅一天就跑了300餘里（約120公里），在當陽（今湖北省當陽縣）的長阪坡追上劉備所率難民隊伍。在曹操的虎豹騎一陣衝殺後，隊伍大亂，劉備在趙雲、張飛的保護下撤至安全地帶，此時身任侍衛長的趙雲，眼看劉備妻小落入曹軍手中，一身是膽的趙雲返回亂軍中，於曹操最精銳的虎豹騎手中救出了甘夫人及劉禪。斷後的張飛則率領了20名騎兵在長阪橋上，橫矛直立的對著曹純追兵大聲怒喊：「我是張翼德，誰敢與我決一死戰」，曹純看著張飛有恃無恐的模樣，似乎有埋伏而不敢輕舉妄動，僵持了一陣子就退兵了。

孫劉聯盟：

　　由於退守江陵的計策被曹操識破，只得轉移至夏口，在行進途中巧遇關羽的水軍以及劉琦派出的一萬兵馬支援部隊，而在同時孫權的使者魯肅亦趕到。魯肅力勸劉備將部隊轉移至江東與孫權共同抵抗曹操大軍，劉備亦表贊同，便派諸葛亮與魯肅回江東和孫權商討軍事聯盟的可行性。劉備聽從魯肅的建議將部隊移至孫權的勢力範圍湖北鄂縣的樊口（長江渡口）。曹操此時則按計劃佔領江陵，取得大量的軍事物資，並同時收編了蔡瑁、張允的七萬水軍。此時曹操在江陵主持軍事會議，討論接下來的行動，大部份將領都認為孫權亦會和劉琮一樣，不戰而降，但參謀長賈詡卻認為此次南征已達戰略目標，應讓軍民休整，建設荊州，待實力強大孫權自然會歸順，但曹操卻認為參謀本部過於謹慎，以目前南下的十五.六萬軍隊加上荊州水軍共有二十餘萬，對付孫、劉不到十萬的部隊綽綽有餘，所以曹操一方面備戰一方面寫信給孫權希望他能自動繳械。魯肅與諸葛亮這時到了柴桑(今江西省九江市)晉見孫權，諸葛亮分析局勢，條理分明，曉以大義，強調劉備決不可能投降，並且曹軍不擅水戰，若孫、劉兩軍能聯合擊退曹軍，那不只能保江東，荊州之地亦能成為孫、劉所有。孫權聽了諸葛亮一席話，信心大增，馬上召開軍事會議，但朝中大臣正因曹操的來信，嚇得面無人色，秘書長張昭極力主張投降，眾臣則一致贊成，但魯肅未說一句話，孫權非常無奈。在去上廁所時，魯肅從後面跟了去，告訴孫權要把周瑜(海軍總司令)從前線調回來開會，不能讓這些人主導會議。

舌戰群儒：

　　事實上周瑜在曹操軍隊南下之時，就己派出大量的情報人員滲透到荊州各地，蒐集軍事情報，對於曹軍戰力及佈署完全掌握。孫權再度召開軍事會議，周瑜自前線趕回，力排眾議，並分析說曹操雖號稱八十萬大軍，但實際只有二十五、六萬，其中有近二十萬是袁氏及荊州的降軍，忠誠度不夠，而且佔領荊州後需分散部份兵力防衛佔領區。另外北方軍隊南征，水土不服，補給線過長再加上時值嚴冬，曹軍為求速戰，選擇了並不擅長的水戰。而反觀我軍經過長期訓練又擅長水戰，只要給我五萬兵馬就能打贏曹操。孫權聽完大為感動，拿起佩劍，一劍將書桌劈成兩半，厲聲說：「誰再說投降曹操者，有如此桌」。會議後，孫權單獨召見周瑜，表示已準備好三萬兵馬，即刻可以出發，不足的人馬，也會短時間動員完成，到前線接應。第二天，孫權發佈了作戰編組命令：總司令:周瑜(右都督)；副總司令:程普(左都督)；參謀長:魯肅(贊軍校尉)兼後勤司令及協調劉備部隊；水軍前鋒：黃蓋、程普；水軍主力:甘寧、周泰、呂範；陸戰部隊：呂蒙、凌統。周瑜隨即帶著水軍至樊口與劉備會師，劉備急忙的詢問周瑜有多少部隊，周瑜據實以報，劉備大失所望，周瑜卻信心十足的表示：看我如何打敗曹操。十月底周瑜將司令部設在三江口(今漢口下游五十公里處)，並開始尋找決戰點，最後選擇在赤壁，因為赤壁河寬水急，若沒有好的操艦技術，很容易翻船，對不擅水戰的曹軍相當不利。

赤壁對決：

　　曹操在此時也完成作戰編組，但卻截獲情報說荊州水軍司令蔡瑁、張允準備叛變，這份情報是相當有問題，因為蔡瑁、張允在當時是力挺曹操的，而且蔡瑁、張允在劉表時期與劉備有些個人恩怨，並不可能投誠。但曹操生性猜忌多疑還是殺了他們。還沒開打，就已損失兩位水軍指揮官，曹操敗象已露。曹操將蔡瑁、張允處死後，不得不把荊州水軍重新編組，將其分配至徐晃、程昱、張遼的船艦中，並以此三將做為水戰的主力，直接安排至第一線上。曹純的虎豹騎配合樂進的步兵軍團則為陸上部隊，隨時準備渡過長江，攻擊東吳本土。後勤司令滿寵則配合參謀長賈詡佈守江陵，另外又緊急調派駐守襄陽的曹仁率領部份嫡系部隊到江陵增援。11月初曹操的主力船隊到達了赤壁附近水面，立刻遭到周瑜水軍將領甘寧、周泰的攻擊，由於不習水戰，損失甚鉅。曹操下令在赤壁對岸的烏林建立陸上營寨，並將艦隊用鐵鍊串連，形成一長串的連環船艦，平穩如陸地，使得士兵沒有暈船的現象。11月11日甘寧船隊嘗試對曹操的連環船發動攻擊，曹軍在船上以箭雨對抗，東吳小船根本無法靠近，大將甘寧差點沒命，周瑜下令改採防守對峙的戰術。

火燒赤壁：

　　周瑜前鋒老將黃蓋向周瑜建議，依目前對陣形勢，曹軍將船密集排列環環相扣，最適合火攻，但火攻需要風，現正值冬季吹的是西北風，東吳軍由南向北打，風向不對等於燒自己。萬事俱備，只欠東風，周瑜長久在江東居住，對於地理氣候非常瞭解，目前雖然是冬天，但每年11月中旬接近冬至的時候，會出現數日溫度較高的晴天，亦會產生臨時性東南風，尤其在赤壁一帶的長江水面發生的機率更高，風也更強。為了讓火攻戰術順利，周瑜放出風聲，讓曹操誤信周瑜與江東老將不合。事實上周瑜掛帥印，是讓老將有些不服，但看到周瑜行軍佈陣有條有理，老將們頗識大體早已拋開過去的成見，但曹操的情報資料仍停留在過去，所以當他接到黃蓋願意來降的信時，深信不疑，但還有一點感到困惑的是信上面並沒有提到起義日期，當然不知，因為東風還沒來。11月21日，天氣晴朗，西北風漸弱，長江水面平靜無波，周瑜知道時機已近，遂令黃蓋將船及火攻器材準備妥當，隨時準備衝向曹營，11月22日白天氣溫節節高昇，感覺和夏天一樣，傍晚微風吹起，但風向不穩，到了晚上8點左右，風已變強，先鋒黃蓋出擊了，周瑜主力部隊尾隨在後，此時東南風加強，黃蓋船隊一馬當先，衝向曹營。周瑜在下達攻擊令時，同時要魯肅聯絡東吳陸軍將領及劉備軍團聯合在陸上追擊，劉備遂令關羽、張飛及趙雲渡過漢水，預備從華容道截斷退卻的曹操主力部隊。11月22日深夜，曹操突然接獲前方守衛緊急通報，在江面上出現數十艘快艇，顯示黃蓋的船隊已然投誠來到。這時候一向屬於智慧型將領的程昱卻發現黃蓋的快艇船身過輕，顯然是沒多少人的空船，其中必有詐。曹操馬上命令弓箭手集合以箭雨阻擋黃蓋的快艇逼近，東南風加速了快艇的前進，黃蓋此時下令20艘快艇全部點火衝向曹軍，箭雨已無法阻擋快艇衝撞曹船，爆炸聲四起，一片火海，東南風助長了火勢，黃蓋亦中箭落江，但後來被孫權的主力部隊救起。曹操知大勢已去，緊急召開後撤計劃會議，準備直接由華容道退走襄陽，孫、劉聯軍則展開窮追猛打的戰術，使得一向自視挺高的曹操，逃的非常狼狽，雖然大軍陸續逃回襄陽，但都已殘缺不堪，唯一保有的嫡系部隊就剩孤守在江陵的曹仁。當時曹操曾告訴曹仁，能守則守不用勉強，孫、劉大軍見曹操已撤退至襄陽，則調頭圍打江陵。

結尾：

　　曹仁是曹操的堂弟，身經百戰是曹操最為器重的將領之一，此時據守江陵，面對孫、劉大軍卻毫無懼色，且江陵易守難攻，加上有足夠的糧秣武器，使得孫、劉聯軍久攻不下，後來周瑜採用了聲東擊西之法，逼退了曹仁，但自己也中箭傷及心肺，不到一年就過世了。赤壁之戰嚴格說起來，曹操雖敗但並未影響其實力，孫權雖得到一部份荊州之地，但喪失大將周瑜，其實是得不償失。劉備經此一役，雖只是配角，但卻奪得荊州六郡，實力大增，使他成為將來三分天下的重要基礎，加上妻子甘夫人病逝，劉備迎娶孫權之妹孫尚香做為繼室，加深了兩邊的同盟關係，之後更向孫權借其在赤壁戰役所佔領的荊州土地，使得劉備的實力更為增強，從此進入了三國鼎立的時代。

老兵gathering: 31FAOCC meet-up @ Hyatt

"Laoda, where is the meetup and wat time", I wrote in my SMS.

Minutes later came the reply,"Tomorrow FAOCC 12.30 Hyatt straits kitchen buffet."

Made my way to Hyatt by MRT (parking there expensive leh, cannot claim somemore... technical recession, technical recession...). Was wondering how to get pass the reception

without embarrassing myself (cos dunno who made the reservation!). But (heng ah!) my eyes caught sights of familiar faces sitting at a table near the food counters (smart!), so i walked in and caught up with them, the 老兵.

It's been 13 years since we all knew each other through NS, how time flies. Back then, we are all greenhorns, wearing green day in and out, running here and there, going for live firing, manning stand-bys (protect the country sia!).

Now, most of us are married, proud parents (except me), career men and women. It's really nice to see them after such a long time.

How did this meet-up happen? Think it's cos our dear friend, Patrick Tan (right), who is 長期在外(in Sydney, Australia), came home for the holidays, and hope to reminisce on the good'o days, so got Lai Kwang Wei (centre) to initiate this. Thanks brother!