Dracula

Presently I am now reading the novel, “The Historian” by Elizabeth Kostova about a couple who are all out trying to find the legendary Sveti Georgi Monastery which was supposedly the final resting place of Vlad Tepes or more famously known as Vlad Dracula. Riding in the success of “fact-fiction” genre spearheaded by Dan Brown, Kostova’s novel also incorporated a fusion of fiction & true historical facts. Being a history buff this novel just hooked me onto it ever since the first time I read its rave reviews.

Just a few pages into it and it left me thirsty to find out more about Tepes. Just for the record I think Bram Stoker did a wonderful job bastardizing the true historical fact on Tepes. Thanks to Brammy Tepes will forever be stereotyped as the blood-sucking, slicked-back oily hair and wearing tailored made suit with a starched up collar. So for that reason alone I will not use the name Dracula but instead use Tepes, his real name.

A quick search on the internet as well as skimping through historical books pertaining to medieval history on Central & Eastern Europe left me even thirstier for more info on this extraordinary tyrant. I need to set up a special blog if I were to write down everything that I read up on but to spare myself the trouble of doing so, I will only write down the interesting highlights of his life.

His dad was Vlad Dracul and one of his nicknames, Dracula, merely meant son of Dracul. Hey maybe one of these days I can be called Jasmina huh? But then again maybe not. Anyway another one of his nickname was Vlad the Impaler because he liked to impale his enemies. Historical sources stated that as a youngster he was abducted by the Ottomans (modern day Turks) from whom he was heavily influenced by their different modes of torturing their enemies, the favourite being *no surprise here* by impaling them.

There was once a foreign delegate from the Ottomans who refused to remove their turbans even at his presence. Their excuse was that it is their custom not to remove them in public. Tepes agreed that it is a wonderful custom indeed and have their turbans nailed to their head so that, according to him, their custom will be preserved. Wow this guy is simply amazing and how I longed to have him here with me so that the next time I bring him over to watch a movie, he will definitely know what to with the Ah Beng at back row who keep on chattering on his handphone.

Tepes was also notoriously known to enjoy having his meal amongst hundreds of poles lodged to the ground with dead fellas everywhere impaled at the top part of the poles. Once he had a guest who politely covered his nose during one of Tepes’ bizarre banquet due to the overwhelming stench of the decomposing fellas all around. As sharp as ever Tepes noticed this and he immediately ordered the poor fella to be impaled and be given the longest pole so that when the pole was lodged into the ground, the fella would be so high up above the other dead fellas. Tepes said he was just doing the poor guy a favour so that at the top the smell would not be that bad. Hmm….Top grade excellent hospitality indeed shown by the host.

Tepes by the way was was the ruler of Wallachia and NOT Transylvania. The actual event surrounding his death was also a topic of debate. Some said that he was accidentally killed by his own men who mistook him for an Ottoman general while some said that it was a well-planned assassin plot carried out by his own men who are disillusioned with his tyranny. Nevertheless his head was chopped off and customary to the custom back then, Sultan Mehmet proudly showcased the head in a public courtyard in Constantinople for the public to view the well-beaten head with a haggard shoulder-length hair (ironically with no shoulders left *hahaha*) and thick moustache caked with dried blood. Whatever happened to his headless body next is everybody’s guess.

Some said that it was disposed off quickly by his own soldiers fearing that the enemies might mutilate the remains of their beloved King. Others said that nobody had recognized that the headless body was his thus it was buried together in a mass grave with his other soldiers. But I loved most the last theory which said that a group of Christian monks had secretly smuggled Tepes’ head from Constantinople to Sveti Georgi Monastery where the head and the body was reunited. A week long vigil proved a disaster when it was said that the body actually twitched and even tried to get up. Needless to say the whereabouts of the Sveti Georgi remains a mystery even till this date. According to the book it is located some where in Bulgaria.

This book is super cool dude so I suggest you all spend some time reading it. It makes you really sit back and ponder on the real Dracula instead of getting to know him from some nonsense chee-ko-pek-like Bram Stoker’s Lord Dracula. Sheer Corkster indeed.

Novena => CCK => Bt Panjang

Journey back home has always been a breeze for me. Bukit Panjang Govt High & Pioneer Junior College were steps away from my doorstep. I can afford to wake up an hour later than my classmates yet arrived at the same time. On top of that I saved up a lot without spending a single cent on transport. Upon graduation from Police Academy, naturally I opted to be posted to the spanking new Home Team Academy at Lim Chu Kang. I was probably 99.99999% confirmed of a posting there when suddenly somehow or another I was posted to Police HQ at *jeng jeng jeng* Novena. Of all places Novena where all the pesky spirits are. Never would I expect that in life even a 0.00001% chance could come true to haunt you. Don’t get me wrong, my department is actually great and everybody has been fantastic to me but what I dread most is the journey back home. Taking the MRT from Novena to CCK followed by a transfer to the LRT can be a daily nightmare. Especially since most of the time I will be spending the whole time standing after a long hard day at work.

The trains are always packed like those mayo flavoured tuna flakes in those ayam-brand cans. It is especially agonizing whenever someone gets up to alight at the next station leaving an empty seat behind. You will definitely feel tempted to inch your butt to the heavenly empty seat (which is still warm by the way) but amazingly there always seemed to have some or more often than not several old men, moms carrying infants or pregnant ladies lurking around. My stop may be 12 stations away and theirs may be 2 stations away but if I were to lay my butt to rest I can be sure of spending the whole journey with malicious piercing eyes staring at me the whole time.

The journeys are always super long and I tried to keep myself preoccupied with my beloved zen micro but after 3 weeks even my zen cannot halt boredom from creeping up to me. Of course there were few exceptions when there are pretty office ladies around wearing skimpy tops which provide a healthy distraction from my otherwise rather mundane journey. Unfortunately for me somehow or another inside those cramp carriages only the old ladies or sweaty apeks who always stand squashed beside me. Those young female office workers always seemed a few distance away.

Then there are times when you are standing in the no-man zone when there are no railings at the side or the top. At times like this you must really be able to balance yourself or risk falling flat down or accidentally nudging the aunty beside you.

One good thing that comes out of this is that this was precisely the key reason that made me decide finally to splurge on a Sony PSP. The combination of zen micro and PSP amazingly chase all the boredom away.

The journey back may sap away all my logical senses as illustrated yesterday while on the way back I entered Novena Square toilet to relieve my bladder first before embarking on my long journey back home. I remembered deep in thought reflecting on the journey back and entered the toilet all the way until the sink area when I suddenly saw no standing urinals around and there’s a lady combing her hair with another just coming out of a cubicle. Both of them stared at me. I could only mutter sheepishly “sorry sorry”.

nu dimension

February had been a stressful period for me and that explains why I did not have the luxury of time to update my blog. From being a sleepy officer cadet now I am a full fledged inspector with an immensely humongous amount of workload & responsibility. My senior Khairi taught me alot and I appreciate his help because without him I am so sure I will drown in this whirlpool of daily grind. But still trying to learn all of that in a mere 3 weeks is a hell lot to ask for. I learn much more within 3 weeks on the job than the 9 months I spent in Police Academy. I saw through my own eyes the real working world and for the first time in my life I actually missed those days cursing at having to stay back till 1pm on a Saturday for my scouts training or worrying whether the chapter on King Chulalongkorn or King Vajiravudh will come out in tommorow's History Common Test. Suddenly school life seemed kinda orgasmic to me.
In my line of work there's alot of OSA things so I cannot really publish them on the net. OSA stands for Official Secret Act and basically it means my ass gonna get fried by them if I tell you minute details of my work. By the way I now work in the Police HQ in Novena (to those who are responsible for posting me there, care to sponsor my ez-link?). My life is now super-hectic. I usually reached my workplace before 8am and reached home only around 9pm on most days. The people there are wonderful and I have to admit even though the workload may be a curse, its actually a priceless working experience for me. Back during my trainee days mostly if I want to I can keng (even though I don't, honestly guys its true) there's plenty of opportunities to do so. But here you are standing on your own. Acting busy or trying to keng around won't get you anywhere. Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken therefore by hook or by crook you yourself have to finish up all the assignments. When I first came over I didn't realised that the office life can be really merciless. But fortunately for me as the weeks went by I came to learn the ropes fast and are able to manage my time properly. So with those spare times that I got I can be sure to put this blog to good use so expect more entries. "_"