Geotechnical gibberish

We are all here in Sydney because my husband's studying. But precisely WHAT is he studying? Aha. I don't think I've mentioned this. He's not a man of airy-fairy words, ideas and debate. Neither is he a man of numbers, business or accounts. Nope. He's a man who is down-to-earth and grounded in more ways that one.

He studies soil, rocks and structures. As boring as it may sound to others, he finds it tremendously interesting. What he says is: Everything starts from the ground. True, true. This past week, a particular module he is studying has brought him on field trips to rather interesting sites. He goes to school, and like an excursion, a bus takes him and his classmates on hour-long journeys to the sites. This is a pit which goes down for a hundred metres.

Problem is, Australia's rocks are very different from Singapore's rock, he's never seen any of it before, and he's struggling with that. A couple of days, he came back from school with his head in his hands, rather depressed and stressed that he won't make the grade within the year for his Masters in Geotechnical Engineering. I'm sure he will.

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Celebrating KK's life

This blog is dedicated to Loh Kar Kheng, known to his friends as KK or Kheng. He died unexpectedly on Thursday, 21st October 2021, in an accident. He was a Professional Engineer who loved his job, an inspiring coach and mentor, a passionate and gifted sportsman, a leader, a biker, a dedicated father. In the years from 2004 to 2017, I maintained a family blog. These extracts celebrate his life. They capture his resilience and drive, overcoming the odds, to become a top-notch engineer (he just won a BCA award 3 weeks before he died, for his work on the new State courts - stories here and here ), his sporting passions and his love for his children. The blog goes hand-in-hand with a memorial page here . If you have a story about what he said, what he did, if he inspired you or what you remember of him, do leave it there. It would mean a lot to us. Thank you so much. Love, KK's family

The conclusion?

Finally, today, 16 months after his death, I receive the police investigation report and Coroner's Certificate for KK's death in my inbox. Apart from a few small things, this would be the last chapter in the book of things I have to settle. The findings do not tell me anything. I have bolded the main conclusion. Extracts from it: Further investigations revealed that around 11.00 a.m. on 21 October 2021, Mr Loh had texted his friend inviting him to go for a kite surfing session together. Later that afternoon, at about 1.30 p.m., they met up at the west side of Bedok jetty beach front and prepared their equipment. They had set off separately, with Mr Loh's friend starting his kite surf first, followed shortly after by Mr Loh on his hydrofoil board. That was the last time the friend saw Mr Loh. As they were surfing separately, the friend had assumed that Mr Loh decided to surf far down west and did not take further notice of him. At the material time, there were also other f...

Steak dinners

A month passes. We are doing fine. The kids will forever associate KK with steak dinners, on Sunday nights. Day takes over. He tosses the steaks into KK's beloved cast-iron pan, bastes it furiously with butter. Fries up some mushroom sauce, the way his Papa used to. Its either too rare, or slightly over. "Can you buy good steaks which are of even thickness? I can't cook it evenly if its thin one side and thick the other," Day scolds. We have dinner with KK. The kids giggle. They usually end off with Don Don Donki-quality sweet potatoes in the oven toaster. I'll get those potatoes next time.

Stories of KK

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