Monday, September 21, 2009
Welcome to the 2_ Club
Happy birthday to me! i know its nt yet but gotta go back camp le. will blog about the fun day i had in sentosa some other time. and mm thanks for ur thoughtful present ^^ .
saturday:
A supposedly manjong and wii session gathering turned out to be a sad lonely wii session with only johnson playing guitar hero with me. well at least we learned the different techniques that is associated to each instrument and played together quite welll. after playing for two hours, i glanced at my phone and was surprised by the missed calls and messages received. alll were from chun meng and kelvin, my chevrons ktv khaki. needless to say, they were asking me for another round of ktv session. my throat was throwing tantrums that day though, so was chun meng's, so we opt to sing girl's songs instead of hitting the usual round of impossible playlists. had a not so fantastic supper at xin wang and that was the end of the day.
sunday:
outing with sm and julie. I had a lonely but cheap lunch near my sis's workplace. As I still have some time to spare, I went inside Isetan with no aim but just walking around. However when I reach the men's section, it was like stepping into a heavenly shopping ground. There were sales everywhere on items which I thought of buying, like belts and bags etc. A call by julie pulled me from my ecstasy and i got forcibly dragged to look at mooncakes and food at taka instead. Worse to come was the trip to dempsey road flea market, which features a huge and wide variety of girl's accessories, clothes and shoes from over five hundred stores. needless to say i adopt the usual squeeze-walk-wait-repeat strategy, but i guessed five hundred stores were really too much on me, so i seeked cover on the stairs instead. heaven to hell huh? lol. well it wasnt all bad, it was an eye-opener to clothes and more importantly the many EYE-creams over there. have to give my friends some mian zi mah, so I stayed for dinner at swensens with ice-cream buffet even though my throat probably cannot withstand icecream stuff anymore. well some stupid things we did that time was to share a baked rice among three person, playing with a faeces-like coffee ice-cream and playing with water cups. Thanks sm for introducing a new friend and for making things so lively in an otherwise dull sunday. i guessed i have a cheerful time afterall =)
monday:family first! had lunch with my parents and dear sis in a korean restaurant at bukit timah. the bi bi bart (s/p?) was quite good with a good mixture of veggies and sauce, while the grilled beef was tender and juicy. had my sample of ice-cream (again lol) with a very strong whiskey taste which will make me think twice before drinking alcohol. took my time to walk around the old beauty world plaza looking for my dad's clothes before heading to vivo to meet mm, which unusuallly turns out to be me who is late. (paiseh!) I took my very first tram ride to sentosa, squeezing with people in an mrt-like environment. once i reached, the place greatly reminds me of genting, with alll the fun rides and attractions that are out to make wallets lighter. me and mm already had an eye on the sky-ride and luge ride before we came. Sky ride was enjoyable, at least for me lol. it will be even more thrilling if its fun and shaky though. luge was kinda good also, alas not really what i expected. chilled out at a small piece of land facing the sea and enjoying the seabreeze with not-so-wanted company - band of foreign workers. after much deliberation and much conviction, me and mm decided to take the Mega Zip ride! we were strapped to comfortable harnesses and ushered to the tower overlooking the megazip. It was a high 75 metres drop from the tower to the bottom, but scenic at the same time. Though obviously it was not the best mood to enjoy the view as what lies ahead was 450 metres of 30 degree drop. we were to take the ride together to save time and slots for other people, thus i think the speed of the drop was increased to the maximum. it was more thrilling than scary, as once we get over the initial drop and high ground, the acceleration and speed really make the ride very enjoyable. other than the brushing of my legs with treetops every now and then, I really enjoyed the ride. Thanks for the organiser and the day! The organiser will probably help me remember stuff and preserve my in-camp memories!
tuesday:
as expected, when i am in a bunk together with six of my bunkmates still awake till 12am, something is bound to happen to me. blanket-party, tau poks and ahem things that i shouldn't mention here >.<> for making things memorable for me =) had dinner out at pasta mania (Thanks
Chunmeng for the car sticker!) and a long overnight chat with my buddy marks the end of my birthday, also the start of my life in the 2- club! I wished not for more materials, but the enlightening of mind and finding out what I really want to do.
9:58 PM
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Realisation.
This week is a birthday week which unfortunately coincides with audit and inspection week. It doesn't mean all the fun is lost however; with all the tau
poks, surprise drills, more tau
poks and playing risk (the board game), life in camp never gets boring, especially since master sergeant big heard was on medical leave. Incidentally I left out a few friend's birthday during this and the past week, to which I can only give my most sincere apologies and belated wishes. Makes me wonder if I really should appreciate my friends more.
14 Sep. Its the day when most of the senior batch of specialist came back to camp and collect their pink
ic and duffel bags. Seeing their faces of surprise when I gave some of them the cards I made during my duty on
sunday makes me feel that my effort was worthwhile. Even though we know it is highly unlikely there will be regular meet-ups, we know we will still remember each other as the ones who is part of the
chiong sua two year
ns journey.
Tuesday. Watched G-force with mm. Well its actually quite a brainless follow-the-action kinda movie. But who wouldn't love a bunch of cute ferrets, hamsters and guinea pigs?
I realised I have been pretty much a blog stalker during this weekend. Somehow much
facebook I incidentally stumbled onto a
SMU student council promotion group. It's been some time since I last saw this self-appraisal and 'vote-for-me!' stuff so I delve deeper. The fanciful
English which requires me to use free dictionary every now and then, the professional-sounding usage of words, were what I saw in each and every student council
hopefuls group page. One particular hopeful even have a
wordpress blog to illustrate his desire and plans to change if he's chosen. What's the point of seeing all these? Well I realised that my
English has much to improve (ameliorate) if I want to rise above the common crop. Sometimes I even feel that my usage of language
isn't really much better than those uneducated and self-appreciating
enciks. Time to buy a
thesaurus and get more reading materials.
12:51 AM
Friday, September 18, 2009
A meaningful story...
When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous 'yes.'
The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. 'Now,' said the professor as the laughter subsided
, 'I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things---your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions---and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.
The sand is everything else---the small stuff. 'If you put the sand into the jar first,' he continued, 'there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. 'Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first---the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.'
One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said, 'I'm glad you asked.' The coffee just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.'
11:29 PM
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Update...
Some events of late...
ARMY OPEN HOUSE 2009Its a event that totally drains my battery's resources to the point that almost always there is only one specialist in the whole battery, which is the one on duty orderly. For me Im being deployed during the Urban Operations Display which feature artillery blasting a house, but actually what we did there was just to show the mobility and deployment of my gun primus. After the show, loads of kids and adults came over to take a look at the interior of the gun. Most common and funny comments below:
MOST COMMENTED: 'WAH this tank (actually we call it gun as it is artillery, but the public dunno that) no air-con ah???? So hot!!! Poor guys!'
Me: *trying to act cool 'actually its quite okay la, we are used to it already.' (but actually sweating like mad le)
Public: 'Wow the insides are so big ah???' Me: 'ya actually we can play manjong inside if we want to.'
Many kids came inside also, mostly to take pictures inside the gun. Our job during that time was simple: keep the kids from hitting their heads by the low ceiling and siam away from their parent's camera. oh plus stop them from wandering around and anyhow press buttons.
Overall its still quite meaningful and fun la i supposed.
WII Session @ Aloha Lan (today) 4 players, 3 guitars, 1 mike and 1 drum set = a BAND for GUITAR HEROES. Its really really fun. =D
I think i am getting used to spending a lot nowadays already. from the comex it fair, I bought one audio technica plug-in headphone @ 60 bucks. quite a bargain considering it was worth 70 plus. but i still need quite a lot of stuff sia, like a decent portable organiser since im so forgetful, water bottle and a bag for going out. bleh. $$$$$$
9:25 PM
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Regarding ORD
ORD LOH (not for me yet)
To most, this date is the day when freedom comes as a crack emitting rays of sunlight which leads to the unknown. This date is the day when guys are released from the burden of having to book into a camp on sunday night and being released on a friday evening. This date also means that guys no longer need to listen to the 'other unreasonable guy cuz his rank is higher or have a chocolate bar'. Remember the three guys to which we ended over the pink ic on Pulau Tekong? To some, the date will be all about the pink ic that they have dreamed over the past two years.
So isit really a wonderful date to look forward to?
After attending the ORD function at discovery centre yesterday, I realised the grass (once you get your pink ic) may not be greener on the other side after all. For one thing, income will definitely be a problem since NSFs are used to spending so much per month on food and entertainment. For some, life in school may sounds welcoming after two years of suffering in a army environment, but they will soon realised suffering within mountains of lecture notes and crateloads of assignments is very stressful as well. The future is just an even greater unknown once you leave the system that kept you from thinking too much about them.
ORD also evoke thoughts on the simple question - 'what have you done in the past two years and how have you changed?' To some this question merely provides the answer to all the colourful writings they will provide in their testimonial to be submitted to their superiors. Writings can of course be lies, but a speech by a lieutenant during the function certainly don't sound like a lie. Even though he wasnt my favourite outgoing officer, I still listened to him as I could sense the sincerity when he talk about his life in the army. This is someone who has really changed a lot, do things that he thought he couldn't have done, and truely believes in 'what don't kills you will make you stronger.' There are also other outstanding specialists in my battery, like YouRong who although looks like a joke by his actions and antics, but he is actually efficient and really will go the extra mile in things that he really wants to complete. Was he initially already have those traits or was he changed by army?.. Well one thing is for sure, we have to accept whatever that comes towards us and make the most out of the time left in the army so that what we have left to remember when we ORD is the experience we are proud of, the hardcore friends that we make for life, and the strengthening of our character to embrace whatever that may come in the future.
12:19 PM
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
25 random stuff....
Busy busy. again. somehow there's always a lot of things that other batteries will throw at us. its time to step up, be independent and play my role as the more senior specialist leading the way to complete tasks.
25 random things about me..
1) I hate green beans/peas, especially those there are found on the assorted corn/carrot/beans package which is normally used for fried rice.
2) Im a slow learner.
3) I was a librarian for about 3-4 years (?) during my pri school days and i really regret about it. should have done something more worthwhile..
4) I don't have the skill of finishing food cleanly...hopefully i wun get karma from this.
5) I also don't really like eating fish due to bones. same goes for prawns for their shells. I don't mind crabs though.
6) Im right-handed but have a left master eye. what this means is that my brain gets more images from the left eye rather than equally. this fact sucks especially when shooting cuz i cant close my left eye by itself properly.
7) The furthest country I have been to so far is china. sadded..
8) I sometimes wonder if im in need of a english name.
9) I think a lot but it doesnt seem to come to any conclusion. in the end rashed decisions is made and sometimes i regret my choice. contradicitng? abit.
10) I know I should spend more on my family but currently my top spendings are on apparels and entertainment.
11) I hate backstabbers, people who slack too much without thinking of others and those who are all talk but no show.
12) I get pissed off, jealous easily. even if i don't show it. 13) I am modest about any of my strengths, but sometimes i can get drastically proud of something until i forget that im the only one that is good at it and there are better people around.14) I tend to rely on hear-say too much and not have my own-opinion on things.
15) My favourite genre of books are thrillers/adventures.
16) The irony is that i hate movies that have many frigthening/sudden scenes. (thrillers)
17) I recognise the importance of doing certain things, but just never have the perseverance to do it to its best..
18) Im very interested in cars from a very young age. i remember i started collecting car models in primary school and very soon after i started collecting those bigger and more expensive model cars (1:18)
19) I tend to remain silent as there is really nothing meaningful that can come out from my mouth that is unprocessed.
20) I had quite a variety of nicknames in army. i think my favourite was cpl Conk when i was a specialist trainee as i tend to do stupid things.
21) I like music and playing music, even if im not talented.
22) I realised i never really like to support original stuff (for media). whether isit for console games or music albums.
23) Even though the lyrics of a song is important, i feel that the tune is more vital.
24) I very very very forgetful! =x
25) I believe nothing is free in this world.
9:41 PM