30/3/08

3 weeks of training have past and I think I've become rather laid back already. Partly it is because I'm getting used to the life here and partly I don't see the point in going all out anymore. The weekend that passed was great. Went watch hunting with Xin Ning on saturday as both of us wanted to get a watch but ended up empty handed. Had a great lunch that left my tummy happy for the rest of the day. Spent the afternoon with my sister at the hospital. She has improved her physical condition considerably.

Today I had lunch with Fuyong at Carl's Junior. Was feeling really deprived of beef and pork and satisfied both cravings in a meal. Walked around Plaza Singapura abit and got some shopping done. Went to Lego World and lo and behold!! they finally had the spongebob keychains I was hunting for on sale. At first Fuyong thought I was a little crazy to enquire about it but after seeing how nice it was he wanted one too.

This week I intend to step up the effort I put into training and also continue to work toward being a more disciplined person here.

28/3/08

Today was an insane day, since the water everywhere was declared unsafe to drink since yesterday afternoon. Everyone was dying of thirst or massacreing the vending machines which was previously prohibited, which too ran out eventually (duh!). Somehow or the other the main instructor guy of the whole course got my name. I think it was from yesterday when I was doing my fingerprints and he saw I was an Indian under race and being an Indian too he asked the questions I've heard a million times. The matter is, he got my name anyway and I think he couldn't forget it. During morning PT he yelled at someone who was wiping his sweat off (we're not allowed to) and thought he was me when I was standing at some corner being a perfectly invisible trainee. He kinda realised it wasn't me and asked that guy's name. During the morning jog, he got some other trainee to come by my squad and ask me to run beside him which was terrible since it meant I couldn't walk or stop :( During the cool-off stretch he called me AGAIN and asked me to report at this place at 9am with some other guys from the next squad.

Turned out we were down for a film shoot for some cheesy "don't do this at home" video which basically had us pretending to trespass a school just to play soccer (I DON'T EVEN PLAY SOCCER WHY WOULD I TRESPASS ANYWHERE AT ALL?!). The nice bit was that the nice in-charge guy bought us drinks and later gave us bottles of mineral waters which made us like walking gods in the desert-ey foxtrot company. The shooting bit was alot of waiting, like 10 - 30 mins just for a 1 minute shoot or so. The crew was really nice though and everything went off smoothly (too smoothly, that it ended early). Also, got the know the 4 guys from the next squad which are really nice people :)

Apparently, the same instructor was messing around with everyone back in the company, making them fall in in their uniform and making them do PT and standing in the hot sun until the wax melted off their shoe. In the late afternoon the big rank people finally decided that it would not do to have 300 odd people doing PT and not having enough to drink and brought mineral water over which I swear almost tasted like Bailey's milkshake.

I'm kinda hoping the instructor gets some hard knock on his head sometime during the weekend that makes him forget my name (OR I WILL CHANGE MY NAME TO SOMETHING... ANYTHING), and I can go back to being the ultimate invisible policeman :/

26/3/08

I'm starting to like my stay here. There's many things to thank God about everyday. From the extra piece of chicken I got at lunch, to the time we spent waiting for nothing to happen, even for the drills under the sweltering heat and pushups on the burning ground. I know that each day will bring something for me to thank God about.

I also have begun to enjoy the company of my squad and bunk mates. We've gotten past the apprehension and distance that stemmed from unfamiliarity and everyone's really jolly right nw, making jokes at just about everything. Although it's just the third week, I feel I've already learnt alot and gained many things here.

There is no physical test this week, which means that I wouldn't know yet if I've grown fitter or just fatter. But who cares, I'm getting out on friday and that's all that matters :)

24/3/08

I do many many dumb things a day here but so far God has protected me from everything. Somehow, no matter what happens in the day, I have the assurance that everything will be alright as I close the day.

We don't really have enough physical activity everyday. I think it's time to cut down on my eating before I become a fatty bom-bom :P

The week hasn't started so well but everything will get better as I come toward another weekend :)

22/3/08

It's been a while since I've spent so much time with my family. With so many things going on at home, I decided that since everyone is trying really hard, I should do my bit at home too. Wonderful cousins came over from Aus over the Easter weekend and they spent quite abit of time coming over to see my sis. Today we had dinner together and ate an amazing load of stuff (err okay maybe I'm the one who ate most of it... darn it! NS making me a (not so) lean, (hardly)mean eating machine!) Here goes!! We ate steamed chicken, roast duck, roast pork, chicken rice, hokkien mee, bbq stingray, satay, oyster omelette at home. I think I ate the most though. Kinda miss the time before enlistment when I had a flat tummy (sigh!). We had an after-dinner baileys and I was super red and all again after 2 shots.

Anyway, here's a group shot of us together. (I think I need some hair extensions too!)

Really really nice of them to spend so much time with us. Appreciate them alot :)

1st Book-out!

1-2-3-4 left-right-left
4-3-2-1 walk-out-walk-out

After the mini-torture session yesterday, I thought they'd torture us even worse today. But lo and behold, it was ADMIN day again today, so had nothing to do as usual besides a little PT that seemed to have killed roughly 10% of the intake so far who are on "medical excuse". Coming out today, I really wanna thank God for posting me to police where everything has been great so far; from my squad, to the instructors, the PT, our in charge commander who takes care of us, and the... food. Also for all the people who have been checking every now and then if I'm still alive, which made alot of difference to me.

Coming home made me realise I really missed home alot, my sis has been discharged from the hospital and spent some time talking to her :) My house changed quite abit since I remember it but *cliche alert* there's no place like home *awwwww*

My other sister said I looked fatter but they all agreed I look fitter and stronger *beams*

Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell them, They would be too many to declare.
- Psalm 40:5

17/3/08

Exactly a week is over since I've enlisted. I've come to start enjoying PT (yeah it's really me, nobody hijacked my blog). The trainers alternate being stern and super friendly but if we don't do anything wrong they do not go out of their way to make things difficult. When they are friendly everyone has a good laugh and it lifts the spirits as we go through this confinement period.

Starting to get a little tired, though. All the PT and drills and lack of sleep is getting to me but thinking about my soft, comfortable and clean bolster waiting at home for me to hug will carry me through.

Just 3 days to go. Gotta hang in there. Off to polish my boots for book out. :)

16/3/08

This is one of the few sundays I didn't go to church. Miss everyone at church alot. Going every week may have resulted in me taking everything for granted.

Anyway, there is no concept of time and date here since we do not get to wear watches and just follow what the instructors have for us.

Time to do my quiet time soon and it's quite encouraging that one of my non-christian bunkmates is holding my bible and asking questions right now.

15/3/08

Today is day 5, which means I've survived half the course. =) It was slack today AGAIN. We had bunk cleaning which was pretty fun with everyone working together. One thing taht this course has let my appreciate so far is how blessed I am with the family and environment I grew up in. Many of the enlistees here have circumstances which to me in many ways left them disadvantaged in society. It is tragis since none of us get to choose our birth environments and simply have to live with it and make the best of things.

14/3/08

This place would be perfect if I could bring my computer and headphones, which is to say it's pretty good already. Before enlistment I was bracing myself mentally for much more but the welfare here is excellent. The instructors treat us like human beings somewhat. The downside is that the physical training her is not very touch, and coming from me, that says alot. My bunk mates think I'm nuts because I do my own PT during free time.

The weekends are almost here and I'm supposed to be really miserable but I'm starting to like this place. Nuts indeed.

13/3/08

Today was a really good day. Woke up to physical training which was stretching followed by a 2.4km jog then somemore exercise. It was not too tough and best of all, after that was breakfast. After coming here I've become some ravenous beast, gorging at meal times since the portions are pretty huge. Most of the people here complain that the food is tasteless and they'd rather eat at home... well not me. The food is delicious to me so far, kind of like a cross between a mixed rice stall and my mum's cooking; not too unhealthy and a little tasty at the same time. The rest of the day was really slack. Did some drills till lunch and we spent the rest of the day waiting for phototaking. Looks like the time after dinner is all to ourselves after all. The trainers today were joking with us alot, showing their human side which I all along known they had but started to suspect otherwise.

Started doing quiet time as I brought my bible. Quite abit of time for reflection over here since there's nothing else to do to distract me. It was encouraging when I read Psalmist and it really spoke to my circumstances. For the rest of the evening time it's laundry time and wash up. My face is really happy today to be moisturized since I enlisted.

If everyday could be like today, these 10 days could pass really quickly... I wish.

12/3/08

It's day 2 of NS. Alot less depressing than yesterday. Some bits of it was actually enjoyable. Got up at an unearthly hour to do morning exercise. As such, the day stretched really long and by what felt like afternoon, it was only afternoon. The trainers seem like pretty sane people with a terrible bark but it would still be suicidal to get in their way. Alot of the day was like yesterday, just rushing to wait for long periods. Had an afternoon PT session which was our first PT session. It was quite a stretch, considering my fitness level. However I tried my best not to give up as I would probably normally would have. I believe this course will be a good opportunity for me to learn discipline, and in pushing myself to do things that may be difficult or uncomfortable, instead of pushing it aside. Everything ended by 7 today, giving us the evening to ourselves. Checking my phone in the evenings could be the highlight of my days. I don't know how much it would mean to be in the future but right now having people just wondering what's happening to me is the most wonderful experience.

Last day

Woke up today in panic because I still haven't packed my stuff. Body wanted to sleep a little more but brain wouldn't let it until I get my ass up to pack for tomorrow. Ran around abit the neighbourhood to get some toiletries, photo taken and other miscellaneous things. Packed most of my things and went down to see my sister who was admitted to hospital during my cell group on Saturday. The past few days I didn't manage to go down and since I'll be away for the next few days. I had to go down today. Her condition is deteriorating ever since the oncologist stopped prescribing chemotherapy as it stopped working. She is rather weak and in quite alot of discomfort right now, and they administered a dose of morphine this morning. Basically, things aren't looking up for her and neither are the doctors trying to conceal it. It has been her struggle for the past one and a half years and although she's been facing bravely up to it till now, it gets harder everyday. I guess, only prayer is the only hope for her. I'm grateful for all the prayers that the people around have given and hope they will be blessed too.

Mil just flew in from Indo at noon today so met him, Jason and our form teacher for dinner. Ate quite alot until my stomach is bursting. Really nice of him to arrange his flight to catch me while I still have hair. And yeah, for the Bailey's he brought back from DFS for me :)

Pre-Enlistment Reflections

Although I'm enlisting already and my fitness is still jack, I think I'm mentally prepared for it already, though most of the things that come my way will certainly be unexpected or different from what I thought it would be. Nevertheless, I'm grateful for the time spent between A levels and now; the 3 weeks break, followed by the 2 months working and finally another month of break. All of it was a good experience for me, getting to know work life and culture and also catching up with friends during this time. To everyone who called me out or made an effort to meet me during this time, really big thank you, because it all meant alot to me.

It is very likely the initial part would not be pleasant, but I hope to make the best out of it and try to be a better person after it, or at least, not worse.

Till first bookout :)

2nd last day of civilianhood~

In the morning, met Brian for our last breakfast before arriving at church a teeny weeny bit late. For the dunno-how-many-th time in a row, wasn't listening at sermon again. :( Went to catch 10,000BC with Xin Ning afterward. The movie had a terrible storyline, with too many allowances and coincidences made for the story to actually move forward. It was like a Rambo show where nothing bad will ever happen despite the odds. Some bits were tragically hilarious though and I think some of the times we laughed the other patrons were thinking we were morbid. After that was preparing for dinner at her house for Jed's matchmaking session. Was fun preparing to cook although I really suck at preparing. The food was nice and the dinner overall was good.

Thanks Xin Ning for the towel!

A Level Results

Wasn't very anxious yesterday, actually got to sleep well the night before, just couldn't sleep anymore when I woke up at 10. Hanged out with Kevin and Vincent a bit before the paper and Kevin was cool so everything was fine... until we went to the hall and the principal started talking, then everyone started feeling it already. Was pretty electrifying when I got my results, I must have looked pretty stunned or something because Tee Hao thought I messed up and was going to comfort me. Anyway, my results looked like this:

H2 Physics: A
H2 Chemistry: A
H2 Mathematics: A
H1 Economics: A
H1 General Paper: B
H1 Project Work: B
H1 Chinese: C

I messed up big time... it's the first time I got a non-A grade for a national exam (not counting C5 for secondary school CCA)... NOT! Although I was hoping for 5As, I was super super happy I got this result (PS: Quanrung, even if you don't get 3.5 GPA we'll still be friends lah... I think...). Most of my friends did well, which is good, because it can get really awkward, amid the euphoria, to put myself in other people's shoes when they do badly, so I may just end up pissing them off :( Parents are happy too although had to explain to mum what my results actually meant, which was kinda hard just 2 mins after getting the results and yelling into the phone.

Afterwards, Ruijie wanted to go get some hardware at IT show so tagged along. The whole place was like a super big pasar malam, with some booths having guys yelling over each other to promote their product, contributing to the atmosphere. Met Quan Rung who was selling some multi purpose charger at the fair.

Dinner was at Tiong Bahru and being compressed into the sardine can and what-seemed-like-eternity later, ended up at Tampines where met Brian at his warehouse. Chilled and bangla-ed for abit there before meeting the guys at Siglap again for a drink. Later went to KATONG to eat PUNGGOL nasi lemak. Brian drove the guys back and slept over at his place again.

Outing of Mushroom Head and Poo Poo Feet

Today, Mushroom Head went out with Poo Poo Feet for dinner because Mushroom Head will soon go to a faraway land and become Pachinko Head. So they ended up at a cafe beside the river to eat dinner. Mushroom Head ate ham with rock melon and wild grasses while Poo Poo Feet ate raw fish with wild grasses. Mushroom Head was not very fond of wild grasses drizzled with sea water sauce but Poo Poo Feet was much stronger and ate it all. Both of them shared 2 desserts and agreed it was very good. Mushroom Head did not have a very good appetite as before but wanted to eat somemore dessert but Poo Poo Feet was afraid Mushroom Head could not finish and end up finishing it herself so no more dessert for poor Mushroom Head. Anyway, Mushroom Head was happy to see Poo Poo Feet after so long.

3/3/08

Met Xin Ning today at noon for watch shopping day! She wanted to get a watch for general use while I was looking for my NS watch, since none of my current watches would be acceptable for NS (though I'd really like to bring my Vostok there to get all bashed up, since it's a military watch anyway). Walked abit at Bencoolen which has quite a few watch shops. Managed to get the watch that Andrew and Kevin got for NS which I thought looked pretty good. It was quite a steal too, at $19, which is cheap enough to not worry about it when it gets mud and scratched and dunked. Since she was just looking around for today, we later went to Mustafa, which has a much wider range of watches. It's the first time that I looked at ALL the watches in Mustafa, which was quite a nice experience (maybe I'd wanna work there next time, since I'm INDIAN after all). She had her eyes fixed on a Kenneth Cole model, which unfortunately was the only piece available and had a little bump on the case. After walking through the medical section where I wanted to get something, she was looking for a pregnancy test kit for her project. Was kind of weird as we looked through the selection and she finally bought a really cheap test kit ($1.90). The cashier must have had alot of thoughts in her mind (Thankfully I'm not like Mel Gibson from What Women Want) as Xin Ning was paying.



Headed to the National Library as she was meeting her friend. Read abit before another friend arrived and we headed to Botak Jones at Bukit Batok for dinner (I didn't know there was an outlet there!). Was pretty amusing as the cashier said one of her friends was pretty and we kept teasing her about it.

2/3/08

After church today we (7 people) crammed into Brian's car and headed to Paragon. Fortunately, there were 3 girls behind so they didn't take too much space. Lunch was at Tambuah Mas Indonesian Restaurant which was pretty good, especially because Brian and I were sharing with Jialing and Tammy, which meant more food for the 2 of us :) After that met Amanda and her sis, who were shopping at Wisma. Initially the 4 of us were supposed to catch a movie but somehow they shopped instead while Brian and I headed to Cineleisure to catch the movie. Brian wanted to watch The Leap Years but unfortunately tickets were sold out for that. Settled on Charlie Wilson's War which was on the war in Afganistan against the Soviets. With Tom Hanks in the cast, it couldn't get half bad, which it didn't, but I thought it wasn't spectacular either, perhaps because I couldn't catch alot of bits as they were speaking too fast. Went to Muji afterward to finally get the fountain pen. Ended up the nib was as fat as my Lamy so gave it to my sis who was looking for a fountain pen too.

Natsume Sōseki's - Light and Darkness

This final and unfinished work of Sōseki has been a refreshing read for me. Despite having a simple premise and plot through the story, what makes this story a tour de force is how it delves into the thoughts and feelings that the characters had in their interaction with each other and the inner turmoil they face in handling these often delicate social situations. It is, as many of these great Japanese works are, done justice by the english translators which make these great gems of Japanese literature available to non-Japanese speaking people like me. A little intolerant of verbose prose that requires reading and re-reading just to grasp the idea of a single sentence, these translated Japanese novels appeal to me because the english used is simple, yet succinct. It is a pity that Sōseki didn't live to complete the novel, though besides to give a sense of fulfilment which comes with the completion of a story, would probably have served little purpose in this story, since the point was not really about the story per se in the first place.

My-head's-too-tired-to-think-of-a-title

Today is quite an eventful day, at least much more than yesterday. Was a little disappointed yesterday, with my dad's sudden request for me to stay home to setup the computer when it returned from the hospital. Had initially wanted to go donate blood and go to the library to return some books and finish up on Soseki's Light and Darkness.

Hence, everything was pushed forward to today. After the hassle-free donation, headed down to the National Library and satisfied myself for the next 3 hours with a book on Salvator Dali. Although his life seemed to be cast in the same mould of many other great people involved in the arts that came before him; having a good teacher at a young age, quickly superceding and getting bored of teachers and conventional methods respectively, achieving fame for talent in new techniques, going the path of eccentricity in the process, receiving enough wealth to lead an extravagant lifestyle, dying poor, and living beyond their years through their works and what they have given to their respective artistic communities. In these ways, the life of probably the greatest violinist, Niccolo Paganini comes to mind.

Whilst reading the book, a really peculiar girl came to sit next to me. Having to use the washroom, I left the book unattended, not thinking much of it. Coming back, however, I discovered a note on the next page that read:
MONKEY
HELLO~
It was a little perplexing, that someone would have the urge to call me a monkey. Giving the possible culprit a piercing stare (the same I use for strange people who type on their laptops whilst on the train, STANDING), I continued my read.

Having dinner later with my secondary school classmates, I could only eat a little bit with peculiar girl cum possible culprit before heading off.

It's been more than a year since I've met them, and though not everyone could turn up, it was fun seeing everyone again, reminiscing about the good old secondary school days through rose-tinted glasses which is always the case when looking back.

Had a pretty long dinner at Fish & Co.

Above: 8 very satisfied and innocent faces after the carnage

Headed to Cineleisure to take a neoprint (happened because the girl:guy ratio was skewed).