a boring week.

this week was kinda boring cos of the never ending extras that i have to serve. actually it's coming to an end le la! cos i'll serve my 9th 1 tml. and i'm left with 5 more~ ya it's ridiculous to warrant me 14 extras for some screwed up reason.

anyway, i was really happy on tuesday when i passed SOC with an 8 min 12 sec. there was a little magic but i'm confident that i'll pass even without the magic! I like ni guang sang by yanzi cos it sounds 'invigorating'. i feel more motivated after listening to it.

i guess we're bonding more with the new specs and it's kinda fun la to crap with some of them. well and it's my first time seeing justin really flare up in front of 1 of the recruits. thus he has gotten his just desserts cos he lied to our dearest justin and will have to book in 2hours earlier tml. i guess it's a devastation to any recruit. even i felt the pinch for him~ haha but too bad, he will have to answer for his actions!

yesterday's duty was totally boring cos the recruits and specs left at 7am for the out camp run. so i was so bored that i actually slept for 6h for the whole day! haha~ luckily i had weidi to have lunch with me at the cookhouse. and at night, nice nicholas bought prata back for me and slept in my office cos he has guard com duty the next day~ so my day wasn't so boring afterall.

anyway, i was thinking about disruption for the whole of tues night cos lip yong is gonna try to do so. yes, it'll save 1 year and i'll get to work earlier but then i'll have to miss going abroad with my bmt frens which i have always been looking forward to. and it feels shitty to have to come back for army after studying for a period of time~ also, it's really too rush for me to settle all the admin work. thus, i found the cons outweighing the pros, and decided to fly next year stilL!

talking about going abroad, i just can't wait to step into suntec or expo convention hall to book tickets for our japan tour this year after our ORD! i wanna visit the next travel fair, coming out proudly with receipts! haha and feel so motivated in armY! oh my~ 2 more months and we can book tix le! yeah~

and i'm looking forward to next week's long hol cos we have a coy block leave on thurs, thus i'll have a really long hol till sunday! fri will have a rendezvous with my bmt frens as it's our enlistment date, and signifies that we're left with 7 months! then sat will be marina south dinner with weidi, sam and nic. finally! the 4 of us are able to meet! ok~ shall look forward to this hoL!

da shou

so after a whole week of camp, actually 2 full weeks since we were confined together with the recruits, i finally got to get home. well well, it was really a fresh start, a very new beginning. trainee company differs vastly from an ops company.

but i just seem to enjoy it more than an ops company; cos we need not nag at them to ensure that things are done and they adhere strictly to punctuality and to slew of rules that we've layed out for them. the 7 of us, specialists, worked hand in hand to ensure discipline and a high quality of standard from the recruits. i guess we really did well but it's too early to judge now. the 8 recruits that we currently have under us now are miraculously quite motivated to work despite it being their first week as soldiers. i was really quite glad and relieved to see that. though they were some problems initially, this particular recruit seemed to have surmount his depression after some effective counselling and have become more motivated. hope that he keeps this up and not disappoint us.

besides having nice recruits, i find my colleagues totally cooperative! the 5 older specs are definitely an 'impeccable' combination and the new specs also have their commendable credentials. haha and 1 of them, jun sian, looks like a beaver~ haha!

and yesterday night, i went to attend my uncle's da shou. met up my old cousins and we sat at the same table. all 3 of them are so much older than me. they're in their 30s! and 2 are married. together with them, we chatted quite a lot. my brother was telling me his army life and he's really a jovial person. and also kept asking about my london life in future. haha~ and the funniest thing is when my cousin's husband (who's from hong kong) called me xiao xian. hahah it's quite ironic right since i'm already turning 20 this year! time flies man... it's really a tad scary when u look at what you have morphed into after 20 years. anyway, i find such family gatherings once in a while quite meaningful cos it just feels like san dai tong tang...

There's lots of interesting news in the papers today. eg, indonesia mulling over granite export ban and the ariticle on the money spent on singapore's SAF. well, both have their impacts on singapore as singapore requires granite for construction. and such a ban requires us to search for alternatives. the stated reason was environmental degradation but i believe there's more to meet the eye and there're some underlying political reasons.

well and i've just watched the arena. today's motion was "bloggers are becoming more influential than journalists." proposition was loyang and the opposition was Hwa Chong. yuPz, we won and have gotten into the finals. I was quite amused at how the proposition team rebutted us in some instances. HC rebutted, so how can u be influential if you are not credible. loyang said, the motion here is becoming influential, NOT credibility. I was quite shocked when i heard that cos how can u be influential before u're even credible? and at the crossfire session, loyang said "times journalist has stated that bloggers are getting more influential." and HC rebutted "thanks, what can i say, you've just supported our stand cos you've been influenced by the journalists to believe that bloggers are getting more influential!" haha~ and i thought that was really amusing!

i was quite convinced we will win at the crossfire session and at the last speaker cos loyang seems to falter on the questions we have for them. well, next week's arena will be an exciting one as it'll be a battle between united world college and RI. i really like united world college, support them sia~

yeah today is coy off and i did spend it wisely~ had a good swim with shawn in the morning! only swam 22 laps and my arms were already quite weak; oh dear~ i'm losing a little stamina le! haha then we went to billy bombers as i had the $15 off vouche. had naked gun la~ feels good to swim after a 2 months hiatus! haha~ and stupid nic called me when i'm at billy bombers. his ah ma and san ba ness made me laf so loud till i attracted glances from others, so pai seh la! anyway, we've agreed to go out on 24th and 31st! ahhaa~

then, met up my fatty brother at night at tm for dinner~ first time i dine with him although we were in the same coy~ today is his first day at job and YupZ, hope you're happy with your current work! we had ding tai feng and i find their food too salty today. crystal jade and imperial treasure're still the best! haha~ well, feels nice to meet this fat brother~ always full of zest when i see him, ready to 'fight' with him. haha but will be getting really busy soon and doubt will have much time to meet up le. but still, will try to squeeze out time la~

the devil wears prada

yeah~ that's right, it's my 2nd time watching the devil wears prada. succumbed to the temptation eventually and bought the vcd just now. tml's my coy off and today we had an early book out; so guo hao, peter and i went to ajisen for a nice bowl of ramen each. i had crayfish ramen which was awesome; the soup base is really oishii!

then we walked around and i brought them to buy the newly invented delectable nachos bread. and i finally bought devil wears prada. i believe i will still watch it one day.

the witty conversations in the movie really grasped me! miranda's conversation is definitely successful at perpetually pricking up my ears. i still remembered her answering andrea, " you can borrow someone else with your questions " ouch, and she just call andrea stupid outright! It was sarcastically funny la~

i feel that this movie wants to portray a very important societal fact, that the survival of the fittest survive and that entails the scheming element. u have to pre-empt and perhaps scheme against others in order to emerge as the sole survivor. but we always have a choice; it's always not late to turn back. we may be blinded by the immediate benefits occassionally, therefore to making imprudent decisions; but if we were to realise it early before committing any grave mistake, all can be saved. really appreciate this movie and it compels me to buy the novel~ haha!

and i'm actually looking forward to fetching in the recruits on fri~ i'm in charge of one the mini buses! haha, guess i'm gaining my momentum le! that's great and jiayou to myself!

I've been wondering why am i feeling down these few days. perhaps it's due to the change in army lifestyle. this is my turning point; from an ops coy to a trainee coy. during this ostensibly difficile transition phase, i'm sorta struggling to get myself acclimatized to the brand 'new' environment. everybody remains but the environment just feels different... i need to adapt, i really have to. yupz, just give myself a little more time and i'm sure i can do it.

on a lighter note, went out with sam and weidi yesterday to watch the messengers. at least it's not some cheesy horror flick, there's still a storyline and i thot it was not bad. yuPz, we had nice ben and jerry be4 that and ichiban boshi dinner after. haha and we saw superstar zhiyang at ben's, well not much comments. =X though we made quite a hoo ha over there... haha~ it was hilarious.

then today, went to watch the pursuit of happiness with pam. i especially like the ending, cos it makes me feel hopeful; that with the tenacity and determination, we can overcome almost if not all adversities. it shows how the father and son emerge from such a destitute life as wealthy people in the end and he has been through many many hardships that i could have imagined happening on myself... well well, a truly inspirational movie... and i feel quite light hearted after the movie. =)

Emotional

This has been an emotional week; ups and downs.

I saw both platoon men ORD when i was COS on Friday. All of them were clad in their civilian clothes to collect their IC. it looked like some graduation day.

when singen booked in happily and gleefully, i really felt happy for him.

when i saw a healthier and happier hua sheng, i knew he's gotten out of his depression and am very glad for him.

And as i bade farewell to the other platoon men and wished them well, they reciprocated sincerely. I felt touched.

8 more months and it will be my turn. that set me thinking about my next chapter of life. 1 year later, i will be busy settling my bank account and my phone lines etc etc. preparing for my studies as well as working... i await eagerly for such an eventful life...

But then, when i walked past the empty bunks with the cupboards left open, i can't help but feel sad. I miss some of them and will make an effort to keep in contact with them. yuPz, and we move on...

alright, and now my bunk is full of people. feels so cluttered and it's as if a squatter settlement. and after these few days of interaction, i find myself having a low threshold for passive people cos they make things so ineficient and intolerable. ah well, just hafta live with it still.

disillusioned

hai... this week isn't really good for me. I may have been prematurely excited about getting busy last week. In the midst of such a busy week, i actually felt a little lost; couldn't concentrate on my goals and targets or perhaps there wasn't any in the first place.

I didn't mind all the monotonous menial work, and i do mean that literally. cos we were doing lots of area cleaning and moving of 'furniture'. But upon knowing that i suddenly have duty this fri was kinda rude shock. Was quite demoralised initially cos i just did my duty 2 days ago which was a sunday; and another on fri will stretch my week further. But i guess i will just hafta look towards the bright side and well, am still able to go out on saturday~ also had some misunderstandings with corwin but think we both will forget it.

well, enuf of boring stufF~ had billy bombers mixed grill yesterday with sam, marvin and hai er at clarke quay yesterday during our nights out! yuPZ, it's quite yummy but we spent quite a lot there~ feels nice to eat with closer frens in the army. haha~ and yuPz, this sat will be meeting nic~ oh has been ages since i last saw hIM~ alright, so shall look forward to this sat! and i have the urge to go to the airport and have dinner!


that's me at whee lock fish and co~ haha went with cf on sat before going for dunman concert! i'm shooting mtv. hahah~


and that's cf! haha~ yeah seafood platter was yummY! i need to jian fei le~

A levels results day!

This is the day that i will never forget. 1 year has passed and the jittery feeling i had the day before is unforgettable. My whole bunk was so anxious about our results the next day and no one could get to sleep! I remembered being so afraid of seeing a B; was thinking wat i should do if I were to really get 1. luckily, everything went well during the results day. hehe! and we went marche then to have a really relaxed meal. was totally shioK!

and today! it's my juniors' turns to receive their surprises! ahah and yeah i was totally happy for HC cos we got 45% 4 As, 2 10 distinctions, 7 9distinctions and 32 8 distinctions. a big improvement compared to the rabbit year! furthermore, our bio grades has improved again! The percentage of As was 87.5% last year and this year it is 90%! bet mrs foo is really happy now. and our physics and chem both saw 80% As! oh gosh! rox! hehe~ and i'm happy for royston too! you've done welL~ wonder how our rival school did, they've also done well i think. well, just wanna congratulate those who have gotten the much coveted 4As. 3 cheers for HC!