so the dust has finally settled, all the key events have been completed, save for SOC (Standard Obstacle Course)

This results in us all being kinda lepak these few days.

Well I am now typing in the dark, thanks to my computer experience that is allowing me for a rather fluent typing speed. Quite impressed since I have not done such things for 3 years?

Army has so far been eye-opening, tiring, stressful yet blissful. So many events have happened, and as what the Company Officer in charge said, "fast and furious batch". Can you imagine 2 months have already passed in such a jiffy. Just last week we were complaining and moaning about the endless rain spells, toiling and (for some of us) leopard crawling in the mud. And now we are here doing nothing but cheer for games day, and having able to sleep at a much earlier time than normal.

 

You realise the immense importance of being able to either sing or shout loud. Singing helps in road marches alot, it really lifts off your pain and burden psychologically. Furthermore, many people evidently can't sing in the army, so you will stand out! Singing also requires no instrument other than your mouth, and hence you can just sing when you are bored waiting due to some sgt's mistake or some screw-ups in scheduling.

 

Army has been eye-opening as you are now exposed to a regimental lifestyle. I think I covered this before in my previous blog posts, so yep. However, in order to make your life better, its sometimes good to talk to your sgts about things in life? Most of time they are just only a few years older than you, and hence there can be some common topic of interests - i.e. football. You will realise many of them are willing to talk cock with you, and share their own life experiences with you. It is only during the serious parts - i.e. marching from place to place - where their black faces will appear, and when gossip starts to revolve around the sgts. So in fact my life in BMT is considerably much better than what I expected. Maybe its my luck I got into Leopard?

 

Army also makes you cherish your things better. For instance, we didn't know we loved our bunk so much until we got into field camp. We did not know how cookhouse food could taste so good untill we ate combat rations. And to think that we have been lamenting about how dusty our bunk was or how dismal the taste of the cookhouse food for the first few weeks before field camp?

I know you might just pass it off as a "aiya this happens all the time", but this makes me wonder: will we learn this lesson and apply it to our normal lives? Cherish your friends, cherish your family, cherish your health, cherish your time. This is a good piece of wisdom commonly neglected or shaken off.

 

=====================================

 

anyway, alot of events have happened in my life now. the mad rush for applications - the near breaking down from the pressure and my seemingly low-confidence in myself. the completion of field camp, SITEST as well as IPPT (where I amazed myself by getting my first 5 points in sit-up). some of my closest friends have at least found some directions in their life. changes to the family.

now I am just ignoring everything else and tasting the sweet peaceful air around me - everyone's asleep while I am typing this. It has been quite some time since I last stoned, staring into space and watching the clouds go by. I realise such opportunities are indeed hard to come by in  our hurried world, but they are essential in keeping your sanity in check, allowing you to breath and enabling you to [completely] rest. and Army provides alot of that. I really enjoy being alone, staring at Changi Airport and seeing planes enter and leave, minus the emo part about "I wish I was in that plane".

 

Army has kind of become a solace for me. I can come in and be immersed in a different life. Its like going on a holiday to another planet where your worries are left at mainland. Of course I still have my worries, but at least they are shifted to the back of my head. I am totally distracted once I enter tekong, and I am really really thankful for this. imagine going home, and having to listen to the same old reports from my parents, think through which uni to apply and stuff.

 

no, I am not going to sign on though. Army will just be a point in time through my life. It will be an experience that will remain in my life.

Ok, this is quite retarded. As what I normally tell my friends: "You have only been through less than 20 yrs of your life and you are saying life sucks when you have at least 40 more years to go?", I have only gone through 2 months out of the 1 year 10 months of Army. Maybe I am talking too early.

 

Ok change Army to BMT then :)

army daze 2

I am booking in in like 5 hrs time, and since I am essentially aimless now, I shall continue my blogging.
So its been 2 weeks in BMT, and life's still going on great.

I remembered the hair shaving event being rather uneventful? It was supposed to be symbolic in making all recruits of "equal standing" since everyone will look the same. It is also supposed to keep up with the regimental style of the army - at least it is what I view about hair shaving. However, when I sat there, paid $2 (very economical for the volume of hair shaved you know) and saw clumps of black strands dropping down, I just thought to myself: "Well this is it?" I think what struck me more is the glaring blankness and the sudden drop in pressure on my head rather than the symbolic meanings that should follow this "rite". But yea, for once you will appreciate hair alot - not of their aesthetic value but rather for their ability to shelter your head from the sun and heat? First time I see in the army ppl get sunburn on their head - you guess, they became red heads :P

Anyway the good thing about army is its tremendous ability to keep you occupied 24/7. No need to fear about being out of job, no need to think about grades, no need to worry about having the spend money, no need to ponder over the night's activities (after work), and hence no need to emo. Even if one had a girlfriend to worry about, there's the nightly routine of calling her after lights out, so it shouldn't be of paramount concern. Really, you just live your life day by day, book out, slack, book in, pumping, book out, slack, book in, training. It is a cycle, vicious or not you decide. Its like the Chinese saying: 得过且过
This is really akin to us being in school. Many at times we grumble mumble about the drudgery of school, but once school ended all of us are plunged from no time to too much time - we do not know what to do with our own time? Ok, by now most of normal us, if not all, would have found a job and hence our lives have shifted to a work-life routine - apart from those sick scholars who are now overseas and studying imba shit, but still at the bottom of our hearts we know this life won't be one we will want to take on eventually, and there again the planning has to start once more. Grah why won't our lives be laid out before us?

tata, my brain's exhausted. GG my mental capabilities are shutting down. Oh noes.

army daze

So yep, booking in tomorrow at 1315hrs, after 3 days of "holiday" after 1 week of BMT in tekong.
It seems kind of surreal and dreamy. Sometimes I keep thinking to myself, am I in a dream - I am suddenly whisked away into this offshore island to go through this 8 weeks everyone else call BMT. I am experiencing what my seniors, great seniors, parents, elders have been talking about. That feeling that you are going to be stuck here for the next 8 weeks is no joke, it just feels that "Wow, I am already here?", just as you were still thinking you had nothing else to do after A levels other than going on temp jobs and waiting for results.
I think this same feeling will arise once we enter university / get scholarship / get married (yes). Its that feeling that you are entering your next stage in life, where you shed ur skin as a student and show ur next skin layer as a soldier / undergrad / spouse. When you have free time and the dust has settled, just sit back and think back. Ponder over the preparations you have made for this moment, you will just be astounded at how much (or little) you have prepared, and how fast (or slow) time has passed. That feeling is kinda indescribable.


Ok, discount all those deep thoughts, lets talk about the tangibles.
NS has been rather busier and PTer (physical training) than normal life. And guess what, you are no longer a "civilian", but rather a "soldier". They dont call ur normal clothes "casual clothes", but rather "civilian clothes". And you are subjected to military law, and only be caught by the military police. Kinda cool eh, you are a bit different from ur parents and ur non-enlisted friends! Oh and your "IC" is not called "IC" but rather its called "11-B".. lol?
and NS, is about bunk life. its about regimentation, where some things that are seemingly dumb/stupid/non-practical are still enforced, but at rather reasonable reasons once you look from another perspective. For instance, you have several sections in ur cupboard where you have to arrange ur display sets in a specific order, and this can be frustrating cuz you use up so much valuable space for just putting toothbrush, toothpaste, shaver and whatnot at 5 cm distance between each other. However, the logic is that in the dark you will know where is what and hence easier to take =)
Actually I can't really say much about NS yet, since I am still undergoing the "adjustment week", the euphemism for "confinement week" - which we were kindly told by our superiors not to use when telling others. Haha.
This week was mainly alot of basic military lessons such as first aid, intro to the SAR21 gun (omgosh), PT (types of PT, including warmups .. which even have drills), drills and other military stuff. So yea, it was alot of time-wasting and waiting, till the point we got too bored of waiting and it was annoying rather than welcomed.
But other than that, my superiors are generally nice and talk alot of cock. Seriously, if I have time I would tell all the crap that spill out of their mouth. Its like the first time in my life no one would ever sleep during lecture because it was just darn funny. However, most of the crap are a bit obscene too la >.<, but well harmless fun I must say. For instance, when he was talking to us about not smoking in our uniform during our bookout day, he told us of some locations - like the bushes, because technically your uniform should be good enough to camouflage in the bushes and hence the military police cannot see you. Oh, and my PC said "The best time to train is when you don't feel like training" (on training for IPPT), chew on it.


Haha, that's only half of what I want to say. Gosh, if I have time I would blog more la.. grah! 3 days is just NOT enough man !!!
Yep, I have to sleep soon due to my naggy parents - I think they'll beat any sergeants in terms of naggyness =/ Well for the benefit of me they would say? 

something to think about

http://blogs.redcross.org.uk/emergencies/2010/01/help-not-hinder-haiti/

Bugged

Guess like I have been hit with a cashiering bug.
I was dreaming about me serving a customer who wanted to pay for a blanket, and that I couldn't find the price tag on the blanket no matter how hard I searched.
Ironically, this blanket somehow seemed familiar to me.

*wakes up*
The blanket was indeed my own blanket and it was flipped and tossed around.
Scary huh.

***************************
6th January 2009
Being alone outside at the atrium is a real daunting task of trying to keep yourself occupied yet appearing to be doing your job to the public and your superiors. there are no computers (cash register counted?) to use, no storybooks to read, no 1-man games that I can effectively play w/o getting caught.. so I am draft writing my much-awaited (I hope =P) blog post on the (guess what..) receipt paper.
*checks drawer*
There are at least 10+ rolls so even if I ninja (steal) this 1/4 roll of paper it shouldn't hurt John Little or my job right? This is my first time working, and well there are mixed reactions to this.
Good:
1. I get to earn money while spending my "free" time instead of possibly gaming and snoozing at home
2. I get to experience a job as a frontline staff - and also delve a bit into the hidden workings of a departmental store.
Bad:
1. Really sucks to be alone, and now it is justified that I can sympathize a bit with those people manning a store by themselves - human beings are social creatures mind you
2. Best working experience is when there are not too many people (rush) and not too few people (boring) - sadly none really happened at the atrium

Ok la, the time now is 16:11 ... at least 5 more hours to go. The sky's getting dark, and the promoter said peak periods will be around soon, so yes let's see. There is this other temp female staff by the name of Mandy, or rather its "a name I picked for myself". I wonder why people like to give themselves a new name over their parents' one? Bad blood? Accepting the name your parents gave you at birth is at the very least a form of respect and affirmation of your ties with them. I'm not too sure but well.. maybe I think too much.

There's more people now, or rather more traffic. There are people carrying John Little shopping bags but not served by me de. Haiz I want to be posted back into the main store, and not stone at the atrium.
16:38 and only 2 customers, no wonder Singapore's consumer expenditure is so low. Ok I am ranting and this serves no economical benefit.

Ooh, now I am seeing alot of students, namely from River Valley, Gan Eng Seng, ITE, New Town Sec ... and this reminds me on what Charles said yesterday when I visited him. "Its a different feeling having the knowledge that you are not at school when practically everyone else is" Furthermore, we are not in school not because we are sick but rather we just simply do not need to attend school! Well, one might feel liberated from wearing school uniform of said schools, but the reality seems to be that you are just going to change from 1 set of uniform to another set of uniform. When you work, you also have to dress appropriately - not just T-shirts and pants and slippers - and don't that constitutes as uniform? Furthermore, at work, everything's unexpected and may influence your life directly. In school, you may fail the first test and pass the second test and that's it, it doesn't affect you that significantly. So whether being out of school is a blessing or not, you decide. For me, working is better - cause you get to earn money to do OTHER things you like, and maybe due to the fact that I experienced the scholarly type of confinement for 10 years?

yay, another $5/= credited to me!

Ok its 17:28. time really really moves damn slowly. I just realised why the air was so sweet smelling, the Body Shop is just besides me, and there are numerous people going in to test the products and hence esters diffuse out (:P), maybe I should too!

45 more mins!!! Not bad, I easily covered more transactions since 7pm as compared from 10.30am to 7pm.

******************************

Political Ideologies

Was rummaging through, or rather packing, my old notes and I found this "idiot's guides to the various political ideologies in the world" - in form of cows. No, that's not the title of the work, but rather what I think it is :)


I think reading this can give you a basic understanding of the different ideologies - or it can be fun reading when you have nth to do.


Scenario: You have 2 cows (unless otherwise stated)
Communism: You give both cows to the government, the government sells you some milk.
Socialism: You give both cows to the government, the government gives you some milk (take note the difference)
Nazism: The government shoots you and takes both cows.
Fascism: You milk both of them and give the government half the milk
Capitalism: You sell one and buy a bull.
Bureaucracy: At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. After that it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.
Bureaucratic Socialism: The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. They are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and as many eggs as the regulations say you should need.
American Democracy: (Assuming you have no cows) The government promises to give you 2 cows if you vote for it. After the election, the president is impeached for speculating in cow futures. The press dubs the affair "Cowgate"
British Democracy: You feed them sheeps' brains and they go mad. The government does nothing.
Singaporean Democracy: The government fines you for keeping 2 unlicensed farm animals in an apartment.
Hong Kong Capitalism: You sell three of them to your publicly-listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with associated general offer so that you get all 4 cows back, with a tax deduction for keeping 5 cows. The milk rights of 6 cows are transferred via a Panamanian intermediary to a Cayman Islands company secretly owned by the majority shareholder, who sells the rights to all 7 cows' milk back to the listed company. The annual report says that the company owns 8 cows, with an option on one more. Meanwhile you kill the 2 cows because feng shui is back. (I am serious no mistakes here when typing)
Feminism: They get married and adopt a veal calf.
Surrealism: You have 2 giraffes (not cows). The government requires you to take harmonica lessons. (Yes again, I am serious)


Oh apparently, that is in fact a satirical commentary by this professor named Gus Dicomitis, ok not like we bother.


Enjoyed it? I did :)

Your arrogance and much-too-inflated confidence has led you to more misery.
Good job Kevin, you really screwed up.

Woohoo! In Japan now!

Kon Bawa (Good evening)!
Haha, omg just had a steamy bath in the hot springs :)
I am spending 100 yen = $1.60 SGD for 15 minutes of Internet, quite scam right? And the internet is so freaking slow compared to the one in Changi Airport, which is free and MUCH faster.
Having fun so far, ate good shashimi (omg I so love it...), had nice hot springs bath, reminiscing Mongolia days (icy cold weather), and sleeping alot.
Guess what, i have already put on 1KG!!!! wahahaha!
(7 minutes already wtf - wa lau I want to chat with people, but there is no time :( )
Yep, missing some people here and there, but overall still having fun. Hope you guys have fun back in Singapore too :)

You guys will sure love the hot springs... it literally humbles everyone, if you get what I mean hehe. And it also makes you much more confident about your body (more hints there)
(9 minutes ... sian)
Ok la, realised most Japanese food not very nice, must eat at specific places one. Or rather Hokkaido. Maybe its all found in Tokyo? lol

And ya, Japanese stuff are severely expensive and overpriced. No wonder its said to be the most expensive place for expats to live in, and I really mean expensive. Ok la, some are not bad, but most are really ex. And cigarettes are damn cheap k? 300 Yen for 1 packet, which can only buy you like less than half of a bowl of la mian or -don or whatever.

Ok, I just realised the Internet speed is 64KB/s, I better click *Publish post* before time runs out.
And.. to make you all jealous... SNOW!!

lol i am still here...
stupid airline, cock up some delay for some reason.. now stuck at home

the adrenaline and excitement's totally defused now