During my week-long stay in stagmont camp, i have found out several things about my course. the bare essentials are that it's going to be 6 weeks long, and we will learn "the basics of radio and line communications". something tells me it's going to be a long 6 weeks.

well, the life at stagmont (i swear, i still have trouble remembering that name) isn't too dissimilar from tekong. we still march from place to place, participate in parades, and have stand-by-beds. nothing really that new, except that we only have physical training 2 days a week, as opposed to the 5 in tekong. need to train more. still, i must admit that it's not all bad. being out of BMT does have its benefits, like getting to book in and out in civilian clothes, keeping longer hair, and having a bit more freedom, amongst other things.

as for the course, i find myself a little stunned. we have to learn physics stuff like kirchhoff's and ohm's laws, and some technical things like modulation and grounding. all that's fine with me, but i simply cannot understand why we have to learn networking. how are signalling and networking linked? the fact that the lectures are extremely conducive for sleeping doesn't really help things either. makes me feel like i'm back in JC again.

i guess i'm pretty much adjusted there already. life's made easier for me since 15 people from my platoon were posted there, and i'm bunking with 3 of them, along with 5 other guys. we get along pretty ok, and i found out that one of them went to the same primary school as i did. how's that for a coincidence?

well, that's about it for me. i still have to go to the hardware store to get 2 spanners and a roll of green tape.

-random thought of the day: Speed through skill?-

Even CoH can't distract me right now. i logged in for about 40 seconds, then quit the whole thing. it's the nervousness acting up. something like pre-enlistment day, but a little better and a little worse at the same time. doesn't really make sense, right? then again, many things in this world don't make sense either. like conscription.

if i were to follow my original plan, i'd be asleep by now. but since i'm still awake, i guess you know that plan's been thrown out of the window. now, my latest plan is to sleep by 12, or 12:30 latest. quite accomplishable, if only i didn't have to pack all my stuff into their bags.

sianness...i'm not really looking forward to tomorrow.

My posting's out, and it looks like i'll be a signaller for the next 21 months or so. they're sending me to the school of signals in stagmont camp to learn how to operate the nice, sophisticated (and probably faulty) equipment which will be my best friend(s) for my NSF life. i'm actually quite nervous about this whole thing. it feels like before you enter BMT, but only worse because you're expected to know certain things by now, the implication of which is that you can't screw up as much as before.

to a certain extent, getting posting results are like getting academic results. in fact, the whole SAF is pretty much like the singaporean education system. BMT is analogous to primary school, where you learn the basics of army life. then, you take your PSLE (sit test, peer appraisal etc.) and move on to secondary school (your new unit). some will make it into the more prestigious schools, like SISPEC and OCS, while others go to more ordinary places. for my secondary school and JC admission, i was fortunate to get into the schools of my choice. ok, maybe it wasn't exactly my first choice, but in the end, i still decided to go there. now, i guess i sort of know how it feels to be one of those people who were forced to be somewhere they didn't want to go to.

honestly, i'm not too excited by my posting. people are telling me that it's going to be nice and slack, but for some strange reason, i've suddenly developed the urge to be more physically active. must be something in the air in tekong. you know, something tells me i'd be happier (or at least better off) in guards. signalling sounds so boring. i think it's because i'm under the impression that anyone can operate a signal set, but it takes a special something in a person to rappel down from a helicopter. i believe the root cause of my slight displeasure towards my posting is because i'm looking for more of a challenge. this leads me to a very important question: what's wrong with me?

another reason i'm not looking forward to the remainder of my NS life is because of my friends' posting results. while i know this shouldn't affect me much (if at all), it still sucks quite badly to hear SISPEC and OCS being thrown around everywhere. i mean, how nice can it be to know that in 6 to 9 months' time, you'll be outranked by most of your buddies? while i admit they worked hard for it, there's this little thing called human ego which makes a person not want to be inferior to his/her equals. so...i guess it would be kind of awkward if my friends were posted to my unit later. but oh well. i'll deal with it when/if it happens.

there's something very romantic about falling raindrops illuminated in a car's headlights. i made that totally random observation earlier on as i was on my way back home. you know what? i don't know why i'm mentioning this. maybe as a reminder to myself in the future, or something along that line. well, at any rate, it'll be good reference material for fanfiction writing.

is it odd to be "just friends" with a girl? on thursday, i met up with one of my 1st intake classmates to catch Mr. Bean's Holiday (which is a great movie, by the way) and to support the cat high bowling team at the nationals. for some reason or another, my juniors don't seem to believe that we are not romantically involved. oh well.

ook...it's getting kind of late, and i don't feel sleepy as of yet. maybe i'll log in to CoH and run a couple of missions. or maybe i'll just stick to healing people in The Hollows. i do feel rather bo liao now.

-random thought of the day: Sian.-

POP LO!!!

about 800+ people were screaming those 2 words on an island north-east of the singaporean mainland today. for those unfamiliar with the concept of national service, the abovementioned "POP" is pronounced as "P-O-P", and it stands for passing out parade. in essence, it's a parade (duh) where close to 1000 recruits are mass-promoted to privates after their BMT. in the process, they stand still for extended periods of time under the sun, silently cursing at the VIP for coming up with such a draggy speech, amongst other things.

so...like it says, i'm a private now. yay? i don't know. while it feels good to no longer be the lowest life-form in the SAF, i'm sure that there are hidden responsibilities and expectations which will make life tougher from now on. so...give and take i guess.

i feel rather annoyed with myself. apparently, in the frenzied state of mind i was in while packing, i put my wallet and phone into my buddy's bag. not the smartest of moves. it creates a lot of inconvenience for quite a few people, especially since i have plans to meet up with many many old friends over the next 2 to 3 days. it's rather difficult to co-ordinate plans with others without your phone. oh well. though i'm not 100% sure that's what happened, at least 90% of my recollections point to that being the case. man, don't i feel dumb now. well, as long as my stuff's in the hands of someone i know, i don't mind being inconvenienced this way. after all, it's better than having absolutely no idea where they might be, right? sadly, this means i may have to make a trip to bedok early in the morning, then to yishun in the afternoon. sian.

shifting the focus to happier stuff, i got myself a new computer chair! it's sort of a congratulatory present for finishing BMT. it looks nice, if i do say so myself. but the real benefit is that it doesn't retain heat at all. i can now stay in it for a much longer time, which is useful since i need to do some serious gaming in my free time. if i give myself a $195 reward for surviving 15 relatively slack weeks, i really wonder how expensive my (self-given) ORD present will be. i'm thinking in the order of thousands and above.

ok...it's getting late, and i should probably be asleep by now. after all, my day starts at 7:30 tomorrow, and standard SAF regulation says at least 7 hours of sleep is needed. and i wouldn't want to disobey the rule, would i?

-random thought of the day: I can't believe i did the infantry roar in front of thousands of people today...-

After 3 days on the mainland, i'm seriously dreading going back to tekong. there's just something about the booking-in process that's a big turn-off. on the other hand, the consolation is that it's a 3-day week, and i'll (hopefully) never have to go back to the island after this.

apparently, i've been tagged. upon going to the blog in question, i realize i have to do this:

Instructions: This is what you are supposed to cut and paste if you decide to participate in the tagging game. Each player of this game starts off by giving 6 weird things about themselves.

People who get tagged need to write in a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state the rules clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names.

After you do that, leave them each a comment letting them know you tagged them and to read your blog.

weird thing number 1:
i don't understand why clubbing is so popular, or why people would want to do it regularly. as i've said last year, once is enough for me.

weird thing number 2:
to me, chem is easy, and physics isn't too bad. most people tell me i'm crazy, but that's just the way i'm wired. however, i'm terrible at maths and humanities, so i guess it sort of balances out.

weird thing number 3:
i have conversations with myself to sort my thoughts out and/or to provide motivation.

weird thing number 4:
my taste in music is...different. for some reason, i can't stand rap or hip-hop. instead, i prefer slower songs, and if they're by relatively older bands (like MLTR), that's an added bonus.

weird thing number 5:
in my 18+ years of life, i've only found 1 other person who shares my birthday, whereas i know at least 5 or 6 people born on 13 october.

weird thing number 6:
i have an irrational disliking of over-stretched rubber bands. don't ask me why; i don't know either.

ok, i'm done. i'm not going to choose 6 people because i figure they'll only do it if they want to. so, if you chance upon my blog and feel like doing this, go right ahead. if not, i can't force you either way.

you know, i still haven't done my university applications yet. something tells me i won't get them done this year, but since i'm (involuntarily) giving 2 years of my life to the nation, i guess i'm not too late yet.

i probably should end this post here. i'll update again late next week on finishing BMT, my new chair, and some other random stuff.

-random thought of the day: I'm rediscovering some songs buried deep in my playlist.-

Well, here it is...the moment you've been waiting for for the last 10 hours or so. my results are as follows:

Chem - A
Physics - A
Econs - B
Maths - C
GP - A2
Chem S - Merit

while i can't honestly say that i'm shocked, there were a few surprises, both good and bad, such as my econs and chem S. good for econs, bad for chem S. i was really hoping for that S-paper distinction, but it didn't come. and as for maths, i knew it was a lost battle after the paper ended, but seeing the concrete evidence printed out on my results slip still didn't feel too good. i mean, who likes to see a C amidst As and Bs? an AABB would have been (and looked) so much nicer. to make things worse, my maths teacher was the one giving the results out. i really didn't know how to face her at that time, and i probably still have no idea how to do so now.

while i cannot say i am happy with the results, i can say that i have met my barest minimum expectations, and i can find some contentment in that. AABC A2 is something that i can live with, though it is extremely difficullt to get used to right now. nevertheless, as a wise home tutor of mine once said, "life goes on". the world won't stop turning because your expectations weren't met. to borrow an army expression, LL suck thumb and accept it.

it's kind of strange that very few people are online at this time of the night. i guess most are out celebrating/drowning their sorrows, whichever's applicable. i highly suspect it's the latter, as many people i've met and/or called today seem to have performed below their maximum potential, except for a few AAAAs floating around.

oh. i finally met up with the class again after close to 3 months. everyone's looking good, and we appear to be still as bonded as before, and maybe even more so due to the army boys' sharing of experiences in tekong. it was nice to see some people again, and yet, it felt kind of...less special than what i was hoping for. i guess you only remember the good things about people if you don't see them for a while, or so it seems with my class.

well, i'm suffering due to lack of sleep (i've been up since 5:30 am). so, i'm off to take a shower and catch a few z's. see you all again sometime!

Results day. i'm having pretty mixed feelings about it. on one hand, i'm happy and a little excited, because i got to book out early (heh) and i'll be seeing my classmates again later in...4 hours' time or less. and i'll (obviously) be receiving my results, which is also why i'm feeling rather afraid now. i can only guess at how i've performed, and i don't like my predictions.

still, it's been set in stone since last november, and today is merely confirmation. so, i think i'll just go expecting the worst, and maybe i'll be in for a surprise. as i've said during O-levels results day, please forgive me if i appear to be too happy, and please understand if i'm a little moody after getting my result slip. all the best everyone!

-random thought of the day: Lunch appointment at 12:30 later.-