June is ending, and for once, i'm happy about that. normally, the end of june would signify that it was time to go back to school for another 3 months. but since i'm no longer in school, the end of june now just means that i'm closer to finishing my 2-year liability.

i think i'm lagging on updates, because i haven't even blogged about last week's class chalet. there's not much to say actually...it was about the same thing we do at all chalets. mahjong (in which i lost quite badly), PS2, drinking, catch up with each other etc. etc. it was nice seeing (almost) everyone again, as some people couldn't make it. oh well. there'll always be more gatherings, right?

seems like i can never win at mahjong. i don't know why, but people seem to be able to draw better tiles and build better hands faster than i can. well, maybe it's not fair to say that i'm horrible, seeing as someone else played for me for most of the time. guess i need more practice, or better substitutes. heh. i'll treat these losses as "tuition fees", and aim to win them back some day.

new trainees come in tomorrow morning, which means i'll be booking in later tonight, at around 11:30. i still have close to an hour before i have to leave for camp, or half an hour to 45 minutes before i shut the computer down. i really pity the guys coming in...they're in for quite a hard time, especially under my CSM. but i'm happy too, for a completely different reason. from tomorrow onwards, there will be people in the company (excluding regulars) who ORD later than me. cheap thrills, i know, but it's somewhat comforting nonetheless.

well, i should probably end this post soon. it's almost time to surrender my freedom book in again.

-random thought of the day: I wish it was December.-

Thursday marked my first month in sungei gedong, while friday was my 6th month in the SAF. seems like it was only yesterday when i enlisted...no, wait. that's a big lie. truth be told, it feels like it's been way longer than a day. i must admit though, that it feels very much shorter than 6 months when looking back and reminiscing. now, only about 18 more months to go.

while i didn't enlist yesterday, i did go back for judo training for the first time in...11 to 13 months? coincidentally, i caught them at the end of training camp, which meant that they were nice and tired (i.e. easy pickings). yet, i found that playing with them was still a challenge. either shows how good they've become, or how old and rusty i am. probably both. well, thanks to the training session, my muscles are aching, and my fingers feel abused. i must really start to work on gripping again.

you know, a few things really made my day during (or rather before) the training session. the first was catching up with some old schoolmates, and the next was the juniors' reaction when they saw me. it's nice to get such a warm (and loud) reception despite being absent for so long.

i thought i earned a little treat for hitting the 6-month mark, and so i went to watch pirates today. for the first time in a long while, i felt that my movie money was extremely well-spent. i'd have gladly paid $5 more to watch it. no spoilers from me, so all i'll say is this: i like the way they resolved the plots, though i thought that some scenes were a little too boring/draggy. oh, if you do go and catch it, make sure to stay until after the credits finish rolling.

i'm in a pretty reflective mood today, particularly after watching pirates and taking a slower-than-necessary walk home. as i was about to cross one of the roads, i noticed a sign which said that the area behind macdonalds would be closed from march 2004 to end 2007. two things came to mind: more than 3 years have passed already, and the sign is now inaccurate, because macdonalds has been replaced by a 24-hour hawker centre. so...oh well. if 3 years can go by just like that, i'm sure half that time will pass even more quickly.

one of the more prominent themes in pirates has to do with agreements/promises/obligations. quite fitting, seeing as i'm fulfilling an obligation of my own. only difference is, i didn't willingly submit to it. in fact, you might say i'm still opposed to the idea of compulsory NS. on the bright side, life in the army isn't as bad as life on a pirate ship, so i guess i didn't draw the worst lot in the bunch.

i suddenly have this great reluctance to return to camp. i mean, the feeling's normal, it's just the magnitude which is surprising. maybe it's because there's outfield scheduled next week. well, at least there's stuff to look forward to next week, like the T20 chalet and double XP weekend in CoH.

ok, that's about it for me. i think i should go and enjoy my last few hours of freedom for this book-out.

-random thought of the day: How do pros make things look so easy?-