Now that the previous week is over, i can safely say it was almost as bad as i'd expected.

monday was reasonably ok, with the COC parade (which i didn't participate in). it was pretty interesting, as it was the first parade i've seen to involve vehicles. as for the rest of the week, i was either rushing around until face green green, or being annoyed so much until face black black, literally, because i had to camo on again. as for the exercise itself, it was reasonably ok. my job wasn't that hard, but outfield is tiring, since you sleep 5 hours average per night. still, the exercise was completed with nothing missing, everyone intact and still functioning. as an added bonus, the new CO seems to think we did well, so that's good for us. only drawback to the whole thing is that i have several irritating ailments, such as close to (if not more than) 100 mosquito bites all over my body, most of them in uncomfortable areas, along with a few blisters and assorted other stuff. should clear up in a few weeks' time.

this weekend felt a bit more normal-paced than previous ones, though it was packed with activities. turf city, mahjong, getting rather drunk and a movie, all in one day. seems like my mahjong luck has improved a little, as i wasn't the biggest loser for once (though i still lost). oh well. one step at a time. next target, break even.

as for the movie, we went to watch Balls of Fury. despite great anticipation, it turned out to be a little short of my expectations. most of the jokes were rather lame, though there were genuinely funny bits. my final verdict? don't watch it unless you're really bored and need some brainless entertainment.

well, i think that's all for this rather brief post. the coming week should be slacker than the previous one (i hope and pray with all my heart). i highly doubt it though, what with the ops spec going for an operation and subsequent 6 weeks' medical leave, leaving 2 people to hold the fort for that time.

oh. one last thing. i heard this song a while ago, and thought i'd share it, because it's kind of meaningful.

Lee Ann Womack - I Hope You Dance
I hope you never lose your sense of wonder
You get your fill to eat, but always keep that hunger
May you never take one single breath for granted
God forbid love ever leave you empty handed

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance (dance), I hope you dance (dance)

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance
Never settle for the path of least resistance
Livin’ might mean takin’ chances, but they're worth takin’
Lovin’ might be a mistake but it's worth makin’
Don't let some hell bent heart leave you bitter
When you come close to selling out, reconsider
Give the heavens above more than just a passing glance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance... (time is a wheel in constant motion always)
I hope you dance... (rolling us along)
I hope you dance... (tell me who wants to look back on their youth and wonder)
I hope you dance... (where those years have gone)

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
dance (dance)I hope you dance (dance),
I hope you dance... (dance) (time is wheel in constant motion always)
I hope you dance...(rolling us along)
I hope you dance (dance) (tell me who wants to look back on their youth and wonder)
I hope you dance.. (dance)(where those years have gone)
(tell me (dance) who wants to look back on their youth and wonder)
(where (dance) those years have gone)

-random thought of the day: I think I may have forgotten a few points for this post.-

This particular weekend seemed to pass faster than usual...and i don't know why.

well, i didn't really do that much with my 2 days of freedom, just stay at home, do some gaming, catch up on reading and sleep, sleep some more, watch a movie, and blog. nothing really that exciting. in fact, you might even call it a little mundane. but as i've said before, how fun can life get when you only really live 2 days of your week?

now about the movie i watched (it's Ratatouille, by the way. and i'm amazed i can spell that without consulting a dictionary). it's a nice show, good animation and all that. but the thing that really got me (aside from the cute rat) was the message behind the whole tale. in essence, the moral of this story is that greatness/talent/skills (whatever you call it) can be found in the most unlikely places, and that people should not let their talent be restricted by their appearance, social standing, or any other factor. in fact, people should chase their dreams, even if it means making sacrifices. i can't really provide corroborating evidence for these statements without spoiling the story, so i guess you'll have to take my word for it for now. though if anyone has any doubts, i'd be happy to discuss them privately. i'd give this movie a pretty high rating, and i'm definitely getting the DVD.

i saw one of those predict-your-character-from-your-birthday things in my email. since my birthday is october 17, it says my tree is the maple tree, and i have the following characteristics:

personally, i think most of it is true, though i know people who would disagree with the "good memory" part (i'm in the army! how good can my memory be!!?). but "proud" sounds so negative. and i don't know how to take it in a positive light. someone care to enlighten me?

visiting one of my friend's blogs has made me chance upon this rather interesting piece of text. "unfortunately i feel that i've become more cynical over the months seeing first hand how the organization works. as much as i try to make full use of my time there, one can't help but feel stifled and suppressed in an organization where rank is everything and other things are secondary to that, a place where there is no appreciation for extra effort, only disciplinary action. its things like this that make you just want to do the bare minimum possible, to cover your ass so to speak." as you see, nothing is quite as perfect as it appears to be. and yet, we carry on serving. heh. i think i was way more optimistic and positive when i was a recruit. not to mention life was way easier too.

but also, as i myself have written about 10 months ago, "just another 2 weeks. that's all. i can survive this. why? because i'm pro. simple as that. right? of course. as you can see, self-affirmation is the key here. we all need encouragement once in a while, no?" this was during A-level period, when i was feeling rather demoralized. i guess it applies in my NS life too, all i have to do is replace the 2 weeks with 15 months, which is approximately 30 times more.

met an old friend today at j8. he's in the NDU now, which means he should be extremely fit, and suffering a lot. now that i've been in AETC for about a third of a year, the drive to be more active has more or less evaporated (along with a large proportion of my fitness, i think). i really should exercise more, but it's hard when you leave the office no earlier than 10 pm.

well, that's just about everything i want to say. there's still quite a few things i have to do before sleeping to save time tomorrow, as i cannot afford to be late. next week is not looking good. COC, exercise in the later half of the week, plus other potential negative stuff makes it a very dangerous week to be in camp. wish i could take leave, or at least become invisible.

-random thought of the day: I really do need a new template/layout.-

Falling sick on a weekend is totally not fun, especially when it takes up your book-out timing. but as you've probably guessed, i'm on MC today, so i can't really say anything about it. anyway, i've been throwing up quite a fair bit (thank goodness that's stopped) and generally feeling more dead than alive. still, i think i'll make it back to camp tonight with no major mishap.

so, as my previous post said, i'll be blogging about quite a few things today. first on the list is evan almighty. it's not a bad movie, but i still think its prequel was better. maybe it's because bruce almighty referenced more biblical stuff, whereas evan almighty only took material from the noah story. nevertheless, it had its good points (like the 40 year-old virgin reference), and i really enjoyed seeing morgan freeman play god again.

next on the list is victor's. while i did go for the party, i didn't bring a camera with me. luckily, one of my seniors did, and i may upload some of the photos that were taken once i get hold of them. i think the organizers did a great job with the whole event, because they did it in such a way that it focused on remembering the good times, rather than on the sadness of the place closing. there was a nice powerpoint presentation, with music and commentary, a fun bowling session (moonlight bowling too!), dinner, and most importantly, catching up with all the staff. it was...bittersweet, in a way, because it was probably the last time everyone would be gathered together like that. though it may not be physically there any more, victor's will always be special to me. as a commemorative token, i took away a bowling pin with several signatures. i can't decide which is the most important (as they all have sentimental value), but i think the FIQ president's atuograph ought to rank up there somewhere, no?

demolition live firing this past thursday (my mistake for saying wednesday in the last post) was kind of unspectacular, mainly because i spent most of my time at the waiting area. even though i was so far away, i still felt the shockwaves from some of the explosions. this particular live firing was harder on me, mainly because i had to lay lines since radios weren't allowed. and i learnt a very important lesson, which is to tape up all joints properly, because getting cut on D-10 cable really hurts. but it was a good experience, as i got to fully unroll all 4 reels of line and to check them for faults. it was fruitful too, as i did manage to find and repair a break in the cables. so now, all my reels are fault-free. yays.

mahjong night got cancelled under fear of possible confinement, so there's not much to say about that. only thing worth mentioning is that there'll be a potential reschedule to an upcoming weekend in the near future.

september 11 this year was rather unremarkable. maybe it's because we don't really commemorate it in singapore. either that or it's because it's been 6 whole years already. even the newspapers are saying that it's time to let go a bit, like making memorial services simpler and shorter. i'm not particularly affected, so no comment here.

T20 had a dinner/gathering thing this past saturday. only about a quarter to a third of the total strength came. kind of sad, but still good to see old buddies. most of them that enlisted in january have now passed out from sispec and vocational training, meaning that they are now wearing 3 stripes on their arms, and are outranking me by a good 2 ranks. i guess it's the inferiority/annoying thing kicking in again. luckily, they behave the same way as i remember them in JC. it's good to have friends who are serving together with you, though it will suck when they ORD a month earlier. also, i've heard that 2 of them have crossed over from SISPEC to OCS. i swear, they make it look so easy.

well, it's just about time for me to stop. i'm still supposed to book in later, though i'm not sure of the time. the coming week looks ok, though it's next week that will kill me.

-random thought of the day: 63 more weeks...-

9 months already? not quite. more like 9 months and a day. that's how long i've been in NS. things are still tolerable, though i believe certain people don't have to shout for/at me all the time.

i've been doing some calculations recently. no, nothing like integration or vectors, but simple addition and subtraction to find out how much disposable income i'm actually getting. assuming my salary never increases, and i get $500 a month, it becomes about $470 after those SAF deductions. i (try to) save $300, spend $30 on transport and $60 on food, necessities, and other non-special things. that means that $80 can be spent on whatever i feel like buying. reasonable deal, actually. and when i ORD, i should have minimum $4500 in my account, excluding whatever's in there now. my financial situation isn't too bad, actually. makes me wonder how people can be out of money a week after pay day, especially when their pay's higher than mine. then again, i don't blow hundreds per night on drinking, so to each his own i guess.

victor's is closing down. the farewell party's on 14 september, which is this coming friday. i feel kind of sad that they're going for good and not relocating elsewhere. but then again, it's kind of odd to imagine victor's being anywhere else other than marina south. from sec 1 to J2, i went there at least 5 times a year, be it for training or assistant coaching, or even just to bowl socially with some buddies. so, i guess it's rather obvious that i'll miss the place. i'm thinking of getting a camera and taking photos, but something (mainly the fact that i don't have a camera) tells me otherwise. oh well. we'll find out on the day itself.

due to a-levels and NS, it's been around a full year since i went for the saturday turf city gatherings. so i finally went down yesterday. things haven't changed that much. i'm STILL the youngest, we still feel pretty comfortable around each other, and the food's the same too. it's nice to do something together with other old boys. i guess school ties transcend generations...sort of.

despite not being in a real blogging mood, i'm surprised i managed to drag this post to this length. as a reminder, next week i may blog about september 11, demolition live firing (which will take place this coming wednesday), the victor's party, possibly mahjong night, my buddies who became specs and more. right now, i have to get ready for book in, because my entire company is supposed to book in at 8:00 pm, thanks to the "certain people" mentioned above.

-random thought of the day: Panic buttons are fun.-