Finally, the time has come! let's get started on the last post of the year.

2007, to be perfectly frank, was not that great a year. i have several theme ideas, but ultimately, i think i will be going with "a year of transitions". in this year alone, i have stayed in 3 different camps, learned many new things, some of which apply to real life as well. i think the most organized way to do this is to go by different aspects of my life this year.

physically, 2007 has been kind to me. my overall fitness improved, and i can now do some stuff which i previously thought close to impossible. didn't fall sick that much either. in fact, i think my report sick instances and number/length of status taken this whole year is less than 90% of the people in my company. 2 MCs, and zero report sick in camp. no light duty or excuses. i think that's something worth mentioning. so...yes. in that aspect, 2007 has been great.

financially, the year has been good too. met (or exceeded, actually) my savings target, managed to control my spending within reasonable limits, and i'm definitely more self-sufficient and financially independent as compared to when in school. there's this sense of empowerment, know what i mean?

spiritually, not much comment. i don't have a religion, nor am i in a hurry to get one, so everything's normal, as far as that goes.

mentally, it's been rather taxing in daily life, and even more so during exercises/outfield. but now, i can look back and laugh (sort of...well, more of cringe than laugh). hopefully my mental strength improves, because i'll definitely need it next year.

relations with family and friends have sort of improved. i'm still keeping in touch with secondary school buddies (a few of whom are in my unit, making it easier), as well as JC friends. i'm happy that i managed to send my christmas cards on time, because it helps in the bonding. in general, it's been ok for the friends i rarely see, and not so good for the friends i meet up with regularly, because they say i'm becoming more unreliable than before. that's not to say untrustworthy, mind you, it's just that timings are being stretched a little outside acceptable limits. really going to have to work on that.

now, for the biggest aspect in my life at the moment: army. it's not something i'd voluntarily do, though i might say differently if my posting has been different. i do wish my course was longer, because i find that in general, an NSF is happiest when he's on course. may not apply to everyone, but it does to me at least.

in the past year, army has taught me quite a lot of stuff, not all of which are pleasant. there are the life lessons, ridiculous theories (eg. your brain cells are stored in your hair, because after the initial shave in tekong, all your intelligence is gone.), and illogical nonsense. that aside, it has also taught me some seemingly basic stuff, like how to appreciate the sunset, especially on book-in day, and how time seems to pass faster when you don't actively count the seconds going by.

to link army back to the theme of "transitions", there have been several of those in my life. from tekong to stagmont, and then to sungei gedong, all within less than 6 months. adaptation is difficult, as expected, but what to do? comparing between different phases of army life, i think i was way more positive/optimistic when i was a recruit. i do realize what people say is true, that BMT is probably the most fun time of NSF life. i believe the reason is because you don't have any responsibilities or deadlines to meet in there, whereas these things suddenly jump out at you in unit life.

i'm probably venturing into dangerous waters (or at least sensitive territory) by talking about unit life. not that i'm in a classified or secret unit or anything, but there are probably quite a large number of unaired grievances and too much rigidity. on a happiness scale of 1 to 10, i'm around a 3.5. i believe i've said enough to cover the reasons why in the past few months. so...i won't elaborate on that any more.

anyway, i think this is the most detailed year-end post i've written to date. there's actually more stuff i want to say, but due to their nature, i can't seem to fit them in anywhere. they're already on paper, so i guess there's where they'll stay.

looks like i'll be counting down to the new year at home. i suppose it's for the best, me being sick and all. hopefully my cold and flu panadol comes quickly, so i can pop a few and suppress the symptoms.

well, that's all i have for now. look out for tomorrow's post, where new year's resolutions will be drawn up, and an overview/forecast for 2008 will appear. until then, enjoy what's left of 2007!

-random thought of the day: This will be the first time I'm sick going into the new year.-

Nothing makes you appreciate the civilian world more than an upcoming book-in. i'm grateful that i get to book out (hopefully early) tomorrow afternoon/evening, because it will definitely take a while to adjust back to army life after 2 weeks of total freedom. sadly, i think this is one of the very few times that this will happen in my NS life, because next year looks like trouble (more on that in the new year post).

you know, i sometimes wonder if the HDB did the right thing by upgrading the blocks so that the lift stops at every floor. nowadays, i see perfectly healthy people take the lift from the ground floor to the second floor. it gives a kind of "WTF!?" feeling. i mean, i'd understand if the person was carrying something heavy, or was old/sick/disabled/injured, but to take the lift up ONE storey when nothing wrong's with you seems a bit overboard, if you ask me. shows man's reliance on technology and appliances i guess.

i am really itching to get started on my year-end post for 2007, but since it's not the last day of the year yet, i have to wait. despite my eagerness, i can't help but feel that i will be at a loss for words tomorrow, when i actually get down to writing it. oh well. we'll see when the time comes.

a flu/cold bug is flying around in the air, and i seem to have caught it. could be due to the sudden change in weather, or i've come down with gedongitis, more commonly known as book-in blues, where you feel depressed and generally not at 100% condition, especially when camp is very ulu and very far from home.

imagestation is closing down, and i was asked to rescue my pictures stored there. they're still downloading now, but if memory serves, i haven't updated my albums there for at least 2 years and counting. nobody's been visiting there either, so no big loss i guess. looking back at some of the pictures, i find it's amazing how we've grown and how different most of us have become, as compared to those cat high days. i'm getting inspiration for another point in my big post tomorrow.

at present, it's about 8:35, and i have about 40 minutes to go before going to shower up and get ready. my book-in blues still show no sign of clearing up. it's probably compounded by the fact that i lost at mahjong again today. sian. i'm guessing that they sort of affect each other. dreading the book-in makes you lose, which makes you even more reluctant to book in...follow me? well, on the bright side, i'll be out again in less than 24 hours (hopefully), and 2007 is coming to an end! so that's something to look forward to.

-random thought of the day: My nose is still not clearing up.-

3 days have slipped by in a flurry of activities. christmas is now over, and the sobering realization that all good things must come to an end is slowly but surely creeping back into my life. still, the past few days have been filled with joy, laughter, and the occasional friendly drunk episode, so this is most definitely one of my better christmases.

i still have about 2.5 days to enjoy myself. i really have to make the most of my free time, because i don't foresee having much of it in the upcoming year. oh well. i have a date with alvin and the chipmunks at 12:35 later, so maybe i'll log on to CoH for a bit before then. see you all soon!

-random thought of the day: My favourite Christmas song:
-

Block leave days are slowly diminishing. as of now, i have about 6 days to go until i have to go back. no point stressing about it now i guess. can save the mood swing for the night itself. for the first time in a long long while, i'm actually wishing time would slow down a bit. i'm not that eager to return to camp.

anyway, there are still 6 more days of freedom, so i'm going to concentrate on that for now. for some strange reason, i seem to be unable to fit all my plans into these 6 days. think it's probably due to 3 days being chirstmas and weekends, so that's sort of reduced the flexibility a little. let's see...in the upcoming period (effectively about 3.5 days), i plan to:

- meet up with friends/classmates
- go to beach road
- possibly more mahjong?
- play CoH
- catch 2 movies
- go shopping

that's about it for now, but i can't help but feel that i forgot a few items. oh well. it's not that hard to accomplish everything, though travelling to beach road will be rather boring/draggy. not to mention there's that little worry of the shops being closed this close to christmas. oh well. i believe things will resolve themselves.

went to take a little walk to j8 today. original plan was to go see alvin and the chipmunks, but no good seats were available. so, i ended up floating around the area, and into one of the CD shops where i bought the High School Musical 2 sountrack and the Ratatouille DVD. not regretting it (yet), because i have very good impressions of these 2 movies. however, i do think the songs in HSM1 were generally catchier than those in the sequel. but this is like comparing gold with silver. both are good by absolute standards, but one is better than the other. still, "both are good" is what matters.

i'll end off here, partially because i have nothing else to say, and also because the CoH servers are up. time to be a hero!

-random thought of the day: Christmas crowds are scary.-

Writing christmas cards isn't nearly as easy (or fun) as my memories from previous years seem to indicate. this year, my cards seem to follow a general template, something along the lines of "hello, how's NS (for guys)/university (for girls and guys not in NS)? i realize that we're both busy and haven't really been in touch. have a great holiday season, and take care!". of course, there are bound to be variations, like personal messages, but the text above is present in about 70% of them, maybe in different order or something. it's easier to follow a pattern, i guess, so once something looks halfway decent, people tend to stick to it.

i realize i'm REALLY affected by what happened this previous saturday and the possible repercussions, so much so that it ("it" referring to certain snippets of the yelling, plus potential loss of weekend freedom and other bad stuff) pops into my head quite frequently. what i wouldn't give for a memory-erasing machine right now. to be very honest, i'm tired of taking all this rubbish. i had half a mind to scream back, but it probably wouldn't have been good for my ORD date. so...i guess i'll be talking to my OC soon after block leave. wish i could shake the dark cloud hanging over me though. i know it's just me, and i shouldn't worry so much, but i can't help it. ARRGH!!!

ok...around a third of block leave is over. it's actually been a very relaxing 3 to 4 days (discounting the above paragraph). yet, for some reason, i find myself sleeping and waking up pretty early (by civilian standards). should go find ways to screw my body clock up a bit while i can. for now, i'm going off to do some other stuff before sleeping. tomorrow could turn out to be a long day. perfect opportunity to begin upsetting my SAF-moulded sleep cycle.

-random thought of the day: Time to mail Christmas cards!-

The internet is becoming a scarier place. i say this mainly because more of my relatives (the older generation) are joining facebook. now, this is not altogether bad, because it helps us stay in contact, especially with people overseas. but this also means that my "family world" and "friends/social world" are in great danger of colliding. scary thought. makes me almost wish i hadn't signed up in the first place. almost.

i believe i've said this before, but i do wish that i had some significant rank in the SAF. yes, i know i'm not supposed to think about army stuff on block leave, but the reason i'm mentioning this is because the people who enlisted around the same time as me and subsequently went to OCS have just commissioned as officers not too long ago. it's quite depressing, really, especially when you see their photos and congratulatory messages splashed everywhere. but then again, they worked for it, so there's not much i can say. well, i can at least take comfort in the fact that army isn't my career, and it won't mean anything after ORD.

ok...went to do some shopping yesterday, and made a few realizations and purchases. firstly, in line with my savings target, i can only spend around $140. secondly, i've already blown around $40 on christmas cards and the Hairspray soundtrack (more on that later). next, i won't be getting that ipod touch after all...not yet, anyway. you know, a lot of things are all relative. for example, if i had just said i have $140 to spend, you may think that's it's a lot. but when i added that i wanted an ipod touch, it suddenly becomes not that much (and even inadequate) after all. so...yes. perspective matters, quite a lot. just as you can see here. click on the link, and if you can spare an hour and a half, watch the video. i strongly believe it'll change your views about life.

now, about the hairspray soundtrack. i knew it would be good, because i have the DVD, so to me, it's money well spent. i still think John Travolta did a great job in the movie. and who knew Amanda Bynes could sing? only minor little issue i have with the album is that i was hoping for to hear some songs exactly as they were in the movie, but this is evidently not the case. oh well. small problem, easily overlooked.

my schedule has been more or less thrown to the wind. it's now more of a "things to do where some things must be done sooner" list. at this moment, topping that list is writing my christmas cards. i am EXTREMELY behind time. this is, of course, assuming that the last date i can post them before they become late is friday. it seems like a lot of time, doesn't it? 3 and a half days. once again, perspective comes into play. if only you could see the meetings, events, and celebration i have on my list. factoring those in, 3.5 days becomes about 1.5 days? inclusive of sleeping, eating and other entertainment, mind you. so...it's really going to be a mad rush this year. mainly because christmas is so close to the weekend. oh well. time to invoke the last-minute miracle again.

i really should be going...have a dinner appointment tonight, and it wouldn't be nice to be late, wouldn't it? especially when you haven't seen the person you're meeting for close to half a year or more. so...off i go to shower and get ready. until next time then!

-random thought of the day: The Hairspray soundtrack is really addictive.-

"A man was invited to have dinner at his colleague's house after work. As they walked up the driveway, the man saw his friend place both his palms on the branches of a tree growing in his yard before going into the house. Curious, the man asked, "Why did you do that?"

His friend replied, "This is my worry tree. I hang all my worries and problems accumulated through the day on its branches before I go into the house, because the wife and kids don't need to know about any of them, and so that I can fully enjoy my time with my family. Also, for some reason, when I pick my worries back up the next day, most of them will have grown smaller, or disappeared entirely."

i don't know how many people will be familiar with this story, but i remember reading it in either readers' digest or chicken soup for the soul, quite a long time ago. i can't find the original article, so what's up there is reproduced from memory. not 100% accurate, but the gist of the story remains. i think the lesson in this story is especially relevant to me because some friends have highlighted that i'm thinking too much about army, even when in the civilian world. very bad for my health.

for most people, the saying "third time lucky" applies. then again, i'm not "most people". my 3rd extra was by far the worst one in my army life so far. not going to go into details, but it involved staying up until 2am in the office doing stuff. totally ruined my plans, because i didn't finish something quite urgent which i tasked myself to do. still, what's over is over.

anyways, as i mentioned before, i'm not going to brood on army stuff, especially since block leave's beginning! 14 solid, consecutive days out of camp! i've been trying to line up activities in this period of time, and so far, there's been quite limited success. seems like everyone is either in camp, working, having other appointments, or just...unavailable. so looks like i'll be spending a fair bit of time at home, just relaxing. like now. i'll try to update soon, when the need strikes again. one thing's for sure - it'll definitely be sooner than next week.

-random thought of the day: Must go shopping later.-

One down, two extras to go.

this past week was quite sian...it's really no fun booking in on sunday morning. sadly, i'll have to do it again this week in order to bring the extra count down even more.

other than that minor...inconvenience, the week was tolerable, but barely. just routine stuff with a hundredfold increase in stress factor due to auditing. not to mention the 24km route march. to think i was under the impression that i only had to do it once in my NS life. in all fairness, it wasn't THAT bad, but i could certainly do without the resultant aches and pains. luckily we had pre- and post-march sleeping time, so we weren't so fatigued.

actaully, the route march was pretty much the highlight of the week, because i honestly cannot remember much else. maybe it's because i'm trying my best to forget about army stuff when i'm in the civillian world, or i'm just too tired now.

incidentally, today is my one year anniversary in the SAF. it's quite unbelivable that 365 days have passed since i first set foot on tekong and took the "WITH MY LIFE!" oath. but well, it's true, and i'm still here to tell the tale. i'll not talk too much about my experiences/lessons learnt in the army, because i still need to save some material for my end-of-year post. so, readers will be left hanging for the time being.

saturdays are a great source of distraction, happiness, and other non-NS associated stuff. this is especially true when things go your way. like in mahjong, which is turning out to be a semi-regular thing. hopefully, i can keep my winning streak up. so far it's been 2 weeks and counting. won $5 this week. not too bad, but as always, room for more.

i'm actually quite sleepy now. think i'll go off and update again next week, when my block leave starts.

-random thought of the day: I still haven't checked my bank balance yet.-

Despite being shorter than normal, this weekend has had its fair share of interesting experiences.

firstly, the reason i say that it's shorter than normal (even though it's only saturday) is because i'll be booking in tomorrow morning thanks to the 3 extras i got. though i'm not too happy about it, i'll still serve them because i was given the flexibility to choose the dates. so...yes. you can't win them all, and in this case, i'll settle for second-best, because it's better than nothing.

yesterday was one of the most interesting days in my year so far. it's quite an experience to spend $92 on DVDs (the sum was partially offset by that $30 voucher i mentioned previously). as i handed my ATM card to the cashier, i was thinking, 'DAMN!! there goes my savings target.' to make things worse, i called my friend to tell him about the extras i got, and we somehow came to the conclusion that we should grab another friend and go drinking. initially, our budget was supposed to go up to $50 or $60 per person maximum. i will never understand how, through the course of the night, that rose to $85 each. well, at least they paid me back, so that helped to patch up the gaping hole in my wallet. i'm actually quite afraid to check on my account balance, because i think i'll be in for quite an unpleasant surprise. still i'll have to do it sooner or later, probably this afternoon. i'm preparing to be traumatized.

as christmas approaches, i'm suddenly feeling the holiday spirit. it's not that great an influence yet, mind you, because i still have combat shoot and a route march over the next 2 weeks. but looking at my outlook calendar serves to remind me that my block leave is coming, and that i'll have 15 glorious days away from camp. of course, taking a walk in the town area also helped to put me in the mood. i like this year's lights. they're subtler than usual, i think, and that works for me better than the loud red and gold lights that have appeared previously.

well, i don't really have much to say now. guess the prospect of booking in way earlier than usual has killed off my blogging spirit/enthusiasm. not to mention i still must visit the library and get dinner for a friend before i go. sian.

-random thought of the day: 24km route march this coming Thursday. Oh noes!-