Since i have some spare time on book-in night (which is very rare), i thought i'd do a little pre-book-in update before i leave.

i'm glad to say that after about 9 hours of sleep and a pretty relaxing sunday, i'm feeling significantly better. suddenly, it doesn't seem like me vs. the world any more. i'm not going to push my luck and say that i'm looking forward to booking in, but the prospect doesn't seem as ugly as it was one day ago.

this weekend was definitely less fast-paced/hectic as compared to other more typical ones. the extent of relaxation was such that i didn't step out of the house at all, not even for the weekly turf city gatherings. ok, i took a little walk on saturday evening, but that was it. guess i needed a little downtime.

originally, i was going to forecast the upcoming week's events, but i've just decided against it. perhaps, i should not anticipate events and just take them as they come. hopefully i can make it to the end of february without further incident or unpleasantness.

-random thought of the day: 10 months and 2 weeks. Is it really that hard?-

CNY is around the corner, but i don't feel any festive cheer whatsoever. not even the sick, happy music can lighten my mood. in fact, CNY hasn't really been the same since my paternal grandparents passed away about 6 to 7 years ago. the atmosphere just isn't there, you know?

this year, to make things just a tiny bit worse, i have found out that i'm scheduled for guard duty on the 10th of february, which is a sunday, and also the fourth day of the chinese new year. it would have been nice to have a 4 and a half day long break (plus one more additional day since i was planning to take leave on the 11th...not any more though), especially with everything going on around me right now, but i guess it's just not fated to be. add that on to 3 weekend days about to be burnt in the near future, and the logical deduction is that i won't be seeing the outside world for quite some time. oh well. at least i'll have less reason to spend money, and that makes saving up just a bit easier.

had combat shoot this past wednesday. it's amazing how the night shoot can screw things up. my detail hit 95% of the targets in the day, but night pulled it down to 70%, so our marksman dream got shot (pun unintended). i'm quite happy with my performance, as my personal total day and night score was 22 out of 30. still unable to hit the 80% required for marksman, but i believe my detail had the best percentage score for that day's range. only thing i walk away with is bragging rights. besides, even if we had hit above 80%, we still could not collect the $200 reward because it was our second attempt.

went to the army museum on friday. there were a few interesting exhibits, including stuff like IMT and rather interactive videos. i realize that the videos and publications made available to the public tend to romanticize what army life is like. for instance, take the video about the kid who becomes a guards officer. as far as i know, most PTIs tend to not smile and provide encouragement in the tone of voice that the video shows. but oh well. i haven't seen all the PTIs in the SAF, so someone like that technically could exist. as for the video about the integrated exercise, while it could happen that way, i can tell you that the audience doesn't see the immense amount of preparation, servicing and admin work that has to be carried out before those vehicles even begin to move out. so...yes. army life is not as fun (or easy) as it's made to appear.

while on the topic of army life, those videos usually show the soldier's family and friends being supportive and caring. what happens when that's not the case in real life? right now, i feel like i'm caught between a rock and a hard place. there's not much motivation to book out, except to check my mail and blog. even CoH is providing unnecessary pressure. i mean, it's only a game! no point to treat it like a life-or-death matter, right? so what if i can't level up quickly enough or earn enough money?

long story short, i feel like a one-man show now. what with some office politics and friends who don't seem to realize that they're not helping my situation. oh well. they say no man's an island. looks like i'm on track to prove that theory wrong, or at least stretch it to its limits.

-random thought of the day: Life's not exactly looking up now, is it?-

Just one small point before i go and get ready to go back into camp...

i think, for both my financial well-being and in order not to strain relations between myself and my friends, i shall impose an indefinite ban on mahjong playing. it's only applicable to me of course, since i can't control other peoples' choices. only exception to this rule is CNY period with my JC friends (and possibly with my cousins), because i want to see whether i've improved after all the "tuition fees" i've been forking out.

with that little nagging thought out of the way, i guess it's time to go shower up and stuff my uniform into my bag. the bright side to booking in is, i don't have to spend that much money (if at all) in camp. so...yes. i'll be back on friday.

Thankfully, this week passed faster than usual, mainly due to the numerous out-of-the-ordinary activities that occurred. pride day was fun (where else do you get to see senior SAF officers jumping around, punching and kicking thin air?) but the setup was tedious. and we had range the very next day, which was not that exciting or fun, but interesting nonetheless. especially at night, where you see tracers fly (and occasionally ricochet off the ground and go high into the sky). it was a pretty good way to kill time, especially when the support staff (drivers and medics) were fun to talk to.

it's been a pretty good weekend, considering i managed to meet up with 2 of my JC friends. coincidentally, they happen to be signallers too. sadly, both of them are specs. guess who's the odd one out? anyways, it was fun to catch up and find out how each of us are doing compared to the rest (inevitably, my quality of life is somewhere close to the bottom again, but oh well. figure i'm used to it by now.). had some laughs while reminiscing on days in CJC and other assorted things, like the increasing number of mutual friends and acquaintances we have due to army. i'm glad to see that they still behave (and look) the same way i remember them, so i guess army hasn't screwed everyone up yet.

CNY's just 2 weeks away. i'm really looking forward to the break, but that's still in the not-so-near future, so i'll wait. hopefully we can do a 4-6 or T20 gathering over the long weekend, and hopefully it involves mahjong and lots of alcohol. *anyone catching the hint yet?*

anyways, next week's major event is the combat shoot. i'm not averse to marksman, but i'd be happy with a pass too. as long as i don't have to go for another range as a participant, i'm happy. lucky that everything's done from foxhole supported, so no worries except visibility concerns if it rains.

well, that just about wraps up this week. still got a mahjong session in an hour or two, so best be off to prepare. hopefully i can win something. last night's drinking with the aforementioned JC buddies wasn't that good for my financial health. time to get a move on then.

-random thought of the day: Did I actually agree to go to Japan after ORD? Better start saving religiously.-

As usual, i'm rather rushed this week (not exactly helped by my blog only choosing to work at the last minute). so, short and sweet is the primary order of business right now.

the past week has been, well, slightly below average in terms of happiness and quality of life issues. bright side is i got to get out of camp and go to nee soon for a while on tuesday (will probably be doing the same again this coming week, yays). as for the not-so-bright side, "everything else" falls into that category.

hopefully this week will pass a bit faster, what with safety and pride day, not to mention gunnery live firing. i'm seriously looking forward to book outs more and more. seems like as each week passes, there will be new reasons to want to stay away from the company office, or camp in general. wish this year will pass quickly. there's about 3 more weeks or so to CNY. hopefully everything goes well until then at least.

it's 9:28 now, and i'm due back in camp in about an hour. so, off i go to get ready for another week of...well, fill in the blank here. i trust you roughly know the situation.

-random thought of the day: What goes around, comes around.-

Something feels off. it's probably not the most auspicious start to the new year, but well, it's the truth. somewhere out there, there is one particular part of my universe which has been displaced from its rightful position. i can just feel it. pity that's where it ends - feeling. i don't know exactly what it is, or i would have taken corrective measures way before this.

well, this week wasn't that bad. it was more of a "draggy" than "bad". amazing how 3 days can feel like 5 when you're in camp. nothing serious happened, for which i'm grateful. in fact, other than the fleeting urge to do something bad to certain people, i'd go as far as to say i had a pretty fun time, especially with the new year function on wednesday. i never knew my S3 and RSM could sing. heh. entertaining.

a memorable quote by one of my secondary school teachers goes, "it's no longer a joke when one party no longer finds it funny." in the civilian world, my tolerance is being stretched a little thin, but i guess it's due to lack of sleep. so oh well. perhaps tomorrow will be better.

-random thought of the day: Sleepy.-

I'm slightly pressed for time, so i'll try to make this short and sweet.

first post of the year! traditionally, this post is for listing down new year's resolutions and providing a general forecast of the 12 months ahead. without further ado, let's get started.

this year's resolutions are pretty simple, and are as follows:

- ORD on time (no DB or anything to extend my stay in army)
- ORD peacefully (partially linked to the above point)
- Sign a minimal number of extras (zero if possible, less than 10 as an upper limit)
- Not spend my birthday in camp
- Learn to drive
- Be more dependable/reliable
- Not spend money unnecessarily
- Apply for (and get) a place in university

i think that's it for the moment. can't seem to remember anything else. now that it's january, the light at the end of the tunnel is slowly becoming brighter. i can finally say that i ORD this year! it's a cheap thrill, but motivation nonetheless.

now, on to less pleasant issues. the coming year is, as we say in chinese, bu hao guo. that means that it's going to be quite a tough year. 49 weeks of army life in sungei gedong. still, if the regulars can do it, i suppose i can too. i just hope that everything goes well, and that i can get out of army ASAP.

right now, i'm just taking it slow. my first target is to make it through to march, because that's my one-year anniversary from POP. after that is may, when my signal course ended and i received my posting one year ago. after that, once i have spent a full year in gedong, what's another 7 more months? it seems easy, but the fact that there are 6 major outfields and more admin stuff could be quite bad. also, there's one extremely depressing piece of news i have found out, which will make my unit life more difficult.

anyways, i figure no point in worrying about all these stuff now. the boat will straighten when it reaches the bridge. just try to live day by day, week by week. hopefully, all my readers (if any at all) will have a great 2008.

-random thought of the day: Booking in soon,-