Day one of my 5-day extended off is over, and it's been pretty well-spent. had quite a relaxing day, which is a welcome change from what's been happening over the past 2 weeks. as i've said before, i'm not at liberty to discuss it (or anything about it) probably until i die, so i'll just leave it to you all to guess what's been happening.

you know, ever since my enlistment, it seems that this blog has become nothing but a place to record my daily routine. aside from a few thoughtful, reflective posts (eg. year-end posts), everything seems to go along the lines of "this is what happened this week. here are some of the more interesting things i did. this is what will happen next week. oh look! time for book in. bye." seems like i really have a very limited life. i do wish i could regain my ability to write about issues which are more contemplative/philosophical in nature.

anyways, i think the next 4 days are set to keep me occupied most of the time. especially tomorrow, where i have to meet my cousin for lunch, give tuition after that, and maybe find time to slot iron man in there somewhere. sounds like fun.

-random thought of the day: Ever notice how the more you try to keep something close to you, the more you push it away?-

Five hours to go before i have to prepare for book in.

it's kind of random and spontaneous (like radioactive decay!), but i do feel like going back to cat high. just to visit teachers and absorb the atmosphere for a bit, and totally not because my friend's a relief teacher there (right?). only problem is that the kids are having exams now, so i may not be able to catch everyone there at the same time. at any rate, i'll have to find out the schedule before i drop in, lest i waste a perfectly good half-day book out.

today was pretty fun. had mahjong to make up for being in camp tomorrow. net win: $1. one extra drink from the vending machine! had a pretty good japanese dinner too (one of many cravings satisfied.). helps to soften the blow of booking in on a saturday morning just to sleep the whole day away.

suddenly, i've been hearing quite a lot from old friends. i definitely do want to meet up with them, but i do have to sort everything out and slot them into empty spaces. it'll take some time, effort and compromise, but i think we can make it work.

well, that's it for now. i'm off to attempt to stay up all night so that i can make full use of my rest time in camp tomorrow (or rather, later). see you all!

-random thought of the day: Who thinks I'll fall asleep?-

Going to make this post a quick one...since i have to leave the house in less than half an hour.

it's been a full week since the difference first came into my life. i'm actually getting used to the irregular hours and book out timings, though i do wish book outs lasted a little longer. but as i've mentioned before, it's nothing i can't live with.

i just hopes the remainder goes as well as what's been happening so far, and that nobody (least of all me) screws anything up. it isn't too difficult actually. in fact, i'd go as far as to say it's quite idiot-proof. but let's not count chickens yet. the remaining time is not long, but it's not short either. who knows what could happen?

at any rate, if all goes well, i'll be out again really early on friday morning, so i guess i'll see everyone then.

-random thought of the day: Here we go again...-

All of a sudden, my plans (and sleep cycle) have been screwed up quite badly.

i owe this to the fact that my company has embarked on some classified operations, and the working hours are most definitely different from everyday camp life. there are pros and cons to the whole deal, and to be honest, i think i'd rather be doing this than the standard daily routine in camp. only little issue i have with this is that weekends are factored in as normal working days, so you may not always get to be off on saturdays and/or sundays. but as i said earlier, i'm more or less ok with it, as long as it doesn't interfere with any major plans.

there's really not much going on...or rather, not much that i can safely reveal without a stay in DB. so, i guess i'll look forward to this saturday, where there are 2 big events going on, and not-quite look forward to booking back in this evening.

-random thought of the day: A big hole suddenly appeared in my pocket. Sian!-

This weekend, i'm getting exactly 48 hours out of camp. no...actually, it's a bit less than that, more like 47+. reason being that we have to book in early to attend a briefing. sian, but oh well.

the last 2 days were pretty unremarkable. went to turf city as per normal, and did typical staurday-y stuff. today was a little different though. went to HDB hub to support my cousin's company, which was launching some new products. seems like this funny marketing thing is catching on. apparently it's profitable, but i'm not about to start dancing and prancing about on a stage in front of hundreds of people. so...i'll give it a miss. wasn't really that impressed though.

it's approaching 3:30pm now, which leaves me with about 2 hours before leaving the house. there's not much to do, really. nobody's on CoH, even fewer are online, and it's just generally boring. guess i'll go and amuse myself until it's time to go off. if all goes well, i'll (hopefully) see everyone again next weekend.

-random thought of the day: Need to get a padlock.-

Over this past week, several interesting things have happened/are happening.

first on the list is office politics. everyone who knows me to any degree should be able to pick up on how politically-declined i am. as such, i generally try to stay away from sensitive situations. but this particular case is really getting on my nerves. i know i shouldn't be that badly affected, since i only have 8 months more to go (yays!), but i'd be lying if i said i'm completely immune to it. so...well, i have to bear with it for now i guess. worst case scenario's a showdown, and believe me, that will neither be a pretty sight, nor have good outcomes for anyone.

next up, i realize that ever since my enlistment, or to be a bit more specific, ever since this past CNY, i have increasingly been the subject of several jokes within my group of friends out of camp. while the occasional stab at my expense is all fine and well, it does get a bit tiresome when done regularly, like on every single weekend i meet up with them. this is especially so when some of the people in this group are younger than me. i know that egalitarian western-influenced society says that everyone's fair game, but traditional chinese upbringing says respect your elders/seniors. sometimes, i get the urge to do something drastic, like slap them, but what's the point? it hurts relationships (or rather, friendships) in the long run. and yet, i think that i may end up doing precisely that if it keeps up. play it by ear i suppose. i could always cut off all contact, but that would involve more people and possibly cause severe alienation. last resort i guess. maybe all i need to do is talk to them. who knows? they could be extremely receptive and sensitive to my emotional state...or not. being a cat high guy myself, i know how the majority of them think. heh.

thirdly, tuition! if i were to rate my first 2 tuition sessions, i'd give myself 4/10 for the first one, and 6.5/10 for the second, averaging a pass. the first session was rather disastrous, but i think i made a passable first impression. the second session got points deducted for extending 45 minutes beyond the stipulated time. in general, the second session was definitely more of a success, in terms of topics covered, answering skills taught, and mental preparation. i'm still working out my teaching style, deciding the best way to get my point across as simply as possible. daunting task.

speaking of teaching, i've found out that one of my secondary school classmates/friends is doing relief teaching in cat high while he awaits the dreaded call-up for you-know-what (which should happen in around the june/july period). funny coincidence is, he's teaching my junior/friend (who happens to be one of the people mentioned barely 2 paragraphs ago). heh. the term "gong bao si chou" never did sound so good before. but no, i'm not that evil...i digress. my point is, i think it would be kind of fun to go back to do relief teaching in cat high (and/or to a lesser extent, CJC). the proverb goes, "it takes a thief to catch another" or something along that line anyway. main idea is, who better to handle cat high boys than cat high old boys? as i said earlier, we old boys know how the typical student's mind works. so...main idea: consider relief teaching in the interim period between ORD and university.

now that the conversation has drifted to university, i would think it's appropriate to highlight that i've been thinking hard and debating with myself about my degree choice. all of a sudden, chemical engineering doesn't seem as easy (or fun) as i'd envisioned. i have the feeling that i'll change the course to chemistry next year (seeing as the course selection period is over for this year). or, things could go my way and i'll get rejected from chemical engineering and into chemistry this year. either way, i definitely need to devote more time and brain cells to this (not-so) little issue. it does concern my future, after all. and the worst thing is, i'll have nobody but myself to blame if things don't go according to plan.

ok, last topic: mahjong. i think someone in the sky's playing a big joke on me. one week i win $11, next week i lose $14. won $20 last week, lost $27 today. am i just not fated to hold on to my winnings for more than a 7-day period? maybe i should decrease my playing frequency. play on alternate weekend days, eg. this saturday, next sunday, following saturday etc. maybe that'll help to balance my luck out. comments, opinions, suggestions?

-random thought of the day: Tuition is actually quite exhausting.-