I have this sudden thought. I feel so blessed. I don't know what exactly made me feel this way, but it's just a reflection in life. To be honest my life so far as been really smooth-sailing. All the way from Kindergarten to University. I have just been choosing whatever that I thought was the most sensible path to take and I never really have to fight hard for anything that I wanted. It just happens naturally. For studies, I always got my 1st choice school (although I never went to elite schools). Ngee Ann Primary, Temasek Secondary, Temasek Junior College and finally National University of Singapore. For all other aspects, it's the same. When I was younger, although my parents was super strict with me, but there was my grandparents to spoil me. When my grandparents passed on, my parents started acting like my grandparents. They became much more lenient with me, probably because I wasn't exactly a trouble-maker and they trusted me. I usually get what I wanted in terms of material stuff. Because I know my parents will just let me have what I want, plus the fact that I don't exactly have a very thick skin, I usually do not ask my parents to buy anything for me. Coz I will feel extremely guilty. I guess that's another form of parenting. Haha.

I can never understand how friends and kids today can just ask their parents to buy stuff from them so easily. I can't. Maybe it's also because I was actually brought up at my parents' and grandparents' workplace rather than at home. I knew how hard it is to earn money and how important it is to save right since I was a child, even while other kids were bugging their parents to get them their favourite toys. So I guess from young, I am exposed to the ugly side of life that kids aren't supposed to know. I don't have childhood fantasies such as Santa Claus during Christmas and whatsoever. I was brought up somehow like a true blue kampong boy. Coz I am the second child in the family, and plus my parents were always busy with work since I was young. So I was always wandering around aimlessly. If not for my grandparents I guess I would be led astray from young bah.

And another thing about my family is that my parents aren't very educated. So they didn't know much about parenting and stuff a long time ago. So they brought up me and my brother as though we were twins.(Although he's older than me by 3 years). When I was a kid, whenever me and my bro were to quarrel, in a normal family, the older kid tends to get punished 1st. But in my family, both of us would get walloped upside down inside out. Haha. They were super impartial. LOL. And when my parents realised that other kids were picking up new skills, like drawing and music, they send both of us there together, although I was only 3 years old then, while my brother was already 6. And when they hired a chinese tutor for my brother when he was in P3, they did the same for me. But I was only in P1! Haha. Sounds perfectly fair, but it's not exactly so. Haha. I seem to be always doing things at least 3 years ahead of my bro. In terms of behaviour, the same applies. I wasn't really allowed to be the kid I actually was. Haha. But I am actually not resentful of the way they brought me up. In fact I'm thankful. Although it seems that I'm forced to be a kid 3 years older than I actually am, I didn't feel unfairly treated. Since, both of us usually get exactly the same stuff, I felt quite fortunate at times too. The world is fair. Haha. (Although that's bad in a sense too. They gave us the same amount to eat too! Haha. And that resulted in me expanding in the wrong directions! ) Hahahaha. Just a side-track. Haha.

Watched 超级星光大道6, and 陈以恩sang this self-composed song - 阿嬤的白头紧。

It just all seems so familiar. So touching I must say! And I really miss my grandparents.

Haha. Ok enough of all my past. Haha.

Let me sum up my year. It's mostly about NS as it's my 2nd and final year in NS.

ROC 2009

 

Alright it was more fun they tiring. Haha. It was damn fun. Haha. =D

Army Open House 2009

Enjoyable AOH, but definitely not the rehersals. Not with "COL" Thomas running around. 

APEC 2009 - Transport Sub-committee

 

This event killed my schedule and screwed my life, with the frequent last minute call-backs. Haha. But I did enjoy it! Haha. And it's just that my OC is too nice to have any complaints. Haha. Offffff....

Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2009

My first marathon of my life! Tough and damn painful but thoroughly fulfilling. 42.195km

Gatherings

TJC Shooting Club

TMS ARC Peeps

BMT Zulu Coy

TMS Peeps

With things coming to a closure in 2009, I can only hope that 2010 would be a better year. Gonna countdown with my 01 peeps tonight, got TMS ARC gathering at my house tomorrow afternoon and on 2jan, poof! I'm off to Taiwan for my long-awaited ORD holiday! And after that I will start my relief teaching stint (if nothing goes wrong.. Haha) at TJC for 6 months before going NUS. Great start to the new year! Haha. Wish everyone a wonderful new year and hope that everyone's dreams and aspirations will be fulfilled in the coming year! Cheers!

Yesterday was pretty fun. Went to celebrate Li Wen's 20th birthday. I went to Bedok to meet the rest of them 1st before heading down to Ice Cream Chef at Siglap for some nicee ice cream, despite the rainy whether. Haha.

Haha. The nutty peanut butter ice-cream with loacker's damn nice! Must try! Haha.

Anyway waited for Kang Sheng, Chris and Adam to come with the birthday cake, before heading down to Timbre @ Old School. On the way up the retarded-ly long flight of stairs up to Mount Sophia, I came across this impossibly adorable lizard. Haha.

It's damn cute I must say. Haha. Anyway headed up to Old School where we had dinner. Haha. Had lots of Pizzas and sides. The food was pretty ok, but I thought that the service could be much better. Haiz.

Chilled out at there for quite some time before they decided to head down to St James to club. But yah, me and john decided to give it a go. Don't like clubbing and stuff. Haha. But anyway it was pretty fun.

6 years of friendship and counting. Haha. So nice to meet up once in a while to catch-up on life. Thinking back, I really can't remember how all of us became good friends back at TMS. Other than the fact that most of us(not all) were in the same class, and most of us went to TJC. I really can't remember. Haha. It's more like a chain linking all of us up. We are related in some way or another. Haha. Damn interesting clique. Haha. And it seems as if Li Wen's birthday becomes like a compulsory gathering day for us each year. Haha. Nice. Hope that things do stay the same many many years down the road and yupz, friends for life! =D

Oh and I happen to see wilbur on the bus on the way to Timbre. And when I got to Timbre I saw Zhi Sheng. lol. Random sightings. Haha.

Anyway Happy 20th Birthday to my cousin Wilbur too! =D

Today's a Friday but it just seems like Saturday. Maybe coz it's Christmas and everyone's on off/leave. Haha. Just went for a 10km run with my dad at ECP. Haha. The place's packed with people. All the BBQ there.. made me damn hungry when I was running. Lol. Damn random.

Finished watching IRIS and I'm moving on to find new shows to watch. These days at home, I've got nothing to do besides watching videos. Really boring. That's why I'm always at my dad's shop. Yawnz. But then again, that's quite boring too. Haha. I need to work soon!

I think I'm quite people-phobic. I don't really like being in big crowds and stuff. Makes my head spin and I get really moody. Haha.

Merry Christmas to all! =D

Yayness. My dad sponsored me a new Canon Powershot S90 camera! I think this is Canon's step back into photography at it's basics. It's low light photography quality is awesome! It's quite close to DSLR quality for low light. Haha. It's just damn cool. Haha. Damn excited to experiment with it. Haha.

Haha. I was asking him about getting a new camera and he just asked me to go ahead and buy. Neither did my mum nag! Haha. So it's awesome. I guess it must be the season of giving! Christmas! Haha. Anyway they're so nice I think I'm gonna get karma for this. Haha. Anyway went to get it from Parkway yesterday night. Bro drove me there too, coz shun bian need to buy my X'mas present for his girlfriend, and for the 3 kiddies next door. Haha. Bought them all in 1 night! Haha. Nice. Ok now I feel damn guilty whenever I spend. I shall refrain from doing so until I get my 1st paycheck. Hahaha. LOL.

Yesterday afternoon was about suit making. Haha. Sooo ma fan I must say. Haha. Took close to 3 hrs doing all the choosing of materials, cuttings and measurements. Quite a nightmare. Haha. But thank goodness it's over. It's gonna be made in around 3 weeks. Then still have to go for fitting and alterations. Yawnzzz. Haha.

Anyway after that, went to meet my TMS ARC buddies at Changi Airport. Haha. Met Adeline, Jiepin, Vicki and Kelvin there. Just when I thought I was late, they were even later! Haha. But kinda expected though. Meet at 6.30pm = leave home at 6.30pm. Hahaha. Anyway we settled at HK Xin Wang Cafe for dinner. Haha. The food was pretty decent. Haha. I like the Yuan Yang. Nice. Haha. Talked lots of cock. Haha. We haven't met up since eons ago. Let me think. Maybe around one year? I just know that our gathering is always at Siglap area, which is the best to chill and relax. (and it's walking distance home. Hahahaha.) Yupz, lots to catch up on. Kel's in army le, and I'm OUT of it! Haha. LOL. Random. Really miss the times we used to train together in TMS. Damn memorable. All the Yishun Safra and Home Team NS training sessions were damn memorable. Really really miss those days. And yea, always feel damn relaxed with them. Haha. I can be myself. Yes myself. The crappy me. Haha. Love it. Anyway after dinner, I went to Tampines Mall to have coffee. Haha. Went to The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Haha. Had this caramel ice coffee, which I felt was too sweet. Haha. But anyway chilled out there for quite some time.

Was quite late already, but we decided to watch a midnight movie anyway. Haha. Watched Bodyguards and Assassins at Century Square. It's a pretty good movie. It's not a movie which is depicting a story. Rather, it's about showing the spirit of the chinese in the past. About how sheer determination and belief that they are sacrificing for the sake of their child's future by raising a revolution.. A pure depiction of the strength of the human spirit. Really touching at some parts and gotta admit the Kungfu part was great too. Haha. Like Ipman and stuff. Haha. Great movie. I will really recommend it to everyone. Haha.

After that cabbed Vicki and Jiepin home before going home. Haha. Really fruitful day out, but it'd been a really long day. Haha. Don't really feel tired and everything. More gatherings please! Haha. I will be damn free till Feb next year I think. Haha. =D




















Acting tourists..















P.S.(not me) I think the H1N1 flu vaccine is a fluke. Haha. I've been sneezing and coughing ever since I took the jab. Damn it's not working. Haha.

Wednesday went back to TJC for Shooting Team gathering. Haha. Thanks Ann Yi for organising it. Haha. Somehow the people there don't seem so foreign yet. Haha. Probably quite a few of them are from TMS. Haha. Had a mini-shooting style bingo and stuff. Haha. Quite entertaining. Haha. I think we should have more of such gathering. Good to see so many batches of TJC shooters together. Haha.

There's a saying that nothing is constant; the only constant is change. Haha. But I'm sure TJC hasn't changed abit since I left the college 2 years ago. The old old buildings. And they simply repainted it. And the amazing thing is that no matter what you do to the TJC buildings, they look quite retro. Haha I guess it's the design of the buildings. Haha. They must design a new building to looks retro so as to match the 32 year old buildings of the other blocks. LOL.

I'm re-considering relief teaching. Haha. I did email my resume to some organisations to request for internships, which I think will give me better experience than just teaching. And they pay around the same. But then again, pay isn't really that much of a concern for me. If I can survive on approx $650 for the past year, I'm sure I can survive on $1000 plus provided by most temporary jobs for A levels grads like me. Haha. Just hope that I get these job/intern offers. Haha.

Went for a run in the late afternoon. It's been like 1 week plus since I last ran(that was during standard chartered..).. feels a bit weird. Ran like 15km, but it felt like forever man. Haha. Quite tiring. Haha. That's the thing about running. You must run regularly, if not, it's damn tiring de. Haha. Now must muster the energy and discipline to get my legs moving again. Haha. It's not easy keeping to my schedule of runs. Haha.

Tomorrow gotta go make my suit for my cousin's wedding le. It's in a month time. Still have to do all the alterations and stuff. So troublesome. Haha. I can't understand why some people dread traditional customary, even if it's for things that you will only get to do once in your life(hopefully). Haha. My cousin's like refusing to follow many of these traditions and it's driving his parents mad. Haha. And the wedding dinner's DAMN grand. Haha. Seriously fit for a royalty. And what the heck, he's got so many MP's and Mayors coming to his wedding. Quite ridiculous and unnecessary, but whatever lah, as long as he's fine with it. Listening to how my parents and my aunt and uncle go through the details of the wedding, it's quite mind-boggling. Haha. And I think my mum's quite a pro when it comes to this type of wedding traditions. Haha. She's like a wedding-guru. Haha. I think that's a pretty good part-time job for her once she retires with my dad in a couple of years time. Haha.  

Iris ep 19 is out already, but it's not subbed in english yet. Damn.

Have been watching IRIS recently. It's a damn addictive show man! Haha. It's a Korean drama about this organisation called IRIS whose main aim is to stop the North and South Korea from meeting and unifying. As such, they benefit from these conflicts as they deal with arms trade, etc. So much espionage and distrust involved. It's damn addictive coz I really cannot predict what's about to happen next. And sometimes I'm like torn on whether a character is good or bad. There does not seem to be a clear distinction between the 2. Damn cool. Haha. Not your typical drama storyline I must say. I can say it's the best show I've watched since 痞子英雄. So far there's only up to episode 18. Can't wait for episode 19 to be uploaded! Haha.

GOODBYE

1. Sungei Gedong Camp Pass
2. Pasir Laba Camp Pass
3. Motorisation Support Unit
   
4. 11B with the 3 retarded letters - "NSF"
5. My Green pixelated uniform/coverall/half-pouch/SAR21/M113/POL/OVM (only for 1 year though.. LOL.. ICT!)
6. 2WO Jeffery Lim (and his squeaky voice)
   
7. MWO Sathe Thas (and his nonsense)
8. CPT Albert (and his APEC!)
9. MWO Joe Tan (and his flat top hair cut and nonsense)
10. Nokia E51 WITHOUT CAMERA
11. Pasir Laba Camp/Chalet/Jail (depending on which unit you are in...)
12. Book In/Out
13. Sai Kang (including digging drains/ washing M113 and Vehicle Shed/COS/APEC/AOH/BOS/Outfields)
14. Pathetic Pay (or rather allowance)

HELLO

1. House Keys
2. Pink IC 
3. 11B with the 5 beautiful letters - "NSmen"
4. My Shirt/T-shirt/shorts/jeans
5. My Family and Life
   
6. Nokia N97 WITH CAMERA
7. BRAIN 
8. A real JOB with decent pay
9. National University of Singapore

Sad that I missed today's TMS peeps gathering and Fenny's return to Singapore. Haha. Army's screwing my life. 

But then again.. Tomorrow's THE Day! The day I've been waiting for for the last 2 years EXACTLY! Hahahahaha

2 weeks to my long awaited holiday!

I've decided to join Adidas Sundown Marathon next year, despite the pain that the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon caused me. Haha. Anyone wants to run with me?

Oh and there's upcoming TJC Shooting Team Alumni gathering this Wednesday! Haha. =D

Life's gonna get better!

Yesterday went for Zulu Platoon 4 gathering! Haha. Soooo long since I last met up with them. It's been 1 yr and 9 months since! Haha. Had the gathering at Timbre@Arts House. Quite a nice place except for that it's overly crowded. Haha. After a while we decided to change a place. Yupz so we ended up at Brewerts at Riverside Point. Nice place too. The Pizza's pretty nice. And so is the beer. Haha. I rarely drink outside of home, but the beer was quite good actually. Haha. Yupz and my face turned an instant blood red. Haha. That happens to me whenever I drink even the slightest bit of alcohol. Haha. Wonder if that's a good thing or not. Haha. Anyway had a really good catch-up session with the guys. Haha. Everyone seems the same. Haha. As crappy as ever. How nice. Hahaha. So looking forward to another gathering with our pink IC's in January!

Image courtesy of Bryan and his damn cool DSLR. Haha. 

Yesterday was quite a hectic day. Woke up early (or should I say earlier than usual.. coz I'm so used to waking up at noon=D), coz I needed to report to camp to get a letter of appreciation and a small medallion for my APEC contributions. Haha. Went all the way to Sembawang Camp to get it. It was damn retarded. We waited like 4 hours for it. Yes, that's how efficient they are. What the heck. Anyway, my whole day was gone because of that. Yawnz. Alright had a small buffet dinner there that was nothing to wow about, then went home. A long trip indeed. It takes like an hour and a half to reach there, just the same amount of time I need to go back to Pasir Laba Camp. LOL.

Anyway, the moment I got back home, I received a random call from Adeline. Yes. I haven't seen her in ages. Haha. Probably after my A's bah. Haha. Adeline, Jiepin and Cherie were nearby, so yupz, just went out again to meet them. Haha. It's been so long since I last met up with them as a group. Haha. My TMS Air Rifle buddies. Haha. They were having a drink at this bar called Georges at Siglap, but I actually didn't know where it was! I've been living in Siglap for the past 20 years of my life and I was actually clueless about where it was. Haha. Anyway had a chat with them. It was damn hilarious. We keep insisting Adeline was half-drunk. LOL. There's sooo much to catch up on. Haha. Gathering anyone?

After sending them off, I got a call from my long time friend. He needed to print some pre-NS medical checklist for his medical checkup the following day. Yupz, so he came over pretty late to get his stuff done. Haha. Great friend, since primary 1 to be exact. Haha. But I just couldn't help feeling old (although we are of the same age). He's enlisting next June, while I'm ORD-ing this coming Monday. Hmm.. then again, I couldn't help but tease him. LOL. It's just me.

To think about it, time has really passed really fast! 2 years ago, at this time of the year, I've just completed my A's and preparing to enlist. And the strange thing's that it seems like just yesterday! I can still vividly remember the very day I enlisted. It was damn emo. Haha. Going to Tekong with my Dad and Bro. Then meeting this entire group of bunkmates of which I don't know a single one of them. (and coincidentally none of them were from tjc.. LOL) I can still remember all the tekan-ing, route march, horrible SFI food, PT sessions.. At that time, we seem to hope that everything could pass more quickly as it was torturous. But now, thinking back, they seem like precious memories more than torture. Yupz, my BMT bunkmates were a great bunch of people. I guess the harder the training we grow through together, the closer we get. Haha. Yupz. Great companionship indeed.

I think the sudden recent talks with my old friends is bringing back great memories. It seems like the 2 years in NS was a dream and I'm fast waking up from it. To be exact, in another 3 more days. Haha.

P.S. Oh I finally got my H1N1 flu jab. Haha. Totally random. 

Got a few photos from the Standard Chartered Singapore marathon website..

East Coast Park. The place my legs started to cramp. =(

Floating platform area. The last (but very long) stretch.. around 2km. Extremely painful experience.

It's finally over. Haha. The feelings shiok. Haha.

Wah now I know why some people feel that a Marathon is something that they will do at most ONCE in their life and never again. It's darn painful to finish the 42.195km. my legs cramped up at the 23km mark. Damn sad lah. I was like limping away. But thank goodness for the heat rub, that I could recover a bit and managed to run finish. Thought that my time was pretty decent, but could have been much better if not for the irritating cramps. Haha. Think I will try again for the adidas sundown marathon next year. =D

Yesterday was my bro's birthday. He didn't celebrate out coz today's his final exams so have to cheong. Haha. So me and his girlfriend planned a surprise for him. Haha. Nice. She popped by my house at night to give him a last minute surprise! Haha. So 体贴. Hope that's a morale booster for his final paper today. Haha.

Standard Chartered Marathon's this sunday! Hope I don't die! Hahaha.

Oh and I'm more or less done revising the Pure Maths part of H2 Maths. Haha. Well done to me.=D

And yes. 12 more days to ORD! Like finally...

Oh but did I mention I STILL have to go back camp for a day to collect my APEC medallion? YawnzZZ.. Non-stop last minute call-ups.

Life's great other than being absolutely boring. Haha.