[That night...]
My previous post was written when my brain was in desperate need of sleep, coupled with my body being loaded with Paracetamol and Pseudo-ephedrine HCL. As I read it again, I can't remember exactly what was I thinking when I wrote some of it, or what I meant.
This morning, I saw this message on my platoon mate's MSN: 那生不如死的夜晚. Translated, it means "the night I rather be dead than alive", or something like that. It's hard to capture the essence of some Chinese words/phrases in English.
What he was talking about was one of the nights we spent out in the field. I won't describe all of it, that would be boring. Just the highlights.
The 3 day/2 night exercise was our first in about 4 years (possibly more, since we had our ATEC real early when we were NSFs and that was the end of outfield for us). We moved out on Monday and I wasn't feeling too well and was fighting a throat infection since last Thursday. It may not sound like much in the real world but when you're outfield with not much to eat or drink and the environment is real dusty (armour unit/vehicles, so you can imagine), a sore throat was all you can think about.
And about the not-having-enough-to-eat-or-drink thing...Okay, so there were tons to eat, seeing how we brought tons of canned food. But I don't like eating fresh/canned food outfield because you'd need to take a dump if you ate too much. I only eat biscuits (which I couldn't now due to my sore throat) and combat rations. I was told that they add something in the combat rations so that after eating them, you'd get constipated and didn't have to poop.
Which brings me to another point: Combat rations have VASTLY improved. We have Oreos, Chipsmore, canned Milo and Nescafe now. Even biscuits with peanut butter. And cans of tuna. And best of all...M&Ms! No, I'm not bullshitting you, it's true. Melts in your mouth, not in your field-pack.
Main courses have improved as well. The "legendary" braised duck rice is gone. The menu is mostly made up of pasta and glutinous rice dishes now. Both okay to consume without heating them up. I actually finished an entire pack of chicken pasta. I can't remember the last time I ate an entire serving of combat rations. I usually eat to the point before I throw up (cause it tastes so bad) or till I feel the strength returning to my legs.
Okay, enough of the food. On our first night, the unthinkable happened: It rained. It really rained. Thunder, lightning, the works. It was like Armageddon.
As anyone who's been through NS would tell you, rain is a soldier's worst nightmare while outfield, short of losing your weapon. We couldn't all fit into our small OWS M113 and some had to take turns getting soaked. Coupled with the millions of mosquitoes buzzing around us the entire night, and how sitting in the cramped vehicle made my lower back hurt so bad tears nearly rolled down my face (it really hurt, I was grinding my teeth the whole time), it was probably one of the worst nights of my life.
My friend who came up with that message on his MSN said that there's no way we could describe in words to people how that night was without them actually experiencing it. I couldn't agree more. 10 hours of hell compressed into 1 paragraph. Doesn't do the experience justice. It was so bad, some of us would rather be dead. I couldn't wait for the sun to rise.
Day 2. Two guys from my vehicle had to leave to receive medical attention. My throat was really bothering me so I thought I'd tag along and try to get some antibiotics. All I got was some lozenges which my platoon-mate who's studying Pharmacy said was totally useless. I then got to sit and bake in a tonner for 7 hours before getting a ride back to my company. I learnt something in that 7 hours: It's better to have a hard time with people you know, than to sit on your butt with people you don't know. A message to the guys in the tonner from S1 branch: You're all wankers. Most of you are wankers.
We had our coastal hook mission on the second night/third day. Remember the opening battle scene on Saving Private Ryan? It's something like that, just not as cool. We ditched our armoured vehicles and sat in a boat for what seemed like eternity before we landed to continue our mission. Someone on the boat peed into the sea, which was funny.
After we landed, we walked for about an hour. I was carrying my GPMG. When I was an NSF, I once bashed in the forest for 11 hours with that 14kg piece of metal. I nearly passed out after walking on a track and bashing in the forest for roughly an hour, as did all the other gunners this time round. We weren't the same men we were 4 years ago.
My first outfield exercise in 4 years, and I survived.
Yesterday was out-process day. The day we get to leave it all behind again for one year until our next call-up. Last year, we fucked it up and was the last company to leave. The commanders and some of the men worked hard to be the first this time round. We did it, and was the first company to out-process. In fact, my friend who came up with that Chinese phrase was the first person of our battalion to be out-processed.
But it didn't come easy. We had a scare. One of us lost his ICT pass. We hunted high and low, and even went through the bags of rubbish at the dump, looking for it. Losing it means a fine (no big deal), but a police report has to be made and a lot of paperwork has to be done, which means a later out-process timing.
We finally found it in someone's bag. He packed it in by mistake.
[The world's changing...]
My ICT ended today. Phew. What an exhausting two weeks it's been.
One of the things I hate about being in the Army is that when you're in camp, you're more or less cut off from the outside world. The world doesn't stop, but you're taking a time-out.
I had my first ever bike ride last night. My platoon mate gave me a ride on his bike back to camp after night-off. It was pretty cool to cruise down that long straight road in LCK at night. That said, I think it's pretty dangerous to be going at the speeds a bike usually goes at with just a helmet for protection.
Most, if not all, of the people in my platoon hasn't changed much from what I could tell. The slackers were still slack, the capable ones were still capable, and the confused ones were...More confused?
I move in a different circle from most of the people in my platoon. If not for NS, I would never have met some of them. They live their lives very differently from me. Some of the stuff they said during group conversations...Let's just say I can never imagine myself doing those things, much less understand why they chose to live their lives that way.
You make your own bed, and you lie in it. And I'm not talking about house-keeping. 10 or 20 years down the road, will you look back on your life and think that you've wasted your youth?
Why upgrade your PES status if you don't intend to do what you have to do with your new PES status? You're an embarrassment. Just taking up space and looking like a crack addict.
And you. You're nothing but a short, fat boy with nothing but pockets full of your Dad's money. It's not going to last forever. Piss your life away, let's see where that gets you.
As for you, you're a faggot. Enuff said.
I heard about the whole Benoit thing from my sister when I was in camp. I was shocked, to say the least. It's sad that after 22 years of wrestling, he's probably going to be remembered for murdering his family (if that's true) and taking his own life rather than for his contributions in the ring.
[Professional playboys...]
I'm at the halfway point of my annual ICT. Got to book-out over the weekend.
We didn't really do anything new. We did what we've done before in our active NSF days. Except that it is a lot tougher now because we're not as active (physically) as we used to be. I'm hot, sweaty, dirty and sticky from 6am to 10pm everyday...Which sucked.
What I really want to mention is this person...He was back with us for ICT (we've all been in the same platoon since our active days). During one of our group conversations, the conversation was steered to the topic of "what are you doing now?" Someone asked said person, and his reply was "professional playboy". Either that or "professional gamer", I can't remember which.
During our active days, this person has a reputation for being a malinger. He also goes around telling people how many virgins he's slept with, how he doesn't use a condom (hence only virgins for him - no STDs), and how he aims to reach a certain number by a certain age. I guess what I'm trying to say is that - he's an ass.
The people in the group went on to ask him about his lifestyle as a "professional playboy/gamer" (whatever). As it turns out, he's 27, jobless for the past 4 months, and lives on $50 a week given to him by his parents. When the others expressed shock that he was able to get by on $50 a week with a girlfriend and going clubbing, he got pleased and started telling us more about his lifestyle, the details of which escapes me at the moment.
Truth is, no one's impressed by his lifestyle. Asking him to elaborate wasn't because we were impressed, but because we were disgusted by him. He had no idea and thought he was showing off for us.
What a wank. And how any girl could be attracted to such a person is beyond me.
[New chair!]
I've been looking to buy a new chair for my room for a while, seeing how my old one has a problem with the back-rest. Today I went to IKEA with my family and I bought a new one.
It's a bit of an impulse buy, I'd admit. I thought it was a good deal. It's about one and a half times bigger than my old chair, made of leather, and it cost only $128. Heck, my old chair (non-leather and smaller) cost more than that. I almost didn't get it, because I had no idea how to get it back home and paying $40 for delivery wasn't worth it.
I went to the self-serve furniture section anyway, and as it turns out, it didn't come assembled. It was packed into a box about the same size as the box that my laser printer came in, at half the height. I was pretty impressed, to be honest.
On the way to IKEA, I saw a building in Commonwealth with my secondary school's crest on it. Seems like it's relocated. Not sure if it's a permanent switch or a temporary one while they do something with the old compound.
[Do you know where you're going to...?]
Earlier today, during my driving lesson, I drove past the camp I was in when I was an NSF. My unit has since moved to a new compound, so the old camp was empty. Just sitting there, empty as can be.
I was trying hard to keep my eyes on the road, but from time to time, my eyes would drift over and glance at my old camp. The guard-room, where I spent so much time during guard-duty. The sentry post, where I stood and watched the cars along the road use the allowance at the entrance for U-turning. The parade square, where we spent so much time practicing and taking part in one meaningless parade after another...Where we would service our vehicles, during which you can tell who your real friends were. The vehicle shed, in the distance, where our armoured vehicles parked. I lost count of the number of times we had to go over early in the morning to prepare the vehicle for outfield.
As I drove on, my instructor asked me to head for this roundabout to practice my turning. I can still see my camp from the turnabout. In fact, I remember vividly the times when I was a prowler during guard duty. We would walk around the perimeter of the camp and when we were at the other end of the camp, we could see the roundabout from high above. I would feel terribly homesick at this point, looking at the flats near the turnabout. Sometimes a feeder bus would turn at the roundabout and I wished that I was on it. Just a normal person, like everyone else, on my way home. But no, I wasn't. I was on the outside, looking in. I also wondered why they built a roundabout...there. Never did I ever imagined that I could be turning a car around it, over and over again.
Singapore is a small country. You can never really leave a place behind, seeing how there's a good chance you'd pass by the place again in the future for some other reason. My family moved from Woodlands to Bukit Panjang when I was 5. As luck would have it, my ex lived behind the block I used to live in Woodlands. I haven't been back there since I was 5. I still remember some of the landmarks around the area. Some of them are no longer around. Some have changed. Few remained.
I remember having a torrid time with my studies when I was in secondary school. Back then, if you didn't get into a JC and then into University, you're considered a failure. At least, that was what I thought, thanks to the influence of less-than-opened-minded sources. Now I pass by my secondary school whenever I go to NUS and nightmares memories of my time there came flooding back. Most of them were not very good. Maybe it was my studies, maybe it was my rebellious phase...Or maybe it was just....Teenage angst. Being a teenager was tough. No matter which generation you were from.
I had problems with a particular teacher of mine. Don't we all? Singapore is a small country. I always thought that maybe one day, it'd be my time and I could have my "revenge". Yeah, that's just how I am. Unhealthy, but that's me. Pretending to be anything else would be a lie. Anyway, as I've said, Singapore is a small country. I never got my "revenge", but I know for a fact that what goes around, comes around. Singapore really is a small country. And yes, I realise I've said it a lot.
Actually, when I said I'd see my secondary school everytime I went to NUS, it isn't really true. There are two different ways for me to get to NUS. I'd see my secondary school on one of them. The other, I'd see my primary school. And yes, lots of memories too. So many things I did back then...If I could do it all over again, I would have done differently. A lot of my classmates have moved on and achieved a lot in their lives thus far. Me? I haven't been all that different since secondary school.
I'm in a rut. I need to make some changes. Once I get back from ICT, I'd probably think long and hard about my life and do some adjustments. Oh yeah, ICT for the next two weeks, expect less updates.
[Causing obstruction...] I don't understand...Why clamp a car if it causes an obstruction? Would not being able to move the car away from the spot make it less of an obstruction?
[One flew over the cuckoo's nest...]
Saw this guy on the train today. He was wearing one open fingered glove, with small spikes at the knuckle area.
I mean, seriously?
5 years ago today, I enlisted in the army. How time flies. ICT next week...That's a drag. Judging from the training schedule, it looks like there's going to be a 3-day outfield exercise. I can't think of a single thing I like about outfield. But I can think of a ton of things I don't like. Camo cream, being dirty/sweaty/sticky the whole time, going to sleep in wet clothes, sleeping on the ground (always messes with my back)...And the one thing I hate most of all. MOSQUITOS!
A bird flew into my room today while I was out. Pretty amazing, considering my windows were almost totally closed. It was a domesticated bird. Wasn't afraid of us, and when my Dad put a cage with an open door in front of it, it jumped right in.
The following video was taken by my sister.
The last time a bird flew into my room was when I was in secondary school. It was a crow if I remember correctly. I was in my room at the time. I remember freezing for about 10 seconds before running out to get a broom to coax it out of my room. It was on my bed and my blanket. I was praying for it to not poop on my bed.
[Let's get naked!]
Guess what I came across on AsiaOne's website? For some reason, I thought of the naked mile from American Pie 5.
This reminds me of the time I saw exposed breasts on TV. It was a long time ago, during the news. They were doing a story about breast cancer and they aired footage of a doctor examining a woman, without censoring anything. The newscaster did say the following footage may be "disturbing" () for some.
This other time, I was watching MTV and an episode of the Newlyweds was ending. They were showing a teaser for the next episode and it was of Nick saying "fuck" over and over at Jessica. They forgot to censor that part, and it was one and only time I ever heard "fuck" on TV.
Had my second driving lesson today. It wasn't too bad. It was a different instructor and I wasn't expecting to be driving on the roads so quickly. This new guy was way better than the first one.
I used to think that there was some magical way for cars to stay in their lane and for them to navigate turns. It seems so easy and natural when you see others drive. Turns out, it's not that easy.
I read a moody blog post today. I don't know her personally. A friend of a friend.
Which got me thinking about some things. Personally, I'm the sort of person who have goals in life and would like to achieve them by a certain time. Five years ago, when I thought about what I wanted by the time I was 25, I set some realistic (I think) goals for myself. Sadly, I haven't accomplished most of them.
I used to be rather depressed because of this. You know how some people say that if they had their life to live all over again, they wouldn't change a thing? Well, I would. I wouldn't say that I have regrets (what's the use of having regrets?), but if I had it to do all over again, I sure as hell would do some things differently.
And then I see the people around me. Some of them have it all, but they have no idea how lucky they are. Some of them have it all, but they sure as hell don't deserve it.
Then I turn my head to the other side. Some of them are worse off than I was. I guess I should feel...comforted by that? Nah...I wasn't going to take pleasure in the pain of others. Maybe I have it hard....For now. Other people have it even harder.
[Famous noodles...]
I got the following picture of what I think is a pack of noodles from Keith:
You probably have to click on it to read the words clearly. Google always scale the pictures down. It's not very clear, but I think it says you can get a "QQ" feeling after eating it. (Keith: That's what it says, right?)
[A model of inefficiency...]
I took my basic theory test today. I'm one of the last few people in my circle of friends to learn driving. I never had any motivation to do so, seeing how there isn't a car in my family, and I didn't have any spare cash lying around for lessons.
But that's not what I want to talk about. I want to talk about my experience today at BBDC. You know those jokes/bits they do about the DMV on TV and in the movies? I think some of them can be applied to BBDC as well.
For starters, this guy came to brief us on how to use the touch-screen to take the test. He's probably in his 40s or 50s (50s more likely), and for some reason, maybe he needs new glasses or something...But he kept talking to us like we were primary school kids. We know what a "touch-screen" is, you old relic. We know how to operate it. We know what "End Test" means as well. He's an embarrassment to our country as far as I'm concerned, seeing how there were a lot of expats there today (license conversion). His English absolutely sucked.
After the test, I went to queue for my PDL. I was lucky, being one of the first few to complete my BTT, I was way ahead in the queue. It was a long queue, and they only had one counter opened. The expat couple ahead of me were talking among themselves, and the guy also pointed this out.
After I've gotten my PDL, I went to book my FTT. The system wouldn't let me, saying that I have yet to pass my BTT and haven't secured my PDL. As it turns out, the Traffic Police and BBDC's systems were not linked. I had to wait for 30 minutes to ask the lady at the counter to update my account status, which took all of 10 seconds.
[Two ends of the extreme...]
I'm sure many of you have seen this clip, it's been around for a while:
He's pretty l33t. Now, on to the other end of the extreme...The dumb ones:
As for this one, I don't understand a word of it. But from the comments left behind on YouTube, this guy didn't know how many World Wars there were, two or four:
[Car alarms...]
Last night, a car alarm was going off for mostly the entire night. It wasn't directly below my block or anywhere near, so it wasn't that loud and probably did not disrupt anybody's sleep (in my block, that is). But it was disruptive enough for me to look out my window and mutter a few expletives.
To which I thought...The owner probably did not know that his car's alarm was triggered. He either could not recognise the alarm, or he thought that it was another car with the same alarm.
If you hear an alarm and thought to yourself, "that's the same alarm, but probably another car," then what's the point of installing a car alarm in the first place?
I'm sure everyone living in HDB flats have encountered this at one point or another. I have the solution for this. Let car owners record their own "alarms", much like mobile phone ring-tones. I remember when pagers first became popular. They all sound alike, and when one went off, everyone with one would check their pagers, usually clipped on their belt or something. Now we have mobile phones with customisable ring-tones, and this problem went away.
[SPAM!]
I signed up for my current Internet account in March last year. I was given two email accounts, which I never used, never gave out my addresses, and never checked.
Until today.
I checked my primary account, and there were over 900+ emails, all SPAM. Some were from overseas, some were from local banks, websites, etc. My secondary account has some spam too, but less than 40 I think.
Which begs the question...How did that happen?
I never gave out the addresses, never signed up for anything using them, never accessed them even, until today. Spam from local websites and banks. Interesting...I wonder how they got my email.
[How we changed...]
I remember when I first switched over to Gmail. Two things irritated the hell out of me: the lack of folders and the "conversation view" instead of the traditional way of reading emails.
I'm still miffed about not having folders to organise my emails in. "Labels" really don't cut it. But I've grown to love the conversation view. Really helps when you have to email back and forth.
Broken for now. :( If anyone knows of a good way to display tweets without using Twitter's awful looking widgets, please let me know. Preferably something that allows me to retrieve my tweets in plain-text format.
What's this about?
Anything and everything under the sun. I write about my day, my thoughts, things I see in public, things to get off my chest, or sometimes just some senseless rants that make sense only to me.
About Me
30 year old male. Always with too many ideas in his head and too little time. For my 15 minutes of fame, I want to be a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman.
Interests
Movies, TV, cycling, computers, planted tanks, cherry shrimps, P2P legal issues, Manchester United, WWE, TNA, UFC, etc...
Disclaimer
Best viewed @ 1280*1024 or above. Views are expressed are mine and mine only, and are not meant to offend or influence anyone. Designed for readers with a sense of humour. If you can't laugh at yourself, you probably won't like my style of humour.
Judging from the training schedule, it looks like there's going to be a 3-day outfield exercise. I can't think of a single thing I like about outfield. But I can think of a ton of things I don't like. Camo cream, being dirty/sweaty/sticky the whole time, going to sleep in wet clothes, sleeping on the ground (always messes with my back)...And the one thing I hate most of all. MOSQUITOS!
What an exhausting two weeks it's been.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that - he's an ass. 
The vehicle shed, in the distance, where our armoured vehicles parked. I lost count of the number of times we had to go over early in the morning to prepare the vehicle for outfield.
) for some. 
We know how to operate it. We know what "End Test" means as well. He's an embarrassment to our country as far as I'm concerned, seeing how there were a lot of expats there today (license conversion). His English absolutely sucked.