A joke which I heard from somewhere:


Have a great weekend everyone!

Of tears & joy


Well, it's already been 5 months since I first embarked on this new journey and it's actually been a really rough ride all the way. But I'm not going to dwell on negative stuff here, but rather the good things which I have found along the way.

Oddly enough, the past 2 months have been rather interesting and fun because there are a lot more things to enjoy and with good company, it just makes everything that much better. Today marked the end of this wonderful journey, and I honestly will miss everyone and everything which/who I have come to love. All the weird stuff and funny things we do to each other; I will really miss them all. New friends and old friends will not be forgotten, and I'm really glad that I'm in the Platoon which I am in now. Even though two halves of us come from different companies, I think we really made it good together throughout our stay together.

We might all go our separate ways to different places, like my buddy Zong Han said: even though the banquet is over, it is just the beginning of a new journey(hahaha, or something like that... he said it in Mandarin, and you all know my grasp of Mandarin is like holding a wet bar of soap; really bad)

And indeed there will be new beginnings for everybody!
For myself? A lot of friends say that I can actually strive for something higher to crossover from where I am, even my superiors expected me to crossover. I didn't know that so many people supported me, and I unknowingly let them down by not passing out. Well, there's one more chance for me to prove myself, and whether I make it or if I dont', I will know that I really put my all into everything and I will make Platoon 2 or the 53rd batch proud!

Monsters in your pocket

After all the high-key events have been over and done with, the inhabitants of Section 2 decided to chill out and think of something to play. After some discussion about childhood toys and experiences, Zhi Yu brought up the topic of Pokemon, which we all know and love so much eons ago. Those cute (and some not so cute) monsters and like which live inside our Gameboys and Nintendo DS. Those were the days when most of the kids all were seen walking around with their parents holding a Gameboy to play regardless whether are walking, eating, talking or even sleeping. The thrill of training up 6 different Pokemon to use to defeat countless baddies and irritating villains was just the norm last time. Now with all the new versions coming out, Diamond, Sapphire, Platinum, Gold, the list goes on and on and on, but the love of these characters never seems to cease.

Once the whole franchise expanded into the virtual world, it began to influence the card game industry, and the Pokemon Trading Card Game began its rule over the whole world(or the gamer world at least). It started out with the very first 151 Pokemon cards, then came all the millions and gazillion more newer cards and Pokemon.
Finally, just about a week ago, the old interest of this game got revived in the bunk and now, more and more Pokemon card decks are starting to appear. Daryl even spent money just to buy his very own starter deck just to join in the fun. I myself don't have any deck to start with, but Zong Han kindly lent me his incredible grass-type deck(for obvious reasons =P) and the Pokemon fire just got bigger and bigger with each passing day. I won't be surprised that there will be a tournament of sorts held in our bunk due to the sheer number of decks being brought in. So imagine 20 year old guys (all commanders-to-be, mind you) gathered around a table, with cards spread out and flipping coins, just to pass the time. What a wonderful way to bid farewell to the 2 months of training we all have gone through.

Anyways, I have downloaded the old Pokemon Trading Card Game into my computer, so despite having no physical deck on hand, I have my own virtual one! =P Oh man, can you say peer pressure?

Plop!


The rainy season seems to be upon us already. It has been pouring quite often, not that I'm complaining, but it kind of hinders training and the schedule always gets pushed back due to the weather. Fortunately, lessons and lectures seem to be the norm for almost everyday, so there's not much to worry about.

A few interesting things happened over the week, and one of them is the donning of a hip-hop suit coupled with a gas-mask. It was really fun to go through the whole experience, and look ridiculously weird/cool at the same time. The feeling of tear gas is really new, like a trillion needles prickling your skin at the same time, and it causes your tear glands to excrete the transparent liquid which we all know as tears(tear gas,duh...) It was a good day nonetheless and fresh air never felt so great entering my lungs.

Walking around in the forest is also not that fun either. With soft and muddy ground, the result is ending up with muddy boots, socks and pants. Nine full hours of my life spent in the jungle is nothing new to me, but walking around the tough terrain is a whole different story. With creeping bamboo everywhere, ready to snag unlucky cadets, it's an experience which I hope I won't have to relive anytime soon. At least I had a good time with my buddies along the way and walking around at night really brings out a new side of me. But hey, I'm still human, so being paranoid(overly) is totally fine right?

Well, after being plopped down for over a month now, life is slowly getting easier, learning more things, getting more and more serious by the day as well. But after this one more month, hopefully I can move on to something new where I can learn a whole of new stuff and feed my brain with new information. =)

Moeyvation


Moeyvation /'moei-vey-shuh-n/ -noun
1. the act or instance of motivating
2. something that motivates, inducement

Its week two of my new posting into one of the western camps in Singapore. Although not the most prestigious of them all, it's still a place where I can still learn to hone my skills of becoming a leader. A lot has happened, but I'm thankful for a few things; that my bunkmates are all from the same platoon as last time, so there isn't much of a need to make friends all over again. Honeymoon week was definitely good of course, and the idea of entering and leaving camp in normal humane clothes is also a good thing.

Where I am right now, marching is essentially part of everyday life, and literally everywhere we go because you can't just gallivant down the road to the next lesson as if you would at Orchard Road. Songs have to be sung out as well while doing so, and thus I have to refresh my memory due to 1 whole week of non-military contact, not that I am complaining though.

So there is this one song which has the word 'motivated' in it, and since my surname's pronunciation is so close to this word, we thought: why not substitute my surname instead. Now, we're singing this song with my name in it, and I dare say that I am absolutely honoured, hahahha, but thanks to the guys for coming with such things. Thanks to Zhi Yu for the wonderful drawing as well due to our boredom. *note: the thing sticking out from the bottom is nothing more than a bayonet(knife)* =P

More silly stuff to come.

Thanks...



We will all be moving on to different paths soon, be they good or not so good vocations, hang in there!

Left-Foot. Right-Foot

Sixteen kilometers of marching around can really put one in a disoriented state and really suck out all the breath from your lungs. Hiking this distance will probably be quite simple and enjoyable minus the presence of a nearly-20 kilo load hanging off your shoulders all the way.
However, looking back, I think it's actually a huge achievement for all of us to complete it together. From morning till afternoon, none of us gave up and our morale was still high halfway through, so it was a really good march for the whole lot of us! Was chatting with Benny and he is really enjoying his work right now, and sends his regards to all of us and is really proud that all of us have gotten stronger! Thanks bro.

Now the only results are a good few blisters for souvenirs on the soles and stinky clothes. Other than that, there's nothing much to complain about. This phase is also drawing to a close real soon and we will all be moving on to different places. Keeping that in mind, there's still quite a ways to go before we end, so it will be a good experience wherever we go. Ganbatte~!