deleted the last post. it was too emo and no matter what the situation is, its just not right to air my dirty linen in public.

I guess things are not as bad as I expected. Thats good I guess.

I like the esplanade rooftop and the bayfront area.
The view is nice there.
I like to sit there and think.
From the coming of dawn to the recesses of the night.
I like it then.

Sometimes..
Aspirations don't stand up to reality.
Fears and pride preceed providence.
Fairy tales remain tales.
Lonely hearts that weep but do not seek.

goodbye.

life at nee soon camp

Man I'm so loving it at Nee Soon camp.

- The bunk is wonderful, spacious, clean and my bed is next to the window with fresh air breezing in all the time
- Stay out, stay out, stay out! (legally this time!)
- Theres nothing much to do.

I've been reading rather voraciously these past few days. Finished "Middlesex", "Kafka on the shore", "Myths and Mythology of South-east Asia" and two magazines. Now starting on "The Harmony Silk Factory" with the January issue of "Men's health", "Fundsupermart" and "The Smart Investor" 2005 on the sides. Yummy.

back to Nee Soon Camp

Yes I just found out on Friday that I will be going to Nee Soon camp for a month to cover the combat engineer guys for their C4 course. How fun.

Friday was Support company's compass course and it rained the whole day! Reached back to camp at about 11.30 and packed my stuff the big move on Monday morning. By that time, it was already too late to go home. There was also a cover which I needed to do the next morning so I decided to stay in. Finally moved in to my new bunk.

Went for the riding theory classes after booking out and while it was rather boring, there were quite a few comical moments. For example, the students were naming questions to be discussed after we finished marking our work and this bhangla (not an insult. i really think he was a bhangladeshi worker) was damn cute. HAH!

Bhangla: "question 13!"

The screen changes to reflect question 13 which went like this:

Qn: The visor is worn to:
(a) Protect your eyes from dirt and debris
(b) Look cool
(c) Show that you are professional.

Lol. The whole class was laughing at him which was rather mean but couldn't be helped. Of course I was laughing my head off also.

I was lying on my bed when I got home, reading a chapter of a book. After I put the book down, I woke up to find out that it was already morning. That sure was shocking. I had fallen asleep just like that. Instantly. With my glasses and the lights on. Whats more, it was only like 9pm. Man. That was kind of scary. Losing consciousness so easily. Maybe I shouldn't have laughed at that Bhangla. Maybe? Nah. It was worth it. Hahahahha

investment.

Today marks a significant day for me.
Today marked the start of me investing.

Went to the bank to apply for my debit card and got engrossed in the savings/investment/insurance plan. Thats cause I've been wanting to invest in such an item for god knows how long. Anyway, had a good long talk with the financial advisor. Thank god for all my prior research and study of finance. I'll be investing $100 a month for 15 years. The projected return per annum is about 10% which is really alot. Just for information, the money that you put in the bank earns you only about 0.03% interest. Whats more, the interest will be compounded. Lets my current investment; Templeton global bonds and equities does well.

On another subject together, I'm damn tired after all that walking and running in the rain. Whats sad is that I still have to go back to camp tonight cause I have to wake up damn early tomorrow for compass course which ends at 1130pm. Oh well. Its quite amazing how I'm quite blase about it already. Being in the army for about 11 months, I have learnt not to be too hopeful for any free time. Adieu people.

random musings

As the title suggest, I'm going to talk about things at random, some of which have no relation to each other whatsoever.

• The morphing of the sky when evening beckons simply captivates me
• Next week's field camp is cancelled! hurrah!
• I got my jungle hat
• Sometimes the simplest things in life really fills you up with joy (refer to the first point for an example). These kind of joy can never be replaced by material comfort.
• I might be staying at Nee Soon camp for a month to cover the C4 guys for the duration of their course.
• I'm going to apply for my internet-enabled debit card tomorrow!

KEKEKEKE!

gloomy dye

Went to marine parade at about 9pm to return my borrowed DVDs and to find a present for my sis. Ran into Nora who was working at Esprit.

Nora: "Who are you with? You're here alone?" *with an incredulous expression*

That did bring me back to reality again. I guess I have been going out alone alot. Sounds sad. I'm 19 and I don't have a girlfriend. The person closest to being my gf is ambivalent and I don't even see how its going to work out.

I remember back when I when I was 14. Fat, face full of acne with average grades. I wondered how I was going to find a gf in that condition. Fast forward it to the present. I have pecs, people compliment me on my looks, I have grades that many dream of. The difference in my love life? Nothing much. Sure theres girls who have crushes on me but thats just meaningless when they are not the ones or types that suit me. I refuse to believe that all this is a result of me being picky. I'm hitting 20 this year. Perhaps ten years down the road, its time for me to marry. This sucks. I know I should be taking my time to find a nice gf but hey I was only attached once in my whole life and that was like for a month. A few flings and thats about it.

guess who's back?

yeah baby I'm back from my 3 days field camp in the jungles of Tekong. Wasn't as bad as I expected lah. Guess the numerous times that I have went for field camps has lessened its negative psychological effects on me. I even managed to catch up on my reading by covering about 200+ pages of Middlesex. Not a bad book at all.

The highlight of the camp was the turnout at 4am in the morning. I'm not going to go into details on what happened but lets just say that the silence of the night was shattered by the booming sounds of explosives and the pitch-black campsite was lighted up in a sea of bright yellow. It was also the fastest packing up from a campsite that I have ever seen.

Found out that I would be going for 2 more field camps though. A patrol field camp two weeks later and another for the C4 platoon, both of them being five days long. :(

Gonna try to enjoy my weekend as much as I can. Going to curl up with a good read and finish watching "Hard Candy". Yes. My weekend on a shoestring.

hello hello 2007

hello hello 2007!

Wow. 2006 is over just like that. Time sure flies. The dawning of 2007 brings a closure to the events of the previous year; the joys and fears. Now, the hopes for the new year arises.

Lets take a look at my resolutions for 2006.

Get my six pack before NS DONE (but the effects apparently didn't last)
Get a job before NS DONE
Give my darnest best for NS PENDING
Be more pious i.e. not missing prayers and sinning NOT DONE
Be more patient and learn to control my temper DEFINATELY NOT DONE
Buy an X-box 360 CHANGED MY MIND ABOUT BUYING IT
Talk to ALL my friends more often NOT DONE
Upgrade the graphics card of my com and maybe the RAM too DONE
Read the entire series of Rich Dad, Poor Dad NOT DONE
Start investing NOT DONE

GOALS FOR 2007!

Fitness

• Get my six pacs by March. (and to maintain it!)
• to work out at least twice a week. (inclusive of gym-ing at least once a week)
• Silver for IPPT

Personal

• to control my temper and impatience
• to have a smile on my face more often
• shop less, spend less
• get bike license
• get a proper notebook to sore my poetry in
• save at least $150 a month
• to have two notebooks for composing poetry. One in camp and one at home
• be more humble
• maintain the tidiness of my room
• to have a weekly goal setting on Monday and review on Sunday
• to not look down on people
• daily self reflection on what was good, bad and what can be improved.
• volunteer

Relationships

• get a girlfriend
• treat the people around me better

Religion

• pray five times a day, everyday

Education

• get into Law faculty

Okok anyway I can't help but write this down. I saw one of the hot girls that I blogged about on the previous post at Parkway Parade. She was with her family so I didn't talk to her though.