Timothy Chow
 VanquishShadow
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22 August 2009 1.12am Saturday

I'm shifting over the http://margarita-and-mojito.blogspot.com/. See you there!

28 July 2009 10.46am Tuesday

Gotta start planning my transition to a true-blue civilian. What I need:

• new data-capable handphone
• notebook computer (this one is more for uni, MacBook?)
• >320GB portable hard disk to bring all my files
• short regional getaway during the coming block leave (Ipoh/Cameron/Bintan/Kinbalu?)
• longer backpacking getaway next year (Europe!)
• exotic mountain-climbing getaway to Kilimanjaro!
• wardrobe refreshment, sans the pixelised green uniform!
• $ to make all the above possible (sell the Scott, sell the Scott!)

27 July 2009 10.07pm Monday

A quiet solitary walk, with a destination but barely a purpose. An experience nonetheless. The remaining light drizzle and the smell of the rain just past. Shallow puddles on the pavement, like water collected on a flattened palm. Not much, just a little.

13 July 2009 9.00pm Monday

I could actually start a home-bar. I've got:

• a bottle of XO Courvoisier cognac that I just transferred into the decanter
• a bottle of XO Chabot armagnac
• four bottles of VSOP Martell cognac
• a bottle of Jose Cuervo tequila
• a half-bottle of Kahlua coffee liquer
• a relatively new bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream to go with my coffee (thanks Xian Bin!)
• a bottle of Cointreau orange liquer
• a bottle of Singapore Sling
• a bottle of Suntory 16 year whiskey
• a bottle of some ginseng wine
• a bottle of Ramazzotti
• a bottle of Black Opal 1993 which has probably gone off since I don't have a wine chiller, but still good for cooking use
• six cans of Heineken (thanks XB again, hey you got to go overseas four times in your second NSF year, while it's zilch for me!)

I probably just need rum and vodka and we're good to go. Bring your own mixers please. And no, green tea is NOT on the list of permitted mixers. We raised the Hennessy promoter's eyebrows at Double O when we asked for Sprite, but c'mon Sprite is definitely a better mixer than green tea PLEASE. Who dares to disagree, DRINKS ON YOU.

Welcome to the HomeBar.

I can't offer you cushy chairs like my nearby competitor LiquidKitchen, but I can offer you a nice velvety sofa from IKEA. I can't offer you stunning views of the Singapore skyline like City Space, but I can offer you an obstructed view of the MacRitchie Reservoir, plus most of the Orchard Road skyline. Hey, actually, it sounds pretty good. And uhh (drum-roll for deal clincher for all Singaporean drivers...) there's FREE PARKING! Whoopee!

12 July 2009 12.13am Sunday

Polished both of my bikes this evening. The Scott roadie looks pretty lovely with a nice sheen, but I'm unable to create the same level of gloss on the Bulls MTB. If I'm indeed going overseas to study, I'm not sure if I'm going to be keeping them. Probably sell away at least one, but both have their own attachments and experiences. Hard call.

Actually I quite like a gloss white frame. A slightly rare brand, like a Voodoo, Scott, Ellsworth, Specialized... or a custom paint job, gloss white with dark blue POLICE lettering on the down tube. Haha. Hydraulic disc brakes, Vredestein Perfect Moirees... sweet. I really don't mind. But the attachment to my two current bikes, simply too strong. Plus the rotting old Giant Yukon taking up space in the corner, which my dad got, used for like 3 times, and promptly left it to rot. Geesh.

Watched Own Time Own Target today, with Jie Liang and Xian Bin. Tipping in at a total of 2.5 hours, it's really quite long, but overall quite entertaining. Glad to have caught it. Collected the 'home-made' 66th GFAC course photos from Kim Tian, lovely photos once again. The quality is so much better than the 20 free printouts from Snapfish, and is also fairly better than the self-service machine printout from the Thomson Plaza Kodak lab. It's pretty out-of-the-way, but Kim Tian still does it better than anyone so far.

07 July 2009 10.06pm Monday

Terrible news.. My dear Geocities is about to fold up. Not sure what I'll do in order to host my site, maybe go back to Tripod (I can't recall why I left Tripod in the first place, could someone job my memory please? Was it the ads that were too irritating?) but this is rather troublesome. Perhaps it's time to jump onto the Blogspot bandwagon after all.

06 July 2009 9.00am Monday

For interest's sake, here's a demonstration of the effect of a circular polarizer, since Yi Zhang was curious.

The top image is when the polarizer is adjusted to have no effect. You can see the reflection of the ambient lighting on the watch face. In the bottom image, the polarizer has been adjusted to maximum effect. There is no longer a visible reflection on the watch face, and you can see the watch dial much more clearly. However, the overall photo is slightly darker.

04 July 2009 10.47am Saturday

Happy Independence Day!

Caught up with Jason, Ky, Zh, Paul Lim, Cjy, Aaron & Auyong on Wednesday. We agreed to meet at Plaza Singapure but initially we couldn't decide where to eat...

Swensen's - quite boring
Cafe Cartel - very boring
Manhattan Fish Market - getting boring

In the end we settled on Kublai Khan buffet at Park Mall. Initially uncertain because I had read mixed reviews online, it turned out pretty okay. Their signature is the Mongolian-style BBQ, where you have a choice of beef, chicken or mutton, and you mix it with a selection of veggies, and they help you add four types of condiments, ginger juice, garlic juice and two other juices, and then they BBQ it over it a massive 'hot-plate'. Their choc fondue was also quite delectable, although I don't tend to fancy choc fondues on the whole. But theirs was nice.

Great catching up with everyone - Jason finally got his haircut! - and listening to interesting tales of 'except plasma'. Oh boy. It's great to hangout on weekdays cos places are not crazily crowded like they are on weekends.

Then on Friday I met Walter, eventually settling on Hairloom & Caramel for dinner. Okay, some people are quite aghast at the idea of having a hairdresser and a cafe adjacent, but really, it's not a problem. As long as they don't start serving fatt choy at the cafe, everything's fine :)

Interestingly, Caramel seems to attract a disproportionate number of women. We were around from 7 plus to nearly 10, and I think there were at most 3 other male customers but at least 20 female ones. So Jameson if you want chiobu you know where to start hanging out. Heh.

The premises are pretty quaint with interesting decorations on the walls with a hint of whimsicality. Tables in different colours and a variety of chairs at each table make Caramel a nice place to hangout. The food menu isn't extensive, but also isn't expensive. The drinks menu is slightly more extensive, but similarly slightly expensive. Despite the limited seating, it's slightly out-of-the-way location and relaxed atmosphere make it a perfect place for a slow, enjoyable dinner. Sure beats going to Marche at Vivocity, which I understand is notorious for it's long long queues. Thanks Val for the recommendation!

Sidenote, I can't believe that DELTA insists their cadets must wear pleated black pants! Omg, seriously what is wrong with flat front???

Second sidenote, I finally finished Arundhati Roy's The God of Small Things. According to Lex (a fellow trainee on my course), Indian authors have a tendency for long and draggy descriptions. Boy do I agree. It was agonizing to finish it.

29 June 2009 9.45pm Monday

L'Disgruntlementes

Went to see the Da Vinci exhibition at the Science Centre on Saturday. It's a fairly interesting exhibition, perhaps let down slightly by the lack of strict adherence to Da Vinci's penned ideas in the wooden models on display. Isn't it ironic that a few centuries later we're churning out more mediocre stuff than DV had thought of during his lifetime?

But that is hardly my grouse. I just can't understand why some people think they are transparent. I'm standing like half a metre away from the description of the exhibit, and someone inconceivably cuts in front of me and obscures my view. It happened quite a few times, even though I took pains to make it very obvious that I was reading the captions.

Upon boarding a bus during the weekend past, I got up only to encounter a pair of legs belonging to a women finely positioned such that she blocked half of the bus's central aisle. (In case you are wondering, yea the legs were attached to the women) She was seated quite far front at the backward-facing seats, and apparently was completely ignorant to the fact that she was getting in the way of every single dour-faced passenger trying to navigate past her buttress roots legs.

Similar, on Sunday I was the only one waiting at the 166 bus stop near Funan on my way home, when a group of four people came over and helpfully shielded my entire field of view of incoming buses. They philanthropically stood there talking for a rather long time.

And it's quite amazing that at this day and age people can still demonstrate that their music players are very good and have wonderfully tinny sound and that their music taste is damn great, by entertaining a whole bus at peak hour by playing their music out load.

27 June 2009 10.09am Saturday

Caught the ultra-hyped Transformers II with the canoe dudes yesterday. Frankly, the overall package isn't as well put-together as the first movie. Sure, this one is action-packed with bigger explosions, bigger robots and bigger everything than its prequel, but Transformers I was definitely a more wholesome movie.

It doesn't deserve the 0.5 star rating given by Life! film correspondent John Lui - those who read the movie review are probably left quite perplexed over his allusion to tractors having sex - but it's probably a mediocre 2.5.

Sure you have Megan Fox (although I'd say you don't get to see enough of her - can you ever get enough of her?) and a college slut as eye candy (that is one awesome co-ed college dorm), lots of metal-versus-metal grinding, jarring and smashing, a massive amount of pyrotechnics and enough air support to make a GFAC-trainee wet his pants (no I didn't), but the plot is rather haphazardly strung together with a crippling lack of character development and plot loopholes bigger than Devastator's vortex capabilities.

The first film had nice touches - who can ever forget Fox bending over to check out Bumbleebee engine (while all of us were checking out something else), and also the little sweet spots such as Bumblebee playing The Car's Drive and Shia telling Fox when they were in Bumblebee that she should get buckled up (with him). These interjections were refreshing intermissions against the wave after wave of intense action. The sequel lacks this, perhaps save for Fox literally getting a grip on the Wheelie and putting a leash on it, and Wheelie later cuddling up to her and proclaiming her a "warrior goddess". Lol.

Overall, it's a must-watch because it's Transformers II (and besides, you are going to watch it anyway), but it's not something that I'd watch a second time, even on DVD.

21 June 2009 19.33pm Sunday

Yesterday night we went to Ricciotti at Riverwalk for Father's Day dinner. Actually from what I know the place specialises in pasta and pizza, but because the set menu was convenient (and value-for-money) we ended having a seabass, a steak and a gnocchi dish. Interesting how distractive promotions can take you away from your original intent. The appetizer was either carpaccio, which my dad and I had, or soup of the day, which my mum chose. The yellow colour of the soup fooled my mum into initially thinking it was pumpkin soon. I sampled a spoonful and was pretty adamant it didn't taste like pumpkin. Upon checking it up with the waiter we found out it was carrot and prawn. The carpaccio was the first time I've eaten raw beef!

Today was SAFRA Runway Cycling. Inclusive of this year, I've taken part for three years already. 45km again, this time only joined by Sheng Lin and Jenson as many of the regular 'old guard' were not able to make it. Met Basil Edward and Alex Liew who were both on duty, it's nice to catch up with old friends. In fact, I even met up with Glen, the seller of my MET Ippogrifo! Since it was Fathers' Day they also had some fringe events involving the daddies. Some of them were really sporting and it was good fun and laughter.

Popped by camp thereafter but didn't manage to find what I wanted, before I went home. Total distance covered today was a grand ~91km, which is quite a bit considering I can't really recall when was the last time I cycled.

16 June 2009 10.09pm Tuesday

Okay, it's been a while. A whole month in fact. Guangyan pointed out that I blogged more during OCS than I am doing now. Quite true.

Anyway, any NS guys need new New Balance (pun not intended) running shoes?

http://www.nbrun.com.sg/edm/GSS/index.html

Just get 3 other mates along, wear your SAF-issued New Balance shoes, and you've got yourself a 40% discount! I think it covers *most* of their sport shoe collection, so it's actually a pretty good deal!

16 May 2009 11.31am Saturday

Introducing, Hadley and Hullett!

I am bored.

Bought myself a new handphone, the black Nokia 1661, last week. Finally something half-decent that doesn't have a camera and doesn't break the bank. My old 6100's keypad is still much better, admittedly, but the 1661's keypad is still useable and fairly ergonomic. Comes with a useful flashlight function and an FM radio which I will probably never use.

08 May 2009 6.02pm Sunday

Back early because of Bn Anniversary celebrations at SAFRA Yishun this morning. Took part in the Air Rifle contest, shot pretty okay with 47, 50, 49, 49, although all of us were using the bigger target cards. CJY if you are reading this you have to teach me the techniques of shooting precision!

We had lunch after and then wanted to find a LAN shop. We went to the row of shophouses that houses Vittles. Today was the first time I found a members-only LAN shop! And the best thing was that, even if you applied today, the earliest your membership validity could kick into effect was one week later! Talk about some exklusiv LAN shop man.

By a pure coincidence last weekend (or maybe because of some planetary alignment), both my mum and I decided to buy bak kwa on Friday! But I got 500g of the stuff for around 50c more than the 300g my mum bought, so clearly I snared the better deal. For this face-off we also came to the conclusion that the Fragrance brand was nicer than Lim Chee Guan. No more bak kwa for some time to come. There was such an oversupply that I contemplated trying to do a spaghetti with bak kwa strips. Hey, if you can do bacon strips, then bak kwa strips ought to be swell.

I am now sipping a one part Choya Plum, two parts soda water (and lots of ice) concoction recommended by S2. It's not bad actually.

03 May 2009 3.38pm Sunday

Random Five Wishlist:

1. A yellow Chevrolet Camaro, with racing stripes of course =)
2. A MacBook
3. Slim-fit low-rise deep dark indigo wash jeans
4. Bling bling belt (a la Munkustrap in CATS)
5. ORD!!

Driving is certainly therapeutic. Been a while since I've had a chance to drive, and although an Altis isn't a Mini Convertible, it's still relaxing to cruise down long roads with sparse traffic at night. Throw the notions of environmental friendliness into your boot for an evening, and loose some long-forgotten revs from under that hood. Ahhh... =)

02 May 2009 12.33pm Saturday

There's a donation box at Novena Square 2 for old spectacles. Among a large number of spectacle cases inside, I also saw a CATS the Musical brochure. Perhaps someone thought that it was more apt to tackle the problem of myopia at its roots...

Watched CATS at the Esplanade on the 19th. The stage setup is very elaborate and the lighting effects are quite cool, but on the whole I think there's too much going on at any one time. Thankfully I had taken a nap that Sunday afternoon, or else I would have certainly fallen asleep, especially for the first half before the the intermission. The second half was more engaging, and slightly more enjoyable, but on the whole CATS wasn't my cup of tea. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is better with its catchier songs and it is less visually-overloaded.

Yesterday, Guangyan passed me a wicked green laser that can shine a solid beam right into MacRitchie Reservoir. Power! Later on I met the Prefect Exco gang for dinner and to watch Poop! by the Finger Players at Esplanade Theatre Studio. Great to catch up with everyone and reminisce over the old days and to share new stories. Werm is still the most GEP of us all! Suddenly, he remarks, 'Is that boat full of people?'. Do you still remember think.ri?

Apparently the 'dot' meant Dimensions of Thinking. Completely forgot about that one except New Day New Discovery. Lol.

Was actually very tired because of having duty the previous day and leaving camp only around noon, but being with great company always rejuvenates. Though on the bus back home I missed my stop, albeit by just one.

Was early going to town after meeting Guangyan and had wanted to rest at the library, but found out to my dismay it was closed! Walked around the new mall Illuma, but there's nothing much there but a lot of fashion retail outlets.

17 April 2009 10.30pm Friday

Why does it never seem to end? A crazy week, and we're only just ramping up to prepare for ATEC.

Monday worked till 11pm
Tuesday past midnight
Wednesday stopped at 9.30pm only because of Live Firing the next day
Thursday whole day out at Live Firing, got back 1+am, and only managed to sleep at 3am because had to settle some 'fire' pertaining to training on Monday.
Friday drag my lazy ass out of bed at 7.30 and pulled myself through the day.
Fell asleep on both the 171 and the 980 on the way home and luckily woke up just at the right bus stop.

Got home and just hit the sack all the way until now, no dinner nothing.

Had a late dinner discussion one of the evenings with Shaun Yap (yes, late dinner such that they turned off the cookhouse lights midway through, sigh), just simply don't understand why work never ever seems to end. It's come to the point that many people have turned paranoid and refuse to answer any calls coming from the camp fixed line telephone number (for good measure).

It's come to the point whereby you try to take a two hour nap after doing a tiring day of weekday duty, but get interrupted by four or five phone calls within the first hour, such that you just give up resting and drag yourself down again.

It's come to the point that, as a DyPSO, you actually prefer burning a weekend doing duty than to attempt to balance your normal work while being Duty Officer on a weekday.

And it's come to the point where there's so little work-life balance you might as well consider it zilch. Had not a moment to touch my Spanish this week, and the only major physical activity I engaged in was to have a recurrence of my shoulder injury while trying to clear my SOC on Wednesday. 84 days of SOC excuse and an appointment with a specialist coming up.

What a hellish week.

12 April 2009 8.09pm Sunday

Too much reality

When was the last time you wrote a creative, fictitious piece of writing? Today I'm trying to compose a short story incorporating a few Spanish irregular verbs that I learnt yesterday, but I'm getting stuck with some writer's block. Realised that I haven't written a story for ages! Has life become too real? Can we live the dream?

11 April 2009 9.10pm Saturday

Dropped by the new Tampines 1 mall after Spanish class today. The Uniqlo queue is so crazy that I gave up instantly. Perhaps I will return next Saturday. Some things that caught my spending radar were a nice Sugoi sleeveless top going at 20% off at Running Lab, and a nice pair of jeans at Messy. Also need to factor in budget to buy a good backpack to go overseas the end of this year. Looks like my $200 from IPPT will be gone rather quickly. =(

09 April 2009 10.26pm Thursday

A nice long weekend! Managed to clear my IPPT today, so I won't have to worry about it any more. Ran a 9:02 for 2.4km, which sadly doesn't let me brag that I'm a 8-something runner, but it's good enough. Been quite a crazy week, with so much on. The Trainfire programme is possibly driving me bonkers.

04 April 2009 9.24pm Saturday

Finally, Uniqlo is opening in Singapore! On duty again tomorrow. The last of six duties while the Bn was up in Brunei. And Zuo Jie doesn't want to give points for this period?!?! Zomg.

22 March 2009 8.08pm Sunday

Zhng your printer:

My new Cannondale laser printer!

The rest of the Battalion has gone overseas, leaving me and a few others behind. Need to cover for the rest of my branch while they are away, and in the past week I've basically done a tour of duty of Ops Sgt and Ops Spec jobs. The dudes up in Brunei think we're having a good time, I would quite disagree.

Got a throat infection after doing duty on Thursday, meaning I turned up for my Spanish class on Saturday sounding quite horribly hoarse. Supposed to catch up on my running regime, but in this state, it was quite unlikely. Instead, I decided to walk today to catch some sun and fresh air.

I basically went from my place to Adam Dr (near the Lornie flyover) and back. Decided to be a bit curious and walked into Adam Dr. It is a lovely reclusive place with colonial bungalows sporting their trademark black-and-white blinds. How I would love to have a house like that in the future!

Okay, having Lornie Road as your main road is probably less than ideal, considering the narrow lanes and winding nature of the road, but inside Adam Dr it's almost like you're in a forgotten bubble, nestled within vegetation and serenity. Just imagine cruising in and out of your black-and-white in a maroon Mini convertible...

Finally had some time to work in the kitchen, and this is tonight's dinner:

Baked fish with grilled pineapples, kiwi salad and tomato-flavoured rice. Yummy. One of the more photogenic mealsets to have arisen from my kitchen.

07 March 2009 4.22pm Saturday

A standalone eatery that doubles up as the office of the Singapore Flying Club in the day. The only realistic way to get there is by car; taxis would probably not know the way, and the nearest public transport amenity is too far away. Besides, are you sure you want to walk through roads like Hampstead Gardens and Old Birdcage Walk, poorly lit, and lined with unoccupied houses? No. But with a car, a sense of adventure, a tinge of excitement and a hungry stomach, you can certainly make your way to Sunset Grill & Bar, over at Seletar Airbase, 140B Piccadilly.

Last night was a field day with many small private aircraft parked next to the hangers that you have to drive past in order to get to Sunset. We had tried last week but got a bit lost because they've built a lot of new roads in the Seletar area. This time, I managed to direct my dad correctly, and even though my parents were damn skeptical that the place was still there, we managed to find it!

Inside, there is a fantastic feeling of authenticity because the place is really used by Singapore Flying Club by the day. So you have lots of photos of aircrafts, aviation maps, memorabilia and rolls of honours of those who have served in the SFC. If you choose to sit al fresco, you enjoy a great atmosphere and fabulous lights from the nearby airport and airbase. If you've been to Colbar and liked it, this is probably better.

The food is good if a bit pricey. The mushroom soup was yummy, and my beef lasagne came in a generous serving. Sunset offers spicy buffalo wings from level 1 to level 10 spiciness, and the empty spaces on the eatery's walls are plastered with notes honouring those who have gone to level 20-somethings and the elites who have attained level 30.

In short, a place that's a really out-of-the-way option if you want to get your friends out for a drink and some bites, but definitely worth the experience if you so choose. Check it out before they convert the whole Seletar into the aerospace hub, and if you're an aviation buff those nice private jets would probably be of much interest to you as well.

07 February 2009 00.30am Saturday

Is it a good thing when you're tossing around in bed around midnight (you're at home because you took the next day off), unable to fall asleep because in your mind you're just running through everything that's got to do with what's going on and supposed to go on back in camp? Kind of defeats the purpose of a day off in the first place, right?

Same like how we ended up talking about work at happy hour. Whoops. Taboo I guess, but it goes to show a real focus and dedication to what you're doing.

It seems to be a healthy thing, that I'm into my dearest job as a DYS3. But I dare say it's one of the most taxing and challenging jobs one can take up as an NSF. There are a lot of systems in place and handled by my branch, and some are okay while others need to be studied deeper and improvements made. But with day-to-day fires having to be fought, there's often little time to take a step back and scrutinize what we do and see how we can make things simpler and more efficient. Many times you're also dealing with HHQ and external units and if they simply won't see eye to eye with you, you're stuck regardless of how damn good you think your idea is compared to the status quo. Inertia. A deadly plague.

But I managed to sleep eventually, and today had a chit-chat with a Cornell SHA alumni at Meritus Mandarin as part of the SHA admissions process. After that I went on a nice walk along Orchard Rd (Been a while since I've did that) and bought a couple of things. I was looking for a digital watch to facilitate my training up for the adidas Sundown marathon, and came across one at City Chain. It seemed okay but when I went to the stopwatch mode, it only had one digit for the minutes...it could only time until 9 minutes maximum. Omg unbelievable, but yet it was true. Found one eventually, bought some other stuff and went home to start my training. Decided to experiment with using Facebook to track my training process rather than to document it here. We'll see how that goes.

27 January 2009 10.00pm Tuesday

This afternoon went to check out Neo Tiew Lane 2. I discovered that the Kranji Farm Village is there... maybe one day when I want to experience some "farm life" I'll stay there for a weekend? Haha. Ventured deeper into the lane, after the gated barricade. It's a paved track in all the way to Kranji Pumping Station, and it's really just you, your bike and nature. Spooky, slightly. Tranquil, definitely. Have made a mental note to go exploring the various lanes branching off Neo Tiew Road one by one. As one cartoon in my childhood liked to state at the end of the episode, 'but that's another story for another time'. Can't remember for the goodness of me which cartoon that was.

25 January 2009 11.21pm Sunday

And we enter that time of year where we are surrounded by the non-stop humdrum of awfully repetitive CNY music, and a crudely excessive amount of disgustingly unhealthy snacks. No bakkwa at home this year so I'm prevented from being as sinful as usual, but there's still pineapple tarts and more love letters than I have love for.

Can't decide what to wear to go my grandparents' place tomorrow. Someone said cannot wear red colour, or else the Ox will come and charge at you! I think that's quite hilarious.

Gotta start planning how I'm going to spend my post-ORD days, I definitely want to go travelling and Kilimanjaro is still on the list, but a backpacking trip to Europe would be fantastic too. I want to go Barcelona, can someone give me tips on how I could learn Spanish by the end of the year?

24 January 2009 9.34pm Saturday

Hmm. I realise I didn't really set down my New Year's resolutions properly. Barely given a thought about it, save for one being to improve my handwriting. Swarmed by work in camp, work in our branch never seems to stop. Slog on weekdays, but once it comes to weekends the grind is left in camp and I often find myself stuck at home having nothing to do. Today I cooked a simple Spanish-style rice for dinner, and also did something of a homemade margarita. Other than that, it looks like an awfully long weekend. Maybe it's a good thing I have to go camp on Tuesday morning. I've already watched Zoolander and The Chronicles of Riddick. Other than that, I finally got received my new bag, a Timbuk2 messenger! It has many compartments, and that's great =) Still deliberating whether to join the OCBC Singapore Cycle.

(11.10pm edit: Add 1984's Top Secret to the list of movies I've watched. This is one comedy that is so cheesy it's funny.)

04 January 2009 12.18pm Sunday

My post-festive random wishlist:

- Pair of cycling gloves.. either in pink or salmon

- I think after earrings/ear studs and tote bags, the next lass-to-lad crossover item ought to be guy clutch bags. With wallet, keys, phone, MP3, PDA, tissue, pager even (Jingwen haha), there isn't enough space left in my jeans, or I risk looking like a terrorist with a lot of C4 in my pockets.

- Time to refresh the wardrobe a bit, but it's always difficult to find nicely-cut shirts, short of bespoke tailoring. A few nice cheery polo tees would be a nice addition too.

- edit: Oh ya, forgot about Frangelico.

01 January 2009 10.30pm Thursday

And we crossed into the new year while I was in the shower. Lol.

From my balcony we could see three pyrotechnic displays - the Sentosa one, the Mt Faber one and the releasing of red signal flares by ships berthed at Tuas. It was quite a nice panoramic view.

Today I went with the Foxtrot Ferris Riders (pardon the whimsical name) to Desaru. Been ages since I've done 150km of riding and I'm left with tired legs, a sore bum and a horrible t-shirt-and-tights tanline. It was nice and sunny but on the way back it started raining like crazy. We still had to chiong to make our ferry, though.

Had to cycle home from Changi ferry point home, and along the way caught up with a dude wearing a Bayley shirt. Didn't know the guy but said hello anyway. He turned off but his riding companion continued talking to me and I realised he was Gordon whom I rode with a couple of weeks back with Marcus! An absolute coincidence, haha, but it's such a small world.

Had a pretty nice New Year's Eve dinner at La Nonna at Holland V. We weren't too certain at first but I'm glad we settled for what Pach calls La Nonya. Lol.

15 December 2008 8.31pm Monday

Caught Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist yesterday and Sex Drive today. Two movies themed around guys who eventually give up their pursuit of sluttish chicks to settle for down-to-earth girl-next-doors. Awwww. I think Amanda Crew is damn hot (woo!) but Ky's totally crazy over Kat Dennings (Norah). Lol.

Tmr's comms ball at the Ritz-Carlton. Gotta don the troublesome No. 2 again ugh. Why can't we have it in civvies like Engineers and Signals and I think Armour?

13 December 2008 11.21pm Saturday

Whew. Relief after the rant, I'm going to 1SIR after all. Congrats to everyone who commissioned this evening, it was the moment we've all been waiting for. Thanks also to everyone who attended our parade and also to those who have made these 9 months the experience that it has been. \0/

12 December 2008 11.20pm Friday

tim chow is very very very pissed at the moment. he doesn't know where he's going to be posted, STILL. and anyway it's between 1sir and guards and both are shitty and guards conversion course starts on this coming monday which means no block leave omg. the worse thing is that he planned to enjoy his block leave and also work hard for his uni essays and if he's going to gcc there's no way he can do that which means that his uni essays can jolly well go and die. he tried writing the tedious essays while he was on duty this sunday but friggin' boring camp isn't a good place to get inspiration to write uni essays, but either way it seems like he's pretty darn screwed and isn't very happy to tell everyone about it. already had his scholarship application pushed back from dec 07 cycle to apr 09 can you believe it it's damn ridiculous and now my uni essays - already the second year running i've the write the damn tedious essays - are at risk of being messed up. he has to seriously consider how he might finish 4 uni's worth of application material on a single sunday and pack for gcc all in the same day. and his shoulder is in shitty state can't do a single pullup strained it during SOC training for platoon assault course and strained it again when trying to do pullups at the pt challenge thingalingum. his computers at home are also misbehaving there are two computers the newer one is powerful and nice and new and cool but simply can't install windows live messenger for nuts because the stupid microsoft installer doesn't work and hasn't work for one week, and the other older computer has lasted for six years and is great but is getting wonky and has an irritating trojan that i can't get rid off and it spreads to my portable hard disk which then spread it to the new computer... spent one whole afternoon getting the trojan off the new computer but not the old computer, but the old computers got all my work and the new computer is blank and how am i going to work without windows live messenger and hell is it waste of time working with two sets of keyboards and mice and toggling my monitor between displaying between two computers.

had to start the washing machine to wash my clothes cos i don't know if i'll need all the crap for gcc. i load the machine put in the powder turn on the switch and let it run and then my mum says hey it smells different i say ya, i'm using the leftover washing powder from camp she says no, no cannot use on our house machine, i have to stop the machine clean the tray and put in the low-suds or dunno what powder. tim chow is damn friggin' pissed and knows he should start on his uni essays so that daddy would stop breathing down his neck - and perhaps rightfully so, looking at the predicament he's gotten into now - about it but in this kind of mindset how the hell do you write any decent crap to at least make the ripoff application fee worthwhile?

ugh

ugh

ugh.

and dinner sucked today.

ugh.

08 December 2008 6.19pm Monday

The final weekend in OCS, Tim serves his first-ever extra duty, smack in the middle of a long weekend. =(

Today it was a choice between watching Wild Child versus Bolt, and the result of Kaiyang's coin-flip led us to the latter at Lido. I haven't fallen asleep in a cinema for as long as I can remember. Lol. It isn't a bad movie, but maybe I'd have enjoyed it more if I were err ten years younger. Gosh I'm old. At least Wild Child would be a bit more, stimulating.

In a cruel twist of fate, in a single day my posting changed from 6SIR Deputy S3 (pretty good) to Guards (not good) to 1SIR Platoon Comd (definitely not good). Betawesh says Major Lien has promised to his Delta cadets that he will 'squeeze his PCs dry'. Not good not good. Please change please change please please change.

30 November 2008 6.44pm Sunday

On the bus today I sat beside a guy in work attire listening to his mp3. Although he was using earphones I could hear the fast and heavy instrumental music (if you can even call it that) quite clearly. And he kept playing that same awful track over and over again. Maybe it's his way of relieving stress but it certainly pushed my blood pressure up a few notches.

Don't have a lot of time so maybe I'll just jot down a few points.

1. Quantum of Solace was quite mediocre. The Ukranian Bond chick looked like a man when they were on the twin-prop plane, omg.

2. Body of Lies was probably better than QoS overall. But DiCaprio is not handsome. Never was, in my opinion.

3. I like what you might term second-rate malls. Walked around Far East Shopping Centre today because the shop I wanted to buy something from wasn't open yet. There's no crowd, and the shops aren't boring and homogenous like your typical heartland mall that's likely owned by CapitaMall. You can sit on the floor and read your mag while you wait, and no one's going to bother you.

4. I think it might have been my first time watching a movie at Lido, because I can't remember the last.

22 November 2008 11.37pm Saturday

Finally decided to bite the bullet and buy the Samsung ML-1640 mono-laser at $88. The cost-to-performance ratio offered by continually restocking on my Canon S600's cartridges is simply too low.

Today's papers featured an article suggesting that a better way to lower our carbon footprints than reducing car usage was to reduce our meat intake. Some figures caught my attention:

- average worldwide meat intake: 43 kg per person per year
- average in USA: 90.7 kg
- average in Singapore: 90 kg

Didn't imagine that we could be so close to the nation of Super Size Me and Fast Food Nation. And looking at the recent introduction of the Quad Stacker burger from BK and the Mega Mac from McD, we might well be on our way to surpassing the US of A. Time to cut down on our meat intake and switch to yummy fruits and veggies. The other time I brought some celery back on book-in night, I found a few guys who actually liked it (my buddy, Adit!) and many more who hated it (Mark, Eng Ping, the list goes on). The next time I brought a dragonfruit and ended up sharing with Tze Siong and Mark. Lol.

Walked a lot today. Also collected my lucky draw prize - a Vicky Cristina Barcelona OST and poster. Quite nice to listen to the soundtrack, but the poster is damn huge. I don't have as yet a suitable place for it.

16 November 2008 6.52pm Sunday

Well Worn.

My Mizuno Wave Creation V's from July 2005.

16 November 2008 1.43am Sunday

Just had the sudden urge to look back at the fabulous Tasmanian holiday we had back in 2001. I fondly remember lunching at Charlotte King's lovely Weindorfers restaurant at Gowrie Park on the way back to Launceston from Cradle Mountain, the wonderful accomodation and food at Cradle Mountain Lodge as well as at the Oakford on the Pier (I pleaded with daddy for this hotel specifically!) in Hobart, the great seafood etc etc. Fantastic place.

15 November 2008 11.48pm Saturday

Fed-up of being blamed for things I didn't do.

08 November 2008 1.15pm Saturday

A relatively short weekend, with Ex Panther starting early on Monday. We thought that our post-Taiwan programme would be quite toned down, but it seems like that won't be the case until after Panther.

Tuesday night was our CSB (Combat Skills Badge) 32km march, which happily all cadets who participated from Foxtrot managed to complete. Others have mentioned that CSB was quite easy, but for most of us I don't think it was at all. My post-march condition was roughly this - abrasions running along both my inner thighs, right armpit (due to the LBV), and on my torso (this one dunno why); blisters on both balls of feet (right foot really the whole ball of foot became a blister!) and both heels; and a quite painful left second toe, with the toenail probably going to fall off sometime soon. Yeowch. The blisters starting coming on as early as 4km, and at some points I was doubting if I could complete the march, since we would get wet at 22km due to the water crossing and 10km of marching with blisters in wet boots is a pretty horrid notion to contend with.

In the end, well, we pushed each other on and completed on average 45mins per 4km for a total time of 6hours of time on the move. By then, both my ball of foot blisters had burst, I subsequently popped my left heel blister with a safety pin (not recommended in most circumstances - not sterile!), and ooh walking was a penguin-lookalike chore. No idea why we put ourselves through such agony.

Yesterday we did boat ops in the area spanning Yishun Dam, Punggol Jetty and Coney Island. Wet boots again, otherwise actually quite fun. The programme executed was truncated apparently because of an error in pumping the wrong type of fuel (gosh.), which allowed me a fantastic 3hour nap after lunch (shiok!). If we had spent more time under the hot sun and in the midst of the glary, reflective sea water, I'd probably have gotten quite a migraine. Thinking of learning some basic sailing - sunglasses are a must, and Oakleys are among the best you can get =)

Aside, a paragraph in Wednesday's ST Sports section, from the article titled Ferrari Lost It For Massa, describes:

"Excellent team strategy, engine reliablity and perfect pit stops - hallmarks of an outfit synonymous with F1 in the past decade - were to blame"

Skimming over the sentence, you get the idea of what it's trying to say, but if you analyse it and removing the parenthetic interruption, the sentence is, well, nonsense. "Excellent team strategy, engine reliablity and perfect pit stops were to blame". Lol.

30 October 2008 4.17pm Thursday

Wow, a whole month without a post here. A similar trend is reflected among other once-regular blogger friends. People have told me that JC is the busiest time in life, is it really? Or perhaps priorities in life have changed. Where among my priorities did blogging lie anyway?

Moving on, a while back on Inhabitat I came across this very pretty faux chandelier made from plastic bottle bases, by Michelle Brand. Innovative use of a material that most of us toss without much regard.

Spent yesterday and Tuesday at NUS SDE helping val with an archi project. Been such a long time since I've had a whiff of acrylic being sawed, or of wicked-smelling adhesives haha. Building models really ain't easy, I must say, especially when everyone's waiting to use the scroll saw / belt sander /  whatever.

Running the Salomon X-trail run at Tampines Mountain Biking Trail this Sunday. First time going to the MTB trail, and perhaps its a bit ironic I'm running on it rather than riding through it. In any case I'm more of a road rider, although judging by the lack of frequency I've rode this past two months maybe I don't even qualify. It should be fun on Sunday, although I haven't ran such a distance for quite a while.

Didn't manage to find time to cook during the 3.5 days of break, but nevermind.

30 September 2008 11.45pm Tuesday

The previous Sunday I was supa busy with hosting a class gathering. Moi (rather ambitiously) decided to cook! Stayed up into the morning to prepare some macaroni salad (which actually turned out quite yummy!) and did baked chicken on the morning itself, plus a baked apple squares thingy thang. Never have so many people descended on my humble home before (not everyone's in this photo, some left already) but it was great that so many people could make it. Despite watching Music & Lyrics for the third time I still enjoyed the show and Hugh Grant's quirky Brit humour =) It was a good time definitely. Now I just would like a bigger living room with central aircon, and enough time and money to decorate it to my most nitty-gritty details. I quite fancy a Goth-ish black cast iron chandelier light like some of these, and then a general monochromatic colour scheme for things.

29 September 2008 5.14pm Monday

Used this off-in-lieu to catch Mamma Mia! with mom and pop. I'm not a big big fan of musical films but this one I quite enjoyed. The energy was high and the ABBA songs just make one feel like going Mambo this Wednesday. It was awkward, if not amusing, seeing ex-James Bond Pierce Brosnan starring in this musical film though, especially when he broke into song!

28 September 2008 7.19pm Sunday

My (slightly frivolous) wishlist:

- a matching set of running attire, either full white or red with white accents or black with white accents. Though I run quite a fair bit I realise I don't have a matching set except for the OCS kits issued to us

- another digital watch (yea as I said I'm being frivolous here, but a white Timex like the one below, mentioned in this blog on 23rd April 2006, would be absolutely lovely, and would match with the above running attire!)

- err.. an Audi TT? Or since there's now a tricked-out TTS version I won't mind that. Okay, actually more practically a Mini Cooper S or a Mazda RX8. Dream on, Tim.

- a house with a garage. Ooh the possibilities when you have a garage. I've got a balcony now and it witnessed among other things the creation of Project Tetiveon (my case mod project) but imagine if it were a garage! I can't really imagine living in a condo and not being able to mess around with stuff. It's a bit too restrictive and civilised, in some way.

- a nice casual bag. It must have many compartments so I can compartmentalise my things!

- a nice casual belt. Been looking around but really nothing catches my eye.

Okay. Enough materialism for now. Incidentally I am left to rue my wasted chance at getting $200 and booking out yesterday morning, if I had checked the LAD of my rifle before my marksmanship test =(. Oh well.

12 September 2008 8.36m Friday

Finally an opportunity to engage in some culinary experimentation once again.

Loosely based on this recipe, but using some very affordable frozen sutchi fish. Paired with pre-flavoured rice (okay this is a good shortcut) to which I added some raisins and cashews. Pretty straightforward and proved to be a nice dinner with kiwifruit and Island Creamery's wonderful Teh Tarik-flavoured ice cream to top things off =)

07 September 2008 7.12pm Sunday

As yizhang mentions, I guess I should share some of my Brunei thoughts. I've just penned these down under severe time constraints, having done volunteer work at the AVIVA Ironman 70.3 since midnight and finishing around 4 at East Coast. Oh and before that let me complete my gastronomical adventures.

Saturday breakfast was once again bak kwa bread (500g is a lot). We went to the temporary market at AMK Blk 628 for lunch, I had wanton mee, and when that wasn't enough century egg pork porridge, and finally a nice cup of sugarcane juice. Was initially running a fever before lunch (probably bak kwa overdose) but it managed to subside so that I could go out for dinner, which was at PS food court with whao. Had the Indo grill chicken that's very popular. Wasn't very full but no time since we and Jameson had to the catch the 7.15pm Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Oh during the movie had a pack of M&M peanuts and Tohato caramel corn from Daiso. Was quite satiated then, but by the time whao and I cabbed to Big Splash to report for our volunteer duty I was hungry again! So Portobello burger from Carl's Jr it was =)

The rest of the food was provided: breakfast of sandwich, morning tea of Old Chang Kee, lunch of KFC. Had a Cornetto Royale sometime in the day too. Now waiting to have a nice dinner of pasta with lots of veggies. Been craving a nice solid carbo-load for very very long, and veggies too. Yummy. Time is tight though, gotta rush to camp tonight!

Okay, my JCC reflections:

After what seemed like a painstakingly long await and eager anticipation, we were finally on our way to starting the 9-day JCC. Equipment inspections went okay for our group, but if we hadn’t looked out for each other we might have chalked up a few minors. It’s not good to start a course on one or even two minors, and thankfully we managed to avoid that. Honestly I think it just demands that little bit more effort to be meticulous to avoid unnecessary punishment, so those who were penalized even before the course proper were really too careless, in my opinion.

After an early breakfast, Foxtrot 07 was on its way for Ex Nomad. The first day we managed to find CP1 and CP2, and harboured about halfway between CP2 and MP. It was beneath our initial target of harbouring at MP, but I felt that we had employed the wrong strategy, believing that we could perform direct bashing to reach our objectives a la our tactic in Singapore. We should have walked more on the ridgelines even though they were not the shortest in linear distance. We spent a lot of time going through thick vegetation in ravines, hence our slow progress.

We met LTA Glenn before midday at MP, but were still moving slowly. Trying harder to stay on ridgelines as much as possible, we finally made it to CP3, and in pretty good time. We were gunning to reach EP (CP4 was too far off and we decided to skip it) but it started raining heavily. This hampered our plotting such that we were almost navigating by Jack’s map-terrain comparison alone, which was a very bad thing. Eventually, we did not really know where we were and it was approaching last light. We found a CP and were lucky enough to encounter another group who were more familiar and could give us a rough MGR of our location. They also told us that EP was nearby, and that lifted our sagging spirits although we had a so-near-yet-so-far feeling, because in the end we harboured at the mentioned CP in pouring rain, huddling together as close as we could simply to keep warm.

The next morning we reached EP quickly and had the rest of the morning to rest and recover at MARS, making use of the good sun to dry our wet boots. Sadly it was wet boots once again as we had to cross a river prior to the start of Ex Explorer. Ex Explorer was with Foxtrot 08, and I was curious to see the difference in navigation employed by the two sets of I/Cs. Climbing 361, my shortness of breath and general awkwardness was an immediate answer; the new group moved at a frenetic pace, led by Zi Chun and Ray Wen, and I also felt that we might have been able to find an easier path up had we taken a bit of time to try. The route we took up was nothing short of treacherous; I fell into a hole between some big boulders and my feet couldn’t feel the bottom; Mark had to pull me out. Since the route was a common one among all groups save for the starting point, many groups met at the peak and descended together. As we descended it was interesting to get a glimpse of the various teams’ dynamics (or lack thereof) based on the verbal communication between members. Perennial culprits were once again losing patience and I prayed that I would not be put into such a group for Ex Trekker. I wasn’t feeling very well today, probably being unaccustomed to the exertion, plus the sleep was not particularly pleasant as we were situated on an incline.

The next day we hit 168 and 169 and headed for Biang. At the base of Biang after crossing the river, our group’s somewhat chiongster instincts nearly compelled us to use a relatively unbeaten path to ascend. Thankfully I managed to appeal to the group (having remembered some advice from a Hotel wing senior during a sharing session) to recce a bit more and we found the clear, battalion-trodden path to go up. Foxtrot 07 and 08 were together in the ascent, and once again the original 08 members were pushing a relatively frenetic pace up, with Ray Wen being quite intent on reaching the top of Biang by last light. We made good progress and we felt the end being near, but at the same time some members of the combined team were not coping well. The pace-pushers eventually compromised and we found a decently comfortable harbouring spot for the night, although it did rain heavily later. It was both lucky and prudent that we had no insisted on pushing on further; firstly it would be super cold atop Biang, secondly I felt that not everyone was in the condition to push for the top, and thirdly we would have been caught unprepared by the spate of bad weather. I believe some members of the team were a bit disappointed, but they ought to be mature enough to see the bigger picture. I now do understand why seniors tell us stories of cadets being pushed beyond limits by their own groupmates, and eventually becoming casualties. The desire to meet targets sometimes clouds good judgement, I witnessed this for myself today.

Day Five it was as we hit the top of Biang, and were assigned to 4B crossing site. We parted ways with F07 as they were going to 4A. It was a very frustrating journey to 4B as we bashed through ridiculously thick vegetation, crossed numerous streams and, upon hearing generator sounds, descended a moderately steep but rocky slope in a rather risky manner of rushing. If F07 had a poor ability to keep to ridgelines and frequented paths on the first day of Nomad, F08 was twice as bad today. How none of us got injured I do not know, but eventually (and rather late) we spotted the red flag that demarcated our 4B crossing site. We performed our combat swim and were inserted into Delta 03, without any idea of how miserable a night we would spend, sitting in the rain without any groundsheet, boots submerged in mud that was swarming with leeches. We basically just sat there and waited, and I eventually found sufficient comfort with my lifejacket as a pillow on a slightly muddy bed of a woven nipah leaf. Everyone told us that 4D was rich in resources as compared to 4B, but apparently everyone forgot to tell us the other side of the story!

The rest of the group was sent off to D01 and D02 early the next morning, leaving Aditya, Zi Chun and yours truly at D03. We started work on the A-frames, and at the end of the day had one with a semi-decent roof, two without roofs and one fireplace. I was initially worried for my own prospects as dusk approached because my A-frame was in terrible shape and I lacked vines and was very fatigued from having tied the majority of the knots for the day. Thankfully Zi Chun and Aditya were very helpful and I was able to have an A-frame that I could sleep on that night. Without a roof the intermittent droplet on my face was a bother, but I managed to fall asleep still, though I woke up on a few occasions to shiver before falling asleep again. Rain stopped early enough to permit me to remove my boots to air my feet, a process which was long and arduous due the boots being completely mudcaked and tight. I had a strange dream: a group of about 4 had a super late insertion just that evening and were assigned to my location. They had no A-frame or shelter of any form, yet I couldn’t accommodate another person on my shelter lest it collapse, so I had no choice but to let them sleep in the open, just as I had slept the previous night. The only difference here was that I was on my A-frame, elevated above the rest of my pitifully cold and miserable friends, as though in an undeserved position of superiority. It didn’t feel right.

The worrisome feeling about my prospects persisted through the night, but the next day I was able to make fairly decent progress, getting my fireplace and roofing up. Zi Chun and Aditya also worked hard to set up three monitor lizard traps in all. We made better progress here on Day 7 than yesterday, but still there was quite a bit to be done. We did realize that there was a fair amount of time available on Day 8, before the assessment, so we weren’t feeling so pressured. Happy to have a roof over my shelter tonight, although it was slightly leaky. Tonight it rained all the way through to 4am, I gave up thinking of removing my boots since the amount of ‘airtime’ my feet would get would be pretty minimal. The frequency of my awakenings to shiver was greater, and interspersed with them was a dream that 4D was so flooded that we were told to pack up and get ready to go the 4B, the land of glorious dryness! Each time I woke up to shiver I would look around me and wonder if I should really start packing all my stuff. Thankfully I was alert enough to still be able to distinguish reality from dreams (or otherwise I was just simply too lazy to do anything about my predicament!).

The dawn of assessment day broke and before that I was already sharpening my spear. I worked industriously, refining my monitor lizard trap because the sapling was being uprooted from the soft mud. Also did my fishing rod and prepared all my equipment nicely. The assessment was rather anti-climatic, I don’t recall my assessor even laying a finger on my A-frame, and basically it was completed in a clinical and concise manner. We were given 20 minutes to destroy all our structures. As much as I was happy to get out of the hellish mudland of D03, I was sad to have to obliterate my two-and-a-half days of hard work. We were moved to 4A where we performed the killing of the quail, which I did not get to eat as I went back to see the MO for an infected finger. Not only did I miss my feast, I had to endure a scalpel slice sans anesthetic, in order for the pus to be drained. When I was sent back to 4A I rejoined my group to rest for the night. Removing my boots, the smell was incredible!

The next morning, we joined Foxtrot 05 for Ex Trekker. The I/Cs here had already chalked up sufficient navigation points to pass, so it was ours to lose, if anything. First time working across platoons, a little bit of uneasiness, but united by a common goal, we pushed on together. Trekker proved to be relatively straightforward although the knoll ascents were sapping. Out of nowhere, Cynthia gate was sighted! We were back! Jubilation swept through the group. I think that a great thing about F05 is that we worked cohesively. Tempers flared in many other groups as members fervently wanted to get it over and done with, while others were drowning in fatigue. I’m glad that my Trekker experience was a positive one, with everyone working to make sure we finished as a group rather than seeing each other as burdens.

They say that JCC shows you the true side of people. It is indeed true. It shows how people perform under stress, adversity and challenge. I am fortunate that everyone I was grouped with managed to pass the course and obtain the badge. I would feel quite bad if a person whom I had worked with during the course had failed to get the badge, because I would still have been present to witness the immense effort, determination and fighting spirit that every individual necessarily displayed during the course. The sad truth still remains that 5 guys from our wing didn’t get the badge, but the greater reality is that all of us who went through the course had one helluva unforgettable experience.

05 September 2008 10.53pm Friday

My post Brunei gastronomical exploits

Touched down around 2 yesterday morning. Got home about 3, got the washing machine going first (yes damn tired but this is damn important, I have come to realise), showered and slept around 5. Woke early at 8, time to wash groundsheet+LBV+fieldpack. Damn sian, but offset by breakfast - Sweet Home Farm in milk, with Marigold Go!

Lunch with mom and pop at Portobelle, very satisfying. From the delectably warm pita bread that came with our Tahini Hummus tapas, to the homemade tomato soup and the three main courses of moussaka (mom's), pesto spaghetti (pop's) and lamb shank (mine, and in a very generous serving), everything was great. Immensely satisfying lunch. Popped by my grandparents' place with two tubs of Island Creamery, finished the Black Forest and brought the Teh Tarik home.

The thought of a big dinner with Paul Lim, Ky and Cjy was at first worrying considering my heavy lunch, but in the end proved to be no problem. Steak and ribs combo at Tony Roma's, with a fried onion sorta starter and a sunriser mocktail. Crappy service compared to lunch, but even generous-er portion of meat, yet I finished it all. Topped it off with a grilled squid from the World Food Fair, and the bak kwa going at $10 for 500g was too cheap to resist.

So, bak kwa with bread it was for today's breakfast, after which we went to watch Wall.E, which didn't disappoint. $6 weekday tickets at Cathay with NETS were an additional bonus. I can now save my movie vouchers for a weekend screening of, uhh, Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Lol. Finished a pack of Maltesers during the movie, and a bar of dark choc somewhere along the way. Lunch would have been nice if it were laksa, but the best alternative at the AMK Hub food court was curry chicken noodle. Okay lah. Went to TTSH to see the podiatrist afterwards. The waiting time to get orthotic insoles is so long, my next appointment is two days after I come back from Taiwan. -.- But okay at least the give me a temporary pair for the moment.

Continuing the local delights theme of today (in contrast to yesterday's meat-and-more-meat theme) dinner was my favourite braised duck rice at Longhouse downstairs. And while I was at it I decided I might as well top it off with a nice goreng pisang =) Second dinner was a yakiniku rice burger from MOS (when was the last time I ate MOS man!), and supper was a bit of mooncake and the icewine I bought from DFS on my return.

So I guess despite the sian-ness of having to wash this, that and then some more, I've actually had a pretty good two days back home. Already arranged a Carl's Jr supper with whao tmr before we start our volunteer duty for Sunday morning's Ironman 70.3, but yet to figure what to have for lunch and dinner. Strong desire for a carbo-heavy meal of pasta, but I really ought to do some exercise besides typing around on my keyboard. Hmm hmm.

14 August 2008 10.33pm Thursday

Departure draws near. Farewells baded. Big dinner eaten (I didn't manage to finish the St Louis though, and frankly, I think I will stay clear of Cartel for a while... sian already).

Be back on the 4th of September. In the meantime, gonna be happy and positive =)

14 August 2008 1.43am Thursday

Does the imminence of going away sharpen your senses to things that you will miss, or was today merely coincidental?

Went to Thomson Plaza in the evening to print some photos and buy some snacks at the new Fairprice Finest. Ran in Mark Tan first, then later Eve and moments later Barak. Eve's flying off to Penn on the 24th, on the same flight as Pach, while Barak being my wingmate naturally flies off with me early tomorrow morning to Brunei. And as I was queuing up to pay, a slow remix of Pet Shop Boys' Go West came on the air, instantly reminding me of our beloved wing song "Together, we are Foxtrot Wing / Together, we are Platoon Three..."

Throughout the day I had at least six bouts of nostalgia lapses. You know, the kind of feeling when something you observe randomly jolts your memory back to something that presumably happened a while ago, but then you just can't cling on to that mental glimpse before it slips away and you're left wondering what you had exactly just seen. Six times of it in a single day is pretty intense, I must say.

10 August 2008 1.37am Sunday

Friday - Home close to midnight, made to stay back to watch the Oly opening ceremony as part of the SAFTI anniversary celebration. Couldn't send the Delta dudes off, sadly.

Chores. Loading the washing machine, waiting for it to be done so I can hang the stuff to dry, falling asleep while waiting, being woken up at 2.15am to hang my clothes, loading the second load of clothes in, planning to wake up at 8am to hang them, failing to get up until 10am, hanging the laundry on an empty stomach without even having brushed my teeth, running out of hangers. The less meaningful side to weekends.

Lunch with the canoe guys at Kuishin Bo, made use of the opportunity to sample as much of the stuff as I can before going Brunei. Was supposed to catch a movie with the original Foxtrot 3/1 but the timing was too late. Met a couple of the guys briefly though, Dom, Wei Lun, Qiyu, Justin were at Gramophone with Ihtimam. Class's original intent to catch the fireworks at ECP was washed out, but we made home at a playground shelter and feasted on local delights. Probably the last time I see Sara and Pachara before they head off to Canada and the States respectively, damn sad to see them go. Everyone was clamouring to get a lift home, but the car's just so big =) For the rest, next time, promise.

Reshuffled my room layout a big more. It's difficult moving shelves and tables around on your own. At least in camp you have a bunkmate, and then people living next door. Sometimes it's lonely at home. Banes of an only child.

04 August 2008 1.12am Monday

Indeed it turned out to be probably the most tiring week so far I've gone through. The main killer was Ex Robinson Crusoe on Tuesday, a 30km navigation exercise around the live-firing area. The distance wasn't a problem, but the intense heat, lack of canopy cover, shortage of water and having to climb up and down every single bloody knoll in the live-firing area made the exercise very lethal. It started off okay and although I was carrying the signal set I was managing already, sweating excessively as always but making an attempt to ration my four litres of water.

It was only around halfway as we walked around 5km between a pair of checkpoints under the hot sun at a fast pace (to make up for roughly an hour lost due to one guy having fever and subsequently falling out) that fatigue started to settle in. Things started to appear worrying because even at our moderate rate of water consumption we were pretty damn sure that we would face a water shortage later on. Slowly but surely, physical and heat exhaustion started creeping onto all of us like a menacing monster waiting to stab you from behind. We had to push on but yet be careful not to exert ourselves past our limits, lest we lose another member of the team. As we climbed Bajau and E-shaped knoll everyone was having some symptom of heat exhaustion or another - sluggish movement, shortage of breath, nausea, feeling cold - and prospects didn't look good. Someone from the other team reported the temperature to be around 37 degrees, and we were walking with minimal shade carrying our full loads. The signal set was becoming a burden but there wasn't anyone in the team in much better shape than myself, so with much resignation I eventually carried it all the way to the end. Only the handful of guys from other details who also tanked their signal sets for the whole exercise can ever understand what a hellish experience it was.

What saved me was second wind, which came around the time we were heading up yet another knoll to the 84mm live-firing site. We found what we thought was the checkpoint just behind the firing bays, and after a longer-than-planned rest break (we had failed to stick to the agreed move-off times for quite a few breaks already) we were on our way to moving down the knoll. I was a bit concerned because a gut feel told me it wasn't the right checkpoint; my plotting told me we were slightly but not significantly off, and so I sounded out to the team to ask what the description for this checkpoint was. Everyone was damn shag by then and it seemed I was asking my question to deaf ears, and even then I was too tired to pursue the water and was simply looking forward to descending so that we could reach Tengeh Reservoir to resup water. Thank goodness that one of the guys in front spotted the other checkpoint and after verification my suspicions were proved to be correct - the initial checkpoint was not ours. Not claiming credit, but just demonstrating that we were that tired and not really thinking straight at the time.

Finally got to the reservoir and we got into the vegetation to rest into the shade and started filling water. Again, signs of exhaustion when team members don't listen to you and sit under a tree but in the sun, with field pack and LBV still on, and insist they have enough water and refuse your repeated advice to go top up. Later on they would have to rely on my refilled water when they ran out, still some distance from the endpoint. It is pitiful to see your beloved teammates' sorry eyes when you ask them, "Do you still have water?" and they resignedly shake their heads and silently take your offer of your water bag tube. We had reached such desperate levels of exhaustion, there was no way I could offload my signal set even though I was really suffering, and also carrying the additional water load. As long as my second wind lasted, I could pull through...

...or so I thought. After finding the last checkpoint we inexplicably headed south for nearly 400m when the designated route told us to go east. We ended up in a terrible swampy area with many thorny plants, and after some attempts to recorrect our route we were pretty frustrated and rather lost. Quite toot lah I was plotting the south movement but when we started going SE and then later NE to attempt to hit the track I kind of gave up plotting and eventually we didn't really know where we were. Second wind was drying up. We were fortunate that Aloysius managed to find a track, and Wen Hui later on managed to assess our location correctly. Could feel the second wind slipping away as we walked the route back to wingline, but after what seemed like eternity we crossed the link bridge, passed the medical centre and finished at the basketball court, the second-last team for the day. Sheer elation, but too sapped to feel or to demonstrate it at that point in time. One helluva experience in all.

Three days of urban ops training followed, and the relatively arid conditions at the UO village didn't help recovery. Returned to camp close to Friday midnight after UO live firing, then transitioned to Ex Hunter prep. Had just around two hours of sleep that night, but our team surprised ourselves for Hunter by finishing fourth among 12 teams, and being lucky enough to be in the first bus back to wingline. Some teams took six hours finding their first checkpoint, we were really quite fortunate that we found most of ours relatively fast once in the vicinity. A terrible onset of rashes started, and the urge to scratch was intolerable. Even then I wasn't the worst; Pok's whole body was covered with heat rash and it looked really awful. Heat rash is lethal, seriously. Thankfully mine stopped by the time I got home, so I managed to sleep in relatively peace. Was figuring earlier at the peak of the itch how many shots of tequila would be required to put myself into deep slumber. Proud to say zero were eventually called on =)

Glad to have come out of the week in good shape, although my ankle is still pretty delicate (I nearly re-twisted it less than 200m into Hunter, klutzy me). Going to pop by school tomorrow since it's off-in-lieu to collect my certs and stuff, and that's also a timely reminder to start on my uni apps again.

27 July 2008 4.48pm Sunday

Among the most unique homework assignments ever, to carve a set of eating utensils, in prep for JCC. We actually did a set during Ex Castaway over in Tekong spanning Friday and Saturday but most of ours turned out crappy so we had to redo. My new set definitely looks more presentable although I still can't figure out why we can't simply just use chopsticks in the jungle.

Managed to have the misfortune of twisting my ankle on Thursday, a mere 50m after the start of the navigation exercise Ex Wildcat. Still managed to complete the whole exercise though rather agonizingly, and had to leave for Tekong that evening for Castaway. Despite having to do the combat swim and a short trek to our survival site in wet uniform with wet fieldpack and all, I actually managed to survive the whole damn thing and come back alive. The thing is it's only like 3 days and honestly it feels rather shitty and I'm not very sure how I'll survive 9 in Brunei on 3 days of combat rations, what more after a 5-day infantry training package. Humbug.

Accomplishments deserve reward and so this morning I had a three-part breakfast consisting firstly of bak kwa bread at home then laksa at Holland V and then mudpie at Coffee Bean. Okay I know I sound rather greedy but I've got no qualms about it since I really gotta put on some fat in prep for JCC. I went to buy some cough syrup from Guardian (this one has a nice sarsi flavour!) and at the same time since Timeout was $1 a bar I bought three. Kinda ironic it makes me wonder if I want my cough to recover ever. Hmm.

Other than that it's a crazy week ahead with interval training and combat swimming on Monday, two navi exercises on Tuesday and Saturday, and our urban operations package in between. After that it's a slightly lighter National Day week but on 15th Aug we go off to Brunei and while everyone who is going overseas will be flying off in late August or so I'll be sitting in somewhere in the Brunei jungle smelling awful feeling hungry and carving something that hopefully will look as decent as the pair of eating utensils above. Damn.

19 July 2008 10.40pm Saturday

Caught The Dark Knight with Jameson and Boon Shing today. Despite the front row seats, the movie was pretty good, although somewhat violent and gruesome due to the Joker's ways. I'm a peace-loving person =)

Pretty tired due to the 11km endurance run early in the morning at ECP. Really appreciate that our wing has ECP endurance runs, really takes away the monotony of running in camp, plus I get to get my bike out and cycle down to East Coast.

Last month was a spending nightmare, no thanks to GSS I probably spent 1.5x over my allowance. Hope to control a bit this month but I've just added a pair of Saucony running shoes to the accounts. Yes yes I have damn many pairs of shoes but I need two pairs so I can keep one at home for ECP runs and the other can stay in camp.

Feel like hanging out at the library tomorrow, do some sedentary stuff since there's another 13km run on Tuesday. It appears that running with shoes ain't a problem, but it's the running in boots that contribute to shin splints. Don't like boots they don't give arch support. Don't like wearing uniform in general. Have to don headgear and all so troublesome.

06 July 2008 12.52pm Sunday

The pork and peach stir-fry turned out to be very yummy in the end! Not overly difficult to cook either. =)

06 July 2008 1.58am Sunday

Looks like I won't be able to join Marcus and the Rodalink gang for tomorrow's ride... there's only 5 hours to the set off time of 7am at Ten Mile Junction.

The big loot of today:

Just finished assembling it. Unfortunately one Aego satellite was DOA so I have to get it swopped tmr. And buy a black DVD writer as well. And I hope I can lay my hands on a MOMO wheel to play Race Driver: Grid. There's gonna be much more to look forward to at bookouts!

Thinking about it, damn. 6 years back I paid $215 for an 80GB hard disk. Today, I paid $114 for a 500GB one. Storage prices have really fallen tremendously.

There's pork marinating overnight in the fridge. Hope my attempt to do stir-fry pork with peaches turns out okay tomorrow.

Lastly, some very pretty eco-friendly wallets from db clay

via inhabitat

From L-R, Top row: Imran, Wen Jie, Vicknesh, Jin Rong, LTA Michael, Aaron, Dom, Shawn, Dickson; Bottom row: Tim, Fabian, Mark, Cheok

The kilat Foxtrot 3-1. Sad to say that 3/4 of the section will be gone come next week =( but we really had a fantastic 14 weeks together.

Together, we are Foxtrot Wing
Together, we are Platoon Three
Together, we are marching on
Together, we will sing this song

We are, we are Foxtrot Wing
Two years, serve our country
Don't care, who's our enemy
Beware, we are Foxtrot Wing Platoon Three

24 June 2008 3.27pm Tuesday

Everyone's taking an afternoon catnap in preparation for the big bad 24km overnight route march that's happening tonight. The milestone event marks the end of 14 weeks of Service Term here in OCS, and after tomorrow, slightly more than half the wing will be posted out to support arms (ie. Armour, Signals, Logistics, Engineers) while people like myself remain in OCS and look forward to the next milestones of Brunei Jungle Confidence Course and Taiwan. Quite sad to see so many of the guys that I've spent the past three months together with go...

Attribute it to the generous OCT allowance perhaps, but it seems I've been bitten pretty badly this year by the GSS bug. So far I've gotten a pair of Sting wraparounds, a Nikon 18-55 VR, a Samsung YP-T9 M3 Player (this one was a VERY sweet purchase absolutely luuuv it), a Domanchi jacket, and a pair of Onitsukas. Worst of all, it may not end there! The printer has been giving trouble... ;) And most unfortunately (actually that's a lie, it's damn fortunately) we infantry left-behinds get 4 days of block leave until next Monday, whereas most of the support arms fellas leave for SOCJOT training in Brunei this weekend, and have to come back for training and an acclimatisation march on Thursday while we sit around and relak. Looks like I can finally clock in some night riding hours, although I betcha 4 days will fly by in a blink. In any case, there's the comfortable OCS bunk (with this computer that I'm using at the moment) and decent food to be happy about, although this week there have been two cases of escargots appearing in our meals, one incident just having occurred to yours truly during lunch today. I made my opinion known that I would much rather prefer less exotic fare, thank you very much.

Gotta remind myself to bring in tidbit resupply on the next book-in; the Marks & Spencer Chocolate Chip Cookies and Arnott's Tim Tam disappeared in a whish. So far I've managed to avoid instant noodles except on one occasion, but there're really people who make maggi every day without fail. Later tio hair loss sia. The awful thing is that some people don't clear up after they eat, and the wrappers are all over the place. You would think that people over here can take ownership of common areas better, but it's been rather disappointing unfortunately, seeing how many wrappers I had to clear off the table to create space for myself in order to read some newspaper just now.

*yawn* looks like it might be time to catch a moment of shut-eye, or else I'll turn into a sloth during our social night tomorrow.

15 June 2008 1.47am Sunday

Is that a cutesy little tupperware you bring along for your picnic? At first glance that looks to be the case... but it's actually a compact photo printer from Canon! Kitschy Jap product design, lol.

=( to PS3 or not to PS3?

Swear London Jimmys. Much <3 !!

It's way past bedtime, but here I am rather awake and putting in the first entry since the 21st. Blogging has become a sporadic form of therapy nowadays, and most of the blogs that I frequent have either wound down or diminished in intensity. Has blogging lost it's novelty? Perhaps.

After the big paycheck for May came (due to backpay from April) many dudes in my platoon went to get a PSP. It has since become the latest anti-social distraction. Where previously we used to sit around and talk kok, people now clamour to get playing time over the PSP's 10 main buttons and are glued to it's small screen playing Winning Eleven, Naruto, movies or what not. Look's like I'm left out of the gang =( I have been relegated to a gizmo laggard with only a teeny Creative Zen Stone to show off. Lol.

My dad helped me to collect my Saab Duathlon race kit today! Thanks, Pop! Glad to say that this year's event tee is much classier than last years, and most likely a keeper. Yes, I sold off last year's horrible grey rendition. The race is in one week! I intended to recce the route later this morning but looking at the time now I don't know if I'll manage to drag myself out of bed. From my understanding around this time quite a few people (incl. our Wing Comd, Cpt Faizal and 2WO James) are going to be embarking on the inaugural Adidas Sundown Marathon. Cpt Faizal played us a video today, of a father who took his polio-ridden son through a complete Ironman Triathlon. He pulled his son along on an inflatable raft for the swim section, cycled with his son perched on a seat in front, and ran pushing his son on a stroller. Really really amazing, I don't know if many in the wing know how gruelling an Ironman Tri is, but to complete it with this additional challenge is totally awe-inspiring. Deep respect.

Finally managed to catch Ironman yesterday. Between Transformers and Ironman, my personal preference is the former, but Ironman was still pretty damn cool with  shiny gizmo-loaded high-tech suits and effects. Audi R8 also, woohoo. And of course... Christine Everhart. Ohyeababy. Lol.

I like weekday off-in-lieus. Cheap movies, no queues, no crowds...who on earth wants to volunteer and become a sardine on weekends. You're allowed to shift down a gear or two and take a breather. Weekends, the original 'rest periods', have becomes times of clamouring over parking lots, being stuck in traffic jams, queueing only to get first row seats for your movie, waiting for half-an-hour for dinner at an eatery. What kind of rest and relaxation is that?

Been shopping a bit for some tri apparel for my upcoming Saab City Duathlon. Last year could still tahan with normal running shorts because I was using my steady pompipi mountain bike with plush plush saddle, but this year it's sweet Scottie Hottie with a fairly unkind carbon saddle... I did try riding with RJ shorts on Monday morning and it wasn't a pleasant experience. Went to Bike Haus near 6th ave to see what was avail. The dude asked me if I was looking for tri tights (just the bottom) or a tri suit (yea a one-piece affair). I said that I'd be fine with just tri tights, he said, "You sure you don't want a tri suit? The girls love them, they won't be able to get their hands off you!" Ohboy. So what, let's go for a hot pink trisuit now. Lol. Bloody hell.

Having just booked out after a long period in camp, including a 10 day Tekong field camp, Tim was not functioning properly today. Got home, need to put on mattress protector, realised it was upside down, rectify. Put on bedsheet, realised again it was upside down, rectify again. Got onto bus, tap EZlink; got off bus, forgot to tap EZlink, rear exit already closed, ran to front entrance to tap EZlink. Muddle-headed me.

Anyway, check out this funky ghillie suit for snipers. Chewbacca anybody?

Was running a freakish 40 degrees fever last night. Already seen the doctor yesterday for throat infection and blocked nose, but the fever came in full swing overnight. Had to pop by the doctor's again to get a jab, and I feel a lot better now. With field camp on Sunday, it's a race to recovery. Hate falling sick.

Anyway, check out these psychedelic Onitsuka Tiger Limber Up Asians:

Took my roadie out for a short 30km ride yesterday morning. Oh boy can't even remember when it was the last time that I cycled, and I've got that SAAB City Duathlon coming up on 8 Jun. Was great though getting back into the frame, positioning myself on my Selle Success V1 and feeling the wind against your chest.

Wanted to cook yesterday night so we went to Giant at Turf City, which we haven't gone to in a rather long time. Turf City's rather dead compared to the last time we went there...

My attempt at pork and seafood paella didn't turn out perfect as I added too much water and the rice became too soft, almost like risotto instead. Well it was my first try! Next time it will be much better, if only I knew when next time might be.

A slight headache arises from a chocolate overload concerning the sinfully rich Bitter Chocolate Fudge and Aunty Amy's cakes from Cafe Cartel. Post-9 pm 50% discounts are a love-hate affair.

Got myself a new pair of headphones today, I really don't like grappling with teeny tiny earphones that come with MP3 players. These stylish Audio Technica ONTOs are my solution! As much as I rue my stolen ATH-EM7s, I've started to grow fond of these new AT's already. Now the only sticking point is that my Zen Stone Plus is too laggy and scrolling of songs is rather clumsy cos the screen is too small. =X

Anyway, tequila is nice. I swear it's better than that industrial substance called vodka. Lol.

Is it just me or is the world really being too complicated for me to handle?

I had previously read somewhere that in the whole EU, there was only one guy who knew how their entire pharmaceutical policy worked. Hence, whenever any changes were proposed or any clarifications were needed, the parties involved had to look for this one single fella. As you might guess, many proposed changes fell through and many queries were left unanswered.

Now we have this problem with supposed eco-friendly biofuels. Back in primary and secondary school when we studied sustainable energy sources, biofuels were touted as a good future prospect to meet growing energy needs. As young and naive kids, we most believed what we were told, unquestioning. It seems like we weren't alone. As the media threw the spotlight on biofuels and big corporations took up related projects to dress up their enviro-image, the idea of biofuels caught on quickly. The only problem, we now realise, is that no one really figured out the potential implications on another critically important pillar of life - agricultural sustenance. As biofuels turned into the rage and agriculture plots switched to providing the raw materials for energy, food prices are threatening to play a game of Snakes and Ladders with energy problems, which will only spell doom and gloom for starved and impoverished nations around the world. Perhaps the humanitarian implications hit home harder when I phrase it in the form of this question: How do you reconcile a world in which the fuel tank of your biodiesel Ford is full while the stomach of your compatriot from a less-developed country runs empty?

The complicated world today is also a noisy world. Everywhere I go, it's crowds, hordes, queues, mobs. Everyone wants to be heard, to be seen, to capture the attention of someone else. Since the launch of TV Mobile back on Valentine's Day in 2001, I've been forced to contend with forced content (couldn't resist that, lol). I can't enjoy my own music from my MP3 player. And the problem is, for everyone who thinks like me, there's someone who disagrees and welcomes TV Mobile. And it's like that everywhere, all the time. Well, almost.

I'll treasure the time when the two of us can run off to a quiet cafe and have a slow relaxed dinner, with no one to hustle us, no one to discover us, nothing to worry about for that brief time in that enclosed space. Just you and I and a rarity called Peace.

~

For Pete's sake please make this world a bit more simple! We had the Cashcard, then we had the EZ-Link, and now we want to revamp the public transport payment system to also incorporate a rival contactless card from NETS. I foresee much ire when problems arise because you've got both the EZ-Link and the NETS card in your wallet. What convenience of being cashless then?

And today when we went to Ichiban Sushi for lunch there was this special menu commemorating "Admin Pro Week". What? Oh, Administrative Professionals' Week. Omigosh stick to Secretaries' Week please, cut the fancy nomenclature. To highlight my case, our move towards a 3G SAF apparently necessitated the renaming of Remedial Training (RT) to a really high-tech sounding IT (Improvement Training!). Pah!

Not sure 'bout you but I really wanna run to my dream countryside where the eateries are never crowded and I can savour my lobster bisque and not see an ERP gantry outside the restaurant window. Who wanna join me?

On a different note, Jap fashion label Uniqlo is coming to Singapore next year! Quality apparel with understated designs for affordable prices. Although its impending arrival could prove to be a double-edged sword, if Uniqlo wear proliferates so much into the mass market that it becomes the Next Ubiquitous Imported Thing after A&F polo tees. Bummer.

Just back from the Queen We Will Rock You musical! First time that I've sat at a stall seat at the Esplanade, and how much difference did that make man. A rock musical is a rather uncommon idea, but I think the show was pretty fun with nuanced references here and there, a smorgasbord of costumes, lighting effects and hypnotic and random videos. And then at the end, after We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions, the video screen showed 'Do you want Bohemian Rhapsody?' (like duh!) and to cheers from the audience, a matter-of-fact sounding 'Oh, alright then.', the finale began.

Any way the wind blows...

It's been a while, and now I'm wondering if anyone still reads this place. If you see this, sound out and say hello!

I'm feeling rather drained right now, and three weeks in camp makes civilian life feel foreign. I stepped into the Daiso outlet at IMM today and somehow my senses didn't interact with my surroundings. I felt no interest, no curiosity, no desire whatsoever to the various commercial products around me. Is military life mind-numbing? Definitely. I later popped into the NTUC at Thomson Plaza and for once there was no urge to buy anything, or rather I felt mentally predisposed to rejection any notion of wanting to purchase something. Ice cream? Nah, too big a tub, no one will finish it at home. Chocolates? Probably melt in camp. Besides, gotta find an airtight container big enough to store them (which I also reject the notion of purchasing) and the kitchenette shelf is seriously overstocked due to the overzealous contributions of overzealous parents on Parents' Visit Day last Sunday anyway. This overbearingly rejectionist sentiment evokes rather grave concern.

Days past by monotonously and dispassionately. Unfortunately, bearing the CW2IC appointment, I will have to try my best to change that outlook or else it will be a rather burdensome stint as a wing appointment holder. On the evening of the same day, I've probably forgotten what I've had for breakfast; by the next breakfast, probably the previous day's activities; by the end of the week, probably the entire week itself. Time to start pushing those latent brain cells a little, however reluctantly.

At the same time, it has become of critical importance not to emerge from this 9 months completely detached from the outside world. I furrow my brow as I observe myself gravitating away from the real world as the relentless pull of the military saps your energy and sucks your attention. With a past record of being a company best PT and now an one of the primordial wing appointment holders, there is pressure to give that little extra, to do that little more, to perform that little better. All that is external pressure, though. The true driving force is innate passion, and as of now, it has not been found.

And 60 hours flew by.

Just a few more moments to enjoy here before I have to change up and head off to faraway SAFTI for 3 weeks of confinement. Not too sure what to expect, hope it will be alright. 9 months omg.

Gone in 60 Hours.

Haoyi expertly pointed out that I have around that much time, from when I get back from Vietnam to when I have to report to OCS, and boy I'm now down to 54. Six hours omigosh what have I done? Unpacked my travel stuff, and spent around an hour trying to remedy a malfunctioning washing machine (!@#$%), ran 6 rounds downstairs, chatted on MSN, deliberated on this and that and ended up getting everything either half done or not done at all...

I've still got to rotate my photos (thank goodness less this time round, 370 in all) and it occurs to me that I haven't printed even any Europe trip stuff. Fwah headache headache how to blog about my trip with a headache.

Going going gone! Cu Chi tunnels were quite exciting. 200km of tunnel network dug into some really solid clay soil. Our shell scrapes are noob! Got to fire AK47 and a carbine also. Quite an experience!

I must contend though, that being a passenger in a vehicle in Vietnam is probably the most heart-stopping experience of all. We had a 6~7 hour journey from Vietnam to Da Lat, and the scintillating takeover manouevres performed required quite a bit of skill and a hell lot of daring. Traffic in HCM was intense, dominated by the intense scooter horde, and yet things seem to move, quite unlike our CTE. Okay well the scooters cheat they come up on the pedestrian sidewalks, and well everyone weaves in and out and all over the place, and you can do a 3-point turn in the midst of a busy street, and somehow our driver managed to filter straight out from the inside of a roundabout... But all in all it seems to work! No fancy schmancy ERP gantries and blah blah gabrah it just works, and people carry whole refridgerators on the back of their scooters like its nobody's business. Quite amazing.

The Valley of Love in Da Lat had quite nice flora, so I have a whole collection of very pretty flower photos, just like from the Bintan trip from long long ago. I could do a Floral Calendar II but I'm lazy and it's the wrong time of the year for a calendar I guess.

We also visited the Crazy House in HCM, a totally whimsical residential project, if you can call it one. Looks like something out of... Alice in Wonderland? Anyway it's really weird and random and the rooms are themed like Tiger room has a rather frightening tiger fireplace with glowing eyes. Apparently if you really like the idea you can rent the room for the night...

These are roughly the highlights. I give up doing anything more I need to sleep already, and my Geocities is nearly full so I can't pump in more photos. Bummer.

The blue balloon isn't IN with this setup, but oh my he looks swanky.

It just occurred to me that I don't really need my computer desk any more. After NS I'll probably change to a laptop, which means I can slack around on the bed chatting on MSN, blogging and surfing.

The thought leads me to have visions of a cosy little room with a comfy couch, set up in front of a neat hifi, listening to jazz while sipping a Bacardi Breezer, and doing what I love doing best - slacking!

Sounds like a damn wonderful lifestyle.

Dream on.

Lol.

Wore my furry cap today, and on the way home my security guard started telling me how he had 300 caps at home, from all over the world. Then we talked about army life and scholarships and all (he was previously with Guards). Quirky conversation starters.

=) Culmination of 9 weeks of grit and new experiences. Got Company Best PT award which was a nice takeaway. Managed to snap a photo with PM Lee! Although a bit sad cos those of us who won awards couldn't link back with the rest of the platoon to take photos with them. It was yet another rainy day, but we were a bit luckier than School 2 who had their POP on Tuesday, because they were held back from getting home due to a massive bottleneck arising from an accident at Loyang.

A precious few days to spend with friends before being posted on 21st and having to report on 24th. Going to Vietnam from 16th to 21st so in fact I have damn little time! I don't even think I'll have time to try making some paella rice. =(

Went to school today to get some stuff faxed for uni applications. Came across this very interesting notice at the bookshop. I just love the ATTN; ALL SMART STUDENTS and the LUV Warranty Card!

Weather of late has been so wintry. I thought I'd never get the chance to use the batch sweater but right today I've been proven wrong! Met Guangyan for lunch at Toa Payoh, after which it started to rain so I cooped myself up for a while at the library. When it finally cleared I went to Lavender to collect my complimentary jukebox radio from TIME, then decided to jalan jalan a bit. Ended up buying a bike pump from Ban Hin Chan, as well as kaypohing Bali Lane which has a quaint pottery setup. Cold weather = good appetite so I ended up having ratatouille from Soup Spoon. It was damn tasty and with all that mix of veggie probably damn healthy too. Note to self to try making ratatouille someday.

Two radical looking hotel developments designed by Heerim Architects slated to come up in Azerbaijan, Hotel Full Moon and Hotel Crescent.

I cannot imagine how these will turn out in real life, but they looking absolutely stunning. We continue to await bold and daring architectural statements here in Singapore, which till date have been few and far between. The Gateway, the Esplanade, Parkview Square and LaSelle School of the Arts are probably the handful of buildings that deviate from conservatism in design. More photos, details and links on inhabitat.

Another project that caught my eye was the Masdar Headquarters about to be built in Abu Dhabi. From a couple of the artist's impressions, it looks a little like a nuclear power plant, but you have to say that those double-cone pillars and the waveform roof they support look totally space age.  By Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill.

A nondescript envelope marked 'On Government Service' arrived today, containing a single sheet of A4 paper. It did not bear positive news, but probably clear a certain amount of uncertainty in my life ahead. Surprisingly fast, considering the interview was only Thursday. Yes, it's time to start moving.

B for GP, As for PCME, Distinction for H3 Econs. Pretty satisfied. A lot of people got straight As which is really good, but I'm happy with what I got. It was quite anticlimatic actually, the way the results were released. And after that a couple of us were just hanging around the hall, 呆着. Didn't know how or what to feel. For me I guess I just want to move on; that slip of paper we got today feels so fragile and insignificant. But then again, I don't have a clue as to what I want to move on to.

Out today for my PSC interview. Don't think it went very good, my current affairs has gone into a tailspin since entering NS, where the intermittent supply of newspapers is consumed for the purpose of cleaning windows faster than they can be read. Anyway I'm banking more on the other scholarships that I applied for, so I guess I'm half-hearted towards this in some way.

Nonetheless, I got to book out and that means a little bit of time to make some more tiramisu! But this time round my mum bought the Philadelphia cream cheese spreadable version, so it looks like it might turn out a bit soft and mushy. I don't know. Will have to see how it turns out tomorrow when I come back from camp.

Tomorrow is the big day. As it slowly crept up, you could feel people getting nervous, getting excited. It's interesting. On the outside I may appear relatively indifferent, but I think the anticipation is infectious. There's a slight tingling in me as I type this. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. It's been a long time since I stepped into school!

Handed over the mantle of platoon i/c to Whao yesterday night, since taking over from Shiu Yuen on Friday afternoon. It has been quite exciting, pushing my platoonmates through the 24-click and all. Of course, I got it a bit easier than some preceding i/cs because of the absence of Ramesh. The other commanders are generally more forgiving and easier to work with. The curtains of BMT are about to be drawn. It's has all been pretty rapid, really.

I just tidied like 0.1% of the house, so now the shoe rack looks neater (only neater, not cleaner) and more shoe boxes are in the cupboard (I'm good at space optimisation) and less shoe boxes are stacked unsightly beside the shoe rack. But it's damn useless everything else ie. 99.9% is still so messy and my parents never seem to want to get rid of stuff and so poor me I can't do anything because if I tried I sure kenna scold. I worry in fact that I'm developing the same bad habits. My desk room is stuck with quite a lot of stuff that half my brain tells me to throw out and the other half tells me to keep for sentimental (read: useless) reasons. It's damn frustrating because every single second I spend at home or in my room I feel like I don't have space to do stuff. I swear it leads to depression. I think I am developing a mental problem, and it worries me.

Watched Juno at Vivo today with Jameson, Kaiyang, Jolene, Shawna and Elisa. Definitely better than that Oscar-accoladed piece of crap called No Country for Old Men. But GV is cunning, no SAFRA discount for Oscar movies. That's pretty ridiculous if you think about it because then you only save on watching the mundane unaccoladed movies, which aren't as worth watching in the first place. No Country for Old Men is the stark exception here. Burned close to fifty bucks today. Damn, NS allowance is measly crap.

Time to have a miserable lonely dinner. Maggi with tuna. Life sucks.

It was a hectic Friday (book-out day!) as we finished our SITEST and got back to camp and had lots of admin stuff to settle before booking out. When we got back our phones this evening and I switched mine on, among the first messages I see is val's message that Azabu Sabo Hokkaido's sea salt and caramel flavour is nice. Grr I'm stuck at White Sands at close to 10pm there's no Hokkaido ice cream around. Nevermind a few of us go to Xin Wang cafe and I have a nice cheese baked pork chop rice for dinner. Was keen to try dessert - Mango Snow Ice! - but my parents were here already, so that'll have to be next time. Not that there are many next times, BMT finishes in one-and-a-half weeks! Ignoring my deviation, I got home and ate nice 饺子 that my mum bought takeaway. Then as I much a bit of Lindt and flip through Thursday's Urban, I come across a feature on Azabu Sabo again!!! Grr I'm stuck at home at past midnight and there's not Hokkaido ice cream around. Seems like there is some higher calling for me to sample some heavenly delights.

But in the meantime, I settled for the vanilla ice cream in the fridge, with a smattering of nutella, just before I finally came around to typing this sentence :)

Oh and the compound the inexplicability of stuff I also finished reading Liz William's Nine Layers of Sky during the waiting time at the live range. Wasn't a very good book either but probably less mind-boggling than the horrible No Country For Old Men.

Popped into J8 just to give away my pair of yellow-and-grey Adidas Response Trail shoes; clearing some space and besides I don't have much opportunity to wear those, so I might as well be charitable and give it to someone who needs it more than me (oh dear that sounds like the MRT: please give up your seat to someone who needs it more than you). Went to the library and borrowed PopCo by Scarlett Thomas and a Mediterranean cookbook. Lol. Ggy when I've time I'll come over to borrow Gifted Hands from you! In the meantime I'm trying to conceptualise how I want to redecor my wardrobe door. Bored of it already.

Back from hell week and fantastically tired. In yours truly's opinion, the best combat ration pack is the chicken noodle in tomato basil sauce. Sleeping in the shell scrape was also quite exciting, because every single night I would wake up thinking somehow that a stand-to order had been issued, and hence proceed to turn over (rather lethargically, macham a sloth) to assume prone position. After a couple of minutes, realising that no one else was doing the same, I would go back to sleep. It is an surreal sensation to be semi-conscious. I even contemplated getting my sectionmates beside me to assume stand-to (thinking that they may have not gotten the 'message' when it was passed down) but thank goodness I didn't disturb their slumber. Quite scary nonetheless.

Wen Hao and I booked out separately from our coy yesterday because of some scholarship talk held in HQ BMTC, altough I booked out earlier than him due to a PSC psychological interview that evening. Due to an early lunch I was starving when I got off the 1500h fast craft, and since there was no shuttle provided back to Pasir Ris I hopped on the public bus to Changi V where I satiated my hunger with wanton mee, sugarcane juice ($1 only!) and two goreng pisangs! Mmm book-out binge. And then I got home and devoured a Carrefour rocher. Lol I should be ashamed of my habits.

The desire to have a good time out with friends on weekends is burning my cash at a rate almost equal to that of the depletion of the Amazon rainforest (ie. unsustainably). But aiya what to do it's the only way to keep alive! Today we had lunch at Billy Bombers (yes! Hand-scooped banana milkshake!) and then watched No Country for Old Men (which I totally didn't grasp) and then played games at Minds Cafe. Was tempted to further sin on an Azabu Sabo Hokkaido ice cream (Plaza Sing basement) but resisted...for the moment.

Booking back in tonight, and by the time I come out I should be one year older! Confinement over the coming weekend for field camp probably means our next bookout is on the 23rd, after a hellish 9 days consisting of IPPT, field camp, SOC and 12km route march.

Saw this Frangelico while at Carrefour on Friday. Possibly a good compliment with coffee. I like hazelnut-flavoured coffee. It also occurs to me that I could have used Nutella instead of melted Lindt 70% in the tiramisu. Wonder if it would have tasted nicer. Nutella ftw!

Tim's tiramisu \0/ Detouring from Dhoby Ghaut to my grandma's place at 10pm last night in order to raid the Kahlua was worth it, for it turned out pretty decent. Slightly soft but I think the notion of firm tiramisu is less enticing than slightly soft tiramisu.

Botched up ride this morning with two flats, two road kill sightings, and not much riding achieved. The ride was rounded off by a Cat A sighting at ECP. Luckily in my cycling drab I'm hardly recognisable as compared to being in No. 4.

Today beds 7 (Jeriel), 8 (Whao) and 9 (me) from our section watched Kite Runner at The Cathay. Most coincidentally, we occupied seats 7, 8 and 9, and what more in row H (for Hawk coy!). Coincidences aside, I found the movie to be a fairly good adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's book - yes, having read the book I wanted to watch the film - but something the written form still conveyed emotions far more acutely, and certain scenes felt pretty rushed when compared to how they felt when I read them. Or maybe that's purely because I'm a slow reader.

Whao joined Club Indulge by feasting on two Carrefour dark choc rochers within a space of a few minutes today. Yes I still had 3 at home but I decided to introduce my sectionmates to the most delectable chocolate treat I've come across. And ran into Julia and offerred her one as well.

Attempting to make tiramisu to bring to the class get-together at Cun's place tomorrow, but I don't know how it will turn out. But boy did I learn today that mixing sugar into whipped cream and/or cheese is a tedious and messy affair. Gosh I want a kitchen upgrade, I need bigger mixing bowls and measuring cups and baking trays and all!

It's that time of the year when we stuff ourselves silly with bak kwa, pineapple tarts, peanuts and various other super-unhealthy goodies again. The traditional reunion dinner would have taken place tonight for most people, and ours this year was at Hotel Royal @ Queens. Over the years I've grown bored of the standard 9-course dinner; for me I would experiment with something different and refreshing every year. I mean, what's the sense in ushering a new year in the same way as you've ushered in the one before and countless ones prior? I'm pretty sure some conservatives are gonna lambast me as a heretic, but I'm not bothered. Unfortunately our kitchen at home is rather too small or else I'd probably be trying my hand at cooking up some stuff. Then again I've never done any Oriental food so it would probably turn out to be a ravaged disaster.

To much delight I got to book out late last night due to securing the gold standard in the IPPT diagnostic yesterday afternoon. 15 of us got gold out of the coy of roughly 200, an improvement from the previous haul of 4. Still, platoon 2 rocked with 6 golds, up from 3 the previous round. 12 of the gold-getters decided to take the offer of an early ride home, despite having to rush to pack our stuff and change to uniform to catch the ferry that departed around half an hour after we were given notice. All of us were in high spirits on the ferry, and perhaps for the first time since enlisting I felt genuinely happy at being rewarded for good effort.

Met up with four other recruits (Bennett, Cun, Yz, Chris) and one model intern (lol, Val, she's an archi intern and building models) for lunch at...you guessed it, Hot Tomato Express! I swear they ought to have a loyalty program. The steak wasn't as nice as the previous time, but again I still find the place value for money. Played a spot of pool and ate two of those sinful Carrefour dark choc rochers (Val, you too!) before heading home.

Booking out last night meant a generous 5 nights spent on the mainland, but after I book in this Sunday at 2010 I don't come out again until 23rd Feb, after my birthday =( Field camp is from 15th to 20th and just the day after we have SOC smack on my birthday. Lol, it looks quite hellish but we'll pull through. In some ways, having recovered from being sick I'm quite looking forward to stuff.

No this place is not dead yet, despite the lack of posting on my first bookout last week. Yours truly is enlisted in BMTC1 Hawk/2/2, if it matters at all. My fellow recruits are generally nice and friendly and I'm in the same bunk as the PM's son. Lol. Last weekend I wasn't feeling good because I tio fever and having mild diarrhea, I went to report to the MO the middle of this week and came back with a whopping variety of 8 different types of medication. It made me feel like a dying soldier. I'm close to good now although I'm stuck with a bad ankle that makes me have a slight limp when I walk. Must be because I started using my old orthopedic insoles in order to get a better fit for my boots. I guess the better solution is to bring in my older NCC boots which despite being a size bigger (262 vs 255 for the new boots) actually fit more snug. I think the cutting is slightly narrower for the old ones.

Went to the MFA talk at Raffles City on Saturday, and after that went to Marina Square and bought two nice things!

Creative Zen Stone Plus MP3 player, bundled with TravelSound speakers. Gonna bring this to camp so that I don't feel so deprived of music man. The long journeys home from Pasir Ris should become more bearable now. The player is really small and nifty. I like it.

Rockport was having a trade-in sale and my dad brought an old pair of shoes but couldn't find anything he liked. These caught my eye and after some deliberation I succumbed. Lol.

CNY is just round the corner and I look forward to eating lots of bak kwa and pineapple tarts and hopefully not falling sick because of that. I wanna catch up with my friends to because falling sick last weekend meant I missed out on the class dinner last Saturday, after SMSing everyone about it. =( Haven't cycled for a horrendous 1 month plus also. Omigosh.

Last dinner on mainland Singapore for the next two weeks was at Swensen's Thomson Plaza. I'm sad to say it wasn't as nice as last night's home-cooked dinner, but I'm happy that last night's dinner was that good =) But seriously, Swensen's is moving into my list of mediocrity, against alternative offerings such as Miss Clarity at Upper Thomson, Hot Tomato at Plaza Singapura,  Fresco at 95 East Coast Road etc etc.

Will miss everyone back home, will miss my comfy room, the Longhouse food, my MP3s and all. I guess I will also miss my err toilet bowl. The toilet spoilt on Christmas and the contractor has been too busy to come and replace it yet. Lol.

It has been an intensive day. Woke up early for a morning cycle which included three delivery stops. Lol. Tim Delivers Faster (TDF!!). Took a roundabout route to avoid the brunt of morning peak hour traffic, but even then it was a confidence building-experience (I like to think positively!) handling the traffic situation. It's probably the last ride before going in! Yesterday I went back to school for muifan from stall 3 for the last time also. Lol.

The ride was quite tiring - adjusting from 1130 to 730 wakeups is itself tiring - but I showered and went off to AMK Hub with my mum to buy stuff to make dinner tonight! Got home about 2, had lunch, and from then until like 8-plus I was holed up in the kitchen waging serious warfare.

The cooked items aren't particularly photogenic - everyone asks me what is the yellow/orange thing, it's MANGO lol and I didn't COOK that - but they were nice. The brown stuff is baked meat and eggplant pasta, following the recipe here. Everyone I've spoken to appears to disdain eggplant. I don't particularly fancy it but my mum likes it and it was fried to a crisp so it was actually quite yummy.

The French onion soup in the pot was put in jeopardy due to heavy difficulties encountered with the preparation of the baked pasta. Slicing the eggplant a bit too thin meant that I had a LOT of slices to individually flour, fry, flip, and dry, and working alone it's seriously not easy. Later on I was trying to manage cooking and mixing the pasta with the cheese and butter while managing the ground beef and the rest of the sauce in the frying pan. Not easy! The onions in the soup originally worried me because they didn't seem soft enough, but after a prolonged simmer they were nice and tender. Added a bit of muscovado sugar to make up for the lack of sweetness from the onions, plus some worchestershire sauce, and the cheat code - XO cognac. Lol, I was a bit too liberal with the XO, though overall the taste was still good.

Improvements? Adding pineapple into the baked pasta would have added a bit of zing and crunchiness. My eggplant slices were also crispy to varying degrees; what to do the oil got browner so towards the end I thought they were turning nice golden brown before they actually were! And uhh I think dark coloured plates are nice but I guess our plates are fine and good so nevermind.

2008.

My theme for 2008 is "Clarity". No Mr Lim, it has nothing to do with the great food at Miss Clarity Cafe which we unfortunately couldn't sample on Boxing Day, but rather I hope that 2008 can bring to me answers to the many unanswered questions that I have in my head. Or actually, that I can find these answers in 2008, since 2008 can't actively bring me those answers; I've gotta get my ass moving and find them myself :)

07 was a mixed year. I feel like I ought to have achieved a lot more, but on hindsight I've also realised I was of the belief that I could do everything and be everything. I now realise this is by no means possible. Choices have to be made, sacrifices coming with each choice. There's no choice about that (pardon the pun). The turn into the new year has helped me settle down a little, but there are many more issues begging to be resolved. I still don't have a clue of my own career path, and as each day passes by I'm inching closer to crunch time. By a combination of situational constraint and a certain degree of interest, my course of study in Uni will probably enter around either engineering or business or something involving both. The stark difference between the two fields already hints at the lack of clarity I currently feel, and it is worsened by the occasional foray of my interest into architecture and design-related work. In some ways, elements of the can-do-everything, can-be-everything mindset are still prevalent.

It is the first time in a good twelve years that I've started the year without donning my school uniform, and there is much to miss and reminesce about. Friends will still be around, but not all paths can remain as closely intertwined as they were. In fact, through the 2 years in JC, I had already felt a small degree of divergence in progress, but to not accept its inevitabitily is to not accept reality. As friends settle into their 9-to-6 jobs (and that all-day job called NS, heh) and time to spend together is increasingly scarce, it makes me shudder to try to imagine what happens when the eventual diaspora occurs, due to entry to various tertiary institutes.

Uncertainty over my future hasn't been helped by, well, uncertainty about the future! The deferment of my Stanford application was a slight blow, seeing how my predecessor RI Head Prefects John Samuel, Bertram and Sergius are in Oxford, Stanford and Harvard respectively. It kind of made me wonder if maybe, just maybe, I'm not as good... But Tim Chow being himself, sweeps away such thoughts of meekness promptly =) Still, it isn't nice having additional loose ends hanging, and with a possibly earlier release of the A-level results, there might possibly be earlier scholarship deadlines, and that would imply tighter schedules to get essays and apps done etc etc. And that, in turn, would mean less time to attain 'clarity'. Perhaps more meals at Miss Clarity would help? J/k, heh.

Army, I'm not to concerned about it, perhaps because I have accepted the sheer inevitability of National Service already, and perhaps having had four years experience in NCC I'm kind of better prepared than most, although I must add that I can't seem to remember how to do my foot-drills properly! People tell me it's boring and all, and whether it is or not, I hope that it will be fulfilling. I hope to emerge physically and mentally tougher from the experience, and I hope also that the training can put me in good stead to be competitive for the 2008 Oakley City Duathlon on May 18. Triathlons are out of my league because my swimming sucks. The regimentation may be harsh and restrictive, but I think the discipline honed will do us all good.

Looking slightly further ahead, one thing that appears to be slightly clearer than the rest would be the desire to scale Mt Kilimanjaro in 2010, before the start of Uni. Although as I typed this I just realised that this plan may be unraveled should I decide to try for a PSC scholarship. But the desire to travel and experience cultures and all remains strong and vibrant, something that is definitely healthy for a young person like yours truly. For this type of thing, it is better to do it sooner rather than later, when the constraints of a 9-to-6 job and the complexities of co-ordinating schedules with your buddies make things more difficult to arrange.

Time is ticking quickly to my Friday enlistment at 1130, and most of my friends have gone in/are about to go in this week. How badly will each of us - sons, grandsons, cousins, elder/younger brothers, friends, confidantes, best buddies, boyfriends, soulmates - be missed, I do not know. It is up to those who will miss us to bear that burden. But we, in turn, will miss everyone who's been around one way or another at the various times during the past 18 years. And I will be no exception.

*Omg. That last paragraph turned out so gloomy. Lol! Ok dear readers please don't emo, we're not err like gone for good. Be nice and call/SMS us often so that time in camp is more bearable. Lol.

Had dinner yesterday at Hot Tomato Express. I think it's the sixth time I've been there, and I'm likely to make it at least seven sometime this week. So far the food doesn't disappoint, and the prices are reasonable. Yesterday's was sirloin steak, for $10.60 it was juicy, decent portion, and came with aglio olio. Have also tried pork escalope, spaghetti marinara, beef stew... Shh shan't say any more. The place is becoming more crowded already. I detest crowds. Lol. If you want to know where, ask me. Or better yet, treat me for a meal! (while you still can!!)

Took dinner at Pasta de Waraku, Square 2 Novena, this evening. Somewhat pricey and the food is nothing to shout about. But the most annoying thing is that the staff keep shouting things across the restaurant. Normally Jap restaurants they just greet you with the いらっしゃいませ, which is fine, but here they were hollering every time a table was vacated, every time a table was ready, every time a dish was ready... PdW calls itself 'casual dining', and yes the food took mighty long to arrive, which usually would be conducive for a nice dinner chit-chat, but definitely not with the mind-numbing fish market-like background.

Class chalet at Costa Sands Pasir Ris. Cycled there, many jets taking off from Paya Lebar Airbase. DDR and more DDR. Some Chocobo which reminded me of the fun times playing Mario Kart Baby Park =). BBQ dinner. Risk and lack of luck with the cards drawn. The Red House. Kickapoo that tasted strange. Wild Wild Wet, super duper fun, thank goodness we were forced to leave the chalet pool actually. BK Rendang, how long since I had one! BK Hershey's pie, not too long since I had one! I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. Grease. Project Gotham Racing. Ya Kun breakfast. Cycled back, got home quicker than Ackerley =P.

A slightly disappointing cross into the new year as yours truly caught an unfortunate flu and fever. Prevented me from taking part in the traditional overnight ride with Mr Eric Lee and the group. No long long reflection on 2007. Just don't feel like doing it, for now at least. But happy new year to everyone, and this blog lives to see a new year. It started in January 2004 (actually unofficially in late 2003), so it's four years already. This computer, born 8 December 2002, more than 5 years old and still going strong. Lol. As the cliche goes, time flies.

Aspirations

To climb Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Highest peak in Africa, and tallest mountain one can scale without technical mountaineering skills. Receding glacier makes this somewhat urgent!

Travel all over the world - who doesn't want to? I haven't been the Americas before, and besides London, none of Europe as well. I'm fortunate enough to have gone to Egypt among many other destinations, but I would like to visit Venice, Dubai and so many other places. Of course, some roughing it out in the Third World won't be a bad idea.

To write a novel.

Driving around in a nice drop-top grand tourer. Okay, the Aston Martin DB9 Volante seems a nice proposition. Plus a solid cruiserbike, but not a Harley. Perhaps a Triumph Bonneville?

To learn some culinary skill and be able to cook up a storm! Okay, I'll settle for a passing shower.