.:. Michelle .:.
A very good friend of mine, an integral member of GOF, and now bearer of a plane ticket to New Zealand.
I'm sure I'm not the only one that thinks Mich is a great friend. She, as many of my close friends would agree, has a really lovable character. I cant recall the number of times that GOF has burst out in laughter from her blur actions, and the line comes into mind, "Michelle ah...". And of course not to forget all the scandals that she is involved in, allowing us to suan her even more.
Even though she is blur, somehow Mich is the kind of person that you can totally depend on, as agreed upon by numerous others. She is always able to make you talk to her. With her in the group, she always tries to talk to everyone in there. Sitting down and talking to her is certainly not a problem. She's also one of those whom people have no qualms about sharing their problems with. You know she will always be there for you when you feel the need to have someone to talk to. True that we all always suan and poke fun of her, but I believe its cos she's Mich thats why we do it.
This is the first time in my life such a good friend of mine is leaving, and not onli that, she's migrating. That means a huge change, not only will she no longer be in GOF outings, but communicating with her would most certainly be a problem, being reduced to weekly emails onli. I'm gonna find it really hard to adjust to, really really hard. And the worst part is, I am not able to be there to send her off, not even that I cant even send her a last sms b4 she flies cos I will be deep in some jungle somewhere (cos of NS again...). But as a friend, I know that she's leaving with her family, so its her happiness and I am happy for her.
I am not a very written words person, so I am finding it hard to express myself thru words. Somethings just cant be conveyed thru words. You simply cant express enough of your feelings of a good friend leaving jus by a blogpost alone. She might be away, but she's still a part of GOF, a very good friend of mine. I will miss her alot, and I know that she will be happy wherever she is :) Let's all look forward to holiday someday where we will go over to NZ to meet this wonderful cute friend of ours, and to recall the days we've had.
Michelle if your reading this, know that you will be missed :)
Revealed on [6:39 AM]
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.:. Simplicity of life .:.
Shooting at the range, not at the targets but for the stars.
This quote came to me as I was sitting in the dark in the middle of the nite at the range. The nite sky was littered with stars, a true sight to behold.
The thing about entering NS, being in tekong for 5 out of 7 days of the week, and only having one whole 24 hours where you actually wun hv to see the island, is tat it really makes you learn to appreciate things alot more than usual. There's nothing better to start a day in tekong than to march to the cookhouse to have four slices of bread with thick layer of kaya on it, shiokness.
I recently pasted photos on my locker mirror, so now everytime I open my locker, I see pictures of my luv ones and friends. After a very tiring activity, feeling fatigue and all, with your singlet totally drenched in a combination of 90% water n 10% sweat, then you see the smiling faces upon the mirror. Somehow it never fails to bring a smile upon my face as I recall upon those wonderful memory I shared with these people. Normally at home, given the luxury of time, I dun even print out photos, much less look at em. But then now, I sort of depend on the photos for my spiritual balance, to keep me happy and in contact with the outside world. So much so that now I have to habit always having one last look at the photos before I lock the locker and dash out of the bunk. It just makes me happier tat way.
Tekong, being hotter than Singapore mainland, really makes one crave for rain or jus clouds sometimes. Apart from the fact tat PT gets cancelled when there is rain, the cooling effect rain has is real subtly soothing to the body. I can jus sit down in the bunk, look at the rain drops comedown and the wind slowly blowing thru my body. Even if i am in the rain, its still as refreshing as compared to be being in the hot sun.
With 1/8 of my week not having to be in contact with tekong at all, outings with friends are really impt to me now. There's nothing like having an outing to look forward to (even without knowing what we are gonna do) to motivate me thru the whole week. And even thou the outing timings are usually quite short, not stretching for more than 4-5 hours each session, it dosen't feel any shorter than when i get to meet up with GOF during my hols. Smsing friends 1 or 2 messages a day is simply not as satisfying as being to meet up physically with them and enjoy their company. Not onli my friends, I now also treasure time with my family alot more (as mentioned in my after confinement post). Being able to have dinner with them daily, as compared to now onli for 2 days is a huge disparity that I am dealing with. I even specially woke up early just to have bfast with them and then return to sleep after they left home, just to spend more time with them.
So I'm guessing thats one of the benefis of NS ba, learning to appreciate things one use to take for granted in the past.
On a sidenote, I jus want to comment how it is impossible for me to think about life when I am in NS. At home, I can jus sit there and stone in the nite, and a random tot about life will jus fly past my head. But in NS, with like hours and hours of rest time in bunk, nohing to do and bunkmates sleeping, I can jus sit there and stone, literally stone for hours not doing anything. The thoughts just dun flow thru my head, I dunnoe if I am too tired to think or dun bother. Say for this week, I was supposed to think bout whether I wan to accept NUS-Science as my uni choice, but given the ample rest time in the first few days, I jus couldn't give it much tot, dunnoe why also. Maybe its cos its not nite time? But either ways, it ain't condusive for thinking about deeper things.
Revealed on [7:57 PM]
.:. Ip Man 1/2 .:.
Got to watch Ip Man 1 yesterday at Ryan's house in the afternoon with zhiyong n sushan. So I got to watch both the movies on my bookouts after NS respectively and tot tat I would comment on it like all the movies i've watched. Ip Man has always had a reputation swarming around it since release of the first movie, jus tat i din get the chance to watch it. So was quite glad i got to watch both movies.
Storyline wise, I tot it was quite well narated. The storyline was apt to describe Ip Man as a person himself, and how he faces problem tat comes his way (as well as how he respects his wife haha). Like what Ryan had mentioned in his blog, the story was very chinese based. Everything was taken from a chinese point of view, about world war and all, how kung fu is not about violence but about confucian spirit. Makes it a very china film.
Onto the main point, the cheography. I must say this movie has one of the best cheography i've ever seen. I know that wing chun was about fast punches and stuff, but still seeing is believing. Its jus too awesome. He literally machine-gunned-punched ppl to death, talk about human sandbag. I like the way the different techniques, not onli wing chun for the first movie, was executed. When you see different styles of kung fu pitted against one another, it really allows you to notice the flaw in the other. And the good thing about Ip Man is tat bcos he does not fight to kill, there's alot of cheography where he uses weapons unlike others have done before, like a feather duster and a laundry pole for 1, and wooden rack for 2.Really shows how good cheography can make or break a film.
So all in all, Ip Man was a great show, from a person who likes cheography point of view. Real entertainment worthy.
Revealed on [7:45 PM]
.:. Ironman 2 .:.
After a long awaited 3 weeks, i finally got to catch ironman 2. Ironman left me craving for more then, and considering that the movie came out on the day i enlist, its jus not a good feeling la.
Onto the movie review. In my opinion, contrary to what many of my friends have told me, i found the movie to be quite nice. Storyline was quite apt, dealing with the fact he is the onli one handling such modern weaponry. But i felt the part where he is dying from Blood Toxicity of using the core could have been more lengthened to bring out more effect, it was jus too short. Techwise, I am a tech freak so ya ironman's cool. Onli disappointing thing is that there wasn't a real upgrade on the suit this time. It looked pretty much the same, except for fact he has a portable suit this time. Ohoh he also has this ultra laser thingy on his arm now, but good for one time usage onli. Other than the ironman suit itself, the tech he used apart from fighting was also dam cool, like all the holograms n such,
Another thing about the storyline is that ironman this time is too overpowered as compared to the enemy. At least in the first movie, his suit was quite pounded out by the huge counter-part. In this movie, the enemy practically stood no chance, or as portrayed. And something i found quite weird is that for an enemy who was so bent on getting revenge, i dun understand why he went to install machine guns on the drones. All the drones did was shoot, and ironman and warhammer, even thou encircled, simply jus stood there n blasted their way through. They din do any harm to him la. The main boss suit also failed la, all it did was send sparks around ironman, but in the end, cos of the standard line in every single movie (enemy monologging), he died.
So ya thats the hits and misses. Still I like the movie :)
Revealed on [8:30 AM]
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.:. Day after confinement .:.
BUSSTOP!!!
Thats the first thing my platoon mates shouted out on the bus when we are leaving the ferry terminal, shows how devestating 17 days in tekong can do to you sia. So ya, my ultra long confiement period is over, gone like that. Imagine my thoughts when I heard that we weren't be going back for labour day holiday, max sianz. And while normal confinement is 14 days long, i got 17 day confinement, thats almost like 3 weeks of normal book in timing. But what to do, I am an NS man, just deal with it.
So here I am blogging after 17 days. Due to SAF regulations and such, I am not supposed to post about things regarding to SAF and such (I dunnoe the exact details on what I cant/can blog about), so I am gonna blog about my feelings and opinions in camp these 17 days, steering clear of the technical stuff as much as possible. I'm just gonna blog about whatever comes to my mind first if i can remember, so things shdn't be in a particular order.
Let's start with my bunk mates. They're a great bunch of ppl, lively ppl. Its quite surprising how fast ppl can bond together. Put more than 10 ppl in a bunk, go thru a few activities together and voila, we can start talking nonsense together like nobody's business liao. They were even planning to go out straight after confinement for a meal at macs together la, but cos I am a homely person so i had to give it a miss. Dunnoe how it happens, just did, so things are cool. And its definite a section has to be very close-knit for BMT to be a great experience, so if things continue the way they are, then things are looking up.
My sargs and sir wise, I can onli say its welfare. My sargs are very nice people, can joke and laugh with one. As long as we dun do anything stupid or screw up, we're safe and they're nice. Its just 1 times good one. So far we hvnt been pumped much by our sargs and sir (note by our sargs and sir). Its a very...hmm weird feeling when there are we sitting down and then seeing the platoon opposite of us being yelled and scolded yet by their sargs. And more than once we are sitting in our bunks, and we can hear the other platoon doing pumping. It also helps to have your sir, after a long day of PT n training, come up to you and say "Good effort people. I see people putting in their effort, so good job, keep it up ok". Really brings a smile onto those shag faces. Or maybe cos its just the adjusment week period so they are letting up on us, then when I re-enter, they will kill us. Hope not.
Food at BMT there is good too. Definite a huge leap over the stories about how coffee is made from using socks as strainers in the past. How bad can catered food get. We get food that is comparable to foodcourt standards, the quantity's good too and there's always a variety. Nothing tastes better in the morning than having bread with thick layer of kaya on it. Good food is really a huge mental sustenance. I go thru the day, looking forward to the mealtimes, makes time goes past faster and easier. But one bad thing is that on 3rd day i already kena sore throat :( so that means I had to control myself from consuming the almighty cordial juices for lunch n dinner. And also I cant buy drinks from the vending machine. Oh well I've gotten kinda use to it liao, just by using the weekend for good food as my motivation to want my sore throat to heal. And since I am on the topic of food, my appetite now is definitely a level higher than what it used to be. I myself am shocked. Normally in mornings, I dun eat much for bfast. But in NS, I eat like 4 pieces of bread with kaya for bfast, or just pieces when there is beehoon provided. And for the 1st time I was able to deour the subway regular meal (which iwas never able to) and still had space left for more food. I am like OMG. I dun wan to grow fat leh. NS man with huge appetite coming thru!
Wet. That's something I experience alot in NS. While doing things like PT or marching, its amazing how fast sweat can come out of my body. I dare say I've never sweat so much before in my life. During the physical activites, I can sweat until my whole singlet is wet, and I mean throughly soaked, to the point that when more sweat drips on it and the droplet simply slides off and its not absorbed. Needless to say, underwear and shorts are definitely soaked too. I ever saw a guy while doing cool down his pants was drippping sweat la. OMG. But I figured out its mostly water. Cos before any activity, we have to drink like 500 ml of water to prevent us from getting heat exhaustion. So I figured what we sweat out is mostly water la. And it certainly helps cos if say a day has 2 activites, after the morning one I will just hang the singlet out to dry and then re-use the same singlet for afternoon PT hehe.
Also during the confinement period, we had quite a few talks. Magazine talks, Safra talks and even talks for us to sign on to army. I mean, with our pay of 420 (or some say 500, i hvnt check yet), and here they are trying to make us buy these by that, isn't it abit weird (although I did sign up for like Discovery Channel magazine hehe). And also throughout the sign on talks, I heard many sirs talking about how they've planned like their life since ard our age. What they want to do, how much they need etc ect. Which really makes me wonder, what have I planned for my life. have I really thought thru thoroughly what I really want, will I be able to support the lifestyle I want? Hmm more on that after I've really tot about tis in later posts ba.
17 days in tekong also really makes me miss home adn friends alot. Its the longest period I've been away from home. And it's very depressing when you miss out on events like mother's day and such. It also dosen't help that I've been meeting GOF like more then once weekly before enlisting. At least I got to meet GOF on sat after confinement. After 17 days in tekong, and I finally got to see GOF and talk to them, celebrate bdays and even watched a movie all in a short short 3-4 hours. Tat is what i call quality time. I even got to slot in 2 sessions of jubeat before meeting em :) feels good man. Hope to be able to meet GOF weekly, but that really depends on my bookout timings n day la. So ppl if your reading tis, jus drop me random smses bout things thats happening k? Its very helpful.
One of the most important/apparent sight, or rather things I experienced is the mentality that ppl enter NS with. Its quite a stark difference between different ppl's opinion on entering NS. You have the ppl who complain, ppl who just go thru the motions, ppl who are super enthu to the extent you noe they die also wan to go OCS. I hear ppl complaining day in day out. I mean, its NS, every guy has to go thru it, complaining wun help you, so why complain? (I noe how ryan feels now). I tink its just about how you prepare yourself to go into BMT, go in knowing you shd suffer, and you will be able to look on the brighter side of positive things that happen (like me). Mentality really does play a huge factor in things. I recently did my route march, and I was dam shag after that. But when I did my hike on in blue mountains, which i believe was like 8 or 16km ( dun exactly remember but still many times more than the route march), I wasn't as shag. It just makes me conclude its the company and how much u actually wan to do it. I chose to go to the Blue mountain hike, had great bros company with me then, and the hike was great. Of course the scenery played a part too. So its a matter of choice la, you either enjoy the way there, or you can just complain and still make your way there. Like a speaker once said, " The training will end".
On the note of mentality, I also wan to question, how many of us enlisting are really enlisting into army. How many of us are really practicing our rifle skills so that we can protect Singapore when there really is war, and even to the extent that are we prepared to actually pull the trigger and see another man die in our hands? We enlist into NS with the purpose of protecting our nation, but how many of us actually feels the need to. Not to onli question ppl, I know I myself am not really prepared. One nite I kinda figured out my mentality was almost that of a field camp, a really long field camp, with higher regimentaion and the added bonus of firing rifles. And when I hear like my sirs wanting to go OCS cos they want to protect their families, its just makes me question me being there in tekong.
One last thing I gotta talk about, and am really annoyed with is the fact that because of the confinement week I had to miss my NIE interview!!! I mean like, this was the first time i really felt so helpless. I came to know about my interview in BMT, then it was supposed to be on 17th at nite. But because of some activity I definitely cant book out then even if manpower were to approve it. So i managed to contact MOE and got the date shifted to 14th afternoon. But then in the end, still NIE is not recognized and in the end I cant bookout early for my interview. Which just means that now I totally missed out on my chance to go for the interview. Can you imagine how I felt. Totally helpless...AAARRRGGGHHH. I noe its NS, but its like my university admission leh...haiz.
Ok tis post is super long liao. These are so far what I can remember that has gone thru my head in these 17 days. What can I say, its NS. So like my sir always like to say, what can I do, but "suck thumb".
Cya readers one week from now, hopefully.
Revealed on [7:59 PM]
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