Sentosa this sunday???

Inertia is ever slowly but surely creeping upon me. My studying of my advanced theory has stalled for a very long time and I always just finish marking Amanda's assignments the night before. Been waking up at nine plus almost every morning. Haha Ok life's pretty good. Played table tennis, tennis and squash this week but did not go swimming cuz dun wanna get any darker cuz ppl say I look older when I am darker.

One guy came to me on monday to tell me about his family problem. His parents ever fought resulting in his mother attempting suicide. So, on sunday he asked for late book in cuz they argued again. With so many problems, he went to create another problem for himself: He told me his girlfriend may be pregnant. This is the type of case study that we have heard time and time again but I never thought I will ever encounter it. I told him to go confirm the pregnancy and do the responsible thing.

Just realised I should start applying for my unis already. Feeling a little lost cuz I dunno what is the direction I should be heading. Should I just study maths or go for a joint honours? Then my mom has been trying to psycho me to apply to either oxford or cambridge but I dun wanna die during my three years there. After all, civil servants' pay are tagged to the quality of the degree. Should I apply for a uni in London? Arghhh ...so many questions! I should arrange to speak to my scholarship officers soon ...i mean yeah soon ...

Ok here's a list of my to-do things:
-Come up with next batch's CTP
-Plan for their enlistment
-AI for enlistment
-Enlistment, enlistment ....
-Study for advance
-Book driving lessons
-Get cracking on my uni application
-Arrange to meet moe officers

The recs are going Sentosa this sunday and they invited us there. Dun mind going but it's on a Sunday morning. But it's kind of fun too thinking about it. I know they have been meeting themselves outside which is good cuz this shows they got cohesion. Well, see if anyone's going ...bet there will only be DJ and me if anyone's to go at all ...

Kaozzzz anoother case of chicken pox! More packed meals!!!!

Long time never blog already... munching on donuts as I'm typing. Anyway, I have a feeling this will be a real long post so pls bear with me.

Had my second driving lesson after a break of 2 weeks and boy was i rusty. Always having problems with my clutch and my engine would stall. Then, my instructor pulled a stunt and directed me to drive onto a major road den drove all the way to Pasir Ris. Didnt expect it cuz been driving round the minor roads. Then he pulled another stunt: he asked me to do a u-turn. Cuz my driving instructor speaks in mandarin, I need to get use to this mode of instruction. After driving had dinner with weilin at this jap restaurant at valley point. Apparently she stumbled upon this place and i must say it is a pretty good restaurant. Had a long and nice chat with her about lots of things.

The instructors' appraisal came in this week. Generally, I'm kind of like the bad guy comparerd to DJ, so what can i expect right? One guy obviously hated me real bad. I quote him: "Why does he talk with his rank? Why must he hold his rank and talk to us? I think he enjoys punishing us and knocking us down. Always seeing him around. So sick and tired of seeing him." ????? Well, the others were kinder but generally I am as luo suo as a grandma(naggy), always wear an unsmiling, black face(My face was compared to dark clouds that will bring rain any time), inflexible person who goes by the book, the bad cop who makes sure all wrongdoings do not go unpunished and one who enjoys scolding f*** you while pointing my middle finger. Ok, maybe I have been focussing too much on the negative side and the last part was kind of a stunner cuz I dun do that to anyone else. It's just that it's tough on me cuz I need to be the "strictest officer" cuz some of them are just being too nice to the recruits. Not that I wanna blame DJ or anything, I mean it's just not his nature to scold them but this is all part and parcel of the job. Well, i know some like me, a minority don't and well, you cannot please everyone. At least, I know I have put in a lot of hard work for them. My phone is on all day during weekend in case anyone calls me. All their graduation ceremonies I liased to help them book out for them to attend. Those having pay issues always come and bug me about it though I have highlighted the issue and no one has gotten back to me. Damn, I realise i sound like I am complaining but I'm not. Think it's just me justifying that what I have done is right and there's no need to feel slighted over malicious comments. I wasn't the only one anyway. Some heaped "praises" like guai lan, lao lan and whatever u can think of on some of my instructors.

Generally these ppl are ok, at least most of them. It's sucky taking BMT cuz every batch comes for 10 weeks and then they pass out. You get attached to a group of ppl, then lo and behold they get out. Then you have to get use to a new batch of recruits. For me, it's been about relationships between people. After getting to know these people, it's only natural to be concerned about them. Just saw 2 of my ex-recs when i saw them at Tuas Naval base. They were basically doing shit job there and they were very happy to see their instructors there. Still remember how both of them gave trouble. One of them, Liang Zhi Gang, always bathed without soap and his whole section had to contend with his smelly laundry in bunk. Then the other one, nicholas, claimed he always hear voices in his head. Thank god, both passed out from BMT successfully. Quite sad cuz they do shit job and their ship is a small one. Worse thing is that they are going to taiwan next month and they are basically on a floating piece of metal at the mercy of the huge waves. Sad~

We decided on who to award the various awards for this batch. I have a lot of disagreements but I was kinda overruled by the rest. It's just that I have an issue awarding someone a Best if he cannot even prove to me that he has certain level of leadership qualities. Being fit alone is not a gd measure of his performance. I must say i spent the most time with these ppl and am prob the only person who remember all their names by heart. Yet, my views are not taken as seriously as they should. My only point is that if i want to award someone something, I must feel justified in awarding him it because I know that he is good. Whateva~ ...

Attended Xiu Ying's 21st birthday party last night. (Happy bdae XY!!) Prob the first 21st bday party I went to ...amongst my group of friends. Saw some law female students there as she is from law and boy must i say, the type of ppl they admit into law do not quite fit the stereotype of ppl I envisage are futurte lawyers. They may have the intellectual abilities to be one but their behaviours certainly do not. Well, thank god xiu ying you are not like them. Had great fun after most ppl left and the few ppl there started singing karaoke.

Got another chicken pox case today ...this means a 2-week quarantine period whereby we have to pack all our meals for 2 weeks and minimise contact with other trainees. Sianzzz

$160 ...I wanna go!!!

It's a saturday night so what am I doing at home? Like daniel says, I freaking have no life. Ok maybe I have allowed myself to slip into the doldrums of social inactivity. Actually I'm fine whether I go out anot, just that once in a while must go out and see the world out there. My Saturdays are spent giving tuition after book-out and at the end of it, it's evening and I'm bloody shagged out. Sundays are the only free and easy days I have to slack and I dun like to go out on that day. Which practically leaves me with ...you get the idea.

The 8km route march went on quite ok, in fact rather boring cuz we basically just walked. That was for me lar. Frankly speaking, I am glad to be PC of platoon 1 rather than 2 cuz I find platoon 1 more fun and they give less trouble. During the halfway mark I tried to rouse their spirit by doing a group cheer of sorts. You know, like everyone put their hands in their centre and call out a cheer. Quite cheesy I suppose but at least it gave them a boost for their last lap(I hope).

If you read the newspaper about the recent deaths of the commando, you would know that there was a safety time-out on thurs and fri. For me, it meant a lot of admin work cuz I had to do a curriculum review of my lesson plans. Still have another report to do by next week. Luckily, next week pretty slack so hopefully can devote time to doing that. Should arrange for driving too cuz it's been a while since my first lesson. Anyway, feeling real sad for the deaths in SAF. Realised during my days as a trainee last yr that we sometimes do things that are so dangerous we don't even realise that ourselves. Now thinking back, I really marvel at how we use to pull through the navigation through the jungles of Taiwan and Brunei. Certain parts were like one slip and you fall down the cliff kind of routes. We even walked through the night in Taiwan where you can hardly see in the thick vegetation and yet we have to battle thorny vegetations and steep and slippery slopes. Thank god my days of doing all these are over. Now, I only hope the recruits all go through everything smoothly. My neck and my scholarship are at stake man.

Gave my guys long weekend and they were all so happy. They were like arranging to go chiong on that very night though a lot of them were like totally shagged out. Must give it to them man. I went straight to the barber to get my hair cut cuz I cant stand it when my hair gets a little long. Went home and ended up helping my mom and sis with the straits times puzzle thingy in the hope of winning a car.

Saw the straits times annivesary thingy with all the coupons and it rekindled my wish to go for a holiday. They got this $160 package to club med bintan and tradewind tour packages to a few destinations of which I am only interested in Phuket. If i wanna go, then it will be in August. Which also means it will be hard to find friends to go with. Well, if anyone feels like going on a trip den, pls drop me a msg. Hopefully, this time round thoughts can translate into actions.

SOC, swimming, IPPT and 8km route march ...Siongz man!

Dunno why I bother to add a post now cuz it's like 11 plus now and I am doing a 8km route march tomorrow. Oh well, just dun wanna sleep yet. Going to have a long weekend this week cuz apparently Navy has this new directive that the trainees have the first Saturday after pay day off for them to go and enjoy though I think it is quite crap. As if they earn a lot like that. So I hinted to the recruits of a possible long weekend to motivate them to do well for their tests this week. They had SOC test on monday, swimming test yesterday, IPPT today and the route march tomorrow.

Several things happened during swimming. One of the guys had told me he wasn't feeling well and he cant pass the test but I made him take the test anyway. He was swimming halfway when he had difficulties. So I got one of my recruit to throw the life buoy in but the poor guy turned around at the exact moment and didn't see the float behind him. By then, he was thrashing wildly in the water. The guy on land reached out for him, then suddenly jumped into the water to rescue him. Even the lifeguard instructor didn't have enough reaction time to jump in. I was right next to him and I was like kena stunned for a moment. Quite brave of the rescuer but it was not the right thing to do cuz he does not know how to save the other guy properly. Anyway, Jeremy(the lifeguard instructor) kena suaned by me the whole day.

Then, I had this recruit Kelvin who struggled with his man made float during the test. Basically, the detail after him had finished the test already and he was still trying to get air into his float. He almost wanted to give up on several occasions but his friends and I will warn him not to go anywhere near the wall. Finally he finished it and passed the test. Quite proud of him that he didnt give up.

Yesterday had like 5 fever cases, about 3 of them were like 39 degrees plus. Spent time checking on them at night and woke up at night to check on them. Found out that they requested not to have MC so that they can still go for the route march tomorrow. Understand why as a lot of them are afraid of getting out of course but your health is still more important. Felt like some mother hen going from one to the next to check on them. (Haha, pardon the analogy)

Today's IPPT brought another 3 golds and a record-breaking 2.4 timing. One guy ran in 8:58, which was freaking fast. Too bad he cant do pull-up and can only settle for a pass. Sometimes, it's satisfying when you see people promise you something and they really push themselves to achieve it. This guy, Winson, promised me he will try his best to get gold after letting me down in SOC and swimming. Well, he kept to his word this time round. Then after the test, he came to me and asked to return the 20 push-ups he owed me. Kind of kena stunned cuz I forgot about it. (hehe) Anyway, it's great to see people improving and know that you have contributed to their progress. Though I realise i may not be at their standards now, I can at least take pride that i train them to be so.

Hope to wake up for breakfast tomorrow ....haha

Waited with a guy who was scared to jump off the high ramp for 2 hours plus!

Now waiting for my hair to dry so thought to add a post before I sleep. just came back from dinner with June, Geri and Zhen Hao at Breeks@TM. Both June and Geri just came back from Australia and they are going back soon. Had great fun cuz have not seen them for a really long time and we were basically catching up on what we have done over the past half a year. Hearing them speak of their experiences overseas is helping me to prepare myself mentally for next year but ultimately you must go experience it yourself. Been thinking about whether to apply for a London Uni cuz of the bombing. Anyway, my mom been pushing me to apply to Cambridge or Oxford because someone else's niece or daughter is studying there. So what? Firstly, I prob wont get in and even if I get in, I also dun wanna suffer my three years there. Anyway, hope to have more gatherings with my overseas friends. really glad to have these CT friends still. I believe we all are the best council of all batches man!

Had SOC this morning. Thought it was gonna be a real quick one cuz it is test day and once everyone has finished, we can pack up and RTU(Return To Unit). How wrong was I. Spent 2 hours plus trying to get the last guy to jump off the high ramp. For those who dun know what that is, it is the ramp in the photo where all my guys were in push-up position. He teetered on the edge for god knows how long and complained of leg pain which was utter bullshit. Wasted my time and made me stand under the hot sun for so long. I told him I would have put him out of course immediately if he gave up clearing the obstacle to coerce him into jumping. Too bad I didnt manage to get a photo of the whole company being punished to get him to jump. The scene was simply hilarious.

Went swimming today during their swimming lesson. BEen getting really "fried" by the sun and I am now positively chao ta already. Maybe should stop exposing myself to sunlight so often.

Ok, really sleepy so should go sleep. Have lots of reports to clear tomorrow and end of this week. Well, it's all in the job of a PC anyway. Weilin, just read your comments and have replied pls check. *yAwNz*

Spoilt my digicam ...Damn!

All of you must be wondering why the sudden avalanche of photographs on my blog. Well, Kenneth recently tranferred the photos from his memory card to the office computer from all the recent events(Ok, not that recent, maybe the last few months?). Anyway, wanted to take some pics this past week and post on my blog. Then, suay me somehow spoilt my digicam on the very first morning. Was taking pics during their IPPT when the lens somehow became crooked. Anyway, will be looking out for more pics to upload;p

Getting darker already cuz I went swimming with them. Quite sian cuz got route march this week. Well, they better be prepared for it cuz I sure will not make it easy for them.

Had about 30+ people reporting sick on one of the SOC days. Super chao keng but I also know got ppl who are really sick. Anyway, we always vet through them before letting report sick. Frankly speaking, I don't know if that's the right thing to do cuz I have never seen it been done anywhere else. It is supposedly part of their entitlement but if nothing is been done to control it, the situation will spiral out of control and no one will ever want to attend these trainings.(Which reminds me of the pics I uploaded. No wonder no one wanna go through them.Hehe) Anyway, had a repeat case of hyperventilation from this recruit Kelvin. Reflected on it and I suppose I am lucky not to suffer from such cases as a lot of them have never had such experiences prior to joining the SAF, which is understandable as they do not have to undergo such strenuous training.

Now examining the new A level curriculum. Thought I need to catch up on the latest development on education in Singapore.

Anyway, anyone wanna go for a short getaway in august? Been thinking about this long and hard ...well mayb that's what I'll end up doing. Well, drop me a note or whatever.

Was having an Officers dinner at this brazilian restaurant at sixth avenue which cost 50 bucks per head. Well, it was free so I had great fun eating. Thereafter, the five of us(including adrian, who is going smu soon) went holland v for a drink and ended up at gelare cuz DJ suddenly remembered it was tuesday. Talked a while before heading back camp.

This current batch is about halfway through. They have been fun and yet bring about more trouble. PErhaps I was ignorant of the previous batch's wrongdoings. Been catching people with cigarettes though we just did a standby universe. (Basically check all their stuffs) I hid in a toilet cubicle after dinner to ambush a guy I know got cigarettes from his friend but to no avail. Worse, kena splashed water cuz people were bathing and they thought I was one of them.(F***) Think they are on high alert and are more careful now. You all will not believe what I see sometimes. Matchboxes on exhaust fans, matchsticks and cigarette ashes in toilet bowls. Tonight I made them book in early so I can conduct a more thorough inspection. Have been receiving tip-offs from people. You see, it works when you made ppl go through all sorts of shit and they turn against one another when they get tired of these shit they are made to go through. Been planting my spies and a lot of ppl have been coming to me with names and tip-offs after the last standby.

Hope next week will be fun. Dun think I will have time for driving again but mayb should start training for IPPT. Must pass or else cant get my next bar. Anyway everything not's a prob except for my jump so trying to train up.

That's the cookhouse serving the most "delicious" of food. The recs enjoying a break from tekaning. hehehe
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All of them come in all shapes and sizes ...and hairstyles:p
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Watching the enlistment photo, that's chang hong's head and Brandon's by the corner!
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That's me, second from the right, reciting the instructor's creed. Crono's on my left, then DJ, Ellard and Barry on my left:)
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The ship mast aka flag pole at the parade square, right next to the sea
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Enlistment Day 010605
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Marching in to the drum beat ...
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Just found this, last batch's POP by the pool!
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Better keep up!!!! Still got a long way to go!
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Up the much dreaded Jacob's ladder 

All the shag faces 

Not a very clear pic but that's me leading the guys during the route march 

Recs tekaned by PTI during SOC 

Anything Goes

Ok now it's 3-something on a sunday afternoon. Basically waiting to go Yu Jia Zhuan for dinner with my paternal family cuz my cousin check out as first officer. Dunno what that means but he's a pilot in SIA so I suppose he's being promoted. Then will book in from there. Next week gonna be ok for me but no so for the recruits. IPPT and SOC almost everday, I think I'll have long queues of report sick again.

Went to watch a musical by SMU entitled "Anything Goes" with yvonne. Cost me 22 bucks but it was pretty worth it cuz the production was quite elaborate and they had a symphonic band playing below the stage. Must say that SMU seems to have improved by leaps and bounds and is very savvy in marketing it's brand name. Anyway, I quite enjoy the performance though I did not really laugh out loud. Still remember what I learnt from past drama productions: The audience is stupid. They laugh at things that are not meant to be funny but keep mum at the funny parts. And it's quite disruptive to the actors cuz it disrupts the flow of the play.

Well well, Ops tornado over liao so was thinking of Ops waterfall. Yvonne helped me come up with the name. Basically, I'll find one morning and go into their bunks and throw down all the unfolded blankets and the clothes and towels that were strewn all over their bunks, hence the name.

Ok, hope to be able to do something fun next week. Havent watched a single movie since the proce hike. Or maybe I should think about doing the photo shoot? Beng leading a pretty much non-existent social life, not helped by my weekend schedule and stubbornly wanting to book out with my recs and booking in with them. Anyway, will resolve to start studying for my advance and start reading the 2 new books I bought from Kino this week.