Thursday, July 09, 2009

nostalgia?

Headed down to SJI followed by VJ today, both were impromptu decisions. It was heartwarming to meet all the teachers who still remember you despite having taught you 7 years ago. The toilets finally got an upgrade, the need for lockers was finally seen by the school administration but other then these, everything remained the same. Still the same old SJI i left 3 years ago. The sec 1 kids reminded me so much of myself back then. The dark stairway at the old sec 1 block still do not have lights. The 'typical' sji trait is still pretty prevalent, the cheekiness and all. Even the cai fan uncle could remember us and he even gave us a discount. Of course the focus should not be on the discount. yanglaoshi mentioned something to us which i felt was very very true. Each batch, sji students will always come back to visit and when they are asked if there is that one thing they can take away from the 4 years in SJI, what would it be and somehow there can never be an answer. It is perhaps one of the intangibles or maybe the entire experience was a takeaway on its own. Whatever the case, it felt really awesome to walk past almost every teacher who you seem to know and vice versa.

At Vj, it was an entirely different story. For one, there was nothing to remind me of the life and fun i grew accustomed to in VJ. I then found out it was CTs. Collected my leaving cert, attempted to look for cook only to find out hes not in school already but i am used to disappointment so i guess another trip down is gonna come soon. But unlike in SJI, i walked past teachers, many of which i cant even recall their names and i definitely dont expect them to know me. It was great to have seen Mr Lum, the only teacher i met who taught and knows me but the first thing he said was oh i heard about you interview and alas, that made the resentment grow again but nevertheless i was glad for his concerns as he asked me about my plans and all. Despite the bad start when he first came in, at the end of A levels i think hes probably the best teacher we had in terms of teaching and also giving of advice.

At the end of 2 short trips, it made me realise that my prominence in VJ was nowhere near the level of that in SJI. In SJI, being a PSF and a UG leader practically made you a god. Most people will know you including the sec 1 kids and even teachers who have not taught you before would somehow know you. In VJ, all i have to be proud of is being a member of the Students' Council which if translated to a RJ context, is just another councilor which is not THAT impressive. I regret not trying to pick up another CCA thinking back. To be honest, not getting an invite back to college day was painful for me. Evidently i was under the false impression that contribution as an EXCO member was significant especially for council. I cant help but feel a tinge of jealousy when every VJ person in Delta wing is going back except for me and that is not a very comforting thought. Ok actually almost all but still! I might sound like i am very eager to stand out.This might be true, as being an extremely competitive individual since young, the prospect of trailing behind my peers is a position i never want to put myself into. But then again in SJI there was 1 Agung, in VJ, there are at least 50 of them so i guess this could be a reason why. At the end of the day further highlighted by the events of today, i do not feel i have made much of an impact in VJ or accomplished anything much. Yeah i made it to Mr Ho's scholarsheep group thing but so did another 100. And you wonder why i show no interest in going back for the homecoming dinner. But dont get me wrong i think i have said this before the experience was still awesome and the friends are wonderful but on an individual level, it wasnt that desirable. Just some thoughts i had on the way home...

oh yeah and just cause ara left a tag, heres a shoutout to all that his place is pretty awesome and the coziness more than makes up for the slightly ancient look to the place. =)

Twistin' at 5:11 AM
Tuesday, July 07, 2009

hardcore

back from brunei. camp was run down but food was awesome. welfare was awesome. but the jungles sucked. rock climbing with 30+kg of load is not funny at all. after completing that climb, it didnt help that we were the only group who decided to be garang while the other groups chose to skirt around the knoll. wet and cold nights led to more that normal contact with my buddies but i guess i finally understand what it means to bond closer together in a very literal sense. i was so close to being quarantined for an extended period of time but thank god i managed to make it back. i cant imagine how it feels like to be isolated for another day. but overall, i think the experience was one that makes you feel accomplished but you definitely wont want to do it again. if what we did was only the tip of the iceberg then to all my infantry friends, though it offers zero consolation, it really sucks to be you.haha. many 'fond' memories. many occasions of holaning and falling down. many near death experiences of my mates dramatic enough with its reenactment worthy of a shot at hollywood. so that signals the end of my brunei adventure and one thing is for sure, i wil rather shoot myself then go back there again for training. and now my next adventure at kranji camp awaits me. but for now, a week long block leave so please ask me out people!

Twistin' at 6:16 PM
Sunday, June 28, 2009

my bags are packed and i am ready to go

off to sunny wet brunei. goodbye singapore for the next 9 days or so!

heres my favorite commercial on tv now just before i go

Twistin' at 5:44 AM
Thursday, June 25, 2009

the delta experience

Own it, live it, DELTA. This phrase perhaps didnt make much sense at the start of my OCS life in Delta Wing, but yesterday i understood what it meant. 14 weeks has given me a sense of belonging in Delta. i will miss my bunk, being the biggest and at the far end of the level. i will miss my buddy for the random singing and bitching. i will miss the sluts of the platoon. i will miss my sji bros who will stay in delta. i will miss the times when the platoon imitates me though its bloody irritating at times.i will miss the instructors each for their unique brand of teaching. heck i will miss everyone in delta and all the times we went through. i might even leave a space in my heart for the man who gave us hell in CLM. because at the end of these 14 weeks, it turned out to be a pretty awesome experience. the next 5 months will be so different before we come back to SAFTI again. Till then, the next phase of my officership training awaits me. though i am pretty neutral about my posting, i will continue to do my best and by mid december, hopefully the entire platoon will stand strong and commission together.i will always remember this first platoon and how we always were different and how we always seemed to rock. because deep down despite the tough times, i really enjoyed myself thoroughly.

Twistin' at 7:48 PM


social night was cancelled because of unforseen circumstances. and i was forced to report sick for a slight fever which went down almost immediately so i got to eat leftovers. today i came home to find out my laptop hdd crashed and i need to pay 150 to fix everything. nabei in 2 days i lost 250 bucks essentially. fml really

Twistin' at 4:53 AM
Friday, June 19, 2009


'the past is history, the future is a mystery and today is a gift, that is why it is called the present'. but is what is happening today always a gift? why do so many people look forward to the future then if they are happy with what they have. i have learned in recent weeks that when you think you are in the worse shithole you can possibly in, someone will always be in a shitcrater facing worse than what you are facing. nevertheless, its not consoling to have things not go your way in almost every aspect. i have been spending quite abit of time with my family during this exceptionally long weekend and i guess knwing that your family is always behind you in every decision you make however worried it might make them is really heartwarming. been talking to my parents about the bad streak i am going through and how we discuss the possible options i have made me realise that they can give me the advice i need too. to be honest i have never really dicussed much with my family unless it requries their signature. i prefer to make choices on my own and it has been the case ever since i was a kid. i guess its never too late to make the family's opinion a bigger part in my decision making.

social night is coming up on wednesday and its pretty boring from what i hear from the other wings but oh well. if i get to signals and thats a huge if, i will be departing for brunei as early as the coming sunday.it seems fun minus the JCC the infantry men go through so there is reason to look forward to it. and by the time i get back, it will be block leave. so many things to look forward to especially the very well deserved break in my opinion from the past 3 1/2 months of training. having said this, so is the present really that awesome? i guess its a tough call for anyone unless you life is perfect now and it becomes a no brainer. life sucks but i guess not sucky enough to keep me wallowing in self-pity for too long. after all i have more or less survived service term. 2010 better come quick because i am all ready to kickstart everything in 2010

Twistin' at 11:10 PM
Saturday, June 13, 2009


Live firing was awesome.We chionged for 1 hour before having massive lepak for the next 4 hours. It was pretty fun, talking about anything with the platoon mates. I remember my first post after entering OCS filled with that air of pessimism about the next 3 months. Well i believe it is high time i took those words back because what i judged in the first 3 weeks is flawed after the passing of 3 months with these guys. The past 2 weeks where the tempo of training was comparatively lower than the other weeks, i started to really talk to so so many people whom i never got the chance to know before. it is a little unfortunate that quite a number of them are deferring to pursue their dreams of being doctors or going to the top schools for their education. But theres always facebook and msn i guess.

Next week is going to be our scorpion king after it got postponed the previous time. Having been in a perma man mode the past 12 weeks, i was given the appointment of being the PS for our defense mission. so good luck to me and from what i hear, the job is going to be tough.4 days without sleep will surely add more pimples to the already infested face of mine. Maybe the joke about having red camouflage about some guy didnt turn out to be so funny after all and god is punishing me or somthing. Ah well. I guess i am also pretty much remaining in delta wing for the next 6 months based on what i see and hear.

Social night is coming very soon too and other then the location, it is something to look forward to. i happen to know most of the dates the delta dudes are bringing so i guess its gonna be pretty awesome minus the fact that its going to be some RJ homecoming but its okay. we can have our own VJ corner or something.Was watching the national school championships encore telecast thing and they were broadcasting the VJ soccer semi matches. I actually kinda miss match support and how all the girls would go hysterical when a chance to score comes along. College match support will always be more special than any other kind of match support and this is probably why college bball games in US are even broadcasted on ESPN.

Twistin' at 9:51 PM
Saturday, June 06, 2009

highlight of the day

me:in a high kneel position we can get up and run faster than in a sitting position
hl:how can you run faster like this(refers to running on knees)

hahahahhahahahahahahahah

Twistin' at 9:35 PM