Experienced chest pains while running this morning. My first thought was, better make sure my friends burn a paper iPhone 3G S for me. Immediately following was: oops, don't think that applies to my religion. After came: Wait, if I die my friends probably won't even know. Which is kinda true. My parents don't interact with my friends, and vice versa.

If I were to ki qia/up the lorry one day, how would they find out? Hmm. Oh well, the whatever-it-was subsided soon after anyway, so I continued running. I suck at runing. I can't run fast. So though I was one of the last few at least I managed to finish that stupid 12k run. I treated myself to an unhealthy meal at the mess after. Foigured I deserved it once in a while, also because I've been eating less recently.

After that, wasn't much else today so I rested in bed. Cleaned up the place a lil before book out. Yay. Another week down and driving tomorrow. I also have a class outing on, but I don't really feel like going. I've never really bonded with my class THAT much, and that coupled with the situation now means I've pretty much lost contact with everyone. Furthermore, what with all the cliques and all, it may be a little odd. I dunno if that will be the case but it seems likely. =S Guess I won't be turning up then.

They're going Minds Cafe to play games. So...yeah. Hmm. Ben is not going also so...yup. Anyway, they also won't know I'm comtemplating this. Hopefully. In related news, I managed to find out that this blog seems to be a tad hard to find. =) Using methods my friends have shown me and all, I haven't really located it so far. So, that's good. Don't know if anyone has found it yet though. They've seen me blogging in the mess but don't think anyone has tried to look for it. Heh.

Now at YM's place. Going for supper soon. Think tomorrow will not be very interesting.

Went gym today. Nothing much. Rested, then went down to look-see/help out a bit. Tomorrow is Fri. Stupid 12km run. I think once more I will have another near death experience. HAHA. Zzz. Going to be damn tired. The last time I did so, I couldn't give commands properly. Don't think there will be much tomorrow. Good. Because it's FRIDAY. Yet another week is over!

Nothing much today. Looking forward to coming home to upload my pics. I HAVE got to get a new laptop. The connection speed keeps dropping for my laptop and I think the uploading will fail. Decided to use the outside com. Yet, my friend's laptop doesn't have this prob when he came over. Mine still does after reformatting. I don't know why. Stupid connection. Even reformatting doesn't fix it. I wiant a new laptop before I go uni. Maybe get a new iPhone too. Still copying all the pics into this com to be uploaded...zzz.

Finally uploading my pics, but it batches of 40 or so. Stupid program totally hung when I pressed 'select all'. I have like 200+ pics. =S Shall resize and upload next time like ben said. Tagging is going take a while...oh and with a few aunts and cousins on my FB, maybe I ought to think twice about updating my status with stuff about being drunk and high in a chalet. Or...maybe to hell with it. LOL.

[update]
DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT. Today has been fucked up. The first time i go home in weeks without a key and i'm locked out. Everytime i go home on nights out i manage to get in and when i go without my bag today, no one's at home. I had to sit on the steps for 20 mins. Crap. Wasted my time. Then later when booking in i was so engrossed in reading my book i missed the train, and the next 2 trains i couldn't take cos they went to the east loop. Fuck. Now i'm probably going to be late and need to take a cab and waste more money and time. Great. I just want to get to my bed and sleep. And not go for the run tomorrow. Just hide from everything till this fucked up streak of bad luck is gone.
[/update]

I didn't have to take a cab. Phew.

Continuing from the previous events, after our little trick with the fire (Something to show off at other BBQs =P) Ben and Xw left and Tak, Val and I went upstairs. Decided to watch a movie, and since it was to be Val's day, we let her choose. P.S. I Love You. Val's friends joined us near the end and we got them to help us buy Macs for supper. It turns out you need to upsize them to get the seaweed shakers. =( Slept at 4am or so.

SUNDAY. Woke up at about 10. The rest, didn't. So I lay there in bed till about 12 or so until XW messaged me. Val was next to wake up. finally managed to make everyone wake up at 1plus, and we went to the food court for lunch. But before that, we made Val breakfast in bed! Using the tools at hand, we made a plastic container with honey stars and milk, and the cover held 2 muffins made by her friends. And a cup of orange juice.


After lunch, we went back to the chalet again, while Val's bro went to wait for bowling lanes. After messing around with everyone's hard drives and laptops (LOL) we went down and had 2 games. Haven't bowled for so long. Haha. Had a light dinner with Val's family at a Jap restaurant on top of ehub. Then went back to our room and watched tak and XW play raving raddids. It was so amusing to watch. Haha. The rest of us tried out a bit too.

After her mum left =X, we passed around vodka sprite and I proposed a toast to val and we passed her our present. =) We had fun treating it like a suspicious improvised explosive device and and she probably believed it too. Finally she managed to get the ribbon off, and I'm glad to say she like what we got. =P

After that, we camwhored a little then went down to BBq at like 10pm. There was no one around. We had my music this time. =P (Someone plugged in his ipod the first night) BBQed the rest of the food and I did my flame-grill thing again. =P They siad it was nice. Heh heh. Means I can do it again next time. And I did steaks this time, the last time it was pork chops. Even the cats liked it; tak fed some to them.

After that, Ben left around 12 to catch the last bus. He took the room key with him. Lol. A few mins later I discovered it and we called him. So...we made him miss the last bus, so he could stay a while more. Haha. He ended up having to cab home though. We also had some of the vodka w/ sprite and green tea (Not all together, lol) Then cleared up the place and went up. I felt it was really slow going drinking one by one so XW suggested Raving Rabbids. =(

I kept losing! =((( I drank like 2 cups by myself until I finally defeated her once. Then I suggested guessing number and she won a few more times (using questionable techniques) She just wanted to make me drunk. In the end we settled for I take half u take half. Lol. Tak was highly amused by us. We were both high. As in pretty much touching the sky. =X Hahaha. Thank goodness it was a controlled environment. All of that will probably go on FB in all its drunken glory. Haha. I was pretty messed up.

Eventually we started packing up and we went to sleep. Val left later on and though I vaguely remember that, I don't recall some of the things I did OMG. Lol. Woke up at 9 feeling a bit woozy and packed up and checked out. Sent tak in a cab to White Sands, and then cabbed home. Then Showered, packed my bag, and cabbed to camp. Reached just nice at 12. Haha.

Still in a holiday mood. Didn't do much today, but it rained quite heavily and the weather was great. Lol. Wonder if I'll be oging home tomorrow. Can upload my pics too..

'I adore simple pleasures,' said Lord Henry. 'They are the last refuge of the complex....'

-The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

Blogging from day 1 of the chalet. =) It was quite fun. Haha. At first it was kinda hectic, checking in with a load of stuff. Went to find tak at Macs, and she came over. Waited, and val came over. Soon came Ben and XW wih Val's parents. Some of her friend came early too. Played a few rounds of saboteur (quite fun =P) then went down to set up everything.

Set up my speakers. Quite alright. A bit difficult with our room on the 2nd floor (could not drag the whole setup out) so I was blasting my speakers from our room on the 2nd floor. Went down and BBQed for about 2 hours straight. Damn hot. One by one everyone came by and visited. Later XW and I went up to the room to prep Val's cake. Stuck in all the candles. We wrote 'e cake is a LIE!' on the cardboard of the box. Haha. 20 candles looks pretty nice.

Borught it down and I borrowed a lighter. Gathered everyone before the candles vsnished and then sang a song. Right as she blew the candles, tak sprayed val with an entire can of whipped cream. Haha. Pretty much all 5 of us got it. =S Then we smushed her with the cake after serving all if it. After we all got smeared with cake we ate our own slices.

After that cleaned up ourselves a little and tidied up the slices then started drinking Vodka Sprite. Ok ba. Maybe can drink more tomorrow. OH and then Val's bro put in some ashes in a cup of water and made it boil. So what Ben told him to do next was to use a fire starter to rekindle the ashes, and restart a fire.

Taking a hot coal from the ashes, they dropped it in to boil the alcohol and vaporise the Chivas. Right as they did that, they threw in a flaming firestarter, which ignited the Chivas vapors and then created a flaming column of fire freaking 4 or 5 feet high. It went on burning for quite a while too. Quite a night. I got the video. FACEBOOK! =P

"It feels like this."

-Harry Potter,Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince

Went to YM's place at 230 today. Headed down to Ion Orchard for a more thorough look-see. I guess it is true. There's isn't that much to see anyway. Or maybe because most of the shops haven't opened and we weren't exactly shopping. Just walked around. Bought more stuff. Some will know what I bought. Haha. Then again they probably don't read this blog.

Life is much more convenient with cars. YM dropped me off at Chomp Chomp where I had dinner with XW, before heading to his house. I overshot and had to turn back. =.= On the bus back, this kid sitting opposite me kept fidgeting in his seat and kicking my shins. =.=

Then when I rose to press the bell to alight, JUST as it went Ding dong! the bus driver slammed on the brakes and I sprawled forward from my half-standing position. The kid was like saying he was angry because someone fell on him. HELLO. YOU WERE KICKING ME THOUGHOUT THE JOURNEY. =.= Dumbass smartmouth. Please don't irritate me with this kind of shit.

Got to YM's place without any further incident and went to watch Public Enemies with Sixu too. It was fairly ok, thought I think it could have been better. Or at least cooler. The so-called shootout at the end...I don't think it qualifies as a shootout if -SPOILER ALERT!!!- the target doesn't even get a round out, no? -SPOILER ALERT!!- I had envisaged a glorious but vicious gun-battle in between parked cars at high noon, but it was not to be.

Two people have commented that I appear thinner. That's nice. I shall keep up with my diet. I haven't been eating breakfast for a while now, opting to skip straight to lunch, and losing my appetite recently also means I eat less. The only meals I will finish are those bought and paid for with my own money because I paid for them. The rest, I throw away. Maybe skipping dinner is feasible, because if you sleep hungry, you don't know you're hungry! Hmm...we'll see how it goes.

'Don't be silly,' he said aloud.' And keep awake and steer. You may have much luck yet.'

'I'd like to buy some if there's any place they sell it,' he said.

'What could I buy it with?' he asked himself. 'Could I buy it with a lost harpoon and a broken knife and two bad hands?'

'You might,' he said. 'You tried to buy it with eighty-four days at sea. They nearly sold it to you too.'

-The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway

Wow. Haven't blogged since Monday. Well, I was waiting for the week to pass I guess. Finally a wonderful well-deserved break. Tues went for nights out with the guys, all the way to Orchard, so was a little tired when I returned. Visited Orchard Central and Ion. Finally visited the new malls! It is fairly interesting, thought I didn't explore to my heart's content. I want to become familiar with these new places to go.

Hopeflly I can explore them soon. =) Both places seem fairly big, especially Ion, and I was very impressed by Central's glass lifts and Ion's decor. Tommy took the last cup of clam chowder right as I wanted to try it for the first time at Mos burger. RAWR. Sigh. =( Isn't life always like that? Wed, I went to look for suppliers for our WITS project. Fairly interesting, and possibly fruitful trip. Went to sleep anticipating Thurs.

Thurs, booked out, went to Suntec, did the project. Very cool, thought I did get approached by security. Lol. Some people were staring. Nevertheless I wouldn't mind doing more of it. After that, met up with XW. ^^ Went for lunch at Pizza Hut. Then went to buy some stuff. Haven't caught up in a while. Went to catch HP6 because I haven't done so. The timing was just nice.

I also haven't watched a movie for a while and don't think my other gang will wanna watch it. So, lucky I did then. It wasn't too bad, though I wonder why everyone seems to be falling in love suddenly. At the same time. =.= The sexual tension is probably enough to choke Lord Voldemort to an unsatisfying death. After that, XW bought a pair of earphones, and we went down to her workplace.

I had dinner there, and it wasn't too bad. However after that I had to lug all my stuff home. =X I decided to take 31 to Boon Keng and change to train so I walk less. I was on the bus for a friggin' long time and thought I'd missed my stop. =.= Got off to find it 2 stops away...but I was at KALLANG. Those 2 stops turned out to be VERY far apart. Eventually got home. Tomorrow, will be packing for chalet, and also probably meeting XW for dinner at Chomp Chomp and then maybe going Ion Orchard and then watching Public Enemies with YM and Sixu.

Something is messing up my blog. Can't load my tagboard and the page fully. =S Nothing much today. Some equipment training and ippt. Looks to be nothing much tomorrow too. That's good. One day down.

"For every mother who ever cursed God for her child dead in the road, for every father who cursed the man who sent him away from the factory with no job, for every child who was ever born to pain and asked why, this is the answer. Our lives are like these things I build. Sometimes they fall down for a reason, sometimes they fall down for no reason at all."

-The Drawing of the Three, Stephen King

No Potter for me. Huh. Well I can go home and watch all my recorded cable TV shows. I went driving(did U-turns), then went to Compass Point to return my books. Wasn't really in the mood for it,(for once I had something against crowds) but I had to. Returned and borrowed new books and then went home to pack my stuff a little. Trying to bring a smaller bag in on Mon.

Going to Suntec for a project. Looks to be interesting and I can't wait. Anyone want to find me? (nobodywillwantto) But then I guess everyone is probably busy as usual, it being a Thursday. Oh well, just my luck (gottenusedtoitalreadythatslife) then.

Just waiting for time to pass. For now, I'm going to try and enjoy my night out as much as possible. Later meeting up with Shawn and YM. I will not deny the chances of alcohol appearing (itishighlylikely) but I already said, I'm goning to make good use of my night outt before I book in tomorrow morning. So fast. It's barely more than 24 hours, and I'm lucky. Some of them booking in 11 tonight. Thank goodness for Combat shoot.

---

Had a Hard Day's Night (quite deserved, considering the past week) and 3 and a half glasses of Stella Artois. Or the whole jug minus 2 glasses which belonged to Shawn and Siwei if you want to look at it another way. Been a while since I last drank.

---

Sigh. This has been one of the longest and tiring weeks I've had in a very long time. Only booked out today morning. Much has happened. Let me see where to start...

Thursday

There's such beauty in the hard honesty of that, in accepting and giving love while always aware it comes with an unbearable price.

-The Darkest Evening of the Year, Dean Koontz

Thursday didn't do much. Some uneasy rumbling in the ka-tet and today we felt the first few sparks. Well, it would do for everyone to keep in mind that it we're not careful, those few sparks could ignite the whole powerkeg and take us all down. It won't be pretty.

Went out with Ben and Tak. Had dinner at Pastamania and then went to play arcade. Been a while since we've gone out. I had to leave at 10 unfortunately. I reached pretty much just on the dot. Did not sleep well. Fell asleep at 1.30, woke at 5 am.

Friday

I do not aim with my hand, he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I aim with my eye.
I do not shoot with my hand, he who shoots with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I shoot with my mind.
I do not kill with my gun, he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart.

-Roland of Gilead, Gunslinger

Combat shoot. Was pumped for Morning's instinctive drills. I scored 8 out of 8. Hile, Gunslinger. Then I lost the mood during the day shoot. Lost 6. Night shoot was pretty hard. My group barely scraped a pass. Well at least we passed. Got back pretty darn late and was really tired. Guess that helped my sleep too. I pretty much lost most of my appetite. Might help to lose weight. Ha-ha.

Saturday

Destiny does not send us heralds. She is too wise or too cruel for that.

-The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

The last day. Finally. Safety spec. It was less tiring because they roped in some extra people to help. Thank goodness. Couldn't wait for it to be over. I thought we could book out tonight. Sadly no. Sigh. How disappointing.

Sunday

...except it was the human condition wasn't it? The answers that mattered never came easily.

-The Dark Tower, Stephen King

Finally home. Have so many things to settle. I felt on the edge of just giving up and going to sleep and to hell with everything. Yet I didn't. I carried on still, not because I wanted to but because I had to. So I went about my mundane tasks. I think I'm almost through. I think. Sigh. Later will be going for driving, and then maybe Harry Potter with Ben and Val. I can't wait. I need to get out. Need to get away and just relax.

Haven't gone drinking in a while. I don't suppose it will be anytime soon either. Gotta book in Monday morning, last till Wed night. Thurs I will be doing a project. Anyone want to find me? Haha. Then Friday off. Just last till Wed night...

---

There many things I want to talk about and many more things I want to say, but some things are better said in person. Which will come, in time. I don't even know if you read this anymore. I'm still ok for now, I guess. Not fine, but surviving. I couldn't sleep well the first night, but the next day I was just too tired. I don't blame you since you didn't know.

Perhaps it's all the times I've been put in this situation before. Even though I was blindsided, I recognised that emotion that came flooding back. It was like a old houseguest that simply refuses to leave. So familar still. Yet, I seemed to have become numbed to it. It does feels the same all over again. Just that I've felt the cutting edge of the blade so many times it's dulled my senses. This probably isn't anything to be proud of. But yes, I'm still ok. It hurts, but I can bear it.

For once, words seem to defy me. I don't know if this is the exact message I want to convey or that it is clear enough. Like I said, some things are better said in person. We'll leave that till then, shall we?

So many quotes, but I think I cannot find one for this now.

Things have gotten complicated and i'm tired today. The next 2 days will not help. To make things worse, i'm only booking out on Saturday, which sucks big time. I will probably continue blogging then.

For now, I intend to seek refuge in the Dark Tower while i still can until next week provides a well-needed break from everything.

And now i wait.

Goodbye.

Typing this at 4 in the afternoon. I was trying to make my books last. Then remembered i had a psp. =.= Didn't feel like touching it for so long.

At least i can entertain myself for a while now. Patapon revival. A lot easier with my headphones. IMT today morning was ok. Nothing much. Just want to get this week over and done with.

Nothing much today. Controller for activation. Settled some wits project stuff. Went for nights out to amk. Managed to have a cheap dinner. I hope my books can last me till friday. Next week ought to be a better week.

Helped out a little in the activation today. Got shot at. Wouldn't call it an arrow. More of an intercontinental ballistic nuclear missile. Ha-ha. In addition to being the unofficial IC of our WITS project (My neck is on the line here!) i am also now IC of the Heritage Room. So i guess i'm now picking up where Nicholas left off. If there was anything to pick up at all.

There's a lot of cool stuff in there i guess. I mean, gas masks for kids! How cool (and slightly discomfiting) is that? How about gas masks for horses? Lol. But gee, more stuff under my name. Frankly i am not too interested in the WITS project too. Zzz. But we still have to try and settle it.

Hopefully tomorrow after the route march. Cohesive to bring together a few hundred people even after segregating them for H1N1 and make then march and sweat together? Hopefully can get some results by Wed. After Wed's run. :( And then Combat Shoot hits us along with ATP. What a week. And i still have driving on Sun morning.

Right now i'm just trying to cut down on my reading a little if i still want to entertain myself from Thurs to Sat. Maybe get some new books tomorrow on my nights out. Haha. Oh i will be on off on the 24th. Because of this sat. So i will have a sorta extended weekend. Heheh. Let's hope we pull the chalet off. I can't wait. I want it to go great.

The number of times they stab you is directly proportional to how well you cover it up and how good your mask is.

We are but actors.

Just reformatted my com. I forgot about my Feedreader. Well, I'll take it as a cleaning up of my feedreader I guess. =X That's all I've been going today. It's going to be a busy week. =S Think I oughta stock up on books for my range.

After sleeping at something like 3 or so today, I somehow awoke at 940 or so. =.= Unwilling to wake up so early, I tried and failed to go back to sleep. So I got up, did some stuff online first, then did up a survey for my WITS project. I have yet to find a supplier. Zzz. I may be going back to Sunset in the late afternoon for a lunch, of sorts. By car, if I may add. Because I was describing the place to YM, who heard about it from his diving instructor, so they were very excited to go.

I'll probably be going w/ YM and Siwei and maybe we'lll reach about 4, eat till 5, then I'll head down to Hougang I think to meet up with Eliza to lend her my HP book. Then back home, maybe think about my WITS.

[UPDATE]
Got to the arranged location at 330. I had to wait till 4 because YM had to refuel the car. Rar. Got there realtively quickly. Had the mushroom soup. I shall try the clam chowder next time. NICE too. Had more buffalo wings. Level 4 too. No kick. HAHA. I think I got desensitised. I scarfed them down almost as per normal.

After that, left to go Hougang Mall for dinner with Eliza. Caught up on each other a bit, and lent her my HP book. Went home, changed and went down to YM's place and he drove us to Supper at Dessert Bowl near Chomp chomp. Not too bad I guess. But jeez, I've been spending quite a bit on food this week. Rar.

Sometimes it seemed like our lives were defined and circumscribed by blood.

Nothing much today. Commander Safety Day and then lunch. The presentation was over faster than expected. Actually I think I kinda bored them because I threw a little bit of history in. =X Oops. Sorry. Well, I did my work and I found it interesting! I wonder has my wound scabbed over yet. I ran 6km with it today. Only hurt a little. =.= Hoping it will heal over soon. The irony is that I spent the first 18 years of my youth carefree, getting into all sorts of scrape, and it takes me going to the army to get my first scar.

And how I got it is stupid. This table had only 3 legs, so it was balanced against another table. Then somehow or other it fell and it cut me. on the side of the knee. There's a faint brown line where it cut me. =.= And now I have a feeling that there may be a scar on my shin because the skin got scraped off badly. I wonder what happened to the scraped off part. Eww.

Anyways, after my presentation I went for my driving lesson. It was ok. Stalled 4 times I guess. But still alright so far. I went home after for dinner. Meeting my sec sch friends later for supper and pool. Maybe meeting Eliza tomorrow to lend her HP again. Hopefully no mobilisation. =X Anyway I also got my WITS project stuff to handle. Shitcrapshit. =(

[UPDATE]
Went to Bugis for a late supper at TCC, then to play pool. Was quite fun. Haha. Sighs. When I wake up tomorrow I'll have to to and do up a survey for my WITS. Maybe one of the other specs can help me contact D&G. I'll be going to Sunset again for a late lunch, most probably. Then dinner with Eliza. All that BARRING mobilization. =X Let's pray for the best shall we?

Nothing much today. IPPT training. TTX with platoon. Discipline has been slipping. We shall try to improve it. My injury has not fully scabbed over and it's still open. Don't think I shall run tomorrow. No dinner today, so we went for nights out. Decided to go Sunset Grill, since the place is relatively famous and even foreigners also rent cars simply to get there.

After all, it is pretty darn near by certain standards so I guess it's worth a try since we've been here so long. JH knows how to get there too. So we walked. First of all, it is pretty deep in and seriously ulu so your best bet is a car or a taxi. Taxi drivers also may not know the place. Bus gets you to our starting location. And even then, the walking may daunt some. But hey, we're from the army! Ha-ha. Dunno about 103m, but you can take 103 from the main road all the (1.2km) in to Seletar Camp gate. (The current one) By the way our route is not for cars. I think I know how to get there another way.

From then, we walked to Old Birdcage Walk (I love the names at Seletar Camp, so quaint and English) and further inside, past the big green building on the left. All the way down this road, you will be passing by the side fence of Seletar Camp. You will come to some traffic barriers a series of concrete blocks to deter cars. Stright down, you will come to a rise and over it, another row of traffic barriers.

Past it, follow the paved road and turn left. This road is scarcely populated by streetlights, so I guess it would not be good to walk here at night. Also, hardly no one walks in I think. Walk down this road ALLLL the way till you reach this shed that says Hawker Pacific. Or something like that. You will just reach a cluster of sheds and hangers. Walk down the main throughfare, look right at the junction and you will see this smaller shed with tables and chairs. There you are.

I had the Mushroom Soup, Fried Button Mushrooms, and Level 4 Spicy Buffalo Wings. Prices are a bit stepp, but choose wisely and you can have a delicious but still satisfying meal. As I've read, the soup and fried mushrooms were indeed pretty good. The soup was thick, flavourful and full of ingredients. Deifinitely with stardards. The fried mushrooms were full of juicy mushroomy goodness. Dipped in the tartar sauce, it was wonderful. Peeling apart the batter, you get to savour the soft juicy button mushroom and chew on it.

[TBC - Need to book in.]

[Cont.]
We also ordered the level 4 spicy buffalo wings, which are indeed something to contend with. The taste may not suit all as there is a sour tinge, but i found it unique. The wings were mostly flavoured on the outside, the inside was ok. The spiciness did indeed pack quite the punch and this was only level 4 of 10. Nevertheless it is not too bad if you can get through it. Its good they provide a huge jug of water too. So don't bother with buying mineral water. =D

After that, walked all the way out, then just nice caught a bus out and home. Even slightly less than 2 hours is good. I came back slightly late cos i missed the 103. =.= Looking forward to driving tomorrow. I'm not wearing my driving shoes! =X They are my shoes with the flattest pair of soles so i can more accurately judge my pedalwork.

Nothing much today. Val got her license today! I'm so happy for her. Haha. I can't wait to get my own license too. I want a car. ><

I started on Book 7 and it may last me through the week just yet. Tomorrow may be interesting cos i'm contributing my music to everyone during the morning pt. =D And the weekend is approaching.

Just realised i haven't blogged yesterday. And sunday too? Well, nothing much actually. Sunday, went for a family dinner. Woke at 2pm. Haha.

Dinner in the evening. Left a little late and my uncle sped my cousin and i to Gedong and Seletar afterwards.

Mon, i did get banged up pretty bad. I was crossing over to another bed from mine when i banged my head on the upper deck.

I fell back, and in the resulting confusion, my leg took a hit too, and my shin got scalped. The skin was got but there was white stuff underneath.

Quite gross. Then the sides started oozing blood so i got a medic to help patch me up. That's one thing about the army. Basic medical attention is on call 24/7, 5 mins away. Haha.

Today is day 2 with the bandage. Think i'll remove it tomorrow. It bled quite a little even after patching it. Today, didn't do much. Helped contribute a little to Army Open House.

Went for nights out to AMK hub. Bought something for sgt Dovin. Haha. Combined effort between his platoon spec and me, his ex-spec.

The quest for the Dark Tower is finishing soon. I finished the penultimate book today, and started a little on Book 7. I hope it can last me through the week. It is a little thicker.

With its conclusion will also come the end of the chase for the Tower, and i will need to find something to occupy myself again...

(Sorry my paragraphs are so short, the format on my phone is narrow and it's hard to estimate how long they are.)

'But man is not made for defeat,' he said. 'A man can be destroyed but not defeated.'

-The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway

Mm. I'm kinda tired now. And feeling a little weird. Plagued by something. Let's just call it the monkey on your back. A metaphor I picked up from the Dark Tower. Big or small, sometimes one comes along, jumps on and latches on tight. This one is worse than most. Something big and nasty, like a killer babboon. Monkey gone. All better.

It gnaws away at my mind, but I have to try to fight it off. Sometimes I feel really confused, and out of sync. Been feeling that a lot recently. It makes you feel really messed up inside, but I'm trying to rid myself of it. It's a horrible feeling. Almost like I'm going crazy, losing my tenacious grip on reality. Maybe I'm just feeling off today.

Nevertheless, back to business. I went driving today. Was alright. Doing right turns now. Is he going slow? Because it's my 5th lesson today and I'm like midway through right turns. Oh well. The lesson itself is quite tiring mentally cos I have to be on alert for most of it. I can't switch off because I won't learn and I might make mistakes. Stalled maybe 4 times today.

Went home to rest and pack my bag, then went out. Reached Marina Sq, and went to Flyer to meet Ben and Taky and her friend Stef. Went thorugh the loooong queues before we entered the platform. Well, all things considered, things were moving pretty fast, so thumbs up to that. Got a blue goodie bag. Some of the props were half done, but it was still fairly nice to watch. I quite enjoyed it. Haha. Oh yeah, I also help her friend take pictures of her boyfriend who is my CBRDCC coursemate. Alvin Wee. Small world, huh?

After it ended though, the fatigue kicked in and I felt really tired. I may sleep early tonight. Try and forget about the monkey for a while. Sian. Nothing to do tomorrow until evening, going for a family dinner. Well, at least I get a ride into camp.

Been such a long time since my blog last saw photos uploaded...

"The only horrible thing in the world is ennui, Dorian. That is the one sin for which there is no forgiveness."

-Lord Henry, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde

Went driving today. Nearly ran someone over. Thought he was going to cross only to the middle of the road and stop. Turns out he wasn't even gonna bother looking. =.= My instructor jammed the brakes and sounded the horn. Then I stalled. =.= Did that about 5 or 6 times today. Stalling, I mean, not running someone over.

Stalled a few times cos I was behind this white Vios that was going reaaaally slow around the curves and that meant I was also inching along behind reaaaally slowly too, and because we started from a traffic light, I had to brake to avoid getting too close and ended up stalling because it was a case of "any slower, and I'd be stopping", and also because my gear was too high for me to be creeping along like that.

Nevertheless, eventually overtook it, and did right turns today. Turns out some army personnel were driving today as it was a Friday. I had no idea there was an army camp around Ubi. =S I saw a building with a lot of tonners and such. Exactly 2 3-tonners and 1 mini-jeep were using my right-turn loop. Oh well, it was good to be learning something new. Traffic was a killer too. Start, stop, start, stop. Starting up on a upslope was an experience. Lol.

Looking forward to tomorrow's lesson. After my lesson, I went to Hougang, bought $1.50 chicken rice. =D and bubble tea. Yummy. Generous helping of the peach. Then met with Michael, BH, and JH at Compass Point. Went to my home to do our project. Settled it within 2 hours. Alright ba. It may have been a little odd/akward because we are, well, just decent friends, and here we all are at someone's house doing a project that really finished so fast. It was just kinda weird.

Then now just stoning at home I guess. Shawn went over to YM's place but I don't think there's much to do there so I didn't go. Shawn also went home already, I think. Waiting for my lesson tomorrow and then meeting at Marina Bay tomorrow 4PM. =D Damn. I'm bored at home. Rawr.

Without fear what would we be? Mad dogs with foam on our muzzles and shit drying on our hocks.

-The Waste Land, Stephen King

Didn't do much today. Settled all the stuff I've been meaning to. Went to see the doc in the morning for my foot. Got a cream for the infection. Think it just may work this time. Especially when all I got from the camp doctor was a solution of potassium permanganate that specialised in making it look a whole lot more horrible that it actually was. Like I was infected with third-degree Necro-rotitis or something.

Back on topic, I went for a haircut, then stayed home, did research on nerve agents and blister agents. So I can TAKE OVER THE, it's a task I was assigned to do. We are researchers now. =) Did so till the evening, went out to eat, then bought a power adapter for my speakers so I can bring them to camp.

I was conflicted. =( The adapter cost $14.80, and a whole new set of small Logitech speakers (Not too bad) cost $12. Now I think about it, I wish I had gotten the Logitech ones. ARGHH. It's just that if I did so, I'll have a lot of extra speakers at home. (One extra my dad bought, my old desktop ones) and the current mini philips ones. Plus, the Logitech ones seem to be more powerful too.

Logitech
pros:
cheap
may be more powerful

cons:
may be too narrow to mount on my bed
PROBABLY WON'T NEED THEM LONG TERM

Adapter
pros:
won't have too many speakers hanging around the house
can charge my MP3 too

cons:
expensive

ARGH it's a dead tie. =S AH WAIT. When I ORD I'll have no need for small speakers...so I guess I jusitified my decision. Yay. Must think far. But I think one of my friends has a similar model and its really good and powerful. AUGH I think too much. I've got driving tomorrow. ^^ And then a meeting to do a project. I never thought for once that while in the army I'd have friends over to do a project. Lol.

Then on Sat driving again, and Ben's invited me to watch a NDP pre-show. Hehs. =) Then On Sun, high tea with la familia. Lol.

Friendship wasn't worth the heart it was written on...

-The Darkest Evening of the Year, Dean Koontz

Back home. Till next Sun. 2 days off for winning Best Combat Engineer Unit and best Combat Support Unit. Didn't do much today. Went for the SAF day parade in the aternoon. Dragged all the way till evening. Luckily I had my novels. Sigh. Sometimes I just get tired of it all. The environment. This is, more or less, continuing in the same vein as my previous post.

Frankly, I get irritated. It is all I can do to keep a lid on it, because like it or not, I have to live and work with these people for 7 months more. As if living and working with them for the past 9 months hasn't been enough. To set things straight, I don't dislike them on the most literal sense of the word.

It's just that, after spending 9 months of your life living with the same 10 or so guys in the same closed quarters is apt to cause patience to wear thin and tempers to spark every once or then. Which is happening more and more often these few days. Not just me too, I feel we have just about reached a heating point.

I am glad we won't take too big a part in ops. Goodness knows how dirty it can get the further it goes. Especially when we deal in the absolutes. Each and every single piece of (WORKING!) equipment.

As for me, I find I have a shorter fuse for those around me sometimes. I won't really flare, but occasionally, they may sense a flash of something. And that something makes them take a step back for they do not want to start anything more that I do.

What can I say? It's complicated. There' a lot of stuff going on here. I wouldn't go as far as to call it politics, but issues. But life's like that. I won't go into specifics except to say sometimes I just get so damn irritated. We cope with it and move along. Keep on truckin' as they say.

Anyways what is it to you? If you don't like it don't read it. I don't think it's very polite of you to borrow my novel and come back and diss it. You may have your opinions but I have mine too. And you only SKIMMED the last 2 books of a 7-novel series. I don't think that gives you the right to keep telling me it's bad.

To say it's worse than Twilight, ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I'm not going to comment on Twilight, but in no way is it inferior. Fine. Your loss. You simply don't know how to appreciate it. Or maybe it's not your type of book. Too bad then.

Because I appreciate what's going on here. It's how he brings everything together that makes it stick. Do you even know the back story? He takes the impossible and makes it possible. Different genres, and the most improbable of events. And he makes it probable. That, takes skill.

Sorry if I sound like I'm overreacting, but I have gotten through almost 5 of 7 books already, and do you think I'd still be there if the series didn't hold anything for me? And yet you come back to me after skimming my novels and throw it in my face saying it's bad. I don't need that from you. Or anyone else either.

Just needed to get that out of my system. Geez I'm sorry. My blog has been riddled with so much negativity. Sigh. I shall try to write about happier things. But then again, there's not much for me to go on is there? Ha-ha.

Ironically if I were to focus on the positive aspects (Which are sorely lacking,) I won't have much to write about. I guess from another point of view, I am really very lucky to be where I am now, inside. Also, I hope this won't come to bite me in the ass in the future. This is just my own opinion and thoughts at this point in time.