The Post which No Longer a New Indian Bird

Wow it's been busy as hell once again!





A few more long running details and stay in filled up my schedule for the past few days. I've been (as usual) driving around Singapore like a nutcase. It's tiring but the mileage is excellent. I have already hit 3000km mileage!

Today is the first time I managed to reach home before dark. It's always dark before I leave my place and dark when I reach home. Poor me.

Hoping for another off! =D





It was Vanessa's birthday celebration on last Saturday. The last time I saw her it was during my birthday! Haha I guess that makes it fair.

We went to eat at Botak Jones. Not exactly restaurant ambience but it's good fare nonetheless. We didn't really do anything after that cause everyone was busy so we just met up for lunch.


















Poor Jiahui. I mean the male one. He just booked out then but he's rushing off to help out in the Army Half Marathon. First time I saw him in uniform though.


















Hanwei the surprising one! He actually came. I was betting with Alvin he wouldn't come. Lucky the bet didn't involve losing anything (what a sly one I am eh?) We asked him to go out after that but he said he wasn't free. Typical.



















The four of us. Pity Jiahui wasn't around.























Cheryl and Vanessa holding a very pink umbrella.


















Shuyi Winne and Jiahui and Vanessa again. I suppose if you're the birthday girl you get to be in every picture. Haha.

The girls are all in university already. Boy how I wish to join them. But they seem to be having fun so it's all good.





On the other hand, Liverpool won their third game in the row with a last gasp winner against Standard Liege.












Dirk Kuyt celebrates his winner in front of the Kop. It's the third game in a row Liverpool has won in a very last-minute fashion. I wonder if that's the mark of champions or the mark of nearly-men.
















Standard Liege players look downcast. So would I if I had lost to a goal scored by Kuyt. Of all people.





It's Friday tomorrow folks so enjoy it!

The Post who is the True Saboteur

Okay, I'm a free thinker and I have no religion.





But recently, I am so lucky that honestly there must be someone up there looking out for me.

A shit-load of crap has happened to me over the past days. Near misses, unexpected accidents, tantrums and arguments, the whole works. I could have easily got flatten by all of that, signed many extra duties or confinements.

Instead I got away, well, I won't use the word "scot-free" here. Relatively unharmed I guess. But I was real lucky. Real real lucky.

Lesson learnt: expect the worst and enjoy your luck while it lasts. Period.





On an interesting note, I visited Ritz Carlton for the first time on Thursday!

Not as a civilian though. I was sending some stores for the NDP Appreciation Event which is held there. It's quite a posh hotel (I suppose, I don't visit hotels everyday) and it looks really classy inside.

Once again, Navy demonstrated their wealth and ultimate welfare by indenting Pizza Hut for lunch. Excellent! I kept some extras in my warm tonner for later consumption.

At around 3pm, I went to get another slice of pizza and I saw this cute looking girl talking to my warrant officer in charge.

She looks way too young to be there. Apparently she was lost and wanted to get to some other place in Ritz Carlton for an interview. My officer spoke to her for a moment, then gestured for me to come over.

"Eh driver, you bring this girl up to the hotel to where she want to go. Cut through our lobby."

NICE!





Haha. I tried to bring her to the lobby to get directions. We both got lost at first (I swear that wasn't intentional. Maybe it was. Heh I don't know =D) but we managed to find our way. We talked on the way but that's pretty much all.

Nope, no numbers or contacts or anything. Neither did I see her again after that. I know what you're thinking folks, "What a loser!". LOL





That's pretty much the best that happened during work this week. I'll update more about the weekend next time!

The Post which is a Lost Small Pig

I'm at home at a weird time because I'm on off again!

Well, not again really. It makes it sound as though I have plenty of them (ahem Chengliang) and I get them easily. The latter isn't true at all.





I went for a full day detail on Monday, which involved sitting in a training shack and doing nothing for a good 13 hours. 13!

And I was really pissed off with myself because I got lost twice while sending the troops to the range and back to camp. Drivers get lost all the time (at least I do) but reaching Changi Airport instead of camp is a bit too much.





For my troubles I managed to get a full day off today. It's funny when you're booking out the same time as everyone is booking! Haha.

Then again, I book in when everyone books out. Fair enough.





I went back to TJ from camp to collect my Singapore Graduation Certificate. Reading my testimonial seems like a farce. If I'm half as good as I am inside I would probably become President anytime. LOL

But it really nice to head back TJ during a school day. Usually when I go back it's on weekends so it's not very loud and lively.

It was raining slightly as I watch many fellas playing soccer and the girls talking at the sports complex. Quite a sense of nostalgia really!





After collecting my certificate I considered visiting my tutors. I didn't have to look far as Ms Goh happened to leave her office (preparing for her Alcohol lecture as it turns out) so we had a nice chat.

The last time I saw her it was just after enlistment for A level results. She told me to train hard, buff up and stay healthy.

Oh boy have things changed for these six months.





In her usual animated self, she was joking that she blinked and it was six months since she last saw me.

I hope that women do blink more than men, and she blinks three more times for a happier time to come!

The Post which Has to Eat a Lot of Noodles

A picture post which I finally got the photos from Wanqi. Thanks for sending!


















Chengliang and I share an impromtu moment in front of the camera. We're on the bus to Changi Village area.














PES C WARRIORS NEVER LET YOU DOWN! Zuosheng (C2 I think), Renjie, me (both C2) and Chengliang (C9) enjoying breakfast together.
















Our first picture in Ubin, proudly ruined by Renjie who decided that his glasses were skewed at that very moment.














Take two folks! A group picture which Wanqi hastily ran in between me and Chengliang. Nice picture really, but it's much easier to ask someone to take for us eh?
























I took one for Audrey and Wanqi. That's the only one I took the entire day actually LOL.














It was raining so we took a break at this shack and played some old games. The uncle manning the drink store was some old pro who can read the weather and told us to make a break for it when the rain lightened.























Sometime later, Chiatyin's bike gear broke and we had to remove the gear to prevent it from being dragged on the floor.

Miraculously, Chengliang brought his mini technician tool and got to work together with Zuosheng. Nice work guys.

At least you know SAF does train technicians for a reason now!

























Our unity shown by walking back all together. Or maybe we were all tired from cycling up those bloody slopes.














Group picture taken courtesy of some NPCC kid when we were at the Ubin Jetty. Memorable trip indeed.














Picturesque view!
























Back on the trip home. Or was this on our way there? Should be the latter.
























Me and Wanqi on our way back.




It's been a really long week. Two days of hardwork and loads of crap over four days. But I'm really glad I made it through. Week by week once again!

Tomorrow there's a recall, which means I might/might not have to return back to camp. Then I have to stay in on Sunday night (book in lo!) for some early work on Monday so my weekend is terribly short.




HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK! I WENT TO HOTEL 81!

More on that next time!

The Post which Played In Mars

A pretty short post.




It's Monday and I'm on off! Had to fight tooth and nail for it, seriously. I don't understand why. My theory is, work hard and be rewarded. Apparently my unit's boss doesn't think that way sometimes.

Well, still I got what I wanted. So I'm not complaining for now! Haha. Just hope that my next off isn't that far away.





There was a Pulau Ubin outing (my first time actually) on Sunday. Really fun and bonding stuff. I'll get the pictures from Wanqi and post them up real quick.

The outing after the Pulau Ubin one was pretty good too. Heh!





Good week ahead!

The Post which Wails in Four Languages

This world is a small world.





When I first entered my unit at Changi, I felt pretty alone. Damn, posted as a driver to a camp where I knew no one. Then, at a corner I saw someone pretty familiar. Those kind of faces you know you saw it somewhere before, but can't really place where.

A bit of poking around and introductions later, it turn out to be Justin from Chung Cheng High School Main, a year senior to me, and he was good pals with many of my volleyball seniors those days.





A week back, I also come to know the fact that an auto technician in my unit was ALSO from Chung Cheng and TJC. I knew him for nearly half a year before I even realised this.

I started to think, man NS is actually a small world!






I was detailed to for range duties on Thursday, which meant that I had to help send troops and ammo for their live range. A 2nd Seargent took the passenger seat next to me, so we started talking about random stuff to keep ourselves entertained for a really long journey.

"So driver, what school were you from?"

"Chung Cheng Main, then Temasek JC."

"SERIOUS!"

Once again it was another alumnus of Chung Cheng Main, Eugene Teo, also from the 1988 batch, who knew my seniors well. That's pretty cool.

(Now that I think of it, he DOES have a Chung Cheng look to him. Or maybe it's just me.)

He's been in the army for quite a while, a seargent with much more experience in his work than I have in mine. But when we talked, he was friendly and funny. No airs, no restrictions, no senior-junior, supervisor-man thing. Top guy.






The range ended real late, or should I say real early. By the time the whole event ended I had to send the ammo back to the dump. It was 1am in the morning.

I was seriously knackered. Parking my vehicle to give way to a 5-tonner leaving the dump, I left my vehicle to get a drink from a vending machine when I heard a shout.

"EH XIUJIE!"

I spun.

OMFG IT'S WENGSENG!

He was on the back on the 5-tonner, using his phone and he saw me. I must have been real tired because I asked him a silly question.

"What are you doing here?", I shouted up the truck, as though a commando on a 5-tonner in an ammo dump in the middle of the night could be doing anything else.

"Helping out lo."





There I was, seemingly alone and stuck in a long-running detail in a godforsaken place, and I'm surrounded by friends and people that made me feel at home. How awesome is that?





I remember back in the Tekong days when I first enlisted I had the same homesick feeling. One day I was eating at the cookhouse when I saw Yongliang walk past.

I wasn't close to him at that time, knowing him as an acquaintance and rarely speaking to him personally. But I was strangely super happy and glad to see him, knowing that someone familiar is serving for the same cause (and suffering the same treatment).

Fast forward a few months when I met Renjie at Changi. Same story as Yongliang, but now I'm close pals with both of them.

I meet Renjie on a regular basis on our way to work and home. Dead funny lad, optimistic to the extent of craziness and makes me laugh and feel good about a day's work.




Homage to Chung Cheng folks, and fellow friends serving the NS!

The Post which is Very Serious Indeed

This is gonna be a challenging month.





No leave applied, no holidays ahead, and my offs are stagnating. I have this feeling that this is going to be arduous and tiring period of time.

Day by day, week by week, I'm willing time to pass as fast as it can until I head back to BMT. Never thought I'd ever say that, but I actually want to go back to Tekong. Haha.





Yesterday, my fellow recruit friend in my unit was doing understudy Duty Specialist for the first time. It meant that he had to stay in; it's his first time he's staying in since he left Tekong back in February.

I joked to him, "Bro you're finally staying in! I'll be a good pal and stay in with you!"

Late afternoon, I was driving back to my unit when I saw the other drivers heading home. Great, I thought, I'll be able to go home early today.

When I reached back camp, new broke out. "Xiujie, early detail tomorrow. Stay in." (*&@#$@*#&(#@!!!





Lesson learnt, be careful for what you say and wish for, 'cause someone up there might be listening!





I was going home today around 6:30pm and I was at Aljunied MRT station. I saw some girls wearing orange in and holding donation boxes.

Someone looked familiar. I walked closer and it turns out to be Melissa of 32/06 (I think, I might be wrong) back in TJC. She was doing Flag Day for NUS, so I thought I'd be nice to an acquaintance and a future school mate and dropped 2 bucks.

Then I realised, the girls are all heading for university already!

Well, I feel it's going to be a really fun period of time. Prime of your life, meeting new people, studying and partying real hard. Good luck to the girls and enjoy yourselves in university.





Sorry boys. As they say, once in our life, two years of our time. Gotta live through it!

The Post which has Bad Spelling and Haircut

It's Friday and it's my day!





Honestly, Friday is the best day of the week. My theory is that, it's a working day but no one feels like working. You have a nice weekend ahead of you, and even if work sucks, you just have to hang on a bit more until work ends!

Three good days in the unit, which is really more than I can expect. Warrant Anand's return has brought about significant changes, good and bad.

I've been driving quite a bit around recently to places I haven't even been to in my life. Needless to say I got lost quite a few times. LOL





The funny part was when I drove to Mount Faber on Wednesday, where I had to reverse my 5-tonner into the loading bay. But in front of me was this big school bus with kids coming down.

Some of them saw me, this guy in army uniform in the big badass truck. They got real excited and started waving to me. Haha! Pretty cute.





I was reading Reuben's blog the other day. It's been defunct for quite sometime, but it's seriously good. The way he writes is unique and really funny in his wacky way. The best part of it is that he uses words that you've probably seen before but wouldn't think of using.

If you're reading this bro, start writing again! =D





Last random bit of information before I post this out. I read this interview of Rafa Benitez off liverpoolfc.tv.















Typical Rafa. ANSWER THE QUESTION DUDE! Trying to get a direct answer of a question he doesn't want to answer is like licking your elbow; frustrating difficult (or even impossible)

The reporter was probably thinking, "Screw this!"