The Posts with the Two Closed Eyes

Wedding's over!





The marriage of my sister Xiuwen and Ken took place on 28th November 2009. It was a fun day, a hectic day, a touching day, and definitely a memorable day.

As I mentioned on the previous post, I've been to quite a few weddings, all of them of my elder cousins' marriages. They have been simple affairs; arrive in the morning and eat, arrive at night and eat.

But that was when I was younger, and had close to nothing to do other than chomp down on the sumptuous meals. This time round, it's very much different and I was glad to be part of the crew to make sure the day went smoothly.





The wedding solemnisation and dinner was held at a lovely restaurant Peony Jade, just by Clarke Quay. We arrived at about 6pm, started to get the things sorted out.

And mind you, there were some last minutes problems here and there alright. But I was pretty sure nothing will take the attention away from the marriage of the lovely couple.





I know I'm not exactly the most stoic person around, and I admit there were a few tears in my eyes when I saw my sister walk down the aisle in the white gown, with Ken by her side.





I think not many people can say that they are super close to their siblings, so I'm proud to say that I am with my two sisters. We grew up in a tight knit family, through some very difficult times, and there's pretty much nothing we don't share and help each other on.

Having my sister move out of the house we've been residing together for years feels a little different. Maybe that's how it was like for them during the extended periods when I'm not around because of NS.





People move on from friendships, from relationships, from one workplace to another and so on. But I think it's very difficult to move on from kinship, and even as my sister moves on to start a new family, she's still very much part of mine. =)

The Post with the Triangular Hammock

The rainy season seems to have abated (temporarily at least) and it seems that my fortunes are to turn for the better.




The past few days have been mostly cleaning up and packing up my house, in preparation for my sister's wedding.

It's no easy feat. Think of an ordinary HDB flat, with normal stuff like sofas, nice cabinets, dining table, lava lamps that give off a nice homey feeling.

That's not what my house is like.

It's a cross between a mini factory with a production line, warehouse with boxes and parts of machines and components thrown in.

My dad brings his work home. I have no complaints, having grown up in such environments since I was six. But cleaning up is no joke, especially when you're entertaining around 30 odd guests in a few days time.





I've been to my fair share of weddings. I have a huge extended family, with many older cousins who are already married and have their own families, which also explains all my lovely nephews and nieces.

But this time it's my own sister, and I'm old enough to be involved in some parts here and there, rather than just to turn up for the wedding dinner.

Would love to talk more about it, but got another interview to prepare!





On a completely unrelated note, sun tans are great. Haha.

The Post which is Lo Hei

Random picture: Chow chow is officially the cutest breed of dogs on my list.





Anyway, it's nine days since I finished NS and I'm still unemployed. I have no idea why I'm so restless.





I guess I'm always eager to get things done, and I'm not really good at being patient when there is no end result in sight.

I think many of us look for the dream job. Well, everyone has their own definition. "Get laid and get paid" sounds like a good one (heard that from a sitcom actually so don't think I'm a pervert) but I don't think that's actually possible for me. Haha.

The easy way out would be a decent paying 8-to-5 desk job, probably facing computers and preferably less supervisors to answer to. Believe me, I tried that direction but it ain't easy.

Maybe I looking at this the wrong way: gotta take it easy and look slowly. A good job is worth waiting for, and perhaps it's just around the corner.





Had a relevation just today. I'm used to being in the army, I don't know how to react when people appear to be nice but are thinking otherwise. At least in the army, there's an outlet for you to be honest when you can openly shout vulgarities and show your disdain.

The outside world is much more scarier than it seems. Hm.

The Post which is Sunflower or a Guitar

My NS journey wasn't the one I expected to be.





Nonetheless it was a really fun one. It's full of twists and turns, highs and lows, ups and downs (I can go on forever here), and honestly I wouldn't have traded it for another one.

I've seen on Facebook, where quite a few of my friends have put up their badges and qualifications. Officer ranks, marksmanship badges, overseas exercises. I'll be very open and say that, unlike many of my friends, I barely had any accolades to show off.

Sometimes I feel a little resentful about that fact, but I guess you can't always get the best of both worlds, and in my case I had a wonderful time in CNMC and Changi Naval Base.

So I managed to put up a small collection of photos, which were dug out from various locations and spanning over the 1 year and 10 months of my National Service.























At Pasir Ris Bus Interchange, just before enlistment. Xiuhui had exams that day, so she couldn't go to Tekong for a look.



















After my 16 day confinement, I managed to reach back home, tired, botak and very happy to be back in my cosy hut.




















Packing up for my first book in, possibly the shittiest moment right after enlistment.





















The tag that steered the course of my NS well away from my plans. I OOTed from Tekong BMT.

What most people didn't know was that, I was originally posted as a storeman in my Tekong company. In the end there was some mix up (not uncommon in the SAF) and I landed up as a driver in the Navy instead.




















I didn't manage to take any pictures for my driving course, recourse BMT and my time as a Navy driver. So fast forward a lot, it was NDP 2009. Eight weeks of fully burnt weekends, which lead to many days of off-in-lieus that I never managed to clear.




















My tenure in CNMC was probably the best time I had. Loads of fun and nice people whom I got along brilliantly with. Many nights of nonsense, PSPs and laughter. To be honest I was a little sad to leave.




















A collection of the little items I keep packed in my No.4 uniform at all times.

My driver's handbooks, my dearest army phone (with a keychain from Taiwan haha), my army tags, 11b, camp pass, my lowly lance-corporal rank, my formation badge and my blue beret.

Coincidentally, the Navy beret is also the same shade of blue. So when we swapped formations, I just chucked away the Navy crest. LOL




















My long awaited reunion with my pink I/C, which was painfully ripped away from me a long time ago. As you can see, I'm a happy man. Haha.





In my time, I've met a lot of people, mostly people I drove for. Seasoned warrant officers, fresh sergeants, recruits running amok, the funniest medics, nice regulars and not-so-nice ones too.

There are so many faces I've seen, it's impossible to remember and it seems like a blur to me. But I know everyone had a story to tell at some point of time.

I always listened, I always commented, and I always learnt. Army folks have a propensity to share, and you will be surprised at how much you can get from listening to someone else's story.





So, thank you everyone, whom I've met along the way, for being gracious souls, for teaching me so much about life.

And finally...

ORD LO! =D

The Post which Has to Join a New Club

I spent Wednesday to Friday job-hunting.





Now, rather than to just rely on internet searches, I decided to go on the ground, together with Aaron, to look for jobs manually. That is, walk around shopping malls, look at each shop to enquire for job vacancies.

Although it seems rather unorthodox, you will be surprised at how many shops are looking for assistants. I presume that the notices for job vacancies can always be found, as long as you look hard enough.

It's also a very humbling experience. The feeling of looking at shops, one by one, walking around till your feet are tired. But I kind of embrace it as a exciting, adventurous time where anything seems possible.


















Meanwhile, I also tried out tchoukball for the first time today!

Tchoukball is rather unheard of in Singapore I guess. That's according to me. Haha. But it's true, I think it's not exactly a mainstream sport, the rules are few but it's certainly not an easy game.

Click here for more information!





Honestly, I barely did anything. My stamina was pit bottom, I haven't been sweating that much in a long while, my legs were burning and I had to leave early before the game even started. Haha.

But in a way it was really cool to pick up a sport from scratch. It reminds me of the times when I was still a greenhorn in volleyball and had to work my way up. Although I highly doubt I'll spend that much time in tchoukball.

Time to nurse those bruises on my knees and my aching calves. Oh boy, I'm too old for this stuff.





And it's Sunday.

Tomorrow is my ORD.

Even though it seems unlikely, there's another part of my life that I am as happy about as with my ORD. =D

The Post with the Millionaire

Watched How I Met Your Mother and I came across another quote which I really liked.





The great moments in your life may not be necessarily the things you do. They will also be the things that happen to you.

Now I'm not saying that you can't take action to affect the outcome of your life. You HAVE to take action, and you will.

But never forget, that any day, you can step out your front door and your whole life can change forever.

You see kids, the universe has a plan, and that plan is always in motion. A butterfly flaps its wings, and it starts to rain.

It's a scary thought, but it's also kinda wonderful. All these little parts of the machine, constantly working, making sure you end up exactly where you're supposed to be, exactly when you're supposed to be there.

The right place, the right time.






I like the sound of it.

I realise my journey in these two years have been nothing short of a surprise. It's full of ups and downs, and definitely not the way I envisioned it to be, before I enlisted.

The quote somehow represents the way I'm feeling now. I have a sense of comfort and ease that all things happen for a reason, whether you mean for it to or not.





Recently I took a leap of faith. Changed my thinking, changed my perceptions and threw away old habits. Made some decisions to do things I wanted to, but never had the guts to.

And I can honestly say, I've never felt happier since. =)





Oh yeah, 5 more days to ORD. Haha.