Wednesday, January 28, 2009

=l

It's one of those days again...

Chinese New Year was ok. I didn't do much visitation. In fact, the only place I went to was my grandmother's place for lunch. We met everybody else there, so it was done in just one place. Not much ang bao received, but the density of the money was high.

There are just too many things on my mind right now. So to make things a little lighter, I will just blog about the kinds of people there were in my platoon during my basic training.

The Black One - Basically the only Indian in our platoon. Cheery guy who couldn't stop smiling or laughing even when the corporals were scolding him. The subject of racist jokes, but nothing personal. We like him.

The Chubby & Cute One - Probably the fattest and heaviest of the entire regiment. Cute as a teddy bear. Makes everybody laugh, even the hardiest of corporals. Good instrument for corporals to make people laugh, therefore inflicting punishment. Good fun.

The Cheerful One - Can't stop laughing. Probably the first guy I know to have signed extra guard duty due to being irritatingly giggly. Nice guy.

The Mini One - The shortest, but also the fittest. The only guy to have passed IPPT, because he's the only guy who can pass his pull-ups. Aimed to be a Physical Training Instructor, but ended up being a clerk due to his weight. Buffed up as a bull, short as a gnome.

The Greedy One - The one who eats the most. The guy who lost 2kg in 13 weeks while others lost more than 10. Also a trouble-maker and joker. More towards the irritating side. The Ultimate Saboteur.

The Hated One - Only liked by a handful of his own kind. Generally the most inconsiderate and racist guy I've met. Stupid enough to get caught smoking in the toilet, along with a handful of his own kind. The very first guy whose face I would very much love to punch. Mysteriously disappears during bunk cleaning and other dirty works. Much better now though. Also an Ultimate Saboteur.

The Family Guy - The 21 year old who already has 2 kids. Has a criminal record. Irritating and sometimes racist. A saboteur.

The Cut-Queue Squad - A squad of people who cuts the queue during our meals. Namely made up of The Greedy One, The Hated One, The Family Guy, and others I can't really remember. Normally made up of 4-5 people. Tactics include faking to play catch and trying to joke around with the people in front. Doesn't go straight to the front because they know the first few have to serve the rest. Gladly volunteers their friends to serve the line while they enjoy the food.

The Psycho One - Socially handicapped. Likes to be alone. Can't remember names even after being in camp for 9 weeks. Speaks with a strange accent, probably Englishy-Americanish- Singlish. Contains rage til the last moment and blows up by screaming 'F***' in the bunk. Quite sadistic when it comes to using power tools and thinking of ways to torture the corporals before killing them. Mumbles to himself after every sentence. Much improvements now.

The OC's Pet - The one with good skills in digital design and creativity. Always asked to do posters and lesson plans for the OC or anything for that matter. Eventually evolved the idea of slacking in the office while the platoon does PT. Also the guys with the high-tech lap-top. Ended up slacking with him for the last 3 weeks in BRT. He managed to lose weight even without doing PT for a month or so. Job now? Administrator in the instructors' office. And he's loving every moment of it. Also a great mind for jokes.

The Light-Duty One - Wore his uniform only once, in the 13th week on the day of our passing out. Never wore his uniform before that due to lower limb injury. Never done PT. Have the shiniest and newest boots in the entire platoon. Nice guy. Platoon's photographer.

The AWOLer - AWOL aka Away WithOut Leave. Disappeared after 4 or 5 weeks. Probably arrested with a police case and put in Detention Barracks by now.

The Italian - An acting graduate from Laselle. The favourite among everybody in camp due to his roots. The only white in the whole regiment. A great joker. Totally motivated to make a difference. Mr. Perfect. The only recruit in our platoon to get into the Emergency Response Specialist.

The American-Born Chinese Singaporean - Always seen with The Italian. Has American accent. Probably the youngest in platoon. Sometimes insensitive. Otherwise ok to get along with.

The Acting-Instructor - Longs to be an instructor. Irritating at times. Likes to act-smart.

The Kengster - Keng aka acting sick. Champion in hand-clapping (a light form of exercise for people who are sick). Claims to have health problems without certification.

The Best Buddy - The buddy who AWOLs after 5 weeks or less. Got his girlfriend pregnant. Borrowed $30 from his buddy and disappeared. Never came back to camp. Who's his buddy? Me.

Believe it or not, there are actually more to this list. This is just a glimpse of what holds in that traumatizing camp.

Until then.

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

You

You.

The blessings you have received. The things you have gone through. Could you have done it alone? Look back to your past and count your blessings. Were they possible without God?

You know the truth. You know the facts. You've read the word. Are they not enough? Must you go back to your old ways? How long will it take before you change for real? How many times have you looked up and ask for strength, when you yourself are not putting in the effort? Nobody said it was easy. It is your choice. Your life. You take charge.

Are you going to regret after everything has passed? How will you account to God for all those you have done? Why are you so stubborn? It is time to wake up! There is no time for regrets. Stop your old ways and turn around! Stop procrastinating and start now. Who knows what the future holds? Tomorrow might be too late. Do you want to wait and see? What if it was your last day? Are you sure you are safe? Think again. You might not be.

It is time to start anew. The time is now.

Consider it.

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

To Be Continued...

I was about to blog. But Jaryl and Jeremy asked me out for a drink...

Sunday, January 04, 2009

The Endless White Canvas

Just when we thought there were enough going on around in the family, something else happens. My paternal grandfather passed away yesterday. I'm not really close to him, but he has always been a part of our family. He had been senile for many years, and most of the time, he couldn't recognize me, though sometimes he could recognize other people. Now that he's gone, family gatherings at my grandmother's place will never be the same again. Apparently, either he stopped breathing or his heart stopped yesterday, and they sent him to the hospital. They fought to bring him back and sustain him, but I guess it was his time. Sometimes I guess this is for the best too. He can't survive on his own, and his stroke had paralyzed him for years now. Perhaps the greatest relief is that he is a believer, and that we might meet him up there soon.

Death has always haunted me. I can never imagine what it will be like. Can you? Just imagine. Your physical life as you know it will be gone for all eternity. Eternity is a really really long time. Our lives, if placed on the timeline of eternity, is just like a small pencil dot on an endless white piece of canvas. The canvas never ends, no matter how long you draw the line, or how many pencils you use. That is just the beginning of a never ending time. It is really up to you to decide what happens after you've placed the first dot on that canvas. It is up to you to decide what happens to your soul after your life on this earth ends. Choose wisely, because I repeat again, eternity is a really really long time. Would you rather risk eternity for just a few measly years of your life?

Well, on a slightly lighter note, I'm getting my Civil Defence vocation tomorrow. The best possible scenario is me getting in into the Music and Drama Company in SAF, which is close to impossible. So, the next best thing is me getting a clerical position in the CDHQ, thus allowing me to play in the combo band, which is essentially a rock band. At least I will have more time to practice.

Until next time...

Friday, January 02, 2009

Revival

It has been exactly 1 year and 3 months since I last blogged, and I can truly say there are just too many things that have happened so far.

I just passed out from the basic rescue training programme of the Singapore Civil Defence Force. I wouldn't say it was a total waste of time serving that time, although I would have wished I didn't have to. You really meet all kinds of people in camp. There are some who are quite nice to get along with, while you would just like to punch the others in their faces. Seriously, I just don't understand how people can actually learn to live with the character they have. I will explain more in my next post.

I lost a total of, officially on paper, 13kg. But I believe its only about 11kg because they used different weighing scales for our medical review. It took me 13 weeks to lose that much, and probably 2 weeks to gain it all back. I can already feel my tunny growing back to its eloped fleshy sloppy shape again.

My stomach is not feeling too well at the moment. I think I ate too much jalapeno peppers at Carl's Jr.(Yeah.. Healthy food for the healthy-minded) Went out with Christoven, Wei Kang and Audrey this evening. Wk and Chris convinced me to buy a black sweater jacket which cost me $60. Its my first 'jacket' if you even call it one. I think I'm already starting to like it.

Crap. Tummyache again. Brb.

Back. It's amazing what you can learn from the book Uncle John's Unstoppable Bathroom Reader 16th Edition. Like it actually takes 0.2 secs for the International Space Station to travel 1 mile. 3 secs for 475 lawsuits to be filed around the world. And so on and so forth.

Many things have happened in my life, whether it involves my spiritual life or the people around me. It is a new year now, and many people probably have their own resolutions to go through with. There are new things for me to worry at this point, and all I can say is that whatever happens, God is the one who wills it. Whatever He puts in your path, it cannot destroy you. You just have to look closer and think about what is best to be done.

Til the next post...