Sentimentality.

Let's just start by continuing from where I left off.


Pretty nothing much happened for Wednesday and Thursday except the usual stay home use comp eat sleep shit routine.
Nothing much that I can remember as of now.

Then it was Dental FFI on Friday, just a quick trip to Nee Soon Camp and hours later I'm finally back home again to continue with my boring routine.

Ohyea, went to have lunch with family outside on Thursday, then to Sitex.
Met Jun Cen and Joel there, bought my new computer as well.
Still haven't fully made the switch though, since this old computer is suddenly performing well and consistently, and the fact that I'm still too used to what I have here with all the files and programs too.
Well but it's only a matter of time before I fully accustom myself to Windows 8 and my new comp, probably soon after I ORD.

Went to ball again on Sat morning, at Eunos CC.
Ate lunch at Mac's afterwards, and I actually thought that I brought the house keys out when my parents called to inform that they're heading out to buy stuff.
So I spent the next two hours or so roaming around, accompanying Denie to Bedok Library first since he gave us a lift to Bedok anyway, then to Tampines One where I stopped by Times bookshop as usual.
It's really too small now though, after Muji came and tookover half the space it used to occupy.

Finally got home at 4plus when Dad came to fetch, only to go out again around 7pm.
Been too long since I last met Su Ting, but had to do so really since he's enlisting already too.
Had a fast dinner then dropped by Yes Supermarket to get some drinks before sitting down somewhere to continue our long long chat.
So much things to talk about since it's been ages since we met up, and a certain someone was supposed to meet us too.
But Pan only arrived at 10 or 11? -_-
Normal lah but it's just that it's been way too long since I met Pan too.
After that the conversation sort of shifted to me and Pan, with the main topic being NS since he's enlisted for a month already, then branching out to everything you can think of under the sun.
It was 12plus and he had to pee, no toilets available in 201 anymore so he went home while me and Su Ting traveled to Tmart in hope of catching the Arsenal match.
Disappointing match zzzZ.

Reached home around 4am and slept for freakin' long, think I only woke up at 2plus.
But then I realized that's what I normally do on a Sunday anyway.
That is not what I wish would happen everyday after I ORD though.
Went to meet Su Ting at night again, to shop for some stuff around Tmall for army.
Turned out we didn't even buy anything because we can't find them at all.
So we had dinner at Din Tai Feng, my first time there.
Not too bad, but our stomachs can definitely be filled through cheaper way.

Got home soon after at 10.30pm and then just did some random stuff, watched a movie before sleeping.

Been watching Emma Stone's movies lately, just can't stop after I started with Easy A last Wednesday.
Since then I finished Zombieland the next night,  Superbad last night, Paper Man this afternoon, and probably gonna watch Crazy Stupid Love after this.
She's just so awesome.

And there were so many shows I wanted to watch, either lazy to download, or didn't even touch after downloading them, yet I finished four of Stone's movies in less than a week.

Well at least from now on, especially after I ORD, I know that there's still tons of shows waiting for me to watch and I can watch them if I really want to, instead of wasting time doing nothing.
Criminal Minds, The Mentalist can already probably keep me occupied for quite a while.
And then there are still so many other TV series out there.
Then again, I'm not very pro-US TV series, so I might not even complete them at all.
It's just that Taiwanese dramas seem to take a huge turn downwards that I can't find good ones to watch at all, after I finished In Time With You.
Not that I've been watching a lot of Taiwanese dramas, but I don't watch American shows at all in the past.
FlashForward's probably the only one, and it ended after one season.
When people were out there catching Lost, Prison Break, CSI etc I was just watching plain Mediacorp dramas and other chinese shows.
And I actually miss old Mediacorp dramas when they used to be better.
Still, we must always try new stuff and inject new elements into our life, which sounds like a good damn thing to do after I ORD since there will be plenty of time.
That's also why I got a new comp, gonna get a new phone, gonna re-design my room, and everything else.

Just packed up one part of my room and threw lotsa things away last week.
Not that typical of me.
But after being so sentimental and keep a shit load of stuff since my childhood, I've began to look at them again recently and realized those are things that I've not touched for years, and those are things which doesn't serve me any purpose anymore.
It's just like I kept them only for the sentimental values I felt at that time, because I felt it still wasn't the right time to throw them, only to wait till the right time which is when I've fully adapted to new things in life and am ready to drop them out of my life.
Even old pens, correction tapes, pencil cases... okay saying all these made me feel nostalgic again, because even thinking of all these things reminds me of the times I had them.
But when there's no purpose in them anymore except to take up a space of my room and in my life, there isn't really any point in keeping them.
It might sound like a little thing but I'm sure some people out there do have the same thinking too.
And when it's time to move on, it's time to move on.
Packing up my stuff made me realized too that perhaps I was just keep the things because I didn't feel ready to carry on with my life, and I can't adapt well to new situations, so I need things from the past to make me feel at ease and comfortable enough to carry on with my life.
But now I realized that changes are unavoidable and changes are needed to keep myself in progress.
I guess when your life is suddenly snatched away from you, you spend five days a week under regimentation and your everyday timetable is planned and fixed, not at your consent and choice, you sort of learn how to grow and get used to new things, because that's life.
Many people still hate army and don't see the point of it even when they're going to ORD.
I don't know if it's that they are too dumb to learn anything at all and gain any experiences, or that they're just too blinded by how our two years could've been spent better.
Like I've said before, if given a choice I'd say no to army too, but I don't hate it, I just don't mind serving my nation.
And I never regretted being a specialist, being posted to unit, and doing many things which I'v done until now.
I met friends, I learn things, I grew up, sort of, I just think that if I were to spend these two years all according to my own will, I might not even have been able to do more than if I serve NS instead.

Well, sort of going off topic, but you get the point.
Now I'm at the stage where change is coming again, with ORD looming just a week and a half away.
And this time it'll probably be a more welcomed change than it was a year and ten months ago.
I just have to make sure that while I change myself for the better too, to not forget to maintain what is good, and make sure that they remain here forever even when changes are bound to happen every now and then in the future.











Byeall.

The time, the days.

So we finished our combat shoot and everyone got back happily, $200 richer.

And the day before was company cohesion, not the best we could have, but it was good enough.
Some paintball action and archery over at the NCC side, followed by water games which turned into water wars at coyline, then transit to ECP for BBQ session.
Not too bad at all.
After that, overnight lan till 4.30am  before cabbing back to camp and preparing for combat shoot InAD.
Shagged maxxed.


The only thing which is utterly disappointing, my ''successor'' had to become PS6 instead.
And I got another guy from another platoon who don't even know any of our men to take over me.
No one to blame for this, but this goes down as one of my regrets in my army life, not a shit can be done about it.
Too complicated to explain here, but basically shit happened and things changed, unforeseen circumstances once again occurred and we were once again shown how powerless we are.

I sincerely hope for the best for everyone, all the second year commanders though, and thank those who tried to learn and are going to do their best for the men and for themselves.


Had a normal weekend with nothing much on.
The only few highlights was probably watching Arsenal thrash Tottenham, since it's been a while since I witnessed them playing this kind of game.
And probably finally balling again on Sunday.
Well, collected my passport too on Saturday morning, and found out that HTC One X+ is finally out in Singapore so went to take a quick look at nex.
The only thing stopping me from buying it now however, is HTC's very own possible new phone, the J Butterfly/Droid DNA in Japan/USA, and possibly known as HTC Deluxe globally.
With specs as good as that, it's hard to resist waiting for it, yet I can't be sure that it will come to Singapore soon, especially when the storage and battery life may not be on par with the One X+.
Well I've still got some time and I'm not in the rush to get a new phone yet, so I'll probably wait a little longer for any updates and news on HTC Deluxe.
But in three weeks' time if nothing's coming out, it'll be hard to say that I won't be spotted with a brand new One X+ with me.

Booked in yesterday afternoon for guard duty.
And so many people look at me and Shafiq as if we've not been in camp for a damn damn long time, when it's only that morning itself.
Well, how things changed.
And very soon all of them have to get used to not seeing us anymore.
That's life isn't it.
And that's exactly how SAF is like anyways.

Had an uneventful guard duty, but it's good that nothing much happened during our duty.
Stayed back in camp to sleep a bit more after that, and spent some time talking to Calvin before we left for breakfast.
Went to LJS at Junction 8 and finally reached home around 12.30pm.
Surf the web for quite a bit before sleeping again for around 4 hours till 8plus.
Watched some TV and came back here till now.

11.00pm, Tuesday.
A time where I'll normally be seen in camp instead.
But what's happening now will exactly be what's gonna happen to me very soon, every week.
With ORD happening in less than three weeks' time, I still feel kinda lost on how my life will be like after NS.
I better set my directions right and follow them before I somehow manage to waste the whole of my next 8months of my life.

For now, to-do list includes model for gateway, finishing reading Psych 101, possibly more sketching, and.... not too sure what else but I must be sure to pen down whatever thoughts and goals and things to do I have in mind before I lose sight of them soon.

Another thing to try is to sleep early and wake up early.
Can be tough though, especially when I've already slept so much today and am not tired at all now.

But post-ORD, and I'll have all the time I need to try out new things and learn new skills.
I just have to be sure that I really do it.











Byeall.

Argo: "The movie was fake. The mission was real."

Argo was fascinating.


Okay let's start from Monday.

Went for our combat shoot at Section Live Firing Area near PLC and NTU there.
True enough, it's fairly easy to get a score high enough for us to get marksman for certain after shooting InAD on Friday.
What's amazing is that people like Hilmi hitting 20 both for day and night, and even for the night reshoot shot a respectable 19.
Well I guess as long as all of us gonna get our marksman, anything's fine.
I didn't shot too well, but not bad still, good enough to guarantee ourselves marksman and that's it.

So stayed over in camp after returning from range as it was 12plus 1 already.
Left early at around 7, went breakfast with Dad after he picked me up and dropped Ser Kiat off at his house.
Came back home, slacked a little before sleeping some more.
Woke up in the afternoon and used computer for a while before leaving house.

Reached Marina Square at 6.30pm, too early.
Somehow Tim/Steven/whoever initiated a platoon 5's commanders' outing/dinner.
Well, only both of them, myself and Hilmi turned up though.
More like a platoon 5 Dec ORD personnel dinner.
It was nice though, to be able to meet up outside, have a meal and all, since most of the time we meet, we're in camp and the only other times we go out together are during nights out and that's all.
Daryl couldn't make it though.

So at 6.30pm I decided to visit Times bookstore, attempting to search for 'Understand Applied Psychology'.
However there wasn't any in the store, yet I found 'Psych 101' which interested me much too.
Bought it right away.

Met Tim after that and waited a while for Steven to arrive.
Hilmi only reached an hour after the agreed time.
Sleep sleep sleep zzzzZ.
So the three of us bought tickets first, and decided to eat Turkish Cuisine after Steven mentioned it as an option.
It was a good meal, the food and the company.
The price was nice too.
Four people eating a dinner priced at $190.
Wow.
Money well spent I guess.
Another form of "Happy Money" I guess, as I mentioned the night before.

Watched "Argo", think it just came out on the day itself.
Fantastic movie.
Perhaps my opinion is swayed by the overwhelming amount of positive reviews and critics about the movie, but the movie itself was indeed at least a great one.
Especially when it's based on a true story, it's probably hard to make a better movie out of this story.
The pace of the movie was just nice, fast enough to keep me entertained, yet not too fast that I can't catch up with the story.
The plot is interesting too with little bits of comedic factors here and there.
And the most amazing part is how realistic this had to be, being based on a true story.
All in all, a movie worth watching.

So we went home straight after the show.
Took MRT and happened to still catch 293 home, lucky.
Scout meeting later on, but I'll probably give it a miss looking at how late I got home and the fact that I'm still up now.
Can't visit them on Friday too.
Hopefully I'll be able to do so on next Wednesday.

Shall stop right here right now and get to bed soon.
Sleeping late all the time these few days is probably the reason why my cough/flu wasn't able to recover at all.









Byeall.

Start planting an apple tree.

Just less than a week ago, everything was finally over.
And it felt like an eternity.


Then again, it's not exactly over yet.

Combat shoot tomorrow and on Friday, coy cohesion on Thursday.
Will still be in camp for at least three days this week.

And everyone seems to be so immersed in the ORD mood that everything else is of little to no importance to them anymore.
Can't blame them.
Once again, people have different mindsets, thinkings, and perceptions of different situations and things and each of us can't possibly force our own thoughts into other people's mind simply because we dislike their mindset and think that ours is 'more correct'.
It's tough to see shit happening everyday to people and can't do a thing about it though.
A simply change of perception can already open up yourself to a brand new world, yet some choose to confine themselves within their own small little space isolated by bricks built up by themselves, leaving just a small hole to look at the outside world, thus limiting the things they see and affecting their perception of this world.

The world is built upon perception.
And if this is happening, the world becomes ever more limited, and how can we progress if each of us care only for ourselves and for nothing else?

Still too advanced for me I guess.
For now let's just still carry on to do my best, do what I can, and hopefully finish up my NS journey beautifully.



Then what's afterwards?
8 more months to university.
Seems like 8 months to Scouting to be involved in.
Am I up to it? I'll never know till I try.
And even with this there's still so many other things to get involved in and to do.
Driving license, traveling(?), sketching, learning new skills, reading, etc.

Art is not necessary in life, but art is what enriches your life.
If merely surviving is enough for you, then maybe you haven't try living before, because once you start living your life then will you realize how much more there is to life than just struggling to survive.
Not just art, many other things around us which can possibly enrich our experiences in our journey towards discovering ourselves better and developing ourselves into a more complete soul.



Wonder why do I sound so chim today.
Then again, penning down thoughts here and there every now and there is extremely useful as a record of one's growth.
Perhaps ten years later looking back at this place, I'd realized how foolish or childish I had been, with ten years of experience hopefully helping me to gain a more complete view of the world and people in general.
Perhaps I'd be able to prove what I'm thinking now.



But then again, we'll never know till we try, right?






PLC Hike/Camp [Vision Quest 2012] is over as well.
Seemed like it's quite successful and that's good enough.
What had always not been happening however is the sustainability.
Without it, whatever we had built up will crumble one day.
And with ourselves having more free time after NS, perhaps it's time to resolve this problem.

Having foresight is never easy, but having foresight is what makes you able to deal with everything in the long run.

Then again, we'll never know what's gonna happen all the time.
But as with the quote, "Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree." -- Martin Luther

No matter what happens the next day, the next hour, the next minute, or even the next second, the most important thing at the moment is to try, to do something about it, to get started.
Because you do not know what might happen, so if you do not do so, you'll never know what could've happened.


So try because you don't know what might happen, if not you'll never know what could've happened.








Byeall.