Back here now with an hour left.

Finally back from my Krabi trip this evening at 6.30pm!

And here I am in front of my computer again, with slightly more than an hour left of 2012.
2013 is finally arriving soon, and while the year of 2012 had been an exciting and meaningful year, I believe that 2013 will be a fun-filled year filled with joy as well for me and everybody else.

Really feel kinda lost when I finally got back home.
And while it didn't really felt like three days had already past, at moments it felt like I've not been home for quite a while already.
Well I guess fun times don't last and it's back to Singapore, back home, and back to reality.
Tons of things for me to go and settle and do and think about.
And that's what I've always been saying and but not exactly doing anything about.
Sigh.

Krabi is a nice place.

Could had been a better experience though if not for the rain yesterday morning while we were island hopping to the Phi Phi Islands.
Still, we had fun and we somewhat made the most of our time already and that's enough.
Considering the fact that we graduated two years ago and are still able to go on an overseas trip together as a class, or rather half the class, it's quite an achievement already.
So kudos to Kenneo for organizing this as well, for allowing everyone to gather and have fun as a class even after two years.



One more hour.

New Year to me isn't exactly something big.
While we're at school, it basically means a level higher, perhaps new classmates, or even schoolmates, more things to learn.
But when I was in NS, it doesn't really count much except for the fact that I can claim to enter my last year of service.
And now that I've ORD-ed and am not a student, New Year isn't really anything special.
It's more like a big thing just because of how big people make it out to be.
The fun of counting down towards the new year together with friends and people, the excitement of the start of another calendar year with more surprises to come, the anticipation of what's going to be different once more in a similar time frame with ourselves another year wiser too, and many many more.




Still, a new year signifies new beginnings, perhaps as well as an excuse too for people to re-set their aims and goals for the next twelve months, commonly known as New Year Resolutions.
While New Year Resolutions might not always work out, well to me, most of the time they don't, it is still interesting to set your own New Year Resolutions and review it at the end of the year, or to learn about people's New Year Resolutions.



Sigh not really into the writing mood now.
Shall tumblr or watch TV all the way till new year, start messaging every single one of my friends personally, and then maybe I'll review my year of 2012 and how it was special to me.











Byeall.

A week to last.

Wow haven't blogged for a week and a half already.
And I still thought it was just days ago when I ORDed, when we'd already 'survived 2012' and it's X'mas Eve now.


Not like I did anything much from the last post though, and maybe that's why the time past felt shorter because nothing's going on pretty much.

I think I need to force myself to continue to sketch my next piece tonight, later on.
Okay that aside....


Just came back from Solo Night this morning.
Well just went there yesterday morning too, it's Solo Night after all, won't be staying anything more than a day.
It was quite good going back to Pulau Ubin though, after three years.
And it's definitely an island we'd rather go to, as compared to a certain other island we spent our two months on, starting almost two years ago.
Time really flies, huh.

Solo Night could've been much more fun for us if not for the crazy thunderstorm though.
Nevertheless, we still had our BBQ which was somewhat the highlight of the camp for us already.
Didn't really do much over there either, since by night time everywhere was dark and there was nothing much we could've done.
Talk cock a little, feed the fire etc. Typical stuff we do on camps or in Ubin.
Pulled out of Ubin at around 9plus, had breakfast and went home to sleep until 3pm.
Hasn't been doing anything productive since then too.

Now rewind to last week.
Nothing much notable happened too.
Just remembered that I stayed home almost everyday ever since the last time I went out with the Air Weapons people.
At most going out a while or what with parents, if not, it's just home myself my computer and nothing else.
Ohh but I finally changed phone last week.
HTC One X+
Been keeping a look out for it for quite a damn while already, and finally got my hands on it.
Would've preferred the black coloured version, but the white one's not too bad either.
And so I finally have Whatsapp zzzZ.
And 3G and blah blah blah.
Can't really believe how I survived army with my basic Nokia phone and my XpressMusic from J1.
But I did anyways.
And in these two years it was really the time for rise of the smartphones, and even now the technology advances at a pace far faster than we could had ever imagined.

Christmas Eve.
Last week of 2012.
And all the talk about 21st Dec '12.
Well I didn't believe it anyway, but still the date and the year itself holds some memorable moments equivalent to year 2000, 1997, 2006 and many many other years which holds the prophecy of doomsday.
2012 was really quite big though.
Perhaps again because of advanced technology the world now possesses, which increase the speed of communication around the world by folds compared to what it was like years ago.
Add on the ever growing effect of social media and new media alike, 2012 almost really become true thanks to all the speculations and attention given to it from all over the world.
Wonder what are the believers of 2012 thinking presently though, now that the supposed date in which the world shall end has past already and we are all still standing well here.
Well, all except for people getting killed by mass murderers and such.

So for the final week of 2012, I guess I'm gonna say pretty much the same thing I told myself last year, which is to cherish the remaining time in this year, and do the best that we can, finish up whatever goals we set out for ourselves to achieve, review what we did and reflect on ourselves.
After all, other than being a occasion for celebrations and people to send greetings to one another, New Year is all about new beginnings, restarting ourselves, getting ready and fired up to have a go at another year, hoping that we would all do better than the year before and accomplish what we want to do.
Now that it's just a week away from New Year, we should really really take this short period of time to think back and reflect, and then using whatever conclusion and thoughts we came up with, to think ahead for the New Year and just basically get ready to receive 2013.

And for the final weekend of 2012, I'll be spending it with 23/09 in Krabi.
Hopefully it will be a fun-filled and interesting trip.
And when we're back to Singapore, we will be expected to be ready for another new year, another new beginning.









Byeall.

Everyday a Saturday.

So it's been a few days since ORD.
Pretty nothing much changed.
Or perhaps it's just because it's only a few days.
But aside from the fact that I didn't have to book in on Sunday, or even book in at all, life's pretty much the same.

Let's just say it feels like a Saturday now everyday.



Sunday.
Did nothing much as usual, don't think I went out at all.
Stayed home use comp blah blah blah.

Monday.
Met Terry and RW supposedly to play ball, but it started raining the moment we came out of our houses.
So chill at Macs for a while before heading to Simei's sheltered court.
Played a bit, came back, pangseh-ed by Terry, had dinner with RW, then went home.
Played some RO because we were too bored.
Don't know if I'll continue because I have so many other things I wish to do.
And that's exactly what I tell myself all the time, whether I'll accomplish them or not, we shall see.

Today.
Tuesday, to be exact.
Went out with Air Weapons people for dinner at Bugis.
Fortunately not steamboat again.
Ate at The Asian Kitchen after everyone finally arrived, around one hour late I might add, thanks to the heavy downpour earlier on.
Would've been caught in it too, if I did not leave my house earlier.


Started on 'Arc d8e Triomphe'.
Hopefully it will end good and well, and I can complete it within two weeks.
Needa start clearing up all the army stuff in my room soon.
Then it's some time to re-arrange my room a little.
Then I'll take some spare time to work on more sketches or art pieces.
Have to set aside the time for Scouting too, really fear that I can't commit myself to it thanks to many distractions of civilian life.
Will only start finding work next year, hopefully by then we've already come to an agreement on how NAS' Scouting will develop from here.
Krabi trip at end of year.
Am actually regretting quite a little on agreeing to go, but whatever, I'll see how about that for now.
Meeting up with BMT/SCS Foundation section-mates on Thurs for soccer at cage.
Meeting up is more important than soccer, but hope it can be a good work out session anyway.
Gotta really train and build myself up so that there's any chance I can participate in Urbanathlon 2013.
Should get it decided by this week since Early Bird's Registration's ending on Saturday.
Must get my phone changed as soon as possible, hopefully by weekends too.
Huang Rui gonna mail my Reebok Answer IV over, wonder when it will reach to me.
But hopefully I can put it on the next time I play ball with Denie and the rest, that'll be awesome.
Kiss 92 is really a not-too-bad station.
Been listening to too many English songs ever since enlisting I guess, maybe it's time to update myself on Chinese songs soon.
Sony Walkman Z received ICS update, like finally, and it's time to update the songs' database too, soon.

Any other things to do?
Probably nothing much aside from just these stuff for me.
Post-ORD life.
I hope I'm living life right the way I do.
Definitely hope so.



And then there's still University stuff to think about.
NUS FASS, NTU ADM, NTU WKWSCI?
Or even NBS?
Talking to RS really lower the chances of me trying out for ADM a lot a lot, perhaps almost to zero.
But then again, joining designing is more or less sort of like a dream to me, and getting a job in the design industries, whatever it is, sounds too damn good for me.
Even WKWSCI would be fine because advertising seems interesting and something I can possibly visualize myself doing, even if it's not exactly what I'll do in the future.
FASS, being the safest bet, the broadest curriculum, and the most interesting Psychology Major which I always hoped to take, doesn't seem to be the clear-cut winner anymore.
I always said this, even with myself constantly hesitating and considering other courses, I still see myself ending up as a FASS student.
But now I'm not too sure.
I might still choose to play it safe, because a degree from FASS can really land me on many sorts of jobs from all kinds of places, and from then on it's up to me on how I'll develop on my job.
And if I'm really so interested in one aspect of Psychology, I'll just go for a Masters and return in few years' time to go into that specific area of study to work it out for life.
Everything seemed so well-thought and it's not only now that I realized that.
But taking advertising would lead me straight into related industries and I know it can't be wrong too, unless I really suck at it or realized I do not have the passion after all halfway through the course.
Same for ADM, I guess.

But if you're talking about dreams, I do had a childhood dream of becoming an artist, and a graphic designer or a designer of some sorts would probably be the next closest alternative in the current world.
ADM might seem really really tough, with people staying through nights to finish their work, having no life outside of school work and things like that, but if I like what I'm doing why not spend all the time doing it instead of wasting the time on something else?
It ain't wrong too isn't it.

I guess I won't reach a decision anytime soon, perhaps only until next year's JAE commences.

But let's just hope someone from a higher level will just somehow appear in front of me and said something to enlighten me.


Before that, all I can probably do is work hard and pray. (:

Over-thinking doesn't help at all.
You just have to know the line between thinking hard enough and over-thinking.










Byeall.

ORD LOH!!

ORD LOH!!

And exactly said by the title of the post and how I've started this post, I've officially ORD-ed after one year ten months of National Service for my nation and its people.

Already thanked many of the people who helped me, trained me, and taught me everything I need to bring me where I am today.
But now I'll still have to start with where everything began, and record down my NS journey one good time.

One year ten months ago, I was enlisted into the SAF on 10th February 2011.
The date itself doesn't seem too far back, yet the days which followed seem longer than ever, longer than anytime in my life before NS.
Nine weeks of BMT seemed forever back then, friends we made were thought to be friends who we could be best with throughout our NS life.
We were not wrong, but not exactly right either, BMT was quickly filled with bittersweet memories.
Even just after two weeks of confinement, we easily grew close to one another as we are the only ones each other can depend on all the time, and just after our first book in, was the dreaded field camp.
An exciting experience indeed, and one to never be forgotten, one spent with people we simply knew just for two weeks, and one that we had to depend on each other to survive and to excel.
The passion to enter OCS soon died out, after knowing how tough the training can be.
And even though I knew that the training would be nothing for me eventually, being lazy as I was, I started thinking SCS could be a good alternative too, after all, I'll still be a commander after passing out from SCS, and from the way Sgt.Hakim advertised it, it really didn't seem bad either.
Nine weeks ended fast, fast before we even realized.
And leaving the island of Tekong to embark on our final 24km march together is something we all looked forward to yet also can't bear to see happen, as the fact that we would all go our separate ways in a week's time dawned upon us then.
We were finally trained soldiers as we POP-ed at the floating platform at Marina Bay.

And a week later, the results were out, with the few of us achieving the dream of entering OCS, most of the rest of us were posted to SCS.

9 of us from the same section, including me.
And there is where I continued to learn more, learn more about army, and about myself.
The eight weeks couldn't be any longer or shorter than BMT, as we experienced the culture shock of SCS yet also soon embrace how good life is in SCS Foundation Term.
We bonded much yet again, trained together, and had much fun while it lasted.
Eight weeks isn't too long, and soon we had to go our separate ways again.
I have to emphasize yet again, I really don't know how high are the chances, but I can only count myself seriously unlucky to be the only one to be retained back in SCS Hotel, with it being the hosting school for Infantry Pro Term.
And as for my other friends, they were posted into all kinds of vocations, barring the really special and weird ones.
You name it, we've got it, be it medic, military police, signals, recce, combat engineer, artillery, armour, GBAD, and except for me, all my friends had seriously got into every other vocation aside from infantry.

Then began my last fourteen weeks in SCS.
So called the toughest phase of training, least enjoyable one, yet also as memorable as any other phases of my NS life.
Delta literally came and took over Hotel Platon 1, and even though we had the same PWO, PC, and the few of us remained from Foundation Term, things were really different.
It was me being me again, unable to adapt to this big of a change initially, but eventually grew into it anyways.
From a weird new garang careless funny buddy, to a section with many strange lazy hardworking people, and a platoon full of noisy platoon mates, I have yet again had a new group of memories to look back to.
After all, they are the only ones who went through the same shit with me back then, and the only ones I can really relate to whenever we talk about our Infantry Pro Term experiences.
Tweleve and a half weeks were gone too fast, and our Taiwan trip was full of fun too.
Came back with two broken knees, and shingles.
Shingles.
Thanks, my 10days attend C which cost me my CSB just because I didn't get to march 32km.
Arggh.
I managed to use the attend C to complete my design of the Infantry Pro Term poster though, so I guess it's another form of achievement for me.

Being low profile, I thought that through that and escaping getting any bayonets would get me to BMTC.
Perhaps I really shouldn't have done so and should've tried my best, go all the way and got myself a Silver Bayonet instead.
Always not trying my best, seriously is my weakness from all the way back then till now.
And I still remember the times I spent with Gavin in the training shed, chatting till late night, about our dreams, various stuff, and things in SCS.
Chatted about how tough it was to get a bayonet, but how hard we would work just to attain it.
Congrats to Gavin, who not only got a bayonet, but also crossed over finally to OCS, commissioned as an officer this March and became an OCS instructor.
He truly deserved it.
And as for me, no matter how low profile I was, I still got sent to unit.
Devastated as I was at that time, even though I sort of expected it but was still looking for a miracle, I didn't really mind going to unit except that BMTC was really the preferred choice, especially considering how deep hidden 2 SIR is.

2 SIR it is then, and I reported to Amoy Quee for the very first time the week after we graduated as Third Sergeants.
Greeted by unfamiliar faces once more, with just a small group of people I knew from Hotel Platoon 1 remaining, I really didn't know what to expect from unit.
And treated like recruits we were, some among us really had the anger in them.
I didn't feel the same though, because I know one day will come where we will be able to act like sergeants, and sure we did.
UIP was over in a flash, no matter how much we suffered back then.
UIP Platoon 3 Section 1 was yet another awesome section I spent time with, where I knew many great friends and all my fellow Bravo Platoon 5 commanders came from.
Attaining the Best in Skill at Arms was yet another mini achievement of ours, but the time spent together back then was the true reward I'll keep for the rest of my life.

And once again, in typical SAF fashion, we were separated, this time into our individual companies.
Six of us all went to Bravo, with five of us sorted into the same platoon.
Amazing it was, I really thought we could be the best platoon seeing how well we worked during UIP.
Things might have worked out differently, for the better or for the worse, but as where we stand now, things are just fine seeing how our platoon turned out and how we turned out fine too on this special day for us.
PTP came and went, BMT came and went.
We were really sergeants, commanders, specialists, finally.
Doing what we used to see our commanders do, experiencing what they might had experienced in the past
We learnt to work together, we learnt to have fun, we learnt to lead as commanders.
The men's POP finally arrived on the day before my birthday, and it was the same feeling again as our own as we can't bear but needed to send some of the men away as they got posted out.
As for the rest who stayed, they can be counted as unlucky, or they can be happy that they won't have to face the feeling of separation every now and then.
Received my own section officially, and we went through yet another tough training phase.
AIT followed soon after POP, with two more weeks of preparation before Rotation 1.
And no matter how tough we thought Rotation 1 would turn out to be, it never really lived up to our expectations, thankfully.
As confused as we were back then, we still manage to go through it, largely unscathed, even as we spent time watching Euros in our bunk, and we learnt to have fun in difficult times.
And from AIT to Rotation 3 was just a major period of blank which could've been put into better use.
Much more bonding, learning, training, be it any of the above or anything else.
But I guess things are still okay as they are now.
Through weeks and weeks of helping out at Marina Bay for NDP rehearsals, and NDP itself finally over, we together as a platoon and a company had yet reached another milestone of our life in 2 SIR.

That was when we realized time just flew past us quickly, for me especially so when compared to my first year.
That was when I realized I had already stayed in 2 SIR much longer than the time I stayed in any other places combined.
The clock continued to tick away as Rotation 3 draws nearer and we started our motorization training.
It was finally time for us to switch on our learning mode again after this long of not being recruits/cadets anymore and being commanders.
It was a feeling not felt in a long time, but it was a short lived one as we had to quickly learn whatever we can, and impart the knowledge to our men already.
Rotation 3 was even more messy than Rotation 1, but we somehow managed to finish it once again, as a platoon, a company, and at the very end, even as a battalion, even if we don't fully realize it.
And it was nearing time, the time to say goodbye.

The weeks that followed weren't very important and majority of the time was spent out of camp, or at least, not with the men.
New commanders started to take over fully, and we started getting our hands off everything.
With just a week remaining and our ORD Parade and function over, we were let off until our ORD day.
And yet me being me again, decided to return to camp once more, one last time, one final chance.
People question me, even the men, especially the commanders, but it just didn't feel right having loose ends not tied up properly, unfinished business, and knowing that things are still going on even without my presence.
Of course I understood since the start that one day we have to go and things will still go on for them while life goes on for us, but not in this way where I don't finish off where I started properly and just leave things as they are while I go and carry on with my life happily.
And I don't regret my decision to stay in for the last few days of my NS.
I at least managed to talk to some of the men more, hopefully motivate them a little, or if not at least ease their minds about second year.
I managed to see the camp and enjoy life in 2 SIR for one last time, instead of just leaving abruptly just because I can't bear to stay in the camp anymore.
It was really nice, seeing the men one last time before I really go, because I don't like to leave with regrets, and I know I've done so well, leaving after more or less saying goodbye to people I'd say goodbye too.

And through my NS, I've just learnt so many things, not just about life, about soldiering, about leadership, but about myself too.
From BMT, what Sgt.Hakim taught on always to "Put others before myself", to SCS, to unit in how to be a good commander and one that leads the men well, I've realized how much I myself had grown too.
I realized how much pride I have in the things I do, and that we should always show our feelings instead of hiding it just because you are scared of what others might think.
I took the SCS motto of "with Pride we Lead" with pride, and I believe this should be the way things go because only when we have pride in things we do, we will be able to motivate people to do the same as well.
I never realized how important and useful the Seven SAF Core Values are until I went unit, where I finally realized that all this time how highly I held the core value of "Professionalism" in regard, and how important it really is to possess professionalism, not just in being a commander, but in everything that you do in life.
And many other lessons I learnt through my NS, I hope to always hold them close to my heart, as these are things I shouldn't forget and things which would definitely help me further on future in my life.

With this, I would like to finally end this long post of mine, finally declaring that I am now Operationally Ready to serve our nation in times of need, and that these two years of my life had not been just a blank, like what the COA mentioned in one of his talks to us.
These two years were truly well spent, and these two years truly changed me as a person and made me grow up.
Now I just hope this is a sustainable and positive change, and I'll carry on to apply what I learn in NS to things in life, especially in my own home.

Everyone who ORD these few days, congratulations, I hope all of you had gained as much as me, if not more, from your individual NS experiences.
And now we are finally done with what every Singaporean son has to go through.

ORD LOH!!











Byeall.

One More Week.

And here we are, officially stepping into the last week of our national service, with one foot already out in the civilian world.

Listening to Kiss92 FM now, thanks to Zhi Hui's recommendation.
And it surprisingly played Paradise like half an hour after we were talking about it and how 91.3FM was constantly playing it back then when it was just released, because 91.3FM was the station in my company office and I was forced to listen to the song dozens of times.
And that made me realize why is Kiss92 so good, because it extracts information from its audience in some way and play songs that are relevant to us.
Creepy eh?

Well was intending to watch 'The Help' but started chatting and listening to radio instead.


Anyways, let's just continue from last Wednesday for now.
Booked in on Tuesday night to be Wednesday DS, and found out that I'm the CDS, PC6 gonna be DO, and the CDO PS6 is gonna be BOS.
Well, just great.
Had to bring the platoon for breakfast too because Brandon returned from AWOL and needs two specs to look after him.
Wrong, had to bring two platoons to breakfast because there's no DS for Platoon 6.
Then, had to bring three platoons back from cookhouse because Chwan Rong had to do COS duty.
Already started the morning damn nicely.... good.

Joined the RANGER PT and it indeed lived up to its name.
I felt that it was only level 1 though, and good luck to the people who are staying for next year 'cause I don't know how many levels will there be to this insanity.
Nothing much after that until lunch, and Chwan Rong and Serkiat returned in time to bring their platoon for lunch.
Return from where? Medical Centre for Medical FFI for Brandon who's gonna get sent to DB on that day.
And who's going with him? Chwan Rong and Ser Kiat the 2 DS who coincidentally have guard duty too.
First time seeing CDS having to do so much work.
And so I went to bring the men to exchange their old boots all by myself, bring the three platoons to dinner, and conducted parade before nights out too.
All by myself when you have some others in camp too.
Some others who don't know how to do shit.
Sigh.
And the HQ DS couldn't make it back in time so I literally conducted last parade myself, counting the strength of the entire company.
I guess that's why I'm the best commander.
For the last quarter only though.
And that finally ended my day as the CDS, with all the second year commanders back as well.

Nothing much for Thursday, just had ibos shit for the whole day.
Took charge of the hand grenade station with Tim, well it was normal.
Nothing much worth mentioning.
And Friday, even less, in the morning.
Had lunch with CO and RSM in the afternoon, and found out that Shafiq is gonna be the best commander of the year.
Damn good man.
Had parade in the afternoon, finally handed over to the second year officially.... and that too marks this end of our time in 2SIR, as we received our ORD plaque with our testimonials and stuff too.

Soon after, the men all booked out and we headed to the mess for our dinner and so-called ORD function.
A mini one, that is, but good enough, especially with Jotham as the emcee, for one good last time.
And I believe we all fulfilled our ORD wish when CSM finally danced to Gangnam Style.
Seriously exactly like Psy hahaha.
Received the golden cap badge which I never had a chance to wear too. ):
And I'm really quite saddened by that fact that I told myself I just gonna go back camp and wear long four so I get to wear my jockey cap with a golden badge.
Had much fun during that night too, but everything has to come to an end.
And as the dinner ended, our time in 2SIR had finally ended too.
With just a week remaining, and most of us probably not even returning except to complete the survey and to collect our IC, we would soon begin our next phase of life.
Will really miss this place though.
The people, the memories, everything, all the small things we used to do, waking up, slacking, going canteen in the morning, outfield, high kneeling and finally seeing each other from different platoons during movement and at the objective, everytime sharing our stories during re-org especially when we're all at the CCP, and many many tons of other things and memories we share together.
Everything that happened and everyone I met there made my NS experience even more special.
And even though I had tons of memories in my first year too as a recruit and a cadet, these memories are different as I had them as a sergeant, a commander, and I got to experience what life is like as a section commander in a unit too.


Still it's finally time to move on and even though things will get better, I believe it will, as usual, be hard for me to adapt to the changes in my life again.
Gonna book in on Tues afternoon in order to catch the OC's COC parade in late afternoon and possibly speak to OC for the last time.
Well nowadays with Facebook it's hard to say that we will be speaking to anyone for one last time though, and even when your good friends go all the way to Africa Antartica South America you can get to communicate with them too, as long as Internet is made available.

Then probably gonna stay all the way from Tues to Fri, doing whatever I can do for one more last time in camp.
'Cause from then on I'll be a full-fledged civilian once more, leading a life of freedom. (:
Okay not so exaggerated but well, you get what I'm trying to say.
There's still tons of other things for me to go and do though.
So I should probably come up with some sort of plan to ensure that I don't slack off, and to find a job to keep me occupied too when I have nothing to do.

Going Mt Faber in the afternoon to try and clear my 180++ e-mart credits.
Hopefully there will be more useful stuff over there for me to spend my credits on other than just shoes and everything only applicable in army.

And the next post, shall be written when I finally get to meet my pink IC once more.










Byeall.