Guess who ....

Update: Huanqian's relief teaching chem in RJC. Fierce girl is relief teaching GP in rj. Circumstances under which i found these out are unusual:

I approached mr. david leong to certify my academic transcripts. He grumbled abt it (previously he outrightly refused to certify some other pple's ones, saying it was very ma fan) and then, seeing huanqian gleefully suggested I get her to sign them (=

I was talking to grace chua at the staircase at the concourse.
Grace: Peggy's teaching here (indicates stairs)
me: Peggy Pao??!! (turn my head to look and see someone familiar; quickly turn back but not before she gives me an odd look)
Grace: She's teaching gp
me: Oops.

oh yeah, the green ic is useful, went to see specialist and it was free. yipee!
my fren suggests that we extract our wisdom teeth during our ns, since its free and we get 7 days mc too =)

hmm, no posts for so long.

argh, today marks the end of my 9 day mc from ns. *sigh* i really dont wanna go back there... in any case, i think ill be put out of course for too long an mc...
hopefully i can be downgraded, so my recourse will be as a pes c one...

oh well, nothing much to say actually. just hope i wont get confined somehow during my next few weeks b4 i get posted out.. yeah.

oh, the tripod site appears to be down.

Hi,

I have in my possession 2 Babylon 5 books: Book 2 and Book 3 of the Technomage series (Invoking Darkness and Summoning Light) practically free of charge. Bought them at sunny bookshop, in pristine condition and I will sell them off at the sell-back price; i.e. if you can finish reading them by 20 February you can return them and get All your money back; or you can choose to keep them; I think it's $8 a book. Interested? Email me at marshmall0w@yahoo.com ASAP.
As you can work out it's much cheaper than buying retail or anywhere else; practically mint condition.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0345438337/qid=1012477762/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_11_1/102-3677329-6082565

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/034542722X/qid=1012477762/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_11_2/102-3677329-6082565

I loved the books; gripping storyline and great add-on to the legendary Babylon 5 series. Also insight to the Technomage order; I suspect we'll see much more of technomage stuff in Crusade, once u read you'll see the connections (=.

Hi

With boiled coke: Try the mary poppins method!
congrats on the 2.4 timing!

I've just had my last 2 wisdom teeth extracted in one session. On painkillers, have had to keep on replacing the gauze because of the blood.

Got emails from ormond college, the residential college i'm going to stay in at uni of melbourne. The letter from the students' club is unusual.. items to bring for super-her- O(rientation)-week:

Evening wear suitable for Black Tie functions (needn�t be costly or upmarket; some type of formal wear will be useful as throughout the year there will be approximately a half-dozen of these functions).
60�s/70�s disco gear for a Shagadellic night on the Yarra (try mum�s bell-bottoms or your local Opportunity Shop).
An old sheet suitable for a toga party (ie not a fitted sheet).
A �crazy hat�.
Boardies, Bathers, towel, sunscreen (slop), hat (slap).
Some old �knockabout� clothes.
Bed linen, pillows, towels, etc. (Ormond supplies a pillow and blankets, but not sheets(!). Most people choose to bring a doona/duvet).
Some pocket money.
Red Briefs (yes jocks!)
A Kinder Surprise or its Cadbury Equivalent.

I have exchanged my 3 year 4 month old Canon BJC-210SP printer for a Lexmark Z43, won by my brother-in-law in a lucky draw last night. Early tests have promising results.

And now I must go, to prepare for my 2 week sojourn on the Island of Doom. Chinese New Year, sweet Chinese New Year, do come soon. Chinese New Year guard duty, stay away!

I am presently being forced to drink boiled Coke, which is supposed to be good for my cough (according to my mother-in-law). It is terribly bitter, not as bad as Chinese medicine, but the boiling has done something to the composition. Ugh.

Apparently some Chinese Physician at Redhill MRT recommended it to her friends, who tried it and said it works.

This fortnight's bookout post:

[NB: Because I am bored, I will listen to "The Messiah" while I pen this post]

Restored Post

Grr. The four and a half days of shit became almost twelve thanks to the wonders of a Confinement Week. For the previous week, to bookout, we needed to fulfill 2 of 3 criteria - lose 1 kg a week since enlistment, do a chinup or run the 2.4km run in less than 15:30. So much for our main purpose in coming to BMT being losing weight - we still won't be able to bookout. To make matters worse, the criteria for the next confinement week has gone up to 2 chinups and less than 15:15 for the run. Maybe that's why I see chocolate wrappers in the dustbin - people giving up hope? 1 down, 3 to go. Ironically, I didn't lose any weight from just before the confinement weekend to the day before booking out.

On booking in, the sergeant inspecting my fieldpack saw "The Economist" and proceeded to quiz me on the Law of Demand. And he cautioned that we must use "Quantity Demanded" and not "Demand" when stating the law. Mmm.

At the start of my most recent 2 week imprisonment, Geraldine said that the "pre-NS Gabriel is hiding". Such is the insidious hold that it has over people, so I've been fighting it. My section mate tells me that I've been lightening up these few weeks, and I know that I've been depressed less, so I think it's working. They may enslave my body, but they shall not have dominion over my mind, they shall not control me intellectually (ergo, the blog and the Economist [as opposed to FHM]), emotionally and mentally. Though it shall be hard in a place where you can get pumped for smiling (Yes, it's happened to me). Nevertheless, I shall fight the oppressive atmosphere. A platoon mate of mine, Khairuldin, told me to smile more, and threatened to force me to smile if I didn't :)

Presumably, the reason why people kept telling me I'd die in NS is my usual argumentative and contrary nature. To date, I've been quite successful in turning it off, though.

We were shaved again, so we're back to what we looked like after Enlistment. Ironically, many of the people shaving us have long hair, probably to mock us.

We've started on our regime of route marches. On the first one, the 3km one, I got blisters on both feet. Ouch. A more liberal sprinkling of powder and the wearing of an extra pair of socks has prevented more from coming, but I think my toes are now getting injured, as their state after today's 4km march shows. Due to the heavy weight of the fully-packed fieldpack, the webbing and the rifle, some of the veins on my foot popped out but they have now gone down. I hope they don't stay popped out permanently, as I do not wish to be physically deformed by my indenture. Being branded with 2 BCG scars is bad enough.

Apparently many people lose their faith while they are indentured. I don't intend to let that happen. In fact, so far it has become somewhat stronger. And I attended my first Bible Study session (though it was interrupted by our little activity at the cookhouse - more on that later).

We're given the Straits Times to read, but whether we have the time or not is another matter. At least it's useful for cleaning purposes. In one of the infrequent times I glanced at Life!, I saw that Cats was closing. Pity, the longest running musical closing. At least I saw it in March 2000 in London (with my 20 pound front-most row seat, gotten by flashing the International Student Card identifying me as Seah Shuri Gabriel).

I think I've said this before, but the different sergeants' standards for Stand By Bed is terribly infuriating, because we will have to rearrange our things after one inspection for the other sergeant's benefit. Stand By Bed should be scrapped - as long as the things are laid out neatly, it should be allowed.

One day, people in my section were very bored and started poking and wrestling with each other. I was trying to sleep with my head on the table, so I was largely left alone, except for one time when Ken tried to irritate me, whereupon I whacked him and promptly went back to sleep [or attempted sleep, anyway]. Royston is very susceptible to poking, and shrieks loudly and maniacally when people approach him menacingly or when he is poked. I suggested that he wear body armour, and I happenned to remember my own experiences with "armour", during the Nanyang days, when people liked to poke me.

The people leading the pre-exercise warmups are always very cunning - when it comes to the number of requisite jumping jacks, he will almost always start with a number lower than his target, and no matter how loud the recruits shout, he will raise the number.

Now I have seen 2 cats, one a kitten. But there are still many more dogs.

The dearth, nay, absence of shower curtains has interesting consequences. Some of my section mates say that I have a small butt, or rather that I like thin there.

The company rest room, at least ours, is very much for show. Firstly, we need to ask for permission to use it, even after the Last Parade. Secondly, we just have no time to avail ourselves of its, erm, facilities. Which brings me to the possible most important point - it's not very well furnished. The television has a blurry picture and is fixed at Channel 5. There are 2 (?) carrom boards (not that I play the game, but I'll just note it here) and 2-3 board games. And one sofa seat is spoilt (as I discovered when I plonked my butt there, only to fall into the hollow where the seat was supposed to be). A pool table is supposed to be on its way, but it's been on its way for about 9 months already, so.

Leaky buckets are evil. Many of us have leaky buckets. Or cracked ones.

Apparently, venereal, umm, secretions were found in another platoon's stoilet.

I tested the reception, on the Island of Doom, for the only 2 radio stations I might want to listen to - 88.9 and 92.4. Both were bad. Ah well.

We watched Monsters Inc during confinement Sunday. Nice show.

Activites expand to fill the available time, so I postulate. One day, we were drafted to rearrange the tables and chairs in the cookhouse. Then, it was "samura", and we had to rearrange them to the original order. Thus was an hour an a half wasted.

Even at this age, people are still childish. Now, I'm no paragon of maturity myself, but I have my limits. Many people still like to play the "touch someone and pretend it wasn't you" game, which is immensely annoying.

Vaguely related sentences strung into a paragraph:
Some people were given ice cream by the cookhouse staff on wednesday. We're all sick of Cream of Mushroom soup - we've had it at all our [pseudo-]western meals since we enlisted but one (when it was a welcome Cream of Asparagus). I think we're also sick of variations on chicken - the one time we had Fish and Chips, it was a most joyous occasion. The fries we had the past 2 times were not soggy - someone probably complained.

The SAF's ridiculous standard for situps caused my count to drop from a hearty 34 (or so) last year to a miserable 17. For the 2.4km run, I almost died but I got my fastest ever timing - 18:06, my first sub-20 timing.

The mosquitos on the Island are evil. They swarm around you and their poison is very strong.

We were walking in a line past a sergeant, and so many people greeted him that he said, "Don't greet".

People like to read FHM and Maxim, but I don't really see why they are so interesting. I flipped through an issue of the former - the jokes were lame and the bikini clad girls failed to interest me.

We got another bout of rainy weather. Our clothes couldn't dry, and even those that dried somewhat stank because of the lack of sun. Perhaps worse, the weather meant that we got really dirty when we went outfield. Going outfield sucks. It's muddy and dirty and slimy.

I tried to sit cross-legged on the chair. Many girls like to do it but I don't think I've ever seen a guy do it successfully. Our legs are probably too big.

Apparently someone (not me, I reiterate) complained to one of our sergeants that he used too many vulgarities. Thus he made a bet of sorts with us - if we move in the file, we do 20 pushups. If he uses vulgarities, he does 20. So far, he's winning.

For their sadistic enjoyment, the instructors like to make us practice the grenade drill. One came to our bunk to toss in the grenade, so since we would die anyway, I went to hide behind my cupboard door.

For the second or third time, my dear buddy Royston woke me up in the middle of the night to accompany him to the toilet. Gah.

Apparently there is a "Pegasus" company. I'm rather surprised that they chose that for a company name, seeing as they are concerned with masculinity and such.

I think that, by now, my olfactory glands have been largely desensitised to the smell of the camp, though the odour of unwashed bodies still perturbs me.

People have complained about my weird, even scary laugh. One of my platoon mates laughs even "worse" than I - he alternated between a hyena laugh and a monkey laugh.

People like to say that the best time of army life is BMT. So far, it's been the worst time of my life. I shudder to think of what lies ahead.


Quotes:

"Seah Shu... Seah Shuqi Gabriel, 109. I like your name."

"[Recruits while marching: Good Morning Sergeant] Hi."

"No questions? I have a question - who took my pen?... Since I was posted here all my pens have been stolen, that's why I carry this bag with me [hoists slingbag], so I can slot it in (them)"

"[On my forehead scar] Too many girls kiss him there"

"[On someone with measles] Don't share his razor blade, his vibrator"

"[On hand grenade throwing] If you have sweaty palms, you still throw. But no instructor will be in there with you. (will still)"

"[Heavily abridged] If you run out of rounds, will you go and do bayonet fighting? If you run out of rounds, what will you do? [Recruits: Run] You throw the rifle at the enemy, then you run... Don't say I say one ah"

"If I see you sleeping while you are standing, ah, then you can sleep"

"[On me holding my towel above my breast] Why you hold your towel so high ah? Like zha bor"

"[On "you can do anything you want, just don't get caught"] Don't you know that's the 8th Core Value?"

A few notes before my usual bookout post:

My sources tell me that my wake is rather visible:

"The econs hod seemed rather angry about it though. She told us that all palmtops were banned, because a student had written "bad things" on it.. was she referring to you?"

"He made reference to this 'terrible, terrible review' on the internet, (although in a rather amused sort of way) and seemed rather disappointed when no one appeared to have read it."

Hehehe.

10:47PM:
I'm rather dazed now, so the bookout post will still not be posted. Yet.

Another snippet:
" The life of an RJCian sucks.

I shall not elaborate, because of the infamy associated with you in RJ. In the sense that I don't want random people from RJ or RJ teachers coming here and reading about my real thoughts. No offence by the way. You're a very nice person. :)"

I presume this refers to me :)

From the same place:
"'I'm currently reading the last of the Alexander the Great trilogy by Valerio Massimo.' (which I really am reading, I'm not shitting you here.)"

My sister bought me the first book of that. But I think I might not get through it in the near future. Herodotus is sitting in my cupboard at camp, barely touched since I brought it (I'm in the middle, maybe, of Book 5 [of 8]). I'll try to keep up with The Economist first, so I know what's happenning in the world.

Heard from his mother that gabriel's still in confinement, dunno why.

I just came back from KL malaysia, spent last last friday to last thursday there. Stayed with relatives in ampang. I tried to contact zhe hui and ended up talking to his sis(?) in malacca- he's in KL studying A levels, will take the UCLES exams in may/june this year. Currently corresponding with him via email .
Spent my time with my relatives in the ampang area (and a hectic night with 3 juvenile cousins- aged 5,7,9 respectively. Fortunately, the next night they went off for tuition.) Aunty also drove down to Putrajaya- the new government centre off KL- grand architecture, giant mosques. Pavilions, parks, most of the gov. HQ stuff moved down there already.
I wanted to see the Paya Indah wetlands and the hippos there, go cycling, horseriding, trekking, nature-viewing but it was too late in the afternoon to take the tram and all that.
Then my cousin brought me down to ampang point- bought lotsa movie vcds. Also found things like spirited away and "the colour of paradise" (an iranian film- i'm obssessed with them). Wanted to buy Asoka ($20 ringgit in a legal CD store) but it was in hindi with malay subtitles.

Went to KLCC and walked around on my own... saw shops, got a RM$30 haircut, read harry potter in Kinokuniya.
My aunty's maid helped me dye my hair... it was a tube of ruby red dye, supposed to turn it brown, but ... it's orange. I like orange, but .... Do tell me whether it's noticeable if you see me round.

Since Utopia recently took a break, my cousin's onto another online web medieval strategy game that necessitates his logging on at odd hours to check on his kingdom.

Hey this is interesting, half the people who went to
http://www.geocities.com/marshmall0w/me.html
used google.com to search for the keyword "creative writing rjc". (manic grin) Publicity! Email me at marshmall0w@yahoo.com if you'd like to know more- or if you'd like to know some dastardly secrets of the J2s (heh heh heeee heee)

Most common keyword on search to my links page is QLRS, the toh hsien min web/print quarterly literary journal. If you go there you'll see at least one p-HO-to (look among the photos taken at the launch in book cafe)

*gasp* Even Giordano is selling hot socks now!

Andrew gan

Sigh... just heard from huijun that "Bryan's Brilliant Idea" aka S03B '2001 reunion outing thingy on 19 Jan. facing bad turnout. 5 people confirmed to be exact. Brilliant is Bryan's not turning up, Mala (who first spread Bryan's Brilliant Idea around) not in singapore, and most others are unconfirmed (which means they're waiting to see who else will turn up)....

Mum suggested i go for tennis lessons.

I'm halfway thru "A house for mr. biswas". Light enough reading,

Oh, Joshua 21 monthly concert thingy is in COOS- Church of our Saviour, This Saturday 19 Jan. 8pm. COOS is 5 min. walking distance from commonwealth MRT- alight and walk towards the queenstown market, the church is next to the market facing the main road. There'll be a large crowd there so you can't miss it.

Andrew gan

Most vegetarians/hindus are careful abt consuming gummy sweets, since most have beef gelatine.

Those floral printed shorts must be BERMS !! Erm, triplet was wearing a pair of pink ones... somewhere in OOD photo gallery.

The way Britney spears sings All her songs is disgusting... in her defence she mumbled something about "Southern' gals" in USA wearing crop tops and hot shorts all the time

Have u seen the Ericsson wireles bluetooth headphone thingy? It's really cool! I saw this ITE guy talking on it on the MRT. Has a range of 10m, i think, but handphone is generally left in the pocket so u don't have to mess with wires

The marks the garters left on my lower legs, caused by day-long wearing during the 4 days of range, are still visible. Gah.

Leaving for dinner, then to the ferry terminal soon. The day of MC I took has done quite a bit for my cough. Zhongyong also took MC, and I hope he's feeling better now.

4 and a half days of shit, here I come.

More backlog:

I'm feeling the pain of the Adult farecard. The 54 from Orchard Road to Bishan cost $1.00, and the 855 home from MacRitchie cost $1.10. Ouch.

I saw this 8 year old boy on the 54. He was wearing a singlet which had "Endure and Excel", and the PTI crest on it. I didn't know the singlets came in such small sizes. Maybe he just ironed on the badge.

So far, quite a few people in camp have asked me about the scar I have on my forehead. Maybe I should tell them it was caused by doing too many pushups. Muahaha.


RI:
I went back to RI yesterday to watch the 1urv Affair concert video (the second best choice because the concert was held on the 28th, before my New Year bookout).

RI has sold out. They now make everyone spend $10 to buy those large combination locks a la RGS and ACS, the ones with large rotary dials and which can be unlocked with a master key. Guess maintenance was tired of walking around with the giant set of pliers.

Now they've a String Ensemble. Hurrah! Band band and more band just doesn't cut it.

Uncle Soon Kiat has a new T-Shirt! These say "SKC" [Soon Kiat Construction], on the front pocket, if I remember correctly. While there I saw a bearded girl! She was at the water cooler and when she turned around, I saw that she had a beard atop her feminine features. Gasp.


Raffles Voices:

Some things never change. The choir was as noisy and rowdy as ever. People still like to run around (as I once did) and play stuff on the piano. Cheapo songs are still sung during Raffles Trail to con the Secondary Ones into thinking that "fun" songs are what make up the repertoire. And they had "Listen to the Music" again! ARGH. I"m sick of that piece. Well, actually now they've sold out. I found 4-5 ABBA scored in someone's score book.

When I entered LT3, it was not to the usual noise that customarily greeted me when I returned on previous occasions. The last time I visited was, if I'm not wrong, in June 2001, and that time, as always happened when I returned after graduating, I was greeted with raucous applause and people shouting my name. Now, only those who were in Secondary One when I was in Secondary Four are left. And I didn't get to know them very well, since I stopped going for choir in the Second Quarter of 1999 due to my not being selected for Choral Excellence. So I had, what, 3 months interaction with them. Coupled with my being bad at names... A pity I didn't get to know them better. Maybe when I am free (during block leave, perhaps), I shall return to acquaint myself with the new generation of Secondary Ones as I did in 2000 and 2001, such that people I didn't know came up to me saying, "You're Gabriel, right?" and "You're the one who spoilt the LT3 chair!" [NB: I didn't. I rarely sat in that particular seat].

I heard 'blazer', not just once, but twice!. No 'brazer'. Yeh!

They used an iBook for the presentation. Nice. Yummy. Mmm.

People are still eating the disgusting Yupi. I tried it once and was neutral towards it. Until, that is, I looked at "Ingredients" and discovered that it contains Beef Gelatine! Eee. Sweets and confectionary should not contain meat. I wonder if vegetarians or Hindus know about what goes into their Yupi...


1urv Affair video:

Note: 1urv stands for 1 United Raffles Voices. It's quite interesting and the person who thought it up has quite good perception :) How sad am I? I'm reviewing a video! Gosh. And I'm probably much worse than all of the performers. Oh well, the benefits of being an observer as opposed to a performer.

The camera didn't like the lights. Everyone had a white face on camera. And Jasper, when he came out to sing, held his arms in front of him raised for some reason.

Fake conversations between emcees to explain things to the audience suck. They're contrived, fake and irritating. And the surfeit of corny jokes was irritating! I suppose corny jokes are "safe" because you won't offend anybody. Except those who hate corny jokes. And the most commonly heard MC line of all time is - 'Sit back, relax and enjoy'. No comment.

Of a total cost of about $1700, they made a grand profit of ~$130. The money is supposed to go to Afghanistan, but 90% will be lost to corruption, so.

Why do people like to sing along to videos? I can never understand. Maybe they are trying to relive the night. And they keep jumping parts for convenience! Tenor to alto to tenor. I refer to Sicheng, who was sitting behind me, here (Are you there? Jumping parts is irritating!). When we did Listen to the Music last time, there were *always* wannabe Tenors singing along at the part which went, "Listen to the beat and the sound of the city, listen to the rhythm of the street. Listen to the radio playing on a Saturday night." [NB: I'm listening to the 1997 RI and RGS choir version of the song and I find that RGS sounds rather sleazy :)]

Cheapo songs were also sung during the concert. The alumni sang Kiss The Girl. This is terribly common and a staple of male A Capella groups. And Joshua gave some girl in the audience a flower (now, where've I seen that trick before? :) )

They also did "Geographical Fugue", last attempted in 1998 at "A Musical Concoction 3". I daresay they did better than RV did in 1998, though there was rushing, and someone was visibly beating tempo on his thigh! The one we did in 1998 at VCH was atrocious... The tenors came in almost 1 bar late at the end! Jennifer Tham must have been very pissed that night.

BEATS (A Bunch of Enthusiastic and Atrociously Tuneful Singers) has really gone down in standard. They used to be better. They performed "And So It Goes". It wasn't very tight, and there were numerous early entries, but then comparing them to the King's Singers is terribly unfair. Or maybe I'm suffering from the "good old days when a bowl of noodles cost 1 cent" syndrome [My classic retort to this is that "those were also the days when you earnt one dollar a month".] - the past always seems better and bad things about the past are forgotten and only the happy times are remembered.

They also sung The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Argh. Yet more cliched songs. It's actually not a good idea to do this song, because everyone knows it and even those without musical background, ability or talent can tell if it's done well. BEATS did quite okay, though for some reason they kept changing the tempo.

When the alumni came back in, they did the Banana Boat Song, complete with the giving out of bananas and antics with bananas.

What concert would be complete without a rendition of "Listen to the Music"? And so it was sung. And as usual, people clapped at the wrong place. Oh well.

Final song: The Institution Anthem. "Specially arranged to thank the school". I didn't really see the logic behind that. Oh well.

The encore piece was "Auld Lang Syne". As often happens, Ms Chaing started conducting from her seat. I think it's unconscious. But then the choir usually needs it. In 1998, when we did Les Miserables with MGS as the finale of "A Musical Concoction 3 - ReVolution", we rushed, notwithstanding her conducting. In 2001, when they did Les Miserables with RGS as the finale of "Music's Alive" (which sounds suspiciously like "Dragon's Alive", the name of the 2000 RI choir concert), they rushed too, even though Ms Chaing was valiantly conducting from her seat.


On people:

Quick notes. Frank and some others can still scream. Hurrah!

And yangyang looks totally different. Face, looks, height, everything. No wonder I didn't manage to locate him in RJC last year. And he's much less irritating now.


Misc:

I saw the *longest* floral printed shorts ever. They were up to the knee. My perception of the world has been radically altered! The rock upon which my whole existence is based has eroded! The cornerstone of my mind has crumbled! I need to rest and compose my self.

*Wanders off*

*Returns*

Now that I've scared off some people who doubtless believe that I've gone mad (I've always said I'd come out of Slavery Dead, Broken or Crazy), a few last scribblings.

The way Britney Spears sings "I'm a Slave for you" is really quite disgusting.

And there's something that really irks me about those disreputable people you see by the road or in front of shophouses selling things. The ones who have a microphone around their heads and who tout their product, demonstrating how good it is. Maybe I just don't like the head-mounted microphones, because I get shivers down my spine too when I see Chinese pop performers with those earphones on.

It appears that Jessica Tay is in the army too, in the "Reserve Forces". But she only has to do it once a week and 1 weekend a month.

Power Rangers Lost Galaxy has started! Due to combination of lack of time, laziness and forgetfulness, I missed the finale of Power Rangers in Space - Countdown to Destruction. Apparently it's quite good. Ah well. Lost Galaxy looks interesting, and the budget has visibly increased. It looks less cheapskate now.

In front of me now is a packet of "Wang Wang" small buns. The small white things with a brown top. To my horror, I have spotted a Halal sign on them. Then again, with Tuck Lee Icework's Halal Ice, I think we had already hit the bottom. Maybe I shall make my own brand of the small buns, one with a little lard inside (lard does wonders for Chinese confectionary I tell you).


A final, indulgent thought:

Societal influence is evil. In movies, books and fairy tales (where people live 'happily ever after'), life is portrayed unrealistically. Humans are fickle and unpredictable creatures who change their minds moods and feelings constantly and the changes can be very swift.

Therein lies a central flaw of marriage, because in the heat of the moment, people pledge their lives away and many live unhappy lives, not divorcing because of peer and societal (ooo, divorce is against "Asian Values") pressure and "for the children". One cannot predict the future any more than one can predict if a radioactive nuclide will decay in the next time interval. People change, we move on.

Slavery is evil.

hm the bio lecturer who mentioned gabriel and dropping bio must be mr. nah. He always starts off the year telling the J1s to drop bio, then spends the next 2 years asking his students repeatedly "why do you still insist on taking bio" while distributing test results

More Photos up (including prom!)
http://www.geocities.com/marshmall0w/

The perils of infamy:

"Upon closer inspection, the person who submitted that Bugzilla entry mentioned earlier is none other than Gabriel Seah , the infamous former RJC student who used to haunt the school's forums until they were taken down late last year. That guy scares me... And it's a pretty good thing I don't know him in real life."

Dubious honour :)


The VJC review is up on JC Guide, and it's quite "high class" too :) I kind of like the author's style.

I've learnt some things about VJC :) I didn't know that Lee Phui Mun would wash the toilets if she was free!


Purple Raine

"Today, I had tution again, and the fragrances from the ppl's hair infront and to the side of me really irritated me. I love the scent, but it makes me hungry and overly emotional, thinking about all the people I noe who smell nice, and what they usually smell like, and being totally unable to concentrate on E Maths and A Maths. Girls just smell so good.... mmmmmmmm". Err. Kenneth you have a sensitive nose.

Delayed bookout post (because of going to the doctor and a busy night yesterday):

Restored Post

4 weeks are over! 25% of BMT has passed. Whee. Though it was probably the easiest quarter... Ugh.

I need a belt. My pants are loose. Hell, half the platoon needs a belt. Maybe someone will go down to Beach Road and buy some for everyone. Ken said he'd buy one for me if/when he goes to buy a replacement rifle cleaning kit.

They expect conformity and uniformity from us (stand by bed, short hair et al) but they themselves aren't that uniform. For example, everyone conducts warmups differently - some omit the hip flexor and some say "thousand" instead of "one thousand" while others start "one thousand" and then continue "thousand" (Okay, so I'm being picky). And at the 100m range, we're not supposed to bring our rifles into the toilet (it's probably too dirty).

Last week was range week. Official reveille timing: 4:30am, which means people set their alarms for 3:30am or 3:45am, and we slept at 1am one day and 12am on two others, since the fall in time was 4:40am (thus do they find time to give us our "7 hours of uninterrupted sleep"). Actually, ironically, the 7 hours of sleep are one of the safety guidelines for range days, but it is on range days that we get the least sleep. What can I say? We are one of the slowest companies that the sergeants have seen (then again, they probably tell that to all of the companies).

The first day of range was incredibly boring - we were not allowed to sleep, talk too loudly or read, not even the newspapers that were brought along. The other 3 days were better, but we weren't allowed to lie on the floor and sleep (ahh the luxury of doing so! Tis greatly refreshing). It's very irritating, because most of our time at range was spent stoning, but we went back to the bunk very late.

We're actually checked for empty cartridges before we leave the range, but I'm sure anyone who is determined and ingenious enough will find a way to smuggle them out.

We had "night" firing during the day, when it was still bright. What can I say?

Some people with a master eye opposite to their master hand (eg left master eye and right handed) brought along eye patches. It really looks quite dumb and I'm glad I didn't get one. My shooting still turned out fine - 17/24 for the day shoot.

I wonder if the noxious miasma of gunpowder fumes is poisonous. Maybe that's why my cough still has not gone away after 2 weeks.

Running even short distances in Standard Battle Order is tiring. I hate to think of what it would be like running in Full Battle Order.

Tonner suck. They really really suck. The buses are much better.

Marching from point to point is stupid. It is slower than walking and so it wastes a lot of time.

I'm getting pimples from where the chinstrap of my helmet touches my chin. Ouch.

My physically more able buddy dislikes the mental part of training too - the ceaseless rush, punishment of everyone for one's wrongs, the rigidity of the system. If we could give up, I think most of us would. "The system is very fucked up" - Someone. People are punished for little or no reason - even for smiling!

Slavery really does mature people a lot, it is true. The sergeants and officers have a bearing and an air - they are more mature than the recruits who are older than them. But then Singapore women still complain that Singapore men are childish, immature and chauvinistic, so I suppose it's not full maturation. Indeed, it might make many immature in certain ways, or if not, at least more testosterone-driven / dicky / chauvinistic.

I'm still holding out against the temptation (though it's not very great) of going around topless or swearing ("shit" is the worse I've ever used).

Echoing is evil. It is noisy and the different tempos and entries of the shouting ensure that the original message cannot be heard clearly, to say nothing of the mangling of the message due to its being passed on - the Broken Telephone game anyone? And some pranksters are fond of echoing wrong messages. Because of echoing, I almost got one Guard Duty (luckily I was forgiven!) because of turning on the white lights in the training shed during range.

"I need intelligent reading material" - Jiaxiang. I think and hope that keeping the weblog alive will do something to stem my mental decline :) As will my bringing along of the Economist: [Officer on me reading it during range] Shit, you're a man, you read this sort of magazine?

More evidence of the desperation of NS guys: The mating of 2 monitor lizards attracted no small amount of attention.

Various events so far have proved the truth of that old adage : "You can do anything in NS, just don't get caught".

V. Ambiavagar is dead. We'll never see him at RI Founders' Days (all 4 of which I religiously attended for some reason) again. Sigh.

Apparently there's a "Ninja" company. That's if we heard the company name correctly. That must be the stupidest company name ever.

On Saturday morning, I had another injection. It actually went very well. I wasn't in tears before it, or even after (Note to all: Please don't give me any crap about "NS has toughened you"). Perhaps the medic was being very careful after I asked him to be gentle.

I saw and talked to Sing Pou and he was in Kilo for one week for his "Residential Course". Apparently they *don't* get to learn rifle shooting, and it's just propaganda lectures and more propaganda lectures. The PES E people don't even have to swing their arms when they march. (...)

Booking out and walking to the Pasir Ris MRT station, I saw a familiar group of people walking by. I guessed that it was 3S05B, and sure enough, Gilbert called out my name (and remarked that I looked burnt). That class is very enthusiastic about class outings.

Quickie (seen on Just Eat Me):

"Melissa: "There's this Econs teacher, she's a short old woman, I'm not sure what her name is-"
Me: "MRS LIM! GUAT CHING! THE COMMANDER! You've got her?"
Melissa: "Yeah, that's the one. Back to equilibrium! Back to equilibrium!"

Nice to know some things don't change."

Also:
"You might like to know- The bio lecturer (didn't quite catch his name) mentioned you and your JC review..."

and corroboration:
"if i remember correctly he said it was quite accurate... then he started convincing us to drop bio."

And something else:
"haha I'm thinking of going to RJ miss all the RGS girls..." - some VJ guy

hmmm ive been repeatedly asked to post here.. so here's my post..

*post* =)

julian must be busy playing daoc still.. he hasnt posted in ages, i havent seen him online (not that im home much).. but then lucky fellow only has a 7 day induction course into ns.. =(

hmmmm ns.. i attempted to lead the 2nd stanza of a song during a march, and got mixed up with my np-version of the song.... went all out of tune and stuff =P heheheh...

food.. is still relatively good...
section mates r nice..
platoon mates r ok...
yep..

Went to watch "Spirited Away".

Eye candy galore. I was intensely irritated by the plot (close to none). Things happen for no reason, there are inconsistencies and many things are not explained. The show's just a jumble of loosely connected (putting it charitably) events.

Yong Lin: "but the story is not the point of the show..."

Ahh.


In other news, Fierce Girl is the coach of the RGS debate team! Woo!


ACJC people are allowed to use their handphones anywhere, anytime, except when the teacher is talking. Bah.