..:: 391. The One With CNY ::..

this year was kinda peaceful. every night played mahjong with my family... steamboat and yu sheng almost every night. lol. yesterday night won quite a lot. heheh...

well watched red eye for like 13th time. gonna return the dvd today. rented the notebook . such a wonderful movie. especially with Rachel McAdams. u definitely feel vulnerable at one time during the show. touching story by nicholas sparks, the guy who wrote a walk to remember, the movie with mandy moore... my sis rented wedding crashers again with Rachel McAdams. lol. she's really versatile.

jennifer aniston movie out on 23 feb, rumour has it.

anyway i guess more or less it's set on 10 feb, zouk, my birthday celebration. perhaps 11 feb, lunch dinner celebration part 2. shall sort out what exactly to eat then shall inform u folks :)

cheers

..:: 390. The One With Long Week ::..

this week kinda tired me out. firstly my oc wanted ippt training, so long nvr exercise, felt shack though the exercises were not as tough. seeing my men do so many chin-ups i also felt pressurised... after cny must really hit the gym everyday...

i got to conduct the advanced close combat training. it was kinda entertaining seeing my men do the stunts. then got whole loads of lesson plans to update. sian. spent most of the time in office doing admin work.

Fri we had combat shoot. no kick la conducting the range. enjoyed announcing 'firers, magazine of 5 rounds load and ready'. lol. air con room somemore.

then one of the platoon got activated for some stuff which i couldnt say here. cos even the media never report. the men had to stay in camp, i guess they must be in low spirits, knowing that they had to stay in camp after the shoot where the rest booked out.

but luckily the 'stuff' has been settled by this morning... phew.

happy chinese new year to all!

..:: 389. The One With Off ::..

well today company off. chatted with my men online. then called human resource department for an enquiry. wah. the girl was so rude. dun think i should put her name up here but when i called and asked a question, she was like 'ya what?' then reply me with 'so?' like i owe her. bitch.

made a few frenz... they jio me go canoeing and dragon boating... *look at myself* i doubt so... maybe after i have buff-ed up. protein supplement any1? my appetite increased these days. lunch and dinner must eat 3 servings then i would feel full. and after an hour, i would be munching on new year goodies le...

any1 controlling weight, having diet, can divert their food to me :) heheh.

..:: 388. The One With Sunday ::..

just a normal sunday. went swimming and had a great tan. going to buy a new swimming trunk to swim in camp. was contemplating on buying a psp. but then again, dun haf a lot of games to excite me to buy. plus need to buy memory card which costs like 200+, i rather buy a 120gb hard disk. then was thinking of buying a 4gb nano cos my friend got lobang. thinking again whether to buy a dvd player. i think i have decided not to sign up gym membership first cos first half of the yr, i could exercise in camp.

definitely want to sign up for a credit card cos my friend who's a regular advised me. But of course not to overspend. Decided to take up dance classes which i have missed out so much during trainee days. probably in jitterbugs or studio wu. any1 wanna join me?

watched red eye 2 times today... addicted somehow. find rachel McAdams really captivating.. she just completely immersed into any role she plays. going to rent notebook, family stone soon. every film that has her in it. o_o

next week feel like going chinatown see got what cny goodies to buy. any one wanna go? tml company off... my oc havent msg me to go see live firing.

oh btw, dedicated a song through perfect 10. the dj sonja a bit blur. perhaps she dunno anything abt army. i put 30 SCE she mentioned... students in 30 SCE.. -_- and '2 e pioneer batch of SKSS' which i meant 'to the pioneer batch of SKSS'... hey only 160 words lo, if you allow more of course i wouldnt use short-form. wanted because of you by kelly clarkson in the end, she played since you been gone without explanation! sian...

anyway... mon off like nothing to do... every1 busy... perhaps go back sec school find my teacher who requested me to be alumni president. seriously dun think i can commit. busy schedule.

..:: 387. The One With Being A Regular ::..



dont mention ORD in front of me cos i'm a regular now! lol. that was my contract above. i finally got my LSA - local study award. Signed my fate on 6th Jan. But they back dated my service from the time i joined OCS so it was 30 Apr 2005.

Few congrats and gave me blessings. Many questioned why and some even why i was so foolish. I think joining the army has gave many negative perspective. i've seen a few who are happy to be in the service. I believe if you have the passion (if it does not die off), determination (refute all negative comments or thinking), correct learning attitude to ugrade and develop yourself, joining the army aint a bad choice. politics? where in the working world would u not face it? secure career, benefits and welfare... what more to ask for?

everyone wants to earn more money and what makes people think that they can earn more money if they are not in the army. True, but not everyone can. Sometimes i feel that i had to be realistic, be less complacent. I always thot i have the chance and capabilities to be up there or was made to achieve greater things. But after going thru' my jc years, getting to know even more people, army, not getting what i deserve after what i thought i have given my best, i think humility is important. Ever since being a regular, i felt different. i feel small? but i feel there's a lot to learn from, especially from those understanding seniors.

anyway, move away from the serious tone, had very busy week so havent been updating my blog... lol. thanks ed, sam, leo... for ever so supportive of my blog. had to book in early last week cos of some safety briefing for commanders for the apb training.

then the week was just apb training. it was a tedious training and i dreaded it ever since i was a cadet. Plus, knowing i have an overnight exercise in feb, on my birthday somemore... sian x 2. but i can always celebrate my birthday for 15 days, you know? lol. and once i get my regular pay i need to treat a few people. ok, i hear people shouting their names... :P

my OC's really nice. have i mention he dont believe in giving extras cos he dont believe in doing more duty officer duties would help us learn from the mistakes. :) he really looked into welfare of the commanders. bought breakfast for us waking up at 4.45am... supper for us when we were back from apb training. that whole week spent my night watching dvds in the mess till about 12-1am then waking up at 6am again.

being a platoon commander, for me, being a rather shy guy, my toughest task was to talk to the platoon. there were a lot of considerations... i wanted to give them a good impression so i had to plan what to say. it is not the case like dealing with cadets when u can just tell them your expectations and say everything in english, talk about discipline and fitness. definitely it would be good if you know something about each of them or even their names. First impression lasts and i wouldnt want to screw it up. then one of my senior had to keep pushing me 'hey i've talked to your platoon and they say you are very quiet' then during apb training, he was like 'hey go and talk to your platoon leh'. i mean he meant well but i am the person if i want to do something, i must make sure i'm able to do it well and definitely know what i am going to do. Not just go talk to the platoon without knowing what to say. u will need some skill. for me, i got one of my sect comd who is very 'gum'(good) with the platoon and while i talked, he helped me to make people talk more. soon, i found myself talking with them non-stop. they were more interested in who i was, where i come from and what kind of training i went through. It wasnt the time to tell them my expectations and discipline matters as everyone was quite tired.

my platoon had a dinner on fri and my upperstudy happily volunteered to sponser 200 bucks cos my PS gave 100. My PS not the kind who go harsh on the platoon and my upperstudy is someone who is kinda rash in his decisions and sometimes not very serious. But still, i have a lot to learn from him.

well, the PCs in my company really bonded very well, crapped a lot, but my fellow pc, maureen and me sensed something amiss. well... will have to wait and see.

admin work started to come in, i have to update lesson plans and let the CO endorse. Still got platoon interview to conduct. Monday supposed to be company off but there's a live firing ex going on so my OC suggested us to go along and learn. still waiting for his reply.

fri had a steamboat dinner at tian tian with the platoon. wah seeing my men drive cars, the more i want to start learning to drive.

btw really love Rachel McAdams... she's really versatile in her acting... rented a few DVDs, one of which was red eye. also got american pie: the band camp which i watched in mess and one of the senior officers came in and i was freaked out. but lucky the dvds were original.

anyway next week would be quite slack and hope advance pay come soon... going to celebrate my birthday... anyone got any suggestions... gonna have many mini celebration this year.

till then. adieu.

..:: 386. The One With MOS & Shopping Spree ::..

last night was quite enjoyable... went to MOS for the first time, was in front of the queue. 15 bucks for a not-bad experience. ok la





the main hall rave/trance not very sure. but definitely better than zouk.

i went in and a lot of people were like him taking a tour of the place. Big cos got lots of theme rooms. Pure was a room that was like white was the theme... sofas, tables, walls... but they play music a little too mature... new age i guess...

then there was this 54 the retro room. it was enjoyable to my surprise. was dancing to YMCA... and i saw the ex-mediacorp actress cassendra see... wah she's hot.

smoove was a hip hop rnb place. kinda small cos there's this cage thing.



music was 3/5 almost like phuture but they got their own style... remix their own music.

drinks were like liquidroom. never take jug.

people. gosh. guys:girls like 10:1

not worth 28 bucks i guess...

saw a few of my 30 officers there, lta look and his twin brother, lta lawerence.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

had a great day today :) went shopping with my sis. bought 3 shirts and pants and also some clothes for my sis. saw daniel at queensway shopping centre. rent some dvds :)

cant wait to start working as a pc. i think the first best thing happen this year is to get posted to delta. wonderful OC, fellow PCs, sect comd and men. :) cant wait to chill out in the mess.

..:: 385. The One With Backtrack ::..

some of the stupid things i like to do...

for new year messages...

ocs kelven went fren's hse for countdown.

eocc ervin went MOS so did my bmt buddy chee chong who went phuture instead.

diana celebrated her fren's bdae at a gay pub. lol.

eocc shi hao said i acted cute in my msg.

eocc josiah had to do duty in camp

my bmt sgt peter asked who i am... sad.

my ocs fren jia sheng asked me who i am. sad x2

my hwa chong john asked who i am. sad x3 then later happy new year.

zhiwei asked me who i am. sad x4

steven was at NYE Siloso (2am foam party) and skss lifang both sent me a chn sms.

RM siu said 'haha, happy new yr johnny bird' now where did the bird come from?

my hwa chong raymond said 'hey thanks happy new yr to u too. best wishes for 2006 catch up with u soon man'.

bmt raphael said 'happy new yr to u. wish u best of luck this year and in your future endeavours'. weihao added a 'sir'.

skss wilson asked me who i was. sad x5 then later 'john from where?'

sispec cheng hao and bmt vincent with advance greetings. may this following year be a better one for u.

pei huan, yenlin, miao ling, weiming, joan, sgt garvin sent me fanciful msges.

weilun, matthew, my aunt, weishan, terence, jianfu, stephrene, sengkang, jian yuan, indra, poh boon, jonathan, andy sir sent me happy new year msges.

my bmt buddy chee chong: hey the best buddy ever. happy new year n may all your new year wishes come true

then received some of the comments my trainees had, or rather the impressions they had of me. was rather flattered. not trying to hao lian but is all the encouragement they gave that spur me to continue to nurture young leaders of tomorrow.

.: unedited version :.

John Sir
I think that John Sir gave us the feeling that he is very devoted to army because he is always talking about what he learn in army. I feel that he is quite direct as from what I observed during debrief, he will not try to twist what he wants to convey around but will just say it out directly. I think that he is very organized and very detailed as he always has a standard way of giving us an instruction. One thing I think that is amazing about him was that even though he has a lot of comments to make during debrief, he was able to capture all our attention at all parts of the debrief.

---------------------------------

John Sir
John sir was the duty trainer on day2. He told us a lot about how an instructor should be. During his debrief that was very long, he told us about how a leader should be like. He also shared what he had learnt in the army. That was a learning point too.

---------------------------------

John Sir

He was the Duty Trainer for our Day Committee (Day 2). I find that his method of training us is different from other trainers. He would prompt us along the way to ensure that we were sure of our itinerary and ensured that we were doing the right things. Instead of scolding us right there and then, he discussed with us at a later part of the day where we had gone wrong and how we could have improved on it. I respect him as someone who believes that there is an alternative to guide trainees to become instructors.

---------------------------------

John Sir
He was the best DT I knew in the camp! He was the DT for day 2 and I was the trainee DI for day 2. He did not scold me or shout at me when giving me instruction or even ask me to hurry up. He was calm and he gave me the instruction clearly even if I had any doubt or unclear things he would answer it patiently. He even gave me advance at the end of the day and taught us some useful stuff. I admire him for the patient he has towards us, the trainees.

---------------------------------

Mr John Chen:
“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.”
-Ernest Hemingway

I admire him a lot for I believe that he possesses the ability to really listen. No doubt, he talks a lot, but even in his speeches there are learning points to pick up here and there. And when he listens, he portrays a genuine sense of attentiveness that will encourage any speaker to open up, knowing that his ears and heart are always open.
He also has a unique and refreshing outlook on how to handle the power that is entrusted to him as a Duty Trainer and I find that I am rather fond of it. Besides being a great friend, he has shown me that there is no rule in the manual of commanding respect that requires one to shout, scold or be unreasonable. In fact, by avoiding all this, he has made his own brand of leadership that I am trying to emulate and grow into. One cannot help but respect him for having this attitude. I certainly wish him all the best and look forward to working with him, for after learning so much I will definitely have more to learn from such an outstanding senior.

---------------------------

John Sir

John sir was our DT for Day 2. Only during the debrief that night then only I felt my admiration for him. I felt the things he said were very meaningful and useful, especially his 10 commandments. Though they were very common and simple ideas from daily lives, it was only when he pointed them out that I felt they were of such significance. I also liked the way he conducted his debrief and the freedom he gives us as instructors-to-be. I could see that he really listens to every single thing we say, and I was quite touched he actually even picked out the little “crap” I had said during my turn to speak during debrief.

---------------------------

John sir
He too has a great personality like the other trainers and is always game for anything like during the second day when he cheered us on during the hike on his bicycle and later became our casualty. Moreover, he did not complain when we handled him harshly during the rescue mission. He is also encouraging and is able to pick out the good points in things and put across the mistakes in a pleasant manner like during the lesson presentation.

..:: 384. The One With Xiao Xiong 30 Initiation ::..

i cant believe i survived through the initiation. actually i can. 4 days of shit was tahan-able. booked in on tue night with so much reluctance. went back continue to pack my fieldpack till about midnight.

day1.3jan.tue

went to my company office, delta, for the first time and got introduced to the rest of the officers. sat in for a pc interview. then oc called for meeting. told us the plans for january. attended a few lectures and S1 talk. nothing much. happening is normally at night.

after our mess initiation rehearsal, we were given 5 mins to fall in FBO at the officer level drying yard. As usual, lay out everything, they checked and not up to standard they used penknife to cut open ya packs. yay. my packs were good lo. good enough for the seniors to use my pack and play and throw around. felt a bit paiseh when the seniors kept mentioning to the rest to learn from me how to pack. but the fact is just wrap? not much of technique... just need to tighten with every wrap.

after office hours, the new officers are called 'xiao xiong 30' (small bear 30). firstly, bear is the symbol for 30 SCE. secondly, no need to say why 30 right? Everytime we respond to them other than when they used xiao xiong 30, we get pumped. we were so used to answer when people call 'whole lot of u, knock it down'. or even 'guys'. so u noe how much we got pumped. they even gave 70 counts of 4 alternate leg thrusts. did all these with full battle order. Got drenched by our water bottle cos when they are not full, we have to pour them overhead. for me, i found it shiok. cooling ma.

day2.4jan.wed

it was about 12am, we thought we were safe, but we were so wrong. cos the seniors came back from some training around 11pm. When they asked us to 'whole lot fall in', we did not respond cos they did not mention xiao xiong 30. we were smart but they were pissed, so when we fall in, there was a puddle of water. first thing was to get wet immediately. somemore do the same thing. sian.

but this time we had to come up with something like a suggestion to improve the organisation. but in pumping position. we were not in the unit long enough to know what is lacking or needs to be improve, so obviously we could not think of any. then they made us camo on within 2 mins. then camo off and on again. that was not too bad. cos nothing physical. then that night we had our second change of command and i was made the IC.

day3.5jan.thur

the day was saved. we were assured that no night initiation will happen.

day4.6jan.fri

wah the day we dreaded came. the field initiation would start around 1pm so we were told to have early lunch at 1130. Before that we still had battalion run in the morning. long run man. Around 1.15pm, two seniors came up and warned us to get ready. that feeling sucks. we just waited to be tekan. then at 1.25pm, i was called up and given 5 mins to fall in everyone. first thing we fall in, i got pumped 40 during reporting strength. initially i was puzzled, mmm... didnt do anything wrong ma. on time somemore. then i realised, cos i had a symbol of command on my right hand which was a broom so when reporting strength i need to salute. (not used to saluting cos officer rarely salute to similar rank)

then i not used to calling the rest xiao xiong 30, always say guys or everybody. then got pumped. i think i had the most warm up. then the senior commanders came and had their fun too. the same set of physical 'exercise', pouring ice over me and the rest. camo on, off.

then when we went to fill water bottles, they threw our packs everywhere. so i was given 5 mins to fall in with everything. basically the whole time they were 'guai-lan-ing' with us. i wasnt even pissed. used to it liao. then one of the officer said 'wah i like your attitude man'. lol. they came up with weird things like do alternate leg thrusts 20 counts of 1. so to avoid confusion, i asked them to count using their fingers. then they purposely shout at us to confuse us. blah~

i even said 'thank you sir' when they poured ice on me for dunno how many times. then we had to dip ourselves into a pool of mud. brick-coloured kind. face, hair everything. cannot see any other colour. lol the senior commanders were quite impressed when i tied down the rest to shout something cheesy.

Me:xiao xiong 30, what is this mud?
the rest: the mud on our face is soil. our soil.

after that, there was CAT 1 (lightning). so we had to move to training shed. btw, only alpha company was in camp and they were told not to peep. while waiting for the CAT 1 to clear, LTA lee wee played 'journey to the west' with us. we had to carry lots of stores beside our fieldpack. we had to form characters and props... damn funny and horny script. but fun ended early and we had to cas-evac all the way to SOC (standard obstacle course).

Then we had to clear the obstacles till horizontal beam with FBO! After that the leopard crawl back to low wall was a killer!

after which we had to casevac again to the wet gap where we had a STB mission. we had to build the bridge and launch it within a time limit. then we have to go into the wet gap. made us pump, do leg thrusts in the muddy water. black colour with disgusting algae. It smelt like longkang water.

then we had to swim backstroke. reached an open patch, lay out our fieldpack, and ensure no pack sinked. then we had to dip our head into the water whenever they called a number. each of us was assigned a number... btw we had 3 senior officers with us so the field initiation they had to join cos they joining 30. as usual the senior officers got 'tekan' by the existing senior officers. that was the fun part seeing them suffer. called our number like 'what number to call the police?' so one of the senior officer had to 'dunk' 3 times cos his number was 9. then it was 'my handphone number,91999999' lol. we all had a great laugh.

next was to form a straight line and do 'merlion'. we had to take a big mouth of the water and spit it out like merlion but must be synchronised. almost swallowed the water. yucks.

Last thing was to climb up a ledge which was 2m above water and we are all officially declared initiated. but that was part one for us, the end for the senior officers. we had only 30 mins to wash up and fall in in smart 4 for our mess initiation. finally the 5-hour field initiation ended.

for the event, we have to move in threes and stand on a bar seat. super narrow. and introduce ourselves and answer questions from the floor which were the senior officers. Every mistake we made, our orientation officers which were our seniors had to drink one mug of tiger beer. When we could not answer the question, we had to down the mug of beer. There were 3 questions for each trio and ended with a glass of bear's cove special which was mixed with 6-7 different liquors.

and whenever we could not answer we had to say 'i, xiao xiong 30, NRIC, Rank Name, being young and green and wet behind the ears, request permission to down this mug of beer, CO sir'

i was the last guy of the last trio. Have to stand for an hour plus. sian. one of our guys puked... think never drank before. i officially hate beer! they sucked.

then we shook hands with the senior commanders and went into the mess with them, no longer xiao xiong 30. sang karaoke but spend most of the time cleaning up the stores...

i am now experiencing the aftermath. my whole body ached. i threw away my uniform and boots. mon going tekong. tue off. finally i can self service during lunch in cookhouse, no need to queue with recruits... can even get served by mess boy for breakfast and dinner.

too bad no photos. haiz.

..:: 383. The One With 2006 ::..

well, my 2006 didnt start off as a blast though, which kinda sucked. Plus, i am writing my dear blog when i am like an hr due to leave my house to book in. Cant believe i had to bring my packs home to do... wrap like crazy. even my parents laughed at the ridiculous things i have to do.

went to get clear tape at popular and they DONT have! haf to go back to my place mini-mart. duh. that was when i came back from buying the plastic film to do that.



anyway went for the sky symphony countdown sponsered by Canon on NYE. was quite a let-down. so bloody boring... crowd started building up around 10+pm. The only interesting performance was from the guy who did the beatbox thing (hope i got 'beatbox' correct). It's just making weird sounds and beats using ya voice. damn cool.





other than that rock bands winners from competitions came to perform. There were project superstars (dun understand why they are hot), tanya chua, fann wong (dressed like princess, *hair stands*). The female host, lilian was half the time shrieking and my ear drums which could take music from clubs just gave up.









due to time constraint, i have to cut down the number of pics. Haiz... how i wish i had friends who can go with me to NYE Silso bash or even Mambo-Jumbo at expo, i think it would have been great fun.

only gurmit and michelle chong had the power to hype the crowd...



then we went on live TV



oh i was there with my friend. :)



fireworks. 15 minutes at various locations.





then had a NYD steamboat dinner with my red cross guys...



who says guys cant cook?



then it was meeting...

and my new haircut.



added new resolution!
Do not stay up late unneccessarily. Always waste time by compensating it to sleep. -_-