-= Doubts

I must have this ask-me-for-directions face. It's pretty okay in Singapore and all, even in slightly unfamiliar territory when people come up to me to ask for directions but it gets a little creepy as I remember Danqi and I taking the MRT in Taiwan for the very first time and having people approach us for help. But even so I managed to give them the required info regarding which line to take. Hax.

Anyway church helped me to clear a little of the fog from my mind.

I'm not dispensing with my previous argument, and I could carry on debating with Kai Jun over the issue, but I guess there's no hurry to perform a total makeover of my values. All the disillusionment (and as someone told me before, disillusion is a good thing because it means "free from illusion") helps me to see the whole reality of the other side, and that road always lies open.

But yeah, about our week. Specialisation week two, which seemed to drag on forever because of our numerous book-outs last week. Wasn't a bad thing because we were effectively on 8-5, spending all the time after dinner doing one of the following, but usually a combination: Bang!, Risk, Space Munchkins, guitar, reading, PSP, etc... All the way till lights out.

The live run on Monday saw quite an improvement in timings. For once I went all out from the start and led to the finish (okay just barely falling behind Bennett for the last lap, but I passed him at the end) and cut a minute off last week's timing for a 16:50. So now that's two 4km runs in a row coming in first. Pull-ups aren't too bad either, so I'm just glad my fitness hasn't flowed down the drain despite the lack of BMT-style drilling.

By Tuesday I had many people singing 关怀方式 and there was Kenny, Val, Melvin and Danqi all trying to get me to teach them guitar. With the number of people wanting to learn I reckon I should really get a new guitar soon, but I've been delaying it as I've been delaying my UCAS app. Lazy to the max. But thanks to Aaron Lim and Desmond in camp I've got my regular guitar fix, ensuring the chords stay in my memory and my fingers stay nimble. And I've finally figured out the chords for How To Save A Life.

Otherwise we've been visiting several camps around the island - infantry and armour alike, ALB, some place surrounded by airforce units where we learnt ES for the whole day. Quite fun at times, what with the group of supply cadets I'm stuck with, and primarily we looked forward for the after-dinner (and sometimes mid-day) activities. GTA bang, Bang! bang, Risk bang; everything just boomz.

Say Yien, Val, Melvin, John, Bennett and I went down to help Danqi with his SOC on Friday. 4 seconds. By next week our entire 9th LOCC would have the green light for commissioning.

-= Face Down

Do you feel better now as she falls to the ground?

I don't know what you did to me, because I'm turning into you; I find myself thinking the same thoughts you did, in the same unyielding way, and becoming everything that I swore I'd never become. Now I find myself engulfed by this outlook I always told you to get rid of, screwing up my life and destroying all I ever stood for. I'm still living by no regrets, no blame, but I'm facing it - you made me someone I didn't want to be.

---

Well, the intellectual conversations (seeing how all other army discussions go) I've had with Kai Jun over the past two nights and on the MRT trip back home today both helped me to articulate a load of stuff that was formulated in my mind quite recently, and provoke a bit more reviewing of those thoughts in the process.

I've been seriously considering and thinking about all that's been said over the past few weeks. No friends? Pretty good deal - eliminate the expectation, the burden, the disappointment. No "emotional toy" business. I'm not denying a number of flaws in my reasoning, as Kai Jun tried to point out, but I guess for now it's just that phase where I need a certain degree of solitude to thrive in, and re-sort all my thoughts again.

Probably can't fight nature for too long, and I'm probably over-intellectualising the whole thing, so it'll only be a matter of time. I'll allow myself two hours of church service to review my line of reasoning and then finish up the weekly update when I come home.

Between the lines of fear and blame
You begin to wonder why you came

-= Chokeslam

This morning we went back to SAFTI MI for no apparent reason. Normally being squashed in the back of a car along with Kenneth, Bennett and Kenny (thanks Bennett) wouldn't top the list of fun activities to engage in on a Saturday morning, but seeing as we're still cadets we just need to suck thumb and go. For a second round of frustrating clothes fitting, which in many cases resulted in the need to tailor anyway and so yeah that's basically why it was a waste of time.

Two hours after Kenneth and I were walking from Joo Koon towards SAFTI, we were walking back to Joo Koon with a significantly increased party size which now included Bennett, Kenny, Valerian, Melvin, Cheuk Yiu, Wayne and Zhang Yi. I'm not exactly sure what Lester and Alvin are doing they're randomly disappearing and then appearing again.

We're the only ones on the train at Joo Koon MRT, so naturally we all plopped down on the seats. Although I was seemingly engrossed in PSP I could prove to Melvin that my situational awareness was still there. Five a side - Cheuk Yiu in the corner reading a book, Kenneth on his left reading a book, Alvin who left at Jurong East, Wayne and Zhang Yi sharing mp3 and falling asleep. I'm on the opposite corner, sharing mp3 with Kenny to my left, Bennett reading on his left, Melvin reading, and finally Val at the end. Hah.

We sat through the entire journey to City Hall without giving up any seats so maybe we'll end up on Stomp or something. Anyway, walked over to Marina Square for lunch at Wayne's recommended Pasta de Waraku, where poor people like Kenneth and I just foam and die. This is the first time in my life that I drew money twice and topped up my EZLink card twice in the same week. And another top up is due tomorrow.

The restaurant plays all these old love songs which everyone recognises and we practically have K-Box inside there, since it's pretty deserted. Zhang Yi's full of nonsense, trying to pick up the waitress, and Melvin and I have some pretty intense staring competitions at the corner. Anyway, food is not too bad, and would've been more worth it, Kenneth and I realised, if we'd freaking gone for the set. Well, now we know.

We shuffled through the Topman shop because of the huge advertising signs yelling 50% off, but after going through clothes for an hour and a half in the morning we're not really in the mood for browsing. One of the salesmen was an Armour officer who just ORDed yesterday, whoa, and he was like talking to us a little, knowing we're due to commission soon. We all walked around a bit more, emanating indecisiveness... then Melvin lends me his PSP for the weekend, and Bennett, Wayne, Cheuk Yiu, Kenneth and I break contact. To home and prep for church.

Hanging out with my acquaintances (except Melvin who's been upgraded to a colleague) kind of gives me less free time to worry about filling it up with appointments. I guess that's why I just go along with the flow. All thanks to Melvin who changed my life in ROC when he showed me that I have no friends.

Ah screw who needs friends.

-= Awkward Turtle

No more poison killing my emotion
I will not be frozen
Dancing is my remedy, remedy

Met Melvin, Kenneth and Chek Keng at 0917h at the bus stop as arranged, for our final visit to Lim Chu Kang Camp I. It's quite sad; we actually like the place - facilities aren't too bad, from what we can see, the food was fantastic again today (that's 4 out of 4) and the people there are really nice. But anyway it's our third and last day at OJT, and we sit in for a TTX and a couple of lessons, and we're done. Out at 1630h, but that's nothing compared to when our fellow peers at other camps were released.

But anyway it's a collective appreciation of the situation. We have to be content with what we're not supposed to be enjoying under any normal circumstances. Besides, we probably learned the most and we will have the longest and best (that's just thanks to Melvin) powerpoint presentation come Monday. Haha.

---

Well in the last 3 days of fraternising with Kenny and Melvin I've discovered the three of us get along pretty well. I can hear the critics already: "It's a GEP thing." Over the past few days whilst Melvin laughs neurotically and Kenny just tells me to smile serenely in response, we've come up with several theories carelessly slaughtering everything we ever knew about the laws of Geography and Physics and Chem. Some ideas overlap. Some ideas contradict. But they're all indoctrinated into our knowledge banks now.

1) Singapore is located next to South Africa
This goes all the way back to the first specialisation phase, in Nee Soon Camp where Han Yang was still singing Battlefield. The astounding combined genius of Melvin, Kenny, John, Zephy and other fellow GEPs (or whoever comes close) leads us to conclude that if Kranji is close to Sembawang on the basis that Sembawang is close to Woodlands and Woodlands is close to Yew Tee and Yew Tee is close to Kranji, then by that logic Singapore is close to South Africa. The reasoning stands till today.

2) Tuas and Changi are in the same place
This one conceived by Danqi. Since the two places are 40km apart, they are considered to be in the same place, in relation to the vastness of say, Taiwan. Then Woodlands and Johor Bahru are in the same place, etc. Leading us back to confirm that Singapore is indeed located next to South Africa. Or are we in the same place?

3) Alaska is located in a corner of the world
Because if you look at the Risk map, Alaska is right there in the corner. Top left. Far away.

4) Pasir Ris is not East of Singapore (How East is East?)
Melvin says so. Enough said. Okay because if you go East from Pasir Ris, sooner or later you'll end up at Jurong or something. Probably later. But then Jurong becomes East of Pasir Ris.

5) There is no such thing as an edge
By right, Alaska can't be located in a corner because the Earth is supposed to be round, with no corners. This will be addressed in the next point. But since everything is made out of particles in their smallest forms, then everything is made out of straight lines and straight lines have no edges.

6) The earth is flat, but the universe is round
My theory debunks Melvin's about the nonexistence of edges. I figured that the advantage the airforce had over the navy was that, if the navy sailed off the edge of the world, they'll just disappear. If the airforce flew over, they could just make a loop under the earth and come out from the other side. Like how Risk armies move from Alaska to Kamchatka. Then I thought it over - why can't the universe be round, and the ships that sail over the edge of the world just keep dropping, until they finish their loop and land back in the sea again, with a little aid of the wind.

7) We are all colour blind, but birds are more colour blind
More like they see things on a different wave spectrum. So they can't really pick out the colours of the rainbow, and if they happen to fly into one, like how they like to fly into mirrors and glass panels and knock themselves unconscious, they'll faint and slide down the arc back to earth.

And the facts are viciously murdered.

---

We head over to Lot1 after OJT (Kenny's third visit in recent weeks, including yesterday's) and hang around in this bookstore whilst waiting for Bennett to show up and join us. There are some really fantastic covers which we'll later look up in the library on the same floor to borrow, and the sections are pretty much sorted into well-defined categories. There are these couple of shelves housing a whole collection of good books, one epic non-fiction shelf of awesome books, volumes and volumes of cheap sex stuff, and the rest don't matter.

We spend a good deal of time in the library, even after Bennett shows up, and between the four of us we borrow 7 books, with 3 weeks to finish them, and I'm not sure Melvin's going to finish his at the pace he goes at. Either way he'd better return them because he's loaned them out on my card.

Then we go and eat at the food court, also on the same level how convenient. You don't often (let's face it, you don't) see OCTs in their uniform in public so these three days we've had to contend with people staring at our ranks. Like, what on EARTH is that fugufish. Anyway it's more like the three of them eat while I inhale the tempting aromas and distract myself with Melv's PSP and GTA. But Bennett hates antisocial people so I get back into the discussion after a while.

On the way out we chiong the bookstore again, and this time Bennett emerges with a couple of purchases. Kenny, Melvin and I still keeping our wallets tight. Kenny has to rush off for prayer meeting though, which brings a premature end to our rather enjoyable evening. I follow him on the MRT. We'll all meet up for lunch tomorrow anyways.

WM Venturez'06 11SLC 黄城道具! says:
in one of its forms, know is a eupheism for had sex with
- Alright neurotic boy, I'm smiling at you.

-= High Fidelity

Move while you're watching me
Dance with the enemy

I think my pretending you're female, Bennett, is my way of convincing myself that I'm not gay. Haha. Loves.

Met Kenneth, Melvin and Chek Keng at Choa Chu Kang again this morning, 0815h. Tomorrow we're meeting at 0917h. See not only are we staying out but we're reporting to camp at the most ridiculous of timings. Since when do cadets get on duty at 1000h? Then again it could also be seen to make up for our OT, since we dismissed an hour later than yesterday, which wasn't very early to begin with.

All that aside we did nothing from after lunch till the QM came at around 1800h. Nothing unless we count reading, listening to iPods and playing with Melvin's FIFA 09 and GTA on his PSP. We also finished watching UP. So maybe we're slacking, but considering our entire OJT could have been covered by yesterday, spreading it out across three days certainly gives a lot of room for chilling. And the lunch was damn awesome again. We got to serve ourselves, at the counter meant for officers...

So many are saying it's as if we're commissioned already. It's still a short/long 7 weeks depending on how you look at it. I'm just thankful I've made it this far.

Bus back out, and whilst Chek Keng trots off quickly as usual, Melvin follows Kenny and I into Lot1 to walk around a bit and recce a dinner point before he goes home. Kenny and I eventually settle at KFC afterthe crowds subside (food tastes freaking good when you're starving) and on our way out we stop at this TV screen for a good 10 minutes or so watching China's National Day Parade. Insane stuff. Then MRT back.

♥leemin.[lonedrops] isolation says:
you can donate to 'save a leemin foundation
- Sweet. Now that's what you call a "lost cause".

---

"Maybe we all live life at too high a pitch, those of us who absorb emotional things all day, and as a consequence we can never feel merely content: we have to be unhappy, or ecstatically, head-over-heels happy, and those states are difficult to achieve within a stable, solid relationship."
- Finished Nick Hornby's High Fidelity today. Thanks, Kai Jun.

Ha, that's not me anymore. I've never tried it before, but recently I've been trying to attain neutrality. Nonchalance. Indifference. Doesn't suck, and doesn't make you happy either. But strangely enough I'm okay with it. And okay will suffice. In the past few years I probably would be down in the doldrums with the current agenda plowing through my mind, but I'm unperturbed by it now. Do I take it to be a sign of maturity, or newfound revelation, or what? To rid myself of all that burden, all that expectation - I'm free.

-= Midshipman

Got to catch up with Zhang a bit since he's on shore leave in Aussieland. I'm starting to think that navy life can get pretty cool with all the isolation being out at sea. And I wouldn't mind those peacekeeping missions at all, light blue beret and stuff. Ah well he's coming back soon, trying to "drive the ship faster".

Met up with Melvin, Chek Keng and Kenneth this morning at Choa Chu Kang MRT station to take a bus down to Lim Chu Kang Camp I. Not too bad the whole journey from home to camp took slightly less than an hour. We'll be going down even later tomorrow morning. Awesomeness. If you're looking for the most relaxed part of cadet life, it has to be OJT. Either way all the appointment holders there were all very nice people, could really get along with them.

The cookhouse food is great. I think the longer you stay in the army the better the food gets, after a while. It's like the observable trend at the POS - in BMT everyone fedback "lousy", in OCS it was mostly "good", and at SOL everyone puts "great". Or it might be the increased maturity levels as we advance through the ranks. It doesn't matter to me I've put "great" all the way because I think the food is not bad at all. And the food at Lim Chu Kang, so far, takes the cake. 2/2 so far.

Took the bus out the ulu route back to the MRT and on the way back Kenny and I discover that the particular train we're on (not sure if it's the feature of all new trains) has these panels that can open really really wide. Almost like a cupboard (see: Narnia). And so, standing between two carriages, Kenny gets his hand kiapped many many times. Joke.

Ah and yesterday I forgot to include a couple of Supply cadet classics courtesy of our very own Aaron Lim.

Aaron: "Anyone going Jurong?" (With the unmistakable American accent, especially to "Jurong")
Aaron: "Hey is anyone going to Jurong?"
A few of us echo, is anyone going to Jurong.
Aaron: "All of you are Nazis, the Jews weren't wrong, they just..."
- *SLAP*

Aaron: "Then it's okay because no one would recognise it anyway!"
- Concluding the age-old debate on whether we could wear our cadet rank in public, since the rank is "not recognised".

I've been venting a lot to Bennett and Melvin lately, and although what I find myself saying is quite scary, what's scarier is that I think I really mean it.

-= Supply Chain Supply Chain Supply Chain

Thanks to Taiwan I've developed a newfound appreciation for traditional Chinese. I suppose, it's like Duane said; you only start liking Chinese after you stop studying it in school.

寂寞開在心事旁
隨手種一些傷感
不讓星星來窺探
找個沉默的夜晚

找個沉默的夜晚
不讓星星來窺探
隨手種一些傷感
寂寞開在心事旁

我的關懷方式是你無法察覺的悲涼
只能在你不經意時才鎖上我心房
你往常的親切友善 是我今生的遺憾
受傷後無悔的埋在不流露的臉上

Strange to be back on a Tuesday night, after much skepticism regarding yesterday's news that we'd be booking out every day for the rest of the week. But anyway, we're back to specialisation now, with the Supply cadets - Kenneth, Chian Fern, Aaron Lim, Seth, Ching Wei, Val, Danqi, Say Yien, Desmond, Zephy, Cheuk Yiu, Bennett, John, Melvin, Han Yang, Jin Yang, Chek Keng, Kenny, Jian Jie and Matthew. I think it's a really fortunate thing that I've worked alongside most of these guys across the span of pro term and found them to be really really good people.

Anyway today we went to Pasir Laba Camp after lunch for Supply Chain day, some speeches and seminar and very good food. And that's it. We all took this bus to Jurong Point and dispersed from there. Shall be spending my next three days at Lim Chu Kang Camp I with Melvin, Kenneth and Chek Keng on OJT. Slightly further than usual, but everyone seems to feel that staying out is the ultimate redeeming factor for everything. I guess I have to concede, going home is nice. We get a month's worth of book outs in this week.

8-5 for cadets, whoever heard of that before? Times are a-changin'...

-= If Everyone Cared

I'm going to rewind a day or so.

When I was with Andrew, Chris, Vic the night before, I didn't feel as sick as I was before that. In fact my runny nose and sore throat kind of disappeared. But it's back now. I reckon being with friends would probably do for a good remedy. And then at church last night I couldn't sing as loud as I wanted to. Having missed church for 3 weeks. Good to be back.

Later that night I was on the phone with Bennett from 0215h to 0345h. In that mere one and a half hours he must have found out more stuff about me than anyone else has ever acquired in such a short span of time. And the conversation actually reinforces everyone's "Bennett's a girl" kind of attitude. Because the way I react to him and all is typical of a way I'd react to females in that setting. It's not a bad thing. Haha loves, Bennett.

Yesterday caught up with Jeremy and Benkwok and Leemin and Mich and Eryn. And did the ninety minute phone conversation with Vic at 0230h. Similar story. I should start making it a ritual on non-army nights. Speaking of which - it's rather quick, but it's book in again tonight. Ah November. Time flies.

Memories? I just read through my August 2008 archives. Pretty damn epic. Crap I think subconsciously I do miss IB. Every single time I read a month's worth of legendary stuff. But we've all moved on now.

Closure's always a relief.

-= Taiwan Titillation

Continuation from Starlight.

R&R
261009-281009
"我不要!"

If I could put a track to R&R I'd spam Cascada songs here, partly because Say Yien and his precision drill history managed to get all those songs stuck in my head, mostly because of the energy that emerged after so many days of mental and physical strain. This would probably be the only part of 3 weeks where I can post photos, so I'll snag a few from Facebook. Not everyone's uploaded theirs though, so I might have to update this in time.

Day1
木生昆虫博物馆.九族文化村.士林夜市
- MuhShengMuseumofEntomology
- FormosanAboriginalCultureVillage
- ShiLinNightMarket

First stop after leaving Meilin Camp was some Entomology Museum somewhere in Nantou. Couldn't get the swap done with Nicholas so I was stuck with Platoon 1 without the likes of my Syndicate 4 buddies and I'd have to suffer the fate for the entire R&R phase, seeing how everything from meal seating to bus and hotel allocation were all split platoon level. Thank goodness the itinerary was the same. Anyway on display they had this collection of terrifyingly huge bugs (see: butterflies, beetles, spiders, scorps, stick insects, praying mantii, what have you) which everyone agreed that they'd ZHAM on sight if we ever saw one outfield.

So disgusting I eventually ended up playing with the little guinea pig and parrot downstairs. Everyone says not to touch the parrot 'cause it can take your finger off, but the parrot seemed content to let me stroke its head through the cage so that's what I did. We tried to rush off from the place, saved by the lunch bell.

All our meals were consumed at local restaurants with the food all being already pre-made, which was a little sick but at least we had a wider selection of dishes as compared to mess food. Not so oily as we'd remember food in China to be, and some stuff was actually pretty good. And we had to sit in syndicate level, so yeah Shanghai was definitely better than this.


Jonyee being retarded and Say Yien trying to be normal.

---

At the Culture Village it was quite free and easy within, which was a good thing so Kah Hwee and I could run off with the Syndicate 1 people like Kenneth, Kevin, Chian Fern, Vijay, Tau Herng, Aaron Lim and Jin Chao, which is basically everyone besides the Apples. Half of the place was actually a theme park and 9th LOCC, I realised, like this sort of thrill. Tau Herng and I sat out the outdoor roller coaster because it honestly looked positively mindblowing, so we just took photos. The screams were absolutely fabulous. We'd learn that everytime the car starts a numbingly long climb there'd inevitably be choruses of "我不要!" echoing through the tunnels. The dumb things we make ourselves do.

Too much peer pressure though. Ended up on the log flume with Jin Chao and Kah Hwee, the latter sitting in front so actually shielded us from most of the spray. A couple of drops, but nothing too terrifying. They actually secretly snap a photo of you just before the drop, which you won't realise until you exit the ride, but Aaron Lim and Vijay were captured doing all-round defence just before their rapid descent. Classic stuff.

If it weren't for every single person in our combined 30-man group going for the space mountain indoor roller coaster ride, I wouldn't have gone. At least this time I didn't get too freak out too much because it was totally dark inside, meaning that no one could see the track. It was just some huge empty void and when you're being hurtled through the space at millions of miles per hour doing all sorts of fancy twists and turns you have no semblance of where is up and down, so you can never tell how far the drop is. Not like you can do anything about it in such instances.

So I didn't die. And for the first time in my life since I was 6, I sat on a roller coaster. Never again. Thanks to stupid indirect peer pressure that I managed to overcome any fear I had in the first place. After that walked around the area with Tau Herng, Aaron Lim, Jin Chao and Kah Hwee because Kevin, Kenneth, Vijay and Chian Fern decided to get wet. Some typical arcade stuff and then the cable car ride up the mountain, where the view was breathtaking.

Watched some cultural performance at the top and then linked up with the rest of Syndicate 1 and made our way down 700m of hill. Landscape there was fantastic, and we got a couple of nice shots on a particular lawn before Aaron suggested that we fire and movement down all the way. Not too many were keen though, especially with Kenneth and his sprained ankle so instead we just bashed our way down.

---

Reached our hotel in the evening after dinner, where Val and I got arguably the best (biggest) room in the level with the biggest toilet and twin queen size beds. I don't know what the architect was thinking, the disparity in the standard of every room is just huge. Anyway we rushed out right away with the rest of Syn3 to Shih Lin Night Market, cabbing there and somehow managing to link up. Although the way Danqi and I shopped was significantly different to the rest, so we stuck together the whole time while we broke up into our small groups.


Jin Chao and Chian Fern, waiting for cab.

Didn't find anything that night. Shopping spree begins tomorrow, and the day after. Night markets here are slightly different from the ones I've seen in Thailand and China, for some reason I can't really put my finger on. You realise that Taiwanese people really like their games. Anyway Danqi and I took the MRT back. It's like a rite of passage I simply must walk into a 7-11 and sit on the rail transport everytime I visit a country.

Bridge with Russell, Aaron Tan and Yao Xian at night, heh. 0200h lights off, shiok.

Day2
野柳海洋世界.九份.西门町
- YeLiuOceanWorld
- JiouFenVillage
- XiMenDing

In the morning we headed North to the coastal town of Ye Liu to see how much Singapore beaches really suck. There was this dolphin show we were forced to watch which lasted pretty much forever because of the programme that followed it, but it wasn't too bad we got to witness some pretty amazing skills and jaw-dropping dives. Watching it was enough to make you shrink in your seat. You also notice how the rest of the amphitheatre was dressed in such vibrant colours and on the Singapore side we're all in plain solids. Yeah the Taiwanese do tend to be excessive when it comes to design. Makes shopping for clothes a little difficult at times.

---

All the good stuff comes in the afternoon. Visited another "village", this time on a mountain with again a marvelous view of the landscape below. We should've taken more photos with scenery really, rather than the random camwhore shots against funny backgrounds. Anyway since Jiu Fen was located in the middle of mountainous terrain the whole layout of the shops was really quite unique, with the prize of the viewing gallery right at the end of the street.

This time I tagged along with the Syndicate 4 dudes of Bennett, Kai Jun, Melvin, John, Zephy, Cheuk Yiu and Qing Yuan. We went through the first few shops at an agonisingly slow pace and after Bennett, John and I finally felt we had enough and chionged the rest towards the end. Where we took this:


Bennett short, but John shorter.

And after chionging back to the entrance designated as the RV point we met up with Kevin, Kah Hwee, Kenneth, Chian Fern and friends, where we took this and this:


Uh if my hair looks like that it means I just came out of the toilet.

No wax so need to use water to fin.

It almost never rained in Taiwan, and even when it did here it was the lightest of drizzles, and it was actually quite a comfortable feeling. High up on the mountain. Sweetness. It was almost scary to see the vehicles negotiating the tight bends on the inclines at relatively quick speeds, but we were soon down and back to our hotel again, after a good dinner.

---

Without wasting too much time we were off for Ximending, taking the subway with Danqi, Say Yien, Jonyee and Val. By this time I pretty much had their transit system all figured out, and after we made the change from the red to the blue line we came out from the underground to be greeted by another imposing view of the city all around us. At these sort of moments it's easy to lose one's bearings. Val and I did all we could to link up with Wayne and some of Syndicate 4... Bennett, Kai Jun and John.

This time at least I managed to get stuff. It would be Kai Jun who oversaw most of my purchases, including the following day's. It might have helped to alleviate the feeling that we were making impulse buys, with someone beside you for assurance. "If you really like it then go for it la." ... "Just go for it!" Anyway practically all the stuff I got was with major discounts. Like 50% off, or buy in bulk for a cheaper price. That's why we roved in groups. To split costs.

Shopping in groups is fun, but sometimes shopping in pairs is better. John and I were as usual, bored with the slow pace and often pushed ahead, once breaking contact to join the Apples in a particular department store. At Esprit Kai Jun and I were abandoned and being unable to find the rest we went the last hour of the trip alone, where we got him this nice pair of shoes at half price.

Cabbed back with Val, Yan Jie, Alvin and Kah Hwee. Stayed up in the hotel rooms again, watching TV and a few rounds of bridge with Russell, Aaron and Jonyee.

Day3
台北101.五分埔
- Taipei101
- WuFenPu

Got to wake up late before Val and I had to shift our stuff over to Desmond and Jonyee's room. Earliest time we could hand over the rooms was at 1000h, and after that everyone duly disappeared into the various corners of Taipei to make full use of our totally tour-free R&R day. Cabbed out to Taipei 101 with Desmond and Val before RVing with Alan, Russell and Aaron, and then the entire Syndicate 4. And you don't go to the tallest building in the world without capturing evidence:


Alright fine so it doesn't appear to be the 101 from this angle. But it is.

Went inside for a short look-see and then went across the road to New York New York (it's a shopping centre) to check out the clothes. John, Cheuk Yiu and I were rather disappointed with the Toys'R'Us they had on the upper floor. Nothing very interesting, so 12 of us - Bennett, Kai Jun, Sean, Zhang Yi, Zephy, Cheuk Yiu, John, Qing Yuan, Val, Alan, Desmond and myself shared 3 cabs (whoa convoy movement packet commander break contact drill all come out again) down to Wu Fen Pu.

Looked pretty crap from the main road but inside the maze of streets it was actually quite awesome, and I liked the prices I saw. Kai Jun and I went it alone again, pretty successful venture and upon meeting up with Melvin an hour and a half before we were due back at the hotels we quickly chionged to SOGO a few streets away via cab to finish up some last minute shopping. Mostly for me as a last-chance completion of the gift requests.

Melvin says he likes small groups. Even as a trio we often split up within the department store, going solo in the attempt to cover more ground. We were most intrigued by the women manning (bleh oxymoron?) the lifts, it was almost scary. They'd know why. There was another SOGO building across the street from the one we were in (weirdness) and we proceeded there in anticipation of seeing what the lifts were like in that building, only to be disappointed. There was a message in the lift apologising that we had to "operate the lift on our own". Are you kidding me?

The level of service in Taiwan is really quite powerful though. Singapore should learn. That, and also observe how Taiwanese have the discipline to separate ALL their trash into recyclable and non-recyclable. And stand on one side of the escalators, and stand to the side when the train doors open and commuters alight. Seriously. I think we got a really bad impression of Singaporeans back home after that.

Needed to be back at the hotel at 1600h so we could head for the airport. Melvin and Kai Jun shared a cab with me, dropping off first. Throughout these 3 days we had some really good chats with the local taxi drivers; cabbing was rather convenient if the group was large enough, then it was relatively cheap.

---

For all bus rides I sat with either Danqi or Kenny, but for the ride to the airport it was Desmond. We'd caught Angels & Demons and a couple of other films during the bus journeys, but at times like this we were content to just sleep. At the airport after a whole lot of time wasted checking in luggage and all, Kai Jun and I went to eat xiaolongbao and basically fill our stomachs because we'd neglected to eat lunch in the day's earlier shopping spree. Not that we forgot, but there was no time to. That's how seriously I took my gift requests haha.

On the flight back to Singapore I finally caught Transformers 2: Revenge Of The Fallen. Bennett illegally sat next to me on the plane after Chian Fern's show of goodwill. And so we were home.

-= Eternal Sunshine

Shall take a minor break from ROC logging (aha get it?) and dwell on my lovely CLU13 lunatics I call my friends.

Met Andrew at Ikea at 1800h to... walk around. I get the feeling that our class can be quite fixated on certain things. Or maybe I've remembered too many class outings to Ikea just to walk around and see stuff. How about always ending up meeting at Thomson. Zhang and Chris probably have the two most visited houses in CLU13 history (a million times each; can't remember visiting anyone else's place more than once, if at all) and they both have to live within 10 minutes walk of each other.

Ah yeah so just as Andrew and I left for that Thomson area it started to rain like really heavily. And considering I haven't seen heavy rain for over three weeks now it was actually quite interesting. At this point Vic starts to die because she got lost over at the RV point and she's soldiering on bravely on foot. She tanked more rain than we did even if we muddled through a puddle.

Dinner was zhi cha at this quaint Nam Kee outlet along the row of shophouses that line the road. With Chris bailing out on us at the last moment (so she wouldn't ruin her make-up) the three of us go through three dishes with Andrew and I getting an extra plate of rice each. Didn't eat a whole lot in Taiwan; I'd almost forgotten how much I'm capable of being able to stomach. Then tanking the rain again for all of the 10 minutes it took to walk to Chris' place.

Played mahjong till 2330h. At least this time everyone had their turn to win. Chris was on tickle-me-elmo mode, and soon everyone was picking up their own catchphrases. At the press of a button at regular intervals you'd hear the following -

Chris: "What did you put down?"
Vic: "Shit I shouldn't have done that."
Andrew: *Mimics Chris' and Vic's laughter*

A short photobooth session after that, I can't remember what sparked it. We photospammed for a few minutes (I cannot believe how many snapshots can be taken in the space of a few minutes, seriously) with Andrew deleting like free like that because he ruined photos and decided that ruined photos should be deleted. I suppose that makes sense. Anyway also because he was in No.3 uniform there are restrictions as to posting online, and so I'll just pick my favourite photo to include in this post:


Fab, Chris, Vic, Andrew

There's a tendency for us to overstay at Chris' and Zhang's places so before midnight befell us we split for home. Awesome how just a couple of hours with your best friends can change your whole day.

-= Starlight

Ex Starlight
081009-291009

Three weeks. This post will be a lesson in condensation.

Meilin Camp
Confusing stars with satellites

Airport for the second time in about 4 months, albeit this time with a smaller group - only Loggies and Signallers. Doing Starlight alongside Signals meant that we got to see (and mingle with) a lot of of Longzhao, DJ, David, Kai Sheng, Allan, Alex, Yi Xin, Pavneet, Jim, Mel and Joshua.

The camp was much better than what we had in Brunei. Facilities were good, with hot showers as the saving grace. Double bunk beds, and this time I slept on the lower bunk, right at the corner. I was probably the only one who didn't splurge on the vending machines. Nothing to complain about, really, except maybe that Platoon 1 and 2 had to have separate bunks across the floor.

I've siammed every single appointment from BMT up till now, and it has to be at this time, where no one wants to hold an appointment, that I find CPS being thrust upon me. Thankfully it all went alright. Took a couple of hits, unfairly, but I stepped up to the plate and went for broke. Even after my appointment expired after a week and a half, I found myself upping my game most of the time, so on hindsight it was really a good thing.

Ex Logstride
"阿兵哥!"

Split into our teams of 5, and I was left with the second half of our syndicate which was Cheo, Alan, Say Yien and Danqi. Throughout the kilometres we trekked we were constantly greeted by beautiful scenery, friendly terrain and even friendlier locals. The villagers were willing to share the information they knew about their locale, and there was even this car that pulled up alongside me whilst we were walking, and this little girl stuck her hands out with an orange which I didn't take. Was slapping myself afterwards.

Taiwan kids rock. Even better was the fact that this was our first unguided foot nav, which pretty much left everything up to our own jurisdiction. Eating, resting, sleeping. Eventually I had to take it upon myself to start pushing harder to meet the timings, and besides a terribly dislocated EDGE and the confusion over FIRE, we did make 11/12 checkpoints over the two days, occasionally meeting up and working with other tangos.

Was also an exercise where I decided to set some of my own personal challenges and standards. Like not putting down my field pack or sitting down for the entire night navex on the second night. And so I tanked for over 3 hours, and the whole Logstride showed me how much more depended on mental strength and pushing past the threshold of pain and exhaustion, than pure combat fitness.

"You can buy my 雞排 or you can buy my 奶茶."
Or I could not. I was probably the only hold-out.

Summex Eagle I
"万事俱备,只欠台风."

Syndicate 3 with Russell, Aaron Tan, Desmond, Jonyee, Val, Cheo, Alan, Say Yien and Danqi. The team dynamic is there after all these weeks in SOL, although I wouldn't say it was my preferred arrangement, and we got stuff done. Sleep deprived nights, and weird deployment areas like a carpark, and then a park. Altogether very close to civilisation, unlike Singapore. I soon figured out the temperature pattern (which would continue for every single day of training until we came back to Meilin Camp after endex.

It went something like damn cold in the mornings after first light at 0530h. Then it'd rise to a comfortable 27 degrees or so towards 0730h, and then to a less comfortable 30 degrees or so by 1000h. The worst part of the day was 1100h to 1300h where temperatures could soar to 35-36 degrees, even inside the shade of the command post. But past that time it would start to drop back to 30 again and by the time last light hits at 1730h it would be back in the mid-20s range. So although there was plenty of searing heat at least it didn't last for more than two hours at most. Although if we had to construct or tear down tentages at those times we suffered like hell.

So, at night there was natural air con outside, which was better than being inside the stuffy tent, which is probably why there were so many volunteers for sentry and patrol duties this time. Temperature lows would be about 21-22 degrees although it felt much much colder than that, and one could freeze in his sleep. Some mornings were particularly terrible.

Before a certain night vehnav for which we were declared no-duff syndicate, going as the last packet meant that we had to wait a good hour or so before setting off as the rear of the convoy. Aaron and I spammed all the Christian songs we could think of (harmony included, or at least we tried to) for an hour non-stop. Didn't realise that time passed so fast. Probably a good thing that most Hillsongs songs are long.

So vehnav and BP went quite okay-ish. I kinda looked forward to more CSSB than Infantry Battalion, because BP can be really really hard to learn and understand. Outfield wasn't that bad, really. I think it was much more fun and fresh compared to what we had in Singapore, but sometimes the heat made us hope for a typhoon, as we coined the phrase which soon became oft-uttered: "万事俱备,只欠台风." Looking back it wasn't a particularly nice thing to hope for considering the havoc it can wreak, but outfield isn't the most attractive prospect for a soldier. It came out sporadically during moments of suffering, but I'm thankful we had the outfield experiences.

Oh fine so most of us were wishing to experience a typhoon for once in our lives too.

Summex Eagle II
"Eh help la!"

After handing over CPS to Lester I just had to get the Med Coy I/C appointment, which sort of meant that I couldn't instantly revert to man-mode. I had a capable team of Alex, Kevin, Say Yien, Cheuk Yiu, Chek Keng, Kenny, Kar Wai, Duane, Jeremy Ang, Valerian and Cheo backing me up, the first seven names listed being previously in the Med Coy with me during Ex Eagle II back in Singapore, so we had a good foundation to start with. Throw in some fun into the mix and we had a decent force ready to strike work.

And we did stuff with unthinkable efficiency. After all this time everyone kind of knows each others' strengths and weaknesses (even if we aren't particularly close to individuals) and we drew on that to do things fast, do things well. Vehnav could be really insane at times, clocking 50 klicks at a time (nothing compared to the 106km we had to travel back to camp at the end, I promise) although we got to stop at halt points and take some pretty awesome photos. I have a certain trailer image in mind - an urban ops snapshot which cannot be circulated lest we die, and we're too close to commissioning to risk anything.

We worked quite well with the TAF transport operators as well. They're really good people and helped us along all our vehicle navexes (duh, we needed people to drive). And sitting in a humvee is the greatest feeling, when you're not in the vehcomd's seat. There it's hot and the pressure intense, but on the raised platform at the back which rises above the front cab you get the full blast of the wind as we travelled at 35-50km/h (seemingly slow, but the gales can frost your face) and a magnificent display of town and country scenery.

Taiwanese people are fascinated by the way we venture into their towns (even a small city) in military vehicles toting military gear.

Another few sleepless nights, although things got better. We did get some rest outfield considering it was a 7 day 6 night exercise, and the requirements did get a little less pressing towards the end. We sank into the usual field routines and outfield cooking; the prime morale booster if there ever were one. At another TAF camp further South the ground was perfect and the weather awesome. Natural air-conditioning, remember. Kenny and I did sentry alongside the patrolling Duane and Alex and we did all kinds of things in that grass; prone, leopard crawl, pen down plans, fire and movement across the road, contact the patrol and get owned instead, set up ambush afterwards...

I think Med Coy did a pretty damn good job. Merci beaucoup, mes amis.

After the 106km convoy movement back to Douliou there was a 16km route march sprung upon us, although not totally a surprise because the rumours had been circulating for the entire exercise. A very short sleep, made shorter because Melvin, Bennett, John, Sean and I were lying facing the night sky and chatting an hour of our two hours away. Not like it would've made much difference, because the march was to commence at midnight and last till the next morning.

And this is where I set myself a second challenge, to tank a complete signal set (no splitting of components) for the entire 16 klick. Which I struggled through but eventually did, with a load of encouragement from Kang Wei, Chian Fern, Nicholas, Lester, Han Yang and Guan Wei. There are names I'll be forgetting because the fatigue at the time was immense. The feeling of accomplishment at the end certainly made it all worth it. I'd slogged 16km with an additional 8kg of dead weight in my pack compared to most of the cohort, and despite the constant throbbing in my feet and the piercing cold, I made it all the way to the end.

CO said that our batch is the best he'd ever seen in a LOCC cohort. Especially in terms of combat fitness. I don't doubt him. These people around me just emanate hardcore.

Consolidation
"朋友一生一起走 hor?"

Throughout all the recovery days and free time that we had in bunk, I managed to finish Outliers (Kevin seems to have started a trend; borrowed the book from Danqi) and read a bit of Kevin's The World Without Us. All this in addition to lots and lots of career mode on Val's PSP.

In the starting phase of my CPS appointment, suffering the yellow card and a whole lot of other crap being dunked on me, I sought a lot of solace from the Bible I brought and Beyond The Veil, borrowed from Joel. At the moment of revelation one afternoon, I also stumbled upon a particular quote in the book - "God gives us revelation to feed our prayers, not our egos." And for the few days after that I took on the burden of intercession. I think that's what I became CPS for.

It was turning into the autumn/winter season, and although the temperature outside was cold it was really the winds which froze the whole area up. A load of stores again, but we were really starting to get more efficient at this. Gave us time for four hours of soccer one night. Didn't play for more than an hour, but my level of street soccer (on a basketball court) that day was as high as I'll ever see it. Linked up nicely with Jem Tay, Kang Wei, Marcus and Duane.

And finally the end of frame dinner, videos and photos. An informal affair, fun while it lasted, and then we started to look forward to Taipei.

R&R
"Contact left! Contact right!"

And of course, what we all looked forward to, what remained at the end of the whole ROC trip. I think I'll shove this over to the next post, lest my blog explode. Those 3 days deserve an entry of their own.

---

You start to realise how humid it is in Singapore. In Taiwan it's so dry you have to drink up every few minutes to keep your throat from withering, and back here it takes a whole of the walk to the carpark to start sweating like mad. We'll miss the cool nights and blustering winds, even if the heat there is comparable to our hottest afternoons.

Some afterthoughts during the midnight drive back, being given a lift home by Danqi, with Kenneth and I squashed in back: -

Maybe it's just a little strange that in my mind, my army friends will always be different from say, my classmates or friends that I've made in other organisations over the past few years. Which admittedly affects all my actions and reactions even at the airport when 9th LOCC begins to part. Maybe it was the fatigue, maybe the notion that whatever we do, they can never compare to the friendships I've so firmly established in the CLU13, the Rangers, the GEPs.

Perhaps I'm being a little unfair. I do have the very best friends in Bennett and Kai Jun, in Melvin and John. There are loads of good people in LOCC, only I can't seem to find a connection on the same level as I have with my other friends. Blame NS then, for putting us in the predicament. And then again, without it I would never have met these people in the first place. And then I'd be missing out on a lot.

My mind wanders between the two extremes.

I've always thought photographs make for a good reminder of experiences past. But the real memories lie in the mind. With the impracticality of 24/7 videos and the fact that the best moments emerge when everyone's caught in the moment and too engaged to be capturing photos, most of it survives in pure memory, recalled upon at will. Au naturel. Like how Kenneth and I were in bunk one of the days and we just randomly regurgitated all the team-building activities at 东方绿舟 during the Sec3 Shanghai trip. No photos, but pictures all fresh.

Taiwan will remain mostly that way.

---

別想你 忍不住我提醒自己
傷了心 有些事也要過去
心很痛 痛的不想再做我自己
別回頭 情已去 緣已盡

很想你 也不是因為失去你
愛了你 用盡我全心全力
一生情 只為這一次與你相遇
情難了 難再續 難再醒

人分飛 愛相隨
那怕用一生去追 我又怎麼能追得回
與你相慰 我為你癡 為你累
風雨我都不後悔 我又怎麼有路可退
曾經深情 你給了誰

我如何面對

-= Typhoon Season

So in a few hours I'll be off at the airport preparing for three weeks of ROC. About time; people are already out to kill me for these few days of freedom whilst they're marooned in NS. And if I'm going to miss people in the space of these twenty one days, I really cannot see myself going overseas to study. Maybe the alternative option is to stay here in Singapore (seemingly logical but I think I'll be subjecting myself to another form of torture, anyway) and save overseas universities for my Masters. If a scholarship is going to be that difficult to obtain.

Ah well so far I haven't gotten many requests to get stuff from Taiwan, but I'll just see what I can get and come back with surprises. If I'm still alive after all the typhoons, earthquakes, and the worst disaster of all - outfield exercises.

Pretty neutral towards the whole trip, but like many course-mates a part of me is wishing we didn't need to go.