Feeling extreme elation right now. Definitely a result of many things. Here it goes, so I got to book out today, on a Friday, which really doesn't happen every week for Echo Wing in OCS. I mean, more laid back (read: slack) wings like Golf would probably have this every week but in Echo? Gotta pray harder. And so I got home, looked into the fridge and saw freshly made mango pudding. Fuck, I love my mum. A simple comment right before I booked in last week, because I told her it'll help my OCS first-week blues and she did it. I still recall the days where I told her I hated white bread but she still got them for breakfast because my brother preferred them, which made me half an angsty, jealous little brother. But that's changed since we grew up, really. Anyway, NS really does make you appreciate your family a lot more. Maybe it's true for your family members as well I guess.

Oh, and the next big thing. ASOS sent me the free pair of River Island shoes woohoo! They really sent it to me for free! If you haven't heard, the last time I ordered them but they sent me another pair of these espadrilles instead. So I created a Twitter to contact them about it and within 6 hours I got a confirmation that they'll be shipping the correct pair over. I don't even have to return the espadrilles. So yeah, my mum collected it from the post office for me and it was a joy opening the package up. Swear I'm going to shop more at ASOS because of this event.

And perhaps all this happiness only sounds so dog-awesome because it is a contrast of what I had on day one in OCS. Me and Gavin agreed it was the worst. Firstly getting into Echo Wing and hearing everyone else tell us "oh, poor luck" with that plastered "join me in hell" face, then hearing more stories of having unpleasant (note phrasing) commanders, settling in but not settling in (bunks messed up, unable to unpack, loads of admin problems), and then with a final grand-slam, confirming that we are going to join Golf Wing for their Ex. Scorpion King. All us crossovers thought about the other half of them in Golf, how lepak their lives are going to be, how our only advantage (skipping Scorpion King) was now ripped away, and then we get more and more depressed. First two days were quite f-ed up, we didn't know what the hell was going on, everything was in a mess, I couldn't even physically get settled in so it was worse mentally. And then the cadet WC wasn't extremely pleasant in his introduction speech to us, going all "some people think you guys don't deserve social night" and "don't wayang x 20" (like as if if we wayang-ed in BMT and then SCS it wouldn't be obvious to our section mates) and also like "tell me some redeeming qualities about yourselves". I don't want to judge him on that ten-minute speech, I'll give the benefit of the doubt that some vocab wasn't used appropriately by accident, and because the dude turns out to be my section mate. But thank Buddha for Wayne and Amol in my section. And then quite a lot of others I already know in the platoon, and also in the Wing. Dug the trench with Wayne and it was good to catch up after all these years.

But anyway the following few days got exponentially better. After we returned from Scorpion King on Thursday night, we got our bunks finalized, did a whole lot of area cleaning today and now I feel much more settled in. And plus the week wasn't that bad really. It was messed up (like, literally) but then we did get fucked much cause most of the time we weren't with the rest of the wing. So life was pretty good. And plus almost everyone's really friendly there so I guess it'll be not too bad. Finally, I got over the emo phase I was so afraid of! Plus I guess it's because there are things to look forward to though. I wasn't much hyped up about social night (instead, when the dude said that we, crossovers, didn't deserve it, I was thinking "pfft fuck it, we're above that type of ego-booster events") but then now that we tried on all the number two and stuff it looks pretty exciting. And then service term's ending soon so woohoo three cadet stripes yeah. I do admit we don't much deserve it though. SCS really wasn't that tough. And then after that they say it's all prep for JCC, then Brunei in December for close to a month, then Thailand in February and poof, we're commissioned! Sounds damn close huh.

I think I've been pretty much cooped up in my own life these weeks. I've pretty much been selfishly waiting for people to ask me out. Before I realised it today, I haven't been reading my friends' blogs or checking their Facebook out for about a month. It's also scary that there's this obvious, growing barrier between us (guys in NS) and the rest in university, like a fatty node growing between us. Thoughts of turning anti-social really scares me quite a bit. But anyway I'm happy Suwen pretty much re-ignited a small part of the old me when we messaged today. The part which was excited to enlist because of all the jungle experiences and nature all around. The part which likes to be outfield, facing tough, near-to-death experiences (exaggeration, but still true). The part which was an adventurer.

End of the two-week ramp-up course at Charlie. I must say it has been quite a good experience for NS life man. I like the way things were structured, appreciate that on the second week we do actually have most nights to ourselves, and even a nights out on one of the days. Maybe it's because a lot of us are comparing this to what we're going to face - stripped bare of admin time in OCS. In any case, most of the enciks were extremely nice and patient and funny and wise. We learnt a lot, but I think the thing I'm mighty-thankful for was for the mental preparation during these two weeks. Reflecting on what is expected of us, what we need to prepare for.

The best of the lot was meeting the bunch of them. It's absolutely great to find people in the same boat whenever you're through tough times. In all the uncertainty and loss and we are facing, we find strength, motivation and camaraderie in each other. It would have been great if OCS was like that. I think about all of them and in many ways I pride myself as a specialist. We've this unique "don't need to work so hard all the time" attitude (in a good way) which I don't think I'll see in OCS. Instead I think the OCTs would even think that we're just too lepak and relaxed. I'll let you guys understand the scale of their "lepakness" by telling you that I'm already the most tensed up guys in the group. Ever since Raven I've been having this "inefficiency-issues" thing going on, so I hope you understand. But yeah, all of their ridiculous fooling around and jokes I will definitely miss.


Army talk bleh bleh bleh.

Does this mean what I think it means?! I hope I've not read and comprehended the tweets wrongly, but anyway I'll tell you the story to help you get on track on what I'm talking about.

So I bought this pair of brown leather brogue shoes from ASOS - my mum collected the package on a weekday and I got the package today after I booked out. I thought it was a moment of folly cause I remembered the shoes I ordered has laces. I checked it up online hastily and sure enough, found out I was delivered the wrong pair. It's a pair of leather espadrilles, which I really didn't think was worth $60. Anyway, I bought the pair of denim shorts at a waist size of 30 by accident, because this little bug in my head told me I wore size 30 when I made the purchase. I forgot I wear 30 for jeans because my thighs are usually too big for those in 28. So the denim's half-fucked as well. And then there are the purchases from the previous batch - a shirt with collar too wide, as well as espadrilles which are worth four pounds, but which size I bought too big. I brought the four of them to the post office hoping for low delivery fees but found out that it is $58. I mean, even if I did send all four items back, I would only get a refund of $110 - $58 = $52, which is extremely not worth it.

But now it seems like problem is solved! I would bring my shorts to peninsula to alter, then I'll leave the espadrilles and shirt away. Ok too sleepy. Goodnight.

30th August 2011, 9.47PM in bunk without Internet. I woke up from my bed at 6.05PM, before my dad hurriedly went off to change. I took a glance at the time - shit. Book in timing is 8.00PM, that means I'll have to get out for dinner. Like, now. One of those moments you want to shout a "Fuck" across the room. I reached home at a little later than 1PM after lunch and grew really tired while trying to edit selected photos I took at the hill. I was only at the third when I gave up and slept instead. So that concluded my book-in day. I didn't even get to upload all those photos I've been wishing to upload.

And Phuture was awesome yesterday. Had plenty of drinks, so much so we were all real drunk and high but we could still give away the remaining Barcardi and Red Label we obtained. The crowd was good and for the first time I was in Phuture and I had space to shuffle properly. Not that I really shuffle or do whatever else weird dance moves in clubs. The only time I've seen guys dance wildly was in SA's post prom. A bunch of guys with hair spiked up like pricks, probably the cannot really make i dancers who like to pose. I recall feeling quite awkward for them then.

2nd September 2011, 10:34PM Wow, I'm blogging quite a lot on my iPod touch huh. What to do man, so little book out time, so much to do. So the crossover is official. I think that moving all my barang barang over to Charlie coy for the two week ramp-up course had really helped me settle in a lot, both physically and mentally. I do really complain a lot, I've come to realise. I mean, it's definitely not like it just got through my thick skull to how annoying my complaints are, but this time I thought back and really was like - woah that IS a load of complaints! I whined about OCS for the past two weeks, and this time I realised how much I was complaining without even Sandra to scold me about it.

   Now that it is official I told myself I'm no longer going to have negative thoughts about OCS. My encik today reminded me that we are carrying the flag of SCS on our shoulders when we go over to OCS. Yes, definitely people will judge us by that, so it's up to us to show them that we can do it. That we can even do it better. I'll do it for all my friends over here at SCS, I'll do it for the pride I have to be a specialist. So yes, it's mission abandoned for the half of my heart which secretly wishes to OOC in OCS to end up as an 8-5 admin spec. Yes, weak I know.

While I continue to motivate myself to strive towards at least half-excellence in OCS, I'll end off this post with the photos I promised last week. You can view the rest at my Facebook album here.

Feeling extreme elation right now. Definitely a result of many things. Here it goes, so I got to book out today, on a Friday, which really doesn't happen every week for Echo Wing in OCS. I mean, more laid back (read: slack) wings like Golf would probably have this every week but in Echo? Gotta pray harder. And so I got home, looked into the fridge and saw freshly made mango pudding. Fuck, I love my mum. A simple comment right before I booked in last week, because I told her it'll help my OCS first-week blues and she did it. I still recall the days where I told her I hated white bread but she still got them for breakfast because my brother preferred them, which made me half an angsty, jealous little brother. But that's changed since we grew up, really. Anyway, NS really does make you appreciate your family a lot more. Maybe it's true for your family members as well I guess.

Oh, and the next big thing. ASOS sent me the free pair of River Island shoes woohoo! They really sent it to me for free! If you haven't heard, the last time I ordered them but they sent me another pair of these espadrilles instead. So I created a Twitter to contact them about it and within 6 hours I got a confirmation that they'll be shipping the correct pair over. I don't even have to return the espadrilles. So yeah, my mum collected it from the post office for me and it was a joy opening the package up. Swear I'm going to shop more at ASOS because of this event.

And perhaps all this happiness only sounds so dog-awesome because it is a contrast of what I had on day one in OCS. Me and Gavin agreed it was the worst. Firstly getting into Echo Wing and hearing everyone else tell us "oh, poor luck" with that plastered "join me in hell" face, then hearing more stories of having unpleasant (note phrasing) commanders, settling in but not settling in (bunks messed up, unable to unpack, loads of admin problems), and then with a final grand-slam, confirming that we are going to join Golf Wing for their Ex. Scorpion King. All us crossovers thought about the other half of them in Golf, how lepak their lives are going to be, how our only advantage (skipping Scorpion King) was now ripped away, and then we get more and more depressed. First two days were quite f-ed up, we didn't know what the hell was going on, everything was in a mess, I couldn't even physically get settled in so it was worse mentally. And then the cadet WC wasn't extremely pleasant in his introduction speech to us, going all "some people think you guys don't deserve social night" and "don't wayang x 20" (like as if if we wayang-ed in BMT and then SCS it wouldn't be obvious to our section mates) and also like "tell me some redeeming qualities about yourselves". I don't want to judge him on that ten-minute speech, I'll give the benefit of the doubt that some vocab wasn't used appropriately by accident, and because the dude turns out to be my section mate. But thank Buddha for Wayne and Amol in my section. And then quite a lot of others I already know in the platoon, and also in the Wing. Dug the trench with Wayne and it was good to catch up after all these years.

But anyway the following few days got exponentially better. After we returned from Scorpion King on Thursday night, we got our bunks finalized, did a whole lot of area cleaning today and now I feel much more settled in. And plus the week wasn't that bad really. It was messed up (like, literally) but then we did get fucked much cause most of the time we weren't with the rest of the wing. So life was pretty good. And plus almost everyone's really friendly there so I guess it'll be not too bad. Finally, I got over the emo phase I was so afraid of! Plus I guess it's because there are things to look forward to though. I wasn't much hyped up about social night (instead, when the dude said that we, crossovers, didn't deserve it, I was thinking "pfft fuck it, we're above that type of ego-booster events") but then now that we tried on all the number two and stuff it looks pretty exciting. And then service term's ending soon so woohoo three cadet stripes yeah. I do admit we don't much deserve it though. SCS really wasn't that tough. And then after that they say it's all prep for JCC, then Brunei in December for close to a month, then Thailand in February and poof, we're commissioned! Sounds damn close huh.

I think I've been pretty much cooped up in my own life these weeks. I've pretty much been selfishly waiting for people to ask me out. Before I realised it today, I haven't been reading my friends' blogs or checking their Facebook out for about a month. It's also scary that there's this obvious, growing barrier between us (guys in NS) and the rest in university, like a fatty node growing between us. Thoughts of turning anti-social really scares me quite a bit. But anyway I'm happy Suwen pretty much re-ignited a small part of the old me when we messaged today. The part which was excited to enlist because of all the jungle experiences and nature all around. The part which likes to be outfield, facing tough, near-to-death experiences (exaggeration, but still true). The part which was an adventurer.

End of the two-week ramp-up course at Charlie. I must say it has been quite a good experience for NS life man. I like the way things were structured, appreciate that on the second week we do actually have most nights to ourselves, and even a nights out on one of the days. Maybe it's because a lot of us are comparing this to what we're going to face - stripped bare of admin time in OCS. In any case, most of the enciks were extremely nice and patient and funny and wise. We learnt a lot, but I think the thing I'm mighty-thankful for was for the mental preparation during these two weeks. Reflecting on what is expected of us, what we need to prepare for.

The best of the lot was meeting the bunch of them. It's absolutely great to find people in the same boat whenever you're through tough times. In all the uncertainty and loss and we are facing, we find strength, motivation and camaraderie in each other. It would have been great if OCS was like that. I think about all of them and in many ways I pride myself as a specialist. We've this unique "don't need to work so hard all the time" attitude (in a good way) which I don't think I'll see in OCS. Instead I think the OCTs would even think that we're just too lepak and relaxed. I'll let you guys understand the scale of their "lepakness" by telling you that I'm already the most tensed up guys in the group. Ever since Raven I've been having this "inefficiency-issues" thing going on, so I hope you understand. But yeah, all of their ridiculous fooling around and jokes I will definitely miss.


Army talk bleh bleh bleh.

Does this mean what I think it means?! I hope I've not read and comprehended the tweets wrongly, but anyway I'll tell you the story to help you get on track on what I'm talking about.

So I bought this pair of brown leather brogue shoes from ASOS - my mum collected the package on a weekday and I got the package today after I booked out. I thought it was a moment of folly cause I remembered the shoes I ordered has laces. I checked it up online hastily and sure enough, found out I was delivered the wrong pair. It's a pair of leather espadrilles, which I really didn't think was worth $60. Anyway, I bought the pair of denim shorts at a waist size of 30 by accident, because this little bug in my head told me I wore size 30 when I made the purchase. I forgot I wear 30 for jeans because my thighs are usually too big for those in 28. So the denim's half-fucked as well. And then there are the purchases from the previous batch - a shirt with collar too wide, as well as espadrilles which are worth four pounds, but which size I bought too big. I brought the four of them to the post office hoping for low delivery fees but found out that it is $58. I mean, even if I did send all four items back, I would only get a refund of $110 - $58 = $52, which is extremely not worth it.

But now it seems like problem is solved! I would bring my shorts to peninsula to alter, then I'll leave the espadrilles and shirt away. Ok too sleepy. Goodnight.

30th August 2011, 9.47PM in bunk without Internet. I woke up from my bed at 6.05PM, before my dad hurriedly went off to change. I took a glance at the time - shit. Book in timing is 8.00PM, that means I'll have to get out for dinner. Like, now. One of those moments you want to shout a "Fuck" across the room. I reached home at a little later than 1PM after lunch and grew really tired while trying to edit selected photos I took at the hill. I was only at the third when I gave up and slept instead. So that concluded my book-in day. I didn't even get to upload all those photos I've been wishing to upload.

And Phuture was awesome yesterday. Had plenty of drinks, so much so we were all real drunk and high but we could still give away the remaining Barcardi and Red Label we obtained. The crowd was good and for the first time I was in Phuture and I had space to shuffle properly. Not that I really shuffle or do whatever else weird dance moves in clubs. The only time I've seen guys dance wildly was in SA's post prom. A bunch of guys with hair spiked up like pricks, probably the cannot really make i dancers who like to pose. I recall feeling quite awkward for them then.

2nd September 2011, 10:34PM Wow, I'm blogging quite a lot on my iPod touch huh. What to do man, so little book out time, so much to do. So the crossover is official. I think that moving all my barang barang over to Charlie coy for the two week ramp-up course had really helped me settle in a lot, both physically and mentally. I do really complain a lot, I've come to realise. I mean, it's definitely not like it just got through my thick skull to how annoying my complaints are, but this time I thought back and really was like - woah that IS a load of complaints! I whined about OCS for the past two weeks, and this time I realised how much I was complaining without even Sandra to scold me about it.

   Now that it is official I told myself I'm no longer going to have negative thoughts about OCS. My encik today reminded me that we are carrying the flag of SCS on our shoulders when we go over to OCS. Yes, definitely people will judge us by that, so it's up to us to show them that we can do it. That we can even do it better. I'll do it for all my friends over here at SCS, I'll do it for the pride I have to be a specialist. So yes, it's mission abandoned for the half of my heart which secretly wishes to OOC in OCS to end up as an 8-5 admin spec. Yes, weak I know.

While I continue to motivate myself to strive towards at least half-excellence in OCS, I'll end off this post with the photos I promised last week. You can view the rest at my Facebook album here.

emails: chew.bolong.2009@vjc.sg (main) / bolong02@hotmail.com (dominated by junk mail)
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bolong
mobile phone: yeah you wish.