Pain

Pain occurs when you realise that you are not as fit as before. Pain strikes when you see your goal crushed before your very eyes. I can blame everything from the weather to the unfamiliar route; to even the AHM training I had two days ago. But I must never forget; I am the sole cause of my failure.

Overconfidence. One year ago, I ranted upon how pull-up made me miss my $100. Just train pullups then; everything next year should be a breeze. Or so I thought. And so I did. Every single pullup bar that I came across, I pulled my body up. Little did I know that this time, it was not pullup that strained my muscles; but my flexibility, my leg power and my stamina.

It is ironic that I was at my fittest at secondary school, followed by JC and my worst was during the army. Damn. Damnit. Argh. ARgh. Looks like I never pushed myself hard enough.

Eddie consoled me by saying I am growing older. Despite his sincere intentions, I do not feel better. It is like saying my shoes are worn out.

Tomorrow. Have to trudge my way back to camp, as someone had happily volunteered my name to do server duty 24hours. Thanks man.

<p>It is hard to ignore when ex-Rafflesians around are in grief. Even those that are distantly related feel a tinge of sadness. Abba Lord will take good care of her. Selah.

Hunger

Have not felt that for a long time. This is bad. Maybe I should go back to army camp and cut down on the number of meals. The food there is enough to turn anyone off.

Now that 2/3 of my Taiwan's off is gone, I need to ration the remaining 1/3 more carefully. Every SAF personnel is in a frenzy to run the Army Half Marathon, which I personally find a waste of time. Why subject yourself to physical torture unnecessarily?

Ivan and Eddie agreed to meet up on Tuesday to watch Da Vinci. As for Ginway, he remains uncontactable ever since he is required to practise his drills for National Day Parade. Plus the fact that his platoon of men are coming in soon. I highly suspect he is only free on Sunday.

I did not expect BBDC to charge such an exorbitant price on driving. Clearly, the instructors are laughing all the way to the bank, which I hope they trip and fall. My hated SAF instructor was borne from that place in hell. The only way I can exorcise that bad memory, (just as how Cloud purged Sephiroth at the end of Advent Children), is to pass the civilian driving test as quickly as possible; hoping that some memory of me driving a 3 ton truck remains.

Paradiz

In the end, the motley crew of army boys comprising Eddie, Ivan, Alvin Ong and I turned up. No Da Vinci Code, as the seats are fully occupied. Spent the night eating Ben and Jerry's Ice-cream, talking about Alvin Ong's future career and an hour of LAN.

The world is such a small place. Saw my PC with his friends outside Paradiz. Like me, he is already in CCC (civilian conversion course), just that his is sooner than mine; his ORD is on July. Naturally, I am inept in all custom games except DoTA. While Alvin Ong and Eddie were happily killing monsters with their towers, mine was completely destroyed.

Money (to me) should only be spent on two things: delicious food and good games. If I am really feeling boliao, I might work part-time in Breadtalk, between post-army and pre-Uni. At least I would have sufficient pastries to last me through the months.

Treetop again!

Finally, a sign of life has been detected in the Treetop Community. Alvin Ong, feeling exuberant at conquering the hell in Brunei, wants to share his happiness with us in his celebration of life. Thus, he single-handedly called a rendezvous at our usual place, Dhoby Ghaut.

Despite the controversy surrounding Da Vinci Code, we heartedly agree to watch it just for entertainment's sake. Remember, remember, the fifth of November. (seventh in my case) We thought V for Vendetta was lame. Turned out to be quite exhilirating.

Having nothing to do at home beats having nothing to do...in camp. Decided to read my sister's literature books. My mental faculty must be sharpened once more. Removing a year of neglect and rust (plus cobwebs) proves to be a challenging task. I wonder why Great Expectations is so critically acclaimed by our English teachers eons past. After that, maybe 1984? Damn. All those English writers like to use so chim.... erh, sophisticated English. knn@#$#@. Use Hokkien is the best. I think I spend more time searching the dictionary than reading the book.

Jogging 2.4km is a feat. Considering the fact that I (hate to admit) eat 5 meals a day, and turning almost completely into a computer potato, I have to use my reserve energy stored in my fats (aka afterburner). Completely exhausted after attempting to run better than the previous timing. -.-'''

Advent Children

Yes. I finally manage to get my hands on the DVD---Final Fantasy VII:Advent Children. That was before I accompanied my father for a movie treat of Poseidon.

Lazing at home does not help the fact that I have IPPT next Thursday. :(. Damnit. Yesterday I barely scrapped a silver on my running time, though I was pleasantly surprised; I had expected worse. Must resume as frequent as possible before the deadline. Pls...another $100.

Btw, Dingjie's cover girl on his blog is Tifa---a character in FFVII:AC.

Multi-Level Marketing.

"Hey, let's come in for a talk about job prospects." Little did I know that my army friend would lead me into multi-level marketing. Almost ensnared by opportunities that seem too good to be true, yet seductive enough to kill common sense and logic.

It happened on a day which I was supposed to meet Eddie Cai and Raymond for a LAN session. Since it was rather early, I followed my friend, amused at his eagerness for job-hunting. "Perhaps an office job? " I envisioned myself wearing the same thick black spectacles, this time not in army uniform but office wear, 1/2 a year later. I was led into this building where smartly-dressed executives abound. Many health products were displayed as well.

As I followed my friend to the fourth storey to meet the manager, I half-expected him to tell me about working hours and mundane stuffs. On the contrary, he began by saying that there is an opportunity to earn high above your income potential. Just introduce this to your friends. Help yourself by helping your friends find potential customers. Though hard work is required, it will pay off in the end. Imagine being able to finance yourself for your whole life!

What is multi-level marketing about, you may wonder. After a week of research, it simply means you pay a fixed sum of money for a product, then you find three of your closest friends to do the same. After which, (in Singapore's context) you help your friends to find 3 links each to sustain the downline. And so on and so on ad infinitum. Based on the number of generations you can help generate, you get % commission for the links every month. Of course, the more links the person has, his commission increase exponentially to the point of unbelief.

Perhaps, the tell-tale signs of inner discomfort and skepticism begin to ring in me. Don't you want to be able to support your parents for the hard work they put in you? Your friend chose you of all person to be his third link, cause he trusted you above all and want to work together with him....Now we are the pioneer batch of this product, put in hard work at the start and reap monetary rewards later....In such a high-pressure situation, coupled by the fact that filial piety, yi qing and friendship were slowly warped by soft and seductive words, I could not help but be swayed by that. ( I cannot describe in words how I felt)Later, as I looked back, I realised I was trapped by friendship, which was being perverted.

Thankfully, (or not, depending on how you look at it) I never ever carried my ATM card around. Or NETS. Or credit card. I almost became a member, a part of this devious scheme. I heard that even people earning four-figure sum give up their conventional jobs, all to be part of the glorious future, to hope to earn more than that. There is greed, thinly-veiled in all of us.

The next day, I wanted to withdraw my membership immediately. (incomplete for the fact that I never put in my bank account number) Instead, the manager delayed the process, encouraging me to lay low. Don't tell your parents. I will help you earn back the money and impress your parents. Just tell me the names of your closest friends. I guarantee you in two months' time I will help you recoup the money.

No way, B.@!%H. Even though I felt the pressure increasing, I steeled my mind against possible hynopsis. No way am I going to reveal my friends to you! For them to be swayed by this. In the end, I had to resort to something drastic; I asked for the refund of the products which my friend paid for me, thereby terminating my membership.

"Now, let's come in for a talk. " Be wary if your closest friend invites you for a talk about multi-level marketing.

On a sidenote: What is wrong with multi-level marketing, you may say? Since it is not banned by the government, surely it is nothing wrong. Legally it is nothing wrong, but it is morally wrong. On closer look, you just have to find three of your closest friends. Each of your closest friends just has to find three more guys and sustain the downline....Mathematically, it cannot work out in real life, even in theory. I can't explain as well as these websites. Take a look to find out what mlm really means. Even if you can earn huge loads of money through mlm, it is dishonest money.

http://www.vandruff.com/mlm.html

Double

As I sat on a stone slab at the side of the unused gate, two puppies were frolicking on the ground near us. My comrade was seated opposite me, resting while the both of us waited for dawn...

The guard duty dog apparently sired two puppies, one black and one spotted. Both had acquired its inquisitiveness and playfulness. We trudged on in the unending journey ( a grand total of 24km). Rifles, an ultra-huge torch, walkie talkie added more to our burden as we went from checkpoint to checkpoint.

This week, as I had just recovered from viral poisoning (viral fever?), my beloved RSM threw two arrows at me. Guard duties on Wednesday and Friday. Gritted my teeth and tolerated (in short, suck thumb). After all, it ain't easy been an RSM whom managed to get himself hated by a combined battalion of 2 SIG, 1 SIG, NSMAN and our own battalion. For once, SAF is united; unanimous in the fact that he is utterly useless.

What infuriated(PISSES) me the most is that after I had meticulously managed to block the next week with my deserved off (avoiding bunk and hair inspection), I was forced to cancel that off and come back. *RAGE* Looks like either someone's head need to roll, or I need to go Battlenet to create a rampage.... in the virtual arena of DoTA.

Mother's Day Trauma

Ate at Hotel Royale together with my mother and my maternal relatives. Ended up with a fever and throwing up my entire lunch. Not a very pleasant sight. Almost destroyed the whole toilet bowl in the process.

Went to Changi Hospital A&E. Waiting time was astoundingly long. At least the SAF 11B provides for free medical service.

Thankfully, by the next day, I am recovered to 90% of my strength. I am supposed to rejoin my fellow comrades in clearing the containers.

Chinese Language

"She is more than a language teacher; she's an educator as well". The title of Today's paper: Infecting her boys with the Chinese bug.

During the formative years in sec school, Ms Yong Chai May (!) was my class Chinese Teacher. Most of the time, my class would fool around, but not in her lesson. Junda also happened to be among her favourite students. There was an embarrassing instance involving the person himself, but I shall not divulge into the details.

When we were in Sec 3, during the first day of school, we would wait in eager anticipation for the teachers to be called out. This usually meant that the head prefect would announce which class the teacher would be in. Very obviously, we cheered (and applauded) when the guy announced that Ms Yong won't be our form teacher. Let others experience her unique method of teaching.

Actually, Ms Yong is an extraordinary person. Even though she teaches Chinese, I dare say that her English skills are not to be trifled with. Often, she would quiz Eugene Chiam about some English Literature. Like "Chiam Dao Yuan, what is the difference between Sense and Sensibility ?" And other Jane Austen books which I have not read. -.-'''

But Ms Yong isn't the biggest influence in my life (for Chinese). During my upper sec days, when I was put in an 'international' class of 4B, my Chinese was atrociously, horrendously bad. 4B was a class when more than half of my comrades are from PRC, with a few Vietnamese and Filipinos.

Mdm Tong Ying Xian was the Chinese teacher in charge of my rowdy class. Often, David and Alroy would be the class jokers. Like how David wrote ".....fu ke ni..." in a public letter. Ultra frustrating to do Nanyang Girls, St Nicks, RGS and the Chinese High papers. In which I would barely scrap pass 50. Sometimes 49 due to a quo bie zhi. (wrong word).

Up till Prelims, my Chinese was literally garbage. Whereas peers like Ivan were busy trying to get a few more marks (and the PRC trying to get squeeze A1), I was lamenting the sad fact of C6 in my Chinese paper. My depression was made worse due to the fact that I am in a PRC class. Scores of my comrades were scoring A2. Naturally, we became the "top" class in Chinese and our HCL Prelims results were published for the whole damn LT to see. Something like:
1)Zhao Qun. 75.8 A1
2)Xiong Xi 73.4 A2
3)Wenyang 72.3 A2
4)Li Zhao Chu 71.3 A2

Where would my name be?

....

...

25) Cai Deming 51.0 C6 (Arghh, right at the bottom, thanks man for publishing it in front of the LT)

During those last few months before O levels, I (together with those rowdy gang) had last minute remedial lessons. Mdm Tong Ying Xian must have taken pity on us. She persisted in teaching us even though we thought our Chinese results were a foregone conclusion. Really at that time grab Buddha's foot. We were coerced to read through the infamous "Ci yu shou ce" (at the end only ten miserable words came out) and "Cheng yu shou ce". My eyes were finally open when she gave us the correct format of writing essays and public letters. Now I know why I always score 9 out of 20; it's all due to wrong format!

Abba God must have provided his grace for me during that HCL paper. He must have been there setting the paper as well. Because it was much easier compared to previous years. For the first time (in a very long time), I was not expecting just a mere pass. All I remembered was that I went home a happy and relieved boy..

A year after, Mdm Tong was one of the two teachers that I desperately want to thank during Teacher's day. But alas, she was nowhere to be found, as she had returned back to China...:-(

Note: I purposely did not put my final HCL score. All I can say is I owe a debt to Mdm Tong. :D

World Cup Mania

As all other normal guy knows, June and July are the sacred months which the whole world is fixated on one ball. Unfortunately, I am not exactly what you call a normal guy. Football(and beer) does not exactly excite me. 22 guys over a ball. Although the skills of the international soccer players are worthy to be admired, there is no point to go fanatical over them. And there is no hot babes in soccer.

Damn. My fingernails are still glossy. Thankfully, I did not have my nails painted; if not I would be the laughing stock of all male species. Sadly, water does not remove the shine.

Pasir Ris has also changed much since I was away. Now, there are shops lined up along the MRT station. I lament the loss of the quiet and rustic Pasir Ris that I once knew, now it has become like a mini-Tampines.

Thank Abba God for clean toilets in Singapore. I almost always puke when I go to the toilets in my overseas camp; they throw the toilet paper in a dustbin! (not flush it down the toilet bowl). It is also very straining to squat down; the only time I did that was during field camp.

Good to be home. This Christmas will be a very happy and joyous one for me.

Beauty Treatment

In the long absence of a month when I was away, many things happened. PAP, as usual, is dominating Singapore. Meanwhile, my mother has taken up a government (read PAP) sponsored course on beauty treatment. o.O

Became a hapless client in this experiment, or rather a practise tool. Since both of my sisters are unavailable, I was looked to as the only source in which my mother can improve her skills. Guess there is a downside of clearing off too. .

Thus, two hours of my time was spent lazing at bed, assuming my role as a client while my mother happily experimented on my toes and fingernails. Manicure and pedicure. She has yet to try facial treatment (!?!!!!!!!) on me.

In the middle of a DoTA game:
"Beng ah, I took up a course on beauty treatment"
"hmm...yaya"
"Tmr can start to pamper your toes and nails".
"What?! whadda just say? Try on girl girl lar, why me?"
"girl girl tmr go out, so only you lor"
"Nooooooo"