What an unproductive week it has been, been telling myself that I have to start studying, and yet, I have all sorts of excuses to prevent me from starting…this is not bad…this is very bad…

-Teo Yong Siang Kelvin

ORD, some might wonder what does it stand for? Well, it stands for Operationally Ready Date, it just means that I have completed my full time national service. However, it does not mean my ‘obligation’ to the nation is over, I still needs to either serve another 10 cycle of reservist or remain available for reservist until the age of 40. By then, I can really say, my life in the military is really over.

That morning, went back camp to do some area cleaning and received my Certificate of Service from my commander. Later in the afternoon, I drove to marina barrage for the parade (Chosen to drive there because I believe marina barrage is one of the most inconvenient places around since there is only like one bus service and most importantly, the car park is free so why not?). The parade has got to be one of the most embarrassing parade ever since the unit decided to book only a portion of the place (Marina Barrage is one of the most popular kite flying spots for families and kite flying enthusiast, so there were quite a bit of people hanging around), but it was compensated with one of the nicest cityscape this country has to offer. I shall let some pictures do the talking.

I think we got similar eyes…haha

When we just got to Marina Barrage

At the reservoir (I think)

Sands just make the whole thing beautiful.

I have no idea whether if we should call this medal or tablet but we were each presented with one.

During the parade, the cityscape just made it easier to stand there.

A minor S4/Sig branch photo.

Buddies in the army.

Outfield buddies, without them, outfield exercise would’ve been hellish.

2 years ago, 15 September 2008, I enlisted into army , 2 years later, 14 September 2010, I was release from the army.

It’s not what you left behind, it’s what you gain in the days ahead.

No offense, but I still think it’s a piece of crap, haha, I felt that I had gain something but I have lost a lot of things. (This line is on the banner when you enter the camp for basic military training.)

I think I will end there today. No more army stuff from the  next post onwards (I hope). Back to my boring little life.

Note: If you are wondering why my date and the title’s date don’t match, the reason is because, my mac crashed when I was typing this post. So, I had to retype this post again.

Let me start off with this new song by Bon Jovi call “What Do You Got?” (The video below). After listening to it for a while, I kind of like it especially the first half of the song. It feels to me that Bon Jovi has shifted their music style to a more subtle approach. So enjoy it.

So…curious about what’s been going on in my life so far? I can’t tell you every details of my past 1 years 3 months but I will try to summarize the major events. The first question even I asked myself is, “why did I stop blogging?”. I was in the military and during my time in the army, there are countless warnings by the officers not to blog our activity on the internet. So as a precaution, I decided not to blog for the time being.

I will start off this “summarize” blog with my army adventure. I had a my shares of adventure in the army, 2 of the most memorable ones are the overseas military exercise in India and Thailand. Both of them have their own pros and cons. For example, in India, the weather is much more cooling than expected. I always stereotype (assume sounds like a better word) India to be a HOT country, but when I got to Mumbai in around October last year, the weather was actually much colder than I initially had assumed. It was in the region 20-25 degrees celsius at night, maybe even lower. However, in the day, the weather is just like Singapore, it’s hot but not humid (unlike Singapore, it’s not too dry too, just Okay). The food they served in india was by far, the best army food I’ve ever tasted. Filled with spices and everything nice, I always thought powerpuff girls will pop out of the food anytime (okay, I am exaggerating here but the food is seriously great). The butterscotch ice creams, fanta oranges and lays potato chips are also some of the great delight in the India camp. Here are just 2 pictures to showcase my time in India.

The 4 Great Lays of India. HAHA. (The one on the top left is Magic Masala)

Somewhere in the caves of India.

The beach near Mumbai Gateway. Looks nice if you ask me.

India is already so long, I can’t imagine Thailand. Went to Thailand earlier this year, around May period (When there was a really bad riot in Thailand). We were sort of “low profile”, for security reasons, I don’t think I can divulge this piece of information. Thailand was a bad place to be in. It has bad weather, bad accommodation, bad army food (the food is prepared by army cook (the original army cook) unlike the food they served in army nowadays which is prepared by commercial companies). BUT, one thing that is fabulous about Thailand is the camp’s canteen. Full of good food (suited for Singaporeans with a hint of Thailand) and merchandise limited to Thailand and the camp. I shall let some pictures do the talking here.

Our favorite store in the canteen.

On the giant turtle.

The railway track. Quite scary if you ask me.

I think it is a river market.

I don’t think I would like to carry on this post as it is getting too long and I’ve been on this passage for quite a while now. Perhaps I will divide this topic into several parts to facilitate reading. Haha, I know, it’s like taking a short cut, but sometimes, you just got to do it.

No footage of me, haha, or any other army guys so hmmm…enjoy!
FYI: This video is done by Mr. Brown.

Had my battalion 42th (I think…) anniversary on friday at Sentosa. The event is all about having fun with games organized by my BSM. I did not participate in any of the games though and my battery was the overall champion for the day. I will try to get some pics on the event and post it online.

Something has been bothering me for the past day that I couldn’t even sleep. It is sort of super private so it is unbloggable (THIS WORD NEEDS TO EXIST). How I wish I am like Liam Neeson from Taken where he said

I don’t know who you are. I don’t know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don’t have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that’ll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don’t, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you”.

Of course you have to change some words here and there but the feeling is there and of course I do not have the set of skills too but yeah, the feeling is there (Like you hate someone so badly but you don’t know who that someone is?). I need to go now, guess I’ll be back next time?

Another event that I am going to do is well, my country’s birthday. I am participating in the national day which means, my weekends are burn!!! I am not in the marching contingent or anything like that, I am just performing a kungfu segment. I guess that’s it eh? I don’t know when I will post again but I hope it will be soon. See you.

The reason for this title? Well, I am listening to a song with this title. First, I have to apologize for the lack of updates, when you are in the army, your weekends are like your last days on earth, it’s that precious. Hmmm… what is in my mind now is that where should I start? During my free time in the army, a lot of things have been going through my mind this recent weeks on what I can write about on this blog. I guess I should start with university admission. I have “shamelessly” applied for the local university admission again this year even though I have a low GPA. (Hey, it’s better to give it a try than not trying at all right?) The local universities have been posting ads on the newspaper appealing for students to join their institute, they have caught my attention and I want to join them, they should at least give me a glimpse of hope by granting me an interview eh? (HOPE for the best i guess.)

I think that is all for now on the university issue. The next item is not an issue but an event actually. IT SHOW 2009 was here and I use was for a reason (It’s now 8.07pm and IT show is going to close at 9pm). Never bring a camera there to take some pictures (What am I talking about, I always go out without a camera, haha) but as usual the crowd is there. I think there are more people this time round maybe because it is the first IT SHOW of the year where we are experiencing the worst economy (some even said this economy crisis is worse than the great depression), people are trying to get the best bargain they can. Went to the event on 2 of the worse day you can possibly imagine, Saturday and Sunday. Got myself a new 32″ LCD TV, courtesy of my dad. 

Alright, IT SHOW is out of the way, let me write about army. To all the boys and girls (only apply to those who wish to join the army) who have not reach the age for enlistment yet. Here’s an advise from me, the person who is now serving the nation, appreciate what you have now. Seriously, enjoy school than hate it, enjoy doing your homework than copying it from your friends, enjoy hanging out with your friends over the weekend and many more. Enjoy the freedom/’abundance of time’ that you have now. Your freedom comes at a price and someone is paying a price to defend it. (hehe, that will be me!) Hope you guys and girls heed my advise and appreciate everything around you. See you, bye.