What's Up!

Monday was the day that I send Lynn to work at her workplace at Centris. Monday was the day that I started researching in SDE IRC for my dissertation. Monday was the day that I went to open an account with UOB Kay Hian for trading of shares.

Quite a fruitful Monday and it rolled over to Tuesday.

Tuesday started with a visit to MMI for oral surgery and the X-Ray shows that I have 3 wisdom tooth to be removed. **Xu Wen.. Don't you feel lucky?** haha.. Told the dentist that I am part of the Colours Party for NDP and he said.. 'Wa. Colours Party ah? Then U better re-schedule your surgery till after NDP. I don't think we should have an Ensign Bleeding from the mouth during rehearsals.' Hahaha.. he was quite comical as he gestured the bleeding from the mouth like vomiting from mouth.. So the oral Surgery will be delayed till after NDP.

After the visit to MMI, I went over to SDE IRC to do research on dissertation as usual. Had lunch at technoedge and then back to work. Realised that I cannot read journal articles from computer cause it is simply too irritating so I selected 5 articles to be printed. **total number of articles that need to be reviewed is around 40... fainted** Left IRC at around 3 to go back to camp and do my vacation attachment report. got stuck there till 1830 before meeting Dear Dear for dinner at clementi Black Board. And yes.. Black Board has moved to BLK 443 and the price remains the same. Food quality is still as good so please go there and try it yourself. Back home after dinner and was so tired that I went to sleep.

Wednesday and that is today! Even before half the day is gone, I have got a good deal to share!

Jetstar is having a promotion and the deal is really good! 3-day sale!! All in fare for BKK at 38 dollars, Hongkong 88 dollars and Taipei 128 dollars!! good deal! I have bought tickets online for $396 for 2 pax for HK trip from 11-14 Aug with Dear Dear and Caderam may be joining us. Nice.. So that means I will be missing first week of school.. hahaha!!!


View of Hongkong from The Peak (source: Flickr)

It is an irresistable deal and I am going overseas at the expense of some time for dissertation.. So that means that I have to work harder before and after the trip.

Going out tonight so update again when I am back..

Ciaos,
ET

NDP Combined Rehearsal 3: GOH and CP March In and March Past

I found the 2 videos that will show the standard of the GOH and Colours Party in the drills.



GOH and CP Marching In. Focus on the Fanning of the Colours!




GOH and CP Marching Past.

NDP Combined Rehearsal 3: Event and Overview

Last Saturday was NDP Combined Rehearsal 3 and for this rehearsal, friends and relatives of the working party of NDP were invited to view the parade and it was the 'first show' that was put up in front of a big crowd. One word to describe it. **WOWED!!**

As I was not able to see other chapters of the NDP celebration (there are 10 Chapters in this year's celebration and the Parade is Chapter 3), I can only comment on the parade part of it. Not being biased because I am part of the team but it was nearly a flawless exhibition by the marching contingents, Guard of Honour and Colours Party.



This video is an overview of CR3 and part of it featured the parade segment so you can witness it yourself.

There are a few more shows coming over the next few saturdays. NE Show 1,2 and 3 + NDP Parade Preview and NDP Parade (9th Aug). Stay Tuned!

FRIDAY!

Hmm.. Actually Friday has no significant meaning to me la.. It is just like another normal day cause I am clearing my off and leave now.. haha..

So what have I been doing for Thursday and Today?

I slept for 14hrs yesterday and when I woke up, it was 2pm already. I started to dl all the annual reports of REIT for my dissertation and by the time I am done with it, it was 5 plus le. Had dinner and then slacked for a while. Went for a jog with bro and then bathe before meeting Shiming and Edmund Twohill for a catch up. Interesting conversation with them and got to know a lot more about Guards Operations. Got home around 1200hrs and was still not sleepy hence I watched a documentary about the korean war on youtube. Technically, they are still at war and if you have been reading the newspaper, you will notice that the tension at the korean peninsula is pretty tense now. Slept after the documentary is over.

Woke up at 11am and started working on my dissertation. Going for a jog + catch up + dinner with sydney later at 1730hrs. After that will be working on my dissertation again. MUST finished CHAPTER 1 TODAY!

haha.. ok.. till then..
ET

SAF Day

Today is SAF Day. I did not set my alarm and was awaken by Jun Shi when I did not meet him at 0645 at the meeting place. I jumped out of bed and had a quick wash up, changed and ran to meet him. 0701hrs. I was 16mins late. so paiseh to keep him waiting when he was doing a favor for me by giving me a lift. Luckily, we reached camp on time at 0730hrs.

Collected the colours and left for SAFTI. Ate breakfast at the SAFTI canteen before falling in at 1015hrs. Team A to rest while Team B to go for rehearsal. I am in Team A, aka NDP Ensign while Gary is in Team B, aka SAF Day Ensign. So basically, my team either sleep, read newspaper or play PSP. I did not sleep as I was not that tired hence I took my notebook and started to think about the things that I want to do as an OC when I am back to the force for good. There are many things that can be done but it really requires a strong team to support the vision.

Lunch was KFC AGAIN. sick and tired of it but there is no choice unless we spend money at the canteen for lunch. Went to have a haircut at SAFTI Barber Shop at $3. Told the lady that I want to have the hairstyle 'mallet' and she asked 'How does that style look like?' and I described it to her. Then she said 'oh.. that is astro la.. there is another style that sounds the same but that is MARLET.' We had a short discussion what is the name but I concluded by telling her 'ok.. it doesn't matter what is the name, as long as you are able to cut the style that I had described.' Lol.. It was kind of paiseh cause she took a lot of time to cut my hair and the rest of the people in the queue were like 'sian-half' cause she took great care to style my hair. Others took at most 4 mins while mine was about 5mins. Lol.. But I must say.. the hairstyle looks good. =D

After that was some presentation ceremony and then we changed into our number 1 uniform. wanted to get something to eat so I went to the mess with Jonathan and Willip. At the mess, we talked about religion and I realised that Willip had the same religion and he is also interested in what I was practicing. We had a very interesting discussion about what is buddhism, what is the practices and even talked about christianity. We concluded that, whatever religion you practice, it is important to question the religion because questioning is not an act of doubt but an act of trying to understand more. After eating, we left for the casing and uncasing of colours. MSD inspected us and upon clearing, we left for the parade square.

The parade was almost flawless, except for some minor mis-step, and no one fainted in the parade. After the parade, the colours were posted at the dining hall and all the ensigns were told to interact with the guests. I met some of the people that I worked with before and had my dinner at the dining hall. After the dinner, the colours were retrived and we went back to camp.

Tomorrow is an off day, and so is friday. I will be starting on my dissertation tomorrow and perhaps doing some research in school on friday if there is a need to. Need a break to rest too so I will be talking my time doing my dissertation tml.

=D
Ernest

**Revived**

At the request of my dearest dear dear, my blog shall be revived.. Dunno for how long but it is revived with this post.

Half a year ago was the last post on 21st Nov. What happened in the last half a year? A lot..
Union Trip to Australia, Demise of My Beloved Grandmother, Rites and Rituals coupled with projects deadlines one after another till it was reading week for exams. After exams? It was back to the army for me at Maju Camp. Was there any break? Hmm.. finding one.. lol..

Maju Camp should ring a bell now since it is one of the H1N1 Cluster for the pandemic. Yes. I am working there now but since last week, I will be officially on off and leave throughout till NDP.

Oh ya.. I am involved in NDP. I am carrying the colours for my unit, 6 SIR. I will be marching in the parade, including the 3.2km City March.. Not easy. Pretty tiring but I think that it will be a good experience. I have never been involved in NDP and this time round, I am glad that I am. It is the last time that I can carry the colours for my unit as I will not be eligible once I am back for good. **ensign officers need to be the youngest but definitely not a CPT**



Training is every Thursday and Saturday from now on and we will be training to prepare for the endurance march round the City. In the middle of July, I will be attending SAF Paracounsellor Course as a volunteer and to be certified as a counsellor with the SAF. There is actually a tie-up with SIM for the counselling modules and after the course, I will have to submit an essay assignment within 2 weeks. If the assessment is good, a certificate in Basic Counselling will be awarded. For the days that I am free, I will be working on my dissertation as I have yet to start and it is due in August 31st. I think Prof Ong is going to kill me soon.. Real Soon..

Just got back from Bangkok yesterday and I shall blog about my family trip to BKK when I get the photos from Dad. The last family trip overseas was more than a decade ago to Penang when I was so so young. Shall add the photos of that trip too when I find them.

Till then..
Love,
ET

F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

When was my last post? I guess it was donkey years again.. 'Eh.. why so long never post?' 'Busy lah..'

But of course, something that prompted me to post at this point of time when exams is round the corner, **to be exact, tomorrow, 1300 is the first war**, it is definitely something that is going to be heavy again. Haha..

FRIENDS. Hmm.. How many friends do you have? My facebook tells me that I have 883.. But do I? hmm.. I dunno. What about you? How many friends do you have? Who are called your friends? Who are they exactly? What are the attributes of a friend? It seems to me that it is a very loosely used word.

How do I define friends then? What are they to me? I have posted something about friends before and it struck me again because of some observations that I had recently. I have mentioned it that friends are those who come to your mind immediately when you have problems and you know that you can trust you life with in their hands. So do I have friends like these? I think I do. Some of the names that immediately popped into my head are names such as Daniel Yong, Shun Ying, Yenshun, Sydney, Caderam, Kenny Tan Yik Ming, Koo Chieh Yang, Xiao Qian, Joel Wong Heng Yi, Toh Yong Soon and so on... So are there names that takes a long long time to pop up too? Definitely there are..

I often wonder.. Do you place yourself over others or others over yourself? And what about friends.. It is easy to say that I will place my friends before me and not myself before my friends.. But what about when you are doing it.. Do you really place them before u? or after? Do you care about yourself 1st or others? Are you stupid or selfish? it is all a matter of perception.. I was reflecting upon some incidents that made me think really deep into the meaning of friendship.. What exactly is a friend? Do you even have a friend?

~True Friends stab you in front.~

I am going to start stabbing people soon..