crazy men on the loose

I very nearly had to be confined through the weekend, thanks to him.

It was back to usual business on Friday after the biggest bosses of all decided that there were enough people on the ground, so the crazy men of my company decided to give us a tekan session which they insisted was not one.

That fine day they decided to have a stand by bed. So after the morning run we practically spent the rest of the day cleaning every single corner of our cupboards, bed frames, windows, doors, the exit signs, the fire extinguishers, the floor plan that is pasted on the wall, among others.

After area inspection perhaps they found that it was not tekan-ish enough, they made us fall in to check our attires and dressings, and handed out more 'carry on 20's and show parades to those who did not pass.

**

Its quite an unfortunate incident that the terrorist managed to escape, especially just as things are looking up for our wonderful motherland who has just gotten the chance to host big time events like Formula One and the Youth Olympics Games. Quite embarrassing for this to happen when the whole world thinks that Singapore is a no-nonsense country, and yet that guy could actually escape through a toilet window, a scene right out from television dramas.

Personally I think its not really a good thing that he has escaped.

**

I think I am the most health unconscious person among my friends. While those around me are now eating only egg whites and leaving egg yolks out, I am one of the few who still gobble down entire eggs without thinking.

I have eaten three today.

**

Just completed World in Conflict! This strategy game is a class on its own, because there are no bases to build, unlike almost all other strategy games. Each mission starts off with a number of reinforcement points, which is used to call in tanks and infantry and attack helicopters. Whenever an unit is lost the points are slowly fed back, so replacements can be called in.

Tactical aids are also available in the form of air strikes, off map artillery barrages and laser guided bombs(my favourite!) that can be called in to aid in battles.

One complaint I have is the variety of objectives to complete, or the slight lack of it. Most objectives involved only capturing strategic points, and nothing else. Another complaint was that I found the story line weaker compared to other games like Company of Heroes and the Command and Conquer series.

Last complaint I have is the cutscenes in between missions. Unlike other games where the purpose of cutscenes is to unfold the story and bridge the previous and the next missions together, the cutscenes in WIC are refreshingly about phone conversations between different soldiers out on the field and their loved ones at home. But also unlike other games where cutscenes were animations or videos, WIC cutscenes were, disappointingly, only still images with audio.

The game sort of makes up for those shortfalls with good graphics and audio, and interesting units like the ability for airborne troops to call in artillery barrages. Since this game is set in the Cold War period, units are more modern, such as Apaches and the Leopard 2A4s that Singapore is getting.

Overall, not bad a game, but perhaps not worth the 10/10 our Digital Life gave.

**

A new version of Director is finally coming! Director is one of the first and main software I played with during my four years in my secondary school's computer club. Lost all the kiddy games that I had created back then, but the fond memories still stay.

Ever since Adobe bought over Macromedia that had been no news of Director for almost four years, until now. Quite alot of features added from what I see, and am I glad there is finally Unicode support! It was nightmarish creating the Inter-School Chinese Current Affairs Quiz when I was in junior college.

Sadly everyone uses Flash now; not many have even heard of the word Director.

The godly-ness of Director, not that I know everything, of course. Then again, Director and Flash complements each other, not compete.

Hurray! Can't wait to try that out.

**

Typing out this entry using Windows Live Writer, something I downloaded along with Windows Live Messenger 8.5. Live Writer is actually standalone, as can see from the words '(No recently Posted)' under 'Recently Posted'; it doesn't import all my entries from my blog, although I can import individual entries. So its more of a interface to type out entries before it uploads onto the blog.

As for Messenger, besides some cosmetic changes, nothing much different.

I think everyone can see that Live Writer is one of the many attempts by Microsoft to win users over in this era of Web 2.0. Still too early to say if its a success or not, but Google is definitely one hell of a formidable rival.

First

Couple of "firsts" this week.

Went for my first ever aqua jog yesterday, which the name implied, running in the water. Instead of wading in a shallow pool, which I(and probably everyone else who had never done that before) thought it was, we had floats attached to us before getting into a pool where one end spelt 1.2m and the other end, 4.3m. Only our heads were above the water, and we did a couple of laps in running motion.

Looked easy, but it was not long before the hamstrings started to tire out. Still I guess this was better than S0C, and most of us won't mind more.

Just as everyone thought today would be a relaxed day after the usual physical training, the bosses decided to turn all of us out, the first time ever. I just came out of the bathroom half naked [upper half, in case anyone is strangely interested] when the turn out was called, and five minutes later I was at the parade square in full battle order.

Personally I think I am a much more tolerant person than many out there; I can tolerate abuses hurled at me, bad service, bad food etc; usually I just smile and forget. But one thing I can never tolerate is hunger!

The boss decided to call for a meeting today, not earlier, not later, at lunchtime. He is well known to be very naggy and long winded, as usualy it took him more than an hour just to tell us the events to come in the following months. Really difficult to bear through it.

A hungry sqw is a very, very, angry sqw.

Hurray to Singapore on getting the first ever chance to host the first ever Youth Olympics Games. I always love big events like this; they spice up the otherwise boring everyday atmosphere. With YOG there will be more things to read in the newspapers, more things to see and hear in the news, and more things to discuss with friends about. Hopefully they don't screw up like the Singapore Grand Prix ticketing system.

I am looking forward to the first ever Singapore Grand Prix too! I have always enjoyed watching the Monaco Grand Prix because its a bloody difficult track so the race is usually an exciting one. Hopefully the Singapore GP will provide the same, if not better, entertainment.

Go McLaren Mercedes!

My computer has gotten unstable after I added a fourth fan at the front to take in cold air to cool the components inside. Occassionally the computer keeps restarting itself instead of booting into Windows, a problem which I don't know why. I can only guess some loose connection somewhere. Also now this additional fan gives off a soft but quite irritating humming sound, because its quite a powerful fan.

Sudden mental block, until next time.

run alert

The first sign of me not used to life before R0C showed up even before I left home when my mother reminded me to bring my camp pass, an object I had already completely forgotten.

And then I forgot where I had placed it.

Entire family took half an hour before it was finally found within a stack of other cards; by then it was too late to take the MRT anymore, so had to take a cab down.

Having not using my legs to travel faster than walking speeds for a month, I had difficulty switching back to the daily physical trainings in unit. Was totally shagged out during S0C training the following morning, which was apparently the slackest among those I had missed. Wednesday and Friday were runs with static exercises, and thankfully my boss gave us a Games Day on Thursday instead of more S0C.

No such luck next week; an ah-gua jog is scheduled to take place on Thursday.

I mean, aqua jog.

Red Alert 3 is in development! I had alot of fun playing RA2 back in secondary school, especially during LAN sessions with classmates. Tiberium Wars was a disappointment to me, no thanks to EA, so hopefully RA3 will not end up the same way.

countdown

One more year to ORD!

Wah still got so long.

Return

Spent Sunday at my rich cousin's house. 三代同堂, many people were present.

Booking in tonight; Tuesday blues is already here. Having been away from unit for one month means I am going to have some trouble getting used to "normal" life. Not sure what to expect, hope there aren't too many changes inside.

My Happy Ratty Moley Rodently Cheesy Lunar New Year

is one of my loneliest lunar new years yet, when everyone in the family except me had to work on the first day. Although somehow the house doesn't seem any different whether anyone is working or not.

CNY is half as exciting now that I no longer attend school. It was always a fantastic feeling to know that school on CNY eve would end after a concert.

"thank you very much"

Of course the trip was not entirely a smooth sailing one. On the day I flew I realised, only at the airport, that I was a passport holder and not on the nominal roll. Well I did went for the briefing, but somehow I just missed the fact that I were to use my passport. Complacency set in as well because I assumed all trips under the name of the organisation were by nominal roll, so I didn't ask.

Joining me was a fellow colleague, who asked his parents to rush it down for him. Me? My passport has already expired, so no use rushing it down.

In the end I got through after a barrage of scoldings.

The problem with travelling with trainees from a training institute was that they treated everyone like kids. I drew many comparisons with my trip last November, where my identity was as a personnel belonging to my 'company'. And I should say I don't like people seeing me as a kid. Haha.

Let's see:
1) No jeans, only pants at the airport.[There was not a problem to me; old fashioned me was already wearing pants, but I, together with everyone else, wondered why not. Jeans were allowed for my November trip.]
2) No PT shoes, only dress shoes. [That was a problem, because it meant we had to bring along an additional pair of shoes. Again, why not?]
3) Safekeeping of disembarkation forms and 11 "bravo"s [no such thing for my November trip; we were told to keep ourselves.]
4) Haircut before going for R&R [what the hell, even us the attached personnel had to do so, no such thing during my November trip. Luckily the barbers did not do a bad job.]
5) Kitbaginspectionforreturntrip, before going for R&R [I wonder why there was a need for that when we are coming home. No such thing for November trip]
6) Rollcallat2359, and no movement out after that. [Although some people ignored that, going to a nightclub till the wee hours of the morning. No such thing for November trip.]
7) Vehicles were at our airport to take the trainees' kitbags back to camp for them, after we came home. [Now this was one move I wouldn't have complained about. I had to lug my kitbag home.]

After so many weeks on regimentation the trainees were obviously used to it. Returning home on early Sunday morning they were over the moon upon hearing that they were to report back only on the following day, on Monday morning.

Me? I return next Monday. To be frank I will be sulking if I am told to return the same day as them. Hahaha.

Well alright through this trip I saw for myself what kind of shit they had to go through [like carrying a backpack almost the weight of a human and walking 200m upslope, 81 steps upwards, and another 50m upslope, on a very, very steep hill where a missed footing will guarantee a return trip inside a coffin, or sleeping out in the field with freezing temperatures and non stop rain], and I salute them for their effort put in. Good job!

On my previous trip I also returned on an early Sunday morning, and after a short sleep I was on my way to my secondary school for its open house. This time, after a short sleep I met up with my secondary two classmates and teacher at lunch.

A close link somewhere between my alma mater and my arrival to Singapore. -.-

A good rest before returning after Lunar New Year; after three weeks away I hope I can get in sync with normal life soon.

"tango yankee various monkeys"

I'm home! From "romeo oscar charlie".

It was cold. Very cold. I breathed out steam. When I urinated the pee gave off steam too.

I once thought Wallaby was cold. Now I think it was chicken feet. Back then we could sleep on the grass with just one set of clothes. In R0C I wore two sets of clothes, a winter jacket, another jacket to cover my head, covered myself with the sleeping bag, and I shivered throughout the night. Genuine uncontrollable shiver.

R0C is a agricultural country. In fact more agricultural than Australia. Countless numbers of farms rearing everything from flowers to vegetation to oranges to chickens and ducks dominated my sights as we took a four-hour bus ride from the airport to our destination, and throughout our stay there.

Whichmademewonderwhyakitbaginspectionwasrequiredforaustraliabutnotneededforr0c.

R0C has majestic power lines that run across the lands, through the mountains, and disappear into the horizon. The highways stand high above the ground, run overhead other highways and under high speed rail lines. The infrastructure was a sight to behold.

The efforts put in towards recycling can be clearly see too. Two to three bins always appeared together, one for general waste, and another one or two for recycling purposes. Everywhere. Something that can never occur in Singapore. Quoting my friend: "We just throw into any bin we see. You put a pail in a random public place and it will be filled with rubbish at the end of the day."

My first job involved staying at the top of a hill for four days and three nights, to help pass messages to parties who could not reach each other. Sometimes traffic got heavy; I would have three parties yelling for my attention at the same time.

My second job allowed me to travel around the town. The rural area was one place one could never find in Singapore. Bidirectional single-lane roads ran through the town, with shops and houses clustered together along the sides. Traffic was light, mostly scooters or small trucks that the residents used to carry their goods around. Height of buildings never went past four storeys, and the highest structure there was a huge golden Buddha that towered across the surrounding hills.

The countryside scenery was very beautiful. No pictures [hopefully a yet], and a friend told me to draw the scenery out. So drew I did:



Its all green!

*Runs and hides under the table to avoid the punches and kicks thrown at me*

The very, very fresh air and lush greenery made the place a perfect escape from the urban jungle.

It was the season of oranges, and we were generously given bags and boxes of oranges and kum, so many that we could not finish them.

Weather-wise, it doesnt rain there. But when it does, it rains for several days straight. It rained almost one entire week without stopping, although small.

R&R was very, very, very, fun. It made the one I had last November a total trash. We travelled upwards to the capital city, stopping along the way to visit a temple, a nearby lake, and a wine brewery.

We visited a theme park, where I sat a ride that took me up to 85 metres before dropping me down. And a "suspended looping coaster" that took me through two loops at 4.5G. Basically I wanted to scream but nothing came out from my mouth. The feeling was...high.

I chickened out at a ride at a second theme park. I decided that sending me flying at 122km/h was a little too much for my heart. There's no hurry anyway; two rides were enough for this trip.

At night when it was free and easy for us we visited the famous night markets around the city, travelling to different places using the metro system that worked the same way as the Mass Rapid Transit in Singapore. Those night markets were easily twice the size of Bugis Street, and the crowds were strong, especially on Friday where the weekend was here.

And of course, the famous dress sense of the youngsters that beat us hands down. They were not afraid to wear shocking colours and spot outrageous hairstyles.

The traffic scene there was again something we could never see in Singapore. In the rural town I once spotted a man, one hand on his scooter, another hand carrying a baby. Another one had a dog sitting on the legrest of the scooter. Because the roads were single lanes, the only way to overtake was through the opposite lane, which happened very often.

In the city pedestrian crossings were generally ignored. Vehicles and pedestrians alike just found their own way to cross the roads. Something smart I saw was the operation of traffic lights. Traffic lights did not come into operation on roads with light traffic. Blinking amber lights meant a major road with a intersecting minor road, while blinking red light meant the opposite. Smart in my opinion. Unlike in Singapore where the car stops at a empty junction at 3am, just because the traffic light is red.

I enjoyed my trip there very much; definitely I will go back again someday. Four days was not enough.