SoMe PeoPle U MoSt pROb wOuLd NoT wAnNa MeEt iN HeAvEn...

You have been warned.. major bitching lies ahead...

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1. Some people just have the uncanny knack of spoiling the mood in a place, either by their absolute stupidity or "ranger-ish" control freak attitude... Lay it off man! Just go for another ranger course and DIE man...

We come back exhausted but happy at being able to complete a 6km fast march within the stipulated time, and even "Mr. No-Link" is pretty pleased... (as the "Real FranKie" sez, "Man's greatest moment is when he lies in the battlefield completely spent and knowing he put in all his effort") And yet this bloody buggeration of a cocky ranger comes on and reprimands us for not putting our dummy magazines in and tells us "it is not a fast march if you don't have load.. it is nothing...too simple.. you think this is a fast march?"...

yes we do?

so what if we don't carry the load? would you die?

gee... thanks for spoiling/dampening our mood at the precise moment where we felt we did something good(I'd admit I was struggling -- can't figure out the heck of how to walk in a fast march... kept stamping around and making a lot of noise... typical..)

and thats not all.. puffed up in his importance and power in the wing.. he comments about our haircut and tells us to cut it SHORT.. like 3-2-2...

LIKE HIS FRIGGING UGLY HAIRSTYLE... or he'll bring his shaver and cut it off for us. even shorter than his...

since when has such oppression been carried out that a person cannot even decide to keep his hair to the SCHOOL'S STANDARDS and has to follow this DEVIL'S INCARNATE'S STANDARDS that is so fricking dumb and unreasonable..

oh yeah... 3 weeks and our hair will grow back.. u are soooo thoughtful... HAVE U EVER SEEN HAIR THAT "JUST GROWS" FROM A 3-2-2 HAIRSTYLE?!?! IT SUCKS!!!

and in the end, we the hapless cadets just have to go to the barber YET again to cut our hair properly.. WHAT A NICE WASTE OF MONEY...

sheesh... looks like i'll have to cut my hair.. what to do?

the story doesn't end... next he carries on his ramble about us questioning so much and "JUST DO WHAT YOU'RE TOLD!"...

funny... aren't we encouraged to QUESTION things, besides on the battlefied, if we think it is incorrect? funny... didn't someone just say yesterday that we should "USE OUR INITIATIVE"?... what's wrong with you man? ranger course did permanent damage to your brains!?

this just so reeks of that time he dissed me and some other hapless cadets after we completed our 2.4km run and felt good that we had improved... he comes and says.. "Your results.. really cannot make it leh.. I cannot believe you all cannot run faster.. you all haven't been training by my way rite?"...

for your info, YOUR WAY SUCKS.

sierra wing just did ONE pathetic slope run and A FEW interval trainings and the have nearly 70% golds.. we have millions of slope runs thanks to your daily IPPT training sessions during 5BX and then those innumerable interval trainings and our IPPT results still aren't there yet...so yeah... don't THINK you are so darn good..

2. FOR THE LAST TIME I DID NOT EAT YOUR CHOCOLATES!

Be fricking grateful that i HELPED you ungrateful sod CLEAN your rifle, CLEAN your bayonet, SEND IN your arms, CLEAN your compass, CLEAN your field-pack. CLEAN your FRICKING dirty boots, PACK up all your stuff meticulously and nicely all whilst you were seemingly "struggling between the border of life and death in the sick bay"

YAH RITE.

I heard you were so bored you were chit-chatting the whole day with the people there... and NOT A WORD OF THANKS I GET, instead you just ASK me to bring down your CHOCOLATES for you to eat cos you are starving..

MR... aren't u.. SICK? BORDERING BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH? i see chocolate apparently can help... JUST LIKE THE XIANG-JI-PA you ate in taiwan that you said wouldn't hurt your throat... CONGRATS.. you come back from taiwan and get ATT C. for throat infection..

WHY AM I NOT SURPRISED?

look, I'm NOT being altruistic here but the simple fact is that your TIMING for falling ill is IMPECCABLE... everytime there is post admin.. something goes wrong with you.. everytime we are going to book out, you fall ill...and who gets to do your shit?
YOUR POOR OLE' FREN HERE... so yeah..

KINDLY TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH.

and if that was only all.. I wouldn't I was nice enough to just write on the peer appraisal "LACKS INITIATIVE"... but now i think i ought to change it to "BONE LAZY".

WHY? cos these few days u seem to have gone from BAD to WORSE...

1. when everyone has gone downstairs to do sai-kang, you STAY IN THE BUNK, LIE ON YOUR BED, CLOSE THE DOOR AND START YOUR FLUFFY CONVERSATIONS WITH ONE OF YOUR PALS, MUNCHING SOME CHIPS AT THE SAME TIME... hello? food in the bunk? I'm so sick of telling you other stuff I can't be bothered about this liao..

2. when our CPC/CPS tells you to do work you simply say NO and continue lying there on the bed... HAVE YOU NO SHAME? can you see that you are perceived as a freaking slacker?

3. yesterday whilst I was rushing about do my stupid project and settling other stuff whilst you were MAKING YOUR FLUFFY, SILLY CONVERSATIONS ABOUT GOING TO CHINABLACK AND SO ON OR JUST GOSSIPING ABOUT SOMEONE'S GIRLFRIEND, you couldn't even have the decency to GO COLLECT THE TSR FILE for yourself and me and I HAVE TO TAKE IT FOR YOU... then at night whilst I AM LABELLING THE BUNK STUFF FOR YOU AS WELL, YOU SIT THERE, DOOR CLOSED, MUCHING YOUR FRICKING SNICKERS AND READING HARRY POTTER.. either that or talking to some gal... THANKS... and you can tel me that I should relax...

and when ALL i tell you to do is to CLEAR the collosal MESS you have made around your BED due to your utter laziness at not being able to unpack your stuff or store the things you drew, YOU TELL ME ITS NEAR YOUR BEDTIME AND YOUR EYES ARE ABOUT TO SHUT...

and when the lights go out, *surprise... someone is STILL talking on the phone... ANOTHER infringement of the rules...

4. TSR test was so fricking easy and YET you were so LAZY you had to copy from me... only when I warned that you would endanger both of us did you stop... HELLO??!?...

5. Today in the morning I was doing area cleaning before the fast march and you come back from your LONG breakfast knowing you don't have to do SHIT of a run cos "ohh.. my feet are still hurting and since it doesn't affect the badge, i don't think i want to do the 6km run..." (As frAnkie says, "WHY i AM NOT SUPRISED?!"..)

you see me doing cleaning, struggling coz i am sneezing like mad, yet you straight away go and lie down on your bed and cuddle your pillow.. and you have the AUDACITY to ask what I am doing...

"cleaning the bunk lah"
"aiyah... why do now.. relax a bit first lah"
"i want to book out early today...I'm dying of sneezing due to the dust here and aniwez it's better to do something than to slack, slack, slack"
"I'm not slacking" (YAH RITE)
"I'm not saying you.. I'm saying I don't want to slack and waste time..."
"ok lah.. you do first then when u are tired I'd help you"
"why not you just clean up the mess at your bed first"..

no answer... he lies there morose... then goes over to the next bunk and starts his conversations with me..

you know.. i HATE acting like a MATRON... and its not like it does me much GOOD.. but the fact is we live in the same bunk hello!? I feel like I am doing TWO-PEOPLE'S work here!?

6. after the fast march when everyone except you are tired, YOU whine about cleaning weapons and complain... and whilst you are cleaning your own miserable pathetic weapon, you stop every now and then talking about ChinaBlack, going to get food, talking to some guy... and yeah... i have cleaned 5 weapons by then... including YOUR miserable 2ND ARMS which you gave me when i asked anyone needed help... I don't think you needed any btw..

so I leave you to your own devices and go up to Plt 2 to help... and when I come down after 40 mins... you have finally kept your mess and you tell me

"Do you think if I lie on the bed now people will start asking me to do things?"

...

I felt like SLAPPING you at that exact moment.. the bunk wasn't even CLEANED properly... the shelves had a LAYER of dust on them, everything was not arranged properly and YAH.. it's clean...EVEN if the bunk was clean.. there were TONS of people who were still helping out in other areas and their bunks were in a terrible state...

AND YOU WANT TO LIE ON THE BED!?

so i say, "It isn't really finished leh.. there's still shelves not done... but I'll do it lah.. why not you go to the toilet to help with the mirrors... since that was my job initially..."

OF COURSE YOU DON'T DO IT.. not that I didn't remotely expect it...

7. can u stop USING and MANIPULATING people to do YOUR shit-work!? LIKE MR. xi-sheng whom you asked to SETTLE YOU FIELD PACK ITEMS whilst he was doing his CDO duties cos you were either TOO LAZY or couldn't be bothered...and he goes..

"did you change the ziplocs? cos I dunno how to do with those"
"never mind you can learn lah.. I'll teach you? I'm sure you can"..

at that moment I couldn't resist by saying
"why don't you just do it yourself since you know?"

I think he heard but din reply.. but wadeva... you HAD SO MUCH TIME in the world yet you COULDN'T BE BOTHERED... and now you burdened others...

CONGRATS.. I never knew you could go so low...

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ok... bitchfest over... I think my anger has simmered down too... going to bathe..

oh yeah... HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

ShOuLd We PitY VicToRiA?

I was COMPLETELY disgusted by that rat Jonathon and what he did to his wife in Ep 4, TAR @ the Brandenburg Gate... and well... this was what he had to say...

"December 16, 2004
London 2:20am

All of us have our faults. Unfortunately for me millions of viewers are getting to see mine each week. I do not abuse Victoria,
what you see is a heighten version of stress and obsession mix with medication for a sickness called Sarcoidosis. What was started as a Publicity Stunt turn in to an obsession to race and be first at any cost. This is a GAME and I set out to be the Villain to others not to Victoria. Victoria and I are working on our relationship to better our self and learn from our mistakes. I am taking full responsibly for my actions on screen. Please allow me to make the effort.

I am deeply saddened by the storyline that CBS went with. I am sorry for my actions, I am sorry to Victoria. Most all I am sorry to the Fans of the Amazing Race.

Jonathan"

and here's one reply...

"Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory condition that can occur in many organs in the body. One of the common ones is the lungs. You treat this condition with corticosteroids. I am sure that this is what Victoria was referring to by his "asthma" medication in her insider video on CBS. That is why she was deathly afraid of his bag getting stolen. Bless that woman's heart.

Side effects from corticosteroids include mood disorders and psychiatric disturbances (especially in people with pre-existing mental illness). So, theoretically, he could get pretty tripped out on these drugs. However, it is the method of how he takes out his anger that is interesting. I am sure that he does this all the time, considering her reactions in almost every situation, including the potential backhand flinch in the first video on this thread.

BUT.....there is no drug with an insert that says "side effects include beating your wife." Speaking from personal experience, this is all too real. Domestic violence is one of those things that noone really talks about, and isnt on TV much. Its kind of good that this is getting exposed, and people will realize how prevalent this really is.....and how disgusting and ridiculous it is.

I feel so bad for Victoria to be completely humiliated over and over on national TV. You can tell by her facial expressions and body language that this is not just from "heighten version of stress and obsession mix with medication for a sickness called Sarcoidosis. What was started as a Publicity Stunt turn in to an obsession to race and be first at any cost. " Or whatever his excuse is next week on his website. This other quote is also a knee-slapper "I am deeply saddened by the storyline that CBS went with. " Please! CBS didnt create you pushing down your wife at the pitstop. Of course they would show that. And all she was trying to do is to carry your bag with your medicines you sorry piece of shit. And damn, it wasn't like they were about to be eliminated. They were doing a fine job in the race, until he decided that Victoria should drive, and she couldnt reach the petals. If he just would of kept going, it wouldnt have even been close. Don't blame it on the editing. Blame yourself!"

sigh.. what a jerk Jonathan is... JUST GET OFF OUR SCREENS AND DIE!

and now about KENDRA...
"Kendra is not nice. Kendra is a little spoiled princess. I want to scratch her eyes out. Freddy is cool so far."

"What a disgusting high-maintance bitch! Her comments this week just speak volumes about the kind of person she is.

Another comment you guys missed:
I wish I was in Paris right now with a croissant"

"I nearly fell out of my chair when that twat made the comment about the audacity of the Africans to continue breeding. I can't recall her reaction at The Gate of No Return but its really a pity somebody didn't shove her off that cliff. What a useless bitch. The only pleasure I have is it appears she gets injured next week. Please don't let it be a teaser."

"Her comment about,"they just keep breeding and breeding" was the most offensive to me.

It showed how stupid this girl is and how she lacks total understanding of what the rest of the world has/doesn't have.

Does she think the women have access to birth control? That condom are commonly used? That the health care system is anywhere close to what she has been able to utilize?

The people are poor, beyond poor. They are not getting birth control pills every month, like some bitch from the U.S."

"Disappointing, but not surprising, that some people can't make a distinction between acknoweldging just how bad conditions are in some parts of the world and actually condemning the people who live there for 'breeding' as if they have less of a right to live, breathe and procreate. Whether Kendra's comments come from xenophobia, racism or cultural shock, they're despicable. Cultural shock doesn't give you a license to make comments like those and not be criticized for them. What happened to sympathy? What happened to 'tonight, thank God it's them instead of you?' Nobody is saying that Kendra should fall in love with that particular area of Senegal. She doesn't have to like it. She doesn't have to feel comfortable with it (she shouldn't)."

nothing much more to say.. that DISGUSTING GIRL deserves to pair up with jonathon and DIE...

Can we CeLebRate!?

Amidst reports of death and destruction along so many coastal cities and countries, as well as the poignant and heart-wrenching pictures of women weeping, children gnashing their teeth, people looking with a dazed look at the wreckage around them... can we afford to celebrate? can we afford to continue in our hedonistical ways, plan to go for countdown parties and celebrate at pubs?!?... i dunno.. i think a dark cloud looms over this passing of the year and well.. itz hard to celebrate as we hear the death toll mounting...

millions are still lost... hope is fading... other problems are surfacing... can we afford to continue living like this? heck caring the rest of the world?

food for thought...

fRaNk

I'm back in OCS

Yeah... with all the frustrations of the seemingly train-wrecking commisioning magazine pushing at me. Then there's the perennial threat of the instructors growing their horns once again and using the "you think you are so near and can act like big shots already lah! Screw u!"... bleah..its not pessimism but more of a enhanced awareness of situations and "being careful"...

speaking of the comms magazine, i'm just trying to keep my cool and doing my best to keep it afloat... and that weiyang, my most responsible and trusted vice-prez hard to fall sick.

SHEESH..

this is not funny anymore.. itz getting pretty scary liao... just hope it'll turn out all rite.. recruiting trusted pple like DaHua and meeting up on New Years Day ~roll eyes~*... heck lah.. 3 1/2 more weeks as it is..

hopefully things will go well and the month will pass painlessly... then.. HOME RUN!!

and i have one resolution for the rest of the month.. to really keep walking WITH GOD and allowing him to take control of my life... coz it was pretty disgusting of me that during the 22nd to 29th.. i din even have quiet time with God and so on... itz like i was in a daze of the holiday festivities and heck it... then only when i am about to come to camp does "reality come crashign down" and i suddenly wake up and realize how much i need God..

BAD TESTIMONY man...

so there... hopefully the stupid fast march will be fine... hopefully there'll not be much to do liao and the month will pass in a blur..

fRanK

whAt's so GoOd AbouT "KuNg Fu"?

When the review said "little character development" they must have been pretty kind... cos there was no concrete storyline and mostly didn't make sense... ok.. I noe it was meant to be a brainless comedy movie but really...

(1) what was the whole mute girl sequence for?! she didn't contribute to the story, neither was there any real love interest.. i half-thought stephen chow would be almost defeated in the final show-down then the girl comes around and offers a "ling-dan" in the form of the lollipop and then he suddenly gains power.. but nahh...

(2) the jokes weren't really funny... oh well..

(3)the hair-burning sequence didn't make sense too... neither did alot of the crap.. was stephen chow in a conundrum whether or not he should be good or evil? how the heck did he learn all those kung fu within the short moments(ie understand chi and all those but the stances?!?) what the heck was big mouth jane's character for? i though she was gonna break out with some powderful power as well... but nada... she disappeared quickly.. as did the rest of the citizens of pig sty alley, inexplicably..

sheesh..

oh well.. wadeva...

and aniwez i saw a nice pair of adidas shoes at Far East Plaza @ Leftfoot... cost $129 and looked like it would look kewl.. hehe.. but see first lah..

fRanK

Frank's Politically Correct Versh of Reflections on EX Lancer

##DISCLAIMER : To anyone I unintentionally cast in a negative light in my potrayal, and to whoever I made not-so good comments about, I am truly sorry but this is my honest opinion and well.. don't take it to heart and.. yeah.. sorry... no hard feelings...##

Reflections on Exercise Lancer

The cheers from everyone as we landed back in Singapore are perhaps the most telling sign of how everyone felt about Ex Lancer. For me personally, it was further a lesson of defeat and humility, and not really a stark awareness of one’s mental ability or endurance, as some say. Brunei, from the festering jungles to the treatment we got at Lakiun, was a bitter experience, and to many, like me, it was harder to swallow as we came back empty handed.

I came to Brunei knowing that it would probably be the toughest jungle experience out there, and also knowing for me, it would be a test of how well I did things individually. I set myself 4 resolutions – (1) to get the JCC badge, (2) not to get foot rot (3) to conquer my fear of cold and survive out there (4) to make lasting friendships and bonds. After facing the jungles of ROC and Singapore, I pretty much erroneously and arrogantly thought all the jungles would be the same and well, it would be just an extended Ex Red Beret or sorts. Of course, I was to be humbled.

EX Betayan
Being the last time we fought as a platoon, I felt that we should really finish it with a bang and do a splendid job. Alas, many a times it was just a confused tangle of people and voices and there never really was a proper command and control. At times, it bordered on a one-man show, or a one-section show but at other times, it was just a complete mess. This was especially so at contact point 2, where I felt that three major factors was that (1) the PC’s voice was undistinguishable amongst the shouts and gunfire and hence the Sect Coms weren’t sure of what they were supposed to do, (2) The PC at times failed to do a proper AOS before making a decision, (3) But to make matters worse, the Sec Coms just refused to follow his instructions, making their own comments and taking matters to their own hands, which was debilitating to the PC. In essence, there were too many self-appointed Indian chiefs around.

EX Chindit
As the OC runner, I thought I was going to be used to do the blow-ups, ops-orders and so on, which I was pretty experienced in. However, I wasn’t used in that aspect at all as the OC pretty much did everything and told me my job scope was to stay around him and man the comms. I did so diligently, knowing there were many lessons to learn, especially concerning the workings of people in higher command than PC, how they coordinated events and how they managed the PCs. What I learnt, however, was what not to do if I were the person in command. I felt one of the biggest problems was that at many times, tactical sense was compromised as the OC would shout pretty loud at the men or to call the PCs, and this was so even though we were so close to the enemy. The whole fiasco at 4x4, with the Foxtrot Wing Commd shouting loudly over the whole place and the noise we made whilst crossing the river really undermined the tactical sense of the mission. I realized how important it was to set an example to the men, because it was due to the OC not really having sound discipline that the rest of the men corresponding also ignored sound discipline and any tactical sense of the mission.

I also learnt how important the image of a commander was and how deeply it affected and influenced his subordinates. Even a seemingly harmless thing like sitting down during tactical halts or not looking wiped out after a hefty climb can have very negative effects on your men, simply because they expect their leader to be invincible, if not, nearly there. They expect their commander to not tire out easily, to be as garang and possible, and some even use that to motivate themselves. When this image is shattered, the confidence and determination of the men seemingly also drop.

Another thing I learnt was how important it was to observe even the simplest things that could have huge effects on your men. A simple mental note to slow down after every obstacle we pass, and to set a comfortable, albeit slow but steady pace in the front would ensure that everyone in the company can catch up and can move along at a comfortable pace. Ultimately, everyone plays a part and a commander has to take care of even the most insignificant soldier’s health and life.

At the Platoon FUPs, I felt that the OC failed to do a proper AOS and wasted far too much time chastising his PC (whom he was to assess), failing to realize it was getting dark and there was little time to assault the objective and capture it completely. He also pretty much threw H-hour out of the window early on in the mission, citing the motorboats coming late as the reason we should not attach too much significance to the timing. Hence, such mentality carried on till it was dusk already and the sun was setting fast, yet the OC insisted that one of the platoons bash through the vegetation to find a better route of assault. The OC also neglected to coordinate the 3 platoons attack, being more preoccupied with assessing the PC of Foxtrot 1, and hence making the assault very messed up. I thought the movement phase was only a small part and a major part of the OC’s job was to coordinate the assault of all 3 platoons.

EX Nomad
EX Nomad was our first taste of the Brunei jungles, which proved to be a formidable foe. Our maps were basically useless appendages as there were simply too many blank spaces on them and that meant many hidden rivers, streams, knolls, spurs and even solitary ridgelines. Most of the times, we just had to blindly bash or take whichever path that headed in the right direction, as even contours shown or the terrain visualization did not help at all. With such a premise, our patience and determination were tested over and over again as we kept missing checkpoints, heading into ravines, climbing up a knoll just to realise it was a hidden one. Being the navigator, it was particularly frustrating for me as I felt the added mental pressure. Things reached boiling point on the second day when we kept circling round our MP, but never really being able to find it and our patience with each other also wore thin. Thankfully, we recovered and did very well the next day to get 8 points.

For our detail in particularly, it was a breath of fresh air as we had not done well in previous navigations. But we learnt from our mistakes and constantly adapted our ways got our act together this time. We learnt 4 valuable lessons. (1) We learnt to stop and think, instead of foolishly bashing through 1km of route before realizing it was wrong. That put a terrible strain on us initially. Our strategy ended up being that whenever we reached a spot we were unsure, like a cross junction, we would recce down 200m to see whether we were sniffing in the right direction. (2) We learnt to utilise each others abilities effectively... I was the pathfinder as, effectively a navigator who pretty much used intuition, observation and direction to find a way through, and i tended to like to use the nice large trails. Edgar was the direct basher, whom took over on the second day when i got really irritated after PANT/SUIT, and did wonders as he found a much shorter route back to the northern parts of the AO. Royston, with all his meticulousness, was a superb plotter who paired well with sure footed Fadli as the pacer... (3) Positivity is THE key. Edgar kept saying "We'll be there soon.. around 300m...", and though we all knew it most probably was around 1km of gruelling bashing or so on, it did lift our morale. (4) Remembering important and prominent objects in the surroundings helped a great deal when we had to bypass the area again.

EX ChillBone
EX ChillBone was a terrible and exhausting experience where we truly fought it out with the terrain. Because we had new details, we also had to figure out the new dynamics and start working together as a team. Sadly, our detail, albeit each of us strong in our different ways, could not really find our roles and work together well and we ended up navigating in a rather unsure manner, many a times abandoning one suggestion to adopt another and then changing again, making our progress very slow at times. Our initial hopes of getting 40 points quickly faded away and we were pretty soon fighting for our lives and just putting in all our effort to get to the end. It is pretty amazing the things we did, especially on the 3rd and 4th day, to just pass the exercise. First was that we reached 168 at 3:59, and thinking that we wouldn’t be able to cross once it was after 5:00, I basically led a fast march all the wall from 168 to 169, passing dangerously thin planks to cross rivers and squelching in the mud trails and all of us just pushed on even though we were so tired. We made it in around 50 minutes time and managed to cross. Another incident was the 4th day where me and Melvin had terrible foot rot and we though we were going to fail as it was getting closer and closer to 1800 hours. We saw Bt. Sagiran looming ahead of us and climbed the whole mountain from its side, just climbing and climbing and fast as we could in the pelting rain, trying our best not to fall. It was a deceptively tough and seemingly never-ending climb and when we reached the top we just collapsed there and waited to recover before moving on. All in all, we walked through 2 nights and reached 4A in the nick of time. However, this walking through the night took a toll on our feet and me, Hichael and Melvin all had various degrees of foot rot, methinks because we walked through very dirty river water in the day and then had no opportunity to take off our boots properly and dry them as we were moving at night.

EX ChillHermit
Even though my stint was short, I learnt a lot of things through that one night and also when I was back in camp. I started off ChillHermit in a pretty bad shape, as I had lost my L-torch, and all my clothes and stuff were all wet as my field pack was torn and the trash bag unfortunately was also torn at one part. Furthermore, my insect repellent had burst and turned my equipment into a great mess, It was a huge psychological blow to me. This taught me really how important it was to be prepared and to ensure everything was in a tip top condition and all preparations are made. It was THAT crucial especially in terms of survival.

Due to my foot rot, I couldn’t really walk much but I knew I had to build the shelter up if I wanted any hope of airing my feet at night and hence I hobbled around to cut wood and gather materials, which me and Luke later worked together to build both the skeletons of our A-frames up. We were progressing fine when Yi Kiat came along and whined that Hichael just sat there and did not do much and asked Luke to help him find vines as he hadn’t done anything yet. Then it started to rain.

My spirits really were dampened by the rain but I knew I had to keep them up and started singing hymns in bid to wait out the rain. When I realized it was going to get dark however, I went to find Luke and together, we made a makeshift shelter to sleep under. Yi Kiat came along again to seek shelter and he complained again on how Hichael couldn’t help him and he had to do all the work. Meanwhile, rain kept seeping in the shelter, tuning the night into the longest, coldest and most miserable night for me. I took off my boots with great difficultly, and ended up having to cut my socks and extricate my feet. By now one feet was totally raw and sensitive to anything I touched and the other was starting to rot as well. The stench of death and rotting was also terrible and because my feet were so sensitive, I had to place them in Luke’s empty field pack. When I finally used to torchlight to shine on my feet, I took a huge mental blow when I saw it bloated and swollen, with red splotches everywhere. Even Luke and Yi Kiat gasped and said they never saw anything that bad at all. It was at that moment that the thought of me having to fall out surfaced. I never imagined my legs to be that bad and I was in tears over the thought of giving it all up and having to fall out. I kept praying to God, telling Him to cure my feet as I desperately tried to treat it with calamine lotion and antiseptic cream.

When the rain finally stopped 9 hours later, I climbed onto the shelter and tried to air my feet, but somehow the smell of my feet attracted tons of insects big and small, and even their small movements on my feet was completely painful and a torture. I was nearly hysterical at times already but just prayed for daylight to come soon. When it did, I tried to jump down barefoot to get my boots, but just one step and I felt as though some ants had bitten my hard and I went back onto the shelter—my feet were so raw and sensitive that it was that bad. And by now, my one feet was so swollen that I couldn’t fit my legs into the boot, and hence fashioned a makeshift slippers using the insole, some simpur air leaves and a rubber band. I took a whole 15 minutes to get from Luke’s site to my site, wincing at each step and wondering when the torture would end. When I reached me site, I climbed onto my shelter and tried to work on the supporting poles on roofing but when the materials ran out, I soon realized I was pretty much confined to my A-frame and couldn’t very much move. Then, my A-frame collapsed partially, dumping my into the mud and really, that accompanied with the many insects preying at my feet, finally made me snap. My feet were swollen, rotten and covered with mud, and though I tried to clean it with the rain water I had collected, when my A-frame fell, I dirtied them again and I feared things would not turn better for my legs. I told Luke to call the medic to see my legs as I rationalized to my self bitterly that it was not worth getting wheelchair-bound when I returned after 5 days just for the badge, no matter how much it was worth. My health had to take precedence over it.

I had to be carried for most parts back to Lakiun Camp where the MO assessed us and then we were put in the sickbay where we were informed that we were still in the course and we could return. I was still rather skeptical about it at first as my legs were in a terrible condition and the MO said mine was the worst, but after resting one night and seeing the swell subside and feeling much better, knowing that with the medication and cream I could stop the rot and perhaps let it heal, I was determined to return. I intended to rest one day first, doing sedentary stuff at Luke’s shelter perhaps, then hoping my feet would recover for the next day.

However, as I went out to get my boots, the Lakiun Camp Commander inquired on how I was going to continue working at my site, and then said he wouldn’t want me to go as he said if he sent me out, he would have to evacuate me that night. The MO agreed as well and well, I went back into the sickbay feeling a little cheated and defeated.

The rest of the days started the lessons in failure and humility. I don’t know why God stopped me from going back or why it all had to happen – perhaps I was really mentally weak, perhaps I was my lack of preparation that doomed me. Whatever it was, it was a bitter pill to swallow and I knew that I had to learn from the experience that well, sometimes you just don’t get things even if you had put in your 100% and sometimes, you just cannot compare with others. It is not lack of self-confidence, but rather, a lesson of humility. For the few days we whiled away in camp, I felt restless and useless and like wasting my life away. I was angry that I could not have the opportunity to go through all these, to really build a trap of my own and catch some fish, to be able to amass a number of stories to relate to my parents whilst showing them the badge. What made giving this up worse was the fact of how close I was. I was angry I had mentally given up at that time and wondered what I could have done.

To make matters worse, failures do not have any place to stand in OCS, and every pep talk every instructor gave after that when everyone returned felt like sharp stabs in one’s
pride. It was major humble-pie eating time, but I learnt many things.

So overall, Brunei wasn’t fun at all. But whether it taught me many life’s lessons? Yes. Life was never meant to be a bed of roses, and at times failures will come, and correspondingly, criticism will follow. Brunei was a good lesson in humility, failure, and how to deal with it.

BaBes On aMaZinG RaCe~

Just watched the Amazing Race ep where Lena and Kristy got Philiminated..

POOH.

Lena looked darn good working it out with the stupid bales of hay. Poor thing though.. but wow.. she looked DARN good..what's it with the luck of theirs man... so there goes another cute, good-to-look at team...and THAT was a mean challenge man..

now we're stuck with obnoxious, ugly farts like Jonathon and Victoria...

POOH.

oK.. I'd stop thinking of such negative stuff and do the memorium for the sisters..




speaking of Amazing Race 6.. i'm getting pretty irritated by it... for ONCE, TAR6 is getting the audience it needs to survive in the US TV scenes thanks to the EMMY(and a large part to Charla and Mirna).. for ONCE, TAR6 is amongst the charts in Entertainment Weekly (avergaing 20 - 26th position)..

and what do the CBS Execs do?

They cast pure shit and media-wannabes into the new season and plan the itinery so bad that it goes like..
(1) go to Voss train station at 0300hrs.. OOPS! it only opens at 0700HR... EQUALIZER..
(2)take the train, do an easy-peasy task, then go IKEA at night.. OOPS! opening hours 1000HR...

roll eyes..

if its not bad enough, why the HELL make them travel to that hay place JUST to do one task and then return to Stockholm again by the same way and check in?

It just reeks bad planning and bad choice of tasks... SURELY u can find something to do in Stockholm??!

oh well.. wadeva.. this is pretty outdated aniwez..

going to sleep,
FrAnk

i found HaraJuku in Singapore!~

ok... i'd risk sounding suaku.. but i realised how much of cheap-er bargains and variety of clothing I was missing out when I went to explore Queensway Shopping Centre today... (got tipped off by my frens)

it was a literal Harajuku, or like one of Taiwan's night markets

replete with cool-dressing teenagers and trend-setters, and each shop crammed with many varieties of clothings carrying familiar brands like Adidas, Abercrombie and Fitch, Billabong and so on... as well as accessory shops and other youthful stuff...

too bad I didn't bring my wallet (or was it lucky?.. hehe)..

aniwez.. i Know where I'll be shopping this new year.. =)

fRaNk~

A Walk in the Park...~

finally mustered enough determination to wake up a little earlier today and go to Botanic Gardens with my parents for a run =)

its really a very pretty place with well landscaped places and nice views at every corner, viz



then there was a exhibition placed up, juz for the Christmas spirit... of different Christmas trees decorated by different embassies and associations..


Here's the Japan one.. with nice origami littered around..


Here's France in their national colour for you..

and well.. America went on with their usual proud fashion, and littered their tree with pictures and descriptions of their founding fathers.. *roll eyes~...

oh well.. and i spotted the all-too familiar Simpur Air plant in the Botanic Gardens as well... almost everything can be eaten they say, but Edgar took a taste of it and spat it out during ChillHermit... so there..


and the attraction at Botanic Gardens was currently the "Beginning of the End"... the blooming of the inflorescence of the Talipot Palm tree...

"it ultimately dies in its colossal effort to bloom millions of the flowers.."

food for thought eh?

Adios,
fRank~

tHaNksGivIng TiMe!~

(Ok.. still a bit stunned here.. cos my previous, utterly long one got wiped out when my internet connection went kaput... but i MUST give thanks.. and i'd redo it)

pooh..

ok.. in accordance to my church having our Thanksgiving Worship session (and my sis pestering my to give thanks..).. i shall also have a lil' thanksgiving session..cos God has really blessed me in this year of mine in NS.. i have done things I neva would have dreamed myself capable of doing last time.. and really God's blessing were really poured out unto me this year.. So here are the highlights of the past year, or really.. the 5 MIRACLES that God performed on my life this year...

(1)BTP (Basic Trainfire Package) during BMT
This was really my first major obstacle or tribulation in BMT... one where I felt so completely helpless and panicked that I nearly flipped out...I remember shooting at night and scoring a literally ZERO for certain segments and I think my total score was like 2/16 or something...

GREAT...

I tried all methods to improve, tried hard to remember whatever the sergeants and whatever had said.. but boy.. as I kept trying to rationalize to people:

"Some people are just born bo-bo..."

.. but suck thumb lor.. everyone have to pass or else come back on the third day where everyone else is slacking and re-shoot.. sigh.. I was REALLY abyssmally BAD.. and this time, there was really nothing much a could do to help it.. I felt like it was really pure luck to shoot down a target already... and with the night scores being so teruk..

i had a horrid hong-gan feeling...

we reached back camp and got to sleep at arnd 0200HR (range is like dat).. and me, still in the panicked mode... sent out a SMS-plea to my family, requesting for an all out prayer support to really JUST be able to pass this dratted thing as painless as possible...

and surprisingly.. i got a reply!

it was from my sis.. who just couldn't sleep that night and checked the phone coincidentally.. and saw my message.. and immediately started praying for me.. miraculous ain't it?

so the day of the test came.. and well.. it WASN'T painless.. after rounds and rounds of re-shooting.. I was still very on-the-verge... with 9/16 as my highest score and well.. it meant i needed 7/16 for night...somehow God loves to play with us.. never really fully revealing everything until the last moment..

so i fidgeted the rest of the day away, praying hard for a magical 7.,, and night fell soon..

my night shoot.. AMAZINGLY scored 8!! I remembered feeling a momentous wave of relief spread over me when I gunned down my 7th target... was going to cheer liao... God gave me enough to pass... and not enough to BOAST... (knowing the arrogant me).. and so.. that was the first miracle..

(2)First IPPT Test in OCS
I remember this vividly too, as the test was scheduled to be just after Parent's Visiting Day in the morning, marking the end of 2 weeks in OCS... and well.. I had reason to be really low on confidence...

I was scared I wasn't going to be able to pull 6 chinup or run the passing time.. then kena KICKED OUT of OCS within the first two weeks.. i mean.. how could an officer cadet not even PASS?... so yeah.. i was panicking yet again, worried.. and well.. a dark cloud hung over me...

Furthermore, my peers around me were all like so darn fit and strong, all having like 14-20 pull-ups under their name, all gunning for 9.45 timing for 2.4", all aiming for gold.. whilst i was struggling to come to terms with the fact that I was going to have to match up with these "elite".. to RUN IN CADENCE with them and not die halfway... I was even having trouble clocking the required pull-ups every pull-up session before meals (I HATED THAT)... Not even 6... HOW!?!

And so the dreaded time came... did the static stations and came to pull-up with my palms SWEATING and me trying to pysch myself by chanting:

"6...6...6...just 6 God.."

... and really, watching the rest of my section do... wasn't really helping.. but my turn came.. and I really did 6!! HALLELUJIAH! who cares whether or not it was the lowest score and the instructor pretty much shook his head?.. I had passed.. and a wave of relief came again...

then came the run...

these peers of mine are SIMPLY not human.. they run 2.4" like SPRINTING the whole way and some dun even seem to be breaking a sweat! My respectable 12 minute timing in BMT and my happiness at being able to run continuously 6 rounds without stopping were swiftly crumbling down...

and so I ran... pretty soon there was a sizeable gap between me and the rest of the people but I just ran on...heck-caring how the rest ran... just running my own race and singing hymns along the way... and I felt as though God put wings on my feet...

I came in last.. but passed.. with a timing of 11.45... so phew! improved some more =)

(3)SOC (Veto for Service Term 2)
THIS one really brought me to my lowest of lows.. and really.. it was a HUMONGOUS OBSTACLE, casting a UNPRENETRATABLE DARK CLOUD over my days in ST2.. i was stressed out, worried, hopeless, really hating SOC and hoping I wouldn't have to re-service term and go through all the SHIT again...

it was really a terrible time.. people called it a buggeration, but then most cleared it and went on to prep for OCS Carnival games or just resting in bunk.. whilst I was desperately trying to pysch myself up and prep myself in every way possible, worried about blisters, falling out, malu-ating myself in front of others, and just plain sick of it all..

it was bad... my best timing up till then was 11.10...

passing was 9.30...

i was THAT far away... it was a terrifying thought... HOW in the world was i going to gather enough reserves to cut the time by like a minute and 40 seconds?! HOW!?! I had no answers, I was at wits end... Instructors pretty much had given me all the advice they could give... and so well.. it was pretty much left to God..

I prayed and prayed and prayed..my dad even placed this problem on the Prayer Watch that he circulated to the deacons and pastors... (he was deacon-chairman)

I would really require a MIRACLE...

then, further disaster struck... the test before the one I passed, I clocked an OCS-RECORD of the SLOWEST timing... something like 20 minutes odd... and well.. when I was readying myself for the reverse run-down practice... I felt a sense of utter hopelessness and DOOM..

I started tearing and like literally gave up liao... wondering why it had to be like this... why it was so tough.. people like Shiming had to pull me along to finish the SOC.. My hopes were all but shattered liao..

then the day came... due to the previous disaster, I could only really try my best and hope for the best.. I don't think I was even really thinking of passing... just improving my timing...but well.. TIME was running out too..

we started running... I fell behind...

halfway down.. the familiar fatigue set in and all my resolve started to fade away into pain.. PAIN and MISERY... it was getting too tough...

started on the obstacles.. passed the BLOODY WALL on the second try... by then i thought it was impossible to pass liao..

finished the obstacles surprisingly ahead of 2 people.. suddenly, I saw a glimmer of hope, when I realised the timing wasn't that bad...

started the run-down... died out again... got overtaken.. and time was REALLY running out...

"1 minute left!" Lta Toh shouted... "Hurry Up!"..

10 seconds left.. I was reaching the end... COME ON FRANK!!!.. I dashed for the end..

...

my timing? 9.29..

I JUST MADE IT.. ON THE DOT..

THANK GOD!!

--
(tired liao.. will write the next day tmr i guess..)
frAnk

Day 2, ChillBone, Telugong Area

Day 2, 0700HR Motong Area
So we woke up feeling grouchy and irritated with all the animals biting us.. and we set targets to like get to S. Amo by 11.00 then reach the base of Telugong by 1.00 and then reach CP by 2.00.. hehe.. think u can guess what happens..

We tried following the ridgeline again but yet again it ended up in the river.. so we ended up detouring up and down the river banks trying to find a path until like yesterday.. we just took the river route and waddled our way on... one part the water got so deep we had to take our life jackets out and swim across... pooh.. really turning out such that no day can we keep our legs dry (did i mention it was incredibly blessed that it didn't rain at all on the first day? thank god..)

0900HR, Motong, Lil' Island of Blank Space
we decided following the river was gonna get too risky as it led direct to Amo A river... so we change course and hit a so called "blank space of an island" which was pretty big (we of course optimistically hoped it was a flat terrain.. but i think by now, that kind of thought would be extremely naive)... we climbed and climbed then went down ravines that weren't supposed to be there, most of us got bitten by some wierd creature (with two teeth, as Yikiat describes).. and we desparately headed uphill to find solace.. by then time was running out again and we were still trapped on the lil' island, inching closer and closer to Amo area.. sigh..so we just bash NW and finally hit S. Amo.. yippee!

1100HR, S. Temburong
Another water adventure, only this time more dangerous cos (1)we weren;t supposed to be using the river.. and the Lakiun people threatened they would use speed boats to patrol the area.. (imagine our panic when we heard speed boats -- we immediately dashed up the beach for cover) (2) the river was really pretty dangerous.. there were rapids, slippery rocks, and river openings that we had to cross...so most of the times we were on life jackets..and well.. it was really easy to slip.. Qiyang had to cramp halfway and well.. just pretty bad lah.. but at least we made quite good progress.. and knew where we were.. at least there were no hidden knolls or whatever.. and we saw Telugong.. so on track eh?

0130hr, Kg. Parit, Piano Bridge Area
We headed off from the river and reached an open expanse of area where it was darn pleasant to walk and we swiftly reached the base of Telugong.. problem is, we couldn't find any obvious path or track that led straight up.. and Hichael said we had to keep away from obvious roads and tracks.. so we just anyhow went up Telugong... and well.. here we go again

0430HR CP 317, top of Telugong
We spent a freakin' 3 hours climbing up this irritating mountain where parts of it was a literally rock climbing challenge or as Chiyu calls it, the vertical island hopper from hell...we had to climb from boulder to boulder, sometimes nearly vertcally upwards till we reached the top.. and my gawd... 797 feet never seemt to toweringly high... we climbed AND climbed and climbed.. getting more and more frustrated as time ticked away.. when we finally reached the ridgeline, J Bay said we were still 300m from the CP.. so suck thumb and walk.. when finally reached we were so darn relieved.. yet worried cos it was getting dark and the rest of the teams had already found their CP1 earlier.. but after a discussion, decided that rest was more important and harboured at a nice big clearing at the top of Telugong..

0500HR, top of Telugong, Harbour Area
first came a bitterly cold rain which wet everything around us and made me start my shivering spells again.. i just huddled there with my boots on and wished for the rain to stop... couldn't sleep cos the rain had trickled in and the groundsheet was flooding up.. =(.. thankfully.. rain soon abated and i busied myself with set up a humongous fire to warm myself up.. funnily.. the smoke keep blowing towards jeremy and qi yang but never at me..so i cheerfully fanned the flames to warm myself... Staff there gave us some peanut biscuits and instant noodles which we regarded as heavenly treasures man.. quickly lunged at it and polished them off in quick succession.. YUMMY! each of us made a vow to go back Singapore and buy peanut biscuits.. (but up till now still haven)..

Zzzz... for the night.. though it was still DARN COLD atop the hill.. brrr..

FrAnk

Something I've Learnt from Weddings

John and Nani got married today at Fullerton.. was a nice nice wedding with an added festivity spirit of Christmas.. which ultimately set off my sis to start planning for her wedding, how the comperes must be, how she will dedicate this to who and so on..

oh well..

but one thing the pastor said today was very though-provoking --> "you only truly love someone if that love hurts you"... then he followed on with ecamples like how we sacrifice our time to help others, how parents sacrifice their energy and love to take care of children... hmm... so indeed.. food for though eh?

frAnk

mErRy ChriStMas pEoPLe!

It's Christmas liao!!! Yipee!!

Ya'know.. One thing that I was dreaming of whilst suffering in Brunei, one thing that was sustaining me was the notion that when i returned to Singapore, everyone would be in the festive Christmas spirit and everyone would be jolly and Christmas presents would fly all around and so on.. (so imagine my horror when i though we were gonna get quaratined at Lakiun)

Itz also partially because I fell ill exactly this time of the year last year... my first bookout after entering NS where i got food poisoning and spent a good part of my Christmas retching in bed and complaining of tummyaches... when i was well, it was back to camp...

But well.. when I came back.. just couldn't find or really feel the Christmas spirit... be it whilst walking down Orchard Road and seeing the fairy lights and hearing some Christmas songs, or seeing throngs of people in red garb clutching colourful bags or prezzies, or even in the perceived Christmas bashes and parties that I thought we as a family could celebrate... but it turned out to be a pretty dull affair w/o a really delicious spread of food or wine and with little festivities... sigh... I thought I was gonna be pretty disappointed this Christmas..

but then.. the church session (which i was initially reluctant to go to as I wanted to have a true Xmas party) truly brought the Christmas spirit back to me and made me realise with a start...

It's not about me..

It's about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ...

and God's such deep love to us, even though we ae so unlovable...

such love that he gave up his send and condemned him to Earth.. where he knew his ultimate destiny was death on the cross...

That's WHAT we celebrate.. it's a celebration of God's love! NOT like in Love Actually.. where Christmas is a excuse to buy gifts, to shower each other with love.. (i mean not that it's not good.. but it's off focus)

+++ back to the gathering, it was an evangelistic event, and we'll I respect those people who were willing to come to church instead of hitting the streets, thinking they can "soak up the atmosphere".. but in actually fact, being in Church was the one thing that made me feel so joyful and peaceful within my heart.. and the singing of all those beautiful hymns made things so warm and fuzzy (ha!)

so yeah.. people.. realize the true meaning of Christmas.. this Christmas.. k?

We Are The Reason

As little children
We would dream of Christmas morn
Of all the gifts and toys
We knew we'd find
But we never realized
A baby born one blessed night
Gave us the greatest gift of our lives

We were the reason
That He gave His life
We were the reason
That He suffered and died
To a world that was lost
He gave all He could give
To show us the reason to live

As the years went by
We learned more about gifts
The giving of ourselves
And what that means
On a dark and cloudy day
A man hung crying in the rain
All because of love, all because of love

I've finally found the reason for living
It's in giving every part of my heart to Him
In all that I do every word that I say
I'll be giving my all just for Him, for Him

He is my reason to live

FrAnk!~
(P.S. MERRY CHRISTMAS ALVIN TNG!)

Chillbone, Day 1, Motong Area

So they say nothing is constant except change.. and well, our details got shuffled up for ChillBone.. much to most people's dismay. At that time though, I thought my detail was strong.. cos it had Hichael, Thye Heng, Melvin, me, Luke, Jeremy, Qiyang and Yi Kiat.. but oh well.. regardless of our own strengths, we had to fully assimilate as a group before we could fully maximise each others potential.. sadly.. I don't think we really managed to assimilate.. and slowly our mental and physical capacities withered as the days went on and our stomachs got more and more hungry...

We were dropped at S. Motong area and had to go to Bt. Telugong which was around 797 feet i think.. at that time it didn't really seem very imposing or tough, and Melvin and I discussed that to get the 40 points for ChillBone (ie. full marks), we had to find a check point for every 7 hours... and most probably had to hit Telugong by the first day... How naive we were! Within the first few hours our hopes and morale quickly dipped and by the end of the day we had only travelled 2 miserly map squares upwards... still FAR from Telugong... You see, our original plan was as Cpt Justiin had said, which was to travel along S. Motong then reach S. Temburong and then follow it all the way to the foot of Temburong @ Kg. Parit... we had to do so cos the area direct northwards would ultimately lead to the "Brunei Bermuda Triangle" of Amo area.. which according to our instructors.. was not to place we would like to be in...and judging by how tough navigation had been for Nomad, we placed our trust on their words...

problem is..the river banks of S. Motong were literally impassable with thick bamboo clusters (plus.. I now have a fear of bamboo clusters after Chiyu commented on how a particular type of snake likes to live near bamboo..shudder) and then once we reached the loop of the river... we realised we might have to traipse through cultivated land as well as cross a pretty deep looking river and hence things were not looking good... =( plus Hichael, who had assumed the main navigator role tried to cross a dry river to the other end by crawling up a fallen log and ultimately slipped and fell pretty hard into the mud.. so it really was a pretty terrible start...

so we then decided to just head north and attempt to use the ridgelines to navigate... it was a tough climb and everyone was exhausted, but felt that perhaps this route would finally pay off and allow us to catch up some time... but well, Brunei wasn't going to let up so easily and the routes got more and more obscure and dead falls just kpet appearing.. but still we pushed on.. until we reached an area where we were pretty much confined to a trail due to a continuous row of Iban traps( had fun setting a few off).. then we missed the spur leading further northwards and headed too west along the trail, decided to bash northwards in hope of finding the ridgeline that headed northwards but ended up in a deep ravine... struggled whilst cursing and swearing as we had to climb uphill again until we reached the Iban trails, where we still failed to find the exact spur leading on...

by then most of us were darn discouraged, pissed off and downright worried... cos the area was swiftly getting bathed with the golden lights of the setting sun.. we were pretty screwed.. I den made a decision to just follow the well cleared Iban trail and see where it lead us.. (I was hoping it would lead to a clear river with nice beaches that we could walk on and maybe some settlements..) How naive i was! Somehow the Ibanese just build traps and clear trails that lead to nowhere.. and hence we soon found ourselves in a tiny river blocked by numerous deadfall (shades of ROC here).. I was started to regret my decision but well.. they really wasn't any other way out and hence we bashed via the river route for a while (around 300m) until it got frighteningly dim and we all agreed to head up and harbour.. afterall no one would want to harbour in the river or something.. after climbing for darndedly long again, we surprisingly reached a pretty nice clearing and found that hey! we were on the ridgeline we originally wanted to be on!.. so maybe things weren't so bad after all..

thru the nite got bitten like mad by some black small insects.. couldn't sleep at all... din really do sentry and just tried to toss and turn and pray that my feet would be ok...

frANk

Movie Marathon!

Today was my initiation back into Orchard Road and back into the Pop Couture world.. what better way than to watch 2 movies?


First watched National Treasure (before it slips away) with Jack,Kaiwei and Linus.. and well..made pretty much noise eating the pretty stale nachos with cheese.. (Jack told me to shush alot of times..)My verdict? Diane Kruger looks gorgeous, the clues are pretty kewl but well, overall thought the pace of the movie could have been tighter and the cript more well-written... I mean the general idea and plot by itself IS already a winner, judging by the Knights of the Templar and Da Vinci Code fervour whipped up by Dan Brown (which probably shows why it topped the charts for 3 weeks).. but then if the pace was cranked up and the acting and dialogue better.. then it would have made a blockbuster. Overall though, it was GOOD.. esp Diane Kruger and the heist for the Declaration.. but well.. the treasure made the whole show just scream "Disney".. oh well.. hehe.. (hate being the realist I am)


Next movie i caught was the Phantom of the Opera at Plaza Singapura..

Pretty kewl.. though at times it got too opera-tish than reel... but well.. the ending was touching and the songs well executed (though i again will comment that Christine at times sounded too nasal and the male voices were a little too weak at times) Hmmm.. but Phantom of the Opera should learn more tricks from Moulin Rogue and really use to music to move the audience, as well as the technicolour effect... and well.. the Masquerade scene was like completely ripped from My Fair Lady's Racing scenes and i thought a dancing was like a beat off the music.. sigh.. i was expecting more for the Masquerade segment.. more colour and more dance... cos it is like the centerpiece of the show... oh well.. one can't ask too much... at least ow i understand the show and the genius of Andrew Lloyd Webber to craft such beautiful songs and fill the songs with such meaning.. Bravo!

till then..
FRaNk

"It must be the Water..." Brunei Reflections Part Deux

So after finishing one nice navi exercise.. it was back to horrid Lakiun Camp.. let me attempt to explain why..

1. The SOI was a contemptible, embarrasingly arrogant person who honestly just rubbed the wrong side of us. Plus he talked alot of cock... He went around with all his lofty ideals and his reasons why officers nowadays are screwed up and doomed and how we are so slow in movement and must move fast.. Hello!?! You are like a half-baked Lieutenant trying to preach in front of Capts and Ltc Cols and trying to act like there's something wrong with the system and so on... His unbearableness carried on in almost everything he did... he THINKS he is effective and fast... but ultimately i think his talk-cock sessions waste more time than his "measures".. gosh.. And really, he made a seemingly innocent and mild-sounding AAR turn into a tension-filled debate where he refused to listen to suggestions and kept trying to cover up for his mistakes or just plain not accepting any real suggestions, insisting that everything wrongwas on OUR part and never his... i mean.. its an AAR?!?... yet i felt outright oppressed and like as if if I went to speak, I would have to endure being insulted, then being scutinied hard for some mistkae on MY part that caused everything.. gosh..

2. Its not only him... (which makes us suspect its shumthin' in the water)the irritating sneering Cpt who inspected my detail before ChillBone was equally obnoxious.. the way he condemned us as "scholars.. who just can't understnad simple instructions" (ironic ain't it?).. and just keep acting overbearing, obnoxious and darn irritating... what a jerk

So u see.. with such people around, its no real wonder why people would rather go outfield man...

frANK

Tribute to Singapore Idol -- Taufik Batisah

Well well.. Singapore DOES have ears afterall, as the Singapore Idol finale wrapped up to a sweet happily-ever after ending with talented Taufik trouncing the poor yet enigmatic contender, Slyvestre.. yay.. and well.. i thought it was very gracious of Taufik to share the last song with Slyvestre.. as well as not to immediately whore around the limelight like any nomral American Idol would have.. this guy's decent... and a cool cool singer..

AIN'T NO SUNSHINE

Ain't No Sunshine
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
It's not warm when she's away
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
She's gone much too long
Any time she goes away

Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
Wonder if she's gone to stay
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
And this house just ain't no home
Anytime she goes away


I know
She's gone to stay
It's breakin' me up
Anytime she goes away
Gotta leave the young thing alone
There ain't no sunshine when she's gone


Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
It's not warm when she's away
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
And she's gone much too long
Any time she goes away


Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
I wonder if she's gone to stay
There ain't no sunshine when she's gone
And this house just ain't a home
Any time she goes away


I know
She's gone to stay
It's breaking me up
Any time she goes away
Gotta leave the young thing alone
There ain't no sunshine when she's gone


Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
I wonder if she's gone to stay
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
And this house just ain't no home
Any time she goes away
Any time she goes away

Brunei Reflections

-General
-The OC Runner
-EX Nomad
-EX ChillBone
-EX ChillHermit
-Post EX CHillHermit

All in all, if ROC was a lesson in victory and confidence, then Brunei was a lesson in failure, defeat and humility, which i do hope i learn. I set out with 4 objectives, and ultimately only accomplished one, and well.. came starkly aware of my mental limits and my lack of preparation. If anything, failure to get the JCC badge thought me to appreciate my limits as well as to learn to be humble in every aspect and most importantly, to ALWAYS be prepared.

EX Nomad started the sequence of events well, with my detail plus Samuel and Yazid finally being able to get to our feets and work out the best methodology of navigating on the final three, allowing us to find POKE/PULL and NAME/SIGN.. hence getting the highest score of the Wing -- 8 points. I must say though, that it was tough, and the Bruneian jungle was truly the one enemy out there... if anything, the map was pretty much a useless appendage with some many empty spaces around and there being so many hidden knolls, hidden streams, and even hidden ridgelines that standalone... The confusing and terrible terrain stressed out team pretty much especially on the second day where we kept circling round our MP (PANT/SUIT), yet never really being able to find it.. at one point i really blew a fuse when we reached the eastern boundary of the AO and hit the road, and when Yazid told me to shut up when I was commenting it was not a smart idea to take the road, i lost it for a moment... It was really not easy, but the two new members at least brought some perserverence and unrelenting verve to push our pretty much discouraged team one for some moments.

But for one, our team knew our weakness and we constantly tried to improve and learning from our mistakes.

1. We learnt to stop and think, instead of foolishly bashing through 1km of route and then realizing it was wrong, or like going down a knoll before realizing we had to backtrack... that put a terrible strain on us initially. Our strategy ended up being that whenever we reached a spot we were unsure, like a cross junction or whatever, it would be a recce down 200m odd to see whether we were sniffing in the right direction. "One step in the right direction is much better than 1km in the wrong one"

2. We learnt to utilise each others abilities effectively... I was the pathfinder, effectively a navigator who pretty much used intuition, sight and direction to find a way through, and i tended to like to use the nice large trails. Edgar was the direct basher, whom took over on the second day when i got really irritated after PANT/SUIT, and did wonders as he found a much shorter route back to the northern parts of the AO, thou it did require some pretty treacherous climbings and steep drops.(Chiyu had to exercise some Spiderman moves to get up whilst I was like doing a vertical maze trying to hold any tree that was firm to pull myself up... oh well it was fun) Royston, with all his meticulousness, became a superb plotter who paired well with sure footed Fadli as the pacer... (though he did plot us on the wronf knoll the last day.. but whatever).. Aniwez, towards the last part, it seemt that finally that everyone in our team had found their niche and were doing very well...

3. Positivity is THE key... Edgar kept saying "We'll be there soon.. around 300m...".. and though we all knew it most probably was around 1km of grueling bashing or so on.. it did lift our morale... I caught on to it soon too and was saying things like "Come on.. it's only the next knoll!".. (which proved to be true.. haha!)Chiyu being the perenial joker also helped lift our morale through the tough times, like his "I'm swimming in my hammock and trying to bail water with my bottle cap!"... Luke's songs (but certainly not his lame jokes) and our jibes at him about Big Bertha were also great entertainments.. =) ours should be called the singing detail man...

4. Remembering important and prominent objects in the surroundings helped a great deal when we had to bypass the area again.. I remember we named things like Big Bird Trap, Delta Mtg Pt, Foxtrot Mtg Pt, Vine Encounter, Ant Trail, Alpha Symbol and so on so forth.. and it did help alot...

So yeah... it seems the group i used to think was hopeless and wanted to leave finally blossomed... but well.. guess what? Lakiun's ugly shadow soon reared its head and mixed up all our details again.. but thatz another story..(And well... as they always say... u only start treasuring things when u have lost it=( )

Aniwez, it was generally a pleasant experience especially the 1st night where the pressure was still not on and we harboured really early at a nice big clearing at SHAG, hung our hammocks and set up a roaring campfire... then had a nice long talk with Jack whilst doing our 2 1/2 hour sentry (which, in actual fact is the only sentry i really did).. it was then i told him the thing that would ultimately come back and slap me in my face --"JCC's not about the badge.. it's ultimately about the experience".. yeah rite.. sigh

The second night was MISERABLE (but still not as bad as what was to come), where it rained the whole night and we chop-chop harboured at GULF after only finding one miserable checkpoint and worried that we would not be able to find the next 2 in time. I had to face my greatest nemesis again.. the cold.. where this time i refused to get out of my hammock and just tried to huddle and sleep.. but sleeping when water was going to seep in the hammock was like sleeping on an ice-block.. and my hammock shaked through the night... and Jack was really nice to ask about me and give me Milo the next morning, where i was chattering to the max (Milo ranks as one of the most important commodity leh).. yeah... the pampering I got at my this detail was also awesome.. with pple like Chiyu/Edgar/Royston/Jack concerned about my freezing... of course i was going to get a rude shock in the new detail...

The last morning was pretty frenetic but generally smooth sailing -- thank god! A sad thing was that we met Inderjit's detail whilst navigating back to NAME/SIGN and they helped direct us and we gave them directions to their crucial checkpoint CANE/CUBE... we told them the exact instructions, including the tree we had marked that indicated the spur to go down... but alas... somehow Joshua never got the whole message through to the whole team and they consequently had to go for RT and ultimately failed...

For now..
FRaNK

Back With a Vengeance... and much afterthoughts

The touchdown cheers at Changi showed pretty much how missed we missed Singapore.. (or translated as how much we hate the hell-hole that calls itself Temburong and Lakiun....)

Will be writing about my reflections in the serious tone soon... but for now.. i'll vent on several minor points..

1. SIA now has a AWESOME array of entertainment, be it the 202 CD collection or the AMAZING movies they were showing, including the un-censored versh of LOVE ACTUALLY (which puts everyone in the mood for christmas --> the show i would opt to be seen for every christmas.. esp the improved versh of Mariah's "I don't wanna alot for Christmas) KEWL!

2. Survivor never has any chance for PRETTY BABES... ie JULIE BERRY... but pu-lease??!? dun go waste your youthful and pretty looks plus sharp mind and go dating with the 43 year old prune of Jeff Probst!!?
.
pretty+kewl+smart.. too bad she was out-manouevred by Chris... oh well..still she'll be in my dreams.. so GET LOST PROBST!

3. 1 MORE MONTH TO GO!!

ok... will be serious later on... this is for now..
(btw.. i only lost 2 kg.. which kinda makes me feel sore... but i'm feeling good about my weight and so on.. just KEEP IT THERE BABY!)

Ok.. finally going liao

In the airport transit lounge and going to board the plane soon... pooh... oh well.. wish me luck!