!Hola! Buenas.

Was flipping through a book on Spanish for Beginners which I loaned from the National Library.

Weekly review on my 'Always Throw Track Carrier' Battalion:

Highlight of the week was a visit by the Royal Bruneian Infantry Regiment for EX DB. The welcome ceremony was played out in the morning of the 25th. I was innocently standing by the side of HQ block when the Bruneians made a beeline past me to the CO car porch for a break. Pleasantly, a private from the RBIR greeted me 'Good Morning, Corporal'. Aww... that was so sweet... The actual excercise was on Thursday, and our BCS moved out to deploy light mode near Pasir Laba.

Bruneians have a knack for Panadol. According to a certain someone, it is their cure-all miracle pill.

The Safety Officer was giving a Safety Briefing at the Training Shed and after painstakingly explaining the rationale for all personnel to stand during the Safety Briefing to the Bruneians in English, he realized that hardly anyone was paying attention to him / understood what he had been trying to say all the while. When he called for all to rise, only one Bruneian heeded his call. Oh well.

The Singapore Acting Federation was at work during EX DB. Camcorders and Digital Cameras were present at scene when Chief visited.

Apparantly, the Sultan of Brunei himself paid our President and Prime Minister a visit during the Exercise period.

Medics are area cleaning specialists. There is an invisible link between the two. During our ATP last year, we were tasked to clean the toilet at the range. During EX DB, we were tasked to maintain the cleaniness of the traning shed and tasked to pick up litter.

Wednesday: Missed my first IV infusion attempt in half a year.

Friday - Someone from Workshop knocked his head against the turret of an SM-1 tank! Minor contusions, but I sent him to the treatment room for management anyway.

Saturday - Went to Novena and then Plaza Singapura. Met up with Zi Rong, Jian Ming, Loren and Jia Rong for some LAN, and dinner. I think ATP helped double my frag to fragged ration. Ha!

Sunday - Plans for some recreation in the morning called off at the last minute due to unforseen circumstances. In the end, we just settled for lunch at MacDonald's. We tried the Prosperity Burger meal, with the chich patty in the burger having a tad too much pepper and the curly fries not tasty enough.

Still on Maple Story, though I can't wait for Civ 4 and Heroes of Might and Magic 5 to be released!

The week was a rather uneventful week, at least impression-wise:

We went outfield again from Tuesday to Wednesday (No nights off, sob...) Once again, we practised building and demolishing of tentage, attempted to set up our Camo net after dusk, ate combat rations and fed flies. We dismounted once and provided buffet breakfast of 11 x Fresh blood to a thriving mosquito colony on Wednesday morning. Also did up some personal camoflague, which has caused large pimples to form on my face...

Went to Tampines to join Ivan, Rui Yi and Xuelun for a game of badminton on Friday morning, then headed over to Xin Yi's place for a steamboat lunch. The Tom Yam Soup was expecially spicy, and coupled with the warm weather, made for a slightly unbearable lunch. Thankfully, we had some fruit punch and green tea at hand. We managed, as always, to finish all the food. There was this IQ game online, which I spent an hour on, and progressed rather well, till it was time for dinner... Dinner at our neighbour's, Simon's, cooked food outlet near Zhonghua Secondary School.

Went downtown with Mum to meet up with Aunty Dolly for lunch. While they were shopping at Robinsons, I went to check out a hobby shop, and ended up buying 5 model kits for less than thirty bucks! In the afternoon, we went to visit Grandpa and Grandma, and ended up returning home with enough fruits to last a week! Had a sumpteous Seafood Wine Steamboat for dinner along Upper Serangoon Road.

Booking in tonight, and preparing for next week's joint EX with our friendly Bruneians.

The new year was peaceful, or rather quiet, as I'd put it. Fewer cases, in any way, is a good thing for me.

Just last Wednesday and Thursday, we moved outfield to do up our BCS deployment. Set up heavy mode twice, of which one was full-mode... First time setting up for the newbies. I'm certain it was quite an experience for them.

Alvin has happily ORDed, bringing me closer to mine.

Rushed to enter the MAS-ESS Essay Competition, resulting in a less than perfect essay. Oh shoot... Well, this is my first attempt at something on such a grand scale (and my first time writing more than 2,000 words!), so I would say I'm really proud of it. Heh...

Going outfield again for the next two weeks, followed by a Chinese New Year recuperation week, then a final push to ATEC come end of February.

Will be popping by the Singapore EXPO today to check out the MPH Warehouse sale. Hope they have something for me over there...

Till next time then...

The new year was peaceful, or rather quiet, as I'd put it. Fewer cases, in any way, is a good thing for me.

Just last Wednesday and Thursday, we moved outfield to do up our BCS deployment. Set up heavy mode twice, of which one was full-mode... First time setting up for the newbies. I'm certain it was quite an experience for them.

Alvin has happily ORDed, bringing me closer to mine.

Rushed to enter the MAS-ESS Essay Competition, resulting in a less than perfect essay. Oh shoot... Well, this is my first attempt at something on such a grand scale (and my first time writing more than 2,000 words!), so I would say I'm really proud of it. Heh...

Going outfield again for the next two weeks, followed by a Chinese New Year recuperation week, then a final push to ATEC come end of February.

Will be popping by the Singapore EXPO today to check out the MPH Warehouse sale. Hope they have something for me over there...

Till next time then...

BELATED HAPPY NEW YEAR to you!

Took several days off to enjoy a nice, peaceful New Year. I guess this is the first time I do not have to work from home, though I did recieve 2 calls, one of which was from the COS, asking me to get 'my fellas to attend a briefing'.

Anyway, went to Europa for a buffet dinner on Thursday night. I'd say the spread on a weekday is a far cry from the sumpteous one on a weekend. The chefs were rushing the dishes, and the patrons themselves were consuming food at a far greater rate than can be replenished. Lesson learnt: Go for ala-carte on weekdays; Save the buffets for the weekends.

Saw Alan at Ang Mo Kio on Thursday morning. He was with his mum at the market.

The Countdown to the New Year went ahead according to schedule, at cousin Ah Seng's place. The spread included finger food, Roast Beef, Stuffed Turkey, Pizza, Assam (Fish) Curry and... wine. Using the new cork screw from Hong Kong, it now takes 4 seconds to remove a cork from a wine bottle.

Started on Maple Story, a 2-D fantasy game that has surprisingly gotten me hooked. Am now a level 18 Magician, after 2 days of slogging.

Meet Benjamin at the lift landing just as I was about to go down to SMU.

Took 105 instead of 156 to the Botanical Gardens and was rewarded with a one-hour walk around the Gardens. Although it is undergoing extensive renovation, much of the Gardens is surprisingly serene and beautiful. At the Rainforest trail, a tree branch snapped and fell on a spot I had just crossed several seconds before. Phew!

Will be booking in tonight.

Not made any resolutions. Have not been making them anyway. Besides, New Year's resolutions only come once a year. What we need are goals and aims, be it long-term or short-term.

The next two months will be rather tiring... lots of Exercises going on.

Happy Lunar New Year in advance!

2005 will be the year of Rememberance/Awareness of Natural Disasters. In the recent Tsunami/Earthquake that destroyed Bandar Aceh, more than 150,000 people are expected to be fatalities. Earthquakes in China of smaller magnitudes occasionally kill more than ten times this figure, but we are not as 'aware' of such catastrophies.