Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Reflections.

it's a rare occassion when i'm home so nicely sitting here minding my own business, so i guess i shall blog. and reflect on this month. by far the most eventful month of 2004 or dare i even say it, the most eventful month in the whole of my life. so it goes, this month (or on 30 nov) my exams ended. this month, i went to obk. this month, i learnt loads. this month, i stared death in the face. this month, i escaped death in the face. this month, i ran away from the tsunamis. this month, i spent most of my days in the mountains. this month, i got closer to nature. this month, i got my driving license. this month, i meet new people. this month, i make new friends. this month, old friends contact me. this month, i get my name on newspaper. this month, i get my picture in newspapers. this month, who knows what else is going to happen.

but let me talk about obk first and perhaps give a blow-by-blow account of the event.

for the uninitiated, obk stands for Outward bound Korea. and what's up in korea? the cold is so chilly it absolutely numbs ur fingers and totally brings a new meaning to the word cold. it's cold not only with a capital C, but a Capital O L and D to boot. yes, it is that damn cold.

anyway on the first day, we was like, you don't know me i don't know you, and my good friend ek kiat kinda didnt go so the only person i kinda knew was zixu. and the rest were like fair-weather acquaintances. the kind u give a friendly nod to on days when you feel good. but things were about to change. sat with zixu on the plane, and this fella, zixu, is a snag. he needs to reflect on many things. so there he was scribbling away frantically on the plane when all i could think about was whether i had enough clothing cos everyone's bag seemed to be much bigger than mine. and they had TWO bags i had one. mmm i travel light. or so they say. on the plane, kinda subdued affair, mainly cos it was a midnight flight, and also cos of the icy cold surrounding us, we were all in our little cliques like y`know, all afraid to break the ice. god damn, it'd be so cold there and we'd all had to be cool and icy. i decided it was time. to break. the ice. so i talked a little, slept a little.

and then we arrived. in incheon airport. i like to be in korea. somehow, its the crisp air of korea that rejuvenates me. its the long drawl of the korean vowels which i love. its the yo yo yo with which the koreans end their sentences which gives it the hip hop air! at incheon airport, there was the usual admin briefings, the usual shit we all go through at every kind of school-organised tour. its all like that. but u know, i cleared immigration fast, through a clever combination of smart strategising, cunning manipulating, and some shreds of luck. and so i waited at the baggage carousel, watching as the belts go through their motions, which are never-ending. sometimes i wonder, aren't this belts ever tired of going around in circles, and circles, and circles. and then i realise, these belts are not meant to go around in circles and circles and circles. they're meant to carry luggage. and they feel happy carrying new luggage everyday, so they aren't bored. anyway we had to wait bloody long for the bus to come and in the process, i did a few silly things, cos someone's gotta sacrifice their pride for everyone else to laugh, and i got no pride, so u know, i make people laugh, so they'd be more pally and lose their inhibitions. not to the point where we all become primordial and animally, but more like pally. i tried to referesh whatever little korean-memory i had in case it might come in useful at some point of time. i played with a dog. i strolled up and down the airport. we joked about kimchi-flavoured condoms and quickies betweeen instructors, and just when it all was gaining momentum, the bus came.
HELL YEAH, the bus came.

so there we went, with our luggage in tow, to the bus. the bangbus, or so it was christened. it was where we plonked our butts for a cuppla hours. we joked on the bus, slept on the bus, did randomly stupid things on the bus. and then we slept. it was a good bus ride, i gotta admit. although the scenery of korea is nothing to cry out about, or at least just the scenery of the town, i kinda like the greying buildings.. the tattered streets, the lack of english, and the general familiar foreignness of that place. and before arriving at our destination, we adjourned for some lunch. lunch of tofu with rice. absolutely wonderfully healthy. zero cholestrol i must say. pure protein with pure carbohydrates. no wonder them koreans are so healthy. the kimchi was there too, as is on every korean meal table, and an assortment of side dishes. this was just the beginning of the new experiences we were going to face.

having finished our lunch, we went for our photo-taking opportunities, which would become legendary the moment we were done with this trip. me, i was kicking myself for not bringing my camera.

and so off we went, to the farmer's house. we had to walk there. i was kinda groaning about having to walk there. damn, it wasn't even the warm up or prelude to what we were gonna encounter. but the scenery was absolutely gorgeous and the campsite that greeted us, though small, seemed to have a warm, cosy, welcoming feel to it. wasn't what i expected, but it was good enough. it was a place, that would accomodate us, and have us attaching our affections to it. the dried grass made for excellent tumbling. and tumble we did, when we entertained ourselves during morning exercises. the slope leading down to the lake was just the perfect spot for the couple of guys who managed to find good use for it, and the lake served as a reminder that we were never too far away from the water. the farmer was an excellent, albeit eccentric host. and we. we were just obnoxious, young singaporeans, ready to embark on a life-changing experience.

at the base camp, we were introduced to a couple of items which would be our survival kit for the next couple of days. bagpack, pants, down jacket, and tent. so after all that admin kinda thing, we like went to cook. or did we? i can't really remember the sequence of events, but it was all some kinda like nonsense stuff lah. oh, and before all these happened, we were split into groups, through some arbitrary manner, and luck had it that i was in team chainsaw. damn why does the rain outside my window look a little like snow to me? ok, so that really did it for the first day. the first day, sleeping in the sleeping bags were really an experience, it was quite snug and u sorta couldnt move, and we slept in a square. which is quite a weird configuration if you ask me, but that works, and so be it. the sleeping bag was like a cocoon. quite cool. but hell, it was so damn cold in the middle of the night. well anyway, our tent was sorta the rowdiest and noisiest around cos we're like total experts in talking cock. and cock we did talk.

and so on the 2nd day, we woke up, and then we did the morning exercises and all that, packed our bag (which would happen to be our morning routine for the next few days) and set off for a short "introductory" hike in this absolutely splendid place called little diamond valley. the initial trek was ok, except it was a little treacherous cos we were like walking along the edge of the slope and any accidental step would mean falling feets down. and nobody would want that to happen. quite scary if u think abt it. annd then we hiked and hiked and all along the scenery was absolutely amazing. it was totally unlike anything i seen before. the boulders in the lake were eroded over such a long time that they had become rounded and all that and the water flowed like it was possessed by some powerful water spirit or something, yet at other times, it was so pristine, so calm. at points, the lake was even frozen, and it really did look like crystals floating about the lake. it was a sight which should be experienced to realise its true beauty. the hike was really fun, but at that point of time, we all really werent' helping each other much, just sorta walking about as if it was a little school excursion, when we really could have rendered more help to those who needed it more. anyway we walked rather far, or at least in my mind, i thought it was rather far. and then we reached this pathetic small mountain hut which looked like it had been ripped out of a kungfu movie and placed there, and the end had this little playground, a sorta lake with little boulders strategically placed by mother nature for us to hop around and navigate through. it rocked man. litterally. then there was also this bridge, some rickety thing, which you could fall into the water if you weren't careful. and i took extra care and caution, and i got laughed at by the instructor hahaha.. but i made it in the end, so who cares!
anyway, as all good stories have it, we made it back this time, and reached back before nightfall, but couldnt make it soon enough to go abseiling. which is quite sad. cos i like abseiling. but it was ok, i did it before already, and i'd have plenty of chances to do that in the army, if i join guards. but hey! i don't wanna join guards! ok so nvm. and so we went to cook our sad dinner again. which really is quite sad. our rice is always undercooked, or overcooked. our food is always like some kinda nonsense. and there are no alternatives. which is sad. but its ok, we just ate them anyway, mainly cos we were hungry. but that's besides the point. the point is that we cooked our own dinner!!! and that's good enough. what happens after seems to be much easier when u're seated in a group, talking cock, and the food suddenly tastes much better. don't ask me about the science behind this, its just like that.

refer to part 2.

mervyn at 12/29/2004 12:37:00 PM

Thursday, December 23, 2004

the memories refuse to let go.

hi. its late. today, i became the youngest driver in singapore. perhaps someone will break my record tomorrow. but tomorrow, i won't be in singappore. i'll be overseas. so here's wishing a warm and enjoyable christmas to anyone who chances upon this.

what actually made me come here to type is this song which i have been listening to. its called wa jie by nan quan ma ma and its kinda nice. recently, a key incident happened to me which made me question my traditional notions of love. what is love if not more than just mere companionship. just an intense bond of companionship. other than that, what more can love be? i know that when i say this, it is merely an easy way out for my overclocked brain, but little more can i wrench out of it.

recently, in my life, i knew a new girl. she's kinda cool. and groovy. yet, she defies all traditional notions. tell me what this is. perhaps she is a girl from my past; perhaps she is a girl from my future. yet, this is something which is beyond human understanding. there seems to be an uncanny attraction and i find that my inventions wander to her unknowingly, subconsciously. could this be the beginning of a period of weird infatuation at a point where it's best to be avoiding such feelings? or is it a true attraction, a sort of natural force called fate which has generated such feelings. only time will tell. yet there is no pro-activity on my part. i realise you can only rely on fate to a certain extent. beyond that, it's all in yourself.

where is my latent energy. it seems to have been all used up, summoned to a greater use. perhaps i have none. perhaps i have some. whatever the case is, it is not present. yet what it seems is that there is just too much complications in our lives. we are living in a parallel universe. could it be?

i leave you to ponder.

mervyn at 12/23/2004 06:48:00 PM

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

its a constantly evolving process.

hi. i'm finally back from korea obs. it was a wonderful experience. words can never do it justice. the lessons i learnt were amazing, the people i met were great, and the experience was a once in a lifetime one. the view was extraordinary and i even got to the place of my dreams, the place where windstruck was filmed. it was absolutely awesome. i will go back again.

enough of that, i'm seriously tired now, and i got a long day tomorrow. we live on to fight another day, but for now, its goodbye. i'll be elaborating on this at a later period of time, when i'm more refreshed and not so tired. in the meantime, take care everyone.

oh and sorry for the beeps people, its an automatic thing. don't know how to change it. see you all soon man.

mervyn at 12/22/2004 03:30:00 PM

Monday, December 06, 2004

mysteries of life

why is it that i get less hours of sleep in the holidays than i do during school??
damn tired.

mervyn at 12/06/2004 05:53:00 PM

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

me and me ray bans.

yo. what's up. a new day. a new month. a new chapter in life. it was not just yesterday that my a levels officially ended. and now i've got a thing going on. which is slacking. and its so weird, knowing you're essentially engaging in so much non-productive activity nowadays that u feel a need to be doing things and doing so many things but yet u know you don't need to do anything anymore. but come to think about it, i gotta do quite alot of things. like write the psc essay, which i dunno what to write. read up on some universities so i can sound smart when ppl ask me what i wanna do. and my keyboard is getting squeaky.

so. if you don't know already. TAAAAUFik won singapore idol. that's ok lah quite cool. he has the idol face. sly looks abit blur on stage, like not confident. and he sang damn badly today. think the only time he was really good was during the wildcard show. that's sad man. but his fans are numerous lah. just that they all have no money to vote for him. cos they're all teenies. so the secret is.. aim for the upperclassmarket, or like taufik did, be good. taufik's me and mrs jones was absolutely superb man. think the judges did him an awesome favour choosing that song for him. sly sorta screwed up his bon jovi number. but to be honest that was a hard song to do well lah. but he's the final 2. so that cant be excused. and he looked so juvenile when he said he wanted to say hi to his mum man.. hahha.. all the idols seem to be like mummy's boy.. taufik also.. but taufik is acceptable lah since he comes from a single parent family.

but oh well.. maybe its a conspiracy theory. cos the ppl know that sly's album will sell much better so they dont wanna give him the good contract just give him some substandard contract and get a bigger cut out of his sales. that's cool. ok whatever.

got my winter stuff tmr. oh damn. i have the equipment check at 9.30 kallang. so what am i doing now. and i havent packed. ok i think i need to pack. ok bye. that's all folks

me and me ray bans.
don't seperate us.

mervyn at 12/01/2004 05:40:00 PM