Saturday, October 29, 2005

living for the weekends

hey, wassap in here. this week has been a rather good week.

well, mon to wed was like the SUMMARY EXERCISE for me, which is like the last ever damn outfield in my whole cadet life, and potentially the last outfield in my whole army life. which is sad, and happy at the same time. that's how we feel in life most of the time. contradicting emotions. interesting. anyway, for the exercise, i was like battalion QM, so that was rather slack. as in i spent alot of time just lying around the place doing nothing much. maybe it's just that i was so efficient i didnt need to do much. finished everything quick. but well, things weren't going that rosy, and i became the BRIGADE log warrant, and cheok was the QM. obviously, cheok didn't do anything, so i was BRIGADE log warrant and QM. like whoa. super dual appointments man. together with JW. so we were half a QM. anyway, it was really interesting, and the amount of learning that goes on in the brigade is crazy. you can learn so much just by being there due to the sheer amount of activity that goes on. only got like 3 hours of sleep in the 2 days. WHICH IS ALOT. A REAL LUXURY. haha... cheok, on the other hand, managed an exorbitant paris hilton-esque amount of sleep. which is like 12 hours. haahaa.. or basically all the time when he was the brigade QM. ha, how's that. in infantry the max u actually plan is to COY level. in logs, its BDE level! BDE!! WHOAAA!! but anyway i still prefer infantry. logs is too sedentary for a man like me.

anyway, on thurs, we booked out and that was it. in the day had some irrelevant talks. things on manpower, which i admit is really interesting, but still irrelevant. then, we had some guy talking to us on best unit comps and all that nonsense, which is totally irrelevant to me too. so i spent most of that time writing cheok songs, which i admit are rahhh-ther good. but what can u expect when u're working with mervyn, the master of excellence and premium performance. perform i shall, cos i have been arrowed as the gamemaster for the mega happy hour on 11nov.

friday was cohesion day, and t`was something fun at least. i mean, it really was kinda cohesion for us, as we went to east coast and cycled and did all those kinda things which just gives u that warm fuzzy feeling. esprit de corps kinda thing. wonderful. we cycled to esplanade and back, and t`was fun. cycling past dunman high was kinda nostalgic, as i saw the fields which i used to run around, and that parade square, which seems so small now, compared to the enormous NJ one, which is further dwarfed by the sprawling parade square of OCS. WHICH I WILL BE ON IN 2 WEEKS TIME! which i will be commissioning on in FIVE weeks time. 40 days. it is so near.. 40 days out of 336 days.. 296 days have passed.. whoaaaa..
anyway, it was followed by a bbq. at which i didnt eat much. everyone was trying too hard to be a chef, and was basically crowding around the small pit. me and deming just stood at the side and passed them the raw food to cook. but it was alright in the end. had a bbq today too. its crazy! so many bbqs! i'll be dying soon from my mass ingestion of carcinogens.


and i proudly proclaim today the most wasted time day of my year. 2005. it was a totally wasted day, cos i had to meet this friend for some business talk. ok, supposedly believing it was some kinda serious business, i planned my timetable to it. but when i reached there, it was some MLM networking nonsense. and to get in, i'd have to pay $3450! so i told the guy not to waste my time and none of his time either, and promptly went fuming off. what a waste of time. actually, my main concern was not the money involved, but rather, it is the pure stupidity of it. i totally think networking is a piece of crap nonsense. and almost amounts to cheating. what utter nonsense. so, pissed off, i headed off to orchard, where i was due to meet xm at 5.30, which she changed to 6. so, upon arrival, i sent her another sms and checked when she'd be here. now, it changed to 7. whoa, and i had to to wait. so being impatient me, i told her to watch the movie herself, and went home. i mean, at least have to courtesy to like inform me like earlier, instead of when i asked. that's like the totally benjamin attitude. ha ok not many ppl will understand what im talking abt, but i do, so who cares. tt really totally pissed me off and i was ready to kill some ppl or at least draw blood or something like tt. practically wasted my whole sunday afternoon just like that. what crap. and wasted my $19 (i booked tickets for the movie which i didnt watch)
what utter nonsense. but its alright, im used to being treated like a dog. that's why i'll be a nice officer and not treat my men like dogs next time, cos i know what it feels like. but ppl always want officers to treat their men like dogs, and order them arnd. come on, men are no different frm u and me, and they can think. why shud we order them arnd and tell them how to do things which u want them to do, when they obviously know already. totally stupid.

at night, wanted to go clubbing, but nowhere had nobody so we went for the next best tihng, dota. sad life we lead. argh, where did everybody go! what crap. but nvm, wed is mambo night, and we will definitely see one of the most familiar faces there, aka mervyn. ok not true, but who cares. its getting rather late anyway.

anyway, lately i've been thinking. and i've been thinking. and i've been thinking. and i've been thinking. about her. and that's what we boys do when we're bored and have nothing to do. and im like damn... if only i could... but i can`t! and my dear camp mates talk like its so easy, when it isn't! ok this is totally irrelevant.

another thing which i've been thinking abt is where i'll go after i comm. hopefully, i get posted to the airforce thing, simply because air force is like so cool.
xxx : "hey, where're u now?"
me : "air force"
xxx : "wow!"

ok, i'd go wow if i knew someone was frm air force. cos airforce is "above all." and it'd be easier for me to go to tamworth too. ok, enough of all this, think i'd best be going to bed now. it's really late. anyway, i think i'm currently infatuated with this certain person. it's crazy. haha yea it totally is irrational and illogical. oh, and some totally useless, irrelevant information. my sword number is 2005/08. i like that number! i hope it remains that way even when cheok ooc.


goodnight babes

mervyn at 10/29/2005 08:14:00 PM

Thursday, October 27, 2005

not a post per se

this is not really a post, but rather, a response to james's recent posting. access james website thru james9oh.blogspot.com

ok, for the first day, if a monk walks out, and sees nobody, he will immediately know he is the one. so he will jump off immediately, and spare the world of its misery.
therefore, one can conclude, that there is more than one monk with the dot.

for the second day, with knowledge that there is more than one monk with the dot, they will walk out again. if a monk sees only ONE OTHER GUY with the dot on the head, automatically, he can conclude that since the number is more than one, and he only sees one other monk with the dot, there are 2 monks with dots, and he will know he is the other guy with the dot, so they will both jump down together concurrently.
BUT THE PROBLEM IS NOBODY JUMPS DOWN so once again, from the above reasoning, we knows there cannot be 2 guys, and the number of monks with dots is 3 or more monks.

so for the third day, if a dotted monk sees 2 other guys, he will conclude he is the third guy, and jump down together with all of them. so the answer is three, because they jumped down on the third day.

now, if we examine the process of getting the answer, we can see that we got the answer through the question. that is to say, technically, the question could go on and on and on until the 8th day, and 8 monks will be the answer.

therefore, the question is flawed!
the answer is gotten from elimination, and from the question. it is not anything related to IQ or anything. it is a completely time wasting dumb question.
something which james likes.
hahaa!!

mervyn at 10/27/2005 01:06:00 PM

Sunday, October 16, 2005

If only you knew

its a sunday night, and a rainy day. and i'm due back to camp in what is probably 2 hours time. See, the life of a cadet.

Being in the army has really changed me rather much. yet, not all of it is positive. but it is alright. I think i'm one of the priviledged few who is able to be an officer in NS, and this is something good. furthermore, being an officer, one really learns a great deal. one learns humility, one learns pride, one learns how to bitch and how to suck it up. one learns how to handle men and how to handle warrant officers. one learns about leadership. the ability to develop one's leadership is perhaps the greatest skill which the army gives to its soldiers. Every soldier, regardless of rank, is given the opportunity to develop one's self. Even the most mundane, such as a storemen, is entrusted with a store, easily worth 100k in equipment to manage. A private, who is an RP, will be entrusted with the security of a camp, inside which might be a great deal of generals and colonels. But, being an officer is a different thing altogether. It is more than a rank, it is a social status, it is entering a whole new ball game. Being in 1SIR, I realised that as officers, or officers-to-be, the treatment which is given to you is immediately different from what is being given to other ranks. you realise the superficiality of it all, but beneath that superficiality is the recognition and respect accorded of the capabalities of the officer corp. It is my duty, as well as that of many others, to uphold this image.

Apart from that, I have had alot of time to reflect, and think through issues and see what I have done so far. It is like a hiatus, leaving your studies and work behind.



Well, this week has gone by rather uneventful for me. i spent lots of time in the brigade (SIB - sleep in bunk), and also meddling around with my powerbook in camp. alot of reports to do. oh well, 55 more days to commission. which reminds me, i need a date for comms ball, so any girls who wanna go for comms ball, just leave a tag! haha.. gonna draw my no.1 and no.2 on tuesday. looks spiffy.

well, so this friday and sat was ATP. some dumb directive states that there ain't no practise for the night shoot, so i screwed up my night shoot and my marksmanship badge grew some wings and became an airborne badge. damn. oh well, but its alright.

recently i found out numerous things about ppl. and how people have been politicking around. well, i gladly take up the challenge man.. we'll see who's the one who comes crying at the end of the day. bloody exaggerating things and distorting the facts. hate it when people resort to such underhand means. bad side of the army i guess. though i must admit i'm equally responsible, but what i use is real facts. oh man, i'm such a bitch. but i like it.

anyway, sometimes, i think some people really think i'm a player, but i think at the end of the day, nobody really knows the real me, because im just too good at this game of images. i could make a good image consultant. but perhaps if one looks beyond the image, one will understand. but it's hard i've to admit. i seem to be speaking in such arcane tongues. i don't even comprehend what i'm writing. well, thoughts to contemplate.

sometimes, i still think about it all. and it is just so easy for us to break contact. so simple. just one week, and one can go from the closest to the furthest distance. it is just that easy. what's life like nowadays. its so funny. its insane. really makes one question what's up sometimes. at times, one is so compelled to just throw caution to the wind and see what's going on. but that's the way life is, and it just sucks at times that there are things which are still impossible.

but i've the picture of the perfect girl in my mind, and in fact, i know someone who's just that. ok, not exactly perfect, but almost there. but its so hard to reach, and she remains just a fantasy in my mind. who knows, maybe the existence of her in my mind is a better thing. she might not be as good as i think she is. but it wouldn't hurt to be able to experience it. if only i could. this sucks.

hopefully everything turns out fine in the end. it always will. and there will be no exceptions this time. in the ideal scenario, i will have a date for comms ball, and it will be her. i think i have in my mind the people whom i want to be at my comms parade. my parents, my grandparents, my friends such as james, ahlam(who is in brunei, so he cant come), xm, and HER! but chances are she wont be there. anyway i'm not like SOH or anything. no need such festivities. its just the culmination of all those 38 weeks and the 9 weeks in bmt. its crazy. almost 1 year to become an officer. it makes it seem like being an officer is the end of it all, but that's wrong. its only the beginning... of the long road ahead.

oh well, thats abt all, gonna go bathe soon.

mervyn at 10/16/2005 02:41:00 PM

Thursday, October 13, 2005

advanced trainfire package

no. advance trainfire package is not a SCDF course teaching people how to fight fires on trains like mrt trains or those trains which come from malaysia.
it's known as RANGE to most people. we go to a shooting range, and open fire at targets which move up and down. very unlike how real people will react, but that's why they're targets! they cant possibly put people running around the butt.

ok, so i'm gonna be stuck in camp friday and saturday cos of ATP. which is real sad. i'll only be able to come home like on sunday 1.30 am.. which sucks. which explains why im home today. damn. alright, whatever man. but i'll come back with a marksman badge, so that's allright. ha! marksman!!

i think i like guns. yea. sadly, guns are outlawed here. except in the most lawful organisation, the SAF.

the past week has been really slack. really really slack. this morning had one really tough PT, which is kinda like tekan, but it's really exciting.. very happy doing it. ha!! ok whatever. off to bathe and back to camp.

short.

mervyn at 10/13/2005 02:29:00 PM

Saturday, October 08, 2005

i don't know what you heard about me

hey wassap in `ere. not been updating for the past few weeks. well, so here's the new update.
past few weeks have been alright. spending time at places such as 7SIB and 1SIR, learning new things. things without a syllabus. didnt learn much anyway. all i did was exercise, go to the gym, and watch stairway to heaven, which by the way, is a really nice show.. very touching.

but the problem is that the past weeks in 1SIR was spent with cheok, which is kinda sad, cos i was rather irritated by him and his nonsense. but i think it was a good experience for me to train my endurance and cultivate my patience. trying not to blow up at him and all that. also learnt how to interact with all the different ranks. kinda different style.

anyway, i think the past few weekends have been rather nice, and well, gone clubbing and all that.

but one thing was yesterday. yesterday i sent ahlam off to brunei, where he's gonna be for a year. kinda sad cos he's a good fren of mine and thinking can't see him and his nonsense for a year. but its alright. maybe when he comes back he will become a mature man who has thought alot of nonsense in the jungle. all the funny things which he used to do and say. sometimes meaningful too.. hopes he comes back soon.. just in time for my ORD!

yesterday, i was also punkd by this girl by the name of xm, to go to indochine, for this supposedly wow very happening party. but as with all things she says, i take it with a pinch of salt, and true enough, the party was really kinda boring. extremely boring in fact. but its ok, i'm always getting punkd by her, so it ain't no big deal. but damn left quite late, when i wanted to leave much earlier, cos that idiot who can't drink started drinking and got kinda wasted. totally. so had to send her home in case she died or went for a sex change op or did something stupid along those lines, which i have utmost confidence she would. but anyway tts besides the point. ha whatever.

today, went for dinner with some delta friends who're leaving for taiwan on tuesday. quite sad that i can't go with them. always been part of my army dream to go taiwan in ocs, but somehow, doesn't seem like it will materialise. its really quite sad but its alright. watched into the blue too, and it is quite a nice show, albeit a little unrealistic. it's more of a eye candy kinda show, where you watch the show just to see nice people and nice scenery. oh, and LTA kel gave me a ride home. wonderful man. kinda exhilirating and all that. and got home like in 12 mins, which is super fast, cos he was going in and out of traffic. the wind blowing in yr face and the way u suddenly feel all the bumps in the road is kinda cool too. really thrilling. too bad he's ORDed. hopes he manages to do something he likes.

i was watching the stairway to heaven and the way the guy treats the girl is relaly nice. kinda sweet. how he tries to win her back. made me realise that actually im quite a jerk. but its ok. the good guys always finsih last. but not all the time. but either way, i'm still a jerk. haha. sorry to whoever i was mean to. but perhaps sometimes sorry just ain't enough to compensate for all that i've done. argh.

think this is pretty much all i have to say. 9 weeks to commissioning. it's coming! it's coming! O YES IT'S COMING!

mervyn at 10/08/2005 06:11:00 PM