.

"Cap ou pas cap?"

Haven't immersed myself so thoroughly in a film like this in a long time. Film - instead of movie - I think this piece of work warrants a better label than the oft-used colloquial branding. Watched Jeux d'enfants with jh, wl and edmond today. Haha it was another of my last minute ideas, and I booked the tickets at 1 am! Good thing I did, since it was a sold-out juz now. Yup this is a film worth watching.. hehe my 1st French film at the cinema, so I'm very late liao. All those late nite black and white ones which channel 5 used to screen on wednesdays dun count. So I enjoyed the plot, the dialogues were fast and I had to rely a lot on the subtitles. Out of touch. But I was trying to piece wat I heard with wat I read.. so that when I managed to recognise the phrases it was rewarding. After dat we strolled around kino for a while, then jh left. We had dinner and walked a bit more.

Hmm.. the film. Why can't ppl be more direct with their feelings and say wat they feel? Sometimes it's hard.. but if it's because they are afraid of losing face then it isn't rite. Sincerity is important. Sometimes ppl can juz be so stubborn with their words when they dun mean it. Or stubborn with themselves and refuse to say. Haiz. Torn, demented and warped was I.

posted by Alvin @ 9:37 PM |

PS

Watched scary movie 3 with sy. Devin was supposed to come as well but he said he couldn't make it at the 11th hour.. when I've already booked the tickets. So it was only the 2 of us. Anyway, this was so far the worst movie I've ever sat thru in a cinema.. low-class humour and slapsticks.. but I still had a good laugh la. Some of the scenes were quite crass.. and they incorporated elements of previous movies like ju-on, dark waters, signs, the 6th sense and especially the ring. The thing is - I've never watched any of these before but I could still tell when each part came on haha.

After dat we had dinner there. Then we met Jason. I've known this fella for donkey years liao... was sort of disappointed to see him like this. Wat to expect next? Sigh. He's not my brother whom I can scold and give pep talks.. he should be able to think for himself and not be so easily influenced by others. It's really not a nice feeling to see a friend like this, knowing dat I can't do much.

Mark came, then Jason left. He's enlisting tmr.. seems to be taking it well. We had a good long talk about bmt. He waited for at least half an hour before he got his burger, yet they didn't give him the free dessert voucher. After dat we all left and I took a stroll down orchard. Noticed dat there were a lot of peddlers tonite. Hey it's xmas!

posted by Alvin @ 12:15 AM |

Reflections

Hehe really couldn't think anymore dat nite so I went to sleep. Then these couple of days I reached home too late. Continue.

Nonetheless the course itself was enjoyable at the very least. I liked my bunk. Every morning I could see the lavender sky and the lush green canopy. My buddy Woo haha is my best buddy ever. Wonder how he could put up with me when I still bothered him all the time haha. Still remember dat he likes First of May by bee gees, kept singing it. Timothy, tsze han, chuanliang, woo and me. A cohesive bunch. On most nites off I would be out with guanhong and the rest. Once we were juz so brazen becos it was toward the end of the course and dat guanhong came up with the idea of buying food back to our bunks and having a feast there since we didn't have enough time to eat at newton. There was stingray, hokkien mee... Haha in the end we got caught but sgt liow was nice enough to let us off with a mere scolding. Dat was how nice our sgts were! At nite I liked to sneak off to the others' bunk and talk cock with them. These soul-baring sessions lasted until midnite sometimes. I miss chatting with Ivan. And also guanhong.

My most embarrassing moment was also sometime toward the end of the course. I was sleeping rather soundly on the floor juz beside my bed. Before I drifted off to sleep, I remembered ppl playing chinese chess, the entire bunk being quite abuzz with activity while we were waiting for last parade. When I woke up, I was completely in a daze. The lights were not on, and there was someone calling my name. It took me a few seconds to register dat I was alone in the bunk while everybody had gone downstairs for last parade. Panic! Then who was calling my name? Timo. Standing outside the bunk, he was trying to wake me up.. damn it my bunk locked me inside without realising dat I was sleeping on the floor. I was still half-awake only, so when Timo asked me to go out I asked him for the key. Haha I was inside the bunk, so I didn't need the key to get out wat. Oh my. I juz dashed out to the lift lobby with my water bottle after dat. The lift door opened and there was the entire platoon laughing, waiting to hear my explanation. I didn't think twice and juz honestly told the CSI dat I was sleeping on the floor. He was about to give me an extra duty but sgt tan helped me and I got away again. Relief.

Throughout the course I was struggling with my astar and nus applications. I was successful with astar and Law but not with medicine. Philip Yeo was a dynamic person. But he didn't give me a hard time compared to wat others got from him. I was still undecided over my 2nd choice, so I juz put Law. I didn't prepare at all for the interview. On dat day, surprisingly, it went quite well and the 2 interviewers appeared quite impressed. Didn't think much of it. I met hong han who also applied Law. The essay test was much later in the afternoon and we had nothing to do meanwhile, so we tried all the shuttle bus routes. Toured PGP for the 1st time. Amazing wat boredom can cause ppl to do lolz. Then finally I took the essay test. The question itself was intimidating enough. I was quite sure I stared at the paper for a long time before writing crap. Hey I wasn't interested in doing Law anyway. My medicine interview was worse. Quite sure I screwed it up. As it turned out I got into Law but not medicine. Disappointment.. Timo wanted astar badly but he got medicine instead. For me it was the other way round. Still another chance.. appeal.

The nite we booked in after nite off we shared our disappointment. And for the rest of the course this matter was weighing heavily on my mind all the time. Before I slept I would stare at the ceiling and lament silently. Listening to chuanliang's SHE cd was the only source of comfort. That was when I really appreciated their songs.. (haha not their voices) becos they're so cheerful. This long course eventually ended.. we skipped fieldcamp haha so lucky. I was posted to 1st guards with teck nam.. double agony. My time there was brief. Learnt how to draw blood, read MO's presciptions, dispensing medication, paces, check equipment, do ecg.. Wasn't too bad. The ppl were ok, save for the HQ guards MO. Our training was tough but effective. 3 sprints of 800m, 40 pushups, 20 squats, and 100 counts of 8 jumping jacks. Then to the gym. All these every alternate day.. Was it 3 or 4 weeks? Then I finally got news of my appeal. I went home dat day and confirmed it by checking the email. Euphoria! Immediately msg Ivan. Dat fella juz checked his email anyway and it turned out dat he also got in! Woohooo! Was so happy for him. Also msg Timo who called to congratulate me. Relief... dat nite I slept well.

It was only until late July dat Ivan, Andrew and I managed to disrupt. The rest of the months seemed to have juz flown past. Back to studying after 10 months. The transition was abrupt; the experience, bitter-sweet. There have been upsets and disappointments but those were minor la.. Hmm I'm quite alone becos firstly we missed medicamp and secondly only st and shermin are with me.. but I'm glad dat I have my good frens in medicine to count on.

Body Worlds

Went to Body Worlds on Sunday with Ivan, ht and hl. Magnificent piece of work there.. It turned out to be fun.. probably becos we learned the anatomy before so we could appreciate it better. We viewed every single exhibit and tried to recall the structures. Hey muz make the 18 bucks well-spent money wat. Though we commented aloud like we knew a lot.. hehe. There was this exhibit of someone with Situs Inversus. When I was staring at the cadaver with the liver on the rite instead of the left it still didn't occur to me dat something was wrong, until I read the explanations. Haha one thing I muz mention.. there was one particular male cadaver with large penis and balls.. Oh my. I'm sure at least twice the normal size. Also this disturbing exhibit of a woman with a foetus still inside her womb. I think we walked 3 hours or so. Time well-spent.

Xmas greetings

So far I received cards from sy, keith and andy. And I juz received an sms from weiyang. Good chap.. muz make an effort to meet up with him cos it has been 2 and a half years since we last met. Dat andy.. told him not to send this year but he still did anyway. Its quite amazing dat he's the only primary school friend who's been sending me a card every year. I think I will be sending out cny cards instead cos it's too late.

posted by Alvin @ 10:54 PM |

A French cap is actually a condom la for the clueless. Oops did I juz mention something taboo haha.

Xmas Reflections

Hmm perhaps this is a gd way to begin, since it has been raining the entire day now and this has really built a pensive mood. This year passed quickly. Probably becos I wasn't studying for the large part of the year. Where should I begin? Rite, this time last yr..

Couldn't remember the exact date (hey I don't keep a diary); only snippets. I was at 4-10 chalet in Changi. It was in the late afternoon already. We were playing cards, was trying to get Kaimun to play juz for the sake of playing but dat fella said he doesn't gamble. We weren't gambling wat. No choice. So we continued. Then we played basketball. Someone brought playstation (think it was Peter) and there was karaoke too. Haha quite fun! andy lau, jay chou songs. I guess it was there that I learned how to play mahjong.. hehe can't imagine this year without it. But simon was a lousy teacher. Jl and yb at least taught me something. We didn't want to gamble, so dunno who came up with the idea of 1 tai=2 pushups, 2 tai=2^2 pushups lolz and the game lasted late into the nite so not too bad, the pushups kept us awake. But we were quite shagged I'm sure. Huddled with elvin and terence on the floor and shared a blanklet; obviously it wasn't enough for 3 big guys so I'm sure I muz have shivered the nite thru.

January was faster than I imagined. I enlisted on the 22nd. NS was such a looming thing then.. Our 1st encounter with the CSM in the auditorium was bad. He showed us who the real boss of the company was haha. Couldn't sleep the 1st nite. Then came my 1st run-in with my PS. Yes I was one of those cocks who locked my key inside my locker. Then I had to go and ask my PS for a cutter. Got a earful as well.. Then something very hilarious happened at nite. Dat stupid Waiyong nudged me becos he wanted to go to the toilet.. wtf I was sleeping so soundly so when he woke up me so suddenly I was startled and juz shouted! I think I juz shouted "Aaaarrrrrrh! Aaaarrrrrrh!" and woke up a few ppl in my bunk. Haha then when Stanley heard the shout he thought it was something else. Haha the 3 of us.. cocks.

Anyway I'm very fond of these 2 buddies of mine. Waiyong is so steady all the time.. intellectual and sporty. His favourite topic is religion. And everytime he starts it's likely the entire bunk will have something to say. Like Cheewei and Alvin Foo. Hmm guess I'm destined to meet and know countless alvins throughout my life. Stanley is so slack.. he muz be proud dat he's still at OETI now lolz. Met him dat day.

I wasn't particularly close to the rest of my platoon mates. Probably I only interacted more with those I knew from primary school like Ko Zhihong. Bmt came and went. But when I was still inside time really inched by. Fieldcamp was the main hurdle to cross.. I remember dat on the 1st day after the long route march to the campsite I was so exhausted I could juz plonk down on the ground and sleep but we still had to pitch tent and dig drains, and after dat we had ifc. So regardless of the smell, sweat and camo cream on our faces that nite we slept like logs. I was hungry all the time, even when they had fresh rations on the 1st day. Hey I have a big appetite wat. But it is fieldcamp after all, so dat was to be expected. When fieldcamp was finally over, I felt dat the worst of bmt was over as well. Btp was ok. I was short of marksman by.. 1. Pity.. I remember when I was shooting the last 4 shots I only had to get 2 but wtf I missed 3! Too bad. The 24 km route march was memorable. Sang all kinds of songs along the way but totally shagged out too.

The day I got my posting I freaked out. I remember calling Kaimun to lament and swear. Knn. Becos I had heard horror stories of how medics had to poke each other and sadly the stories were true. Luckily there were Damian and Yunxu to accompany me! The block leave was hardly anything. Nee Soon camp awaited. Hmm but we weren't supposed to start course yet. TSS! Haha slack. Spent all the time playing chinese chess and dam with tsze han. Got to know all few other nice ppl. I'm quite fond of these ppl as well. Guanhong appeared decent enough only much later did he reveal his true colours. Shanlong impressed me with his vocal percut 1st time but later on it became quite irritating lolz. Then over the other side there was Ivan. There was this slight awkwardness at 1st but that was only a small problem la. Later on when I got to know him better he's quite a nice person. Of course not forgetting alfonso and timothy.

But good times don't last.. becos of the stupid SARS they decided to train another platoon of medics in case the airport or causeway needed us. No more TSS! Thus began our very warped medic course. Our instructors are nice, but not the SI or CSI. Ugly politics and fights among them. The teaching didn't conform to ISO standards unlike dat of the other 4 platoons. And we still had to march for saf day parade. Marching is tiring work. But in between rehearsals we all talked cock at the grandstand which made it a lot more bearable. At the end of the day I got ugly tan marks across my forehead, arms and V-shaped on my chest. Actually I was lucky enough dat I didn't have to march on the 1st day. But dat Ivan complained about his painful toenail and insisted dat I replace him. So I obliged. It was quite a grand event, but our 1st time there we wore.. jockey caps while the other contingents had berets! Quite embarrassing. Blame our RSM. Yes.. won't forget safti.

posted by Alvin @ 2:00 AM |